The Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council’s (CIRCAC) Prevention, Response, Operations and Safety Committee meeting will be held via teleconference on Friday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. Due to COVID-19, the meeting will be virtual only. For questions or a meeting agenda please email candiceelias@circac.org. For information about CIRCAC please visit www.circac.org

The Halibut Cove Lagoon Ramp is scheduled to be raised on Oct. 15. The dock will be available for use over the winter and a dinghy will be needed to get to shore.

Join the Friends of the Homer Public Library for a virtual camp-out with Nadia Salomon as she reads her debut book, “Goodnight Ganesha!” at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14. Inspired by the author’s own family bedtime traditions, “Goodnight Ganesha!” is a beautiful story that celebrates the nightly rituals of two children visiting their grandparents’ home in India, and the memory-making moments they share together before drifting off to sleep. Curl up with a cozy blanket or sleeping bag and a warm cup of chai as this bedtime story begins. For more information and the Zoom link registration, go to https://www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/…/author-talk-nadia-salomon.

The South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board will hold its regular monthly meeting via Zoom at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14. The Committee of the Whole will meet at 5:30 p.m. before the regular meeting. The South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board is an elected board that oversees local tax dollars for a healthier community. Learn about the workings of your hospital and your service area board.

All are welcome to attend either or both meetings. The Zoom link is available on the Kenai Peninsula Borough calendar found at https://www.kpb.us/service-areas/south-kenai-peninsula-hospital-service-area and by emailing Devony at dlehnerediting@gmail.com.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District requests input from staff, parents and community members at the districtwide KPBSD budget development meetings scheduled at the following times:

Homer Community – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19 at Homer High Library

Seward Community – 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Seward Library

Additional information and the number to call in with questions will be posted on the Finance Page of the KPBSD website. As new budget information becomes available, it will also be posted on the Finance page. If you have questions, please call Natalie Bates at 907-714-8888.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities holds a virtual open house on Homer Airport improvements from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21. For information on connecting to the meeting, email homerairport@hdlalaska.com or visit dot.alaska.gov/creg/homerairport. The improvements will rehabilitate and improve the airport and facilities, improve safety and improve the perimeter access. Following a presentation from the project team there will be a question-and-answer session featuring questions submitted in advance. To submit questions, email homerairport@hdlalaska.com or to the project manager, Matthew Hansen, at matthew.hansen@alaska.gov. For more information, email Hansen or call him at 907-269-0602.

The Loved & Lost Memorial Bench is being created to honor all those missing around Alaska, the nation, and the world. Three artists, 250 pounds of clay and more than five months in the making, work continues on the bench with a goal of placing it in its permanent spot outside the Homer Public Library in late October or early November. A memorial for Duffy and bench dedication event will be open to the public via Zoom, with details to be announced soon.

If you have a missing loved one and would like their photo included on the bench during the dedication event, please email a photo along with their name and date/location they went missing to Christina at lovedandlostmemorial@gmail.com. Fundraising efforts are ongoing with $10,000 still to be raised. Donations can be made online at gofundme.com/f/lovedandlostmemoria AND homerumcalaska.org/donate, and by check payable to HUMC, mailed to HUMC, 770 East End Rd, Homer, AK 99603 with memorial bench in the subject line.

You can also continue to drop dollars and change in donation jars around town – Chevron, CoffeeSmith, Coles Market, Gear Shed, SBS, Ulmers and Wild Honey Bistro. If you’d like to support the bench as a major donor and receive name/logo recognition in a variety of ways, please contact Christina for more details and the donor form – lovedandlostmemorial@gmail.com, 907-435-7969.

Duffy’s family would like to share the modeling clay that has been used to create the 12 sculptures that will be depicted on the bench. If you are a local or statewide artist, school or arts organization interested in re-using some of the 200 pounds of clay, please contact Christina, 907-435-7969.

