Climate Connection: Cr*p Vegans For A Safe Climate!
By Leah Mason
Today it’s time to talk about Meatless Mondays. I know it’s controversial but you might be surprised to find that going red-meat free is one of the easiest ways to make a difference to the state of our health as a planet - even if you just do it on one day of the week. I like to call this the fine art of being a cr*p vegan, but there are other reference points for those who need a different motivation or different perspective on going just a little meat-free.
It has a long history. Some of our older community members might remember a time when most of the Christian world went red-meat free over Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent which takes place around Easter. War efforts also asked more of us to go red-meat free. For example, England’s Queen Elizabeth I wanted to improve her subjects’ maritime skills so that her navy would be more formidable, and encouraged more fishing by declaring every Friday to be a day to eat fish. More recently, “Meatless Mondays” and “Victory Gardens” were war-time measures to help get more food to go to soldiers.
We know we can do it because we did it for centuries, but I hear you asking... ‘why’?
It’s the numbers. One person eating - or not eating - a couple of slabs of cow bottoms, or pig ribs every week doesn’t seem to be much of a problem or a solution, but multiply that number by even a quarter of the U.S. population, and you have a lot of cows and pigs. Lots of cows and pigs mean cleared land to graze or for grain and other feed. Cows that burp up a greenhouse gas even more powerful than carbon dioxide. Pigs which also eat grains and which also produce methane. If we all became once-a-week vegans, we could really start changing those numbers. It’s also worth noting that being a cr*p vegan is linked to less obesity and some cancers. Better still, less carbon dioxide and methane will make the seas and oceans less inclined to warm and become acidic. That’s good for us AND for the sea creatures that a lot of Sitkans depend upon. We don’t have to be pure to make a difference, so I’ll sign off with a useful song….
“I’d starve if I boycotted all things immoral,
And sometimes I just can’t be bothered to quarrel,
I’m a soft human being not hard like a coral,
Guess what my answer to a purist is…
... be a crap vegan, I’m a crap vegan, be crap vegan too...
I only eat a smattering of blood and death and battering,
And I reckon that will do...”*
*words and music by Paul Spencer
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Leah Mason is very cr*p vegan and a member of the Sitka Citizens Climate Lobby.
‘Molly of Denali’
Slated to Screen
Friday, Saturday
Sitka Seafood Festival and Lance (X̱’unei) A. Twitchell, associate professor of Alaska Native languages arts and sciences at UAS-Juneau and producer on the PBS series “Molly of Denali,” will be offer free screenings of the two first episodes of the series 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2, at Sitka Public Library, and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi.
A conversation about the series will follow.
“Molly of Denali,” a new PBS Kids series, premiered nationwide July 15. The first nationally distributed children’s series to feature a Native American lead character, “Molly of Denali” is about Alaska Native Molly Mabray, a feisty and resourceful 10-year-old Gwich’in/Koyukon/Dena’ina Athabascan girl, who takes viewers ages 4 to 8 along with her on adventures and fosters literacy skills along the way.
With an emphasis on family and intergenerational relationships, episodes of “Molly of Denali” model Alaska Native values, such as respecting others, sharing what you have and honoring your elders, while showcasing contemporary aspects of rural life, including strong female role models and how technology aids in communication. The show premiered on PBS Kids on July 15.
Along with Sitka Seafood Festival, UAS and the Sitka Public Library, also sponsoring the event are the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Outer Coast.
For information about the event, call the library at 747-8708.
Kruzof Intertidal
Zone Explored
Sitka Conservation Society will host a boat trip to explore the Kruzof Island intertidal zone 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Aug. 4.
An Allen Marine vessel will drop off participants on shore to explore the marine creatures. UAS-Sitka Campus professor Marnie Chapman will acompany the group.
‘‘Learn the importance of this micro-ecosystem, its connection to our Tongass National Forest, and how SCS supports our public lands for recreation,’’ Sitka Conservation Society said in a press release.
Participants can explore the intertidal zone. They should wear rubber boots and be prepared to walk on rough and slippery terrain. Rain pants are also recommended.
Tickets are $60 per person and are available for purchase by cash at Old Harbor Books two weeks prior to the cruise.
Girl Scouts Set
Camp Monday
Girls age 5 to 18 are invited to Girl Scouts of Alaska’s camp 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Aug. 5-9, at Sitka Lutheran Church.
Events include outdoor skills, exploring nature, STEM activities, arts and crafts, and a community service project. The cost is $40 per girl or $60 for two or more girls in a family. Financial aid is available. Attendees are to take a sack lunch. Register on the first day or pre-register at girlscoutsalaska.org/camps or call 248-2250.
Lutherans to Host
New Volunteers
Annette and Arthur Cernohous are serving as August volunteers at Sitka Lutheran Church. Shortly after they cruised Southeast Alaska in 2018, they applied to volunteer at the church.
The Cernohouses have deep Wisconsin roots. After retiring from the Air Force, where he was an aircraft maintenance expert, Art became a full-time community and church volunteer. He now joins Annette in performing Wycliffe Bible translating work in Orlando, Florida, when they go south for the winter.
