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It should be easy to pick broadcaster Dick Olson out of the crowd at the 2008 Fairbanks Heart Walk Saturday.

During an interview a few weeks back with Janet Bartels of the American Heart Association, the unflappable Olson mentioned a fundraising challenge on “Closing Comments” on KJNP.

He is a suit-and-tie guy who always wears cowboy boots. But he said he would wear cowboy boots and shorts during the walk if someone pledged $1,000 to the heart association in memory of his wife Bev.

Until her death last year, Bev had been the top individual fundraiser for the heart walk in Alaska for several years.

Taking Dick up on his offer, Bill Slayden of Slayden Plumbing & Heating pledged $1,000.

Dick told me Wednesday, “I may be sick Saturday,” but he was kidding.

About 1,500 other walkers from 90 teams are expected to join Olson in the heart walk Saturday, with pre-race activities starting at 9 a.m.

If you have yet to register, you can do so that morning at Veterans Memorial Park or at www.fairbanksheartwalk.org.

The walk is to start at 10 a.m. and participants can either take the one-mile course or the 2.5 mile version.

After the event, registered walkers can join in a heart-healthy lunch prepared by Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, with entertainment by the UAF Steel Drum Ensemble.

The goal of the heart walk this year is to raise $195,000.

For the last five years, Fairbanks has had the highest per capita involvement in the nation.

The local sponsors are ConocoPhillips and Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. The hospital and the University of Alaska Fairbanks are expected to be the leading teams in the competition to raise the most money.

The co-chairs of the event are Randy and Billie Blanchard.

For more information, call 456-3659.

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SCHOOL WORK: Families who school their children at home are planning their annual Curriculum Fair of used home-school textbooks and other educational items Saturday.

The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the civic center at Pioneer Park. Home-school families hold the event every year to sell or exchange school materials.

In addition to books, there will be games, movies and other items that can help in the learning process for kids as young as preschoolers and as old as high school seniors.

Admission is free. If you want to arrange for a table to sell or trade school supplies call 479-3966.

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YOUTH CONCERT: The Fairbanks Youth Orchestras, featuring many of our best young musicians, are to present their final concert of the year Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall.

The program is to include performances by the Youth String Orchestra conducted by Sunnifa Deehr, the Concert Orchestra conducted by James Thaxter and the Fairbanks Youth Symphony conducted by George Rydlinski.

Tickets are $5 for adults and are free for anyone under 19.

Among the works to be performed are the “Moldau” by Smetena and the “William Tell Overture” by Rossini.

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BIKE TO WORK: This is Bike to Work Day. With the high price of fuel, more people than ever are turning to bikes in Fairbanks.

About 25 organizations are taking part in the “Don’t be Fuelish” campaign in Fairbanks. These people are walking, joining car pools, taking the bus or biking.

All of them are saving money.

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RETIRING: The ice rink at Woodriver Elementary School has been named in honor of Jim Gillis, the retiring principal of the school. The kids all made him thank-you cards.

“He knows every student at Woodriver by name and on every birthday takes his guitar to the classroom and sings,” a Woodriver parent says.

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BLOOMING: The field next to the new Fred Meyer contains hundreds, or maybe even thousands of wind-blown plastic bags.

A reader witnessed a green garbage truck, which apparently had been to a dump site, spewing Styrofoam peanuts along College Road between Aurora Drive and Creamer’s Field.

Another reader saw a guy picking up trash on the Johansen Expressway who flicked a cigarette butt on the ground.

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FINISHED: Fred Knutson finished his walk to Anchorage, averaging about 34 miles a day. He returned to Fairbanks on Thursday.

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ENERGY REBATE: I suspect the governor’s $1.2 billion energy plan is going to be dissected by the Legislature. I imagine there will be a lot of debate about the price differentials in communities across the state and questions about conservation and subsidies.

Someone with a few kids who doesn’t drive much and has an energy-efficient house and a fuel-efficient car might end up paying next to nothing for energy, given the utility grants and the $100 per person monthly debit card.

People who live in Anchorage, where natural gas provides much lower heating and electric bills, would be more likely to have all of their energy costs covered, especially if they don’t drive a gas hog.

That’s not the case with a single person, but a family of five would qualify for $500 a month on the debit card and get a break on electric rates.

The average electric bill in Anchorage is close to $100 per month and the average annual heating bill in Southcentral works out to $124 a month. Both categories are much higher in Fairbanks.

The governor’s proposal comes at a time when regular gasoline has topped $4 a gallon at some Fairbanks stations and GVEA is expecting that electric rates will climb about 3 cents a kilowatt/hour in June because of rising oil prices.

Heating oil is now about $4.10 to $4.23 a gallon in Fairbanks.