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SBE’s Ruth Sensenig Awarded the only Alaskan Fellowship, and Her Thoughts on the Award

| June 15, 2013 | 0 Comments

James Madison Foundation

James Madison Fellowship Award Letter

Letter received by our principal regarding Ruth’s award! Click to view full size.

PRESS RELEASE

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation of Alexandria, VA, announced today that it has selected 56 James Madison Fellows for 2013 in its twenty-second annual fellowship competition. James Madison Fellowships support the graduate study of American history by aspiring and experienced secondary school teachers of American history, American government, and social studies.

Named in honor of the fourth president of the United States and acknowledged “Father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights,” a James Madison Fellowship funds up to $24,000 of each Fellow’s course of study towards a master’s degree. That program must include a concentration of courses on the history and principles of the United States Constitution.

The 56 James Madison Fellows were selected in competition with applicants from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the nation’s island and trust territories. The fellowships are funded by income Continue Reading

The Third Annual Chinook Challenge Was a Success

| June 11, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Tim P. Dillon 

ChinookChallenge1

Seldovia’s third annual Chinook Challenge benefitting the Seldovia Volunteer Fire Department took place last Saturday. Anglers were invited to join the derby for a $100 entry fee and try their luck at catching a king salmon. Unlike the Human Powered Fishing Derby, this was a motorized derby and the target species was only king salmon.

21 anglers entered the derby and were treated to one of the best weather days seen on the bay this year. Boats spread out from Chrome Bay and Elizabeth Island to 4th of July Creek. Sitings of Humpback whales & mountain goats, and catches of red salmon, chum salmon and king salmon were just a few of the things lucky anglers were treated to.  A 30% catch ratio for king salmon was achieved.

ChinookChallenge2

From the talk heard on the VHF radio, it was a slow day for charters catching kings; we had hoped for more and bigger fish, but that’s fishing. In the end Joe Miller on the Veronica Mae took home the prize for the biggest fish. Of equal importance was the $1000.00 that the derby was able to donate to our local fire department. Chief Haller attended the ceremonies and graciously accepted the donation and thanked all of the anglers involved.

Mayor Keith Gain presided as the official weigh-in judge and his motto was heard loud and clear: “All judge’s rulings are final!”

Angler                                     Category                            Prize 
Joe Miller                               1st Place                            $600.00
Christine Kashavarof            2nd Place                        $350.00
Ed Shleeth/Amelia Dillon     3rd Place (Tie)                $150.00
Franky Kash                     Fish & Game citation             $100.00 fine
(Thanks for being such a good sport Franky)

Kenai Peninsula and Kachemak Bay Recreational Clam Harvest Results for May 2013

| June 11, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Michael Opheim

SVTBannerThe Kachemak Bay Research Reserve (KBRR) in cooperation with staff from the Ninilchik Traditional Council, Port Graham Village Council, NOAA Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, Jakolof Bay Oyster Company, Homer Fish and Game Sport Fish Division staff, have been doing a shellfish monitoring program for beaches on the Kenai Peninsula and Kachemak Bay.

The KBRR just received the May sampling of recreationally harvested shellfish on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. The collections occurred over the time period of May 10 – 27, 2013.

This year Clam Gulch was added to the monitored beaches for razor clams (north and south of the access road), blue mussel monitoring in Jakolof Bay was added, while blue mussels in Bear Cove was discontinued due to a lack of adequate numbers of specimens for collection. We hope these changes to the monitoring program will provide valuable information to recreational harvesters about the status of PSP toxins in Kenai Peninsula shellfish.

All shellfish must have less than 80 ug (micrograms) of paralytic shellfish toxin/100g of tissue to be considered safe for human consumption.

May results for Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PST) are as follows:

Clam Gulch – South beach, razor clams less than 10.0 ug/100g (Date collected: 5.27.2013)

Clam Gulch – North beach, razor clams less than 5.0ug/100g (Date collected: 5/11/2013)

Ninilchik – North beach, results yet to be determined.

