Haines animal lover and Haines Animal Rescue Kennel founder Vinca Gilman died Friday in Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital of sepsis, partner Mike Greenman said. There will be a memorial service at 1 p.m. Saturday followed by a reception at the Mormon church. A full obituary will run next week.
Melissa Brown Yates of New Weston, Ohio, recently came to Haines aboard the cruise ship Oosterdam. Yates is a friend and former student of Cindy Bromagen, an Indiana school teacher who worked in Haines as a newspaper reporter and later at the Visitor’s Center. Yates was a sixth-grader during Bromagen’s first year of teaching in 1969.
Bruce and Gail Gilbert held an outdoor celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary Saturday that included about 200 friends and family members. Son Scott Gilbert visited with wife Deb Read and daughter Anna of Seattle. Nephew Cragg Gilbert of Yakima, Wash., was in attendance. He also was at Bruce and Gail’s wedding in Loudenville, N.Y. “We made the (Haines Home Building) parking lot a big party. We had cake and a cook-out. It was perfect weather,” said daughter Glenda Gilbert.
Shelly Sloper is giving friends from college “the Alaska experience,” mom Pam Sloper said this week. Shelly is a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at Claremont Graduate University. Friends David Mendelsohn and Stephen Bolding enjoyed visiting the week of the fair and Thomas Chan and Brenda Miranda were here last week. Joey Aragon and Lisa Teachanarong will be here next week. Daughter Lyndsey Sloper of Skagway also visited with daughter Piper. Son Ron Sloper is on the mend after recent surgery.
Lola Vogel had all three children in town last week for a visit: daughter Susan and Brian Cudnik of Houston, Texas; daughter Judy Bryan of Haines and Irving, Texas, and son David and Jeanie Vogel of Skagway. The family celebrated Brian’s birthday while here.
Marge Ward returned last week after rehabilitation from a fall she suffered June 29. She credited an “alert button” with bringing help after she tripped in the kitchen and was unable to reach the phone. She spent nearly two months in Sitka and Petersburg getting injury treatment and rehabilitation. “I missed everything that was going here all summer.” Friends can stop by or see Marge at the Senior Center coffee klatch.
Jim Stickler and Paul Rogers have been elected deacons at New Hope Fellowship Church.
The Haines Senior Center now has Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers. Residents of Haines and Klukwan over age 60 and meeting income requirements can get up to $25 in vouchers for fresh produce at the Haines Farmers Market. Stop by the Senior Center to check on eligibility guidelines, fill out an application, and pick up your vouchers. Or call the center at 766-2383.
Rhona Nelson, recent owner of Material Girls fabric shop, died Tuesday at her home of an apparent heart condition. An obituary will appear next week.