Student, Emmalee Deland, shows off her marine mammal, a humpback named "Salmon Chainsaw Blueberry."

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What breathes air, gives birth to live young, has hair, is warm blooded, and lives in the waters around Kenai Fjords National Park?   You guessed it, marine mammals!     If you just haven’t seen your share of marine mammals lately we recommend you come out on the town on Friday May 4th from 6-8pm and stop in to Kenai Fjords National Park’s Information Center in the small boat harbor.  There will be whales, seals, sea lions, otters, and perhaps a stray narwhal or walrus, visiting from further north.

Why have they all migrated into the National Park building?  To celebrate of course!  Last week was National Park Week and all Seward students grades K-12 have been working on art projects with the help of dedicated local artists.  Through a program called “Art for Parks” the National Park Service is able to provide supplies and rangers to help artists remind students of their local national park while Kenai Fjords lies buried in the snow. 

The park would like to thank all of the artists who helped make the show possible:  Dot Bardarson, Kira Hansen, Bethany Waggoner, Callie Stark, Amy Hankins, Krista Doersch, Krista Rodby, and Maddy Rea.  These artists donated their time and help to make our community the rich place that it is.

The students’ show has its grand opening on May 4th when the whole town of Seward celebrates the first ‘First Friday’ event of the season.   Student works will continue to be on display through May 18th during the open hours of the Information Center.    Come visit with us this Friday and enjoy the town’s up and coming artists.  When you are done at the park, stroll through all of the other great First Friday venues.

Presents:  Migratory Shorebirds of Northern Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

Date:  Monday, May 14th, 2012

Time:  12-1pm  (Brown Bag Lunch)

Where:  Alaska SeaLife Center,  Research Theater

Seminar Speaker:  Sadie E.G. Ulman, Alaska SeaLife Center

Free Seminar, Everyone Welcome!

Chickaloon Flats is a tidal mudflat on Turnagain Arm, and a valuable area for migrating and breeding birds. Sadie will discuss results from her master’s research on shorebirds utilizing Chickaloon as a spring and fall migration stopover.  A main objective of her research was to utilize stable isotopes from feathers to determine breeding and/or wintering origins of six shorebird species migrating through south-central Alaska. These and other findings from the mudflats will be discussed.

Michael Marshall, a talented young student athlete and artist, also a freshman at Seward High School, has created this year’s winning Mt. Marathon Race logo. His design, Flag Mountain, was a clear favorite of the Race committee, which had many designs to choose from. It features the mountain, with American Flag, a tribute to the July 4th Independence Day race date. The chamber is pleased and happy to note that the winning artist knows the race first-hand as he is a dedicated local runner, and has participated in the Mt Marathon Junior race, placing fourth last year in the Junior Boy’s division. Michael began running the Junior race at age 7. This will be his ninth year.

Flag Mountain will be reproduced on T-shirts and patches for the runners, shirts for volunteers and retail wear. It will also be included in the race brochure and guides. (Photo: Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cindy Clock presents the winning logo at a recent City Council meeting. H Zemach photo)

The Seward Music Boosters/Seward Music Association, is holding an art contest for the upcoming 2013 Calendar. We are seeking local children’s artwork, in a landscape (sideways) format, illustrating music being played, sung, or felt. The top 13 pieces, chosen by a panel of local artist-judges, will be featured in the calendar.   Proceeds from the calendar sales and ads go right back into supporting the schools’ music program needs, such as to help defray the cost of class trips to the opera or musicals, music lessons or sumer camps, band or choir polos, choir formals, etc.

So please won’t you help us please make another beautiful calendar for a great cause?
Deadline is May 19th.
Please bring completed entries, with your name and contact information. to any of the local school offices, or call Heidi for pickup or info: 224-6473.

Tonight’s the opening performance of Seward High Drama’s production of CSI: Neverland.  It’s a marvelous merger of comedic mayhem, and promises to be a great night of entertainment for the whole family. Come support these young thespians Monday, April 30, Tuesday May 1st, and Wednesday May 2nd, at 7:30 p.m. at the High School Auditorium. Their drama teacher, director, is Dan Marshall.

