It’s time for Page Two: News that might not make the front page for Wednesday December 17, 2025.
Ruth Hulbert knew Gerry Keeling her whole life.
When Hulbert was a baby girl, her parents carried her to Palmer Historical Society meetings. Keeling was there.
When Hulbert was a teenager, she found a job at the Colony House Museum. Keeling was there.
And when Hulbert turned eighteen, she registered to vote at the Borough building, right across the street from the Colony House Museum. Who handled the paperwork? Keeling.
Gerry Keeling died earlier this month. She was one of the last living symbols of the unique Palmer history. Ninety years ago, Keeling was the first Colony baby born in the shiny new modern hospital. The Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation built the hospital in Palmer in 1935.
Hulbert is careful to point out that other babies had been born in Colony-era Palmer. First, a tent had been set aside as a hospital. Then a community center had been converted into an emergency isolation ward. But Keeling was the first person to be born in the fancy, new hospital.
Keeling’s parents landed in Alaska during the Great Depression with about 200 other families from the upper Midwest. These families left failing farms, wobbly finances, and slim prospects. The federal government enticed them to the great north with the promise of 40 acres of land and subsidized housing. The families had to agree to settle and farm.
From the day she was born Keeling was a symbol of Palmer’s unique history. You might say she was an Alaskan celebrity. The Anchorage newspaper even ran a story about the first baby born in the new hospital, Keeling.
Our memories of Palmer history will continue to change and adapt. The original Colony Days celebration was about the parents who came up in 1935. Then, as the colonists faded away, their kids took over the Colony Days events.
By 2015, Hulbert says, most of the Colony kids were too old to put on the party themselves. Then the pandemic put a damper on Colony Days events. But the celebration continues every summer. “It’s like a big, extended family,” Hulbert says.
“Our ancestors went through this very unique, strange New Deal experience together,” Hulbert says. And that experience binds the community together in a unique way. New people will have to work to keep the stories alive with the passing of Keeling and others of her generation.
The Celebration of Life for Gerry Keeling is tomorrow at the Palmer Depot from 3 to 6 p.m.
The movie Dear Sirs screens tomorrow at 5:30 at the Glenn Massay Theater. The film chronicles Mark Pedri’s grandfather’s path through World War II Europe. It’s free and registration is required.
Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Blackwater Railroad Braden Rollins plays the Palmer Ale House Unplugged tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m..
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough declared a disaster due to the high winds on December 5 – 23. The borough experienced wind gusts of at least 89 mph. Winds gusted in excess of 50 mph from Friday, December 5, through Tuesday, December 9. Citizens reported hurricane-force gusts of wind that damaged homes, vehicles, and other property.
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This Page Two article was written by David Cheezem and read by Lee Henrikson. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Wednesday December 17, 2025.