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NORTH POLE -- Some people look at North Pole and see a sleepy little town with not much happening. I look at it and see a place that is constantly evolving, changing and improving. Just when a person thinks things have settled down, something exciting happens.

In this case, it’s the recent announcement that Fairbanks Racing Lions is planning to purchase Bradley Sky-Ranch. At one point, the city considered such a purchase, but that didn’t come to fruition.

Purchase of the land will be the first step to building a motor sports complex. If their plans come to pass, the 63-acre parcel will be home to a paved quarter-mile drag strip, a paved road course and an off-road vehicle track. The complex also is suitable for driver education purposes as well as emergency vehicle training and cold weather testing.

“Construction of the facilities is between two and three years away,” said Jamie Bodenstadt, Fairbanks Racing Lions’ president.

For pilots — especially newbies like I once was — Bradley Sky-Ranch has always been a safe, easily accessible strip with little traffic for practicing touch-and-gos. Bodenstadt assures the flying public that they will still have access to the airstrip.

“Airplanes will still have a home at the field, and the pavement would be an added benefit to pilots who currently use the airfield,” he said.

Stay tuned as I find out more details.

North Pole

Street Nationals

The Fairbanks Racing Lions are jumping into the North Pole racing scene with all four tires next weekend when the group hosts the North Pole Street Nationals on Sept. 6-7.

While the event is free to the public, the group is asking for a $5 donation from fans who would like to visit the pit area and see the cars up close. The Top Eliminator class from Anchorage will be here to participate.

The high-speed cars will break in the newly paved Richardson Highway in front of Forbes Square between the overpasses. Because of limited space for spectator vehicles, parking will be available at the North Pole Mall and both North Pole schools with bus transportation provided by First Student to the race site from the parking areas. Bodenstadt said there are some bleachers, but spectators might want to bring a lawn chair to ensure they have a place to sit. Registration will start at 8 a.m., with time trials at 10 a.m. The races begin at 2 p.m.

For more information on either the purchase of Bradley Sky-Ranch or the North Pole Street Nationals, contact Jamie Bodenstadt at 456-2483 or akgrizzly@gci.net. Or visit www.fairbanksracinglions.org/

First Friday coming soon

One of my highlights each month is writing about the featured artist whose work will be appearing at the North Pole Art Society First Friday event. The pair who will be showing their work at this Friday’s showing are a little difficult to write about. But I might as well just spit it out.

I’m going to be the featured artist and my granddaughter, Kiana McCrackin, who is a fabulous photographer, is sharing the show with me. A lot of people don’t know I’ve been painting as long as I’ve been writing, which goes back to about the time I was old enough to hold a pencil or crayon.

I’ve always been a bit of a scatterbrain, which might explain why I’ve never really settled on one medium. I do it all — oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels and pen and ink. Sometimes, I take deep dives into “modern” art or impressionism, and other times, I strive for total realism. I’m much the same with subject matter — portraits, landscapes, wildlife, flowers or, sometimes, paintings that reveal something like chaos.

Throughout the years, I’ve had a couple of solo shows in Montana, a few in Fairbanks and this is my second show for the North Pole Art Society, which is totally non-threatening since I sit on the board of this group, and I hang out a lot with members.

But, let’s get to the better half of the show. My granddaughter, Kiana, is 17, and until last year, was an Alaskan.

Until last year, she lived at her parents’ place at Harding Lake and attended Lathrop High School. Last year, she moved to Seattle with her family to help with their new store, Once Upon a Time on Queen Anne, which is a delightful toy store and a baby clothes store.

Kiana is a brilliant photographer and specializes in black and white photos of people.

More often than not, she has a big heavy old-fashioned Nikon hanging around her neck, and she spends hours in the darkroom she has set up with the help of a very encouraging photography teacher at her high school in Seattle.

She has had her work shown in restaurants and in shows and, most recently, was invited to participate in an advanced photography class that has been very inspirational. She is considering ways to make photography a career after college. I don’t think I’m being prejudiced when I say her photographs are amazing. She captures more than just images of people, but also their emotions and inner beings. It can take her hours to set the perfect scene for a perfect photograph.

The North Pole Art Society’s September First Friday Show is Friday from 4:30-9 p.m. at the North Pole Grange. The artist reception is from 6:30-8:30 p.m. To get to the Grange, follow signs off Santa Claus Lane.

Dinner show

Also Friday at the Grange, starting at 5:30 p.m., members of that organization are putting on a ham dinner. It’s North Pole’s version of dinner and a movie but, in this case, it’s dinner, paintings and photography.

Santa’s Seniors activities

Santa’s Seniors, probably the most active group in North Pole, is planning a Labor Day celebration to help defray anticipated fuel costs for the center.

According to Pat Thurman, at $5.75 a gallon for fuel, it costs $1.22 an hour, $29.24 a day and $10,672 a year to run the Senior Center.

“Like the rest of us, the Senior Center will be struggling to keep up with raising utility costs,” Thurman said, adding that several fundraising events have been planned for September and October. “Some of them are new ventures and others old friends,” she said.

Included in the Labor Day event will be a pancake feed from 8-10 a.m., a bake sale, items for sale at the center’s craft shop and a “bazaar/collectable/de-stashing opportunity.”

Inside tables are $25 for nonmembers; $15 for members. Outside tables (bring your own) are $15 for nonmembers and $10 for members. For more information or to reserve a table, call the center at 488-4663 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Jan’s computer problems

My computer is having a nervous breakdown. If you try this week to get something to me for this column and don’t get a response, please call me at home at 488-9116.

Very punny joke

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: “Does this taste funny to you?”