Spirit

This week is the 94th anniversary of the sinking of the Princess Sophia passenger ship in Lynn Canal, which claimed the lives of about 350 people.

For more than 20 years, Oct. 25^th has been marked by prayers at the Evergreen Cemetery graves of two passengers, Walter and Francis Harper, who perished in the disaster.

Every year, the Rev. Mark Boesser, Archdeacon for the Episcopal Church in Southeast Alaska, and Wilson Valentine, Parish Chaplin at Juneau’s Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, visit the gravesites of the couple. The Harpers were newlyweds when they booked their passage on the Canadian Pacific Railway ship from Skagway.

Valentine says Walter Harper is important to the history of the Episcopal Church in Alaska.

“He was a Native person that was a translator for Archdeacon Hudson Stuck, in the early 20^th Century.  He also climbed Denali with Archdeacon Stuck in 1913, the first ascent of that mountain.  And Walter was actually the first human being to set foot on the summit,” he says.

The Princess Sophia left Skagway on Oct. 23, 1918, bound for Seattle, with stops along the way in Alaskan and Canadian ports.  She was the last ship of the season.  Within four hours, however, the ship grounded on Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal, in blinding snow and strong winds.

While distress calls were heard, the storm intensified, making rescue attempts unsafe. Captain Leonard Locke apparently told rescue boats to wait out the storm for their own safety.

Three days after it grounded, the Princess Sophia sank with no time to get anyone off the ship.

Valentine is among a group of Juneau residents who are beginning to plan for a 100^th commemoration of the sinking of the ship.

 

 

 

A downtown park has been formally dedicated to peace and the memory of the late Bishop Michael Kenny.

Bishop Kenny served the Catholic Diocese of Juneau, which covers Southeast Alaska, from 1979 to 1995. He was known for his international work for peace, non-violence and human rights.

Juneau Veterans for Peace led the effort to name the city park at Third and Seward streets after Kenny.

The tribute was fittingly held Friday (Sept. 21) on International Peace Day.

During the dedication, the Most Rev. Edward Burns, Bishop of the Diocese, read from Bishop Kenny’s writings about peace. In 1981, Kenny wrote: “It’s time to make peace, not wish for peace, or call for peace, but act for peace.” Kenny was known as an advocate for nuclear disarmament, and sometimes called “No Nukes of the North.”

Click below for sounds of the event, beginning with the Most Rev. Edward Burns, current bishop of the Dioceses of Juneau; followed by Phil Smith, of Juneau Veterans for Peace; CBJ Director of Parks and Recreation Brent Fischer; Mayor Bruce Botelho, and the Alaska Youth Choir.

Bishop Kenny died suddenly of an aneurism while traveling in the Holy Land in 1995.

Juneau Veterans for Peace must now raise funds to fabricate and install in the park a sculpture called Growing Peace, by Juneau artist Jim Fowler.

The “Trip South” gang is ready for the next step in their adventure.

Back in June, the group of 20-somethings from Juneau launched an epic kayak and bike trip from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.

The paddling portion recently ended in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and after taking a couple weeks off, the group plans to begin the bike portion this weekend.

KTOO’s Casey Kelly has more.

Before setting out, Kanaan Bausler was expecting the trip of lifetime. So far, he says it’s been that and so much more.

“Basically, when people ask what’s the best part of the trip, it’s hard to say, because it seems like almost every day we were saying, ‘This is the best day of the trip,'” Bausler says.

After leaving Juneau in their kayaks on June 1st, the group spent almost a hundred days on the water before reaching Ladysmith, British Columbia earlier this month.

Bausler is spending the time between the kayak and bike portions at Quest University in Squamish, BC, where he graduated last year.

He’s using the downtime to put together a short video about their adventure so far. Some of the footage likely will be featured in a longer documentary about the trip.

“This film project has really turned out to be a great way of doing a trip like this,” says Bausler. “Because it just gives us an excuse to go into these really unique places, and go out there and find the smartest person living there and just have a good excuse to have a deep conversation with them.”

Bausler says a conversation with Kake village elder Mike Jackson had an especially profound effect on him.

“He was actually the very first person we recorded a conversation with,” he says. “And it was very cool to hear all of the things that they use, both in food and he’s artist and crafts-maker. So, he’s constantly harvesting from the area and using those resources to maintain his lifestyle.”

The core of the “Trip South” group consists of Bausler, Chris Hinkley, Andrew Flansaas, Colin Flynn and Max Stanley. The Funky Five as they call themselves were joined by about ten friends for portions of the paddling trip, as well as other boaters they met along the way. More friends and family undoubtedly will join for various legs of the bike journey.

Hinkley, who’s currently on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, says the shift to biking will take some getting used to. But he’s ready for it.

“I’m sure glad that I’m not going to have to unload that kayak and haul it up the beach every night,” Hinkley says with a laugh. “So, kind of a different way of moving and it’ll be a lot faster. All of a sudden we’re going from ten miles a day to ten miles an hour.”

But Hinkley says the group doesn’t plan to hurry. After all, part of the reason for doing the trip was to see the world at a leisurely pace, and get to know some new people along the way.

“I think everyone has a little bit of this experience when you go out travelling, it just seems you attract all these people and it seems like you meet more people than you might meet in your everyday life,” he says. “I can’t tell you how many times we were invited into peoples’ homes to share a meal, and kind of just talk and share stories.”

Hinkley says they hope to start the bike trip on Saturday.

The group plans to follow the Pacific coast all the way through North and South America. Several local companies, including Nugget Alaska Outfitter and Cycle Alaska have donated money and gear.

Link:
A Trip South

Juneau’s Fourth of July Committee has named KTOO’s Jeff Brown as one of two Grand Marshals for the 2013 parade. Jerry Harmon, of Kensington Gold Mine, is also a Grand Marshal.

