Isn’t it fun living in a small town? You may have heard by now the rumors around town that there will be a fire-breathing dragon at the Homer Winter Carnival opening ceremonies. Lol. Not true. Well, sort of true. You’ll have to come to Karen Hornaday Park Friday night — that’s Feb. 7 — to find out our little surprise. For a hint check out the collectible buttons now showing up near cash registers all over Homer. Look for the “Fractal Mic” button.
It is also time to announce that there are more than $1,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded to “Button Buyers.” We have already put into circulation three buttons that will win you, the buyer, a $100 prize package. Each prize package is different and could be a dinner for two, a spa treatment, a night out at a local B&B or hotel, a fishing outing, or maybe $100 cash. You will not be able to identify which buttons are winners, but we’ll give you some hints: One of the blue “Outhouse race” buttons is a $100 winner.
Also, at the end of the carnival we will award a prize package valued at well over $500 to the person who assembles the most complete button collection.
It is important to understand why we encourage everyone in Homer to buy at least a few buttons. Every dollar you invest in buttons will go to support the Homer Winter Carnival and at least one of the affiliated nonprofits (determined by who you buy your button from).
One more fun piece of news before we sign off for this week: Although other communities also have outhouse races, we can pretty much guarantee that our own end-of-the-road gang will dazzle and confuse — and re-dazzle — the spectators beginning even before they reach the start line, and culminating with our own Homer version of Ed Sullivan calling the actual race runs.
The HWC begins Thursday, Feb. 6 with the Mr. Homer Pageant, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 9, at the final awards bash. We hope to see everyone there.
Dax Radtke is a member of the Homer Winter Carnival Committee. For more information on how you can become involved in the carnival, call him at 299-0319, Genny (Lyda) Miller at 299-0397 or Dean Miller at 299-4771.
