In a Colony State of Mind

So much Matanuska Colony-related news this weekend - where to start?

COLONY DAYS
Palmer, Alaska is enjoying Colony Days this weekend - the annual celebration of Palmer's Matanuska Colony roots, and  the arrival of summer in Alaska - round-the-clock sunshine, plants growing a foot every day, and being outdoors as much as possible.

This public celebration comes one week after the colony families gathered for their annual reunion dinner. "Colony kids" who grew up in the Matanuska Colony, along with colony grandkids, great-grandkids, etc., gathered for an afternoon of nostalgia and catching up.

And speaking of nostalgia: the opening scenes of Alaska Far Away were filmed during the Colony Days Parade in 1995. Look familiar? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX12QFQ0Lvk

COLONY DAYS GIVEAWAY - YOU COULD BE A WINNER
We're honoring Colony Days by taking part in the I Love Palmer/Colony Days Giveaway. Created by Palmerite Laura Sampson, author of the blog, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, the giveaway includes ALL of the following Matanuska Colony-themed prizes:
*  A set of BOTH of our films on DVD: Alaska Far Away and its companion film, Where the River Matanuska Flows
* Helen Hegener's new book, The Matanuska Colony Barns - a must-have for anyone who interested in
the Matanuska Colony, Palmer, Alaska, farming, barns, history, or great books. (That pretty much covers everyone, doesn't it?)
* Heather Lehe's book, Colony Kids - a charming novel about the early days of the colony written from the perspective of the kids themselves, and based on stories from actual colony kids (including some stories featured in our films).




So enter the giveaway now! The drawing ends in three days, and your odds of winning are great.

THIS WEEKEND'S BROADCASTS AND MEDIA
Our interview on Aspen Public Radio can be heard here. And we were jazzed to wake up to see a glowing article about Alaska Far Away posted on Alaska Dispatch.

Meanwhile, Alaska Far Away is showing on public television stations in three different states over the next three days. Here are all the details. Please spread the word to friends and family in these broadcast areas.

Colorado Public Television
Saturday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 9 at 3:00 a.m.
Tune in to Aspen Public Radio this week, as we talk with filmmaker and NPR reporter Rob St. Mary about Alaska Far Away. Check our Facebook page for time and date.

WPBS-TV - Watertown, New York*
Sunday, June 9 at 12:00 noon
* WPBS-TV also reaches eastern Ontario, making this the first international broadcast for Alaska Far Away

Wyoming PBS
Monday, June 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 11 at 2:00 a.m.

A Week of Debuts: Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, New York State, Wyoming, Michigan

UPDATE:

While Alaska Far Away continues showing on KAKM and KTOO in Alaska this week (final broadcast Wednesday June 5 at 8:30 p.m.), we're also excited to make our debuts in six more states in the coming two weeks. For our new viewers - welcome! If you enjoy this saga of the New Deal pioneers, we hope you will help us spread the word as Alaska Far Away makes its way to public television stations around the country. If you want to stay up-to-date on our broadcast schedule (not to mention live screenings), please "like" our Facebook page. We also send emails to folks on our mailing list with each week's broadcast schedule. If you'd like to receive these updates, just email us at alaskafaraway@aol.com.

If Alaska Far Away inspired you to take a trip to Alaska, be sure to visit Palmer and the beautiful Matanuska Valley. Click on the tab above labeled "More Information" for links that will provide information on travel, history, and places to visit.

Here's this week's broadcast line-up.

KLRU-Q - Austin, Texas
Sunday, June 2 at 8:00 p.m.
Monday, June 3 at 1:00 a.m

KENW-TV - Portales, New Mexico
Tuesday, June 4 at 11:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 5 at 3:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 5 at 7:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 5 at 1:30 p.m.

Colorado Public Television
Saturday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 9 at 3:00 a.m.
Tune in to Aspen Public Radio this week, as we talk with filmmaker and NPR reporter Rob St. Mary about Alaska Far Away. Check our Facebook page for time and date.
WPBS-TV - Watertown, New York*
Sunday, June 9 at 12:00 noon
* WPBS-TV also reaches eastern Ontario, making this the first international broadcast for Alaska Far Away

Wyoming PBS
Monday, June 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 11 at 2:00 a.m.

