Sunday, July 19, 2015

Richard Cederberg: The City of Anchorage, 1982

I will not dwell on my first trip to Anchorage except to say that in 1973, our family drove the Alaska Highway, leaving from Beatrice, Nebraska. I had only two weeks’ vacation from my job at StoreKraft, Manufacturing Company. We arrived in Anchorage fourteen days later. It didn’t take much math to figure that I had to fly back to Nebraska immediately. I saw nothing but my brother, Delbert’s home and the airport!

My father and mother, Arthur and Bessie Cederberg,  had come to Anchorage several times before. They used a small two wheel trailer on prior trips. This time, since there would be the two of them and the six of us, we decided to invest in a larger, twenty-one-foot trailer so we would be more comfortable. I also thought it would be nice for my mother if there was an indoor bathroom. The bathroom wasn’t working by the time we got out of Lincoln! It wasn’t comfortable for us in the station wagon we pulled the trailer with. So, with this in mind, it wasn’t a fun trip but eventful! My dad drove the family home on the return trip. We should have sold the trailer in Anchorage and they could have flown home. Hindsight.

When I came to Anchorage in 1982, I didn’t actually realize that I was moving here. I drove a delivery-style truck up that my brother had bought for his business. It was loaded with supplies he was bringing to Anchorage.  I called my wife, Gayle, and told her I thought I would stay a couple of weeks because Delbert had plenty of things for me to help him with. The first thing I did was organize his welding company into a more formal business. Then I hired a girl to work behind the counter. That way Delbert could do what Delbert did best and she could be sure he got paid for his work! We called the business “Allied Steel Construction.”

His projects at the time I arrived were construction of the polar bear cage and the water-tight windows for the marine life at the Alaska Zoo. Actually, that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship between Delbert and the zoo officials, which continues to this day. I think they paid for the materials and Delbert donated his labor. I am sure they are very happy knowing Delbert!

We didn’t just work. We allowed some time for fishing in Seward for halibut and up in Talkeetna for salmon. I called Gayle again and told her I sure wish you could be here. You would like it. I told her I wasn’t coming home yet. I thought I would stay for the summer.   Delbert had jobs for us to work on: the infrastructure for a building in Anchorage on C Street and jobs in Kodiak and Fairbanks.

A while later I called Gayle and told her I thought I would like to live in Anchorage. Would she like to come up? She decided in the affirmative since she wanted to remain married. Lots of things transpired, but she stayed in Beatrice for most of the summer because we would be in Kodiak and Fairbanks working. She had to get our beautiful home sold, get Chris and her dental  work done, have two garage sales, etc. By the way, the house sold to the first people who viewed it. Delbert found a way for us to get our furnishings to Anchorage. He bought two more delivery  trucks.

I flew back in time to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. We had a reception for friends and neighbors, and our picture in the paper! People were talking about me, that I had been gone so long that we were getting a divorce, and Gayle was asked that at work. After the reception, I loaded up a truck with household items and started out for Anchorage. Delbert flew his daughter Elisa and boyfriend to Beatrice to drive one of the trucks. It turned out that I didn’t have to come back to get Gayle and Chris. Two of my friends, Less Sanger from the Reserve Officers Association, and Mel Kouper from the District Boy Scout Council, had always wanted to travel the Alaska Highway. Mel drove the truck, and Less helped Gayle drive our Seville pulling our tent trailer. Chris was not a happy camper since he had to sit next to Mojo, our elderly, large poodle mix. Mojo panted from Nebraska to Alaska and Chris could hardly stand his “doggy breath.”

I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just drive the rest of the way in from Glennallen, but they were exhausted. They stayed the night at the Caribou Motel. In the morning, Gayle wanted to shop for a couple of items, and she asked a lady on the street, where the “downtown” was?  She said “this is it.” While visiting with her, Gayle found out that Jean and Gordon Guernsey were missionaries for Alaska Bible College. It was located across from the motel. She invited them to come and visit. Gayle suggested the idea to Les and Mel and they were receptive. After dinner, they enjoyed a very special time visiting and touring the facilities for the thirty students.  They have a Christian radio station, which provides a public service, especially, “Caribou Clatter,” which is often the life-line for getting messages to people who don’t have phones.  After the visit, they went to the motel and to bed.

The next morning, while trying to load up, Chris couldn’t get Mojo out of the motel room. All of them couldn’t get Mojo out of the motel!!! He was permanently under the bed. They moved the bed, but he would move with it. He was absolutely not going to come with them. They got meat to try to entice him, but he wouldn’t come. Mojo and the bed moved in all directions all over the room. Not only that, when they reached for him he would try to bite them. Well, finally they got hold of him and dragged him out.

They were supposed to call me when they got to Wendy’s restaurant in Anchorage, and I would come over and have lunch with them. They arrived at the designated place, and Gayle tried to phone me, but the call wouldn’t go through. Others used the phone and their calls went through. Finally, the operator tried to help. She said there was a conversation on the line and to “try again.” This ridiculous episode went on for quite some time. Everyone had finished their lunch.  About the time Gayle was going to give up, I came in. After lunch, I took them over to see our condo.

They all liked what they saw. Mojo was emotionally disturbed by the time they got here. I told Gayle and Chris to get changed. We are going over to Owen and Bernice Saupe’s home for a birthday party. They are my first best friends!

There is really a whole other story after their arrival in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 24, 1983.

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