Spirit

“The symbolic empty sleds for Janes and Dippold will go first, followed by today’s patrollers and the alumni patrollers,” said Bob Janes’ son Bill, as skiers of all ages came from Ptarmigan and Black Bear lifts to join the crowd at the top of Easy Bowl on Eaglecrest’s east side.

Bill Janes used a bull horn to address them.

“Both were patrollers, one for over 50 years, one for just under 50 years,” he said.

Dippold died in January at the age of 78; Janes passed away in March at age 92. They started volunteering with the National Ski Patrol at the old Douglas Ski Bowl called Third cabin near Dan Moller trail. It was replaced by Eaglecrest in 1975, which is now owned by the city and borough of Juneau.  A lot of community toil has gone into the ski area, and Janes reminded the crowd of several others who had been part of building it.

“Think about all the old timers, the Pittmans, the Tom Stewarts, Sig Olson, many others that I have not thought of that have left us already,” Janes said.

Pittman’s Ridge at Eaglecrest is named for Tom Pittman, who skied at Third Cabin along with Tom Stewart and Sig Olson. Stewart was secretary of Alaska’s constitutional convention and a superior court judge; Olson, a wildlife biologist. In World War II, Stewart and Olson were members of the skiing infantry of the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army. Both died in 2008.

“And think about, too,” Janes said, “those that have left us far too early, the Bill Tugmans, the Helen Davies, Peter Barretts and Matt Brakels.  They also deserve our attention on this run.”

Bill Tugman taught skiing at Eaglecrest in the 1980s and died in a boating accident in 1987. Snowboarder and professional photographer Peter Barrett died in 2005 in a kayaking accident off North Douglas.  Skier, snowboarder and ski race coach Matt Brakel died in 1999 in an avalanche on Mt. McGinnis. Avid skier and CBJ accountant Helen Davies died of cancer in 2011.

Davies’ husband and Eaglecrest Director of Snow Safety Brian Davies started the procession with the two empty sleds, followed by current and former patrol members. More than 200 other skiers followed, including members of the Janes’ and Dippold families.

Most of the skiers were friends who had known these gentlemen for decades, some for just a few years; all were a part of the community ski area that fosters loyal users.

The slow procession seemed a fitting end to the 38th season at Eaglecrest.

Janes came to Alaska with the US. Forest Service. A celebration of his life will be held on April 20th. Dippold worked for the Forest Service and was a Southeast Region Director for the American Red Cross. A celebration of his life is May 31.

The church still smells a bit smoky, but thanks to members, Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts, the result of a fire at Chapel by the Lake has been mostly cleaned up.

“It could have been much, much, much worse,” says the Rev. Matt Royston.

He’s thankful the fire didn’t spread beyond the pulpit and a liturgical cloth. The pulpit was built by church members Elwood Reddekopp and Martin Johnson in the early 1970s for the main sanctuary.

Damage is estimated between $3,000 and $5,000. Royston says much of that cost will be cleanup.

“We sponsor the Boy Scout Troop 6 and Cub Scout Pack 6 here at the church and they showed up in force to help us clean up the sanctuary.  It was just wonderful that they did that,” he says.

Royston credits a Goldbelt Security officer for finding the fire at the Auke Lake church.  About 3 a.m. Tuesday, he saw lights on and entered the building. The heavy smell of smoke led him to the sanctuary and the smoldering pulpit. He called the fire department and put out the fire with an extinguisher.

Then he went next door to the parsonage and woke up Royston. Neither the family nor their dogs had heard anything. No fire alarm went off and the smoke did not reach the detectors in the high-ceilinged sanctuary.

“The fire appeared to be burning itself out.  It didn’t get hot enough to consume the pulpit,” Royston says.

Fire Marshal Dan Jager says the fire is suspicious, because investigators have not been able to find a heat source, or where the fire started. But he says it’s too early to call it arson.

