By Shyla Malone
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
As the wood-smoke tickles our senses carried on the breeze, and the leaves are starting to change, we are reminded that fall is here and winter is on the way. The sounds of chainsaws can be heard wherever you go in Hope, and there is a bite to the air.
School will soon be in full gear, and with Labor Day weekend next week, it calls an end to a great summer.
The mushrooms have started to pop up, as well, and we all would like everyone to be safe while gathering these tasty morsels, also to be mindful of where you park while out gathering.
For anyone with gardens out there, according to the Farmers Almanac the first frost for Anchorage is Sept. 23, ours shouldn’t be to far behind or ahead.
Public Hearing Scheduled for Hope’s Streets
There will be a meeting held by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission on Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. to officially rename the streets located in Hope’s downtown historic district.
The meeting will be held in Seward, at the Breeze Inn, Mt. Alice conference room, located at 303 North Harbor Drive. The goal of the planning commission is to rename right of ways that have a similar or same sounding name, which will enable 911 emergency services to respond in an efficient and timely manner.
A public notice was sent via e-mail to landowners adjacent to the streets to be renamed. You can view this public notice and maps at www.borough.kenai.ak.us/planningdept/PHN.htm.
The planning department would like to hear primary name suggestions from landowners located by these streets and concerned parties. New name suggestions may not be on the KPB Planning Department/Planning Commission Street Name List, which you can find at, http://www.borough.kenai.ak.us/planningdept/street.htm.
If you have any questions or new name suggestions you may send them to the KPB contact person, Carrie Henson, at chenson@borough.kenai.ak.us , or call 907-714-2226 fax 714-2378.
There was a Hope Inc. meeting on Aug. 20; one of their topics was the renaming of the streets in the historic district. It was unanimously decided that the names of these streets remain unchanged. A petition has been prepared or those Hope residents, who are in favor of not changing these street names.
If you are interested in signing this petition please contact Doug Pope or Lisa Simono, and it will be presented to the planning commission at the Sept. 12 meeting. Several Hope residents will be attending this meeting and speak in support of the petition.
School News
On Sept. 13 there will be a 9 to 11 a.m. memorial, and open house/potluck at the Hope School. The potluck will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the memorial at 6:30 p.m., and at 7 p.m. will be the open house.
The first field trip of the year was on Monday Aug. 29, the science class went out to Henry D’s rock quarry, to study different types of erosion.
There are two football players from Hope School who are playing for the Seward Sea Hawks this year: Clayton Davidson and Shane Cork. They are the first students that we know of from Hope School to play football in Seward, congratulations and good luck.
Every Thursday, a lady named Agusta, comes to the school to teach. She is from a program called QUEST, which is a program that brings an upper level of learning and something different to our school, other than the basic curriculum.
The goal of the hope school this year is to improve our math scores on the Standardized testing by 10 percent; we already have high scores for our reading and writing.
Starting on Tuesdays, Athena will be teaching introduction to music at the school. Athena a Las Vegas native, who visited Hope and volunteered at the library in 2010, returned and worked at Sweet Moe’s and Bowman’s Bear Creek Lodge.
Planning on staying the winter, Athena volunteered to set up a music program on Tues. from 1-2:30 p.m. at the school.
“I am delighted to be a volunteer, teaching an introductory to music course for the Hope school year,” she said. “My passion for music has now led me to the heart and soul of Hope, in efforts of extending our young minds through the universal language of music.” She offers 14 years of professional music performance and private instruction for viola, violin and music theory.
Athena studied the viola at Amedeus School of Music, Las Vegas Academy, UNLV, Las Vegas Music Festival (1998-2001) and Longy School of Music. She performed with artists such as the Turtle Island String Quartet, Andrea Bocelli, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Paula Tsui, Smokey Robinson, Wayne Newton, and Camila. From 1998-2005 she was a member of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, Claflin Hill Symphony, and the Braintree Choral Society.
Athena is actively involved in musical performance throughout the U.S, skilled in bowed instrument repairs and music lessons for students of all ages.
The artwork of Ray Troll now graces our homeroom. He is known for his fishy humor, T-shirts, popular books on aquatic life and paleontology. Recruited by Ameri-corps as a friend to Hope School, his artwork enlivens and stimulates the atmosphere. He is also a recipient of this year’s Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist Award and a Guggenheim fellowship.
Museum News
On Aug. 27, there was a work party that helped to clean up Hope Community Cemetery, between 15 and 20 Hope residents were there. People of all ages joined in, some in their 80s to a young 9-year-old boy, helped make the Cemetery look nicer. The pathways, the gravesites and general area were raked, deadfall limbs cleaned up and moss removed in some areas. This is the first stage of the work planned for the cemetery. Soon, the pathways will be filled in with gravel and a nice split-rail fence will be built along part of the Logman side of the cemetery. An archway with the title “Hope Community Cemetery” will also be built at the entrance. The community’s support for this project is greatly appreciated.
September 10, there will be another work party organized to help clean up the museum grounds. If you are interested please call Scott Sherritt at 782-3436.
There will be an archaeological investigation and potluck, at Hope’s Social Hall, on Sept. 17, from 10-5. Volunteers are welcome. Please bring appropriate clothing for the weather that day.
You can learn basic archaeological skills, while helping a professional test core samples on the Social Hall ground and along some fence lines. Rollfe Buzzell, who is in the field, has already identified a few surface hollows that he recommends to sample. Although he cannot make it, Allen Depew, from Mr. Buzzell’s office will join us instead. Small objects found on the site, will give us more of an understanding of early life in Hope, and the role the Social Hall played in it.
Church News
Just a reminder about the Kenai Christian Church women’s retreat which starts on Sept. 29 and goes until Oct. 1. It will be held at Solid Rock Bible Camp, if you would like to go or have any questions please contact Joyce Burgin at 830-5307. Church is every Sunday at 3 p.m. The food bank is on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. and Bible study is at 3 p.m. on Thursdays.
Fish report
The fishing on Resurrection is pretty much done for, but I’ve heard that Six Mile is running pretty good right now with silvers, dolly’s and humpies. So let’s get out there and fish before their gone.
Poem of the Month
School days
Early morning wake-ups with a hearty breakfast.
Heavy backpacks full of books and nice sack lunches.
A short walk or car ride and you are at the school.
Pledge of allegiance and a few entry tasks, it’s off to learn.
A few more classes then a lunch, and after break, back to the desk.
Watch the clock till it says three and then with a woo-hoo, we’re back where we started.
– Shyla Malone
Other News
AK Dacha is offering a winter case lot sale, so put in your orders for what cases of groceries or sundries that you would like, and they will order it from the wholesaler for you. Orders are limited to full cases only, allow two weeks for delivery, and payment on delivery. If you are interested or have questions please contact Rochelle at the Dacha.
