"North to Alaska" is the first story in this column. Click here to read it first.
Written by: Sandy Onchuck
Shortly after the July ’72 flight to Alaska, Dennis was determined to return to the land he had fallen in love with and homestead there. He spent months preparing for this adventure and was eager to see what awaited him in the last frontier. He planned to drive his parents’ old 1937 Pontiac, which they had purchased in the late ’50s for $85.00. Even the bravest of men might have rethought driving a vehicle that old on the Alcan Highway, but not Dennis.
He had the ole girl in tip-top shape, even replacing the fuel line hours before his departure. He had initially put Plexiglas over the windshield but almost got seasick driving to town and back and decided that was not a “go.” But he was prepared, from the screen bolted to the front bumper to protect the headlights and radiator to the homemade top carrier.
Once he decided to move he methodically began gathering equipment and gear that he would need to survive during his first year of the new life in the wilderness. This included a one-man cross-cut saw, axes, an adze for hewing logs to build a cabin, a spade, a hoe for gardening, and smaller hand tools for construction and other miscellaneous needs. Household items included cast iron frying pans and pots, a campfire stove, bed rolls, and kerosene lamps. He took three rifles, ammunition, a fishing rod and reel, several traps, and snowshoes.
He hoped to get some property near Mt. McKinley and live in a 9 x 12 camping tent while he was erecting a small log cabin. During the three months of Alaskan summer with all the daylight hours, he expected to accomplish a great deal; such as planting and harvesting a garden and building a cabin. I think his expectations at 25 were unrealistic, but the one thing that sets him apart from others is the fact he has always dreamed big and has accomplished more than the average man.
Many of the youth in the 1970s were disillusioned with life and just wanted to get away from it all. Dennis had no such thoughts. He loved life, but like many outdoorsmen, he just wanted to experience the wilderness. The trip to Alaska the previous year had sealed it for him, and the lure of the great outdoors was drawing him.
The last entry in his journal the night before he left Phillips read, ”Well, my friends, this is the last night I will be writing at the kitchen table until only the LORD knows. May HE lead and guide me through all I must face in the times ahead.”
It had been five days since he had left home and several days since he had crossed the border into Canada. He had enjoyed a brief visit in Minnesota with Charles and Juanita Peterson whom he had met the previous year when he and the guys had been stranded in Fort St. John. He was enjoying every minute as he traveled along. He was only a few miles east of Grand Prairie, Alberta when BOOM!!! The old Pontiac lunged forward. He frantically pumped the brake pedal but to no avail. It took all his strength just to keep it on the road until it coasted to a stop, which took at least half a mile. As he was struggling to keep it on the road his mechanic mind was trying to figure out what was going on. He thought maybe his fuel tank exploded, but no, the car was not on fire.
When he finally came to a stop he realized he was trapped. The driver’s side door was jammed and all the backseat contents were now scattered all over. All the boxed-up gear was pushed forward trapping him inside. It took a while but he finally managed to clear enough of the debris away from the passenger door and kick it open. After he finally exited and walked around the vehicle he was totally baffled about what had just happened…
....The story is "to be continued" in the next publication. Watch the Off the Road Again column for future stories.
You can share this on Facebook by clicking this link and clicking "Share."
The Norvado Esports Grant Program has named Phillips High School as the first recipient of $25,000 to grow the school’s esports program, which is statewide, competitive-level video gaming. Principal Kevin Wellman explained, “Simply put, esports are video games that are played in a highly-organized, competitive environment. These games can range from popular, team-oriented, multi-player online battle arenas (MOBAs) to single player first-person shooters to survival battle royales to virtual reconstructions of physical sports.”
He continued, “Our school is a part of the WIHSEA (Wisconsin High School Esports Association). The titles are broken into three seasons: Fall, Winter, and Spring. The fall titles are Smite and Smash Bros.; winter titles are Rocket League and Fortnite; and spring titles consist of League of Legends and Valorant. Each of these titles are dependent on student participation. As this was our first season, we decided to ease into the seasons. We offered fall season to middle school but all three seasons to high school.”
Evan Evenson, coach of the team, shared, “This team means so much to the students, and this generous grant from Norvado is not only going to provide them with the technology that they need, but it’s also a great source of excitement that’ll bring their accomplishments to the attention and support of the whole school community.”
Nine of the players will be seniors next season, and several of them plan to transfer their interest into tech-related pursuits. Hayden Sokolowski, Class of 2024, said “Studying some of the most popular games and how they work can help with a future career in game design or programming. My goal is to become a video game programmer, and esports really helps with that.”
