Winter carnival plans in question

• Financial woes come after loss of city funding, downturn in economy

By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

Homer’s Winter Carnival may be facing a meltdown this year due to budget shortfall to host the event.
The Homer Chamber of Commerce says it is experiencing lower revenue and needs sponsors for the event. Normally, the winter carnival is funded with help from the City of Homer and local businesses. But this year, revenue is down all around, with about half the city appropriation of last year’s budget at $22,500. The chamber’s role in hosting civic events such as the Fourth of July Parade and the Winter Carnival is typically done in partnership with the city and local businesses.
“This year we might not be able to do it,” said the chamber’s Event Coordinator, Sharon Ford. “This was not just a chance to have fun. It’s also an energy booster for people and an economic boost for local businesses. I would hate to see it go away.”
The event contributes to the economy by bringing out local people to enjoy winter events and by attracting visitors from the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage.
The chamber is short about $2,500, Ford estimates. The money goes for advertising and other expenses associated with the event. Another program hosted along with the Winter Carnival is the Citizen of the Year Award and Business of the Year Award. That too is thrown into doubt without a sponsor, Ford said.
“This doesn’t mean we won’t have it,” she said. “We just need to have these events be self-sustaining because we can’t afford them otherwise.”
The carnival has been held in Homer for 53 years, with the first one organized in 1956, recalled lifelong Homer resident Ray Kranich.
“The first was in March of 1956, planned by Jim Nealy who owned the ‘Ya Sure’ Bar. He had a vision or idea and he kind of took it and ran,” Kranich recalled. “He was a go-getter kind of person, and he made it happen. That was the first year of the car races.”
Kranich said the Homer Racing Association hadn’t yet been formed, but there were skiing races, snowshoe baseball and a Winter Carnival queen pageant.
“The queen pageant was held in Fritz Creek, where the store is now,” Kranich said, adding that a girl named Sharon Elliot was chosen as queen that first year.
Kranich said he remembers a parade down Pioneer Avenue; an event that – with all the other activities – helped dispel winter’s gloom. For his own part, the then-15-year-old Kranich got to race a 1936 Ford pick up on the lake. In order to do that, however, he had to get permission from Territorial Police Chief Ed Martin.
“My dad and I had to ask permission because I had been caught under-age driving before,” Kranich explained.
The car races are still part of the event, and Kranich said he still has his ‘36 Ford – even if it doesn’t run any more.
Sharon Ford said she would like to bring back the idea of a Miss Homer pageant, but would need to have sponsors and scholarship money lined up in order to pull off the event.
“I would really like to do a youth project, something that lets a young person glow,” she said. “But we can’t go into it without funding.”

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Posted by Newsroom on Dec 23rd, 2009 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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