Sandhill crane monitoring season has started. Please report nesting sandhill cranes to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org. Include your location, date you think nesting started, and your name and phone number for more information. 

Learn more about Alaska’s native plants with the Homer Native Plant Society. The society holds its first public meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. Topics include upcoming summer field trips for 2014,  how to learn more about Alaska’s flora and fauna, and plans for winter meetings and guest speakers. For more information, email jwoodring@alaska.net or call 235-9344. A website will be available soon.

Paul Banks Elementary School holds its Spring Clean Garage Sale from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Any donations are welcome; contact Chelsey at 299-1392. Tables also are available for purchase at $20 each. Table fees support Paul Banks PTA.

Reiki master and author Shalandra Abbey of Maui, Hawaii, teaches a first-degree class from 2-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at South Peninsula Hospital. The class is for all ages. After the 12-hour training, students will have the ability to provide hands-on healing treatments for themselves, other people, animals and plants.  For more information on Reiki and to register, visit www.reikihawaii.com or call local Reiki practitioner Rita Turner at 907-299-3894.

Aquatic invasive species training is 1-4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. The Alaska Departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Game hold a half-day training on field identification, sampling and best management practices for Alaska’s aquatic invasive species. Participants also will learn about seven top early detection rapid response aquatic invasive species potentially found in Alaska’s water bodies. This event is free and open to the public. 

The Kenai Soil & Water Conservation District invites Kenai Peninsula farmers to a workshop covering all aspects of using the Truax No-Till seed planter. This free workshop is required for anyone who wishes to rent the planter during the 2014 season. The workshop will be held 3-6 p.m. Tuesdayoff McElroy Farm Road near Kasilof.  Please call Heidi at 283-8732, ext. 5 to register and get directions. The Kenai Soil & Water Conservation District has a wide variety of agricultural equipment for rent, including manual and mechanized tools for soil preparation (Meri Crusher), tillage, re-seeding, planting, pesticide and fertilizer application and bale wrapping. For information, see the “Equipment Rental” page at www.kenaisoilandwater.org

Kachemak Bay Equestrian Association sponsors its annual grand opening of Cottonwood Horse Park on Scenic View Drive with a ribbon cutting ceremony starting at noon and running until 5 p.m. Memorial Day, May 26. The event celebrates the association finally paying off its mortgage. Activities include riding demonstrations in English and Western, pony rides, face painting, food and lots of other fun activities for the whole family. 

The R.E.C. Room holds “Bonfire on the Bay: Shining Light on Stress, Anxiety and Depression” from 5-8 p.m. May 25 at the Pier One Theatre beach. Bonfire by the Bay is an event curated by teens who want to positively impact the way our communities respond to stress, anxiety and depression. These teens have brought together people to give talks and performances that foster learning, inspiration and to provoke conversations that matter. The featured presenter is Earl Polk of Bethel, also known as Kellugguk the Great a Yupik storyteller who works with teens across the state. Local talent includes Kyra Wagner, Carolyn Norton and Sabina Karwowski, plus many others. After the talks will be food, informal discussion, and a final performance around a bonfire near the Pier One Theatre starting around 7 p.m. The event is free to those under age 18 and pay as you can for 18 and older. All proceeds go to healthy activities for teens. For more information, contact Anna Meredith at 235-6736, recroom@kbfpc.org, or Tara Schmidt at 235-7712,  ext. 227, vista@havenhousealaska.org.

Susie Amundson presents “Self Compassion for Women: Going Beyond Coffee, Chocolate and Wine” from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. May 31 at Many Rivers, 1044 East End Road. Learn about caring for yourselves in the circle of care and kindness. Register by May 28 by calling Amundson at 509-998-1009 or email susie@wiseatwork.net. The fee is $60 for the one-day class.

As part of routine maintenance, and to improve the quality of drinking water, the city of Homer Public Works Department will be flushing the water system throughout the summer and fall. Customers may experience low water pressure at times. If water becomes cloudy or discolored, flush water until color returns to normal. If water does not become clear, call Public Works at 235-3170.

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, oven baked trout; 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 Weisser at 235-7655.

Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday in the senior center dining room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Daniel Weisser at 235-7655. 