Young Life was incorporated in 1941 by Jim Rayburn, a seminary student and part-time youth minister in Gainesville, Texas. He wanted to reach out to kids who were disinterested in church. Rayburn took the challenge to go where the kids were, meet them on their turf and find a creative way to share the love of God with them. Rayburn’s method of reaching out to adolescents worked in 1941, and it continues to be effective today.

Seward got introduced to what YL was all about when the YL All-State Leadership retreat was held here last November.  The event resonated with the locals who attended, who then came together with others that wanted to support a YL chapter in Seward.  This desire comes with sincere care and love over Seward’s youth.  It also comes as a counter option to less healthy endeavors and peer pressure that students often struggle with in their adolescent years.  Lots of planning and praying has been done since November resulting in a number of blessings for Seward’s YL Committee.

While a Seward YL account is established and seed money is in place, the biggest news is being in receipt of a $25,000 matching grant from “The Master’s Plan Foundation” established by Jim Bisenius, a past YL leader from Oregon.  The committee is excited to pursue the match with others who care to come together and see a YL chapter sustained in Seward.  The foundation encourages interested donors to help match the grant in the form of a monthly stipend. This helps committee members plan for a more dependable program.  Any type of giving to YL can be achieved by going to the website to donate at www.younglife.org/giving . Then choose YoungLife area ministry, and search for area number “AK48”.  Otherwise you may ask to be contacted by a local YL committee member and they can walk you through the giving options.

The Committee is also planning to host a Formal Banquet in the fall for its likely supporters.  Meanwhile local youth leaders are getting trained, and the group is seeking youth interested in attending YL camps within Alaska or the Lower 48.   YL is known for their great camp experiences and youth are encouraged to attend whenever they can.  This year a camp will be held in Sitka from August 15^th to August 19^th.  Other lower 48 camps can be found on the YL website at  www.younlife.org/camping.

As funding is sought, the committee will discern how funds can best be used for Seward’s YL programs.  Options are to hire a part time area director and/or plan on a reserve of funds to send youth to camps.  Other options are to grow the program to support a full time director and/or add a middle school program called WyldeLife.

For more detailed information about Seward’s YL committee and how others can partner in its pursuits you are welcome to call Teresa at (907) 769-1386.  Otherwise be looking forward to more updates and know that greater things have yet to come and greater things are yet to be done in ‘Seward’.

By: Rhonda A. Hubbard, YL Committee Member, 224-7342, Kruzof@ak.net

Thank you ladies, gentlemen and children who packed the community room of the Catholic church for our Tea & Tomes event this Saturday. We served 65 persons at our sold out event.

We wish to acknowledge the hard work of one of our Library Museum volunteers, Kim Hughes, who brought the idea of the afternoon tea to reality. Her friend Kate Forrest and her daughters Willa & Georgia prepared and served the selected variety of teas. Kate and her daughters live in Soldotna. A quick talk about Kate’s tea selection was made and the tea service began. The tea was served at perfect drinking temperature.

The tables were set with real fine bone china tea cups and we wish to thank the ladies of our community for loaning us their treasures for the day. They were wonderful to see on the tables and they made the tea drinking special.

Our hats are off to our local pastry chef Amy Mow for her presentation of her English tea desserts. Words cannot express the visual and taste of these creations. By far the best I have ever had. We will just attach a picture of the trays and let you see.

The backside crew of faithful volunteers that move tables, carry boxes of china, that show up when needed, you know who you are, without these volunteers, these events would not happen. Special thanks to Shellie Knopik, Amy Hankins, Jenifer Trautwein, Melissa Tougas, Rachel James, and again Willa & Georgia Forrest and Kim Hughes with grandson Andy. A special thank you to Father Tero for use of the community room at Sacred Heart church. Your community room was perfect for our event, with kitchen and all the items needed.

More pictures are available online at our website http://somethingforus.org

Gold Level sponsors for both of our events Tea & Tomes and our Dinner Cruise on Resurrection Bay (June 15) are: Inn at Tern Lake, Harmon Construction, Jaffa Construction, The Perfect Cup (Anchorage), Seward Fish and the Alaska Railroad.

