Photo courtesy of Michael Durrant
During Boating Safety Day at Seward High School, Hope School students prove that Hope does indeed float.
By Bianca Durrant
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
Is it Memorial Day weekend yet? Sheesh, it's starting to feel like walking in Turnagain Arm mud around here, with everyone darting to and fro in preparation for opening the town up for the summer. It was the great astronomer Carl Sagan who said, “In order to prepare apple pie from scratch, one must first invent the universe.” We hear you Carl.
Massive Wind Storm Blows Through Hope
The evening of May 11 brought a short and fierce windstorm through the Hope valley. Residents who found themselves outside at the time the windstorm landed were suddenly thrust into a dramatic scene as the large gusts took down trees, greenhouses, and stirred up yard detritus. One resident was tagged in the back of his legs by a flying piece of plywood! Luckily, no homes were seen flying in the sky towards Oz.
Community Garden
Time to get your grow on. The Hope community garden is ready to activate. The garden will be implemented at the Hope School's luscious and sunny field.
The season will kick off with two work parties to make the boxes that will serve as raised beds and to fill those boxes with dirt. The dates for the work parties are May 22 and May 26 from noon to 3 p.m. at the school. If you have already started your garden plants indoors and have extra seeds in your packets, plan on bringing them to the work parties to exchange with other gardeners.
Garden committee chairperson Christen Peck is also volunteering to put on a planting workshop Saturday, May 29 at noon. Christen is an accomplished gardener who feeds her family of five on organically grown garden vegetables year round. This is a fantastic opportunity to have a master gardener teach you how to plant. It should also be mentioned that Mrs. Peck has put a lot of time into getting this community garden going. She told Hope Happenings that she is, “looking forward to raising environmental awareness in Hope through the medium of organic gardening.”
For those interested in participating in the community garden, take note that members will be responsible for their space and will be expected to maintain their garden. If anyone has further questions look for the flyers that will be around town or call Christen Peck directly at 782-1001.
Hope Open House
The Hope Open House is scheduled for June 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Hope Chamber of Commerce sponsors this event as a way to get visitors acquainted with all that Hope has to offer.
On that day there will be a several activities to keep you moving starting with live music sponsored by Sweet Mo's and taking place on the lawn shared by Sweet Mo's and the Hope Yoga Shala. If moving to the beat has you wanting more movement, Shelley will have yoga classes that day as well.
The library lawn will have craft booths and a book sale; Alaska Dacha will be offering barbecued hot dogs and burgers; The Sherritt Fine Art Gallery will have an open house and tour of their gallery from 2-4 p.m. recreational gold panning at the museum (which will also be open); and specialty coffee drinks and healthy smoothies at Grounds For Hope.
There will also be representatives from the outdoor guiding businesses (whitewater, etc.) on hand to answer any questions and offer information on trips. Whew! It will be a fantastic day to park the car and walk around Hope. Hope Happenings would like to extend a big thank you to Lisa Simono for her tireless planning efforts in making this open house a reality.
A Gentle Reminder: Summer Recreation Guide comes out June 3
The next issue of Turnagain Times will be the Summer Recreation Guide. Hope Happenings implores all of you with information that you would like to see included in the guide to contact us via email at: hopehappenings@live.com. You may also visit us on Facebook, although any information that you post on our wall will be subject to Facebook's plundering of personal data for advertisers.
