Salmon Derby
Awards Night
Set Thursday
Sitka Sportsman’s Association invites this year’s 64th Sitka Salmon Derby contestants to attend Derby Awards Night 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at Centennial Hall.
‘‘The night is set aside to congratulate successful anglers, to thank you for your participation, to appreciate all of our wonderful and generous donors and for you to pick up winning prizes,’’ the association said.
Attendees should take their derby tickets, fish weigh-in receipts and cold fish tickets, and attend the awards night. For information, contact derby Chairman John McCrehin at 738-8636.
Climate Connection: GROWING OUR OWN
By Libby Stortz
Localities all over the United States and the world have been exploring, experimenting and achieving greater climate resilience by changing their agricultural practices.
The shorter the distance to customers, the fresher the food and the smaller the carbon footprint.
Over a number of years, Sitkans have initiated many adaptive strategies increasing our food security. We have the communal garden at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea that grows food for our Farmer’s Market. There’s a private Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA) and a Community Supported Fishery program (CSF) through Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) with family or individual subscriptions, and Sitka Conservation Society provides the Fish to Schools program. There has been a communitywide planting of apple trees. We have numerous vegetable gardens throughout our community and Pacific High and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp have “Victory Gardens” (small home gardens made to improve local food supplies during WWII in the U.S. and UK) that are used for student meals. Many of us practice subsistence gathering, fishing and hunting. We have generous neighbors who share. We are one of the only Alaskan communities with a Community Food Assessment, and our 4-H Club is teaching children to garden vegetables. Not very long ago a group put considerable effort into locating a site for community greenhouses, and before that a community composting test project. Until not very long ago we had a wonderful community garden behind Blatchley Middle School, and finding a site for a new one is a common conversation point for many Sitkans.
So what else can we do as we face climate change? We have lots of interesting ideas for your consideration in the coming weeks. And, Sitkans being outstandingly creative and motivated, I’ll bet you can come up with other ideas, too. Let us know your ideas and we’ll print them here at Climate Connection where we connect the dots.
sitkaclimatelobby@gmail.com
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Libby Stortz is a member of Citizens Climate Lobby.
Week in SSMF
Preview June 11
Sitka Summer Music Festival will host the Week in Preview with music educator Susan Reed 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Stevenson Hall, 104 Jeff Davis Street.
Reed will offer stories and context about the music on the week’s programs, with a possible interview with one of the guest artists.
Cafe Concert
Set Wednesday
Sitka Summer Music Festival will present a free café concert 6:30 p.m. June 12 at the Mean Queen.
Festival details are at the website sitkamusicfestival.org or 747-6774.
Funds Given
To Organizations
By Sitka Rotary
The Sitka Rotary Club at a board meeting on Tuesday gave out funds through its Community Giving program to the following organizations:
- $200 for the Baranof Elementary summer reading project.
- $249 to the Girl Scouts for their storage unit.
- $1,500 for two defibrillators for the Sitka Pioneers Home.
- $300 for each of the following organizations: Sitka Gymnastics, Youth Advocates of Sitka (teen center project), Sitka Summer Music Festival, the Sitka Sound Science Center and the Salvation Army.
- $400 for the Sitka Problem Solvers to go to the national conference and competition.
Funds dispersed to local organizations come from the annual Duck Race ticket sales. The Allen Marine cruise also raises funds for local, statewide, international and club projects.
The Sitka Rotary Club invites local nonprofit and governmental organizations to apply for grants that support education, literacy, youth exchange, senior welfare, health and youths, among other endeavors.
Applications are available at sitkarotary.org under “Community Giving Request Form.”
The club meets noon Tuesdays at the Westmark Sitka. Those interested in attending may call 738-0602.
Kia Recall Getting
Sitkans’ Attention
A Kia recall of 329,000 vehicles is getting the attention of several Sitka residents.
The recall is for the vehicle’s catalytic converter, which can cause a fire. It affects Kia Souls (2012-2016), Kia Sportages (2011-2012), and Hyundais and Tucsons (2011-2013).
More recalls are listed on the Kia site for other models. To check for them, type in the vehicle’s VIN number.
‘‘There is work being done to get a Kia technician to come here to deal with the recall. However, everyone needs to have their claim number so they see how much a need there is for it,’’ a Kia Soul owner said.
Vehicle owners also should talk with local mechanic shops to see if they are able to perform recall repairs.
Owners can see if their vehicle is on the list and contact Kia to start a claim. The Kia Website address is https://www.kia.com/us/en/content/owners/safety-recall and the phone is 1-800-333-4542 option 2 then option 5.
Earns Degree
Sitka High School 2014 graduate Benjamin Gordon participated in Emerson College’s commencement ceremonies May 12 for a bachelor of arts degree in media arts production. Gordon will officially complete the degree in August.
He is the son of Dave and Leslie Gordon of Sitka.
Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts, awarded more than 970 undergraduate degrees and on Saturday, May 11, awarded nearly 300 graduate degrees during the college’s commencement ceremonies.
