The transitions will continue, too. The Homer Chamber of Commerce is still interviewing candidates for executive director and has not yet announced a replacement for Tina Day. The Homer Council on the Arts is in the process of restructuring its operation. Former and returning Homer resident Carol Harding is acting director until next February, helping new office manager Gail Edgerly settle in.

Here's a rundown on new faces around town:

Steve Delehanty is the new manager for the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge, based in Homer.

Manager: Steve Delehanty

Steve Delehanty, Homer's new Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge manager, has been working in Homer since late August and came to town with son Owen while wife Wendy Wayne and daughter hold out in Minnesota awaiting Laura's graduation this year.

Previous Position: Manager, Morris Wetland Management District, Morris, Minn. Previously, his duties included overseeing 244 federally owned wetland parcels over 3.5 million pothole prairie acres with a focus on protecting and providing habitat for nesting waterfowl. He was the first manager at the St. Croix Wetland Management District in Wisconsin and he also worked in refuges in both Minnesota and Illinois.

Hobbies and Interests: He looks forward to the unique Alaska hunting and fishing opportunities in the area and hopes to continue to play hockey as he did in Minnesota.

Impressions/Duties: Delehanty will oversee an area that extends from the Arctic Circle down to near Sitka.

"What I'm doing is helping all of the people here do their jobs," he said. "The refuge manager does have final responsibility and a fair amount of authority over an individual wildlife refuge, in this case the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. To use the four-letter word, I am the boss, but there are a lot of people here with more expertise in specific areas. I really try and go back to two things and they are: wildlife refuges are places where wildlife comes first and the other priority is customer service.

Impressions of Homer: "Homer is a great community. It's a big adjustment for me. I came from an area far from an ocean so it's different ecologically.

"It seems like a really warm community and the size is about what I am used to living in so I'm comfortable with that and the refuge itself is just amazing."

Photo by Michael Armstrong Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies executive director Terry Shepherd.

Executive director: Terry Shepherd

The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies is an environmental education organization that runs programs through the Carl E. Wynn Nature Center on East Skyline Drive, its Lake Street headquarters and at its Peterson Bay field station.

Previous position: Shepherd, 44, came to Homer from Moab, Utah, where she was executive director of Red Rock Forests, an advocacy group for forests and watersheds. Her husband, Harold Shepherd, runs a regional nonprofit organization, the Center for Water Advocacy, with projects in the Western U.S., including Native villages in the Alaska arctic.

They visited Alaska and Homer in 2007.

"We really fell in love with the area," she said. "I remember telling my husband on my way out, if we move to Alaska, I want to stay in Homer."

Background: Shepherd's father was in the U.S. Army and married a German. After her father retired, her family settled in Tampa, Fla., where Shepherd graduated from Jefferson High School and the University of Tampa. She received a master of arts in political science from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and a master of science in environmental studies from the University of Montana, Missoula.

"I left Florida after college and never went back," she said. "I fell in love with the West."

Shepherd has worked in the environmental field about 23 years, working in natural resource management and planning and with nonprofit organizations as well as with Native American tribes in Oregon.

Hobbies and interests: Shepherd has three dogs. "That means I have an interest in doing a lot of hiking and walking and skiing and backpacking."

She'd like to do sea kayaking, Shepherd said.

"I'm trying to get over a fear of water," she said. "I had three near-death experiences on rivers rafting and kayaking."

A birder with a life list of 350 species, Shepherd looks forward to next spring's Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. "I've been a big bird watcher for many years," she said. "I'm planning on majorly ramping up my life list."

Impressions of Homer and Alaska: "It's been so warm and welcoming. People have been very gracious," she said.

Shepherd met her husband in Newport, Ore., and Homer brings back memories of her time there.

"It's sort of nostalgic," she said. "The Pacific Ocean is one thing, but the Kenai Mountains ..."

Homer is very different from Utah, though, Shepherd said.

"After several summers of 106 degrees, it's kind of a relief to actually be able to walk outside and breathe and not feel you have fire in your lungs."

