Skater Girl logo belongs with co-op

For 70 years, Alaskans have enjoyed local dairy products bearing the Matanuska Maid logo. That era is on track to come to a close next month.

It doesn’t have to.

The new Southcentral Dairyman’s Association has approached the state Creamery Board about acquiring the rights to use the Mat Maid skater girl in her fur-ruffed hood on dairy products the co-op will market. The dairy group could be up and running by early next year. The Skater Girl, as she is known, is an Alaska icon. She symbolizes more than a dairy product. The logo and the Matanuska Maid name are part of Alaska’s culture.

Now is an opportunity for the state and dairyman’s association to collaborate to produce a winning solution for all involved. With Mat Maid hemorrhaging money, the state has attempted to sell the dairy. With no luck, now the effort is on to sell Mat Maid’s assets, except the logo. The Southcentral Dairyman’s Association is in the market for some used equipment. It could benefit from the brand recognition of the Skater Girl.

Matanuska Maid Dairy was formed in 1936 as a market for surplus milk produced by Matanuska Colonists. It grew with Alaska and has struggled to adjust to economic factors in the state and dairy industry over the past 25 years. The struggle is over; Matanuska Maid Dairy has been dealt a death blow. But while the state-subsidized facility will close, the treasured emblem of Alaska’s history can remain a part of its future.

The logo was created by a cooperative made up of farmers who had poured sweat equity into their Colony farms. It represented a great product made possible by hard work and cooperation. By the 1980s, that cooperation had flagged and the industry was suffering. That the logo became property of the state of Alaska in bankruptcy proceedings that brought the dairy under state control.

What goes around, comes around. The state wants out of the dairy business; a group of dairy farmers and other businessmen — a cooperative — wants in. The logo is important to its fledgling efforts, and the Southcentral Dairyman’s Association is right to ask to use the logo to help build its market without starting from scratch.

The Skater Girl and the Matanuska Maid name needs to return to its roots. It’s time for their return to a Valley cooperative. There may be some rough spots in the ice ahead, but we are confident the Skater Girl can sharpen her blades and continue to glide into the future. It’s one icon of agriculture history that can remain familiar to a new generation of Alaskans.