Tree Blessing
Dear Editor: The needs of the town this time of year are great and it is with immensely gracious hearts we of the Revitalize Sitka committee would like to thank Allen Marine for the Christmas tree (bought from the Sitka Boy Scouts). Special thanks to Mike Matz and Mike Hornaman of Allen Marine for raising the tree and stringing it with lights.
The festivities will continue this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. when the tree will be blessed by Pastor Sandra Rudd of Sitka Lutheran Church and a carol sing-along will follow. Please join in this season celebration. Thank you, Sitka!
Revitalize Sitka Committee-
Creating A Vibrant Community
Christopher Jones
Dear Editor: We were very saddened when we lost a friend and co-worker, Chris Jones, who passed away in November.
Chris was a seasonal maintenance worker who worked at Sitka National Historical Park. Chris spent most of his life in Sitka working in the construction trades. He was a fine craftsman who did very meticulous work. Chris was always called upon to do fine carpentry work at the park.
A majority of the belfry on the Russian Bishop’s House was from the original construction of 1843. Chris reconstructed the rotten portions in the same style as the Finnish shipwrights had originally done with the butt swell of a yellow cedar tree. Other projects included re-building many of the louvered shutters on the historic building.
Chris was a man of few words and he usually kept to himself. He did however have a very enjoyable sense of humor. He was a fine talented artist and spent his winter months doing all sorts of artwork and crafts. He was a very kind person who would give his work away on birthdays and at Christmas.
Chris did not embrace the cyberage nor did he own a television. He loved to read and kept up on affairs reading books, magazines and newspapers. Before it closed, he loved to spend Sunday afternoons at the library.
You’re gone, Chris, but not forgotten.
Mike Trainor, Sitka