The theme for next year’s parade is “Music and Mining Memories.”

Jeff Brown
As KTOO/KRNN Program Director, Brown has been much more than music programmer, especially now that Juneau public broadcasting has three radio stations. Brown has been the host of KTOO’s annual parade coverage, the syndicated “We Like Kids”, and most recently “Juneau Afternoon.” He organizes and trains radio station volunteers and has too many other jobs to list. He’s often been called KTOO’s “glue.”

Here are some excerpts from the Committee’s biography of Brown, written by Paul Wescott:

“Master of Cheerful Smiles,” “Humorist Laureate” and “Master of Merriment” are but a few of the titles bestowed on self-described funaholic Jeff Brown, our 2013 4th of July Parade Grand Marshal.

Anyone who has crossed paths with Jeff, either in person or over the air, has come away with a laugh or a smile and a lilt in the step. Jeff has been working that magic on us for more than 37 years, ever since he first arrived in Juneau as a medic with the Coast Guard. In short order, he hooked up with KTOO and launched into his multi-media, multi-talented mission to inform us, inspire us, brighten our rainy days and especially exercise our funny bones. He is a radio and TV talent, musician, organizer, artist, writer, friend, sage, magician and former gorilla.

Real Alaskan Magazine is one of his more widely-known creative endeavors… Curiously, you may come away knowing more in-depth about Alaska than you would with more serious works…

If you see someone walking around in a ridiculous balloon hat, that may be evidence that Jeff Brown is in the vicinity. Laughing.

Jerry Harmon
As the other Grand Marshal for the 2013 parade, Jerry Harmon is the master of mining memories. For 18 years he was chairman of the Juneau Gold Rush Committee. He’s helped restore many mining artifacts on display throughout Juneau, and participates every year in the design and building of July 4th parade floats for Kensington and Greens Creek mines. He and his wife Beverly opened the AJ Mine/Gastineau Mill tour in 2000.

Harmon came to Juneau in 1985 when Echo Bay was considering reopening the AJ Mine. He currently works for Coeur Alaska at the Kensington Gold Mine.

The Juneau Chamber of Commerce named him Citizen of the Year in 2000 for his many contributions to the community.

Southeast Catholics this weekend will celebrate the 75th birthday of the late Bishop Michael Kenny, the popular priest who worked tirelessly for human rights and world peace.

The third bishop of the Diocese of Juneau, which covers Southeast Alaska, Kenny died of an aneurysm in 1995 at the age of 57, while touring ancient Christian ruins in Jordan.

Kenny served the diocese for 16 years, from 1979 to 1995. He was admired by people of all faiths.

Bishop Edward Burns says a community reception and silent auction is Saturday evening at St. Ann’s Parish Hall. On Sunday afternoon, there’s a celebration mass and picnic potluck at the Shrine of St. Therese. Bishop Kenny is buried at the Shrine.

Burns says he has been hearing stories about Kenny for years, but never knew him.

“When I introduce myself as the Bishop of the Diocese of Juneau, so many people say to me, ‘Oh, I knew Bishop Kenny,’ and I always rejoice in hearing the stories they have to offer about him and the great gift of lift that he possessed,” Burns says. “Knowing that aspect of him and being honored to be one of his successors, I definitely wanted to do something like this as we commemorate his 75th birthday.”

Kenny protested the nuclear arms race and joined a human-rights delegation to Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. In 1991, he helped organize a reconciliation service to apologize for past wrongs by the Christian church against Alaska Natives.

The Juneau Assembly in 2009 named the park at Third and Seward Streets the Bishop Michael H. Kenny Memorial Peace Park. The idea was brought to the city by Juneau Veterans for Peace.

Kenny was known as a man of good humor, a strong supporter of the arts who seldom missed a musical or theatrical performance in Juneau, and a gourmet cook. Local arts organizations often auctioned off dinners with the Bishop for fundraisers.

Bishop Burns says it’s “important to remember those who help shape a community.”

Bishop Kenny 75th Memorial Celebration
Reception & silent auction, Saturday, 6 – 9 p.m., St. Ann’s Parish Hall
Liturgy and potluck picnic, Sunday, 1:30 p.m., Shrine of St. Therese

The priest of a downtown Juneau congregation that lost its church to arson has transferred to another parish.

The Reverend George Silides, of the Church of the Holy Trinity, has moved to St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont, California.

He and his wife, Hunter Silides, also a clergy member, ended their ministry at Holy Trinity on Sunday, June 3rd, after eight years in Juneau.

The church building was on the National Register of Historic Places when it burned in March 2006. Juneau Episcopalians had worshipped in the sanctuary for 110 years. For more than 50 years, adjoining McPetres Hall had been a community center.

As the congregation worked to rebuild, Silides called it a “refiner’s fire,” which it had become for so many church members and Juneau residents who had used the Holy Trinity facility over the years.

Silides often said the congregation “owned” the church:

“It’s the way the church operates, and how beautifully it operates and how extraordinarily responsible everyone is for the various things that they say they’re going to do that they follow through on,” Silidese said in a previous interview. “It’s obvious that they know the church is an expression of their ministry, not mine.”

On Christmas Eve 2009, the congregation held its first service in the new sanctuary. The church and McPhetres Hall were formally dedicated in October 2011.

The Silides had hoped to remain in Juneau at Holy Trinity for much longer, but one of their children needs ongoing medical treatment, more easily accessed in Claremont.

In a letter to the congregation announcing the move, The Reverend Silides said the family had been “blessed beyond measure” in Juneau.

The Reverend Wilson Valentine and parish members will fill in over the summer. The search for a new rector can take more than a year.