The Train rolls through Alaska

I hear the Alaska Railroad is a great way to see this beautiful state, but the Train I’m referring to is my ol’ buddy Jim Ward. Jim is a former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and played his college ball at the University of Arizona.

Jim, or as his teammates called him, “Train” made a name for himself at U of A making three consecutive trips to the college world series and sporting a career 30-7 record as a pitcher with a 2.71 ERA and 292 strikeouts in 311.2 innings. He had 22 complete games in 39 starts from 1958 through 1960. He also held the record for strikeouts in single game in the college world series with 16 which has since been broken but it stood for years. When Jim resided in my hometown of Delta, Colorado, he spent countless hours with local youth baseball players working on their craft. He never charged a dime. The time he spent with my two boys was priceless because Jim taught them more than baseball, he reinforced the values that I was teaching them. He moved to Abilene, Texas a couple of years ago and I thought for sure I would never see him again.

But as fate would have it, Jim’s daughter Shannon Zink and her husband David live in Chugiak and Jim is up for a three-week visit. I met him at Loretta Finch Field in Chugiak when the Miners played there this week. At 77 years young Jim is in great shape and was a hit with the fans at the ballpark. I introduced him to Miners General Manager Pete Christopher and it was fun watching them interact. Senator Bill Stoltze is now a big Jim Ward fan, too.

Happy runners in Palmer

Janel Gagnon, office manager at Gagnon Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, fellow Wasilla Sunrise Rotarian, and more importantly the better half of Dr. Elliott Gagnon, gave me a heads-up about the Happy Run that happens in Palmer every Monday night. Apparently over 130 happy runners participate each week. The run ends at the Palmer Ale House where everyone gets a free raffle ticket and wins donated prizes including a free pizza from the Palmer Ale House. This Monday, Aug. 8 is special because Active Soles in Palmer is sponsoring a book drive for the Palmer Public Library as a special thank you for their hard work on the Summer Reading Program. So let me break this down for you: You can work toward getting in shape, meet new friends, get a raffle ticket for prizes and help literacy in our great community.

Oh, and grab a pint at the Palmer Ale House if you choose. That’s a win, win, win, win situation.

Calling all Realtors!

The Frontiersman will be hosting a seminar for our local realtors at the Curtis Menard Sports Arena on Wednesday August 10th from noon to 2 p.m. Our special guest for the seminar is Rebecca Bradner a real estate marketing specialist and fellow newspaper publisher.

All who attend will receive a free display ad in the Frontiersman, Anchorage Press, and Arctic Warrior. That’s a combined distribution of over 42,000 copies. Oh and lunch that day is on us plus it is immediately following the Valley Board of Realtors meeting in the same room. Your attendance is much appreciated.

Shameless Plug Alert!

Our very own Managing Editor Matt Hickman is now doing an hourly news update on KVNT Valley News Talk 1020 AM or 92.5FM. You can also catch Matt and I on the Tom Anderson show starting at 7 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. We’re having a lot of fun with it.

Miner update.

The Mat-Su Miners secured the No. 1 seed for the Alaska Baseball League playoffs and host the first round. Their second game in a three game series against the Anchorage Bucs starts at 2pm today. If they took care of business on Thursday night (I’m writing this prior to the game so I can go watch) and win today at 2 p.m. then I don’t have to tell you about the second game being played at 6pm tonight. Congratulations to the entire organization for a great season and another congrats for all of the hardware they brought home for individual accomplishments they were recognized for this season.

Ending on a good one.

Jason Marvel, principal of Burchell High School and fellow Wasilla Sunrise Rotarian put on a presentation at our last meeting that tested my emotional fortitude. Jason has put together the opportunity for four students and a teacher at Burchell High to attend “We Day” in Seattle this April. We Day is an incredible event designed to empower youth and challenges them to go back to their community and make a difference. You can’t purchase a ticket to the event, you have to earn it. Jason’s thought is that these young people would come back to their school inspired to inspire their fellow students. It sounds like the high school faced a tremendous amount of adversity this past year but Jason as he says, “kicked it forward”. He is an inspiration himself and his idea to try and do this at every high school on a yearly rotation is fantastic. We’ll keep an eye on this project and support Jason to make his idea become a reality.