Mt Baldy and Pt. Hope seen from Hope.
Fayrene Sherritt/ Turnagain Times photo
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Fayrene Sherritt/ Turnagain Times photo |
On Jan. 17 after a courageous battle with lung cancer, lifetime resident Ray DeFrance passed away. His older sister Ramona Moore shared that Ray was easy going from the time he was born. As a child he was always by his father’s side and riding on the equipment all the while learning the skills of operating heavy equipment which would later be his own occupation. Ray was very good in school, an easy learner when others had to study, Ray already had it.
Ray always loved babies and animals reported his wife Valerie while his sister added that horses gave him great pleasure and enjoyment. He always carried a sugar cube in his pocket. Around Hope you could always recognizes Ray with his black hat, blue shirt and blue jeans. Ray gave so much to the community of Hope with the many volunteer hours that he gave to many activities, plus to the Hope EMS and the Hope Fire Department. If someone needed a hand, Ray was always there and willing to help. He will be so greatly missed, not only by his loving family, but also by all those that knew him.
There will be a meeting held mid February with all parties involved with the powerline into Hope. It will be well posted once the final date has been set and all Hope residents will be welcome to attend this meeting. Some of the parties who will be attending include representatives from Chugach Electric, the new district ranger from the Chugach National Forest Service and others.
Chugach Electric is working hard to get the community back on their regular grid and off the generator as it is costing more than $3000 per day to operate the generator. This change may have already happened by the time the paper is published or will happen very shortly thereafter.
The complicated problems of providing electrical power to Hope will need some very serious decisions and it will be very expensive to make these changes to the powerline. The meeting in mid February will be a discussion on the best way to make this happen and also if relocation of the powerline can be done. Some of the powerline is located in very difficult locations for maintenance and repairs while most of the line is compromised by the narrow cleared right-a-way which allows beatle killed spruce trees outside the right-a-way to fall across the powerline causing power outages.
The Hope School’s annual fundraiser, a Silent Auction, will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16 at the Hope School. Along with the Silent Auction, there will be the very popular Chinese Auction and Balloon Extravaganza. The cost for each balloon is $5 with a limit of two per person. If any balloons are left over they will then be sold to those who would like to purchase them.
Again this year Dennis Samut donated $400 to the PTA to purchase four $100 gift certificates. Other items include: 100 gallons of fuel oil from Shoreside Petroleum, 100 gallons of propane from Suburban Propane (both were very hot items last year), another hot item was the donation from Alaska Railroad for two railroad tickets to Denali, half-day fishing trip with Angle 45, REI is donating two good backpacks and a $100 computer map program, Diane Olthuis donated a one-year pass to the Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage (was Big Game Alaska), a $100 gift certificate to Allure Day Spa and the list of auctions items goes on. There will be dessert and punch served. The goal is to raise enough funds to make a trip to Fairbanks for the all-student school spring field trip.
This school year, high school students Brittani Motoyama and Stephen Finger are making the trip over to Whittier to play basketball with the Whittler’s school basketball team. They are having a ball being a part of the Whittler’s team. Special thanks to Coach Jeremy for his help in making this happen.
February 10 will be Bowman’s Bear Creek’s Valentine’s Dinner. The reservation will include dinner and a sleigh ride. Call 782-3141 for more information or to make reservations as this event has been sold out. Tito’s Discover Café will do their Valentine’s Dinner on Sunday Feb. 11 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The dinner will include Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Crab Cakes, Prime Rib with twice baked potatoes, fresh veggies and homemade to-die-for chocolate cake with homemade chocolate Kahlua ice cream or raspberry swirl cheesecake. Reservations are recommended too.
Hope-Sunrise Neighbor-hood Development Assoc-iation has been meeting on the first Thursday of each month. Twenty-one potential projects to achieve this goal have been identified. The proposals ranged from generation of more affordable and reliable power from wind generation, hydropower and bio-oil to creation of a town square/community center with public toilets, shower facilities and parking to prevent the sanitation problems that we experienced last summer due to a large, unexpected, influx of tourists. A complete list of possible projects is available at both the Hope Library and the Post Office. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Be sure to be there to help decide the future direction of Hope and Sunrise. If you don’t contribute you can’t complain!”
The Hope/Sunrise Advis-ory Planning Commission will hold their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Hope School. Community participation is always appreciated at the meetings. Meeting minutes are posted at the Dacha Store, Hope Library, Discovery Cafe, and the Hope Post Office. The next meeting will be held March 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hope School.
Hope Inc. met Jan. 27 at Hope Social Hall. There was not a quorum present so no motions were made. President Jim Skogstad report that he has been in contact with Wilder Construction to see if three to four concrete guard barriers would be available. They would be used to block off the end of Main Street where visitors have been parking and/or camping on the private property that extends beyond the end of Main Street. There would be a cable stretched between the barriers with signage advising that there is no parking/camping allowed in this area. This will help to eliminate continued damage to the mud flats and to stop the unauthorized campfires that are occurring more and more each summer.
President Skogstad also reported on the property being purchased from University of Alaska. A new person at the University was recently assigned to handle the two lots Hope, Inc. is planning to buy. It is expected that the lot across from the Hope Social Hall will be available for purchase by mid-summer.
He also reported on the Social Hall property where there is still another step needed before the purchase can be made. The lot needs the removal of a “municipality reserve” on the lot before it can be released to the State of Alaska, then to the Borough and then to the University of Alaska. This will take more time before Hope, Inc. can purchase the Social Hall lot. The monies given to Hope, Inc. for this purchase needs to be spent by 2009. It is expected that the land transfer to Hope, Inc. will be completed before the end of this grant timeline.
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 8:30 a.m. for coffee, with breakfast served from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Both cafes are closed for breakfast on Wednesdays.
The Food Bank pantry provides basic food provisions to those members of our community that may have a need. The food bank is open after breakfast to 11 a.m. Those folks needing to take advantage of the food pantry outside the regular hours listed above please contact either Tom Burgin (350-1318) or Joyce Burgin (830-5307). If you are in need, please utilize this free service.