By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
About 11:15 p.m., May 6 a local resident noticed unusual lights flickering in a window of his home. He looked out to discover the engine of his plow truck in flames in his driveway. A call to the Hope/Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department brought help to manage the flame. Vehicle fires are hot and hard to put out. Fire Chief Henry Motoyama, the first to reach the location, found the vehicle in full flames which caused the truck to be a total loss. The vehicle had been parked for several days and the reason for the fire is unknown. With the help of the fire fighters, the flames were kept off the bushes and trees that were very close to the vehicle. Had the fire happened later at night or on a windy night, this story could have had a very different ending.
The next APC meeting will be held May 15 at the Hope Social Hall. Board member Jason Skaaren recently resigned. Anyone interested in filling this position, please watch for the posted notice or contact Dave Scanlan if you are interested. There will be a Hope Inc. meeting at the Hope Social Hall May 17 at 7 p.m. There are several items on the agenda including adoption of guidelines for the Hope Cemetery. At this writing, the Postal Service has not yet made their decision for the new location of the Hope Post Office. If one has been made, it will be announced at the Hope Inc meeting. The postal service architect is currently working on the design of the new post office so a decision is expected shortly.
At the PTA meeting May 7, the new principal, Jim Dawson, was introduced. Dawson has been with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District since 1983 and a principal for the past seventeen years. He said he is looking forward to working with the school and the staff. Principal Ken Halverson, who served the past two years, is moving to Montana where he will be a superintendent of a rural school district. May 21 will be the end-of-the-year BBQ and games. There will be a “Thank you” car wash for community residents and the students will do a clean-up walk around the main part of Hope. The last day of school is May 22.
The Hope Chamber is sponsoring an old fashion “Clean-up” along the Hope Highway from the Hope “Y” to the main part of Hope and to Porcupine campground May 22 beginning at noon. The clean up will start at Tito’s Discovery Café and will end at the Café. Volunteers are wanted for cleaning along the Hope Highway with a mile by mile assignment. The new 2008 Chamber brochures have been printed and are now available. They can be found at all the local businesses, shops, museum and library.
Soon there will be activity in the left side of the post office building as Kent and Melanie Bowman owners of Bowman’s Bear Creek Lodge and Dinner House will be remodeling that part of the building into a take-out ice cream and candy shop. There will be tables and chairs outside for folks to sit and enjoy the rich creamy Alaskan ice cream. Sweet Mo’s Ice Cream and Candies is expected to open early June and will open from noon to early evening during the summer days.
The Sherritt Fine Arts Gallery and Gifts, located on Second Street in Hope, will kick off the summer season with a Grand Opening of the gallery on May 31 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery features Hope’s pastel artist Erica Miller and oil artist Scott Sherritt. Bronze sculpture Patrick Garley of Palmer, will be in Hope as well. The gift part features Susan Anderson and Fayrene Sherritt’s jewelry. Everyone is invited to stop by to see the gallery and to enjoy some wine and cheese with the artists.
The Sea View Café and Bar opened May 9 with food service beginning at noon. They will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays with Wednesday and Sunday open from noon to 9 p.m. and Thursday, Friday and Saturday noon to 11 p.m. Every Thursday night will be Jamm Night with the first one beginning May 15 from 7 p.m. to closing. Alaska Dacha will begin their summer hours 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 23. Tito’s Discovery Café will be open everyday beginning May 23 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Bowman’s Bear Creek Dinner House will open at 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and closed on Monday and Tuesday.
With the Chamber’s web site being redesigned, Gina Motoyama still needs Chamber members to get updated information to her. Her goal is to have the new site online by early June. Please contact her with new photos or information for the web site.
The Hope and Sunrise Historical Society annual meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at the museum May 31 with election of new officers on the agenda. Following the meeting there will be a potluck beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Hope Social Hall. After the potluck there will be a guided tour of old Sunrise by Rolf Buzzell State of Alaska Archeologist. Everyone is encouraged to carpool to the location where the tour will begin, as parking is limited.
The Hope/Sunrise Museum will open for the summer season beginning Memorial Day weekend. The hours are from noon to 4 p.m.; however, if volunteers are available, the museum will open earlier in the morning. The buildings located on the museum property are open to the public when more than one volunteer is available. Tours can be arranged by appointment as well.
The Hope Christian Church Food Bank is open Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Any folks needing to take advantage of the food pantry, outside the regular hours, please contact Burgins at 782-1002.