The American Legion Post 16 Auxiliary is providing poppies from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Safeway. People are asked to join the Auxiliary in recognizing the sacrifices of our veterans by wearing a red poppy this Memorial Day weekend. Donations are accepted to help support veterans programs. Poppies also are available at local businesses.

Sandhill crane monitoring season has started. Please report nesting sandhill cranes to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org. Include your location, date you think nesting started, and your name and phone number for more information. 

Nominations for Farm Family of the Year are open. The Alaska State Fair established the award in 2000 to honor an Alaska farming family that epitomizes the spirit of the industry and to show appreciation for all the hardworking Alaskans committed to agriculture and aquaculture in the state. Nominations are due on June 17. Nominations should offer details about the family and how the family members fulfill the criteria. The nominations should be mailed to  Jacquelyn Schade,  Farm Family, Alaska Division of Agriculture, 1800 Glenn Highway, Suite 12, Palmer, AK 99645, faxed to 907-745-7242 or emailed to Jacquelyn.Schade@alaska.gov.

The R.E.C. Room holds “Bonfire on the Bay: Shining Light on Stress, Anxiety and Depression” from 5-8 p.m. Sunday at the Pier One Theatre beach. Bonfire by the Bay is an event curated by teens who want to positively impact the way our communities respond to stress, anxiety and depression. These teens have brought together people to give talks and performances that foster learning, inspiration and to provoke conversations that matter. The featured presenter is Earl Polk of Bethel, also known as Kellugguk the Great, a Yupik storyteller who works with teens across the state. Local talent includes Kyra Wagner, Carolyn Norton and Sabina Karwowski, plus many others. After the talks will be food, informal discussion and a final performance around a bonfire near the Pier One Theatre starting around 7 p.m. The event is free to those under age 18 and pay as you can for 18 and older. All proceeds go to healthy activities for teens. For more information, contact Anna Meredith at 235-6736, recroom@kbfpc.org, or Tara Schmidt at 235-7712,  ext. 227, vista@havenhousealaska.org.

Kachemak Bay Birders final meeting of the year is 4:30 p.m. May 29 at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center in the Seminar Room. Following the meeting there will be a potluck meal and slide show by members. Bring a dish to share. Everyone is welcome and there is no charge. For more information contact Lani Raymond 399-9477 or Lori Paulsrud 299-3724. Cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre will be visiting Homer on Thursday, May 29, with KPB human resources director Stormy Brown.  Mayor Navarre will be available for informal discussions with community members from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Homer Annex, 206 E. Pioneer Avenue, #1. Mayor Navarre welcomes input on local issues, and looks forward to hearing ideas and solutions. Please call Michele Aranguiz at 907-714-2150 to reserve a time slot to talk with Mayor Navarre or Stormy Brown.

Kachemak Bay Equestrian Association sponsors its annual grand opening of Cottonwood Horse Park on Scenic View Drive with a ribbon cutting ceremony starting at noon and running until 5 p.m. Monday, Memorial Day. The event celebrates the association finally paying off its mortgage. Activities include riding demonstrations in English and Western, pony rides, face painting, food and lots of other fun activities for the whole family. 

Best Beginnings Homer Playspaces Work Group is holding a Clean Up Party from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. May 31 at Bayview Park. Bring shovels, wheel barrows, buckets, rakes for weeding and cleaning up the sand box. Come and learn about the Stage 1 improvement plan starting this summer: improving the ADA parking space and also building an ADA trail inside the fence and leading over to the playground equipment. Bring a picnic and the kids; no pets please. Some snacks will be provided. This event is sponsored by Best Beginnings Homer, the Homer Public Works Department and many volunteers. For more information, call 435-7101.

The South Peninsula Haven House board of directors holds its annual meeting at 5:15 p.m. June 12 at 3939 Lake Street, Suite 1. The purpose of the meeting is to elect new officers. The meeting is open to the public.

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, roast pork and mashed potatoes; Friday, blackened catfish; Monday, closed for Memorial Day; Tuesday, pork chops; Wednesday, beef tacos.

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 Weisser at 235-7655.

Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday in the senior center dining room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Daniel Weisser at 235-7655. 

Kachemak Bay Campus

Registration is now being held for the 2014 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, June 13-17, featuring 19 visiting, local and statewide poets and creative literary nonfiction and fiction writers. See writersconference.homer.alaska.edu for more information.

The Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference annual Festival of Readings with readings by 15 poets, novelists and essayists is June 14-16. Keynote speaker Alice Sebold reads at 8 p.m. June 14 at the Mariner Theatre. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Homer Elks Lodge are readings by Debby Dahl Edwardson, Erin Coughlin Hollowell, Holly Hughes, Tom Kizzia, Lee Martin, Benjamin Percy, Marjorie Sandor and Sherry Simpson. At 7:30 p.m. June 16 at Land’s End Resort are readings by Richard Chiappone, Tracy Daugherty, Kwame Dawes, Nancy Lord, Scott Russell Sanders, Eva Saulitis and Peggy Shumaker.

The annual watercolor painting workshop with Jan Peyton will be May 31, June 2, June 5 and June 7. The deadline to register is Friday.

KBC fall semester registration is open. Sign-up now, pay later. Call 235-7743 for an advising appointment. For class schedules, visit www.kpc.alaska.edu/KBC/searchable_schedule.

Pratt Museum

The museum galleries are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

“Putting By: Food Identity on the Kenai,” focuses on foods collected and preserved to last the winter and is on exhibit through June 22. In conjunction with this exhibit, the Pratt holds a canned food drive and raffle through June 6.
During the exhibit, the Pratt will accept donations of canned and preserved foods for the Homer Community Food Pantry. For each donation made before June 6, donors receive a raffle ticket, eligible to win an array of canning jars and supplies, courtesy of Ulmer’s Drug & Hardware. The drawing will take place June 6 at the “Putting Food By” potluck reception. The limit is one entry per person per day; need not be present to win.

At 6 p.m. May 29, Kenai Peninsula Collage anthropologist and Dena’ina historian Alan Boraas presents “Indigenous Salmon People,” a discussion of the important role that salmon fisheries play in Dena’ina life, currently and historically.
This talk is presented jointly with two current special exhibits “Dena’inaq’ Huch’ulyeshi: The Dena’ina Way of Living” and “Putting By: Food and Identity on the Kenai.”

Historic Harbor Tours start June 6 and are held at 3 p.m. every Friday and Saturday through Aug. 23. Meet at the wheelhouse in front of the Salty Dawg on the Homer Spit.
Walk along the historic Homer harbor docks and learn about the boats, fishing and some of the characters that shaped Homer’s vibrant maritime history. The fee is $10 per person.

South Peninsula Hospital

South Peninsula Hospital will offer a safe sitter class 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. today and Friday with a break for lunch. Students should bring their own lunch. The class is designed for 11- to 13-year-old children to teach basic child care, infant and child CPR, first aid, safety for the sitter, behavior management and business etiquette. The cost is $75 per person. Call the hospital’s education department at 235-0285 for more information and to register.

In recognition of National Osteoporosis Education and Awareness Month, South Peninsula Hospital offers a $100 discount on bone density scans during May. This 30-minute test identifies people who have or are at the risk for developing osteoporosis and is recommended for women over 50 and individuals with a family history of osteoporosis. Ten-million Americans are estimated to have osteoporosis, and 30 million more have low bone mass. Approximately one in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. For more information or to set an appointment, contact the hospital’s Imaging Department at 235-0362.

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 “Medicare Information Session”
with Judith Bendersky of the Medicare Information Office. The classes are open to the public. For more information, call 226-2228 ext. 660.