Tustumena 200 runs from Kasilof to East End Road
Like a musher plodding through a snowstorm, organizers of the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race are continuing to move forward with this year’s event despite numerous challenges. Compensation for difficult conditions means the route, format and purse will all be significantly changed for 2012.
“We actually talked about taking this year off to regroup, but we decided the race will go on, but there will be a lot of changes,” said Tami Murray, executive director of the race, who has herself given up her salary percentage for organizing the event during the difficult financial times the race currently faces.
11-11-11 concert features Sunrise and friends
An unusual musical friendship started on Valentines Day 25 years ago. Two young female singer-songwriters performed on pizza nights at the Fresh Sourdough Express and such events as helping raise funds for the Tony Knowles for Governor campaign.
Sunrise Kilcher-Sjoeberg and Sharon Friesen-Schulz started in 1987 performing together, finding a unique match in their ability to create a certain sound and songs together. It’s a musical collaboration that aged with refinement through the years, so that today there’s an uncanny ability to finish each other’s music. But their performance gigs in public grew less and less after Schulz married, had children and took on full-time work as the speech and language pathologist at Paul Banks Elementary.
Gentle art of T’ai Chi helps whatever ails you
If a doctor were to prescribe T’ai Chi for arthritis or T’ai Chi for memory loss, it might sound like a bit of a stretch.
Yet, at the Homer Senior Center, the art of T’ai Chi taught by Rowan Mulvey for several years now has served good medicine to dozens of seniors through the practice.
“I’ve had bad arthritis for while now,” said senior Gerrianne Reiter. “T’ai Chi helps with the pain.”
For Lani Raymond, T’ai helps with breathing, flexibility and memory. “I almost forgot to mention memory,” Raymond quipped. “There are 108 moves, and you need to remember each to do them in the right order. I’m not there yet.”
Homer adventurer to walk across Spain
Christina Whiting left Homer last Saturday for Spain where she’ll explore the Basque region for two weeks. She’ll then begin a solo five-week, 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a portion of a network of trails that lace Europe, known as the Way of Saint James. This ancient trail, in use for over 1,000 years, is based on the discovery of the tomb of Saint James the apostle, one of Jesus’ disciples, in Galicia early in the ninth century. Saint James is now interred in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Tanape co-authors book on climate changes
“The ocean is part of me. Sometimes, I just have to go down there to smell the ocean,” said elder Simeon Kvasnikoff of Port Graham.
Tied as they are to the sea, the Sugpiat of Port Graham and Nanwalek are reading the unfolding story of climate change in grasses and ice storms. Elder Nick Tanape notices bears aren’t quite as fat as they should be before heading off to a winter’s sleep.
Chitons, a shellfish stuck to rocks and exposed only on low tides, are dwindling alarmingly in number.
Wrestling Coach Wolfe pens third book
Steve Wolfe, wrestling coach and teacher at Homer High School for 30 years, has written his third book about the sport that he says is mainly a tribute to his outstanding athletes, most notably in this book, Tela O’Donnell who represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics.
He first coached O’Donnell when she was in the eighth grade. “A beautiful, petite farm girl raised by a single parent, her mother Claire,” he writes. The young athlete grew up “wrestling sheep, fixing fences, building barns and riding horses.”
Silence speaks louder than words for group
The Women in Black stand at a park by one of Homer’s only traffic lights each Tuesday at noon, eight years and four months into the Iraqi conflict known as the Second Operation Desert Storm.
Occasionally a driver goes by and wags a middle finger at them. They also have received thousands of supportive waves, bouquets of flowers, honks and many cups of coffee and tea. In Homer’s peaceful hamlet, other than the Women’s vigil, one could easily forget America’s involvement in the devastating wars raging in the Middle East.
Rustic takes new meaning at cooking school
Old ships found no longer useful for sea travel often become time’s causalities, but occasionally one finds a new life, as is the case for the Widgeon II.
Its new role as a cooking school at Tutka Bay offers a renewed life for the World War II troop carrier that also served many years as a crabber. The school is operated by the renowned chef and lodge owner, Kirsten Dixon, whose name many might recall on her cook books filled with both stories and recipes inspired through the hospitality of operating lodges for more than 25 years. Located on a lagoon across from Tutka Bay Lodge, the boat was moored to shore during a high tide by the previous owner, who then built a two-story wooden structure onto the deck. With some added renovations by the new owners, Carl and Kirsten Dixon, the Widgeon II is now a rustic outpost adapted for cooking classes, large enough for 12 guests per day, and special events.
Relay for Life raises awareness, big money
Over $86,000 was raised over the weekend for the Cancer Society in the Homer Relay for Life at the high school track in the biggest turnout ever for the event, organizer Marilyn Parrett said. There were over 200 registered participants and more showed up. At the height of the event there were about 250 participants in 19 teams.
Johnny B accompanies Daniel Zatz ‘wild’ video
Pier One Theatre patrons who attended Johnny B (Bushell) and fellow musicians’ performance in late May also enjoyed a preview of the show slated for Friday and Saturday this weekend, “Johnny B’s Fabulous Fauxchestra featuring Alaska’s Coolest Animals.” The end of the Daniel Zatz amazing video of animals filmed in the wild was shown, accompanied by Bushell’s energetic piano performance.
