Monthly Archives: May 2006

It’s taken almost a month to find answers to questions posed in an April 19 Delta News Web article.

Today Delta dairyman Paul Knopp called to say he thought the numbers of dairies in the Anchorage Daily News article was not correct.

Paul said Delta has three operating dairies. Knopp’s Dairy is milking about 90 head. The Fellman’s Dairy is now milking about 30 head. The third is Lintelman’s Northern Lights Dairy.
According to an email from Milan Shipka, a livestock specialist with the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, the Lintelman’s are milking about 50 – 60 cows.

Also in his email, sent this afternoon, Mr. Shipka stated, “The number in that report was incorrect. There are 5 dairies in Mat-Su (4 on Pt. Mac and 1 on Bogart Road). Those dairies plus the three you mentioned in Delta makes 8 total.”

The email continued, “What Wayne Brost told the reporter was that there were 2 dairy processors in the state, Northern Lights and Mat Maid.”

Paul said that two other Delta dairies, Jeffery McNabb’s and Neil Schenk’s, had ceased milking in the recent past.

Thanks to Paul Knopp and Milan Shipka, the errors in the Anchorage article have been corrected.

City of Delta Junction Landfill, Mile 257.2 Richardson Highway

Increased hours and reduced fees for Community Clean Up Day

On Saturday, May 20, 2006 the landfill will be open from 10:00 to 6:00PM.

Rates will be cut in half to 2 1/8¢ per pound, with a $5.00 minimum.

Contact City Hall @ 895-4656 or call the Landfill @ 895-1807

Delta/Greely Schools Graduation – May 19
Community Clean-Up This Saturday
Delta High School Prom ‘Unforgetable’
Delta Wind Increasing Sports Coverage

To veiw some of these topics see Delta News Web.
To read the entire paper, please stop by your local merchants in Delta for your copy of the Delta Wind.

I hope you are doing fine and I was glad to see some of you while I was home a few months ago. Today I’m heading out on tour with My band, Time Again, for 5 weeks in support of our debut release on Hellcat Records. Our cd was relased in stores on April 25th and I’m not sure if it’s available in Alaska yet, but you can find it here . just search for Time Again and if any of you are going to be in the states this summer chek out or website for a list of tour dates. My E-mail is and feel free to send me some mail any time. It would be cool to hear from you. I hope you all are doing great and I’ll have some pictures for you soon.

Ryan Purucker

The FGS Student Council will be sponsoring an 8th grade celebration on Thursday, May 25th from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the city park. Cheeseburgers and hot dogs will be provided; family and friends are encouraged to attend. Guests are asked to bring a beverage, side dish, bag of chips, or dessert.

Janet Boyer’s weekly Daily News-Miner column details happenings that make Delta a fun place to live.

The biggest event was last weekend’s Run for Life. It shows a strong community spirit that’s Delta’s trademark.

On the other hand, having a buffalo burger at the Buffalo Center Drive-In is a distinction unique to Delta Junction.

Read Janet’s News-Miner columns and enjoy her work on the Delta Wind community newspaper.

As reported in Wednesday’s Anchorage Daily News, Christopher Pryce was wounded Sunday while in his apartment.

Each year, law enforcement officers from communities all over Alaska join people from all walks of life in what has become one of the most successful fund-raising events ever — the Alaska Law Enforcement Torch Run and Pledge Drive for Special Olympics Alaska.

The fun run is a great way for families and neighbors to get out and stretch their legs, get some fresh air and support training and competition programs for more than one thousand Alaskan athletes with intellectual disabilities.

On May 20, 2006, 5K family fun runs will kick off in 17 communities — Anchorage, Barrow, Delta Junction, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Klawock, Kodiak, Kotzebue, Mat-Su Valley (Palmer/Wasilla), Nome, Seward, Sitka and Valdez.

The pdf file flyer for the event lists Delta Junction Law Enforcement Sgt. Tim Tuckwood (State Troopers), 895-4800, tim_tuckwood@dps.state.ak.us as a contact for the run. The run in Delta will start at the Delta Junction Visitor Center at Mile 266 Richardson Highway.

Delta’s Sam Tappen will compete in the in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Alaska School Activities Association State Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at West Valley High School. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

The 45-day public comment period for written comments on the Eddy Drop Zone Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) ends May 18, 2006. That is the last day to submit comments to the Army.

For more information visit Delta’s city hall or city library. Much information on SDEIS is found on the following Web sites: City of Delta Junction or USAG-AK Environmental Impact Statements.

