Daily Sitka Sentinel

July 5, 2013 Community Happenings

    SNEP to Meet
    The Sitka Native Education Program Parent Committee will meet 6 p.m. July 8 at the ANB Founders Hall. The public is invited to attend. For more information call Jordana at 752-0099.

    Conner-Harmon
    Plan to be Wed

    Benjamin Conner and Kayla Harmon are planning a summer 2014 wedding in California.
    The bride-to-be is a former Sitka resident. She is the youngest daughter of Deanna Bennett, Sitka, and Fred Harmon, Colorado, and granddaughter of Georgia Rogers. She is currently a full-time nanny in Redondo Beach, Calif., and has plans to attend college next fall.
    The groom-to-be is a graduate of Ohio University with a degree in digital multimedia. He currently works as a compositor for Sony Imageworks in Culver City, Calif., and is the youngest son of Dani and Kevin Conner of San Diego, Calif.


    Hospital Hires
    New Health
    Educator
    Sitka Community Hospital has hired new health educator and tobacco cessation coordinator Patrick Williams. He began his new job July 1.
    Originally from a small town in Alabama, Williams said he came to Alaska seeking adventure.
    He holds a bachelor of science degree in health education and health science with an influence in exercise prescription from Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina.
    Williams worked for two years as program coordinator for the City of Talladega, Ala. He enjoys sports and is a former NCAA Division 1 Dual Sport Athlete in swimming and cross-country, and a state champion and national qualifier in swimming. In his spare time, Williams is an assistant coach for Baranof Barracudas swim team and a member of U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
    “I am excited to offer Sitkans the opportunity to lead a tobacco-free life,” Williams said.

    Scholarship Ready
    For Arts Student
    The University of Alaska and the Greater Sitka Arts Council will offer a $500 scholarship to a student pursuing the arts at UAS Sitka Campus.
    Applicants do not need to be currently enrolled at UAS to be eligible.
    The scholarship is to be completed by individuals who plan to continue to enhance their art and will apply to art classes offered for the 2013/2014 academic year at the UAS-Sitka campus.
    Applicants should submit a 250-word essay explaining interest and goals in the field of visual arts. Include a brief discussion about participation in the arts and financial need, and a letter of recommendation from a former teacher or mentor.
    The deadline to apply is July 12, and the award will be announced  July 26. Applications will be reviewed by a jury of arts council board members and UAS faculty. Visit http://www.uas.alaska.edu/sitka/ for available art classes through the UAS-Sitka Campus. Also check out the arts council website, sitkaarts.org

    Summer Evening
    Park Programs Set
    Sitka National Historical Park will debut its summer evening program series 7 p.m. July 10.
    Ranger Jon Fish will take a look back in time, when the war effort came to town, during ‘‘World War II in Sitka Sound.’’
    He will offer stories from the 1937-1944 U.S. military buildup of Sitka Sound and surrounding areas and explore what is left of a World War that came close to Sitka’s front porch. 
    The evening program series will run through mid-September 7 p.m. Wednesdays at the park visitor center.


Sitka’s Farmers Market
Begins Season Saturday
    When Sitka Farmers Market manager Bridget Kauffman rings the bell at 10 a.m. this Saturday at the ANB Founders Hall, summer in Sitka will officially come into bloom.
    The Sitka Farmers Market will open for its sixth season, featuring a wide selection of Sitka-grown produce as well as baked goods, artisan crafts, fish, canned products, and more.
    “The farmers market brings diverse Sitkans together and creates opportunities for a growing local food economy,” said Lisa Sadleir-Hart, president of the Sitka Local Foods Network, the organization that runs the Sitka Farmers Market.
    “Growing our own food means we know where our food has come from,” added Bridget Kauffman, farmers market manager. “Purchasing locally grown products supports the local economy and the people of the community.”
    The season is the first full year the market will accept Electronic Benefit Transfer Quest cards, as well as Women, Infants and Children benefits.             The market has also received a grant from the State of Alaska to match Quest purchases up to $20 while supplies last.
    “Quest and WIC benefits go a long way at the farmers market,” said Onagh MacKenzie, Sitka Local Foods Network intern. “These programs help people to make the most of their food dollars, and you leave the market with food that is cheaper, healthier, and tastier than anything you can get at a supermarket.”
    “I really like that this opportunity is offered to those that have those benefits,” added Maybelle Filler, Sitka Local Foods Network treasurer. “It’s all about increasing access to produce and locally made goods.”
    The market’s attention to accessible prices comes in response to widespread concern about the cost of food.
     “Between September 2006 and September 2011, food prices rose 44 percent in Sitka,” said Sadleir-Hart, citing a study conducted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. “Food prices in other parts of the country increased only 15 to 20 percent over that time period.”
    The Sitka Farmers Market has worked to avoid price inflation.
    “We’ve been able to keep the produce sold at the SLFN produce stand the same price as when we started five years ago,” said Sadleir-Hart.
    “The Sitka Local Foods Network has tripled the square footage of its gardening space over the last few years,” she said. “We also hear lots more Sitkans talking about food issues.”
    “The farmers market offers many opportunities to learn of the multitude of talents and products available locally. The markets bring food, music, art and people together to share things we all enjoy,” Kauffman said.
    The Sitka Farmers Market season runs 10 a.m.-1 p.m. every other Saturday July 6 through Sept. 14. For more information, visit sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org or email sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

