Finding Private Will

I received an e-mail Monday evening from a gentleman by the name of Steve Cottrell. Steve currently resides in St. Augustine, Florida. He was trying to locate an old Army buddy of his by name of Will Mahoney. During his search he discovered sadly that his friend Will passed away on October 15, 2002. Will was only 58 years old. Will homesteaded in the valley in 1964 then joined the army in 1965 and returned to his home in 1967. Steve is 74 years old and in that 74 years he spent a two-year hitch in the Army, which included basic training, supply school, quartermaster school and an 18-month tour in West Germany, all with his pal Will.

He reached out to me to see if I could get him a copy of Will’s obituary. Being a veteran I understood how a bond with a buddy who had the same shared experience through their military years can last a lifetime. So the next morning I made my way down to our conference room where we keep our bound books of almost every edition of the Frontiersman, starting with Volume 1 Number 1 on September 17th 1947. I pulled the 2002 fourth quarter bound book and in the October 18th, 2002 edition there is Will’s obituary. I read it, then scanned it. I began to flip through the pages and read about the valley in 2002. I then sent the obituary to Steve who was most gracious in his gratitude of doing this task for him. Reflecting on the fact that the history of the valley since 1947 has been recorded here on the pages of the Frontiersman. I want you, the readers of the Frontiersman, to know it is not lost on me the importance of my role as publisher and our team’s role to tell the Mat-Su valley’s story as it unfolds. Changes are under way and my hope is that you will find them to be for the better. As for Will Mahoney, his obituary stated that it was known by his family and friends that he had a love for long walks and deep contemplation. Something we should all do more of in this busy world.

Big Day Sunday

We’ve discussed it, and worked at it for the past four months and Sunday is the first day that our three day a week circulation triples in reach. Along with that will be a new design for the Frontiersman. Gone will be the oversized pages that limited our color capacity and is cumbersome in the reader’s hand. Gone are two separate sections. Our pages will go from 22 inches tall to just over 15 inches. Our pages will go from an average of sixteen in the old size to an average of twenty in the new size. Our color capacity will go from eight pages to sixteen pages. Most important our content will flow much better. Now the day to day mission is to put the most important and fascinating information and stories on the pages. It’s been 12 years since I started my career in community newspapers and for 12 years I’ve heard that community newspapers are dying.

It’s a fact that community newspapers reach more readers than ever before. We’re not dying, we just had to adjust our way of thinking. So here’s to many more years of the Frontiersman serving the Mat-Su Valley and a long and healthy relationship with you, our readers.

Fan Fair

As the Alaska State Fair draws to a close my hat goes off to the Alaska State Fair team. It’s the event of events. They should be proud. The state fair is impressive. The giant produce, concerts every night, the talent on the walkways and the vendors. It was fun to interact with the vendors. I don’t how many times I walked by one vender stand and had to tell the guy trying to pull in customers. I don’t need any lotion. He was consistent and persistent and my guess is he made a lot of sales. I’m pretty sure the Alaska State Fair is the only place you will see a building that appears to be a church with a sign out front that says wine bar inside. Don’t be offended, as Tommy Chong said during his concert with his long time business partner Cheech Marin — “Mellow out, man!”

Ending on a good one

News flash: drinking and driving is still happening despite the harsh punishment for the offense.

People still do it and put themselves and others at risk. The best way to combat this is to educate folks and the sooner the better. With that in mind, I was more than happy to offer to sponsor an advertisement for our friends at the Mat-Su United Way. Project Drive, a free event at Palmer High School on Monday, September 5th is an interactive event designed to educate those thirteen years or older on the subject.

The event is from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and you should RSVP to impact@unitedwaymatsu.org or call 745-5827 if you or better yet you want your teenager to attend. Look for the big green ad in today’s or Sunday’s edition of the Frontiersman for more details.

Thank you for reading the Frontiersman.