Daily Sitka Sentinel

September 22, 2014 Community Happenings

    Campaign Signs
    Are Available
    Campaign materials for Senate candidate Dan Sullivan can be picked up at 415 DeArmond Street. For more information, or directions, call Sheila Finkenbinder at 738-3098.

    Tlingit Language
    Classes Listed
    Tlingit language classes for adult beginners are noon-1 p.m. Mondays at the Southeast Alaska Career Center on Etolin Street.
    Drop-ins are welcome. For information call Roby at 738-4004.


    Parents to Discuss
    New State Testing
    Alaska assessments of student growth and student mastery of the updated Alaska English Language Arts and Mathematics Standards will be discussed 6-7 p.m. Sept. 25 at a parent meeting in the Sitka High School library.
    The new assessments will be administered for the first time in spring 2015, to grades 3-10.
    Also being discussed will be House Bill 278, Alaska’s Education Opportunity Act, which was signed into law and became effective on July 1. The law requires all grade 11 students in Alaska to take a college or career readiness assessment; these assessments are defined as WorkKeys, ACT and SAT.

    SNEP to Enroll
    Sitka Native Education Program has openings for students in kindergarten through 12th grades to enroll in Tlingit culture classes.
    Limited space is available. Call Brian at 966-1356 for more information or stop by the Southeast Alaska Career Center, 205 Baranof Street, for an application.

    Emblem Club
    Meets Sept. 25
    Sitka Emblem Club will meet 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Elks Lodge.
    Initiation of new members will follow the social.

    Harp Sing Set
    The 4th Sunday Sitka Sacred Harp Sing is set 3:30-5 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Sitka Pioneers Home Chapel.
    Final plans for the upcoming Alaska Sacred Harp Convention will be discussed. Beginners and listeners are being encouraged to attend. Call 738-2089 with questions.

    Season’s End
    Slated Saturday
    The 7th Annual Season’s End Celebration is set 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 27 on Lincoln Street.
    The day will include the 20th annual Running of the Boots, free food, music, shopping and beer garden with Baranof Island Brewing Company. The free lunch will begin on Lincoln Street at noon with live music.
    Sitkans are invited to attend to celebrate the end of visitor and fishing seasons.
    The event is sponsored by Cruise Lines International Association Alaska (Alaska Cruise Association), as a thank you to the community for its hospitality over the summer season.
    Its support allows the Chamber of Commerce and several visitor industry businesses to serve free hot dogs and hamburgers to the community during the event.
    Co-sponsors include Seafood Producers Coop, Sitka Sound Seafoods and Silver Bay Seafoods, who will be preparing and serving salmon and coleslaw, as their thank you to the community. Additional sponsors include Allen Marine, Sea Mart Quality Foods and AC Lakeside.
    Registration for the Running of the Boots starts at 10 a.m. under the big white tent on Lincoln Street near St. Michael’s Cathedral. The race starts at 11 a.m.
    Free food, including hamburgers, hot dogs and fish, will be served from noon to 3 p.m.
   
    Film Screening at
    Community House
    Sitka Tribe of Alaska will host a free special screening of “Walking In Two Worlds” 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, in the Sheet’ka Kwáan Naa Kahídi.
    The creation of Native corporations by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act sparked a logging frenzy in Southeast Alaska.
    “Walking In Two Worlds” is a story of two worlds colliding, and how a Tlingit brother and sister collide – one a corporate executive advocating clear cutting the Tongass Forest, and the others, fighting against the corporation for the preservation of the forests and the traditional subsistence lifestyle. “Walking in Two Worlds” is also a story of division and redemption as it plays out between the brother and sister – showing the possibility of healing the forest, the Native community, and the person.
    Wanda Culp, the sister featured in the documentary, will be present to introduce the program and remain afterward to answer any questions from the audience.
    The day of the film presentation is significant – Sept. 26 being an STA holiday, American Indian Day. The public is invited to this hourlong presentation, and to the discussion that follows.

    Sitka Observe
    Lands Day
    Volunteers will visit their favorite parks, beaches, wildlife preserve, or forests and chip in to help improve them on Sept. 27 to take part in National Public Lands Day.
    NPLD, the largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands in the country, brings together volunteers from coast to coast to improve and restore the lands and facilities that Americans use for recreation, education, exercise and just plain enjoyment, sponsors said.
    In Sitka, the community is invited to join volunteers and staff at Sitka National Historical Park to celebrate the 21st annual event, from 10:30 a.m. to  noon, in conjunction with the Ocean Conservancy and Turning the Tides as a way to contribute to the International Coastal Cleanup Day.
    Volunteers will clean up the park and nearby beaches while keeping an eye out for interesting or unusual coastal debris.
    Ashley Bolwerk from the Sitka Sound Science Center will give a short introduction about the importance of cleaning up beaches followed by a joint effort to clean up trash in the park. There will be prizes for all volunteers and a Golden Ticket Mystery Word Treasure Hunt for youth participants. Trash bags, safety vests, and protective gloves will be provided.
    Attendees should take water, a friend, and a willingness to give back to the community, organizers said.
    Following the cleanup, volunteers will meet at the visitor center at 1:30 p.m. for some light refreshments.
    To learn more about the nationwide celebration, visit http://www.publiclandsday.org.

    Photo Opportunity
    Open to Sitkans
    Heartland Alaska, a non-profit organization created to benefit children, seniors and the handicapped, is offering a free photo opportunity to Sitkans 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Centennial Hall, or until the group runs out of photo paper. It is on a first-come, first-serve, basis.
    ‘‘We had a very successful fund-raiser this summer that supported our program called ‘Mushing for Minors,’’’ said organizer Robin Shull.
    The photo opportunity is being offered to Sitkans in appreciation and support of the program.
    For more information call Shull at 738-1934.