SITKA — Walking down a line of parade floats and bedecked trucks, a steady drizzle didn’t wash the grin from Duane Vilandre’s face, nor did it dampen the enthusiasm of thousands of people here who attended the 67th annual celebrations of Alaska Day.
It’s a holiday celebrated across the state — school is canceled and government offices are closed — but no other place in Alaska celebrates like Sitka, which hosts a week of events culminating in a parade and re-enactment of the 1867 ceremony that officially transferred Alaska from Russian authority to American hands. (Alaska Natives weren’t considered at that original event.)
In Sitka, the day might be labeled “Alaska,” but it’s a local celebration.
Take Vilandre, who for the past several years has taken the lead in organizing the parade. It’s a volunteer job he took over from his father and others.
“More people want to get involved all the time,” said Vilandre, who works for Alaska Airlines. “It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”
Doug Baine was one of the people helping Vilandre maneuver parade entries into position. He works at the city scrapyard and said Alaska Day in Sitka brings people together.
“Ex-Sitkans actually come home for Alaska Day,” he said. “A lot of people fly home for it. It’s kind of a homecoming.”
Winter in Alaska’s coastal communities is locals’ season. The tourists are gone, and so are the snowbird seasonal residents.
“Besides the military and stuff, there’s no more cruise ships. It’s just us,” Baine said.
That means the people who celebrate Alaska Day in Sitka are more likely to be the people you see in the grocery store.
Harvey Brandt is one of the founders of the 9th Infantry, which helps host the re-enactment of the transfer ceremony every year. Brandt, a former history professor and former park ranger, wears a Civil War-era sergeant’s uniform in the re-enactment and parade. He’s been doing it for years.
“Maybe it’s insanity; I don’t know,” he said.
He and his wife live in Sitka and enjoy the festivities.
“We live here — we’re not coming back (just to do it),” he said.
Anne Lankenau has portrayed a Russian sailor in the re-enactment for several years. She said that for her, “it’s about including everybody in the story,” even the Russians, who several re-enactors referred to as “the bad guys” of the transfer.
Ron Conklin, who has donned a Russian officer’s uniform for the past 17 Alaska Days, disagrees with that assessment to some degree.
“If we don’t show all sides, it’s going to be forgotten,” he said.
Forgetfulness was on the mind of Paulette Moreno and Andrew Roberts. During the recreation of the transfer ceremony, Roberts held a small sign thanking the Sitka Tlingit for their stewardship of Tlingit country.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, gave brief remarks at the transfer re-enactment and reminded attendees of the prominence Alaska Natives deserve in the state’s history.
Moreno said she was disappointed in the re-enactment because it wasn’t a “true representation of this place.”
Neither the original transfer ceremony nor this year’s re-enactment prominently mentioned the area’s original inhabitants.
“They didn’t agree to this,” Moreno said of the transfer.
For most celebrating the holiday, concerns like Moreno’s — if present — didn’t stop them from enjoying the festivities.
Along the parade route, Ally Witherspoon held her 15-month-old daughter Vera.
Witherspoon moved to Sitka a few years ago with her husband, who works with the Forest Service, and she said she’s still amazed by Sitka’s enthusiasm for Alaska Day and local events in general.
“There’s just so much more enthusiasm for parades,” she said of the town.
Why? Local spirit.
“Everyone just loves living here so much,” she said.
Watching from the windows of a local thrift shop, Carin Adickes said there’s no comparison between Sitka and Juneau when it comes to Alaska Day.
“I lived in Juneau for a while, and I was just appalled at the lack of festivities,” she said.
Sitka has a better community spirit, she said, and that shows up in events like the Alaska Day festivities.
“That’s why I love living in Sitka. I liked living in Juneau, but (Sitka is) just a little smaller, a little friendlier,” she said.
The Sitka High School marching band showed various degrees of enthusiasm in a driving rain during Sitka’s Alaska Day parade on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016.
Seven-year-old Breezy Smathers embraces the Alaska State Troopers’ mascot during Sitka’s Alaska Day parade on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016.
One of Sitka’s Alaska Day Keystone Kops blows bubbles from the bed of a pickup truck during Sitka’s Alaska Day parade on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016.
Kids hold open plastic grocery bags to catch candy hurled from parade floats during Sitka’s Alaska Day parade on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016.
