Alaska Flag Day

Alaska Flag Day is July 9th. The AK Child and Family organization, a joint service mission of the Baptist, Lutheran, and Methodist churches, annually hosts a big party to celebrate. Why? Because in 1927 a young boy in their orphanage won the contest to design the Alaskan flag. This year was an especially big party because it is AK Child and Family's 125th anniversary. 

Why does our family attend this event? Because the organization's main facility is located just two blocks from our home and every summer they put signs up advertising their flag day celebration. We drive by those signs over and over and over. I looked back in the blog to find out how many years we've been attending, but even though I know I've posted on attending the party, I couldn’t find my posts. Whatever! I will rely on my memory--I've been at least three times and Matt took the children one year, so the children have attended for at least four years. 

We have attended often enough that we have a routine. Because the event is well attended we go early. We could walk but the children love to ride the shuttle bus (a cushy tour bus). It's an unusual experience for them to ride a bus. (When Kara asked E what he liked best about the evening he said "The bus!" with great enthusiasm.)

The event is a fund raiser, so we pay the entrance fee ($20 for a family). We head straight to the balloon man to get balloon creations before the lines get long. Usually it's swords, but this year only B got a sword. J & L both went for teddy bears and V & E both chose a dog on a leash. (V's plan was that if either E or L popped their balloons she or J could share their balloons. (V remembered a prior traumatic year when she was little and some of the balloons popped!)

The kids play the different carnival style games set up--croquet hoops, football throw, bean bag toss, ring on pegs, basketball hoops, etc. There were a few new games this year. After demonstrating your skills (or lack of skills), you choose a prize. The children love choosing prizes even though they aren't anything great. Viva gets her face painted if the lines aren't too long, but the boys usually opt out.

We check out the food. There is always lots of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, some salads, small bags of chips, and pop. The kids eat what they want. We head back to the games for a second round. We return to the food area for ice cream. (This year the governor was serving!) Finally we catch the bus back to the parking lot and head home.

Here's our photos to commemorate the event. (Will they end up in a black hole like the photos from previous years?!)

 

As I reviewed this post it occurred to me that a flag day celebration should include a small commemorative flag, shouldn't it?!