Duly Noted

Friends and family gathered Feb. 14 for a celebration of the 95th birthday of John Schnabel, held at the Fort Seward Lodge. Grandson Parker Schnabel, in town especially for the occasion, was master of ceremonies.
Tara Bicknell is associate producer of “Alaskan Bush People.” The Discovery Channel’s reality show, now in its second season, is being filmed outside of Hoonah and features the subsistence-oriented lifestyle of the Brown family. The family lived in Haines about 15 years ago.
Pam Randles organized another gathering of Haines folks who have done overseas volunteer work. Besides Pam, who worked in Nepal, the get-together included Joan Snyder, who worked in Afghanistan, Brigid O’Connor, who volunteered in India, Sam Woods, who worked in Guatemala, and Merrill Lowden, who volunteered in the Solomon Islands. The group shared stories of their adventures while working for the Peace Corps, VISTA, or the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
Eight members of the Haines Public Library’s Book Club gathered to discuss “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. The next meeting will be March 21 to discuss “The Shadow Catcher” by Marianne Wiggins. New members are welcome.
Joe Ordonez, Edie Granger and daughters Stella and Sapphire are back from two months of travel. They spent two sunny weeks on the island of Roatan, off the east coast of Honduras, and visited with family and friends in Washington. They stopped in Port Townsend to see Len and Maor Feldman and daughters Maya and Ella.
Girl Scout cookies have arrived and are being sold by all three local groups: Daisy Scouts headed by Melissa Blaine, Brownie Scouts headed by Karen Bryant, and Junior Girl Scouts headed by Edie Granger. There will be a booth at this weekend’s high school basketball game as well as at the Dick Hotch Memorial Basketball Tournament. Tracy Sosa is in charge of cookie sales.
Pam Randles contributed a story to the recently published “Iditarod: The First Ten Years,” a coffee-table collection of stories and photos that will be released at the start of this year’s sled dog race. Pam wrote about her experience as one of the first reporters on the trail, covering the race that took winner Dick Wilmarth 20 days to finish. She tells of hitching rides between rest points with support crew while husband Slim Randles competed. At one point Pam was stranded five days with 55 dogs and 10 people somewhere between Takatna and Ruby.
Burl Sheldon organized a luncheon for the seven new in-school matches for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Burl has been able to create more interest in the local program through a series of ads funded by a grant from the Chilkat Valley Community Foundation.
Tammy Hauser’s consignment store, Talia’s Treasures, is working with Material Girls, which recently closed, to provide sewing and quilting supplies for the community. She already has thread and buttons and clasps in stock, and will soon have fabric as well.
Five Haines Borough School District students won awards at the Alaska Society for Technology in Education’s annual digital media contest. The contest encourages creativity and technology by challenging students to develop their own electronic projects. Local winners are: Madeline Andriesen, first place, high school, Alaska Life Photos; Neil Little, first place, high school, People’s Choice for Tunes; Jenae Larson, first place, high school, PSA Podcast; Owen McPhetres, first place, K-4, Teach Me Podcast; and Emily McPhetres, first place, K-4, Alaska Life Photos.