Hope Happenings

By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times Hope Correspondent

Photo courtesy of Ruth D’Amico/Chugach Forest Service Students from Hope, Moose Pass and Cooper Landing met at Summit Lake February 24 for a winter fishing experience. The Chugach Forest Service-Seward Ranger District sponsored the activity and cut 50+ holes through 20 inches of ice in the lake for the students to fish for Dolly Varden, Rainbow and Lake trout.

Hope School’s Spring Auction-Saturday, March 7
Last reminder to attend the Spring Auction beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 7 in the gym at the Hope School. The Silent Auction will kick off the different auctions. This year there is a $75 Allure Day Spa gift certificate, 100 gallons of propane, tickets to H2Oasis Indoor Water Park, a half day trip fishing with Angle 45, a night’s stay at Hope’s Hideaway plus more great things to bid on. Along with the Traditional Auction there will be a Balloon Auction. Each balloon will be sold for one dollar. If you don’t bring dollar bills with you, there will be some available at the event. However, not all balloons will have a prize but many will. You won’t know what is inside until the balloon is popped!
Free punch and dessert will be served. Thank you to all who have donated again this year, it is only your support that makes this a successful fund raiser each year. Along with the auctions, come to meet Hope’s new school teacher, Mrs. Truesdell.
The next Hope School PTA meeting will be held March 10 at 3 p.m. at the Hope School. All members are encouraged and welcome to attend the meeting.

Rock wall and Performing Arts Center trip
Hope student Deana Shepherd reported that the Hope students traveled to Anchorage Feb. 20 to see the Alaska Junior Theater’s (with major support provided by ConocoPhillips) presentation of the “Soul Street Dance Company” at Anchorage’s Performing Arts Center. The Hope students learned about the four elements of hip-hop and truly enjoyed the awesome performance of the dancers. Afterwards the Hope students joined the students from Cooper Landing at the Alaska Rock Gym and after lunch, they learned how to climb the wall. All had a blast.

Hope students look for the backward-traveling comet
Hope student Josh Nickerson learned about the comet while researching a current event for class. On Feb. 23 students took the last chance to see the comet Lulin. They were enthusiastic about seeing it so planned a “comet party” on the beach. Tyler Motoyama and his father Henry built a large bonfire and students along with parents had fun looking for Lulin’s arrival.
Unfortunately, the time was not accurate and the comet could not be seen until much later in the evening. Using binoculars, the students saw several constellations and had fun enjoying the beautiful evening. It turned into a nice welcoming party for Hope’s new teacher Patti Truesdell.

Chugach Forest Service sponsors ice fishing event
Ruth D’Amico of the Fisheries Division of Chugach Forest Service-
Seward Ranger District organized the ice fishing activity on Feb. 24 along with the help from Education Specialist Katy Toth-Stauble. They sponsored the fishing event at Summit Lake with 50 students from Hope, Cooper Landing and Moose Pass Schools participating. The Forest Service folks provided all the fishing gear, frozen shrimp and fish eggs for bait and had opened more than 50 holes for the students to fish for Dolly Varden, Rainbow and Lake Trout.
The 50 students fished and fished but only one Dolly Varden was caught after three hours of fishing. Parent Henry Motoyama caught it when he was trying to catch an ice scoop that had accidentally dropped into a hole. Paula Johansen of the Seward branch of Tele-Alaska provided lunch. The kids enjoyed a hot-dog meal with all the trimmings.
The event was to emphasize winter activities, the art of fishing, patience and technique along with the ethics of fishing, to follow Fish & Game rules and most importantly… to have fun, which the students did do.

Hope’s Advisory Planning Commission report tackles land disposal
The KPB Land Planning Office has proposed several possible methods of land disposal for the Hope APC board’s consideration. All methods of disposal will be discussed at the next Hope/Sunrise APC meeting on March 19, Thursday, in the Hope Social Hall at 7:00 p.m. These meetings are open to the community. Minutes of the previous meetings, as well as correspondence, are available at the Kenai Borough web site. Meeting minutes are posted at the Post Office, Tito’s, Alaska Dacha, and at the Hope Library.

Chugach Electric Association kicks off “Smart Power” program
Last month Chugach Electric (the largest electrical utility in Alaska) mailed out $2 coupons to all their customers, with their bills, kicking off their “Smart Power” program. Coupons can be downloaded on Chugach’s web site, are available at Brown’s Electric and locally available at Alaska Dacha. Besides the coupons at Alaska Dacha, there is printed material explaining the benefits of changing from incandescent bulb to a CFL bulb and the money saved over the life of the bulb.
There is also a display of the five different types of CFLs to choose from and to see the brightness given by each bulb. The select Satco bulbs, in the coupon program, are approved by Good Housekeeping and are Energy Star products. Chugach is working with the three locations of Brown’s Electric in Anchorage in an effort to help customers save money.

Memorial potluck for Paul Zabriskie
On Feb. 28 a potluck was held in the Hope Social Hall to remember Paul Z. Friends brought photos, a photo collage of Paul’s life was on display, along with a fishing pole, his hat, and many shared stories of Paul’s life. Following the potluck there was a huge bonfire at the end of Main Street where folks enjoyed the warmth of the fire while new snow fell on Hope. In the spring, Paul’s ashes will be buried in the Hope Cemetery.

Food Bank and Community Breakfast
The doors open at 8 a.m. each Wednesday morning and breakfast is served until 10 a.m. All are welcome to come. Following the free breakfast, the Hope Christian Church Food Bank is open Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Any residents needing to take advantage of the food pantry, outside the regular hours, please contact Burgins at 782-1002.

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