Turn back the pages — August 25, 1988
Compiled by Julie Rosier
Keeran’s 18 lb. 5 oz. silver wins 33rd salmon derby — “I never thought it would hold that whole week!” said first place winner Carolyn Keeran. The registered nurse from Anderson, Calif. was awarded $5,000 in the 33rd Annual Silver Salmon Derby for her silver hooked on the second day of the nine-day event. Weighing in at 18 lbs. 5 oz ., none of the estimated 4,700 salmon caught could topple the big fish from its number one position. Fishing on the charter Catch A Lot with her husband Bill, daughter Janice, and brother Butch Wentz, Carolyn said two salmon were fought and won before she landed hers. The winning fish was hooked near the buoy off shore between the south pavilion on 7th Ave. and the Founder’s Monument. “It never put up a fight,” reported the grandmother of 13.” It came right to the boat.” And to her, Carolyn said it didn’t look any bigger than the other silvers already in it. The silver wasn’t merely another fish to skipper Roy Emerson. “Roy just knew,” said Janice as she patiently waited in the rain along with a crowd from the awards ceremony to begin. “He took one look at it and said, ‘We’re going in.’ ” Emerson had guessed the weight at 18 pounds. As skipper of the boat catching the heaviest fish and displaying a 1988 Courtesy Marine Examination (CME) decal, Emerson took home a $500 savings bond from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
KFNP celebrating Parks birthday — Kenai Fjords National Park will open its doors Saturday, Aug. 27 for a special National Park Service birthday celebration. Festivities at the Visitor Center, 1212 Fourth Avenue, Seward, begin at 1 p.m. and continue until 7 p.m. August marks the 72nd birthday of the National Park Service. Parks across the country will be celebrating with special events. Kenai Fjords will begin the day by dedicating the new comfort station located in the back of the visitor center at 1 p.m. Seward Mayor Harry Gieseler and Park Service Regional Director, Boyd Evison, will be on hand for the shore ceremony. At 1:30 p.m. Mr. Evison will present awards to winners of the park logo contest. From 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. an open house will be held. Refreshments, door prizes and special films will be shown throughout. Prizes for the logo contest award winners have been donated by Kenai Fjords Tours, Inc. Quest and Mariah Charters, Seward Marine Ventures, Inc ., and the park. Door prizes are being donated by Alaska Natural History Association. Le Barn Appetit is providing ingredients for the special birthday cakes that will be served.
City Council approved 20 year SMIC lease to Seward Ship’s Chandlery — The Seward City Council Monday night approved, by unanimous vote, a lease with James Pruitt of Seward Ship’s Chandlery for nearly two acres of the Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC). Under terms of the 57-page document, Mr. Pruitt agreed to a 20 year lease with no rent payments until Sept. 30, 1990. He agreed to have in place by Aug. 31, 1989 a ship lift cradle capable of loading and transferring 200-foot vessels and 300-foot barges. He has until August 1991 to construct a permanent covered building capable of enclosing vessels of 300 feet in length. Mr. Pruitt will offer a comprehensive marine repair facility and also construction and operation of a small metal foundry and small hot dip galvanizing plant. This agreement culminates a long and often frustrating effort by the city to secure a tenant for the Seward Marine Industrial Center which began in 1980. Should it become necessary for Mr. Pruitt to expand his operations, the lease gives him the right of first refusal for the area directly to the north of his leased area.
Florida man chosen for Seward city manager — Max Royle, Seward’s new city manager, is variously described as diligent, hard working, quiet, competent, unflappable, adaptable, “a quick study”, and “well liked by everyone”. Those are the words of former employees, city officials, townspeople, and even four members of the news media covering St. Petersburg Beach, Florida, Royle’s home for the past 11 years. When the Seward City Council narrowed down the names its second effort this year to hire a city manager, it was decided the finalists would be given some in-house scrutiny. An earlier effort resulted in a candidate who never showed up for the job. So, councilmembers Leslie Simutis and Bev Dunham made dozens of phone calls to the tourist-oriented Florida city to learn more about Mr. Royle. They couldn’t find anyone who disliked him, even in the news media. “Which is damned strange,” one reporter who had covered Mr. Royle for eight years, joked.
Pinks have peaked in PWS — Prince William Sound seiners and gillnetters have been fishing seven days a week at the Esther secondary terminal and the Port San Juan subdistrict since Wednesday, Aug. 10 but their bountiful of hatchery reared salmon may soon come to an end. Dan Warren of the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp. reports the pink run at the Esther and Armin F. Koernig hatcheries under their operation peaked between Aug. 17 and 19. The peak is determined by the increasing percentage of females returning to the facilities and it is now over 60 percent. Mr. Warren expects the run will be 90 percent complete by the end of the week. Pinks have been scarce because of a poor wildstock return in PWS and fishermen on the grounds report the price rose briefly to a high of $1.05 per pound. Last year the price settled at $.42 a pound. Seiners were also granted a 12-hour opening on Aug. 19 at Port Fidalgo subdistrict for the harvest of chum salmon. A spokesperson for the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game said they were unable to justify the expansion of the seine harvest areas due to continuing corner of interception of wildstock pink salmon needed for escapement throughout PWS. No opening is expected at the Cannery Creek hatchery where Mr. Warren says, “The run is a failure.” A recent addition to the PWSAC family, the pinks returning now hatched under the state’s operation amount to 73,000.