July 1, 2015 Community Happenings

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Category: News

Created on Wednesday, 01 July 2015 10:34

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T’ai Chi Chih

Practice Saturday

T’ai Chi Chih Practice by the Sea will be 10 a.m. Saturday, July 4.  Participants should meet on lawn of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church.

Shooting Range

Closure Noted

The Tony Hrebar Shooting Range will be closed 7 a.m.-5 p.m. daily July 6-10 due to construction activities.

For more information, call Lynne Brandon at 747-1852.

Votes Sought

To Help Sitka

Farm Group

Sitkans are invited to help the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden program by voting for the Sitka Local Foods Network in the Nature’s Path Organic Foods Gardens For Good contest.

Individuals can vote once per day through 10:59 a.m. (Alaska time) Monday, July 6. The top three vote-getters – two from the United States, one from Canada – will win $15,000 each to support their urban gardening efforts.

The St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden was built in 2008, shortly after that year’s Sitka Health Summit, when a majority of Sitkans said they wanted to see more community gardens/greenhouses in Sitka and they wanted a local foods market. The Sitka Farmers Market was launched a couple of months later, with produce grown at the farm for sale to Sitka residents.

A group of kids harvested garlic during an Aug. 12, 2011, work party at the farm.

Since then, the farm, located behind St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, has grown and it now produces several times the amount of local produce as what was for sale that first year. 

The farm operators have added a few satellite gardens to help them grow more produce in Sitka, and still will sell it at the Sitka Farmers Markets. People with Alaska Quest and WIC benefits can purchase the local produce using matching funds, so they can double the value of their vouchers. Produce is sold to school lunch programs, and the group has a table during non-market weekends at the Chelan Produce stand.

In addition the farm has been used to teach locals about gardening. It’s also a place for kids to become more connected to their food. The farm will use the $15,000 to continue its garden mentor program for another year or two and to help support the development of the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen project.

To vote, go to the link: http://wshe.es/fZ1TjYIj.

Booths to Open

For 4th of July

Fourth of July booths will be open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. July 2-3 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. July 4.

Booths are sponsored by Eaglecrest Ministries.

Fried Bread Sale

Set for July 4

Fried bread will be for sale 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 4, (or until sold out) in front of St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Printmaking Class

Set for Sunday

A free printmaking class will be taught by Yup’ik and Inupiaq artist Drew Michael 1:30-4:30 p.m.  Sunday, July 5, at the Sheldon Jackson Museum.

The class is open to all, but space is limited and registration is required. Students must take supplies to the class.

It will be offered again 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 11.

Michael will be an artist in residence at the museum until July 19 and will be working in the gallery most days 1-5 p.m. He will give an informal Recap Residency Talk 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18, and show what he worked on during his time at the museum with the general public. 

Michael was born in Bethel in 1984. He and his twin brother were adopted by a non-Native family and moved to Eagle River. 

In 1997, Michael created his first mask in an art class with renowned Inupiaq carver Joe Senungetuk. He continued to carve part-time, while at the same time working in the oil fields of Alaska. He also apprenticed with famed multi-media Alaskan mask carver Kathleen Carlo. Michael is now a full-time artist and his works have been collected by the Alaska State Museum, Anchorage Museum and Sheldon Jackson Museum and numerous private collectors.

For more information, and to register for this free program, call 747-8981.

UAS Seeks Sitka

Host for German

Exchange Student

The UAS Sitka Campus is seeking a host family for a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange student for the 2015-16 academic year. CBYX is a reciprocal, public-diplomacy program which gives German young professionals the opportunity to live with an American host, study at a local college, and complete a six-month paid internship in their career field.

If a Sitka host is found, the first participant will be Alexander, from Dillingen, Bavaria. Alexander will be studying and working in Sitka from mid to late August through June 2016. 

Alexander is a non-smoker, has no allergies, and has younger siblings at home. He expressed a specific interest in being placed at an Alaskan institution, and will be coming to Sitka if a host family can be found by mid-July. 

 Hosts can be a family or a single adult. The host is required to provide the CBYX student with a private bedroom and two meals per day. The host will receive a $225 monthly stipend to help with groceries. Transportation and all personal expenses are the responsibility of the student. UAS would consider two hosts for Alexander if necessary, each providing housing for one semester.

Alexander has been working in IT in Germany and will be in need of a half-time paid internship in his field of Information Technology. Any employer with the potential to sponsor this internship can also contact UAS.

For more information, contact Chris Washko, Student Success Manager, at UAS This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 747-7703.

Patriotic Music

Concert at Church

A patriotic music concert at Sitka Lutheran Church on Lincoln Street is set noon Saturday, July 4.

Dave Nicholls will play patriotic favorites on the piano and organ. The concert will end in time for attendees to see the parade and other activities.

All are welcome to the free concert.  

Frank O. Williams’ Family Plans

Reunion, 80th Birthday Party

The family of former Sitkan Frank O. Williams Jr.  will hold a reunion and celebrate his 80th birthday here over the Fourth of July weekend.

The family will have a potluck dinner 7 p.m. Friday, July 3, at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and invites friends to visit and bring a dish to share. After dinner, at 8:15 p.m., Frank O.’s birthday will be celebrated and dessert served.

Those planning to attend include Frank O. Williams Jr., Alice Williams, Adeline Burton, Richard N. Williams, June Kinney, Alice Phelps and John Williams; their children Richard Williams, Matt Williams Jr., Cynthia Williams, Janice Limbaugh, Ethel Williams, Margaret Carlson, Ida Boeckstiegel, Lisa Young, Julie Fitzsimmons, Frank O. Williams III, Pamela Steffes, Henry Burton, Christopher Kinney and Grant Kinney; their children; and many cousins, nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

“We look forward to seeing you and getting reacquainted with friends and family,” a spokesperson said.

Those with questions may call Lisa Young at (541) 410-8170.

Frank O. is a Raven and the leader of the T’Dak Dein Taan, Mt. Fairweather House,  in Hoonah. Born at Glacier Bay, he attended grade school in Hoonah and graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe High School in 1953.  He attended Western Washington and then served in the National Guard and the U.S. Marine Corps.

He and Mabel T. Miller had four children, Ida, Lisa, Julianna and Frank O. III.

Frank O. worked for Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital for over 30 years and is now retired and living in Redmond, Ore.

 Over the years in Alaska, Frank O. helped organize the Alaska Native Board of Health, the National Indian Health Board and served as part of the Sitka Health Association and State Comprehensive Health Planning Council.  He also helped organize and served on the Sitka Community Council and was Chairman of Huna Totem Corp.

He was a member of the Governor’s Advisory Board on Alcoholism and the Governor’s Task Force on Drunk Driving.  He was president of the Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand Camp and the Sitka ANB.  He established the local ANB Culture Center at the National Park Service and served on its board. 

He has won multiple awards including the 2014 Alaska Federation of Natives President’s Award, the Lions Club Distinguished Service Award, the Tlingit and Haida Central Council Citizen of the Year Award, the Outstanding Alaskan Award, and the ANB Lifetime Achievement Award.

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