Sockeye Cycle had a celebrity guest on one of its Skagway bicycle tours last week. Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa went on the five-mile Rainforest Bicycle Tour to Dyea on Aug. 21. Hackman wore a baseball cap and sunglasses to stay as inconspicuous as possible, said Sockeye Cycle assistant manager Paul Duyckinck. Guide Jeff Hu said Hackman was not really recognized by anyone and just seemed to be any other person on tour. Hackman is known for his roles in “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven” and “Mississippi Burning.”
  Tia Heywood recently returned from teaching English at a school summer camp in the suburbs of Zhongshan, a city in southern China. Heywood taught three terms over the course of one month. Highlights included visiting a tooth factory, hiking around the Huangshan mountains, and meeting up with summertime Haines residents Bob and Lisa Krebs in Shenzhen. Heywood’s college friend Surbhi Madan is currently visiting. Madan decided to come to Alaska after completing an internship at Google this summer, as Haines was a bit closer than her home in Chandigarh, India.
 Jillian Rogers is the new KHNS news director. Rogers arrived in Haines last week. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Rogers has worked for the Yukon News, the Arctic Sounder and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. In 2004, she moved to Fairbanks to pursue dog-mushing and subsequently moved to Big Lake in early 2009 to train and race. She moved to Homer in late 2009, where she wrote for the Arctic Sounder covering climate change, Native issues and crime. Rogers moved to Haines with two of her retired lead dogs and her pet greyhound.
  Krista Kielsmeier returned this week from a whirlwind trip through the Midwest. Kielsmeier visited friends and family in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. She also attended the PGA Championship golf tournament in Kohler, Wis., with parents Jerry and Linda Kielsmeier. The group watched Kielsmeier’s favorite golfer, Phil Mickelson, play 81 holes of golf over five days. Kielsmeier got an autograph from Mickelson and fist-bumped him out on the course. During her vacation, she also attended the Iowa State Fair with brother Jack Kielsmeier, sister-in-law Shelly and 11-month-old nephew Conor.
Dr. Robin Houston, Pamela Poon and Danny Hirsch were in Haines earlier this month, following a reunion of participants in the Mount Logan High Altitude Physiology Study, conducted during the 1970s in Kluane National Park. The U.S.-Canada study documented high-altitude retinal hemorrhaging and its findings were used in the development of acetazolamide, a drug used in treating altitude sickness, glaucoma and epilepsy. Houston served as a doctor at the Haines clinic in the late 1970s and filled in during summers for Dr. Stan Jones. Houston’s father, Dr. Charles Houston, a collaborator in the altitude study, was a noted mountaineer, inventor, medical researcher, author and filmmaker who made the first ascent of Mount Foraker in 1934. He was part of “The Belay,” a heroic moment in mountaineering that came during an attempt on K2 in 1953.
Joanie Wagner recently returned from a road trip to Anchorage, where she visited with daughter Katie Sevigny and family. She also had fun riding bikes with granddaughters Scarlette and Isabelle Alamillo. Joanie’s daughter Alexis Alamillo also lives in Anchorage, but was away at California’s Burning Man festival during Joanie’s visit.
Former Haines Salvation Army officer Dave Kyle said he misses his Haines family. Dave and wife Mary Kyle were recently relocated to Portland, Ore., where they serve as chaplains at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center. They live in Gladstone, Ore. Email the Kyles at [email protected]. 
During introductory remarks to the Haines Borough School Board last week, new middle school teacher Jason Eson regaled members with a humorous account of a misadventure involving his 32-foot sailboat Enchantment. Eson received word on the first day of school that the boat was dragging anchor and heading toward rocks in Paradise Cove. He arrived on the scene to find a dinghy line also was caught in its steering gear. Because of teamwork, everything turned out alright, Esen said.
 Jack Lix was in town earlier this month, visiting parents Bob and Sally Lix. Jack, a code writer for a software company, was here with son Joshua Lix. They enjoyed visiting, fishing and hiking.
Charline Tate and daughter Lucy Tate road-tripped to Lead, S.D., to attend the wedding of Charline’s grandson, Dustin Mund. The Tates took three dogs along for the ride, which totaled 5,500 miles and took four weeks to complete. Charline said she was grateful to get back to Haines and out of the extreme heat.
Linda Geise recently returned from a week in Sitka as an American Red Cross responder to the fatal landslide there. She provided support to families displaced by the slides, including counseling and helping in a kitchen. “My main goal is to be there as support for affected families and for all the emergency responders,” Geise said this week.
Golfers can help families of military members disabled or killed in action by playing in the Patriot Golf Day tournament, a two-man scramble at Valley of the Eagles links starting 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. All proceeds benefit Folds of Honor. More than 5,000 golf courses nationwide are participating.

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