People we met, people we bid farewell in 2014

MAT-SU — Over the course of the year, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman introduces its neighbors to dozens of people they might not know of otherwise.

We also chronicle our community’s losses.

Here is a quick synopsis of some of the people we met and some that we lost this year, presented chronologically:

Trevor Burgoyne and Kris Don

Wrestling isn’t often the subject of a feature story. Usually those kids are featured in the sports pages. But on Jan. 17 we told the story of Trevor Burgoyne and Kris Don. Don, a Palmer High School wrestler, went down in a 15-13 decision to Colony High School wrestler Burgoyne, who has Down syndrome. Don’s coaches had told him to pin Burgoyne in the second round but he said he just couldn’t do it. Instead, he let Burgoyne get ahead, then reeled him back in, giving his opponent the win but also letting him earn it.

The Havamstads

On Jan. 25 the Havamstad/Perry family appeared in the Frontiersman having lost everything they owned in a fire. Believe it or not, the family seemed cheerful, happy to still be together when one of them easily could have died.

Sage

Family and friends of Sage the rescue dog held a memorial for the storied animal at the tail end of January. In her lifetime as a rescuer, Sage found a dozen people, managing to bring some home alive but also finding remains of missing people to help bring closure to their families. Sage’s story is remarkable — many dogs go their whole careers without a single find. Her partner, Stacie Burkhardt, continues to work in search and rescue.

Chris Longacre

By day, Longacre does risk management work in a bank. But, as a hobby, he conquers massive mountains. In June we told the story of his fundraising efforts to complete his effort to climb the highest mountain on all seven continents. We talked to him all through 2013 but it wasn’t until February that we got to check in with him after he’d done his seventh trip and reached the top of Mt. Vinson in Antarctica. “It was quite the year,” he said.

Joe Delia

Iditarod veterans know Delia well. He maintained the Skwentna checkpoint with his wife, Norma, for years. He died May 1 and we told his story May 4. He was a legendary Alaska trapper and a gifted storyteller.

Breezley Snow

We met Snow back in April. By the time June rolled around this 9-year-old student at Pioneer Peak Elementary School had already done more fundraising than many will do in a lifetime. With help from her teacher and her teacher’s aide, Kayla Hopkins, Breezley raised $2,000 — double her $1,000 goal — to send to the orphanage in India in which Hopkins spent the first dozen years of her life.

Angelica Remaley

Fulbright Scholars aren’t the type of people you come across every day. The Fulbright Program sends mostly recent college graduates around the world to do research. It doesn’t make a lot of grants each year. But in May we met Angelica Remaley, a Colony High School graduate who received one of just 140 Fulbright Education Assistant Scholarships last year, which she used to go to Germany and teach English.

Patricia Wade

According to at least one member of her family, Chickaloon got “a lot less sparkly” on July 31 with the passing of Patricia Wade. We told her story in early August. Wade was a storyteller, comfortable both in the Western world and among other members of the Chickaloon Tribe. She was a constant presence in Chickaloon and the surrounding areas and a passionate advocate for her people. She work was published in the Frontiersman for about 20 years.

Adam Moekelke

Principal of Burchell High School, Mokelke, was named 2014’s Alaska Principal of the Year. He said he struggled with the recognition because “people don’t get into education for personal accolades.” We checked in with him most recently in August when it was announced he was a finalist for the 2015 National Principal of the Year award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Mike Taylor

With all the construction we had, this year just had to be the year that a roadwork flagger made our list of favorite characters profiled in our pages. Taylor made the Frontiersman in August with a story about how he earned the title “world’s happiest flagger” for the dance moves he busted out on the job site at Seldon Road and Lucille Street.

Gladys Minnie Craig Briske

On Sept. 13 we told the story of Gladys Minnie Craig Briske just four days before she would reach a milestone few of us will attain but many of us aspire to: Briske turned 100 on Sept. 17. Born in Minnesota she traveled all over the U.S., eventually settling in Alaska in 1971, where she worked as a nurse.

Kennedy Mae Robinson

Born with only half of a heart, Kennedy moved with her family to California so they could be closer to the hospital where the transplant would occur if and when a heart is donated. Her parents — both born and raised in Alaska — received significant support in their move from the Mat-Su community, which pitched in to help defray the costs of moving.

Charly Rentz

A fifth grader at Finger Lake Elementary, Charly Rentz was one of just four Alaska girls who landed roles in the Broadway show “Les Miserables,” which played at the Atwood Concert Hall at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts this fall. We met her in October, just days before the musical’s opening night. Rentz played young Cosette, a singing role.

Lyndon Thomas

Profiled in a story from November, Lyndon Thomas uses a motor scooter and a length of cable tow hang-gliding students into the air in Palmer. He’s the Valley’s only hang-gliding instructor.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.