    Super Saturday
    Benefit July 27
    Sitka Fire Department will host its annual Super Saturday fundraiser 10 a.m.-2 p.m. July 27.
    Activities will include a bouncy castle and dunk tank. Chili, fry bread and hot dogs will be for sale. A silent auction is planned, as well as tables to sell garage sale treasures, crafts and other items. Those wanting to have a table can call 747-6875.

    Relay for Life
    Garage Sale Set
    The Relay for Life teams Xtra Tuf Souls and Notorious CURE will hold a garage sale July 20 and are seeking donations.
    Call Connie at 738-4367, Kathy at 738-9713 or Darcie at 738-5274 to arrange to have clean items in good condition picked up.

   
    ‘The Fish Poet’
    Book Signing
    Scheduled July 11
    The family of the late Harrison ‘‘Smitty’’ Smith, a poet who commercially fished Southeast waters, will be at Old Harbor Books from 2 to 4 p.m. July 11 for the signing of his book, ‘‘The Fishing Poet.’’
    Smith’s wife, Lorrie Haight of Long Beach, Wash., and daughters Suzy Johnson of Yuma, Ariz., and Luanne Huebsch of Hillsboro, Ore., will arrive next week for signing and to sell his book.
    Smith died Oct. 25, 2012. His wife had a cast bronze plaque of his poem “Mount Fairweather” made and it was installed in the Sitka boat harbor a few weeks ago.
    Smith fished the trollers Sea Miner and Akvavit out of Sitka from 1972 thru 1985.
    He often wrote topical poems during slow times on the grounds and read them to the fleet on the VHF radio. Many of them were published in the Alaska Fisherman’s Journal over the years.
    Smith was a favorite at the annual Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria, Ore., since its inception in 1998, and appeared every year through 2011. He usually had the audience laughing with his witty, rhyming poems, styled after Robert Service, his idol.
    Smith wrote the 84 poems and his wife included a bit of prose to explain the inspiration for the poems. They worked together on the introduction. Haight self-published the books and made each one by hand. The hard cover books sell for $28 each.
    The public is invited to the signing.

    xxSitka Duck Race
    Winners Given
    Winners of the fourth of July Sitka Rotary Club Duck Race have been announced.
    Patrick Weaver of Sitka had the winning duck, netting him two Alaska Airline tickets.
    Second prize, $500 cash, was won by Marjorie Hennessey and $250 was won by Chris Anglin of Sitka.
    The Pay it Forward Prize from Alaska Computer Store, $250 cash, was given to Grace Brooks of Sitka
    Wild Duck prizes, worth $100 cash each, were won by Rick and Kathy Paden of Sitka, Dennis Peterson of Sitka, Jim Goldsmith of Longmont, Colo., Greg Johnstone of Sitka, Jamie Abbott of Sitka and Rob Allen of Sitka.
    The Red Lantern prize for the last duck, $100 cash, was won by Lee Bennett of Sitka.

    Affordable Housing
    Meeting on Tap
    Sitkans for Affordable Housing will host a public informational meeting 7 p.m. July 10 at the Centennial Hall in the Maksoutoff Room.
    The meeting will be an opportunity to review information in the recent series of articles in the Sentinel and the KCAW interviews and to ask questions and share opinions or concerns.
    For further information, call Mike at 738-2885.