October 3, 2014 Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Friday, 03 October 2014 10:15

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    Scholarship Panel
    Live Homework
    Help Provided
    Kettleson Memorial Library invites Sitka students to get live homework help online from a trained tutor noon to 2 p.m. daily, except for major holidays.
    Students will share computer files and talk about using instant messaging and use an interactive white board.
    ‘‘It’s easy and safe! And there is no need to be computer whiz to make it work,’’ the library said.
    Anyone living in Alaska with a Kettleson Memorial Library card in grades kindergarten through college, as well as adults, can use the service. Subjects are math, science, social studies, English and Spanish.
    For more information, access Kettleson’s website online or call the library.

    Spanish Language
    Class for Teens
    Kettleson Memorial Library is inviting teens to register for a free Spanish language conversation class at the library every other Tuesday at 3 p.m., starting on Oct. 7.
    The class will be led by a Spanish-speaking library staff, who will facilitate a discussion in Spanish, on a variety of subjects. Free one-on-one Spanish tutoring for teens will also be available from 6 to 7 p.m.
    Those interested can call 747-4022 to make an appointment.

    ‘Lend A Friend’
    Set at Library
    Kettleson Memorial Library is offering the Lend a Friend Program, a new independent learning program starting this fall for preschoolers and elementary school students.
    Children may take a paper friend home to show him or her how their life is outside of the library, Kettleson said. They can read a story with the friend every night, journal their times together, draw a picture of their adventures and write about what they did before returning the friend to the library.
    Children can choose among 10 paper friends to take home. For more information, call the library at 747-8708.

On Honor Roll
Soren T. White, a sophomore in general science, was named to the summer term honor roll at Oregon State University, Corvallis.
To be on the honor roll, students must carry at least 12 graded hours of course work,

Homebuyers Class
Scheduled in Sitka
Sitka Community Development Corporation has announced another opportunity this fall to take the required Alaska Housing and Finance Corporation HomeChoice class.
Prospective affordable housing homebuyers need to sign up for the eight-hour class being held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15.
Register online at: www.ahfc.us/classes. For more information call 1-800-459-2921. Sitka Community Land Trust affordable housing applications are available online at the website, www.sitkaafordablehousing.org.
The affordable home will be built for a local, limited-income household. Expected completion date is spring 2015. For more information about the CLT program, call 747-2860.

Baranof Announces
Open House Oct. 9
Baranof Elementary School will host an open house 6-7 p.m. Oct. 9. 
The school has limited parking and asks that parents not park at Market Center, the Elks Club or Fairweather Prints. The city parking lot will accommodate a lot of vehicles and the Monastery Street door across from the Elks will be open, the school said. There is a parking lot on the corner of Sawmill Creek Road and Baranof Street and one close to the playground on Baranof Street for Baranof parking.
Those with questions may call 747-5825. 

    Kaya Duguay
    Is National Merit
    Award Finalist
    Kaya J. Duguay, a senior at Sitka High School, has been named as one of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
    The high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring.
    To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
    About 1.4 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2013 Preliminary/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

College Fair Brings
College Reps to Sitka
The annual Sitka College Fair will be held 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Sitka High School. Juniors and seniors from Sitka, Pacific and Mt. Edgecumbe high schools, and home-school students, are invited to attend the event. Parents are welcome.
Colleges from across Alaska, Hawaii and the lower 48 states are sending representatives to the trade show-style exhibit. Students will be able to gather literature and other giveaways, learn about programs and schools that interest them, and perhaps discover colleges that they did not know existed, SHS said.
This is also an opportunity for Sitka students to meet a number of representatives of the local Sitka Campus of UAS. They can sign up for information about Sitka Start – a low-cost, low-risk way to complete the first year or two of college while exploring their interests and developing good study habits. The UAS Student Success Center staff will also be there to discuss career options and financial aid earmarked for Sitka students.
Exhibiting colleges currently committed to attend include all the University of Alaska units – UAA, UAF, UAS – and Alaska Christian College, Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, AVTEC, California Maritime Academy, Central Washington University, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, Colorado Mesa University, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, Linfield College, Mayville State University, Northern Arizona University, Northern Industrial Training, Oregon Institute of Technology, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle University, Southern Oregon University, Southwestern Oregon Community College, The Art Institutes, Universal Technical Institute, University of Idaho, Notre Dame, University of Oregon, University of Portland, and Western Washington University. Another 10 to 20 colleges are expected to join the exhibit.
For more information contact:                 Cori Schumejda at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 966-1925 or Robert Love at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 747-7777.

Voter Registration
Set at the Library
The deadline to vote in the upcoming November national election is Sunday, Oct. 5, and Kettleson Memorial Library is offering voter registration services.
Register to vote at the library 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; and 1-9 p.m. Sunday. Valid photo identification is needed.
Kettleson Library is currently located at 831 Lincoln Street, in the former Stratton Library building. 

9th Army Band
To be in Sitka
For Alaska Day
Release of the 9th Army Band to attend Alaska Day Festival events in Sitka was announced this week by U.S. Army Alaska.  Scheduled to arrive from Fairbanks on Oct. 15, the 22 soldiers will present a concert on Thursday, Oct. 16 at Centennial Hall, provide dance music for the Ball on Friday, Oct. 17, and appear in the parade on Saturday, Oct. 18, as well as provide ceremonial music for other events.  Further details will come from local military liaison MaryLou Vilandre, 747-8086.
The Army Band was unable to travel last year due to federal government budgetary restrictions.
Alaska Day Festival planners thank the producers of the melodrama who have now scheduled the “Paris of the Pacific” for Wednesday night, Oct. 15.

