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Coloring Page
Theo, Age 5
Rylie, Age 9
Emanuel, Age 12
Kit, Age 12
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When sending your coloring page please include your name, age, and a good return address!
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Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) Charitable Foundation Alaska Animal Advocates www.alaskaanimaladvocates.com (907) 841-3173 Alaska Animal Advocates is a non-profit group of dedicated volunteers who are devoted to enriching the lives of companion animals in Alaska. In order to do this, we will place homeless pets in loving environments, address medical concerns, spay or neuter, microchip, vaccinate, and offer training as is needed. We believe that every animal deserves a loving home, for his/her entire life and Alaska Animal Advocates will provide the resources to make this happen. In order to make this mission possible, we need the help of volunteers and foster homes.
Connect Palmer Inc. www.ConnectPalmer.org (907) 746-9675 Connect Palmer is a Christ Centered Training Center and Housing for Women located in downtown Palmer. Connect Palmer’s two primary programs are God’s Work Design, and LIFE Connect. We also have Sarah’s House, which a Safe and Caring place for ladies, without homes, to live while they participate in our back to work and life skills programs. We also offer different community assistant programs, such as The Locker, to provide personal care and basic house hold cleaning items and Scarlet Tapestries which offers basic sewing skills instruction. We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Denali Family Services
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291 East Swanson Ave. Wasilla, AK 907-222-2331 or eolivares@denalifs.org Denali Family Services provides therapeutic foster care to Alaskan children with mental health needs. If you are committed to working with a team, receiving training and implementing positive interventions to school-age children and teens, we need your talents and skills. We are in search of professional, therapeutic foster parents who are willing to make a commitment to the children of Alaska by providing a stable home environment. For more information, please call or email our Foster Care Recruiter, Ernestina D. Olivares, at 907222-2331 or eolivares@denalifs.org.
www.mea.coop/mea-in-the-community/round-up meacontact@mea.coop 907-761-9300 Since 2011, the MEA Charitable Foundation has given grants to fund projects impacting libraries, playgrounds, seniors, veterans, recycling, at-risk youth, and much more. In 2019, MEA Charitable Foundation reached over $1,000,000 in contributions to the community with Operation RoundUp® Program! Organizational grants are capped at $10,000. Please remember to check our website for requirements and submit your completed application — including financials! For meeting and reviewing grants, MEACF operates on a quarterly cycle.
Mat-Su Health Foundation healthymatsu.org (907) 352-2863 The mission of the Mat-Su Health Foundation is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su. The tools we use include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. We have generated significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. Visit healthymatsu.org to learn about
scholarship and funding opportunities.
Mat-Su Health Services, Inc. www.mshsak.org (907) 376-2411 Dedicated to improving the health of our community, one person at a time – through affordable medical, dental and behavioral health care.The clinic is a Federally qualified Health Care Center and we accept Medicare, Medicaid, and most other third-party insurances. For those who qualify, there is a sliding scale payment, based on household income. We offer early morning and evening appointments appointment. You can also contact our 24/7 behavioral crisis intervention line by calling the main number: 376-2411.
Mat-Su Regional Adult Basic Education (Nine Star) MatsuAdultEd@ninestar.com (907) 373-7833 Mat-Su ABE provides basic education in math, language arts and English as a second language (ESL), aiming to raise student skills beyond the high-school level in order to pass tests like the GED, enter training programs or college, and advance on the job. Enrollment is open to all adult residents of
Alaska, year-round. Youth Employment for ages 16-24 not in school -- get a job, keep a job, advance on the job. Nine Star 300 N Willow 373-3006 (in the MYHouse building)
Mat-Su Youth Housing (MY HOUSE) myhousematsu.org (907) 373-4357 MY House is a homeless youth drop in center with two for-profit businesses that train and employ homeless youth. Gathering Grounds Cafe is a coffee shop with homemade soups, sandwiches, salads and baked goods. Steamdriven is a trendy thrift shop featuring Steampunk items made from repurposed donations by our youth designers. Fiend2Clean and Young People in Recovery offer support for substance abuse recovery with activities and events. We offer transitional housing for qualified 18-24 year olds, Outreach services to connect homeless youth, organizations and groups to services, and access to Public Health and NineStar job/education services on site.
