Noon whistle in Palmer

Oh it feels so good to hear our lunchtime whistle again. It tells me personally that things are all okay. Of course that is only in my magical world of thinking, but it really does feel reassuring. It also is blowing at 8am and 5pm. I have heard that the Palmer Whistle has so much history and I won’t try to recount it here. But it has stories to tell. It is interesting that some say they can hear it as far away as Colony School and Sutton, if the weather conditions and wind is right. Whoever reconstructed the Palmer Train Whistle is deserving of a prize. Thank you,

Flowers for the Helpers—Tell me please what other town gives out flowers to people just because? The Flowers for Friends gathering was Friday afternoon, spearheaded by Emily Sakis, a brilliant and gregarious individual in Palmer. She believes in goodness and it shows up in her actions and efforts. This year, again, she and Jon Tull (another terrifically kind soul) worked together with the Alaska State Fair’s lead gardener, Becky, and other volunteers, to harvest, transport, vase and distribute Alaska State Fair cut flowers to anyone deserving of care and attention. They distributed approximately 50 full donated vases full of flowers in 27 minutes from Palmer’s Food Town Court (which used to be the old laundromat at the corner of Alaska and Blueberry.)

Palmer Pie-makers—It is time to recognize the Palmer Pie-makers. This is a group of devoted bakers who make pies for public sale and all the proceeds eventually go back into the St. Micheals Ministry, community services, food bank, recycling, and local growers. This has been going on for decades. You may remember seeing these homemade pies at the Friday Fling or perhaps in the St Micheal Slippery Gulch Family Dining building at the Fair Ground. It was there at a cozy picnic table, where Jessica Zeffery explained the intricacies of the St Micheal’s commercial kitchen. Dee Chasse is the overseer and plans and orchestrates rhubarb, peach, apple at least 30 other types of blue ribbon pies, plus homemade brownies, cookies, and banana bread, Parishioners donate both their hand picked produce and rhubarb, time and money to help fund this ongoing community giving effort.

Cycle—Are you starting to notice an interesting cycle in our town? It is a very interconnected “NON POLITICAL” effort of giving. It starts with individual generosity and then volunteers jump in the picture and then large sharing events occur and the entire community can benefit which begets more volunteers, more giving, more sharing and the cycle spirals up and up and up. You can see it every day at the bright lights book project, at Bishop’s Attic, at United way functions, at churches and schools food drives, at knapsacks for schools, at donation sites, with the farms’ produce sharing, with the unneeded library windows, with the free piles, the little libraries, and the buy nothing sites. This is not a new thing for Palmer at all. For decades people have helped each other, WITHOUT getting political. Let’s keep it that way.

Sunflowers Share Too—Sunflowers are on their last legs. They are heavy and droopy and largely on the way down, but they try so hard to stay and give off their last cheery glimpses of summer. And just like Palmer, they give off goodness as they decline…..providing seeds for both our migrating birds and our lovely little birds that stick around as companions all winter. Who doesn’t love sunflowers? Give them a nod before they are done this year. The painting at the top of this column is noting the strength and resiliency of our Sunflowers, despite the rain and wind storms of the 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. Email bhunt@mtaonline.net or text at 907.315.3222