Another great year for Homer Highland Games
Rain could not deter 38 competitors from having a great time at the 13th annual Kachemak Bay Highland Games.
I would like to thank our sponsors: NOMAR, Ocean Shores Resort, The Grog Shop, Flat Fish B & B, Alaska Communications, Global FCU and Grace Ridge Brewery.
Without community involvement, events such as ours could not happen. We live in a great community. Thanks to the City of Homer for allowing us to use a great venue, Karen Hornaday Park.
We had support from the Alaska Scottish Club and The Scottish American Athletic Association Northern Rockies Judge Group. I thank all the spectators who came out on a cloudy, wet Saturday to cheer on athletes and a big thank you to the folks who live and traveled to Homer to entertain us competing in true Scottish Heavy Events.
Lets do it again next year,
Robert Archibald
President Kachemak Bay Scottish Club
Homer veterans tour thanks community
I would like to thank everyone in Homer for an amazing experience for our very first Homer for Heroes: Veterans History Project Tour from June 23 to 27.
Our VIP guest veteran and his family said it was one of their life’s best tours and experiences.
First thanks goes to Angel Whitney and American Legion Post 29 in Anchorage who raised money for the tour. This could not have been done without her work and support.
Our thanks to Homer:
Bear Creek Winery for the breathtaking accommodations and customer service for our group; Beluga Air for the incredible complimentary flight to Grewingk Glacier for our veteran and family; Seabird Ventures for the amazing water taxi tour to Gull Island; Alaska Bus Company for the donated and enjoyable seats from Anchorage to Homer and back for our veteran and family; Paula and American Legion Post 16 for the 100% perfect seafood pasta and 100% heartfelt birthday party for our veteran; Alaska Coastal Studies Center and Wynne Nature Center for the knowledgeable and delightful nature walk; George Hall and the Homer Elks Club and their wonderful support of veteran’s oral history work; The Kilcher Homestead for the incredible work for veterans and history in the Homer community; Good Karma Inn for your incredible friendship and hospitality; Emilie Springer and the Homer News for your support of our tour since the planning stages last spring.
I hope to continue providing future veterans and warriors tours and oral history work with the Veterans History Project with the people of Homer, Alaska.
Thank you so much for your hospitality and love for our veterans.
In best regards,
Brad E Schmitz
Anchorage
Peony Gardens Beautification Fund is blooming!
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the community members who donated items to our Community Sale held at Grace Ridge Brewing. Your generosity is deeply appreciated.
Special thanks to Ulmer’s Drug & Ace Hardware for providing the soil, Wagon Wheel Garden and Pet for the large planters, and Baycrest Greenhouse for the plants and planting of all the flower pots. Your contributions have truly brightened our community.
A big shoutout to the wonderful volunteers who made this possible: the lovely ladies in peony aprons and the two willing men who tirelessly hauled and re-hauled the items and tables.
Of course, no sale is successful without all the shoppers, and we had generous shoppers indeed. Thank you, Homer, for your incredible support!
With gratitude, Peony Celebration Task Force and Helpers,
Mina Gherman
Marketing Director
Homer Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
Parks and Recreation facilities undergoing upgrades
Summer in Homer bustles with fun! Much of this fun takes place in Homer’s parks and recreation facilities. We’re working hard to make these places cleaner, brighter and more accessible:
Much of the playground equipment at Karen Hornaday Park has been repaired or replaced. Check out the new diggers in the sand pit!
The little park at the end of Bartlett Street is being revamped to make it more open and park-like.
New portable restrooms with yes, flush toilets, are coming soon to Karen Hornaday Park and Jack Gist Park.
Water and sewer lines have been installed to Bishop’s Beach Park, paving the way for flush toilets.
New playground equipment has been ordered for Bayview Park. Thanks to the Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club for helping us buy that fun stuff.
You can now register for recreational events and pavilion use online.
We are grateful the city council has recently appropriated funding for renovations, additional staffing and to make progress on a community recreation center. Thank you for that! More work is needed. Parks and Recreation will need a source of consistent, predictable funding in the future to make our parks and recreational facilities the assets Homer wants and needs.
Homer Parks Art Recreation & Culture Advisory Commission
Thank you to the Daisy Lee Bitter Marine & Coastal Education Fund
Homer Wilderness Leaders (HoWL) wants to thank the Daisy Lee Bitter Marine & Coastal Education Fund and the Homer Foundation for supporting our organization in diversifying the outdoor activities we are able to offer for youth. HoWL is a local nonprofit that works to empower young leaders through outdoor, experiential education. By providing fun and dynamic expeditions for youth in Alaska, we hope to foster adventurers who engage in the outdoors with confidence, competence, and care.
Thanks to the Daisy Lee Bitter Marine & Coastal Education Fund grant awarded by the Homer Foundation this spring, HoWL was able to purchase new gear necessary for teaching a wider range of activities and outdoors skills. HoWL can now facilitate multiday kayak expeditions, use kayaks as a mode of transportation between disconnected trail systems, travel into remote areas with unknown or no water sources, camp in adverse weather conditions on cold terrain, and teach youth about advanced rope systems and rock-climbing skills. The ability to incorporate these activities into programs allows HoWL to envision outdoor expeditions for Alaskan youth that are creative, explore new spaces, and engage new and returning HoWLers alike.
Thank you for helping HoWL encourage youth to learn new skills, challenge themselves, and explore the outdoors!
Molly Mitchell
HoWL program director, and the HoWL board of directors
Dear Editor,
Did you notice the difference between two candidates campaigning for your vote in the Fourth of July parade?
Sarah Vance four-wheeled down Pioneer Avenue while Brent Johnson jogged down the street shaking people’s hands and addressing constituents he had met earlier that day by name.
Brent, who has led the Kenai Borough Assembly for a decade, shows that listening and getting things done marks his style.
If Sarah would get off her high horse and self-anointed appointment to bring God into government, if she would just patch the potholes, we’d all be better.
Gordy Vernon
Homer