Valley Arts Alliance www.ValleyArtsAlliance.com Valley Arts Alliance, bringing the community together through the arts... We are a place for both new and established artists of all types—painters, sculptors, musicians, and those involved in the performing arts—to network and to experiment with new ideas and media. We work with local libraries, schools, museums, art councils, and music and art groups to create more venues for the arts, and to help promote art related events. Join us at our informal weekly meetings, every Thursday @ 11 at Sophia’s Cafe, 9191 E Frontage Road, Palmer-Wasilla Hwy. Check out our archives www.ValleyArtsAlliance.com
Valley Charities, Inc. www.valleycharities.org Valley Charities, Inc. has proudly served the Mat-Su Valley Community for over sixty years. Our purpose continues to be “Connecting those who need help with the help they need” specifically and directly within the Mat-Su Valley. We provided community services through our turn-A-leaf thrift store, medical equipment loans, Housing and Safety Grant Programs. We have expanded our services and partnerships to reach additional families in the Mat-Su needing support beyond clothing vouchers and Medical Equipment loans when an unexpected crisis arises.
Valley Community for Recycling Solutions www.valleyrecycling.org (907) 745-5544 RECYCLING: Be part of the solution. DROP OFF: The community recycling center is located at 9465 E Chanlyut Circle, next to the MSB Animal Shelter at the Central Landfill. Follow the smells. NEW HOURS: Drive through drop-off open Tues – Fri 9:30 - 5:00 and Sat 8:00 to 5:00. Recycle cardboard, aluminum cans, magazines, this newspaper and more. Remember to REDUCE, REUSE, and then RECYCLE! ONLINE: Visit our website for more details, follow us on FaceBook and Instagram. To learn more, visit our classroom. Volunteer opportunities available. Make a difference in your community!
Valley Interfaith Action (VIA) www.valleyinterfaithaction.org (907) 230-1006 To address quality of life issues for all residents of the Mat-Su Borough, utilizing the faith values of our members, developing community-wide interest and mobilization around quality of life issues. Through training, leaders address community problems by providing forums for discussion, researching alternative solutions, and working as facilitators with residents and leaders for institutional change.
Wasilla Homeless-Committee www.wasillahomeless-committee.org (907) 521-2949 Wasilla Homeless-Committee is a 100% volunteer organization funded by private donations and regular fundraising events. Our sole purpose is to assist the homeless, those at risk of homelessness, and others who do not meet the criteria for help that is required by other advocacy agencies in the valley. Wasilla Homeless-Committee provides case management, housing search assistance, move in assistance, job search assistance, clothing, furniture, help with transportation, and resource guidance for homeless and disenfranchised in the Mat-Su Valley. Visit our website for application, or call 907-5212949. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/wasillahomelesscommitteepage
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Coloring Page When sending your coloring page please include your name, age, and a good return address!
Send in your coloring page and you can win a gift card to a local business!
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Events Contributed by Chad Carpenter The state fair may be cancelled, but you can still get your Tundra books and calendars signed by Chad the Cartoonist. The 2020 Harvest Fest will be held at the Alaska State Fairgrounds on September 4-6, 2020. The event will emphasize agriculture, Alaskan products, and include vendors, refreshments and entertainment from local Alaskan performers. Chad will
Contributed by Carmen Summerfield
multi-million dollar behemoths that reside in their own dedicated building.
In May, I wrote an article, “The Art of Flying, 2020”, about my experiences flying during the early stages of this pandemic.
Built the exact size as the real airplane flight deck, all the windows look out on high resolution computer monitors which can accurately depict any terrain, city, or airport in the world.