“When you label it arson that’s a very specific case, that’s a very specific crime, and we don’t have anything right now saying absolutely it was an arson,” Jager says. “Not to minimize the incident, but to kind of emphasize that we don’t want to go mislabeling things, which could have an impact down the road with court proceedings or other legal issues.”

The building was locked at the time of the fire and the point of entry is not clear.

Juneau police investigators also consider the fire suspicious, but Lt. Dave Campbell says they have no suspects.

“There’s things that we look at. Obviously we do a premises check. We canvass the area inside and outside.  We look for things that are odd.  You know, ways we might be able to tie people to the incident. You talk to the people that found it, try to determine the window of when it occurred,” Campbell says.

Fire Marshal Jager says investigators hope the public might be able to fill in some of the gaps in information about the fire.

The public has been a huge help on fires in the past and we would really hope they would step forward if they have anything.

Church activities have not been interrupted since the small fire.

As for a pulpit for Sunday’s services?  Pastor Royston says a music stand will work just fine.

Longtime Juneau resident Robert C. Janes, well-known for his love of skiing and the mountains, has died at the age of 92.

Always known as Bob, he passed away on March 21 at the Juneau Pioneers’ Home.

Janes came to Alaska in 1965 with the U.S. Forest Service, in what he thought would be another three-year stint with the agency. Instead, he chose to stay in Juneau and raise his family, all of whom still call the capital city their home.

His family writes in his obituary that Janes grew up on the beaches of California, but embraced the forests and snow of the mountains. When he came to Juneau, he worked to maintain  the 3rd Cabin rope tow and the snowcat  “Oola,” access to the Douglas Ski Bowl.  Janes was then deeply involved in the siting and planning of Eaglecrest, Juneau’s city-owned ski area.

He was a member and historian for the Juneau Ski Club, which supports and promotes ski racing. For decades he was a member of the Juneau Ski Patrol.

It’s only fitting, says son Bill Janes, that his father and another longtime ski patrol member Ron Dippold, who died in January, will be remembered by the Eaglecrest Ski Patrol on April 13, the last day of the season.

“They’re going to pull two empty sleds down, the symbolic last run.  It definitely has to recognize both of them, because they were such institutions with the Juneau Ski Patrol,” Bill Janes says.

He says the ceremonial run will be open to all skiers who want to remember Bob Janes and Ron Dippold.  It will begin at 3 p.m. at the top of Easy Bowl.

Bob Janes will be remembered in a celebration of life on April 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

The flag that flew above Alaska’s state capitol at the funeral of former lawmaker Elton Engstrom Jr. was presented Wednesday to his daughter, Juneau Rep. Cathy Munoz.

Anchorage Rep. Mike Hawker organized the ceremony and memorial for Engstrom, who passed away Nov.  6, 2013. By coincidence, the presentation was made on what would have been Engstrom’s 79^th birthday.

He represented Juneau as a Republican in the legislature from 1965 to 1971.

Munoz is from a long line of Alaska politicians. Her grandmother, Thelma Engstrom, and grandfather, Elton Engstrom Sr., were both elected to the Alaska Territorial Legislature. Then Engstrom Sr. served in the Senate just after statehood. His son was elected to the House in 1965 and to the Senate in 1967.

Munoz was only about a year old when her father ran for office, but she’s heard the stories for years. During a speech yesterday on the floor of the House, she related some of the history of those early years after statehood.

When he was elected in 1965, the budget for the entire state was $100 million. 

Munoz said her father was 30 when he was first elected to the legislature. He served among lawmakers who made legislative history as they helped build the new state, including Ted Stevens, Jay Hammond, Jay Kerttula, Clem Tillion, and Nick Begich. John Butrovich was Senate President at the time.

They were developing the Alaska Marine Highway system, the infrastructure; they were putting together the payroll system for the state, all of the nuts and bolts.  They were building the infrastructure of the communities.

