Life

This is an early promotional photo of Merrill Mael, an enthusiastic Anchorage radio personality with a Hollywood background. Mael was hired by the Central Kenai Peninsula Hospital Association as its hospital project manager in the fall of 1963. (Photo from www.theradiohistorian.org)

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 4)

Dr. Paul Isaak, Soldotna physician and a founder of the hospital project, believed that centrality of location was crucial.

This is an early promotional photo of Merrill Mael, an enthusiastic Anchorage radio personality with a Hollywood background. Mael was hired by the Central Kenai Peninsula Hospital Association as its hospital project manager in the fall of 1963. (Photo from www.theradiohistorian.org)
Will Morrow (courtesy)

The grass is getting greener

Summer on the Kenai Peninsula is short, and most of my tomorrows have already been spoken for.

  • May 31, 2021
  • By Will Morrow For the Peninsula Clarion
  • LifeCommunity
Will Morrow (courtesy)
Photo courtesy of Gloria Wisecarver Dr. Robert Struthers, Kenai’s third resident physician, and Kenai dentist Dr. Charles Bailie converse in Struthers’ office in Kenai in July 1966.

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 3)

All did not go as planned.

Photo courtesy of Gloria Wisecarver Dr. Robert Struthers, Kenai’s third resident physician, and Kenai dentist Dr. Charles Bailie converse in Struthers’ office in Kenai in July 1966.
Dr. Elmer Gaede, seen here leaning against the Soldotna medical clinic in the mid-1960s, joined the central peninsula medical establishment in July 1961. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede family)

Peninsula History: A hospital is born, slowly (Part 2)

Not far from upper Binkley Street in Soldotna in 1968 stood the unfinished shell of what central peninsula residents still hoped would one day become a hospital.

Dr. Elmer Gaede, seen here leaning against the Soldotna medical clinic in the mid-1960s, joined the central peninsula medical establishment in July 1961. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede family)
Meredith Harber (courtesy)

Minister’s Message: In each, God’s unique gifts

We are all parts of the body, supporting one another in different ways, with our different skills and gifts.

Meredith Harber (courtesy)
Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: Lost Treasures?

My hard drive is similar to the crawl space under the house.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
This dog team, loaded with mail, was en route between Moose Pass and Kenai, circa 1920s. (Photo courtesy of Jim Taylor.)

You’ve got mail, Kenai … eventually

Receiving mail a century ago in roadless Kenai, Alaska, was no easy matter.

This dog team, loaded with mail, was en route between Moose Pass and Kenai, circa 1920s. (Photo courtesy of Jim Taylor.)
Photo from the Culverson Collection, Anchorage Museum of History and Art The Jean Lake shelter cabin in this undated photo belonged originally to a homesteader who gave permission to the Alaska Road Commission to upgrade the structure and use it as part of the overland winter mail route in the early 20th century.

You’ll get mail, Kenai … eventually (Part 2)

This is second part of a two-part story about the early development of mail delivery in Kenai.

Photo from the Culverson Collection, Anchorage Museum of History and Art The Jean Lake shelter cabin in this undated photo belonged originally to a homesteader who gave permission to the Alaska Road Commission to upgrade the structure and use it as part of the overland winter mail route in the early 20th century.
Image courtesy Clark Fair In 1920, two years after the killings in Kenai, William Dawson had a new business partner, Emil Berg. When they witnessed this bill of sale, both men signed their names to the document.

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 7

This is the seventh and final installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918.

Image courtesy Clark Fair In 1920, two years after the killings in Kenai, William Dawson had a new business partner, Emil Berg. When they witnessed this bill of sale, both men signed their names to the document.
The Brunswick pin setter at the Sky Bowl in Soldotna in June 1960, when Tony Bordenelli set a world record for endurance bowling. (Cheechako News photographs courtesy of the KPC Anthropology Lab Archive)

Tony Bordenelli, the conquering kegler

In the end, he had bowled 1,008 straight games in 79 hours and 45 minutes.

The Brunswick pin setter at the Sky Bowl in Soldotna in June 1960, when Tony Bordenelli set a world record for endurance bowling. (Cheechako News photographs courtesy of the KPC Anthropology Lab Archive)
Part of the grave marker for Cleveland L. Magill. (Photo courtesy Clark Fair)

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 6

The sixth installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918.