Ninilchik – South beach, razor clams less than 10.0ug/100g (Date collected: 5/10/2013)

Port Graham Bay, horse clams less than 10.0 ug/100g (Date collected: 5/26/2013)

Jakolof Bay, butter clams 11.5ug/100g (Date collected: 5/24/2013)

Jakolof Bay little neck clams – insufficient number of harvestable clams could be located during this monitoring event.

Jakolof Bay blue mussels, less than 10.0ug/100g (Date collected: 5/27/2013)

China Poot Bay butter clams 8.38 ug/100g PSP (Date collected: 5/26/2013)

Homer Spit blue mussels less than 10 ug/100g PSP (Date collected: 5/25/2013)

Bear Cove, little neck clams less than 34ug/100g (Date collected: 5/23/2013)

This program is not sufficient to certify beaches as “safe” or completely ensure harvester safety from paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). All samples tested during this monitoring effort showed levels well below the 80ug/100g threshold. These results reflect only that Paralytic Shellfish Toxin levels found in samples taken during the monitoring period were safe.

Fiddle or Violin?

| June 11, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Rosanna McInnes

fiddleorViolinJoin us on Friday, June 21st, at 2 p.m. for a live video teleconference from The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee!

We’ll have a family friendly lesson on the differences between a fiddle and violin.  See and hear a country music artist and a musician from the Nashville Symphony explain the differences through playing & discussion.  Plenty of time for questions and answers afterwards.

We worked with the Seldovia Arts Council on this one.  Come help us kick off their Summer Solstice Festival!

Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival

| June 10, 2013 | 0 Comments

2013 Lineup and Schedule Released

by The Seldovia Arts Council

The Seldovia Arts Council presents the 2013 Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival list of performers and schedule.  The annual event will take place in Seldovia, June 20-23.  The festival includes a ferry jam, open mic, workshops, a song circle, gospel jam, and 14 performing acts.

SAC ScheduleforSolstice2013

This year’s headliners are Broadway performing artist, Theresa Thomason, and Alaskan band, Super Saturated Sugar Strings.  Others included in the festival lineup are Si Kahn & Suzanne Little, John Cook, Alex Mabey and many more outstanding performers from around Alaska.

SAC SolsticeLogoThe festival starts off with a “Ferry Jam” on Thursday, June 20th.  Performers and festival attendees can travel on the Seldovia Bay Ferry’s Kachemak Voyager from the Homer Spit to Seldovia, while enjoying a live musical jam session.  Ferry departs from Homer at 11:00 a.m.

A no-host dinner will take place for performers and visitors at 5:00 p.m. at the Linwood Bar and Grill.  An Open Mic starts at 7:30 p.m. and is sure to include many surprising performances by local Seldovians, plus visitors to the community.  After the open mic, local band Billygoat will play live back down at the Linwood Bar.

On Friday, there will be a Musicians United to Save Bristol Bay workshop at 1:00 p.m. at Susan B. English School.  It will focus on music and social action to make the world a better place, and to inspire others – led by Si Kahn and Suzanne Little.  At 2:00 p.m., there will be a videoconference workshop at the Seldovia Public Continue Reading

Seldovia Public Library’s Search Catalog Goes Online

| June 8, 2013 | 0 Comments

by Tracie Merrill

SPLNewSearchFeatureWow folks – this is big! Tired of having to ask one of our librarians if we have a particular book or movie in our collection? Want to know before you walk into the library? Well, now you can – anytime and anywhere. You can now search our catalog from any computer – that’s right. You can now search our collection online on any of the computers inside the library or from your own home computer.

The Seldovia Public Library Board is so excited to now offer this service to library patrons. Just go to our library website and click the link labeled “Seldovia Public Library search” on the left-hand side. The link is just below “SEARCH THE LIBRARY’S CATALOG ONLINE.” We hope all of you enjoy this new service and the convenience it provides. Try it out!