Common Ground: Peculiarity of Patrick’s method

Photo courtesy of Christine Cunningham.
Patrick and William show off part of their ice-fishing catch.

By Christine Cunningham, for the Redoubt Reporter

The chances of catching fish were very, very small that day. So small, it was safe to say it could not be done. Not by me. According to my calculations, determined by faithfully logging all of my fishing occasions in a weather-resistant journal, then entering the data into fields in a database, which could be manipulated to determine patterns of success or failure, a fish could not be caught when the wind came out of the east.

Still, my nephews wanted to go fishing, and it wasn’t my fault that they picked a day with an easterly wind. Fishing parents often have contingency plans for the inevitable problem of disinterest. Plenty of snacks and a Plan B — sledding or ice skating, for instance. Under no circumstances was the Plan B to include matches or fire-building, their mothers told me.

“Not after last time.”

Since last time, all plans required clearance, so my Plan B was to bring hot chocolate. I forgot the hot chocolate.

Luckily, my 8-year-old nephew, Patrick, had only one plan. Within seconds of arriving at the lake he dropped his line down one of the holes I’d drilled. Before his dad could comment on the weather or his cousin, 9-year-old William, could choose a lure from the tackle box, Patrick was fighting his first fish. I tested the wind direction. It hadn’t changed.

Hoops head to state

Soldotna senior guard Kaillee Skjold takes control of the rebound during the Stars’ game against the Palmer Moose on Thursday at the 2013 Northern Lights Conference Tournament at Soldotna High School.

Four Kenai Peninsula schools qualified to advance to the state basketball tournament in Anchorage next week following regional tournaments recently, including the Peninsula Conference tourney in Anchorage two weeks ago and the Southcentral Conference tourney last weekend in Seward. The Northern Lights Conference Tournament was held last weekend in Soldotna.

First-round matchups include:

• Cook Inlet Academy girls versus Buckland on March 16 in the Class 1A tournament.
• Seward boys versus Bethel on March 21 in the 3A tournament.
• Seward girls versus Barrow on March 21 in the 3A tournament.
• Nikolaevsk girls versus Yakutat on March 16 in the Class 1A tournament.

Photos by Robert DeBerry/Frontiersman.com. To see more photos from the weekend tournament visit www.frontiersman.com and check out the galleries.

Colony’s Audrey Michaleson, left, and Sarah Brumbaugh, right, battle Soldotna’s Katelynn Kerkvliet, center, for the rebound during a Saturday game at the 2013 Northern Lights Conference Tournament in Soldotna.

Soldotna Stars’ Preston Penrod and Wasilla’s Isaiah Dawkins scramble after the ball during the weekend’s quarterfinal match at the 2013 Northern Lights Conference Tournament in Soldotna.

 

 

Love is in the airwaves!

See it, hear it, love it with the Redoubt Reporter and KSRM

Let loved ones know you care. Love Lines will be shared on the air on Valentine’s Day on KSRM stations. Following are some of the Love Lines messages submitted to the Redoubt Reporter and KSRM:

To: Brian — You mean so much to me and Amanda. Thanks for all you do. I love you. From: Suzanne

To: Steven Fickes — Steven, these last few weeks have been the toughest few weeks I have ever been through. Thank you for being my rock, for never complaining and helping me to be strong. I love you more than words can say. Happy Valentine’s Day. Love, Tami

To: Michael — OOOH! It’s a red light! Here’s to LOTS more red lights in our future!!! From: Rhonda

To: Jim Bass— I love you forever. From: Deb

To: Fred — I love you and couldn’t be more proud of my angel. Happy Hearts Day! From: Fred’s Mom

To: Vanessa Cordova — I love you baby girl! From: Daddy

To: John — Hey guttler! Thanks for working and bringing home the meatloaf! From: Carmen

To: Lorrene Forbes — We love you and are so grateful and proud you are our mom. Thank you and dad for everything you’ve done for us, and for the greatness that you are! Happy Valentine’s Day! From: Liam, Laura and Duncan

Magic movements — Skate great with correct skiing technique

Coach’s Corner — By Alan Boraas, for the Redoubt Reporter

The Seven Magic Movements of Cross-Country Skiing describe the posture, positions and movements that are key for efficient ski technique. The same basic skills of balance, core strength and good posture apply to both classic- and skate-style skiing. But the back-and-forth motion of classic skiing is different enough from the diagonal motion of skating to warrant separate sets of magic movements.

The first four of the following movements are the same regardless of skating technique, whether it’s V1 to get up hills, or V2 or V2 alternate to achieve speed on flatter terrain.

No paper this week — Merry Christmas

The Redoubt Reporter will return Jan. 2, 2013. Happy holidays.

Small town outlet for big city shopping — Kasilof boasts 1st outlet store

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

When it comes to shopping opportunities, big cities are usually assumed to be where the action is.

But in Kasilof, a town known more for its outdoor activities than retail opportunities, one store is attempting to buck that trend. This summer, the Kasilof Mercantile became an outlet store for the Alaskan Hardgear clothing line, making it the first outlet store on the Kenai Peninsula.

