Willow opens arms to Iditarod restart

Feb. 25, 2007

By Jodi Snyder

Frontiersman correspondent

WILLOW - The Iditarod is returning to Willow once again, and Linda Oxley, chair of the Willow Area Community Organization, is pleased.

&#8220It's wonderful that our community center is able to tolerate this amount of participation and that we can host this type of event, and we are delighted that our trail system is able to accommodate the race,” Oxley said Saturday.

Estimates suggest more than 20,000 people visited Willow during the Iditarod restart last year. It is easy to think such an influx in traffic, even for just a day, would bring an obvious positive impact to the local economy with a population of just a fraction of that.

Roni Widner has worked at several Willow businesses and can remember sitting at the front window of one local store, several years ago, during another restart, watching the cars stream by, no one stopping. Widner agrees the restart brings a crowd to Willow, but said she doesn't see a financial boon to local business.

&#8220It really doesn't help that much financially, that I have seen,” Widner said. &#8220There are the weekenders up here for the restart, and that brings a little extra business, but not like people might guess.”

The Iditarod's ceremonial start on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage, held each year on the first Saturday of March, is followed by the official start - or restart - the next day. Traditionally held in Wasilla, the restart has been plagued in recent years by lack of snow and burgeoning development around the trail system, forcing its relocation farther north to Willow in all but one of the last seven years.

Widner said she doesn't understand why Wasilla makes a fuss over lost revenue when the restart moves to Willow.

&#8220They talk about losing money,” Widner said, &#8220but it's not like we are taking it.”

She said the Willow restart is more about community than economy.

&#8220It's great for the mushers, and we are helping them, and that's important,” Widner said. &#8220But it's not like we are getting a lot out of it locally. People aren't stopping to buy gas or eat at the local restaurants.

&#8220For the most part, people drive out, walk down to the lake, watch part of the race, then get back in their cars and drive back to town.”

What money does come into the community as a direct result of the restart comes from the Iditarod Trail Committee, which rents the WACO-managed Willow Community Center and grounds during the restart. The ITC leaves WACO to run the kitchen, where the group raises another couple thousand dollars.

&#8220People can come in to the community center and get a hot meal, a cup of coffee, get warmed up,” said Jane Newman, a longtime Willow resident and a WACO board member. &#8220For WACO, it's another shot in the arm for covering expenses.”

Newman said she thinks Willow Lake is the ideal place for the Iditarod restart.

&#8220Ask anybody,” Newman said on Saturday afternoon. &#8220It's easy access, it's perfect viewing. You have Mount McKinley staring you in the face, and anybody who wants to can go right out on the lake.”

Newman also said it's great for those who own cabins on the lakes, along the restart route.

&#8220They have all these parties, cheering on the mushers. They rally the mushers practically to Skwentna,” Newman said. &#8220I know the mushing community has always been pleased with the restart in Willow.”

Like Widner, Newman also observed that the event doesn't seem to bring much money into local businesses, with the exception of a few.

Ola Williams manages Alaskan Dream Espresso, a local drive-thru stand north of Willow Lake along the Parks Highway.

Williams estimates &#8220normal” Sunday business has tripled during the last two restarts.

If traffic leaving the restart was allowed to turn right out of the airport, Williams said, she would do even more business.

&#8220I think it's a fantastic boost to the community,” she said, &#8220and I'd like to see it here every year.”

While hosting the Iditarod restart does not appear to be a huge moneymaker for the community of Willow, no one really seems to be upset about the lost potential revenue.

&#8220The financial impact isn't really the issue,” Newman said. &#8220It's about making the restart safe and convenient for the dogs and the mushers.”

With a week to go until the restart, Oxley is scrambling for kitchen volunteers, trail crossing guards, and bathroom paper-towel changers.

&#8220We are focusing on having fun and being of service,” she said. &#8220It's an excellent opportunity for us to showcase what a great community we have.”

Jodi Snyder is the Frontiersman's Willow correspondent.