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Fayrene Sherritt /Turnagain Times Dick and Judy Moose, visitors from Virginia, take a look at the new Hope narrative display about the history of the area. |
By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times Hope Correspondent
Hope Inc. opens new Visitor Information center, holds special meeting June 25
Hope, Inc. has recently opened a visitor information center for the summer months. It is located on the grounds of Alaska Dacha. Rochelle Morris, owner, has generously donated the use of her building for this purpose. The bulletin board displays current events and announcements. The visitor center is not staffed at this time but many visitors have stopped to gather information regarding the Hope/Sunrise area as well as the Kenai Peninsula.
On June 25, Hope Inc. held a special meeting in the Hope Social Hall. The members voted to accept the new Hope Cemetery policies presented from the Cemetery Committee. A ballot was recently mailed to all current Hope, Inc. members. A copy of these policies has been posted at the Post Office for several weeks. A two-thirds vote of the membership is required to accept the new policies. A committee to oversee the Hope Cemetery will be appointed by Hope, Inc. after the policies have been approved. Residents are encouraged to return the ballots as soon as possible. If you have not gotten a ballot and believe you are a member of Hope, Inc., please contact Rochelle Morris.
President Shawn Butler reported that the Kenai Peninsula Borough would be installing two new styled trash containers at the Land Transfer site. It is expected these new containers will be in place by late June or early July. Any hazardous materials are still required to be taken to the Kenai Landfill for disposal.
The three fish cleaning tables will be installed with one under the bridge and two near the mouth of Resurrection Creek. The public restrooms should be functional by the end of June and completely finished later in the summer. It was voted to add rockwork around the bottom edge of the restroom building as part of the final completion of the building.
It was voted that the next Hope, Inc meeting would be held in October with the June 25 meeting to replace the required July meeting. July’s meeting would normally be the evening of July 18, right in the middle of Wagon Trail weekend.
Hope/Sunrise Historical Society meeting July 11
Saturday July 11 the Hope/Sunrise Historical Society (HSHS) will hold their general membership meeting at 10 a.m. at the Museum’s grounds. As part of the meeting election of new officers will be held. At 11:30 a.m. there will be a picnic-potluck followed by the meeting’s program to begin at 12:30 p.m.
Diane Olthuis is to present the program and will describe what Hope was like in 1959 plus give an overview of Doc Nearhouse’s life. Iver Nearhouse items from the museum collection will be on display (button-box accordion and photographs). Everyone is invited to share their Iver Nearhouse stories.
Per the HSHS mailer, Iver Nearhouse 1887-1962, was born Nerhus in Norway. As a child, his family moved to the American Midwest. Iver studied mine engineering at the University of Washington before traveling to Alaska in 1909. While briefly owning a drugstore in Anchorage, he acquired the nickname “Doc.” He was gold mining in Hope in the 1930s. The Federal Government closed mining in 1942 and the Hope merchant, George Roll, died. Since Iver wanted to continue living in Hope, he purchased the Roll store.
For two decades, Nearhouse was Hope’s main merchant yet he preferred fishing, gardening and Social Hall activities over shop-keeping. The community loved him for his generosity and visitors found him very entertaining. Today the Seaview Café is located in the old Doc Nearhouse store on Main Street. For more details on Doc Nearhouse, please come to the activities at the Museum July 11.
Hope in 1959
In the year 1959, Hope had an airstrip, Bill Nutter had the two-way radio, there was a cemetery, and Doc Nearhouse had cabins, a café, a generator as well as the store. Lurline Wilkins was Hope’s postmaster, the Hope School was closed 1958-1963, the Methodist Church had a visiting minister and Rosa Buttedahl had a bakery.
Hope Museum is official Passport Stamp location
The official Alaska Statehood Kenai Peninsula passport book is available at the Hope Museum. Pick up your passport and get a Hope stamp. Collect stamps in all the Kenai Peninsula communities—a fun activity as you visit other communities on the Kenai this summer.
Hope’s Wagon Trail Festival and 5-K Run kicks off July 18
This year’s Wagon Trail activities will be held July 18 and 19 in Hope. Saturday’s events will kick off with a Pancake Breakfast at the Hope Social Hall. On Sunday the 5-K run will start in front of the Hope Social Hall at 11 a.m. Pre-registration applications can be obtained by contacting Linda Graham or registration for the run will be available at 9 a.m. in the morning of the race. Along with the race, there will be a BBQ, a Bake Sale and the Raffle Drawing will be held after the run approximately at 1:15 p.m. Residents and visitors enjoy this weekend event, a not-to-miss time in Hope.
Raffle Tickets for sale
There are 34 items on this year’s prize list and the top items include a rifle and a shotgun each valued at approximately $400, a “Stained Glass Flowers” quilt which is on display at the Hope Library Gift Shop and several $200 gift certificates plus much more. The $2 raffle tickets are available at Alaska Dacha, Bear Creek Lodge/Dinner House, Grounds for Hope, Black Bear B&B, the Hope Library Gift Shop, the Hope Museum, Sherritt Fine Arts Gallery and at Sweet Mo’s Ice Cream and Candy. Each weekend the tickets are also available on the front porch of Tito’s Discovery Café.
Alaska Statehood Quilt to visit Hope
Earlier this year quilters around the State created large quilt blocks representing what Statehood and Alaska meant to them. Many were submitted from all around the State with the Kenai Peninsula quilters creating the largest number from one region.
The quilt is enormous and is comprised of nine panels with six to seven quilt blocks each. Each panel averages 5-feet by 8-feet, so the entire quilt covers over 350-square- feet. All nine panels will be on display in the Hope Social Hall July 18 and 19 during the Wagon Trail activities. Also a few of the Alaska Statehood Quilt booklet will be available for sale. The booklet provides photos of the quilt panels, their stories and the folks who created them. The booklet also contains an overview and commentary of the quilt panels by Keren Lowell, Fiber Program Coordinator for the University of Alaska Arts Department.
Community Food Bank open
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.
Photo:
Fayrene Sherritt /Turnagain Times
Dick and Judy Moose, visitors from Virginia, take a look at the new Hope narrative display about the history of the area.