The 2020 Prince of Wales Island Visitor Guide made its appearance on our Island in time for the new year, thanks to the many volunteers who submitted photos, offered ideas, wrote articles, shared information, edited articles, proofed the final layouts, and answered questions - lots of questions - to help update the regular articles in the Guide. It truly does take a community to put together one of POW's most valuable tourism tools that answers visitors' questions and encourages people to come visit Prince of Wales Island, stimulating the local economy in many ways.
This year's Island Guide will be interesting for local Prince of Wales residents as well. The cultural feature shares how the different communities pass on values and traditions to the teens and children in district schools with skilled artisans as well as the younger generation with the Haida Language project in Hydaburg, taking the form of a Montessori-based early education program, called Xántsii Náay. The article on the plane crash from the Vietnam era, located out Big Salt Lake, may fill in some historical information for those newer to our island. Another article on the Salmon Label trash cans celebrates the history of early canneries on Prince of Wales Island tying in with our fish column focusing on the salmon species.
Although we cannot list all of our generous photographers and contributors in this article, Prince of Wales Island Visitor Guide certainly appreciates the time and effort not just to take the photos, but to send them to the Guide and allow their publication to portray local recreation and scenic opportunities. One of those generous photographers, Earl Jeffrey, enabled the Guide to have a new feature showing some of the beautiful sea creatures that inhabit local waters. To see the photos from your friends and family members, pick up a Guide at the Chamber office in Klawock and where they are available and share with other friends and family. The Guide will also be available for downloading from Chamber website at: https://www.princeofwalescoc.org/
Since 1995, the Prince of Wales Island Visitor Guide has been created through the teamwork of many who contribute essential parts of the whole. Many of the current features trace their origins to the efforts led by Jeannie McFarland who took the helm for several years. The 2020 Guide was organized by Christina Barlow with Wendy Hamilton putting in many hours beyond her official duties as the Chamber's office manager. "Although I have been both high school yearbook and newspaper adviser for quite a few years, organizing the Island Guide comes with characteristics all its own,"said Barlow. "I didn't have a staff that I could assign articles to research and write or give a camera to go out and take photos. I had to rely on volunteers, post on social media, and call or email anyone whom I thought might be able to contribute in the various capacities to get the job finished. I do appreciate all who helped or gave me a name, but I would like to see more involvement from the entire island in this coming year."
The Chamber is already thinking about next year's Guide. It is the custom of the Prince of Wales Island Visitor Guide to rely on photographs donated by island residents to grace its pages with the only rewards being a photo credit and satisfaction in seeing one's photo published. So, start looking for opportunities to photograph life on the island as well as outdoor activities, wildlife, landscape, and other interesting subjects to be ready to submit photos when the call goes out in late summer around August or September, 2020. We also need people to help update articles (make a few phone calls and take a few notes, which will be passed on via email or could be hard copied to the Chamber). If you like to write and want to help out, let us know by emailing the POW Chamber @ info@princeofwalescoc.org. You do not need to be a Chamber Member to volunteer to help. Check out the dedicated Island Guide booth at the Prince of Wales Trade Show on April 25, 2020, to get a clearer idea of what contribution you can make and sign up to help with a part of the Island Guide that interests you.
"This year's Island Guide is 70 pages long; we need help to keep this going. As the saying goes, many hands make light work," added Barlow.