Pearl Anne Elizabeth Marquardt was born 9:03 p.m. July 8 at Juneau’s Family Health and Birth Center. She measured 19.75 inches and weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces. Pearl’s mom and dad are Dani Leazier and Nik Marquardt of Haines, who are back in town with their new daughter and doing well. “We’re super-duper excited,” Dani said. “It’s like a whole, other dimension. It’s pretty neat.” Pearl’s grandparents are John and Gerri Marquardt of Haines and Jan and Jason Kellis of Detour Village, Mich.

Katie McIver of Cleveland enjoyed an 11-day visit here with sisters Kerry and Eileen McIver. Her trip included hiking Mount Riley and Seduction Point trails, kayaking and rafting, and playing pick-up soccer. She also visited Kroschel’s wildlife park, the Hammer Museum, Sheldon Museum and American Bald Eagle Foundation. Katie’s work at a veterinary clinic recently included caring for the three dogs rescued from infamous Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro.

Kathy Holmes is entertaining older brothers Mike Holmes of Redding, Calif., and Ken Holmes of San Bernardino, Calif., as well as Mercy Vaughn of Paso Robles, Calif. For Mike and Ken, it’s their first visit since Kathy moved here in 1988. Their trip included seeing six bears at Chilkat Pass. Family members back in California include mom Irene of San Bernardino and younger siblings Jackie Zepeda of Fontana and Bob Holmes of Cameron Park. For Vaughn, a tortoise worker and owner of a biological monitoring company, part of her Haines trip included spreading the ashes of a cousin whose life dream was to see a bear in the wild.

Darrell and Nancy Shade of Twentynine Palms, Calif., were in town last week on a 10-day visit to see daughter Heather Shade and son-in-law Sean Copeland. Darrell, a retired special education teacher, is experimenting with an aquaponics garden, a method of raising crops in the desert using reduced volumes of water. Plants floating in water tanks are fertilized by fish that live in the tanks. Gardeners feed the fish, then harvest organic fish and vegetables. Darrell said he’s starting with blue gills but plans to get tilapia swimming among his veggies.

Heather Lende’s first book, “If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name,” has made the New York Times bestseller list for non-fiction e-books. The book of Haines-based stories, originally published in 2005, was the subject of an e-book summer promotion. It ranked 12th on the list of 25 e-book best-sellers. An e-book is a digital version of a text people can read using computers, iPads, and e-readers like the Kindle.

Scott Pearce said as many as 45 hikers made their way up Mount Ripinsky as part of a community hike he helped organize. Hikers ranged in age from 6-year-old Pacific Ricke to 76-year-old Paul Swift. For several hikers, including Pearce, the hike was their first trip to the top of the 3,690-foot peak. “The view was incredible. We could see down to Lincoln Island,” Pearce said. A “Walk and Talk” program Pearce started at Sheldon Museum has morphed into an informal hiking club that organizes via e-mail. For more information, contact Cindy Buxton or Russ White.

Dave Olerud is back in town following hospitalization in Anchorage.

You can now tell Russ Lyman where it hurts. Russ has passed the national exam for licensing as a physical therapist assistant. The test followed his completion of a two-year school program and internships with therapists in Haines and Hawaii.

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