Wenstrup Spectrum ignores important truths

Just like most of our neighbors, we felt a familiar kind of excitement Wednesday when the Alaska State Fair opened its doors to accept the first round of Fair Exhibits. Gates opened Thursday and the fair continues through Sept. 1.

We’ll be there, as always, for the fair’s entire run. We’ll shoot hundreds of photos of our neighbors’ and their kids with painted faces, fair hair and lots of fair foods. We’ll write stories about giant cabbages, increased commerce and lots of other fair news.

We’ll also be there outside of our professional capacities. We’ll be their with our families, too, trying not to get too nauseous on the spinning Midway rides. We’ll take in a concert or two. We’ll run in to countless friends and neighbors and fit in quick conversations before being towed down the trail to the next attraction.

We like fair time. No, scratch that — we love fair time.

For visitors to our borough, we imagine the relationship to the fair is relatively straightforward. You either love the rides and the food and the entertainment or you hate the crowds and the lines and the silliness.

Here at the Frontiersman, as we imagine is the case with most of our neighbors in Mat-Su, our love for the fair is somewhat tempered by the fair’s inescapable presence over its 12-day run.

While we relish the opportunity to see world-class entertainers, we have no fondness for the ever-present traffic snarls that slow travel on many Valley roads and clog the Glenn Highway whenever sunny weather causes the fair crowds to swell even more.

We can’t help but enjoy the just pure oddball Alaskan-ness of the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off. We tried to explain it to one of our new reporters who grew up in Wisconsin. He was amused by the notion that there could be perennial Cabbage Dynasties, whole families who have taken up the seedy pastime.

We get tired recounting in the police blotter the traffic stops and the fights associated with the fair. We sympathize with city cops who don’t get to take time off during fair time.

But we know along with these small everyday challenges, the fair is an enormous economic engine for Palmer and the whole region.

We love the idea that for two weeks Palmer is in the spotlight, the target of attention across the state’s Railbelt.

The fair is family, we take the good with the bad and we love it all the same.

It’s our pleasure to welcome visitors to the Valley and the Alaska State Fair. We love having you for this stretch of the summer. We love sharing our neck of the woods with you.

Enjoy the giant vegetables and the fried delicacies. If you need directions or recommendations on a good spot to eat, camp, or fish — just ask. We’re friendly folks who take pride in helping each other.

Even if you’ve been a hundred times ago, go enjoy yourselves. Get an elephant ear or a gigantic corndog. See what the clothing and knickknack vendors have to sell. See what’s new this year and visit your old favorites. Try not to let the traffic bother you too much.

We’ll see you at the fair!