Hold Donations
At White E Shop
Volunteers at the White Elephant Shop are asking the public to hold donations until further notice.
Starting next week the volunteers will be preparing for the Christmas sale and will be unable to process donations.
Cancer Support
Group to Meet
Sitka Cancer Survivors Society invites the public to a cancer support group meeting 3-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center in the fourth floor boardroom.
The group welcomes cancer patients in treatment or recovering and their family members. The guest speaker will be Martha Young, a speech-language pathologist.
Contact Diane Linn at 512-659-3156 with questions.
The group meets the third Sunday of the month.
Healing Prayer
Service Wednesday
In observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church will hold a special healing prayer service for those whose lives have been affected by domestic violence 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16.
The service is for those seeking healing for themselves, their loved ones, and for those who desire to be a support to others in their healing journey. The church is located at 611 Lincoln Street. For information, call 747-3977.
Chamber to Meet
Sitka Sound Science Center and Whalefest will be updated at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon noon Wednesday at Westmark Sitka.
Alex Thorne, business development director and Sitka Whalefest director for the Sitka Sound Science Center, will provide the program.
The public is invited to attend.
Pumpkin Patch
Event Oct. 19
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s Pumpkin Patch is to be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, on the SJ Campus.
AC Lakeside is helping to sponsor the event and will be giving each child a free mini pumpkin, while supplies last. Attendees can walk through Mr. Scarecrow’s pumpkin patch and select pumpkins to purchase. AC Lakeside will give proceeds from the sales of pumpkins to the preschool’s program.
Admission, games and pumpkin sales will be cash or check only.
The family event has fall games for children including a sing-along hayride, face painting, and maze. The petting zoo is 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Families can take fall-themed photos. A quiet room will be available for nursing mothers and families with small children.
Thanks to an anonymous donor an assortment of bulb sets will be sold, including tulips, daffodils, allium and muscari. Bulbs are to be planted in the fall to bloom in the spring. Sets will be sold for $15.
The food booth will feature Chef Shawn’s salmon chowder, and vegetable quinoa soup for those wanting a lighter and gluten-free option. Hotdogs, nachos, chips and drinks also will be for sale. Credit cards will be accepted at the food booth. A bake sale area will include cupcakes, cookies and more.
Keystone Kops
Patrol, Hunting
For Funds, Fun
Sitka’s version of the Keystone Kops are again out on the streets spreading good times and merriment while selling Alaska Day commemorative buttons for a $2 donation.
The squad recruited by Jen Houx includes Rachel Ranke, Laurie Nesheim, Michelle Upcraft, Shasta Fenwick, Lara Fluharty, Audrey Nevers, Carrie Driver, Barbara Palacios and Robin McNeilley.
These energetic women in various disguises were sworn in Friday at the Pioneers Home Prospector statue in front of Sitka Pioneers Home. Alaska State Trooper Sgt. Cornelius Sims read the oath to “harass, embarrass and otherwise humiliate the poor unsuspecting citizen.” They pledged to uphold the “distasteful traditions set by predecessors.”
For those unfamiliar with the historic icon, Keystone Kops regularly appeared in Mack Sennett’s silent-film slapstick farces from 1914 to the early 1920s. Encyclopedia Britannica described them as an “insanely incompetent police force, dressed in ill-fitting, unkempt uniforms. What the Kops lacked in sense they made up for in zeal, as they dashed off to the chase on foot or drove off in a tin lizzie, in jerky, speeded-up tempo. Whether they collided with one another around corners or became entangled in clotheslines, ladders, or folding tents, their facial expressions of dour dignity never changed.”
Alaska Day Festival organizers thanked these fundraising volunteers. Houx can be reached at 738-1779.
GCI Underwrites
Parade Prizes
GCI has provided a $1,000 donation for prizes for the Alaska Day parade.
“As an Alaska born and raised company, GCI understands how important it is to invest in organizations that improve the quality of life of all Alaskans,’’ a spokesman for GCI said. ‘‘We admire the passion of the individuals and groups who work so hard to promote healthy lifestyles, preserve Alaska’s cultural traditions, help Alaskans in need, and ensure that our local economies thrive. GCI is pleased to support the Alaska Day Festival.”
Alaska Day Festival organizers thank GCI for its generous gift.
Local Displays
Promote Alaska Day
Attention is being called to displays promoting the Alaska Day theme of “Frontier First Responders” at Sitka Public Library and at Harrigan Centennial Hall. In addition, with encouragement by Jen Houx, some downtown business window cases have added a flavor of the by-gone days.
Alaska Day organizers thank all for costuming of employees or business décor to increase awareness of a historic event.
9th Army Band
Perform, Volunteer
For Alaska Day
Sitka welcomes more than 40 members of the 9th Army “Arctic Warrior” Band to again be part of Alaska Day Festival ceremonies this week. From Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, the band is under command of Chief Warrant Officer Two Alexander Davis.
In smaller ensembles, band members will offer educational clinics and entertainment in schools, at Sitka Pioneers Home, and other locations of public service.
Much looked forward to is the 7 p.m. Wednesday night full band community concert at Sitka Performing Arts Center. The concert is free and no ticket is needed. The program will have a variety of music genres, something for everyone, the Alaska Day Festival Committee said.
For the memorial service at Sitka National Cemetery on Friday, Oct. 18, the band will provide a drummer and bugler to join a U.S. Army Alaska Command chaplain, color guard and rifle firing detail.
A marching band will provide sound and color in the Alaska Day parade on Friday. To conclude the day, a brass quintet will provide ceremonial music on Castle Hill for the Alaska Day Festival’s 1867 Transfer Commemoration Ceremony.
Local military liaison, Joan Berge, 738-2640 has more details.
Sitka WhaleFest
Meeting on Tap
The Sitka Sound Science Center is looking for volunteers to help with WhaleFest. A meeting to go over volunteer roles is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the Sitka Sound Science Center.
Those wanting to volunteer also can go to sitkawhalefest.org, email whalefest@sitkascience.org or call 747-8878 extension 2.
