Letters to the editor

Man proposes, God disposes

Every person believes himself to be unique and infinitely valuable — as indeed he is — and therefore fully justified in pursuing his own interests and lifestyle. At the collective level, however, self-promoting individual egos are loose threads in the tapestry of human life; many are cultural and biological dead-ends, not to mention personal disasters.

Nurturing human life is a subtle, but ultimately very conservative process. It requires providing individuals with proper guidance drawn from the collective wisdom of mankind. And the primary tool selected by humans for accomplishing that task is the application, at the local level of family and community, of the spirit and precepts of organized religion. By adhering to such precepts the individual then embellishes and promotes the evolving pattern of human life instead of retarding it with demonstrations of individual hubris. Therefore the natural and proper venue for experiments in social engineering is the impersonal large cities, not the small community of Homer.

Of candidates for city council I think Sarah Vance has the best grip on this philosophy. Rachel Lord seems imbued with a natural sense for local community-building and would probably resist ideological distractions.

Larry Slone

Lord has balanced background, vision

Last week at the forum for candidates for City Council, I heard Rachel Lord elegantly state that whenever she might think an issue is black or white, or yes, or no, she has a conversation in her mind: Nothing is ever one way or the other. What is the other side? Where is the gray?

Clearly stated, Rachel, and clearly you are well versed in diverse issues that affect our community, with your balanced experiential background and vision. You will represent the City of Homer and its community in a way that serves for the better of all of us, a voice for the present and the future. You have my vote of confidence and my vote at the polls.

Susan Phillips Cushing

Women worthy of our votes

As an Alaska resident for 40 years, a Kenai Peninsula resident for 25 years, on Oct. 3 it is my pleasure to be voting in Homer for the first time. What makes it so great is that it is an honor to be able to cast my vote for two so very worthy City Council candidates: Rachel Lord and Caroline Venuti.

Both of them are active community people who have competently held professional positions requiring responsibility, accountability, teamwork and creative approaches to problem solving. Caroline Venuti is in the field of education as a teacher, principal and the current coordinator of KPC’s Learning Resource Center. She has served on the Homer Library Advisor Board and the City Transportation Committee. Rachel runs her own small business and has worked with the International Pacific Halibut Commission, Cook Inletkeeper, and is executive secretary for the Alaska Association of Harbormasters. Rachel is also a member of the Homer Economic Development Advisory Commission.

Both Caroline and Rachel will bring valuable experience and demonstrated community commitment to the City Council, and they both have a focus on Homer being economically stable/sustainable all year ‘round, and healthy place for families of all ages to learn, contribute, grow and thrive.

Please vote with me for Caroline Venuti and Rachel Lord on Oct. 3 (or earlier, as early voting is open now).

Kate Finn

Thanks to all for plastic foam cleanup

In mid-August, Inletkeeper received numerous reports to its pollution hotline from local property owners regarding a large number of unsecured Styrofoam rafts breaking into tiny beads in Kachemak Bay. These toxic polystyrene beads are a big problem in the marine environment, because they find their way into our fish and shellfish – and eventually, us. Despite calls to state and federal agencies, none could respond. As a result, Inletkeeper spearheaded a rapid response clean-up effort that removed the vast majority of the unsecured Styrofoam from Kachemak Bay. This was an all-hands-on-deck effort, and it wouldn’t have been possible without incredible help from (in no particular order): Lauri Pepi, Leeanne Crafton, Laura Pillifant, Whitney Blonnt, Melina Reynolds, Mamie Walker, Ionlia Jilly, Greg Tressler, Mike Flora, Louie Flora, Jonathon Flora, and Nancy Kleine. And special thanks to Zach Porter, Kevin Wyatt and the LC X-tratuff, Greg Tressler and the LC Hesketh Island, and Bryan Hawkins and the Homer Port &Harbor. Due to limited resources, Inletkeeper typically shies away from marine debris issues. However, because so many docks around Kachemak Bay contain Styrofoam, we see an important opportunity to work with local businesses and property owners to protect the marine resources that support our local economy. So, if you have old Styrofoam docks, and would like help disposing of them properly, please get in touch with us at 235-4068 ext. 22 or keeper@inletkeeper.org.

Bob Shavelson, Inletkeeper

Time to Share the Spirit

Dear Editor and Neighbor in Need;

We hope you have been successful this spring and summer and that you have been able put aside a bit of money to take care of your household’s needs for the holiday season. If that has not yet been possible, please plan now to save a bit or budget to keep a bit of your PFD in reserves for the holidays.

For all the members of the community that have supported this program over the years:

We send this letter out as a reminder that the PFD is days away from flooding into our pockets, and even though it may be smaller this year than we would like, we are still here to ask that you plan to put a bit aside to donate to the Holiday program, providing Christmas Baskets for needy members of our community. As in the past monetary donations may be dropped off at Wells Fargo Bank or mailed to P.O. Box 3218, Homer AK 99603.

