The Ninilchik Tribal Council Mobile Community Clinic offers a free testing and vaccine event from 11 a.m. to 6 pm. Friday, Aug. 27, at 33935 Sterling Highway next to the Cheeky Moose Laundromat. Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines will be offered.
The Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center has temporarily closed indoor services out of concerns for the health of visitors, employees and volunteers as COVID-19 cases continue to rise on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. Staff will continue to share information and greet visitors daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at an outdoor station located near the center’s front doors. Outdoor activities and ranger-led programs will also continue. The refuge will continue to monitor local conditions and evaluate how best to safely increase public access to the visitor center if the number of cases declines.
Attention preschoolers and parents! Don’t miss this month’s session of Pre-K Puffins Early Learning Program at the Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center! We are so excited to be hosting this month’s sessions in person, on Thursday, Aug. 26!
Pre-K Puffins will now be hosted completely outside, in two separate sessions: 10- 1 a.m. and noon-1 p.m. These sessions are identical programs designed for children ages 2-5 and focus on the marine sciences. They include story time, craft, and early learning centered activities. To join, meet us outside the visitor center on and learn all about this month’s theme: Colors of the Ocean!
Jim Littrell is hosting a horsemanship clinic from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 27-29 at the Cottonwood Horse Park. The clinic will work with up to six horses each day and classes are still open for reservation. The clinic costs $125 per person with a horse and auditing will cost $25. Call Tom at 907-299-0931 to sign up or for more information.
Are you a photographer or videographer who enjoys capturing Homer’s beautiful landscape and people? Be sure to enter your best photo/video in the Homer Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center Photo Contest by Sept. 10 for the chance to win a $100 prize. Visit www.homeralaskaphotocontest.com for more information.
Our online auction to support the Loved & Lost memorial bench for Duffy and all those missing is now open, and runs through Aug. 29. Forty items/packages include goodies for a variety of ages, interests, and budgets, were all donated by individuals, organizations and businesses within and outside of Alaska. Bid, buy and donate money at 32auctions.com/lovedandlostmemorial. Surprise gifts are available for the first few BUY NOW purchasers. Funds are managed by the Homer United Methodist Church. For their generous donations to this auction fundraiser, we would like to thank our numerous donors!
Work continues on the Loved & Lost memorial bench for Duffy and all those missing. Drop your dollars and change in donation jars around town and help bring this beautiful and important bench to life. Jar locations include: Chevron, CoffeeSmith, Coles Market, KBBI, Fritz Creek General Store, Homer Theatre, KBBI, SBS, Safeway, Sunny’s Service, Ulmers, and Wild Honey Bistro, and in Kenai at Kamakani Kitchen. Want a jar at your business? Call Christina, 907-435-7969. Donations can also be made through the Go Fund Me gofundme.com/f/lovedandlostmemorial, and through the Homer United Methodist Church by credit card at https://www.homerumcalaska.org/Donate.html or by check payable and mailed to the HUMC, 770 East End Rd. Want to see the work in progress bench? View photos and videos on the Bring Duffy Home Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/918428765210019.
Anchor Point Group of Alcoholics Anonymous continues to meet in person at the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce at 34175 Sterling Highway (north of Chapman School) on Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. These are open meetings, and alcoholics and non-alcoholics are all welcome. For more information, call 907-223-9814. The group has a mitigation plan in place to ensure proper distancing between participants.
Step into Freedom is a narcotics anonymous group that will be held at 7 p.m. every Thursday at the Glacierview Baptist Church “Big House” next to the main church. This group is for both women and men, and is open to non-addicts who would like to sit in on the meetings. For questions, call Jaclyn at 907-756-3530.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Solid Waste facilities are now open on Sundays. For more information, contact the KPB Solid Waste Department at 907-262-9667 or check their webpage at https://www.kpb.us/swd-waste/about-solidwaste.
