The Homer Fish and Game Advisory Council holds an informal drop-in workshop on proposal writing from 5-7 p.m. today in the Homer Public Library Conference Room. The workshop is for members of the public interested in submitting proposals for the upcoming board cycle addressing the Kenai Peninsula or learning more about the process. For more information, call Dave Lyon at 399-2340.

The Friends of the Homer Public Library is sponsoring a commemorative event of the 1964 Earthquake at 6 p.m. March 27. They’re looking for people who would be willing to tell brief anecdotes of their experiences of the 1964 earthquake. Please contact Erin Hollowell at erin@friendshomerlibrary.org or leave a message at 907-435-3195.

Michelle Waclawski offers a six-week Confident Communicator class on developing awareness of issues relating to others, as well as specific techniques to improve confidence with personal or professional communication. Classes will be held 6-8 p.m. each Wednesday from March 26 to April 30 at SVT Health and Wellness. Preregistration is required. Cost of the class is $120. For more information, call Michelle at 299-7906. Space is limited.

The Friends of the Homer Public Library Board of Directors has announced that Kyra Wagner is the recipient of the Friends’ 2014 Lifelong Learner Award. Wagner is an important part of the Homer community and will be the guest of honor at the Celebration of Lifelong Learning, to be held starting at 7 p.m. April 12 at the Homer Public Library. Hannah Baird will be presented with the Youth! Learner Award. This award goes to a young person who demonstrates learning as a passion, shares that knowledge with others and exhibits creativity. 

Willie Hensley is the keynote speaker for the event. Willie Iggiagruk Hensley is a former state senator, author, activist and recent recipient of a 2014 Governor’s Award for the Humanities. Hensley’s memoir, “Fifty Miles from Tomorrow,” is both his own coming-of-age story and that of the state of Alaska.

The Celebration of Lifelong Learning will also include music, fine cuisine by Maura’s Café & Fine Catering, and The Tree of Learning Trivia Contest officiated by Kathleen Gustafson. A silent auction, as well as ticket sales, will benefit the Friends of the Homer Library which provides programs and support services for the Homer Public Library.

Tickets for the Celebration of Lifelong Learning are $30 and are available at the library and from library board members. For more information, contact Erin Hollowell at 435-3195.

Cooperative Extension Service

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service offers a weekend workshop series in Homer for vegetable gardeners. The extension and the Kachemak Bay Campus co-sponsor Backyard Bounty: Growing Food from the Ground Up. The workshops will be offered 6-8 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays on the weekends of March 28-29, April 4-5 and April 18-19. Lydia Clayton, the agriculture and horticulture Extension agent for the Kenai Peninsula District, will teach the workshops at the Kachemak Bay Campus. Participants may attend one or all of the workshop weekends. The fee is $25 per weekend. Workshops will cover seed starting, transplanting, irrigation and rainwater catchment, March 28-29; small fruits and pest management, April 4-5; and season extension and food preservation, April 18-19. Register at the Kachemak Bay Campus or by calling 235-7743. For more information, contact the Extension district office at 907-262-5824 or at 43961 K-Beach Road, Suite A in Soldotna, or visit www.uaf.edu/ces.

Friendship Center

Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with extended hours for special situations. Special programs are offered daily, including story time, crafts and musical performances. For more information, call 235-4556.

Homer Senior Citizens

Homer Senior Citizens lunch is open to seniors and guests and is served 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Friday. The lunch menu for this week is: today, baked ham; Friday, battered cod; Monday, baked chicken teriyaki; Tuesday, lasagna; Wednesday, curried chicken.

Strong Women classes are 2-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Homer Senior Center. The cost is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers per class.

Zumba Gold classes with Maria are 11 a.m.-noon Tuesdays and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Homer Senior Center. The cost per class is $4 members, $6 nonmembers.

Tai Chi classes are Thursday at 3 p.m. The cost per class is $3 members and $6 nonmembers. Call Daniel at 235-7655.

Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. every other Thursday in the senior center dining room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Mary Jo Gates at 235-7655. 

The AARP Foundation offers free tax assistance and preparation for taxpayers with low to moderate income through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program. Tax assistance is offered 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment only at the Homer Senior Center. For an appointment, call 235-7655. Individuals also can visit www.aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW (1-888-227-7669).

