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North Pole will spring to life during the Fourth of July with the Summer Festival taking place throughout the day and the North Pole Art Society’s July First Friday in the evening. Both will serve to highlight that North Pole really is a great place to live. I hope a multitude of people come out to celebrate with us.

First Friday artist

Jeannette Gaul

Art aficionados are in for a real treat with Jeannette Gaul’s solo show July 4. I am an admirer of Jeannette’s work, and I think this exhibit of her work will add a lot of folks to her fan base.

The First Friday show will run from 4:30-9 p.m. at the North Pole Grange with the artist’s reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Follow signs off Santa Claus Lane.

Gaul, who had dabbled a bit with paint, earnestly tried her hand at oil painting in 1992 when she was volunteering at Santa’s Senior Center as the “chief cook and bottle washer.” Jeanne DeNapoli had just moved to North Pole from Chicago, where she was an established professional artist.

“She had works in numerous galleries in Illinois and California,” Gaul said. “In conversation with her, she agreed to start giving art classes at Santa’s Seniors, and that group became North Pole Art League, and is still active, meeting every Monday from 12 until 3 at the senior center in North Pole.”

DeNapoli’s untimely death devastated the group, Gaul said, but they continued on and expanded. Gaul, who now teaches an introductory class to potential artists, has invited several members of the group to hang pieces in her show.  Gaul paints strictly with water mixable oils so that no fumes from turpentine or linseed oil are inhaled. She said this medium can be used for easy washes, similar to water color washes, which are good for florals or wispy landscapes.  “But as the pieces in the Fourth of July show will illustrate, I really enjoy painting more boldly,” she said, adding that she only paints scenes of places she has been, and she takes her own photos. Thirty of her works have been made into note cards and several into prints that will be available at the show. The note cards also are at Santa Claus House and the Farmer’s Market.

“Landscapes are what I most often paint,” she said. “But whatever I am working on at the moment is always the one I am sure will be my masterpiece. Florals are a great challenge to me, and when I am painting them I wonder why I paint anything else. Then I see a vista that absolutely begs to be captured on canvas, and I am not happy until I am trying to get it portrayed.  I guess I just love to paint.”

Gaul and her husband, Carl, came to Alaska in 1982 and spent more than five years at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. They retired in 1987 and went back to the Seattle area for a year, only to find that they had turned into Alaskans. They headed north to find a spot to retire and found a log house on a small lake in North Pole that has suited them perfectly ever since.

“We particularly like the casual attitude, beauty, free spirit and sense of independence that sets Alaska apart from anywhere else we have ever been,” she said.

Besides painting, Gaul is active in community affairs, including Santa’s Seniors, Senior Housing, Love INC, her church and other groups. Several years ago, she was honored at Senior Recognition Day as the volunteer from North Pole, and she and Carl have served as king and queen of North Pole. She and her husband have three grown children and their families in the Seattle area and a granddaughter in Fairbanks.

Summer Festival promises to be the best ever

A highlight of this year’s Summer Festival, and a reminder of why we celebrate the Fourth of July, will be the honor of having as grand marshal the 168th Air Refueling Wing’s Security Forces Squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard from Eielson.  “These men and women are our neighbors and returned in March from their fifth combat deployment since the start of the global war on terrorism,” organizer Francie Cork said. “It is my sincere hope that as these brave men and women drive by in seven military vehicles, we stand to recognize the sacrifice they are making in our behalf.”

The parade, which is a highlight of the day, will start at 11 a.m. at St. Nicholas Catholic Church and will travel down Fifth, turn down Santa Claus Lane and loop back to St. Nicholas for disassembly. The official reviewing stand will be close to the Alaska New Life Outreach Center (Assembly of God Church).         Bikes entered in the bicycle decorating contest will be judged in the Catholic church parking lot at 10 a.m., and participants are encouraged to ride in the parade. Cork said parents can jog alongside for support.

It is hoped a fleet of motorcycles will turn out for the parade’s “ride and shine” category, which will have a people’s choice trophy for favorite bike.

The rest of the activities, including the bed race, greased pole climb, talent show, booths and food stands, will be at the North Pole Elementary School. See below for a schedule of events.

8-10 a.m. — pancake feed at Senior Center

11 a.m. — parade

12-2 p.m. — games, competitions and entertainment

2 p.m. — talent show

3 p.m. — bed race

4 p.m. — awards, drawings

4:30-9 p.m. – First Friday at North Pole Grange

Santa’s Seniors active

in festival

Santa’s Seniors are always up to their ears in Summer Festival activities, starting with their pancake/sausage breakfast from 8-10 a.m. The cost is $6.

Besides that, the group will be selling ice cream at 25 cents a scoop, beginning at 10:30 a.m., until they run out of ice cream.

In addition, this year they are sponsoring the best pie and best cake contest. Competitors must have their finished dessert at the Senior Center between 8 and 9 a.m. Judging will be at 9 a.m. Following the parade, the desserts will be auctioned off with half the proceeds going to the baker and half to the Summer Festival.

Watch for motorized kids

Carol Harris e-mailed me with a concern that a lot of us have: children on motorized bikes, mini-motorcycles and four-wheelers on bike paths. She asked that I mention this in my column and urge parents who provide their children with these contraptions to educate them as to the “rules of the road.”

She’s right. The signs clearly state “no motor vehicles,” so if children are operating something with a motor, it shouldn’t be on the bike paths.

Harris said police are too busy to monitor bike paths, so parents should police their children for the good of the community.

“While they are at it, a lesson in common courtesy would be appreciated,” she said, adding that four-wheelers spray gravel when they zoom off the path to make way for bicyclists.

She said she has frequently swept portions of bike paths to rid them of gravel, which is both a nuisance and a safety issue.  Election humor

A friend sent me this yesterday.

The buzzword of this election is the word “change.” Candidates toss it around without saying what they want to change.

Years ago, there was an old tale in the Marine Corps about a lieutenant who inspected his Marines and told the “Gunny” that they smelled bad. The lieutenant suggested that they change their underwear. The Gunny responded, “Yes sir, I'll see to it immediately.”

The Gunny went into the tent and said, “The lieutenant thinks you guys smell bad and wants you to change your underwear. Smith, you change with Jones, McCarthy, you change with Witkowskie, Brown, you change with Schultz. Get to it.”

The moral: A candidate may promise change in Washington but don’t count on things smelling any better.