Impressions of her new position: "After 27 years, it's impressive to see a nonprofit going so strong," she said. "The people are great. The mission is something you can't beat."

Shepherd's also impressed by the CACS members and volunteers and their willingness to take on tasks.

"I don't know how many times I heard the staff say, 'We just had to put out the call.' That kind of sort is tremendous. I've heard that about Homer, too. ... that's a really nice feature of the community."

Visitor center manager: Sharon Ford

Sharon Ford is the new manager Visitor Service Manager at the Homer Chamber of Commerce.

Previous Position: Special events coordinator and visitor center assistant

Background: Ford built the Alaska Suites from the ground up and has lived in Homer for nearly 12 years. In past work at the chamber Ford has coordinated Seafest and the Fourth of July parade. She has taken over the winter carnival, regular community events and management of the Visitor Information Center.

"A lot of us in the building have been really conscious about knowing each other's jobs, so that has really been helpful during this transition period," she said. "I've been working at the chamber for just over a year and I love it. It gives me a chance to meet new people when in the past I've just been so busy with managing the property and my five kids."

Hobbies and Interests: She loves music and was both a music major and a vocal major. Most of her spare time is invested in her children and the occasional music lesson on the side.

How the position will grow: Filling Linda Broadhead's position of six years will be a challenge for Ford, but she admits that she feels up to the task. "I definitely want to make it my own. Linda has done such a great job and I think it will take a long time for changes to grow out of what we have already. The first thing I am looking at will be to work on the appearance of the center and look at new signage," said Ford.

Acting director: Carol Harding

Previous position: Interpretive planner, Denali National Park and Preserve

Background: Carol Harding, 60, is a familiar face to Homer. Until about 2001 she worked at the Pratt Museum as education and exhibits director. After she and Gale Parsons split the job, Harding became director of exhibits. She left Homer for seven years to work on a variety of projects at Denali, including managing all the interpretive and arts exhibits and the artist-in-residence program.

"I'm pretty proud of that," she said. "Introducing art as part of the programming was pretty exciting."

Before moving to Homer in 1991 she was an exhibit artist at the Milwaukee Public Museum, Wisconsin.

Goals in her new position: Harding has taken a three-month position as acting director while HCOA regroups. One of her goals is to help Office Manager Gail Edgerly, a new Homer arrival, become familiar with the arts community and the arts council.

One proposal for HCOA is to have an artistic director and a managing director, said HCOA Board President Diane Borgman.

"We're hoping to get back on track and hire a director or to go back to the two part-time positions we were looking at when we were restructuring," she said.

Office manager: Gail Edgerly

Photo by Michael Armstrong Homer Council on the Arts office manager Gail Edgerly.

Previous position: Edgerly, 50, moved to Homer in August from Portland, Maine, where she was board president of the Museum of African Culture. She was raised in New England and graduated from high school in Coconut Grove, Fla., near Miami. She went to Smith College and graduated from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, with a bachelor of science degree in nursing. Edgerly has worked 30 years in the health care field, first as a nurse and later as a certified Trager practitioner, a form of physical therapy. She moved to Homer to be closer to her sons, Luke and Jake Easton, both high school students who live here with their father.

Hobbies and interests: Edgerly also is a 5Rhythms dance instructor.

"Dance has really been my focus for 14 years. It's not choreographed dance. It's expressive dance," Edgerly said. "Anybody can do it. You don't have to be a dancer to do it."

Edgerly also loves to walk, ski and hike, and is thrilled by having a public pool she can swim in daily.

Impressions of Homer and Alaska: "People have been very friendly. It's amazing the talent of artists here," Edgerly said. "I went to Jazzline. I was amazed how many people were involved and the quality of choreography."

Impressions of her new position: "Homer's changed a lot since the Homer council started," Edgerly said. "I think it has a heritage and lineage behind it that gives it a grounding in the community. I'm excited about it finding its rich niche in a new era of Homer."

Tommie CarlinSchauer is the new manager at the Kevin Bell Ice Arena.

