Thanks for helping us landscape in Kachemak
On behalf of the residents of the City of Kachemak, I would like to thank the anonymous donor for the generous matching grant of $5,500 for the landscaping project around the Kachemak Community Center and Alice Witte Park area.
We worked with Dutch Boy Paving and Landscaping on most of this project. The overgrowth along the East End bike path was cleaned up and they improved the drainage on the east side of the building. Some trees were removed as there were sewer lines underneath them. Our parking area was expanded near the playground for families visiting the park.
Peninsula Rain Gutters installed gutters on the south side of the building to prevent the drainage damaging grass along the building. Dutch Boy extended these gutters underground to improve the overall functionality and longevity of our community space.
Large sturdy rocks were placed along the main entrance and near the courts to prevent vehicles from entering the ditch and damaging the surrounding grass.
The positive impact of your generosity will be felt by the entire community for years to come. We are fortunate to have such a wonderful organization in Homer that partners with the community to assist with so many different projects that enhance the quality of life in our area.
Connie Isenhour
Thanks for making Homer Chess Tournament a success
Thank you, Homer and Anchor Point chess kids! We had a chess tournament last week at Homer West Elementary School for grades three through eight. It drew 88 wonderful children from Chapman Elementary, Homer West, Connections, McNeil Canyon, and Homer Middle School. We are especially thrilled by those who traveled as far as McNeil and Chapman to attend!
Our overworked and underpaid teachers bring chess into our schools at no cost to our education system because chess isn’t just about protecting kings and killing stuff. The game of chess is about geometry, weighing your options and making decisions. It is about analysis and thinking ahead conditionally; about winning with grace and finding understanding in loss.
Everyone who played was gracious, kind and thoughtful. And without the very hardworking volunteers we could not have made this tournament happen.
And finally thank you to the parents who share our enthusiasm for chess and who are playing a good game at home. You are all wonderful, and we hope to see you at the next tournament on the afternoon of Jan. 26.
Andy Haas
Floating breakwater an interesting idea
Bill Wiebe’s letter last week raised the topic of a floating breakwater, a far less invasive way to build a bigger harbor for Homer.
A floating breakwater would have much less impact on the floor of the sea compared to the huge amount of rock that would be placed there to enclose another larger harbor. It would mean significantly less destruction of the biology all around that area and far less disruption of the physical forces that operate (and interact) all along there: currents, tides, deposition/removal of sediment as the cycles occur.
Bill’s letter suggests a closer look at some of the alternative design plans that have been rejected. The breakwater in Monaco was designed and built over 20 years ago, and so the engineering for such projects has had all those years to develop innovations and materials that would make a floating structure easier to build and be stronger and more durable.
At least, this alternative design (and possibly some of the others) should be given a closer look.
Lani Raymond
Thanks be to Cartoons!
Mike O’Meara’s cartoons in the Homer News have evoked delight, as well as eye-opening dismay, for me these past 35 some years. My favorite is the one shoveling out to the outhouse only to turn around after doing one’s business to find the snow had filled back in! Those were the outhouse days; glad that’s behind me.
Last week’s cartoon really hit me hard. Mike captured the absurdity of humanity in perfect terms. It is one of his best. Thanks Mike, for your extraordinary capturing of the condition of humanity in Homer and around the globe.
Therese Lewandowski
