By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
This fall, with the warmer weather and even perhaps due to the lack of snow, Hope has had several brown bears that have stuck around the community. They have been destroying apple trees, berry bushes and even some of the Mountain Ash. Several apple trees lost major branches while one apple tree was totally broken off about two feet off the ground. Many of these apple trees are older and hopefully have not been damaged to the point of not bearing fruit next summer.
Hope has had apple trees since the early 1900’s when Alaska’s first apple tree was brought to Hope by gold miners. The apple tree was located behind the mercantile store (now the Sea View Café) on Main Street. That apple tree died from salty water in the 1964 earthquake when high water caused the Turnagain Arm to flood the main part of Hope.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, Nov. 29 noon to 4 p.m. as this 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. There are several copies of the book and anyone who would enjoy discussing the book is most welcome to attend. 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.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly sponsored a community meeting Oct.18 to identify the community’s capital project priorities. The Borough Assembly is in the process of developing its 2009 Capital Project Priorities List for the upcoming legislative session. The Assembly has agreed to include in this list a maximum of two capital project requests from each of the unincorporated communities in the Borough.
Borough Assembly Member Ron Long chaired the Hope community meeting held at the Hope Social Hall. Along with Mr. Long, Bonnie Golden-Grants Manager for KPB and Shellie Morgan-Deputy Borough Clerk came to visit with the Hope residents. The meeting was conducted as an informal roundtable discussion and lasted approximately one hour. After discussing the projects submitted in previous years, the Resurrection Creek Road improvements and the need for a new community center were submitted as the two projects that the community would most like to see funded.
Bonnie Golden, KPB Grant Manager discussed an additional $20,000 grant available to Hope for 2009. This grant, unlike the grants secured by State Representative Mike Hawker, is part of a grant given to the KPB to be divided among the 10 unincorporated communities in the Borough. Each community will need to submit a request for a breakdown of projects that the communities decide to use the funds for. The monies can be used for both Capitol improvements as well as for operational needs i.e. fuel and electric costs.
The current board for Hope, Inc. was re-elected for another one-year term. Shawn Butler was elected President, Greg Kaser Vice President and Rocelle Morris Secretary/Treasurer. A motion was passed to have a mail-out ballot to change the day of the week for the Hope, Inc. meetings. Those residents who have expressed their interest in being members of Hope, Inc will receive a ballot shortly.
The 50-year anniversary celebration events were discussed. January 3 will be the big kick off. The community is planning a potluck, bonfire and a fireworks display for that night. More on these events will be given at a later date. The Kenai Borough is doing a “passport stamp” booklet for the tourists. There will be several locations where these books will be stamped. The Hope Museum will be one of the locations.
There was discussion to possibly plan a winter event similar to the summer Wagon Trail weekend as a way to generate more wintertime interest in Hope. A Nordic ski event was one of the main ideas. Anyone interested in helping put on such an event, please contact Shawn Butler.
The Hope School received a $600 cultural excursion grant from the Rasmuson Foundation, which is administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. This grant covers the cost of transportation and admission fees for students to attend arts and cultural events or visit arts and cultural venues. The first excursion the Hope students enjoyed was a trip to the Performing Arts Center to see an exciting performance by the Anchorage Concert Chorus entitled “Young at Heart.”
Recently the School students ventured out to Girdwood to get creative in Leola Rutherford’s pottery studio. Leola held two workshops for the students, teaching them how to use the pottery wheel to throw bowls or vases. Everyone had the chance to create a funny face cup, candy dish, cookie jar, and bowl. Thank you Leola for leading such fun workshops!
The Hope School PTA will be sponsoring two bake sales at the post office this month, Nov. 8 and 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 is also sponsoring “Movie Night” Friday November 14 at 7. The movie is “Kung Fu Panda” and everyone is welcome to attend.
At 3:15 pm Wednesday, November 12 at the Hope School everyone is invited to the next PTA meeting. 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.
Doors open at 8 a.m. each Wednesday morning for a free breakfast at the Hope Christian Church 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.