The Kachemak Bay Birders meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center auditorium. Following the meeting there will be a presentation by Aaron Lang on the identification of shorebirds. Come and learn some ways to tell them apart and enjoy a preview of the birds that will start arriving in Homer in mid- April. Everyone is welcome and there is no charge. For more information, contact Lani Raymond, 399-9477, or Lori Paulsrud, 299-3724. Cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
Following the meeting and presentation, George Matz will meet briefly with Shorebird Monitoring volunteers. For more information about monitoring or to volunteer, contact geomatz@alaska.net or 235-9344.
The Office of Children’s Services holds a resource family orientation from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at the OCS office, 3670 Lake St. This orientation is geared for individuals interested in becoming foster parents and resource families for children in the foster care system. There will be application packets and a licensing representative on hand to answer any questions you might have in order to simply inquire about or to begin the process of becoming a foster or resource family home. To learn more about how to make a difference in a child’s life and in your community, join us. For more info, call Tonja Whitney at 907-283-3136.
The Friends of the Homer Public Library Board of Directors has announced that Kyra Wagner is the recipient of the Friends’ 2014 Lifelong Learner Award. Wagner is an important part of the Homer community and will be the guest of honor at the Celebration of Lifelong Learning, to be held starting at 7 p.m. April 12 at the Homer Public Library. Hannah Baird will be presented with the Youth! Learner Award. This award goes to a young person who demonstrates learning as a passion, shares that knowledge with others and exhibits creativity.
Willie Iggiagruk Hensley is the keynote speaker for the event. Hensley is a former state senator, author, activist and recent recipient of a 2014 Governor’s Award for the Humanities. Hensley’s memoir, “Fifty Miles from Tomorrow,” is both his own coming-of-age story and that of the state of Alaska.
The Celebration of Lifelong Learning will also include music, fine cuisine by Maura’s Café & Fine Catering, and The Tree of Learning Trivia Contest officiated by Kathleen Gustafson. A silent auction, as well as ticket sales, will benefit the Friends of the Homer Library which provides programs and support services for the Homer Public Library.
Tickets for the Celebration of Lifelong Learning are $30 and are available at the library and from library board members. For more information, contact Erin Hollowell at 435-3195.
District 31 Democrats will caucus starting at noon Saturday, April 5, with a potluck lunch. Meet at the Kachemak Community Center, 59906 Bear Creek Drive. Note this was District 30 before the redistricting changes which changed the lower Kenai Peninsula to District 31. For more information, contact Liz Diament at lizdiament@yahoo.com.
Cooperative Extension Service
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service offers a weekend workshop series in Homer for vegetable gardeners. The extension service and the Kachemak Bay Campus co-sponsor Backyard Bounty: Growing Food from the Ground Up. The workshops will be offered 6-8 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays on the weekends of March 28-29, April 4-5 and April 18-19. Lydia Clayton, the agriculture and horticulture Extension agent for the Kenai Peninsula District, will teach the workshops at the Kachemak Bay Campus. Participants may attend one or all of the workshop weekends. The fee is $25 per weekend. Workshops will cover seed starting, transplanting, irrigation and rainwater catchment, March 28-29; small fruits and pest management, April 4-5; and season extension and food preservation, April 18-19. Register at the Kachemak Bay Campus or by calling 235-7743. For more information, contact the Extension district office at 907-262-5824 or at 43961 K-Beach Road, Suite A in Soldotna, or visit www.uaf.edu/ces.
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 turkey; Friday, cod Humboldt; Monday, to be announced; Tuesday, chicken picatta; Wednesday, seafood fettuccini Alfredo.
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. every other Thursday in the senior center dining room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Mary Jo Gates at 235-7655.
The AARP Foundation offers free tax assistance and preparation for taxpayers with low to moderate income through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program. Tax assistance is offered 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment only at the Homer Senior Center. For an appointment, call 235-7655. Individuals also can visit www.aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW (1-888-227-7669).
Kachemak Bay Campus
Registration is now going on for these upcoming five-week classes: Boating Safety and Navigation, Writing the Outdoors, and Garden Design with Brenda Adams workshop. Register as soon as possible as space may be limited. Jan Peyton holds her annual watercolor painting workshop on May 31, June 2, June 5 and June 7. Call 235-7743 for more information.
Registration is now being held for the 2014 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, held June 13-17 at Land’s End Resort, featuring 19 visiting, local and statewide poets and creative literary nonfiction and fiction writers. An early registration fee is available. Registration stipends also are available; for information on how to apply and for general conference information, visit writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.
National Endowment for the Arts Big Read visiting writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Alberto Urrea visits April 5-6 for a series of workshops and talks. From 2-5 p.m. April 5-6 he presents “The Theory and Practice of Trust,” a workshop in which students “explore the intuitive techniques of surrendering to story.” The fee is $85. Register by March 30. At 7 p.m. April 5 he does a public lecture, “The Writing Life.” At 6 p.m. April 6, he does a public reading of his work, “Universal Border.”
From 5-6:30 p.m. April 25 is a reception for the Student Art Showcase.
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. Wednesdays and Thursdays in March, Seldovia Village Tribe sponsors March Winter Wednesdays and Thursdays, complimentary admission days.
A new special exhibit, “The Living Tertiary,” curated by Homer geophysicist Geoff Coble, compares fossil remains beneath our feet to very similar contemporary plants nearby and around the world.
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 Pratt seeks summer high school interns. Local youth can earn money while learning interpretive work connected to Kachemak Bay’s natural history and cultural heritage. The internship is June 2-Aug. 1. For more information, call Ryjil Christianson, director of education, 235-8635, or email, education@prattmuseum.org. Apply by 5 p.m. Friday.
The museum holds a First Friday reception from 4-7 p.m. April 4 for the
Jubilee Student Art Showcase and “Key Ingredients: America By Food.”
Jubilee showcases local student art. “Key Ingredients” is the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition about how food and culture inform each other across America. Through a selection of artifacts, photographs, and illustrations, “Key Ingredients” examines the evolution of the American kitchen and how food industries have responded to the technological innovations that have enabled Americans to choose an ever-wider variety of frozen, prepared and fresh foods. “Key Ingredients” also looks beyond the home to restaurants, diners and celebrations that help build a sense of community through food. The exhibition addresses farming, table manners, history, markets and kitchen gadgets in a lively presentation creating conversations and inspiring community recollection and celebration.
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 “Spring Cleaning, Inside and Out, Part 2,” by Jenifer Dickson, certified nutritional therapist.
Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act coverage ends March 31. Enroll now to avoid a penalty. For help in applying, make an appointment with a certified application counselor by calling 226-2228.
South Peninsula Hospital
South Peninsula Hospital will offer walk-in services for enrollment in the healthcare insurance marketplace. This will be held at the hospital near the front desk registration offices from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 29. Appointments are encouraged but not required. To make an appointment, call Ronda at 235-0298 or Claire at 235-0354. If neither are available, please leave a message and someone will return your call to set up an appointment. Applicants will need their Social Security numbers (or document numbers for legal immigrants), estimated income information for 2014 for every member of the household who needs coverage, and an insurance plan number if they are currently insured by their employer. For more information, contact hospital registration at 235-0298 or to enroll over the telephone call Enroll Alaska toll free at 855-385-5550. The last day of open enrollment is March 31. Alaskans have until that date to get enrolled into health insurance to avoid a tax penalty.
