Card of Thanks
Dear Editor: We would like to thank all of the many people who have helped and comforted us during these past few months. Our original plan was to send a personal note to each of you but, as it turns out, there are hundreds of you!
We would like to thank the Keet staff and Amber’s cousins and friends for arranging and decorating Amber’s service and Gordon Blue for the service itself. Thanks, also, to Keet staff for providing the food. We would also like to thank everyone who has so generously donated to the boys’ scholarship account and those who arranged, donated to, and participated in the elks fundraiser as well as the Elks organization. Your kindness will make it possible for the boys to achieve dreams that Amber had for them and they will be raised knowing what a special and caring community they are part of.
Thanks to the staff at BES, KGH and 3 to 5 Preschool for everything you’ve done to help the boys. It is easy to see that your students mean far more to you than just your job.
Amber’s friends and Keet staff, we are deeply grateful to you for taking care of her house and possessions. SCH, thank you for the wonderful tribute and the lanterns for the boys. We are honored by the UAS scholarship in Amber’s name and she would have been very proud.
For all the hugs, cards, kind words, flowers, meals and compassion we give thanks to all of you. Had we searched the entire world we could not have found either an extended family or a town more willing and able to help us raise Amber’s boys. Thank you.
The Petersons:
Eric, Stephanie, Jeremy, Nik,
Aiden, Jayde and Ashton
STA Response
Dear Editor: Sitka Tribe response to SEARHC closure of Bill Brady Healing Center:
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council is concerned that the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has decided to close the Bill Brady Healing Center. Along with their outsourcing of jobs in several areas of activity in 2011-2012, SEARHC is now closing a facility that provides a critical service to tribal citizens from Sitka and around Southeast Alaska.
While the Tribal Council understands the depth and breadth of the financial challenges SEARHC faces, before and during the federal sequester of funds that support numerous programs and personnel, management’s decisions seem to hit Sitka disproportionately hard compared to Juneau and the rest of Southeast.
The Tribal Council and STA management have scheduled a meeting with SEARHC leadership to discuss these matters. The leadership of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska will do everything it can to work with SEARHC and ensure that as many tribal citizens as possible keep their jobs and that residents have access to critical services in Sitka.
Mike Baines,
Tribal Council Chairman,
Sitka Tribe of Alaska
Herring Response
Dear Editor: I want to comment Master Sgt. J.G. Moebus on his timely and hard-hitting letter of March 25 concerning the depletion of Sitka Sound herring. Me may be a newcomer but he is definitely wise beyond his time in the area.
I have observed the persistent depletion from the past 30 years and agree that the ‘‘tipping point is upon this’’ foundation of the whole marine food chain.
Ben Mitchell, Sitka
Rainy Day Bazaar
Dear Editor: The Coast Guard Spouses’ and Women’s Association would like to express our deepest gratitude to all who supported the Rainy Day Bazaar. Without the participation of many, this event would not have been possible. We thank all of the vendors for coming to sell their wonderful products; KCAW, KIFW and the Daily Sitka Sentinel for helping us spread the word; Harry Race for donating Easter Bunny photos; the staff at Harrigan Centennial Hall for all of their work; and all of the patrons who attended.
We would also like to extend a sincere thank you to the following individuals and businesses for making the silent auction at this year’s Rainy Day Bazaar such a huge success. Thank you so much for all of your generous donations and financial support.
