By Willow Hetrick
Turnagain Times Moose Pass Correspondent
Moose Pass School Halloween Carnival Full Of Fun Events
The Moose Pass Halloween Festival will take place on Friday, Oct. 30 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Moose Pass School gym. The carnival is free admission! Tickets are 50 cents for the Cake Walk, which will be run by Mr. O'Brien's 4th-and 8th grade class, and for the “Whipped Cream Toss Game,” which will be run by the Moose Pass Volunteer Fire Department (a volunteer sticks their face through a cutout in a plywood wall and ticket holder gets three small bowls of whipped cream to toss), volunteers will be needed for that!
Hot dogs and chilly-dogs will be sold by Estes Brothers Store, all proceeds will help fund next year's carnival, and volunteers are providing free hot apple cider.
Carnival goers will have a chance at cracking piñatas and to play in the “Jell-O Worm Eating Contest”, with worms provided by Rose Hetrick's Moose Pass Brownie Troop. There will be prizes awarded for Best Costumes, Best Decorated Cake, and Best Carved Pumpkin.
This year, the festival has been scheduled on the Friday before Halloween night so that the kids can have more time to go trick-or-treating on Saturday (Wednesday and Thursday are In-service Days). This way, the kids can have their cakes and eat them too!
The Hope School elementary kids will be at the Carnival, and are bringing a Halloween decoration that they have created as a class-project. Cooper Landing School kids are also creating something to add to the festival. Principal Dawson is pulling the three small schools together to create one family and Moose Pass School is very excited to host them.
The Moose Pass Sportsman's Club, as always, is sponsoring the event. Moose Pass Seward businesses Trail River Greenhouse, Knot-So-Fast Feed Store, Sweet Darlings, and Safeway, to name a few, are making prize donations.
The Moose Pass School Halloween Carnival volunteers are still in need of some supplies. Volunteers will gladly accept “Guessing Jars” (by 6 p.m. on the festival day with the correct amounts taped to bottom of jar), carved pumpkins to be entered into the Best Carved Pumpkin Contest (accepted at any time on the Friday of the Carnival), and cakes and/or cupcakes to be donated to the Cake Walk and to be entered in the Best Decorated Cake Contest (to take place during festival). Trick-or-treating activities will be on Halloween night, and children and parents will be walking on the bike path through Moose Pass.
Please drive slowly through the town, and watch out for ghosts, ghouls, and goblins.
Moose Pass Church Renovation Projects Underway
The tiny church in Moose Pass, Alaska began during the years of World War II, when Bertha McGhee, a Methodist deaconess, decided that she would prefer to stay in Alaska and start churches. Bertha began a new work on the Kenai Peninsula by starting a church in Hope in 1944 (now a conference retreat center) and in 1945 adding a second location in Moose Pass.
In 1955, the church building in Moose Pass was built, making it now 54 years old. Over the years, the little church building, which has been a spiritual home to several generations of Moose Pass residents, has had some minor renovations (including recent residing), but today it stands in need of some serious attention. The good news is that an experienced volunteer in mission team from North Carolina is coming for two weeks in June 2010, and future summers if needed, to accomplish the needed repairs. In the past two years, a new septic system has been planned and is just about completed.
A new fence between the church and the neighboring property was built to help settle some encroachment issues. The congregation has been saving diligently in its building fund, but even with volunteers doing the work, we are still in need of significant support in order to complete the repairs.
The list of projects is a long one. The jobs will be prioritized, literally, from the top down. First is a repair to the roof to determine the source of some existing water leaks. Then the replacement of the tile ceiling that has been stained and damaged by the water. Next is the replacement of the windows and doors, then the electrical wiring. If adequate funding is found, a new set of French doors will replace the window between the sanctuary and the fellowship room, allowing for overflow space on Christmas and Easter and other large gatherings.
The plywood cupboards in the fellowship room will be replaced or resurfaced to make them more attractive, and finally, a new sub-floor and a tile or laminate surface will be placed over the old linoleum tile floor.
