November 1, 2024, Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Friday, 01 November 2024 14:11

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SCT Presents
Live Radio Play
Nov. 8 at PAC
GSAC Sitka Community Theater will present “Radio Adventure Hour: Mystery on the High Seas” 7 p.m. Friday, November 8, at the Performing Arts Center.
The show features 19 actors performing an original radio play live on stage with live sound effects, also on performed on stage. The mystery is set in the 1930s aboard an ocean liner.
The play was written and directed by Sotera Perez, Rebecca Poulson, Zeke Blackwell and Jack Petersen.
Tickets are $20 for general admission; $15 for students and seniors, at Old Harbor Books, fineartscamp.org and at the door. Those with questions may call 907 738-0602.

Benefit Fry Bread
Sale Saturday
A fundraiser for the Moreno family will be held 11 a.m. -2 p.m. Saturday at the ANB Founders Hall. Fry bread and Indian tacos will be for sale.
All proceeds will benefit Rachel Moreno’s son Ty, who will be undergoing two lung operations.
Those unable to attend can donate through Moreno’s Venmo account, @Rachel-Moreno-41.
For more information contact Stephanie Weddell at 907 738-5503 or Rachel Moreno at 907 738-6595.

Climate Connection: Planetary Boundaries in Biosphere
There are four planetary boundaries in the biosphere that are exceeded at our risk of abrupt irreversible changes in the earth. The changes in nature that constitute these boundaries are biodiversity, fresh water change, land system change, and nutrient cycles (phosphate and nitrogen). All of these safe boundaries are now exceeded. As an example, the just-released Living Planet Index from the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London documents a 73% decrease in global wildlife from 1970-2020. This estimate is based on 34,836 population trends of 5,495 mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptile species around the globe.
Another way that scientists measure the biosphere is the “net primary production (NPP)” from photosynthetic energy and material flows into the biosphere. NPP supports growth, reproduction, and maintenance of life on earth.
Elevated atmospheric CO2 from our burning of fossil fuels fertilizes plants and increases NPP. However, excess CO2 affects temperatures and rainfall, adversely affecting NPP. Similarly, as humans encroach on natural land for harvesting, grazing, industry, and nonproductive urban areas, we decrease NPP. This is obvious when we compare what nature produces in forests like old-growth Tongass or the Amazon compared to what replaces deforested areas.
 People have modified land for decades before knowing of our impact on global warming as we take a portion of NPP. Scientists have set a 10% level of NPP as the safe amount that human beings should be using of earth’s productivity that the sun induces through photosynthesis. This modest amount would help reduce biodiversity loss and maintain the beneficial aspects of natural ecosystems in absorbing carbon, preserving fresh water, and reducing drought, flooding, and erosion.
As the decrease of wildlife demonstrates, we have far exceeded a precautionary level of human appropriation of NPP. Furthermore, climate change and fresh water availability are stressing production of the food we need to adequately feed the human population in many regions. These concerns for human impact on the biosphere suggest that we need to decrease the growth of rich countries’ economies  and instead focus on sustainability and providing necessities for all the earth’s people.
“Degrowth” must take place in things such as expanding land use, food waste, clothing, and consumerism.
The challenge is that our current economic system depends on unlimited investment, resource extraction, and growth, which are incompatible with planetary boundaries.
These are hard circumstances to act on. We are running out of time in the face of unacceptable risk to earth systems. The policy solutions are a global governance system as was imagined in the 2015 Paris Accords to keep the earth’s temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C; putting an adequate global price on carbon to decrease use of fossil fuels; and to stop expanding land and ocean use into intact nature in order to preserve biodive
Kay Kreiss, Transition Sitka

USCG to Host
Haunted Ship
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kukui invites the public to the annual Haunted Ship event 6-10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, and Saturday, Nov. 2, at 1480 Seward Avenue. The gates will close at 9:30 p.m.
Admission is free with a suggested donation of non-perishable food items to support local charities.
The Nov. 1  event will feature content suitable for younger children.
Nov. 2 will be geared to all ages with content suitable for more mature audiences, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
The Haunted Ship may not be appropriate for all ages and parents/guardians should use discretion for younger children, the news release said. The Kukui is a working ship: stairwells are steep; flat-sole, close-toed shoes are required, the Coast Guard said.
Bake sale items and light refreshments will be available for cash only purchase from the U.S. Coast Guard Spouses’ and Women’s Association.
‘‘The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kukui looks forward to seeing Sitka at the annual Haunted Ship,’’ the Coast Guard said.