AC Lakeside, Agave, Aimee Bell, Alaska Hook and Line Seafoods, Alaska Computer, Alaska Pacific Bank, Alaska Pure Sea Salts, Alaska Railroad, Alaska Raptor Center, Art Glass by Kiki, Arrowhead Transfer, Artist’s Cove Gallery, Aurora Business Supplies, Backdoor Café, Baranof Island Brewing Co., The Barber Shop, The Bead Shop, Bear Country Gifts, The Beauty Shop and Beyond, Ben Franklin, Bev’s Flowers and Gifts, Botanika, Brenner’s Fine Clothing and Gifts, El Burrito Loco, The Cellar, Channel Club, Chelan, Chocolate Moose, Christi Henthorn, Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska, Daily Sitka Sentinel, Davis Realty, Dianna Raymond, Eagle Bay Inn, Eclipse Design, Ed Johnson, Elks Lodge, Ernie’s Old Time Saloon, Fairweather Prints, Fish Eye Coffee, Fisherman’s Eye Gallery, Foreign Automotive, Friendship Beading Company, Full Circle Farms, Gary’s Outboard, Goldsmith Gallery, Hair Loft, Hair Play, Hames Center, Harris Aircraft, Headquarters, Highliner Coffee, Home Plus, House of Liquor, Indian Village Artists, Jet Stream Carpet Cleaning, Jewelry Arte, Karen Christner, KCAW, Knitting with Class, Linda Janacek, Lisa Teas, McDonald’s, Media Rare Computers, Mindy Sandlin, Murray Pacific, My fAEvorite Store, Myrna Cirera, New Start Pet Store, Nicki McArthur, The Nugget, Old Harbor Books, Orion Sporting Goods, Patty Robinson, Petro Marine, Pioneer Bar, Pizza Express, Precision Boatworks, The Pub, Random House, re:fresh Salon, Spa & Fitness, Roberta White, Robertson’s Gallery, Rock Peterson, Russell’s Sporting Goods, Sacha Mattley, Salon 264, Samson Tug and Barge, Schmolck, Sea Dreams, Sea Mart, Seaside Barber Shop, Shee Atika Inc., Sewin’ by the Sea, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Shelly Atkinson, Shelter Cove Publishing, Sitka Bazaar, Sitka Rose Gallery, Sitka Sound Science Center, Sitka Sound Seafoods/North Pacific Seafoods, Sitka Studio of Dance, Skookum Canvas Works, Stereo North, Studio 907, Sweet Peas, Tasha Folsom, Tongass Threads, True Value, Van Winkle and Sons, Videl Video, Wintersong Soap Co., Work and Rugged Gear, Yellow Jersey Bike Shop, and Yoga Union.
We are grateful to be part of such a supportive community. Thank you! We’re already looking forward to next year’s Bazaar!
The Coast Guard Spouses’ and Women’s Association of Sitka
Healing Center Closure
Dear Editor: Well, if we thought that Sitka was going to be immune from sequestration, yesterday it became apparent that we most certainly are not. The closing of the Bill Brady Healing Center, the only in-patient treatment center in Sitka, and the only no cost program in Southeast Alaska, is devastating to our community. Yesterday, it was on our minds all day long, and while we normally choose not to write letters (assuming that issues are more complicated than we know about) this is what we clearly know.
We are sure that it wasn’t an easy decision for SEARHC and that as an institution it is facing many tough financial choices. But it does seem ironic that the Alaska Native healthcare provider for Southeast Alaska is closing a recovery program for what is, arguably, the top health concern facing Alaska Natives. What we also know is that this will cause waves of pain – some acute and some long term – at all levels of our community.
The first wave will be felt immediately from the workers who have lost their jobs, the participants who will lose their safety net for maintaining sobriety, and all Sitkans who will feel the immediate economic effects of several more jobs lost in our community. The second wave will cut deeper – less students in our schools next year as families relocate in search of employment or treatment, more alcohol-related crime (including domestic violence and sexual assault), fewer options besides incarceration for those who are involved in alcohol-related crime, and fewer options for those struggling with the disease of alcoholism. The third wave will be the most insidious; more children growing up in homes plagued by the disease of alcoholism, struggling with the long term mental and physical effects that take their toll on these indirect victims, thereby increasing health care costs for all of us.
Congress should be ashamed: by saving us a few pennies today we are incurring a much larger, long- term debt that our children will be forced to bear. Action at the national level is encouraged but locally is where we are most likely to create change: I encourage everyone in Sitka, regardless of race or heritage, to urge the SEARHC board reverse the decision to close BBHC. If we fail to act, there will be a terrible price our community will pay.
Christine Pate, Vicki D’Amico, Sitka