The total cost of all these repairs is estimated to be between $16,000 to $20,000, depending upon the materials used in various aspects of the job. Volunteer labor truly keeps the cost down. So far, the congregation has saved over $6,000.
Over the next several months, the church will be inviting folks to support the projects in a variety of ways. The church hopes that they will be able to fully fund the projects when the work team arrives next June to begin the effort
Young Moose Passers Excel at Regions and State Cross Country Running Competitions
Both Seward Boys and Girls Cross Country Running Teams placed 2nd in regional competition. Miles Knotek placed 12th in the Regional Cross Country Competition. The boys varsity teams was ranked 19th overall in the state tournament. Miles placed 36th in the State X-Country Championship. Tess Berry placed 6th on her team in the regional competition to assist her team in qualifying for the state tournament. Girls were ranked 5th overall in the state. Tess Berry placed 83rd in the State X-Country Championship.
Kenai Crewsers Rowing Club to compete at World Master Games
The KCRC will be racing in the 2009 World Master Games in Sydney Australia. Eleven rowers and their coach Scott Allison will be racing between Oct. 10 and 14. Between the eleven rowers, they are expecting to participate in anywhere between 15 and 20 races, including a women's eight-person skull race. The next issue will include results and pictures from the KCRC races.
Temporary Trail River By-Pass Bridge Construction underway
Construction of the temporary bridge across Trail River has begun. Nightly closures of the Seward Highway occurred Monday, October 5th between the hours of 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. Monday-Thursday nights. Rock excavation may extend into the following week of Oct. 12. In this case, road closures will be on Sunday-Thursday nights, until rock removal is complete. The future inspections of the Trail River Bridge on the Seward Highway are scheduled for the following dates between the hours of 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: October 19-20. The bridge will remain open to vehicles less than 30,000 pounds during the inspection periods. Only vehicles above 30,000 pounds will be prevented from crossing the Trail River Bridge during the 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. periods on the above dates.
Happenings at the Trail Lake Lodge
The TLL is showing Monday Night Football, which is every Monday night until the football season ends. Become part of the Quarterback Club and receive one free drink and enjoy an all you can eat buffet during the games!
Moose Pass Church Schedules
The Moose Pass Methodist Church will begin their winter service hours. All are welcome to attend the church service, which begins at 5 p.m. Pastor Peter will be traveling to New England for two weeks in October for vacation and visits to supporting congregations in New York. Pastor Emeritus Duane Chase visited the church on Oct. 11, and the Reverend Leila Disburg will be the guest on Oct. 18.
The Moose Pass Community Church schedule is as follows: Sunday School will be held on Sunday's at 9:30 a.m. with the church service following shortly after at 10:45 a.m.
Moose Pass Movie Nights
In Moose Pass the Moose Pass Methodist Church will celebrate God in the Movies by watching and sharing a family oriented movie each month. On Oct. 29, the movie will be October Sky. Movie Night in November will be Nov. 19 because of the Thanksgiving holiday and the movie will be The Mighty Ducks.
Women's Reading Group News
The Women's Reading Group will be meeting on Tuesday, November 10th. The book will be a novel, The River Why? by David James Duncan. There will not be a meeting in December. January's meeting will be Jan. 12. The book will be Holy Stuff of Life, editor Heather Murray Elkins. There is a copy (or two) of each book at the Moose Pass Methodist Church for all to share. The library may have copies, too. If you are interested in being part of the group, or need further meeting information, please call Karen Perry at 224-5624. The Women's Reading Group is happy to have more people there, even if you haven't had time to complete the reading!
Moose Pass Food Bank
The Moose Pass Food Bank is located at the Moose Pass Community Church. The food bank does not have regular hours, but please call Bill or Mona Casselman at 288-5101 for assistance.
Moose Pass Advisory Planning Commission Meeting
The next MPAPC meeting will be on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Moose Pass Community Hall. Agendas for the next meeting are posted at the Moose Pass Post Office, Moose Pass Library, Crown Point Lodge, and Estes Bros. Store.
