The People's Paper June 2018

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TAIKAI CON ANIME & FANDOM CONVENTION

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MAKE YOUR OWN HOT ART AT ART ON FIRE!

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PALMER MUSEUM GARDEN & ART FAIRE

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COMMUNITY & EVENTS

MAT-SU VALLEY, ALASKA

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MAT-SU VALLEY, ALASKA

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EVENTS & COMMUNITY And with their credentials (including world-record holders), they will not disappoint! The women's group is comprised of Pacific Northwest Champions, US National Champions, North American Champions and even World Champions.

THE ELITE CLASS CONSISTS OF: Emily Burchett, Missouri Jessica Bridenthal, Pennsylvania Heather MacDonald, Arizona Chrystal Rupert, Washington Olivia Tyler, Texas Adriane Wilson, South Carolina In addition to watching men and women athletes compete in the caber toss, challenge stone, challenge caber, weight-over bar, Scottish hammers and the grueling farmer’s walk, four teams will compete in the very popular tug o’ war competitions.

This year’s Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) band, The Fire, will perform two shows on the mainstage. The Fire is a high energy pure-drop Scottish music band with world class fiddling in combination with bagpipes, guitar, bodhran, whistle, and bouzouki.

The group members include Rebeca Lomnicky, an international fiddle champion, multi-instrumentalist, David Brewer of the popular Celtic band, Molly’s Revenge, and Adam Hendey on guitar and bouzouki (part of the mandolin family of instruments). Between their entertaining and informative stage banter, vast array of instrument combinations and extensive repertoire, including everything from soaring slow airs to intricatelyarranged dance tunes, these charismatic performers will leave you on your feet with your hands together.

And more music will be enjoyed when the competitions begin for piping and drumming solos and bands. This year six bands will be competing. They include the Alaska Celtic Pipes and Drums, Anchorage Scottish Pipe Band, Crow Creek Pipes & Drums, Fairbanks Red Hackle Pipe Band, Ogden Legion Pipe Band and the Trinity Pipe Band.

New to the games this year is a genealogy workshop conducted by

Contributed by Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Mat-Su Regional Bicycle Rodeo 6/23/2018 – 10AM Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Menard Sports Center 1001 S Clapp St. Wasilla FREE Event Safety on Wheels 2018, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center’s annual Bicycle Safety Rodeo, will be on Saturday, June 23rd, at the Menard Sports Complex, from 10a.m. to noon.

This year’s event will include free drawings for 100 bicycle helmets and four bicycles. It will feature a bicycle obstacle course, equipment safety checks and presentations from medical professionals and safety experts, including “How to Ride Safely this Summer” by Marta Kopperud, a nurse with Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Reserve Police Officer Mike Rager will be demonstrating bicycle safety and riding skills.

Laurence Overmire (held in Raven Hall). Laurence is the author of 11 books and has conducted extensive work in the United States tracing Scottish and other ancestral family lines. Laurence will inspire you to embark on a quest for ancestral heritage and guide you through the steps to get started.

Celtic dances performed by Scottish, Irish, and cloggers will take the stage throughout the day in the Celtic Village. An annual crowd favorite.

ALL THE OTHER ACTIVITIES AND COMPETITIONS THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS COME TO ENJOY WILL BE AT THE GAMES THIS YEAR:

- SCOTCH TASTING EDUCATIONAL AND REGULAR SESSIONS: TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE - FOOD & CRAFT VENDORS - THE CHILDREN’S EVENTS TO INCLUDE CABER TOSS AND STONE/WEIGHT THROWS. - ALASKAN SCOTTISH CLUB MERCHANDISE: SHIRTS, GLASSES AND SHORT BREAD, - TALL TALES: WHERE YOU CAN WIN A HAM! - SHORTBREAD COMPETITION: SEE WHO HAS THE YUMMIEST SHORT BREAD THIS YEAR! - THE HIGHLAND COW: SAY HELLO AND PET OUR SHAGGY FRIEND! - BIRDS OF PREY: A TRADITIONAL FAVORITE IN HIGHLAND GAMES

This year’s fundraising raffle has five prize packages donated by some of the club’s generous sponsors.

Raffle tickets are still available for $20 each or six for $100. They can be purchased at Celtic Treasures or from Highland Games Committee members.

