Regular donors to Blood Bank of Alaska may soon have to travel farther or wait for mobile blood drive collections to give, as the Soldotna and Wasilla donor centers will soon be closing.

The waiting room of the Blood Bank of Alaska's Soldotna location was empty. On the wall above a set of water coolers was a poster reading, "In Alaska, fewer than 5 percent of eligible donors give blood."

He was a no-nonsense, straight-talking man, those closest to him say, an adventurous pilot and a healer who was as comfortable with a stethoscope as an aerial stunt.

The sounds of children?s voices lifted in happy holiday melodies echoed across the Central Peninsula last week delighting shoppers, senior citizens, hospital staff and patients. For the last dozen or so years Cook Inlet Academy (CIA) pre-school teacher Becky Dwinnell, fondly known as ?Miss Becky,? has been Christmas Caroling with her pre-school through 3rd grade students throughout the local community. Last week with the help of parents to provide transportation Miss Becky took two groups of 30 students on a caroling tour that included the Soldotna Senior Center, Heritage Place, Central Peninsula Hospital, Beemun?s Variety store, and Carrs Safeway in Soldotna.