Recent Articles
Wild Shore Concert and Workshops – July 5
by Betsy Scott
Concert and workshops will be held at Susan B English school.
WILD SHORE EDUCATION WORKSHOPS
Laura’s First Impressions of Seldovia
by Laura Haskins
Coming into the Seldovia harbor the other day, I must admit, I was a bit anxious. Alan and I were very excited when he was offered the principal position, but he had been to town several times before and knew where we were going. And while I love a good adventure, I felt a bit blind coming across the bay that day.
I knew I would find a quaint fishing town nestled among some of Alaska’s most beautiful mountain scenery. I had seen pictures, after all, and Alan had been talking it up for years. But the heart and soul of a community is its people. Individuals create a collective character and give a place its personality and ambiance. I had heard wonderful reports of the “friendly, easy-going folks” who lived here but still I wondered; what would I find?
Well, I believe in first impressions and, Seldovia, you make a great one! I was overwhelmed by the charm of your boardwalks and the majesty of your landscape. Pictures can never really do justice to such an impressive panorama. But I was equally moved by the individuals I met – friendly and easy-going for sure, but also, genuine and sincere. You made us feel welcomed and at ease in such a short visit. We enjoyed walking around town and meeting folks as they worked in their yard and it was great visiting with you at church and at the dessert potluck. Thank you especially to Paul and Jenny Chissus and to Doug, Kathy, Les and Shirley Giles for your gracious hospitality.
Alan and I have said many times we could live anywhere as long as there were good people, and we’ve found good people everywhere we’ve lived. Seldovia is no exception! I’m still anxious about moving but this time it’s not because I’m blind. Now I can’t wait to come to town and really get to know the great people who make Seldovia home!
Editor’s note: Alan will be our new principal at Susan B English school this upcoming year. It was a total pleasure meeting both Laura and Alan on their first visit to Seldovia together! They are a very nice couple, authentic folks, interested in Seldovia and her people, and I am sure they will be a great addition to Seldovia and our school! They made a great first impression on us too! 🙂
First “Annual” Recycle Fashion Show
by Jenny Chissus
Wow, what a great show! I knew when I first read about this unusual fashion show idea – that it would be spectacular! This event would be the perfect opportunity for a few local artists/fashionistas to show off their talents in creative ways we could never imagine! From garbage bags, duct tape, foam and 5 hour energy bottles, to magazine pages, yarn, Grunden scraps, envelopes, dryer sheets and feed bags, there was a lot of waste put to amazingly good use!
With so much variety and obvious creative talent, it was a difficult fashion show to judge. Vivian, Suzie and Valisa were there, taking notes furiously as the gals took to the catwalk and about 35 folks enjoyed the show!
There were 4 categories:
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Models (in order of appearance): Tiffany, Ariana, Heli, Gwyn, Ashante, Andria, Sirena, Axenia, Heidi, Joy, Ariana & Sugar, Amanda and Lisa!
Fashion Designers: Tiffany, Amelia, Liza, Gwyn, Ila, Chaz, Amanda and Lisa
This was a benefit and fund raiser for the annual Fine Arts Camp that is coming up in July. Your support at this event and donations at any time are appreciated and welcome!
The Fine Arts Camp will be offering a daily schedule from campers 3-6, ages 7-11 and 12-18 as well as offerings for adults to enjoy! Everything from gymnastics, dance and circus activities, to chimes, story time, art and singing for the younger campers to Native American flute, Beg Fiddle, theater games, percussion – there will truly be a wide variety of activities to enjoy and learn during the week long course. Keep an eye out for the official flier – coming soon!
“En Plein Air” Weekend Event and Auction
The Seldovia Arts Council wishes to invite “En Plein Air” artists to discover our gorgeous corner of Alaska. We would love to have artists of every talent, both hobbyists and professionals, join the fine arts portion of our Solstice celebrations which will occur June 19th – June 22nd, 2014.
This is our 13th annual Summer Solstice Music Festival starting with musicians performing aboard the MV Tustumena Ferry during the trip from Homer to Seldovia on Thursday, June 19th. The Seldovia Arts Council sponsors workshops during the days of Friday, June 20th, and Saturday, June 21st with wonderful evening performances to follow on each of those dates. When the participating painters are not busy creating their own works of art, they can come enjoy the music.
“En Plein Air” artists will be surprised and inspired at every turn in and around Seldovia. Our sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking, whether viewed across the bay, over the surrounding mountains, or from the beaches. There are fascinating vistas of the small boat harbor, the old boardwalk, the bridge and slough, Main Street, and Inside and Outside Beaches, all within easy walking distance. Locations for joyful work are endless.
All artists are asked to bring their own supplies and easels.
There will be a brief welcoming meeting between 9:00AM and 9:30AM on Friday June 20th with maps available of town and surrounds for your assistance. We will end with a silent auction on Sunday, June 22nd starting at 11:00AM -12:45PM with Susan Mumma officiating. Snacks and coffee will be available. The public viewing space at Central Park, located in the heart of town, will be where all can view the artist’s work and where the auction will take place. In preparation for the auction each artist will be provided a numbered page on which to place the title of their work and the artist’s required minimum bid.
We hope that all artists will consider this invitation to be open, not only Solstice weekend, but all through the summer. The natural beauty will remain the same, and artists will be able to sell their work as they see fit.
Seldovia has a nice RV park and beautiful camping sites on Outside Beach, each with lavatory facilities.
For your planning and comfort, the following is information regarding lodging and availability of food:
Lodging: www.SeldoviaChamber.org or Seldovia.com/stay/lodging
Restaurants and Groceries: Seldovia.com/to-do/restaurants-and-groceries/
HEA Experiences Peninsula Wide Outage
by Joe Gallagher
Homer Electric Association (HEA) members experienced a system wide power outage late Monday afternoon.
The outage started at 4:15 pm when a fault occurred on a high voltage transmission line that runs from the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Plant through Homer and on to Soldotna.
The fault appeared to take place somewhere between Bradley Lake and Diamond Ridge in Homer. The incident was serious enough to create a loss of voltage on the entire HEA system and resulted in an outage from Kachemak Bay north to Nikiski.
HEA was able to restore power to Nikiski, Kenai, Beaver Creek, Ridgeway, and Sterling by 5:45 pm and had restoration to the rest of the HEA system completed at 8:25 pm.
The duration and size of the outage was compounded by the fact that there are two transmission related construction projects underway. A small section of the transmission line between Soldotna and Funny River is out of service due to construction work at the HEA substation in Soldotna. In addition, both HEA and Chugach Electric are working on the transmission system between Soldotna and Cooper Landing. This situation complicated and delayed the restoration efforts from Soldotna south to Homer.
An overflight of the transmission line between Bradley Lake and Homer failed to locate any obvious cause for the fault on the line. Possibilities include a lightning strike, a tree on the line or a possible bird contact. HEA will continue to investigate the cause of the outage.
Seldovia Time
