Alaska News

Photos: Former First Lady Bella Hammond loves her Lake Clark cabin

Former Alaska First Lady Bella Hammond, 82, continues to live in the log cabin on the north shore of Lake Clark that she and the late Gov. Jay Hammond built together before his term of office from 1974-82.

Living in the Bush at any age is a challenge but doing so as an octogenarian requires a support network of family and friends. Bella's daughter, Heidi, as well as her grandchildren, Lauren and Jay Stanford, and her nephew, David McRae, all spend as much time at Lake Clark as possible -- cutting firewood, helping with the garden, canning and smoking salmon, hauling fuel, keeping generators humming and helping with equipment and maintenance. Bella's daughter, Dana, phones her almost every day from Naknek. Friends send care packages and locals often pick up and deliver her mail; neighbors drop by on occasion to help.

But often, Bella is the one dealing with finicky generators, the insatiable hunger of wood stoves, frozen pipes, bad weather and wild animals. Does she worry about being alone?

"Isolation doesn't bother me a bit," she says. "I enjoy it, I relish it because I feel so fortunate being able to live the way I want to. I've had a few problems, but overall, it's wonderful. I don't want that to change.

"It was a long process, building here, settling in," she says. "We couldn't always live here when we wanted to, because we had to make a living."

This fall will mark the 10th anniversary of Jay's passing at age 83, and the only part of living at Lake Clark that nags at Bella is that "Jay isn't here to enjoy it."

A recent effort in Congress to name the wilderness area of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve for Jay Hammond has the support of Bella and her family. Initially the family didn't want anything renamed in honor of Jay, but since the wilderness area has no name attached to it, Bella believes it's the best choice yet put on the table.

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