Potluck To Share Bounty of the Tongass Forest

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Created on Friday, 08 November 2024 14:58

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    From mushrooms to salmon to venison and blueberries, the bounty of the Tongass National Forest will be on the menu at the Sitka Conservation Society Wild Foods Potluck 5 p.m. Sunday.
    It’s a tradition of more than 20 years, in which Sitkans share their favorite Tongass-inspired dishes, visit with each other, and hear about SCS projects at the nonprofit’s annual meeting.

Students and instructors from Sheet’ka Splash Mountain Camp pose on Mt. Edgecumbe High School ramp earlier this year. A video of the camp will be shown at the annual Sitka Conservation Society’s Wild Foods Potluck Sunday. From left are Charlie Skultka Jr. (Sitka Native Education Program), Katie Niedermeyer (Youth Advocates of Sitka), Aukema Fuller (SCS), Bryson Eddy, Lewis Lysons, Charlie Nelson, Cameron Peters, Jayson Miller, Hailey Chavarillo, Orion de Fluiter, Alice Two-Two, Allie Prokosch (SCS), Meadow Diehl, Maria Sakowski (Sitka Trail Works), Eli Lawrence, Lilli Garza (Sitka Trail Works), Sophie Oberg, Aliceann Rickets, Maury Skeele (SCS), Nadalie Kennedy, Divine Schwarz and Violet Harrison (SCS). (Photo by Lee House)

    While the Wild Foods Potluck is a Sitka Conservation Society event, everyone interested in wild foods, SCS projects, youth programs, and conservation in general is welcome.
    The mission of the 50-year-old conservation society is “to protect the natural environment of the Tongass National Forest while simultaneously supporting the development of socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable communities across Southeast Alaska.”
    “We’ll share a few updates on projects, we’ll have a guest speaker, we’ll share dishes, we’ll share a video by Lee House on the Sheet’ká Splash Mountain Camp from the summer ...” SCS communications director Ryan Morse said.
    But the highlight of the event is always the food that people bring to share.
    “Everyone brings some amazing dishes –– amazing sushi, blueberry bars and pies, so many ways of preparing salmon –– it makes my mouth water just thinking about it!” Morse said.
    Enoki Eatery chef Gretchen Stelzenmuller will return for a second year with a dish made specially for the event: seared sockeye and baked yelloweye donated by Sitka Sound Seafoods and Katie Riley, SCS deputy director.
    Heather Dawn Thompson, one of the guest speakers, is vice president of the Native Nations Conservation and Food Systems, which is part of the World Wildlife Fund. Kathryn Winslow of Sitka will give a nonreligious blessing before the potluck, and Sitka musician Maia Carter will perform harp music during the dinner.
    Morse said one of the other features will be the presentation of a video created in the debut year of Sheet’ká Splash Mountain Camp, a collaboration of the Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka Native Education Program, Sitka Trail Works, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Youth Advocates of Sitka, and the Sitka School District. The two-week day camp taught youth safety and survival skills, and an appreciation of the natural environment of Southeast Alaska.
    Instructor Charlie Skultka Jr., the SCS youth team, and partner organizations created and implemented a curriculum aimed at developing safety and survival skills while also developing an appreciation for the waters of Southeast Alaska. The attendees made new friends while taking part in a multitude of water-based activities (paddleboarding, kayaking, etc.), and took away knowledge to keep them safe in and around the water, Morse said.
    SCS staff and board members have prepared tables at the Wildfood Potluck that showcase the Alaska Way of Life 4-H Project; honor SCS members who passed this year; and report the latest on the Sea Pony Farm near Pelican that was willed to the Conservation Society by artists Eric and Pam Bealer.
    The Sunday event is free and open to the public, and those attending are encouraged to bring a dish to share.
    “It’s not required but greatly encouraged,” Morse said, noting that 350 people attended the Wild Foods Potluck last year.
    It will be a good time to renew annual memberships, pick up the 2025 SCS calendar, and “connect with community over a shared love of place,”  Morse said.
    Those who join or renew their memberships will qualify for a drawing for prizes including an original Eric Bealer print, a copy of “Feast of the Animals II” book, by Sheila Nickerson with wood engravings by Dale DeArmond, and Sitka Conservation Society merchandise.
The potluck and annual meeting from 5 to 8 p.m. is preceded in Centennial Hall by the annual regalia showcase, from 1 to 3 p.m., in honor of Native American Heritage Month.