Rink manager: Tommie CarlinSchauer

Previous position: Soccer coach in Homer

Background: From Minnesota originally, he played hockey there for years and attended St. Thomas University. He has lived in Seattle and has often vacationed in Homer. CarlinSchauer has 40 years experience in coaching soccer and hockey and has played for the past 48 years.

Hobbies and Interests: Primarily his interests lie in hockey and soccer, but he is the consummate sports fan, having played and coached for years in Minnesota, Wisconsin and now in Alaska.

Impressions of Homer: "Everybody has been great in helping me at my job and getting acclimated. I've been enjoying showing off the sport of hockey. I am very happy to be in Homer. I've been here a couple of times and it was an easy decision to take the job when I was offered it and given the chance to live in Homer and run the rink."

On the new position: "It's one of those all-around jobs where everything that is involved in the program and the rink is a part of your work. We're not scheduling a lot in the mornings, but we're working on that. I'd also like to see some more work done on bringing in some figure skating as well as some speed skating," said CarlinSchauer.

Photo by Michael Armstrong Diane Converse, Pratt Museum Director.

Director and CEO: Diane Converse

Previous position: Managing director, Northwest Architectural League, Seattle.

Background: Converse, 49, has worked in nonprofit arts and cultural associations for more than 20 years. Before working at the Northwest Architectural League she was a publications designer and administrative director for Northwest Interpretive Arts, now known as Discover Your Northwest. Born in Pittsburg, Pa., she grew up in the Portland, Ore., area and Ellensburg in eastern Washington.

She received a bachelor of science in wildlife sciences from the University of Washington, Seattle. Last summer she also received a doctorate in education from Seattle University.

"My core passion is education," Conserve said.

After getting her doctorate, she said she wanted to move into a position that would challenge that passion.

"I wanted to be in a nonprofit that had direct educational programs," she said. "I wanted to be in a place that I could be involved in a community that had a strong sense of community."

She found the Pratt Museum and Homer.

"The icing and cherry on the cake was the arts community and the beautiful natural surrounding," Converse said. "When I saw this job, I said, 'This would be perfect.'"

Hobbies and interests: Converse's main hobby is fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, quilting and making wall hangings.

"The art part is my sanity maintenance," she said. She also hikes, skis, canoes and travels. On a visit to New Zealand she discovered sea kayaking and is looking forward to that in Homer.

Impressions of Homer and Alaska: "As soon as I landed in the plane for my interview, I felt good, positive energy," Converse said.

"Everyone has been so welcoming. I feel very good energy from everyone I've met," she said.

"It's amazing there are 55 nonprofits in a town this size," she added. "That says a lot about the values of the community."

Impressions of her new position: "I felt right away I could fit in with the staff," Converse said. "My major task and project for the next few years will be the capital campaign and growth of the museum."

Peter Lundscow Pratt Museum collections manager

Collections manager and curator: Peter Lundskow

Previous position: Collections curator, Boulder History Museum, Boulder, Colo. He left Boulder after his position was downsized.

Background: Lundskow, 55, grew up in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. He received his bachelor of arts and master of arts in American studies from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.

He got his start in museum work at Bowling Green, where he worked at the Ohio regional archives there, learning about conservation and preservation of materials. He has worked at the Ohio Historical Society, the Indiana State Museum, the Kansas Museum of History and the University of Utah.

"I've always been interested in museums since I was a little kid," Lundskow said.

Hobbies and interests: Lundskow likes to snowshoe and hike and run on mountain and off-road trails. He also meditates and is interested in the Shambala discipline of Buddhism.

Impressions of Homer and Alaska: "Everybody I talked to about Alaska said what a wonderful place it was," he said. "I decided to take it sight unseen."

"For the size town it is, there have been three or four nights when I've had to choose one event over another," he said.

Impressions of his new position: "When it comes to community support, there are a lot more people who support this museum and know about it here," Lundskow said.

"I like (the Pratt's) current collection concentration, collecting American artists in the community. ... It's a great contemporary collection. I like the way it's going to hopefully continue to grow over the years."