Well, the paranoia (in the aviation world, at least) is starting to dissipate. A few weeks ago, I had to fly to Atlanta for my periodic “refresher” course. All pilots attend these “refresher” courses to keep us up-to-date, and to let us practice complex situations in a “flight simulator”.
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These “flight simulators” are far removed from the home computer types; our simulators are gigantic
Underneath the flight deck is a complex system of hydraulics, also tied into the main computer system, that can move the entire flight deck in all axes, simulating thrust, climb, descent, or braking. If you’re not strapped in, a quick maneuver can even throw you from your seat, just as in real life. Any scenario can be programmed into the computer for the flight crew to experience. I can fly to Tokyo, and back, with side trips to Shanghai and even Moscow, in only a few hours. And any unusual situation or emergency that you can imagine can be set to happen. Sort of like “Star Trek”, isn’t it? After I finished (and passed) the refresher training, it was time to travel back to Alaska. Three months ago the terminals and the airspace was eerily quiet, like a
have his newest book there as well as the new 2021 wall calendar and 2021 daily calendars. The calendars will be 50% off! Since we don’t have tourists to sell calendars to this year, Chad is putting them on sale so he doesn’t have to heat his house with them this winter. Buy some for all your friends and family! They also make great mudflaps and doorstops! The 2020 Harvest Fest will be your best chance to get your fair fix! www.tundracomics.com
bad movie. Now in early August, going through the Anchorage and Seattle airports, the terminals were much more crowded and the restaurants and shops were open. Everybody is required to wear masks. On the airplane, all passengers and crew are wearing masks and the air is filtered to the same standards as a hospital operating room. The airline I was traveling on continued to block the middle seats, keeping passengers at safe distances. The food and beverage services are still limited, to reduce contact between passengers and crew. Basically, you get a baggie with snacks and a bottle of water. I like the reminder in the Seattle airport about social distancing; personally I like to use the term, “physical distancing”. We can still socially connect over the phone, so give someone a call today! Now that I’m back in Alaska (and sharp as a tack), I’m not sure how much I will be flying. At this time, we are flying about 20% of last year’s activity. Except for cargo flying, which is way up (probably all of us ordering on line). These flight simulators are amazing. and I actually look forward to these periodic refresher courses!
Literature Contributed by Glenda Smith Sometimes, life brings just what you need to remind you how fortunate you are. November 2008 was a monumentally down year; actually, as I approached the ripe old age of 55, my life’s mood seemed to careen into an abyss. A friend sent me a notice from a group looking for authors, no experience required. In fact, the only requirement was competent reading and writing skills in English and a one-year commitment. I applied, submitted a writing sample, and was accepted. The writing group spanned the globe and we corroborated in groups, in computer online “rooms” called wikis. In addition to other parts of the plot, my group created the main character, Francesca Imbriani, a young Alaskan girl who lived on Finger Lake and was about to set out to change the world. Unfortunately, I was only able to finish 11 of the 12 months, so my name is not listed in “The Crew” – the name given to the authors group. None-
theless, the main character in “Passage to Redemption”, hails from her home on Finger Lake and is definitely a creative Alaskan and a heroine. In March 2019, I was hospitalized with four cerebellar strokes. The remainder of 2019 included episodes of vertigo that left me feeling I was tumbling in space on a rotating roller coaster, inability to get my eyes to work together to read, writing I couldn’t even read, and lots of physical therapy challenges. January 2020 was winding up to the start of a great year with me planning out goals for my real estate business. Then the world news started in with coverage on a new novel coronavirus leaving havoc in its wake. The mastermind behind the original group, Peter Lihou, of Acclaimed Books continued writing and soliciting authors since 2008. He contacted all authors on the previous “project”, as well as many others, and asked if we would participate in a group writing venture to provide a global
view on the Covid-19 situation. “With Love, Comes Hope: Stories & Inspiration During The 2020 Pandemic”, was born, is done, and is available on Amazon sites worldwide in paperback and Kindle formats as an international anthology on the Coronavirus. Due to my own challenges in the year prior to the pandemic, I think my view is different than most; but I am excited to read the other contributions. I am again reminded how fortunate I am. All proceeds from the anthology will be donated to Bridge2, a nonprofit organization. www.bridge2.gg/
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Arts Contributed by Diane Paoletti
realism.
