October 25, 2013 Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Friday, 25 October 2013 14:28

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Streets Blocked
    Off on Halloween
    The downtown area will be blocked off from the stoplight to Katlian Street from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 31, Halloween, for the downtown trick-or-treating event.
    Sitka Police Department also is alerting drivers to watch for children on Halloween.
    ‘‘We want to encourage the driving public to be especially aware of children around the downtown area and throughout all of the neighborhoods,’’ the police department said. ‘‘The smaller children may not be paying attention to traffic very well with the excitement surrounding Halloween.’’
    SPD’s school resource officer will be handing out glow sticks at the elementary schools on that day.

    Sitka Food Hub
    Group to Meet
    The Sitka Food Hub project working group will meet 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
    This is the second meeting of the group, which formed during the Sitka Health Summit in late September as one of the summit’s two community wellness projects for the upcoming year. While the group’s ultimate mission, vision and goals still are being refined, community members at the Sitka Health Summit said they wanted the Sitka Food Hub to serve multiple functions — to be a place to help feed Sitka’s hungry while also serving as an emergency food supply for the community and also to provide education about how people can build their own personal pantries.
    Lauren Havens will facilitate the meeting. Topping the agenda will be hearing reports from volunteers who have been researching other food-based or food-related groups in the area, state and around the nation. To learn more about the Sitka Food Hub and to get onto the group’s email list, contact Marjorie Hennessy at 747-7509 (days) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .


    ANS to Meet
    The Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 will hold a special meeting for the third and final night of nominations for new officers 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the ANB Founders Hall.
     Following the nominations will be an election of Camp 4 new officers. A celebration of October sisterhood birthdays will follow the election. All members are encouraged to attend. Call Jean at 623-7355 with questions.

Unitarians Meet
    Sunday’s Unitarian Fellowship program will include a presentation by Robin McNeilly, “Honoring Our Family Traditions.” The program will lead into next week’s celebration of the Day of the Dead, or All Soul’s Day.
    Fellowship begins at 10:30 a.m., with the program beginning at 10:45 a.m. Children’s religious education is provided. Soup and bread follows the program at noon. The Fellowship Hall is located at 408 Marine Street, with parking behind off Spruce Street.

    World Book Night
    Givers Sought
    World Book Night is now open for people to sign up to be givers, Kettleson Memorial Library said. The event is April 23, nationwide.
    Titles of books to be given away throughout the community are posted on the World Book Night website. Paperback copies of 30 titles are supplied by publishers to be distributed for free throughout cities, towns and villages. Kettleson Memorial Library is a registered distribution point.
    Each giver is allowed to sign up for their first, second and third choices. Twenty copies of one of the selected titles will be sent to a distribution point on their behalf. Givers must sign up by Jan. 5 in order to receive books.
    Friends of the Library has organized a bus tour throughout Sitka, stopping at designated places to distribute books.
    To view the titles for the 2014 giveaway and to sign up as a giver, visit the website www.us.worldbooknight.org/.

Island Institute Welcomes
New Associate Director

Peter Bradley. (Sentinel Photo)
   
