Legendary aviator Orin Seybert, perhaps best known as the founder of regional airline Peninsula Airways, died of natural causes Friday morning in Anchorage at the age of 87.
Seybert started the airline in 1955, just after graduating high school in the Southwest Alaska town of Pilot Point.
“The first year after high school, I brought an airplane to Pilot Point in Bristol Bay,” Seybert told KUCB in 1999. “I spent my whole career flying up and down the chain and Bristol Bay.”
Seybert led PenAir to become the largest regional airline in Alaska, operating more than 30 aircraft in 45 communities.
Seybert was perhaps best known in Unalaska for recognizing the amphibious Grumman Goose’s potential for operating along the steep coastlines of the Aleutian Islands, where coastal communities built below mountainous terrain pose particular difficulties for constructing runways.
“It’s a flying boat. The hull is actually a boat, as opposed to a float plane…so this thing can handle the rough water around Dutch Harbor,” Seybert said. “We have communities like Akutan, 40 miles from here, which is extremely mountainous, and they’ll never be able to build a runway there.”
Seybert is survived by six children and over 50 grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.
ADFG’s South Alaska Peninsula Salmon pre-season stakeholders meeting will happen via M$ Teams videoconference: Thursday, May 30th, 2024 at 10AM
“Annual ADFG Preseason meeting for fishermen. Video conferencing will be available at AEB offices in Sand Point, King Cove, Nelson Lagoon and False Pass. Otherwise fishermen can use the phone number to call in directly or from the harbor houses. They will need to dial the number below and enter the passcode.”
Meeting ID: 279 844 469 514
Dial-in by phone
+1 323-433-2327,,678885963# United States, Los Angeles
(833) 779-6874,,678885963# United States (Toll-free)
Phone conference ID: 678 885 963#
‘Big Wave’ Dave Dillard spoke with Mary Miner (Vice President, Community Development for Alaska Growth Capital) & Julie Toomey (Vice President of Regional Affairs for The Aleut Corporation) on KSDP about the Aleut Shareholder Marketplace Competition at Noon on Friday, April 19th, 2024.
To enter the competition & learn more, please visit: https://www.alaskagrowth.com/aleut-shareholder-marketplace/
“McKinley Alaska Growth Capital (MAGC), in partnership with The Aleut Corporation, proudly administers the Aleut Shareholder Marketplace Business Plan Competition to support vibrant Aleut communities. Open exclusively to Aleut Shareholders and descendants of Shareholders, this business plan competition improves the economic opportunities available to Shareholders by providing technical and financial support to small businesses to encourage adaptive, entrepreneurial activity in the Aleutians and across Alaska.”
Key 2024 Dates:
April 15 – Business Concept Application opens
May 22 – Business Concept Application submission deadline
August 5 – 9 – Business Boot Camp in Anchorage (travel day, 3-day Boot Camp, travel day)
November 6 – Final Business Plan submission deadline
February, date TBD – Winners announced
Aleutians East Borough School District
Regular Meeting of the School Board
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024 at 6:30PM
Meeting will be held at the District Office
Aleutians East Borough School District
SPECIAL Meeting of the School Board
Monday, April 15th, 2024 at Noon
Meeting will be held at the District Office
Peter Pan Seafood Co., the state-backed processing company that has faced dire financial troubles recently, announced Friday it was ceasing operations.
“We’re saddened to share that Peter Pan Seafoods will be halting operations at its processing plants, leading to the discontinuation of both summer and winter production cycles for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a Facebook post Friday night.
The company faced mounting troubles, including legal claims from fishermen claiming back-owed payments for unpaid deliveries of seafood.
Silver Bay Seafoods recently announced it would acquire Peter Pan’s Valdez facility, as well as operate Peter Pan’s facilities in Dillingham and Port Moller during the 2024 salmon season. It never specified, however, if the King Cove plant would be included.
“This is so sad because I [worked up in King Cove] from ‘96 through last summer,” one commenter posted. “I have good memories from King Cove and the plant, have my kids in the school for a few years.”
King Cove, a community of around 800 residents, relies on the processing facility as its main economic engine. The city already faced hardship when Peter Pan opted last minute not to open for winter’s “A” season, forcing local fishing boats to scramble for new facilities where they could deliver their catch.
“Thanks for waiting until the last possible minute before you told the community of King Cove,” another person commented. “Wouldn’t even tell the fishing fleet of King Cove face to face what was happening, we all have to find out on Facebook.”
