Thrilled to have made it to Alaska

Hello Mat-Su Valley! I figured the first day on the new job would be a great one to introduce the Frontiersman’s newest reporter.

My name is Chris Ford and I arrived in the great state of Alaska Aug.19, from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. There, I worked for almost 28 years at a paper—the L’Anse Sentinel-- with a very local connection to the Wasilla area—the Menard family. Kurt Menard Jr., was originally from my hometown back in the U-P (what we call the Upper Peninsula, folks who live there are called Yoopers). I knew his father, Kurt Sr., very well. I’ve found, just in the short time I’ve been here, the number of folks with connections back to my former digs a pleasure.

So what makes a guy quit his job of 28 years, sell his house and move 3,300 miles northwest?

Location, location, location!

Ever since I’ve been old enough to know what Alaska is, I’ve wanted to visit. After decades of swallowing up everything that is Alaska, my dream trip came true last August with a visit to the Kenai. A second trip north from Anchorage last January sealed the deal. At a time when I should be looking more toward retiring, I opted to make this an undertaking. And I couldn’t be happier!

You’re probably wanting to know a little more about me and not why I’m here…I was born and grew up north of Detroit—a little suburb called St. Clair Shores. After high school, I attended Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich. It was there that I got my first taste of “wilderness”.

Following college, my first job placed me right back in the same neighborhood I grew up in—the Detroit suburbs. But having spent four years in the Upper Peninsula, I gave up the good pay, perks, retirement, etc. for “the good life”. I began working my way back above Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge and finally found a spot to my liking on the peninsula’s western end. I started as a reporter and was the associate editor for about 23 years.

Yoopers seem to feel right at home here.

Like folks I’ve met so far in the Valley, we are a friendly lot. We love the outdoors in all seasons. We tend to be willing to lend a neighbor or friend a hand whenever needed, and we’re always game for challenge. I’ve found those and other similarities between my old neighborhood and my new one much to my delight.

Personally, when I’m not covering something for the paper, you’ll most likely find me out and about. Although my snow machine and four-wheeler had to stay back—for now, I’m already chomping at the bit to explore the vastness and beauty on the horizon in every direction I look in. I understand this is the rainy season here in south-central Alaska… but Mother Nature will surely give me a few days to venture out without my rain jacket before the snow flies.

So far in my short stay, I feel right at home. After almost 30 years in one spot, it will take time to adjust. A new lifestyle, new surroundings, more than one lane of traffic in one direction, stop lights, depending on your cell phone to reach the outside world. One thing I don’t think will take much time at all to get used to is the community.

I’m excited to be able to call one of the most beautiful areas of Alaska my new home, excited to be here at the Frontiersman, and excited about the new journey that awaits unfolding.