Christmas at Safe Harbor Church

Margo, Edna, Berkie and Bea decorating the church for Christmas

The Church's annual Ladies Cookie Exchange party was attended by women from both the Trident community and Akutan Village. Each woman brought two dozen cookies for the exchange as well as a treat to share.


A successful swap at the White Elephant Gift Exchange which is a tradition at the Cookie Exchange Party.

Christmas Caroling in the village as well as in the Trident Bunk Houses

Following the Christmas Caroling we gathered in the parsonage for refreshments and fellowship.


The Akutan School held it's Christmas Program on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and we were honored to be invited. This is the entire school population, Kindergarten through 12th grade. Margo has had the opportunity to volunteer at the school reading with the kids and helping with a quilting project they are doing for a fund raiser.

Joe, Gary and Mike carving turkeys and hams for our Community Christmas Eve Dinner. There were around 60 people from Trident and Akutan Village in attendance.

The dinner was served buffet style in the gym.


The Christmas Eve Candlelight Service followed the dinner. Bea Jackson led the 20 voice choir as they presented the Christmas story with songs and Scripture reading.


Pastor Gary leading the congregation in a responsive reading



Gary organized an indoor soccer tournament for Christmas Day for the entertainment of the Trident workers who had the day off. There were about 20 who participated on four teams.

"Team Sudan" the first place team won gift certificates to the Trident Store.

All in a Day's Work

We enjoyed touring the Trident plant to observe their cod processing as well as King Crab processing. These pictures were taken on two different days considering the same facility is used for both processes. It was very interesting and we enjoyed seeing several workers whom we have recently met and begun friendships.

These workers on the line are sorting cod fillets according to size and packing them for freezing.


Parasites are removed by viewing the fillets on a lighted surface where they can be detected easily. We were glad to see how thoroughly that piece is accomplished!

Cod roe being prepared for a Japanese market. Apparently this is a delicacy in some parts of the world. There is also a market for stomachs and heads. Almost nothing is wasted.

We were invited to tour the King Crab fishing boat that was off-loading into the processing plant. This boat was loaded with over a million pounds of crab.

These workers are emptying the last of the catch from the bottom of the hold. The huge basket opens at the bottom and drops the crab onto a conveyor belt entering the processing plant.

The line on the right is sorting and cleaning the crab and the guys on the left are steaming them in large baskets and preparing them for quick freezing and shipping.

I wanted you to see how we boarded the Cargo Ship, Eastern Wind when we sailed from Dutch Harbor to Akutan on November 20. I thought this basket was just for the cargo and our baggage and I was surprised when they wanted me to get in. I guess I thought there would be a ramp or stairs or something. It was as much fun as a Disneyland ride!

The crew off-loaded us the same way when we docked in Akutan.