A Trip Down Memory Lane by Cybrita I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska back in '72. I was in my 20's and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved winter, and it was the ideal place to live. There could never be a more perfect place. I was on a long waiting list to live downtown in the tallest building, a full six stories high. We were definitely beginning to be cosmopolitan. Downtown Fairbanks itself was about two blocks long. Walk with me back in 1972, if you will, and take a look at our busy "city of Fairbanks, Alaska." We’ll start east on Main Street. First , on the corner is the Goodwill Store. It's probably the busiest store here. Clothing sells the fastest, as the newest residents find that their clothes from the lower 48 just don't work well. What they don't understand is that we layer our clothing...nothing is wasted. Besides, it keeps us warmer. Next to Goodwill is a small appliance shop; although they do sell some of their items, they move slowly. We don't change what works, no matter how old it is. Then, of course, there's the small Penney's Outlet. You can buy some articles in the store itself, but most of their sales are from their catalog. There's a shipping fee (which I don't like because it's so high), but you can always pick up your order to keep that from happening. We'll skip the next couple of shops because they don't really contribute much to our residents. They sell odd items that few are interested in buying. I imagine that they won't stay open long. None of the stores in those spots do well. Maybe someone should warn them before they open? No. They'll learn, even if it does eat up most of their cash. Now, we'll cross over left to Cowles, where there's a Salvation Army Store. They do a brisk business (like Goodwill), but they tend to have a lot of furniture. Lots of people who move out give their furniture to them; it's just too expensive to get it back to the "outside." Not knowing better, plenty of folks ship their furniture up here, then find out it's not so dear to them on the way out. Ah, we now come to the Piggly Wiggly, one of the only two grocery stores. It's not as busy as the A&P, but they do all right by themselves. Their biggest problem is that they have so few people working for them. We're used to waiting in lines, but not when it takes an hour to check out our groceries. We'll go to the store where we only have to wait a half hour any time. Besides, the A&P has a liquor section. That is about as important as the groceries themselves. The water is so rusty here that we need to drink it or die of thirst. And, we have to wile our time away in the long winters, as well. Now, We'll turn to the south(which is our right) and cross Main again. There's a mom and pop dime store headed south. They never caught on to the things we need to buy here in the north. Not that I blame them, really; they just never liked the freezing winter and regretted their decision to come here. Sometimes I wish I had never stopped and chatted with the Mrs. I wouldn't feel so sorry for them if I had. Next, of course, Sears is putting it's hand in the mix. Although they have more products than Penney's Outlet, their biggest sales come from their catalog. Some things just don't change when you move to Alaska, I guess. We'll move on past the furniture store, the YMCA, and the pound. Except, I'll have to say that the pound has helped out a lot of people. Winters can get mighty lonesome, and a dog will do the trick to keep us from getting cabin fever. It always helps to take care of an animal when your days in the dark seem so long. They also give us a lot of love, warming our hearts in the dead of winter. ©08/23/2010 CVN and Cybertown have first electronic publication and archival rghts . Thereafter all other rights revert to the author.

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