By Sentinel Staff
The annual Blessing of the Fleet and Mariners Memorial will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at Crescent Harbor shelter.
Music, prayers, blessing of boats and gear, bell-ringing in memory of loved ones, and spreading of flowers across the water, are planned.
Vocalists, guitarists and a cello player participating this year are Arthur Parker, Adam Pandy, Karen Lucas, Mary Soltice, Dave Glazier and Debra Lyons.
Program music includes: “The National Anthem,” “Amazing Grace” by John Newton; “Jesus Savior Pilot Me” by Edward Hopper; “The Harbor Bell” by David Sankey, based on a poem by John Henry Yates; “Crossing the Bar” by Robin and Linda Williams (based on a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson); and “Oceans” (‘‘Where Feet May Fail’’) by Hillsong United.
Officiating will be the Rev. Julie Platson, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church; the Rev. Dwight Hoeberechts, St. Gregory’s Catholic Church; the Rev. Sandra S. Rudd, Sitka Lutheran Church; and other members of clergy.
Refreshments will be served immediately following the blessing at Sitka Lutheran Church, 224 Lincoln Street. The front and back doors of the church will be open.
Organizers of the Blessing of the Fleet and Mariners Memorial are S.E. Alaska Women in Fisheries and Sitka Lutheran Church.
Other participants include the U.S. Coast Guard Color Guard, Sitka Harbor Department and Young Life, who provided the P.A. system.
Individuals and families are invited to take flowers and wreaths in remembrance of loved ones. The flowers will be taken out to sea following the ceremony, along with a wreath made by Women in Fisheries. Those taking their own wreaths are reminded that they must be made of biodegradable materials.
Those wanting to add names of mariners who have died since the last blessing, may contact Mary Todd Andersen at 738-0969.
Bells will toll after each name is read of mariners who have died since the last Blessing of the Fleet.
Those mariners are: Kim C. Andrews, Jesse Lynn Baxter, Donald Burnett, Patrick J. Burnett, James Arndt Calvin, Thomas Conley, Arthur H. Eells III, Robert Ellis, John Everson, Martin Fredrickson, Steven Garnick, Jeffrey Grun.
Also, Neland Jerome Haavig, Pauline Jane Hammock, Sue Hottinger, Art Jensen, Arnold Johnson Sr., Peter Karras Sr., Harold Kitka, James Lichner, Michael A. Littlefield, Doris Main, Lisa McGovern, Iver Dean Malline, Krist Martensen.
Also, Edith Joan Mork, Lowell Peterson, Alexandria Platt, Daniel Rear, Joseph Reeves, Chris Rossow, Grant Smith and Jimmy Young. Mariners who died at sea are: Steven Allery Jr., Sean Elliott, William ‘‘Shorty’’ Larsen, Sean Paffenbarger, John Clay Phillips and Mark Short, and Guardian Flight crew members Patrick Coyle, Margaret Langston and Stacie Rae Morse.