We need your participation during Kachemak Crane Watch’s annual Count Days: Aug. 28 and Sept. 4 from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Citizen Scientists needed for special Sandhill Crane population survey in the Homer area (Anchor Point South). Kachemak Crane Watch would like to know of specific crane sightings on each of these Saturdays. Please report the number of adults, colts, or banded cranes seen by location, time, and day, and your name and contact information for each of the count days to reports@cranewatch.org or by calling 907-235-6262. For a special experience, join us at Beluga Slough at the end of the gravel trail for the evening crane fly-in from 6 p.m. to sundown on each count day. Please wear a mask and maintain a 6-foot physical distance from others. For more information, contact Nina Faust at 235-6262.
Kenai Local Food Connection is accepting vendor applications for the Harvest Moon Local Food Festival, to be held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna. It’s the Kenai Peninsula’s biggest local food celebration of the year with live music, free kids’ activities, food demonstrations, pie baking contest and the popular Fermentation Station. The festival is open to vendors of food (grown, harvested or made in Alaska); medicinal/wellness/personal care products made from locally grown or wild-harvested ingredients; food trucks featuring local ingredients; and educational booths relevant to the purpose of the festival. The rate is $30 per 10’ x 10’ tent space. Apply by Sept. 1 at www.kenailocalfood.org/2021-vendor-info. For more information, email kenailocalfood@gmail.com.
Anchor Point Senior Citizens
The Anchor Point Senior Center on Milo Fritz Avenue serves take-out meals on Thursday evenings with pickup from 5-6 p.m. Helping Hands Thrift Store is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. and donations can be dropped off any time. The office staff are at work and available by phone for addressing needs. For information, call 235-7786.
Homer Senior Citizens
Homer Senior Citizens, Inc. has reopened to the public. We are being very COVID-conscious due to the vulnerability of the people we serve. Please follow the signage on entrance doors, which follow mitigation efforts based upon the community levels of positive cases.
Friendship Center Adult Day Services is now open six days per week. Call 235-4556 for more information.
The Homer Senior Citizen’s congregate dining has a new menu. Reservations to dine in the Silver Lining Café can be made by calling 235-7655.
This week’s menu includes turkey with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and peas on Thursday; scallops with butternut pumpkin, broccoli, quinoa or rice on Friday; corned beef and cabbage with mashed potatoes and carrots on Monday; skirt steak with potato salad, charred greens and roasted red peppers on Tuesday; and chicken, broccoli and gnocchi pesto on Wednesday.
The Homer Area Caregiver Support Group has resumed its monthly meetings on the second and fourth Thursdays in the Senior Center Multi-purpose room. Enter through the main entrance on Svedlund Street. This group provides support, information, referrals and friendship with other caregivers. Speakers on related topics are scheduled. For more information, call Pam Hooker at 907-299-7198 or Janet Higley at 907-235-4291. Newcomers are always welcome!
Coming soon Parkinson’s Support Group – stay tuned. Strong Women and Zumba will resume once the virus case counts lower in our community.
Hospice of Homer
The Bereaved Parents Support Group is a support group and mutual assistance self-help group offering friendship, understanding, hope, encouragement and healing to all bereaved parents. Our purpose is to provide support, share and emotionally assist parents through their grief. The group is intended to serve both newly bereaved parents and those who are continuing on their grief journey. Anyone that has lost a child knows, you don’t just stop grieving. A parent’s grief is as timeless as their love. For more information, please email thomasklingensmith@yahoo.com or call 303-949-8969.
Widows Group: Losing a partner is one of the most devastating things a person can experience. Hospice of Homer has resumed its monthly Widows Support Group. This group is a place for those who have lost their partner to share and heal. It is a safe place for coming to terms with the powerful feelings and experiences only those who are walking the same path can truly understand. Participants will be following all COVID-19 protocols. RSVP is required if you plan to attend so organizers may plan accordingly for social distancing and group size limitations. Call 907-235-6899 to respond.
Homer Council on the Arts
We are always accepting proposals from artists wishing to share their skills by teaching workshops. Open to opportunities for any age group in both single-session and ongoing-series formats. Connect with us at homerart.org/education.
HCOA Members are invited to create artwork for this year’s Member Showcase, its September gallery exhibit. We look forward to highlighting local talent during the Alaska World Arts Festival. Artwork submissions are due to HCOA by 5 p.m. Aug. 30. Visit homerart.org/calendar/member-show for more information.