“We’re trying to stay competitive with New York, Paris and Milan,” joked Rocky Laster, co-owner of the Kasilof Mercantile.

Not to be confused with dollar stores or big box stores that offer discounted items, outlet stores are retailers of factory-direct, name-brand items. They sell this merchandise — typically overstocked items — for less than it would cost in a main store.

“None of this stuff has any kind of factory defect. It’s all perfect condition. It’s just models, sizes or colors they had an excess of, so it’s basically great-quality gear for half the price of what you’d pay retail,” Laster said.
There are few, if any, outlet stores in Alaska. Even in Anchorage, the first outlet mall — the 150,000 square foot “Outlets of Alaska” planned within the Dimond Center — isn’t due to be completed until fall 2013. Locally, the Mercantile is the first true outlet store, according to Laster, although it is tough to say for certain.

Get over yourself: Hell in a 737 basket

Editor’s note: The following is in no way endorsed by the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau and admittedly unfairly maligns a location that might — possibly, potentially, perhaps — not be as bad as it seems. Maybe.

By Jenny Neyman

Redoubt Reporter

Hell, as usually envisioned, is a nebulous, nefarious concept — its thermostat cranked to a degree above that required to deep fry a turkey, its location indistinguishable to even Google Maps. It is theoretically just out there, lurking somewhere on the metaphysical plane, presumably one very wrong turn way, way south of other unchartable locales, such as “over the rainbow,” easy street or funky town.

For me, hell is quite distinct. I can circle it on a map. It has its own zip code and three-digit phone prefix. There are street signs, a Starbucks and — somewhere in the vicinity of the Tongass Avenue McDonald’s — a nylon, neon green-and-hot-pink, Velcro-closure wallet with $30 that I lost on a basketball trip in the seventh grade. It’s on an island 235 miles south of Juneau and 667 miles north of Seattle. It rains there. A lot. An average of 229 days a year. It’s rarely warm enough to warrant sandals, much less to scald the feet of the poor souls who reside there, presumably cast out from more pleasant territory, such as Bangladesh in the 1970s.

It’s Ketchikan.

To be fair, I don’t mean Ketchikan, the actual community, is hell. I’m sure it’s got its finer qualities. Like … . Well, I hear they’ve got an amphibious bus/boat tour of the harbor. And at one time there was a Ms. Pac-Man machine at the Super 8 hotel with a high score set by yours truly. Ray Troll lives there, so it can’t be all bad.

Clearly, my stance isn’t well researched. That’s because I haven’t voluntarily been there in well over 15 years. But I have been there, several times, in those years. Been exiled, is more like it.

Flying to any of the smaller communities in Southeast necessitates taking the “milk run” on Alaska Airlines, of which there is one northbound and one southbound flight daily. It’s a series of puddle jumps connecting the smaller islands equipped with airport terminals to the larger regional hubs.Ketchikan is the southernmost puddle to and from which you jump in Alaska. As such it’s the chunky dregs of the milk run, because if you end up there without booking it as your destination, then your travel plans have seriously soured.

Farm fame — Kenai’s Martin enters 4-H Hall of Fame

Photo courtesy of Diamond M Ranch. Carrol and JoAnne Martin, at left, lead a Progress Days parade in Soldotna. Martin was recently inducted to the national 4-H Hall of Fame.

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

From annually working the grill and meat-carving station during Industry Appreciation Day to putting up summer tourists at his family’s Diamond M Ranch, most folks are familiar with Carrol Martin’s smiling face, but some may not be aware of what an integral part Martin has played in the agricultural history of this area.

In an effort to recognize Martin for his many accomplishments, he was recently nominated for the National 4-H Hall of Fame. The 4-H judges board apparently agreed that his lifetime achievements and contributions were exemplary, as roughly a month ago Martin, along with only 15 others, was inducted at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Md.

“It’s amazing that I’m the only volunteer from the state of Alaska,” said Martin, in an attempt to draw attention to the numerous other talented 4-H volunteers he’s worked with across the Great Land.

As to the basis for the award, local 4-H agent Jason Floyd detailed the reasons in his nomination letter, and the corresponding 1-inch-thick file of Martin’s accomplishments.

“Within his local community, 4-H district and state, Carrol continues to be widely recognized and counted among a short list of volunteers whose names are synonymous with citizenship, leadership, career accomplishment and character,” Floyd said. “The list of Carrol’s contributions to 4-H, his community and state are so numerous it would take several pages to scratch the surface of his qualifications for National 4-H Hall of Fame recognition.”

While Martin first came to Alaska in 1951 with his wife, JoAnne, and their still-growing family, his involvement in 4-H began long before that, back as a boy in Bayfield, Colo.

“My mother was in 4-H, I was in the full length of time as a senior, and I don’t think any of this would have happened had I not been involved in 4-H as a kid,” he said.

No paper this week, happy Thanksgiving!

The Redoubt Reporter will return Dec. 5. In the meantime, don’t forget to enter our Fall into Winter reader-submitted photo contest. Details here:

The Redoubt Reporter is holding another in its series of reader-submitted photo contests.

