newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — The ArcticCam provides an image of Fairbanks to people all over the place.

To be exact, the boundaries of this window on the world are rather limited. The Big I on the right, Immaculate Conception Church on the left and a parking lot in the middle.

The ArcticCam is a Web camera that has looked out at the scene in front of the News-Miner for a decade or so, drawing fans around the world who check in occasionally or hourly by computer to see what might be happening in the parking lot.

The site allows computer users to make comments. During its early years, the brown Dodge van parked illegally across the street figured in hundreds of online comments because it happened to be in view. It wasn’t exactly Candid Camera material.

Recently, the little Christmas tree in the News-Miner parking lot, set up for the enjoyment of ArcticCam viewers, has served as a far north Christmas card for people sitting at computer screens in other states and nations.

At all times, the weather in Fairbanks, warm or cold, is a topic of interest.

One of the most positive developments related to the camera is the growth of an online community of people first brought together by their interest in checking what can be seen from the camera stationed on the second floor newsroom office of the News-Miner.

The “ArcticCammers” or “ArcticCamsters” as some refer to themselves, treat each other with respect, sharing news in good times and bad. They don’t attack or ridicule each other. They exchange recipes, tips about Alaska and opinions about things they enjoy.

Even though most have never met in person, many have become friends.

This fall, a movement started within the community to send cards and letters to the News-Miner thanking the paper for the ArcticCam.

A bulletin board here is now covered with about 75 heartfelt cards and letters that show the ArcticCam is not a dumb gimmick, which is what I thought it would be at the start.

This ever-changing image of a mundane parking lot has forged new connections among people who would have never known each other. In one sense, the ArcticCam is like peeking through a keyhole. In another, it offers a chance to see distant shores, thanks to the people who participate.

The most distant viewer was a researcher in Antarctica, while a regular viewer from New Zealand sent a postcard of the mountain in her backyard.

Karin Bridges, who looks in on this slice of Fairbanks from Germany, said she has met wonderful people through the ArcticCam and the Web site is “a wonderful place to be.”

Virginia Ouellette of Maine has been a frequent electronic guest since she lost her grandson is a car accident two years ago. She said it “makes me feel close to my family in Anderson,” and she likes the chance to talk to people about Alaska.

I grew up just a few miles from Coopersburg, Pa., the metropolis from which Janet Tremer sent a “grateful hello.”

“It was a special day, the day I discovered the ArcticCam. Every day I log on makes it another special day,” she said.

Joyce, who lives in Largo, Fla., hasn’t seen snow in 30 years, “So I get to imagine what it’s like by watching the ArcticCam.”

L.G. Mason of Georgia has a son at Fort Wainwright, so she checks the site for a “little daily connection with him, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.”

Ben Nelson was stationed at Whittier with the U.S. Army in 1957-58 and remembers Alaska. “We enjoy being able to look into ‘your world,’” he said.

Sandra, who lives in Wales, says, “The Cam community are such a friendly bunch of people from all over the globe, it’s like one big family.”

The Hamilton family decided to move to Fairbanks in 2005, but financial issues have held them back. Still, the three humans and seven huskies expect to finally make the move in 2009. They have found the ArcticCam community to be a good source for networking and information about Alaska.

Terri, who is from New Jersey, told of a pilgrimage to the News-Miner parking lot this past summer to sit in front of the ArcticCam viewfinder.

“Maybe you remember me — one of the two blondes that sat in the newly painted guard rail last summer,” she wrote. “Thanks for the use of the ladies’ room.”