First Saturday
Market on Nov. 2
Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 1 and Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 will host their first monthly Indoor Flea Market and Silent Auction 10 a.m.-2 p.m.  Saturday, Nov. 2, at the ANB Founders Hall.
‘‘Come in from the winter cold, greet your neighbors, play a game, get your face painted, enjoy a warm beverage, sell your things, place a bid or find a deal,’’ ANB said in a news release.
Events will be held on the first Saturday of each month.
An 8-by-10-foot space is $20. With table and chairs it’s $30.
Sellers can cover the space rental cost with a reasonable donation to the silent auction worth a minimum $50, organizers said.
Donations are needed for monthly silent auction. For information contact Stephanie Weddel at 907 738-5503 or Chad Titell at 907 623-2275.
All proceeds go toward the ongoing upkeep and upgrading of the ANB Founders Hall and ANS kitchen.

Rumrunner Pihl
Subject of Talk
Sitka Maritime Heritage Society will present a Pub Talk about Alexander Pihl, Sitka’s most notorious rumrunner, 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Harbor Mountain Brewery.
Jerry Dzugan will show rare photographs and his research into Pihl’s connections to Goddard Hot Springs and Chichagof Mine, Pihl’s bootlegging exploits, his short and tragic marriage, “Piehle Passage,” and more stories.
For information, go to sitkamaritime.org or email sitkamaritime@gmail.com.

SCT Presents
Live Radio Play
Nov. 8 at PAC
GSAC Sitka Community Theater will present “Radio Adventure Hour: Mystery on the High Seas” 7 p.m. Friday, November 8, at the Performing Arts Center.
The show features 19 actors performing an original radio play live on stage with live sound effects, also on performed on stage. The mystery is set in the 1930s aboard an ocean liner.
The play was written and directed by Sotera Perez, Rebecca Poulson, Zeke Blackwell and Jack Petersen.
Tickets are $20 for general admission; $15 for students and seniors, at Old Harbor Books, fineartscamp.org and at the door. Those with questions may call 907 738-0602.

Park Sets Lectures,
Exhibits for Native
Heritage Month
Sitka National Historical Park is offering three lectures and two exhibit openings in recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November.
Topics include Tlingit storytelling, the life of an Alaska Native religious leader, and historic Tlingit silversmiths from Sitka. Exhibits feature the work of a local Sitka artist, and the return of two historic carvings produced at Sitka National Historical Park during the 1970s.
Two of the lectures will be held in the visitor center theater, one in the Russian Bishop’s House. Exhibits will be at the visitor center.
All are free events to explore diverse cultural, scholarly, and historical topics.
The lecture and exhibit schedules are as follows:
– Nov. 2, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.: Temporary exhibit on the art of Maria Guthrie, visitor center. It will be open all month 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
– Nov. 9, 11:30 a.m., visitor center: Grand opening of temporary exhibit on the return of two house posts carved by artists who worked at Sitka National Historical Park during the tenure of Superintendent Ellen Hope-Hayes. Open all month 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
– Nov. 13, 7-8 p.m., Russian Bishop’s House: Lecture by Father Herman Belt on the ‘‘Life and Work of Yakov Netsvetov: The First Alaska Native Saint.’’
– Dec. 4, 7-8 p.m.: ‘‘Historic Sitka Silversmiths’’ by Zach Jones, visitor center theater.

SeaBank Summit
In Sitka Nov. 13
The Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust will host the SeaBank Summit Nov. 13 at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Attendees can meet leaders in rainforest science, climate resilience and Indigenous stewardship to learn what the future might hold for Southeast Alaska. Speakers include Dominick DellaSala from Wild Heritage, Alana Peterson of Spruce Root, and award-winning science author Lauren Oakes with her new book ‘‘Treekeepers.’’
Thai coho wraps from Fireweed Dinners will be served. Also available will be spiced cider, and a no-host bar.
The event is a fundraiser for the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Dinner and program are at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available at https://thealaskatrust.org/seabank-summit.
Call Beth at 907 738-9942 for information.

