CBD oil and flies at First Friday

October’s First Friday will include hand-drawn cartography, an assortment of hand-tied flies and streamers and free samples of CBD oil.

Ampersand AK will feature Russ Lyman’s hand-drawn maps. Lyman said he will showcase about six different maps including a map commissioned by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game of Sawmill Creek fish habitat from 1998. Others include the Chilkoot Trail and White Pass, Denali and the Nenana River, and the Alsek and Tatshenshini rivers.

“They are hand-drawn, physical maps, done to scale, shaded in an old-style, aerial-view perspective, so the physical features area easy to read,” Lyman said. “The calligraphy is all hand-drawn as well.”

Kelly Mitchell’s paintings, printings and torching will be on display at Port Chilkoot Distillery.

At Caroline’s Closet, artist and hunter Keri Eggleston will display her collection of moose hide earrings crafted from copper, enamel and hide from the one and only moose she hunted.

Alaska Rods will offer CBD oil tastings.

The Haines Sheldon Museum will host the opening reception of part two of the collaborative exhibit, “Watershed: Ecology & Culture of the Chilkat Valley.” The two-part exhibit, in partnership with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, showcases the “intrinsic ecological, cultural and aesthetic value of the Chilkat Valley and its fragility in the face of cumulative environmental impacts,” the exhibits statement says. The pieces include a wide array of Haines artists. Work from Kelly Mitchell, Merrick Bochart, Elizabeth Jurgeleit and Colin Arisman will be added to the exhibit currently featuring 10 other Haines artists.

Haines Brewing Company will showcase Greg Schlachter’s hand-tied flies. Schlachter said he’ll show people “how flies are tied, what goes into making them and the variety of feathers, glitter fluff and floss that makes them up.” His fly designs target salmon and dolly varden, which include large, colorful streamers and salmon-fry imitation patterns.

Photographer and naturalist Tom Ganner will exhibit “16K Shades of Grey,” a collection of black and white, and other desaturated images captured in Alaska, California and Arizona. The show at the Alaska Arts Confluence will also include a video presentation of Ganner’s additional black and white images. In his artist statement, Ganner said his lifelong love of history and “all things wild” leads him to capture images that reflect the spirit, historic culture and wild beauty of Alaska.

From 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the library, Elsa Sebastian will present “Last Stands,” a slideshow detailing her “ground-truthing adventure” through the threatened forests of her home around Prince of Whales Island.

South African folk singer to perform

South African folk singer Vusi Mahlasela will perform at the Chilkat Center on Oct. 16. Mahlasela has been a voice for anti-apartheid and human rights in South Africa. He performed at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in the 90s.

Mahlasela grew up outside of Pretoria, South Africa where he still resides, according to the bio on his website.

“Due to the cultural boycott inflicted by Apartheid, black South African music was hard to come by and was banned from being played on the radio,” his bio says. He listened to American soul and Motown records. He later joined a band and wrote songs about justice, freedom, revolution, love and peace after witnessing the “devastating massacre of more than 200 black South Africans in the Soweto Uprising.”

Mahlasela has performed around the world and was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from the South African Music Awards.

Time and ticket details will be released at a later date.

Chilkat Chefs to race for top dish

Lynn Canal Conservation is hosting the third annual Chilkat Chef Competition fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at Harriett Hall.

The timed cooking competition pits teams of chefs against each another as they race the clock to prepare a coho salmon entree using five mystery ingredients, items they bring from home and basic staples from a prepared pantry.

Emcees Jojo Goerner and Marty Fowler will film the teams as they uncover their mystery ingredients, scramble to prepare their meals and talk about why Chilkat Valley salmon are important to them—all in a 45-minute time limit. The video will be displayed on a projector for the audience’s viewing pleasure. Audience members are free to tour the cooking stations, ask questions of and heckle the chefs.

This year’s teams include The Ocean Beautys, Slice! Slice! Baby!, The Thyme Bandits, Go Big or Coho and Jilkaat Kwaan. Local chef Deborah Marshall, Whitehorse chef Lyn Fabio and Juneau food critic Claire Fordyce will judge the team’s dishes. Teams must cook four dishes, including a side. One dish will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to the team’s choice of non-profits, and three will head to the judge’s table. The team with the best dish will win $500 and take home the honorary chef’s coat and hat until next year’s competition.

Haines Packing and local fishermen are supplying the salmon. Tickets are $18 for adults, $10 for kids and $45 for families. The Haines Chamber of Commerce will be selling beer and wine. Proceeds from ticket sales will go toward Lynn Canal Conservation.

Sixth season of River Talk starts next month

The sixth season of River Talk is returning in October. Lynn Canal Community Players is looking for storytellers to speak at events in October, January, February, March and April.

River Talk is described as a “dynamic, community-powered storytelling series” that encourages attendees to share in the stories of Chilkat Valley residents and visitors.

Seven individuals each have seven minutes to tell a story based on a new theme each month.

“No experience necessary—other than life experience, a touch of imagination, and a willingness to share your story,” a press release said.

October’s theme is “I still don’t know what happened,” and stories will be told on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Admission is $7. Snacks and drinks, including wine and beer, will be available for purchase.

Other themes this season include “How I ended up in Haines,” “Dreams come true,” “It sounded like a good idea at the time,” and “I shouldn’t be alive.”

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