Alaska Travel Industry Association projects a nearly 3 percent increase in summer visitors.

“Even gas-guzzling RVs are not expected to stay away.” According to an Anchorage RV park operator, “High gas prices probably won’t keep visitors away. Travel executives say many visitors plan and budget for their northern odyssey years in advance.” (This AP News article was published in the Anchorage Daily News)

Former Delta resident Judith A. Carpenter, 65, passed away peacefully at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital on May 2, 2006. (Originally published in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, May 16, 2006.)

As reported in the Alaska Journal of Commerce, Alaska’s DOT is planning to conduct a study looking into whether there is discrimination in contracting for state-funded highway projects.

The results will affect how Alaska issues contracts to certified disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program contractors. In addition to DOT, this may also affect how 28 other communities and organizations issue contracts for road construction projects.

According to the latest listing of DBE firms on the DOT&PF Web site, Delta has at least two certified DBE contractors. (The listing of DBE firms is in a pdf file under – DBE Directory Part 2 – DBE Firms.)

Alaska is a beautiful place, and I wouldn’t live anywhere else, but the arrival of the annual spring mud bog always complicates my barn chores. It’s grueling enough to have to master the sports of long distance swimming and a professional mud wrestling just to reach the barn alive, but this year the paranormal activity among my livestock has been giving me additional stress. Let me elucidate.

I have 20 acres, 13 acres of which is field. A field just doesn’t look right without a crop growing in it or livestock grazing on it, so I naively decided to acquire a horse and a few goats. The really spooky part is that a month ago I had exactly 4 goats—a tidy, manageable quantity. Today I have 7, but by the time this column goes to press, the size of my herd may very well have exploded exponentially.

To read the complete article see the Delta News Web.

This will be the last week Fort Greely School will offer Homework Club this school year (Thursday, May 18). Thank you Mrs. Finney, Mrs. Sloan, Mrs. Sonnichsen, and Mrs. Morris for your efforts! We look forward to offering Homework Club again next year.

Brian J. Schaffer/Principal, Fort Greely School

Photo Courtesy Ruby Hollembaek

The 1st Relay for Life, and American Cancer Society event was held at the Delta High School track field on May 12 and 13. This was a 24 hour event, and there were over 750 participants. The American Cancer Society set a projected goal of $20,000 for this area, and according to Sharon Waldo on Monday, they have over $58,000 and are still counting. If you would still like to donate money for this cause, you can still turn money into Sharon Waldo or Terry Detzel at the school.

The Delta News Web will be publishing other photos of the event as we receive them.

Saturday at West Valley, the Delta boys track and field team gained 42 points to place third in the Region VI Track and Field Championships. Lathrop was the meet winner and West Valley took second place. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Saturday, Eielson’s Ravens traveled to Delta Junction and posted 15-0 and 21-5 wins over the Huskies. This stretched the Ravens winning streak to four games and improved to 4-3 on the season with victories in Delta.

Read more details in Sunday’s News-Miner.

West Valley’s Wolfpack girls team dominated the Region VI Track and Field Championships Saturday with 266 points. Lathrop was second with 91 points, while the Huskies totaled 18 points.

The teams were getting ready for the state championships this coming weekend in Fairbanks. The names of all the state qualifiers will be published later as the Alaska School Activities Association compiles results from the five regional meets. For more details read the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The Delta Junction Huskies girls rallied to beat Eielson 5-4 in eight innings in the first game of a high school softball doubleheader on Saturday before the Ravens bounced back to win the second game 11-7 on the strength of a five-run seventh inning. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Delta resident Vasiliy Kolosov, 57, died recently at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage. A funeral will be at noon Sunday at the community center in Delta Junction. The Rev. Slavika Kulekovskiy will officiate. (Anchorage Daily News)

Friday three Delta Huskies qualified for today’s Region VI Track and Field Championships finals at West Valley High School.

The three Huskies will compete against twelve finalists from Lathrop and twelve from West Valley. Also in competition are eight qualifiers from Eielson, and one each from North Pole and Hutchison. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Buffalo Wallow’s 27th annual event and the 40th Alaska State Square and Round Dance will be at the Delta High School on the last weekend in May. From Friday through Sunday, square dancers from across the state, Canada and other locations will enjoy Delta Junction’s hospitality.

As announced in the Alaska-Yukon Square & Round Dancing Web site, the Wallow and Festival will be followed by another dance in Fairbanks. “Santa’s Square Dancers After The Wallow Dance” will be at the Pioneer Park dance hall Monday evening. Flyers with full details for both events are available as pdf files on the Web site.

