Tag: Seldovia Alaska

RCAC Public Reception

| June 16, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Tracie Merrill
RCAC

A New Coffee Shop Opens at the Boardwalk Hotel!

| June 14, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Jenny Chissus

Boardwalk Coffee Shop

Phenomenal Workshops at the Solstice Music Festival

| June 11, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Seldovia Arts Council
Solstice Festival Workshops Flyer 2014

 

Summer Solstice Music Festival Special Early Bird Rates

| June 8, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Tania Spurkland

Solstice Early Bird Prices

 

Festival Prices 2014

Adult Festival Pass – $49

Teen Pass – $15

Child Festival Pass (12yrs and under) FREE

Single Adult Evening Performance – $25   Single Teen (13-19 yrs)  Evening Performance $8

Early Bird Festival Pass – $39 at Thyme on the Boardwalk & Linwood Bar & Grill – Purchase by 5 pm Weds June 18th

Worshop Fee – $5

There’s a Bakery in Seldovia!

| June 8, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Jenny Chissus

Tidepool is open

Seeing the light in the window and the OPEN sign at the Tidepool Cafe was a wonderful treat after over 6 months of quiet!  We have all heard rumblings that the Tidepool was going to be under new management, and that we would see the doors opening “soon” – but until Saturday – the situation was officially unknown!  Not any more!

Sonny and I had the opportunity to be the second customers in the door on opening day – to enjoy a coffee and the freshly baked croissants Michel Bieri has been talking about!  He has been a chef for almost 50 years, since June 29, 1965!   Michel has owned and operated hunting and fishing lodges, restaurants, the Linwood Bar and Grill, and created a very successful bakery in Anchorage among others!    We are so fortunate to have a chef of his experience and caliber here in our little community of Seldovia!

MichelMichel is not new to Seldovia either, as he married one of Seldovia’s own, Liza Colberg Bieri and has been operating his fishing and hunting businesses down in the Kodiak area with Seldovia as his home base.  Besides opening the Tidepool, Michel is also working diligently to lease the new building on Dock street to bring in the equipment to produce his salmon product “Seldovia Wild” right here in Seldovia!

The Tidepool is going to be open 7 days a week, from 7:30am to 3:30pm for breakfast and lunch.  The menu will be a bit limited these first few weeks, as he’s just getting started training and organizing the kitchen and wait staff with the new menus and systems.  Michel is thankful that a few of the original Tidepool staff will be opening the restaurant with him, including Stacy in the kitchen and Sirena managing the front, making for a smooth transition.  Michel promises that even though he’s not rolling out his full menu quite yet, it will all taste delicious and that you will be happy about the prices!    Because of his other work, he’ll be traveling to Anchorage weekly to get supplies, ensuring that all the produce is fresh and that he will never run out of product.  Michel himself will be cooking/baking in Seldovia 5 days a week!

MichelYou will also eventually see the moving of equipment and additional showcases to house the wide variety of baked goods Michel is planning to offer Seldovia! When we visited, he stressed to me that this will be a bakery/cafe, making fresh bread daily in Seldovia!  “When people walk in you will know that you are in a bakery! It will smell like a bakery!”  Michel will have retail priced baked goods, croissants, baguette, puff pastries, tarts and even cakes!    Making the bread on site will keep the prices inexpensive, and his hope is to match the Anchorage prices – right here in Seldovia!

Michel is all about taking care of the local clientele as well as the folks who are visiting for the day.  The prices that he is proposing are very reasonable!  The standard hamburger with fresh bun and fries will be $9.95!  The butter croissants are under $2, and the delicious reindeer sausage puff pastry is $3.95!

To give you an idea of the menu for breakfast, here are a few teasers:  ham and cheese croissant with black forest ham and swiss cheese, reindeer sausage Dijon butter puff pastry, chocolate croissant, butter croissant, pancakes, eggs, omelets and many specialties like eggs Benedict, biscuits and gravy, french toast and breakfast sandwiches.  There will certainly be something on the menu for everyone!