According to Norvado, “The funds will be used by the school to construct a competitive esports gaming facility on campus, enrich the students’ lives, and broaden their opportunities in high school and beyond."
In 2022, the team’s first year, the twelve participants used basic gaming equipment. With this grant, the team will expand to twenty or more players, and they will compete in all of the different seasons offered during the 2023-2024 school year. An esports area will also be developed, as well. Principal Wellman said, “We are looking for a suitable location in the 6-12 building. This would most likely be two separate locations, one for high school and one for middle school....Currently we are looking at a setup that could be possibly multi-use and allow for rearranging of space. There are many options out there, and we want to make sure we go with options that will allow the space to grow or be moved if need be. The physical setup would be computers, monitors, tables or desks, and chairs. This would also include the peripherals like keyboards and mice.”
(Article continues after promotional message.) SUPPORT LOCAL EVENTS: From pop to country to rock to polka, the Price County Fair's 2023 music line-up has a lot of genres covered! Enjoy the Price County Fair, coming to Phillips August 23-27, 2023! Visit the Price County Fair's website and follow the Price County Fair's Facebook page.
According to Norvado, “Programs like these provide local youth a multitude of new opportunities: team bonding; personal growth; scholarships; professional athletic careers,; and careers in the production, announcing, programming, support (IT and other), and broadcasting job markets.
Principal Wellman, added, “Esports have positive impacts on the average student as it encourages problem solving skills and enhances student communication with each other. The competition and teamwork allow students to bond and forge friendships in new opportunities. All of these working in conjunction have our students working well together and performing better in class.”
Chad Young, Norvado CEO, added, “This grant will provide the necessary funds to establish a cutting-edge gaming facility equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Additionally, with Norvado's high-speed fiber network, our local high school students will have the advantage of low latency, enabling them to compete at the highest level in the rapidly expanding world of esports. The opportunities for scholarships and careers in esports have grown significantly in recent years, and it's truly exciting to see Phillips High School equipped with a modern facility and the connectivity needed to fully develop the skills of our talented students.”
The Norvado Esports Grant Program is available to all schools that reside in a Norvado ILEC exchange and are serviceable by their fiber network. To learn more or apply for future funding, contact Norvado’s esports partner in the program, the MKEsports Alliance, at 414-690-2933 or email brandon@mkeesports.com.
This was quite an undertaking for these young fellows. The word got around about their departure plans, and they were surprised at the interest and the number of friends and family from Lugerville, Phillips, Park Falls, and even Ladysmith that came out to the airport to see them off.
While this adventurous trip has been long forgotten by the community, mainly because many of the family and friends involved have now passed on, still, I thought the readers of My Price County would enjoy this story from 50 years ago.
Jerry Niebauer, a Park Falls native and cousin to Dennis, was 26 at the time, and even though he had a history of motion sickness, he was gung-ho when Dennis approached him about this adventure.
The following paragraphs are his recollection of the trip: Even before reaching Aberdeen, SD we were enveloped by massive, dark clouds and being tossed around like a feather in the wind. Duane Grant and I were sitting in the back while Dave Tarcon was upfront in the right seat serving as the co-pilot/map reader. I couldn’t hear anything over the plane engine, but could tell Dennis was praying out loud for safety.
One of the most unforgettable moments happened when we were flying into Edmonton, Alberta. The Aberdeen airport was small with small airplanes. This airport was large, and I was fascinated by the large planes. I watched as Denny began the descent, and as we approached the landing strip, I could see something was wrong. I could tell something was happening that was making Denny and Dave quite excited. All along Denny was speaking with the tower as we were heading down for our landing, but again, because of engine noise, I couldn’t hear what messages were coming over the radio or Denny’s responses. I vaguely remember that at some point before touching down I understood that we were in communication with the tower for another airport. Yes, we were headed straight toward a landing strip at a major airport that wasn’t expecting us, and worse yet there was another airport somewhere in the city that had heard Denny announce that we were heading in for a landing, but we were nowhere in sight. Thankfully, before the wheels touched the ground, Denny and Dave realized this strategic error and Denny abruptly pulled the nose of the plane up and veered off to the right…or...left.. I couldn’t tell you which way or what happened after that.
Our planned route was to follow the Alcan up to Fort St. John in British Columbia and then fly into Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory before flying on to Alaska. We made it to Fort St. John before our *best-laid plan* hit a snag. A weather system moved in and since we were relying on visibility and not equipped with radar, we were forced to hunker down - and for 3 days we did. We spent long hours visiting with other stranded pilots, checking the weather, and playing cards. We slept in our sleeping bags on the concrete floor in a large hangar. I don't remember if we could buy meals from vending machines, but I do recall we shared a tea bag way too many times to really call it tea.
