Palmer, AK is located 42 miles northeast of Anchorage in the Matanuska valley. A population of 6,040 as of July 2022 makes Palmer the 9th largest city in Alaska. In 1935 Palmer was the site of an unusual experiment in American history, the Matanuska Valley Colony. Here is how the city describes it:
In 1935, under President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration established the Matanuska Colony. From the drought-starved Midwest, 203 families traveled by train and ship to reach the fledgling colony. Their housing was in a tent city for that first Alaskan summer. Each family drew lots of individual 40-acre tracts and a farming adventure began. Back in 1935, those original Valley Colonists already knew this fertile valley could produce a rich agrarian heritage, making Palmer the only Alaskan community to develop an agricultural lifestyle.
Palmer hosts Colony Christmas every year on the second weekend in December. A review of the schedule showed numerous events taking place over three days; a gingerbread house contest, ornament making, photos with Santa and reindeer, multiple arts and crafts shows and more. We decided to arrive in Palmer early Saturday afternoon and take in the arts and crafts show at the Depot, the lighting of the water tower, parade and fireworks.
First stop in Palmer was lunch at the Palmer Alehouse. Turns out it was in the midst of the parade staging area, which meant streets were closed off. However, I again channeled my Dad and wandered around until we were within 2 blocks of the restaurant. This put us right by Palmer Depot, ground zero for the activities we wanted to attend. With help from BB, I found the perfect parking spot in the Depot parking lot. We walked to the Alehouse and had cheeseburgers and fries for lunch.
After lunch we headed back to the car to put on our winter gear. Temps were in the single digits and the ground had 10 inches or more of snow from the big snowstorm earlier in the week. We put toe warmers in our boots, picked up our heaviest gloves and hats and headed for the arts and crafts show in the Palmer Depot,
First thing we saw at the Depot was a Christmas tree raffle to benefit Mat-Su Special Santa Programs. BB and I participated but didn't win. We browsed the vendors and then went out to locate where we should go to view the parade.
Right outside the Depot we see Santa! And Reindeer! They let us pet the reindeer.
We visited some nearby shops, one of which was a bookstore. BB noticed a book I might like, an early Kate Shugak novel by author Dana Stabenow. I hadn't been able to get this one at the Henrico or Anchorage libraries. Purchase it I did! I recommend the Kate Shugak series if you are looking for a new read.
Then back to the Depot to warm up. We wanted to start parade watching as warm as we could be!
We found a spot in front of the Depot with a clear view of the water tower and the parade. The water tower lit up promptly at 5:00 and then the parade began! The parade lasted for almost an hour. We saw decorated fire trucks, ambulances, dump trucks and pickup trucks. Several Santas and Rudolphs were in the parade. Also a group of horses and riders in holiday costumes, a group of festive cyclists on decorated fat bikes and more. No marching bands though, we figured it was too cold for them.
Fireworks started at 6:00. And were awesome!
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You know I like moose!
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The Christmas Trees for the Raffle. Gift cards, hats/gloves, and other items were used to decorate them.
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