TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Festivities to Mark Sitka’s Season End
By Sentinel Staff
Sitkans are set to mark a successful summer with the Season’s End Celebration downtown on Saturday.
The festivities begin with the 23rd annual Running of the Boots. The short run/walk will start at 11:30 a.m. at Totem Square Park, on a course that goes down Lincoln Street to the stoplight and then back to the square.
Participants in the 2016 Running of the Boots wait for the starting boot to drop before running down Lincoln Street. This year’s event takes place Saturday. (Sentinel file Photo by James Poulson)
Lincoln Street between American and Katlian streets will be blocked off to make a pedestrian midway for tents and food booths.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska and the Sitka Local Foods Network are sponsoring the fun run, said Kealoha Harmon, who leads Big Brothers Big Sisters in Sitka.
Proceeds from the $10 entrance fee for the fun run ($30 per family) and the $2 suggested donation for the hamburger, hotdog and salmon lunch are a fundraiser for the two organizations.
Season’s End “is a chance for the community to come together and be funny and wacky and have a celebration of summer and enjoy being Sitkans in our own goofy way,” Harmon said. “I am very excited to be part of such a long-standing tradition for the community.”-
Silly costumes and XtraTufs are encouraged for the race. In the past, people have dressed as flowers, life-sized rain boots and even aliens. There will be prizes for best costume, fastest times and also random ones for anyone who registers, she said.
Harmon has never competed in the race herself but has enjoyed watching it over the years.
“Our family loves to stand on the side and wave and cheer for kids,” she said.
There will also be live music, lunch, fresh produce for sale and even kids sumo wrestling as part of the festivities.
The Running of the Boots will start 30 minutes later than in past years, Harmon said, in order to coincide better with the lunch, sponsored by the Sitka Chamber of Commerce and Cruise Lines International Association. Race registration starts at 10:30 a.m., with the costume contest starting at 11 a.m.
Lunch will be available from 11:30 a.m. through 1:30 p.m., with Sitka’s three seafood processors each donating 80 pounds of fresh local salmon. Hamburgers and hot dogs also will be available.
“In the past there’s been an awkward gap between the two events,” Harmon said. “We worked together to tighten that up so people aren’t waiting around until lunch is served.”
The kids sumo wrestling from noon to 2 p.m. will keep the little ones entertained, she said. “While people are waiting in line that’s something their kids can do.”
Chamber director Rachel Roy said the event is a chance for seafood processors and the cruise industry to thank the community for a successful summer.
“Being in this great community, and having these industries so well-welcomed, makes it special for us,” Roy said.
She said she also likes to see so many sectors of the community getting involved in the celebration. Sea Mart, Westmark, the Backdoor Cafe, volunteers from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the Alaska Raptor Center and the U.S. Coast Guard will be playing a part in the celebration. Three or four local bands will perform.
Organizations and businesses who spoke to the Sentinel said 2017 was a good summer, with about 25,000 more cruise ship visitors than last year. The numbers are still coming in, said Fred Reeder, Sitka port director for Cruise Line Agencies.
“The season was fantastic,” Reeder said. “Other than the weather wasn’t (great), but we had lots of ships, lots of people. It seemed like everything went really smoothly this year. ... It seemed busy. Talking to merchants, it seemed like people were in a spending mood.”
Roy and Sherry Aitken, director of tourism for Visit Sitka, took note of the increase in visitor numbers, only one canceled cruise ship stop and the introduction of the pilot shuttle bus program for visitors. The goal of the free bus service was to disperse visitors over a wider range of the business district, increasing sales to local shops and increased sales tax revenue for the city. Shore excursion managers gave positive feedback to Visit Sitka.
Another highlight was Sitka’s being named this summer as the top cruise ship port town by the Cruise Critic website, Roy and Aitken said.
This summer also saw the reopening of the expanded and renovated Centennial Hall, where visitors found shelter while awaiting transportation and a visitor center offering information about the community.
“It’s become a nice hub,” Reeder said.
Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting said it was the best season he has seen for managing the flow of pedestrian and bus traffic at the building.
“There are some things we can improve on, but it’s the best we’ve seen,” he said. Visitors enjoyed the building, and let the staff know, he said.
“We had so many positive comments from visitors that Harrigan Hall is the nicest facility in Southeast Alaska,” Kluting said.
He said he enjoyed seeing how visitors and locals alike used the space inside and around the building, on nice days as well as rainy ones.
“We were able to take care of them, and it left them with a positive impression of Sitka, and hopefully enticing them back again,” Kluting said.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.