Oil Boom Brothel
Are You Ready For Another Edie
Henderson Story?

    It's not really an effort to count Edie Henderson as one among the many outrageous and colorful folk who have contributed to the mystique of Alaska.  Edie and her associates provided the rest and recreation to the hundreds of oil workers during the swashbuckling days of the 50's and 60's.  The oil boom days brought in the roust-about oil workers as well as the hundreds of new families who settled the Kenai Peninsula. 
   Edie opened up her combination bar, restaurant and hotel establishment in downtown Kenai and the customers congregated in her bar at all hours of the day or night since the oil patch workers were on a two-shift schedule.  The music, the singing and revelry was an emerging social institution in the community and the locals in the neighborhood organized a movement against having a strip bar and house of ill repute so close to the school and the quiet neighborhood.
   The oil company employers and the city fathers were aware that Edie's bar and the ladies she employed provided a recreation of sorts for these oil workers and may well keep them off the streets and minimize the carousing around to various bars looking for trouble.
   When the local citizenry started the fuss over Edie's place (and fact is, she was reputed to be the lead fan dancer for several years.) , the politicians heard all the testimony and ultimately proposed a compromise.  They ask Edie to relocate her establishment out of town for about 6 miles which was agreed upon and both sides continued to tolerate one another in peace.  Edie was a very independent lady but also a wise entrepreneur.  At first she argued that she could run her business any damn place she wanted to.  But ultimately, her wisdom held forth and she could see the writing on the wall.  By agreeing to move, she was actually doing the city a favor in providing a needed service while keeping the church ladies happy, so the police pretty much left her place alone.  And a swinging place it was.  It went on for several years during the construction period and the oil-rich town of Kenai had a balanced economy.

   Fast forward for about twenty years.  The Kenai oil well construction was completed, the off-shore and on-shore wells were pumping money into the community and the dozens of trailer parks were long gone.  With the exodus of the construction crews, Edie's business languished and ultimately closed down.  About this time the chamber of commerce was organizing a celebration commemorating the development of the Kenai Peninsula and they planned an award ceremony for the oldest businesses in town.  They picked Kenai Supply Co., a long standing merchant for lumber and construction hardware that had been around for as long as anyone could remember.  The Trophies were purchased and the newspaper heralded the coming award as part of the festivities.

  How to G-2 the Hunting Regs.
   There are two herds of caribou in the area above Tok Junction and the Yukon River, one large and one is quite small.  This is an area that is bisected generally by the Taylor Highway going from Tok up to Eagle and it is the domain of the massive Fortymile herd that does their annual migration from the arctic down to Canada.  This is the herd that attracts hunters from far and wide and is a fairly sure thing for a successful hunt. 
   The Fortymile herd comprises several thousand animals and the regs are fairly expansive in that the hunters are allowed to fetch their game with ATV's, which saves a lot of time and probably saves a few lives from heart attacks.
   But there is another much smaller herd of migratory caribou that passes through the area and this one is protected to a certain extent in that they don't allow ATV's at all and the hunters have to haul out their meat by back pack or horses.  This will, they think, naturally slow down the harvest rate and allow the herd to grow with time.
   Alaskans are a resourceful lot, however, and they have figured out a way to G-2 this burdensome situation and have perfected a "work-around."   What they do is set up camp a few days before the end of the season and then wait to shoot their animal on the last day.  When the season ends the next day, the restriction on ATV's is over and the guys swarm up there like bees and haul their animals out before their game has had enough time to deteriorate.  As they say, motivation spawns resourceful solutions.    #