August 27, 2014 Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 10:53

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Close-Up Pie Sale
    Slated at Sea Mart
    Eighth-graders will be selling pies at Sea Mart 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 30 and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Aug. 31.
    Funds raised will go towards a five-day, educational Close-Up trip to Washington, D.C., at the end of the year.

    Pool League Meets
    Greater Sitka Pool League team captains will hold an eight-ball organizational meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the American Legion Hall.

    Museum Closed
    The Sheldon Jackson Museum will be closed Sept. 1 in observance of Labor Day.
    Summer hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and will resume Sept. 2.




   
The Sitka Sound Science Center Welcomes
 Dr. Nancy Huntly, Utah State University,
Skaggs Scientist in Residency Fellow

    Dr. Nancy Huntly has been named scientist in residency fellow at the Sitka Sound Science Center.
    Huntly is a professor in the department of biology and director of the Ecology Center at Utah State University in Logan.  She is also the chairperson of the Science Unwrapped Committee.  Science Unwrapped is the Utah State University College of Science public engagement program (http://www.usu.edu/unwrapped/). 
    Huntly grew up in rural Michigan and graduated from Kalamazoo College with a bachelor of arts in biology. She earned a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from University of Arizona, where she studied how small plant-eating mammals (pikas, pocket gophers, voles) affected the diversity and species of plant communities, especially in subalpine meadows. She was a post-doctoral researcher at University of Minnesota with a long-term ecological research project, then joined the faculty of Idaho State University, where she was a founder of the Center for Ecological Research and Education. Her research is on ecological diversity and, more recently, human ecology and the ways in people have influenced landscapes and biological diversity. She has studied the ecology and diversity of sagebrush steppe, deserts, old-fields, alpine, and subalpine areas and, since 2004, the human ecology of the northern Gulf of Alaska region.
    Her interests in Alaska are particularly in landscape legacies, food webs, and sustainable resource use. Huntly also is interested in the use of ecology in land, water, fish and wildlife management, and served on the Independent Scientific Review Panel and Independent Science Advisory Board for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, NOAA Fisheries, and the Columbia River Tribes for 16 years.
    While in Sitka Huntly will be working on writing for publication some of the research she has done in the Sanak Archipelago and lower Alaska Peninsula region.
    She will be interviewed on KCAW Sitka on Aug. 25, and will give a public presentation on her Sanak Island work as the first Natural History Series talk of the season. She will also give presentations at Sitka High School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School. She will be in residence Aug. 22-Sept. 21. 
    The Sitka Sound Science Center, through funding from the Skaggs Alaska Foundation, National Science Foundation and the Karsh Family Foundation is hosting the Scientist in Residency Fellowship at the Center.
    The SIRF program brings scientists to Sitka for monthlong sabbaticals allowing for undisturbed research, free from the interruptions of their daily routine. The program provides scientists the opportunity to engage Sitka in science, sharing their research and career pathways, while also benefiting from the important local knowledge of residents.
    For more information contact Tory O’Connell, research director, 747-8878.

    Sitka Skippers
    Set Tryouts
    Sitka Skippers will have tryouts for  ages 5 and older at 4:30 p.m. until space is filled on Sept. 8 at the Keet Gooshi Heen gym.
    Space is limited. Participants must be able to demonstrate 20 consecutive jumps. The cost is $100. The session runs Sept. 29-Dec. 16. Those with questions can call Twila at 738-3050.





The September childbirth education one-day course at Sitka Community Hospital is scheduled for Saturday, September 6 from 9:00 to 5:30 with instructor Sharon Sullivan, RN. The cost is $55 per couple, with food and drinks provided. To register, please call 747-1722.  





6th annual “Cancer & Diabetes Awareness Golf Tourney & Silent Auction” raised over $4,000.00.

Dedicated golfers, auction buyers, lunch eaters and balloon launchers came out in what turned out to be beautiful weather, to raise money for the Sitka Cancer Survivors Society and the Sitka Community Hospital Outpatient Diabetes Program.

This event takes place in August on a yearly basis.

