Sitka Local Foods Network monthly newsletter for September 2018

Running of the Boots celebrates 24 years

It's time to dig your XtraTufs out of the closet and paint them up. The 24th annual Running of the Boots takes place on Saturday, Sept. 22, at Totem Square park, and this year the costumed fun run fundraiser benefits two Sitka nonprofits — the Sitka Local Foods Network and Youth Advocates of Sitka. Registration opens at 10:30 a.m., with the costume judging about 11 and the race starting at 11:30 a.m. Entry fees are $10 for individuals and $30 for families. In addition to the race, we plan to have our usual Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand selling produce from the St. Peter's Fellowship Farm communal garden, and the Smoothie Truck will be there, too. We'll have live music, costume contests, lots of door prizes, and more. This is part of the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce's Season's-End Celebration. For more info, click this link.

Join us for our last two farmers markets

It's nearing the end of the summer, but we still have two Sitka Farmers Market s left this season — from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1 and Sept. 15, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. These will be our sixth and seventh Sitka Farmers Markets of the season, and we've had good crowds and weather at our first three markets. Photo slideshows from our first five markets can be found by clicking on the dates — July 7, July 21, Aug. 4, Aug. 11, and Aug. 25. After this Saturday's market, we'll have markets on Aug. 25, Sept. 1, Sept. 15. We have some new vendors signed up this year, and we've expanded our Alaska Grown selection at the Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand. We also are pleased to announce we will have a fish vendor or two this year, after not having a regular fish vendor the past couple of years. Are you interested in being a vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market? The Sitka Local Foods Network has posted information about how to become a vendor on its site. We are looking for local produce vendors, home-baked bread vendors, fish vendors, home preserve vendors, and arts and crafts vendors. We even have room for food trucks. The only rule is whatever you sell has to be made in Sitka (preferred) or Alaska (required). Please RSVP for your vendor space by the Thursday before that market (we can handle the financials at the market on Saturday). To learn more about becoming a vendor and to download our rules and registration form (last page of the rules packet), click this link.

Aug. 31 is last chance for Pick.Click.Give. donations

Most of you filed your 2018 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application before the March 31 deadline. But did you know you can go back into your application and add new Pick.Click.Give. donations through Aug. 31? The Sitka Local Foods Network is one of 23 nonprofits in Sitka participating in the Pick.Click.Give. program, and we appreciate your support for our mission to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. The Pick.Click.Give program is a great way to share your PFD wealth (this year it's supposed to be $1,600) with more than 600 nonprofit organizations throughout the state. To learn more about how your donation helps the Sitka Local Foods Network, click this link.

Like local food in Sitka? Please join our board of directors

Are you enjoying the fresh local veggies at the Sitka Farmers Market this summer? Did you take one of our garden education classes this spring? Do you have an interest in getting more access to locally grown, harvested and produced food, and an interest in food security? If so, please consider joining our board of directors. We need new board members to keep offering these programs, and we'd love to have you join us. We just found out two of our current board members are leaving town this summer, so if you've ever thought about joining our board this is the time to do it. We need board members to keep things going. For more details, please click this link. This page has links to our board job descriptions and applications. Right now, we haven't set our next meeting as we work on growing food and selling it at the markets. But we will post it on our website when the date, time and location become available. Feel free to check us out. Our meetings are open to the public.