Slice of a meat cutter's life

WASILLA -- Wolfgang Gedicks learned how to cut meat the old-fashioned way; his older brother got him a job as a clean-up boy at a Washington butcher shop in 1963, and the owner took a liking to him and taught him the art of meat cutting at night after closing. Now, 40 years later, Gedicks is still cutting away in his own meat shop, Mat-Valley Meats.

"I've seen quite a variety of meats over the years," Gedicks said.

He's cut the usual moose and caribou, but has also sliced whale, yak and buffalo meat. While he has spent a great deal of his meat-cutting career cutting United States Department of Agriculture-approved retail meats at grocery stores like the Red Apple in Anchorage, he also had spent some time cutting game meat.

"My first job in Alaska was at the Alaska Sausage Company, my brother got me that job, too," Gedicks said. "That's where I first dabbled in wild game."

Six years ago, Gedicks' wife Cathy felt what Gedicks described as "the Lord leading us to the Valley" and the family decided to move from Anchorage and start their own meat shop.

At their first store location at Four Corners, Gedicks got together enough equipment to start processing game meat after the commute from his regular job at Red Apple. Cathy worked the counter during the day, and Gedicks cut the meat at night.

"The day we got the first caribou was the day we were finally operating and ready to go," Gedicks said. "It was kind of a tight schedule."

Two years ago this December, Gedicks and his wife decided to make another leap of faith and open a much larger meat market on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, this time not only processing game meat, but also selling retail cuts of meat.

"It was a big step of faith, we weren't exactly young and we committed everything we had," said Gedicks, who quit his job in Anchorage to work full-time at Mat-Valley Meats.

As the new store location is nearing its two-year anniversary, Gedicks is happy with the way things have gone.

"It was the best thing we could have done for our family," he said.

Mat-Valley Meats is designed to cater to three different types of meat cutting: stuffing, grinding and smoking; retail cutting and inspected meat; and uninspected meat and wild game. USDA approved the design of the building, which Gedicks owns.

During the last six years, all four of Gedicks children have worked at the shop in one aspect or another, and Cathy still runs things at the front counter, while their younger son, Christopher, works in the back with Gedicks.

"It started out and still is a family operation," Gedicks said. "We provide old-fashioned quality and service."

While meat cutting is becoming a somewhat lost art, Gedicks says, he still finds pleasure in spending his days in a cool meat locker, donning the white butcher's apron and slicing the hung meat.

"It's the physical aspect, it keeps me healthy and active," said Gedicks when asked why he likes meat cutting. "Even though it's all cutting, there are still things that change every day, it keeps me interested."