THE PRIZES INCLUDE:

- TWO ROUND-TRIP TICKETS ANYWHERE ALASKA AIRLINES FLIES - WHITTIER PACKAGE, WHICH INCLUDES A MAJOR MARINE TOURS DAY TRIP FOR TWO, OVERNIGHT STAY AT THE WHITTIER INN AND A TUNNEL PASS - TWO ROUND-TRIP TICKETS ON ALASKA RAILROAD FROM ANCHORAGE TO DENALI - SCOTS’ ANCESTRY PACKAGE TO INCLUDE A DAGGER, SPORRAN FROM CELTIC TREASURES, ANCESTRY DNA KIT WITH SEMI-ANNUAL WORLD EXPLORER MEMBERSHIP - $250 GIFT CARD FROM SADLER’S HOME FURNISHINGS

ALL GAMES INFORMATION, INCLUDING PURCHASING YOUR ADMISSION TICKETS CAN BE FOUND ON WWW.ALASKASCOTTISH.ORG

Backcountry Bike and Ski will be on-site to perform minor bike adjustments and repairs, and to assist with proper helmet fittings; so, be sure to bring your bike.

Crews from the Emergency Medical Service/Fire Rescue will also be onsite to provide safety demonstrations and tips.

Last year’s bike rodeo was attended by more than 250 children and parents, according to event organizers. The rodeo is designed for riders of all ages, but is specifically targeted toward younger riders. There will be free snacks, refreshments, promotional items and other fun giveaways.

The Bicycle Safety Rodeo is sponsored by Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the City of Wasilla and the Curtis Menard Sports Center.

For more information, call Deena Straub at 907-861-6807 or email her at a.straub@msrmc.com

OR SAVE A FEW DOLLARS BY PURCHASING YOUR ADMISSION TICKETS IN ADVANCE ON THE WEBSITE OR IN PERSON AT:

- CELTIC TREASURES IN ANCHORAGE (SCOTCH TASTING SESSION TICKETS CAN ALSO BE PURCHASED HERE.) - THE BOOKSHELF IN EAGLE RIVER - FIRESIDE BOOKS IN PALMER

ADVICE & COMMUNITY

MAT-SU VALLEY, ALASKA

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SUBMIT YOUR OWN EVENTS & ARTICLES ON OUR WEBSITE

COMMUNITY & OPINION

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ADULT PIANO LESSONS Hitchcock Piano Studio ........ 745-3134 APPAREL & CLOTHING All Seasons Clothing ........ 357-0123 D’s Tuxedo ........ 707-6585 Mimi’s Closet ........ 376-2661 Mila’s Alterations ........ 830-8339 ART & CRAFTS Artists Uncorked… 982-2675 Shane Lamb Gallery… 746-3343 The Gallery ........ 745-1420 BOOKSTORE Fireside Books ........ 745-2665 A Black Sheep Shop ......... 376-8198 CAFÉ & COFFEE Alaska Artisan Coffee ........ 745-5543 Espresso Café ........ 376-5282 Gathering Grounds ........ 376-4404 Vagabond Blues……..745-2233 CREATIVE ENTERTAINMENT Artists Uncorked ........ 982-2675 DOT PHYSICALS CDL Alaska Wellness ........ 414-5840 EDUCATION Learning Essentials ........ 357-3990 FLOWERS & GIFTS Flower Flingers ........ 745-5550 FOOTWEAR Northern Comfort ........ 376-5403 HEALTH & WELLNESS All About Herbs ........ 376-8327 Invest in Yourself Fitness .... 830-6072 HOME DÉCOR Peak Boutique ........ 746-3320 PIANO LESSONS Margaret Allen Piano ........ 745-2520 PIZZA Humdingers Pizza ........ 745-7499 Pizza Ria Delphi ...... 745-2929 PRINT SERVICES The UPS Store ........ 746-6245 POWDERCOAT SERVICES The Powdercoat Shop ........ 841-1300 RADIO 95.5 The Pass ........ 631-0877 REPAIR, RESTORATION Comtronics ........ 373-2669 S&S Drilling ...... 746-0225 Steve’s Toyostove Repair ...... 376-9276 SMOKE SHOPS Alaska Pipe Dreams ........ 746-1500 Light It Up Head Shop…. 745-5483 SPECIALTY GIFTS Alaska Midnite Scents ........ 357-7364 Non-Essentials ......... 745-2258 THRIFT SHOPS Red Barn Thrift Store ........ 745-5050 Steam Driven Boutique ........ 376-4404 Turn-A-Leaf Thrift Stores ........ 376-5708 TOYS Just Imagine Toys ........ 357-1543 Learning Essentials .......... 357-3990

OPINION & COMMUNITY

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COMMUNITY & OPINION

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PETS & ANIMALS

MAT-SU VALLEY, ALASKA

We would like to thank all of our vendors for coming out and spending the day with us.

