One of the BEST reasons for living in Mat-Su: friendly people

When people first set foot in the Mat-Su Valley, they are known to comment not just on the panoramic vistas but also the cast of characters who calls this place home.

"The mountains are breathtaking," they'll say, "and the people are so friendly."

"We get a lot of comments from visitors like that," said Neil Campbell of the Mat-Su Convention & Visitors Bureau. And like many residents who are proud to live in Alaska, Campbell said he occasionally finds himself waxing poetic about the many attributes that make this place wonderful.

Campbell said he's heard tales of rural Alaskans angrily chasing visitors away.

"But the true Bush dweller will chase you down with a cup of coffee," Campbell said.

Perhaps it is our pride in the place we live that makes us welcoming to visitors.

"I think it appeals to the heart," lifelong Valley resident Gerry Keeling said of her community. She said she isn't sure the area brings out the best in people as much as it allows them to maintain the goodness they already have despite how tough the world can be.

"In general, I think it is really a nice place to raise children," she said.

Along with huge vegetables, great fishing and beautiful scenery, the Valley comes with a cast of colorful characters, from politicians to farmers, and many who are both. There are the mechanics and school teachers, hunting guides and nonprofit advocates, artists and construction workers.

The Valley is made up of many people who will in one minute curse their neighbor for being too loud, too messy, too irritating, and then will turn around and gladly pull that same neighbor out of a ditch on a snowy day.

The Frontiersman publishes its share of crime stories, of Valley residents not showing their best sides. But there are also other stories of people returning lost keys, pitching in to help a family whose home has burned, working to make the community a better place.

When one man lost his keys during Memorial Day weekend several years ago, he returned to where his car was parked near a local grocery store and discovered he had left them in the lock of the trunk. A good Samaritan had left a note saying the keys were with the grocery store manager.

"Hope you have a good day! Jesus loves you!" the person wrote.

Is this type of neighborliness a remnant of our frontier past or something that can survive into the future as the community grows?

"I was born here in '35 and I grew up knowing the Colonists," Keeling said. "I've commented again and again on how good, caring, and down-to-earth … the people were in that group."

These were families who celebrated Christmas together with a community tree and boxes of precious oranges even as they struggled to survive.

"Those first pioneers of this great frontier bonded together and were the first to say, 'It takes a village,' pitching in whenever a friend needed to raise a barn or help with crops," Valley resident Joel Cummings wrote in a letter to the Frontiersman.

While some have said this small-town community atmosphere is giving way to urban problems, Cummings wrote that the efforts of neighbors to help one of his friends whose home burned down days before Christmas led him to believe that goodwill isn't something of the past.

"Their spirit is alive in all of us," he wrote of the pioneers, "regardless of whether we were born in Alaska or, like myself, are Alaskans by choice rather than chance … I am proud to consider myself an Alaskan whenever I see the kindness in the hearts of those who run to the aid of strangers …"

Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin believes this spirit is something we can maintain even as we continue to evolve as a community.

"We're growing so fast, everybody is in the same boat … they're new here," Palin said.

She said many of these newcomers are attracted here for the same reason people were in the past -- they are looking for a good place to raise a family and they want a somewhat more rural lifestyle than places like Anchorage or other states can offer.

And while the Valley is known for its turbulent politics and strong-felt disagreements, there is something many of its residents share.

"We have this commonality in the quality of life we desire," she said.

Perhaps this common love of the place and the lifestyle is enough to keep the good Samaritan alive and well.

"I think we are certainly holding to that and that we can continue to do so as long as those of us who have lived here a long time instill that in our kids," she said. "I think we can hold on to that. I hope so."