BIG EARLY TURNOUT – Poll workers Cheryl Vastola and Irene Ferguson, at left, help early voters cast their ballots this afternoon at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Turnout has been heavy today on the final early voting day before the national election. Close to 1,600 people have cast early ballots so far in Sitka. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By Sentinel Staff
Scores of Sitkans cast ballots at Harrigan Centennial Hall today, the last day for [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
A brown bear that reportedly showed aggressive behavior and “continued lack of fe [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Though days are growing short, programming for bike ri [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
In the annual WhaleFest race Saturday from Whale Park [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
In recreational division City League basketball Sunday, Forrester and Grenie [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The Port of Seward, which serves a coastal Kenai Peninsula town t [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Prosecutors in Fairbanks have charged an Alaska Department of Tra [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
November 1
Parts were reported stolen from [ ... ]
Donald Soukup
Dies at Age 85
Donald R. Soukup, 85, passed away Nov. 1 at Sitka Long Term Care.
An obi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
In the second program in a series on Sitka’s child c [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaskan Beacon
Alaskans were charged about $5.78 billion for hospital stays in [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A grand jury in Kenai has indicted Alaska state troopers Joseph M [ ... ]
SCT Presents
Live Radio Play
Nov. 8 at PAC
GSAC Sitka Community Theater will present “Radio Adventure [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
October 31
An officer told people shootin [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A search for a hunter missing since Tuesday ended around mid [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff Sitka WhaleFest has scheduled a series of seminars and events, including a fun ru [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
In their first wrestling meet of the year at the Sout [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
In a master’s division City League basketball game Wednesday evening, Harr [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Ahead of next week’s general election, the Alaska Republican Pa [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
October 30
At 10:05 a.m. a fa [ ... ]
Benefit Fry Bread
Sale Saturday
A fundraiser for the Moreno family will be held 11 a.m. -2 p.m. Saturd [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
With the hiring of an aquatics supervisor, the city Parks an [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
A search was under way today for a Sitka man overdue on a half-day hunting trip Tue [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
After months of working to shape ceramic and glass pie [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka Dad, Son to Run With a Health Message
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Two Sitkans will start a 3,000-mile journey in January with a single step – or stride.
Brett Wilcox and his son David, 14, plan to run across the country to raise awareness about issues related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their effect on human health and the environment.
They will be joined on their project, called “Running the Country,” by a support team of family members – Brett’s wife Kris and daughter Olivia. Other friends and supporters are volunteering to run or ride along for part of the journey.
The Wilcoxes say on their run across the country they will carry a message of the importance of healthy food, healthy diet and healthy exercise.
“A big part of healthy living is knowing what’s in our food,” Brett Wilcox said. If successful, he said, David will be the youngest person to complete a cross-country run, and the two runners will be the first father-son team to do it. David will be 15 when he starts the cross-country run in January. He and his father tentatively plan to cover 15 miles a day, running six days a week.
David became inspired to make the trip after learning of a teenage girl who completed a transcontinental run at age 17.
“Initially, it was David saying ‘I want to do that,’ about three years ago,” Brett Wilcox said. “Then it sat on the back burner. When David pressed me and Kris a few times, it was like: we have a very talented son, who wants to do something extraordinary. Are we going to say no or do everything we can – ethically – to make this happen?”
Brett said he and his family live fairly conservative lives, and that this will be something of a change from that.
“We get up, go to work, go home and take care of our family,” he said. “The thought of stepping away from our jobs is unsettling and it will take a lot of support from a lot of people to make it a reality.”
Along the way, the family will be stopping at community centers and public events, and making scheduled talks about and raise awareness on genetically modified organisms. They’ll explain what the public can do to “secure a safe, non-GMO food supply,” Brett said.
The Wilcoxes and Running the Country garnered early support from the Sitka Conservation Society because of their joint concern about genetically modified organisms. SCS helped organize the protest in Sitka recently to raise awareness of the dangers related to genetically modified salmon, and the organization is active in promoting sustainable food systems.
“We are facing a really scary threat of genetically modified salmon in Alaska,” said Andrew Thoms, SCS executive director. “Our community’s livelihoods are intricately connected to wild Alaska salmon. Introducing a ‘Frankenstein salmon’ into the environment could cause disastrous consequences to our wild salmon stocks and our local industry. The more people know about this threat, the better. Running the Country will help spread the word about what people want for our food system and counter the voices of large food corporations that are pushing GMO foods.”
The Wilcoxes plan to start their run in southern California and stick to a southern route during the winter months before starting to angle north to the finish on the East Coast, some eight months later. One important stop will be St. Louis, Mo., where the headquarters of the Monsanto Company, a leading producer of genetically modified seeds, is located. Another will be Washington, D.C.
“Monsanto says it will feed the world, and we’ve found the opposite is true,” Brett said. “It’s taken the seeds out of the control of the farmers ... instead of food security they’ve created food insecurity.”
Brett is also working on publishing two books on his own that the family will carry on the trip to publicize their message about the importance of healthy food choice, diet and exercise. The self-published books are called: “Sexy Body, Sexy You: Discover The Secrets to Weight Loss, Life, Love & Loot” and “We’re Monsanto: Feeding The World, Lie After Lie.”
Brett Wilcox is spreading the word locally in other ways about his concerns with GMOs, including organizing a local March Against Monsanto Movie Nights, a series of films that will wind up May 24. The movies have been shown on Friday evenings at Centennial Hall starting at 7 p.m.
The March Against Monsanto is set for 2 p.m. Saturday on Castle Hill, one of nearly 400 such demonstrations organized in communities around the world.
The Wilcox family has lived in Sitka for more than 12 years. Brett, 52, is an outpatient mental and behavioral health counselor at SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital, and Kris has a house cleaning business. David has three sisters, Olivia, 12, and Erika and Brittany who attend college in Utah and Hawaii.
Brett said the cross-country run will need many supporters and sponsors. The Wilcoxes have their own Running the Country site at www.runningthecountry.com, and also a Running the Country page on Facebook.
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20 YEARS AGO
November 2004
Sitka Tribe of Alaska is having a Traditional Foods Contest. Categories for dishes include best use of herring eggs, best dried seaweed, best half-dried salmon, best contemporary dish using traditional ingredients and most authentic traditional dish. Call Jessica Perkins with questions.
50 YEARS AGO
November 1974
Classified ads, Personal: Tickets of Red aren’t a disgrace, a waitress will get them when she parks out of place. Ratfink.
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