ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's courtship of nearby eastern Siberia becomes a weeklong affair as the two Far North neighbors warm up to each other this week in an open effort to melt the 'ice curtain' border.
Soviets and Americans, Siberians and Alaskans, communist functionaries and chamber of commerce businessmen, government officials from both sides of the border, rock musicians and regular people will talk trade and travel, socialize and make music in two big concerts - the Glasnost Folkfest and the Superpower Rock 'n' Roll Concert.
It all begins Monday when Aeroflot, the Soviet airline, flies a planeload of Soviet officials and citizens to Anchorage.
The Soviet passenger list reads like a Who's Who in the Communist Party and government circles in eastern Siberia. But Moscow is sending Foreign Ministry officials and Gennadi Gerasimov, spokesman for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Also coming to Alaska are numerous Soviet journalists; Soviet rock superstar Stas Namin and his band along with other singers, dancers, and musicians; an elderly Soviet Eskimo woman with Eskimo friends in Alaska; a hunter; Siberian collective farm workers; teachers and teenage students.
Alaska is rolling out the red carpet for the Soviets, who will not have to spend a kopek for their seven-day stay in Alaska.
Even President George Bush is expected to put in a brief appearance Wednesday when Air Force One stops in Anchorage to refuel en route to Japan.
Alaska organizers of the Soviet events are talking about getting White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater off the president's plane for a sled dog race through the snow against Fitzwater's Soviet counterpart Gerasimov.
But the ground-breaking Alaska-Siberia relations are being forged with few chaperones from Washington or Moscow.
However, the State Department will have a representative in Anchorage for border talks with Moscow officials, said Wayne Neill of the State Department Soviet desk. He said the two sides will discuss a draft agreement allowing Alaska Eskimos to make visa-free trips over the border to visit Soviet Eskimos -- which they did until the Cold War closed the border in 1948.
Some already are prepared to celebrate what they view as a newly opened border.
Magadan region leader Vyacheslav Kobets said during a visit last September that the border must be open if he and a delegation from the Soviet Far East crossed it. Now he's returning with a bigger group.
There have been several border crossings by air and sea since June 13 when the Soviets opened the border to a pioneering Alaska Airlines 'Friendship Flight' that brought 80 American Eskimos, government officials, businessmen and journalists to Provideniya.
This week's Aeroflot jet will deliver the biggest group, more than 90, and varied interests are hoping the visit paves the way for a lasting, genuine bridging of the Bering Strait border.
Dixie Belcher, the Juneau resident who organized the concerts, said she views the border as open and the Glasnost Folkfest and Superpower Rock 'n' Roll are a 'celebration of the opening of the border, a musical celebration of the melting of the ice wall.'
Belcher, who has become friends with Gerasimov and lured him to Alaska several times, also hopes the benefit concerts earn seed money for her new U.S.-Soviet music group Camai to make its first world tour later this year.
Gov. Steve Cowper, whose administration has made it a priority to initiate Soviet ties, plans to greet the Aeroflot plane and hold a citywide reception at the Anchorage performing arts center.
Top Soviet officials fly to Juneau, the capital, Tuesday, for meetings with Legislators and state government officials.
Wednesday, in Anchorage, Soviet Far East business representatives from the Magadan region stage a trade fair, showing off their wares, and meeting with Alaskans to discuss joint ventures. That evening Soviet journalists have agreed to a panel discussion on glasnost and its impact on Soviet media.
Friday, Alaskan and Siberian Eskimo dancers and singers perform at the Glasnost Folkfest along with a black gospel choir and a children's choir.
Saturday, Stas Namin, who has sold 40 million records in the Soviet Union, according to Rolling Stone magazine, rocks the Anchorage sports arena along with the Soviet band Rondo and American blue collar rocker Eddie Money.
During their seven days in Alaska, the Soviets will be wined and dined by Gov. Cowper and former Gov. Wally Hickel. The Alaska State Chamber of Commerce has recruited restaurants and bars to treat the Soviets, and J.C. Penney and an entire shopping mall have invited the Soviets in for some free shopping. Car dealers and rental car companies are donating vehicles so the Soviets can be chauffered around town to see the sights and visit schools.
Many of the Soviets are staying in private homes, and hundreds of people are volunteering to make the trip a success. Anchorage is short only on interpreters.
When the Aeroflot plane comes back to get the Soviets the following Monday, an Alaska Airlines jet will accompany Aeroflot across the border, delivering Alaska businessmen, Eskimos and the American half of the U.S.-Soviet Bering Expedition to Anadyr. Anadyr is the starting point for six Soviets and six Americans who plan to travel 1,200 miles by skis and dog sleds along the Soviet coast, in April crossing the frozen Bering Strait ice curtain border to Alaska together.
