State lawmakers to be welcomed with local goodies

Juneau's Deputy City Clerk Beth McEwen stuffs gift baskets that will be given out to state lawmakers at the 30th annual Legislative Welcome Reception at Centennial Hall. (Photo by Kevin Reagan/KTOO)
Juneau’s Deputy City Clerk Beth McEwen stuffs gift baskets that will be given out to state lawmakers at the 30th annual Legislative Welcome Reception at Centennial Hall. (Photo by Kevin Reagan/KTOO)

Juneau residents can meet the 60 members of the 29th Alaska Legislature Thursday at the annual Legislative Welcome Reception at Centennial Hall.

Beth McEwen, deputy clerk for the City and Borough of Juneau and an organizer of the free event, says the welcome reception has grown over its 30 years. Even though this year the state faces an estimated $3.5 billion deficit, McEwen says there’s still a lot to be excited about.

“We have a lot of construction that’s been going on and will be going on in the near future, so this is just a little way of kind highlighting the fact that we are building for a brighter future,” McEwen says.

This year’s reception focuses on various state-funded construction projects in Juneau, such as the new State Library, Archives and Museum building and Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Walter Soboleff Center.

To illustrate the construction theme, yellow Tonka Trucks will serve as table centerpieces at the reception, courtesy of some younger residents.

“Even the kids of Juneau have donated their toys for the cause — loaned them, not donated them — they’re getting them back,” McEwen says. “But we’ve had some great outpouring of community support in just pooling everything together to make it happen.”

More than 60 local businesses donated items such as shot glasses, snow scrapers, bags of ground coffee and sockeye salmon. The items will be stuffed into gift baskets, one for each lawmaker. The gifts are meant symbolize the state’s cultural diversity.

McEwen estimates about 1,500 Juneau residents will be attending the reception. The event offers a rare chance for lawmakers to casually meet and greet with each other and local residents outside the Capitol building. The reception begins at 5:00 p.m. in Centennial Hall and will end just before Gov. Bill Walker is scheduled to deliver his State of the Budget address at 7:00 p.m.

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