‘Who Let the Girls Out’ returns to Palmer

PALMER — Women from as far away as Fairbanks, Talkeetna, Eagle River and Anchorage made their way to Palmer last weekend for the fourth annual “Who Let the Girls Out” extravaganza.

Event coordinator Denise Statz described this year’s event as awesome. But was quick to credit its success to the cadre of women who worked with her to pull it off, Barbie Wagner, Lisa Carrick, Sandra Peterson, Jean Kincaid, Sabrina Combs, Mary Lou Coddington, Cheryl Risley, Michelle Plummer, and many more.

Statz said singled out her Aunt Judy for special thanks. Aunt Judy traveled to Palmer from Priest Lake, Idaho, to share her secrets of baking cinnamon and pecan rolls during Who Let the Girls Out.

Statz said a few of events were planned Friday, but Saturday was the core of the festival fun. The day started with the first-time event Statz dubbed “Get the Junk Out of Your Trunk,” which invited women to apply to set up shop in a parking stall downtown and hawk their wares from the trunks of their cars, tables on the sidewalk, or hung festively from roadside trees.

Blue cloudless skies offered a perfect cover for free horse-drawn carriage rides, the Indigo dancers from Palmer Junior Middle School, and the Gaia Tribal dancers.

The fun also included an information presentation about the dangers of texting and driving, followed by a Speed Texting contest, which Hailey Stockton won, while her friend, Macy Cook, placed second.

There was live music at Vagabond Blues. Fireside Books featured local Alaska authors Kirsten Dixon and Pam Flowers. NuKreationz Art and Creativity Center offered people the chance to paint and fire a Raku pot.

Sheer Fire Design did the hair and makeup, and By The Spirit Photography took portraits of the 29 pairs entered in a Mother-Daughter Look-Alike Contest.

Hundreds of people voted last week at Palmer businesses for their favorite pair, or online at Frontiersman.com. Saturday evening at the Caboose Lounge, judges announced Rachel and Hope Melson were selected as the contest winners.

A purse auction at the Palmer Bar capped the fun, and raised $2,000 to benefit MY House.