Oct. 17 marks the 2-year anniversary of Duffy’s disappearance. Community members are invited to join Duffy’s family in a silent walk beginning at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 17, retracing Duffy’s route from Main Street Apartments to SVT Health Clinic and back, with parking available at NOMAR.

Anchor Point Group of Alcoholics Anonymous continues to meet in person at the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce at 34175 Sterling Hwy (north of Chapman School) on Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. These are open meetings, and alcoholics and non-alcoholics are all welcome. For more information, call 907-223-9814.

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 is closed on Sundays for the winter through April 24, 2022. 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.

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. to 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 is closed to the public due to the HIGH spread of the virus in our community. We are being very COVID-conscious due to the vulnerability of the people we serve. Please follow the signage on the entrance doors, which follow our mitigation efforts based upon the community levels of spread.

You May Order a TAKE-OUT MEAL from the Silver Lining Café or you may receive a meal at your home (if you do not have transportation at this time). Just call 235-7655 and reserve your meal. This week’s menu includes pulled pork sandwiches with black beans, corn and coleslaw on Thursday; hot turkey sandwiches with shredded carrot salad and mashed potatoes on Friday; turkey with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and green bean salad on Monday; pork shoulder with roasted potatoes, broccoli and baby carrots on Tuesday; and beef brisket with potato salad, coleslaw, asparagus and three bean salad on Wednesday.

Family members may visit their loved ones at the Terrace Assisted Living. Face masks and screening is required to enter our facility. Visitation is allowed in the resident’s apartment. If you are a friend and would like to schedule an indoor visit in our Visitation Room, please call Tanner at 235-7655 to schedule your visit.

Friendship Center Adult Day Services will reopen to the public once our community level of spread is back to Intermediate.

Please join us in our concentrated efforts to reduce the spread of this virus wear a mask and avoid indoor gatherings. Choosing to get vaccinated is the single most important action you can take to protect yourself and our community. We care about our community and want to rejoin it safely.

Hospice of Homer

Hospice of Homer seeks to start a general Bereavement Support Group. This will be a facilitated group that will meet in person and be subject to our current COVID guidelines. Hospice has specific groups for those who’ve lost a life partner or child, but this group would welcome anyone dealing with loss. If you’re interested in joining, please contact the office at 235-6899 to be added to the list. Day/time information will be sent to you directly once we have an understanding of group size.

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

Kenai Peninsula residents of all ages are invited to enter the 24th Kenai Peninsula Writers’ Contest. Categories include poetry, fiction and nonfiction. For contest rules and to enter, visit homerart.org/writers-contest. The deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 10.

Registration is open for a variety of youth and adult workshops, including Encaustics, Candle-Making, and Ancestor Altar Boxes, with more to be added soon. Learn more and register at homerart.org/calendar.

Local artists may submit up to three pieces to our upcoming “Fun with 5×7” show. Submission form and details can be found at homerart.org/gallery. The deadline to participate is 5 p.m. Nov 1.

Kachemak Bay Campus

The Kenai Peninsula Learning Center is offering FREE classes for GED, ESL, citizenship, life skills and computer basics at Kenai River Campus and Kachemak Bay Campus. Serving adults across the Kenai Peninsula. For more information, please contact your nearest campus: Soldotna: 907-262-0327 / krc.learningcenter@alaska.edu; Homer: 907-235-1602 / kbcadulted@alaska.edu.

A Writing Workshop with Rich Chiappone and Justin Herrmann: This hands-on writing workshop explores the fastest growing sub-genres in creative writing today. Write your own life, or make one up and see how much of it you can cram into exercises from 1,500-word short stories down to six-word memoirs. Classes will be held Oct. 16, 23 and 30 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The class fee is $75. Call (907) 235-1674 or visit https://kbcnoncredit.asapconnected.com/ to register.