    The Island Institute welcomes Peter Bradley to its staff as the new associate director. Bradley will work alongside long-time Institute Director Carolyn Servid for the coming year, and then take over as executive director of the organization. The public is invited to meet Bradley at a no-host reception at Baranof Island Brewing Company 4-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
    Bradley moved to Sitka in early October from Guelph, Ontario, where he was manager of CFRU-FM, a college community radio station. He was also active in a variety of other arts initiatives there.
    “The most resonant lesson that I learned through my work in Guelph,” says Bradley, “is that profound change can be instigated through conversation, through small actions, through tiny acts of encouragement and support and inspiration. It was with that in mind that I sought the opportunity to work with the Island Institute.”
    Bradley says he is drawn to the work of the Institute for a variety of reasons. “I admire the attention to concerns of ecology and environment, of our place within the wider world; I am attracted to the reminder that literature is and has long been the first house of good ideas; I am inspired by the suggestion that by adopting resilience thinking within ourselves, our communities, and in regard to our relationship to the wider world, we can find new and positive paths forward; most of all, I am attracted to the welcoming multi-disciplinary, inclusive nature of our mandate, to create and nurture conversation and to open dialogue where there had been none.”
    Servid says she and the Institute board are excited to have Bradley join the organization. “Peter is keen to continue the Institute’s legacy with a combination of established programs and new projects,” Servid said. “He’s a very creative thinker. Already he’s suggested a number of intriguing ideas and projects that we’re eager to incorporate as we can.”
    One that they have agreed on is the restoration of the Sitka Symposium as the centerpiece of the Institute’s work. “I couldn’t be more pleased; 2014 will be the 30th anniversary of the first Sitka Symposium,” Servid said.
    The theme-based program focused on writing and ideas and brought many noted writers to Sitka in its 25 years, attracting attendees from across the country. Servid and Bradley are working with Sitka Fine Arts Camp Director Roger Schmidt to include the new Sitka Symposium in the 2014 summer programming that will take place on the Sheldon Jackson Campus.
    Servid was one of four founders of the Sitka Symposium, and was responsible for expanding the organization into the Island Institute with the addition of their residency program and journal Connotations. In the early 1990’s Dorik Mechau joined Servid as co-director and initiated the Institute’s civic engagement work. Servid and Mechau, together with the Institute board, began planning for this organizational transition in April. They were assisted in their planning by a Capacity Building Grant from the Alaska Community Foundation in Anchorage.




    Grocery Bags Needed
    The White Elephant Shop is seeking plastic grocery bags. They may be left anytime in the donation bin at the White Elephant.

    Youth Exchange
    Open House Set
    The deadline for applications for Rotary Youth Exchange has been extended to Oct. 31.
    An open house to provide information for kids and their parents will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Yaw Chapel on the SJ Campus.
    Students who are still considering applying this year, or next year, are advised to attend.
    Those with questions may call Shannon Haugland, Sitka youth exchange officer, at 738-0602.

    Personal Training
    Offered at Hames
    The Hames Center is offering personal training.
    For a limited time only, Oct. 21-Nov. 21, members will receive half off a 50-minute single training session with Shannon Fleming, certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. Single sessions and packages are available. For more information, visit www.hamescenter.com or call the front desk at 747-5080.

    Easter Group
    Slated to Meet
    The Easter Group will meet noon-1:15 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Sitka School District board room, 300 Kostrometinoff Street.
    The agenda items include planning for the Project Homeless Connect event Jan. 21 and for a grant application.
    The Easter Group works with other service providers in Sitka to end extreme poverty and empower people. The public is encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Dorrie Farrell at 747-4109, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
   
    Board Starts Search
    For Superintendent
    Sitka School Board will hold a work session 5:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in the district office board room to discuss criteria for selection of a new superintendent and the process. The public is invited.
    Timi Tullis, AASB superintendent search facilitator, will be available to the public Oct. 29, 10-11:30 a.m. at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi and 1:15-2:15 p.m. at Centeninal Hall. Tullis will discuss priorities and qualifications the board will use to advertise and select a
superintendent, listen to community members for their input, and describe the hiring process.
    Call Laurie at 966-1251 with questions.

Kaagwaantaans
    To Meet Sunday
    Sitka Kaagwaantaans will meet 3 p.m. Oct. 27 at Blatchley Middle School, Room 114. Members are reminded of the new start time.
    The group will practice songs and plan for memorials and Celebration 2014.


    Wreaths on Sale
    Pre-orders are being taken by Sitka Adventist School for 20-inch wreaths with a bow. They are $22 each.
    To pre-order from the Sitka Adventist School, call 747-8855. They will be ready for pickup Nov. 20.


    Fall Festival Set
    The Grace Harbor Fall Festival will be 6-8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Grace Harbor Church, 1904 Halibut Point Road.
    The event is free, open to all, and will include food, games and prizes.

 

    Choir Practice Set
    For Music Program
    Choir practice will begin for teens and adults who are interested in singing for the annual Harry Jantzen Community Christmas Program 3 p.m. Nov. 3 at the United Methodist Church, 303 Kimsham Street.
    The program will be held 3 p.m. Dec. 15 at Grace Harbor Church. Call Gloria Hagerman, 747-3656 or 738-3656, with questions.

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