The City of Wasilla turns 101

WASILLA — Nearly 100 people gathered to celebrate the City of Wasilla’s 101st birthday party at the Curtis D. Menard Sports Center last Saturday. Long time residents and newcomers alike spent the evening mingling and wandering in nostalgia under a 1950’s theme, complete with vintage cars, spats, and a 1959 Wasilla High School yearbook. The evening was filled with speaker presentations, live music, activities, and free mini burgers and fries with a coca cola station filled with ice and glass bottles, contrasting then and now. Older generations were seen popping the caps of cola with younger generations, reflecting how much has changed since they arrived, each generation having their own milestones.

“101 years ago, Alaska wasn’t even a state!” said Corky Sager, long time resident.

When Sager first settled in the Valley, Wasilla had no stoplight. It was all dirt roads. Palmer was bigger at the time. Sager said there was a “little pavement in Anchorage.” He came to Alaska for freedom and settled down with his Maddie. Corky went to school with Ben Cottle, father of current Wasilla Mayor, Bert Cottle. Back then, the only school in Wasilla was K-12 at what is now City Hall.

“My office is where I went to junior high,” Bert Cottle said.

Guests got to enjoy free food while listening to local band, Wild Cat Trio. The Trio strummed favorite tunes from the 50’s. People dressed in 50’s garb and otherwise took to the dance floor to twist and shout to classic covers from the likes of Chuck Berry and the Beatles. While the band was playing, Sager could be seen at his table playing his wooden spoons, a token of his history of playing music with friends over the years. During the summer, he volunteers for the Wasilla Museum as a tour guide, showing tourists all the nooks and crannies only a local could provide. This comes from years of working in the tourist industry alongside his wife.

“People liked us because we were real Alaskans, not people from the lower 48 reading from a book,” Sager said.

The Wasilla Museum and the Museum of Alaska Transportation provided historical artifacts for viewing during the event. The Transportation museum brought a few vintage cars and a vintage snow machine. People even got to take selfies in a 1950’s Chevrolet truck that Wasilla resident Stan Mitchell loaned out for the evening.

The Wasilla Museum brought several old photographs of historic Wasilla, its people and the land. They also brought a crusty yearbook form 1959 so older residents could waft through the pages to find familiar faces and swap stories. According to Wasilla museum curator Bethany Buckingham, that is one of the main goals of this event — to keep the past alive with stories of the lives of the community. From no stop light in the 40’s, one stop light in the 80’s, to the “economic hub of the Valley,” Wasilla has a fresh history shaped by people still living today, with more stories yet. Events like these tend to “jog the memory,” according to Buckingham.

“I hope this event continues to bring the community together — giving our past a future,” said Sherry Jackson, Executive Director of the Museum of Alaska Transportation.