Q-TV (WDCQ) - Flint, Michigan
Thursday, June 13 at 4:00 a.m.

This Week: ALASKA FAR AWAY Returns to - Alaska!

In May, Alaska Far Away began playing on public broadcasting stations around the country. So far it has been seen by audiences in Oregon, Miami, Nashville, West Palm Beach, Vermont, the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa, Minnesota, and West Virginia, with another 65+ stations to come, coast-to-coast.

But this week, our film comes home to its roots: Alaska. Our presenting station, KAKM in Anchorage, is showing three prime-time broadcasts of Alaska Far Away this week:
Friday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 1 at 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 5 at 8:30 p.m.

All shows will be broadcast simultaneously on KTOO-TV in Juneau.
(Click here for the full roster of broadcasts these next two weeks, which includes stations in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, New York, and Wyoming.)

Coming home to the Alaska airwaves is particularly meaningful for us. Back in 1994, when all we had was a rough draft of a proposal for this film, the long-time manager of KAKM, Dick Enders, was kind enough to sit down and listen to our ideas, and give enthusiastic feedback. He also gave us a very valuable piece of advice: put "Alaska" in the title, right up front. He sent us on our way with his blessing and a letter of recommendation, and told us to come back when the film was finished.

Well, by the time we came back, 14 years later, Dick had retired. But KAKM did fulfill his promise: our first broadcast was in September 2010, breaking fundraising records during the station's fall pledge drive, with additional airings in December 2010 and 2011. We are happy and grateful to be invited back.

But KAKM did even more to help this year. In order for American Public Television to offer our film to their member stations, we had to have a "presenting station" step forward on our behalf. KAKM took that step, and we are deeply grateful to them for making it possible for us to share our film with millions of viewers across the country.

While many Alaskans have seen Alaska Far Away several times, there are always new audiences who haven't seen it yet, and for whom the story of the Matanuska Colony is new. So for our viewers old and new, we are happy to share Alaska Far Away with you. And don't forget: Colony Days celebrations are right around the corner in Palmer - may our film inspire you to join the festivities!

Top photo: Volunteers answering pledge phones at KAKM in September 2010. From KAKM web site. 
Bottom photo: Colonists Tony and Alys Vickaryous of Minnesota with their daughters Gerry and Tiny. 

Tonight in West Virginia: Alaska Far Away debuts in a state with rich New Deal history of its own

One of the points that people take away from watching Alaska Far Away is that the Matanuska Colony was just one of over 100 resettlement communities created around the country by Roosevelt's New Deal. Over and over we hear, "This is amazing! Why weren't we taught about this in school?"

Good question. If the New Deal is taught in schools at all, you may learn about the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Social Security, and maybe the Federal Theatre Project. But the New Deal created many other programs, large and small, to help people whose livelihoods had been destroyed by the Great Depression. For the most part, they were designed to be temporary programs, emergency measures designed to give people a boost so they could succeed on their own. Harry L. Hopkins, head of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration that created and administered many of these programs, was once taunted by his critics, who said these programs wouldn't work in the long run. But Harry - who had been a social worker and relief manager in New York, and knew first-hand the devastating effects of poverty - answered his critics by saying, "People don't eat in the long run. They eat every day."

Tonight (5/28) Alaska Far Away will make its debut in West Virginia (8:00 p.m.). West Virginia is home to another famous New Deal community, Arthurdale. Created in 1933 (pre-Matanuska) within a day's drive of Washington, D.C., and under the watchful eye of Eleanor Roosevelt herself, Arthurdale was the country's first New Deal Homestead Community. Arthurdale is now a National Historic District featuring 160 of the 165 original homesteads, and a center where visitors can learn about and celebrate the New Deal communities. If you're interested in New Deal history, be sure to visit during their annual New Deal Festival, which will be held this year on July 13.