Chef Solus Lunch crossword puzzle

Across 3 Lemon juice on top of sliced apples help prevent ____ 4 You need an ___ pack in your lunch box (burrr) 7 Besides your backpack, make sure you have your _____ ____ 9 Trail mix usually contains these 10 Ranch dressing is a good dip for _____ 12 Many kids don’t like the ____ on bread 13 Crackers and ____ is a good side dish 14 Your bones gets strong when drinking this 15 These small sweet fruit can be green, red or black Down 1 Hummus is a dip made of this bean 2 A very popular kid’s sandwich 5 Milk contains this mineral to make bones strong 6 This container will keep your pasta warm at school 8 Vanilla yogurt goes good with fresh blue ____ 11 This cracker rhymes with Sam

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SOLUTION ON PAGE 47

Above, winter brings different conditions, but doesn’t chill the excitement to run. Sue Mauger, Terri Spigelmyer, Andy Haas and Ann Dixon lead an outing of runners on snowshoes. Courtesy of Kachemak Bay Running Club.

At right, flamingos may not be among the flocks of birds that arrive in Homer every spring, but the Kachemak Bay Running Club’s annual 5K Migration Run is an opportunity for runners Heidi Johnson, Macy Marquez and Michelle Drake to let their creative spirits take flight. Courtesy of the Homer News

Kachemak Bay Running Club

Mountains, beaches and trails make Homer an outdoor destination

By McKibben Jackinsky B almy winter temperatures hovering around 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Gentle waves lapping along Kachemak Bay beaches. An almost-solstice sun rising above the Kenai Mountains’ jagged peaks. And the Spit Trail, a popular running-walking route along the slender finger of land jutting from shore out into the bay.

Like the force of gravity, the combined elements were calling to Randy Wiest, a retired doctor of family medicine and a founding member of Kachemak Bay Running Club, to take to the outdoors. “It’s a good day for a run,” said Wiest, for whom running has been a regular part of his daily routine since high school.

As enticing as that wintry scene was for this seasoned runner with 20 marathons to his credit, it is only one of many scenarios attracting runners to the southern Kenai Peninsula.

“We have beach, mountains and trails, and that’s unique, especially in Alaska,” bragged Andy Haas, a Homer lawyer and another of the club’s founding members. Haas’s personal favorites: “When you can run a flat beach at low tide and not see anyone but the eagles and then travel across the bay and run Grace Ridge with no one but the dear love of God.”

The annual arrival of birds to the southern Kenai Peninsula is celebrated by the 5K Migration Run in early spring. The 10K Homer Spit Run and

Top, the annual 5K Migration Run on Spit Trail celebrates the springtime arrival of shorebirds and draws eager runners and walkers of all ages. Courtesy of the Homer News

Above, runner Denver Waclawski tackles the higher elevations of Grace Ridge Trail. Courtesy of Kachemak Bay Running Club

Opposite page, the sandy shore of Kachemak Bay made the perfect 5-mile course for Kachemak Bay Running Club’s 2014 Breast Cancer Run. Deland Anderson, left, and Christine Anderson tackle the course barefoot. Courtesy of the Homer News

Homer Half Marathon treats runners and walkers mid-summer to stunning views of Kachemak Bay and its mountain-rimmed southern shore. The 5K Halibut Hustle tips its hat in the fall to Homer’s notoriety as the “halibut capital of the world.” Throw in a Valentine’s Day run held the Sunday before Valentine’s Day, the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, assorted events the club is called upon to help organize, and it’s no wonder that in eight years the club’s membership has grown with “many more participants in our various activities,” said Jen Booz, a local teacher and running club board member.

“We offer single, family and business memberships and have many families who are registered together as members, and we also have a few businesses who regularly sign up for business memberships,” Booz said of the varied memberships available.

Several reasons fueled the decision to turn an avid, but loosely knit, band of runners into an organized nonprofit. For starters, the number of runners and walkers in the Homer area was growing, as was the list of events they were participating in elsewhere: marathons in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Boston, New York, Honolulu, Ireland, and

Greece, to name a few, as well as multiple shorter events. At-home opportunities to compete also were increasing, which raised another important reason to formalize the group.

Becoming an official running club also was seen as a way to boost fundraising, especially for youth activities.

“And then, of course, we wanted to offer more running events,” Wiest said. “We wanted to help transform Homer into a community that perceives itself as a running community.”

New events in new locations keep interest in club activities fresh and provide opportunities to explore some of the southern peninsula’s spectacular vistas.

