Old friends are new neighbors

We learned this week that some of our old friends will be our new neighbors in the Mat-Su Valley.

For much of its 32-year history, the Eagle River community was host to the Alaskan Scottish Highland Games.

Over the years, however, the event has grown from about 2,000 people to more than 10,000. Organizers say that’s just too many people — and vehicles — to shoehorn into the space available at Eagle Rivers Lions Park.

Understandably, our neighbors along the Glenn Highway in Birchwood, Peters Creek, Chugiak and Eagle River are reluctant to see this beloved event they created leave their community, and not just because they feel a well-deserved sense of pride for building this event over the past three decades.

Events such as the Highland Games also are economic engines that draw dollars into the community from elsewhere. This represents a huge economic loss for our neighbors along the Glenn.

The bridges across the Knik and Matanuska rivers are the natural mark of delineation between our communities. But borough boundaries are arbitrary.

We have a lot in common. Perhaps our greatest shared interest is that we’ve all selected a more rural setting in which to live and raise our families. This is true whether you live in Butte or Birchwood, Peters Creek or Palmer.

There is no division here, just shared bonds that unite us as Alaskans living near the edge of the wilderness.

We welcome the Alaskan Scottish Highland Games to the Mat-Su and all of the dedicated men and women who work tirelessly on this event each year. Well done! It is your success that has prompted the games to move to a larger venue. At the fairgrounds, the event will have more room to grow and a new pool of volunteers to help with the workload.

About a third of us already drive back and forth to Anchorage every day. We shop, attend arts and entertainment events and many more of us have kids or other family members who live in the region, though outside the Valley.

Let this change erase the notion that bridges are dividing lines between our communities. Instead, we prefer to see this move as adding to the list of folks we call our neighbors.

Join us in extending a hearty welcome to these old friends and new neighbors. We look forward to working shoulder to shoulder to help you put on the biggest and best Highland Games in the event’s 32-year history.

Welcome neighbors. How can we help?