Part of the grave marker for Cleveland L. Magill. (Photo courtesy Clark Fair)
This headline about the killings in Kenai appeared in the Cordova Daily Times four days after the incident.

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 5

The fifth installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918

This headline about the killings in Kenai appeared in the Cordova Daily Times four days after the incident.
Photo from the Kenai Historical Society Peter F. “Frenchy” Vian and William N. Dawson, co-owners of this store in Kenai, pose on the front porch, circa 1911-12. Vian was instrumental in helping to have Alex Ryan imprisoned in 1908.

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 4

This is the fourth installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918.

Photo from the Kenai Historical Society Peter F. “Frenchy” Vian and William N. Dawson, co-owners of this store in Kenai, pose on the front porch, circa 1911-12. Vian was instrumental in helping to have Alex Ryan imprisoned in 1908.
Photo from “Once Upon the Kenai” William N. Dawson chats with Captain Rose, of the S.S. Tyonic, in front of Dawson’s Kenai store in 1915.

Exerting Control in Old Kenai — Part 2

The second installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918.

Photo from “Once Upon the Kenai” William N. Dawson chats with Captain Rose, of the S.S. Tyonic, in front of Dawson’s Kenai store in 1915.
Friends of Elmer Gaede effect repairs to the doctor’s Maule Rocket airplane, which crashed a short distance from Forest Lane between Soldotna and Sterling on Aug. 2, 1967. The airplane was eventually made “fly-able” again and was sold in the early 1970s. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede Collection)

Dr. Gaede drops in, Part 2

By Clark Fair For the Peninsula Clarion Author’s note: This is Part Two of a three-part story of an airplane crash more than a half-century… Continue reading

Friends of Elmer Gaede effect repairs to the doctor’s Maule Rocket airplane, which crashed a short distance from Forest Lane between Soldotna and Sterling on Aug. 2, 1967. The airplane was eventually made “fly-able” again and was sold in the early 1970s. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede Collection)
White men and women in Kenai tended to congregate with people like themselves. This typical outing, in Kasilof, includes (far left, back row) Hans P. Nielsen, superintendent of the Agricultural Experiment Station. (Photo from the Alaska Digital Archives)

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 3

This is the third installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918.

White men and women in Kenai tended to congregate with people like themselves. This typical outing, in Kasilof, includes (far left, back row) Hans P. Nielsen, superintendent of the Agricultural Experiment Station. (Photo from the Alaska Digital Archives)
A few days after surviving an Aug. 2, 1967, crash in this single-engine Maule Rocket, Dane Parks poses near the front end of the wreckage. (Photo courtesy

Dr. Gaede drops in, Part 3

This is Part Three of a three-part story of an airplane crash more than a half-century ago.

A few days after surviving an Aug. 2, 1967, crash in this single-engine Maule Rocket, Dane Parks poses near the front end of the wreckage. (Photo courtesy
In the early 1890s, one of the few men willing to stand up against the bullying and brutality of Alex Ryan was the Russian Orthodox priest, Father Alexander Yaroshevich. (Photo from the Alaska Digital Archives)

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 1

This is a complex tale of a changing Kenai and of four men — not just the two dead ones — and their perhaps inevitable fatal collision.

In the early 1890s, one of the few men willing to stand up against the bullying and brutality of Alex Ryan was the Russian Orthodox priest, Father Alexander Yaroshevich. (Photo from the Alaska Digital Archives)
Four-year-old Lowell Fair indicates the backseat of the Fair family stationwagon during a 1972 photo-op set up by his father. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)

Sometimes you just gotta laugh

This is the story of one of my favorite family photographs.

Four-year-old Lowell Fair indicates the backseat of the Fair family stationwagon during a 1972 photo-op set up by his father. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)
Dr. Elmer Gaede relaxes at home a few weeks after his airplane crash. His facial hair and glasses hide much of his scarring. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede Collection)

Dr. Gaede drops in, Part 1

Part 1 of a three-part story of a single-engine airplane crash more than a half-century ago.

Dr. Elmer Gaede relaxes at home a few weeks after his airplane crash. His facial hair and glasses hide much of his scarring. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede Collection)