Jewel Jones, executive director of Anchorage Community Land TrustJust east of the intersection of Mountain View Drive and Taylor Street, the office building of John’s RV Park is boarded up tight. A blue tarp covers large black letters: Motel. The building is one of just two structures left on the property. A ranch house sits behind it.

The stucco landmark, which has stood since the 1940s, is scheduled to be demolished in spring of 2011, says Jewel Jones, executive director of the Anchorage Community Land Trust.

Frosty trees in Davis Park.Bernie Baker serves customers in her Rudolph hat on Christmas Eve at the Mountain View Drive McDonalds.

Morning study for Elders Offley and Matamua.
Hours before daylight, the lights were on in a tiny apartment on North Lane Street. It’s the one with a photo of Jesus on the front door and a large American flag hanging in the living room. Two Mormon missionaries sat facing each other at desks, studying scripture and Samoan language and planning their day in Mountain View. The day has begun in this way for missionaries at similar apartments here since the creation of Anchorage’s first Samoan ward in 2005. Many have carved their names in the desk.

Bill TsurnosBill Tsurnos’ qualifications to be director of the Chanlyut training programs would be difficult to list on a resume. Tsurnos, 63, has spent much of his adult life incarcerated and has been in trouble with the law since 8th grade. By his count, he figures he’s spent 22 years behind bars for theft, burglary, forgery and drug charges. He used drugs for more than 30 years before getting clean, he says. So when he tells Chanlyut residents he knows where they’re coming from, it’s not a figure of speech.

Last minute welding a couple hours before the unveiling.Steph Kese and Erin Pollock greet the crowd.Fifty-two faces glow at dusk.Exhaustion was starting to become apparent in the faces of Steph Kese and Erin Pollock by Saturday evening at the Mountain View Boys & Girls Club. A couple blocks away, however, their other 52 faces were finally aglow.

Bronwyn Jones is involved in a mammoth undertaking at the Alaska Museum of Natural History on North Bragaw Street. She’s building a mammoth.

Nancy BurleyWhile just a few regular customers were left parked on their stools at Peggy’s Airport Cafe at about 7pm on Tuesday, Nancy Burley’s workday wasn’t nearly done in a kitchen upstairs in back of the building. Nancy, the owner of the restaurant, lifted a giant mixing bowl and carried on a decades-old tradition.

Hundreds of people filled Wat Lao of Anchorage, a Buddhist Temple on Schodde Street, on Saturday, November 20. They gathered for Kathina, an annual Buddhist festival during which the laity offer monetary donations and cloth to the monks.

Meno looks at his work.
Spray stencil.Meno and his partners were putting the finishing touches on their piece at Mountain View's MTS Gallery on November 16. The graffiti artist, whose work I shot for this blog just last week, was clearly uncomfortable being photographed. He said it was fine, though, if I didn’t photograph his face, so I didn’t.

Fua, Alice and David.Light the night.On Saturday afternoon, November 13, Alice Satele put her family to work stringing lights inside and outside her Taylor Street ranch house. “I want my house to look nice every year,” she said. Fua Tulai said her lights display gets a little bigger every year. David Tulai is at right at top. Alice's pride in her home's appearance has been captured before - the Google Maps street view of it photographed someone watering plants in their colorful summer yard. Above, the result of their winter work as it looked on Tuesday evening.

Sharing sunshine.Jessica Tankersley found a way to slightly warm her cheeks as she waited for a bus on a breezy day on Parsons Avenue near North Flower Street on November 16. She and Jayson Rylander, left, stood in a narrow shaft of sunlight that reflected off a window across the street. The couple is engaged.

Behind Brewster'sStencil graffiti on the back of the building that used to house Brewster's Clothing and Footwear at Bragaw Street and Mountain View Drive on November 13, 2010. The signature "Meno" was nearby. The building is now occupied by Sally Ann's Salvation Army Thrift Store.

The fast lane on North LaneKendall McVay, 11, and Malakhi Straker, 4, get a sled ride powered by Angel the dog on North Lane Street on November 12.

Police talk things over with kids.
Mao Tosi, right, lets kids into his AK Pride program.
APD officer Chris Ritala listens as guitarists practice.
A crowd of kids huddled in groups outside the newly-opened Mountain View Branch Library on Wednesday, November 10. The library manager stood at the doorway nearby looking stressed. She said the police were on their way over.

Evert, 8, and Jasmin, 14, during the Habitat for Humanity home dedication.
Iduvina, 11, looks at a brochure about her family.
Erich Havner translates a note from Maria, right, and her family.
Shortly after Iduvina Rivera-Sorto arrived at the Habitat for Humanity home dedication ceremony on Mumford Street, the 11-year-old darted from room to room to explore every inch. She stood in the closet of the master bedroom, which she’ll share with a sibling and said she’d never had one before. “A closet?,” I asked. She replied,“I’ve never had a room at all. Finally I get my first room. I hope I keep it clean.”

Phylicia TimmermanPhylicia Timmerman pushes her 10-month-old daughter Alexie through the snow as she walks home from a bus stop on North Hoyt Street on Thursday, November 4. Timmerman said she rides the bus to take her daughter to daycare and look for work. She doesn’t mind the walking involved. “It’s good exercise,” she said.

Marc NanalookA home on Parsons Avenue got insulation and weatherization on November 4 thanks to Marc Nanalook, who works for Cook Inlet Housing Authority.

Matt FroehleMatt Froehle, left, gives instructions before the start of a two-hand touch football game on the field at Clark Middle School on Saturday afternoon, October 30. Froehle is a recreation coordinator for a program of Southcentral Foundation. He explains to his players that the quarterback can’t be rushed until a count of “five-Egegik.” “Is that like ‘five-Mississippi’?,” one of the teens asked. No, he said. There’s no Native Alaskans in Mississippi.

Along Mountain View Drive.

Jason Greer
Jason Greer waits for his People Mover on Mountain View Drive on October 23. Sometimes he hops on a bus just because he wants to take a ride, he said.