3-Day Oil Painting Portrait Workshop September 25-27, 2020 - 9AM Paoletti Studio of Art Palmer Cost: $400
“I paint in the way I see my subject matter, trying to mimic the way the human eye sees. Not everything is in focus at one time. Regardless of what my subject matter may be, in my paintings I focus on what I find inspiring in that subject. This way the viewer can see my vision and perhaps share in that experience. At the same time, I want my paintings to have visual variety in detail and texture by using the full potential of the oils with the variations of texture and transparency.” He enjoys painting an array of subject matter: people, places, and things. Kyle has spent much time traveling around the world, painting as he goes. Originally from New Hampshire, Kyle has also spent time in Asia, Europe, Central America, and the U.S. West Coast. Now he lives in Charleston, SC.
This September, Paoletti Studio of Art will be offering a workshop with renowned artist, Kyle Stuckey. This 3-day oil painting workshop will focus on portrait painting for three full days, September 25, 26 and 27.
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Kyle Stuckey (born 1987) began studying art during his high school years, by private instruction through Lori Woodward Simons and various workshops. He later became a member of the Putney Painters, where he was able to continue to hone his skills in the presence of some of the greatest artists today, including Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik. His work is strongly influenced by his study of historical artists including: Waterhouse, Bouguereau, Sargent, Zorn, and Alma-Tadema. Over the years, he has developed and refined his style, working with oil in impressionistic
This is a great opportunity to learn how to paint portraits in oil or advance your skills, with beginners and advanced artists both welcome. The class will be in Palmer at Paoletti Private Art Studio.
“Firelight” This is a painting that is all abut the light, there is two light sources one is cool and the other is warm. I like the effects that the changes in light temperature will create. It makes for a dramatic composition.
Contact me at 907-355-4632 or dianeypaol@gmail.com.
“Woman in the White Dress” This is one of my newer figurative paintings. Inspired by some of the work of John Singer Sargent.
“And All that Jazz” I often try and capture a candid moment in my models I want them to feel authentic and unposed.
“Yellow Hair Tie” This is a painting I did of my wife a few yeas back.
Contributed by Douglas Girard Douglas was born in California, but only spent 18 months there before his family moved to Africa. The grasslands and rolling hills of Africa never inspired him as did the mountains of the northern continents. He longed to be in northern forests looking out across a vista dominated by towering mountain peaks. When he was 17, he flew by himself to California to attend Chapman College. A year later, he was accepted into Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. After graduation, he taught art at a private art school, gave private painting lessons, illustrated book covers and painted over a hundred plein air paintings of California’s various landscapes. In 1993, he and his wife decided to move to Alaska. He felt he was losing himself in the contemporary art movements of Los Angeles and wanted to find a way of painting that was more true to himself. When he finally moved to Alaska, he found landscapes that truly inspired him. In the mountains of the Chugach and Talkeetna ranges, he found those cathedrals of stillness he had dreamed about.