Calling all performing artists! We are accepting submissions for a new Second Friday Performance Series, showcasing emerging or developing local work or artists in any performance genre: music, dance, drama, standup, and more. Visit www.homerart.org/2nd-friday
Kachemak Bay Campus
Ed Berg is offering Global Climate Change on Monday evenings from Sept. 27 through Nov. 1. Learn how the earth is changing and how it is predicted to change in coming decades, especially in Alaska. Field trip included. Call 907-435-7743 to register.
Pratt Museum & Park
The Pratt Museum & Park is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
The latest Pratt Museum & Park exhibit is “Microbial Worlds,” a close-up look at the hidden world of microscopic organisms through the lens of art. The exhibit is on display through Sept. 25. A Collaborative Arts-Humanities-Science exhibit, 14 artists and writers magnify the microbiome in this collaborative exhibit sponsored by the Fairbanks-based arts-humanities-science consortium, In a Time of Change. The exhibit includes original art works and writings by Alaska artists Susan Campbell, Annie Duffy, Nancy Hausle- Johnson, Jessie Hedden, Eric Henderson, Mariah Henderson, Margo Klass, Debbie Clarke Moderow, Jennifer Moss, Ree Nancarrow, Gail Priday, and Sara Tabbert, as well as San Diego artist Charlotte Bird and Brooklyn artist Stephanie Rae Dixon. Mary Beth Leigh, a professor of microbiology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, directed the project.
Alaska Positive is displayed in the People and Place Gallery. Now in its 49th year, Alaska Positive is a statewide juried photographic exhibition organized and toured by the Alaska State Museum. Its purpose is to encourage the practice of photography as an art form in Alaska.
South Peninsula Hospital
South Peninsula Hospital offers free testing and vaccinations for COVID-19. Free testing is offered daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the test site on Bartlett Street. No appointment is necessary. Vaccines are offered walk-in or by appointment as supplies permit from Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments can only be made online at www.sphosp.org. Vaccinations are open to anyone 12 years and older for Pfizer, and 18 years and older for all other brands. Call the COVID nurse at 235-0235 to discuss symptoms, or the COVID vaccine info line at 435-3188 for recorded updates. Free testing is now offered for anyone who recently attended a social gathering or who was in a crowded indoor space and close to others. Details are in the weekly newspaper ad, at www.sphosp.org or at 907-435-3188.
Vaccination supports a fast and safe return of our economy by protecting the health of employees and eliminating the need to quarantine for two weeks after coming in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. That matters because two weeks is a large part of our short summer season. Vaccines are the best assurance that the short summer season will not be impacted.
Kenai Peninsula Votes Tidbit
In last week’s tidbit we talked about absentee voting. This week, we will cover the other ways you can cast your vote in the Oct. 5 election.
For many voters, going to the polls on election day is tradition. You may remember the first time you voted, or when your parents took you to watch them vote. Voting in person is what most people do. You will need to bring some form of identification. This can range from a voter registration card to a utility bill. You can refer to the websites of the Alaska Division of Elections, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Elections or your local city elections to get further information.
But there are other ways to vote than just going to the polls on election day.
In-person absentee voting is when you are voting early, but you are using an absentee ballot to vote with. There are a limited number of early voting sites, so make sure that you know what is available in your area. This begins 15 days prior to the election. This year, you can cast your ballot if you live in one of the areas that has early voting on Sept. 21.
Voting by electronic transmission is a good method for those who aren’t sure where they will be for the election. You will need to register 15 days before the election for this way of voting. Internet connection and the correct equipment will be needed for this.
You can use special needs balloting if you are unable to vote because of age, serious illness or disability. When using this method, a personal representative will pick up a ballot for you. Again, questions should be directed to election websites if you haven’t used this method of voting before.
And finally, if you go to the polling station, they might have a problem identifying you on the precinct register. It could be a name change, an address change or some other reason. They will give you a question ballot and once it is reviewed, it will be either be accepted and counted, or you will be notified about why it wasn’t counted.
So, as you can see, there is more than one way to vote and having options and choices that can best serve you makes sense.
Remember, every vote counts and every voice matters!
