Tributaries
Tidbits from the Headwaters
Local Youth Conservation Corps Finish a Successful Season
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve hosted a very successful Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Program this summer. Five local youths worked with two out-of- state participants.
Work Underway on Little Tonsina Bridge
On September 23, the Copper River Watershed Project (CRWP) and the Alaska Department of Transportation invited funding partners and the public to tour the site of the anticipated bridge on the Little Tonsina River. The bridge will replace culverts located just barely upstream from the confluence with the main branch of the Tonsina River. This multimillion dollar project is the result of years of work, partnership building, and fundraising efforts to improve fish access to 71 miles of habitat upstream from the site.
Kenny Lake Library Book Camp
The Kenny Lake Public Library hosted its annual Book Camp for children aged 7-12 on July 11-15. Twenty-three young readers joined for a fun week of reading, crafts, games, music and friendship. This year’s theme, Off the Beaten Path, brought us outside to explore the natural world, investigate new things, strengthen our love of reading and keep curious minds active.
Copper River School District September Board Meeting
The Copper River School District Board held a work session followed by their regular board meeting on September 13.
School Board Candidates
This year’s school board election ballots were mailed on September 12. They must be postmarked by October 4. Anna Bell-Hand is challenging incumbent Mark Somerville for his seat on the school board. President Joshua Scott is running un- opposed for his seat. The other seats on the board are not up for re-election during this cycle.
Labor Day Weekend In McCarthy
The weather was beautiful Labor Day weekend. Big Chimney Barn Dance played for two nights at the Potato. At noon the Wrangell Mountains Center hosted a five-mile race and a half marathon race. I hosted a free kids fun run that was about a mile and half long.
CRSD Hires Interim Superintendent
The Copper River School District Board of Education (Board) is excited to announce the hiring of Richard Carlson as Interim Superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year. The hiring of an Interim Superintendent is essential to the success of our students while the Board continues its search for a permanent Superintendent.
Artisan Bread Maker Mike Briley Bakes for the Love of It
Mike Briley is a chef. He worked professionally in kitchens for over 20 years, then discovered a passion for baking sourdough bread when he moved to Valdez. You can’t go to a store or a restaurant to buy his bread, because Briley bakes for the love of it and gives the bread away.
Copper Stone Island, Woman Creek, and Respected Woman Creek
On September 8, the Department of the Interior announced the new names for locales across the country that had previously been named “squaw.” New names were submitted and chosen for our region.
Road Issues Dominate Annual MAC Meeting
The McCarthy Area Council (MAC) held its annual meeting and elections on August 25 at the Wrangell Mountains Center Hardware Store. In addition to officers, 38 members were present in person, with an additional 11 tuning in virtually. Ten additional persons were present who are not MAC members.
Athabascan Artist Maggie Roach Sews to Heal
Many would say losing a child is one of the deepest pains one can experience in life. In 2019, Maggie Roach received that call. The grief was crushing. She put down her sewing and beadwork art for three years and couldn’t touch it. This summer, she fell ill with severe Covid and was flown to a hospital in Fairbanks, where she faced the choice of surviving to reunite with her husband and children or leaving this world behind. She chose to stay. After she got home from the hospital, Roach started sewing and beading again.
What Does It Mean to Be a Steward?
What does it mean to be a steward of the Copper River Stewardship Program? Being a steward means you are learning about the environment, then doing what you can to help.
August in the Garden
Anyone else feeling a little over-saturated these days? August rain, August harvests and August weeds!
Profile: Acting CRSD Superintendent Theresa Laville
Within weeks of taking a new job as the assistant superintendent for the Copper River School District, Theresa Laville found herself holding the acting superintendent position after Thérèse Ashton left the post in July.
Kenny Lake Fair
The Kenny Lake Fair started off the night before with a delicious dinner and dessert auction followed by a square dance. The funds raised from this event go to the Kenny Lake High School Scholarship Fund. Delectable desserts were auctioned off with generous donations flowing to the fund.
Commentary: Save the People’s Theatre
The sound was deafening. Your whole body vibrated as the plane raced towards us, like an eagle on its prey. Cindy jumped up and screamed as bullets blasted out of its guns. I grabbed the back of her pants and pulled her into her plush seat.
CRSD Holds First Board Meeting of the School Year
The Copper Valley School District (CRSD) School Board met August 9th for their regularly scheduled meeting.
July MAC Meeting
The regular McCarthy Area Council (MAC) meeting on Thursday, July 28, was held at the Kennicott-McCarthy Community Church. Thirty-two members and 15 nonmembers attended. MAC’s regular meeting place, Tony Zak’s house, was closed to the public for the remainder of the summer due to a break-in that occurred to the building in July.
CRSD Begins Search to Hire New Superintendent
On August 3, the Copper River School District (CRSD) school board met to begin the search process for a new superintendent. Thérèse Ashton is no longer the district superintendent; the position is currently vacant. Theresa Laville, who most recently worked in the Bering Strait School District, is the new assistant superintendent for the district.
Be Grateful
Fifty years ago. Summer 1972. Prince William Sound. Sailing on a sailboat with Jim, Nancy and Athena Lethcoe for two and half months; and meeting George Flemming.