newsminer.com

Geologist Dennis Southworth, who turns 57 today, won’t make it to a baseball game in Seattle this year.

But his friend Kathy Carrico isn’t giving up on the plan to raise money so he can travel to a Mariners game. Wait till next year, she says.

She plans to continue seeking donations from people who can help Dennis see his favorite sport in person.

The project is a challenging one, as I wrote here in May, because of Dennis’ condition.

A hardcore baseball fan, he lives at Denali Center because he is nearly paralyzed from the ravages of multiple sclerosis, a disease that began to destroy his ability to move about 15 years ago. He can talk in a whisper and move his head somewhat.

He loves baseball and watches every game he can on TV.

He came to Alaska in 1976, and after earning a master’s degree in geology from UAF, he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Mines for 19 years, traveling to remote locations throughout Alaska.

His thesis, a bound copy of which he has in his room, is a study of the “Geology of the Goodnews Bay Ultramafic Complex.”

Carrico said that since Dennis can not sit up in a regular wheelchair, he has to fly on a stretcher, and it seems the only option is to buy eight airline seats.

So to that end, she’s going to keep raising money, with hopes of sending him south next year.

His doctor says the trip is OK, and a nurse would accompany him to Seattle.

The transportation problem stems from his inability to sit in an airline seat because he has no muscle control.

Donations can be sent or dropped on at U.S. Travel for the Dennis Southworth Fund, Attn. Janelle, 29 College Road, Suite No. 1, Fairbanks, AK 99701.

For more information on the fund, call Janelle at 374-5337.

For more information on the fundraising effort, call Kathy at 347-2865 or e-mail her at tfairyt@mosquitonet.com.

In an account he dictated some time ago when communication was easier, Dennis said he has had bouts with depression, but he travels in his mind.

“To find peace, I use creative visualization to go to my ‘happy place’ in my mind,” he said.

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PAYING DIVIDENDS: The state gave Alaskans the option of declining the $1,200 energy rebate.

All told, two people from Anchorage, who are related, filed out the paperwork to say “Thanks, but no thanks.”

They won’t be getting the money next week, but most Alaskans will.

The size of the Permanent Fund Dividend for 2008 will be announced today at 10:30 a.m. by Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell and Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin.

The dividend is expected to be in the $2,000-$2,100 range, according to some estimates.

Added to that will be $1,200 from the state energy rebate proposed by the governor and approved this summer by the governor.

For a family of four, the total will be in the $12,000 range. Most Alaskans signed up for direct deposit, which will take place next Friday, an infusion of cash that will swell bank accounts by hundreds of millions.

Dividend recipients are the only ones eligible for the energy rebate.

The dividend last year was $1,654, and this year’s may be a record. The highest previous amount was $1,963.86 in 2000.

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GRAND OPENING: It’s been a long time getting the right ingredients together for Bobby’s Restaurant in its new location on Barnette Street, a former office and retail store that required a complete makeover.

The grand opening and blessing of Bobby’s is set for Saturday evening, featuring several hundred invited guests. The Rev. Michael Oleska is flying up from Anchorage for the event, said Bobby Nikolaides, who runs the operation along with his sister, Rena.

The restaurant opened on Fourth Avenue on June 2, three years after the old location across from the News-Miner closed.

Nikolaides, 42, has been in the restaurant business for 14 years in Canada and Alaska. His father, Dimitrios, is here from Vancouver for the event, which is by invitation only.

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SEARCHING: B.K. “Lynn” O’Neal, who knew two Alaskans when they lived for a year in the 1970s in Harrison, Ark., is trying to contact them.

O’Neal said she thinks that Cheryl Star and Cindy Wilkins moved back to Fairbanks after living with their grandmother for a year. She said she has been trying to get in touch with them for many years.

If one or both are still here, O’Neal can be reached in Harrison at (870) 743-1111.

Her address is Box 2613, Harrison, Ark., 72602.

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ANIMAL FUND: The annual garage sale to help the animal shelter is set for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at GBC Inc. at 3133 Davis Road, across from Jillian Square. All proceeds help the borough animal shelter fund.

For more information, call Mary Ann Fortune at 452-2081.