‘Pumpkin Trouble’
Book to be Read
‘‘Pumpkin Trouble’’ by Jan Thomas will be one of the readings during preschool story time 10:30 a.m. Oct. 9 at  Kettleson Memorial Library.
Readings, rhymes, songs and crafts are included in the program. Everybody is welcome.
Preschool Story times help to promote early literacy skills, expand children’s vocabularies and broaden and enrich their experiences, stimulating brain development.
For more information, call the library at 747-8708.


    Members Needed
    The Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Education Employment and Training Department is seeking two tribal citizens and one community member to serve on the scholarship committee.
    Members are responsible for reviewing and approving higher education scholarship applications. Terms of service are two years for each.
    Letters of interest can be submitted to: STA Education, Employment and Training, 456 Katlian Street.
    They also can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The deadline to submit is Oct. 17 by 5 p.m.
    Those with questions can call Brian James at 966-1356.

    Better Breathers
    Club to Meet
    The Better Breathers Club will meet 1-2 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Swan Lake Senior Center.
    Gail Schiemann, Alaska program director with the American Lung Association of the Mountain Pacific, will speak on ‘‘Lung Cancer 101.’’
    The Better Breathers Club is a support group for patients with chronic lung disease, especially COPD, but also asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer and others.
    The meeting is also open to caregivers, family, friends and support persons. Call Rose Manning, 747-5167, with questions.

    School Board Meets
    The Sitka School Board will hold a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 6 in the Sitka High School library. The public is encouraged to attend.

    Unitarians Gather
    This Sunday Bill Giant will give a follow-up program for selecting and learning the songs to be sung this year for the group’s Sunday programs, as proposed three weeks ago.
    Various presenters will teach their suggested song.

    Sitkan to Read
    From his Book
    Sitka author Eugene Solovyov will read from his book of poems ‘‘How to Frame a Landscape’’ 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Old Harbor books.
    For more information call 738-8720 or 747-3030. The book was printed by Vivian Faith Prescott, Petroglyph Press.

    Tribal Elections
    Slated Nov. 11
    Tribal elections will be held Nov. 11 and open positions are the chairman and four Tribal Council seats.
    Any tribal citizen seeking office is to file the Notice of Candidacy and related materials with the election supervisor, Rose Demmert, no later than Friday, Oct. 10.
    Candidacy materials packets are available to interested tribal citizens at the STA offices.
    The election supervisor’s office hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday at 456 Katlian Street.

    Convention
    Ahead for
    Sacred Harp
    The 7th Annual Alaska Sacred Harp Convention will be all day Saturday, Oct. 25, in the Del Shirley Room at the historic Allen Auditorium.
    Singing school, with Elene Stovall from Birmingham, Ala., will be Friday at the See House, St. Peter’s-By-The-Sea Episcopal Church. All are invited to join singers from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and Europe for this free community sing for all ages and musical abilities.
    Sacred Harp or shape note singing, is a uniquely American tradition, dating back to the early 1700’s, that brings communities together to sing four-part folk hymns and anthems. It is a proudly inclusive part of our shared cultural heritage, organizers said.
    Participants are not concerned with re-creating or re-enacting historical events, a press release said. This tradition is a living, breathing, ongoing practice passed on by generations of singers.
    The event welcomes beginners and newcomers, with no musical experience or religious affiliation required – in fact, the tradition was born from colonial “singing schools” whose purpose was to teach beginners to sing. Though Sacred Harp is not affiliated with any denomination, it is a deeply spiritual experience for all involved, and functions as a religious observance for many singers, the press release said.
    Every singing is a unique and self-sufficient event with a different group of assembled participants. The singers sit in a hollow square formation with one voice part on each side, all facing inwards so we can see and hear each other. However, visitors are always welcome to sit anywhere in the room and participate as listeners.
    Friday evening begin at 7 p.m. with a traditional singing school, to learn the rudiments of Sacred Harp singing. Saturday’s events begin at 9 a.m. with the all-day Denson Book sing. Books are available. 
    A potluck “dinner-on-the-grounds” will be provided at noontime by the local Sitka singers. For more information call 738-2089 or checkout  www.fasola.org  and SacredHarpAlaska.org to learn more about this musical tradition.

    Festival Tickets
    For Alaska Day
    Now on Sale
    Tickets for Alaska Day Festival events, schedules, and commemorative buttons, shirts and other merchandise are now available.
    Volunteers will staff tables at Centennial Hall daily Mondays through Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. and at events scheduled there.
    Tickets for Oct. 12 (Sunday) Variety Show are $3; for Oct. 13 (Monday) New Archangel Dancers Show $5 for adults and $3 for children under 10; $10 for Oct. 15 (Wednesday) melodrama, and $25 for Oct. 17 (Friday) Ball $25.  The Army Band Concert on Oct. 16 (Thursday) and Barn Dance on Oct. 18 (Saturday) are free of charge and no ticket is needed.
    Coordinator Linda Trierschield can be contacted at 747-5466 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to reserve tickets.  Assisting is Helen Cunningham, 738-6738.  For a $2 donation, buttons will also be sold by costumed Festival greeters coordinated by Betty Conklin, 966-2281, or Keystone Kops coordinated by Jen Houx, 738-1779.
    All sales fund the prizes and other administrative costs of the annual non-profit Alaska Day Festival.

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