The North Pole Community Chamber of Commerce announced the 2023 Annual Awards Winners at their monthly December luncheon which featured the Business of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Citizen of the Year, and Pioneer of the Year. The process, which was revised last year, paved the way for nominations from the community at-large, rather
than just from Chamber board members. Nominations were submitted by any person who knew someone living in the North Pole Community that met the criteria for each category.

Business of the Year

The purpose of the Business of the Year award is to honor a business that contributes
to the economic growth and quality of life in the North Pole community, whose business
practices contribute to a sense of cooperation, whose marketing or business strategy
result in economic growth, whose business model includes community involvement and
increasing quality of life, and who is also known for exceptional customer service. The
2023 Business of the Year is the Santa’s Senior Center, led by President Bennie
Williams.

Santa’s Senior Center led the way in making North Pole a go-to place in the community.
In their flagship enterprise, they are a beacon of light for the seniors of our community.
Seniors can come there to socialize, exercise, volunteer, and get hot meals. The Center
has many programs with the youth of our community. They are involved in a Senior to
Senior program where they have a potluck and play games with senior football players
and then the following weekend they go to the homecoming game and pass out flowers
to the mother or family member of the players. They recently had an event playing
games and socializing with the 8th grade honor society, and have in the past planted
strawberries with 4th grade students. The Center was a location this past summer for
children to come pick up bagged meals from the food bank and are a distribution place
for food boxes for senior citizens. The Center continues its tradition of letting their
building be used for voting and as a meeting place for other local nonprofit groups. They
have a gift shop filled with homemade treasures by their senior members and are one of
the first stops visitors make in the city of North Pole─plus they make really good
cookies!

Volunteer of the Year

The purpose of the Volunteer of the Year award is to honor a volunteer whose
dedicated service had a significant impact in the community they serve, who continually
volunteers their time, dedication and talent to the North Pole community to make it a
great place to live, work, play, and learn, who exhibits a solid working relationship with
peers and fellow volunteers, and who is positive with inspiring personal attributes that
serve to encourage others. The 2023 Volunteer of the Year is Kim Majko.

Kim Majko has been serving as the President of the Anderson-Crawford PTO for two
consecutive years, during which she has demonstrated exceptional leadership and
organizational skills. Through her innovative initiatives, such as open skates, holiday
bingos, teacher appreciation week events, school-wide carnivals, themed spirit weeks,
Popcorn & Pickle Fridays, and classroom Penny Wars, the nominee has not only raised vital funds but has also created a sense of unity and excitement within the school
community. What sets this nominee apart is her ability to bring together diverse
stakeholders, including families, teachers, school administrators, Eielson AFB
leadership, businesses, and local organizations. Her efforts go well beyond fundraising;
they create a collaborative atmosphere that directly benefits the children and staff at
Anderson-Crawford Elementary. Despite the challenges, the nominee’s commitment
remains unwavering, and her contributions have become integral to the school’s
success.

The nominee’s impact extends well beyond the school as she serves as the Dining-In
Chair for the Eielson Spouses Club. Her work in organizing events that enhance morale
and esprit de corps in the Air Force and Air National Guard on Eielson AFB is
commendable. Her ability to solicit funds, provide exceptional gifts and prizes, and
coordinate intricate event logistics demonstrates her dedication to improving the well-
being and positive morale of military spouses facing unique challenges in remote and
arctic conditions.

Moreover, this nominee’s involvement as Chairman of Committees for PRISM
showcases her commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive community.
PRISM, a club at Eielson AFB for LGBTQ+ members, allies, and their families, benefits
immensely from her active participation. She plays a pivotal role in organizing a variety
of events that celebrate diversity, promote pride, and provide a safe space for LGBTQ+
service members and their allies. This nominee’s involvement goes beyond the confines
of Eielson AFB, as she collaborates with local businesses and organizations to extend
the reach and impact of PRISM into the broader Fairbanks community. Her efforts
highlight not only her organizational prowess but also her commitment to making a
positive difference in the lives of community members.

In conclusion, this nominee’s tireless dedication to Anderson-Crawford Elementary, the
Eielson Spouses Club, and PRISM demonstrates her outstanding commitment to
community service. Her leadership, creativity, and ability to bring people together have
significantly enriched the North Pole Community. She truly embodies the spirit of
volunteerism.

Citizen of the Year

The purpose of the Citizen of the Year is to honor a citizen who has had a significant
impact in the community and serves as a role model, who is actively involved in the
community, has demonstrated a personal commitment to the benefit of the community,
has positive and inspiring personal attributes that serve to encourage others, and who
has performed an outstanding achievement or act of heroism. The 2023 Citizen of the
Year is Rochelle Renner.

Rochelle Renner is without doubt a very involved citizen! Another unsung hero! This
nominee completely embodies everything stated in the purpose of this award. She is a
long time North Pole resident. She literally spreads joy, laughter, and sunshine
everywhere she goes. She is a Board member and treasurer at Santa’s Senior Center.