Photos will be judged and winners selected by a three-member panel. After each contest closes, we’ll publish and discuss some of our favorites in the Redoubt Reporter. Some of the selected photographers will be invited to frame and hang their photos at a Redoubt Reporter June 2013 group photo show scheduled at the Sterling Highway Kaladi Brothers coffee shop.

The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. Dec. 1, 2012. All submissions must be in high-quality digital format. Submit no more than five JPEG images by email to redoubtreporterphotos@gmail.com.

Entry rules:

1. Our theme is “Falling into winter on the Kenai” and submissions must fit this theme.

2. Entrants must be amateur photographers who are residents of the central Kenai Peninsula.

3. Photographs can be of any subject fitting the theme but must have been taken of the Kenai Peninsula on or after Aug. 1, 2012.

4. If you submit photographs in which people are recognizable, you must also provide us with their permission for us to publish any such photographs.

5. Please do not submit portrait photos. Do not submit photographs whose content would not be appropriate for publication in a family newspaper. Do not submit photos of illegal subject matter. All such photos will be deleted immediately without notice to you and at the sole discretion of the editor.

6. Photographers must include their name, telephone number, email address, town of residency and each photo’s date, location and description of subject matter.

7. Submitted JPEG images should be of the best possible technical quality. Good technique and technical quality are important, but originality, creativity, interesting subject matter, artistic merit and good composition are even more important.

8. By submitting photos, you agree to our publication of them in the Redoubt Reporter newspaper and on our website. The Redoubt Reporter will have the right of first publication of your photos. However, you will retain the copyright for all other purposes and your name will be listed if we publish any of your photos.

9. Our decisions about what’s published or selected for exhibition are final and are admittedly subjective. Space is limited, and the judging panel and editor reserve the right to choose photos at their discretion.

10. Retain your original digital files of all submitted images. We are not responsible for preserving copies of your digital images.

Plugged In: Photographer’s eye on the prize — avoid falling for photo fads

By Joe Kashi, for the Redoubt Reporter

Every art form, including photography, has a way of doubling back on itself, with nearly forgotten aesthetics popular 50 or 100 years ago suddenly “discovered” and hailed as a revolutionary new aesthetic by those who do not know photography’s history.

The current fad among academic and fine art photographers is usually stated as “narrative,” which basically means a documentary image that conveys a fairly direct and specific story through the inclusion of gobs of “context.” Constructed scenes intended to unmistakably convey a particular emotion seem particularly popular. That’s evident when browsing academic photography publications, like Aperture.

I personally find much current “fine art” photography to be too contrived, a self-conscious attempt to be “artistic” and do what painters have done better for centuries. Not uncommonly, forcing images results in photographs that are not inherently strong, striking or otherwise memorable. Such photos make little impression without a detailed verbal explanation of the photographer’s conceptual intent.

In fact, a lot of currently fashionable academic and published “fine art” photography reminds me of 1910s Pictorialism, which evolved into a type of popular imagery so obviously contrived in its storytelling that it stimulated its own backlash, the f/64 movement of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and others. The f/64 photographers emphasized intuitively and closely observing the world as it really was, seeing it more clearly than others, and then making technically excellent, visually appealing images.

Paper delivery delayed until Sept. 6

Due to a storm in Anchorage, delivery of the Sept. 5 Redoubt Reporter has been delayed until Thursday, Sept. 6. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause our readers.

Thy enemy, thyself

By Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter

There’s a smoke detector in my dishwasher.

In the cool-tempered, rational, non-middle-of-a-sleepless-night light of day, I can concede that that’s not the best place for it. Kind of like a 4-year-old can agree, after enduring forceps in their nasal cavity during a trip to the emergency room, that, no, pennies don’t belong up their nose. But at the time, when the pennies are there and impulse control is not, their nose seemed like a perfectly acceptable place to stuff them.

For me, the time was about 3 a.m. Saturday. I was in bed, ordering myself to fall asleep (a tactic which never works, but one to which I seem faithfully committed) despite the shrill, metronomic beeping of my bedroom smoke detector.

I am not an idiot (despite evidence, in this case, to the contrary). I knew why the thing was beeping — the battery was out of juice. And I knew how to make it stop beeping — replace the battery.

I knew at the first, ear-drum-piercing chirp I should have gotten up and fixed it, even though that would have meant navigating in the dark through the gauntlet of a basket of laundry I haven’t folded and the sneakers I didn’t bother to put by the door, going to the garage, muscling the giant, broken dresser I haven’t gotten around to fixing out of the way of the catch-all bins I’ve been meaning to organize, to rifle through for a D battery which isn’t there because I haven’t yet fulfilled that section of my months-old shopping list.

I’m not lazy, exactly (the preceding run-on sentence to the contrary). I just tend to defer action until absolutely necessary. In my head, this tendency seems perfectly reasonable. Efficient, even. Why do something until it absolutely needs to be done, when there are plenty of other things needing more-immediate attention?