By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society will host a free toy boat building workshop for kids 4 to 12 and their families Saturday at the Japonski Island Boathouse.
“All families are welcome,” said SMHS Executive Director Laura Bennett. “It’s going to be a really festive atmosphere.”
Volunteers with the society have made about 70 toy boat kits in preparation for the party, Bennett said. The boats are model trollers and acrylic paint will be supplied for decoration. Acrylic paint can be washed off with warm water and soap, but Bennett said kids and adults “should wear clothes that can get paint on them.”
Toy boat building parties have been popular events at the boathouse in prior years.
“We plan to keep it an end-of-year tradition for years to come,” Bennett said.
The boat building event will run 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the boathouse, and kids who wish to build a boat must be accompanied by a parent. There’s no charge, but donations will be accepted for the boathouse renovation project.
The boathouse, located just across the bridge on Japonski Island, was built for the Sitka Naval Air Station in 1941 and is now part of the Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses National Historic Landmark. It’s being renovated by the Sitka Maritime History Society for use as a museum and interpretive center for Sitka’s history as a seaport and for its part in coastal defense during World War II.
