Don’t forget to vote!

June 11 is the deadline for a postmark on the Special Primary Ballot. All areas outside of Anchorage send mail to Anchorage to be postmarked. Larger areas like Kenai send two trucks daily to Anchorage, so if we drop our ballot in the mail in Kenai on June 11, there is a good chance it will be postmarked in time once it gets to Anchorage, unless there are fluke roadblocks, fires, or avalanches.

There really is no guarantee that it will arrive in Anchorage for a postmark by that day, the next day or a few days later, especially if the ballot is mailed from one of the many remote villages or in a location where the post office requires an airplane and good weather to pick up the mail. Everyone should be encouraged to mail their ballot no later than June 4 or go to your local post office to have it postmarked at the counter. Warn your friends in remote areas. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and counted.

Cathleen Rolph, League of Women Voters Central Kenai Peninsula, Kenai Peninsula Votes

Thanks for scholarships

I was honored to receive a scholarship from the Homer Foundation to allow me to study mechanical engineering at Colorado State University. This scholarship is about “reaching for the stars,” and although they have felt out of reach many times in my life, receiving the Diane Wambach Shoot for the Stars Scholarship has helped shine brightness on my future. It is a very personal scholarship for me because it honors a mother who wanted children to shoot for the stars and my mother inspired me to do that as well. I appreciate the dedicated community members at the Homer Foundation that take their time to review applications and support local scholarships for students.

I would like to thank the community, agencies and educators that have encouraged my interests and nurtured my desire to be the first in my family to attend college. I have promised myself that I will someday return that dedication and assist others who have made this achievement possible.

Thank you, Homer.

The Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club has offered support for the community of Homer for many years and I am grateful to be the recipient of their academic scholarship. I would like to thank them for their time involved in offering scholarships. I am going to Colorado State University in the fall to study mechanical engineering, but I plan on obtaining my life lessons from the mentors I have had in this community. Members such as those in the Rotary Club have offered me guidance and support and made the dream of college possible. I have learned the importance of giving back to the community and this scholarship has helped significantly with the financial burden of college.

Thank you for investing in my future.

Tyson Walker

More appreciation to Rotary

I would like to thank the Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club for their generous scholarship of $1,000. My name is Joshua Rudy, and I just graduated from Homer High School. I will be attending the Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward, Alaska, to pursue my career in welding.

Thank you, Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club for helping have the opportunity to make my goal a reality.

Joshua Rudy

Reasons to ‘vote Blue’

I wonder why Sen. Ted Cruz and several other Republicans block reasonable gun restrictions such as the ban of assault weapons from becoming law? Could it be the National Rifle Association cash filling their pockets?

• Another reason to vote Blue.

Another horrific school shooting, this time in Texas. Could there by more reason for Republican senators to do the right thing and pass reasonable restrictive gun laws? I hope I’m wrong, but don’t bet on them doing the right thing.

• Another reason to vote Blue.

Gun manufactureres and the NRA are easy sources of cash for the Right.

• Another reason to vote Blue.

Because of Republican opposition to reasonable, restrictive gun laws, we as a nation are the owners of more than 200 mass shootings in 2022.

• Another reason to vote Blue.

Republicans have shown by Red states ruling on abortion how concerned they are about fetuses. However, when this fetus through the birth process becomes a woman and child, and eventually a student somewhere, then their concern is lacking due to their opposition to reasonable gun laws and also total disregard for women’s rights.

• Another reason to vote Blue.

D. Stanfield

An American or UnAmerican flag?

I was walking to my vehicle on the Spit today, minding my own business and feeling good about spring when I saw a truck flying a couple flags off the back of their pickup. One of them said, “F*** Biden and F*** all those who voted for him.” My mood immediately changed and I held up my hand in a gesture of “why” to the departing pickup. Then I had to quell my impulse to anger and urge to react by catching up and saying something smart like, “You don’t have the gonads to f*** everyone who voted for Biden,” which would have been exactly the wrong thing to do.

I was still stewing as I drove off the Spit and through town and started noticing more American flags along the roadside. “Holy smokes,” I thought, “a White Supremasist Convention has come to our town,” Then I realized it was Memorial Day and I thought what the fallen soldiers who fought under our flag might think of the slogan I saw associated with our flag.

