Tressa Dale / Peninsula Clarion
Feta and Parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes, carrot, yellow bell pepper, asparagus, purple potatoes, beets and white button mushrooms form into a rainbow with a cheesy heart on focaccia bread.

On the strawberry patch: Colorful food for a colorful world

Rainbow vegetables adorn this colorful focaccia canvas.

Tressa Dale / Peninsula Clarion
Feta and Parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes, carrot, yellow bell pepper, asparagus, purple potatoes, beets and white button mushrooms form into a rainbow with a cheesy heart on focaccia bread.
Nick Varney (file)

Unhinged Alaska: Pondering a new car

I’m a 6-foot-2 hunk of meat who barely fits into the passenger side of her rig unless I fold up like an accordion.

Nick Varney (file)
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)
A fried egg, crushed seaweed paper, green onions and sesame seeds top this classic Korean kimchi dish. (Photo by Tress Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

On the strawberry patch: A meal to change your life

Kimchi fried rice a taste features the most iconic of Korean staples.

A fried egg, crushed seaweed paper, green onions and sesame seeds top this classic Korean kimchi dish. (Photo by Tress Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
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
  • Community
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.
On Saturday, May 15, 2021, Lulu Hawkins, age 6 holds up her pottery tour purchase: a David Kaufmann mug at his studio in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by David Kaufman)

Homer pottery tour returns

After a year hiatus, Homer’s annual Pottery Studio Tour returned to bring fun, beauty and education to ceramic enthusiasts May 15-16. With five studios participating… Continue reading

On Saturday, May 15, 2021, Lulu Hawkins, age 6 holds up her pottery tour purchase: a David Kaufmann mug at his studio in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by David Kaufman)
Alaska Primavera is a classic springtime pasta dish that features fresh foraged fiddleheads. Photographed on Sunday, May 23, 2021. (Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

On the strawberry patch: Alaska primavera

Fresh fiddleheads add an Alaska twist to this pasta classic.

Alaska Primavera is a classic springtime pasta dish that features fresh foraged fiddleheads. Photographed on Sunday, May 23, 2021. (Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
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)
Kids enjoy homemade popsicles on May 16, 2021. (Photo courtesy Tressa Dale)

On the Strawberry Patch: Make memories of summer

Popsicles are easy as can be and can even be a great way to sneak in some nutrition if you’ve got picky eaters.

Kids enjoy homemade popsicles on May 16, 2021. (Photo courtesy Tressa Dale)
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 screenshot from the Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference website shows the faculty who will be attending the conference, held virtually May 15-18. From left to right, top row, are Francisco Cantu, Victoria Chang, Ernestine Hayes, and Brandon Hobson. From left to right, bottom row, are Anis Mojgani, Marie Mutsuki Mockett and Vera Starbard.

Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference includes readings for the public

After hiatus, annual event back as program transitions out of pandemic

This screenshot from the Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference website shows the faculty who will be attending the conference, held virtually May 15-18. From left to right, top row, are Francisco Cantu, Victoria Chang, Ernestine Hayes, and Brandon Hobson. From left to right, bottom row, are Anis Mojgani, Marie Mutsuki Mockett and Vera Starbard.
Alex Rydlinski holds one of his pieces in an Instagram photo from July 18, 2020. (Alex Rydlinski)
Alex Rydlinski holds one of his pieces in an Instagram photo from July 18, 2020. (Alex Rydlinski)

Art Guild welcomes self-taught artist as new executive director

Originally from Fairbanks, Rydlinski was looking for a place “off the grid”

Alex Rydlinski holds one of his pieces in an Instagram photo from July 18, 2020. (Alex Rydlinski)
Alex Rydlinski holds one of his pieces in an Instagram photo from July 18, 2020. (Alex Rydlinski)
Foreground, from left to right: Kenai Middle School seventh grader Cooper Tallent-Darling and eighth grader Gavin Hunt perform as their “Lion King” characters, Simba and Mufasa, while the rest of the cast acts in the background. The school drama department recorded and filmed a rendition of the Disney movie and premiered it in May 2021. (Photo provided by Kenai Middle School drama)
Foreground, from left to right: Kenai Middle School seventh grader Cooper Tallent-Darling and eighth grader Gavin Hunt perform as their “Lion King” characters, Simba and Mufasa, while the rest of the cast acts in the background. The school drama department recorded and filmed a rendition of the Disney movie and premiered it in May 2021. (Photo provided by Kenai Middle School drama)
Sierra Moskios is the coordinator for the REC Room. Moskios recently received an Alaska Afterschool Superhero award for her dedication to the youth of Homer. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Moskios earns Alaska Afterschool Superhero award

Sierra Moskios earned the Alaska Afterschool Superhero award for her dedication to Homer youth.

Sierra Moskios is the coordinator for the REC Room. Moskios recently received an Alaska Afterschool Superhero award for her dedication to the youth of Homer. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
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)