WHAT WIND?

WASILLA — Not much could keep Hunter Anderson from his hot dog.

The Wasilla 4-year-old was consumed with consuming a large grilled dog slathered with ketchup, oblivious to a brisk wind at Saturday’s Fall Festival at Sportsman’s Warehouse.

“Yeah, it’s good,” he said when coming up for air. “I also got (my) face painted with a spider. It’s a widow.”

The wind did little to chill the enthusiasm of children and parents who enjoyed lots of fall activities and foods.

“I think I like it when it’s not windy better,” said Holly Anderson, Hunter’s mom. “But this is Alaska. You want to have fun, you’ll go out and have fun. If you don’t want to have fun, just stay inside and do nothing. You make the most of it.”

Making the most of the festival were local youth organizations, who raised funds at the event. The hot dog the 4-year-old Hoovered was grilled by the Wasilla Wild Hockey Association.

“We brought about 140, and I think we’re going to have to get refills,” said Deb Tilton, a volunteer with the Wild. “We got the good stuff. We got Ballpark hot dogs and we got brats. I think it’s great we have this opportunity. We’re always looking for fund-raisers, and who doesn’t want a hot dog?”

Next to the Wild were members of Boy Scout Troop No. 380, selling holiday tins of popcorn and caramel apples.

With all the games and fun at the festival, 11-year-old Scout Eric Bryan said he’d “rather be selling popcorn. I’ve sold probably $4,000 (worth) of popcorn (during his time as a Scout).”

While he was selling popcorn, Bryan was eyeing the caramel apples.

“I haven’t had any, but we sold one, I think,” he said. “They look good. I’d like to try one … and I don’t have the money on me to buy one.”

One of the most popular places at the festival was the large ladder truck from Central Mat-Su Fire Department. Lincoln Pollock, 2, enjoyed sitting in the engine’s cockpit and trying on the headset with volunteer firefighter Mark Easter.

While the lines for the hot dogs were long, the busiest tent belonged to the Allstate insurance folks, who were serving up hot chocolate.

“They’re loving this hot chocolate,” said Robin Hocking of her children Logan, 2, and Haylan, 4 months. “We came here when there was one in the spring and that was so much fun we were determined to come today, wind or not. We got some free bowling, now we’re warming up with the hot chocolate.”

It’s a service Allstate’s Cheryl Sleater said her crew was proud to provide, aided by Pandemonium Books, which donated the hot chocolate.

“It’s October in Alaska. Look, we’ve got a crowd,” she said. “We’re doing the face painting and the hot chocolate just to give back to the community.”

By examining some of the faces, many kids did a lot of face painting of their own with the chocolate, Sleater said. The secret “is use lots of chocolate.”

Cole Sheldon, 6, was also impressed with the fire truck and also enjoyed a ring toss bowling game from North Bowl.

“The fire truck is good,” he said. “I got to sit in the front of it. It’s like, sitting — well, there’s a bunch of stuff and a pair of headphones, and there’s a backpack.”

He also expressed a desire to drive the truck.

Nine-year-old Collin Croly was riding a hot-chocolate-and-cookie sugar high after visiting the festival’s haunted house.

“Going into the haunted house and getting my face painted,” were his favorite activities, Collin said. “It was scary, definitely. There was a jumping vampirethe one that jumps on the gate and gets out.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.