‘Sitka Nutcracker’
Staged Dec. 6-8
‘‘Sitka Nutcracker: Land of the Sweets’’ will be staged by the Fireweed Dance Guild Dec. 6-8 at the Performing Arts Center.
Times are 7 p.m. Dec. 6, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 7, and 3 p.m. Dec. 8.
Tickets are on sale at Old Barbor Books. Tickets are $20 adults, $10 for seniors and students, and free for children age 5 and younger.
Christmas Bazaar
At St. Peter’s
St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church will host its Christmas Bazaar 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the See House, 611 Lincoln Street, behind the church.
Handmade gifts and quilts, baked goods and Attic Treasures are featured.
‘Friends of Marine
Highway’ Formed
Friends of the Alaska Marine Highway has formed to speak with one voice in support of full funding of the Alaska Marine Highway System for the economic and wellbeing of Alaska’s families.
Go to www.FriendsofAMHS.org, email FriendsAMHS@yahoo.com or call 907-419-7113.
Women’s Book
Group to Meet
The Women’s Book Group will meet to discuss ‘‘Stay With Me’’ by Ayobami Adebayo 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Sitka Pioneers Home in Room 331.
Women are invited to participate. Call Dorothy, 747-3412, with questions.
Library to Offer
Story Time Event
Sitka Public Library will host a preschool story time 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 12.
‘‘The Little Snowplow Wishes for Snow’’ by Lora Koehler will be one of the readings. Rhymes, songs and crafts are included in the program. Everybody is welcome.
Preschool story times help to promote early literacy skills, expand children’s vocabularies and broaden and enrich their experiences, stimulating brain development, the library said. For information, call 747-4020.
Be-Tweens Offered
Printmaking Class
Sitka Public Library invites Be-Tweens Club members to participate in a printmaking giftwrap workshop 6-7 p.m. Dec. 13. Tweens will work on handmade holiday cards and gift wrap using DIY stamps. Materials will be provided.
The event is free, and tweens of all abilities are welcome but registration is required and space is limited.
The Be-Tween Club is a place for ages 10 to 12 and is dedicated to inspire creativity, thinking outside the box and leadership skills. For information, call Maite at 747-4022.
Keet to Offer
Winter Concerts
The public is invited to Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School winter concerts this month at the Performing Arts Center.
Fourth-graders will perform 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9; third-graders, 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12; second-graders, Monday, Dec. 16; and fifth-graders, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Admission is free of charge.
Parent Power
Hour at Hames
Parent Power Hour is back on the schedule at Hames Center, 8:15-10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Volunteers provide child supervision for ages 0-5 while parents work out or take one of the 8:30 a.m. class offerings.
Cost is $5 per child. For information visit www.hamescenter.org or call 747-5080.
This Week in Boys Run
By Sitkans Against Family Violence
Boys Run I toowú klatseen is an after-school program focused on instilling healthy life-skills in boys through running and other fun activities. The program, now in its sixth season in Sitka, incorporates cultural activities that honor traditional Southeast Alaskan values. Thirty boys participate twice-weekly at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School.
This week, Boys Run participants learned about cooperation, teamwork, and how they can support their communities. We are all part of the Sitka community, but we also all have many other communities in our lives: these include classmates, clans and tribes, families, faith groups and after-school programs like Boys Run!
We discussed the traditional Tlingit value of being a steward of air, land and sea, and brainstormed ways we can all show respect for the part of the world we inhabit. We illustrated the work involved in keeping our communities afloat by doing some fun team-based running challenges. One challenge involved keeping a large number of balloons, released in different parts of the gym, from touching the ground. To demonstrate cooperation, boys practiced paddling as if they were in a canoe. In order to keep the canoe moving in the right direction, paddlers must all work together to paddle at the same time.
Here are some quotes from the boys:
–“To be a part of a community means working together.”
–“(Before Boys Run) I would have said a strong man is a man with muscles but now I say a strong man is someone who cares for his community.”
Throughout this season, Boys Run will be providing the Sitka community with updates on the program. We also aim to give mentors and parents an opportunity to pass on skills from Boys Run to the children in their life. Consider using these conversation starters:
–What are some of the challenges that arise when people don’t cooperate?
–What does it mean to be a part of a community? What different communities are you a part of?
Don’t forget! The annual Boys Run 5K will take place Saturday, Dec. 14, at 10 a.m., and all are invited. We will begin and end in Harrigan Centennial Hall Room 6, and will run a loop through Totem Park. We are looking for volunteers to help set up or be running buddies; running buddies will run the 5K along with the boys. If you are interested in volunteering or being a running buddy, please contact Emma Thompson at ethompson@safv.org.
Furbearer Trapping
Season to Open
The trapping season for marten, river otter, mink and weasel opened Dec. 1 on Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof islands (Unit 4).
Unit 4 beaver season opened Nov. 10. The trapping season runs through Feb. 15 for most species in Unit 4. Exceptions are the marten, mink and weasel season in the north Chichagof Island area which ends Dec. 31, and the beaver season which remains open through May 15.
Trappers must have a valid trapping license. Marten, river otter and beaver hides must be sealed within 30 days after the close of the season by ADF&G staff, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, or state-appointed fur sealers.
For information about trapping, call the Sitka Fish & Game office at 747-5449 or the Alaska Wildlife Troopers at 747-3254. For detailed regulations, refer to the 2019-2020 Alaska Trapping Regulations or online at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov.
Story Time,
Agutaq Contest
At SJ Museum
Sheldon Jackson Museum will host a story time and Agutaq contest 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.
The group will read ‘‘Berry Magic’’ by Teri Sloat, which tells a traditional Yup’ik folktale of how long ago the only berries on the tundra were hard, tasteless, little crowberries until a young girl named Anana intervened. Because of Anana there are now plenty of tasty berries for agutak (sometimes called “Eskimo ice cream”) for fall festivals and special occasions forevermore.
Attendees are being encouraged to take a bowl of homemade agutaq with them for an agutaq-tasting contest afterwards. Entries can be by group or individual and a copy of the recipe should be taken to the event.
The free program is best for ages 6-9. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is not required to attend the reading, but is required for individuals and groups who wish to submit an entry for the agutaq contest. To register for the contest, call 747-8981.
