Christmas Bazaar
Dear Editor: The 2018 Annual Christmas Bazaar was our biggest and best in its 38-year history. Sitka Counseling would like to say a big “thank you” to all Sitkans for showing their tremendous support for our organization and the bazaar.
We could not have completed this year successfully without our wonderful vendors, staff and especially the community! The day was filled with smiling faces; it was obvious you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. We would like to thank Sea Mart/Hames Corporation, Harry Race Pharmacy, AC Lakeside and the Harrigan Centennial Hall staff for their donations which made this event a huge success. All of us at Sitka Counseling look forward to next year. Happy holidays.
The Sitka Counseling Staff
Climate Solution
Dear Editor: Yesterday, two Republicans and three Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2018. This best first step in climate action puts a fee on fossil fuel carbon so that its environmental costs begin to be covered. The fees collected by the government at the point of extraction are distributed as a dividend to all households to protect them from higher prices. This policy decreases carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion by motivating companies and people to choose greener sources of energy. It results in more jobs, more gross domestic product, and better health indices.
If you’ve felt helpless in hearing about the fires, floods, landslides, and ocean acidification related to climate change, now you have a chance to make a difference. We have to create political will for this bill by endorsement from businesses, community leaders, and citizens. Call our Congressional representatives to express your support of this bill and desire for federal climate action: Lisa Murkowski, 202-224-6665; Dan Sullivan, 202-224-3004; and Don Young, 202-225-5465.
Kay Kreiss, M.D.,
Sitka Citizens Climate Lobby
Early Childhood Survey
Dear Editor: The Sitka School District and partners would like to thank the many families who have taken the early childhood survey despite the demands on their time and attention. The families of the Sheldon Jackson Child Care Center were picking up their children after long days of work. They completed surveys even though they had appointments, dinner, bath time, and story time ahead of them. Thank you to Lolly Miller and staff for their help with the survey and their work with children.
We would also like to thank Wells Fargo, Dawn Johnson of the Hames Wellness Center, April Troup of Sitka Counseling, Jean Swanson of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and Jo Ingram of the 3 to 5 Preschool for partnering with us and providing space for surveying. Woody Widmark also deserves a shout out for his long work with Community Schools and his cheerful assistance for people using that space.
We are almost to the halfway mark in conducting surveys. You can expect to see us at the Imagination Library Book Basket Auction, the Hames Center Family Fun Day, Breakfast with Santa, and the STA Christmas Party. The survey takes 3-4 minutes and will help us set priorities for childhood programming in Sitka. It is anonymous and confidential. Please call Kari at 752-7323 if you would like to arrange a time to come in and take the survey.
Kari Sagel,
STEPS Grant
Thanksgiving Dinner
Dear Editor: ANB Camp 1 and ANS Camp 4 would like to thank the sponsors, volunteers, and the community of Sitka for their support in making the Thanks for Giving, Sitka, dinner so successful. We served nearly 250 meals on Thanksgiving Day to the community.
We’d like to acknowledge the people and organizations that provided donations of cash, gift cards and food to make the holiday dinners possible: Northrim Bank, Hames Corporation, Shee Atika, Sitka Woman’s Club, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Spike and Jean Arnold family, 3-5 Preschool, the Sitka Tlingit and Haida Community Council, Evelyn E. Johnson, Nancy Yaw Davis, Florence and Melvin Pick, Mike Mayo, Baranof Island Housing Authority, Amy L. Volz and Sam D. Skaggs, Charles and Christine Horan, and the Pioneer Bar. Our thanks to the community members who brought food on Thanksgiving Day to share with the community: Grace Larsen, Teal West, Ralph Junker, KathyHope Erickson, Harlei Wassillie, Kealle Weeks-Turenne, Cynthia Snowball, Lakota Harden, Anne LaPalme, Pat Alexander, Colin Kempton and Nancy Buat.
Thank you to the community members who cooked the turkeys for Thanksgiving: Mary Soltis, Lloyd and Julie Platson, Peggy Rice, Al and Anne Hass, Kim Mitts, Tess Heyburn, Rachel Henderson, Alice Smith, Max and Bonnie Cotrell, Evy Kinnear, Grace Larsen, Vicki Keele, Andy Elam, Karen Lucas and Sheila Finkenbinder.
Our thanks to the people who helped set-up on Wednesday: Patricia Alexander, Alice Douglas, Meghan Cleveland, Rachel Moreno, Carlene Larsen, Sheila Finkenbinder, and Sharyn and John Ferrick.
Thank you to the people who took the time out of their day to help us on Thursday by finishing the set-up, cooking, serving, and cleaning: Geoffrey Gamble, Alice Douglas, Meghan Cleveland, Kaitlyn Peters, Stacy Johnson, Donna Callistini, Andrew Callistini, Bernie Gurule, Cynthia Snowball, Kealle Weeks-Turenne, Harlei Wassillie, Lakota Harden, Mariann Simpson, Teal, Mike and Vada West, Brenda Gilmore, Ralph Junker, Lloyd Platson, Julie Platson, Maggie Verne, Erica Avila, Emily Wilson, Mick and Marie Dimond, Alberta Hemnes, LaNelle Bacon, Thomas R. Bacon, Henry Ward, Al Hess, Scott Hutton, and William Ortiz.
Thank you to Father Ishmael for the blessing, Julie Platson for the piano music, Sharyn and John Ferrick for the backdrop, Helen Mercado and Michael Peters for meal delivery, and George Chappell for the shopping.
A special thank you to Mt. Edgecumbe High School students and Rachel Moreno who prepped, decorated and cooked.
A final thank you to the people who helped and aren’t named here, and to the community of Sitka. It was a pleasure to share Thanksgiving Day with you and we hope to continue to do so in the upcoming years.
ANB Camp 1
President George Chappell and
ANS Camp 4
President Grace Larsen
Climate Assessment
Dear Editor: The Associated Press article on the 4th National Climate Assessment in last Friday’s Sentinel clearly pointed to not only more intense, frequent, widespread weather events in the years to come, but to the fact that we are experiencing them now as seen with the California fires in Paradise and Redding as well as Hurricanes Florence and Michael. It also pointed to a 10 percent reduction in our economy by the end of the century.
We are on a precipice and need action now. Climate change is real, it’s bad, it’s us, 97 percent of scientists agree and there’s hope! Enter the the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act! This bipartisan, yes bipartisan, legislation was introduced by Representatives Deutch (D-FL), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Crist (D-FL), Rooney (R-FL) and Delaney (D-MD) on Tuesday. It applies a nationwide tax on carbon then returns a dividend to people monthly to compensate. It creates over two million clean energy jobs, promotes energy innovation, encourages consumer spending, improves public health and works to reduce CO2 and greenhouse emissions by 33 percent over the next 10 years.
It’s not perfect AND it gets the discussion started and moving in the right direction. “This aggressive carbon pricing scheme introduced by members from both parties marks an important opportunity to begin to seriously address the immediate threat of climate change,” said Congressman Deutch. “The status quo is unsustainable; the time to act is right now.” I’m grateful that these politicians were willing to work across the aisle and address the most pressing issue we face in the 21st century. Now it’s time to ask our Alaska Congressman to step up and sign on as a co-sponsor.
Barbara Bingham, Kay Kreiss, Leah Mason, Doug Osborne,
Michelle Putz, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, Sam Pointer and Libby Stortz
Citizens Climate Lobby,
Sitka Chapter
