A flowery tribute for people of the sea during annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names

Five new names to be added this summer to the 274 also read aloud during 36th annual gathering at Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial

Nels Chew, 3, center, throws a flower into the sea as his aunt, Micaela Bauer, sister Eira Chew, 6, and cousin Koa Daniels, 7, watch during the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial on Saturday, May 2, 2026. At right, Christina Apathy reads the 274 names currently on the wall after announcing the names of five additional people who will be added this year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

As a list of 274 names was read aloud, sisters Micaela and Elizabeth Bauer brought their four children to a railing above the waterfront, all carrying flowers except for a year-old infant. Among the names read was the sisters’ father, Bruce J. Bauer, plus other extended family members and friends.

In turn, each threw their flower into the sea below during the couple of minutes they spent at the rail in quiet reflection.

They were among the more than 100 people gathering Saturday morning at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial for the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names. The ceremony on the first Saturday each May blesses the vessels in a procession, and honors people lost at sea and others involved in the fishing industry whose names are engraved on the memorial.

People aboard the Trinity drop flowers into the sea as the vessel passes by the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial during the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

Micaela Bauer said she’s been coming to the ceremonies since they started because long ago two of her uncles were lost at sea.

"It's respect, appreciation, sad," she said when asked what she’s thinking while standing at the waterfront. "I was thinking about it earlier and how everyone has (satellite) phones, but when we were kids we wouldn't hear from our dad for weeks until he went into Pelican or Elfin Cove and could call on a pay phone."

Elizabeth Bauer said the ceremony offers camaraderie among others during what can be a difficult occasion.

"It also feels kind of supportive because we have family on the walls, and you're looking at all these other people that have friends and family that are on the wall, and you're here to bless the other people that are going out that are still here, and that feels supporting," she said.

An invocation by local Pastor Tari Stage-Harvey to open the event was followed by her blessing each of the vessels — offered to the crowd via a microphone and to mariners via VHF Channel 10 — circling through the harbor beneath where the City of Juneau Pipe Band performed bagpipes on a water-level pier.

The first vessel to cast off was the Sentinel, with those aboard dropping a wreath into the sea, and the people aboard several subsequent vessels dropping flowers, releasing balloons and offering other memorial tributes as they circled through during the blessing that went on for about 10 minutes.

A vessel passes by the City of Juneau Pipe Band during the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial on Saturday, May 2, 2026.

Afterward the Reading of Names began with five new names printed on a laminated sheet of paper placed along the memorial, representing the people will be added this summer to the names already engraved on a semi-circular wall. The new names are Tad J. Fujioka, Joseph "Tim" Whiting Jr., Earl Steven Way, Alexander Laiti and Clarence "Butch" Laiti.

"Each person had their own story, their own conclusion, and a number of years in which to make the world a little better for having been here," Christina Apathy, a local teacher who performed this year’s reading. "Some had many years for this, some far too few. But as with every name on this wall we know each of them did make the world a little better because each was loved enough that someone saw to it that their names would be carved in stone so that we may all remember them."

Apathy then spent 13 minutes reading the 274 names already inscribed on the wall along with the five new ones while the City of Juneau Pipe Band played in the backdrop.

Melissa Museth touches the name her father, Henry "Skip" Museth, on the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial during the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

After the reading, Melissa Museth approached the memorial wall to touch and reflect on three names: her parents Henry "Skip" Museth and Jerene "Jeri" Museth, and mother’s second husband Stanley Reddekopp. Melissa Museth, a member of the Fisherman Memorial’s board, also ensured people not at the ceremony could see it by streaming it live on the memorial’s Facebook page.

Accompanying Melissa Museth were seven other family members, each with their own memories of loved ones who — like a great many other people on the memorial wall — either had their ashes scattered or otherwise are now eternally at sea.

"This is the only place where they have a grave," she said.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.

Pastor Tari Stage-Harvey presides over the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

People greet arriving vessels during the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)