Summer Festivals in Alaska by Lynn Lovegreen

 Note: This first appeared in Lynn Lovegreen's blog, www.lynnlovegreen.com

Summer is a special time in Alaska. Not only is it a great time to enjoy the outdoors, it's also a season when Alaskans gather in their communities. Here are a few examples of festivals in the summer. I can't list them all in one blog post, but I'll try to give you a good cross-section of events.

Summer Solstice is a highlight of the year. I've written about it before (https://www.lynnlovegreen.com/post/summer-solstice) but I have to mention here that towns from Anchorage to Fairbanks to Seldovia to Moose Pass all have Solstice festivals. The Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival just sent me a link: https://www.seldoviaartscouncil.org/festival

 

Pride Month is celebrated in Alaska as well. Anchorage hosts a Pride Bar Crawl, the Rainbow Run, Pride Parade, and Pride Festival. There's also Underground Pride at the Palmer State Fairgrounds, and Fairbanks hosts the Pride Hike, Pride Prom, and Pridefest, to name a few.

Other June festivals include Juneau's Celebration, Sitka Music Festival, the 3 Barons Renaissance Fair in Anchorage, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, and Juneteenth in Anchorage and Fairbanks. 

I'll talk about July 4th in another blog post. Other July festivals are the Homer Peony Celebration, Girdwood's Forest Fair, the Eagle River Bear Paw Festival, Fairbanks' Golden Days, the Gold Rush days in Valdez and Wrangell's Bearfest. (The photo below is of downtown Wrangell.)

August includes Salmonfest in Ninilchik, Ketchikan's Blueberry Arts Festival, Ester Fest near Fairbanks, and Anchorage's Galway Days and Alaska Greek Festival. 

If you're traveling to Alaska in the summer, look up the towns you'll be visiting and see if you can drop in on a local festival. It's the best way to meet the locals and see what we do for fun. 

Lynn Lovegreen is a longtime Alaskan. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical fiction is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. 

Summer Fun Through the Years

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose love and light.

We are officially in summer in the Northern Hemisphere and that is the inspiration behind our suggested July post theme, Summer Fun. And if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps our post will warm you and you’ll come away with ideas for your December Summer Fun.

On top of the idea of Summer Fun, I layer my dislike of heat and humidity. It is a bit more than dislike…I am physically sick and have spent time in an emergency room due to my body’s inability to deal with it. However, despite that, I have had wondrous summers!

As a child, my family spent a week each summer at The Oregon Coast. That started when I was eight years old. It is still one of my favorite places in the world. I have seen lovely beaches in Australia, Croatia, and Slovenia as well as along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean.

For me, the main attraction of The Oregon Coast is the wave action. Waves crashing on rocks, spray glittering in the sun, the pounding vibration as they collapse touches my soul.

Photo by Wollertz
Easier to find this on DepositPhoto than search through
50 photo albums looking for one I took

Fun for me now is Not climbing the rocks or even hiking miles along the strips of sand searching for agates. Those are yesteryear memories. Today’s fun is looking out at the vastness of the water, searching for signs of whale spouts as I continue, decades and decades later, feeling the power of the waves sink into my bones.

Another Summer Fun activity that lasted for over forty years is attending the William Glasser Institute’s annual conference. The USA’s member of this group has changed its name to The Glasser Institute for Choice Theory – US. I’m missing the International conference this year in Chicago but am already planning on attending the 2025 conference slated to be in Los Angeles, CA.

Because of this organization, I’ve been to areas of the United States I would never have seen as well as several countries.

Outside the USA?

Canada (both Montreal and Vancouver),
Australia’s east coast (Sidney, Carnes, Great Barrier Reef, Butterfly Sanctuary),
Ireland (and had adventures galore outside the conference),
Croatia and Slovenia (during the Balkan War no less as well as after it).

I took my granddaughters with me to the Edinburgh, Scotland conference. We spent time before the conference in London and toured Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Avebury as well as Canterbury, Leeds Castle and Dover.

Stonehenge

Black Swans at Leeds Castle

I found Dover to be a very emotional experience. My Uncle Jim served in the WWII as a bombardier. You know, the guy who sits in the plastic nose of the bomber, exposed to the attacks of the enemy planes in order to better site the dropping of the bombs. What I will say is that he, like so many others, came home changed. He talked to me at one point about that experience. Being there on the beach at Dover, seeing the chalk white cliffs and remembering his words of relief when they came into view on the way home shook me. I’ll never forget seeing what he saw and remembering his words as I did so.

On a brighter note, after the Edinburgh Conference we took a tour to Loch Ness and another one to see The Highlands.

Some of my very best and lifelong friends I met in the early days of my involvement in the work of Dr. Glasser. (I started my formal training in August 1978.). Some good friends I met a few years later. What is special about this organization is that we have a shared framework for seeing the world around us and a process to find answers to issues or problems over which we do have some control.

In this last half of 2024, my focus will continue to be on regaining my health, connecting with family and friends and if all goes as planned (when does it ever), I’ll finish my half-finished non-fiction Yes, You Can Create The Life You Love. It’s based on a seminar I created in the 1980’s, “Love, Worth, Fun, Freedom: How To Get More”.

I know that if that book is finished and Staying Sane in a Crazy World is available in audio book by January 01, 2025, I’ll consider 2024 to have been a resounding success.

