In the summers University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Summer Sessions hosts a series of conversations. It’s called “Tall Timbers” and salutes Fairbanks residents who have made an indelible mark on the community. One of the people tapped this past summer is Terry Reichardt. Over the years she has contributed to Fairbanks in a number of ways. She is a master gardener and teaches classes through the UAF Cooperative Extension Service. Her faith life also led her to social justice issues, including the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and helping to start and then run Love Inc., now called Helping Alaska.

Dr. Gary Laursen was one of the guest speakers at last month’s Fairbanks Fungi Fest. Laursen taught biology and mycology for decades at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He’s traveled the world studying fungi and leads the High Latitude Mycological Research Institute. He has also authored a number of books, including Alaska’s Mushrooms: a Wide Ranging Guide. Laursen says he wants to correct the low regard many people hold about a group of organisms that lies between plants and animals.

I first met Avis Wanda McClinton on-line. Three times a week a small group of people gather via Zoom and sit in silence and then share concerns and thoughts. For anyone familiar with the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, that practice will sound familiar. Avis, who is an African-American Quaker, lives near Philadelphia, PA. Over the months, Avis shared her project, 339 Manumissions and Beyond. She seeks to identify slaves owned by Quakers and find their descendants. Her story prompted Alaska Quakers to invite Avis to speak at their Yearly Meeting earlier this month.

Olivia Hill’s memoir Travel North Black Girl examines her past in Kansas City and her time in a small Native Village on Prince William Sound. Hill lived in Fairbanks for more than a decade and studied at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Fairbanks author and columnist David James profiled Hill here, and reviewed her memoir here. My thanks to David for suggesting this podcast.

Fairbanks roads are clearing of ice and snow. That means you’ll find growing numbers of bicyclists pedaling alone or in packs around town and in the hills. Summer is bike season, but Simon Rakower, my guest today, and some other hard-core cyclists made a name for themselves by transforming the mountain bike into a vehicle that could handle winter and Alaska’s snow-packed trails: We know it now as a fat bike. Simon is something of a bike guru offering repair classes through the University of Alaska Fairsbanks’ Osher Life Long Learning Institute and Summer Sessions, and he serves as a consultant to the school’s Green Bikes program,

Rev. Dr. Anna Frank photo: University of Alaska Fairbanks

My guest this episode has a long and distinguished life and career. Anna Frank was born and raised in Old Minto. At 15, she left the village for Fairbanks and a 57 year-long marriage with Richard Frank. In 1975, after raising their four children, she worked at creating the first health education department for Tanana Chiefs Conference. Her listening skills and engaging approach with people prompted TCC to train her in counseling. Those skills also attracted the attention of leaders in the Episcopal church, where Anna was ordained: first as a deacon, later as a priest – the first native woman Episcopal priest in Alaska. In 2019, the University of Alaska Fairbanks bestowed on Rev. Frank an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree. Our conversation was recorded last summer as part of UAF Summer Sessions’ Tall Timber series.

March is a busy time at the Birch Hill Recreation Area. This week sees the USSA Cross Country Ski Junior National Championships play out. Then later this month, the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks hosts the annual Sonot Kkaazoot, a home-grown equinox event that celebrates springtime’s growing light and warmer temperatures.

This episode I speak with NSCF’s head groomer Tom Helmers. Without the passion and hard work of Helmers and his crew none of the events would be possible.

Also, I dust off part of a conversation I had in 2016 with Bob Baker, who founded the Sonot Kkaazoot.

June Rogers was born in Alaska and raised in Fairbanks. Following school, she was an owner of a mechanical contracting company. But her passion, as you’ll hear, has always been music and the arts. Both behind the scenes and in front of audiences she has made an indelible mark, as her Governor’s Award bestowed from the Alaska State Council on the Arts makes clear.

Jo Heckman, photo by Jake Poole

Jo Heckman received two degrees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks: a BA and MBA in Business Administration. She forged a successful banking career in Alaska and, in fact, made history as our state’s first woman bank President and CEO. She was tapped by Governor Sean Parnell to serve on the University of Alaska Board of Regents. She’s now exploring the role food and produce play in Fairbanks.

This show is the second part of a look at the immigrant experience in Alaska and the U.S. It draws on two different conversations. I spoke with Linda Thai, who is an immigrant, but also a Fairbanks therapist and educator who helps trauma sufferers, in 2018. I spoke with historian and bibliographer Ron Inouye back in 2019. He’s the author of Alaska’s Japanese pioneers: faces, voices, stories: a synopsis of selected oral history transcripts.