Photo Courtesy of Cecil Sanders
Contributed by Josh Fryfogle
Over the course of nearly nine years, I’ve written more than a few articles about the cooperative, community event, ‘Who Let the Girls Out?’ Every year, something different emerges - a new theme that I can see develop over the course of the planning process.
This year, for me, that theme was curiosity. While many might have heard of the event, and thousands have attended, there are always those who are just discovering it, and realizing its tradition.
They’ve heard of it, so they ask, “What is it?”
The underlying goal of this event was to take a traditionally slow time for downtown Palmer shops, and help them pay their rent for the month. A noble, simple goal, and with a straightforward method.
Each participating business does something special that day, their own event, special, demonstration - whatever - and we publish that information from each business as a comprehensive guide in Make A Scene Magazine. People use the guide, with its listings and map of participating shops, to plan their day! Some events are longstanding, that people expect to attend year after year, and some are new and different.
To add an element of competition to our shopping event, many years ago we introduced the WLTGO Stamp Pass! This allowed people to use the map in the guide to try to visit every shop on the route - turning in their WLTGO Stamp Pass at the end of the event. The drawing for the prize package is held the following day, and it’s filled with donations from those local shops, totaling thousands of dollars in value!
The music at this event seems to be growing all the time, and this year is no different. We have an incredible lineup of talent, facilitated by multiple local music promoters (of which I am one), each bringing a different type of musical experience for those in attendance.
It’s hard to believe, but next year will be our tenth year of working together, as a community, to create an event that actually reflects the will of those involved. That’s inspiring to me. To see a consensus take shape, and a community take action to realize the same.