There will be many ways for all members of the community to be involved in this area wide project and in the coming issues of this paper, we hope to detail these options for you.

One immediate need is an organizer for the Spaghetti Feed our Annual fund raising event. If any group, family of individual is willing to take on this project, we would be appreciative. All interested partied are asked to call Share the Spirit at 235-7466.

In a perfect world no one will be in need. Share the Spirit wishes you all the best, we will reach out to the community again in the days to come, until then …

Remember to Share the Spirit.

Kelly Glidden and Shari Daugherty, Co-chairs, Basket Progam; Jayne Locklar, President; Jonathan Adams, Vice-president, Share the Spirit

Thanks for school supplies help

Thank you to all the folks who helped 73 children, clients of the Homer Community Food Pantry, start their school year on a positive note. These students on the Southern Kenai Peninsula began school with new backpacks filled with supplies. Thank you for helping to level the playing field for these students in need.

This is the eleventh year of the Omicron Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma’s “Back to School Supplies Project.” The success of this project happens because of the community support and collaborative efforts with local service groups and churches. We wish to thank all of those folks who repeatedly filled the donation container at Ulmer’s Drug and Hardware. Special kudos to the local services groups who continue with their support: Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club for their mini-grant for startup costs, the Homer Emblem Club, Kachemak Bay Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Homer Downtown, along with Homer Brewing Company, Bev Wisdom, Debbie Smith, Rita Pfenninger, John and Ruhiyyik Baker and the anonymous donors for their financial contributions. Thank you to the caring members of the Faith Lutheran, Christian Community, Homer United Methodist and Glacierview Baptist churches who continue to stuff the collection boxes to the brim with backpacks and supplies. Save-U-More’s and Homer Art and Frame Shop’s assistance with the purchasing of school supplies was greatly appreciated.

Ulmer’s housing of the donation receptacle was instrumental in giving the community a place to participate in DKG’s “Back to School Supplies Project.” A special shout out goes to the members of the Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club, who joined our members in assembling the backpacks, Linda Munns for her social media efforts, West Homer Elementary for use of the space for packing the packs and Barb Veeck for the use of her van to transport the packs. Thank you to East End Mini Storage for continued storage space. Their assistance helps this project be successful on a year round basis.

Thank you for making a difference in a child’s education. Your generosity demonstrates a commitment to helping children succeed in school.

With gratitude,

Karen Murdock

Omicron Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma

Thanks for HCOA scholarship

I would first like to apologize for not writing in so long, but in the beginning of the spring, I was awarded a Homer Council on the Arts scholarship for a summer camp by the name of Sitka Fine Arts Camp. This was my second year going, and I was taking new classes. I was taking mask theater, a writing block called fairy tale and legend, an electronic music class, a stage combat class, and Shakespeare. When I was there, we ate in a massive cafeteria and slept in very nice dorms. My classes were fun and I met a lot of new people and saw a lot of old friends. To show my experience, I made a video on a few of the things that I did there. It would be my pleasure to share it with you and I give you permission to share it with others. This program is so great, it offers chances to people that might not have been able to have them otherwise. Thank you so much for giving me this chance, and many more to come. I will always give credit to this program.

Thanks once again.

Liam James

Animal Shelter appreciates help

We at the Homer Animal Shelter wish to send out a heartfelt thank you to all the citizens of Homer for your support over the past nine months. The level of compassion and assistance that we have received is truly impressive. The generosity and kindness that Homer has for the animals is so very much appreciated that it is hard to put it into words.

We have received food, volunteer time and financial donations that have helped us keep things running here at the shelter. Our freezers are packed with frozen food donations and we have a steady flow of supplies donated to the shelter. That is all thanks to YOU! Even the local businesses get “two paws up” for supporting our spring adoption initiative, helping advertise adoptable animals and collecting donations.

Thank you again Homer, for caring and watching out for our shelter and four-legged friends. They need a voice and you have made our community that much more aware. The residents of this city not only help us support the animals within the shelter, but also help us to protect the animals that have homes. We get calls daily from concerned citizens about animals in our city, whether it be about a dog on the lose or someone concerned about a cats’ well-being. Please don’t hesitate to call us if you think an animal may be in need, or if you have any questions about animal welfare. We do our best to help, and if we can’t we will point you in the right direction.

Thanks to your open hearts and open homes, we can and will continue to place animals in loving homes and reunite lost critters with their owners. The animals of Homer are grateful to have caring humans like you!

Sincerely,

Amy Ware, Alaska Mindful Paws, and the staff at the Homer Animals Shelter