Contributed by Rebecca Turnipseed, Advocates for Dog and Puppy Wellness The 5th Annual Walk n Roll for Animals held on June 2nd was an absolute success. It was an awesome day, and it would not have been such a success without the 112 participants that signed up. It was an amazingly sunny day to spend outside enjoying our community and socializing with our animals.

We got some stunning photos of the animals, vendors and participants. They

Contributed by Randi Perlman Alaska WildBird Rehab Center Birds & Blooms Event 7/14/2018 – 12PM Alaska WildBird Rehab Center (AWBRC) Snowfire Gardens 3379 Inlet Vista Cir. Wasilla Tickets: $40 On Saturday, July 14th, from noon to 3pm, Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center (AWBRC) invites you to enjoy “Birds & Blooms”, hosted by nationally recognized and locally renowned Snowfire Gardens at 3379 S. Inlet Vista

are posted on our Facebook page, Walk n Roll for Animals, if anyone would like to see, share or save them, or you can find them at https://www.facebook. com/events/350235378810199/ permalink/393824907784579/ Some of the responses to the event are Denise Baldwin, “Thanks to everyone who came together to put on this 5K. It was fun and well worth the drive from Anchorage to help support a great cause.

My little Brussels and I enjoyed seeing and meeting new people. Will be looking forward to next year.” Also from Iveria Lorenz, “Good job everyone.”

Circle off Fairview Loop in Wasilla.

Preview the spectacular gardens and setting at www.snowfiregardens.net.

View local artists painting birds and blooms on-site!

Listen to lilting live music wafting through the fragrant air, peruse the silent auction with unique gifts and activities for you to bid on, munch on the delicious lunch provided, indulge your sweet tooth with scrumptious nohost desserts: buy one serving or the whole dessert and, of course, meet our distinguished ambassador owls, who always fly away with the show!

Thank you to the Mat+ Sar K9 for being our safety support. Thank you to the Military Youth Academy for the support before and during the event.

We know there many more vendors that supported us, and we would like not to leave any of them out, so please visit our Facebook page for further vendor support information.

We look forward to working with everyone again next year and hopefully having even more people come out and share.

Visit NonEssentials, 728 S. Alaska St. in Palmer, Steve’s Toyo Stoves at M3.4 KGB Rd. in Wasilla or www.akwildbird.org to purchase tickets, $40 each, or contact Carol at 355-4123.

Attendance is limited due to parking, so don’t pass up the opportunity to satisfy all your senses at AWBRC’s oneof-a-kind Birds & Blooms event at the lovely Snowfire Gardens! It’s sure to be one of the highlights of the summer!

Proceeds used to care for and rehabilitate Alaska’s wild birds, because we give a HOOT! Support Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center!

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COMMUNITY & EVENTS Contributed by Maeve Rath & Brenna Nikalee Rath Every child deserves to be celebrated, and celebrating children is what we want to do. My name is Maeve.

I’m a Junior Girl Scout in Troop 855.

My friend, Ashely, and I have been working on our Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn. For our service project, we chose to put together “birthday in a bag” bundles for kids in need.

This project is inspired by my cousin, Max, who died of SIDS. We want to spread joy in his honor. We collected supplies and money to fill these bags.

Thanks to our awesome community, we met our original goal of making 20 Birthday In a Bags to donate to Frontline Mission in Wasilla in June, but we’re not stopping there!

Our current goal is to donate 15 more bags by July 31st. Each bag costs $12-$15, not including the book/gift.

