Longtime resident Ingeborg Olsson, the mother of Yngve and Arne Olsson, died Saturday, April 16 in Sequim, Wash. A full obituary will appear next week.
Emmalee Grace Blilie-Simonsen was born Friday, April 15 at 2:02 a.m. Emmalee’s parents are Amelia Blilie of Haines and Kevin Simonsen of Salem, Ore. Emmalee weighed 6 lbs., 14 ozs. and measured 20 inches long. She’s “beyond perfect,” according to her mom. Amelia’s mother, Mery Blilie, was in Juneau for the birth along with Amelia’s sister Hannah Blilie and her aunt Shauna McLain. Amelia and Emmalee are home in Haines where Jim Blilie met his first grandchild. Carol and Roy Lawrence were delighted to meet their great-grandbaby and are happy to have her close by for plenty of visits and spoiling.
Lily Jo Ramsey made her arrival into the world on Sunday, April 17 at 11:53 a.m. in Juneau. Lily weighed 7 lbs., 4 ozs. and measured 19 inches long. Lily’s parents are Mandy and Scott Ramsey. Friend Courtney Culbeck was able to attend the birth, and marveled at Mandy’s positive energy during labor and Mandy and Scott’s natural ease as new parents.
Four Haines student council representatives traveled to Cordova for the spring assembly of the Alaska Association of Student Governments. In attendance were Royal Henderson, student body president; Patrick Henderson, sophomore class president; Chris Turner, freshman class president; and Zeke Frank, freshman class vice-president. Rene and Rick Martin accompanied them. Royal was elected to the executive board to represent Region V. The Haines participants campaigned as a team on Royal’s behalf. Patrick lobbied key schools and Royal gave a speech. Royal came out on top in the four-person race and was sworn in during closing ceremonies. As an executive board member, Royal will attend monthly meetings via teleconference, and travel to two meetings each year of his two-year term. Haines was also instrumental in quashing the resurrection of a resolution that would have given larger schools more voting power when electing board members.
Don and Dottie Poling enjoyed a week of youthful energy in their household while Dottie’s granddaughters, Izabella and Korbyn Powers, were visiting from Juneau. They had fun playing Wii games together and exploring their family’s lineage.
The annual spring bridge tournament in Haines attracted 25 pairs of players over the weekend. Teams played in six events over three days. About two-thirds of the participants traveled from Juneau and Whitehorse. Partners Roger Schnabel and Fred Shields won the tournament with the most overall points won. In third place was Linda Johnson, from Juneau. Southeast Unit President Bob Lix was fourth and tournament Chair Sally Lix was fifth. Sally and Ardy Miller made sure the players were well fed with snacks during the day, including smoked salmon donated by bridge player Gregg Bigsby, who was in Germany. Sally and Ardy organized a pizza dinner Saturday with pies from local restaurants. Jim Wilson whipped up his famous Caesar salad.
The American Legion Auxiliary is selling Mother’s Day raffle tickets to raise money for its scholarship program. Prizes include a $200 gift certificate to a local nursery, dinner for two, an afghan made by Nellie Dale and salon services by Jackie Swift. The drawing is May 8.
Career and technical education teacher Ed Hays led 14 students on a tour of Kensington mine last week. Accompanied by teachers Mark Fontenot and Patty Brown, and chaperones Glen Jacobson and Becky Hinkle, the group spent Thursday touring the mine’s mill and underground facilities. A highlight for the group was seeing 2010 Haines High grad Easton Hagwood driving a dump truck loaded with ore. Seniors Tyler Thomas and Nathan Piper were encouraged to apply for positions following graduation. Ed had previously visited Kensington for a week last summer as part of an externship and organized a panel discussion last month with local mine employees, including Mary Stickler and Gary Hinkle from Kensington, and Dave Gross from Greens Creek mine. More than two-dozen students attended the panel during career day. Ed also had students research Kensington on the Internet before their trip. They each brought home a small vial of concentrated ore from the mine. The mine produces about 20 tons of it per day.
The Haines public library celebrated National Library week with the annual meeting of the Friends of the Haines Borough Public Library. New board members include Rosalie Loewen, Fran Tuenge and Denise Richards. Following the business meeting, Ron Horn shared slides of his favorite images including one of a hummingbird so clear, you could see a fine strand of spider web the bird used to build her nest. The Friends are holding their annual membership drive. To join, stop by the library or go online to www.haineslibrary.org where you can join via PayPal.