The library is collecting cards of remembrance for Ellen Borders, who died unexpectedly Thursday, March 24. Friends and library patrons can stop by to add their stories and thoughts. The cards will be strung into a prayer flag for Ellen’s memorial April 9.
Sure signs of spring are popping up all over town. Warm temperatures and long days are drawing out local bruins. Jane Pascoe saw fresh bear tracks and scat during a walk on Lilly Lake Road this week. Northbound ferries are full of snowbirds including Norman Hughes, who landed in Haines Monday with his Volkswagen bus loaded down with aloha supplies for his annual birthday party. Norm visited family in Seattle before heading out to the island of Maui, where he spent time with his mom, Colleen Hughes, and dedicated his days to surfing and Bikram yoga. Norm celebrated his birthday on the ferry, but is planning his annual bash at the Fireweed Restaurant for Sunday, April 10. “Everyone gets lei’d,” Norm said.
Dozens of Haines families traveled to Juneau for spring break week to take advantage of sunny ski conditions and attend the middle school basketball tournament. Gable Sage celebrated his ninth birthday on the ski hill along with friends Dylan Chapell, Marirose Evenden and Kadin Doddridge. He had fun skiing with former classmate Kylie Fairbanks, who now lives in Juneau.
The Henderson-Fontenot family explored the Oregon coast for spring break. Lenise Henderson-Fontenot, Mark Fontenot, Royal and Patrick Henderson and Holden Fontenot traveled the coast in a rented RV and met up with Mira, Randy, Correy and Dana Ericksen for a dune hike and pizza party in Florence, Ore. Correy hopes to spend the summer in Haines, arriving in early June.
Members of the Haines Volunteer Fire Department drove a fire truck out to the ferry terminal Friday to greet Lyle and Lauran Huff as they arrived home in Haines. Lyle and Lauran left Haines in late September when Lyle was suffering complications from pancreatitis. He was transferred to care in Seattle and stayed through the winter for gallbladder removal surgery. Lyle is feeling strong and is happy to be home. He is already working in his yard and walking in the neighborhood with Lauran. He’s on a new diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat. Happily, wild game and seafood are still part of the menu. Son Kelly Huff helped look after his parents’ house while they were away. Kelly and partner Rene Boone and son Rowan have since moved to Fairbanks where he works as a truck driver for Big State Logistics and Rene plans to enroll in college courses through University of Alaska.
Joanne Waterman rode the ferry north with her niece, Natalie Withers, who reports to Fort Richardson in April. Natalie will spend the week with her aunt before leaving for Southcentral.
Haines clients are less shaggy now that hair stylist Maggie Stern is home from a winter visit to family in Wisconsin. Partner Sean Bryant joined Maggie for part of the winter and Maggie caught up with Michelle Drucker and Steve Williams, who live in Madison. Maggie came home sporting feathered hair extensions, soon to be all the rage.
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association operations manager Lon Garrison is president-elect of the Alaska Association of School Boards. Lon worked for NSRAA in Haines from 1988 to 1994 and chaired the Haines Borough Planning Commission. He currently serves on the Sitka School Board.
Haines Brewing Company is featured in the spring edition of TAPS: The Beer Magazine. Published quarterly, the magazine is widely distributed in Canada and the U.S. The feature tells the story of Paul Wheeler and Jeanne Kitayama, who opened Haines Brewing Company in 1999 in Dalton City using brewing tanks purchased from Midwest dairy farms, and highlights the “real Alaska” found in Haines. The article points readers to the 2011 beer festival, which last year topped 900 revelers, and is scheduled for May 27-28 this year.