Hannah Blilie and Raymond Reeves were married on what some said was the most beautiful day ever on the summit of Mount Ripinsky on Saturday, Sept. 28. The couple was joined by their daughter Darcie Reeves, and Hannah’s daughter, Charlie Lou Katzeek. Friend Jason Eson married the couple. “Ray packed up Charlie and I packed up Darcie along with our wedding attire, plus snacks,” said Hannah. Also along with many Haines locals including: Lizzy Jurgeleit who flew in from Juneau, Beth and Spencer Douthit, Bartek Pieciul, Jeffrey Moskowitz, Rachel Saitzek, Maddy Witek, Stoli and Nels Lynch and their son Teddy Lynch, Rachael and Jake Ekhart, Lindsey Johnson and Graham Kraft and their daughter Mira Kraft, Dan Shultz and Stacie Evans, Andrew Cardella, Kevin and Jess Forester and their son Rellian Forester. Attendees enjoyed the sun and celebrated with champagne and gourmet cheese before the hike down. A few days later Ray and Hannah and the two girls enjoyed a honeymoon road trip in Canada.
Michael and Lori Carter have returned from a trip to Kansas with daughters Jemma and Maizie to visit family and friends. While there, they attended Lori’s friend, Lee Ann Eggers’, marriage to Michael Stein. Daughter Maizie also enjoyed meeting her uncles Andrew and Caleb Webster for the first time. They also took a trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium, a pumpkin patch, bowling alley and Legoland Discovery Center in Kansas City. They enjoyed time with “Gigi” or grandma Joyce Webster and grandpa Bob Webster. “Jemma said her favorite thing was going to the park and my least favorite thing was the humidity,” said Lori. A side note, the family found two painted ladybug rocks from Parsons, Kansas in the park and brought them home to hide in Alaska too.
Chilkoot Indian Association partnered with Sealaska Heritage Institute to bring esteemed Tsimshian artist David R. Boxley to Haines to teach a week-long formline class. While in Haines, he gave presentations at the Klukwan and Haines schools and visited the cultural center in Klukwan to see the Killer Whale House posts. The week-long class was filled with conversation about art, Native politics and a sharing of traditional history. “Mr. Boxley sees art as a representation of culture. He challenged his students to work toward producing the same quality formline as our ancestors. “-We hope to have him return to teach an advanced class in the coming year,” said Harrriett Brouillette.
Genny Rietze has returned from a quick trip to Glacier National Park, Montana along with her son Hugh Rietze, 3. They spent time catching up with friends from college at Northwestern and also attended the marriage of her swim teammate Kassia Shishkoff to Tyler Phillippi.
Lora and Royce McCoy have officially adopted adult David Lockerman into their family. The McCoy family has known David for many years and first met him in a local grocery store. “About a year ago David approached Royce and I and asked us if we would consider adopting him. Honestly, we had already felt for a long time that David was our son in our heart. But what David was seeking was that of truly having parents in every aspect. All of us prayed about it, and each of us, Royce, Rebekah McCoy, Jesse McCoy, and David agreed that we felt that it was God’s will that we move forward with this. About a month ago we filed a petition with the court to formally adopt David,” said Lora. The family’s strong faith has led them to this great time of happiness. “God truly does work in mysterious ways,” she said.