Prison Tour

SWE Greatland members toured the Goose Creek Correctional Center on Thursday, September 23rd. The site is monstrous and has design details unlike any other project we've seen! Thanks to Clayton at Neeser for guiding us through (and back out of) the site safely! Here are a few highlights:

Networking cables in the Guard Tower

Back-up fuel tanks

We need more power!

One of two security fences.

Bunk beds, anyone?

Cells under construction

How Do You Define Success?

SWE's 60th year has been all about achieving (and celebrating) success on our own terms. Last week's update shared quotes about success from well-known men and women. But what does success mean to you?

Feedback Requested: Anchorage & Youth

SWE Greatland is requesting you to answer these few questions regarding the Anchorage community and it's involvement with today's youth. Please take a couple minutes to answer the following questions by leaving a comment.

What makes Anchorage great for youth?
What is needed to make our community better for youth?
What are we doing as individuals and as a group to contribute?
What can we do as individuals and as a group to contribute?

Thanks for your time and visit our SWE Greatland blog again soon!

FY09 End-of-Year Bar-B-Que

Another successful year down, SWE Greatland held their annual end-of-year bar-b-que on June 25th to celebrate all their hard work! Laura Strand was generous enough to host the event at her house and surprised us all with a wonderful spread of seasoned steak and chicken. We welcomed new faces and had about a dozen attendees. The weather held out for us and we enjoyed the sunshine with good company. We look forward to our summer break to gear up for new activities for FY10! Congratulations to our new FY10 SWE Greatland Board:

President - Melissa Mormilo
Vice President - Susie Gaulke
Secretary - Stephanie Mormilo
Treasurer - Maria Kampsen
Section Rep - LaQuita Chmielowski

AK Run for Women Port-a-Potty

It never fails...always seems to rain on us when it's time to decorate a port-a-potty for the run for women! Melissa, Stephanie, Susie, and Cindy still managed to put their decorating skills to the test and came up with a unique "job shack" theme port-a-potty. With cones, flags, hard hat, and toolboxes, we were able to accomplish the "construction site" vision. Every year the Alaska Run for Women requests local groups to sponsor a port-a-potty to be decorated and judged before the race. The winner receives the bedpan award! Although SWE Greatland has had the privelege of being the care taker of this bedpan in the past, we were no winner this year but we always have a good time! Check out our past port-a-potty decorating skills in our photo gallery.

Glenn/Bragaw Interchange Tour

Last week we had the opportunity to walk through the newly opened Glenn Highway/Bragaw Street Interchange. Jon Carpenter and Kevin Kruger of Wilder Construction took a little time to tell us about the background and timeline of the project. We discussed the difference between the design-build process used for this project and the typical design-bid-build process. We learned that the 42” water main that runs under the new bridge fill had to be fully encased in concrete before the fill could be placed and got to see some photos of the process. Wilder shared their experience of coming across two contaminated sites that were not anticipated when the project began and how they were dealt with. We also got to see some time lapse photos and videos of the bridge girders going up. Following their presentation, Kevin took our group on a site tour. Hard hats and vests were required because we were walking into some closed portions of the site. Drivers and other pedestrians seemed to think we were just being overly cautious while walking on the new sidewalks and trails. We were able to utilize the brand new pedestrian push-buttons that make noises so you know they’ve been triggered. We walked across the new bridge, looking down on rush hour traffic on the Glenn Highway. Even though the project only officially opened last week, it operates like it’s always been here. I showed the group the newly realigned headwaters of Chester Creek. Before it was a filthy ditch that surprisingly turned out to be wetlands and impacts had to be mitigated. The newly re-vegetated ditch now looks like a creek and I feel bad for anyone who wants to change it after us because it won’t be easy! Landscaping and artwork are the two main components left to complete next year and I hope we can go out again to see the finished product. Thanks to everyone who attended and shared in the discussions, and to my Wilder guys for staying late to share with us. All of you made it a great experience!

SWE FY09 Kick-off

SWE Greatland had a great kick-off meeting on Wednesday. It was great to see new faces, as well as returning members. There was about 15 participants. We started off with an ice breaker that helped us get to know each other. We enjoyed yummy munchies over great conversation. It was a great way to kick off the new fiscal year. Melissa, the President, gave a brief overview of what SWE Greatland is about and the activities they've been involved in. We hope to continue our activities and be more active in the local schools. We are looking forward to some new and exciting meetings this year so stay tuned!