Season’s End
Dear Editor: The 7th Annual Season’s End Celebration was held Sept. 26. Event sponsors included the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce, Cruise Line International Association, Sitka Sound Seafoods, Seafood Producers Co-op and Silver Bay Seafoods. The Chamber contracted with Sitkan Alana Brown to coordinate the event and work with the committee. As sponsors and coordinators of the event, it was gratifying to see the public come out and enjoy this celebration of another great visitor and fishing season.
While a free meal was provided, special for this year, we asked the community and visitors to donate $2 per person to the student activity funds for Sitka High School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School. In total, $1,400 in donations was received. At the Chamber’s annual membership meeting on Nov. 25, Chamber Board President Suzan Hess, Cruise Line International Association and Sitka’s three seafood producers presented each school with a check for $700.
The Chamber would like to say a special thank you to the Sitka Fire Department for the time spent cooking the 1,000 hot dogs and 500 hamburgers, and to Mt. Edgecumbe High School and Sitka High School who helped to serve this meal. At the seafood tent, over 780 portions of salmon were served. Thank you to Tim Ryan of Sitka Sound Seafoods, Craig Shoemaker of Seafood Producers Co-op and Wayne Unger of Silver Bay Seafoods for going above and beyond to make this event happen this year.
We encourage the community to join in the planning efforts for next year, which we have already started.
Rachel Roy, Executive Director,
Sitka Chamber of Commerce
STA Super Saturday
Dear Editor: On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and community partners coordinated an arts fair for families with young children.
I wanted to take a moment to recognize everyone who helped host Super Saturday. Thanks to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, the Island Institute, Sitka Cirque and my co-workers at STA and the Sitka School District, we offered metal carving, juggling, storytelling, Northwest Coast art, landscape art, song and dance and shadow puppet workshops to Baranof and Wooch.een Yei Jigaxtoonei families.
I wanted to thank the 70 family members and students who braved the snowy and slick roads to celebrate art on a Saturday morning. State Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and School Board member Dr. Tom Conley visited and I hope return for our next event. Special thanks must go to Assemblyman Tristan Guevin, who not only led the metal carving workshop, but more importantly, secured the W.K Kellogg Wooch.een (Working Together) Family Engagement grant that has made this program and my job as Family Engagement manager possible.
His work, and I hope, this program, exemplify the wooch.een name. Without Nancy Douglas and Kitty Eddy, the ideals of the Family Engagement program could have never been realized. Thank you for staying late and putting up with me. Finally, thank you to Lakrisha Brady and Jamie Bradley for leading song and dance and having the patience for working on a Saturday morning. And a huge thank you to Charlie Skultka for drawing the ovoids and u’s for our art project. We will be offering Super Saturday once a trimester. Stay tuned for our next event. Gunalchéesh/Haw’aa.
Will Kronick, STA,
Family Engagement Program
Electric Vehicles
Dear Editor: Did you know that electric vehicle prices are getting lower and lower?
A quick search on www.cars.com shows 23 EVs listed in the Seattle area for $12,000 or less. Most are recent year models (2012 or newer) and have less than 30,000 miles. For the typical Sitka driver looking for a car, these pre-owned vehicles would offer many advantages.
With EVs, the cost to run your car is very low. After factoring in the City of Sitka’s tax credit program, most Sitka drivers would pay only about $100 a year ($2 per week) for their “electric fuel.” Repairs and maintenance costs on EVs are much lower than conventional cars, since there are no filters, belts, or plugs, and fewer moving parts. Between the lower cost of fuel, maintenance, and repairs, a typical EV driver in Sitka would likely save at least $1,000 per year.
And EV batteries, although expensive to replace, should last a long time in Sitka. EV batteries can be easily recharged at night using a standard electrical outlet. When considering that many new EV batteries provide a driving range of about 80 miles, even a used battery with less than full capacity would provide plenty of “juice” for a typical Sitkan’s daily driving needs.
The good news continues for new car purchases. If you purchase a new EV this year, you receive a federal tax credit of $7,500.
So why not consider an EV for your next car? EVs are a bargain to purchase, an even better bargain to operate, and ideally suited to Sitka. They would also help fill Sitka’s electrical needs while reducing CO2 emissions. Did I mention that EVs are cool to drive? You could become a trend setter by owning an EV.
The Sitka EV group will be meeting Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 6:30 p.m., Kettleson Library on the Sitka Fine Arts Campus. If you are interested in learning more, please attend and bring a friend.
Dave Nicholls, Sitka
