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DENALI PARK -- The one musical event every summer that locals put on their calendar is the Anderson Bluegrass Festival, coming up Friday through Sunday at the Anderson River Park.

You’ll know you’re approaching the correct turn off at Mile 283 Parks Highway when you see the road signs — Burma Shave style — cleverly luring you in.

Even if you’re not a bluegrass aficionado, some of these bands are intriguing, even by name alone. Longtime favorites Pat Fitzgerald, Robin Dale Ford, Alex Clarke, John Carnahan and Pete Bowers make up the group Dang!, and a group of mothers and daughters sing harmony for Oh Tallulah. Also playing are the Blaze Kings, White Twang, Salty Gravy, Ice Jam and, of course, local favorite Loose Gravel. See the complete schedule on Alaskafolkmusic.org.

The Anderson River Park is an ideal location for the event, which is geared toward families. The 616-acre riverside park offers free camping and RV parking.

On a clear day, you can see Mount McKinley. Locals will probably laugh at that last statement, because it generally manages to rain sometime during the festival. Even so, it’s a fun-filled weekend with restrooms, showers, food and craft booths. (You’re not allowed to bring in alcohol. There is already a beer garden on the premises.)

Fireworks, drums and bongos are not allowed in the campsites, so as not to disturb other campers.

Admission is $20 Friday, $20 Saturday, $15 Sunday or $40 for the whole weekend; senior citizens and military $35. Children under 12 are free.

Sponsors include the Anderson/Clear Lions Club, Budweiser and K&L Distributors, New Northwest Broadcasters, Clear Channel Radio, Acoustic Adventures and Alaskafolkmusic.org.

For more information, e-mail andersonbluegrass@yahoo.com or call 582-2967.

Ryan Armstrong Memorial

Friends, family and the community are invited to gather at the Tri-Valley Community Center on Friday, Aug. 1, to celebrate the life of Ryan Patrick Armstrong, 20, who died suddenly on July 5 in California.

Ryan grew up in Fairbanks and graduated from Tri-Valley School two years ago. He recently studied music at the American River College in Sacramento, but had to halt his studies after becoming ill.

Ryan underwent a kidney transplant in May 2004. He is survived by his mother, Eileen Armstrong, a longtime borough resident and former president of the Denali Borough School Board.

The art of the silent auction

The annual Denali Quilters Auction brought splashes of color and creativity into our community last weekend and raised more than $3,000 in the process.

I dragged a visitor there, who mistakenly thought he was going to see a bunch of blankets hanging on walls.

He was duly impressed when he saw the array of intricate wall hangings created by our talented local quilters.

Only three items were sold by outcry auction. The rest were left to a silent auction.

There is a certain knack to winning the silent auction item of your choice. It requires stealth, cunning, persistence and when that fails — pleading with your competitor to back off.

Bidding starts slow, so patience is required. Persistence is a must, because the action doesn’t really kick in until the last 10 minutes. Meanwhile, much hovering and strategizing takes place around the buffet table.

At one point, a friend leaned against me at one auction sheet and pretended to talk to me as she tried to scrawl a bid with her left hand.

“Pretend you’re talking to me,” she hissed. “I don’t want her (the competitor) to see that I’m bidding.”

I finally just wrote the bid for her.

Then there are the bidders who are too nice. They rarely win the item because they don’t want to bid against a friend. If you encounter one of these competitors, you must decide how badly you want the item — or the friend.

When Erika Flagg outbid me on Sonja Schmidt’s quilt, I knew instantly I was out-maneuvered.

As the bids escalated, it occurred to me that even the highest bids didn’t come close to compensating the quilters for the time and effort they put into these works of art.

We really should just thank them all for sharing those quilts with us for the evening.

The quilt show was dedicated to longtime Denali Borough resident and Denali Quilt Guild member Ellie Leavy, who recently died.

Friends and family attended a memorial for her on Sunday, at Clear Sky Lodge. Ellie loved foot-long hot dogs, so that was one of the main items on the menu after the memorial.

The Perch Art Show

The Perch Resort hosted a special art show and a pie and ice cream social last weekend as well, featuring paintings by longtime Alaskan Lou Anne Person of Willow.

“When I first moved to Alaska, there was a group of five young families that all moved into the same area on Upper O’Malley Road in Anchorage,” said Francie Whitman, who helps operate The Perch Resort, south of Denali National Park. “Four of the gals started taking art classes and I was the baby-sitter. All of the four have gone on to be successful artists. Now that my friend Lou Anne is retired, she has started to paint again.”

Apparently this was her first show.

The Perch hopes to hold additional art shows in the future.