Remembrance and history blend in Colony farmer

PALMER -- History can be gained from a variety of media: books, movies and radio are only a few of the ways to transmit information to younger generations. Yet this history exists in discrete, solid units; it has no give and take.

For living history, history that can be interpreted, assimilated and reciprocated even as it is formed, it would be difficult to envision a more apt source than Larry Vasanoja of Palmer, who celebrates his 80th birthday today.

Born in Cromwell, Minn., to Lawrence and Helen Vasanoja, the younger Vasanoja moved to Alaska with his father as part of the Federal Emergency Relief Bureau's Alaska project, which transported 200 Midwestern farming families to the state in 1935. When his father was 11 years old, the Vasanojas moved from Sweden to the United States, and when Vasanoja himself was 11, they moved from Minnesota to Alaska, forming a distinct pattern of exodus for the family. The family traveled by rail to San Francisco, whereupon they were loaded onto a military transport ship and sailed all the way to Seward.

The only son among six siblings, he quickly came to shoulder many of the burdens of farm life, helping his father with plowing, planting and caring for the livestock.

"I must have become a Teamster by the time I was 15 years old," he chuckled, recalling the horse-and-plow system used to till the fields on his family's farm. "Most of the Valley was good land back then, already homesteaded and ready for farming," he recalled earlier this week.

Without electricity or running water, and with only a wood-burning stove for heat, the Vasanojas took care of their hygiene needs by following the old Scandinavian tradition of the steam bath. Every Saturday evening, the families in the area would gather to share turns in their wood-fired saunas as well as pastries, cakes and companionship.

This practice also meant that some of the world's newer cleansing practices remained alien to him for quite some time. "I think I took my first shower when I was on the basketball team in high school," he said.

When his father left the area to serve as a civilian carpenter for a military project during the second World War in Kodiak, Vasanojas' life changed considerably. He had to immediately leave the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he was pursuing college studies, and return to the Valley to manage the family farm. Another surprise came when the state lowered its draft age to 19, and he suddenly found himself entering the armed forces.

"They took my father and left me alone to do the farming, but pretty soon the Army wanted me, too," he remembered.

Fortunately, Vasanojas had taken typing classes as a senior in high school, and thus settled into a job as a clerk on Elmendorf Air Force Base, where he worked for three years and first met his future wife.

After his discharge, he returned to the Valley and drove an oil truck for Walt Briggs Fuel. He watched as the dirt and gravel roads of his childhood were paved over and the homesteads he recognized became schools, subdivisions and resorts. He retired in 1981, and now lives in a Valley considerably different from that of his childhood.

Today, he remains dedicated to the power of history. In addition to serving as the treasurer of the Palmer Elks Club, he operates an organization called Matanuska Colony Inc. (formerly the Colony Kids) that regularly gathers members of the 200 original Colony families together for dinners, reunions and other activities.

"When I came here, we all went to the same school, we all shopped at the same store, we all had the same problems," he said. "I wish that closeness could continue today."

Vasanojas' eightieth birthday bash is planned to coincide with the Purple Bubble Charity Ball at the Elks Lodge. Though he looks forward to celebrating the special day with his closest friends, he believes that the category should be inclusive. "Everyone in the Valley is my friend," he said.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.