Community Thanks
Dear Editor: Today is my last day as executive director of Sitka Sound Science Center and I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to Sitka for getting this organization off the ground. Thank you for helping the Science Center move from an idea to a reality. And thank you for your ongoing support.
It’s been a huge honor to be part of the creation of the Science Center and see it now reflect the needs and interests of Sitka and other communities in the region. I’m grateful to the early believers who contributed volunteer time and money to build science education programs, improve our facilities and begin research projects.
There were many who saw the vision before I did, and I’m grateful for their encouragement and contagious enthusiasm. I have been lucky to see firsthand how Sitka’s generosity and “can do” spirit can create something special. I’m thankful for a board of directors that has connected our organization to other businesses, expertise, nonprofits, tribal governments, academic institutes, and people across the globe.
We are incredibly fortunate to have the Daily Sitka Sentinel and KCAW as local news outlets who have been key players in helping SSSC engage our community in science education and research.
I am proud of our partnerships with the organizations on the historic Sheldon Jackson Campus – our friends at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Youth Advocates, Outer Coast, Sitka Music Festival, and the Alaska State Museum. Thank you for letting your successes fill all our sails as we revitalize our neighborhood. There are hundreds of other individuals and organizations to thank so hopefully I’ll run into you soon to tell you in person.
As Dr. Arleigh Reynolds, DVM, PhD, takes over the helm here, the organization is in good health. I’ve been fortunate to work with a staff of passionate, caring, and curious people who are open, creative, and ready to take on new ideas. SSSC has active research and education programs; modern facilities we are well respected among other scientific organizations and agencies, and we are working to become a trusted partner in tribal and rural communities in the region. Our partnerships with the fishing industry, universities, other nonprofits and state, Tribal and federal agencies have provided strength and new pathways to serve the community. SSSC has a variety of income streams, some private donors (we still need more!), earned income sources(shop our retail!), and a diversity in our membership (www.sitkascience.org to become a member today). And if you’d like to support our endowment visit the Juneau Community Foundation website. Hey, you can’t take the fundraiser out of the nonprofit leader……. !
Being involved in the Science Center truly makes me feel upbeat about the future. Knowing how to validate, think critically and innovate, arms our community members and students with tools to make decisions that are good for individuals and good for society. Increasing understanding through research and education gives me hope for repairing the world. At a time when the nation seems more divided than ever, I appreciate that SSSC is an interdisciplinary hub that brings people together.
I am leaving SSSC now because I want the flexibility to visit my elderly relatives but Sitka is still my home. I plan to continue working (not retired!) in the arena of community and science and of course join in the work and fun of making Sitka the best it can be.
In gratitude,
Lisa Busch, Sitka
Vandalism
Dear Editor: Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society are the stewards of the Path of Hope, the land is owned by the City of Sitka.
Many years ago, with the help of craftsmen, gardeners, donors, Sitka Trail Works, volunteers and the community, we designed our park for survivors, family members, the community, visitors to walk through, sit for a while and just enjoy the beauty of the Flame of Hope, the Book of Hope with our mission statement. And then read the inspirational messages on the pages of the book picked by our board members.
The Path of Hope is our joy! It shows what the Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society has accomplished over these last 24 years in Sitka. We are very proud of our park. SCSS has been blessed to have volunteers tend to all the plants, shrubs, trees during spring and fall cleanup for us. Members of our board have been weekly visitors to keep the park picked up. We are planning our spring cleanup for May and will keep you all posted.
Unfortunately, we have had many visitors in the park over the last year who do not respect our park like we do. We have cleaned up liquor bottles, cans, garbage of all types, fires have been started and defacing of the books and benches. Plus destroying of plants, trees and shrubs.
We ask our community of Sitka if you see activity in the Path of Hope that is destructive or harmful to our Path of Hope Park to contact the Sitka Police Department to report the unwanted activity.
Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society is a 501 (c) (3) non profit and because of donations, fund raisers, quilt raffle, auctions we are able to give back in grants to those dealing with cancer in our community. We want our Path of Hope to be beautiful almost breathtaking and inspirational for survivors from Sitka. We take great pride in what we have been able to do for this small community, so we are asking for your help.
Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society Board:
Carolyn, Candi, Bonnie, Jill, Patti, Shannon, Gail and Pam
SE Alaska Music Festival
Dear Editor: Two weeks ago, for the first time since 2016, Sitka High School hosted the annual Region V Southeast Alaska Music Festival on April 11-13. Teachers and just over 500 students from Sitka High School, Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Ketchikan High School, Juneau Douglas High School, Thunder Mountain High School, Petersburg High School, Wrangell High School, Craig High School, Haines High School, Skagway High School, Metlakatla High School, and Kake High School spent three full days sharing and making music with and for one another. A typical day of the festival had solos and small ensembles performing in the morning, a midday jazz concert, educational clinics in the afternoon, and large ensembles featured in an evening concert. The festival is not just an opportunity to get to play for each other in one location but is also a chance to be evaluated and receive valuable feedback from outstanding educators who fly in and serve as clinicians and adjudicators for the students.
