Daily Sitka Sentinel

March 11, 2014 Community Happenings

Herring Festival
    Potluck on Tap
    A community potluck for the Sitka Herring Festival will be held 6-9 p.m. April 4 at Centennial Hall.
    Entertainment will be provided by Tom Begich and Sarah Sledge, as well as a talk on ‘‘Archaeology of Herring in Alaska’’ talk from Madonna Moss. An auction for donated artwork will also take place.
    Those with questions can be directed to 747-7168.

    Chamber to Meet
    At the Chamber luncheon  noon Wednesday at Westmark Sitka, panelists Bob Love, Reid Brewer and Sheldon Schmitt will speak on UAS-Sitka Campus’ ‘‘major programmatic initiatives and distance learning for the 21st century.’’
     For more information, call the Chamber office at 747-8604.

    Testimony Taken
    On House Bill 77
    The Senate Resources Committee will accept public testimony on the new amendments to House Bill 77 at 3:30 p.m. March 12 at the Legislative Information Office via teleconference.
    Summaries of the new amendments to HB77 will be available. For more information contact Ray Friedlander, SCS, at 747 7509.


    Pick.Click.Give Donations
    Sought for Foods Network
    Alaskans who donate to their favorite nonprofit groups through the Pick.Click.Give. program can now have a chance to double their money.
    The new Double Your Dividend Sweepstakes, announced March 4, will allow 10 Alaskans who donate through the program a chance to win.
    Alaskans who choose to make a Pick.Click.Give. donation to one of the more than 500 qualifying 501(c)(3) Alaska nonprofit organizations (22 from Sitka, including the Sitka Local Foods Network) when they file their PFD application will be entered into the sweepstakes.
    All non-anonymous donations made before the PFD application due date of March 31 will count for the sweepstakes. On Sept. 15, the names of 10 Alaskans will be drawn and the winners will be announced on Oct. 1.
    The complete rules can be found here, http://www.pickclickgive.org/index.cfm/double-your-dividend/.
    This is the first year the Sitka Local Foods Network is participating in the Pick.Click.Give. program, which allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local nonprofit organizations. The Sitka Local Foods Network supports the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, Blatchley Community Gardens, education programs about growing and preserving food, the sustainable use of traditional foods, the Sitka Community Food Assessment, the Sitka Food Summit, and a variety of other projects designed to increase access to healthy local foods in Sitka.
    The program only is available to people who file their PFD applications online, and not to those who file by mail. Those who have already filed may go into their application and update by Aug. 31. Applicants won’t be entered into the sweepstakes unless a donation is made before March 31.
    Non-residents and Alaskans who aren’t eligible for a 2014 PFD can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network by check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408 Marine St., Suite D, Sitka, Alaska, 99835. The EIN is 26-4629930. Donors should indicate if a receipt for tax purposes is needed. For more information about donating, go to the Sitka Local Foods Network website at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/, or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

     Youths Celebrated
    At RIYSC Dinner
    Recognizing Inspiring Youths of the Sitka Community will host a celebration and dinner March 26 at Centennial Hall. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6 p.m.
    The mission of RIYSC is to identify and recognize outstanding youths who support their peers, school and/or community. The student councils of Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka high schools have joined together to recognize positive behaviors of youths throughout the Sitka community.
    The cost for adults is $20 and children 10 and younger, $10. Tickets are available at Old Harbor Books. All proceeds will go to the SAFV Shelter.
    For more information about the event or to nominate a youth for the award, contact Ben Clark, SHS, 966-1910 or Michael Mahoney, MEHS, 966-5254.

    Herring Hop
    Dinner, Dance
    Set March 29
    The Cape Decision Lighthouse Society invites the community to the annual Herring Hop dinner-dance fundraiser, 5:30 p.m. March 29 at the ANB Founders Hall, to celebrate the return of the herring, and to raise funds for window rehabilitation of the former USCG lighthouse on southern Kuiu Island.
    Doors open at 5:30 p.m. to browse the pre-dance silent dessert and silent art auction. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. The one live auction piece is a classic guitar with the lighthouse and maritime art on the face, donated by local artist Kija Rowe-Elstad.
    Dancing will follow around 7 p.m. to the live music of local classic rock ’n’ roll band Slack Tide. All are welcome “to enjoy an evening of old-fashioned family fun, visit with friends and neighbors, rub elbows with local fishermen and swap stories, and ‘cut it up’ on the dance floor” to help the society with the upcoming summer historic preservation projects.
    The dinner menu includes locally caught tempura fish-and-chips, Kari’s  coleslaw, Dick’s BBQ baked beans, and root-beer floats for a suggested donation of $15 for adults, $10 seniors and students, $5 children 12 and under, and free for children 3 and under.
    Dinner and dance tickets can be purchased at Old Harbor Books, starting on March 17, or at the door. Organizers are encouraging people to get tickets early as there is limited capacity at the ANB Founders Hall.
    Fishermen who would like to donate fish – yellow eye, rockfish or halibut – are being asked to contact Bill Grant at Sitka Sound Seafoods or Dave Newman at Seafood Producers Cooperative so they can put the fish in freezers. Any business or individual who would like to contribute an item to the art and artifact silent auction or to the dessert auction, or is generally willing to help out and volunteer, can call Karen at 747-7803.
    The Lighthouse Society has accomplished several historic preservation projects since 1997 to restore the lighthouse with its 214-acre Lighthouse Reserve to accommodate the visiting public. CDLS will have an information table at the Herring Hop, for those wishing to become or renew a membership. Mugs, prints, postcards, CDs and new hoodies and T-shirts with a Rebecca Poulson woodblock on front will be for sale.
    Anyone interested in staying at the lighthouse, participating in a work party there, or joining the 501 (c) 3 nonprofit Cape Decision Lighthouse Society, can find information at capedecisionlight.org and on Facebook, or call Elizabeth at (732)749-0319.