His lunch menu looks just as spectacular with the standard hamburger and cheeseburgers with mushrooms and avocados, corned beef, roast beef Philly and French Dip, turkey and chicken, meatball and even italian sausage sandwiches all with fresh bread and homemade french fries!

Michel will be bringing many French favorites to the menu like the Croque Monsieur (Black forest ham, swiss cheese with sautéed mushrooms, Dijon mustard and lettuce on grilled white bread with Bechamel and gratinee parmesan cheese on top!)  There will even be a few Italian-style pasta specials like fettuccine, linguine and spinach ravioli!  All this to say that he will have a nicely varied menu – with some uniquely international flavors to tempt all types of customers!

Another big focus to the restaurant will be the availability of fresh seafood!  Michel is adamant about getting fresh fish: cod, bass, salmon and halibut to the Tidepool tables for you – along with mussels, oysters, crab, shrimp – whatever he can get his hands on!  This will be a fabulous addition to the Seldovia cuisine, as many people coming to Alaska want to savor our bounty from the sea – and Michel will do a masterful job of preparing it so that they will remember Seldovia and Alaska seafood with appreciation!

So, grab a friend or loved one and head on down to the Tidepool and enjoy a nice breakfast or lunch!  Soon, you too will greeted by that amazing French bakery smell when you walk in the door.

A bientôt!

A Total Loss, Yet, A Total Miracle

| June 6, 2014 | 1 Comment

by Jenny Chissus, interview with Police Chief Shad Haller and a statement from SVT Fire Chief Rick Harkness
updated at 2:59pm June 6, 2014

photo by Chief Haller

photo by Chief Haller

Early Tuesday morning – estimates are around 2-3:00am a fire broke out at the Johnson home just outside of town, on Jakolof Bay Road.  This large older home was tucked back into the woods, just past the Seldovia Lagoon adjacent to Outside Beach.  The home was completely engulfed in flames and burned unnoticed and unabated until SVT Barabara Heights Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Rick Harkness was on his way into town and noticed the smoke.  Rick immediately went to Chief Shad Haller’s home (as he doesn’t have a cell phone) and told Shad “It’s gone, it’s just totally gone! No need to call 911, there’s nothing left, the house is completely burned to the ground.”

Johnson Home before the fire - KPB Photo from 2009

Johnson Home before the fire – KPB Photo from 2009

Shad and Rick returned to the site by about 8:05am to assess the situation,  and witnessed just a few residual licks of flame – the structure and all of its contents were a total loss, nothing remained, not a thing.  Shad believes that the house was fully engulfed between 3-5:00am, and it looks like the flames reached between 80 and 100 feet high.  Shad explained: “It is by the grace of God that the whole place didn’t go.  As we all know when you throw spruce branches on a fire, it just crackles and instantly ignites.  We were so fortunate!  Had we not gotten the rain last week, I believe we would be looking at a whole different story!”   The Seldovia Volunteer Fire crew was called at 8:39am, and on site by 8:55am.

photo by Jenny Chissus

photo by Jenny Chissus

By the time the Seldovia Fire Department was called, this was not a containment issue but a mop-up situation, so they were able, as a fire crew to use this tragedy as a training opportunity, and a chance to use all the equipment available to both the Seldovia City fire department and the SVT Barabara Heights Volunteer Fire Department. The initial effort was to water down the surrounding area and to soak the trees that were smoking around the site ensuring that there was no chance for the fire to spread underground.

JanelThere were many trees that were standing very close to the structure.  The bark was burned off the trees, trunks were charred and branches were scorched as high as 70-80 feet up!  It is a total miracle that the whole forest didn’t catch fire!   The owners John and Judy Johnson had always protected those trees, as Judy didn’t ever want them removed from surrounding the home, so the family respected her wishes, even after her death.   When you see the photos, though the home was a total loss, you will be astonished at how Seldovia was spared a massive wildfire.  As Chief Haller mentioned, the rain of last week, soaking the entire Kenai Peninsula definitely played a role in saving us from a potentially devastating fire that could have impacted the whole area.

