FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Raptor Center Director Leaving at Season's End
Alaska Raptor Center Executive Director Debbie Reeder provides a perch for one of the center’s newest resident owls. Reeder has announced her retirement after 13 years at the helm of the bird rehabilitation center that is also one of the most popular tourist attractions in Sitka. (Sentinel Photo)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
After 13 years working for the Alaska Raptor Center, Debbie Reeder is stepping down as executive director at the end of this year’s visitor season.
Reeder said it was a difficult decision, and one she’s been thinking about over the past year.
“It’s, when is the right time for me, when is the right time for the organization,” she said. “It’s time for me to make a change, and it’s time for the organization to make a change. It’s good for an organization to bring in fresh new energy every so often.”
The Alaska Raptor Center is one of the biggest single visitor attractions in Sitka, drawing up to 50,000 visitors in a recent year.
Reeder started out at the raptor center as operations manager in 2002 before moving on to the top job a few years later. Board members say her contributions include securing funding and permits for several projects and expansions, starting the endowment fund, and managing the construction of the new mew building, with a second in the works.
Board members said she also oversaw a massive clean-up and repair project in 2007, when a water main burst, dumping 100,000 gallons of water into the auditorium. Most recently, Reeder spearheaded the partnership with Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, with the Alaska Raptor Center now managing the Ketchikan-based facility’s raptor enclosure.
Board members are sorry to see her go.
“We’re grateful for Debbie’s leadership and commitment to the center, donors, staff and above all, our feathered friends,” board chair Paula Scott said.
Reeder said it was a natural step when she went from operations manager to executive director, after filling in at the executive director level several times. She said her passion for the work grew over the years.
“I didn’t have a background in the sciences, but I’ve been in Alaska for a very long time,” she said. “When I first came into this job I was, like, ‘birds are birds,’ I would hear them making noise in the spring ... I didn’t take much more notice than that.”
But after some time, she saw how the “patients” at the center had their own personalities, and her interest grew. She sits today with a little pygmy owl in her office, as part of the training for “Petey” to become an education bird for the center.
“He’s learning how people come and go,” Reeder said.
Originally from Tacoma, Wash., Reeder attended high school in Pelican. After moving to Sitka in 1978, she and her husband Fred ran the laundromat Duds-n-Suds. They raised their three children in Sitka, and all of them now work in maritime fields.
Debbie Reeder said she plans to stay busy after leaving her post at the raptor center, and spend a little more time in sunny climes.
The raptor center was established in 1980, and today provides medical treatment for 100 to 200 injured bald eagles and other birds each year. The center currently has seven full-time staff members, and eight to 12 additional staff during the visitor season.
ARC has begun to select Reeder’s successor. A job description and directions on how to apply can be found on the center’s website at www.alaskaraptor.org.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....