59.0°

ANGOON

A rare fish was brought into Petersburg in early September 1954. The strange critter was taken by a Petersburg fisherman, Ernest Enge, who was fishing in Chatham Strait. Harold Gifford identified it as a prowfish. Gifford, a Canadian, happened to be in the Petersburg area on business for the International Halibut Commission.

ANGOON

A month past summer solstice, we're starting to lose daylight and the weather doesn't almost feel quite as summery as it did in May. But we're in prime season for all kinds of activities, from foraging to fishing to wildlife encounters. If that sounds to you like something worth celebrating, you'll have plenty of company. Nearly every Southeast community seems to be hosting a festival in the coming weeks. Some of the festivals are brand new, like this week's Wrangell Bear Fest; others, like the Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines next weekend, have been around for decades. Here's the Capital City Weekly's roundup of what's on the regional docket for the coming weeks.

July

ANGOON

Would you or someone you care about like to receive a free home survey to find out about assistive living equipment or home modifications that might make living at home easier and safer?

PETERSBURG - Petersburg's first ever Farmer's Market took place Saturday, June 5. For months it was the talk around town, as board members worked diligently behind the scenes and excited residents wondered what was in store. Turns out it was worth the wait.

Stationary salmon traps of yore invited those with few morals to seek free fish. In recent research, I found several references to pirates storming fish traps in the Chatham area. In 1919, cannery men estimated their losses due to the activities of fish pirates at a half a million fish, valued at $60,000.

WRANGELL - All artists and creative individuals are invited to be a part of the first Bearfest in Wrangell. Display and sell your creations July 21-25. Visit the festova; website at www.alaskabearfest.org for more details. Tables will be in and around the Nolan Center, and if weather becomes a factor, tables will be relocated to inside the Center. Tables will be provided at no charge, but they need to be reserved - please provide a date and how many tables needed. Respond to Glenna Ellis at sunflowersinalaska@hotmail.com or 907-470-3696.

ANGOON

July

July

ANGOON

JUNEAU - The United Way of Southeast Alaska recently announced Community Impact Grant awards totaling $24,000 to six partner agencies. The projects were selected by a volunteer committee of the board of directors chaired by Katherine Eldemar, from a pool of proposals. The Community Impact Grants were divided into two groups this year. One focused on early literacy and the second set was focused on matching grant funds to help on any issue of need.

For many years Dolly Varden, a species of char, was considered by many to be a trout because they only saw it in freshwater streams. Early fishermen found it especially abundant throughout Southeast Alaska, so in 1907 several fishermen in Wrangell Narrows began catching and shipping Dolly Varden. It took no investment other than a boat and a net.

July

Years ago when I first moved to Wrangell, I was unfamiliar with a plant known as nettle and merrily roamed around waist-deep in a large patch of it behind my apartment one day. My bare arms brushed against its leaves as I took my time flipping through the pages of a plant book. Eventually, with no luck at identification, I retreated to the cool shade of the house.

ANGOON

ANGOON

June

ANGOON

A water passage from Frederick Sound to Summer Strait separates Mitkof Island from Kupreanof Island. Like the town of Wrangell, the passage was named for Ferdinand von Wrangell of the Russian American Company. At some time one of its boats took a shortcut frequently used by the Natives in their canoes, and the passage became Wrangell Narrows and appears on a Russian map of 1838.

ANGOON

Listed below are the names of the 2010 high school graduates from Southeast Alaska that were available at presstime.

June

JUNEAU - Like exercising regularly or learning how to speak fluent Spanish, gardening is one of those resolutions I make every January and sometimes actually start, but never wind up finishing.

ANGOON

As Chris Larsen drives his 1997 Subaru Legacy wagon around the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, the jutting apparatus bolted to his car's roof rack draws a few stares.

"Chums should be not canned at all!" Where did that statement come from? A new monthly fisheries trade magazine came out in 1903 covering the industry from California to Alaska. It also began a tradition of a yearbook.

ANGOON

JUNEAU - Corvus Design announces the opening of a new office in Juneau by landscape architect Christopher Mertl, ASLA. Mertl has 18 years of experience in Alaska and expands the firm's strengths for coastal design and knowledge specific to Southeast Alaska.

June

ANGOON

WRANGELL - All interested artists and creative individuals are invited to be a part of the first ever Alaska Bearfest. Artists are welcome to display and sell their creations July 21-25. Festival organizers anticipate many visitors with music, films, games and more.

WRANGELL - Women living in Wrangell have new, local access to comprehensive women's health screenings and other wellness services thanks to a partnership between the Wrangell Medical Center, Alaska Island Community Services (AkICS), SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) WISEWOMAN Women's Health Program and the Alaska Breast and Cervical Health Check program. These screenings will give women the tools they need to fight cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

ANGOON

JUNEAU - Wells Fargo has named Chris Beck private banker for Southeast Alaska. He will provide Wells Fargo Bank private banking clients with customized financial solutions guided by each client's short- and long-term goals. Beck is based in Juneau at the Wells Fargo Investments office at 8800 Glacier Highway.

JUNEAU - Elders are paired with teachers in an innovative course to train teachers of Tlingit in the use of Tlingit verbs. Participants work with a data base of 500 verbs created by Linguist Keri Edwards. The weekly course, the result of a partnership between the Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the University of Alaska Southeast, is attended in person in downtown Juneau at the UAS Bill Ray Center and via audio conference by teachers and elders from Southeast communities including Hoonah, Sitka, Kake, Wrangell,and Klukwan.

ANGOON

Southeast Alaska is a land of strong communities that manage to stay connected despite their extreme isolation. This weekend, over 650 high school music students from Craig, Haines, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Klawock, Metlakatla, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell will close the distance between their hometowns by attending the annual Southeast Alaska Music Festival.

ANGOON

ANGOON

"This was the best Site Managers' Workshop ever," stated a couple of Southeast Senior Services managers. From March 15 through 19, 11 senior center managers living in Southeast Alaska travelled to Juneau where they participated in five days of intensive training. Senior center managers from Angoon, Haines, Hoonah, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Klawock, Sitka, Skagway, Wrangell and Yakutat attended.