By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
Pancake Breakfast to kick off 21st annual Wagon Trail weekend
The Pancake Breakfast begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, July 19 at the Hope Social Hall. Breakfast will be available until 11 a.m. or all the food is gone. Come have breakfast with local residents and visitors to Hope. Beginning at noon, there will be fun events for kids in the Hope Social Hall. The afternoon will be top off with an old fashion Cake Walk for the kids. It is only 25 cents per chance/walk. There are plenty of numbers to go around for everyone with lots of home-baked goodies to choose if you are one of the lucky winners.
5K Run begins at 11 a.m. on July 20
On Sunday, July 20 around 9 a.m. any runners who have not yet signed up for the 5K run will be able to sign up at the Hope Social Hall. The race will begin at 11 a.m. with the start and finish right in front of the Social Hall on Main Street. The bake sale will begin at 9:30 a.m. with hot coffee and muffins for the early birds in the Hope Social Hall. Once the runners have headed off, a BBQ will be at the Social Hall featuring hamburgers, chicken burgers and hot dogs. Water and sodas will be available for sale too. The bake sale continues inside the Social Hall until it is all sold. This year the T-shirts will be made by local Hope tye-dye artists Dave and Lana Scanlan. Once all the runners have their T-Shirts, non runner will be able to purchase this year’s T-shirt.
Raffle tickets still available
On the morning of the race, raffle tickets will be sold on the front porch of the Social Hall. Thirty-one items have been donated for this year’s raffle. Some of the top items include a shotgun, a rifle, a $400 gas card, $400 REI gift card, a $400 Fred Meyer’s gift card and the paper-pieced stain glass floral quilt plus many more great prizes. The drawing for the raffle will be held about 1:15 after the race has been completed and the awards have been announced. Proceeds from the weekend’s activities and the raffle will go to the non-profits in Hope. For more information regarding the weekend event, please contact Angie Motoyama at 782-3773.
Hope Inc. meeting July 19
The quarterly meeting of Hope Inc. will be Saturday, July 19 at 7 p.m. in the Hope Social Hall. A report on current projects will be updated along with the most current information on the new post office. Construction is to begin this summer. The building will not be completed until spring of 2009 and will be located at Palmer Creek and Logman just off the Hope Highway.
Road Work on Resurrection Creek Road
Earlier this summer the Kenai Borough began the relocation of the Palmer Creek Road and Resurrection Road intersection. The project moves part of the road from the Chugach National Forest over onto Borough land. This is the first major road change since the Hope Highway was paved in 1982. This change has been done as the Kenai Borough prepares for a land disposal that will take place in a few months. The current road that goes to the Resurrection Road intersection will be closed and converted back to regular land for part of the new subdivision the Borough is preparing to sell.
When the roadwork is completed, access to the rest of Palmer Creek Road going back to Coeur d’ Alene campground and beyond, will have a new entrance. The new curve will now connect to the Resurrection Road near the entrance to the gravel pit area creating a new intersection at that location. From this new intersection, the old part of the road that went to Palmer Creek, will now become the access to the Chugach National Forest. There will be a small parking area developed for winter parking where the gate is now located.
Book shed at Hope Library helps to raise funds for fuel
The summer sales in the Hope Community Library’s book shed are picking up. These sales help to pay the increased fuel costs the library will be facing this winter. New donations have arrived and there are plenty of children’s books along with the adult books available to choose from...something for everyone. The book shed and Library Gift Shop are open daily noon to 4 p.m. When volunteers can, it is open sometimes earlier or sometimes later. Stop by for $1 paperback and $2 hardbacks. Lots of great crafts, art and jewelry are available in the Gift Shop. Part of all sales help to support our community library.
Hope/Sunrise Museum gives tours of old buildings
This summer volunteers are available to give guided tours of the buildings located on the Museum grounds. The first Hope school house is now open showing how the home may have looked in 1904. The teacher tells his story of teaching school in the gold rush days. The barn, blacksmith and old bunkhouse are full of old gold mining history. The informational signs tells more of the story of the miners and their quest for gold in both the Hope and Sunrise area. A must-see stop for visitors and local residents alike. Open noon to 4 p.m. or earlier in the morning when volunteers are available. Donations are gladly accepted.
Bowman’s Sunday Brunch and Ice Cream shop
Bowman’s Bear Creek Lodge is offering a yummy Sunday Brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Sunday this summer. Across the street from the Hope Museum their new ice cream and candy shop, Sweet Mo’s, opens from noon to early evening, and is a popular stop for residents and visitors. Their sugar-free ice cream is some of the best! Drop by to get a taste.
Hope Food Bank is open on Wednesdays
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.