You can find my books at your favorite e-book vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Beaverton, OR and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Get the addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2024 Judith Ashley

Summer Fun! by Paty Jager

Summer has always been my one of my favorite times of year. When I was younger, I was always sad when the school year ended. It meant I wouldn't see my friends until my birthday in June and then again not until I went back to school in September. We lived 12 miles from town. That doesn't seem like a lot now, when I live 40 miles from town, but when I was a kid, only my parents went to town every day to work and my grandmother who lived with us would go to town once a month to get groceries. When she went to get groceries, I could go along and return library books and get more. But we weren't allowed to play with friends. And we couldn't call and just talk to them because we were on a party line. 

But in June, I could call and invite them for a sleepover on my birthday. 

The best part of summer was spending days up in the orchard, playing in the irrigation ditch that watered the trees and the garden vegetables. There was also hiking over the hill and swimming in the river at what we called the "sand bar." 

But the best part of summer was riding my horse over the hill, across the river, and up the mountain that was on one side of the canyon where we lived. I loved the solitary rides, just me and Junebug, my mare. Some days I'd saddle her up and wear jeans and boots, other days, I'd ride bareback, with my bare legs and feet dangling at her sides. When I didn't have a saddle, I'd lay back, my spine in line with hers, my head resting on her rump. She'd walk along the old log roads, and I stared up at the dapple light shining through the cottonwood leaves and boughs of the pines and firs. Those days I remember with great joy!

Other times, I would go to my solitary place on a strip of land between the Lostine River and the South Fork ditch. There under a cottonwood tree, surrounded by ferns, I'd draw and write stories, or read a book. 

There have been many days as an adult that I've wished for a few of those summer days again. I ride my gelding sporadically these days. neither one of us is young. I have to feel like saddling him and using up hours of the day that I could be writing or taking care of the business of writing. Where I live now there isn't running water near us to cool my feet or listen to the murmur as I am creative. 

Riding my gelding, Jan. 

But I do enjoy your treks this time of the year up the Steens Mountain to see the wildflowers in bloom. And I do get out on a horseback ride now and then with my daughter and grandkids. Hubby and I are trying to do more two and three-day trips with our camper to see more of Southern Oregon. 

These are wildflowers I found in Montana on a research trip.

This summer I am judging at more county fairs than I have in the past few years. So I will be traveling around eastern Oregon judging 4-H and Open Class static exhibits in August. I like doing that. I see the state and meet people. 

I hope you all have a wonderful summer! It is one of the best times of the year, as long as the weather doesn't get too crazy hot! 

You can purchase the first three Shandra Higheagle Mystery audiobooks in a box set for $0.99 through July 10th at Indie Audiobook Deals, along with other great deals from other authors! https://linktr.ee/indieaudiobookdeals

Paty

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 58 novels, 10 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and Western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the Western lifestyle, she lives it. 

Website: https://www.patyjager.net

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Chickens to Ice Caves

by Diana McCollum

I have traveled to many different places inside our borders and out. This year our big trip will be the Mexican Riviera. Our grandson is getting married in Puerto Vallarta. I’ve never been to Mexico and we will be traveling with 37 family and friends of the bride and groom. We’ll be staying for a week. My daughter has booked a boat excursion to an outlying island for one day. Not sure what else we’ll be doing, besides enjoying good food, snorkeling and catching up with friends.  

 

I have two memorable trips that we have taken in the past. Number one is the visit to our nation’s capital when my son was in the Marine Corps and stationed in WA, DC. We stayed with my son and his marine corps roommates in their rented town house. Everywhere we went we had one or two marines with us. Usually my son for sure. 

 

They took us to restaurants that the locals went to, to little bars for music and where one of my son’s friends was asked to play the piano. It was awesome. When my husband and I were on our own we’d walk the mile from the town house to the museums. The town houses all had little front yards with beautiful wrought iron fences. The architecture was old and beautiful. Front yards full of flowers and everyone we passed would say good morning to us.

 

Then there is the Capital, and the mall, and all the museums! Made me proud to be an American. I remember we sat on a bench on the mall and workers from the capital and offices did their walks at lunch time in office clothes and suits and tennis shoes. The air seemed to vibrate with action, knowing in the building’s around us bills were being debated, sent to committees, researched and maybe one day impacting our lives. The hub of American Democracy. 

 

The second favorite trip was through Arizona and New Mexico. We took many side roads rather than the highways.

 

In New Mexico we pulled over at a small shopping center parking lot to look at our map. In the far corner of the lot was a station wagon with a crowd of a dozen people or so. We walked over to see what was going on.

 

The man who owned the station wagon had cages with chickens in, giant Iguana on his roof top and snakes, ugh. His wife walked around with a boa  around her arms. All these animals were for sale. People were bidding on the live chickens and roosters.

Somewhere in NM we went over a 5,000 ft pass and it was snowing in the summer time!

We saw a collapsed lave tube with stairs, about 20, down to a solid ice cap. The owner said it never melts and the college said it was over 10,000 years old.

 

The museum in Albuquerque, NM, was well worth stopping for and we spent several hours in there. Then on to old town, and fantastic food.

 

We saw the Grand Canyon on this trip also. And Sedona, AZ, beautiful place and as the motel sign said “101 things to see in the area”, I think we saw most of them. Lots of Indian cliff structures, Montezuma’s well, etc.

 

In Arizona we found a state park, no trees just rocks, hills and hiking trails. The sign at the parks entrance  said “You may take only ten lbs. of rocks from this park”, never heard of such a thing. It seemed kind of off. We did fill our backpack with some pretty rocks though.

 

We’ve always tried to find to off the beaten path restaurants and sights to see.

 

Do you plan your trips ahead or just head in the direction of your ultimate goal?