September 19, 2024, Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Thursday, 19 September 2024 14:46

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‘Jessie’ Carlson
Dies at Age 90
Longtime Sitka resident Verna “Jessie” Carlson, 90, passed away the morning of Sept. 4 at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center.
An obituary will follow.

Artist to Talk About Art,
Journals at SJ Museum

Sheldon Jackson Museum artist-in-residence Tina Cupell’aq Harness will give her third and fourth artist talks in late September, and lead a journaling class and presentation on Oct. 2.
Talks will be offered both in-person at the museum and on Zoom.
Harness will share a selection of artifacts and cultural belongings from the Sheldon Jackson Museum’s permanent collection 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20.  Zoom details are: Go to http://www.zoom.com and input meeting ID and passcode or this direct link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89780749013?pwd=wMJk7wFan6P7uPbNTstChLRpJjbO3W.1; Meeting ID: 897 8074 9013; Passcode: Harness.
On Friday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m., Harness will give an Artist Residency Recap Talk about her artist-residency experience and reflections on her time in Sitka the last three weeks. It will be held in-person at the museum and simultaneously on Zoom. Zoom details are: Go to http://www.zoom.com and input meeting ID and passcode or this direct link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89549169548?pwd=Prjsj0CNZbUdIg7wKfen83aazwhQfg.1; Meeting ID: 895 4916 9548; Passcode: Recap.
The artist will lead a class and presentation titled “Journal Prompt Class for Healing and the Creative Mind” 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the musuem. If weather permits, it will be outside on the grass. Those 18 and older can sign up for the class by calling (907) 747-8981. They should dress accordingly for the weather and take their journals and pens.
Harness will talk about the importance of journaling for the creative mind and give a quick overview of the benefits of getting thoughts, good and bad, out of our heads, and then move into offering some journal prompts to encourage reflection about what individuals have to offer towards their creative flow, a news release from the museum said.
Harness began her residency Sept. 12. She identifies as “Mixed Yup’ik” and first learned to bead at her Auntie Tun’s house. She was 6 years old when she put a cookie tin full of seed beads in front of her, threaded some dental floss into a needle and sat her down to make a necklace. This concept of working on a project, to finish with a wearable piece of art threw her into her “spiral of creative flow,” she said.
She quickly took on this identity as her own. She spent hours in her room developing patterns and designs, pushing the boundaries of what she had seen as a small girl. She sold her necklaces, bracelets and earrings at her mom’s office, walking from person to person smiling and telling them about her art.
She said she learned the importance of money management and self-motivation and took her earnings and put them back into her business.
She has been beading ever since and, in more recent years, has been sharing her beading skills with students, especially Yup’ik youths, and increasingly focusing on community mentorship within the creative arts.
Her Sitka residency wraps up on Oct. 2.
The Alaska Native Artist Residency Program is underwritten by the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum and is made possible with support from the Friends, the National Endowment for the Arts, Alaska Airlines, the Baranov Lodge, and private donors. To find out how to support the residency program or for future calendars of events and details, visit www.friendsofsjm.com.

Science Center
Youth Programs
Open to Register
Sitka Sound Science Center announces registration is open for its Afterschool STEAM programs.
Three fall offerings are available for elementary and middle school students. All programs are free and require registration.
‘‘Fab Friday: Colors of Nature’’ is open to all middle school students. It is to be held 2:10-4 p.m. Fridays, beginning Sept. 20, when school is in session. The science center and Youth Advocates of Sitka will help students see the ways art and science connect. Students will explore paper marbling, observational drawing, natural dyes and other subjects.
Transportation from Blatchley and snacks are provided.
‘‘Tank Techs’’ for eighth-graders is planned 3:30-5 p.m. Mondays beginning Sept. 23 and running through the fall semester. Students will learn the ins and outs of aquarium care, help remove parasites from fish, build a brine shrimp breeder, and do other activities. Transportation from Blatchley and snacks are provided.
Fourth- and fifth-graders can sign up for ‘‘Water Power!’’ offered 3:30-5 p.m. Thursdays. Students will discover the many powers of water; make a homemade water gun; compete in water-filtering competitions; and build a dam on the stream table. Transportation from Keet and snacks are provided.
Registration is open at 907 747-8878 or email Maia Carter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with questions.

