MEHS VB Celebration
Dear Editor: Mt. Edgecumbe High School celebrated the Alaska State 3-A Volleyball Championship last week and there are many people to thank. Keith Perkins, our keynote speaker, eloquently placed the state championship accomplishment of our volleyball players and coaches into the perspective as a lifetime accomplishment to look back on with pride. The team effort and hard work required to earn the title of state champion is not an end but instead a building block of experience for future challenges and endeavors in life.
A sincere and heartfelt thank you very much to Dr. Gil Truitt as your participation in the event linked the traditions and history of this institution’s accomplishments to classes, students, athletes, coaches and MEHS alumni. Thank you Deputy Mayor Mathew Hunter for representing the Sitka Borough Assembly. Thank you John Wathen and Premiere Food Service for the cookies and punch. Big time thank you, Paula Clayton, for your extra time and effort in making the occasion special and memorable for our MEHS community.
Thank you very much, Tom Hesse and Shannon Haugland of the Sitka Sentinel, for your wonderful coverage of our volleyball team and special events, not only this season, but throughout many sports, activities and seasons. Please know the parents and families of our student athletes in every corner of the state appreciate the recognition their children receive in the form of newspaper sports stories and photos.
Anthony Haskins and Bryn Calhoun, thank you for helping the team and coaches in so many ways. Thank you to MEHS community fans and loyal supporters. Thank you very much Coach Michael Mahoney, assistant coaches Becky Friske, Glade Morales, Hillary Martin and Ashley Bolwerk, for your countless hours dedicated to coaching, mentoring and encouraging the best efforts of our student athletes on the volleyball court and more importantly in the academic classrooms.
Our most sincere and heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS and thank you to the 2014 MEHS Varsity Volleyball Team. You have written another glorious chapter in the historic annuls of this institution.
Bernie Gurule, Academic Principal, Mt. Edgecumbe High School
Sitkans Can Dance
Dear Editor: Here I go again thanking a variety of people, all well deserving. Starting with the Sitka Performing Arts Center – a great place for a show. Monica Ague the building coordinator for her gentle hand with the building ushers and helping the backstage crews who helped run the show: Mamie Clare stage manager, Jim Clare curtain puller, Sarah Lawrie and Shinea Farrell ticket sellers. J Bradley, the technical wizard, for his behind the scenes sleight of hand tweaking the bits and pieces of a show to make it just right. Special thanks to John Herchenrider for his yeoman’s work on the sound ably assisted by Jeanne Stolberg: 25 different musical pieces seamlessly put together. Charlie Morgan and Monica Ague for their brilliant light work. Mollie Kabler was our MC who made it fun while mindfully keeping the show on track. Melinda McAdams and her three clever and artful Sitka Studio of Dance groups and her work with the eight very talented solo dancers. The solo dancers were judged by Aubrey Angelillis, Karen Grussendorf and Kitty LaBounty and the solo winner was Naquoia Bautista for her piece, “Yet… .”
Many thanks go to the couple’s dancers, who were un-judged, and performed a waltz, and also a “ballroom” dance of their choice that included Cuban salsa, country swing, western round dance, and more. A singular thank you to Franni Donohoe for her aerial silk performance – it wowed us all out.
Thank you to the Daily Sitka Sentinel, KIFW, KCAW, Capital City Weekly, North Star TV, and Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau for their help in the publicity.
Our sponsors were Hames Corporation, Harry Race Pharmacy and Photo, and ALPS Federal Credit Union. We very much appreciate our corporate sponsors that help make shows like this possible. Thank you to the Sitka Studio of Dance and the Greater Sitka Arts Council for the production of the show – a very nice collaborative experience.
Last, but not least, the wonderful, appreciative, and always supportive Sitka audience – you made this show fun for all of us. Thank you.
Jeff Budd,
Greater Sitka Arts Council
