newsminer.com

It’s safe to say that the three people to be recognized today at the Golden Citizens’ Luncheon at Pioneer Park have helped build Alaska.

The three people in question are Helen Atkinson and Con Frank of Fairbanks and Robert Charlie of Minto.

Helen is an engineer, a journalist and an accomplished artist who has been a pioneer in Alaska since she graduated from the University of Alaska in 1936 as the first woman to earn a degree in civil engineering. In 2005, for her 90th birthday, New Horizons Gallery displayed 36 of her watercolors.

Her husband, Con, is a civil engineer who served in World War II and arrived in Fairbanks on July 16, 1946. He also studied at the university and worked as a city engineer. He became one of the principals in the local construction company that drew its name from the first letters of the five original partners — Geraghty, Heflinger, Erickson, Marlin and Mitchell.

Con began as an engineer and estimator for Ghemm Co. and rose through the ranks to become chairman of the board. Ghemm Co. has completed more than 700 projects across Alaska. At 86, Con still goes to work every day.

The third honoree, Robert, worked for the Alaska Railroad on river steamers, raised a family in Tanacross and became a water treatment plant operator on jobs that took him from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay.

He set up the Cultural Heritage and Education Institute in Fairbanks and the Old Minto Cultural Heritage Camp, spreading knowledge of Athabascan culture and fighting alcoholism.

The 11 a.m. luncheon, under the big tent at Pioneer Park, is free to senior citizens. Karen Parr, another prominent Fairbanksan, will be the guest speaker. Mike Powers of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital will be the master of ceremonies.

The 9th Army’s Dixieland Band will perform and the Miss WEIO pageant contestants are to appear.

RSVP to the Chamber of Commerce at 452-1105 before 10:30 this morning to see if there are any tickets left.

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WEIO: The finals of the Eskimo Stick Pull are scheduled this morning at the Carlson Center, followed by the high kick preliminaries and other events ranging from the baby contest to the men’s blanket toss.

Admission is free for the daytime events and $10 for the evening performances, which start at 6.

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THEATRICAL: The melodrama titled “Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder?” will take place in the borough and News-Miner tent at Pioneer Park this evening as part of the Golden Days drama night.

Before that happens, there will be performances by the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre, the Sweet Adelines, the Greatland Sounds and Bob Miller, starting at 5 p.m.

The “actors” hoodwinked into participating in the 7:45 p.m. melodrama include: Terri Babers, Tammy Tragis-McCook, Rhonda Klees, Butch Stein, Jill Thorvald, John Lubben, Bob Miller, Rocky Barnette, Shelley McCool, Charlie Cannon, Michelle Maynor, Chelsey Kuester, Jim Childerston, Amanda Blanchard, Jessica Snedden, Bryn McElroy and director Mike Downing.

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INTERESTING: From the Exxon court filing explaining its objection to paying interest on its $507.5 million judgment: “There is no reason to penalize Exxon by awarding another $488 million in damages when the substantial delay here was not in any sense Exxon’s fault, but was caused by plaintiffs’ insistence” on appealing the rulings that said the penalty should be reduced.

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TOWN MEETING: Reps. David Guttenberg and Scott Kawasaki and Sen. Joe Thomas plan to hold a town meeting on energy relief proposals Friday from 3-5 p.m. at the Legislative Information Office.

The office is in the Alaska USA Federal Credit Union building near Seekins Ford.

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GOLF TOURNEY: The Interior Democrats are looking for teams for a golf tourney Friday, with registration at 5 p.m. at the North Star Golf Course.

Guest caddies include John Brown, Joe Paskvan, Corey Allen, Darryl Lewis, Patrick Lee, Rick Boyles, Adam Baxter, Karl Kassel, Joe Hayes and Nadine Winters.

Call Valerie Therrien at 456-8113 for more.

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COOK INLET GAS: Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker, responding to Attorney General Talis Colberg about the Cook Inlet gas pricing dispute, repeated his assertion that the state is advocating an unconstitutional position.

“Your letter suggests that your office has taken, at most, a purely advisory role with regard to the pricing of Cook Inlet natural gas,” Whitaker wrote Wednesday.

He said the borough also challenges a regulation that prohibits the export of royalty gas from Cook Inlet unless there is a finding that it doesn’t disrupt use of the gas in the Anchorage area.

“This regulation clearly does not maximize the return on the state’s royalty gas,” he said.

Whitaker said that as long as there is “positive movement toward a more equal distribution of the state’s energy resources, we remain committed to working with the administration and legislators on remedying the disparate impact that Alaska’s energy crisis has on the Interior.”