Episodes

Track & Field

Courtesy GMS Coaches – The GMS Track Team traveled to Palmer to the Colony Middle School varsity track meet this past Thursday. The weather was a bit chilly, but we still had some athletes turn in some hot results. Piers Shirk took 5 seconds off his school record in the mile, posting a blistering time of 5 min 18 sec. Grace Seiber just missed tying her personal best in the high jump, getting knocked out at the 4ft mark. AJ Mann cleared a personal best 4 ft 10 in during the high jump and turned in a long jump of 15 ft 2 1/2 in which was just shy of the school record 15 ft 9 in he posted 2 weeks ago. Spencer Holbrook threw 29 ft 10 in to lead our boys in the shot put also.

This week the team heads to Houston Middle school for both the Varsity and JV state championships.

Aerobatic Pilots Gary Ward and Scott Sexton did a fly by town on Saturday night as part of the Valdez Fly-In and Airshow festivities. Despite the rainy weather, some of the best bush pilots in the world came to Valdez to compete in the Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) competition.

Photos courtesy of Justin Prax

CLICK HERE for complete STOL results

Courtesy of Joe Prax – The 16^th annual Valdez Fly In started with cool temperatures, rain and unpredictable weather and ended in blazing sunshine with Aerobatic pilot Gary Ward performing an unmatched performance using the background and terrain features of the mountain behind Valdez Pioneer Field in his routine. The act wrapped up an event that included the world famous Valdez STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) competition, an appearance by Mike Patey with the turbine powered Draco, and the 1946 C-46 from Everts Air Fuel. A crowd of close to a thousand and over 60 airplanes attended and were rewarded with a great event.

The world famous Valdez STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) competition had a wide representation of airplanes from the Turbine Draco to numerous Cessna 170’s to Frank Knapp’s Little Cub. With only a steady breeze of 4-6 knots, the contest produced amazing and close results. Knapp, of Palmer, won the Light Sport Class with the lowest combined take off and landing of 63’4” including an amazing 22’8” take off. Also in the light sport class Gary Green of McCarthy accomplished the shortest landing at 39’3” in his savage Cub.

Dennis Serie of Chugiak won the Bush Class in his PA-18 Super Cub with a combined score of 201’. Tom Hudzinski of Wasilla became a repeat winner in the Alternate Bush Class with his Cub Crafters Carbon Cub for a score of 136’. C.C. Pocock of Nevada won the incredible close Light Touring class in his 145hp Cessna 170. His score of 218 feet was only two feet shorter than the second and third place airplanes. Pocock said that the trip to Valdez was a bucket list item that he had wanted to attend for years. The Heavy Touring Class was won by James Spikes from Wasilla with a score of 294’ but was only one foot shorter than the second place airplane.

Mike Patey of Utah opened the competition with a demonstration of the amazing 750 hp turbine powered Draco that had to be seen to be believed. While demonstrating take offs of less than 100 feet, Draco levitated at an astounding 4,250 feet per minute rate of climb. The highly modified plane was able to perform elevator like descents and of course take advantage of the reversing prop to land short. Patey had a 78’ take off and a 121’ landing for an unbelievable total of 199’ and held off an impressive challenge from a Pilatus Porter that had flown all the from Switzerland for the event. Patey was looking to take advantage and see how his airplane performed at sea level for the first time. He said that the density altitude was more than 14,000 feet lower than his normal operating conditions at home. Patey took advantage of his time in Valdez by exploring Prince William Sound with numerous beach landings, including by the stunning Columbia Glacier.

Aircraft were in attendance from Switzerland, Utah, Nevada, Canada, New York, Minnesota and numerous entries from Canada. The event started with the Beach Landing at Hinchinbrook Island Friday midday. Spencer Wallace of Dawson City, Canada repeated as the flour bombing champion and Rod Hanson of Wasilla won the balloon bust competition by scoring on all three of his attempts in the balloon busting competition. In addition to Ward amazing the crowd with his aerobatic routine, Scott Sexton of Kenai performed graceful aerobatics in his Citabria. The crowd witnessed the chest thumping power of the Curtis C-46 taking off on the competitors runway in 300 feet. The ear splitting roar of the largest tail dragger airplane was pleasing music to the crowd. Spectators arrived from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, and several from Europe as well as many from the lower 48 states.

Event organizers were pleased with the turn out and of airplanes and crowd. The airshow was a non stop display of Bush Flying and aerial mastery. The goal of a safe and incident free event was met. The 2020 event is preliminarily scheduled for 8-10^th.