Rick and Radzy by Jenny Chissus

Rick and Radzy by Jenny Chissus

The cause of the fire appears to be a gravity-fed stove that was in the downstairs area.  An investigator came in on Thursday to assess the situation and meet with Rick who had been in the process of moving into the home for the summer.  It is not only a loss for the Johnson family, but Rick had completed the majority of his move to the property, and lost many precious antique items, including old guns, photos, documents, records and most of his personal belongings that he had recently moved into the garage.  Thankfully, Rick has found a new place to live for the summer, and Shad mentioned that he has been well surrounded by friends through this ordeal.  I had a chance to visit briefly with Rick who stated “I am very thankful for the people who approached me to offer help.  I lost a lot, but I am grateful to the people who came forward to offer me whatever I need.”

photo by Chief Haller

photo by Chief Haller

In addition to Rick Harkness, who is the Fire Chief on the SVT Barabara Heights Volunteer Fire Department, and the first one to respond with the SVT Fire Truck, showing up to assist in the clean up and containment efforts were Brian Slover from the SVT Barabara Heights Volunteer Fire Department, Jan Yaeger from EMS, Tyler Tucker and Randy Bond from the City of Seldovia, who brought out the 4,000 gallon water tank, providing the necessary support to suppress the continuing ground level burn.  Shad stated: “I also need to say thank you to Aaron Dillon, a young man who has been volunteering his time all over Seldovia from Dispatch, Fire, Harbor Master and has even spent several days with Doug Pieren.”  Radzy, regularly the fire truck driver came out and worked the fire hoses along side Rick and Aaron, for hours to ensure that the fire was indeed out.

City Manager Tim Dillon and Police Chief Shad Haller, photo by Jenny Chissus

City Manager Tim Dillon and Police Chief Shad Haller, photo by Jenny Chissus

“In addition to fighting this fire, over the last few days, Radzy had to dispatch himself and drive the Ambulance due to lack of available volunteers during a recent EMS call out.”  Shad exclaimed “The superstar of the day has to go to Janel Harris, anyone who wants to make the statement that it’s a mans world, fighting fires, obviously has not met this young firecracker.  She ran dispatch and reported to the scene to run engine 1 as the Chief Engineer.”

Fire Johnson 039

Aaron Dillon – by Chief Haller

Radzy, Rick, Aaron, Randy, Tyler and Janel were out there for more than 4 hours making sure the site was secure and that there was no further fire risk to Seldovia.   Though limited in numbers, Shad was proud of the team, and all the additional support during the episode:  “Thank all of you, for a job well done!!”

Dousing the ground, cooling the debris by Jenny Chissus

Dousing the ground, cooling the debris
by Jenny Chissus

“Thanks also to the individuals who brought food and drinks out to the Crew. Laurel Hilts from SVT, came with a much-needed and majorly appreciated copious amount of coffee, and to Nancy Opheim for the very refreshing fruit juice!!” – Chief Shad Haller

Though the home was a complete loss, Seldovia was spared, and we are thankful to our Fire Crews, both the Seldovia Fire Department and the Barabara Heights Fire Department!  As you can see, we are in desperate need of more volunteers at the Firehall, and would appreciate anyone’s interest in becoming a part of these very important volunteer crews!  During the summer months, there are more people in town, more activity with bonfires and campouts, and we must not only be safe, but available to serve when an emergency occurs.   Please, contact Chief Haller, Bobbi Sweatt, Bryan Barrett from the Seldovia Fire Department, or Chief Harkness or Alex Chartier from SVT’s Barabara Heights Volunteer Fire Department or any of our fire or EMS crew for more information about how you can become a part of these important crews!

DSC_3479

Join the Seldovia Fire and EMS Department! We need YOU! photo by Jenny Chissus

This was quite a fortunate break, as this fire broke out when everyone was sleeping!  It is a stark reminder that we must ALL be alert to smoke in the air, strange explosions, etc. and call in any unusual sightings or noises – as an early response to a situation can make a huge difference!    Don’t assume someone else has called it in, or think that it isn’t your problem – let’s all remember that old adage: “Better safe than sorry!”

Also, the property has been staked off until all investigations are through, and it is against the law to cross that line until the investigations are complete, so please stay clear of the area as it is private property.