New look for web site

An old reliable source has a new look.

The Mat-Su Miners have given their Web site, www.matsuminers.org, a facelift.

Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher and longtime Miner volunteer Mike Weller enlisted the help of a young web page designer and computer graphic artist Greg Whitworth to give the Miner's Internet site a new look.

"Mike Weller contacted me through Webalaska, that is how I got involved," Whitworth said. "For a site that gets 40,000 hits a day in the summer, I figured why not?"

Whitworth not only completely redesigned the Web page, but did so completely free of charge. The 2003 graduate of Colony High School and current Matanuska Susitna College student donated countless hours in the past four months to renovate the site.

"It is very refreshing to find a young person in the Valley willing to give back to the community," Weller said.

The Miners' new site is one of several that Whitworth has constructed. His portfolio also includes jeaniegreen.com, which highlights a native Alaskan television program, and transnorthern.com, a site for a local airline company. Whitworth has worked in web design for the past nine years and hopes it will be his profession. He also has his own site, www.jac-designs.com.

"Mike Weller and Greg Whitworth put in a ton of work," Christopher said. "Being computer illiterate, I had no idea what was involved."

The new site features a homepage with news concerning that club that is updated on a regular basis throughout the offseason as well as the regular season.

The site also features comprehensive statistics and team rosters dating back to 1977.

Also new to the page is an online store which features a variety of Miner merchandise for sale.

Christopher added the new site is extremely valuable in terms of recruiting.

"It is good because it is more in depth," Christopher said. "If we call a coach about a kid, the coach and the kid can go right to the site and look at what we have."

Miner notes … The Mat-Su Miners Baseball team will hold their annual public meeting 7:00PM Saturday February 28th, 2004 at the Palmer Moose Lodge, located on South Cobb Street. Valley residents are encouraged to attend … The Mat-Su Miners will hold a try-out camp 10:00AM Tuesday June 8th, 2004 at Hermon Brothers Field. The purpose of the camp is to allow Valley residents, now attending and playing ball at colleges in the Lower 48, the opportunity to make the team … The Mat-Su Miners will hold their 22nd annual Grand Slam Raffle on Saturday, April 24 at the Palmer Moose Lodge. Free food and beverages will be provided to ticket holders. Ticket admits two only to drawing. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.and the drawing starts at 8:30 p.m. For more info contact Christopher, at GeneralManager@matsuminers.org.