Dear Editor: The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society would like to publicly thank the Shee Atika Corporation for their generous $5,000 donation to support the installation of a fire suppression system in the Japonski Island Boathouse. Their donation takes us one step closer to eventually opening the boathouse as a “Maritime Heritage Center” where we’ll be able to continue preserving Southeast Alaska’s maritime history and share that heritage with our community (especially our youth) and with those visitors from around the world who visit Sitka.
One thing I would like to mention is that in a conversation with Steve Karpstein (chairman of Shee Atika’s Board) while he was presenting us with the donation, it became apparent just how many of Shee Atika’s shareholders have a connection to, and fond memories of, the boathouse and the shore boats it serviced that shuttled people, food and mail between the islands long before the O’Connell Bridge was built.
We look forward to maintaining that connection as the days and years go by and, in the meantime, we’d like to wish every Shee Atika shareholder “Fair Winds and Following Seas” wherever they may go.
Keith Nyitray, Executive Director,
Sitka Maritime Heritage Society
