Two etchings on a gravestone at the Palmer Pioneer Cemetery caught Bridgette Preston’s eye. One is an ulu knife. The other is a needle and thread. In the center, between those two images, is a name: Jessie Jorgensen Punichak.
Punichak is one of the stars of this year’s Stories in Stone: Palmer Pioneer Cemetery WalkingTour.
Grandmother Raven Productions Creative Director Preston is the instigator of the project. The etchings on the gravestone have symbolic value to her. A knife cuts things apart, and the needle-and-thread sews things together. They epitomize the four qualities Preston sees in late 19th century and early 20th century women’s lives: “grit,” “grace,” “humor” and “everyday courage.”
That’s why the theme of this year’s cemetery tour is “Hearth & Homestead: Matriarchs of the Midnight Sun.” You have three opportunities to participate in the tour this year. You can buy tickets now for the June 9 or June 10 tour. Or you can wait for the performance on a date to be determined in July.
Tickets for the June tours are on sale at Eventbrite.com.
“Hearth & Homestead” is the third in the series of cemetery tours researched and written by Preston. Attendance has grown every year. She limited the audience to 20 people per tour the first year. Last year, she upped it to 30 per tour. This year, the max is 40 people for each tour.
Preston says these tours tap into our curiosity about life 50 or 100 years ago. She likes the phrase “civic heritage” to describe cemetery tours like this.
Some of the women featured in this year’s tour have names that are familiar to Palmer residents. Maybe a school named after one of them, or a park, or a building. Even if not all of them aren’t famous, Preston says they all had a hand in creating the state we live in.
Punichak is one of several Alaska Native women who are featured in the tour. She lived for 102 years.
So did Joanna Hyland Smith. She has the rare distinction of being alive in three different centuries. She was born in 1898 and died in 2000.
Preston is a thorough researcher. She looked up obituaries of all her subjects and scanned old newspaper archives for articles. She says she is careful to rely on printed sources only. She avoids hearsay and unverified rumors, “gossip” as she puts it.
Preston wrote scripts based on her research. Volunteers read the scripts during the tour.
And there’s more to come. Preston has researched and written shows for 10 more seasons of cemetery tours.
This year, she says, all the stars are women. Next year, all the stars will be men.
Stories in Stone: Palmer Pioneer Cemetery Walking Tour is respectfully presented by Grandmother Raven Productions, Palmer Historical Society, and Palmer Pioneer Cemetery.
The Mat-Su Borough Assembly meets tomorrow. They will do an evaluation of the borough attorney at the 4 p.m. meeting. They will hold their regular meeting at 6 p.m. in their chambers.
The Mat-Su School board meets on Wednesday at 6 o’clock in their chambers
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This Page Two article was reported by David Cheezem and produced by yours truly, 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 Monday June 1, 2026.
Photo by Bridgette Preston