Sandhill crane monitoring season may be early this year. Kachemak Crane Watch has already had a report of high-flying sand-hill cranes passing overhead. Please report sandhill crane sightings to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org. The date, time, location and number of cranes is helpful. Leave a name and number in case Kachemak Crane Watch needs more details.
Homer’s American Legion Post and Junior Auxiliary invite Coast Guard families and all other children in the community to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt at 1 p.m. (sharp) Saturday. The hunt will be at the American Legion Post, Mile 2.5 East End Road. Participants are asked to bring their own basket. The Easter Bunny will be there to greet all the children.
As part of its Green Dot program, South Peninsula Haven House holds “quick conversations” about Green Dot from noon-1 p.m. every Tuesday in April at K-Bay Caffé. A public training session is 5:30-8:30 p.m. April 23 at the Homer Methodist Church. Please RSVP for the training sessions to rachel@havenhousealaska.org or call 235-7712. A Green Dot is “any behavior, choice, word or attitude that promotes safety for everyone and communicates intolerance for violence.”
Kenai Peninsula Fair will host the Second Annual Alaska Fiber & Arts Festival from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. April 26-27 at the fairgrounds in Ninilchik. This festival was started to bring awareness to a dying art — natural fibers of Alaska and education of that art. There will be informative booths, hands-on experiences and demonstrations as well as craft booths. Booth space is still available if anyone is interested. Classes are being made available this year. The class schedule is on the website, www.kenaipeninsulafair.com, along with the registration form.
Earth Day is celebrated in Homer on April 26 at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. Sponsored by the Kachemak Bay Conservation Society with support from the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, activities are noon to 6 p.m. with films, booths, workshops and music. The event also includes a dedication of the Beluga Slough Trail with poetry in place by Wendy Erd and a community beach action by Mavis Muller. An artist reception is at 6:30 p.m. followed by the keynote speech at 7:15 p.m. by political commentator, columnist and blogger Shannyn Moore. Volunteers also are need to help. If interested, call Linda Gorman at 399-9211.
West Homer Elementary will host a First Friday event on May 2 from 5-7 p.m. This is an all-school student art exhibit. Comments will be made by local artists on each piece. It will be an outstanding display of student work. Tables with art activities including a table of art trading cards will be available for all who attend.
The Second Annual Almost Spring Fling Bazaar, benefiting Special Olympics-Homer Area, will be from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 3 at Homer United Methodist Church on East End Road. Vendors are still needed and may contact Joyce Shuler at 907-398-6712 or e-mail at joyce.shuler@yahoo.com for more info. There will be a massage therapist at the bazaar, as well as home-based businesses with booths. Handmade items and baked goods will be sold. This will be a great day of fun for the entire family.
It’s time to clean out your closets and support Big Brothers Big Sisters. BBBS will have a clothing drive from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 3 at the Homer Chamber of Commerce’s Cleanup Day event. There will be a $50 prize for the person who brings in the most bags of gently used clothing, bedding, shoes or towels. For more information, call 235-8391 or go to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Homer Alaska facebook page.
The reunion for Anchorage’s Robert Service High School class of 1974 will be July 25-26. If you are a graduate or know someone who is, please contact Sharon Hall Minsch at 399-4266, sminsch@alaska.net or Marie Mayo Allen at 907-350-4176.
Clean Up Week is April 27 to May 3 and sponsored by AJ’s OldTown Steakhouse. Trash drop off is 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center parking lot. There are four categories this year: Individual (1st-3rd place), Group (1st-3rd place), Kids 6-10 years (1st and 2nd place) and Kids 11-15 years old (1st and 2nd place). Participants may only enter one category. Both the Kids categories will be the bikes donated by the Kachemak Bay Lions Club, therefore there will be no kids’ raffle. The chamber encourages the community to start cleaning up Homer early. There are clean-up bags available for pick up at the Homer Chamber of Commerce.
Reiki master and author Shalandra Abbey of Maui, Hawaii, teaches a first-degree class from 2 -8 p.m. May 19 and 20 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. Abbey has dedicated her life to Reiki for more than 20 years and has trained more than a thousand students. She is the author of “Living a Life of Reiki, from Complete Healthcare to Ultimate Freedom in Day-to-day Life.” For more information on Reiki and to register, visit www.reikihawaii.com or call local Reiki practitioner Rita Turner at 907-299-3894.
Cooperative Extension
Ever wonder how to make Birch Syrup from our native birch trees? The Cooperative Extension Service has a new publication out, “Backyard Birch Tapping Basics,” that is available for free on its website or by visiting its office. This new publication will answer the how, when, why and how much questions you might have as to how to make this sweet northern delight. Your local Cooperative Extension Service is your year round resource for a variety of topics. Visit it at www.uaf.edu/ces/districts/kenai to find this publication and more, or stop by at the Doors and Windows Building on Kalifornsky Beach Road between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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 pork tenderloin; Friday, battered cod; Monday, meatloaf; Tuesday, chicken pot pie; Wednesday, baked pork chops; and April 24, roast beef.
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. 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. Early registration fee available. See http://writersconference.homer.alaska.edu for more information.
The Student Art Showcase opening reception featuring artwork from painting and ceramics classes will be from 5-6:30 p.m. April 25.
KBC Commencement at Mariner Theater will be at 7 p.m. May 7.
The annual watercolor painting workshop with Jan Peyton will be May 31, June 2, June 5 and June 7. Register now.
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.
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill is the subject of the Pratt’s stewardship exhibit, Darkened Waters, which will be on display through May 11. The Jubilee Student Art Showcase will be on display in the Pratt’s lower level art gallery through May 11. “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 May 15. A subsequent exhibit “Putting By: Food Identity on the Kenai” will open May 15 and focus on foods collected and preserved to last the winter. During the exhibits, the Pratt will accept donations of canned and preserved foods for the Homer Community Food Pantry.
Environmental artist and basket and story weaver Mavis Muller will present a talk and slideshow of personal reflections of the Exxon oil spill and her travels from Alaska to Spain to the Gulf of Mexico with her ongoing project of community interactive, impermanent art. “Remembering — Community Art as Healing Force” will begin at 6 p.m. Friday.
The public is invited to participate in exhibit planning workshops from 5:30-7 p.m. April 25 and from 2-3:30 p.m. April 26. The Pratt’s consulting exhibit planner and exhibit designer will be at the museum sharing preliminary exhibit plans for the new Pratt Museum. This is an opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions. These two events are identical.
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.
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 part two of a three part gardening series presented by Kyra Wagner and Jessica Ryan. The classes are open to the public. For more information, call 226-2228 ext. 660.
