Poster for Return of the Reds. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Food Bank)

Return of the Reds returns after several-year hiatus

The Kenai event celebrates the start of the 2023 salmon season

The 2nd Annual Return of the Reds will be held at the Kenai City Dock next week on June 3, from noon to 3 p.m.

Return of the Reds is hosted by the City of Kenai, the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank, with sponsorship by the Alaska Salmon Alliance. It’s described in promotional material as “a community event to celebrate the start of the 2023 Salmon Season.”

Lilly Murray, food bank donations and communications manager, said Wednesday that the event is “a celebration of the red salmon, and what that means for this community.” She said there will be vendors, food trucks, educational material hosted by the Kenai Watershed Forum and more.

The marquee attractions for the event are an auction of the first caught sockeye salmon of the season and a competition between three local chefs to prepare the best dish using sockeye salmon.

The food bank’s own head chef, Stephen Lamm, will be among the contestants, joined by chefs from The Catch Restaurant and The Hearth Eatery, Murray said. At 1 p.m. their dishes will be judged by a panel including City of Kenai Vice Mayor James Baisden and Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche.

Dave Chessik will, early that Saturday morning, go out and catch the sockeye salmon for the auction. Murray said it will arrive at the dock at 1:30 p.m., followed by a live auction at 2 p.m.

The food bank is the benefactor for the auction and for other proceeds, Murray said. She described the event as a start for the food banks summer programming, important especially this year as the food bank continues to see larger than average demand.

“Proceeds go directly into us feeding the community,” she said.

Murray said that the food bank is regularly seeing large numbers of people coming in for aid. Normally, she said, the winter months see greater demand, but she said that each month so far in 2023 has surpassed the number of visitors counted in the month preceding.

That greater than average need has been regularly cited by the food bank, according to previous Clarion reporting. The food bank held several special fundraisers in 2022 to address unique needs as a result of rising prices for food and gas. Murray said that Nate Berga with the Alaska Salmon Alliance approached the food bank for Return of the Reds, “to help fill the gap.”

Claire Jones, administrative assistant at the food bank, said Wednesday that Return of the Reds would “really kick off” fundraising efforts for the summer. It will be closely followed by the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank’s Spring Festival only a couple of weeks later, held at the food bank on June 16.

Though this year’s Return of the Reds is the 2nd annual, its debut was all the way back in 2019, with plans for subsequent years stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic. Murray said it was “exciting” to see the event make its return, saying that it’s the first event Kenai has had in a while that celebrates sockeye salmon specifically.

For more information about the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank, visit facebook.com/kpfoodbank.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

tease
Voznesenka School graduates 4

A commencement ceremony was held at Land’s End on Monday.

Graduates celebrate at the end of the Kenai Central High School commencement ceremony in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Fight as the generation who will stand tall’

Kenai Central High School graduates 113.

Guest speaker Donica Nash gave out candy matching each student, including this package of JOYRIDE to Gideon Pankratz, at the River City Academy graduation ceremony Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at Skyview Middle School just outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
River City Academy graduates 9

The school serves students in seventh through 12th grade and has an enrollment of about 80

Nikiski graduates view their slideshow during a commencement ceremony at Nikiski/Middle High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Monday, May 19, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘We need to change the world’

Nikiski Middle/High School graduates 31 on Monday.

State Sen. Lyman Hoffman (D-Bethel) exits the Senate Chambers after the Senate on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, adjourns until next January. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Alaska Legislature adjourns a day early in ‘smoothest ending in 20 years’ following months of budget battles

Lawmakers speed through final votes on veto override on education funding bill, budget with $1,000 PFD.

The Homer Chamber of Commerce’s float in the Fourth of July parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024, celebrates their 75th anniversary in Homer, Alaska, in the spirit of the parade’s theme, “Historical Homer.” A measure that would have increased special event fees for those looking to host gatherings in city-maintained spaces was voted down during a May 12, 2025, meeting of the Homer City Council. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Rep. Andi Story (D-Juneau), Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka), and Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer) watch the vote tally during a veto override joint session on an education bill Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Education funding boost stands as lawmakers successfully override Dunleavy veto

Three of the peninsula’s legislators voted to override the veto.

Jeff Dolifka and his children perform the ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Kenai Peninsula’s Royce and Melba Roberts Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘So proud of what we accomplished’

New Boys and Girls Clubs campus dedicated Saturday with a ribbon-cutting and donor recognition.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters about his decision to veto an education funding bill earlier this session at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. He vetoed a second such bill on Monday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Dunleavy vetoes 2nd bill increasing education funding; override vote by legislators likely Tuesday

Bill passed by 48-11 vote — eight more than needed — but same count for override not certain.

Most Read