“Community Gardens as a Health Intervention” is at 7 p.m. today at Kachemak Bay Campus, Pioneer Hall room 212. Leif Albertson, Yukon-Kuskokwim Cooperative Extension Service educator, will discuss the viability of local gardens as a dietary intervention. With the recent resurgence in interest in gardens as a way to provide healthy food to rural communities, he will examine the possibilities and potential pitfalls of gardening efforts. He also will discuss reasonable expectations for local gardens as a tool for improving diets and health in Alaska. Lastly, he will look at the process through which the city of Bethel developed its community garden and the evolving impact on the community. This program will be of interest to those concerned with rural nutrition, food security, obesity, diabetes, healthy communities and human factors associated with individual dietary choices. For more information, contact the Kenai Peninsula District Cooperative Extension Service Office at (800) 478-5824 or (907) 262-5824.
South Peninsula Haven House holds Stand Up For Peace events today to show commitment to respectful relationships and peaceful families and ending domestic violence and sexual assault. From 10-11:45 a.m., meet at K-Bay Caffe on Pioneer Avenue for flag making. Draw or write your vision on flags of what a respectful relationship looks like to you. At noon at WKFL Park is a rally to show your commitment to nonviolence. Part of statewide Choose Respect activities, there will be music, warm beverages and remarks by Jason Hooley, director of Alaska Boards and Commission.
The Homer Foundation’s Youth Advisory Committee, or YAC, announces the availability of grant funds to support projects that will be used to promote fun, affordable, easily accessible and healthy activities for youth ages 10 through 18. Nonprofits providing programs and/or services for youth must submit a letter of intent to the Homer Foundation by Friday. Guidelines for the letter of intent are available from the Homer Foundation. For more information, contact Joy Steward at 235-0541 or email jsteward@homerfund.org.
As part of Tartan Days, the Center for Human Rights and Evolution sponsors a talk by Hal Shepherd, “Declarations of Arbroath and Independence: The Origins of Freedom in American History” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, in Pioneer Hall room 202, Kachemak Bay Campus. Shepherd discusses how the 693-year-old Scottish Declaration of Arbroath inspired and influenced the American Declaration of Independence and origins and concepts of freedom in United States history. Tartan Days marks the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 at Arbroath Abbey, intended to confirm Scotland’s status as an independent and sovereign state. Also as part of Tartan Days, the Kachemak Bay Celtic Club celebrates the 693th anniversary of the declaration of Scottish independence with a Scotch whisky tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. April 6 at Alice’s Champagne Palace. The event includes appetizers and a tasting of five Scotch whiskys. Admission is $35 a person with the Scotch whisky tasting or $20 without. The wearing of the tartan and kilts is encouraged.
Alaska Bible Institute holds its graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. today at the campus at 1295 Mission Road. Due to space constraints, guests are limited to high school age students and older, with no child care available. For more information, call 235-8648.
Registration has started for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, to be held May 8-12. This year’s keynote speaker is Jeffrey Gordon. For a list of events and presentations with registration information, see an insert this week in the Homer News or visit www.kachemakbayshorebirdfestival.org. For more information, email shorebird@homeralaska.org or call the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center at 235-7740.
Through the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve’s Coastal Training Program, Pam Kylstra, a program development specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, offers a free course, “Project Design and Evaluation,” from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. April 8-9 at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. The course provides coastal resource management professionals with the knowledge, skills and tools to design and implement projects that have measurable impacts on the target populations they want to reach. This interactive curriculum can help increase the effectiveness of projects by applying instructional design theory to the project’s design. Spaces in this course are limited. To register and for more information, visit kbrrprojecttraining.eventbrite.com.
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic is looking for committed volunteers to help organize this year’s Breast Cancer Run, to be held Aug. 18. Call 235-3436 for more information on how to join the event planning committee.
Anchor Point Senior Center
The Anchor Point Senior Center is open at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday for coffee. Enjoy coffee and conversation. The senior center also is open 7-9 p.m. Tuesday nights for game night. Enjoy cards, chess, dominoes, cribbage, checkers and pool. Regular hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m.-noon Friday. For more information call 235-7786.
Friendship Center
Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with extended hours for special situations.
