Duly Noted

Three Haines families spent nearly a week in Disneyland and several days trying to get back home through the heavy fog enshrouding Juneau. The families went on many rides and “experienced different levels of nauseousness,” Pete Dohrn said. Leslie Ross, Jon Hirsh, and daughter Rio; Pete, Jenn Allen, and daughter Emma; and Pam and Dave Long and children Jackson and Selby met an assortment of Disney icons. The group started by riding the “Tower of Terror,” a big change from the “mellow Haines rides” at the fair, Pete said. Pam’s dad Ray Hanssen visited from San Francisco, as did uncle Rob Lambert and wife Barbara of Chico, Calif. While at a beach, Leslie, Jon, and Rio ran into Skagway resident Deb Potter, and camped with her near Laguna Beach. Jon and Rio went off to Tucson, Ariz. and Leslie caught up with the rest of the group in Juneau, where they remained for days due to fog and the ferry breakdown. The Longs had already made a forced pit stop in Anchorage and lost their luggage. “We just kept getting denied,” Pam said. While stuck in Juneau, the group shopped, went to the pool and “watched lots of bad hotel TV,” Leslie said.
The Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center is looking to contract work with someone for a collection of finger puppets. Delivery date is on or before Feb. 20. Contact the museum at 766-2366, or by email at [email protected].
Jerry and Diana Pyle “surrounded the country” during a two-month jaunt. After seeing a performance of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, they spent time in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M. The couple spent time in Sedona, Ariz. with Diana’s sister Suzanne and husband Jonathan Taylor of Tucson. Then they headed to Florida for a two-week Caribbean cruise with stops in Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach. In Tampa, they visited friend Mary Webb, then took off for Arkansas, visiting 92-year-old aunt Jean and family in Magnolia. In Texas, they visited son David Terry of Texarkana, as well as daughters Cindy and Kathy and families of Houston. Coming home, the couple overflew Juneau three times due to weather.
In addition to the recent Haddock family fundraiser organized by the Uglys of Haines, an account has been set up at the local bank. Gates Haddock is fighting cancer of the lymph glands at St. Elias Specialty Hospital in Anchorage.
Kathy Holmes reports that Tim Shields is scheduled to speak during the TEDxBerkeley talk on Feb. 8. It will be live streamed at http://tedxberkeley.org sometime between 12:30 and 12:45 p.m. Alaska time.  
Matt and Holly Davis and children Mark, Luke, John, and Meg had a “glorious” time on their 12-day Hawaiian vacation, where they stayed on the Big Island. “We had so much fun, we didn’t even notice Christmas go by,” Matt said. On the Kona side, they stayed at Waikoloa, went snorkeling at Captain Cook Monument, and met up with Dave Ricke, wife Kirsten Amann and daughter Pacific. At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, they hiked into the caldera and lava tubes. In Hilo, they visited Elena Horner at Imiloa Astronomy Center. The family also spent a day with Scott and Mandy Ramsey and daughter Lily. Highlights included seeing dolphins, and a lightning storm and attending a Christmas Eve luau, where fire dancers performed. They also spent a day searching for car keys toddler Meg flushed down the toilet.
Royal Henderson of Haines has been selected to participate in Gonzaga University’s Comprehensive Leadership Program from the undergraduate class of 2017. After a selective admissions process that evaluated 153 applicants, the class was established with forty-three students from around the country. “This group, with its numerous talents and wealth of experiences, will continue the tradition of studying leadership imbued with an intellectual and ethical fervor for the common good in an interdisciplinary, academic setting,” according to the university.
Former Haines High School teacher and girls’ championship basketball coach Hal Spackman has been named executive director of the Sitka Historical Society and museum. Spackman also is former principal and superintendent of Mount Edgecumbe High School. He was most recently education supervisor for Southcentral Foundation’s The Pathway House in Anchorage.
Heather Shade returned from a trip to Panama, where she and husband Sean Copeland spent a couple weeks soaking up the sun. On the Pacific side, they spent a week kite boarding and ran into Scott Doddridge and sons Kadin and Koa, who were also kite boarding. On the Caribbean side, the couple spent a week in Bocas del Toro, where they went snorkeling and drank from a coconut while lying on the beach. They particularly enjoyed the three-toed sloth that lived in the tree outside their hotel room.
Marge Ward welcomed a Hawaiian dog into her family last week when she adopted Buddy, a small mutt living at the Maui Humane Society. Haines Animal Rescue Kennel animal control officer Tracy Mikowski was in Hawaii with board member Betsy Lyons. The two rescued Buddy from doggie death row. Ward’s last dog died just before Christmas. Mikowski and Lyons brought the 8-year-old mutt back via the Wings of Aloha program, which HARK has partnered with to transport shelter animals. They hope to bring more small dogs to Haines.
Readers are invited to submit items to be published in the Duly Noted column. To get your community news in, contact Eileen McIver at 907-766-2688 or email items to [email protected].