The Haines Ministerial Association held the blessing of the fleet Monday, an annual remembrance of community members lost at sea and a prayer for safety in this year’s season. 

A still afternoon at the Haines Harbor, the ceremony included a reading of names of those lost. The bell at the presbyterian church up the hill tolled for each name, and attendees of the event placed palm fronds in remembrance.  

“It’s a lot to take in, looking back at the years of life together that we’ve missed, that you’ve missed with your loved ones,” pastor Dana Perreard told community members gathered at the ceremony. “But we’ve come here to look forward to the future, to bless the boats and the gear, to ask for God’s protection.”

The list of names of community members to remember was printed down the back of the program for the event, and a similar list is inscribed on a memorial at the harbor. It’s a product of collective memory, pastor Matt Jones said, the local clergy updating the list year after year for the event, building upon the memory that’s been recorded. And, he said, they can go to community members for help, like Diann Ahrens, cemetery caretaker, who was present at Monday’s ceremony. 

“You just have to have been here,” Ahrens said. “We remember.”