Sagers celebrate 50th anniversary

Hubert “Corky” Sager and Madeline “Maddie” Smith were married on Nov. 19, 1960, in the Riverside Union Church in Riverside, Calif. In the spring of 1959 Maddie came to Alaska to work for the Neeleys at Chistochina Lodge on the Alaska Highway.

Soon after, Corky stopped in for breakfast and he and Madeline started dating on July 4, 1959. On their first date he took her flying in his Cessna 170, she loved it.

Corky and his folks, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Sager Sr. homesteaded in the Mat-Su Valley in 1945. In 1948, Corky and his folks built Riverside Lodge, located between Tok and the Canadian border. It was open for business in 1950. When they moved to Delta Junction in 1955, they bought the Bay Hotel. This was a family run outfit. They also owned Sager Trucking and two gas stations.

Corky and Maddie honeymooned in Hawaii, and then moved into their little home in Delta Junction. Corky and Maddie have two children, Holly Holman who resides with her husband Mike and daughter Taylor in Dutch Harbor. Their son Everett who served four years in the Navy on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower now lives and works in Anchorage.

A celebration of their 50 years was held at the Pandemonium bookstore in Wasilla, which also catered the food. Verda made the lovely three-tiered cake. There were approximately 50 friends and relatives in attendance. Tony James, a well-known guitarist from Anchorage, provided live music. Accompanying him as Master of Ceremonies was Carl Seaver. It was a wonderful afternoon of old and new friends.