I love history! A couple of days ago I was given an original copy of "The Homer News" dated Thursday, October 31, 1968. As far back as I can recall, the Homer News has always been published on Thursday. At the time of this publication, I was stationed at Naval Station, Adak and had no children! The reason this paper was given to me is that it contained a letter to the editor from my brother Tad.

In his letter, he thanked the residents of Homer and Anchor Point for their support during his "cobalt treatments" during his battle with cancer. He especially wanted to thank the students of Homer High School for their support. He was not a member of their faculty but the founder and coach of their wrestling program. In his closing line he said "I hope to return to Homer sometime in the spring", despite his best intentions he would not return to Alaska and passed away the following July. But prior to his passing, he was able to talk to each of his wrestlers by long distance the night that this small team won the Alaska State Championship in Anchorage. That same spring, the Homer High School Annual was dedicated to him. This serves as a reminder to each of us that we do not have to be a famous movie star or professional athlete to serve as a "role model" for our younger people. His life was short, but he lived it to the fullest and left a lasting impression on many.

On the front page of this particular issue of the Homer News was a advertisement for the Anchor River Inn in the celebration of their 4th Annual Halloween Party. A Halloween Party that has been held each year since that time. Their Sunday dinner special was advertised as Roast Turkey (Full Course Dinner) for $2.50.

This particular issue of the paper was published just prior to the elections consequently there were a lot of political ads. You may recognize some of the names: C.L. "Lindy Hammond, State House; Senator Ernest Gruening, U.S. Senate; Clemm Tillion, State House; Bob Palmer, State Senate; and N.J. "Nick" Begich, U.S. Congress. Letters written to the editor endorsing candidates were letters written by Jay S. Hammond, State Senator.

Other advertisements that caught my attention was from the Kirby Vacuum Sales and Service in Soldotna. Uminski's Department Store was advertising their 14th year of business. In the want ads, a 1959 Ford Thunberbird for $500.00 the phone number was 235-9996 (Is that a good buy, if so I will call them and see if it is still for sale). In the Men's Bowling League, it appears that Bob Lord was the big bowler but Jack Epperson did pick up a 5 / 10 split! Grocery Specials at Kachemak Food Cache included a 2 Pound Can of coffee for $1.49.

In the City Government news, the Homer City Council was considering an ordinance that "would make it illegal to sell or use fireworks within the city limits." Amendments to the ordinance say that the use of sparklers, toy guns, and other devices using paper caps are not considered a violation of the ordinance".

If you want a great Trivia Pursuit question, when did the State of Alaska begin the requirement that snow vehicles needed to be licensed? I thought that was something that was just recently enacted in the past several years. The announcement was in this paper, the requirement was approved by the Legislature to commence on September 1, 1968! But "Due to an unavoidable delay in obtaining lecense (sic) decals, the Dept. of Revenue will not be able to register snow vehicles until December 1, 1968". My question is, what is a snow vehicle?

You may be wondering who was operating the paper at the time of this publication, the Editor was Lucille Billings and the reporter was Ruth Kilcher.

As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed my journey back in time and it brought back many fond memories of "old" Homer.