Annette is a retired Medical College of Wisconsin program coordinator. The two often volunteer in their home congregation in Greenfield as ushers, prayer leaders, children’s ministries leaders and Gideon Ministries leaders.
They have family in Seattle that includes a grandson, so have experience with the Northwest rain and overcast weather.
Volunteers at Sitka Lutheran proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, along with helping with garage sales for youth mission travel, explaining Sitka Lutheran’s rich Finnish-Lutheran history to tourists and caring for the historic Lutheran Cemetery. Sitka Lutheran has sponsored teens going to Jamaica, Indonesia, Florida, Canada, New Orleans and Montana for relief efforts involving flooding, hurricanes and health care.
The church supports the Salvation Army Food Bank, and expressed appreciation to the Sitka community for supporting garage sales and food drives.
Regular Sunday morning worship services are held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. a weekly soup supper is followed by a short prayer service. Youth Group and quilting are among service activities of the church. All are invited.
‘Serenity’ Film
To Show at Library
Sitka Public Library will show the final film in its Summer Space Movie Series, “Serenity” (PG-13, 2005), 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.
Adapted from Joss Whedon’s cult-classic TV show “Firefly,” the film is a swashbuckling space adventure featuring a misfit crew of rebel smugglers (think Wild West meets Star Wars). This event is free and open to the public. Snacks will be served. For more information, call 747-4025.
Poetry Reading
At Public Library
Sitka Public Library will host a poetry reading by Oregon poet Bethany Lee 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15.
Lee will read selections from her new collection, “The Breath Between: An Invitation to Mystery and Joy,” and share sea stories from her current project, a memoir about the year her family spent sailing the Pacific Ocean along the Coast of the United States and Mexico.
For information, call 747-4025.
Cancer Survivors
Group to Meet
The Sitka Cancer Survivors Society Support Group meeting will be held 3-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, at the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital fourth floor boardroom.
Support group meetings will be held every third Sunday of the month at the same location.
Physical therapist Gio Villanueva will speak on ‘‘movement.’’
Family and friends are invited. Contact support group coordinator Diane Linn, 512-659-3156, for information.
Municipal Board
Volunteers Sought
Volunteer positions are available on the following municipal boards and commissions: Animal Hearing Board, Building Department Appeals Board, Health Needs and Human Services Commission, Historic Preservation Commission (at-large seat), Library Commission, Local Emergency Planning Commission, Planning Commission, Police and Fire Commission, and Tree and Landscape Committee.
Individuals may submit a letter of interest and board application to the Municipal Clerk’s Office at 100 Lincoln Street. Applications are available online at www.cityofsitka.com or at the clerk’s office. For further information, call Melissa at 747-1826.
SEARHC Joins
Worldwide Event
On Breastfeeding
SEARHC will take part in the Global Big Latch On, a synchronized breastfeeding event that joins thousands of breastfeeding women and their babies/children across the world at multiple locations on Aug. 3.
The annual event occurs during World Breastfeeding Week, Aug. 1-7 every year to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and the need for global support.
SEARHC’s local Big Latch On will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center Island Skillet Café. Registration will begin at 9:45 a.m. and refreshments will be provided. Prizes are available for the youngest and the oldest child to ‘‘latch.’’
This year, SEARHC is hoping to contribute to breaking the current Global Big Latch On record of almost 21,500 children breastfeeding at 778 locations, across 28 countries. Media interviews and photo opportunities will be available at the event.
Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center is recognized by the World Health Organization as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. WHO recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of a baby’s life to optimize these benefits, continuing to breastfeed for two years and as long thereafter as is mutually desired by a woman and her child.
Breastfeeding contributes to the normal growth and development of babies/children, and those who are not breastfed are at increased risk of infant morbidity and mortality, adult obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and pre-menopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer, SEARHC said in a press release.
Pioneers Plan
Annual Picnic
Pioneers of Alaska will hold its annual picnic noon-4 p.m. Aug. 7 at Pioneer Park.
Attendees can take a favorite summertime dish to share with fellow members. Hot dogs, hamburgers and possibly sockeye will be grilled.
Bioblitz Aug. 3
At National Park
Sitka National Historical Park will host biologists from the Sitka Sound Science Center to work with the public to conduct a BioBlitz in the parks tidelands 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 3.
Content experts will guide small groups of the public to find, photograph and identify the diverse life found within the intertidal zone. The goal is to attempt to identify all the species found within the park’s tidelands and capture some of the biodiversity found there.
The project is funded by National Park Service through a cooperative effort with the Sitka Sound Science Center.
Members of the public can convene at the park’s visitor center anytime between 8 and 11 a.m. to meet the biologists and start exploring. Equipment and expertise will be provided. All experience levels are welcome.
Run, Walk Benefits
Baranof School
The Stride 365 5K run/walk back-to-school run is slated 9:30 a.m. Aug. 3 at the O’Connell Bridge lightering facility. Registration begins at 9 a.m.
The $10 registration fee will be donated to Baranof Elementary School.
Contact Heleena van Veen at 966-8914 or heleenav@searhc.org for information.
