Kinley Marie Bentz was born Thursday, May 5 to Tennie and Josh Bentz. Kinley weighed 8 lbs., 2 ozs., and measured 21 inches long. Tennie’s mom, Beverly Tallman, was with Josh and Tennie for the birth. Tennie’s dad, Dale Tallman, was right outside with Tennie’s sister Emily. Josh’s parents, Rob and Mary Bentz, arrived at the hospital with big sister Taiya soon after Kinley’s arrival. Beverly will come back with the family to Haines this week, and plans to stay for three weeks.
Darlene Bolick and daughters Nancy Schnabel and Susan Weerasinghe traveled to Oregon with Susan’s family, husband Nishan and sons Jacob and Alex, to catch up with old friends and explore the coast. Nancy and Susan enjoyed a reunion with friends from their church youth group and visited friends in Portland. They took a road trip to Seaside, Ore. where the boys enjoyed building sand castles and kite flying. They took an Amtrak train to Seattle where Susan, Nishan and the boys visited with Nishan’s family, parents Kumar and Shirin Weerasinghe and sister Shamane Weerasinghe. Nancy and Darlene had fun discovering the shops and restaurants of downtown Seattle.
The April 3rd edition of Trade-A-Plane magazine featured a cover photo of pilot Paul Swanstrom flying his Bush Hawk over the Chilkat Mountain Range. The photo was taken by Chip Porter from the passenger seat of Ken Seright’s Legend Cub.
The eighth birthday of the Tlingit Park Playground is May 19. Kids and parents are invited to a celebration at 3:30 p.m. Parent volunteers will provide cupcakes. The Friends of Tlingit Park are looking for new members to help with playground maintenance. If you have a couple of hours to donate, call 766-3204. “It’s hard to believe it’s been eight years since our community built this wonderful playground,” says Leslie Evenden. “I’m happy to see that it’s still so popular.”
The Ahmuty family has grown to three generations in Haines for the summer. Kaci Ahmuty’s parents, Gayle “Gigi” and K.C. “Papa K” Keffer, are in Haines until September. They drove up from their home in southeast Wyoming and easily fell in with the rhythm of the family. Papa K gave his daughter a loving Mother’s Day gift; he promised to do the dishes during his entire stay.
Parents showed their gratitude for teachers and school staff during Teacher Appreciation Week. Second grade parent Stacey Gala organized a feast of treats for teachers and staff on Friday. Lisa Cone brought smoked salmon and a pile of almond chocolate bars to add to the fresh fruit and homemade muffins from other parents.
Although participation was strong, Takshanuk Watershed Council’s fifth annual bird-a-thon count was down from previous years. Individuals and businesses competed for the most species identified within a 24-hour period. In total, 53 different species were identified, down from about 70 in previous years. Alaska Nature Tours won the business division with 36 species identified. Junior division winner Emma Glada identified 26 species and organizer Pam Randles took the prize for adults with 38 species. This year’s bird count was a fundraiser to support TWC’s effort to launch a bird observatory in Haines. The program would trap, identify and band songbirds in an effort to differentiate species from the Asian and Pacific flyways. Pam and Mario Benassi spent a week apprenticing at the Albert Creek Observatory in the Yukon Territory recently. Both aspire to gain qualifications to lead a banding program in the Chilkat Valley.
Participants from Girls on the Run pitched in during the community clean up by patrolling the skate park Friday. Marirose Evenden, Gabrielle St. Clair, Ariana Davis, Marissa Haddock and their coachLeslie Evendengathered garbage and swept out a winter’s worth of debris. The girls also ran a practice 5k in preparation for their May 21 fun run. Alumni of the Girls on the Run program are encouraged to join the celebration run.
Jane Pascoe planned an array of adventures for the visit of her sister, Nuala Williams, from Sydney, Australia. Nuala joined Jane and Tom Morphet for the celebration of their 10th wedding anniversary with a lavish dinner of white king salmon and king crab legs in Juneau. The trio headed up to Skagway where they rode the White Pass railway and enjoyed a new Indian restaurant. They also took a Glacier Bay flightseeing tour, circling Mount Fairweather and landing on the Katzehin flats. They floated the Chilkat River with a guide-training tour and plan whale-watching and a tour of Tracy Arm back in Juneau. This is Nuala’s first visit to Alaska.
The Southeast Alaska State Fair’s annual membership drive culminated in a sunny evening at the newly renovated Harriett Hall for Spring Fling. Harriett Jurgeleit, for whom the hall is named, was in attendance and honored for her work on behalf of the fair. Fair board members and staff served up 220 meals and kicked off their raffle of an obsidian black 2011 Subaru Forester. Tickets are $100 and 350 will be sold. The drawing takes place the last day of the fair.
The Haines Animal Rescue Kennel (HARK) has a new “lost and found” site on their webpage. Visit www.harkalaska.org to report a lost pet or search for a missing animal. Director Steve Vick says HARK will publicize the lost and found site through the community website and listener personals on KHNS.