Jane Eidler Tribute
Dear Editor: The Friends of Sitka Public Library would like to note the loss on Thursday of library champion Jane Eidler with a proclamation we made for her upon her retirement from the Friends board in 2017.
WHEREAS, Jane Eidler boarded the book bus on World Book Day and provided books to the children of Sitka;
WHEREAS, she volunteered during carnival to run the Blatchley Book Fair;
WHEREAS, she served with determination on the Library Commission;
WHEREAS, she served faithfully on the board of the Friends of Sitka Public Library;
WHEREAS, she assisted in the dispersal of the Stratton Library;
WHEREAS, she helped move Kettleson Public Library into the temporary quarters of the Stratton;
WHEREAS, she went to Sea Mart and sold quilt raffle tickets;
WHEREAS, she commemorated birthdays with creative haikus;
WHEREAS, she wrote a book entitled Alaska Haiku Connections;
WHEREAS, she supported Old Harbor Books with many a purchase;
WHEREAS, she donated generously to the library expansion project;
WHEREAS, she volunteered at Harry Potter events;
WHEREAS, she delighted her children with the reading of books;
WHEREAS, she ensured that the children of Sitka returned from the pool and the fishing grounds alive to read another day;
WHEREAS, she bought books for daughter, sons, nieces, nephews and other children;
NOW, THEREFORE, be she recognized as a champion of the printed word, and henceforth known as Member Emeritus of the Friends of Sitka Public Library. Thank you,
Kari Sagel, President,
Friends of the Sitka Public Library
Support for Crystal
Dear Editor: Crystal Duncan is an excellent decision maker and has earned my vote. I’ve had the good fortune to be Crystal’s co-worker while in the same department at SEARHC, then we partnered on projects while at different organizations, and now I’m working for her as a volunteer on her campaign team. Over all those years I’ve seen her take in information, listen to people, and make solid decisions. I trust her because of my many experiences with her and what she brings to the table as a service-oriented leader.
Crystal Duncan is a lifelong Sitkan who is rooted in the traditional tribal values of respect, listening, stewardship and speaking with care. She’s decided to build upon this strong principled foundation by investing in her Western education. After graduating from Sitka High, she earned two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s in business administration. Warren Buffet said “the best investment you can make is in yourself” and that is what Crystal did. A very wise decision.
Her robust education and ample professional experience has provided excellent training in critical thinking. This is important because we need elected officials who exclusively use credible sources and are able to separate fact from fiction, especially during a pandemic.
Crystal has decided to make your health and safety a key component of her platform. Helping Sitka to become a healthy place for all is something she’s been doing all along. Last year, Sitka became the first community in Alaska to win the highly sought-after Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize. Almost 200 communities applied and Sitka was one of just five that brought home the cash prize. Guess who helped throughout that process and whose good work was featured prominently in Sitka’s application? Crystal Duncan of course.
Like Crystal, I love this community, and I want it to prosper long-term – which is why I went to Centennial Hall and voted for her. Thank you for your consideration, and thanks to Crystal for running this year.
Doug Osborne, Sitka
Food Program
Dear Editor: The Sitka Conservation Society would like to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to everyone who helped make the USDA Summer Food Service Program a reality for Sitka’s youths this summer.
Thank you for the dedication and leadership of all of our collaborators. Shawn Hutchinson, Melissa Koenig and Alex Bayne made up our talented kitchen team, getting up early to cook and prep breakfast and lunch for over 400 youths each day. Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Youth Advocates of Sitka were essential to the food distribution, dedicating hundreds of staff hours to packing food bags and handing them out to Sitka’s kids.
Special shout out to the YAS teenagers who took on this summer job with an awesome attitude. Tribal Tours and the Prewitt Bus Company provided transportation and household meal delivery, expanding the reach of the program. A big thank you to Lynette Ortolano and Kids Kupboard out of Palmer for sponsoring this program, employing the kitchen team and tackling the program administration. Lynette went above and beyond to make sure this program would be a success.
We are grateful to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and STA for hosting us in their facilities, and to Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association for their delicious seafood donations. Thank you to Leslie Young and the Sitka School District for sharing their learnings from the school lunch distributions and providing set-up support. We also want to thank the STA and the Sitka Legacy Foundation for their generous financial contributions to this initiative.
Last but not least, we want to thank all the youths and their families who utilized the meal service and demonstrated that a program like this is a valued addition to Sitka’s food security initiatives.
Together, we served over 40,000 free meals to Sitka’s youths, created three full-time seasonal positions, created positive economic activity and kept money circulating in our community by contracting with local enterprises and facilities. We were also able to add value to the program in important ways, for example featuring local foods (like in Chef Shawn’s delicious salmon chowder), sharing info on youth programming, and incorporating the USDA Farmers to Families food boxes from AC Lakeside into our weekly distributions.
We are grateful to have been able to work collaboratively to improve food security in Sitka this summer, and we already miss seeing so many smiling faces at the drive through each week.
Chandler O’Connell & Katie Riley,
Sitka Sustainable
Communities Catalyst,
Sitka Conservation Society