Silent Auction donations for our Tea & Tomes were provided by; Kenai Fjords Tours, Alaska Railroad, Alaska SeaLife Center, Arctic Road Runner, Dot Bardarson, Cover to Cover, Moose’s Tooth, Thorn’s, Seward Fish, Anchorage Museum, AK Tan, Weezingreens, The Quilt Tree, Irvin Pottery, Skip & Marie Fletcher, Trinity Green House, Kim Hughes, Kate Forrest and Kathleen Barkley.

Many of our donated items will be showcased at our next silent auction event June 15, at our dinner cruise on Resurrection bay. Tickets will be limited for this coming event and we recommend early booking. They can be reserved with credit card by calling 907.362.1225, ticket price will be $80 a person and includes a Prime Rib and Alaska salmon dinner. Cruise will be from 6-10 p.m.

The Library Museum Volunteers 

By Heidi Zemach for SCN

Tom Reimer, the Assistant Superintendent of Spring Creek Correctional Center, is retiring after 27 years of service in Alaska on April 30th. His friends and colleagues will give him a retirement gathering Wednesday May 2nd at the American Legion, and share stories about his legacy.
Reimer was there at the very opening of Spring Creek in 1988, having transferred to there from the Alaska Department of Corrections Cook Inlet Pretrial facility, where he began his career in 1985. He remembers when it stood vacant and empty, and watched as it filled with convicted felons, first one tier of them, then two. Change has always been a big part of Spring Creek, and actually of any prison, he said.
Within Spring Creek Reimer is known as a strict, by-the-rules kind of guy. The guy who knows prison policy, has created new policy, and is the man who can be relied on to train staff both inside the prison, and at other Alaska facilities. Reimer’s always busy “putting out fires” said Superintendent Craig Turnbull. He’s been their go-to man, on call day and night in case he’s needed to rush out Nash Road to respond to suicides, fights or other incidents.
“He’s a very tough guy, and he just always, always thinks security,” Turnbull said. “He knows the prisoners, he knows the games prisoners play, he knows how not to be manipulated. He’s just very serious about what he does, and all of the ramifications. Reimer also considered an expert on gangs, and prison gangs, and has the ability to understand and predict prisoners behavior, according to the Superintendent. “It all boils down to the safety of the community. We have to do our jobs well here, or bad things can happen.”
Reimer is looking forward to his retirement in Seward, where he plans to continue to stay, along with his wife Diana, who works as an administrative assistant at Spring Creek. But he departs with a sense of unease, in keeping with his character, hoping that those he has trained and supervised will continue to pay as much attention to detail as he did, and will have as much awareness of security issues to keep themselves safe.
“The prisoner population is a very manipulative group of people,” Reimer explains. “You can get in trouble if you don’t pay attention to following the rules and understanding how the prison culture can divert a person. And it’s difficult to do the right thing sometimes if you don’t stay focused. It’s easy to get dragged in the wrong direction.”
One particular specialty of his has been running the segregation units, where there’s a whole different dynamic to follow in order to assure that everyone remains safe, while also maintaining the inmates’ rights, Reimer said.
Reimer has trained scores of correctional staff that have cycled through Spring Creek throughout the years, including the current Alaska Prison Commissioner, and the Director of Institutions.
One particularly vivid memory of his was stepping handling the aftermath of an accident in 2006 during the transport of prisoners from Anchorage to Spring Creek, when the prison transport van crashed head-on into a tractor trailer headed north at Mile 22, killing a correctional officer and seven prisoners and wounding two others. Reimer said he had to mobilize the needed personnel to get the wounded life flights to the Anchorage hospital. A man of few words, and talking to the media, he did not choose to elaborate on that experience. He and Diana have two grown children, a daughter Patti and son Tommy.

Reminder that today is our Tea & Tomes event at the Catholic church. All our tickets have been sold.

We want to thank the ladies of our community that loaned us the beautiful tea cups for our event today.

Tea & Tomes, an afternoon tea for Library Museum lovers, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today.

