An organizational meeting for a Parkinson’s Support Group is 2:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Homer Senior Citizens Center Conference Room. For more information, call Daniel Weiser at 235-4555.
ASSE International Student Exchange Programs seeks local host families for international high school boys and girls. These students are 15 to 18 years of age, and are coming to the United States for the upcoming high school year or semester. They are conversant in English, curious and anxious to learn about America through living as part of a family, attending high school and sharing their own culture and language with their newly adopted host family. The exchange students arrive from their home country shortly before school begins and return at the end of the school year or semester. Each ASSE student is fully insured, brings his or her own personal spending money and expects to contribute to his or her share of household responsibilities, as well as being included in normal family activities and lifestyles. The students are screened and qualified by ASSE. Families can choose their students from a wide variety of backgrounds, nationalities and personal interests. If interested in becoming a host family, call toll free at 800-733-2773 or visit host.asse.com.
Friendship Center
Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open between the hours of 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with extended hours for special situations. Programs are offered daily, including story time, crafts and musical performances. Call 235-4556.
Green Dot Homer
On the International Day of Giving, Dec. 2, Green Dot Homer launched a fundraising campaign to raise $10,000 via the crowdfunding site Indiegogo to train 1,000 people to safely intervene and prevent violence. As the Jan. 31 fundraising deadline approaches, a final push is being made to reach that goal and the public is invited.
A celebration of all the individuals and business who have contributed toward the goal and those who have attended Green Dot training is 8 p.m. Friday at Alice’s Champagne Palace. Los Holy Santos Gang, featuring Green Dot Instructor Rudy Multz, will premier Multz’s new song “Give a Dot.” A fun photo booth will be provided.
Individuals and businesses who contribute $100 or more to the Indiegogo campaign will be VIPs at the event. A private area inside Alice’s will be reserved for VIPs with refreshments, goodie bags and photo ops with the band.
Admission is free. Attendees are invited to do three simple green dots either before the event or at the door: contribute to the Indiegogo campaign, post a link to the campaign on social media or tell a friend in person, and tell a friend either about Green Dot or the event. Each green dot a person completes will be counted as a door prize ticket.
Every $10 donated covers the cost for Green Dot Homer to train one person to be an effective bystander and prevent violence in Homer. To contribute online, visit igg.me/at/greendothomer. Green Dot Homer is a community-driven effort to reduce violence in Homer. Through the use of easy tools anyone can learn, each person can do his or her part to reduce violence and to create a community where violence isn’t tolerated. During the last nine months, 269 people have been trained and done countless green dots, each making it less likely that the next act of violence will happen. For more information, contact Tara Schmidt at South Peninsula Haven House, 235-7712, or vista@havenhousealaska.org.
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 with mashed potatoes and gravy; Friday, spinach and cheese stuffed rockfish; Monday-Wednesday, to be announced.
Strong Women classes are 1:30-2:30 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 for members and $6 for nonmembers. Call Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.
Duplicate Bridge meets Thursdays at 1 p.m.
Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday in the senior center conference room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.
Kachemak Bay Campus
Registration for January through April classes is now going on. Upcoming new classes include Biology of Polar Bears with polar bear guide Andrea Van Dinther, Feb. 3-March 3; U.S. Coast Guard 6-pack Commercial Boat License Preparation class with Capt. Ed Murphy, Feb 5-March 16; Maritime training, “Working on a Commercial Fishing Boat,” with F/V Predator, Nomar and Kachemak Gear Shed on Feb. 4. Other classes are Gourmet Cooking/Culinary Arts, Seaweeds of Kachemak Bay, Watercolor Painting, Garden Design, Boating Safety/NASBLA, High Tunnels and Fly Fishing. To earn your GED or improve basic reading, writing and math skills, call 235-1606.
Kachemak Bay Family Planning
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic offers free help signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Certified application counselors are at McNeil Canyon Elementary School from 1-7 p.m. Monday. Call 235-3436 to make an appointment.
Pratt Museum
The museum reopens Sunday. Admission is free for February. Gallery hours are noon-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday is a reception for an exhibit of new works acquired with a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. From 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday is the Pratt Museum’s annual meeting and a reception for the exhibit, “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Brooks Fish: 30 Years of Counting Fish at Brooks Lake, Katmai National Park and Preserve.” At 6 p.m. is a talk by curators Katherine Ringsmuth, historian, University of Alaska, and Kathryn Myers, curator of collections, Katmai National Park and Preserve. The exhibit shows visitors how counting fish at Brooks Lake helped develop management methodology used to regulate one of the most important sockeye salmon fisheries in Alaska. Volunteer awards also will be announced.
South Peninsula Hospital
South Peninsula Hospital offers free help with certified application counselors for people wanting to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Dates for assistance are Feb. 7 and Feb. 14. Call 235-8101 to make an appointment.
South Peninsula Hospital offers a safe sitter class on Thursday and Friday, March 12 and 13, during the school district’s spring break. The class is designed for 11-13 year olds to teach basic child care, infant and child CPR, first aid, safety for the sitter, behavior management and business etiquette.
The class will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days. Students should bring their own lunch. Registration is required. The cost is $70 per person, and scholarships are available. Please call the hospital’s education department at 235-0258 for more information and to register.
Heart disease is the second leading cause of death for Alaskans, and the leading cause of death in the southern Kenai Peninsula area. South Peninsula Hospital offers free education and discounted heart screenings during February heart health month to help prevent heart disease.
The public is invited to a free forum at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. Speaking are Dr. George Rhyneer, visiting cardiologist, and Doug Duncan, pharmacy director at South Peninsula Hospital. The topic is “Gambling with Your Heart: How to Increase Your Odds for Staying Heart Healthy.” Topics explored will be heart medication dos and don’ts, recognizing and responding to early signs of stroke and preventive cardiac care. Healthy refreshments will be provided.
During the month of February, two screenings will be offered at a special $99 rate. The first, a Cardiac Scoring CT scan, is a noninvasive, 15-minute imaging procedure which scores calcium buildup in the arteries. The procedure should be considered for individuals who may be at a high risk for developing heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, the risk factors for heart disease include: men over 45 years of age and women over 55 years of age, tobacco use, family history, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, inactive lifestyle, being overweight and diabetes. If one or more of these factors apply to you, please talk to your clinician about considering this test. A physician referral, appointment and prepayment are required. Contact the Imaging Department at 235-0363 for additional information.
The second screening, a heart health blood test, screens for cholesterol, cardiac risk, anemia and diabetes. No appointment or referral is necessary, but registration and prepayment are required. Contact the laboratory for more information at 235-0338.
For more information, visit www.sphosp.org or call 235-0285.
SVT Health & Wellness
SVT Health & Wellness offers classes covering all aspects of wellness every Thursday at 6 p.m. Today’s class is “Kick Those Sugar Blues, Part Two with Hillery Daily, naturopathic doctor, and Amy Rattenbury, acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist.
