By Mona Painter
Turnagain Times Cooper Landing Correspondent
Sexy Senior Dumpster Cleaners Agent Mayme Ohnemus hosted the Tenth Anniversary celebration Aug. 30 at Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge for the dedicated volunteers whose body of community service is mind boggling. In ten years, they logged over 38,000 volunteer hours, picked up 237,546 pounds of trash, traveled almost 200,000 miles, and earned over $100,000 for the Cooper Landing Community Club and the Cooper Landing Senior Citizens Corp. Inc. (CLSCCI) and had at least 520 lunches out.
A buffet luncheon for 57 started the festivities. Guest supporters included Senator Gary Stevens and his wife Rita from Kodiak, Representative Paul Seaton from Homer, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor John Williams and his wife Sharon from Kenai, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly President Ron Long and his wife Tye from Seward, and Kenai Peninsula Borough Solid Waste Assistant to the Director Marie Vinson.
Lindsey Long worked with Mayme to produce a digital slide show of SSDC in action as they worked the Dumpster sites in Cooper Landing, Moose Pass and Hope.? Photos were added to show the? SSDC community involvement with the seniors group, the Top of the Mountain Club, lobbying in Juneau for the community hall addition and senior housing funding, working with local children on Youth Litter Patrols, and more.
Each member of the SSDC was presented with a certificate of appreciation and called up to the front of the room as the year they joined the group was announced. The Cooper Landing transfer site gate keepers were also applauded. Mayor Williams gave closing remarks in approval of the spirit of volunteerism and dedication of the Sexy Senior Dumpster Cleaners.
Senator and Mrs. Stevens came to the Landing a day early to tour the area with Mayme Ohnemus as their guide. They visited Eagles View senior independent housing, Cooper Landing Emergency Services facilities, the Cooper Landing Museum, Cooper Landing Community Library, and the Cooper Landing Elementary School. Senator Stevens enjoyed reading to the school kids—123 students in grades K-8.
CLSCCI’s general membership meeting was held August 14 after a potluck luncheon. Board members are President Marge Van Kooten, Vice President Ed Holsten, Secretary Joyce Koppert, Treasurer Alma Fowler, Bookkeeper Kate Green, with James Berry, Scott Davis, and Kate Stevenson.
?Dr. Betty Buchan with the University of Alaska-Anchorage Department of Health Sciences, spoke on “My Medication; What’s Age Got to Do With It?”
Six additional housing units are in the pre-development stage and architectural drawings are available to study.?All six of Eagles View apartments are now rented.
?Everyone is invited to CLSCCI?s ?next ?pancake breakfast fund raiser on Sept. 8 from 8 a.m. until noon at the community hall on Bean Creek Road.
?Cooper Landing bears are still active on both sides of Kenai Lake and Kenai River. Gary and Jan Mitchell discovered a mid-afternoon raid on their outdoor freezer recently. Packages of venison and sausage were taken and the freezer coverings were ripped apart. Gary installed an electric fence around the appliance and an alarm, to boot. Later they found the meat wrappers in the woods near the house and saw where the bear had settled down for a leisurely meal.? Bear jams still occur along the Sterling Highway near Mile 56 when bears are fishing along the river.?This was the case last Friday night when Mary Fort and this reporter were on our way to the Sterling Senior Center. We joined the mob with our cameras.