For more information on the Valdez Fly In please contact event president Joe Prax at 907-831-0058 or email ValdezSTOL@gmail.com.

Crowds at the Valdez Fly-In, photos courtesy of Jessica Watson

Valdez City Clerk Sheri Pierce was elected vice president of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC) in late April.

Pierce will be officially sworn in as vice president during IIMC’s annual conference on May 22nd. She will serve a total of four years on the international organization’s leadership team – First as vice president, then president elect, then president, and finally as immediate past president.

In IIMC’s history, only one other Alaskan municipal clerk has been elected to lead the organization.

Founded in 1947, IIMC is the leading professional organization serving the needs of municipal clerks from cities and towns worldwide. IIMC’s membership of over 9,500 represents municipalities ranging from 250 people to more than 100 million people in North America and 15 other countries. IIMC is governed by a 26 member board of directors.

Pierce has served in municipal government for over forty years. Hired as Valdez deputy city clerk in 1989, she was then appointed Valdez city clerk in 1994. Prior to moving to Alaska, Pierce worked 12 years as an identification technician for the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon.

Pierce holds the designation of Master Municipal Clerk from IIMC, the profession’s highest certification. She served two non-consecutive terms as one of two IIMC Region IX directors, representing municipal clerks from Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, and California on the organization’s board of directors.

An active member of the Alaska Association of Municipal Clerks (AAMC), Pierce served in a multitude of leadership roles over the past 20 years, including president, past president, education director, and chair for several different committees. In 2009, AAMC named Pierce the Alaska Municipal Clerk of the Year.

This year’s election had a 29% voter turnout. Out of 3,219 confirmed registered voters in Valdez, 945 cast valid ballots in this election.

NEW CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Three Year Term

Sharon (Crisp) Scheidt, Alan Sorum

NEW SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS

Three Year Term 

Shannon Groundwater, Joe Prax

PROPOSITION 1

Result: NO

Shall the City of Valdez, Alaska issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $16,000,000 for the design and construction of a new fire station, etc.

The Valdez Fly In will be held Friday, May 10th through Saturday, May 12th.

Enjoy vendors along with the airshow and STOL Competition on Saturday, and the Balloon Bust, Flouring Bombing, and Kids Balsa Plane Competition on Sunday.

CLICK HERE for schedule

Track and Field-Weekend Update/Houston Invitational

Courtesy of VHS Coaches – It was another record-breaking weekend for the VHS Track team at the Houston Invitational as the boys 4X200 relay team of Hayden Howard, Kyler LaBonte, Jalen Freeman, and Owen Chadwick took first place and set a new VHS record with a time of 1:36.86.

Other meet highlights include a first-place finish by the boy’s 4X100 relay team of Hayden Howard, Kyler LaBonte, Jalen Freeman, and Luke Baczuk with a 48.07.  VHS swept both first place positions in the boys and girl’s High Jump with a 5’8” jump by Kyler LaBonte and a 4’10” jump by Kassi Howard. Marianne Prax had a first-place finish and a new personal record in the 100m Hurdles with a finish time of 19:50. Jalen Freeman also scored a first-place finish and new personal record in the Triple Jump with a 36’10” jump.  Owen Chadwick had first-place finishes in the 100m with a time of 11:52, the 200m with a time of 23:80, and in the 300m Hurdles with a time of 42:98.

Jeffrey Prevost finished second in the 110m Hurdles with a 19.59, and the boys 4X400 relay team of Luke Baczuk, Jeffrey Prevost, Ethan Kockentiet, and Brandon Nguyen racked up a 4th place finish with a time of 4:28.86.  In throwing events, Gaspar DeLeon had a 5th place finish in the Shot Put with a new personal record at 33.5’ and a 7th place finish in Discus with a throw of 91’1”.  Josh Baczuk competed in finals in the long jump and finished 5th with a 17’1” jump.

Marianne Prax finished 4th in the 300m Hurdles with a season record of 1:00.55, and Ambrosia Woodgate had a 5th place finish in the 800m with a new personal record of 2:58.80.  The girl’s 4X100 team of Marianne Prax, Cherubim Palomar, Ambrosia Woodgate, and Kassi Howard finished 4th.  Hunter Hoppe placed 7th in both the Shot Put and Discus.

Valdez will travel to the Palmer Invite this weekend for their last qualifying season meet before heading to West Valley in Fairbanks for the Region 6 Meet on May 17th.