The Library Museum Volunteers

By Heidi Zemach for SCN

AVTEC’s 100kW wind turbine is finally being hooked up to the Applied Technology Building and will soon be physically connected up to the town’s electric grid. STG Engineers Incorporated, of Anchorage, the folks from whom AVTEC purchased the turbine, and who installed it, were in town this week working on the project. The turbine was installed in December of 2010 but has sat idle since. STG has installed several other-size small turbines in villages across Alaska. They had already hooked an underground cable up to the turbine Thursday afternoon, April 26, and were hooking it to the transfer switch to a transformer that runs into the building, allowing the turbine to provide power either to the building itself, or to the town’s electric grid. The transformer converts the 480 volts of industrial power that will come from the turbine to the 208 standard volts that the building can use. The workers from STD Engineers were hoping to have their work completed within a week. They said they expected Seward Electric Department personnel on site Thursday or Friday to begin working on the city’s end of the project. Northern Power was expected to arrive in Seward to work for the next two weeks on the software end of things, including the turbine’s integration, and to hook it to the utility. The STG workers said everything should tentatively be up and running by June 21st.

AVTEC’s wind turbine is a training tool for vocational students learning to operate power plants across Alaska, and also learning how to operate wind and hydro plants. But many Seward residents are eager to see it run because they feel it will demonstrate the possibility of wind power here in Seward, and because the project paves the way for others to use renewables and to hook into the grid, and for net-metering, which already occurs many other communities, but not here. With just a few exceptions for training purposes, the wind turbine has sat idle since it was installed two winters ago.

Seward Electric Department Head John Foutz was not available for comment Thursday or Friday, but SCN will try to follow up later about when the turbine will be able to begin turning, or when it may be able to provide excess power back into the grid. To date there has been a good deal of red tape.

The Seward/Moose Pass Imagination Library will be hosting a Book Bash Saturday April 28th, in the basement of the Seward Community Library, from 10:30 am to noon. The theme for this event is Alaskan Animal Adventures and there will be crafts, activities, snacks, and reading related to this interesting and relevant theme. We will also be handing out free booklets entitled, Alaska Project WILD Early Childhood Curriculum. This booklet is full of fun activities for families to do together in the Great Outdoors and was generously donated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

This is a free event hosted by your local chapter of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. We strive to provide every child in our Seward and Moose Pass communities with free, monthly mailings of quality books from birth to age 5. This is an event geared toward children 0-5, but whole families are welcome to attend. We will also be available to enroll your child, age 0-5, in this free-book program at this event.

For more information, call Jennifer DesErmia at 224-2066. To enroll your child, age 0-5, visit www.imaginationlibrary.com.

If you are a student grade K-12 or the parent of a student in grade K-12 this offer is for you. The Seward Arts Council is interested in supporting students who are pursuing the arts during their summer vacation. This opportunity could be used by a family who would like help sending their children to D’Vinci Camp, or a teenager wanting to attend the Sitka Fine Arts camp, or the Seward Bluegrass Camp For Kids, or take music lessons. Any activity involving art lessons, theater, or music for students is eligible.

The Arts Council will be offering at least 10 scholarships of up to two hundred dollars each to support students who are furthering their arts abilities over the summer.

To apply for the scholarships pick up an application at Resurrect Art Coffee House and follow the directions on the application. Be sure your application is mailed or e-mailed by May 15th in order to be considered. Scholarship checks will be sent to the organization the student is using for their arts study. Since Seward is a small town it is likely that your application will be accepted by the council. Take a few minutes and Apply yourself to Arts!

We look forward to seeing the artistic endeavors Seward students are engaging with over the summer.

Cheers,

CJ

Earlier this morning, a break in the water main occurred in downtown Seward on Second and Jefferson. It appears that there are several water main breaks due to pipes freezing and bursting. City Staff are working diligently to repair all breaks in the water main. City Staff are planning on having all issues resolved later this afternoon. Thank you for your patience during this process. All water may appear cloudy as a result of air coming through the valves as they are turned on and off. It is safe to drink. If your water is brown, continue to run or flush your water until it is clear.

