Glen and Allison Jacobson celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on April 23. The couple headed to Juneau at 4 a.m. on their express excursion boat Fjordland to pick up Holland America and Princess shore-excursions representatives and bring them to Haines and Skagway to learn about the tours they will be selling off the ships this summer.
Kelly and Rene Huff have moved back to Haines to be closer to family and friends. Kelly is working at Southeast Roadbuilders and is the new concrete manager. The couple has two children: Rowan, 7, and Linden, 4. Grandparents Lyle and Loren Huff are very happy to have them back in town.
Scott Ramsey, Ph.D., wife Mandy and daughter Lily have returned from a trip to Arizona where Scott defended his dissertation and received his PhD in Sustainability Education from Prescott College. Scott’s dissertation was about river time and how living water affects participants on multi-day river trips.
Earth Week kicked off with an online Haines Zero Waste Challenge. Over 70 community members focused on ways to help generate less waste. Participants received tools and incentives, like daily giveaways, to talk about how they are using the 5 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Recycle, Reuse and Rot. Haines Friends of Recycling and Genny Rietze created the event. “As we move on from Earth Week and the challenge, don’t forget, noticing is the best step to move forward towards our goals,” Genny said.
Michelle Stigen has returned from a month in Mesa, Ariz. Michelle’s stepdad, James Daniel Nelson, passed away after a few years of fighting vascular disease. Her mom, Judy Metcalfe Nelson, and James were married for 38 years. Michelle’s daughter Jordan Stigen came down from Portland, Ore., where she is studying criminology at Portland State, to help comfort her mom and grandma in Arizona. While Jordan was there they went paddleboating and spent Easter with Michelle’s eldest son, Nick Gibbs, who lives in Litchfield Park, Ariz. While Michelle was away, her youngest son Jacob Stigen passed the second part of his electrical refrigeration test at Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) with a 94.5%. His final semester in advanced refrigeration is this coming May. He also received his acceptance letter last week to continue in the fall with the Heating and Plumbing program at AVTEC.
KHNS radio received three awards at the Alaska Press Club conference in Anchorage last weekend. Reporter Abbey Collins won a second-place award for Best Reporting on Health with her story about E. coli in the Mud Bay spring and a third-place award for Best Sports Reporting for her story, “Snow derails bike race, but not unicyclists.” Berett Wilber also received a third-place award in the Business Reporting category for her story on the aging fishing fleet. Abbey enjoyed traveling to Anchorage and meeting other public radio news reporters from around the state.
A little wind and rain didn’t stop the Haines Hot Shots Shooting Team from scrubbing away the winter at their car wash last weekend. “The kids raised enough money to take the team to Tok for their kickoff shoot,” said coordinator Nicole Holm. The team plans on doing another one in May.
Roughly one hundred people attended the annual Spring KHNS Wine Tasting at Harriett Hall earlier this month. Attendees enjoyed trying many different wines, including the popular champagne in a can. Distributors from throughout Southeast included Brandon Saiz from K&L Distributors, Ryan Blackwell from the Odom Corporation and Keith Crocker from Specialty Imports. “We had a great turnout, which is very encouraging, despite Juneau’s Folk Fest drawing many people away,” said coordinator Maddy Witek. Folks also enjoyed catered appetizers from Cambria Goodwin of the Pilotlight restaurant. “It’s my favorite event of the whole year,” Maddy said.
Mayor Jan Hill presented lifesaving awards to residents Luck Dunbar and Shelley Sloper Friday, part of festivities during the second “Splash-O-Rama” at the Haines Pool. In frigid waters and without life vests, Luck, Shelley and other passengers on a commercial flight swam to safety after the flight they were on made an emergency landing in water near Juneau last summer. Sponsored by Friends of the Pool, their awards included a pool pass, a bouquet of flowers and a pack of Life Savers candy. Splash-O-Rama, which included a free swim and complimentary hot dog dinner, attracted about 60 pool users.
The Chilkat Valley News won 10 awards at the Alaska Press Club Conference in Anchorage last weekend. “We are very surprised on how much we won, usually you can go up there thinking you might win one or two, but we didn’t think we would receive as many as we did,” owner Kyle Clayton said. He and reporter Natalie Helms also enjoyed attending a seminar from an investigative reporter from the New York Times and talking with other reporters from across the state.

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