December 17, 2014 Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Wednesday, 17 December 2014 10:33

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Family Program

At SJ Museum

The Sheldon Jackson Museum invites youths ages 6-10 to the free family-friendly At Saxan Third Saturday Program 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20.

Students will learn about and make Northwest Coast crest hats 1-2 p.m. and should wear clothing suitable for painting. Call 747-8981 to register. Space is limited. For more information and to register a child for this free program, call 747-8981.

BHV Volunteer

Training on Tap

Volunteers are invited to join the Brave Heart Volunteers family by attending an orientation training 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Sitka Pioneers Home recreation kitchen.

‘‘Sitkans living in isolation, a chronic illness, grief and bereavement are looking for companions to spend an hour or two a week to read, play games, go for a drive, attend a community event, go out for tea or coffee, chat or join with others in a small group social setting,’’ BHV said.

The orientation meets requirements for volunteering at the Sitka Pioneers Home and Brave Heart Volunteers. Participants are provided with support, ongoing training opportunities, social connections with other volunteers, and rewarding friendships.

Time commitments vary and are matched with volunteer’s availability. 

For further details, call Brave Heart Volunteers at 747-4600, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or stop by the Pioneers Home Manager’s House between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

ANS to Meet

Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 4 will meet 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23,  at the ANB Founders Hall.

Among topics will be continued planning for the upcoming Christmas dinner. All are welcome to attend.

White E Closure

The White Elephant Shop will be closed noon-3 p.m. Thursday due to a shortage of cashiers, who are holidays. The shop will again be open noon-3 p.m. on Saturday.

SE Subsistence

Council’s New

Members Listed

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, with the concurrence of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, has made appointments to the 10 federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils. 

Southeast Alaska board appointments are: Arthur Bloom, Tenakee Springs; Frank G. Wright Jr., Hoonah; Patricia A. Phillips, Pelican; Michael A. Douville, Craig; Harvey Kitka, Sitka; Robert Schroeder, Juneau; Albert H. Howard, Angoon; Donald C. Hernandez, Pt. Baker; Kenneth L. Jackson, Kake; Aaron Isaacs Jr., Klawock; John A. Yeager, Wrangell; Michael D. Bangs, Petersburg; and Cathy A. Needham, Juneau.

The councils advise the federal Subsistence Board on subsistence management regulations and policies and serve as a forum for public involvement in federal subsistence management.

Call goes Out for Annual

Audubon Bird Count Set

Every year Alaskans from Ketchikan to Nome bundle up and gather together to celebrate the holiday season by braving the elements for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. 

In Sitka, the event will be Jan. 4. The local contact is Victoria Vosberg, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Volunteers have 24 hours to record as many birds as possible within a 15-mile diameter circle. Alaska Christmas Bird Counts welcome volunteers of all skill levels.

Christmas Bird Counts are held in all 50 states, in all Canadian provinces, several Central and South American countries, and several Pacific and Caribbean islands. Last year 37 counts were held across Alaska. 

The count is offered as a free event. Interested volunteers can find a count near them and sign up on the National Audubon website: http://birds.audubon.org/get-involved-christmas-bird-count-find-count-near-you.

First organized in the Lower 48 and eastern Canada with just 27 birdwatchers in 1900, the season marks the 115th Christmas Bird Count. In Alaska, volunteers have carried out Christmas Bird Counts since before statehood, with the first counts in 1941.

“The Christmas Bird Count is a great way for volunteers of all ages, from kids to grandparents, to participate together in one of the longest running citizen-science projects in the world,” said Nils Warnock, executive director of Audubon Alaska. “With more than a century of data nationwide and 70 years in Alaska, this is a powerful tool that helps scientists look for changes in Alaska’s bird populations and ranges.”

Last year Anchorage and Fairbanks once again made the elite list of about 80 Christmas Bird Counts in the hemisphere with 100 or more participants. Anchorage had 133 participants, and Fairbanks rounded up 107.

