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Mona Painter/Turnagain Times Joyce Koppert, front and center, was surprised by forty friends and family members at the Holsten home for her April 12 birthday. Lavish refreshments kept the kitchen crowded. |
By Mona Painter
Turnagain Times
Cooper Landing Correspondent
Joyce Koppert spent the morning of her birthday, April 12, working in the community hall at the pancake breakfast with other members of Cooper Landing Senior Citizens Corp. Inc. not suspecting she would see many of the same people that evening. Joyce’s sister, Theresa Norris, with Ed and Sandra Holsten, planned a surprise party for Joyce so 40 people were in the Holsten home for the big reveal. Although retired from teaching, Joyce is much in demand for subbing here and in the Kenai-Soldotna area.
Naturally, some of the stories told had to do with teaching as well as one about a previous birthday practical joke orchestrated by Joyce’s siblings involving a search of her car and handcuffs.
Another big reveal recently was the retrofitted bear resistant Dumpster delivered to the Cooper Landing Transfer Site by Dennis Smith, Route Manager for Alaska Waste. Kenai Peninsula Borough Solid Waste Dept. Project Manager John Hedges, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game Technician Larry Lewis, Robert Gibson, Jan Mitchell, Carla Britton, and I were there to try it out. The doors are easy to open and close. Closed doors will keep the bears from dragging the trash out. This is a prototype and will be moved to other transfer sites though eventually all the Dumpsters will be configured to resist bears. Also our transfer site will be containment (not fully enclosed) fenced to keep garbage inside instead of in the trees and by the creek, and funding for a video camera is in the works.
Increased bear activity in the transfer site here and elsewhere on the Kenai makes this kind of work a priority. Being considered is clearing, and/or limbing trees along the back of the transfer site for better visibility.
The Cooper Landing Wildlife Conservation Community Program is sponsoring a day of informative fun April 19 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the community hall. Heidi Thrasher McReynolds and Bobbi Jo Skibo are the WCCP co-chairs and planned the event with their committee.
Bear resistant garbage containers will be available for the reduced price of $50. These containers are a newer model and easier to use than the earlier heavy metal version at the Cooper Landing Museum. Biologist Jeff Selinger, electric fencing for livestock, kids art contest, a drawing for a bear resistant container, and door prizes are some of the days attractions.
Postmaster Steve Skolnick and his B. J.’s Lounge hockey playing teammates leave this week for the 24th annual old-timer’s hockey tournament in Honolulu, and he’s pretty excited about it. Six teams in the Waikiki Division are guaranteed three games and he’ll have some time for taking in the Oahu sights since it is his first trip to Hawaii.
Cooper Landing Community Schools Activities Coordinator Jen Belisle-Harpe put out the spring/summer schedule of classes, which include Women’s Firearm Instructional, Youth Softball, Bike Safety, Introduction to Rowing, and Healthy Eating Class.
The Kenai Cruisers Rowing Club formed in 1997 in Cooper Landing and is ready for another season of rowing on Kenai Lake and Bear Lake in Seward. Membership is open to ages 14 and up. During the rowing class a rowing machine will be demonstrated and available to try.