Kachemak Bay Campus

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. See writersconference.homer.alaska.edu for more information. 

The annual watercolor painting workshop with Jan Peyton will be May 31, June 2, June 5 and June 7. Register now.

KBC fall semester registration is open. Sign-up now, pay later. Call 235-7743 for an advising appointment. For class schedules, visit www.kpc.alaska.edu/KBC/searchable_schedule.

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic (KBFPC) will offer clinical services in Seldovia by appointment from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. KBFPC staff will offer confidential services including well-woman health checks, breast exams and mammogram referrals, birth control consultations and supplies, emergency contraception, STD testing and treatment, pregnancy testing and counseling, and pre-conception counseling. Rapid HIV tests will be available at no cost on a walk-in basis during the day. Samples are collected by oral swab or finger stick, with results in 20 minutes. Additional STD testing will be available with an appointment in Seldovia. STD/HIV testing is available daily as a walk-in service at the clinic, 3959 Ben Walters Lane in Homer. Previous KBFPC Seldovia clinics booked up quickly, so making an appointment early is advised. For appointments or information, call 235-3436 or email clinic.kbfpc@ak.net. 

KBFPC accepts private insurance and Medicaid in addition to offering affordable services on a sliding-fee scale to those who qualify. No one is ever turned away due to inability to pay. 

KBFPC is a member-supported organization providing high-quality, low-cost reproductive health care for women, men and families of the southern Kenai Peninsula. The clinic offers a range of confidential clinical services for men and women, as well as youth education programs and community health outreach. For more information about KBFPC, visit kbfpc.org.

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.

“Key Ingredients,” the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition about how food and culture inform each other across America, is on display in the special exhibits gallery though today. A subsequent exhibit, “Putting By: Food Identity on the Kenai,” will open today and focus on foods collected and preserved to last the winter. 

In conjunction with these exhibits, the Pratt holds a canned food drive and raffle through June 6. During the exhibits, the Pratt will accept donations of canned and preserved foods for the Homer Community Food Pantry. For each donation made before June 6, donors receive a raffle ticket, eligible to win an array of canning jars and supplies, courtesy of Ulmer’s Drug & Hardware. The drawing will take place June 6 at the “Putting Food By” potluck reception. The limit is one entry per person per day; need not be present to win.

“Dena’inaq’ Huch’ulyeshi: The Dena’ina Way Of Living” “opens with a reception 5-6 p.m. Friday. This is the first ever comprehensive exhibit of the Dena’ina culture, curated and provided by the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. Join exhibition co-curators Aaron Leggett and Suzi Jones for the Pratt Museum opening reception of the exhibit. The Pratt will be the first stop of the tour, featuring artifacts, multimedia and text exploring the past and present Dena’ina culture. Meet the Dena’ina through film, life-size re-creations, images, hands-on learning stations, audio and more than 40 artifacts.

R.E.C. Room

The R.E.C. Room (a Youth Resource and Enrichment Co-Op) offers activities for the 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. 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.

South Peninsula Hospital

South Peninsula Hospital will offer a safe sitter class 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. May 22 and 23 with a break for lunch. Students should bring their own lunch. The class is designed for 11- to 13-year-old children to teach basic child care, infant and child CPR, first aid, safety for the sitter, behavior management and business etiquette. The cost is $75 per person. Call the hospital’s education department at 235-0285 for more information and to register.

In recognition of National Osteoporosis Education and Awareness Month, South Peninsula Hospital offers a $100 discount on bone density scans during May. This 30-minute test identifies people who have or are at the risk for developing osteoporosis and is recommended for women over 50 and individuals with a family history of osteoporosis. Ten-million Americans are estimated to have osteoporosis, and 30 million more have low bone mass. Approximately one in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. For more information or to set an appointment, contact the hospital’s Imaging Department at 235-0362.

SVT Health & Wellness

SVT Health & Wellness offers a series of classes covering all aspects of wellness every Thursday at 6 p.m. Today’s class is “Essential Oils at Home” with Melody Barrett, licensed massage therapist and certified spiritual healer.
Discuss how to use essential oils around the house and how to make your own non-toxic cleaning products. The classes are open to the public. For more information, call 226-2228 ext. 660.