The Petersburg Listening Project: Recent Episodes
Petersburg Public Library
The stories in our community are part of its soul. The Petersburg Listening Project seeks to keep the history of our community alive and remind us of the interwoven connections between all of us.
High School Coaches and brothers, Rick and Dino Brock, sit down with student player, Devon Guthrie, and Petersburg Indigenous Awareness Committee members, Diane Benson and Kari Petersen, to discuss the pride basketball brings to a community, the history of basketball in Southeast, and what basketball has brought to their lives.
Will Ware talks with Kari Petersen about growing up in Petersburg, being raised by his Lingít Grandparents, Billy and Marth James. He tells about traditional Lingít harvesting methods and storage of foods before refrigeration that he was taught. Will discusses the traditional structure of Lingít society and cultural protocols needed to keep the ancient culture alive today.
Ray Duguqua sits down with Molly Taiber to talk about growing up in the village of Kake in the 1930s. He tells about going to Fish Camp in Saginaw Bay with his grandparents, about Kake Day, and what it was like to leave the village to attend school in Sitka. This is a rare glimpse into a world that now only exists in memory.
In this Listening Project conversation Jonas Hallingstad, Skip Hallingstad, Colyn Lyons and Brenda Louise discuss the legacy of Amy Hallingstad.
Gloria Ohmer came to Petersburg as a young woman and has been involved with St Catherine's Catholic Church since her early days in town
Kris Norosz, the Director of Government Affairs at Icicle Seafoods, INC., sits down with Sue Paulsen to talk about how she got started in the seafood industry.
Jane Smith and Gina Esposito have worked together as archaeologists for over 20 years on the Tongass National Forest. In this Listening Project interview, they describe how they both came to Alaska and the challenges and the excitement of their work searching for the past.
Paul Bowen and his wife Neva trolled for salmon along with their daughters Nina and Nevette in their fishing boat the Chinook.
Steve Berry came to Petersburg in the early 1970s for a two week vacation and decided to stay. He started fishing and has since run charter boats, yachts for movie stars, and whale watching research boats all over the Pacific along with fishing boats and tenders in Alaska.
In this conversation Polly Lee talks with her daughter Anne Lee about her involvement and advocating for the formation of the original Alaska State Council on the Arts. Polly’s impact on the Arts not only in our community, but also in our State is impressive.
In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Sons of Norway Fedrelandet 23, a group of past officers and long-time members gather together at Petersburg ‘s Mountain View Manor to reflect upon some of their fond memories at the Sons of Norway.
Listen as Kari has a conversation with her young son Oliver to discover his take on girls and his love of Star Wars.
Retired teachers Kathy Bracken, Susan Holmes, Sally Riemer and Mel Stockton sit down during their weekly Thursday morning coffee ritual to talk about how Petersburg’s teachers have formed a lasting bond well into retirement.
Tareq Haluh and Angele McDonald met in 2008 in Petersburg. Angele was working checkout at a local grocery and Tareq was on a student visa in Petersburg, working in a cannery for the summer. They later married and now have a young daughter, Jude.
Linda Ensign talks with her mother Florence LeRoy about growing up in Canada and training as a nurse.
Dieter Klose talks with his son Dylan about growing up in Virginia and discovering climbing, Dieter’s life passion.
Karen Hofstad talks about what it was like being a woman on a fishing boat in the 1960’s, just after Alaska Statehood.
Ethelyn Lopez talks with her friend Brenda Louise about growing up in Kake in the 1930’s and 1940’s, meeting her husband and raising a family, and teaching Tlingit culture in Stedman Elementary School in Petersburg.
D.J. Roundtree speaks with her friend Heidi Lee about the Roundtree family cabin in Beecher’s Pass, built in 1927 with logs from Thomas Bay.
Danya Davis interviews Ty and Martha Cummins about the challenges and satisfaction of building their own home in Petersburg.
Colleen Nicholson talks with her friend Sally Riemer about downtown Petersburg in the 1940s.
Carli Loucks Byrer was in second grade when her family packed up and left Ceour d’Alene, Idaho to live and work at a logging camp in Rowan Bay on Kuiu Island, west of Petersburg.
Barry and Kathy Bracken talk about their lives in Alaska including Barry’s experience in the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and Kathy’s first year as a school teacher in Kake.
Kevin Kivisto talked with his mother, Irya Peterson, about her life in Michigan and Alaska and their family’s Finnish ancestry.
Carol Enge provided a home away from home for kids in her First Street house since the 1950’s.
Patty Simpson and her sister Irene Roundtree started their lives in Petersburg as Wasvicks. Five Daughters Hill in Petersburg is named after the five sisters in their family.
When Patti and Gloria went to apply for a loan to start their store “the Cache”, the banker was dubious.
Dot Otness says her favorite memories are of picnics. In this interview with her son Alan, she remembers favorite hikes and trips to the Green Rocks Homestead down Wrangell Narrows.
