By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
For the first time, a local Sitka spruce tree, adorned with Sitka-made ornaments, will be the traditional Christmas tree at the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau, the U.S. Forest Service has announced.
With some help from their teachers and Forest Service personnel, students at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary crafted ornaments at school Wednesday and today.
Since 2017, the Forest Service, the state and other groups have collaborated to select and decorate a tree for display at the official residence of the Alaska governor, an imposing white mansion on a residential street two blocks from the capitol.
Rebecca Peterman, from the U.S. Forest Service Sitka Ranger District office, chats with students in Megan Pepper’s second-grade class as they make Christmas tree decorations Wednesday. Kids pictured are, from left, Theophan Andrew, Liam Newkirk, Dylan Winter, and Elias Pfeiffer. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Last year’s tree originated in Wrangell, but this year’s 14-foot spruce will be the first to come from the Sitka Ranger District. Next week this year’s Wooch.een Tree – or Together Tree – will receive a blessing from Chuck Miller, representing Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
Being chosen to provide the state Christmas tree is a high honor, Sitka District Ranger Eric Garner told the Sentinel today.
“It’s an honor for us, our team, to have that opportunity to share together with the community, the Sitka Tribe, and deliver the Together Tree to Juneau,” Garner said. “That’s really important for us, we take pride in that. And my team has been working really hard to make sure that they’re involving the youth in making the ornaments, handcrafted ornaments from the youth. It’s a chance to outreach with them… (and) work with our teachers and work with our community. And the U.S. Coast Guard is going to deliver it. How cool is that!”
After felling the tree on Dec. 8, the Forest Service will hand it over to the Coast Guard for transport to Juneau on the Ketchikan-based C.G. cutter Douglas Denman. The tree, selected by forester T.J. Witherspoon, will be cut down with an old fashioned cross cut saw. The plan is for the tree to reach Juneau by Dec. 10, Garner said.
At Keet Gooshi Heen Wednesday, a classroom buzzed with activity as kids fashioned ornaments for the tree. Older students worked with clam and abalone shells, while younger kids drew the school’s killer whale logo in Tlingit formline style on plastic ornaments.
Fifth-grader Scarlette Candaroma adorned a shell with sequins and words clipped from old newspapers.
“I did this and wanted it to say ‘Bears Hometown Stars,’ like the bears are our hometown stars,” she said. “I just wanted to get a shell and get some sequins and put a few words on it.”
She enjoys watercolor and acrylic painting, and plans to make a decoration for her family’s tree, she said.
Another fifth grader, Everett Woodcock, chose a much smaller shell and used sequins to make a faux pearl.
“I sort of wanted to do a jewel and have it fade out… I wanted to find a smaller shell. So I just grabbed it and walked to the table. And I was just looking at the stuff and I saw the jewels and I thought they were amazing and I had an idea,” he said.
He was excited that other Alaskans will see ornaments made by Sitka students.
“I think it’s sort of fun that someone would be able to come in and look and see our shells… I just thought that was cool,” he said.
Like Scarlette, he enjoys art on his own time, but his preferred medium is pencil.
He’s looking forward to Christmas.
“I sort of like waking up early in the morning and walking down and seeing the tree with all the presents. Like sometimes I’ll suddenly get up early and then I wake everyone up,” he said.
While the fifth graders made decorations from shells, second graders drew formline killer whales – the school logo. The design was made by Charlie Skultka Jr., Keet teacher Jessica Christianson said.
While all the students worked off of the same template, they added their own design elements and color patterns. Students drew on Shrinky-Dink plastic that becomes smaller when baked.
Second-grader Logan Everly is eager to share his artwork.
“It makes me feel proud of what I did, because people can see what this means to me. Because it’s like, you’re in Juneau and you’re looking at an ornament, but it’s not just any random ornament. There’s somebody who made it,” Logan said after he finished his killer whale.
His favorite part of Christmas? Decorating the tree.
A classmate, Elle Foss, described the ornament she had just made. “I used kind of a greenish eye and red, blue and black. They look cool!” she said.
Sullivan Albertson hopes his cousins in Juneau will see his decoration.
“I’m pretty proud and I want to hope that my two cousins can maybe see mine,” he said.
Time spent with family, he said, is his favorite part of the winter holidays.
Teacher Jessica Christianson said the Christmas tree decoration project fits well with the students’ ongoing education in formline art.
“Second-grade students have been learning about Northwest Coast formline design through this school logo, making dance collars with the design for the annual Tlingit Celebration (which occurs the day before Thanksgiving),” she said. “The Shrinky-Dink ornaments will share their formline knowledge and school pride as part of the Wooch.een Tree.”
The Forest Service is extending the invitation to submit a homemade ornament to everyone in Sitka, asking that they be lightweight and designed not to create litter. Guidelines are that the decorations weigh less than one pound, are smaller than six inches and have a hanging hook or loop.
Ornaments will be accepted at the Forest Service office on Halibut Point Road between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. today, Friday or Monday.
As for the project sponsors and volunteers, District Ranger Garner said, “We’re genuinely, really excited and I’m really proud of the team – they’ve been working hard, and these teachers, they are awesome.... So we just feel like it’s from the heart. I like the theme of the Together Tree, especially working with our local community and the Tribe. The theme couldn’t be better.”
