Ann Miller/Hope Sunshine Historical Society
The new burl arch sign for the Museum is the work of seven volunteers led by Billy Miller and Scott Sherritt.
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Ann Miller/Hope Sunshine Historical Society
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By Fayrene Sherritt
Turnagain Times Hope Correspondent
Mid-afternoon on Aug. 9 a large tractor with a long side-dump trailer, loaded with gravel, got into some serious trouble here in Hope. The driver had missed his turn when he passed Tito’s Discovery Cafe in the main part of Hope. After getting out of his rig to check out the curve at the entrance of Porcupine Campground, the driver decided he could maneuver the over-size rig around the curve and use the Porcupine Campground loop as a way to get turned around.
However, the entrance into the campground is barely one lane and makes a very sharp turn to the right. As the driver began his travel along the road leading into the campground, the rear of the trailer went off the road and was at great risk of going into a large ditch-type area that goes over a small creek. The tractor and trailer were barely hanging onto the road. Luckily, it did not go over the edge and into the gully.
It was pretty tricky to get the truck and trailer back onto the road. The great road crew that work for the State of Alaska DOT, located at Silvertip near the Hope Highway at the Seward Highway intersection, were contacted to help the driver get the rig back on the road.
After the gravel was off-loaded from the trailer, and using a large piece of equipment, they were able to lift the trailer out of the ditch. The Porcupine Campground Road was closed for several hours. No one could leave or enter the campground until the truck was back on the road. Thankfully there was little to no damage done to the entrance of the campground and it appeared that there was no damage done to the truck and trailer… well, except for the embarrassment of the driver.
The Hope/Sunrise Community Development Association is sponsoring a huge Family Fun Festival Saturday Sept. 8 noon to 5 p.m. Mark your calendar, bring your running shoes and a funny hat. Many of the planned events will be held at the Hope Social Hall and at the Hope Library grounds. The Hope School will be the “rain location” if necessary.
There will be FREE ice cream and much more. Because Hope is such a great community, Dryers Ice Cream has awarded the community enough ice cream for 100 servings. Hope will use this event to raise money for the Hope Library. For a small donation your portion of ice cream can be turned into pie a la mode or into a banana split. There will also be healthy hot dogs with all the fixings for sale.
Some of the fun events planned will be fun things to do like craft projects, decorate a cup cake, learn to bead, do crazy quilting. There will be First Aide and First Responders training, along with a session on alternative energy, Fire Prevention, use of extinguishes and a guest appearance by Smoky Bear. Learn how to pack a healthy school lunch, join in for a Funny Hat contest with prizes, a “Cookie Walk” where everyone will get a cookie and the winner will get a dozen cookies. At the Hope Library you find a huge garage sale. Along with all this… look for the “Moose-Nugget-Guesstimate” contest. There will many prizes to win.
There are plans in the works to have a Family-Fun-Run with the proceeds, from the run, to go to the Hope School so a rock climbing wall can be built for the students to use. Check out the next issue for more information regarding this run and watch for posters posted about in Hope, Girdwood, Whittier, Moose Pass and Cooper Landing. Everyone is invited to come and join in on the fun and help raise funds for the Hope Library. Fall in Hope is beautiful time and this event will be a fun way to end the summer.
The Hope School will begin Wednesday Aug. 22. Pre registration will be held on the sixth and seventeenth. There are plans being made now for different activities the students will participate in as after school activities.
Volleyball games are each Tuesday and Friday nights at the Hope School for anyone age 13 or older. Come join in on the fun or to watch and cheer. It appears the Hope School will start off this school year with between 16 to 17 students. With visiting teachers or other qualified staff from the Kenai School District, community volunteers and the staff at the Hope School, our students rate very high on their tests through out the school year. The community is very proud of the Hope School and its students.
The Hope/Sunrise Historical Society will have a Walking Tour: Patterns of Hope as part of their Aug. 18 General Membership meeting. Join Diane Olthuis on a one-and-half hour walk through the Hope Historic District. Learn about the size, mass, and other patterns of Hope architecture. Diane reports that the silhouette of old Hope is of many small buildings. Early Hope builders were attune to the direction of the wind, the location of the sun, the high water table, tide patterns, and the desire to shovel less snow and chop less firewood. Their meeting will begin with a potluck at 11:30 a.m. at the Hope Museum with walking tour at 12:30 p.m. and the business meeting at 2 p.m. The public is invited to visit the museum, open noon to 4:00 p.m. every day through Labor Day Weekend.
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.
Fayrene Sherritt/Turnagain Times
A large tractor trailer hauling gravel went into the ditch and blocked access to the Porcupine Campground for several hours until DOT equipment came to his assistance and got the truck back on the road without damage.