A new species for Alaska counts was Virginia Rail, two of which were found on the Glacier Bay count. Unalaska set high counts for the entire international span of the Christmas Bird Count for several species: 1,535 emperor geese, 974 harlequin ducks, and 6 crested quklets.

Southeast Alaska volunteers set state record highs for several species. Juneau volunteers found 2,126 Canada geese, while Ketchikan found 78 Eurasian collared doves, a species that wasn’t seen on Alaska Christmas counts before 2009. Other high counts include 948 dark-eyed juncos in Ketchikan, 16 red-breasted sapsuckers on Mitkof Island, and 6 Anna’s hummingbirds in Sitka.

Photography Class

Offered by SAIL

SAIL invites people ages 14 and older with all ability levels to a beginners course of photography.

SAIL will be working with local photographers to learn about how to use disposable cameras to capture nature, portrait and still life scenes. The three-part course will take place 2-3:30 p.m. Jan. 20, 27 and Feb. 3 at various locations.

SAIL will provide instructors, cameras, transportation from SAIL to the photography location, and a snack. SAIL and the course participants will have a final showing of the photos sometime in February to display to the community the work they completed.

Cost for the course is $45. Interested Sitkans should sign up for this course by Dec. 26 by contacting Bridget at 747-6859 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . 

Christmas Dinner

Planning on Tap

The Sitka Community Christmas Dinner planning team will meet 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at the ANB Founders Hall. Volunteers are still needed to help with the dinner.

Those who wish to be a part of the community legacy started by Isabella Brady may call Debe Brincefield at 738-4323.

Some Fees at

State Parks to

Go Up Jan. 1

JUNEAU (AP) — Fees for some activities at Alaska state park facilities are set to increase on Jan. 1.

The Department of Natural Resources said fees will rise for overnight camping and boat launching and for annual parking and boat launching passes.

Daily parking fees at trailheads or other developed areas won’t change.

The department said the cost of an annual parking pass hasn’t changed since 2004 while state park operational costs have risen over 20 percent.

The annual parking pass fee will increase by $10, with a second pass for the same family going up by $5. Annual boat launch fees will go up by $25, with a second pass for a family going up by $10.

Overnight camping and boat launch fees will vary but generally increase by about $5.

An updated list of state park fees and passes is at http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/asp/alaskastateparkfees.pdf.

Annual passes for the 2015 calendar year are available for purchase at https://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/Passes.cfm and will be sold at current prices through Dec. 31.

LETTERS TO SANTA::

Dear Santa: I am seven yers old can I have a toy bowin aroe plese and Plandns vs. Zombez and the Sopr Moyo Bros - plese and 4 new playstashin tow. Love Junior

Dear Santa: How is Rudolph? Do you see polar bears out your window? I’ve been a good girl. I made bottles for my nephew. I gave showers to my niece and nephew. Can I please have a Kindle HD because my sister broke mine? Can I please have a phone because my sister took that too? I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas! Oh, by the way, I’m 7. Love, Jerryn

Dear Santa: Thank for the camera and the dollhouse. I have been a good girl this year. I helped my mom and family. I want a phone for Christmas. I want a car for my dad. I want a computer mouse for my mom. For my sisters, I would like 2 Isabel dolls. For Bryan, a phone. And for my grandma, a grandpa. She’s been waiting for the day – the day that the grandpa comes for her. The grandpa should be old, have a beard and moustache, and wear a tuxedo, have red cheeks, and wear a hat. I am 8. My name is Ana. Love, Ana

Dear Santa: Thank you for the presents you gave me last year. I am 7 years old. Can I have a phone and a watch? How are you doing? I’ve been a good boy this year. I help my mom clean the house. I help my brother by picking up his cans. I hope you have a Merry Christmas! Love, Jasonlee, age 7

Dear Santa: Thank you for the presents last year. This year I won the art contest! My 2 brothers are funny and fun to play with. This Christmas I want doctor toys. How are you doing? My 2 brothers are doing fine too. I love to play with my friends and I like to draw and go to school. What I really want for Christmas is a new doll house. I am 8 years old. Love, Carla

