Archive for July, 2009
Underground Palmer July 24th, 2009
Are they utilidors? Are they bomb shelters? Are they underground hallways to avoid snow? I have heard rumors about these tunnels for years. Some people said they were put there to allow access between houses during World War II, people joked about other possible purposes.
Janet Kincaid, a longtime Palmeranian and owner of the Colony Inn and Cafe knows about the tunnels because the building that she owns is a terminus of the tunnels. She was going to meet me there but we had a scheduling mixup. So as I waited for Janet, Mike Fisher jovially volunteered to share what he knew.
“What many people don’t know about the Colony Inn”, Mike Fisher told me, “is that there’s just about as much of the building below ground as there is above!”. The apparently 2 story building has two floors below ground as well. He took me down two flights of stairs behind the “Employees Only” door and we came out into a large open room, almost two stories high.
The walls were cement, as was the floor. But what caught my eye was the hugest boiler I’ve ever seen. It was easily 7 ft tall and 10 ft long. I was told that the tunnels under Palmer were built in the 1930’s, along with the rest of the main buildings like the high school (borough building), Trading Post (The Red Beet) and Creamery and Warehouse (old Matanuska Maid building). The tunnels had pipes that were used to heat the many buildings all at once from two huge boilers. One boiler was at Matanuska Maid and I stood directly in front of the other one. 
Mike showed me into a dark room adjacent to the boiler room and told me it was the coal room. The ceiling was just as high but at the very top of the west facing wall was an opening. He said colonists would back trucks up to the opening and shovel coal down into the room as fuel for the boilers.
Many of the tunnels have since been caved in for road safety, as most go directly underneath the road system. The opening of one came out in the boiler room, two stories under the Colony Inn, but it was caved in and covered over in cement. You can still see the outline.
If you talk to some of the more adventurous junior high school students from a couple years ago, you can probably find people who’ve been down in the tunnels. One of the known accesses is fenced off and is illegal to enter, but that hasn’t stopped a few of my acqaintances. I’ve been told that certain buildings have been severely damaged by fires started down in tunnels by careless youth.
Have more information on this topic? Please contact me and share your knowledge! If any of the stated facts are incorrect, again, please let me know. This is by no means the end of my research on this interesting part of Palmer’s history.
*The first photo is of the large boiler. The second is of the coal room, note the opening near the top of the photo.
Education Options in Palmer July 23rd, 2009
Palmer has so many different education options for your children. Public, private, charter, religious, correspondence and home schools can all be found here. 
Elementary Schools:
Butte Elementary School
Swanson Elementary School
Sherrod Elementary School
Amazing Grace Academy
Matanuska Christian School
Academy Charter School
Middle Schools:
Academy Charter School
Amazing Grace Academy
Matanuska Christian School
Palmer Junior Middle School
Colony Middle School
High Schools:
Colony High School (between Palmer and Wasilla)
Palmer High School
Matanuska Christian School
Mat-Su Career Tech High School
Alternatives:
Fronteras Spanish Immersion School
GILA (Galena Interior Learning Academy) Career-Oriented Boarding School
I.D.E.A. (Interior Distance Education of Alaska) – State Wide Program
Alaska Job Corps
Mat-Su Central School – Correspondance
Valley Pathways
Twindly Bridge Charter and Home School
Raven Correspondence School
CyberLynx Correspondence School
And, of course, home schooling is still an option here in the great state of Alaska!
Events in Palmer! July 23rd, 2009
And people say Palmer isn’t busy… this Friday holds three community wide events!
1. Open house at Alaska Job Corp! This starts at 11AM, at the Job Corp headquarters, near Palmer Junior Middle School. Click here for a map.
2. Fresh Veggies at Friday Fling! The Dinkels (won many prizes for giant vegetables and the Alaska State Fair, included the giant cabbage weigh-off grand prize) have a booth, as well as the Kenley family and a couple others. Check them out! Support local farmers and enjoy local produce!
3. Palmer Pride Picnic, 4 PM at the Palmer Train Depot. Bring your family, get to know new people and visit with old friends!
Banks in Palmer Alaska July 17th, 2009
No need to drive all the way to Wasilla for your personal banking, Palmer has 5 different banks of its own, right here in downtown!
A Wells Fargo Branch, on S Bailey St
First National Bank, on Evergreen Ave
Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union, on S Bailey St
Key Bank in Key Bank Plaza
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union on the Palmer-Wasilla Hwy
The Stamp Cache: Creativity in Palmer July 10th, 2009
I asked Linda Pendergrass, a resident of Alaska for the last 40 years and owner of the Stamp Cache, why people should come to the Stamp Cache instead of Walmart or Joann’s Fabrics. “Personal care, for one thing,” she said. “A lot of people go to Walmart or other chain stores, buy something and don’t really know how to use it properly.” Here, if you have a question, she has an answer. She’ll show you not only how to use the item correctly, but you can also view countless examples of cards and papers 
with the effect displayed.
The Stamp Cache offers something you can find nowhere else in the state of Alaska. Great Impressions puts out a different Stamp of the Month item each month and you can find it right here!. Linda offers classes in card-making using that specific stamp, while teaching you different techniques. They even have a variety of other stamps that match that specific Stamp of the Month theme. July’s theme is Fairy Tales.
Different classes are offered every month for mini-scrapbooks and Stamps by Judith projects. To view to the entire list of classes and times, visit the Stamp Cache’s website, www.StampCacheAlaska.com
There’s a large collection of Alaskan-themed stamps, including a stamp declaring “Hello from Palmer!”. Bears, wolves, moose and more are found on this display, waiting for you to stamp them on a card for out of state family and friends.
Not only does the Stamp Cache carry stamps, you also can find a huge variety of printed, patterned and colored papers, markers, chalk and alcohol inks, punches and more.
If Anchorageites drive all the way out, it must be great! Linda told me that a large percentage of her customers actually come from Anchorage, because the Stamp Cache is so unique and has a different, better variety than the few stores there. But why not help local businesses and show a fellow Palmeranian our support?
Don’t feel like you have a creative side? Not ‘artsy fartsy’? No problem! Take one of the classes and you may discover a different side of yourself! If you need some ideas, ask Linda, she’s full of creativity and knowledge! August’s theme is Wildflowers…
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