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Goodbye Bub’s Subs. Hello Bubba’s Baja.

Every year brings new changes to summer businesses in the Nenana River Canyon. The first reported major change for the upcoming season is a big surprise.

Owner Lynn and Bubba McAloon announced this week that they are totally changing the name of their popular restaurant and their menu.

Gone are the Philly cheese steaks and Italian sandwiches. Instead, the new menu will feature a fusion of Mexican, Caribbean and Latin food. Get ready for grilled fish tacos, organic Mexican slaw, black bean and corn side salads and authentic salsa.

“This is not going to be refried beans and shredded cheddar cheese,” Lynn said. “We are going to be a little bit fresher and trendier than that. ”

Don’t expect standard Tex-Mex fare, she said. She and her culinary staff will be making all their own salsas and will present a signature guacamole.

In 2006, Lynn and Bubba attended culinary school in Mexico — and they brought most of their staff with them.

It wasn’t long before they began considering adding some of their new culinary passion to the Bub’s Subs repertoire. Then the idea to completely change the restaurant took hold.

“It seems to me, it would just be a fun thing to do to have a different option,” Lynn said. “Life isn’t fun unless there is a challenge in our life.”

Bub’s Subs opened in 2002, then moved to its current location in 2005. The arrival of Subway in the canyon a few years ago didn’t appear to hurt business at Bub’s Subs, which still attracted lines of customers, even after closing at the end of the every season. But Lynn and Bubba clearly hankered for something unique.

“Subway and I are different, but we’re still both sandwich shops,” she said.

The new Bubba’s Baja will feature menu items influenced by Latin culture and will not be strictly traditional Mexican fare.

“It will be a collage of a lot of the travels we’ve been on the past few years,” Lynn said. “It will be food trends we are interested in. We’ll be picking and plucking from what we think are the best from those.”

In addition, she is excited to find new ways to use the organic greens provided every season by local gardeners Jimmie and Laura Hendricks.

“It will be nice to be able to showcase those in a different way,” she said.

Expect a new sign, a new look and a grand opening early in the season.

Child care update

Negotiations continued this week between a few Borough Assembly members and Shelly Merrell, the owner of Denali Preschool and Learning Center.

Results of those talks will be made public at a special meeting Friday at the Tri-Valley Community Center.

The point of negotiations is to preserve the building, originally obtained via a state grant back in 1986, for future child care services in the borough.

Merrell obtained the building for $8,000 less than two years ago when the current board dissolved the nonprofit corporation known as Kid’s Stop and sold it to her for the debt owed by the nonprofit. The business was in dire financial straits at the time. Merrell went on to run a successful child care facility, but then decided to move Outside and sell it. There were no takers for the business, so she intended to sell the building as a private residence.

That’s when local families got excited and the borough put a lien on the property.

According to the contract, the building would revert to the borough if Merrell left before three years.

The negotiations are addressing her equity in the property.

McKinley Village playground

There is a baby boom in the McKinley Village area and young families are anxious to renovate and expand its tiny playground. Organizers have already sent a survey to local families that lists possible playground components and asks parents to rank them in order of importance.

The next playground meeting is set for 7 p.m. March 28 at the McKinley Village community center. The topic is fundraising. Everyone is invited to attend.

To keep tabs on this project, check out the playground Web site at www.mckinleyplayground.wordpress.com. You may recognize some of the young mothers and newest little residents of the area.

Honors choir and band

More music students than ever before have qualified for honors band and choir this year. Honors band members include Lucca Giannachini, Bekah Ziegman and Cora Braun. Honors choir members include Grace Lake, Cora Braun, Bekah Ziegman, Ana Brease, Emily Brease, Brittany Berry, Heidi Miller, Katrina Miller, Brad Lewis, Paulee Newton, Sean McKenzie, Cody Rathbone, John Gebauer. Jack Reeves and Ashley Sauvey.

Each student had to provide an audition tape to be considered for this honor, according to Denali Borough School District music teacher Candace Mainiero.