Aluminum Recycling
Dear Editor: After 32 years, the Baranof Barracudas Swim Club members would like to say a huge thank you to the citizens of Sitka, the City of Sitka, Arrowhead Transfer, Alaska Marine Lines, and all of the generous local businesses who contributed to the aluminum recycling program. To all of the volunteers, swimmers, and parents who made the program successful, your thousands of hours have been invaluable.
A special thank you to Larry Trani and Dr. Tom Jacobsen for their early collaboration, in which BBSC inherited the aluminum recycle program from the Sitka Conservation Society in 1983 when no other materials were being recycled on Baranof Island. The program has come a long way from its early days of buying cans and crushing them under XtraTufs to sorting, cleaning, and loading donated cans into containers for shipment south.
As of January 1, 2015, the City of Sitka will resume management of the aluminum recycling, integrating it into the broader recycling program. BBSC is grateful to have had the opportunity over the past several years to continue with the collection of aluminum at the center, using the profits to fund the swim club, serving Sitkans ages 5 and up. Our hope is that the city contractors are able to increase collection and further refine the process, growing revenue potential for the city’s recycling program as a whole.
Over the course of three decades, there have been many who have taken on volunteer leadership roles. The BBSC board and membership would like to recognize recent contributions from Jude Pate, Marie Murray and David Urias for their tireless efforts and coordination. It is a big job and it is in part due to their hard work that the program has value potential for the City of Sitka today.
Thank you, Sitka, for the many years of supporting your swimmers, youths and adults alike.
Baranof Barracuda Swim Club Board of Directors:
Kevin Knox, Beau Bauder,
Scott McArthur, Jennifer Davis, Kealoha Harmon, Kelly Pellet, Lance Ewers, Roxanne Gagner,
Jennifer McNichol, Somer Cox, David Urias, Miranda Littlefield
