Contributed by Ailis Vann, Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce
When we began planning the 2020 Friday Fling season in January, we, like everyone else, had no idea that a pandemic would strike. It definitely threw a wrench in our plans, but we came together as an organization and decided that hosting a weekly outdoor market would be wonderful for our community on multiple levels. We have no regrets about our season, and as it comes to a close in the middle of September, we wanted to take a minute and reflect on the very different, yet successful season.
Events like Friday Fling, which will be celebrating 19 years in 2021, take a ton of planning to execute properly. Planning begins months in advance and we are a small team of one full-time employee and two part-time employees and an active board of directors. Planning the 2020 event during COVID-19, was challenging, but well worth it. Seeing people’s faces every week (even when they’re covered with a mask), the children enjoying the pony-wheel rides, fresh locally-grown produce, and hearing superb local music made all of the hard work worthwhile.
The Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce loves holding events in our wonderful community because the community loves our events. We all work together, from store owners, to vendors, to volunteers, to create events that are fun for everyone, so we appreciate your patience while we adapted every week. We appreciate your feedback, positive and not so positive on the market so we could make changes and feel supported.
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of our community so whether you’re a once a season patron, a die-hard weekly patron, a vendor, a brick and mortar business owner, a sponsor, or anyone else that came out and supported us, thank you
Special thanks to Alaska Farmer’s Market Association for the generous grant we received so we could further highlight our local farmers and producers as well as have proper signage for Covid-19. If you’ve never heard of AFMA, please check them out. They do good work in our state to ensure we have great local markets for producers and farmers to sell their amazing products.
I’d like to thank my team members, Kalea Hogate, market coordinator, and Randi Bernier, office coordinator, for their hard work all season long. You gals are incredible and I’m so lucky to have you on the team! Thanks also to Engen Sundberg for helping us set up and take down the market each week, you’re amazing and made our lives easier!
And last, but certainly not least, thanks to Josh and Bryce at 95.5 The Pass. Josh curated our great music line up for the summer, and Bryce worked patiently with us to create radio ads.
We look forward to a less stressful 2021 season and we hope you’ll join us as we continue to celebrate, support and love on Palmer. When we all work together, anything is possible.