With this project, we spread happiness and brought awareness to SIDS. I suggested this project and am glad we chose it because I got to celebrate Max and help other families celebrate their kids. I feel happy that I get to help make kids and their families happy. It’s fun putting the bags together! I liked hanging out with friends while gathering supplies and filling the bags. I learned new skills and improved skills, like how to budget and about writing letters to request donations. I have done some stage performances, including a play with Girl Scouts, and I got to practice my public speaking skills and put them to use telling people about my project. I also used those skills when we made videos that my mom put on Facebook, so people would know about this project. My mom, Ashley’s mom, my leader, Lisa, all of my grandparents and other family and friends, my community… lots of

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people helped us achieve our project goals and are still helping me go above and beyond those goals.

Fortunately, we planned pretty well and didn’t have any big problems come up while we were doing our project. We did take one thing off our original list of things to put in bags because it wasn’t something that was really needed and it was expensive.

I can’t think of anything I would change about these bags now. Would I keep this project going if I could?

Yes, yes and triple yes! I would love to keep it going. Part of the reason I’m writing this is to spread the word, to let people like you know about this. Now, you can use the following checklist to put together a Birthday In a Bag on your own, and donate to a local family shelter or food pantry.

Each bag we put together includes: - big gift bag or cute reusable bag (that everything else is packed in) - cake mix - container of confetti frosting (because sprinkles are more fun) - candles - paper party plates - paper party cups - 2-liter bottle of sprite or 7up -wrapping tissue (to cover bag contents, and so parents can wrap the book) -picture book, coloring/drawing book, and/or other small gift Big thanks to everyone who has helped so far, including Nana and Vavu Lima, Cindy at The Bookshelf in Eagle River, Nancy at Learning Essentials in Wasilla, Mary at Just Imagine Toys in Wasilla, our friends on Savage Drive, members of the United Methodist Church in Chugiak and our friends and family far and wide who have supported us with donations and words of

encouragement. Here’s wishing you joy to the max!

From Mom: “We are so proud of Maeve and Ashley, and our communities that continue to support this endeavor. The feedback they’ve received has been diverse, overwhelmingly positive and sometimes heavy. We know we are not alone in missing a beloved baby, and SIDS is too often the cause of infant death.

This project was created in memory of King Maximus Randall, May 17, 2016 September 18, 2016. He was an organ donor, providing heart donations necessary to keep two babies alive. In life, he was rosy-cheeked and chubby, a smiling, burbling, cooing, perfect baby, watching the wild world through bright eyes. In death, he was a hero, saving lives.

I am grateful to King Carter and Nicole Lima for giving us Max, and for letting us share his story and celebrate our endless love for him. Special thanks to Jessie Dietzal at Spread Love For Miles for her compassion and encouragement, for continuing to bring light in times of darkness.

If you’re interested in getting involved you can find me on Facebook at Brenna Nikalee Rath, or email Bnikalee@gmail. com, or make and donate a Birthday In A Bag on your own. Post a photo of it on social media with the hashtags #JoyToTheMax #KingMaxForever #IThoughtOfMax.”

Contributed by Eva Cohnen-Brown Kiwanis Golf Tournament 8/3/2018 Kiwanis Club of Palmer Alaska Palmer Golf Course 1000 Lepak Ave. Palmer Cost: $100 Summer rings of outdoor delights, be it hiking, fishing, water sports and yes, dealing with lines of RV in traffic (um, not sure that one’s a “delight”).

It also means golfing in the great outdoors, which is usually set against an outstanding backdrop among the Valley’s mountain ranges. Next thing you know, you too may be humming, “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” (with apologies to George Gershwin).

What better way to enjoy the splendors of the season and golfing than to be part of the annual Kiwanis Golf Tournament?

Kiwanis has been sponsoring a golf tournament at the Palmer Golf Course since the mid-1990s.

This event is part recreation and fellowship and part fundraising

for the Club’s numerous activities, i.e. scholarships for high school students. The tournament is held on a Friday afternoon, and this year it will be held on August 3rd.

According to Jonathan Rockey, the golf tournament chairman, “Friday is not as busy a day to play as a weekend day. It allows people to get off work.

It is relaxed and allows people the opportunity to play with friends and family. In fact, many of the golfers look forward to playing from year to year.

We usually have between 35 and 45 golfers.”

So, come out and join the fun in the sun this year, and help out an outstanding, worthy community service group at the same time!

The cost is $100.00 per player. About half of that pays for green fees, cart and a meal; a little less than half is used by Kiwanis to sponsor the Club’s activities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ KiwanisClubofPalmerAlaska