craft, giant cabbages at Palmer's summer event

May 26, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

PALMER - Lifetime Palmer resident Tony Pippel beamed with pride as he talked about the turn out last week for the kick off of the city's summer outdoors artists and farmers market.

&#8220Wow, last Friday, Palmer was hopping with traffic: People on motorbikes, kids on bicycles, moms pushing strollers,” he said.

With the help of clear skies and several new vendors, the first of the Friday Flings attracted a good-sized crowd, he said.

&#8220This is our first year, but people who've been here before keep saying this is the best opening ever,” vendor Natalie Forbis of Palmer said, as she knitted a magenta and purple hand bag.

&#8220The lady who coordinates the booths gave us a talk and said not to be disappointed if there weren't a lot of people for the opening day,” Forbis said, &#8220but the sun brought people out.”

Forbis, who shared a booth with her sister and mother, said her mom's royal-pain-in-the-neck lotions and balms have brought the most revenue and the most raised eyebrows.

&#8220People read it and say, ‘That sounds like my husband,' or ‘That should be for my dad,'” Forbis laughed.

Friday Flings began in 2002 as a way to bring more traffic to downtown Palmer businesses and create an attractive environment to tourists and locals in Palmer's core, according to www.cityof palmer.org. The event also provides a venue for small-business entrepreneurs to sell their wares before the Alaska State Fair in late August.

The outdoor market gives the public an opportunity to purchase handcrafted items, hanging baskets, potted plants, an assortment of food, and, later in the season, fresh vegetables. If someone isn't in the mood to shop, hanging out and listening to live music always is an option.

Now, Friday Flings coordinators have added another reason to attend the open-air market.

Today at 12:30 p.m., 10 Valley artists will get a glimpse of their upcoming projects - the creative task of decorating large fiberglass cabbages.

&#8220There's going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance. The artists will be invited to the stage. We'll be serving cole slaw,” said Stacie Stigar, one of three market advisory committee members. &#8220It's just going to be fun. We did a lot of personal invitations to people because this is a summer-long project.”

Stigar added that the completed cabbages will resurface at Friday Flings on July 14. Later, the cabbages will be handed over to businesses owners who volunteered to put them on display through the summer as part of the Cabbages on Parade.

&#8220We do anticipate it being a much-larger crowd” today, because of the special event and anticipated good weather, Stigar said.

Today, Palmer's sunny skies should heat the air up, with temperatures falling between the high 60s to mid-70s, and only a subtle breeze, according to the National Weather Service.

Two years ago, approximately 15 vendors set up in May, while about 20 people set up booths in the beginning of Friday Flings' season in 2005, according to Stigar. Twenty-six booths were occupied May 19, compared to 29 vendors who are signed up for today, she said.

Sherry Carrington, a transplant from Fairbanks who said she's still new to the Valley, has been a seamstress for almost a decade.

After she ran across the tent her husband used for past Friday Flings, she decided to put her craft-making skills to use.

On May 19, she set up her booth, Kids Creations, which allowed kids to select from three craft activities, varying in difficulty and price.

She helped a young girl with a glue gun, applying the final bit of adhesive to a popcicle-stick picture frame that was quickly presented to a nearby parent. The girl was one of 15 children who visited the booth.

Today, her three crafts include a beaded bracelet, door hangers and God's eye.

&#8220I thought it would be fun way to spend Fridays this summer,” Carrington said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.