Life

This is the 42-foot Aero Grand Commander, owned by Cordova Airlines, that crashed into Tustumena Lake in 1965. (Photo courtesy of the Galliett Family Collection)

The 2 most deadly years — Part 2

Records indicate that the two most deadly years for people on or near Tustumena Lake were 1965 and 1975

 

Nick Varney

Unhinged Alaska: A butthead named Baster

Time now for the Baster saga that took place a few years ago

 

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: Let’s give thanks…

Thanksgiving has come to mean “feast” in most people’s eyes.

 

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Minister’s Message: What must I do to inherit?

There’s no way God can say “no” to us if we look and act all the right ways. Right?

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Jane Fair (standing, wearing white hat) receives help with her life jacket from Ron Hauswald prior to the Fair and Hauswald families embarking on an August 1970 cruise with Phil Ames on Tustumena Lake. Although conditions were favorable at first, the group soon encountered a storm that forced them ashore. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)

The 2 most deadly years — Part 1

To newcomers, residents and longtime users, this place can seem like a paradise. But make no mistake: Tustumena Lake is a place also fraught with peril.

Jane Fair (standing, wearing white hat) receives help with her life jacket from Ron Hauswald prior to the Fair and Hauswald families embarking on an August 1970 cruise with Phil Ames on Tustumena Lake. Although conditions were favorable at first, the group soon encountered a storm that forced them ashore. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)
In 1954, David Nutter (right) and his younger half-brother Frank Gwartney were ready for their first day of school in Sitka. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)

Finding Mister Nutter — Part 6

Chasing down the facts about Warren Nutter was never going to be simple

In 1954, David Nutter (right) and his younger half-brother Frank Gwartney were ready for their first day of school in Sitka. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)
Mary Nissen speaks at the first Kenai Peninsula history conference held at Kenai Central High School on Nov. 7-8, 1974, in Kenai, Alaska. Photo provided by Shana Loshbaugh

Remembering the Kenai Peninsula’s 1st history conference — Part 2

The 1974 event inspired the second Kenai Peninsula history conference, held in April, 2017

  • Nov 8, 2024
  • By Shana Loshbaugh For the Peninsula Clarion
  • LifeCommunity
Mary Nissen speaks at the first Kenai Peninsula history conference held at Kenai Central High School on Nov. 7-8, 1974, in Kenai, Alaska. Photo provided by Shana Loshbaugh
Photo provided by Shana Loshbaugh Dena’ina writer, translator and ethnographer Peter Kalifornsky speaks at the first Kenai Peninsula history conference held at Kenai Central High School on Nov. 7-8, 1974.

Remembering the Kenai Peninsula’s 1st history conference — Part 1

Kenai Peninsula history gathering 50 years ago remains relevant and rousing

Photo provided by Shana Loshbaugh Dena’ina writer, translator and ethnographer Peter Kalifornsky speaks at the first Kenai Peninsula history conference held at Kenai Central High School on Nov. 7-8, 1974.
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Minister’s Message: My upstairs or your upstairs?

The question challenges us to consider our own eternal destination and relationship with Jesus

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This photograph shows hunter/trapper Warren Melville Nutter near the lake at the foot of what was almost certainly Skilak Glacier, circa late 1930s. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)

Finding Mister Nutter — Part 5

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Warren Melville Nutter spent the final 32 years of his life on the Kenai Peninsula, working mainly as a trapper, a mail carrier… Continue reading

This photograph shows hunter/trapper Warren Melville Nutter near the lake at the foot of what was almost certainly Skilak Glacier, circa late 1930s. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)
This photo of Warren Melville Nutter, holding a dead juvenile bald eagle that he shot for the bounty, appeared in the May 1938 edition of The Alaska Sportsman Magazine. The photo was probably taken near the mouth of Hidden Creek on Skilak Lake.

Finding Mister Nutter — Part 4

Nutter had two trap-line cabins

This photo of Warren Melville Nutter, holding a dead juvenile bald eagle that he shot for the bounty, appeared in the May 1938 edition of The Alaska Sportsman Magazine. The photo was probably taken near the mouth of Hidden Creek on Skilak Lake.
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Minister’s Message: Being able to hear God

We need to open our eyes, and listen deeply to how God is speaking to us

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This is a display of some of the hunting items that Warren Melville Nutter carried when he moved to Alaska in the summer of 1930. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)

Finding Mister Nutter — Part 3

For the first 40 years of his life, most of Nutter’s experiences fit neatly into two categories: “Education” and “Military.”

This is a display of some of the hunting items that Warren Melville Nutter carried when he moved to Alaska in the summer of 1930. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)
Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: It’s a rank choice

In a little more than three weeks we will be voting again for state and national legislators and for president

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
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Minister’s Message: Experiments in faith

Here’s the experiment: resist the suspicion that prayer is just a bunch of empty religious talk

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Gilbert Witt, pictured here in about 1930, was the troubled first husband of Muriel Grunert, who later married Warren Melville Nutter. (Public photo from ancestry.com)

Finding Mister Nutter — Part 2

Warren Melville Nutter — known by many residents of the Kenai Peninsula as “William” or “Bill” — came to Alaska in 1930

Gilbert Witt, pictured here in about 1930, was the troubled first husband of Muriel Grunert, who later married Warren Melville Nutter. (Public photo from ancestry.com)
In the Hope Cemetery, the grave marker for Warren Melville Nutter contains errors in his birth year and his age. The illustration, however, captures his adventurous spirit. (Photo courtesy of findagrave.com)

Finding Mister Nutter — Part 1

It turned out that there were at least four other Nutters on the Kenai in the first half of the 20th century

In the Hope Cemetery, the grave marker for Warren Melville Nutter contains errors in his birth year and his age. The illustration, however, captures his adventurous spirit. (Photo courtesy of findagrave.com)
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Minister’s Message: How to stop ‘stinking thinking’ and experience true life

Breaking free from “stinking thinking” requires an intentional shift in who or what we allow to control our thoughts

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Baisden family dog, Tug, is photographed in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy Rhonda Baisden)

Opinion: Ode to a good boy

The reality of saying goodbye hit us like a freight train

Baisden family dog, Tug, is photographed in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy Rhonda Baisden)
During the brief time (1933-34) that Bob Huttle (right) spent on Tustumena Lake, he documented a tremendous number of structures and described many of the people he met there. One of the men he traveled with frequently was John “Frenchy” Cannon (left), seen here at the Upper Bear Creek Cabin. (Photo courtesy of the Robert Huttle Collection)

Cosmopolitan Tustumena — Part 2

Many individuals came to and departed from the Tustumena scene

During the brief time (1933-34) that Bob Huttle (right) spent on Tustumena Lake, he documented a tremendous number of structures and described many of the people he met there. One of the men he traveled with frequently was John “Frenchy” Cannon (left), seen here at the Upper Bear Creek Cabin. (Photo courtesy of the Robert Huttle Collection)