■ The Soldotna Chamber of Commerce will hold a Trivia Night Chamber Holiday Social at Odie’s from 6-8 p.m. today. Form your trivia team and RSVP to 262-9814.
■ The KPEDD Industry Outlook Forum is Jan. 11, 2017, from 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. at the Kenai Visitors Center, 11471 Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, with lunch and dinner included, held in partnership with the Kenai, Soldotna, Seward and Homer Chambers of Commerce and the cities of Kenai and Soldotna. The forum is open to the public and offers a variety of topics and speakers discussing the economic outlook for the Kenai Peninsula and the State of Alaska and the impact oil, gas, mining, gas pipeline projects, education and medical projects have on our communities. Register at http://kenaichamber.org.
Furwood Tannery LLC, a small family run business providing personal and hands on tanning services, has opened in Soldotna. Furwood Tannery does hair-on hide tanning and runs small batches of hides. For more information, prices and space availability, call 262-0419 or find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/furwoodtannery/.
Kay Shoemaker is the new district 4-H agent for the Kenai Peninsula.
Shoemaker welcomes the opportunity to work with leaders to coordinate 4-H programs on the Peninsula and to reach other youth, particularly through science and outdoor education. She will support Kenai’s strong livestock and shooting sports programs but hopes to introduce youth to other programs and experiences.
“I want to offer them new things they’ve never tried before,” she said.
She mentions traditional indigenous sports activities such as spear making and throwing, which are part of a physics of flight program that includes sessions on archery, ravens and hot air balloons.
Shoemaker grew up in Portland, Oregon, and earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing at Linfield College. Shortly after graduating, she began volunteering at a remote indigenous community in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. She found that students were eager to learn when they were outside and became more receptive to classroom learning after being outdoors. Since then, she has taught science education at camps in Oregon and Alaska and worked for Girl Scouts in both states for 11 years. She became a natural resources and science 4-H agent in 2013, and earned a Master of Science in outdoor education from Alaska Pacific University that same year.
Shoemaker has been active with Anchorage’s Schools on Trails project, which encourages youth to develop trails and outdoor learning spaces around their schools. Students and teachers in Eagle River developed a trail around their school, a treehouse for wildlife viewing and an outdoor amphitheatre. The school started an outdoors adventures club that has 120 members and the school uses the outdoors trail to teach snowshoeing. The project, which is supported by the National Park Service, has spread to other communities, including Nikiski and Seward.
The agent will continue working on that program statewide, as well as the salmon-in-the classroom education program and the Alaska Master Naturalist program, which she coordinated in Anchorage this year, and expects to offer on the peninsula. The program trains individuals to work and volunteer as naturalists. She also hopes to start a Junior Master Naturalist program for youth.
Shoemaker will work out of the Soldotna district office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and may be contacted at 907-262-5824.
Home Watch Service Plus KPB of the Kenai Peninsula has earned Accredited Member status in the National Home Watch Association for the fifth consecutive year. The NHWA was formed in 2009 in order to establish and maintain the highest industry standards for Home Watch and absentee homeowner services throughout the United States and Canada. HWS Plus KPB serves Soldotna, Sterling, and Kenai. Owner Stace Escott can be reached at 907-252-4431 or StaceEscott@HomeWatchServicePlus.com. Learn more at www.homewatchserviceplus.com/kenai.
Junior Achievement and Mountain View Elementary in kenai are excited to put together another JA in a Day event for the spring semester. This event will take place on March 9, 2017. Junior Achievement programs align with state standards and teach students the value of workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. The hands-on, age appropriate curriculum equips students with the knowledge needed to be successful in today’s ever changing global economy. Volunteers are needed for this event. A light breakfast, lunch, training and program materials will be provided. Visit alaska.ja.org to learn about the JA programs that will be offered to all K-5 students. For more information, contact Amarin Ellis, Program Manager, at 907-344-0101 or aellis@ja-alaska.org.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service has launched a series of short videos to help Alaskans manage their finances.
The videos are available at www.uaf.edu/ces/money.
Anyone with ideas for additional video topics may contact Dinstel at 907-474-7201 or at rrdinstel@alaska.edu.
Have you opened a new business, moved to a new location, hired a new person or promoted an employee? Send us your information at news@peninsulaclarion.com, fax it to 907-283-3299, or drop it by the Clarion at 150 Trading Bay in Kenai. Questions? Call 907-335-1251.
Business announcements may be submitted to news@peninsulaclarion.com. Items should be submitted by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication.