Dear Santa: Thank you for the present last year. This year I helped my sister on her homework. What I want for Chrismtas is a PS4 and a bike. My sister wants a new game. She also helps me on my home work. How are you doing? Love, Jomar, age 8

Dear Santa: My name is Junior. I am 7. Thank you for the candy and the presents from last year. I didn’t hurt my brothers. I do my homework and I take showers. Can I have Plants V. Zombies 2, the new Super Mario Bros. 2, and a bow and arrow? My sister wants a Barbie. Merry Christmas! From Junior

Dear Santa: I have been good and I wish you a Marry Christmas. I want for Christmas a ruby. How is your randeer, Santa Claus? I will take a shouwr all day and clean my room. I will be good to my brother and help him with his homework. I will lisin to my perents. I will want you to give two dollrs. I will be respectful to my techr and I will give formy mom new makeup for her. I want for my brother a hot wheel tracks. I want you to give my family a good time. I love Christmas because you give us presents. You give presents to my uncles. Love, Yaretzi, age 7

Dear Santa: I have a question for you. How do you not explode after eating and drinking milk all night? Thanks for the white 007 car that you gave me last year. It is cool! How is Mrs. Clause? Can I have Skyrim and for my brother Twisted Metal (a car game)? I would also like some Pokemon cards. Can you get my sister a new game and for my other sis a dollhouse? Merry Christmas! Love, Jordan (age 8)

Dear Santa: Thank you bringing presents to me. How do you fit down the chimney? Thank you for last year’s gifts. This year I would like Pokemon cards. And can you give something that would make my brothers be nice. Love, JD (age 9)

Dear Santa: Please tell me more about the magic star. Thank you for the Ninja Turtle from last year. How are your reindeer? I played games like hide and seek. I’ve been nice to my brother.

Please bring a camera to my family and a Far Cry 4 game for my brother. Can you also give my sister a Barbie house and a car? She likes that. Merry Christmas! Love from Paul, age 6

A REVIEW:

Sledge Dogs Served Well

Nickerson, Sheila, ‘‘Harnessed to the Pole: Sledge Dogs in Service to American Explorers of the Arctic, 1853-1909.’’ University of Alaska Press. Softbound. 320 pages including notes and index. Black-and-white photographs. $24.95.

The author is experienced and highly respected. She has written several books of poetry and earned the title, well-deserved, of Poet Laureate of Alaska. She also is the author of the excellent ‘‘Disappearance,’’ a non-fiction account of Alaska. So it was a disappointment to begin reading this account of the dogs used by early American explorers. Not the writing; professional as you might expect, but her acceptance of the views of the American explorers of the Inuit (the Alaskan Inupiat, formerly known as Eskimo) people of the north. The years of 1853 to 1909 and, sadly, far beyond, were a time of great racism among Europeans and Americans. Natives were mentioned as lower forms of humans or at best, servants. No matter that in the Arctic so many white men were saved or at least greatly aided by the Inupiat; the best they could hope for would be a grudging mention.

After so many years in Alaska, it seemed very odd Nickerson didn’t know that, but she quotes at least twice the custom of leaving the elderly, usually a woman, behind when the group was starving, usually in the early spring. It surely wouldn’t involve a great deal of research to find this was a consensual custom. The old person would sacrifice herself for the sake of the starving children, and be kindly remembered for years.

Elisha Kent Kane wrote about the theft of utensils, other goods and a dog by the people of Etah, an Inupiat village in Greenland, which he and his party punished, then concluded a truce with. It did not occur to him during his expedition of 1853-1855 that his group was taking food from the residents. He was searching for Sir John Franklin so a latent hero.

However, Nickerson redeems herself almost completely in the final chapters of the book. She goes into the rather common practice of bringing the sledge dogs and a few Inuit people back to the States and putting them on exhibit. Deaths were common among both Arctic dogs and people.

Overall, this is a book worth reading; the maps and illustrations are interesting, and it was a fine idea to look at American expeditions from the standpoint of the dogs. Next time we devoutly hope the author takes time to learn the Native side.

–D.L.

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