Sound career — Kenai’s Henderson retires on high note after 43 years

Photo by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. Retired Principal Dale Sandahl, who hired Henderson in 1971, drew laughs and tears during a tribute to Henderson at her final KCHS Pops Concert this spring.

By Jenny Neyman

Redoubt Reporter

As successful as the Kenai Central High School choir has been under Renee Henderson’s direction, the obvious assumption, looking back over her 43 years teaching in Kenai — in an auditorium named in her honor while she was still using it, no less — is that the highest notes of her career would have something to do with the staggering array of accolades earned by her choirs over those years.

Perhaps regarding the scores of her students who have not only been accepted to the honor choir at the borough and state level, but the All-Northwest and All-National honor ensembles, as well. Or the esteem of having her touring choirs distinguish themselves at international competitions among much better-known groups from much bigger schools, and being able to perform in grand, historic and exotic cathedrals, concert halls and other distinguished venues internationally.

Her office, one would think, would have been papered with awards, plaques and other such mementos of achievement. Her favorite students would be the ones with elite singing abilities. Her primary impetus in passing the 30-, then 40-year career mark before finally retiring this year would be to maintain her choir program’s sterling reputation.

That all would certainly be understandable as Henderson’s motivation to keep teaching so long that her last class could have been the grandkids of her first, and that her current school principal was born the year she started teaching.

But none of it is the case. Henderson’s choir has indeed achieved an impressive array of recognition for excellence over the years, but those honors aren’t even mentioned when she’s asked about the proudest achievements of her career. Her office was certainly papered, but with not with awards — rather, with school portraits, graduation announcements, notes, artwork and other mementos from her students.

And those students? About 17,000 in Kenai since 1971. Some that have stood out the most for her were the ones with the best voices and most natural musical ability, but that relationship is coincidental. Just like the side effect of her career is accolades, of which she’s happier for the recognition for her students than herself. It’s an outgrowth of why she’s done what she’s done, not the purpose behind it. A vocal flourish, rather than the foundational melody.

It all starts on one simple note — Henderson likes kids who like to sing, even if they strike the wrong chords along the way or can’t seem to find any of the right ones to start with. If they’ve got drive and are willing to try and hit the right notes — whether that be in choir or life in general — she’s willing to push them, and herself, to the limit and beyond to make sure they tune in to whatever melody is in their hearts.

Photo courtesy of Debbie Boyle. Renee Henderson lowered the baton on her 43-year teaching career in Kenai this spring, spending decades as the director of the well-regarded Kenai Central High School Choir.

“She has a way of enticing excellence out of students that they didn’t know they had, or maybe questioned having,” said Mary McCubbins-Holt, KCHS class of 1990. “She’s a constant source of encouragement and appreciation for people wanting to sing. It doesn’t even matter how well they sing. If they want to sing, she wants them to sing,”

Henderson is as hard pressed to name a favorite song as she is to pick a favorite memory of her career. There are just too many of each.

“Millions — millions of memories. I couldn’t begin to choose,” she said. “I just have had so much joy in my life it’s unfair. I’m pretty blessed.”

KPC history flagged for remembrance — College readies 50-year anniversary time capsule

Photos by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Gary Turner, current director of Kenai Peninsula College, reads the original telegram approving the decision made to found the school on July 1, 1964, during a ceremony July 1, 2014.

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

The story of the beginning of Kenai Peninsula College could easily be an example of the butterfly effect, as the hard work of founding director, Clayton Brockel, has resulted in significant changes to the educational landscape of the Kenai Peninsula since the college’s inception 50 years ago far beyond the impact of just one man.

In an effort to commemorate the founding of the school on July 1, 1964, and to honor the dedication of the recently deceased Brockel, a small ceremony was held July 1 by KPC staff. The college raised a U.S. flag presented to the school by Brockel’s wife, Jean, which was given to Brockel when he was discharged from the Navy after World War II.

“The flag will be lowered at 8 a.m., July 2, and will be placed in the KPC time capsule with instructions for the flag to be flown again on July 1, 2064, to honor our 100th anniversary and our founder,” said current KPC Director Gary Turner, on the day of the event.

