The first Little Kids (0-5) “Shwopping” Event is 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday in the Homer High School Commons. The event is sponsored by Sprout and Homer Community  Recreation. Bring gently used clothes, toys, books and equipment  for children newborn to 5-years-old. Go “Shwopping” and shop the swap for items that you need. Swap as many as you bring. Donations are accepted prior to the event. Please call Sprout at 235-6044 for more information or to drop off donations.

The first Rescue Run starts at 10 a.m. Saturday with a walk and noncompetitive heat and a run and competitive heat at 11 a.m. at the Homer Volunteer Fire Department station. The 12-kilometer run benefits the Homer Volunteer Fire Department and the Kachemak Service Area. Tickets area $35 adults and $25 for children ages 15 and younger. For information and registration visit akrescuerun.org.

Trust Training Cooperative in cooperation with Hands of Peace/AVP Alaska presents a Conflict Resolution / Alternatives to Violence Basic Workshop 6-9 p.m. Sept. 25, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 26 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 27 at 63540 Skyline Drive. The beginning workshop presents conflict resolution skills through experiential learning exercise and practice, with the goal of helping direct service providers and community members think about and make choices to reduce conflict at work and in everyday settings. The fee is $60 for the entire 18-hour workshop, with reduced fees available. Register by Sept. 23 online at ttclms.org/class_detail.php?z_classid=106473. For more information, contact Karen Cauble at 235-3832 or klcauble@hotmail.com or Lisa Cauble at 907-264-6276 or lisa@alaskachd.org.

Hospice of Homer invites the community to its annual hospice community remembrance celebration from 2-3:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the hospice office. Everyone is welcome and will have the opportunity to honor and recognize departed loved ones. 

Hospice of Homer invites community members to a continued discussion of a library panel talk on Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.” The group meets 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at hospice. Bring your ideas and passion to the conversation on what can we do to make the lower Kenai Peninsula more supportive of aging and end of life. For more information, call Hospice at 235-6899.

The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer a 12-hour Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor workshop in Homer from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Best Western Bidarka Inn, 575 Sterling Highway. This workshop gives hands-on training with marine safety equipment to commercial fishermen and other mariners and teaches best practices for surviving emergencies at sea.  

Instructor Rob Hulse will cover cold-water survival skills; EPIRBs, flares and maydays; man-overboard recovery and firefighting; immersion suits and PFDs; and helicopter rescue, life rafts, abandon ship procedures and emergency drills. There will be an in-the-water practice session, giving participants practical experience with PFDs and immersion suits, employing survival techniques, and righting and boarding an inflatable life raft.

AMSEA Drill Conductor workshops meet the training requirements for documented commercial fishing vessels operating beyond the federal boundary line.  This workshop is offered to commercial fishermen at no cost, thanks to support from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. For more information or to register, contact AMSEA at 907-747-3287 or www.amsea.org.

Homer writer/photographer Taz Tally is updating his book, “50 Hikes in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula,” and he’s looking for community input. What are your favorite hikes, both those that are already in the book and any you’d like to see in the next edition? Email taztally@me.com by Sept. 30, with “My Favorite Hikes” in the subject line.

Cooperative Extension Service

Are You Eating the Rainbow? Juicy red tomatoes, cheerful yellow squash, crisp green beans and crunchy orange carrots are just a few of the colorful and delicious vegetables we Alaskans have spilling out of greenhouses and gardens right now. This end-of-season harvest makes it easy to “eat a rainbow” of veggies. Different colors of produce provide us with different vitamins and minerals, so it is important to eat a variety. Doing so has been found to have numerous health benefits, such as lowering the risk of obesity, heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic diseases.

Most Americans do not consume the USDA recommended daily amount of three-to-five servings of fruits and vegetables. Farmers Markets and grocery stores stock fresh, local produce that is nutritious, abundant and delicious. For free vegetable recipes and publications on preserving the harvest, stop by the Cooperative Extension Service, stop by its office at 43961 Kalifornsky Beach Rd., Suite A, Soldotna, AK 99669 or call 907-262-5824.

Friendship Center

Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open 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.

Homer Senior Citizens

Homer Senior Citizens lunch is open to seniors and guests and is served noon-1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The lunch menu for this week is: today, country style roast pork; Friday, rockfish Olympia; Monday, baked chicken teriyaki; Tuesday, lasagna; Wednesday, curried lentil and vegetable stew; next Thursday, burgundy and rosemary roasted leg of lamb.

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.

Duplicate Bridge meets at 1 p.m. Thursdays. Tai Chi classes are Thursdays at 3 p.m. The cost per class is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers. Call Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.

Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday in the senior center conference room. Call Jacquie Thaute at 299-2924 or Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.

Kachemak Bay Campus

Register now for these upcoming classes: Beginning Hatha Yoga, Thursdays, Sept. 23-Dec. 12; Intermediate Kundalini Yoga, Wednesdays, Oct. 7-Dec. 9; Marine Invertebrates with Carmen Field, Oct. 7, 10 and 14; Basic Netmending and Splicing, Oct. 7, $25; Ergonomics for Fishermen, Oct. 16, free; “Flash Fiction” writing workshop, Oct. 22-Nov. 19; Form in Contemporary Poetry with Erin Hollowell, Mondays, Oct. 5-Nov. 2; Global Climate Change, Oct. 22-Nov. 19, and Grant Proposal Writing Workshop, Oct. 30, $75. English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education classes start soon. For more information, call 235-7743.

Pratt Museum

Fall gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. The gallery is closed Mondays. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

In celebration of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies’ 30th Annual Kachemak Bay CoastWalk, the Pratt Museum presents “Ocean Treasure, Ocean Trash,” a hands-on exhibit that shows how we fit in this watery world, how we impact the life within it and how we can be the solution to ocean pollution. As part of the exhibit, the Pratt holds community art workshops to build an 8-foot silver salmon relief sculpture. Workshops are held Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

The theme for this year’s Ritz is “Havana Nights! Ritz at the CopaCabana,” held Nov. 7 at Wasabi’s. The theme evokes the 1940s and 1950s that was Cuba in its heyday. Ritz includes Cuban food, music, dancing, diamonds, pearls, bright lights, rum and cigars (enjoyed outdoors). The Ritz exhibit opens Oct. 2 with a kick-off champagne party and a 30th anniversary toast, refreshments and a silent auction table.

Road Construction

Expect delays on this lower Kenai Peninsula road project:

• Sterling Highway Mile 135 to 137 improvements: Road construction continues through September. Expect single-lane traffic, 10-minute delays, flagging and pilot car operations on the Sterling Highway from 10 p.m. Sundays through noon Fridays, through September. For more information, visit AlaskaNavigator.org.