Daily Sitka Sentinel

The Island Institute Celebrates with Auction, Dinner

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

Two kinds of birds will be on the auction block for the Island Institute Auction and Pizza Party: one will provide years of enjoyment and the other perhaps just an evening – hopefully with some leftovers.

From left, Cathryn Kusmeier, Peter Bradley and Sally Helm display some of the items the Island Institute will offer at their auction 7 p.m. Friday at Centennial Hall. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

The Island Institute will hold its biggest fundraiser of the year 7 p.m. Friday at Centennial Hall. 

The auction and pizza party kicks off two days of events. The first night is the auction, and the second night is a retrospective dinner honoring the contributions of Carolyn Servid and Dorik Mechau, who stepped down last September as co-executive directors of the Island Institute, which Servid founded more than 30 years ago.

The new Institute director, Peter Bradley, estimated that more than 100 items have been contributed for the evening’s live and silent auctions.

Among the unusual items are the aforementioned birds – a sculpture of swans by Leo Vait, and a 32-pound turkey, reared in Sitka, plucked and ready to cook for Thanksgiving.

Vait, an artist who owns a stone and timber works shop in Homer, created the swans out of plaster and copper, and after he showed it at an exhibit here it remained in the Island Institute office. Bradley said he looked on the base of the sculpture and saw the title and the artist’s name.

“He had an exhibit here and left it behind, which is funny because the piece is called ‘Coming Home,’” Bradley said. The arrangement with the artist had been that if the piece sold, he would share the proceeds with the Island Institute.

“We called him, and he agreed to make it ours as a donation for our programs,” Bradley said.

Bridget Kauffman and Ted Laufenberg came forward with the other bird-related donation. In the past, the couple have provided donations of eggs from their chickens, but this year have decided to raise turkeys.

“Not everyone will be able to eat a carefully tended Sitka-grown turkey,” Bradley said. “But some party of people will.”

Bradley said he expects both the swans and the turkey will be hot items at the auction, but there are plenty of other offerings. Every year, dozens of Sitkans come forward to offer their skills, art and services to be auctioned for support of the Institute.

“There are lots of adventures, flight-seeing, a water taxi, hand-crafted quilts, and fishermen have always been kind to us with seafood donations,” Bradley said. “There’s a kayak weekend with two double kayaks.”

The $15 ticket entitles auction goers to the renowned gourmet pizza from the Fly-In Fish Inn, with gluten-free and lactose-free options available, and a no-host bar.

Violinists Connor and Owen Fulton will provide the musical entertainment for the evening. Sitka High drama and debate coaches Cassidy Patnoe and Stefanie Ask will tag-team as auctioneers. Bradley predicts the two will bring their own brand of humor to the event, “which I think will be a source of high comedy.”

The dinner in honor of Institute founder Servid and Mechau will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Del Shirley Room at Allen Hall. Bradley described it as a celebration, with past members of the Island Institute faculty returning as speakers.

“It’s a looking back on the first 30 years of the Island Institute that the two oversaw, and to celebrate their work and bring together a group of people who were a big part of the work, and people who benefited from having the Island Institute,” Bradley said.

Speakers include Gary Holthaus, David Chrislip, Don Snow and Vernita Herdman.

“It’ll be a nice event,” Bradley said. “I think it’s important we celebrate what Dorik and Carolyn have been up to all these years, and what they’ve created.”

The new director said the organization has evolved over the years in its offerings of residencies, readings by authors and symposiums. He said it will continue to evolve under his leadership. He and the board have put together a new mission statement that he hopes reflects where the institute will go: “Strengthening community through literature, story and conversation.”

One of the new programs Bradley has brought on board – to supplement successful and established programs like the residencies – is the after-school Story Lab, led by Sitka Winter Service Fellow Sally Helm.

“Story Lab has been huge, a great new initiative for us,” Bradley said. “The kids love it, the parents love it.” 

The program is based on 826, a program started by bestselling author Dave Eggers.

“Realizing the people he knows – basically out-of-work writers and teachers ... he put the pieces together for a fun and engaging after-school program that would foster creative writing among youth,” Bradley said. “It’s been an immensely successful program nationwide. We wanted to do something similar here.”

The program here is offered for three groups covering ages 7 through 19. All of the Island Institute residents since Bradley took over in September have taken part in the Story Lab workshops, working with the kids not only on written stories, but oral storytelling traditions.

Bradley said he’s looking forward to both events this weekend.

Bradley, 28, was born in Texas, and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was living in Guelph, Ontario, managing a community radio station when he took a summer cycling trip from Whitehorse, Y.T., to Haines in 2012, and decided to hop a ferry to Sitka.

After “busting his knee,” he immediately fell into a group of Sitkans including Pete Weiland, Erika Knox and Corrie Bosman.

“I was taken under their wings, and I had an amazing experience hanging out here for a few days,” Bradley said. “I just really love the town and the sense of community. ... I had been thinking about where I would love to live and I thought I would like to live here eventually. Just thinking about community, and thinking about a place that was hyper-connected. I was interested in having a place where community isn’t a different thing from people who cross paths every day.”

Bradley said RSVPs for the Saturday dinner – catered by Ludvig’s – must be turned in by the end of the auction on Friday. Tickets are $40 and available at Old Harbor Books. Tickets for auction are also available at Old Harbor Books and online.

The website for the auction and the Island Institute is www.iialaska.org.