Looks like the last weekend in May is a great time for Delta to shine!

Tim Mowry writes interesting outdoors articles in the News-Miner. They give a great feeling of being Alaskan.

In a recent float trip down the Delta Clearwater, he and his 11 companions enjoyed some special adventures many Deltoids know. Tim’s many “maybes…” describe a big part of what this reporter misses about living in Delta Junction.

Including… “Maybe it’s stopping at the Buffalo Center Diner … to chow down on cheeseburgers and french fries…”

Anchorage’s weekly newspaper, Petroleum News, headlined the release of Alaska Highway airborne geophysical data and maps.

Alaska’s Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DDGS) announced the release of new electromagnetic data. Under the Web title “Alaska Highway geophysics“, the press release defines data in the Alaska Highway corridor covered by Big Delta, Mt. Hayes, Tanacross, and Nabesna quadrangles. This 3,045 square miles is from Delta Junction to the Canadian border.

According to the DDGS Press Release, the data is, “… designed to maximize information of the near-surface materials, such as sand and gravel resources, conductive overburden, and location of potential geologic hazards, such as permafrost.” (Note from this reporter… That’s how government reports are written.)

The Frontier Days Costume Contest is on Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 2 PM behind the Sullivan Roadhouse.

We are also lookin’ for characters dressed as a prospector, a 49′er, a cowboy, a cowgirl, an old timer, a lady and also an award for the best Athabascan regalia.

Contact Dawn at 895-5068.

In this week’s featured Carefree Gourmet article, Joyce is sharing her sentiments on graduation, and is also featuring a few of the recipes from the graduates themselves.

I’ve know Lana Green, Michele Helkenn and Melissa Jackson since they were tiny tots who regularly brought their moms to Story Hour at the Delta Library. I am stunned at how fast the years have flown by and can’t believe that these incredible young women are poised to fly the nest and go on to college in a few short months. I have no doubt they will be successful in everything they do. I’m not sure who is getting older faster, but I’ve seen all four of them lately and they aren’t the ones with gray hairs coming in thick and fast!

Click here to read the entire Graduation Gourmet Article

Janet Boyer’s latest Fairbanks Daily News-Miner column contains more good info about this weekend’s big event. The Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, has all sorts of fun activities planned in Delta. Janet’s column adds details to the Schedule of Events published earlier today in the Delta News Web.

Boyer’s lead topic focuses on the ongoing negotiation concerns raised by the city of Delta Junction regarding two proposed Army training ranges just south of the city.

Delta folks can go online and comment on Gov. Murkowski draft contract until June 24. The state has created the Alaska Gas Pipeline Web site with details of the draft contract. Local residents can also provide input in person at a public meeting in Delta Junction’s library on Wednesday, May 24.

For more details read the articles in the Fairbanks newspaper or the Anchorage Daily News.

Delta Junction’s Huskies baseball team lost another tough game Wednesday evening. The Lathrop High Malemutes only allowed Delta one run while hammering in 13 runs in the shortened 5-inning game. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

An Ordinance Approving a Memorandum of Agreement with U.S. Army Alaska and Providing for an Effective Date, is an agenda topic at the Tuesday, May 16, 2006 City Council meeting. A noise demonstration is scheduled for 4:00PM, Tuesday, May 16. The public is encouraged to participate and provide comments to City officials. Please contact City Hall (895-4656) for more information.”

Visit the City website to view the information.

We have a few more snapshots for our local readers to enjoy. Thank you for submitting your photos. It’s a great way to keep up with your classmates and those in the community. For enlargments of photos and text see our alumni page.

Gary Schoening took the time and entered the Alaska Interior Game Ranch slogan contest.
Both his and Lisa Labaska’s slogan were combined to create the slogan, “Where quality is game.” We loved it.

Gary drove out to the ranch on the 10th of May to receive his portion of the wild game meat that was the prize. He got bison burger, smoky dogs & reindeer steak. Thank you Gary for using your creative side and helping us out! Gary hails from Cody, Wyoming and I thought he looked right at home in front of the 2 year old and yearling bison.

Lisa will be out to receive her prize soon as we are waiting for fertilizing to end and will take a tour of the cow/calf herd then.

Submitted by Ruby Hollembaek of Alamasu Inc.

Some of the headlines in the Delta Wind this week:

Chugach eliminates 49 positions at Greely
Cith Schules hearing on Eddy DZ
Board offers Greely school prinicipal new contract
Relay for Life offers a variety of activities

And much, much more. Pick up your copy today.