The American Flag has long been used to express symbolism of patriotism and protest. Freedom of speech, granted by the First Amendment has allowed individuals to express themselves in many ways, including flying the flag upside down and even burning it. But somehow seeing the flag associated with broadcasting hate speech and division seems a far greater desecration.

I am troubled by my first reactions to seeing that slogan. Confrontation would not lead to a healthy outcome for anyone. And those individuals who are expressing this sentiment are doing so for their own reasons. I hope it is possible we can come to understand each other and at least learn to communicate in a respectful and civil manner.

Steve Hughes

Grateful for scholarships

I am a recent 2022 graduate of Homer High School. I have the honor of receiving the Kachemak Medical Group and Beluga Tail Nonfiction Writing scholarships. They will fund my college education at the University of Vermont.

The Homer Foundation’s dedication to giving Homer graduates the tools to pursue college represents my childhood in Homer. My love to learn and desire to pursue new experiences was always encouraged. Whether it was running a girls technology camp or learning to play guitar, mentors in Homer have been there for me in every venture. The unique way Homer motivates every individual is something I hope to one day master.

The generous donors that provide the scholarships I received are examples of who I hope to become as a future college graduate. The Kachemak Medical Group features a selfless profession that can be a true tool of social equity. The Beluga Tail scholarship showcases the imagination, creativity, and empathy I will utilize in working to solve some of the world’s problems. These scholarships have already motivated me in incredible ways.

I am incredibly thankful to be supported financially, intellectually, and personally by the Homer Foundation.

Thank you.

Olivia Glasman

More thanks to Homer Foundation

Dear editor,

Today I write to thank the Homer Foundation and all its donors for granting me a Nonfiction Writing scholarship of $3,000 to be used in my pursuit of a theater major in college. My choice of college is the University of Victoria in British Columbia. I have no doubts that this journey will prove challenging in ways that I haven’t thought of, and with such a large shift in culture and location, I feel it’s of the utmost importance to thank those who have helped start my college career.

I was born and raised in Homer. I have spent 18 years learning and partaking in the generosity of our community. This town has supported my endeavors in performing from the first day I stepped onto a stage, and now they have given me the ability to advance into the next chapter of my life. I am honored to have received this support in my dream to perform in theaters across the world. I will never forget the kindness of this small seaside town and the generosity of these wonderful people. I am proud to have grown up in a place where people’s compassion for the goals of students is so spectacular.

Thank you!

Liam James

Thanks to Rotary, Homer Foundation for scholarships

The Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club subscribes to the motto of “service above self,” and through their generous academic scholarship I hope that I can eventually help others as well. I am attending Colorado State University in the fall and majoring in health, nutrition and exercise science with a focus on sports medicine. I appreciate the Rotary members who offered their time and commitment to fund and support scholarships, and I am honored to be chosen to receive their scholarship. In return, I hope, that in the future, my education will benefit and serve the community of Homer and I can pay it forward to those coaches, educators and community members that inspired me to pursue a college education.

I also want to thank the Homer Foundation for offering me a solid foundation to pursue my studies in sports medicine at Colorado State University. I received three scholarships that were created for students and managed through the Homer Foundation. The Drew Scalzi Memorial Maritime scholarship is a scholarship that supports a student coming from a fishing family. I have been fishing on our family boat since fourth grade and while picking fish from nets I dreamt of someday being able to support my family in the off season through my love of sports. My time in sports inspired me to want to help others through education in nutrition and exercise science and I have been fortunate to receive the Nikki Geragotelis (Fry) Memorial Scholarship. This was kindly donated by her family to honor her team spirit and athleticism.

I hope that as I attend college, I will be honoring her as I help students pursue their goals on team sports. She was recognized as hardworking, reliable and a positive person and I will aspire to carry those qualities forward for her. The Health Care Providers Scholarship generously offered to me will allow me to focus on sports medicine while attending college. I am honored that the community members involved in supporting this scholarship offered it to me. I hope to return to Homer and be able to assist providers as they support athletes. To attend college would be very difficult without this level of financial support and I truly appreciate the benevolent members of our community who have helped me on this journey.

Kapitolina Reutov