Wasn't aware that was who owned it. A few years after it shut down as the lounge (around '67 IIRC), I was looking into buying it and turning it into a nice home, as my next younger sister lived on Bodenburg Butte Rd. and we spent a lot of time in the area.. But the price was outrageous - around $27,000 :eek1 - so I passed on it. Your knees and back will tell you how old you are, believe me. :huh
Remember when Spenard and Anchorage each had their city limits signs by the corner of Northern Lights and Spenard Rd? And every time there was a heavy rain No. Lights would flood right about where the McDonalds is at NLB & Arctic Blvd.
Was the Bunn on the west side of the Spenard Road at the top of Romig Hill, where the road to WAHS split off before it relocated to the Northern Lights location? The Bunn made better milkshakes but Arctic Roadrunner made better burgers. I remember one evening in 65-66 going to the Sports Arena with Ken Edmiston of Anchorage Cycle Sales to enjoy watching him test a little ice racer he built using a Yamaha two-smoke single engine and something like 4" exhaust tubing for the frame backbone with the frame tube being the fuel tank. A fellow with the last name of Piescher (spelling may be off) was with too. He worked at Ken's shop part-time and was active duty at EAFB and later was transferred to a base in Taiwan IIRC, Ken built the third wheel frame for my Aermacchi/HD Sprint. Rode that every day to school. Loved pulling past spun out cars on any hill when the Chinooks blew in and it rained on top of the ice. I worked parts counter after school for Ken and assembled new bikes at his shop. Ran into him a few years back at a swap meet in Hillsboro, OR. Wintered in the Big Village '57-'90, summers were spent fishing the Bay til '98. Memories...Some day I'll get time off enough to ride back up and literally ride down the lanes of my memories. When that happens I'd be privileged if I met some of you. Joe
The Bunn was straight across N lights from Sears on the north side & ya, Ron Moore was the DJ, I made history there (a story I do not care to tell). And the boundary between Anch and Spenard ran through Cariboo's dept store (later Wards) and is now REI. They had the first escalator in town & we used to ride our bikes there just to ride the escalator. Half way up was a sign that said "Welcome to Spenard"... half way down the sign said "Welcome to Anchorage". REI took it out and put in the staircase.
Oh, you were one of those kids I used to see get off at the top just to run around and ride back down to the bottom so you could do it again. Durn kids, always getting in the way!
I wasn't far behind you KM summer of 71. Just last summer I found the original 1971 license plates from our car when we moved up here Iam having them transferred to my 71 vw bus. You can do that here if you have a car built the same year the plates were made and you have both plates I thought it would be cool to have them on my old vw.
but bought this beauty instead in 55.... my brother still lives there.[/QUOTE] And the propane tank was still there when I lived next door '91-'01. Barb
Cant say that I actually remember those particular signs. Spenard never was an actual city in any case. Maybe it could have been considered as an outlying district. I use the term district since one of my Grandfathers was instrumental in establishing the Spenard Utility District that had to do with getting electric power extended into Spenard.
Dave Piescher. I ran into him again on the USAF base motorcycle track in Okinawa in 1969. Got a photo from there of him somewhere. I cant remember the name of the guy that had the neat little Ducati 250 Scrambler. Do you know the guy Im thinkin of? I miss Kenney Edmiston. He was really a great guy.
Boundary running thru the middle of a store? Boundary signs by the escalator? Come on, Beezer, do you really expect us to believe a wild story like that?! Caribou's escalator. 3-19-61
I knew John Spearstead who might be one of the people in that photo. He was an older guy when I knew him as a friend of our family. In the early 1970's he lived in the 'hood southwest of Int'l and Arctic... back when there were some pretty serious ditches at the corners of that intersection.
These discussions of the old neighborhoods around Anchorage got me remembering the log house that Earl and Natalie Norris lived in, right where University Center sits now. Earl had quite a system of trails running from his place all the way up to the foothills where he could train his dog teams. He and Natalie both used to race in the Fur Rondy sprint races. And that brought to mind Doc Lombard - the perennial winner. Those were the good ol' days.
