Author Joe McGinniss, Diane Benson, Mr. Whitekeys, and the "Celebrity table".

As I drove out to Palmer for the "Friends of Mat-Su" fundraiser, I took a moment to drink in the beauty of Alaska in early October.

The trees were exploding with color, the ash colored clouds drifted lazily across the sky, and the snow dappled mountains seemed to painted in bold brushstrokes against the horizon. The majesty of Alaska that constantly surrounds me occasionally catches me by surprise, and today was such a day.

When I arrived in Palmer I was at first surprised, and then pleased, to find that after ten years it had not changed one little bit. The open meadows, and rustic buildings that have always defined Palmer in my mind, were exactly where my memory expected them to be.

Unlike its neighbor, the now gaudy and over developed Wasilla, Palmer still retains its unique identity and welcoming ambiance.

I turned onto the Palmer fairgrounds which, with the all of various booths lined up along the fence, looked desolate and a little lonely. It was not long before I arrived at Raven Hall for an evening with the one and only Mr. Whitekeys.

I have seen Mr. Whitekey's shows numerous times in the past and have always found them enormously entertaining, and tonight would prove no different.

I found the table that our host Phil Munger had reserved for us and sat down with some of his other guests, who I did not know, but who turned out to be fans of both IM and Mudflats. (Oh did I mention that AKM was with me?)

Soon I was introduced to author Joe McGinniss, who is up here researching HIS Sarah Palin book, and who also turned out to be a huge fan of both AKM's and I. (I swear I will NEVER get used to hearing that.)

Mr. McGinniss entertained us with tales of the colorful characters he has met while doing research for the book he is currently working on and back in the 1970's for his novel Going to Extremes.

About then the lights dimmed and Mr. Whitekeys and the Spamtones took the stage. For over 90 minutes Whitekeys had us roaring with laughter as he pounded his keyboard and told endless jokes (often with an adult theme) about the sometimes dumb and colorful things that make up the history of Alaska.

For me the highlight of the show had to be when Whitekeys was joined by the Sarah Palin impersonator, who had us all in stitches as she struck a pose and burst into song about her trials and tribulations in attempting to run our state. AKM, who had never seen a Whitekeys show, was literally tearing up with laughter.

At one point, to the surprise of us all, the screen flashed this picture:



Which loyal Mudflatters will recognize from a May 14, post on Mudflats concerning possible titles for Sarah's new book. (Yes my friends you guessed it, Mr. Whitekeys is indeed a Mudflatter.)

During the show somebody mentioned that our table was occupied with far more people than the other tables in Raven Hall, since it contained AKM and spouse, myself, Phil Munger and his wife Judy, Diane Benson and her husband, Joe McGinniss, and a few other local friends of Phil's.

This inspired somebody to remark that our table was the "celebrity table", at which time AKM nudged me and said "Look, we are at the celebrity table". I leaned over and whispered "You do know that one of the reasons it is considered the celebrity table is because YOU are sitting here". AKM's look of horror and sudden realization was pretty darn funny. All night long people had been coming up to her to congratulate her on her Rachel Maddow appearance and to say what fans they were of the Mudflats, but it had still not occurred to her that she had attained the status of "celebrity".

I also managed to have another one of my conversations with Diane Benson about her plans for running against Congressman Don Young in 2010. She has become so used to these conversations that she actually walked up to me to initiate it instead of waiting for me to corner her as is the usual.

We did talk a little about that subject (no commitment yet), but she also wanted to talk about a small independent film she made called "For the Rights of All". About the Alaskan natives struggle for racial equality and the bravery of Elizabeth Peratrovich, who Diane portrays in the film. It sounded very interesting and I will be keeping an eye out for it.

When we had all said our good byes, it was time for the long drive home, at which time I pondered the amazing journey the Alaskan Bloggers had embarked on, and wondered where it would all lead.

(BTW here is AKM's take on the evenings festivities.)