Homer’s Best Bets

March 12, 2014 2:38 pm
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A bald eagle sits in a nest by the motorhome dump station across from the Homer Post Office last Thursday. A pair of eagles built the nest in 2012, and might be the same pair that had a nest in a tree by the Lake Street stoplight before a storm blew the tree down.-Photo by Michael Armstrong, Homer News
A bald eagle sits in a nest by the motorhome dump station across from the Homer Post Office last Thursday. A pair of eagles built the nest in 2012, and might be the same pair that had a nest in a tree by the Lake Street stoplight before a storm blew the tree down.-Photo by Michael Armstrong, Homer News

Sometimes the Betster isn’t tuned in to all the action going on in the world. On Monday while driving to work, the Betster grew puzzled by the inactivity in town. The school parking lots were empty. Traffic was light. It was like aliens had come down in the mother ship and abducted 500 of our finest Homer citizens. And then it hit the Betster.

Spring break! Duh. This is the week when teachers, school employees, parents of school kids and anyone associated with school escape town. Well, some don’t leave, because what better time to hang around in Homer?

Last weekend we had gorgeous spring weather, just about absolute perfect except for the fact that we had no snow. You know the drill, though. Whine about the weather and Ma Nature will fix it for you, although not necessarily to your satisfaction. Sure enough, we got a big dumping of mashed-potato snow up in the hills. We might be able to salvage a winter yet.

So if you’re reading this online from your Hanalei, Kauai, cottage, suck up that sun and get ready for a white landscape when you get back. Meanwhile, we left behind will have a grand time, because boy howdy are there some Best Bets, like these:

 

BEST DARKENED WATERS BET: It will be 25 years on March 23 since the Exxon Valdez fetched up on Bligh Reef, spilling 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska oceans. How far have we come in preventing another oil spill? Listen to “25 Years After Exxon Valdez: Keeping Our Waters Safe” at 6 p.m. today at the Pratt Museum, when the Pratt and the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council commemorate the spill. The presentation looks at improvements in oil spill prevention and response in Prince William Sound since 1989.

 

BEST GET READY BET: That little 4.5-quake that woke us up early Wednesday is a reminder of what could happen. Are you prepared for disasters? Check out the Emergency Preparedness Fair from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2821 East End Road. There will be information booths on food storage and recipes, First Aid, water storage and more.

 

BEST TOUGH AS BOOTS BET: With St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, we can stretch this whole weekend into one big celebration of Irish culture and music. Start out at 8 p.m. when Anchorage band the Whiskey Jacks brings its XtraTuff Irish music to AJ’s OldTown Steakhouse at 8 p.m. Saturday. 

 

BEST BIG 30 BET: A longstanding St. Patrick’s Day tradition has been the annual Scavenger Hunt, when teams try to find curious and strange objects. It’s all in good fun, and a benefit for local nonprofits, too. The action starts at 11 a.m. Sunday at the American Legion Post 16 and ends at the Best Western Bidarka Inn at 4 p.m., followed by judging, awards and, yum, corned beef and cabbage.

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