By Tom Morphet
Lunch at the Haines School cafeteria last week included locally caught Dungeness crab legs. Seafood processor Hugh Rietze said the legs were the remnants of crabs he’s been selling to Whole Foods in the Lower 48. The school bought 140 pounds as part of efforts to get more local foods onto the menu. School meal supervisor Gen Armstrong said getting at the meat – the legs were served cracked – occupied students. “It was probably as quiet as the cafeteria has ever been during lunch.” Serving local seafood not only helps the processors but “you’ve got to think it’s great for the kids to eat it, too,” Rietze said. The district has purchased 1,400 pounds of local seafood since last fall, Armstrong said. The last of the crab will be served at a year-end barbecue, she said.
Sara Fisher is featured on a bottle of the Italian liqueur amaro she created at her job tending bar in Seattle. Fisher was one of seven Emerald City bartenders approached by specialty distiller BroVo Spirits to create a signature brand, starting with a batch of BroVo’s rhubarb liqueur that wasn’t marketable. Sara’s version, Amaro #5, incorporates nettles, rose petals, and dried apple slices. It’s available at Hazelwood and The Hideout, clubs where Sara works, and at Capco Beverage in West Seattle.
A 4,000-mile wilderness trek from Bellingham, Wash. to Kotzebue by seasonal residents Caroline Van Hemert and Pat Farrell was featured in the April 14 Anchorage Daily News, where it was described as “unprecedented in legend, history or the annals of modern extreme sports.” Caroline and Pat skied, rowed, paddled and hiked the distance between March and September 2012. They say less than 1 percent of their trip was on trails. Caroline is a research biologist at the Alaska Science Center and studies avian ecology and wildlife disease. She recently completed her doctorate in biology and holds a master’s degree in creative writing. Patrick owns a contracting company. Insulated, shuttered windows he designed and built are featured in the January 2011 Fine Homebuilding. Read more of their adventures at carolineandpat.wordpress.com. The couple have a cabin at Glacier Point and may be in Haines soon on a planned wilderness trek from Yakutat, Pat said this week.
Rosie Milligan’s fifth-grade class is conducting a survey about the recycling habits of residents. You can contribute to their data by completing a short survey, which is posted at http://tinyurl.com/littlebearnews. The class wants to develop a plan to increase recycling habits.
A duplicate bridge sectional tournament was held at the American Bald Eagle Foundation Center Friday through Sunday. The tournament was sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League and hosted by the Haines Duplicate Bridge Club and ACBL Unit 427. Approximately 60 people, including 15 from Haines, 19 from the Yukon, and 17 from Juneau played. Others came from Nova Scotia, Arizona, Dawson City, Y.T. and Anchorage. Tournament director Roger Putnam of Redmond, Wash. oversaw movements, provided rulings, and kept contest records. Chris Bookless and Mark Davey of Whitehorse, Y.T. won the most masterpoints followed closely by Diane and Don Emond of Whitehorse and Bob and Sally Lix of Haines. Roger Schnabel, Fred Shields, Henry Wong, and Frank Holmes of Haines were also big winners. Barbara Keller and Morgan Landry were the top Juneau winners followed by Nora Laughlin and Donna Brooks.
Donna Cattoti’s “Beach Rocks and Clouds” was among 100 chosen from 3,000 entries in the Pastel 100 competition of Pastel Journal. The piece that depicts Carr’s Cove was featured in the magazine’s April edition. Donna’s “Chilkat River Autumn” garnered a half-page spread in the May issue of Southwest Art magazine. The original is owned by the Sheldon Museum. Donna made a recent trip to San Antonio, Texas for Salon International 2013, a competition of representational oils and acrylics. Her entry, “Dancer at the Window,” is a portrait of Jackie Ruggirello in her mother’s belly-dance outfit.
Nadine Price-Schruefer logged a 47-minute 10K to help anchor her team in the 2013 Waikoloa Lavaman triathlon, held last month on Hawaii’s Big Island. Nadine teamed up with Cindy Cooper, who swam 1.5 kilometers in 31 minutes and Gloria Reyes, who biked 40K in 1:23. The team placed 22nd of 68 teams in their division.