Dorothy Adler and Kevin Smith: Kevin and Dorothy recently returned from a trip to Girdwood. Dorothy has been gone even longer with her trip outside to visit her family in Arizona. While she was gone, Kevin put up wood paneling on the interior of their cabin and started work on a 10' x 12' addition which will go over the new water well they had drilled last fall.

Since arriving home, inside projects have been on the “to-do” list—a new bed frame, closet shelving, a couch and the installation of a propane light.

Dorothy tells me that her father, Ron Adler, is moving from Ketchikan to Anchorage to accept a position as superintendent of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. She is looking forward to seeing him more frequently in the days ahead.

Welcome home, Kevin and Dorothy!

The Welty family: Needless to say, we are all pleased to have Don, Lynn, Sarah and Rene back in the area. They traveled at least a whopping 12,000 miles to visit friends, family and 7 different colleges for Sarah’s inspection.

They celebrated Christmas with a surprise visit to Lynn’s folks, John and Nancy Burtch of Xenia, Ohio. When Nancy opened the door and saw the four Weltys on her doorstep smiling from ear to ear, there was a long silent pause, says Lynn. In fact, they were wondering if this really was a good idea—the surprise, that is! Once Nancy realized she wasn’t dreaming, the holiday celebrations began.

While in Ohio Don had a new engine put in their truck, received successful Lasik eye surgery in Pittsburgh (good news...no more eyeglasses, he says!), and Sarah and Rene had a memorable experience. Lynn’s niece’s baby was born during their visit. Sarah and Rene were able to be at the hospital at the time of the birth, hearing the baby’s first cry and holding him shortly thereafter. Lynn says this was a very special day for the girls.

A trip to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, to visit Don and Margie Welty, Don’s family, was included in their travels as well. The only down side of this segment of their vacation was the cold spell that greeted them in the south. But the family visits kept them warm, I’m sure.

Dog Shadow was unusually good, says Lynn; hardly barked at all. Don said this trip was an Alaskan appreciation trip for him; the girls had a great time with all their adventures; and Lynn enjoyed being with all her family.

We are glad you had such a wonderful time, Don, Lynn, Sarah and Rene, but we have to admit we are more than happy to say, WELCOME HOME!

Mark and Emily Bass: Emily called a few weeks ago wanting to know the condition of the McCarthy Road as she planned on coming in and spending a few days at their cabin. She and dog Lucy made it just fine and even attended and participated in the McCarthy Sprint. Mark and Emily are living and working in Anchorage this winter but we fully expect to see them again once spring arrives in the McCarthy area.

Brooks, Diane and Ian Ludwig:   The Ludwig family were here for a short stay before the holiday season when they made a trip out to visit family in Anchorage and Arizona. When they returned to their Fireweed cabin, Carmen Russo and I decided we would warm up our snowmachines and pay Diane a visit. Brooks and Ian had made a quick trip to Delta, their summer home, and while the boys were gone, we ladies had a wonderful time of “catchin’ up.” Diane’s phone didn’t even ring the entire time and our only visitors were the myriad of birds that came to dinner at the Ludwigs’ feeder.

Once again the Ludwigs are packing up and returning to Delta, a bit earlier than usual, but they have a variety of projects to complete before summer arrives and Brooks begins his job as a State Park ranger. We will miss them but I am most thankful for Email which keeps those miles down to a minimum.

Howard and Chris Haley: The Haleys have been at their area cabin for at least a month. Their stays seem to extend longer each visit. Once Howard retires from his job in Valdez, we can expect to see them both year round.

Chris has done a lot of inside decorating and upgrades. She invited Rick and I and John and Carmen for dinner the other night and we got a first-hand look at her handiwork.

This summer they plan on putting on an addition to their cabin which will double their present living space. It seems there is always something to do out here – even in the winter season.

Elizabeth Schafer and Howard Mozen: I was really surprised to see Elizabeth at the dog race a few days ago. She explained that Howard’s parents were up visiting their granddaughter, Avery Rose,  and son Howard in Anchorage so Elizabeth took the opportunity to head out to McCarthy for a few days of rest and relaxation. Well...I guess egging dog Haver on to pull weight in the race wasn’t really work, although, it did seem so to me! It was good seeing you, Elizabeth.

The Rowland family: In between schooling and her many other daily chores, Laurie managed to write her distant family an update called The Rowland Wrangeller. She shared a copy with me so I will quote from her own hand just what the Rowlands have been up to.

“Keith has had a couple months of house building time, and it’s been exciting to see ‘our home’ take shape. Over Christmas, Keith finished up my kitchen, so we’ve really been enjoying that. What I really like is the dishwasher! After so long working in a kitchen which wouldn’t be clean no matter how hard I tried, it is really a blessing to me to be able to have everything sparkling every day!”

“A few weeks ago, Keith finished up the school room, and the kids and I moved in. With new carpet on the floor, desks in place, lots of sunlight and a breathtaking view out every window, we think we’ve got a pretty good thing going here in Ma Rowland’s Little Schoolhouse.”

“Connected to the school room is our office, which we are still working on. It is more finished than not, however, so we’ve moved our stuff in and ‘set up shop.’ Keith moved our phones into the office, and this is a big help. We still need office storage space (shelves or a closet, or?) to keep supplies, extra Xerox paper, CAT manuals, etc., but for now, boxes do the trick.”

“Keith has also been working on lights and outlets all over the upstairs of the house. It’s so nice not to have to go looking for an extension cord every time we want to plug anything in!”

The kids are taking good advantage of mom’s kitchen and I’ve had the privilege to sample homemade cookies and brownies that the younger Rowlands are learning to make. Keep up the good work Kaleb, David, Daniel, Hannah and Jubal.

Sam, Kris and Emmet Gregory: Shortly after our last issue of WSEN went to press, I received an Email from Kris. Just in case you didn’t know the Gregory’s have moved into a new apartment. Their address has been changed to: 75 Prospect Park Southwest, Apt. #E6, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Kris writes: Sam and the baby are doing great. We are enjoying some little snow falls in the city this winter. We have a large park across the street from our new apartment that is even big enough to go cross-country skiing. Emmet loves the snow.