Families find variety, fun at Colony Middle School festival

PALMER — Feigning dismay, Adam Kuenning looks on as his fellow Boy Scout Troop 367 members tie him to a pillar at Colony Middle School Friday evening.

The Scouts were giving demonstrations on knot tying when they were asked to try their skills out on one of their own. But before that, they explained some of the knots they were using.

“There’s the bowline,” said Joey Gehring, 12. That knot is used “if you’re pulling someone up, like if they fell off a cliff.”

Then there’s the clove hitch, taut-line hitch and square knot, which is used “for attaching two ropes together,” he said.

Asked what knot he’d use to tie someone up with, Gehring said his choice would be the bowline. And if you’re ever kidnapped by Scouts from Troop 367, pray you’re tied up by Gehring and not Kuenning, who quipped that he’d hold someone “with a hangman’s noose!”

The Scouts were among dozens of local kids and adults participating in the annual Valley Festival of the Arts at Colony Middle School. In addition to the Scouts’ demonstration, the CMS jazz band performed, as did school talent show winners, and festival-goers of all ages enjoyed various arts-related activities.

Like the Birchtree Charter School Knitting Workshop, taught by Danielle Terry. Terry said the arts is an important part of the curriculum at Birchtree, pointing to some of the knitting projects on display made by students.

“That’s what we do,” she said. “Those flute cases there? The kids made those.”

A self-taught knitter, Terry said she was mainly showing people how to cast on an do a knit stitch. One of those learning from Terry was Kathy Griffiths, one of the founding parents of the school.

“It’s been 40 years since I’ve knitted, and I’m learning all over again,” she said. “I knew once and forgot. Now the hardest part is learning how to cast on. (Terry) is a very good teacher.”

For others, the family atmosphere was the draw to attend Friday’s festival. That’s what brought the Adamczak family — Tim, wife Kris and daughters Lucia, 3, and Stella, 9.

At the Mat-Su College watercolor station, the family had fun creating Christmas scenes and a couple of colorful abstract creations.

“Art night in general is just a great family night to come to,” Tim said. “It’s a great activity for everybody. It’s a great time for me and the kids, and I enjoy it just as much as them. We did a watercolor painting, we’ve been watching a lot of the shows. There’s some really good dancing and the recorder presentation.”

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.