ous, eternal life force and a connection with the spiritual path. The act of creating the Celtic/Norse-inspired knotwork that you see in some of my work is my way of connecting with this spiritual path. Now, thanks to my wife, I view birds as highly symbolic and life enriching and the experience of being in their presence as an almost religious event. I hope I can share some of this delight with others that may feel the same way.” “The COVID-19 virus has forced most of the art fairs that I usually attend to be cancelled. I have therefore refocused my attention on my website and social media. I have just launched my totallyrebuilt website with many new features like “The Wall Preview Tool”, which allows you to visualize my art in a sample room. You can select the room type and even choose your paint color to get a better feel for how large a given piece is and how it will look on your wall. I have also uploaded a huge collection of my Alaska landscapes that are now available as prints in many sizes and even as large as 4’ x 6’! You will also find my popular “Bird Blocks” as well as other images available on paper, canvas, metal and wood. My website is studiogirard.com. For those interested in how and why I paint, I have started live painting sessions on my Instagram page @ studiogirard. You can watch me paint and ask me any questions as I work on a painting. I have been going live on Tuesday afternoons, but I will be testing out other days and times to see which is more popular. I have the recorded sessions posted on my Facebook and Instagram pages. At the end of August I will be having a “Live Art Show” on Facebook and/or Instagram during, which I will be having for sale some unique prints and originals that are not available anywhere else. Stay tuned!”
Yellow Warblers are harbingers and emissaries of the sun with their bright yellow color. When you first see them, you surely know spring has arrived and that the cold north winds will give way to warmer days. They are very elusive, but when sighted will bring joy to your heart with their brilliant yellow color. The border includes Celtic knotwork, two warblers and a sun symbol.
There is nothing like a sunny summer day in Hatcher pass. The lush green, the rocky peaks, the sound of ground squirrels and golden crowned sparrows, a gentle breeze on one’s face and so many places to explore!
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“My artwork is created from a great love of the many changing moods of nature and the sense of mystery and expectation that is created from ever varying colors and shapes. On my many walks, I have rejoiced in the decorative quality of nature which inspires my illustrations. My goal is to make each painting a poem of color, light and form that captures the essence of my inspiration. Birds are as fleeting and mysterious as mist and cloud that can quickly appear and just as suddenly disappear. Our feathered friends are also symbols of the mysteri-
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Arts
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Events
Contributed by Melissa Keefe, Alaska State Fair, Inc. One Night Only at Drive-In Theaters Across North America Four Digital Downloads of S&M2 Album Included With Each Ticket Purchase With Special Guest Performance by Three Days Grace Ticket Info Available at ticketmaster. com/encore-metallica Metallica has confirmed its return to the stage for the first time since the September 2019 S&M2 concerts that opened Chase Center in San Francisco. Metallica will be the first rock band to be featured in the Encore Drive-In Nights series, with a full set showing August 29th at hundreds of drive-in and outdoor theaters across the United States and Canada, including the Alaska State Fairgrounds. Filmed for the big screen, the show will be shot specially for the Encore Drive-In Nights Series at a location near the band’s Northern California headquarters and will subsequently be edited and mixed by Metallica’s award-winning production team to the highest standards possible. The concert, the band’s first show in nearly a year, will feature material from throughout their near fourdecade career and provide Metallica fans with an intimate, unique and truly memorable concert experience. Pre-sale tickets, available exclusively to Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club, will go on sale on August 12 at ticketmas-
ter.com/encore-metallica. General on-sale will begin on August 14th. Every ticket purchase, which admits one carload of up to six people, will include four digital downloads of Metallica’s S&M2, the long awaited album documenting the two historic concerts that reunited the band and San Francisco Symphony for the first time in 20 years. “In all of rock, it literally doesn’t get any bigger than Metallica,” said Walter Kinzie, CEO of Encore Live. “Over the course of their career these guys have completely redefined rock, touring and frankly what’s possible in terms of success in this industry. We’ve seen with our first two Encore Nights Drive-In concerts that fans absolutely dig the drive-in experience and we know that Metallica is going to blow the top off of this thing and take it to a whole new level.” The Metallica show is part of the Encore Drive-In Nights Series, which is presented by leading event production company Encore Live. Since June, Encore Live has partnered with drive-in theaters across the country to provide world-class entertainment in a safe, creative way. For more information and to see if a venue near you is presenting the show, visit encorenights.com or call your local theater. The August 29th show will also feature a special guest performance by Three Days Grace. Drive-in theaters hosting the concert will adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended guidelines as well as all state and local health mandates. Staff will wear personal protective equipment and enforce at least six feet of space between cars. The series will also use contactless payment and ticketing systems and limit capacity in restrooms.
