JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Warm sunshine bathed the droves gathered at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial for the Blessing of the Fleet and dedication of new names enshrined. The event is both somber and hopeful, as those lost are remembered and those still on the water are offered blessings.
Carl Brodersen, a board member for the memorial, saw two more family names added to the wall this year on May 3. Brodersen’s grandparents’ names, John and Elizabeth Clauson, were engraved into the same memorial where his parents names are etched.
Brodersen expressed feeling mixed emotions, but spoke to the importance of the memorial overall.
“Everyone whose name is engraved is honored for facing the risks of the sea to be able to support their families, but each name with a star next to it deserves particular recognition, because those are the people who were lost at sea, who gave everything feeding their families,” Brodersen said. “The wall is extremely important because of how many stars are on it, because so often, a star means no body was ever recovered. For their families, the wall is the only grave site they have at which to mourn those who, in so many ways, died for them.”
Frank Glass and Karen Jordan Glass saw their son’s name added to the memorial this year. Daniel Glass came from generations of fishermen, his mother said. His parents came to Juneau in 1946, right after World War II, and bought a fishing boat that became their way of life. Daniel fished in the summers with his brother out of Sitka.
Daniel’s name being added to the memorial tells a story not only of family, but of community. Following his sudden death, people who had been close to him wanted to keep his memory alive.
“I wanted to say thank you for the people who did it,” Karen Glass said. “Frank and I had nothing to do with it. When he died it was sudden.”
Jan Konitz and Margie Ramos, the mothers of two of Daniel’s close friends, took on the application process.
“(They) did it all themselves and got all the contributions,” Karen Glass said. “It was very moving and wonderful that they did that.”
It was a hard day for the Glasses, thinking about the son they lost so suddenly in 2013, but having his name added to the memorial was meaningful.
“It was just very moving and fitting for Daniel’s name to be there,” Karen Glass said. “I think about fishing, and Daniel being memorialized here at the Fishermen’s Memorial, with the sea, the ocean and the boats going by and everything.”
Karen Glass recalled how much her son had loved being on the water.
“On a day like this, as you look out onto the ocean, you question why you aren’t out there already,” she read from a photo of a Sitka Sunrise that Daniel had written on. “Any time he returned to shore, there was a little sorrow,” she said. “So much uncertainty about rekindling that romance.”
But the call to the ocean is strong in Alaska, with Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell speaking about the contributions of fishermen and women make.
“We have several Alaskan communities that are the top fishing ports in the nation, either in tonnage or in value,” Treadwell said. “One ship that I helped launch last year believes that in a single given year they will collect, and the 12 fishermen aboard, will harvest 30-plus-million meals. We do a lot to feed the world here in Alaska.”
He suggested that, in addition for the fleet blessed that day, that people pray for the approximately 50,000 fishermen and processors in the state.
The blessing of the fleet and invocation were given by Rev. Gordon Blue, rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity. Before coming to the ministry, he was at one point a commercial fisherman himself.
The presentation of colors was conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Color Guard. The pledge of Allegiance was led by Girl Scout Troop 4018 co-leaders Melissa Loken and Erin Dwyer. The Alaska Youth Choir, led by Missouri Smyth, and the City of Juneau Pipe Band provided music.
After the Blessing of the Fleet and Dedication of Names, a community reception was held at the Twisted Fish courtesy of Reecia Wilson. The flowers and wreath, placed by the F/V Dundas, captained by Ted Merrell III, were donated by Tisa and Rob Becker.
Though many mourned those who had been lost, placing flowers beneath engraved names on the wall or throwing them out into the channel, there was still a sense of hopefulness as people waved to the circling ships and Rev. Blue prayed “that this will be, truly, a season of increase.”
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, https://www.juneauempire.com
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