Rockhounding with Taz Tally: Take a journey back through time with “The Rock Doc” as he leads you down Diamond Creek Trail and along the shoreline, revealing the forces of nature that have shaped Kachemak Bay and created one of the great rockhounding beaches. The class will be held Oct. 16 from 2-6 p.m. and will cost $59. Call (907) 235-1674 or visit https://kbcnoncredit.asapconnected.com/ to register.

Master 100 Ton/OUPV – This USCG-approved course is for those with enough sea time to get a 100 ton USCG license or an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel license. The exam will be administered upon completion of the course. Full attendance is mandatory. Upon passing, the exam a certificate will be issued, which the USCG will accept in lieu of taking their exam. You may have more qualifying sea time than you think. The class will be held Nov. 5 – 28, Fridays from 5-9 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Class fee: $700. Call (907) 235-1674 or visit https://kbcnoncredit.asapconnected.com/ to register.

The Pratt Museum & Park

The Pratt Museum & Park is open for its fall hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and will be closed Monday through Wednesday.

Finding Home in Homer is a new project hosted by the Pratt Museum for young people (ages 14-24) who have lived experience with homelessness, housing insecurity/at risk, couchsurfing, unstable home environments or car camping, or teens seeking emancipation due to parent relations. The goal of this project is to connect young people in the community with local artist mentors, workshops, and a group of peers to create art, music and writing in response to the question “what is home?” The hope is the project provides a platform for young people in the community to share stories, make connections and call Homer to action to work to end youth homelessness. Concluding this year’s program, youth participating have the option of submitting their artwork for the Finding Home in Homer exhibit. Come see what they have created.

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.

FDA has approved by Emergency Use Authorization the Pfizer COVID-19 booster for specific groups. South Peninsula Hospital is currently offering COVID-19 booster shots of Pfizer brand to individuals who were fully vaccinated with Pfizer at least six months earlier and fall into one of the following categories: People 65 years or older, residents in long term care settings, people 50-64 years of age with underlying medical conditions. Additional groups may receive the booster based on individual benefits and risks. Check www.sphosp.org for complete details, call your healthcare provider or call 235-0235. A mass Pfizer booster vaccine event will take place on Friday, Oct. 15 at Homer High School. Flu shots will be offered at time of visit. Appointments are encouraged, go to www.sphosp.org.

SPH will offer free flu shots at a community flu shot event on Friday, Oct. 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. No appointment needed.

The 38th annual Rotary Health Fair is offering greatly discounted blood draws, including the comprehensive blood analysis for only $55, a sizeable discount from the average cost of a comparable test. In addition to the basic panel, additional tests are available for purchase at special health fair rates, including a wellness panel, prostate, thyroid, vitamin D, hemoglobin a1c and cardiac CRP, thyroid free T4, testosterone and hepatitis C. Appointments are offered from Oct. 11 to Nov. 5 at a designated location on the hospital campus used exclusively for Rotary Health Fair blood draws. Appointments are required, and payment must be made online at time of booking. Free flu shots will be offered in conjunction with the visit. Masks and COVID-19 screenings are required the day of the appointment. Appointments can be made at www.rotaryhealthfair.org or by calling the health fair hotline at 399-3158. Book early as appointments fill up.

Kenai Peninsula Votes Tidbit

Oct. 5 has come and gone and another election is in the books. Life goes on and the people who have been elected will do their very best to fulfill their new positions.

The election coverage in the Homer News has been excellent, as well as KBBI and the Peninsula Clarion. The Anchor Point and Homer Chambers of Commerce have given all the candidates a voice. Finding information about the candidates was not that hard if you wanted to do your homework.

For many people on the Peninsula, Oct. 5 is just another day, and voting is still not a top priority. Many voters procrastinate, as that seems to be part of the human condition. And trying to explain how these candidates can impact your lives is a continuing challenge.

The work that needs to take place to educate voters and the civics involved in this doesn’t end on election day. The effort continues and is part of our journey to make elections and voting more of a common denominator in all of our lives.

Remember, all votes count and all voices matter.