Here’s to you, Mat-Su

The sky is blue, the sun is shining and it smells like spring is in full bloom. These are the kind of days we don’t tell Outsiders about. Our population is growing quickly enough as it is. On bluebird days like this it’s easy to remember why we endure winter here on the edge of the Alaska wilderness.

The Mat-Su Valley’s geography is vast and includes everything from mountain ranges and glaciers to the shores of Cook Inlet. But as unique and varied as the Valley is, we find the people who live here to be every inch as peerless.

On Friday, Alaska Air National Guardsmen flying a Pave Hawk helicopter plucked two plane crash survivors off the Knik Glacier.

Saturday, Mat-Su Search and Rescue spent the day in Hatcher Pass training search and rescue teams from around the country in how to perform mountain recues.

Meanwhile, on another mountain in another corner of the Valley, LifeMed pilots searched for a party of hikers in need of emergency aid. That rescue is ongoing as we write this.

And in the Willow area Saturday, Sheep Creek Lodge was flooded with sled dog racing fans eager to get an autograph, shake hands — and maybe win a chance to ride 2 miles down the trail — with 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Dallas Seavey.

This is just a smattering of the stories we had the good fortune to cover this weekend, but it illustrates the Valley’s smorgasbord of flavors.

Sometimes it seems like we’re the punching bag for Southcentral like we’re the butt of every joke, as if folks down the Glenn can’t wait to mine our foibles for their own amusement.

Day after day, week after week since 1947, we’ve told the stories of this place and its people. Among our news staff today, we have decades of experience meeting our Mat-Su Valley neighbors and telling their stories.

If all you read is the Police Beat in the Frontiersman or watch the Alaska State Troopers show on cable, you could get the wrong idea about us. You might think we’re just a bunch if rednecks with yards full of old cars.

Well, you’d be wrong.

One of the perks of working in the newsroom at the Frontiersman is the opportunity it affords us to meet our neighbors. Based on these experiences, we know that the Valley is home to many interesting and wonderful people who help each other and care deeply about this place they call home.

So here’s to you Mat-Su — we can’t imagine living anywhere else.