Music Festival
Dear Editor: The Sitka Summer Music Festival is over halfway through our 2013 season. If you haven’t yet had the chance to attend one of our concerts, there are still four more concerts and several free events in the next couple of weeks. Don’t miss the exquisite music or the opportunity to meet these incredible guest musicians.
At this point, I’d like to pause and publicly acknowledge all the organizational support we’ve received so far. We kicked off the Festival on June 1 with a very special indoor garden party: “Wine and Music with Friends,” sponsored by Conoco Phillips.
Many thanks to BP and Sea Mart for once again contributing to our annual Family Concert and Ice Cream Social on June 9 – nearly 300 people enjoyed the concert and a root beer float! Seafood Producers Co-op and Sitka Sound Seafoods have donated fish for use at some of our special events, and every last bite of those donations was thoroughly enjoyed. Our annual Crab Feed was held under perfectly blue skies last Sunday. Thanks to Silver Bay Seafoods for their generous underwriting of that event, and to Sitka Sound Seafoods for delivering the delicious Dungeness crab!
And just the other day, over 200 people joined us in the heart of Sitka National Historical Park for a very special concert in the park. Thanks to SNHP staff and rangers for hosting that event, to the Greater Sitka Arts Council for organizing the “Salmon in the Trees” art installation aligning the path to the park concert, and to Foreign Auto for donating the tents.
We are also grateful to Wells Fargo for underwriting the educational component of our concerts: the program notes and pre-concert conversations hosted by Susan Wingrove, and to Holland America Lines for sponsoring our free Bach’s Lunch concert series at noon on Thursdays.
Also, thanks to the Broadcast Film Critics Association and UAS for sponsoring our free movie nights on Tuesdays, and the Larkspur Café and Dock Shack Lounge for hosting our free café concert series on Wednesday evenings. And we always enjoy returning to Kettleson Memorial Library’s Babies and Books program to share the story of Gordon the Bear and his quest to become a musician.
The amazing staff at Harrigan Centennial Hall takes such good care of us; Alaska Airlines donated tickets for artist transportation; the Daily Sitka Sentinel and Raven Radio provide invaluable promotional assistance; and the staff of Old Harbor Books generously sells tickets on our behalf. Thanks also to the Blatchley Middle School Music Department for the use of their music stands; and to Sitka Community Hospital for providing laundry services this summer. Donations from Larkspur, Dock Shack, Channel Club, Ludvig’s Chowder Cart, and Sea Mart are helping to keep our musicians well fed while they’re here.
Of course, the heart of this Festival is the music, and we’d like to sincerely thank the musicians who have dedicated their time and talent to be here with us in Sitka. There are two more weeks of incredible music and camaraderie ahead, and we’re looking forward to our Allen Marine Chamber Music Cruise this Sunday evening. We hope you can join us!
Kayla Boettcher, Executive Director
Sitka Summer Music Festival
State Thanks
Dear Editor: It was with great pride that I watched Hannah McCarty score the winning run to clinch Sitka’s fourth consecutive state softball title on a clutch hit by Laurel Raschick in the bottom of the seventh inning against our biggest rival, Ketchikan. Hannah and Laurel are two of our seniors, who along with the rest of our seniors, Lindsay Riggs, Stefania Potrzuski, and Kirsten Stockel represent everything that is good about high school sports: competition, fitness, team building, responsibility, high academic standards and for them, the four year journey of commitment and hard work that can culminate in a championship performance.
Fortunately, there are others in the community that appreciate those values as well. Silver Bay Seafood and American Presidents Lines graciously donated significant sums of money to allow our girls to go to Anchorage and compete. Rich Riggs, Troy Denkinger, and Phil Long appreciate what high school athletics can do for young people and go above and beyond to support them. All of the girls and coaching staff are much appreciative of not only what they have done for us, but for their contributions to our community with jobs, tax dollars, long range planning, and the strong hope and actions toward a viable Sitka, long into the future.
Rich and Troy could be basing their business and choosing to live pretty much anywhere in the world. But, they have chosen to live here in lovely Sitka by the sea, grow our town, and support our youth. Phil Long, thank you for joining them here in Sitka with American Presidents. And again, thank you for helping make the Sitka Lady Wolves, the four-time state champions.
Respectfully yours,
Bob Potrzuski, Kelly Garvin,
Greg Raschick, Jessica Gibson
and Ed Iwamoto,
Sitka High Softball coaching staff
Pastor Comments
Dear Editor: Re: ‘‘Christian Group Offers Gay Community Apology’’ by AP writer David Crary, in yesterday’s Sentinel. I do not know Mr. Crary, or Mr. Chambers, whom he quotes, or the organizations or ‘‘religious-based institutions’’ to which he refers in the article. I do know Jesus taught repentance, not repression. Conversion at the cross opens eyes to the beauty of God’s holiness and the ugliness of sin. Our confidence rests on the character of God and victory by the Holy Spirit, not the endorsement of ‘‘mainstream associations.’’
Rev. Diane Wonnenberg,
First Presbyterian Church of Sitka
