PALMER BUZZ: Celebrate Year of the Dog with Famous Palmer Dogs and Palmer’s Very Own Dog Musher

Dogs of Palmer—Yes it is the big week for the National Westminster Show dogs—Biggie, Slick and Lucy. But they have nothing on the equally wonderful Palmer doggies.

Famous Palmer Dogs—Hank, Willie, and Patton are just a few of merchants’ greeter dogs that steal the show when you walk into a Palmer store. It is a fact that some customers choose their shop—because of the particular dog in residence. Over at Alaska Farm Land Trust, big, golden “Office Dog” is definitely a draw.

Friendly—Palmer is fairly dog-friendly. But the only eatery that really welcomes dogs is Dairy Queen. Garden Gate B & B is dog friendly as are a number of other facilities. Balto, the iconic Palmer doggie statue, stands firm at the corner of South Alaska Street and sometimes he has a large snow hat but oftentimes he just drips icicles.

Year of the Dog—This is Palmer Dog Month and next week is the beginning of the Chinese New Year—2018, Year of the Golden Dog. It is doubtful that we will have Chinese street festivals but it is certain that Palmer will celebrate their dogs, as they always do.

Meredith the Musher—Palmer has its very own, homegrown dog musher who is competing in this years Iditarod. Meredith Mapes is 24 years old and she has been preparing for this event for a long time. Last week she packed booties and finished her drop bags. And last night she finished her meat cutting. There’s a crazy amount of preparation for the big race and we are cheering her on. Track our favorite Palmer Musher’s progress on her Facebook page.

Palmer’s Animal Shelter—Up the road is the Mat Su Borough Animal Shelter and they do a good service for all the wayward critters. It’s hard to make a large facility warm and wonderful, but they work hard at it. They have a phenomenal volunteer program and if one wants to complain about facilities, perhaps it is time instead to offer some personal time helping out. You can be a dog walker, a cat snuggler, an animal petter. You can help with the continual care of the animals. I’ve done it. Initially I was scared I would bring home every animal I saw but I soon learned there was much joy in matching a perfect person with a perfect pet. Over a five month time frame, I matched up nearly 40 rescues with their forever humans. The relationships and romances are ongoing. Dogs, cats, occasional pig, guinea pigs, and bunnies are the normal clients, but once in awhile there is a turtle or two. There’s a lot going on at the Shelter, including spay clinics and continual animal care 24/7.

Boarders, Walkers, Groomers and Vets—For a small area we have our share of animal services. And most of them are great. We have two Vet shops and several groomers. There are plenty of dog walkers out there plus a doggie spa and day retreat. You can find the little doggie bag stations along the railroad, which is a perfect dog walking area. There is at least one doggie park, thanks to Animal Food Warehouse up the highway.

Dogs in Trucks—Dogs like trucks, especially in Palmer. They like to sit tall and look out the window. Therapy dogs are more of the cuddle variety and like to sit curled up on the back seat. There are two rockstar dogs that ride on their person’s motorcycle, complete with little sets of eye goggles.

Big Show—The 12th Annual Valley Arts Alliance Wearable Art and Runway Fashion Show is this weekend at the Palmer Train Depot. You could go at 3pm on Saturday or to the evening performance at 7pm. This is an event not to miss. Get your tickets at Fireside Books or NonEssentials on Main Street.

More Weekend things—Over at the college is a great Women’s Event titled Lipgloss and Leadership Business Summit. Don’t let the lipgloss part fool you. This is not a cosmetic show. This event showcases professional women from all over, offering up motivating and inspiring business information. There is a full Saturday program in the college theater, along with Vendors in the lobbies. And outside will be Food Trucks!

Farm Smarts—There’s a one day workshop on Farming Profitability this weekend at the Annex in Downtown Palmer. Check out Alaska Farmland Trust for more info.

Love On Main Street—Main Street continues to show the love with art shows at the Downtown Deli and Vagabonds. And NonEssentials, once again, offers up love in the form of Saturday Sourdough pancakes. Peak Boutique is showing the love with new Palmer signage. Artists Uncorked is Love in Paint with several events this weekend. Fireside Bookstore is your classic and delicious book shop. And Garden Gate has the best little dragon puppets in the state.