Gone but not forgotten is a phrase often applied to the departed, but in Brockel’s case the saying exceeds the cliché, as his legacy will endure for years to come, according to Turner.

“It’s one thing to be a college director, but not too many people are college founders,” he said. “And creating KPC was no easy thing. There was a lot of controversy over locations, struggles for funding and getting the word out, which Clay did by traveling from Hope to Homer at a time when there wasn’t much of a road to speak of.”

Alan Boraas, professor of anthropology at KPC, has taught at the college since 1973 and has seen his share of directors, and said that Brockel was in a class of his own. And unlike more modern college planners, Brockel had no 20- to 30-year development plan to follow in the inception and growth of the college. He just cannonballed into the idea.

Jean Brockel flips through the first copy of a new book, “Keeping the Fire Burning: A 50-Year History of KPC,” which is presently being printed as part of the college system’s 50th anniversary celebration.

“(Brockel) did this before feasibility studies and long-range planning. It was a time when people said, ‘We should do this,’ so they did,” Boraas said.

Brockel did it well, too, Boraas said, wheedling money for the college when it was needed without antagonizing the other educational institutions or the legislators that were often competing for those same funds.

It wasn’t easy, said Brockel’s wife, Jean, herself a former KPC adjunct instructor. She remembers a lot of times of strife, especially during the early years.

“There were a lot of down times, when he felt like he was banging his head against the wall with the usual bureaucratic stuff,” she said. “But in his mind, the potential was always there for something, and that that something would be good. Clayton was a true believer in education and believed it was the key to anything and everything.”

Boraas remembers Brockel driving around in “Ol’ Blue,” his 1963 Chevy Biscayne, to do college business.

“Clayton had a unique style,” Boraas said. “We didn’t have a lot of meetings. He’d drive — not just with me, but with others — and he’d think and talk one on one while driving.”

Brewing a can-do attitude — Alaska’s craft beer makers expand portable options

Photo courtesy of Elaine Howell, Kenai River Brewing Co. in Soldotna is partnering with Midnight Sun Brewing Co. to offer variety six-packs.

By Bill Howell, for the Redoubt Reporter

Summertime in Alaska means time spent outdoors. No doubt it’s the long, cold months of winter that give us all such an appreciation for being able to get out and enjoy the beautiful outdoors during the short months when we can do so. And if you’re like me, you appreciate the outdoors even more when you’ve got a beer in your hand!

This desire to be able to easily enjoy craft beers in remote or difficult places is one of the driving forces behind the continuing growth in the number of beers being offered in cans by the craft breweries of Alaska. Forget the reputation that cans had decades ago, for holding cheap, metallic-tasting beer. Today’s cans are fully lined, so that the contents never contact the can itself, and provide much better protection from light and oxygen (the two big enemies of beer freshness) to the beer inside than even the best bottle. If you add the fact that cans are unbreakable, easily recyclable and much lighter than glass, it becomes easy to see why cans are so popular with Alaskans on their hiking, camping and boating adventures. There’s nothing like a broken beer bottle in the bottom of the boat to put a damper on the fun of fishing.

Moving into canning represents a significant capital investment for a craft brewery. Besides the expense of the canning machine itself, the typical minimum can order is in the neighborhood of 144,000 cans, enough to fill a semitrailer. Since cans typically come with their labels printed on them, a given production run can only be used for one beer — unlike bottles, which only require that a different label be attached when shifting between beers. The commitment involved in purchasing (and storing) that many containers for a single beer is quite daunting for a small brewing operation.

Yet cans are so clearly superior, especially in Alaska, that more and more of our local craft brewers are taking the plunge. By my count, there are currently six different breweries in our state — Denali Brewing Co., Broken Tooth Brewing Co., Midnight Sun Brewing Co., King Street Brewing Co., Alaskan Brewing Co. and our very own Kenai River Brewing Co. — that are already canning their beers, with a seventh, Baranof Island Brewing Co., only waiting on the delivery of its cans so it can start.