Fishing time

Fish is on. And everybody is on their yearly quest for the finest of foods from our land: Salmon. This is the time we dream of those many meals when we get a little taste of fresh salmon from the grill. Many people head to the rivers for dip netting and that experience is unparalleled. But many others fish off the riverbanks or lakeside. It is all good because it is the excuse we need to spend some precious time away from the developed world. Oh and by the way, you can catch a salmon in Palmer. All you have to do is run to the fish counter, smile at the fish guys and say, “hey, throw me one of those salmon fillets.” You can catch it and go home proud.

Festival this weekend—This weekend is the “HatcherROMP,” an all day festival full of music and fun in our favorite place, up the road from Palmer. The crazy good band, Blackwater Railroad is presenting this event at Skeetawk. There will be live music all day long, food, and fun vendors. The mountain amphitheater will rock with the sound of music and the chairlift will run from 3-6pm. In addition to Blackwater Railroad is Ava Earl, Roland Roberts Band, Debonair Dirtbags, and Tim Easton. There are special hats being created for this event. There is some camping available at the Government Peak campground and at the Gold Mint Trailhead parking lot. Doors open at noon.

Get Your Fair Exhibits Ready—You have just a week left to prepare your non-perishable state fair entires. The submission date is Friday and Saturday, August 4 and 5 from 11-7. Non-perishables include art, photography, sewing, garments, handbags, toys, tools, knitting, canned goods, fiber arts, wood working, fleece, weaving, models, macrame, calligraphy, miniatures, masks, dolls, yard art, fly tying, game-boards, wood kitchen utensils, wood turning, nature items, recycled arts, crafts, quilts, beadwork, stained glass, costumes, craft beverages, clay, needlework, and all the other things you see at the Hoskins and Irwin Buildings. All of the hundreds of yearly entries are so rich in their presentation. Each individual creation represents many hours of personal dedication to the craft. I can often imagine people working on their projects during the long days of winter and finishing them up for their shared community debut at the Alaska State Fair. It is an easy process to enter your piece and the helpers at the buildings are kind and helpful. There is no judgement there……just Palmer joy.

New Stripes—It’s pretty exciting when the new paint lines are painted on the roadsides. It feels like life is new again and all is in order. It seems that pavement markings are the cautionary advisors….telling us important messages. In downtown Palmer the crosswalks are newly painted and that is good for everyone. These visual road communicators also tell us about line-of-sight, passing lanes, speed zones, school zones, railroad crossings, and intersections. They are pretty handy messengers and we are happy that they all wearing new paint.

Seasonal Story—A nice gentleman in Palmer was quite concerned last week about getting sick. Apparently Covid has had a resurgence; it is not the threat it once was but it still means sickness for some. This gentleman had some symptoms and complained greatly about sweating and lethargy. His skin was damp. He wanted to lie down. It turns out he didn’t have Covid. He was just simply hot—from the little heat wave Palmer has been experiencing. He didn’t recognize the hot weather because it was unfamiliar. He started drinking water, ice tea, lemonade and kept in the shade and everything is okay again. Yeah Summer!!

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff on the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz 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