Smokey Bear’s
75th Birthday
Celebration Set
All are invited to help Smokey Bear celebrate his 75th birthday at the newly rebuilt Sawmill Creek Campground 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17.
Smokey will share his birthday cake at 11 a.m. and be available for photo. Children’s activities related to fire prevention will be included.
Smokey and his clear message “Only you can prevent wildfires” has stood the test of time. More than 95% of wildland fires in Southeast Alaska are human caused, the Sitka Ranger District said in a news release. The majority of those fires are caused by unattended campfires.
The Smokey Bear image began in 1944 with the wartime advertising council and the need to prevent wildfires which were a threat that used up precious resources, especially during World War II.
For information about the event, call the Sitka Ranger District at 747-6671 or email SM.FS.r10_sitka_rd@usda.gov.
T’ai Chi Chih
Practice Saturday
T’ai Chi Chih Practice will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, behind Sitka Public Library.
After-School,
Resource Fair
Slated Aug. 10
Sitka Girl Scouts will host the After-school Activities and Resource Fair 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Centennial Hall Raven Room.
The fair is a one-stop shop for parents of young people from preschool through high school to learn about community activities and resources available to them outside of regular school hours. After-school activities take place from September to May.
Some of the organizations on hand will be Sitka Girl Scouts, Kenwa Karate of Sitka, Sitka sound Science Center, SEARHC, Sitka Cirque, Sitka Studio of Dance, Youth Soccer, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.
Organizations wanting to present at the fair must reserve a table for $5 no later than Aug. 8. Contact Rose, 738-2599 or rosemac@ak.net, for information and to sign up.
Community Picnic
Sponsored by SAIL
Southeast Alaska Independent Living will host a community picnic 5-8 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Halibut Point Recreation Area North Shelter.
SAIL will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, vegetarian options and drinks. Attendees can take a side dish to share.
‘‘We are so blessed in Sitka to be supported by a wonderful community of passionate people who care about the world we do at SAIL,’’ a press release from the organization said. ‘‘Your gifts make a difference and we want to thank you. Please join us for a picnic and conversation about how your gifts inspire personal independence.’’
For more information or to RSVP for the picnic, call Joel at 747-6859, or email jhanson@sailinc.org.
Work Party Set
At Boathouse
The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society welcomes volunteers to help repair a wall on the historic Japonski Island Boathouse 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Aug. 3.
Volunteers should meet at the boathouse dressed for outside work. SMHS can provide tools and personal protection equipment, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own. Coffee and snacks will be provided. For more information, contact sitkamaritime@gmail.com or 623-8054.
Summer Reading
Program to End
The Universe of Stories Summer Reading Program at Sitka Public Library will end Saturday, Aug. 10. The library invites participants to claim their final reading prizes by that day.
For information, call the library at 747-8708.
Stories of SE
60 Years Ago
To be Heard
A gathering to discuss ‘‘Stories of Southeastern Alaska, 60 Years Ago’’ will be held 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2, in the main lounge at the Sitka Pioneers Home.
Brad Sheeks, visiting from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served with George Betts on board the boat SJSII as a summer volunteer in 1959 and will share memories of Southeast Alaska from that time.
He invites others to tell their stories about those times and about Rev. George Betts who, with his wife, Catherine Brown Betts, and daughter Francis Betts Phillips, had served as pastor of Presbyterian Churches in Angoon, St. Petersburg, and Hoonah in the 1940s and 1950s.
Sheeks said, in retirement, George Betts and Walter Soboleff worked with the Wycliff Bible Translators in translating the Gospel of John into the Tlingit language.
Contact Skye Workman, 747-2103, for more information.
Kruzof Intertidal
Zone Explored
Sitka Conservation Society will host a boat trip to explore the Kruzof Island intertidal zone 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Aug. 4.
An Allen Marine vessel will drop off participants on shore to explore the marine creatures. UAS-Sitka Campus professor Marnie Chapman will acompany the group.
‘‘Learn the importance of this micro-ecosystem, its connection to our Tongass National Forest, and how SCS supports our public lands for recreation,’’ Sitka Conservation Society said in a press release.
Participants can explore the intertidal zone. They should wear rubber boots and be prepared to walk on rough and slippery terrain. Rain pants are also recommended.
Tickets are $60 per person and are available for purchase by cash at Old Harbor Books two weeks prior to the cruise.
Film Society to
Screen ‘Yesterday’
The Sitka Film Society and Coliseum Theater will present the comedy “Yesterday,” 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Coliseum Theater.
In the story, Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading. After a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed and he finds himself with a very complicated problem.
The film is rated PG-13. Tickets are $8 at Old Harbor Books and the door.
Spaghetti Dinner
Benefit for SSA
Sitka Sportsman’s Association will host its first fundraising spaghetti dinner 5-8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Sitka Elks Lodge.
It will include raffle items and a dessert auction.
Raffle tickets to win a Palmetto State Armory AR-15 are on sale at Orion Sporting Goods, Guns of Alaska and Munchie Mart.
Proceeds will go to the operations and maintenance of the Sitka Sportsman’s Association’s facility and ranges. The association is a non-profit organization.
All events at the Elks Lodge are for members and invited guests. For more information or to make donations call 738-4559.
