Lincoln Street
To Light Up
For Holiday
Light-Up Lincoln Street, a Chamber of Commerce shop-local event, will be on Dec. 4. Caroling begins at 3:30 p.m. at Totem Square, followed by the tree lighting at 4.
The community can shop throughout the day downtown and then attend the holiday event.
‘‘Special guests will give speeches on the importance of shopping locally, and a tree-lighting ceremony will be followed by caroling and more shopping,’’ the Chamber said.
It is free for all attendees.
Tips Given for
Christmas-Tree
Cutting on Tongass
The U.S. Forest Service reminds residents of regulations for cutting Christmas trees on the Tongass National Forest.
Permits are not required to cut a tree for personal use. One tree per year is allowed for each household.
It’s a good idea to check the area Motor Vehicle Use Map to confirm land ownership at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/maps-pubs/?cid=stelprdbt430063 before cutting, the USFS advises.
The following guidelines will help in choosing the right tree within regu- lations:
–Trees should be no larger than seven inches at the diameter at the stump.
–Trees should be cut as close to the ground as possible.
–Do not top a larger tree.
–Do not cut a tree and then discard it for another one you may find more desirable.
–Trees should not be harvested from muskegs because regeneration of new trees in these areas is slow.
–Trees may not be cut from any developed Forest Service recreation sites.
–Trees may not be cut from land within 330 feet of a bald eagle nest (often located near water).
–If cutting your tree in a Wilderness area, use only a hand saw or axe.
–The tree cannot be sold, bartered or used in any commercial-type exchange for goods.
For details go to https://www.ufs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/about-forest/offices or call the Sitka Ranger District office at (907) 747-6671.
Climate Connection: Feeling Change: November
By John Lewis
We’ve spent the last couple months looking at how climate change is both a global and deeply personal problem. At this personal level, it can lead us to confront despair – feeling there’s no point to doing anything, it’s hopeless.
This despair can take another form as well. For some it can lead to the conclusion that combating climate change is the only thing that matters. And by not devoting ourselves completely to it, we’re somehow not doing enough.
But one of our most effective tools to combat climate change is within our own power to do. That’s to live lives worth living. By enhancing our own well-being and that of those around us, we increase our power to act.
There are times when going at a problem directly is the best way. And with climate there are some who are called to do this: those with the technical or political skills to develop solutions and responses, those able to focus all their energies on the problem.
But for the rest of us, our task may be closer to home but no less important. And it’s this task of taking care of ourselves and those around us, to live our lives to their fullest. On a practical level, this increases our resilience for the changes that are sure to come. It creates the conditions to adapt to change and to enact solutions.
But more deeply it strengthens us for the troubles that come. Human beings have survived unimaginable things. When we look back at what got them through their ordeals, one major theme emerges: they tend to have a purpose, a meaning to life, something beyond them to which they’re moving. This allows them to overcome the challenges their immediate situation may present.
Not all of us know what that meaning is. Or we may have only the faintest idea. Or perhaps we thought we knew, but are coming to realize that we were mistaken. Sometimes finding that meaning is the hardest part.
This is because this meaning must involve not only something beyond us, it also must exist within the deepest parts of ourselves. Meaning is the marriage between that which is within and that which is without.
Our world is calling out to us in deafening tones. To hear the call for us, what we must do, we have to look within ourselves. What we possess, what we can give, and how we can care.
When our calling is unclear sometimes all we can do is listen, open ourselves up instead of battening down the hatches, move with the winds of change while maintaining the core of who we are.
This is what it means to overcome despair. Not to eliminate the challenge but to press on despite it. We gain strength from participating in the world around us; the life that’s all around us. In doing so, we become more of our own selves.
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John Lewis is a behavioral health professional and a member of the Sitka Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Sales Tax-Free
Days Nov. 26-27
The Assembly on Sept. 16 voted to authorize Nov. 26-27 as sales tax-free days in Sitka.
Exclusions include any sale of fuel, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, marijuana, and any sale which part of a continuing obligation of the buyer is to pay the seller over time.
Those with questions can call the sales tax office at 747-1840.
Bahá’ís to Commemorate
Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’
The Bahá’í community of Sitka will join Bahá’ís around the globe Saturday to commemorate the 100th year of the passing of ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá’’ (1844-1921), the son of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith.
The Bahá’í World Centre has produced a 55-minute film titled “Exemplar,” about Abdu’l-Bahá’s life and “the profound effect he had on people, both past and present.”
The film can be seen online at https://www.bahai.org/exemplar.
The Bahá’í House of Worship for North America in Wilmette, Illinois, will live-broadcast on YouTube and Facebook a special devotional program of prayers and music at 10 p.m. Alaska time. For information about the livestream visit www.bahai.us/ascension-of-abdul-baha-livestream.
Abdu’l-Baha was born at midnight May 23, 1844, in Tehran, Persia (now Iran). That same evening in Shiraz, Persia (Iran), the Báb, which means the gate, declared his mission of preparing the people for “Him Whom God shall make manifest.”
The Baha’i community said Báb’s dispensation lasted only six years before he was executed by the Persian government that feared his teachings and the powerful influence he had on the hearts of many.
