Evan Frank White was born Friday, Nov. 23 to Kristin and Frank White. A snowstorm swirled around Juneau and birth attendants feasted on turkey and mashed potatoes while Kristin labored through Thanksgiving. Evan weighed eight pounds and measured 21 inches. He joins big brother Nate, who turned 5 three days before his brother’s arrival. Kristin’s parents, Gregg Bigsby and Beth MacCready, were in Juneau to greet their newest grandson. Rebecca Hylton, who is in Juneau and expecting her own arrival soon, was one of Evan’s first visitors. The family plans to return to Haines this week, where Evan will meet his grandfather John White and Sid Moffatt.
Joanne Waterman and Phyllis Sage hosted Joanne’s niece, Natalie Withers, and her boyfriend Matt Houston, for Thanksgiving. Natalie and Matt drove from Anchorage, where they are stationed at Fort Richardson. Natalie and Matt were both deployed in Afghanistan and arrived home six weeks ago. While in Haines they toured around town, visited friends and attended the library’s holiday open house. They also helped Joanne and Phyllis hang lights on their historic Fort Seward bed and breakfast in preparation for the upcoming “Lighting of the Fort.”
Melina Shields and Tim Hockin are home from a month of traveling. They traveled to Minnesota to visit Tim’s family outside Minneapolis and stopped in to see Mark and Joan Sizemore in Santa Barbara, Calif. They camped along the California coast where they fought off “ambitious and overly-dexterous raccoons.” The two explored beach towns and spent time at Wilbur Hot Springs where they ran into Sarah Jaymot, who was taking a vacation following her busy coffee shop season. Melina assisted summer resident Sarana Miller during a yoga retreat at Wilbur. Tim and Melina also caught up with former resident Sara Hanner over Thai food in the Mojave Desert.
The “Giving Thanks Yoga and Turkey Trot” brought out more than 50 participants for morning yoga and a 5K run around town. Marnie Hartman, Melina Shields and Mandy Ramsey led yoga in the Haines school lobby for more than 35 participants. Some stayed for the fun run, and others arrived with dogs and strollers in time for the 9:45 a.m. start. This year’s event was sponsored by the Well and Fit Community Council, the Wisewoman program, Community Youth Development and the Southeast Alaska State Fair. Dr. David McCandless timed the runners, who stopped in for hot cocoa before preparing their Thanksgiving feasts. Carver and Griffin Culbeck were the youngest finishers in the 5K event. Ralph Borders led the pack among men.
The Haines branch of First National Bank Alaska served the equivalent of 10 pies at its customer appreciation pie day, annually held the day before Thanksgiving. A local bakery prepared one large pumpkin and one large pecan pie, each the size of five standard pies. In other sweets-related bank news, Inez Gross reports that lollipops are back in stock and available to children accompanied by parents. The bank-branded suckers are no longer displayed in mugs at the counter. They are available, by request, from tellers.
The school music program raised $865 during a recent fundraiser sale of reusable and recycled bags. Music director Kristina Mulready said the bags arrived this week and students will distribute orders as soon as possible. The money raised is enough to cover the cost of one trip to the all-state music festival. Three students arrived back from the Anchorage event last week. Karissa Land, Jess Giddings and Lindsey Jobbins performed in the all-state chorus. Parents Al Giddings, and Teresa and David Land traveled with the group. Mulready hopes to organize a spring bag fundraiser when the spring and summer patterns are available next year.
Several trustees of the American Bald Eagle Foundation came to town for the 18th annual Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. Besides residents Dave Olerud, Dr. Dan Hart and Michael Marks, trustees in attendance included Harold Williams of Waverly, Ala., Susan Flowers of Buford, Ga., Jim King of Juneau and Al Batt of Hartland, Minn. Batt warmed up the crowd with jokes before the keynote address by Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

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