Girdwood Center for Visual Arts will have its first show of the season Sept. 8 through Sept. 30. It is an invitational ceramic exhibit with twenty clay artists from Fairbanks, Anchorage, Bird Creek, Palmer, Anchor Point, Kasiloff and Homer showing place settings and other tableware. Work by local potters Letha Cress Woolf, Sharon Randall and Kathy Peters is included. There will be wood fired and salt fired porcelain as well as earthenware. A diversity of styles and techniques guarantee this will be a remarkable show. Tabletop shows are not uncommon in the ceramics arts; this is the first time one will be held at GCVA.
You can participate at the opening reception Saturday evening, Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Several of the show artists will attend. Chair 5 restaurant is providing hors’ doeuvres.
The annual Whittier Silver Salmon Derby began Aug. 31 and will run through Sept. 16 with weekly prizes. Derby tickets are sold at various Whittier businesses including: Quiggly’s Ice Cream Parlor, Bread N’ Butter Charters, Sea Mist Charters, the Harbor Store, Shoreside Petroleum and onboard most charter boats. All fish entries must be weighed at the official weigh-in station, located at Fee’s Custom Seafoods on the Whittier Triangle from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Regulations are available at businesses around Whittier. There are two divisions—age 10 and younger and ages 11-15 for the Small Fry competition. Derby tickets are $5. Locals reported that the silvers started running a few weeks ago, several weeks earlier than last year’s run. The largest salmon caught as of Sept. 3 was 13.6 pounds by Ron Graham of Whittier. Last year’s derby winner, Cam Bender of Whittier, caught a silver that weighed in at 14.75 pounds.
On Aug. 18 at around 5:30 p.m., Whittier Police received a 911 call regarding “thick black smoke” coming from a wooden framed building located directly across from the Inn at Whittier. Several volunteer firemen responded to the scene, which, upon their arrival, was mostly under control through the use of fire extinguishers and buckets of drainage water. The burn consumed a relatively small area of construction refuse, which was located inside of the building. Due to some evidence on scene, the fire is considered suspicious, and the investigation is on going. The building is also owned by the Inn at Whittier. An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s office responded to assist; however, Whittier Police will be conducting the ongoing investigation. There is no further information as of this writing. Whittier Chief Robert Haskell can be reached for comment at 441-0355 after 9:30 a.m.
One of the largest issues facing Alyeska Resort customer service today is the high rate of seasonal employee turnover. This issue is exacerbated by the lack of available entry level housing in Girdwood.
“The pathway to a more consistent level of customer service is better employee retention”, said John Byrne, owner of Alyeska Resort. “Our employee housing project is an important step with regard to Alyeska’s ability to provide a higher level of customer service by enhancing our ability to recruit and retain quality employees.”
Alyeska Resort will be working with Builders Choice Inc, a local Anchorage firm, and a leader in Alaska’s building industry, which made room in their production schedule in order to contract with Alyeska Resort for provision of the employee housing solution.
“Builder’s Choice was able to meet our timeline requirements and budget parameters in a very professional and expeditious way,” said Byrne. “We look forward to working with them on future endeavors at Alyeska Resort. None of this would be happening today without the assistance of Mayor Mark Begich’s office and Tom Nelson’s group in particular. Their expediting the permitting process was an essential element in meeting our goal of having this project completed prior to the start of the 2007-2008 ski/snowboard season.”