Guidelines around concessions will be enforced to abide by individual state regulations. For a full list of procedures that the Encore Drive-In Nights is employing to keep fans and staff safe, visit encorenights.com. Unlike traditional concert tickets that are bought for one fan’s individual admission, each purchase for Encore Drive-In Nights’ concerts will admit one carload of fans. That means up to six people can enjoy this once-in-alifetime show for one price. Additional information about Encore Drive-In Nights can be found at https://www. ticketmaster.com/encoredriveinnights. About Encore Drive-In Nights Encore Drive-In Nights showcases the world’s most iconic music stars with performances recorded exclusively for drive-in theaters across North America. From the safety of your vehicle, you will enjoy an exclusive cinematic concert experience under the summer night sky. Drive-in. Rock out. About Metallica Formed in 1981 by drummer, Lars Ulrich, and guitarist/vocalist, James Hetfield, Metallica has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 2.5 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. The band’s several multi-platinum albums include Kill ‘em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, … And Justice for All, Metallica (commonly referred to as The Black Album), Load, Reload, St. Anger, Death Magnetic, and Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, released in November 2016 and charting at #1 in 32 countries. Metallica’s awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video
Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden’s Polar Music Prize. Metallica’s newest release, the S&M2 album and film, arrives August 28 on the band’s own Blackened Recordings label. S&M2 chronicles Metallica and San Francisco Symphony’s September 6 & 8, 2019 S&M2 concerts that served as the grand opening of San Francisco’s Chase Center and reunited the band and Symphony for the first time in 20 years. S&M2 brings those historic shows back to life, capturing more than two and a half hours of James, Lars, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo joining forces with the nearly 80-strong SF Symphony, legendary Music Director of the orchestra Michael Tilson Thomas, and conductor Edwin Outwater. About Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is the internationally acclaimed and multi-platinum certified Canadian band whose most recent album is the Juno Award-nominated Outsider (RCA Records). The band most recently released their cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know.” Three Days Grace scored their 15th #1 single on U.S. Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs Chart with the album’s song “Right Left Wrong.” and they also have 16 #1’s at Mediabase. The band won the “Rock Artist of the Year” award at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Media Contact for Encore Live Jake Klein 646-660-8644 jake@goldin.com Media Contact for Metallica Steve Martin steve@nastylittleman.com Media Contact for Three Days Grace Emilio Herce emilio@qprime.com Local Media Contact for Alaska State Fair, Inc. Melissa Keefe mk@alaskastatefair.org
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Poetry & Prose
Contributed by Robert Lyons Contributed by Caitlin M.S. Buxbaum Meeting people in public — pandemic notwithstanding — should come with a disclaimer: forget disaster planning, there’s no manual for this exodus of social norms. Tardiness is now forgiven, occupation’s many forms reason enough to ignore, anymore, kismet’s fleeting interactions, born of time and idleness — the blind meeting.
Contributed by Wendy Brooker
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It takes a searching set of eyes an awareness of peripheral dangers and a willingness to crouch down or get on your knees for perspective ultimately a gentle touch to get some of what you want here a taste of fleeting sweetness. It takes a knowing mindfulness that thorns will afflict your flesh and sweat will blur your vision trying to distract your attention from the miracle of it all. Remember to be here now in sun or shade or sudden storm.
Tarawa! A thousand souls over the atoll, 100 miles square, Hell measured cell Delving into the blue bombardment Bloody shelf, beach escarpment Always faithful the sentiment Floating along the battlement Enemy extravagant, blade or shell Fearing the battle yells Captured ground for freedom specific Remember Tarawa! Our American lives littered the Pacific.
