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Every year about this time, the Rotary puts together a great fundraiser with the enticing name “A Walk on the Wild Side.” The annual fundraiser is a halibut fry and silent auction to benefit Jimmy O’Connor Park. This year, the funds raised will go toward building a basketball court.

This year’s Walk on the Wild Side will be May 3 from 5-8 p.m. at the Refinery Lounge. Tickets are $15 for an individual and $40 for a family of four or fewer. Tickets are available from any North Pole Rotary member or from Pagoda Restaurant, Mt. McKinley Bank, State Farm Insurance Tammy Randolph Agency, North Star Volunteer Fire Department or at the Refinery Lounge.

One of the organizers, Jeri Wigdahl, said she would like to thank Refinery Lounge owners Paul and Georgiann Kannenberg and the Refinery Lounge staff for their continued support.

Wigdahl also said there will be some great baskets to be auctioned off, and it’s “a great opportunity to stock up on graduation gifts, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthday, anniversary, Christmas ... well, you get the gist.”

The Walk on the Wild Side is a family affair — despite taking place in North Pole’s favorite watering hole — and stems from several years back when Jimmy O’Connor owned the Refinery Lounge.

O’Connor was a huge fan of North Pole and the city’s residents. Known as “Big Jim” to many, the ex-football player had a heart as big as he was and was involved in all sorts of projects to enhance our little town.

About 1993, land at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Old Richardson Highway was donated by the Jack and Virginia Wright Family Foundation to the city under the condition that it be developed into something for youth. O’Connor jumped in to help make it happen. He had definite ideas as to what the park should be, with the number one criteria being to create a place where families could gather and watch their kids skateboard and ride bikes.

Unfortunately, Jimmy O’Connor died of a heart attack before he could see the park completed. His fellow Rotarians named the park in his honor.

Today, Jimmy O’Connor Park is still covered with snow, but come spring and summer it will be swarming with skateboarders honing their skills on the ramps and bikers doing the same on big mounds of dirt. The basketball court will be a grand addition to the popular park.

Taste of North Pole and UAF Day

Don’t forget that today is the popular Taste of North Pole and UAF Day at North Pole Plaza Mall. Bring your appetites — both intellectual and nutritional — and you’ll have a great time.

The Taste of North Pole features samples from local restaurants and takes place from noon to 2 p.m.

UAF Day, which features booths displaying all sorts of information about our university, will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition, there will be entertainment and door prizes.

Admission is $10, and all proceeds will go to the North Pole Boys and Girls Club.

Business news

Even though spring is supposed to have arrived, it hasn’t really sprung yet. Despite the unseasonable snow, North Pole is already humming with the sound of saws, hammers and road graders. The housing market might be down, but the North Pole business community certainly isn’t. The mayor and others have given me hints that big things are happening out here, but their lips are firmly sealed as far as any specifics. I guess I’ll have to be patient and watchful and maybe get a bigger shovel in order to get the full scoop.

In the meantime, I’ll tell you in future columns what I do know is happening in the North Pole area. And if you have information you’d like to include about your new business or changes to your existing business, let me know.

Pizza Hut upgrade

The most obvious slice of business news is happening with Pizza Hut on Santa Claus Lane. During the past weeks, we’ve all watched as the exterior undergoes a massive facelift, with the peak of the roof decked out with the traditional Pizza Hut roofline and a new front and side with lots of windows and nice curving arches.

I peeked my head in the door yesterday to try and find someone to talk to, and it was a wonderful scene. The entire inside has been pretty much gutted and is being modernized. It smelled of paint and newly-sawn wood and all those other smells that come with new construction. While I didn’t find anyone to talk to, I hope to do so this week and find out when they will reopen.

New math frustrates Grandma

OK, I have to confess I’m not too bright when it comes to anything mathematical. In grade school, my gifted areas were in doodling, daydreaming, recess and the Flutophone. Oh yeah, and lunch. I didn’t get the family math genes.

I remember when my little sister was in fifth grade for two reasons: It was the year I got married and it was the year my mother threatened to move herself into a home because of the New Math. Remember New Math? Well, I think New Math is now old math, and there’s a new New Math.

Because his other grandmother is in the hospital, I have been caring for my 7-year-old grandson Scott, aka Scooter. Last night, we spent an hour doing homework. The first page was fairly easy. “Three children are dividing up 18 pens. There are three pens in a package. How many packages will each child get?” By using coins, we quickly finished all the problems.

Then we looked at the second page. Uh oh.

“Hmmmm,” I said.

Scooter watched me, his head propped up with his arm.

“My mom didn’t get it either,” he said.

We read it out loud. According to the handout, this “trade-first” method is similar to traditional subtraction “except all the ‘regrouping’ or ‘borrowing’ is done before the problem is solved.” The sample showed “longs” and “cubes” and asked, “Are there enough tens and ones to remove exactly three tens and nine ones from 46?” Obviously not, stupid woman, because the next step was to trade one ten for 10 ones.

I read the homework sheet two more times and learned that we needed a number model for the estimate. Well, of course! Anyone would know that. I looked at Scooter. He just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. Big help he was. A number model. Now where on earth do you get that, I asked? From the cube or long? Scooter didn’t know. His mother didn’t know either, he said.

“Well, then, I have an idea,” I declared, folding the paper carefully. “Let’s shove this back in your backpack until your mom can figure it out. Right now we’ll just say we’re done with homework. OK? You want some ice cream?”

Forget about fifth graders. I’m not even as smart as a second grader.

And finally ...

“I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.” Quote by Groucho Marx.