Nate and Michelle Webb were married at Sedgely Place in Greene, Maine, on Nov. 8. The 17th-century inn was filled with about 70 guests, including Haines residents Kathy Friedle, John Brower, and Jedediah Blum-Evitts. The newlyweds live in Fairbanks.
Pam Randles was treated to a 70th birthday party, held at the Pioneer Bar on Dec. 9 and organized by daughter Amanda Randles and granddaughter Gina Randles. Friends were all secretly contacted for the surprise event. The cake was made by Brandy Peters.
Three Haines High School students have been chosen to participate in the 2015 National Association for Music Education All Northwest performing group. Madeleine Andriesen, Rachel Haas and Neil Little will perform in Spokane, Wash. in February with other outstanding music students selected from a pool of 5,200 pupils from six Northwest states.
Students in grades K-5 performed in the Disney-themed holiday concert for a packed crowd at the Chilkat Center auditorium. The fifth-grade band performed, directed by band teacher Kristy Totten. Vocal soloists included third-grader Scarlette Alamillo, and homeschooler Matilda Rogers, who was accompanied on guitar by fourth-grader Nora Prisciandaro. Tinkerbell made frequent appearances, performed by Sadie Anderson. Teresa Land is the music teacher for grades K-5.
Anna Jacobson and Christine Hansen had an unexpected meeting in Costa Rica. Anna had just completed a program at a college in Puntarenas, and Christine was in the middle of a six-week holiday through multiple Central American countries. They ran into each other in a bike shop in Puerto Viejo, where they were both renting bikes.
Gina St. Clair has been hired as a teacher at Klukwan School, starting in January. She will be working with elementary students in a multi-grade classroom. Her position was created when the school decided to start a preschool program, which led to a restructuring of teacher assignments.
Crystal Badgley organized a candlelight Taize Worship Service on Sunday evening at the Presbyterian Church. Taize is a type of contemplative worship that originated in a monastery in Taize, France and is currently being used in a wide variety of Christian churches. The non-denominational service consists of sung and chanted prayers, meditation, readings and silence. About 20 people attended.
Sarah Roark is back from a month of travel. She and Jim Foster of Juneau visited their families in New York and Maine before continuing on to Baja, Mexico. They snorkeled and kayaked on the Sea of Cortez and visited the Pacific-side town of Todos Santos. Sarah reports that southern Baja is recovering from devastation from a September hurricane, with many washed-out roads and damaged buildings under repair.
Pam Long reports that her family had a fun vacation on Maui, despite a theft from their rental house. Someone cut a window screen at night and stole Pam’s wallet while the family slept. Pam says that the theft was an isolated incident, and otherwise the family had very good experiences with locals and other visitors.
Bill and Joyce Thomas will have a houseful for the Christmas holidays. Son Gable Thomas, his partner Tracy Harmon, and their daughter Mila will be traveling from their Florida home, and their son Conner will be arriving from Mount Shasta, Calif. Also coming is Danny Thomas’s daughter Kieley, who will be arriving from Oregon.
Nicholas and Helen Mooney are relocating to the Spokane area of Washington, and have sold their consignment store to Tammy Hauser. Tammy has renamed the store “Talia’s Treasures,” after her 4-year-old daughter, Talia Dixie Hauser.
Last Saturday’s Gifts for Grub fundraising dinner served about 120 meals, according to Chuck Mitman of the Uglys of Haines. The Uglys have received over 30 requests for help with Christmas gifts, so each child will receive three gifts, and any extra presents will be donated to the Salvation Army. There were three raffles for $100 each to the winner’s charity of choice; two of the prizes went to Hospice of Haines and one went to the Haines Animal Rescue Kennel.
Tammy Piper, visitor information coordinator at the Haines Visitor Center, named the winners of the Winter Window Contest. The American Bald Eagle Foundation won the $500 first place award, and second place, at $250, went to Buckshot & Bobby Pins.
Shirley Collins was taken by Coast Guard helicopter to Sitka, then transported by medevac to Seattle after slipping on ice outside her Senior Village apartment. Son Byrne Power says that Shirley had a three-hour surgery at Seattle’s Swedish Hospital to replace a broken hip and is doing fine.
Christy Tengs Fowler played a program of Christmas music at the Senior Center on a piano she had won as a prize when she was a teenager. She had donated the piano to the center.
George Figdor is back after a month’s visit with his daughter, Alison Figdor, her husband John Broscious, and George’s first grandhild Lucy Barbara Broscious. Lucy’s middle name is in honor of her grandmother, Bobbi Figdor. The family lives in Richmond, Vt. While in Vermont, George also visited former Haines residents Tommy and Maureen Griffith of Burlington, as well as Fred Einspruch of Haines, currently working in Burlington. On his homeward trip, George stopped in Port Townsend, Wash. to visit with former Haines residents Len and Maor Cohen and daughters Maya and Ella, with Peter and Sherrie Goll, and Sarah Muirhead. He also saw resident Katya Kirsch, who is wintering in Port Townsend.
Christian Woodard and Kari Nielsen moved to Haines from Middlebury, Vt., last week. Christian, who setnet fished last summer at Kodiak, is working at the CVN. The couple spent last weekend canoeing on Chilkoot and Chilkat lakes.
The Haines High School Music Program presented a sixth through twelfth grade Winter Solstice Concert in the Chilkat Center auditorium. Directed by high school music teacher Kristy Totten, the performance featured multiple choirs, class bands, a concert band, and a jazz band. Local bank manager Kyle Gray performed as a guest drummer to replace a student who had left on holiday. A silent auction as well as dessert snacks were available in the lobby as part of an ongoing fundraising effort to send students to various invitational events.