By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times Hope Correspondent
Hope Post Office to open soon
November 1, Doug Nielson of Nielson Construction, Inc. handed over the keys for the new Hope Post Office to the main Postal Service. With the contractor’s part finished, the Postal Service now will handle the mechanics of the move-in, i.e. move the current box locks to the new boxes, move and set up other postal equipment and declare the Post Office is operational at its new location at Logman and Palmer Creek Road. The locks from the old boxes are being moved to the new post office so everyone’s current postal keys will open the new boxes. No need for new keys. There will be notices posted shortly announcing the move to the new location. After things settle down, a grand opening is planned. It is very possible the new post office could be open before Thanksgiving.
Chugach Electric is busy in Hope and along the highway
Per Phil Steyer Director, Government Relations & Corporate Communications for Chugach Electrical Association they have prepared the site for the temporary generator, moved it into place and tested it. It is ready to go.
Crews have been at work cutting trees in what Chugach defines as Section 4 of the Hope line (milepost 10 to the town of Hope). This work is being accomplished with in FEMA-originated grant funds administered by the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Chugach successfully obtained $312,000 in grant funds to cut danger trees and clear the right of way to its permitted width in this area of the line. As of Oct. 18, Chugach had spent about half the funds and taken down 980 trees. This work is ongoing, and will continue this fall as long as conditions permit.
They have made significant progress on the project to construct about a mile of new line along the Hope Highway as part of a project to relocate the most troublesome portion of the line that feeds the Sunrise and Hope area. The new line will be built from near the DOT&PF maintenance facility (near the junction with the Seward Highway) and follow the Hope Highway to join with the existing line where it comes close to the road. Chugach has selected City Electric as its contractor and clearing began mind November. Chugach still expects to complete construction of this new section of the line by the end of the year. The efforts of Rep. Mike Hawker, Hope Inc. and others, helped to secure a $200,000 grant in the State capital budget to help with this approximately $500,000 to 700,000 project. The old section of line will be wrecked out next year.
Hope Library annual Christmas Bazaar
Saturday, Nov. 29 from noon to 4 p.m. is the date for the annual Library’s Christmas Bazaar to be held at the Hope School. Contact Susan Anderson 782-3311 to reserve a $10 table. Along with the bazaar, the afternoon will include a bake sale, there will be chili and soup for sale plus a bluegrass musical group will play seasonal music for everyone to enjoy. Volunteers are needed to help with the bake sale and food sales and baked goods are needed. Please let Susan Anderson know if you will be able to help.
The Hope Library book club is reading “Three Cups of Tea” and will discuss it at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20. Remember that the December book will be “The Story of Edgar Swatelle”. There are new books-on-tape, DVDs, books and videos along with Internet access, fax, or coping and the library is available for group meetings.
Hope/Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department’s annual meeting
The main item on the agenda for the Hope/Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department’s annual meeting is election of new officers. The meeting will be held Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Hope Fire Hall. All members of HSVFD are encouraged to attend this meeting.
Hope School’s next bake sale
The Hope School PTA will be sponsoring a bake sale to be held in the Post Office lobby Saturday, Nov. 22. If you would like to donate items to sell or volunteer to help with the bake sale, please call the school at 782-3202. The PTA kicked off their monthly “Movie Night” with “Kung Fu Panda” and will hold a “Movie Night” once a month for the rest of the school year. All residents are welcome to attend. Look for a poster showing the date and movie name for December.
November 12, a PTA meeting was held at the Hope School (it is not too late to pay your PTA membership dues. It is $10 for first member and $5.75 for each family member after that. All Hope residents are encouraged to be PTA members). Items reported at the meeting included that the first bake sale raised $90. The students in grades 6-8 are now attending swimming lessons at the Prince Hotel in Girdwood. Bobbi Mumm is the instructor. The PTA is hoping to sponsor ski and/or snowboard lessons in January at Alyeska and all students will be included in those lessons.
The Hope School recently received a $600 cultural excursion grant from the Rasmuson Foundation, which is administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. The high school students will use part of the funds as they take oil painting lessons in December with local oil artist Scott Sherritt.
The biggest fund raiser of the year is the school’s annual “Auction Night.” The date has been set for Saturday, March 7. There will be four different types of auctions held that night. Anyone wishing to donate items for the auctions please contact Gina Motoyama at the Hope School.
A huge thank you is extended to the Whittier School for including Hope players Steven Finger and Clayton Davidson on their basketball team. The two boys travel to Whittier for basketball practice beginning December 1 and their first game will be December 12. The next Hope School PTA meeting is scheduled for January 13 at 3:15 p.m. at the school.
Free breakfast each Wednesday at Hope Christian Church
The doors open at 8 a.m. each Wednesday morning and breakfast is served until 10 a.m. All are welcome to come. Following breakfast, the Hope Christian Church Food Bank is open Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Any folks needing to take advantage of the food pantry, outside the regular hours, please contact Burgins at 782-1002.