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I have spent almost half of my 61 years in Alaska. I arrived in Fairbanks in June of 1973, having driven almost 5,000 miles from the west coast of Florida. I had spent the preceding 5 years in St. Petersburg, Fla. Before moving to Florida, I lived in Massachusetts, where I was born and raised. I was born in a small fishing town called Gloucester, and lived near, or on, the water most of my life. Coming to Fairbanks was a major change in lifestyle from what I had been used to. Not only was I no longer near the ocean, but found myself in a setting that was totally different from anything I had experienced before. It had a decidedly "frontier" flavor, was very sparsely populated and the climate was noticeably different from anything I had experienced before. Because I was not acclimatized when I arrived here in June, I could feel a coolness to the air even though it was summer. Having come from a New England setting, where people are generally cool and aloof when interacting with others, I was pleasantly surprised to find the people of Fairbanks warm and friendly. I knew from the beginning that this was where I was destined to spend the rest of my life. I had traveled almost 5,000 miles to reach Fairbanks in the summer of 1973. The lure of the last frontier, as well as free land, was like a magnet drawing me Northward from Florida. My wife and I, along with three dogs, traveled up the east coast to Canada, then turning west, took the Trans-Canada Highway to Dawson Creek, BC. Here in Dawson Creek was the beginning of the famous Alcan Highway, the the only road north to Alaska. In those days this road was infamous for road conditions as well as lack of any services for miles on end, and it lived up to it's reputation. In those days this road was a real challenge....1,500 miles of gravel. Arriving in Fairbanks, we found not only a frontier atmosphere, but an excitement in the air about free land, (homesteading was allowed back then). There were people here from all over the country seeking to cash in on a parcel of land. The only problem was, that all the land close in had already been taken. The only land left was very remote, so remote that unless you have seen this country it is hard to imagine. To make a long story short.....we spent $5,000 outfitting to live in the "bush" and trying to "find" the wilderness. It was not that the wilderness was hard to find, it began on the outskirts of Fairbanks, what was hard was getting there. You could not just drive your four wheel drive truck off the road as I had done everywhere I had ever lived before. This was a land of "muskeg" and very wet, so wet, that anywhere you went you needed a set of hip waders. The only choice was to "fly in" in a small "bush plane", which was extremely expensive considering all the provisions we had acquired for living and building in the bush. Needless to say, we did not get to live the bush life that we had envisioned. Circumstances, in the form of a dog breaking his leg as soon as we arrived at our destination, and the awe inspiring aloneness of true wilderness, were enough to insure that we were on the same plane back to Fairbanks. We had learned the hard way that we were ill suited for what we had attempted. Having had our dreams dashed, we decided to make the best of a bad situation. The first thing that I needed to do was find work. All of the information that we had from Alaska had said that, if you planned to move here, make sure you had a job secured before you came. Jobs were very scarce in those days, but I was fortunate, in that, I had a trade that was very much in demand at that time. I was a "Glazier" by trade, and no, that does not mean that I put icing on cake, I was a glass worker. I landed a job at the first place that I went to, making about twice as much as I had ever made in my life. I worked at that job for a year and then was able to open my own shop with a partner. The Trans Alaska Pipeline was in full swing at that time and I was able to get in on the "ground floor", so-to-speak. My small company was able to secure some very lucrative bids on glass work for the pipeline camps. We did all of the heavy equipment glass work from just south of Fairbanks, all the way to Prudhoe Bay, on the North Slope. I had also bid and secured a contract to supply glass and screens for Ft. Wainwright, which was just outside of Fairbanks. In 1976 I became a Christian and sold my interest in the company to my partner. Selling all our possessions, we bought a fifth wheel trailer and prepared to leave for Texas to attend a Bible college. Upon returning to Alaska we again set up housekeeping and I soon started another glass company. It was hard to get started because of lack of finances, but Alaska is very forgiving in this respect and after about a year things started to come together. The new company was called: Interior Glass Services, "interior" because we resided in the interior of Alaska. Fairbanks was in the middle of a building boom and our little company grew by leaps and bounds, until we were the major supplier of windows, doors, and glass in Fairbanks. We also built the first thermopane mfg. plant in Fairbanks, and produced the first triple pane windows seen here. We attended a small country church, called Two Rivers Baptist Church, where I had become a Christian. It is located in the small community of Two Rivers, about 25 miles outside of Fairbanks. As the years went by I continued serving in the church in different capacities. Being a lay preacher, I filled in for the pastor whenever he was not there. I also taught adult Sunday School as well as filling in for area pastors in their absence, and preaching at special meetings. These pages are by no means complete and I will probably be working on them for quite some time. Stop back whenever you get a chance and see what is new. Alaska has been very good to me and with these pages I hope to share some of what life here has meant to me. It will also give you a candid look at my life here, as well as introduce you to my Alaska. From the beginning I was captivated by the splendor of this great land, both scenic and animal. I hope you enjoy it.
The author is a member of
Copyright 2004
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