Alaska Storytellers
Performs Sunday
The Alaska Storytellers will offer a free community dance performance 4 p.m. Sunday at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
‘‘Our season is slowly coming to an end and we’re excited to share with our community the story we have been sharing with everyone around the world,’’ the group said in a news release. ‘‘This is a family friendly production.’’
The 30-minute, dynamic performance highlights hundreds of years of Sitka’s history through dance, storytelling and video, delving deeply into the time the Russians came to Alaska and made Sitka the headquarters of the Russian America Company, organizers said.
Exploration, tension, battles, political maneuvering, and Alaska’s first steps in creating civil rights laws are covered through the eyes of a live local storyteller, video and dance.
The public is invited to the free performance. For information, go to the Alaska Storytellers facebook or Instagram pages, or the website https://www.alaskastorytellers.com/

ANB, ANS Set
Officer Elections
Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood will hold meetings for the nomination and election of officers for 2024-25.
Meetings will be held 4:30 p.m. Sept. 21 and 28 at the ANB Founders Hall.
Elections are scheduled on Sept. 28 following the last round of nominations.
For more information contact ANS President Stephanie Weddel at 907 738-5503 or ANB Vice President Chad Titell at 907 623-2275.

Alaska Storytellers
Performs Sunday
The Alaska Storytellers will offer a free community dance performance 4 p.m. Sunday at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
‘‘Our season is slowly coming to an end and we’re excited to share with our community the story we have been sharing with everyone around the world,’’ the group said in a news release. ‘‘This is a family friendly production.’’
The 30-minute, dynamic performance highlights hundreds of years of Sitka’s history through dance, storytelling and video, delving deeply into the time the Russians came to Alaska and made Sitka the headquarters of the Russian America Company, organizers said.
Exploration, tension, battles, political maneuvering, and Alaska’s first steps in creating civil rights laws are covered through the eyes of a live local storyteller, video and dance.
The public is invited to the free performance. For information, go to the Alaska Storytellers facebook or Instagram pages, or the website https://www.alaskastorytellers.com/

Final Farmers
Market Sept. 21
The final Sitka Farmers Market of the season will be held 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at the ANB Founders Hall. Farmers markets are sponsored by the Sitka Local Foods Network.
The Sitka Kaagwaantaan Dancers will hold a clam chowder and fry bread fundraiser in the ANS kitchen.
All Alaska Grown Products and Theobroma Chocolates with the Sitka Farmers Market label will be 50% off. Many flavors of the Chugach chocolates will be on sale.
To register as a vendor go to sitkafarmersmarket.events. mart.com or call Charles Bingham, farmers market asst. manager at 907-623-7660. For more information or to volunteer, call Debe Brincefield, farmers market manager at 907-738-4323.

Health Summit
Goodbye Party
Set for Tonight
A ‘‘goodbye party’’ for Sitka Health Summit is planned 5-7 p.m. tonight, at UAS-Sitka Campus Room 229.
‘‘Join us to celebrate 17 years of the Sitka Health Summit Coalition, 30 transformational community wellness goals, and all of you who have worked to improve health in Sitka,’’ a news release from the coalition said.
A meal will be served.
Community-led wellness initiatives and events will be celebrated as the coalition distributes more than $10,000 in awards to the 2024 prize recipients.

Alaska Pioneers
To Meet Tonight
Due to local communication challenges, illnesses, and a change of venue, the next meeting of the Pioneers of Alaska has been postponed until 5:30 p.m. tonight at the Salvation Army.
Those attending are asked to take a side dish. The theme will be ‘‘Autumn.’’

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