Former resident Jessie Babette Miller of San Francisco said she was so surprised to win the Southeast Alaska State Fair’s drawing for a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, she was hardly able to move when her name was called Sunday. “It’s still overwhelming. I still can’t believe it,” she said. The truck will replace her Volkswagen Passat that has 250,000 miles on the odometer. “It’s my dream vehicle, the color and everything.” Miller was in town helping out at the fair. Andy Hedden won the fat tire bike raffled by Haines Animal Rescue Kennel.
Resident Greg Podsiki is leading a group discussing the possibility of locating a small college in Haines. The group has held one meeting. Greg said he wants to recruit as many people as possible for brainstorming sessions. Reach him evenings at 766-2723.
A necropsy for Ladybug, an injured moose calf adopted by Kroschel Wildlife Center, found that she succumbed to injuries stemming from the bear mauling that orphaned her, said Department of Fish and Game permits biologist Brynn Parr of Juneau. Fractures in her scapula and the open wounds eventually led to infections in the bone, lymph nodes and blood, which led to her death, Parr said.
A group of 36 volunteers from St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Shoreline, Wash., came to Haines on an outreach trip. The group learned of Haines through Song and Amy Nash, who live in Shoreline and are active members of the church. The group worked at Rainbow Glacier Camp, Haines Presbyterian Church and Haines Senior Village. Village manager Valery McCandless said the group rebuilt decaying planters and weeded. The outreach trip was organized by Donna Ahron of Seattle. About 60 people, including camp staff, village residents and volunteers, attended a thank-you potluck. 
About 70 people attended the American Bald Eagle Foundation’s Wild about Wolves event July 23, said education and outreach coordinator Chloe Goodson. The event included wolf-themed scavenger hunts, crafts and cupcakes decorated to look like wolves. Jessie Morgan of the Haines Public Library provided laptops children used to play the game WolfQuest. Previously, the foundation held a moose-themed event. The foundation hopes to interest people in different animals. A shark-themed event is scheduled for Aug. 27.
Madoka Iijima of Yokohama, Japan, spent July in Haines visiting Yuko and Ed Hays. Madoka is Yuko’s first cousin once removed. Madoka spent the past two-and-a-half years in Honolulu working toward an associate degree at Hawaii Tokai International College. Her month-long stop in Haines included canoeing, harvesting berries, and shivering atop of Mount Ripinsky. She also visited Skagway, rafted the Tatshenshini River, and helped Ed and Yuko’s son Mori learn Japanese.  
Members of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium board of directors were in town last week for a board meeting. SEARHC holds one of its quarterly board meetings in a different small town or village, said SEARHC events coordinator Lisa Way of Sitka. The group met at the ANB Hall July 27-28, and at Klukwan’s new cultural center July 29. Members also toured the Haines clinic, the new dental clinic and the Klukwan clinic, said local SEARHC administrator Mary Crann. The SEARHC board includes a representative from each of the approximately 18 remote clinics.
Kathy Nelson of Cambridge, Minn., was in town for a two-week visit with sister Sue Waterhouse. The sisters hiked Mount Riley and Battery Point, kayaked in Mud Bay, visited Chilkoot Lake, and played several games of Monopoly with friends.
Tim Ackerman traveled from Whitehorse, Y.T., to Moosehide, Y.T., aboard a safety boat accompanying paddlers in a canoe carved by Wayne Price in 2009. The Yukon River trip took the group about a week, and was part of this year’s Moosehide Gathering, a biennial, weekend festival that celebrates Hän culture and tradition. The event takes place in Moosehide, a seasonal community downstream of Dawson City. Debra Schnabel also attended the festival last weekend, during which she learned how to play the harmonica.
Ray Reeves began work as a dentist at SEARHC last month. He completed his residency at the University of Colorado. He attended dental school at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Ore. Ray grew up in Anchorage and said it’s good to be back in Alaska.                     
Lenise Henderson Fontenot had planned to tote her small dog Percy in the basket of her bicycle as part of the fair parade, but when she went to retrieve the bike from her office porch near Main Street Saturday, it was missing. She had bathed the 10-pound mutt and “made him all pretty” for the fair’s Most Lovable Dog Contest. By late afternoon Sunday, the bicycle reappeared on the porch with a broken front wheel. “I have absolutely no idea what journey my bike went on without me,” she said. Lenise’s 6-year-old nephew’s Spiderman bike also went missing over the weekend, and has yet to be found.