Last fall, a team from PBS Appalachia arrived in Fairbanks to create an episode for their Emmy-winning television series titled “Hometowns.” The group included the show’s host, producer, and camera operator, and true to their previous episodes, they did a great job at making advance arrangements to create a wide-ranging profile of a place and its people. Their aim is to identify what makes a community unique and ask people how they go there, and why they continue to live there. You know the answers from Fairbanks were all over the place.
Producer Sara Muncy had rounded up all kinds of interesting folks, including two Native Alaskans talking about cultural histories, a woman who runs a reindeer farm, one of the Golddaughters, an expert on horticulture in the Far North, and Tricia Brown as a long-time Alaskan and author of the Irene Sherman biography, The Queen of Fairbanks.
The “Hometowns” interview with Tricia was conducted at a favorite Fairbanks brewery called Humble Roots Project, and why? Because they’re a local business that focuses on local history, so much so that they decided to name one of their brews–an Imperial Blonde–after Irene. What a neat tribute to a woman who loved her beer (although if you know her story, you know she was fixated on Olympia beer and no other). Both Bob Eley and Tricia have tasted the Irene ale at Humble Roots and can warmly endorse it. So do many other customers. It was supposed to be a seasonal offering, but now it’s year-round.
Thanks to Sara Muncy and crew at PBS Appalachia! Your hearts are in the right place. You can watch their Fairbanks episode on PBS.org by clicking HERE.
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