Palmer chamber gets state fair preview

PALMER — The Alaska State Fair is a mere three weeks away, and members of the Palmer Chamber of Commerce got a firsthand look Wednesday at the entertainment lineup and other events planned for this year’s annual 12-day extravaganza.

The 2016 fair with be the 80th for the Valley landmark.

Kelly Larson, the fair’s community relations and social media coordinator, was the featured speaker at the chamber’s weekly luncheon at the Moose Lodge. Larson was joined by Chelsea Eckert of Golden Wheel Amusements, which has reached a milestone of its own this year as the Chugiak-based company celebrates its 50th anniversary. Golden Wheel’s midway and rides have been a mainstay at the fair for decades.

“We are happy to be in the Alaska fun business,” Eckert said.

Along with outlining this year’s entertainment offering, Larson also highlighted many of the new attractions for 2016 and talked about the fair’s annual commemorative poster, created again this year by artist, and 2004 Palmer High School graduate, Ruth Hulbert.

“She did a fantastic job last year, so we invited her back this year to celebrate our 80th year,” Larson said. Hulbert’s design is a quilt pattern, with eight squares that have significance for one decade, Larson said. The ninth and middle square — a depiction of hands sewing an anniversary logo — looks to the future, she added.

“The center square represents our next 10 decades, and represents the ongoing work in progress,” Larson said. “So, it is the work of many hands. The poster is an amazing piece of work.”

Larson said the poster also was turned into a queen-size quilt by Palmer’s Kathy Rockey. The quilt will be on display throughout the fair in the Irwin building, and will be raffled off Sept. 5. Raffle proceeds will benefit the fair’s scholarship program, Larson said.

“The quilt is just beautiful,” she said.

Larson outlined the diverse entertainment lineup for 2016, which includes country acts The Band Perry and Randy Houser, hip-hop artist G-Eazy (those tickets are almost gone, Larson said), pop favorite Andy Grammer, rockers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo and counterculture comics Cheech and Chong.

“The irony is not lost on me that the year we decide to go smoke free at the fair, we get Cheech and Chong,” Larson said to laughs from the chamber group.

According to the 2016 fair guide, smoking will not be permitted anywhere within fenced common areas of the fairgrounds or within 40 feet of the main gated entrances.

As for what is new at the fair this year, Larson noted that the current Pokemon Go craze has officially landed in Palmer.

“We are having Poke Day at the fair on August 30,” Larson said. “We will have team meet-ups for blue, red and yellow teams, and will be dropping lures all over the fair that day.”

She added a cosplay costume contest also was planned, as was a karaoke contest for people to sing the original Pokémon theme song.

“Yes, that is a thing and people love it,” she said.

Tech Day is Sept. 2, and will feature home automation, virtual reality and surgical robot displays, Larson said. The monster truck show also is back for 2016, she added.

Another new event for 2016 is Team Ghost Riders, a rodeo act featuring capuchin monkeys and border collies.

“The monkeys and collies are raised together and they love what they do,” Larson said.

Look for the complete fair guide in today’s issue of the Frontiersman.

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com