Fourth of July in Haines began with a chilly morning, blossomed into a bright, warm day and ended with a light drizzle as fireworks lit up the sky.
Joan Carlson of the Haines Chamber of Commerce said the weekend of activities went “very, very well.” The Mount Ripinsky Run had a record field of 31 runners; the inaugural Haines Music Fest had revelers dancing in the rain and all events in between were well attended.
Carlson said while she didn’t know if there was record attendance, she thinks the Haines festivities are drawing more interest.
“Leading up to the holiday, I was getting more e-mails and calls from areas like Juneau and Whitehorse,” she said.
Some of the highlights included:
Mount Ripinsky Run
A Fourth of July tradition for more than 40 years, the run up the mountain had its highest turnout ever. Fourteen-year-old Marcus Deuling came in first with a time of 30:26, followed closely by Ryan Rice 10 seconds later.
Tess Quinn of Juneau came in first among women with a time of 35:08 and Adrienne Voss of Anchorage came in second for women at 40:32.
The record time is 25:12 set by Chandler Kemp in 2009 for men and J.J. Lende’s and Jessica Keiser’s tied times of 32:50 in 2006 and 2009.
Perennial participant Ralph Borders, the oldest competitor at 59, came in sixth overall. Chip Lende was running his 21st race and came in eighth.
The race covers 1,100 vertical feet over three miles.
The Parade
The skies cleared for the Fourth of July parade down Third, Main and First streets. Judges awarded three top prizes for floats and participants. First place went to the Chilkat Snowburners, a nonprofit that organizes the annual Alcan 200 snowmachine race; second place went to the Southeast Alaska State Fair train entry and third place to the Civil Air Patrol.
Mud Volleyball
One of the biggest draws of the day, the Parts Place Mud Volleyball Tournament, had 11 teams and 69 participants. In first place was the Bump Uglies (Lacy Lampkins, Tyrell Horton, Nikki Stickler, Amber Long, Daniel Klanott, Sam Clay and Walter Clayton.) Second place was RGC Rebel Alliance (Lori Webster, Cymonire Ross, Sarah D., Christina Johnston, Jon Linders, Jamie Koho and Carolyn Poole.) Third place was Mud Fighters (Shelly Turner, Danielle Larum, Derrick Livengood, Charles Baltzell, Megan Tuohy and Royce Donbreck.)
Music Festival
The inaugural Haines Music Festival took place for what organizers hope will be the first year of many with a large crowd enjoying the tunes of Moon Alice Acoustic and Swing Set. Halsingland Hotel organized the event, located on the stage behind the tribal house. The hotel sold food and beer at the event, including crab dinner. Dancers enjoyed the music even past the start of the fireworks display.