We, along with several other pilots, did attempt to leave Fort St. John and fly up a river valley beneath the clouds into Watson Lake. We were able to fly quite a distance, but eventually, the valley wall got higher or the clouds came down farther, and we hit a wall of thick, white fluffy clouds. This entailed a fast banking swoop to the left following the other 4 or 5 other planes. It also entailed the pulling out of the long plastic bag. I didn't have to use it, but I did feel green.
But that was when Denny and three other pilots decided to put together a plan to fly east around the weather system rather than following the Alcan. The positive part of this plan was that we could fly east to Great Slave Lake and then follow the mighty Mackenzie River up to the Arctic Circle and Inuvik, Canada.
The sky was clear and the sun shined brightly as we flew east to Great Slave Lake. From there we flew to Ft. Simpson. I don't recall where the airport was located, but I remember that landing well. We were the second of the four planes to attempt a landing. As Denny tipped down and approached the runway, he animatedly called our attention to the airstrip. It was not grass or hard-packed sand, but MUD, lots of it….Deep, soft, dangerous MUD. Denny quickly had me and Duane pull out the sleeping bags behind us and place them between us and the front seat. Obviously, Denny wasn’t sure how this landing was going to turn out. The plane in front of us hit the mud, lost control, and spun off to the right. We were next. We made it and were safe, but the airplane did not fare as well.
* This is what Dennis recorded in his journal about this landing: Thankfully, the Apache didn’t flip, but the nose gear retraction link was bent because of the mud. From that point on there was a loud bang every time the landing gear was retracted. Needless to say, the takeoff from there was one muddy mess. He also noted that while the hold-up in Fort St. John and the messy landing at Fort Simpson were not fun, the friendships made there were wonderful.
Both Jerry and Dennis agree the rest of the northerly trip up the magnificent Mackenzie River to the small Eskimo village of Inuvik in the Northwest Territory, Canada was uneventful and the scenery was awesome. They arrived around midnight in the land of the never-setting sun to find the whole village outside and wide awake. The adults were congregating in groups talking, and the dogs and kids were running around playing games and making lots of noise like children do everywhere (just not at midnight). They put up their tent and tried sleeping with the sun shining and zillions of mosquitoes buzzing around the tent door.
From the Inuvik, they flew diagonally to Fairbanks, then on to Talkeetna, Alaska. Duane Grant was 16 at the time, and he recalls this being one of the highlights of the trip. Someone drove them to a place on Fish Creek owned by a lady named Evil Alice (named such because she was a fighter against corruption in government). The Salmon were running, a sight none of the fellows had ever witnessed. They had a blast using landing nets to scoop up a ton of fish and the next morning they enjoyed a breakfast feast prepared by the owners of the Talkeetna Motel who graciously cooked up the catch from the day before.
Unbeknownst to the guys at the time, Dave’s parents had been notified in the middle of the night by an FAA official their plane had been reported as missing. This was 1972, years before cell phones and the Internet, so the fellows had no communication with home until they arrived in Anchorage. The call had come from a former Kennan native, Fran Balsis, who was an official of the FAA in Eau Claire. He must have gotten on this immediately and tracked the guys down because neither Dave nor his sister, Cindy, remember their folks being traumatized. Dennis remembers the error came because a Canadian air controller failed to cancel a changed flight plan.
A highlight for all of the guys was flying close to Mt. McKinley, presently known as Denali. An incredible view few people will ever enjoy.
When I asked Dave Tarcon what he remembered about this trip he humorously wrote: The trip was either too uneventful or too traumatic to think about. I do remember meeting Tennessee Ernie Ford in the terminal restroom. He was using the urinal next to me, and we discussed the fishing vacation he was on. He was shorter than he looked on TV, but he was a real gentleman. *Only Dave!
He also wrote this: FYI, the Piper Apache is unique in that it does not require a "key" to start the engines. Unfortunately, we experienced this fact after we took off from Homer Airport with the "keys" hanging from the baggage door lock. We enjoyed our second visit to Homer on the same day.
Another mishap occurred after one of their stops that was a little disconcerting. They had no more than gotten airborne when the door flew open on the Apache because they failed to lock it on takeoff. Dennis wrote in his journal that it was all they could do to manage to get it partially shut and keep the aircraft under control. So he circled around, landed, shut the door, and took off again.
After visiting Dave’s relatives in Anchorage for a few days, they headed back to Phillips. All in all it had been a great trip. Despite the delays and mishaps, the guys had a great time, and several weeks after their return over 60 people gathered at the Lugerville School to watch their slides and hear all about their adventure.