Carmen Hewitt, Public Works Technician

City of Seward, 907.224.4005

chewitt@cityofseward.net

As posted earlier, the Seward Historic Preservation Commission presents an annual award to honor locals who contribute to the conservation and preservation of Seward’s history. There have been some great ideas and discussion presented concerning our last post. We just want to clarify that nominations forms need to be filled out to nominate someone for this award. Applications may be picked up at the Seward Community Library or City Clerk’s office, as well as downloaded here. Please drop off your completed nomination form at the Library or Clerk’s office no later than May 16th.

For a list of people who have been awarded in past years, click here. Thank you to all (awarded and unsung) who have made our town’s history accessible to all! For a small community, we are truly lucky to have so much local history at our fingertips.

Wednesday, April 25 Update:
• The Seward Highway at Trail River Bridge, is scheduled to be CLOSED
from 10:00pm Thursday, May 3 through 6:00am Friday, May 4.
• Beginning Monday, May 7 through Thursday, May 10, expect nightly
CLOSURES at Trail River Bridge, between 10:00pm and 6:00am.
Emergency access will be permitted.
• Expect daily SINGLE-LANE TRAFFIC, short DELAYS and flagging
operations from 7:00am to 6:00pm on the Seward Highway, at Trail
River Bridge, Monday through Saturday, until April 21.
• Be alert to heavy equipment and construction workers on the roadway
and shoulder.

The Alaska Department of Transportation, in partnership with Hamilton
Construction Company, is working to improve travel on the Seward Highway,
from Trail River to Ptarmigan Creek. Work will include replacement of the
Trail River, Falls Creek and Ptarmigan Creek bridges and widening of the Seward
Highway from milepost 22.4 to 25.4. We will do our best to keep you informed as
work continues, and we appreciate your patience and cooperation during
construction. This project is scheduled to be completed by June 2013.

Kenai Fjords National Park has closed the Exit Glacier area for snowmachine use in order to prevent damage to park resources due to inadequate snow depth and warming temperatures.  The park is no longer taking reservations for the winter public use cabin at Exit Glacier. 

Plowing has begun on the road to Exit Glacier.  The Alaska Department of Transportation has the road closed at the Box Canyon gate.  From the Box Canyon gate to the U.S. Forest Service boundary, the road is plowed to an ice layer several inches thick.  The road beyond the U.S. Forest Service boundary to the Resurrection River trailhead has not been plowed.  Alaska Department of Transportation is continuing to work on the road and people should use caution when approaching heavy equipment.  Conditions are changing on a daily basis.

If there are any questions concerning conditions or regulations, please contact the park at (907) 422-0500.

Studded Tires must be off the roads by May 1st, or drivers caught with them could be subject to a correctable ticket with a $50 fine. This reflects an extension from Alaska Department of Public Safety’s traditional April 15th deadline, to account for the bad weather we have had here.

The annual Cooperative Weed Management Area meeting will be held next Friday, May 4th, at the Rae building (Seward Marine center), from 10-4. There will be representatives from the Alaska Railroad and Department of Transportation to discuss vegetation management. A representative from the Sealife Center to share invasive species cost estimates in Alaska. The National Parks Service, Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance, Kenai Soil and Water Conservation District, National Wildlife Refuge, Fish and Wildlife Service and Homer Soil and Water Conservation District representatives will give an overview of invasive plant control projects around the Peninsula.
These discussions will be followed by a free lunch provided by donations from the National Park Service. The afternoon will have an identification workshop for an invasive freshwater species, introduction to organizations interested in partnering for future projects, integrated pest management for home gardeners, understanding herbicide labels and chemical compounds, as well as responsible home landscaping for Seward.
There will be a variety of educational material on hand for future reference. Please stop in for all or some of the topics to be presented. Contact Jen Kain at sewardweeds@yahoo.com for questions.

Students began their prints with an original drawing.  On the drawing they planned 3 different colors to separate the various objects and shapes.  Within the shapes they added some texture.  They transferred their design onto linoleum, carved it out and printed the colors in layers.  This time we experimented with paper, printing onto colored paper, old maps, magazines, etc…  Here are the ideas they came up with:

Alex Pahno

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