Thomas McGuire’s novel Steller’s Orchid, published in June 2019 by Boreal Books, received a silver medal at the Independent Booksellers Awards in the category of Best Regional Fiction, West-Pacific. The book is set in Western Alaska in 1924 and tells the story of a young man’s quest for an orchid. The orchid was described by the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller in a 1741 letter but was otherwise unknown. Steller’s Orchid can be purchased locally at The Magpie Gallery and The Bookstore.
Greg Podsiki spent Memorial Day planting two Thunderchild flowering crabapple trees. In loving memory of Hazel and Niles Englund, he named one Hazel and one Niles. The Englund’s planted two of the same trees by their Haines Highway house at 2 Mile many years ago, and on the day Niles Englund died one of the trees fell over. Each spring, the remaining tree’s blossoms filled Hazel Englund’s view from her living room, bringing her fond memories of her life on their little Alaskan homestead. Hazel Englund was able to enjoy those blossoms even at age 100, and according to daughter Emily Zimbrich, this season the remaining tree has more blossoms than ever before.
Stan and Kate Boor were enjoying one of the best winter ski seasons in Salt Lake City when the COVID-19 virus instigated a complete shutdown. “Utah’s governor was very organized and managed the pandemic extremely well,” Kate Boor said. Since arriving in Haines, they have spent the last two weeks quarantining, giving time to work on a remodel and getting plenty of exercise gardening on their steep property. They said that although it will be an interesting new normal, they look forward to playing music with friends, riding bikes, being on the water, and interacting with the community as social distancing allows.
Tonya Clark has been working to develop infrastructure for what she intends to eventually be a one-acre farm. She has been putting up a high tunnel and working to till the soil, and in addition to experimenting with different varieties of vegetables she plans to record activities of pests and pollinators. She said that although lack of equipment has created hurdles, “I feel strongly about the need for local produce and that’s why I just keep on keeping on.”
Spring weather brings spring harvest. JC Davis, 12, caught a 2.83- pound Dolly Varden at the harbor, is one of the largest he said he has ever caught. “He goes down there almost every afternoon,” mom Holly Davis said.
Mark Cozzi reports that although the morel mushroom hunting has been slow, he expects the recent rains to increase the morel harvest. “They are out there so people should go check their spots,” he said.
Jedediah Blum-Evitts and Jeremy Reed picked five gallons of dandelion flower heads, which was transformed into ten gallons of dandelion wine. “It’s still in fermentation,” Blum-Evitts said. “The time-consuming part is separating the flower petals from the greenery.”
Richard Cook recently drove through Canada to return to Haines, after a planned six-week trip turned into nearly five months. He originally went down to Napa, Idaho to help his mother, Sandra Cook, move from California. “Then the virus hit, and my travel options started disappearing one by one,” he said. “My world kept closing in on me, getting smaller and smaller.” Eventually, he heard that the Canadian border would let him through if he could prove his Alaskan residency and could make it home without interacting with anyone. He camped along the way out of his ’81 Toyota. Now that he is home, he is spending time gardening and gearing up for a summer of subsistence activities. “I was caught down there totally unprepared,” he said. “In Haines I feel like I can be proactive about my own welfare. I feel like I am in a much safer place.”

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