Ted and Meghan Hart welcomed their daughter into the world last week at the Sitka’s SEARHC/Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital. Lolana Mae Hart was born at 11:03 a.m. on Nov. 25, she weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Lola’s older brother Adze was present and is excited about having a new baby sister. The Harts will be returning to Haines this week, after enjoying their time in sunny Sitka where they were able to visit cousins Robert and Kelly Hughes.
Tom and Liz Heywood spent their Thanksgiving in search of sunshine and visiting their son, Kee Heywood. After some good weather in Palm Springs, the Heywoods met up in Oakland for a Thanksgiving feast. Tom and Liz had a beautiful meal with Kee and his wife Belle Nuchjarin, and got to meet Belle’s aunt and uncle, Kung and William Malecki. Kee and Belle are planning a full traditional Thai ceremony in the Roi Et province of Thailand late next year. Kee has been working in the film industry in the Bay Area, and is currently producing his own web series on YouTube, which focuses on his story of being a Korean American adoptee and the search for his birth family.
Scott Gilbert was in Haines with his family for the holiday weekend to visit his sister Glenda Gilbert and mom Gail Gilbert. Scott, along with his wife Deb and daughter Anna had a great time visiting the valley of the eagles. In addition to the amazing eagle viewing, they had a fantastic time sledding during the days of fluffy snow.
Around 25 people met at Fort Seward on turkey day for the “Turkey Trot” 5k run. Along with shorter options, runners enjoyed a snowy loop around Mud Bay/Small Tracts road. Organized by Marnie Hartman, the run was followed by a game of “Turkey Bowl” touch football.
Nancy Berland and Burl Sheldon have released their second “made in Haines” music video, titled Heartbeat. Nancy, Burl, and Gene Cornelius collaborated on the video. Gene, as Mizamook Filmworks, filmed and edited both of the videos for Nancy and Burl’s Roughage Queen Productions. The video features scenic shots of the flora and fauna of the Chilkat Valley. Both Heartbeat and their other video /the.cloud/ are available on Roughage Queen Productions’ YouTube page.
The annual tree lighting at the Haines Borough Public Library was incredibly successful, with over 300 people gathering at the event. Organized by Lora McCoy, the evening brought performances from the high school choir, brass and woodwind ensembles, the Klukwan School choir who sang in Tlingit, the Uke-ladies, Men of Note, the Haines A’Capella Women’s Choir, and an “everyone welcome” sing along.
Around 30 people gathered for a community skate at the Raven’s Arena ice rink, organized by Daymond Hoffman. Daymond is collaborating with Community Youth Development to organize Junior League Hockey with eager young hockey players being a large contingent at the rink. Look for announcements on hockey and open skating on the Haines Hockey Facebook page.
Joan Snyder’s great neice, Rachel Kukull, has recently joined the staff of the Haines SEARHC clinic. She arrived in Haines on Monday, November 27 and was greeted by a huge snow storm. Rachel has been to Haines many times but usually in the spring to forage for mushrooms.

Correction: In last week’s Duly Noted some of the local FIRST LEGO League team members were misidentified; the “Redneck Robo Hobos of Haines” (R2H2) is made up of Alex Weerasinghe, Bear Scott, Garrison DelPrete, Hayden Jimenez, Jackson Cowart, Kruze Nettleton, Loyal Tormey, Nate White, Nolan Wald, and TJ Smith.

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