newsminer.com

Hez Ray, the man who brought an aircraft hangar to Fairbanks from Tanacross to create the Big Dipper Ice Arena, is still going strong in his retirement community in Buckeye, Ariz., near Phoenix.

Ray has talked the Dell Webb Community in Buckeye into building a new softball complex and he wants a team of Fairbanks players age 45 or older to come down to Arizona at the end of this month to help open the new $1.2 million ballpark.

Ray said last week that if a team or group of players were to make the trip to Arizona, just about all expenses with the exception of air fare would be taken care of. The facility is scheduled to open the weekend of April 25-27.

“We should be able to put everyone up in condos that we have down here,” Ray said in a telephone interview last week. “It would be absolutely fantastic if we could get some of the guys from Fairbanks to come down here for the opening.

“They can trade in their snowshoes for golf clubs and swimming trunks.”

Ray said that visitors from the 49th State will be welcome with open arms.

When Ray moved to the retirement community in Buckeye, he inquired about being able to play softball and was told it wasn’t practical.

Not to be deterred, Ray and some friends decided to build their own field out in the desert near the golf course.

According to Ray, when he was off buying fencing, directors of the community had all the groundwork that had been done (fence posts, dugouts, etc.) removed and hauled away.

Ray said directors told him that if he could prove there was enough interest in softball, something might be able to be accomplished.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Ray was able to get more than 70 men interested in playing, so directors took notice and things began to happen.

Now, Buckeye is ready to open its new $1.2 million softball facility and Ray wants people from Fairbanks to join in the celebration.

Anyone interested in participating in the event should contact Ray at (928) 252-6855 (home), or (623) 760-7994 (cell), or e-mail hezandbev@cox.net.

Spring Fling

Spring may have flung in Fairbanks on Monday when temperatures soared to 50 degrees or higher, but the first “big” running event of the season won’t take place until Saturday when the Lathrop High School cross country team hosts the Spring Fling at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The event features 5- and 10-kilometer divisions with the start and finish of each race taking place in the parking lot below the UAF Patty Center.

The 5-kilometer course goes out Sheep Creek Road and back, while the 10-kilometer course turns onto Gold Hill Road before returning to the finish line.

Registration for the race begins at 9 a.m., and the race commences at 10 a.m.

There is no entry fee, but the Lathrop High School cross country team is accepting donations.

Taiga 300

A field of 18 sled dog teams headed out onto the trail at noon, Tuesday to compete in the 2008 Taiga 300 Sled Dog Race.

Dan Kaduce was the first musher out onto the trail, followed by Mike Barnett (Currier team), Former Yukon Quest champion Bill Cotter, Eric Rogers, Jane Faulkner, Gus Gunther, Sandy McKee, Iris Sutton, Karin Hendrikson, Darrell Otta, Darrin Lee, Thomas Robertson, Yuka Honda (Cotter Kennels), Tamara Rose, Micha Pederson, Cindy Barrard (Windy Creek Kennel), Jason Cameron and Blake Matray.

The race is split into four segments.

The first leg is a 64-mile loop that starts and finishes at Wolverine Lodge on Lake Louise. After an eight-hour layover, teams begin the second leg — a 108-mile run to Maclaren River Lodge.

Another eight-hour layover is scheduled at Maclaren, before mushers continue on leg 3 — a 30-mile loop east on the Denali Highway, returning through the mountains to Maclaren River Lodge.

Mushers then take another four-hour break before beginning the 108-mile trek back to the finish line at Wolverine Lodge.

Coaches of the year

Orin Wear now has something to add to go along with his state title — a Coach of the Year award.

Wear, who helped pilot the Galena Hawks to the boys Class 2A championship, was named as the state’s Class 1/2A boys Coach of the Year Sunday.

On the girls side, Kiana’s Tommy Wells took the honor.