Things change

Things were changing. In the Fall of 1978, Carr-Gottstein opened a Carr’s store in Wasilla. Along with it they brought a new newspaper to the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys, the Valley Sun.

In early February 1979 Frank Smith offered me a job at Matanuska Electric Association Inc. (MEA). MEA was located in the building that houses the Alaska Bible College today. I became the Public Information Officer for MEA. What a blessing that was. As a result of competition from the Valley Sun, the Susitna Sentinel was to suspend publication after the first weekly edition in March was printed and circulated. That ended my first job in Alaska.

Willard Johnson was General Manager at MEA when I started there. The Board and Manager had recently hired Malcolm Cheek as Assistant General Manager. He came up from New York State. Malcolm was a personable, people oriented professional. Most all of the office workers liked him, his attitude and his problem solving ability. He adapted quickly to his new job in Palmer. One of Malcolm’s first assignments for me was to hold community meetings throughout the service area.

I never thought of myself as a public speaker, but I took a deep breath and began planning. I knew we all liked to complain about utility companies and even though MEA is a membership cooperative, (CO-OP) complaints came in routinely. Note: In a membership cooperative the customers own the cooperative and have vote control of board members who run it.

I planned out five or six meetings. I don’t remember if I held a meeting at Big Lake but did have meetings in Sutton, Wasilla, Willow, Eagle River-Chugiak and Palmer. Incidents at two of the meetings bring to mind to me at this point. The first meeting was in Sutton. The routine, I was told, is that I take a 50 cup coffee percolator with me and the fixings to serve coffee. I did. A half hour before the meeting was to begin at 7 pm I filled the percolator with water. I bent over the pick it up to carry it into the meeting room and set it on the table. My tie slipped fully two thirds of the way into the coffee water. Oh well, it was a dark tie with sharp angled patterns. No one could see that it was wet. And, the water would be boiled, no need to change it out. Then I asked myself, “What am I doing wearing a tie in Sutton, Alaska anyway.”

A full week before the Eagle River-Chugiak meeting MEA staff began telling me how tough it would be. They said they had lots of raucous complaints from customers in those two towns. I was surprised. Sure there were some loud complaints and sharp questions. But

not near a tough I expected. Talking with folks with questions and problems does smooth out things some. After the meeting they thanked me for coming, helped get the coffee pot out to the car departed with pleasant goodbyes.

As mention in earlier articles two stories I covered for the Susitna Sentinel provided background for my early work at MEA; one was studies evaluating the Big Susitna River for a hydro electric dam at Devil Canyon; the other, planning studies towards moving Alaska’s capital to near Willow. A real impact on MEA was the February 1980 storm, the worst storm I have seen in my 43 years in Alaska.

Budd Goodyear is a local freelance writer who has had articles and photos included in publications throughout the state. Goodyear moved to Alaska in 1977 with his wife and children, and has worked in the Valley, Anchorage and Palmer. Goodyear contributes historical pieces to the Frontiersman.