It Was Tough Sledding but They’re on Top of the World

--Ecstatic students and faculty members at Clara Barton Open School in Minneapolis released hundreds of helium-filled balloons when they got the news that physical education teacher Anne Bancroft had reached the North Pole. Bancroft was one of six dog-sledders--four Americans and two Canadians--whose expedition became the first in 77 years to reach the North Pole carrying all of its own supplies. The feat matched that of American explorer Robert Edwin Peary, who, on April 6, 1909, was the first man to reach the North Pole. The team endured temperatures of minus 71 degrees Fahrenheit and 50-foot-high ice ridges on the 497-mile odyssey. Seven men and Bancroft began the journey on March 8 from Ward Hunt Island, the northernmost tip of Canada, but two members of the team had to drop out last month because of injuries. Besides Bancroft, others who reached the pole were expedition leaders Will Steger and Paul Schurke, both of Ely, Minn.; Geoff Carroll, of Juneau, Alaska; Richard Weber, of Cantley, Quebec, and Brent Boddy, of Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories. “If one member of the team had made it, it would have been a success,” said Debbie Bancroft, Anne’s mother. “And for six of them to have made it is really spectacular!”

--Singer-actress Dolly Parton opened Dollywood, her 400-acre theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and said that she hoped it would spur economic growth in her native Smoky Mountains. “Through Dollywood, it’s my hope that we can preserve the heritage and life style of the Smokies that gave me my strength, and that we can create jobs and grow in this area so we can all live better,” said Parton, who was born eight miles from the site of the park. Among Dollywood’s attractions are “The Dolly Parton Story,” a museum exhibit about Parton’s life, and Aunt Granny’s Dixie Fixins, a country-style restaurant that reportedly serves dishes made from Parton’s own recipes. There’s also 9 to 5 & Dime Valley Mercantile (named for the movie in which Parton made her film debut), where visitors can buy souvenirs.

--She didn’t want to take a bus, train or plane, so Cynthia Benolkin called a cab for her trip from Big Lake, Minn., to California and back. It took 16 days to make the 4,000-mile round trip, which netted cabbie Wayne Voigt $2,000. It took four days to reach California, where Benolkin, 73, visited relatives for a week. “I think it’s the world’s longest taxicab ride,” Voigt said. “I can’t imagine there being a longer one.” The cab driver said it was his longest trip by far, although he once had a 240-mile, round-trip fare from Big Lake to Eau Claire, Wis. His passenger on that trip--Benolkin.