    Herring Hop
    Set March 29
    The Herring Hop, dance ’til you drop, dinner-dance fundraiser for the Cape Decision Lighthouse Society is set March 29 at the ANB Founders Hall.
    The menu will include locally caught fish ’n’ chips, coleslaw, BBQ beans and root-beer floats. The  local classic rock-and-roll band Slack Tide will perform. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. to browse silent auction items of art and artifacts, and desserts, dinner starts at 6 p.m., with the dance to follow. Tickets, a $15 donation for adults and $5 for children, are available at Old Harbor Books starting March 17, and at the door.
    Proceeds benefit the historic preservation of the Cape Decision lighthouse on southern Kuiu for public use, recreation and education. For further information call Karen at 747-7803.

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    Positive Indian
    Parenting Offered
    Sitka Tribe of Alaska will offer sessions in ‘‘Positive Indian Parenting’’ 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesdays March 18-May 8 at Centennial Hall.
    Sessions will be presented by Sharon McIndoo, SAFV rural outreach coordinator, and STA tribal family caseworker Jean Swanson.
    To sign up contact McIndoo at 738-5417 or Jean Swanson at 747-3968.
    Positive Indian Parenting was developed to serve as a model for Native parents working to reconnect with their culture and traditions. This curricula has been used successfully by tribes nationwide. It is open to all Tribal citizens and their caregivers.
    Free childcare and transportation provided and lunch will be served 1 to 1:30 p.m.; classes begin at 1:30 p.m.

    Art Walk Set at
    Unity Botanicals 
    All are invited to  the grand opening of Unity Botanicals and Backcountry Bodyworks, featuring Nora Skeele, massage therapist, during the ArtiGras Art Walk reception 5-9 p.m. March 14. It will feature work by local artists Libby Stortz and Heather Bauscher.
    Unity Botanicals’ new location is next to Highliner Coffee at 327 Seward Street. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays, mainly by appointment, and noon-3 p.m. Saturdays for retail sales and walk-ins.
    Unity Botanicals is a resource for medicinal herbs, organic teas, custom formulas and herbal health consultations.
    Skeele is trained in structural integration massage therapy. Her services include connective tissue therapy and relaxation massage. For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (206) 612-6989.




    Book Signing
    Set at Library
    Don Rearden, author of ‘‘Raven’s Gift,’’ will give a reading and sign books 6 p.m. March 12 at Kettleson Memorial Library.
    ‘‘Raven’s Gift’’ is Rearden’s debut novel and has been received with wide acclaim, the library said.
    The book is a “hunter-hunted suspense of Geoffrey Household’s ‘Rogue Male,’ the post-apocalyptic bleakness of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ and the haunting mysteriousness of ‘The X-Files.’” It is set in windswept Alaskan tundra.


    Shakespeare
    Marathon Set
    A Shakespeare marathon, a Bard-a-thon, is being held at Kettleson Memorial Library noon-9 p.m. daily March 10-15. Walk-ins are welcome; no reservations are necessary.
    Juneau Public Library is hosting the event via videoconference. Sitkans are welcome to listen or participate as Shakespeare’s plays are read aloud.
    The event is to celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th birthday.
    ‘‘Richard III’’ will be read 6-9 p.m. tonight.
    On Wednesday, the schedule will include:  noon-3 p.m. ‘‘The Gentleman from Verona’’; 3-6 p.m. ‘‘Titus Andronicus.’’
    On Thursday readings will be: noon -6 p.m. ‘‘Julius Caeser’’; 3-6 p.m. ‘‘Timon of Athens’’; and 6-9 p.m. ‘‘Taming of the Shrew.’’

    Poker Tourney
    For SHS Football
    A poker tournament fundraiser to benefit the Sitka High School football team is slated 11:30 a.m. March 16 at the Bayview Pub.
    Call 747-5300 or stop by the Pub to reserve a seat.

    Swing Dance
    Lessons Taught
    Swing dance lessons are taught 8 p.m. March 19 at the Bayview Pub, hosted by Al Maloney. All are welcome and no experience is necessary. All of the suggested $5 donation benefits Sitkans Against Family Violence.


    Acting Sitka
    District Ranger
    Announced
    Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole announced that Alaska Region Fisheries Program Manager Don Martin has accepted the acting district ranger role.
    Carol Goularte will remain in Sitka as the Tongass recreation staff officer. She was the Sitka district ranger for more than 12 years.
    “Martin worked previously on the Tongass and understands very well the many issues we deal with on a day-to-day basis,” Cole said. Martin currently works out of the Forest Service Regional Office in Juneau. Most of his 25-year career has been in the Alaska region. He starts his temporary assignment on March 31.
    The Sitka staff will act as district ranger until Martin arrives. The vacancy announcement for the permanent position is advertised on USAJOBS.

    Local Fish
    Lunch Served
    The local fish lunch will be March 12 at Keet Gooshi Heen, Blatchley, and Sitka High schools. Yelloweye rockfish will be served.

    Dive Harvest
    Meeting Set
    Commercial dive harvest permit holders will meet 7 p.m. March 12 at Centennial Hall.
    Critical issues concerning the future of the dive fisheries will be discussed. Dive fishery permit holders should attend. Call Greg at 738-5435 or Larry at 738-0417 for more information.