Homer Senior Citizens
Homer Senior Citizens lunch is open to seniors and their guests and is served 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The lunch menu for this week is: Thursday, roast turkey and mashed potatoes; Friday, battered cod and roasted potatoes; Monday, chicken cacciatore; Tuesday, pork marsala; Wednesday, beef tacos.
Strong Women classes at Homer Senior Citizens Recreation Room are 2-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Cost is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers per class.
Tai Chi classes are Thursday at 3 p.m. Cost is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers per class. For more information, call Daniel at 235-7655.
Kachemak Bay Campus
Registration is being held for these upcoming classes: creative food writing begins today; birding workshop begins April 2; garden design with Brenda Adams meets April 6 and 13; botany of Kachemak Bay begins April 11; organic gardening meets April 19-20; watercolor workshop with artist Jan Peyton meets May 31, June 1 and 3. Computer classes offered include Excel, MS Word and Quickbooks; all start in April. Registration also is open for a special personal narrative workshop from May 3-5 with visiting memoirist Debra Gwartney, finalist for the National Book Critics Award. Enrollment is limited; register early. For a list of all courses, visit www.kpc.alaska.edu/kbc. Call 235-7743 for information.
At 6:30 p.m. Friday, author Tom Kizzia and historian Steve Haycox present “Seward: Alaska’s Indispensible Man – A Commemoration of Seward Day” at the college.
At 6:30 p.m. April 4, visiting fiction writer Nancy Zafris does a public literary reading.
The Kachemak Bay Campus offers a series of degree information meetings focusing on some of the two- and four-year degrees that Homer area residents and recent high school graduates can earn at Kachemak Bay Campus. The series begins at 6 p.m. today and noon Friday with Katy Jordan of University of Alaska Southeast and Tom Dalrymple of Kenai Peninsula College discussing available business degrees and how a business degree can lead to many jobs in a variety of areas as well as self-employment.
The Kachemak Bay Campus Community Advisory Board seeks new members. For more information, call 235-1656 or send a letter of interest to KBC, 533 E. Pioneer Ave., Homer AK 99603.
Registration has started for the 2013 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, to be held June 14-18 at Land’s End Resort. Poet Naomi Shihab Nye is the keynote presenter. The early registration fee is $375, space available, with a special student rate. For program and registration information, visit writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.
Pratt Museum
Regular hours are Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Free Winter Wednesdays with free admission to the museum continues in March. “Encounters: Whales in Our Waters” is on exhibit until July 21.
The museum seeks people to volunteer time and energy this summer. People of all ages can offer their volunteer services to enhance the high quality of experience summer visitors have at the museum. If you enjoy interacting with people and have two to four hours a week to spare, the museum invites you to join its dedicated team of volunteers. Contact Jennie Engebretsen at 435-3326 to learn more about volunteering. Volunteers also are needed to help clean aquarium tanks 10-11 a.m. every Thursday. If interested, contact Art at 435-3323 or building@prattmuseum. org.
R.E.C. Room
The R.E.C. Room (Resource and Enrichment Co-op) is a multipurpose space for youth ages 12-18 as a safe environment to hang out with friends. Hours are 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday in the lower level of the Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic outreach building on Nielsen Circle. Visit www.recroom.kbfpc.org or call Anna at 235-OPEN (6736).
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.
Jenifer Dickson, a certified nutritional therapist, will lead Part 2 of her “Spring Cleanse and Sugar Detox” class. Participants will discover the health benefits of cleansing and detoxification.
The SVT Health & Wellness Center is located at 880 East End Road. The classes are open to the public. For more information or to suggest topics for future classes, call Amy Rattenbury at 226-2228, ext. 660.
South Peninsula Hospital
In recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, South Peninsula Hospital is offering reduced rate screening colonoscopies.
Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in America, and more importantly, colon cancer can often be cured and even prevented. Colonoscopy is the preferred screening method for colon cancer, as it allows physicians to look directly at the entire colon and to identify suspicious growths.
South Peninsula Hospital offers $500 off screening colonoscopies scheduled in March and April. For more information on these offerings, visit the hospital website at www.sphosp.org or contact 235-0310.
