The Mindfulness Meeting now meets at a new day and time from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday evenings at 3691 Ben Walters Lane, Suite 3, Conference Room. The meeting is a group for cultivating wisdom, gratitude and serenity through skills and practice. Sponsored by South Peninsula Haven House, the meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, call Haven House at 235-7712.
Kachemak Emergency Service Area Board holds a work session at 5 p.m. today with its regular monthly board meeting following at 7 p.m. The meeting is at the McNeil Canyon Fire Station, 53048 Ashwood Ave. (Mile 12 East End Road). The public is welcome. For more information call 235-9811.
Anchor Point Fire and EMS will be having an open house from noon-3 p.m. Saturday at Station 1, Milo Fritz Road, for the community to meet Anchor Point’s new chief, Jim Dycus.
Kodiak author Leslie Leyland Fields speaks at the Interdenominational Women’s Conference, held 7-9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Christian Community Church. The conference fee is $25 and includes the Saturday brunch. The conference theme is “Are you listening? I am calling. Faith. Forgiveness. Freedom.” Leyland Fields is a fisherman, author, speaker and workshop leader. Her latest book, “Forgiving our Fathers and Mothers: Finding Freedom from Hurt and Hate” was released in January. Preregistration for the workshop is encouraged. Email homerchics@gmail.com or call 299-8114.
The Kachemak Bay Birders will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. There is no charge and everyone is welcome. Cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve Community Council holds its regular quarterly meeting from noon-3 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. Final products from the Science Collaborative grant will be featured. Guests include Dr. Jeff Freymueller from UAF’s Geophysical Institute, and staff from the University of New Hampshire, NERR Science Collaborative. For more information, contact Stacey Buckelew at 226-4653.
Jessica Glass, a University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student, presents “Dredging up details about the Alaskan weathervane scallop fishery,” a brown-bag lunch lecture at noon Feb. 27 at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center seminar room.
Homer Animal Friends holds Trivia Night, a fundraiser with a silent auction, from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Homer Elks Lodge. Doors open at 5 p.m. Teams enter for five rounds of 10 questions on topics like music, movies, Homer, general knowledge and animals. Tickets are $20 a person for teams of six or $10 for people not playing the trivia game. Food is included. To reserve a table, call 907-756-1760 or email homeranimals@gmail.com.
The Kenai Peninsula chapter of the Farm Bureau meets starting with a potluck at 6:30 p.m. March 6 at the Ninilchik Fairgrounds. Speakers Kyra Wagner and Lee Bowman discuss “How to build a root cellar.” Everyone is welcome. For more information, call 235-8116.
The Friends of the Homer Public Library is sponsoring a commemorative event of the 1964 Earthquake at 6 p.m. March 27. They’re looking for people who would be willing to tell brief anecdotes of their experiences of the 1964 earthquake. You do not need to have been in Homer — anyplace in Alaska is fine. Please contact Erin Hollowell at erin@friendshomerlibrary.org or leave a message at 907-435-3195.
Friendship Center
Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with extended hours for special situations. Special programs are offered daily, including story time, crafts and musical performances. For more information, call 235-4556.
Homer Senior Citizens
Homer Senior Citizens lunch is open to seniors and guests and is served 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Friday. The lunch menu for this week is: today, roast beef and mashed potatoes; Friday, blackened catfish; Monday, chicken cordon bleu; Tuesday, barbecue beef brisket; Wednesday, chicken parmesan.
Strong Women classes are 2-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Homer Senior Center. The cost is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers per class.
Zumba Gold classes with Maria are 11 a.m.-noon Tuesdays and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Homer Senior Center. The cost per class is $4 members, $6 nonmembers.
Tai Chi classes are Thursday at 3 p.m. The cost per class is $3 members and $6 nonmembers. Call Daniel at 235-7655.
Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. every other Thursday in the senior center dining room. For this week, Seldovia Village Tribe presents “Programs available for Elder Care.” Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Mary Jo Gates at 235-7655.
