Palmer Alaska

Our favorite Friday activity is back… Friday Flings! Come to downtown Palmer any Friday, May 24 – August 30th, and join in the fun!

This year’s vendors will include Krazy Kidlets, The Alaska Life, Cafe Beignet, Foxfire Emporium, Tasa’s Thai Kitchen, LuLu’s Garden and the Flipside Cafe.

Merry Christmas, Palmer!

Nov. 2, 3 Annual Valley Fiber Arts Guild Holiday sale is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Nov. 2 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Nov. 3 at the Palmer Depot. Some 40 guild members will offer their hand-made creations for sale, including shawls, jewelry, socks, novelty items, blankets, rugs, paintings and ornaments. For more information, contact 745-3487, or visit valleyfiberarts.org.

Nov. 10 Palmer Elks Lodge No. 1842 Craft Fair, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Nov. 10 at 2600 N. Barry’s Resort Drive. This is a great chance to get some holiday shopping done or if you are a vendor, to sell your wares. Registration forms are available at palmerelks.org/crafts.htm and we have spaces available. Food will be available for purchase. Vendor spaces are $35 and as always, buyers are admitted free. For more information, contact (907) 242-1865, or visit palmerelks.org/crafts.htm.

Nov. 10 Fall Craft Bazaar at St. Michael Catholic Church in Palmer at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 10 Open to all with handcrafted goods, food, and music.

November 17 from 10 am – 5 pm at Farm Loop Christian Center Adoption Fundraiser Craft Show
Come do your Christmas shopping and raise money for adoption! Featuring handmade items and home based businesses who will all make a donation to the Jacobs family’s adoption fund. There will be door prizes, silent auction and a bake sale! The Jacobs have also decided to “tithe” off of event earnings this year, so they will be surprising another local adoptive family with 10% of the proceeds from this event!

Nov. 17 The Women’s Ministry of Palmer Church of the Nazarene annual bazaar is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 17 at the Palmer Depot, 610 S. Valley Way. For more information, contact 746-0261.

Nov. 24 Colony High School’s Holiday Bazaar is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 24 at Colony High School, 9550 E. Colony Schools Drive. For more information, contact 861-5500.

Dec. 7, 8 Colony Christmas begins at 11 a.m. Dec. 7 and 10 a.m. Dec. 8 at the Palmer Depot, 610 S. Valley Way. Multiple bazaars and craft fairs in downtown Palmer. Visit the website details. For more information, contact 745-2880, or visit palmerchamber.org.

Dec. 15 A Christmas Bazaar is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Dec. 15 at the new Sutton Library. For more information, contact 745-0707, or 745-4467. The event includes a visit from Santa from noon to 1 p.m., door prizes and a raffle. Proceeds benefit the family of Renvek Larson.

This information was found in the Frontiersman’s 2012 Mat-Su Holiday Bazaars. For the Full article with info about bazaars around the entire Valley, click here.

When I was a little kid, I looked forward to the fair every year. My sisters, brother and I love to ride the rides, enter baked goods in the fair and see the little piglets that were magically birthed on time every year. As I got older, my favorite ride evolved from the Spinning Apple to the Gravitron (I never get dizzy), my favorite sight from the baby animals to fascinating shows, and from cotton candy to delicious tacos from Taco Dan’s in Log Cabin #6.

Fair time always brings back memories of quality family time – Mom dragging us to the exhibits and Dad pointing out the fascinating log splitting machinery. My siblings and I squabbled over cotton candy colors and Dad taught us to walk “fair speed” through the crowds. My mom’s birthday is the 28th of August, and her one request for as long as I can remember, is to have a day alone at the fair.

With today’s economy and tighter budgets, some people may be wondering… how can I afford the fair?
Thankfully, there are number of ways to save money on admission and ride tickets. If you purchase a 6 pack of tickets online, you’ll save up to $18, $3 off every adult ticket (if used on a weekend). The opening day, Thursday August 23, is only $2 admission!
Coca Cola Buddy Days enables you to grab a coupon from a Holiday station and when you purchase a ticket at the gate, you receive a free one of equal or lesser value for your buddy.
On Alaska Grown Day, you can wear your Alaska Grown t-shirt to the fair and receive $2 off the ticket price.
For more info on the discounts, click here.

The Fair posts their daily schedule online, so you can plan out what you’re going to see before you even arrive! Click here for the daily schedules for the entire fair.

Are you interested in entering a contest with your friend, child, or own skills? The Alaska State Fair has 25 different contests throughout the fair! Click here to find out more about contests!

Whew, it’s finally here! We’ve been getting plenty more snow to deck the rooftops and trees, as well as our front yards around town. But on top this powdery delight, businesses around town have decorated their store fronts in Christmas lights and other decorations.

To kick off the Colony Christmas celebrations, Light Up Palmer begins on Sunday, December 4th, at 4pm. That is THIS SUNDAY!
According to the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce, wagon rides, caroling and other activities will also take place!
AND I heard rumors of fireworks at 5:50pm! You don’t wanna miss that!

Fireside Books during Colony Christmas 2010

The majority of Colony Christmas events will center around next weekend, December 9-11. For a full schedule of the events, vist the Palmer Chamber page.

Smoosh Racing - 2010

Some of my favorite Colony Christmas events include the following:

Again, CLICK HERE for the FULL Colony Christmas Schedule!