Arlene Otness remembers working in the old Petersburg Hospital back in the days when it was an aging two story house settling around a stump that raised the floorboards of the x-ray room. In this compelling interview with her long-time friend Roxy Lee, Arlene tells stories that are poignant, funny and inspiring.
Louis Severson reminisces about his youth with his son Greg, telling about a time in Petersburg when Norwegian was commonly spoken in town.
Tora Thynes was born in Norway and emigrated to the U.S. as a young girl, sponsored by her aunt. In this interview, she tells Heidi Lee about life in Norway during the German Occupation of WW II, and watching warships from both sides of the conflict come into the fjord near her village.
Lorraine Thompson talks about her girlhood in Petersburg, riding bikes and playing in the woods with her friends, and exploring the islands and Stikine River with her family in a small boat.
Janet Holten came in with her sons Gabe Seaman and Christian Holten to talk about her experience during the Mt. St. Helens eruption thirty years ago this May.
Janet lived in Castle Rock, sixty miles away from the mountain. During the evacuation of the area, she went up to her parents’ home on high ground, on the road to Spirit Lake.
She remembers watching the Cowlitz River overflowing with ash and mud and trees, battering the same bridge she had to cross to fetch her brother home.
Janet and her friends drove to the ridgetops to watch the steam and ash pouring out of Mt. St. Helens to the west, and tells of the excitement and uncertainty of the times. She has taken her sons back to the area, and describes how even though the area has changed dramatically, there is beauty in the return of wildflowers and herds of Elk. She brought in a beautiful vase made of volcanic ash, an example of something beautiful created from the devastation. Below are some photos of Mt. St. Helens before and then during the eruption.
Listening Project Archive
The Library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB) was established in 2007 to give teens in our community a chance to represent teens and make changes at the library.
Sarah Pawuk Holmgrain interviews her aunt Karen Dechellis about her life, starting with her childhood in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania
Oliver Hofstad and his friend and son-in-law David Holmes talk about Oliver’s life, starting with his birth in “DoyHof” south of Petersburg.
Leo Ness was born the year that the Titanic sank. In this interview with his son Jon, Leo talks about the old days in Petersburg.
Hoy Yi is from Cambodia, although he has been living here in Petersburg for over 20 years. In this compelling interview with co-worker Erik Holl, Hoy tells the dramatic story of how he survived the “Killing Fields” of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970’s. Their conversation happened to take place on the 25th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia, April 17, 1975 .
Heidi, Heather and Grace Bieber reminisce about living in remote Alaska towns before moving to Petersburg. The girls described how villagers pulled a whale up on the beach in Barrow and butchered it, and their Dad kept a piece of blubber in the freezer.
Lorry reminisces in this interview about getting his start in the longline fisheries, first with his Dad, and then on the Lualda with Ray Evens.
Dorothy Ingle was born in Petersburg, and grew up playing in the meadows at Point Agassiz where her grandparents had a homestead, and fishing with her family on the Stikine Flats.
Polly has been an artist and champion of the arts and mentor for many people throughout her life in Petersburg. In this interview she talks about her philosophy of art and the importance of art in our lives and community.
Heidi Lee speaks with her former teacher Lee Ribich about how he came to Alaska, first living in the Arctic and then moving to Petersburg with his wife Gail.
Bev Hammer and Neva Christensen talk about raising their families in the Lumber Street neighborhood during the 1950s.
Sally Norheim met Al Dwyer up on Alaska’s North Slope during the wild and woolly Alaska Pipeline days. They tell stories of what it was like to work and play under rugged conditions, and how their romance began. It is a compelling tale of the cold, the snow and the darkness and the lively social life that sprang up among the workers.
They tell a hilarious story about getting stranded in Destruction Bay in winter time when their car broke down as they weretraveling to Petersburg to introduce Al to his future mother-in-law.
Listening Project Archive
Bev Hammer interviewed Don Nelson about his life in Petersburg and he told riveting stories about what living in town was like during World War II including acompelling description of the blackouts.
Can you imagine the Main Street business windows covered with plywood, so no light would escape, and what it must have been like moving through the darkened streets of town in winter?
Don described the town’s reaction to the Pearl Harbor invasion, and the rounding up of Japanese citizens. He also told how he and Palmer Odegaard ( both age 10) were watching for enemy airplanes from the roof of the old gym, and how they got the MPs that came to guard the docks to let the boys drive their jeeps to town.
He also tells of early years in Petersburg when his grandfather arrived with Peter Buschmann in 1901 and shares some family history along with fond childhood memories. Both Bev and Don share their love of Petersburg in this delightful and informative interview.
Listening Project Archive
Neva Christensen speaks with her daughter-in-law Susan about what brought her to Petersburg and her early impressions of the town in the mid-1950’s.
Heavy snow was falling a few days before Christmas when Jessica Smith brought in her mother Jody Wilson and grandparents to talk about their Christmas memories.
Angie is one of those calm and capable Alaskan women who can track a moose, shoot it, and then use every scrap to feed her family.
Brian and Marjorie Paust have committed their lives to serving Alaskan communities as educators since the early 1970s.