The AARP Foundation offers free tax assistance and preparation for taxpayers with low to moderate income through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program. Tax assistance is offered 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment only at the Homer Senior Center. For an appointment, call 235-7655. Individuals also can visit www.aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW (1-888-227-7669).
Kachemak Bay Campus
The winter/spring semester has started. Registration is now going on for these upcoming five-week classes: Biology of Sharks, Fly Fishing, and Biology of Seals, Otters and Walruses. Register as soon as possible as space may be limited. Call 235-7743 for more information.
From Friday to Sunday, visiting poet Sean Hill holds a poetry workshop. Register by Friday. He also does a public reading at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
From 5-6:30 p.m. Friday is an opening reception for new work by photographer Joe Kashi.
From 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 28, the KBC Student Association sponsors a student-run flea market.
Registration is now being held for the 2014 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, June 13-17, featuring 19 visiting, local and statewide poets and creative literary nonfiction and fiction writers. An early registration fee is available. Information on how to apply for a registration stipend is available online at writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.
Pratt Museum
The museum galleries are open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
A new special exhibit, “The Living Tertiary,” curated by Homer geophysicist Geoff Coble, compares fossil remains beneath our feet to very similar contemporary plants nearby and around the world. This comparison of the present to 7 million years ago examines geologic processes, paleontology, and climate change.
In conjunction with The Living Tertiary exhibit, Pratt Museum will hold Fossil Day with geophysicist Geoff Coble and local bone expert Lee Post from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 22. Bring your fossils for identification or just to share with the community. Fossils from the Pratt’s Natural History Collection will also be on display and interpreted.
R.E.C. Room
The R.E.C. Room (a Youth Resource and Enrichment Co-Op) offers activities for this school year. Free programs include instruction on software installation and customization, digital music production, fresh and organic cooking, gardening and slam poetry. The R.E.C. Room provides teens ages 12-18 with a safe space to hang out after school and connect with positive resources, activities and programs available in our community. It offers computers and Wi-Fi for homework, guitars, XBox Kinect, games, darts, rave gloves, movies, art supplies and more.
A program of Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, the R.E.C. Room is always staffed by a program manager. Homer Middle School students can now ride Bus 65 for drop off at the R.E.C. Room. Call for details. Hours are 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 3957 Nielsen Circle, off Ben Walters Lane. For more information, call 235-6736, e-mail recroom@kbfpc.org or visit facebook.com/rec.room7 or HomerRECroom.org.
Seldovia Village Tribe Health & Wellness Center
The SVT Health & Wellness Center offers a series of classes covering all aspects of wellness every Thursday at 6 p.m. Today’s class is “Is the NutrEval Diagnostic Lab Test from Genova Important for Your Health?” with Rob Downey, family physician, and Hillery Daily, naturopathic doctor. A donation of $5 for supplies is appreciated.
South Peninsula Hospital
Heart disease is the number-two cause of death for Alaskans. In recognition of February as Hearth Health Month, South Peninsula Hospital offers discounts on heart health screenings in February. The Cardiac Scoring CT is being offered for $99, regularly a $343 exam. A noninvasive, 15-minute CT procedure to score the calcium buildup in the arteries, the test is for individuals at high risk for developing heart disease, including men over 45 and women over 55, tobacco users, those with a family history of heart disease, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, inactive lifestyle, being overweight and having diabetes. A physician referral is required, and appointment is necessary. For more information, call the hospital imaging department at 235-0363 or talk with a health care provider.
A Heart Health Blood Test is being offered for $99, regularly a $363 test. This is a complete blood panel that focuses on heart health, including cholesterol, cardiac risk, anemia and diabetes. No appointment or referral is necessary, but registration and payment is required at time of procedure. More information on the test can be found by calling 235-0338.
Diabetes and cholesterol clinics have been expanded to three times monthly by Dr. Ross Tanner of the Diabetes and Lipid Clinic of Alaska. Dr. Tanner treats adult patients with diabetes, obesity, elevated blood pressure and complex cholesterol problems in order to prevent heart attacks and stroke. For information and appointments, call 235-0310.
