Fish and Game's wildlife storytelling night returns to Palmer Nov. 13

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is bringing back its wildlife storytelling night. Alaskans will take the stage Friday, Nov. 13, at Palmer's Glenn Massay Theater to tell true stories about wildlife encounters that shaped their lives.

It's the second Shaped by Wildlife night, and the storytellers include hunters, gatherers, conservationists and everyday nature lovers, the department said in a news release. The department is hosting it with Arctic Entries, the Anchorage storytelling series. The two asked Alaskans to submit stories in August.

The first one, last October, featured a lucky brown bear hunt, a goat hunt that got much harder than expected and what the department called "a particularly harrowing late-night trip to a campground outhouse." Artist Melissa Shaginoff performed "Moose Hide Love Poem" while Christy Newell scraped a raw moose hide onstage. Outside, a cow moose and calf wandered through the parking lot during the show.

Manny Eichholz, a Palmer-based department wildlife biologist who created the event, called it "a community-based event to bring people together over their love for wildlife and storytelling."

This year's night starts with a gallery hour from 6 to 7 pm, with wildlife art by youth and adult artists, live music from Roland Roberts, fry bread from Bearz Den Delights and displays from groups including the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center and The Musk Ox Farm. The stories run from 7 to 9 pm, with American Sign Language interpretation.

Tickets are $7 for all ages through the theater's box office, and the money goes to the Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska, the department's nonprofit partner. The event is open to all ages, but the department warns that some stories may describe intense wildlife encounters.