US Forest Service representatives met with Hope residents to discuss two land use plans for the Ressurection Trail being considered by the USFS.
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US Forest Service representatives met with Hope residents to discuss two land use plans for the Ressurection Trail being considered by the USFS. |
Saturday, April 28 the US Forest Service (USFS) held a public hearing at the Hope Social Hall. Testimony was taken for the Resurrection Pass National Recreation Trail of the Kenai Winter Access plan, which focused on management considerations under ANILCA Section (1110(a). USFS Sharon Randall moderated the meeting and Josh Milligan gave a general overview of the proposed changes in the use of the Resurrection Pass Trail. Information about the Kenai Winter Access plan is available on the Chugach National Forest webpage located at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/chugach
Several Hope residents testified with most testifying for the usage to remain the same or to have only the Southern region used for snowmobile use. One main concern is the limited parking for trucks with large snowmobile trailers at the trailhead on the Hope side of the trail. Another important concern is safety for skiers when the snowmobiles use the trail at the same time as the skiers. The deadline for testimony was extended to April 30, 2007.
Also attending the meeting, USFS District Ranger Jeni Bradley Evans, reported to the residents her wish to find a location for a temporary meeting place for herself. She would like to come to Hope, at least once a month, to be available to meet with Hope residents for an open discussion of possible land use issues or other issues. Jeni Evans became the official District Ranger as of Dec. 10, 2006 after spending nearly a year as the temporary District Ranger.
Hope resident Ashley Motoyama is in the intensive care unit at the Children’s wing at Providence Hospital after falling off a 4-wheeler on April 21. Ashley has made improvements over this past week, however, is expected to remain in the ICU for two weeks. Anyone who would like to get updates can do so by going to www.thestatus.com (click on “visit patient, then put in “Motoyama” in the ID box and “ashley1” is the password).
The family updates the site regularly with her progress; messages can be left for Ashley and her family on this webpage as well. The Motoyama family is very appreciating of everyone’s help. A potluck lunch with salads or finger foods will be held on May 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hope Social Hall. A donation will be collected to help the family pay for out of pocket expenses and medical bills. During the month of May all sales of Bowman’s Bear Creek Cafés’ famous brownie dessert, will be 100 percent donated to help in this cause. This is Ashley’s favorite treat and a yummy one it is.
Graduation for the eighth grade students, Deana Shepherd and Susie DeFrance will be held Tuesday May 8 after a dinner prepared by the Hope School’s food class. Everyone is invited to attend the dinner and graduation at the Hope School. There will be a music presentation by Jasmyn Calhoon, Alyssa Leisure and Kent Bowman who has been working with the girls teaching music and song writing. They will be performing several songs written by the young musicians and a song written by Kent Bowman and both girls. Kent sounded very proud of their music and believes everyone will enjoy their performance.
Also on May 8, the final PTA meeting will be held. Election of next year’s officers will be held. The meeting is at the Hope School beginning at 3:15 pm. At the end of the school year, the students will be doing a walk through Hope, and along the Hope Highway, for spring cleanup. There will be a car wash at the school to thank all volunteers and residents for their support of the students this school year. The date for the car wash and spring cleanup will be posted later in the month.
The Hope Inc. meeting was held April 21 at the Hope Social Hall. There was a record number of members attend this meeting. It was terrific to see the numbers that turned out for this meeting. It was decided to move the voting polls back to the Hope Social Hall for the next election. Over the winter the voting booths were temporarily moved to the Hope School for two elections. President Jim Skogstad reported that he expects the land across from the Social Hall to be available for purchase in late June. There is still some red-tape delaying the sale of the Social Hall land, but it is possible the sale could take place by the end of this summer. Another item was voted on to give $500 to the Hope Community Library to help with the winter’s cost of fuel.
A very important item was what to do about getting more public restrooms in the Main Street area. It was decided to rent port-a-potties for this summer. There will be some construction done around them to block off the site of the structures. Greg Kaser is investigating the expense of building permanent outhouses, which would be located on the lot across from the Hope Social Hall. For the time being, having the port-a-potties available for this summer’s use will help during the tourist season.
The 2006/2007 $50,000 grant monies that State Rep. Mike Hawker was able to secure for Hope, was divided 50/50 between Hope, Inc. (to be used for community needs) and the Hope/Sunrise EMS and Hope/Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department. Special thanks are sent to Rep. Hawker for his continued support of our community. It is greatly appreciated.
President Skogstad suggested that a Spring Potluck would be nice for the community to kick off the summer season. Ann Miller suggested that Hope, Inc. join with the Hope/Sunrise Historical Society as HSHS has already scheduled a community potluck on May 12. Everyone thought it was a great idea. The potluck will begin at 11:30 a.m. followed by a presentation by State of Alaska Archeologist Rolf Buzzell on the history of Hope and Sunrise. Many improvements have been completed to the out buildings on the museum property. Any residents that have not dropped by the museum lately should plan to do so this summer. The museum is highly regarded as one of the best and is enjoyed by many of the traveling public.
The annual Hope Community Library Board meeting was held on April 28 at the Hope Library. Election of new officers include Lisa Simono President, Sharon Wheeler Vice President, Susan Anderson Treasurer, Fayrene Sherritt Secretary, Board members are Maggie Holeman, Bob Sherrick and Gail Dalrymple. The library is looking for summer volunteers for both the library and the library gift shop. If you are not able to take a scheduled day but would like to be on a substitute list, please let Susan know.
A list of new books and other media material is posted in several locations in Hope. Plus there is a sign-up sheet for books or media residents would like for the library to purchase. The Hope Community Library is now an independent community library. More fundraisers will be needed to cover the expenses. Between general donations to the library, proceeds from sales at the library gift shop and sales of used books in the Book Shed it is expected that the monies can be raised. A fundraiser is already planned, a huge garage sale on May 26 at the Library. If you are not interested in having a table, but have items to donate, 100 percent of the sale of those items will go to the library. A percentage of sales from the tables will be donated. Please contact either Maggie Holeman at 782-2202 or Gail Dalrymple at 782-3664 for a table if you would be interested in participating in this event or have items to donate. There will also be coffee and baked goods for sale.
Wednesday morning breakfast at the Hope Christian Church finished up with a record number of folks dropping by for breakfast. The community breakfast is expected to begin again in the fall after Tito’s Discover Café has changed to their winter hours.
The Food Bank pantry will continue through the summer to provide basic food provisions to those members of our community that may have a need. The food bank is open 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Those folks needing to take advantage of the food pantry, outside the regular hours, please contact either Tom Burgin (350-1318) or Joyce Burgin (830-5307). If you are in need of food, please come utilize this free service.