She volunteers and is the treasurer at her church, St. Nicholas. More than anything else
if this nominee hears of a need of any kind she is the first one raising her hand to help if
she can. This nominee has started a partnership with Santa’s Senior Center and
Discovery Peak Charter school encouraging and giving seniors the opportunity to enrich
the lives of some of our youth by joining them for baking, reading, and other
opportunities as they arise. Her outstanding commitment to community service,
willingness to serve, and ability to bring people together have significantly enriched the
North Pole Community. She truly embodies the spirit of citizenship.

Pioneer of the Year

The purpose of The Pioneer of the Year award is to honor a long time North Pole
community resident who has shown a legacy of having a positive impact in shaping our
community. They must be a community resident of at least 25 years with an age of 55
or more, and exude a positive personal history which exemplifies the values/way of life
in the North Pole community.

This is the second year for this award. Previously, this honor was entrenched in the
naming of the North Pole King & Queen. The King & Queen are designated
ambassadors for North Pole and expected to take a very active role in fulfilling that
charge, appearing at numerous activities and events, etc. The Chamber felt picking a
pioneer to be King & Queen just because they may be in their twilight years was not the
best fit. So, the Chamber created the Pioneer of the Year award to pay homage to those
who came before us, and paid the price and sacrifice to make our community what it is
today. Even that understates what these individuals have given to all us, and for
generations to come. It is the Chamber’s great honor to play a role in recognizing this
person’s contributions to our great community. The 2023 Pioneer of the Year is Ed Raby of Salcha.

Ed Raby joined the Senior center two years ago and hit the ground running! He has the
heart of a true Alaskan and wants to make his community the best it can be. He helped
with all the programs and activities the Seniors are involved in and kind of became
known as “the go-to guy” when something was needed. He dreamed of a community
lending library being created and helped make that a reality.

He raised his hand when asked to help secure the funds for an elevator for the Senior
Center. Through his efforts, they were awarded a grant and awaiting installation of the
elevator next summer.

Equipped with many Physician Assistant skills he helps many hospice families everyday
changing bandages and being an aide to the families.

He spends many hours going to Fairbanks to run errands to support of the center or
community families. While doing that he picks up food boxes to distribute throughout
some four or five programs the Senior Center advocates for in our community.

He describes his library project in these words:

“I had several hundred books stashed away in my storage ATCO and as I am
getting on in years, I was worried about my wife having to deal with them when
I’m gone. I was visiting the Senior center and noticed a large room with a desk
and a file cabinet. I asked about it and found that it was used as an office and
there was no interest in combining it with the smaller office next door. A couple of
months later there was a change in leadership so I asked again and was told that
I could use it to start a library. A couple of Mormon Missionary’s helped move the
furniture to combine the offices, clean and paint the room and started moving
bookcases and books in. We had to build shelves in between the bookcases as
we didn’t have enough for all the books. As the word got out, I had numerous
bookcases donated and hundreds of books pouring in and have had numerous
volunteers help with moving shelves and stocking the books. I only managed to
get about half of my books moved into the library as we ran out of shelf space
and room to put more book cases. I was given a second smaller room to house
the overflow. We also had several hundred video’s donated, both VHS and CD’s.
I had researched grants given for libraries and was told that getting a grant to
start a new library was very difficult but if you had a functioning library, it was
easier to get a grant to enhance an operating library by showing utilization and
need.
Because we were out growing our present space and would be losing the smaller
overflow room to the welcome addition of an elevator being installed next
Summer that will open into the smaller room, I was recently given a second large
room across the hallway which will double our active space. We are awaiting
funding to clean and paint and to remove the old carpet and install flooring before
we move in. To show utilization, we ask patrons to sign in and note the number
of books and videos they are taking. We ask patrons take the books and videos
home to enjoy and then return them to share with others.
We have a number of volunteers currently organizing the books into groups by
author and category. We have also placed two bookcases in the main room
downstairs for those who are unable to safely climb the stairs. The volunteer
ladies have made a Christmas display with all of our current Christmas books in
those bookcases down stairs.”

Yes, with his 79th birthday approaching in February, he meets the age requirement.
Another yes, is his past 44 years residing in our community, satisfies the residency
requirement. But most notably is the living testament he embodies in demonstrating
commitment to shaping the brand of our community, through a multitude of actions
requiring, with his time, labor and means. There is no doubt, this nominee has changed
the landscape for residents that will last long into many generations to come. He truly is
deserving to be the Pioneer of the Year.

Expressions in Glass worked with the Chamber to design the custom awards. The
design, quality, and symbolism of North Pole was put into each special, commemorative
award for each recipient.

The North Pole Community Chamber of Commerce’s annual effort to recognize
businesses and individuals who have made a difference in our community is to ensure
we celebrate their contributions, sing their praise, and inspire others to follow in their
footsteps by embracing active citizenship, while paying it forward.

Between now next year’s award ceremony, the challenge for each of us is… what can I
do to give the next generation of entrepreneurs, employees, visitors, residents and
general citizenry a tomorrow far better than today?