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& Prose PoetryPoetry & Prose Contributed by Robert Lyons The bulb ignites, I shape the plan, a boundary between me and future land Then the project reaches difficulties, on neo ground I stir biology In a whir, a dynamic flirt with water and earth, the birth of the seas I achieve! I whirl stars around me, illuminating spheres so grand! My plan, so beautiful, but lonely I see, with nothing to glory in its beauty So I fill the skies and waters and cover the lands, but still, I am not satisfied They live, they die, but still I sit, wondering if they get the gift? So I accomplish a final task, from the dust I grasp and form a man My vision was to relate, so made in my image I did create a creature that functions much like me, and this I found disappointing A break I need this is true, my toils grow as man spreads his fruit It seems I’ve made myself much more work, a friend was all I seeked Now my labors have left me weak.
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Photography
Contributed by Richard Estelle This month’s photo by Robinson, in the Palmer Museums’ Wimmer Collection, is of the face of Knik Glacier viewed from below at the bottom of the gorge after waters of Lake George had drained out. For many years, the glacier would annually advance to abut the mountain viewed at left in the photo, forming a dam on a large side valley. With spring and summer melting, the valley would fill with water (Lake George) until the water spilled over the ice and eroded a channel to escape. This erosion of the glacier face and release of the lake water became a dramatic event of calving ice and violent water flowing through the gorge in which this photo was taken. Until 1966, when the glacier stopped advancing to form the dam, his dramatic discharge annually flooded the river valley below, including riverside homes and the community of Matanuska. An
additional photo by an unknown photographer, from our Bunting Collection, shows a large chunk of the glacier face, perhaps as high as a five-story building, calving into the raging water below as the lake emptied in a matter of days. Photo of the Month is a project of the Matanuska Valley Historical Photo Project, which aims to collect images and sto-
ries detailing the Valley’s past. You can view our ever growing collection of historic images online at www.mvhphotoproject.org. If you have photos of the Mat-Su Valley area, or information about some of the photos you see, please reach out to us at director@palmermuseum.org or 907-746-7668. This project is sponsored by the generous support of the MTA Foundation.
Poetry & Prose
Contributed by Caitlin M.S. Buxbaum, founder of Red Sweater Press As we look for ways to connect with each other and attempt to understand what our world is going through, more poetry is being read than usual, perhaps more than ever. But if we truly find value in the power of a poem, we need to support the creators. If independent publishers aren’t funded now, they might not be around when we need them most. Sure, you can share many poems on your social media channels and at virtual open mics, but what about the experience of poetry, in person? Zoom is a gamechanger, but how often have you found yourself, or someone else, nodding off or trying to multitask during a meeting? I refuse to believe readings and in-person events are a thing of the
past, and I can’t be the only one who appreciates the feeling of being surrounded by fellow poets and poetry-enthusiasts as I watch a person perform their poems (or someone else’s). I don’t think I’m the only one that likes to hold a paper book, rather than a tablet or an e-reader, with its myriad distractions, in my hands, either. The convenience of Amazon is great, but does it preserve and promote beauty and communication the way independent publishers, bookstores, creative writing programs and writers themselves do? I hope you know the answer, and recognize it’s significance. You say you want a revolution read (and buy!) and write more poetry. Join me for the month of August as I and seven other poets across the country write a poem a day as part of a fundraiser for Tupelo Press, an independent, non-profit
publisher based in Massachusetts. Although this press is far away, it has published the work of Alaska’s own Chaun Ballard, who recently departed his Anchorage home, along with partner and poet Tara Ballard, to obtain their PhDs in creative writing in Nebraska. This fundraiser also has the potential to be a great encouragement to me, as a writer and indie publisher, by promoting my work and the work of my fellow Alaskans. (I’d like to thank Make A Scene also, for contributing to this cause in a similar way by sharing the Valley’s creativity over the years.) If you want to support independent publishers and poets, please get online and visit bit. ly/CMSB4TUPELO to donate today. Then, enjoy fresh poems daily at bit.ly/8tupelopo. To learn more about Red Sweater Press, visit redsweaterpress.com.