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Fayrenne Sherritt/Turnagain Times |
By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
On Nov. 23 Susan Anderson was totally surprised by a huge retirement party. After working for Tito’s Discovery Café for 30 years, Susan retired. She plans to volunteer even more time at the Hope Library and Gift shop. Her last day of work was late September. Susan and her husband Larry took the whole month of October to travel around New Mexico. When a party didn’t happen before she left or when she got home, she had decided that there wasn’t going to be a party... which she couldn’t believe but had decided it was okay.
To get her to the party, Fayrene just showed up at her house and told her to put on something nice “we were doing a lady’s night out.” Once in the car, She was blindfolded so she didn’t know where she was going or how the Social Hall was decorated or to see all the people waiting to celebrate with her.
Everyone was very quiet. What a shock it was when the blindfold came off. There were over 100 folks waiting and the Social Hall has never looked so pretty. The community raised enough money to buy a ticket to Italy, a place she has wanted to visit. Then Hank and Tito gave her a nice retirement check from the café.
It was a night of laughter and tears. What was really special was that no one, not anyone, let the cat out of the bag. Susan didn’t have a clue there was a party planned. The planning had started in August and everyone knew about it including all the kids. It will be a long time before that party is topped... or folks quit talking about it. Pictures from the party are on display at Tito’s. Thanks to everyone, the party was a huge success.
Hope’s very popular annual Christmas Potluck will be held at the Hope Social Hall Saturday December 22. Everyone is invited to bring a dish. Please plan to arrive at 5:30 and dinner will begin at 6. Along with Christmas carols and music, there will be a visit from Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus this year. All are welcome!
The Hope School students presented “Tangled in the Tinsel” written by Martha Bolton, a Christmas program of short skits on Dec. 13. A bake sale and book sale followed the program.
As folks were leaving, Principal Ken Halverson passed out a bulletin announcing a Public Meeting to be held on Wednesday, January 9 to gather information, plus a projected student count for the 2008-2009 year, to be presented to the Kenai Borough School Board.
Due to a drop earlier this fall in the number of students attending the Hope School, information will be presented to the Board Jan. 14 regarding the pros and cons of keeping the Hope School open beyond this school year. A School Board decision regarding the status of the school could be forthcoming as early as a scheduled meeting in February 2008. This fall the Hope School lost State funding and currently the School District is paying the full operating costs of $235,000 needed to keep the Hope School open.
The staff and students are excited to announce that their annual Silent Auction Fundraiser will be held March 8 at the school. Traditionally this even has been their biggest fundraiser and has always generated lots of community interested and participation. Please consider contributing an item for the silent auction. All the proceeds will go directly to the PTA and ultimately to the students through sponsoring students on field trips, purchasing supplies, healthy snacks and other class materials. Please contact Angie Motoyama at 782-3202.
Dec. 13, Hope Inc. held a town meeting. The newly elected officers presented reports on the status of the Hawker Grants and gathered information regarding projects that residents would like to see done under these grants. Vice President Greg Kaser will be project manager of the grants and Secretary/Treasurer Rochelle Morris will manage the grants. Any one with ideas regarding the projects or a willingness to help in this process, please call Greg at 782-1055. A list of all projects reviewed, and the estimated cost for each project, will be available at the next Hope Inc. meeting.
A vote was also taken for the division of funds from the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s $20,000 MEAP grant. These amounts will be given to the KPB grant manager who will continue the process that is still needed before the funds can be released for the projects, or be released to the non-profits requesting the funding. The monies should be available late February or early March.
President Shawn Butler is looking into the possibility of getting personal anti-bear trash cans for residents. A Cooper Landing group is working on a grant to help offset the cost for each trash can. It may be possible that Hope residents will be able to get this same trash can at an affordable cost under this grant.
The problem with the number of loose dogs in the community was discussed. A general request was made that Hope’s pet owners keep a closer watch over their pets. It is getting very close to being a very serious problem with the number of dogs allowed to run loose in our community.
Wednesday morning breakfast, at the Hope Christian Church, provides a free breakfast to anyone in our community who would like to attend. Doors of the church will open every Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m for coffee and breakfast is served to 10 a.m. All are welcome to come.
The 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 either Tom Burgin (350-1318) or Joyce Burgin (830-5307). If you are in need of food, you are encouraged to utilize this free service.