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The Frigidaires just won’t be as cool after this.

Karl Carlson, the lead accordion player for the swinging Fairbanks combo, has died. He would have been 86 on June 25.

Karl, who was born Carl, once said the band got its name in the days when every musician longed to be a cool cat.

So they thought, “If we want to be cool, why not be real cold, like frigid?”

The Frigidaires played it cool in the 1950s, featuring the likes of Colin MacDonald and Eddie Krize, with Karl on accordion.

In their latest incarnation, the frozen chosen included Karl, on squeezebox, Bill Stroecker, 88, on trumpet, and Rif Rafson, 56, on string bass.

“Bill says we can take requests, as long as they’re before 1952,” Karl would say of the Frigidaires’ retro repertoire.

They could access more ’40s music than iTunes. All one of them had to do was start playing a few notes and the others would follow.

Bill said that Karl never played a song exactly the same way twice, one of the beauties of playing with a maestro.

When I talked to him Wednesday, Bill seemed to think the final note may have sounded for the Frigidaires, but I hope people convince him to reconsider. Karl would have insisted.

After all, it was Karl who wrote and performed “It’s What You Do With What You’ve Got,” a catchy little philosophical number.

“If you feel young and on the ball, it matters not at all,” he belted out as he played the button box. “It is what you do with what you’ve got that matters most of all.”

Karl wrote it seven years ago for the Midnight Sun Run, but the message applies to all of life’s endeavors. They ought to play it at the Midnight Sun Run and the Midnight Sun Game.

In a story my wife, Debbie, wrote about the Frigidaires five years ago, the three men talked of their mutual admiration of society and their love of improvisation.

Karl and Bill were friends, but they argued about everything, right down to Karl’s high regard for polka music.

“Whenever Carlson breaks into a polka, Stroecker puts down his trumpet and heads for the dance floor,” she wrote.

Karl played the accordion for more than 70 years, one melody in a rich life that included service in the U.S. Navy, prospecting for gold and uranium, tinkering with musical inventions, raising a family with his wife, Betty, teaching others to play and starting Music Mart and Aurora Keyboards.

A memorial service is set for Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, to be followed by a potluck at 316 Front St. in Graehl.

“He was an institution around here,” said Rif.

It’s what he did with what he had that matters most of all.

IMAGINE: Tickets are still available for the Friday sailing of the Riverboat Discovery to benefit the Imagination Library. This is an effort to get books into the hands of children at an early age.

About 2,000 kids have signed up, and volunteers are hoping to sell a lot of tickets in the next couple of days for what should be a fun evening.

The fundraiser starts at 6:30 p.m., with departure at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 and available at HOPS, New Horizons Gallery and Gulliver’s Books.

There will be a silent auction, food, music and if enough tickets are sold, J.B. Carnahan will dress up like Dolly Parton.

This is a good cause.

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FOODSTOCK: The 14th annual Foodstock music celebration, following the motto of “We play for food,” is set for June 20-22 at the Howling Dog Saloon.

More than 100 musicians are expected to take part, entertaining people who donate $5 each or five cans of food.

The goal is to help the hungry in the Tanana Valley.

Organizer Jay Hill asks that potential vendors, sponsors and volunteers call him at 799-2476.

He said the event is shaping up nicely, but he could use some more T-shirt sponsors, as the musicians don’t get paid, but they do get a shirt.

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WELCOME: About three dozen of our lawmakers, along with our governor and a host of administration officials are expected for all or part of the three days of hearings that begin today at the Carlson Center.

If you want to know more about the gas pipeline plan, attend the hearings.

At the meetings today and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., invited industry and government officials will present testimony on the proposed TransCanada pipeline plan.

Members of the general public will be able to testify Saturday.

I don’t remember another official state proceeding that drew this many legislators from across the state.

Welcome them to Fairbanks.

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FOLLOW THE MONEY: The extra millions paid by local residents for fuel are flowing into the state treasury.

The state earns top dollar on the oil it sells to the refineries that change it into heating fuel and gasoline.

The hearings this week are not about this imbalance, but the promoters of the energy rally at 5 p.m. at the Carlson Center want to make sure that visiting lawmakers understand where some of the money they are spending is coming from.

That’s fair enough.

But this problem was not created by our lawmakers or our governor, so don’t blame them. They will meet later this summer to try to deal with the situation without creating a permanent entitlement.

The problem is bad in Fairbanks. It’s worse in Alaska’s small towns.