Twitter your way to free admission at Alaska Flag Day!

July 6, 2009 by @jmproffitt

It’s not exactly a Tweetup, but it’s a great summer evening outdoors with live music, a picnic on the lawn, games and ice cream. And, using your Twitter account, you can get in free!

What is Alaska Flag Day?

July 9 is the day the State of Alaska annually commemorates the dedication of our state’s flag — including the the familiar gold-stars-on-blue. The flag design was created by Benny Benson, at the time a child living at the Jesse Lee Home in Seward, an orphanage that had originally started in Unalaska in the late 19th century. Benson created his flag design in a statewide contest for schoolchildren and his was selected from hundreds of submissions.

Over the years, the Jesse Lee Home changed its name to Alaska Childrens’ Services and moved to Anchorage. It also evolved its mission from being an orphange into a residential- and community-based child and family treatment program for troubled and abused kids from ages 6 to 18. Today, ACS remains in Anchorage and for many years has held an annual celebration on July 9 to commemorate Benny Benson’s achievement and ACS’ long history in the state. (By the way… ACS is not a state-run agency, it’s a private nonprofit that accepts charitable contributions.)

About the Event

This is a great event for families with kids — it’s outdoors, there’s lots to do, plenty of food and lots of space to run around. Adults will enjoy the live music and relaxed atmosphere. Here are the details:

Thursday, July 9 — 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Park at Service High School, then take a free shuttle bus to/from the event (map below)
Admission: $20/family; $5/indvidual
All-you-can-eat picnic on the lawn (or at picnic tables): burgers, chicken, hot dogs, chips, ice cream, soft drinks, more
Face painting and games for the kids
Live music by Anchorage’s own Melissa Mitchell

Twitter Folk Can Get in Free

If you’re a Twitter user, and you’d like to get in free, just follow @akchild anytime before the end of Tuesday, July 7. That’s it!

When you get to the event, tell the ticketing folks your Twitter username and they’ll hand you a ticket — free!

DEADLINE: Tuesday, July 7 at 11:59 p.m.

You can’t beat it: food, music, fun and all you have to do is follow @akchild on Twitter.

Planning on going? Drop a note to @akchild or post a comment here at AlaskaTweets. You can be sure @jmproffitt and @AgentIceCream will be there! What about you?