Homer's best bets</MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 3:04 p.m. Thursday, April 22, 2004

Homer's best bets

Photo by Carly Bossert, Homer News
Life's a beach A group of kids plays on the beach at Mariner Park last week in cool temperatures and bright sunshine.

So, like, for the first Earth Day back in the last century when the Betster lived in Florida, I remember this way-big celebration for high school students at a county park. Students could earn eco-points by riding their bike to school, bringing in a load of recyclables or otherwise being good, upstanding, conservation-minded citizens. If you got enough eco-points, you got to skip school and go to the big celebration, yeehaw.

About 100 students showed up.

Being the little anarchists that teenagers seem to be, we realized no one actually took attendance at the big Earth Day celebration, and went to the beach. Well, not the Betster. Hey, I was declared Best Environmentalist at my high school. Got a green-and-gold sash and everything.

Looking back, maybe lounging on a gorgeous Florida beach on a hot spring day wasn't such a bad way to celebrate nature. What better way to celebrate the earth than by enjoying its blessings?

Celebrate the blessings, too, of a town where there's plenty to do, perhaps by trying out some of these Best Bets:

BEST WORKING WITH THE LITTLE MAN BET: Richard McKenna once explained his creativity by saying it felt like a little man inside his head whispered ideas to him. How do artists, writers, philosophers and other great thinkers come up with their ideas? That's the topic when Deland Anderson facilitates "Creativity," this month's Community Conversation, from 5-6:30 p.m. Friday at the Pratt Museum.

BEST GET READY TO BE AWED BET: Lesser towns flinch at a project like this, but not Homer. A chorus of 190? An orchestra of 40? Piece of cake. The musicians have been practicing since November for "Carmina Burana," and they're ready to perform. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Mariner Theatre, with tickets at Etude Studio and the Homer Bookstore.

BEST GET GREEN BET: Earth Day is officially today, but Homer celebrates it through the weekend. From slide shows to films to hikes, there's lots to do. Check out a story on all the events inside the Homer News.

BEST SAFE PLACE BET: A year ago, South Peninsula Women's Services opened its shelter for victims of domestic violence. Help them celebrate this milestone and raise a little money at the SPWS Spring Fling fund-raiser at 6:30 pm. Saturday at the Best Western Bidarka Inn. Tickets are $35 and include a beef or pork dinner and desserts from Two Sisters Bakery. Prizes include a Resurrection Bay kayak trip or a ticket to the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference.

BEST LET THERE BE ICE BET: The Homer News Curling Team can't wait for the new hockey rink to open up. Now, if we only had some curling stones or those funny little brooms. Oh, and ice. Good, season-long ice would be a blessing. You can help cheer on the Homer Hockey Association as it starts a project that will fulfill that dream when it holds a ground-breaking ceremony at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the hockey rink site on Waddell Way and Lake Street.

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