Bahá’u’lláh, who became a follower of the Báb, himself was imprisoned and tortured for His faith. During this imprisonment at the Siyah-Chal in Tihran, in October 1852, Bahá’u’lláh received His Prophetic Mission, but he kept it secret. Upon his release, he was banished from Persia to Baghdad with his family, including the 9-year-old Abdu’l-Bahá, who suffered frostbite during their trek, a press release from to the Baha’i community said.
Abdu’l-Bahá, while still young, recognized the station of his father. As a teenager he became Bahá’u’lláh’s secretary and protector.
Bahá’u’lláh declared his mission publicly in 1863 near Baghdad before being exiled to the “Most Great Prison” in Akka, Palestine, where he remained until his death in 1892. During their exiles Abdul-Baha would negotiate with civil authorities on Baha’u’llah’s behalf.
In Akka, Abdu’l-Bahá continued to serve his father and protect him from abusive prison jailers, guards, and hostile officials. He also helped care for the followers and the sick and the poor in the city. He is described as having a “generosity of spirit, selfless service and adherence to principle,” which endeared him to others and, in time, “won over even the most hard-hearted of enemies.”
Bahá’u’lláh in his Most Holy Book and in his will and testament instructs His followers to turn to Abdu’l-Bahá as the “Centre of the Covenant,” after his passing.
In 1908, after political turmoil with the Young Turk Revolution, the Sultan released all political and religious prisoners. So, after decades as a prisoner, Abdul-Baha was free.
Abdu’l-Bahá oversaw the spread of the Baha’i Faith to new countries, including North America and Europe. He received pilgrims and seekers from all parts of the world.
In 1910, he visited Egypt, where he stayed for a year, meeting with diplomats, journalists, religious leaders and intellectuals. The following year he traveled to Europe and England, giving public talks and interviews. In 1912, Abdu’l-Bahá traveled on the SS Cedric to the United States sojourning for nine months from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada. He returned to Britain, traveled to France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and Egypt and then returned to the Holy Land in 1913.
Wherever he traveled he addressed audiences about the condition of modern society. He spoke about peace, women’s rights, racial equality, social reform and moral development. He encouraged unity of mankind and the need to create social conditions and political tools to establish international peace.
When the First World War began, Abdu’l-Bahá was no longer able to communicate with the Bahá’ís abroad so he ministered to the people in Haifa, Israel (then Palestine), and Akka, and organized agricultural operations, which helped feed the poor during the war. His service to the people of Palestine was recognized by a knighthood from the British Empire in April 1920.
He passed away Nov. 28, 1921, at the age of 77. His funeral was attended by 10,000 mourners from numerous religious backgrounds, according to bahai.org website.
To learn more about the Bahá’í Faith, visit akbahai.org, www.bahai.org, www.sitkabahai.org or email info@sitkabahai.org.
Christmas Tree
Sale Begins Friday
The Sitka High School baseball team will sell Christmas trees 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26, in the Sea Mart parking lot.
The fundraiser for the team will run 4-8 p.m. Friday, noon-8 p.m. Saturday and noon-8 p.m. Sunday, or until sold out.
The team expressed appreciation to Sea Mart for supporting youth activities.
Outer Space
Story Time Set
The public is invited to join librarian Maite Lorente on Dec. 16 as she tells about the launch of NASA’s Webb Space Telescope by reading ‘‘Rocket Says Look Up,’’ a book by Nathan Bryon.
The program for preschoolers will be recorded and posted online at the Sitka Public Library and Sitka Babies and Books Facebook page.
The library has been selected to be a part of the NASA initiative when it launches this fall.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. It will be launched from French Guiana on Dec. 18.
‘‘It will be the premier observatory of the next decade and will study every phase in the history of our universe,’’ a press release from the library said.
Go to https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/ to learn more.
The publisher’s description about the book ‘‘Rocket Says Look Up’’ by Nathan Bryon says: “Aspiring astronaut Rocket draws her community together to see a rare appearance of the Phoenix Meteor Showers, hoping especially that her big brother, Jamal, will look up from his phone.”
For information, call Maite at 907-747-4022 or e-mail maite.lorente@cityofsitka.org.
Wonderland of
Reading at Library
Sitka Public Library will host its annual Reading Wonderland 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 11. The public can get free, nearly new books for children and young adults to give away as gifts this holiday season.
Books will be wrapped at the library, if wanted. For information or to donate rolls of wrapping paper, call Maite at 907-747-4022.
Pistol League
Gives Awards
The Women’s Pistol League, sponsored by the Sitka Sportsman’s Association, finished up 10 weeks of competition on Sunday by presenting awards to the top shooters.
Optical sights and open sights were the two divisions of competition. With 300 possible points each week, scores were averaged to come up with the final tallies.
Top shooters in the optical sights division were Keri Gray in first place with 263.1 points, Heather Lockwood in second place with 259.4 points and Retha Winger in third place with 242.1 points.
In the open sights division, Kelly Goeden took top honors with 246.7 points, Abbey Volmer placed second with 239.3 points and Lillian Owens took third place with 173.5 points. Next year’s league will start in early September.
