In the air

It’s an interesting day in Palmer, Alaska. It is February 17, President’s day. It is grey and a bit windy and not so pleasant outside. All up and down South Alaska Street, Evergreen and Cobb Street are American Flags whipping in the breeze. These flags are routinely set up by the Palmer Rotary for most official holidays. It looks pretty cool to see all the flags.

Monday—Over at the quad (also known as the Boro green) are a variety of people walking around with American Flags. They are protesting facism & Elon Musk which (their signs say) is destroying democracy of America. This group is peaceful and well organized. It looks pretty cool to see all the flags.

Monday—City Hall, Post Office, Borough offices, Police and Troopers, and Fire-station all have flags all the time. Today they are really being whipped around and their hardware clanks against the metal flag poles. It seems like a lot of different people in Palmer proudly own our American Flag. And that is a good thing and it looks pretty cool to see it.

Monday—Tonight at the Moose Lodge will be the Palmer History Night. They always start their presentation with a pledge of allegiance to the American Flag. It has always felt good. We will see newly acquired Bob Rieth Colony family photos. newspaper articles, and other historical documents detalling Colony history in Palmer Alaska, Mountain Wisconsin and Seattle Washington. Historical documents are so interesting and it looks pretty cool to see it.

Wearable Art Runway at Palmer Train Depot—This past weekend in Palmer was the 19th Wearable Art Runway Fashion Show at the Palmer Train Depot. It was excellent as always. There were no flags on the runway but there were lots of other things in the air: jellyfish heads, daggers, Sun banners, floral umbrellas, gossamer wings, owl wings, raven wings, fish heads, pink ribbons, wolf ears, scarlet silk roses, crowns, stop signs, sea shell netting, seatbelts, starfish tiaras, glitter gauze, art brushes, jazz hats, jewelry beads, fairy lights, bubbles, pearls, and tulip hat. As you can tell from this list, the show was very creative and wondrous. There is a great combination of music and fantasy and performance art involved in this yearly production. Sponsors are many and assistance is offered by even more volunteers and supporters. Carmen Summerfield, the Valley Arts Alliance, Patrick Garley, Turkey Red are a few of the major players. The list of costumes is long but here it is because credit is necessary for these creative delights: Bea Adler, Sandra McMillian, Diana Bland , Tamora, Crystal Dermer, Marilyn Bennett, Zelda Burkhart, Audra Niekamp Reger, Sherri Bauer, Michelle Carroll, Peter Nicholson, Colleen Wake, Jana Rhea Drake , G+K Lawton, Willow York, Cory Diephof, Barbara Mondore-Andrist, Elisie LeDoux, and Michelle Staup. Congratulations to all the artists and helpers for another wonderful runway show!

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