For instance there’s the challenging Grace Ridge Run in nearby Kachemak Bay State Park, the first legislatively designated park in Alaska’s park system. Less than 10 miles long, the trail rises to 3,100 feet, beginning on a gravel beach, continuing through alders and alpine meadows before reaching ridgelines that reward with stunning views of Kachemak Bay, its network of coves, the Kenai

“We wanted to help transform Homer into a community that perceives itself as a running community.”

— Randy Wiest

Mountains, valley-filling glaciers, and, to the west, the string of volcanoes lining Cook Inlet’s western shore.

Thursday “fun runs” beginning in late winter and continuing through fall keep the running and walking community connected. They are about 5K in length and begin and end at local breweries and restaurants. Homer High School track’s summer conditioning program is open to the community and gives club members an opportunity to focus on increasing their speed.

For those running during the coldest part of the year when area trails and beaches may be slick with ice, Haas recommended hob-nailing shoes with small sheet metal screws. If running during the winter isn’t to an athlete’s liking, skiing and snowshoeing in Homer’s backcountry offer plenty of cross-conditioning opportunities.

“There is one small fly in the ointment. Once you organize a running club like this, people look to you as being the people to put on events. Pretty soon you find yourself running events and not running in them,” said Wiest before taking off for a wintry morning run on Spit Trail. “But we’re always looking to add new wrinkles to running to keep it fresh and fun for everybody.”

For more about Kachemak Bay Running Club, membership and upcoming events, visit Kachemak Bay Running Club on Facebook and on the web at kachemakbayrunningclub.org.

McKibben Jackinsky is a freelance writer in Homer. Comments about this story? Email editor @AlaskaPulse.com

Erin and Erik Edenshaw and children, Olivia and Laken, as well as niece Juanita, at the 2019 Tanana Valley State Fair. Courtesy of Erin Edenshaw

Living by Inupiaq values

By Shaylene Dublin

Name: Erin Edenshaw From: Kotzebue

What do you do? Allied Health Project coordinator, Fairbanks Native Association employee for 3 1/2 years. Certified substance use counselor, certified in mindfulness techniques, certified in trauma-informed care.

Current University of Alaska Fairbanks student.

How does your heritage inspire you? My heritage inspires me because I know every day that I come from a strong lineage. My ancestors and elders were tough enough to survive every terrain and every season. I carry forward my traditional knowledge by living my life with Inupiaq values.

Sharing, humility, respect for others, love for children, hard work, respect for Elders, respect for nature, humor, and domestic skills have given me a wonderful life, and I work to pass these values onto my children by example.

Why do you love your field of work? I love my field of work because I love feeling like I’m giving back to the Native community.

I had many important adult mentors in my youth who helped me enormously. I want to be able to do the same for today’s youth. I want our youth to feel a sense of belonging, self-worth, and love of life.

No matter the position I am in, I strive to be positive and encouraging to our youth and their families. In my former position as a counselor, I worked

Left, a small portion of descendants of Joe Field originally of Fort Yukon enjoying pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Above, Erin Edenshaw, FNA Allied Health project coordinator, left, and Daphne Gustafson, FNA Johnson O’Malley director, right, in Washington, D.C. May 2019, when attending a meeting for the program. Bottom, Erin and Erik Edenshaw on a short caribou hunting trip along the Noatak River, fall 2019. Courtesy of Erin Edenshaw

with young people who had experienced different levels of trauma and didn’t always have caring, functional adults to help them navigate trying times in a healthy, functional way.

I felt rewarded when I could help in some way. In my current position, I do a lot of recruitment and referrals. I collaborate with experts in the medical field, school district, and various other agencies to provide the best services I can to students in the FNA Allied Health Pathways Program.

I believe that the students have the power to change health care as we know it and are our future leaders.

The Allied Health Pathways Program offers eligible Fairbanks North Star Borough School District juniors and seniors, or recent high school graduates, an opportunity to earn certification in any of eight different healthcare pathways. Students may participate while still in high school or while they are in their first year of college.

They can also earn up to one year of credits with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Career and Technical Education Program.

Students can earn certification in nursing, nurse’s aide, paramedicine, phlebotomy, radiologic technology, medical assistant, health care reimbursement, or dental assistant.

Allied Health Pathways will pay for credit fees (up to 30 hours), materials, transportation, and support needs. The program is a partnership between FNA and the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.

Shaylene Dublin is executive coordinator at Fairbanks Native Association.