Brave Heart’s Online Benefit Auction begins on August 18. Board president Michele Friedman and artist Pat Kehoe discuss how it works. 18 buoys and seven pieces of art will be on the block — all by local artists. Pieces will on display at the Island Artists Cooperative Gallery on Lincoln Street. Place a bid, or learn more.

Brave Heart Volunteers provide nearly $100,000 worth of free care and services for caregivers and individuals facing illness, isolation, end of life, or grief. The project “Painting Flat Art on a Round Surface” is an opportunity for artists to join together in support of the organization and the individuals they serve. In lieu of the Brave Heart Bowl Fundraiser, the non-profit is asking artists to provide painted buoys that will hang downtown through the summer and later be auctioned off.

Pat Kehoe and Michele Friedman joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to talk about the project and a buoy painting Zoom class on Thursday evening.

The event takes place at 5 p.m. over Zoom. Email islandpainter@hotmail.com for a link.

Front runners in Sitka’s Running of the Boots, the informal foot race marking the end of the 2017 visitors seasons. This year saw 241 ports of call with ships big and small, few cancellations, and a downtown people mover (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Sitka’s visitor season ended last week and the numbers indicate a healthy season for tourism in Sitka. Between large cruise ships and boutique excursions, Sitka saw 241 port calls in total.

Director of Tourism Sherry Aitken says the city lucked out with weather too. There was only one weather cancellation – in early May – due to rough seas. “That means that we got all of the promised ships that we were going to get, and we got a couple of extra ones. Some stuff happened to other Alaskan ports that allowed us to have some bigger ships too.”

One of those bigger ships is the Celebrity Millennium, a 2,000 passenger ship bound for Unalaska that came to Sitka instead. Sitka doesn’t have a firm passenger count, but Aitken estimates between 150,000 to 155,000 berths came to Sitka. Berths represents the number of beds aboard a ship.

Aitken said her season highlight was the piloting of a downtown shuttle by a group of local businesses.

The Assembly approved $10,000 from the visitor’s enhancement fund for the 30-day project. Sitka Tribe of Alaska provided a bus, which looped every 15-minutes through downtown with three stops on Lincoln Street and another at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Pat Kehoe coordinated the local business coalition in pursuing the shuttle, designed to be a free and easy means for passengers to explore downtown. “We found that people that had difficulties walking were probably our most frequent users. They really appreciated the chance to see the town and get a feel for things while they were waiting for another to happen,” Kehoe said.

Kehoe adds that the service was used a wide variety of visitors and is compiling her findings from the pilot project into a report for the Assembly. It’s possible the service could return again next summer, as more visitors make their way to the outer edge of Baranof Island and pay Sitka a visit.

Many come to the Running of the Boots event in costume, like this bald eagle clinging to a spruce tree. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Downloadable audio.

Director Sherry Aitken talks about the summer tourist season and the work of “Visit Sitka,” the organization marketing Sitka as a destination for visitors. She talks about the success of the downtown shuttle program, organized by Pat Kehoe and a contingent of downtown businesses, the addition of 70 full-suite hotel rooms through the Aspen Hotel, and the draw of Sitka as a “boutique port” for smaller cruise line companies. Windstar Luxury Cruises plans to visit Sitka next summer.

The Convention & Visitors Committee will meet today (8-29-17) at 3 p.m. at the Visitor’s Center (104 Lake Street). Call the Sitka Chamber of Commerce at 747-8604 for more information.