Celebration 2014 will be broadcast on 360 North starting this Wednesday. You can watch Celebration live and read related stories here. More tweets can be found at #CELE2014 and #RoadToCelebration.
Sarah Yu
10,000 smolts ready for family fishing day
Young anglers will get their fishing poles out for the 25th Family Day at the Lake on Saturday. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Twin Lakes.
Family fishing day lets Juneau residents try fishing regardless of income, says event volunteer Laury Scandling.
“There are a lot of families for whom this experience would not otherwise be possible. Meaning, they don’t own fishing gear, they don’t own a life vest, they don’t have a rowboat, they don’t have a pleasure craft out at the harbor,” she says.
Personal equipment is welcome, but the Department of Fish and Game will provide rods, bait and expert advice. The U.S. Forest Service will provide rowboats.
The Juneau-Gastineau Rotary Club will sell hamburgers and hot dogs. There will also be fishing games, bean bag tosses and sack races to entertain landlubbers. Kids can make fish prints of their recent catch to commemorate the event.
The lake was stocked with 10,000 king salmon smolts from the hatchery at Douglas Island Pink & Chum earlier this week for family day.
Juneau Rollergirls have double victory in double header
The Juneau Rollergirls won both bouts during Saturday’s Capital Riot Double Header, the last match of the season.
Bout 1: Orange Crush vs. Juneau All-Stars
Anchorage’s Rage City Rollergirls B-team played the Juneau Rollergirls’ A-team in the first bout.
The Juneau All-Stars beat the Anchorage Orange Crush 185 to 126. Earlier in May, the All-Stars defeated the Orange Crush in the statewide championship.
The Juneau Jumpers rope-skipping team performed between bouts, while some members of the crowd entertained themselves by building a large tower of beer cans on the sidelines.
Watch the bout:
Bout 2: Sitka Sound Slayers vs. Juneau Extra Roughs
In the second bout, the Sitka Sound Slayers played the Extra Roughs, the Juneau Rollergirls’ B-team. The Slayers had been practicing only 4 months and it was their first bout against another team. The Extra Roughs bested the Slayers 173 to 113.
Watch the bout:
At the end of each bout, the teams selected two MVPs from the opposing side: a blocker and a jammer. Jammers are players that score points while blockers try to stop them.
For the Juneau All-Stars, Skatie Brite (Katie White) was the MVP blocker and Kimbustible (Kim Champney) was chosen as the MVP jammer.
Hurtzgenerator (Jen Schober) and Ice Crystal (Crystal Kappelman) were the MVP blocker and jammer for Orange Crush.
T (Amanda Triplette) and Kaili Woyote (Kaili Jackson) were the blocker and jammer MVPs for the Extra Roughs. For the Sitka Sound Slayers, Jewel B’Hurtin’ (Jessica Fransen) was the MVP jammer and Double DeckHer (Betsy Decker) was the MVP blocker.
Writers’ Showcase: Endurance
Be part of a television studio audience for Arts@360’s Writers’ Showcase. Hear work from Alaskan writers Joe Karson, Martha Amore, Kirsa Skandijs, and James Sweeney.
The summer-inspired theme is “endurance” and short stories and essays will be read by actors Ryan Conarro, Donnie Gott, Allison Holtkamp, and Roblin Gray Davis.
The hour-long program will be recorded @360 in the KTOO/360North building for later broadcast on 360North and KTOO.
Doors open at 6:30 and cameras roll at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 5th. Admission is free.
Bike to work month reaches its conclusion
Juneau has had perfect weather for May’s National Bike Month. This year’s events included Bike to Work Day, Bike to School Day, and a Bicycle Commute Challenge.
Though Bike to School Day and Bike to Work Day have been organized for multiple years, it was the first time Juneau participated in a commute challenge. Cyclists formed teams in a friendly competition with the winning team having the most trips to and from work at the end of May. 26 teams signed up, with almost 200 people participating. The teams are from all over Juneau including employees from Alaskan Brewing Co., the USDA Forest Service and KTOO.
The challenge and temperate weather contributed to the event’s success according to Ben Lyman, a senior planner for the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) and a Bike to Work Day volunteer.
“When it did rain that one day, I think we had a lot more riders that day simply because of the challenge,” he says.
During Bike to Work Day on May 16, 98 cyclists were counted passing through Egan Drive and W. 10th St., a threefold increase from last year.
The challenge was coordinated by Juneau Rides, the advocacy branch of the Freewheelers Bike Club.
Sarah Bronstein, a planner with CBJ and a Juneau Rides volunteer, spearheaded the initiative. She had previously worked with the Cascade Bicycle Club which originally designed the event. Cascade currently hosts the roster of Juneau teams on their website.
Bronstein hopes that people discover that cycling is a convenient, safe method of transportation, even in Alaska.
“I want people to know that cycling in Juneau can be easy and fun, and that if you’re already a rider, that you’re not alone…” she says.
Children also got in on the fun, participating in Bike to School Day on May 7. Gastineau Elementary School students met at the Breeze Inn on Douglas and rode to school as a group. About 75 bicycles were counted outside the school that day.
“My goal as a P.E. teacher is to find something that kids love and introduce them to it, so that they’ll do it on their own,” says Dirk Miller, the P.E. teacher for Gastineau Elementary School and organizer of the event.
Juneau Rides next project is creating a printed map of bike routes in Juneau.
Rollergirls Alaska: Capital Riot Double Header
For this live broadcast the Juneau Rollergirls will be playing not one, but two teams in this Capital Riot double header! First, the Juneau All Stars will be playing Rage City Orange Crush and then Juneau’s Extra Roughs will be facing off against the Sitka Sound Slayers. In Decline and Rex host. Skater interviews, action, hits, and more.
Live from Centennial Hall Saturday, May 31 at 6 p.m. on statewide 360 North television and on the homepage of 360north.org. Submit your comments and questions next to the homepage video or tweet #AKDerby and have them answered by a Juneau Rollergirl.