Beezer: I remember the sign post/city boundary in Cariboos. My sister doesn't. All she remembers about escalators is that sitting on the one in pre-quake JCPenneys will shred your buns if you stay seated all the way to the top. You're right. The Bun was always on NLBlvd. It did move, but only about a block. Never did listen much to Ron Moore aka The Royal Coachman, only had one radio in the house and dad pretty much controlled what station it was on; KHAR for Conversation Unlimited with Reuben Gaines, then over to the country station until it was time for Mukluk Telegraph on KENI, then it was off until morning when it was always on KBYR. Such was our technologically challenged entertainment. Tom S: Dave Piescher, I remember when Ken Edmiston showed us all in the shop the photo of Dave in one of the cycle magazines at a track in Taiwan. There were several pretty nice Ducati 250 Scramblers there back then. Sorry, I don't recall anyone in particular. I have a high regard for Ken. Enjoyed him telling about breaking down bikes in WA, loading them into his car with friend and driving nonstop in shifts to Daytona to race. Or his experiences racing on Catalina Island, "...Swiss cheesed that BSA's flywheel to get it to rev a bit more...lap times kept getting better and better...I realized that cow I was using for a braking marker was eating its way toward the corner...was doing pretty well until that flywheel disintegrated..." AlcanRider: Sure do recall Earl Norris' Howling Dog Farm and his house. High school classmate and neighbor Tom Wilks used to get several dogs at a time from Earl and run them for exercise for him. My little brother ran dogs too but not seriously like Tom W did. Doc Lombard and George Atla had some interesting races for several years. It was a great place to live. Joe
yeahhhh... the Mukluk Telegraph... that was what AK was all about then. I used to have a record of Ruben reading a bunch of Chilkoot Charlie (and of Six Toed Mordici, when the snake population in Alaska was exceedingly high). I went to school with his son Phil.... Central Jr, 9th grade... Danny Sullivan was in that class too.
Yup, thats the family. Check out these two pix of the homestead. http://www.alaskahistory.org/photo_popup.aspx?ID=597 http://www.alaskahistory.org/photo_popup.aspx?ID=596 I didnt know until recently that Spearsteads were closely related to a guy I know from CEA, John Watsjold. They know John @ Ak. Leather too. Man, those folks were even further out in the boonies than where my Moms family moved from downtown, on L street, to Fireweed & C in 1934. I heard that people in town were appalled that my Grandfather moved his family to his 157 acre homestead way out there in the sticks. Those pix I linked above came from here. Anna Spearstead was a real beauty in her younger years. http://www.alaskahistory.org/detail.aspx?ID=150
Log house? Grandfather on my fathers side built this big log house on Fireweed in the late 1940s, early 1950s. Spent a lot of time there. Huge rock fireplace. Its been the American Legion Post1 for many years now. On the lot just East of that is where my Dad built our house with the help of family in 1951. Torn down for years now & I still cant find a pic of the front of the house. Another house that my Dads father build on the South side of Fireweed, near C street. He built more houses in town like this. The Ski Jump Porch Roof mimics some of the houses built around Palmer by the Matanuska Valley Colonists. Since there were apparently plans for those houses & Dads family was one of the original 1935 Matanuska Valley Colonists it makes sense to me. Alaska Bound, 1935, my Dad, 16 years old, standing in back.
This is a GREAT thread! I remember a friends log home (the Wentworth's) off of Fireweed Lane back in the early '60's. I vaguely recall it was set back from the road on the south side, somewhere east of what was then the North Star Elementary School. I moved back here in 1980 but I don't think it was there even then. Anyone know the place? I suppose it had been torn down, but it could be that my memory has failed me regarding its location. Gary
Sorry, I dont remember that one & I walked that many times, & rode in the car, between our house & my Moms parents & Aunt's & Uncles, on C St. I know that we were the 1st residence West of North Star for many years. Walked to North Star all the time. Here is a (big!) pic that shows some of the area, looking South, Romig Hill in the foreground, Spenard Road stretching South. All I know is that it was taken before 1951. Some things shown on the East side of what is visible of Fireweed Lane in the above photo. Further West along Fireweed Lane... I remember being in McKay's Hardware at least as far back as 1951 or before.