The Complete WhaleFest:
Details of 3-Day Event

Sitka WhaleFest has scheduled a series of seminars and events, including a fun run, trivia night, art show, and arts and craft market, for the Nov. 1-3 science symposium.
The theme this year is ‘‘Shifting Boundaries New Horizons.’’
The symposium topics and speakers include the following.
November 2
1-1:45 p.m. ‘‘Nunaaqqit Savaqatigivlugich – Working with Iñupiaq Communities to understand a changing Arctic,’’ by Donna Hauser, Roberta G.T.B., and Kim Pikok
2-2:45 p.m. ‘‘Mean and Green (or not!) European Green Crab in Southeast Alaska,’’ by Kari Lanphier
3 p.m.-3:45 p.m. ‘‘Tracking the Tusk: Using Sound to Study Narwhal Movements,’’ by Marie Zahn
November 3
1-1:45 p.m. ‘‘In Support of the Coming Generations: Lessons Learned and Lessons Taught from Subsistence Hunting and Whaling Communities on the North Slope,’’ by Richard Glenn and Lee Kayotuk
2-2:45 p.m. ‘‘Alaska Salmon in a Warming World: From too hot to just warm enough,’’ by Peter Westley
 3-3:45 p.m. ‘‘Following the arc of humans’ relationship with marine mammals in Southeast Alaska,’’ by Lauren Wild, John Moran and Mike Miller.
Tickets can be purchased at the website SitkaWhaleFest.org. Full three-day passes, single day passes, and single lecture passes are available.
Other events are planned and include:
The Marketplace and Café will run all weekend at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It features more than 20 local vendors and non-profit organizations, including marine-themed crafts, jewelry, food and a silent auction. For more information on becoming a market vendor, email whalefest@sitkascience.org.
Maritime Grind – The marine-themed Maritime Grind is slated 7:30-9 p.m. tonight at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It is co-hosted by the Greater Sitka Arts Council and Sitka WhaleFest. Tickets are at Old Harbor Books.
Marine Wildlife Cruises – Two marine wildlife tours are being planned 8:45-11:30 a.m. Nov. 2 and 3. Meet at Crescent Harbor near Centennial Hall to explore Sitka Sound aboard an Allen Marine Boat. Area wildlife experts will join to offer their insights about the sites and wildlife. The event supports the Sitka Sound Science Center and the Sitka WhaleFest and is sponsored by Allen Marine Tours, supporting Southeast Alaska through tourism.
The annual Whale Fest fun run/walk to be held 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. The 5K run, 10K run, and 2-mile walk will start and end at Whale Park. Pre-race registration is 5-7 p.m. tonight at Centennial Hall. Registration on the day of the event is 8-8:45 a.m. The cost is $25 (includes WhaleFest merchandise) or $5 for the race only. For more information, contact Bridget at 738-5515
Marine Trivia Night – All are invited to put their marine knowledge to the test with a night of trivia, 7-9 p.m. Saturday, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. This year’s WhaleFest speakers will join teams to compete to answer questions about the ocean. Participants can mingle with symposium attendees and get to know scientists and experts. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Because alcohol will be available, attendees must be 18.

STA Meetings
Set Next Week
Sitka Tribe of Alaska has scheduled meetings for next week.
The Governance Committee will meet noon Monday, Nov. 4, at 204 Siginaka Way and via Zoom.
The Finance Committee will meet noon Tuesday at 204 Siginaka Way and via Zoom.
The Tribal Council will hold an action-only meeting noon Wednesday via Zoom.
The Enrollment Committee will meet noon Thursday at 204 Siginaka Way and via Zoom.
Meetings are open to the public. Meeting links are available on the STA website calendar at www.sitkatribe.org.

Pregnancy Board
Meeting Nov. 7
Sitka Pregnancy Center board will hold its monthly meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at Sitka Christian Center.
Those wanting to provide a pro-life outreach to Sitka families are invited. Call Joel at 907 252-2141 with questions.

Unitarians Meet
Bruce Gazaway will present a program on “Unitarian Fundamentalism” at Sunday’s meeting of the Sitka Unitarian Fellowship.
Gathering and coffee begins at 10:30 a.m., with the program at 10:45. Soup and bread follow at noon. The Fellowship Hall is at 408 Marine Street with parking behind, off Spruce Street.