Kachemak Bay Campus

Registration is now going on for these upcoming five-week classes: Biology of Sharks, Fly Fishing, Boating Safety and Navigation, Writing the Outdoors creative writing, and Garden Design with Brenda Adams workshop. Register as soon as possible as space may be limited. Call 235-7743 for more information. 

Registration is now being held for the 2014 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, held June 13-17 at Land’s End Resort, featuring 19 visiting, local and statewide poets and creative literary nonfiction and fiction writers. An early registration fee is available. Registration stipends also are available; for information on how to apply and for general conference information, visit writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.

The Kenai Peninsula College Council meets at 6 p.m. today.

National Endowment for the Arts Big Read visiting writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Alberto Urrea visits April 5-6 for a series of workshops and talks. From 2-5 p.m. April 5-6 he presents “The Theory and Practice of Trust,” a workshop in which students “explore the intuitive techniques of surrendering to story.” The fee is $85. Register by March 30. At 7 p.m. April 5 he does a public lecture, “The Writing Life.” At 6 p.m. April 6, he does a public reading of his work, “Universal Border.”

Pratt Museum

The museum galleries are open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Wednesdays and Thursdays in March, Seldovia Village Tribe sponsors March Winter Wednesdays and Thursdays, complimentary admission days. 

A new special exhibit, “The Living Tertiary,” curated by Homer geophysicist Geoff Coble, compares fossil remains beneath our feet to very similar contemporary plants nearby and around the world. 

Oil spill activist Dr. Riki Ott introduces a James Fox film, “Pretty Slick,” that investigates dispersant use after the 2010 BP Gulf disaster. The film is shown at 6:30 p.m. March 26. A 30-minute discussion with Ott and Cook Inletkeeper’s Bob Shavelson follows the 70-minute film.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill is the subject of the Pratt’s Stewardship exhibit, Darkened Waters, which will be on display during this event and through May 11.

The Pratt seeks summer high school interns. Local youth can earn money while learning interpretive work connected to Kachemak Bay’s natural history and cultural heritage. The internship is June 2-Aug. 1. For more information, call Ryjil Christianson, director of education, 235-8635, or email, education@prattmuseum.org. Apply by 5 p.m. March 28. 

R.E.C. Room

The R.E.C. Room (a Youth Resource and Enrichment Co-Op) offers activities for the school year. Free programs include instruction on software installation and customization, digital music production, fresh and organic cooking, gardening and slam poetry. The R.E.C. Room provides teens ages 12-18 with a safe space to hang out after school and connect with positive resources, activities and programs available in our community. It offers computers and Wi-Fi for homework, guitars, XBox Kinect, games, darts, rave gloves, movies, art supplies and more. A program of Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, the R.E.C. Room is always staffed by a program manager. Hours are 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 3957 Nielsen Circle, off Ben Walters Lane. For more information, call 235-6736, e-mail recroom@kbfpc.org or visit facebook.com/rec.room7 or HomerRECroom.org.

SVT Health & Wellness

SVT Health & Wellness offers a series of classes covering all aspects of wellness every Thursday at 6 p.m. Today’s class is “Listening to Your Soul Voice,” by certified spiritual healer Melody Barrett.

Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act coverage ends March 31. Enroll now to avoid a penalty. For help in applying, make an appointment with a certified application counselor by calling 226-2228.

South Peninsula Hospital

South Peninsula Hospital will offer walk-in services for enrollment in the healthcare insurance marketplace. This will be held at the hospital near the front desk registration offices from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 22 and 29. Appointments are encouraged but not required. To make an appointment, call Ronda at 235-0298 or Claire at 235-0354. If neither are available, please leave a message and someone will return your call to set up an appointment. Applicants will need their Social Security numbers (or document numbers for legal immigrants), estimated income information for 2014 for every member of the household who needs coverage, and an insurance plan number if they are currently insured by their employer. For more information, contact hospital registration at 235-0298 or to enroll over the telephone call Enroll Alaska at toll free 855-385-5550. The last day of open enrollment is March 31. Alaskans have until that date to get enrolled into health insurance to avoid a tax penalty.