Colony Days 2025 is over

It was perfect weather, limited conflicts, great music, terrific parade, huge participation, and local recognition of important historical nature. There were new drinks (the battle of the Beverages!) created in honor of Palmer; there were graveyard walks with stories of ancestors; there were memorial races; there were leagues of impressive tractors. There were thousands of large and small United States of America Flags waved for the flag birthday, Flag Day, flag parade, flag statements, birthdays, and public protests—all in line with civil guidelines, which coincidentally coincided with the local holiday. Many people own our flag and it is a beautiful thing to see and share. In the Colony Days Parade, there were a few impressive grotto lunkers and grotto lunkettes. There were several groups of cabbage fairies. There were squads of Queens from at least five different organizations. There were horses and firetrucks and gorgeous old cars. Kites were out in the ballfields. THRIVE had lots of fun kid games going on in the green. Sidewalks were full of chalk art. A Cornhole Tourney, pickelball tournament, cribbage tournament, and quilt auction was so interesting. The Palmer Chamber of Commerce did a great job conducting the parade and weekend fling. I am sure I am not the only one suffering with a bit of colony fatigue after this big weekend. It’s time to sit back and relax now and mow our grass almost daily.

American Citizenship—My daughter-in-law is taking her U. S. Citizenship exam today. She has studied for months. I look at the material she studied and I feel humbled because I don’t know many of the answers. There are 100 Questions about the supreme law of the land, self-government, number and subject of all the amendments, freedom of religion, history and rule of law, some questions are easy: branches of government, names of personal state Senators, Representative, President, Commander in Chief, and a few Cabinet positions are pretty well known to all of us. But then some questions are not easy. Give a detailed explanation of the judicial branch, state powers, voter responsibilities, Benjamin Franklin’s history, American Indian Tribes in the United States, list of US territories, states that share a border with Canada and Mexico. The legal road to United States Citizenship is long and worthy and something of which to be proud. Most of us didn’t have to do this…..we were born here and by the very act of breathing, we became U.S. citizens for life. How fortunate we are.

Sometimes I think we all should be required to take this test. And what’s more, we should all take a local test as well. We should know the history of our area. We should know the leaders in charge. We should know the land use rules, a complete cultural history, the traffic rules and the other law abiding premises that make our community a good place to live.

The title is The Colony Days Parade. period.—The lilacs are a bit late this year and it’s a good thing because that means they can’t compete or contend for a lilac parade title! In years past there have been innocent comments about replacing “Lilac Parade” name for the Colony Days Parade. Well…..let me tell you, renaming that parade is NOT in the cards and NOT a good idea if you wish to stay in harmony. Under no conditions should anyone with any cause, or any group, compete with the well named and honorable, historical Colony Days Parade. This is common and accepted knowledge now. (No Renaming: no chamber, no kings, no queens, no braided river, no lilac, no flag day, no birthday party, no Pope time, no classic, no revival, no rainbow, no salmon, and no sunshine and No Lilac.) The title is The Colony Days Parade. Period. We are sick of the battles to rename a perfectly good parade.

Nose Week” in Palmer Alaska—That’s right, this is “nose week.” This is one of our biggest nose opportunities all year. Why is it nose week? Well, because your nose gets the chance to smell the most fragrant of flowers- lilacs-which are finally blooming. You can catch this delicious scent all around Palmer and it is such a treat.

Welcome to Lilac Town—Every year the Palmer lilacs are better than ever. There are thirty foot tall lilac trees, which are probably older than dirt. There are the young, slender Miss Kim lilacs shaped like a manicured topiary. There are white lilacs, pale purple, violet, lavender, fuchsia, magenta, dark pink, and even some blue ones. There are tinker-belles and tiny dancer lilacs. The aroma is intense and heady. It is the old-world lilac fragrance, which although fleeting and short-lived, stays with us. The whole town of Palmer is on full lilac display/alert right now. Take a walk down any neighborhood street and you can capture this moment to revive your senses. However, be careful. I instinctively like to plunge my nose into the blossoms. But the bees live in there too

Poppies on Deck—They are near to bursting! The big giant orange ones at Combs Insurance popped yesterday and plenty more around town will explode this next week. And on their heels will come the PEONIES! It’s a marvelous time of year.

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff in the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz Column in the Mat Su Valley Frontiersman and daily on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook Group.. Contact at bhunt@mtaonline.net or text 907.315.3222