Attached photo by Angela McGraw. First place winners Ed Kimmel, Blake Hagerman, Liza Martin, Marty Martin
 
RESULTS:
Tournament Teams:
1st place: Ed Kimmel, Liza Martin, Marty Martin, Blake Hagerman = score of 25
2nd place: Dan Cox, Maybelle Filler, Coleen Ingman, John Rennie = score of 27
3rd place: Steve Anderson, Paddy Hanson, Jerry Sutton, Ken Winger = score of 28
 
Hole Contests:
Straight Drive - Colleen Dahlquist (womens division) & Ed Kimmel (mens division)
Long Drive - Colleen Ingman (womens division) & Troy Denkinger (mens division)
Short Drive - no winner (womens division) & Ed Kimmel (mens division)
Closest to the pin - Liza Martin [22’2”] (womens division) & no winner (mens division)
 
$25,000 Hole-in-One: No winner

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Kayaaní Commission – also known as the plants commission – and the Sitka Local Foods Network remind Sitka residents that it’s time to get out in the woods and pick huckleberries (tleikatánk) and blueberries(kanat’á).
    Huckleberries and blueberries are extremely healthy fruits that grow in the forests and openings that surround Sitka. They are a traditional food of the Tlingít and have become a traditional food for Sitka residents who depend on nature’s bounty to keep their families healthy. They can be used fresh on a salad, in jams and smoothies, berry desserts and many other dishes. And they store well in the freezer for a healthy winter snack.
When going berry picking, please keep the following in mind(summarized from the Kayaaní Commission Traditional Harvesting Guidelines):
Be Courteous — other families are picking berries too; never take more than you need. If you accidentally got too much, share it with someone that you know will use it.
Be Safe — be positive about your identification of edible plants. Check your field guide for details if you are unsure. And pick berries during daylight with friends; make plenty of noise to keep bears away.
Take Care of the Berries — wash your berries with clean water before eating them and watch for rot, mildew, and insects. For best results: rinse berries, spread on a baking sheet to freeze, once frozen, slide off the tray and freeze in bags until ready to use.
Pick Clean Berries — from off the major road systems and in areas where you know pesticides and other chemicals will not have reached the berry plants.
Take Care of the Plants — make sure that there are plenty of other plants in the area (at least 10) to assure future abundance. Whenever possible, harvest so that the existing plant can reseed or recover after you are done. Treat the plants with respect. In Alaska Native cultures, it is traditional to thank the plant for its gift and give an offering. Each individual should show respect to the plant spirits in their own way.
“We encourage people to get out and pick the ripe berries. By getting out and picking berries you’ll get fresh, healthy food, exercise, and quality time with family and friends,” said Kayaaní Commission Coordinator Heather Riggs and Sitka Local Foods Network Vice President Michelle Putz. “Encouraging berry-picking for personal consumption and for winter storage supports both our missions. The Kayaaní Commission’s mission is to preserve their spiritual way of life and to preserve and protect traditional ways of their ancestral knowledge. The Sitka Local Foods Network’s mission is to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans.”
While the kanat’á (blueberry) season is upon us, remember the plant is not finished offering its resources to the inhabitants of Sitka once the berries are gone. After the berries have completed their life cycle, the leaves from the plant can be utilized for its medicinal properties. Kanat’á leaves are high in antioxidants. These antioxidants can protect your body against heart disease and cancer. Making a tea from the leaves can help indigestion or a sore throat. Contact the Kayaaní Commission for more information on uses of native plants and methods of preparing plants.
More information about either group or local, traditionally harvested foods is available by calling Heather with the Kayaaní Commission at 747-7167 or Michelle with the Sitka Local Foods Network at 747-2708.
Please note that personal-use berry-picking is allowed on state and federal lands around Sitka, but any commercial-use berry-picking (money changes hands) requires a special permit, http://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/2014/08/20/%E2%80%A2-tongass-national-forest-sitka-ranger-district-clarifies-rules-for-berry-picking-and-gathering-on-forest-lands/
• Kayaaní Commission Plant Gathering Guidelines, https://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/plant-gathering-guidelines.doc
• 2003 Sitka Tribe of Alaska ordinance creating and defining the Kayaaní Commission, https://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/kayaani-ordinance-2003.pdf


The informal support gathering for nonprofit executive directors announces that it now has a name: Sitkans Helping Executive Directors, or SHED. Their next monthly gathering is happening at the Larkspur Cafe on Monday, Sept 8th at 5:30 pm. Come share, listen and learn. For more info contact Mim at 738-2888

Sitka Community Development Corporation announces its September regular meeting for Friday, Sept 5th from 7-8:30 PM. The meeting will be held at the Pioneer Home Manager’s House (Braveheart Volunteers office). SCDC is a community supported non-profit working to establish permanently affordable housing in Sitka. Members of the public are encouraged to attend. For more information call 747-2860

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