This Alaskan adventure changed the direction of Dennis' life forever. On March 30, 1973, he recorded these words in his journal: Well, my friends, as I pen these words, I am no longer an employee of the Price County Highway Dept. However, I feel that the good Lord is with me 100%, and I look forward to whatever befalls me with a courage that is great and strong, and I pray I will never falter.
He left for Alaska on April 24, 1973 to follow his heart. He never looked back or regretted that decision. I will be sharing more of his Off the Road Again stories in the Off the Road Again Column on My Price County.
My Price County is pleased to announce a new column, Off the Road Again, (click the link to see all the stories and then click on the story you want to read), which will be written by Sandy Onchuck. Much of Sandy’s column will describe the adventures of her husband, Dennis.
She said, “Our family often jests about how his travels put him ‘On the Road Again,’ but if his life were put to a song it would be titled, 'Off the Road Again.' Dennis is a man’s man with deep faith. Perhaps it’s this trust in his Creator, God, that gives him the courage try where others dare not go. My goal is to share his real-life adventures and other family-related and inspirational stories that will bring smiles, and maybe even a few tears, but hopefully all will serve as an encouragement to the reader.”
We appreciate Sandy accepting our offer to publish her stories on My Price County and hope you all enjoy them as much as she enjoys writing them and Dennis enjoys sharing his life through her writing.
On Sunday, May 28, 2023, a home on Hwy. 13, north of Boyer Road in Park Falls, was reported as being on fire around 12:10 p.m.
Fire personnel arrived and discovered no one was inside the home and no injuries were immediately reported. However, the home was engulfed in flames.
Vehicles were asked to detour down Hwy. 70, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transporation. Around 3 p.m., emergency service vehicles cleared the scene and traffic resumed.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
According to Detective Sgt. Ryan Rossing, a structure fire was reported on Pine Street in Eagle River, WI on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at approximately 4:17 a.m.
The fire department was able to contain and extinguish the fire.
There were no injuries reported but about twenty people were displaced from their apartments due to the fire. Various agencies are helping those people.
Preliminary investigation shows the fire does not appear to be suspiciousin nature, but the Eagle River Fire Department is performing an investigation.
The Vilas County Sheriff's Office, Eagle River Fire Department, Conover Fire Department, Three Lakes Fire Department, Eagle River Ambulance, Eagle River Police Department, and Eagle River Light and Water all responded to the scene.
On Monday, May 22, 2023 at 1:42 p.m., the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a wireless 911 call reporting a tipped over canoe on Black Oak Lake in Land O Lakes.
Upon investigation, the witness saw a man, who was not wearing a life jacket, sinking below a canoe.
Emergency crews responded to the scene and a large search was began. Searchers worked until dusk but could not find the man.
On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, the search continued and the body of the man was located at approximately 11:45 a.m. The cause of the drowning has been determined to be an accident.
The Vilas County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone to have and wear appropriate life jackets while enjoying all water-related activities.
Land O Lakes Ambulance Service, Land O Lakes Fire Department, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Newbold Search and Rescue, Vilas County Medical Examiner and the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident.
According to Lieutenant Dale Soltow, there was a structure fire on Saturday, May 20, 2023 in Vilas County.
The fire was reported to dispatch via a 911 call. The caller reported flames coming through the roof of Bear Hugs Wood Carvings located on USH 51 in Arbor Vitae.
It was reported that a wood carving started on fire.
No injuries were reported but the business received extensive damage.
Responding to the fire were the Arbor Vitae Fire Department, Woodruff Fire Department, Vilas County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida County Ambulance MED5, and WPS.
According to Lieutenant Blaine Peterson, on Thursday, May 18, 2023, the Phillips Police Department received a report of a stolen vehicle from the Dollar General located at 715 South Lake Avenue in Phillips, Wisconsin.
The vehicle is described as a 2004 black Pontiac Grand Prix with a Wisconsin license plate reading ALW5014. There are sparkly rhinestones around the license plate. The vehicle has a cracked front bumper that was repaired with black electrical tape. There is a blue and metallic sticker on the driver's side of the windshield which runs vertical and reads "Bad Bitches Only." The back window has a sticker regarding Medford Figure Skating.
The vehicle was taken between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. The direction of travel from the City of Phillips is unknown.
If you have any information, contact the Phillips Police Department at 715-339-3847.
![[Image: pricecountyfair.jpg]](https://mynorthernwisconsin.com/display/pricecountyfair.jpg)