Duly Noted

Over 25 relatives attended the three-day Chaffin family reunion, said Phyllis Sage, who hosted this year’s reunion. Family traveled from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oregon. The family also had a float in the Haines Fourth of July parade. Cousins from Louisiana brought 50 pounds of Mardi Gras beads, which the family threw into the crowd of parade-goers. The family also made a float in the Haines parade 15 years ago. A Chaffin crew also placed second in the mud volleyball tournament. Other activities included the Takshanuk Mountain Trail tour, four-wheeling at 25 Mile, fishing and whitewater rafting in Canada. Phyllis’ daughter Stephannie Quinn, along with daughters Alyson and Kali Viche of Oregon, are here for an additional week.
Diane Summers and Becky Riggers of Seattle enjoyed a five-day visit. They stayed with friend Lori Carter. Becky is on the Rainbow Glacier Camp board. This was Diane’s first Alaska trip. The friends spent time at camp. They enjoyed a halibut and salmon dinner, visited Haines Packing Co., and attended the firemen’s barbecue. Other highlights included seeing a brown bear and moose during a trip to the Yukon with photographer Ron Horn, and hiking the Mount Ripinsky race trail.
About 15 Haines High class of 2005 alumni gathered Friday at the Letnikof Cove pavilion for a 10-year class reunion. The event was organized by Breanna (Bagley) Frydenlund, who lives in Juneau. Other classmates included Kaitlin (Podsiki) Combs, Krystal (Hinkle) Lloyd, James Blilie, Kelsey (Albecker) Taylor, Ari Hartman, Drew Fossman, Rigel Falvey, Heather Barnum, Alix Goodman and Lyndsey Sloper. The group looked through their yearbook and graduation booklet. The event included a potluck, horseshoes and a fireworks show by Phil Wilde.
June Haas is back in town with daughter and former resident Kay Dunning, who is here with husband Rick and son Michael. The family lives in Savage, Minn. June spent the winter in Prior Lake, Minn. They’ve been enjoying seeing friends and taking in the beautiful summer, Kay said. The family is here through the state fair.
Anna Jacobson had a fun visit with friends from California Polytechnic State University, including Californians Chris Naughton, Austin Della and Hannah Russell, Buck Williams of Colorado, and Marine Behr of Seattle. The group rafted the Tatshenshini River, hiked “Witch’s Tit,” and went crabbing. Chris and Austin also attended the 80th birthday party of Sylvia Jacobson, Anna’s grandmother, at Chilkat State Park.
Special awards were presented at the Haines Big Brothers Big Sisters annual picnic June 27. Judy Ewald received the volunteer of the year award. Judy, who is in her third BBBS match, is an exemplary “big” and is highly involved in the local organization at a variety of levels, said Haines community director Burl Sheldon. The Heywood family won special recognition for its “generational commitment to youth mentoring.” Tom and Liz are each “bigs.” Daughter Tia, who was a school “big” while attending Haines High, continues her role as friend and mentor to her match.
Richard and Carol Flegel are enjoying a 10-day visit from daughter and former resident Kathleen and husband David Kancsar of Las Vegas. The family took a trip to Skagway and visited the McBride Museum in Whitehorse. They also visited the Interpretive Center in Haines Junction, Y.T., and made stops at Kathleen Lake and Million Dollar Falls. David, a professional musician and music teacher, took pleasure in playing the piano at the Chilkat Center. He plays piano for shows on the Las Vegas strip. He was part of the original cast of “Forever Plaid.” Kathleen sells real estate.
Charlotte and Dave Olerud, Doug Olerud, and the Swintons had family time with Charlotte’s sister Janet Vipond of Barrett, Minn. Also in town were Janet’s daughter Kara with sons Ryan and Andrew, and Janet’s daughter Kirsten Slinde with husband Nate and children Owen, Noah and Eleanor, all of Minneapolis. The family enjoyed taking helicopter flights, hiking Battery Point trail, visiting the American Bald Eagle Foundation, and going fishing.
Hammer Museum intern Madeline Witek enjoyed a visit with parents Kyle and Melanie Witek of Algonquin, Ill. Highlights included hiking Battery Point trail, visiting the American Bald Eagle Foundation and going fishing.
After about a half-hour of attempts, Matt Davis and Mike Mackowiak fished Matt’s cell phone from a sewer pipe on Second Avenue near Mission Street Saturday. Matt was returning from Fourth of July games at Tlingit Park when he saw the cap had come off the hole. When he went to replace it, his phone slipped from his front pocket and into the five-inch pipe, landing more than four feet down. Georgia Haisler saved the day, providing a mechanical arm from her family’s hardware store.