Our two instrumental adjudicators this year were Brad Hogarth, associate professor of conducting at San Francisco State University and the director of the San Francisco Civic Symphony, and Dr. Nathaniel Dickey, music department chair at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Our two vocal adjudicators were Dr. Allyss Haecker, director of choirs at Seneca High School in South Carolina, and Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. We had a bonus adjudicator in Dr. Wesley Chu, an incredible pianist, composer, and teacher currently in the Los Angeles area.
Many people and organizations in Sitka contributed to making this festival a success. I want to thank our district superintendent, Deidre Jenson, as well as our interim superintendent from this past year, Steve Bradshaw, and the Sitka School Board who all supported the proposal to move a district in-service day forward by one week to coincide with the music festival, thus giving us Friday with all of Sitka High School at our disposal. Also, many thanks to SHS administrators, Principal Sondra Lundvick and Vice Principal Tyler McCarty, who did many things to prepare for and support the festival but who also orchestrated an early release on Thursday which gave us the rest of that first day to fully “invade” the school! Our office staff at SHS is also extraordinary and many thanks to Carrie Spackman and Kate Puckett for the countless things they do to support daily building operations.
SHS has an exceptional Activities Director in Rich Krupa, and the advance work he did in the months leading up to April was crucial with making plans for most communities in SE to travel to Sitka, and securing housing accommodations and transportation plans for all the visitors.
Jared Williams and the district maintenance staff were extremely helpful in preparing facilities for our use and transporting equipment between buildings. Our team of Sitka High custodians, particularly Stella and Florendo, also took on lots of extra work with so many visitors in the building, and they made sure the facilities stayed clean and that garbage regularly moved out the door. Many teachers on Sitka High staff let us use their classrooms and were very flexible and generous in sharing the spaces with us as additional preparation and rehearsal areas, as well as housing accommodations for a few groups.
Huge thanks to the music teachers in our district, Susan Brandt-Ferguson at KGH, and Drew Larson at BMS, who spent all three days at SHS not only lending their musical expertise as clinicians and participants, but also taking on plenty of “grunt work” with Susan organizing personnel overseeing various rooms and Drew helping full time as a stagehand and supervisor.
A big thank you to Terry and Jan Lovett for offering to share their past experiences organizing music festivals and were then promptly given more volunteer work than they surely initially expected! Jan was our liaison to the team of visiting adjudicators, and Terry was an excellent Stage Manager who organized and executed numerous recital and concert scenarios with an efficient team of stagehands.
We tapped an excellent team of local musical experts to share their knowledge and music with students as clinicians. This incredible team was made-up of Susan Brandt-Ferguson, Drew Larson, Roger Schmidt, Sheila Agne, Elias Erickson, Rhiannon Guevin, Debby LeVeck, Rachel Thomson, Hank Moore, Slack Tide with Joe Montagna, Jen Reid, and Peter Apathy, Fishing for Cats with John and Kris Fulton, Dean Orbison, Ted Howard, Julie Schmitts, Lauren Wild, Owen Fulton, Matthew Miller, and Dorothy Orbison!
Four local teachers and pianists provided musical accompaniment and collaboration with several of our students who prepared solo pieces. Many thanks to Kristin Nelsen Hames, Tiffany Pearson, Hannah Cummiskey, and Gabriella Lewandowski for collaborating with our young musicians!
A small army of parents and community members donated some of their time during any hour of the day in so many roles and provided food for our visiting teachers and clinicians. Thank you to KK Prussian and Bridget and Randy Hitchcock who acted as coordinators for these roles.
Thank you to Grace Harbor Church, St. Gregory’s Church, Sitka United Methodist Church, and Mt. Edgecumbe High School for generously providing additional housing locations for visiting schools and thank you to Trudy Prewitt with Sitka Tours who assisted us with transportation and bussing needs.
Most of the visiting students stayed on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp campus, and Roger Schmidt, Kenley Jackson, Rhiannon Guevin, and Drew Sherman were invaluable not just in making housing available but were true professionals in consolidating information and planning the format and logistics for the festival and were critical in making it the success that it was. We also had an excellent duo of professionals with Rach Roach and Maryl Rees sharing their technical expertise at the Sitka Performing Arts Center.
There were many mouths to feed over these few days and thank you to local food trucks and chefs who setup in the SHS parking lot and made food conveniently available for festival participants to purchase.
A huge thank you to Vince Winter and Troy Wingard at AC Lakeside who grilled and provided complimentary hot dogs for all festival participants on Friday!
Roger and Mary Hames, Barbara Hames, and Sea Mart Quality Foods provided a gift card to purchase supplies for the festival and on Saturday provided complimentary sandwiches for everyone! Thank You!
Our SHS art teacher, Larisa Manewal, invited her students to submit designs for a festival T-shirt and logo. We loved a concept submitted by a freshman student, AliceAnn Ricketts, and Charlie Skultka took that concept and turned it into a really nice logo that was printed onto T-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers by Tyler Eddy!
And of course, thank you to the Sitka Sentinel and Raven Radio for always providing media coverage and for spreading details and information about the festival to our community.
It is very humbling to think about the many minds and hands that went in to making this festival function so directors like me could be on stage showcasing the hard and excellent musical work our southeast Alaska students are doing. These many volunteers put a wonderful Sitka flavor on this festival, and the feedback I received from festival participants was extremely gracious and appreciative. Thank you!
Andrew Hames, Music Director
Sitka High School
