Thanks for Summer @HPL support
As families across the Kenai Peninsula are now settling in their fall school routines, the Friends of the Homer Library and the Homer Public Library would like to take a moment to recognize the community for participating in the 2017 Summer@HPL Program. Each year, we create a summer reading and learning program that helps families prevent “summer slide” (learning loss between school years), fosters a love of reading, and provides all families access to high quality media and learning experiences.
Three-hundred and seventy-nine kids, teens and adults collectively logged 359,121 minutes of reading during the 9 week program, and hundreds more participated in 45 events that encouraged informal learning and family engagement.
As part of the Reading Challenge, the Do-It-Yourself Learning Challenges, and the robust schedule of free events, kids, teens, and adults discovered a variety of ways to connect with the library, and each other, making Summer@HPL their own.
This year’s events included STEAM- injected Storytimes (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), Family Fort Night, Pie Making Workshop, Coding Camp, Maker Boot Camp, DIY Virtual Reality Goggles, Gravity Catastrophe Show with Alex Zerbe, the 7th Annual LEGO Contest, among others.
These free programs were made available to all families because of generous support from the Ashley J. Logan Fund and the Willow Fund, as well as donations from small businesses, individuals, and volunteers, many of whom have given their resources and time continually for many years.
Access to high quality information and learning experiences helps “level the playing field” for all kids regardless of their families’ resources. We are proud to be a part of a community that values reading and learning, and are grateful to the Homer Foundation and the many others who support our library.
Mercedes Harness, Coordinator
Friends of the Homer Library
Claudia Haines, Youth Services Librarian
Homer Public Library
Thanks for Homer Foundation support
The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve is offering a big THANK YOU! to The Homer Foundation and donor Martha Briscoe for funding support to build and install library shelves at our new Field Office at 2181 Kachemak Drive.
This research and education library is intended as a resource for the Homer Community and contains numerous field guides, periodicals, and resource materials gathered over the 18 years the Reserve has served the Homer community.
Thanks!
Jessica Shepherd, Manager/Education Coordinator
Kachemak Bay Research Reserve
Alaska Center for Conservation Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage
Supporting the arts
This past August, Homer Council on the Arts and the Pratt Museum collaborated on the Dance &Aerial Festival, bringing 16 performers and teaching artists to share their knowledge and dance forms with the Homer community.
The event had 20 classes over the course of the week, and culminated with an invigorating performance on the Mariner Stage. The wide range of dances gave the audience opportunity to witness performances from professional dancers in multiple genres.
Without the generous support from the Homer Foundation, the Jessica Stevens Memorial Fund, and the Ashley J. Logan Fund, this event would not have been produced.
We sincerely thank them for the generous funding to help support this project.
It is through the arts that we connect with each other, learn to see and appreciate our differences. Thanks to the Homer Foundation, we came together as a community, witnessed cultural and aesthetic differences, and shared in the joy of all that brings!
Peggy Paver, Executive Director
Homer Council on the Arts
Fishermen appreciate Wooden Boat Society support
On Labor Day weekend, Homer locals and visitors alike were able to participate in the events of the 25th Annual Kachemak Bay Wooden Boat Festival. The maritime heritage of our community is celebrated in a fun-loving way each year where we have an opportunity to admire wooden boat craftsmanship and participate in an enjoyable array of events.
From all of us at North Pacific Fisheries Association (NPFA), a huge thank you to the Kachemak Bay Wooden Boat Society for allowing NPFA and local commercial fishermen to join the fun by hosting the Community Fish Fry.
Willy Nye donated his time and expertise in serving more than 200 plates of delicious halibut donated by local commercial fishermen.
We are grateful to all who attended, to NOMAR for use of their event and to Kachemak Bay Seafoods for processing the fish.
None of this could of come together without the effort and organization of Abigail Turner, Hannah Heimbuch and Renee Alward.
Looking forward to next year!!
Malcolm Milne, President
North Pacific Fisheries Association
HCOA scholarship appreciated
I want to thank the Homer Council on the Arts for my scholarship that allowed me to go to the summer intensive.
My experience at the dance intensive this summer was amazing! I learned new arm movements to go with my leg movements.
My teacher, Miss Anne, made it so much fun for us with her different combinations, but she was also intense, which I love. She not only helped us with our dancing, she helped us with our face expression while we were dancing.
She also helped us with our solos that only two of us had been working on.
Miss Anne gave us great tips on how to improve our solos.
Not only was the dancing fun, but dancing with my friends was even more fun.
I can’t wait to dance with my friends in an intensive next year.
I also want to thank Harbor School of Music and Dance for doing the summer ballet intensive and for the wonderful teachers they have there.
Thank you so much.
Hannah Vance
Homer Foundation, Daisy Lee support senior trip
Homer Senior Citizens Inc. would like to tThank Daisy Lee Bitter and the Homer Foundation for granting us a Seward SeaLife Center opportunity.
Because of your generosity, seniors had the opportunity to see an array of sea life, but most importantly the adopted baby walrus the center was nursing to health.
We are thankful for Daisy Lee Bitter and the Homer Foundation for this opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
Keren Kelley, Executive Director
Homer Senior Citizens, Inc.
