Thanks to Schroer fund for support
I would like to thank the Homer Foundation and the David & Mary Schroer grant for supporting Homer High School’s positive behavior program. With these funds we were able to continue our positive referral program to celebrate students who are doing good and our positive behavior intervention system to support wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands. We have been able to rewards students for volunteering to tutor a struggling student, standing up for a student who was being picked on, volunteering to clean the ceramics room, exhibited positive leadership in class and cleaning up after someone else’s mess.
We were also able to support over 100 students who followed the HHS mitigation plan with fun and exciting gifts.
Thanks for supporting HHS.
Sincerely,
Douglas Waclawski, Principal, Homer High School
Second Star venue, more news
Second Star creators, Andrea and Gene Anaya, built on and around a mighty timber frame manse built for Ron and Susan Drathman in 1983. It was “mighty” in the sense of pegged together 12×12 posts and 12×18 beams, and in space (7,200 square feet), as well as in cost. About $1 million in today’s dollars, including the 2 1/2 acre lot. The timing as oil prices crashed to $8/barrel led to the failure of the financing bank, and the Drathman’s gave up their home.
The next owner was the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Unoccupied without maintenance, and not always heated for years, the FDIC eventually sold it for 10 cents on the dollar to John and Frances Schwartz who rescued the place. They repaired and added a large dormer and shop. As I write this on Memorial Day, I think of John, retired Marine Tech Sergeant of two wars, serving in WWII and recalled for Korea. He brought the house back to life. From the shores of Guadalcanal to Kachemak Bay, he was a great do-er. As his strength failed him at length, he sold the home to Sharon and Tim Minsch, who kept it very well.
In 2008, they sold to the Anayas. Sharon linked the Anaya’s architects to me, and we scanned the large paper drawings done in my carpentry shop and provided the plans and specifications on which we had built “DrathmanLand” (as we called it). More than doubled in size, the venue now known as ‘Second Star’ was enlarged for Anayas by Beachy Construction with some very skilled and excellent craftsmen and women, for an estimated $4 million in 2010 dollars. Inflation being what it is, $1,000 back in ‘83 is worth only $360 now in 2021. The original post-and-beam is now for sale, looking for a sixth owner who will find intact the tyrannosaurus scale timberwork inside done a third of a long century ago for the Drathmans.
Larry Smith, old bull Kachemak carpenter
Scholarship helps recent graduate
I would like to thank the Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club for awarding me a generous scholarship which will allow me to continue my education next year at the California State University – Maritime Academy where I will pursue a Bachelor’s of Science in Marine Transportation. During the 18 years I have spent living in Homer, on the shores of Kachemak Bay and in Bristol Bay, life on the water and boats have been an important part of my life – riding skiffs across the Bay, sport fishing, commercial fishing and even watching the various tankers, tug boats and landing craft navigate the waters around Homer to safely unload cargo. I am eager to combine my hands-on experience with the academic knowledge I will gain at Cal Maritime to pursue a career in Alaska’s marine industry. The scholarship awarded to me by the Kachemak Rotary Club will allow me to participate in summer training trips and internship programs, both essential building blocks for success.
Owen Glasman, recent Homer High School graduate
Drivers, watch where you’re going
Hi Everyone,
My housemate was walking his bike on Sunday, May 23, through the Cosmic Thai Kitchen about 7 p.m. He was caught unawares by a woman talking on her cell phone who backed into him. He threw the bike aside and banged on the rear of the car with his hands and then fell again on his hands. The woman was heard to say into the phone, “I just hit someone,” and then she sped away. Neither the observer that stopped to help or my housemate got a look at the woman or car.
His hands will heal, but it put another crack in my heart. I know this town is filled with wonderful people because they fed and soothed us for five-and-a-half months when we were wounded to the core and are still doing so. We hope this woman and the one she was talking to were from out of state. I can’t imagine an Alaskan doing that, especially not a Homerite.
Shame on you woman. Put your cell phones down and watch where you are going, but mostly be responsible for your actions. People we love are out there.
Thanks for listening,
Sara Berg (Duffy’s Mom)
Be courteous to pedestrians
I was almost run over recently by a woman backing up her car as she was talking on the phone. Evidently, she didn’t bother to look in her rear view mirror. Instances like that happen everywhere and worldwide.
The worst is when drivers pull up to an intersection and don’t look both ways. Most of us as children are told to look both ways before crossing the street. Those white dashes painted on some streets indicate pedestrian crossings. When you see someone at said crossings, please be courteous and let them proceed. It’s the law in many places globally — it should be, anyway.
As summer nears and more vehicles and people biking or on a walk show up, follow the rules and be safe. Oh yeah: Don’t litter as well.
Wes Schacht, Fritz Creek
Thank you to the Homer Foundation
I would like to thank the Homer Foundation and the Beluga Tails Scholarship Committee for awarding me the generous Beluga Tails Non Fiction Writing Scholarship for $3,000. I will be using this money to help with the funding of my education at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine.
Zoe Stonorov, recent Homer High School graduate
A grateful grad
Homer has been so good to me. I’ve attended great schools (McNeil Canyon, Homer Middle, Homer High) and have had fantastic teachers and coaches. Now heading off to the University of Utah to continue swimming and to study elementary education, I’ve had the additional fortune of being awarded several scholarships from generous local organizations that will go a long way in helping my family and me pay for college.
Thank you to everyone who supports Homer’s youth and especially to the following organizations for their scholarship awards: Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club, Homer Elks Club, Bill and Liz Johnson Teacher Education Fund (c/o Homer Foundation), Homer Emblem Club, Kachemak Bay Lions Club, McNeil Canyon Elementary Community Council.
Thank you!
Madison Story, HHS Class of 2021
Inflation rising
Dear Editor,
Everyone’s paycheck is 3.1% smaller this year than it was last year due to inflation. Inflation is now at a 29-year-high and Joe Biden has plans that will make it even worse. On Friday, the Biden administration released a radical $6 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2022, which will be the largest budget ever passed, both as a percentage of GDP and in absolute terms. It also has the largest deficit of any budget ever. As unbelievable as that is, it gets even worse. To pay for this insane budget, Biden includes massive increases in income taxes for low and middle-income Americans, retroactive capital gains tax increases, and will attempt a bizarre monetary trick called “Monetizing the Debt,” which will lead to runaway inflation. This will dramatically raise the cost of all goods and services, hurting those that can least afford it. Unfortunately, inflation is the cruelest and sneakiest of all “taxes” as it is regressive and causes the greatest harm to people in entry-level jobs, those that are retired or are on a fixed income. I encourage everyone in Homer concerned about this bloated budget proposal to voice their opinion to our congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., but you better do it soon before the Biden administration spends us all into poverty.
Respectfully,
Greg Sarber