At the same time, they were rebuilding much of Southcentral Alaska after the 1964 earthquake, and Fairbanks, after the 1967 flood.

And then in 1968, the political landscape completely turned upside down with the discovery of oil and an infusion of $900 million into the coffers overnight.  It was quite a change and my father was right in the middle of all of that change.

Munoz called Engstrom her mentor. After she was elected to the House in 2008, she said her father often slipped into the gallery of the House to watch special votes, but would never allow her to introduce him.

A bill to establish a Walter Soboleff Day in Alaska cleared a state House committee on Thursday, after lawmakers on the panel heard heartfelt testimony from the late Tlingit elder’s friends and family.

Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President Bill Martin recalled listening to Soboleff’s church services on the radio as a child growing up in Kake.

“His delivery was low key and his message was simple: Love your neighbor, for love is God,” Martin said.

Soboleff was the first Alaska Native minister in Juneau, at a time when the town was segregated. He became a cultural and spiritual leader in the community and statewide, impressing both Natives and non-Natives with his teachings.

Selina Everson with the Alaska Native Sisterhood said Soboleff meant everything to the Native community in Southeast Alaska.

“He performed marriages of our people. He gave comfort when there was sorrow. He stood by us. How else can we honor him?” Everson asked.

All four of Soboleff’s children testified before the House State Affairs Committee. Son Ross said his father always told him to feed his spirit.

“I think he fed the spirit of people from many walks of life,” Soboleff said. “In his church and in his service, and sometimes as chaplain at this legislature.”

House Bill 217 would establish Nov. 14 as Walter Soboleff Day in Alaska. That was the day he was born in 1908.  Soboleff died in 2011 at the age of 102.

“He truly was a towering figure in the Native community, statewide through the Alaska Federation of Natives, through the early Native civil rights movement,” said Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, prime sponsor of the legislation.

Kreiss-Tomkins envisions Soboleff Day as similar to Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, just celebrated on February 16th. It marks the day territorial Gov. Ernest Gruening signed the 1945 Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act, which Peratrovich championed.

“That’s noted in a lot of schools – the history of anti-discrimination legislation in the state or territory of Alaska,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “It’s really how groups, schools, institutions, choose to honor or observe the person and what the person represented.”

There’s recent precedent for the legislation. Last year, lawmakers created Jay Hammond Day to honor Alaska’s self-proclaimed “Bush Rat Governor.” In 2011, the legislature established Ted Stevens Day, honoring the state’s longtime U.S. Senator.

HB 217 has several co-sponsors, including every House member from Southeast Alaska. After the hearing, State Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, and Vice Chair Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla, said they would sign on, too.

Students and young athletes in Juneau are mourning the death of a popular coach and special education aide at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School.

Brandon Mahle was just 31 years old when he passed away unexpectedly on January 30th. He had a wife and two young daughters.

Mahle graduated from Juneau Douglas High School in 2001. He worked at Dzantik’i Heeni for nearly 10 years. He also coached a number of youth sports, including basketball, soccer, and football.

He was Director of Coaching for the Juneau Youth Football League, where he focused on improving player safety. He told KTOO this past fall that safer practices led more players to turn out for the league.

“We have four teams at our younger level, and we usually have three teams,” Mahle said. “Our flag football has over 75 kids, which is just incredible. So numbers have gone up, because kids feel like they can come out and play and they’ll be safe doing it.”

Dzantik’i Heeni Principal Molly Yerkes says Mahle’s commitment to kids will be missed.

“He worked with students who had very serious disabilities and he always was positive, always was looking for ways to help students and allow them to have a positive experience at school,” Yerkes said.

A community celebration for Brandon Mahle will be held Friday from 5-7:30 p.m. at Thunder Mountain High School. A private service for friends and family will be held on Saturday.

He is survived by his wife, Tiffany, and daughters Makenzie and Zoe, as well as his parents, three brothers, and his maternal grandfather.

Note: This story has been updated with comments from Molly Yerkes.