In keeping with the keeping with the Peninsula Food Bank’s theme, “Because no one deserves to be hungry!” The Cook Inlet Aquaculture Assoc. donated two totes of nice pink salmon that returned to the Tutka Bay Lagoon hatchery this year. Processing two totes of salmon is a daunting task, so Soldotna Rotary Club president Chris Hough put out the call for help to his club and about a dozen members donned appropriate slime line gear and turned out to process those fish. “We cleaned, fileted and vacuumed packed them for people in need here on the Peninsula. They are really nice fresh caught Alaskan salmon this year and will make for some great meals this winter,” said Hough. Not everyone who joins a Rotary Club signs up for the slime line and volunteering to process fish, but it’s in keeping with the Rotary Motto of “Service Above Self,” says Hough, “We offer scholarships to local college bound youth annually with an emphasis on what they have done to serve their community or what we call Service Above Self by volunteering for their community rather than the students grade point average or financial need. But it seems like every few weeks our club is involved with one community project or another, from making handicapped access to the Kenai River available at Rotary Park to providing transportation for cancer patients, to highway clean ups, we have fun giving back to our community and the world through local and international projects,” explained Hough.
Hip deep in fish slime with filet knife in hand Brad Hibbert of Alaska Cab on a busy summer afternoon dropped what he was doing to help out, “Just having fun and giving back to the community where we work and play,” said Hibbert. Retired KPC professor Dr. David Wartinbee was also with knife in hand, “These are nice fish and larger than the ones we processed last year. Really some of these pinks were larger than the reds I caught on the river last night,” he said. Bob Lambe of Lambe, Tutor & Wagner also took the afternoon along with his wife Mary to do some scale counting instead of number crunching and said, “It’s all about service above self they say,” said Mary. The Soldotna Rotary Club’s annual Peninsula Beer Festival will be Saturday, August 13th and is the Club’s major fund raiser. Advance tickets are advised and available at www.kenaibeerfest.com and at local micro-breweries on the Kenai Peninsula.
For information about the Peninsula Food Bank services or to get your tickets for the August Soup Supper call 907-262-3111.
