Pioneer Bar reopens after 3-month closure
The Pioneer Bar reopened June 26 for the first time since closing March 17 amid COVID-19 concerns. The bar is now open Fridays and Saturdays starting at 5 p.m., with open mic Fridays at 9 p.m.
Christy Tengs Fowler, who owns the bar and adjoining Bamboo Room restaurant with her husband, said business was good opening weekend.
“It’s stressful being open, but it was definitely helpful financially,” Tengs Fowler said, though she worries about the safety of employees and customers.
Flyers posted at the bar’s entrance request that customers wear masks, practice social distancing and stay away if they’re sick. Tengs Fowler said they have hand sanitizer on all the tables and baskets of N95 masks at both entrances.
The Fogcutter, Haines’ other year-round bar, reopened in May after Gov. Mike Dunleavy lifted statewide bar closures as part of the state’s reopening plan.
The Pioneer Bar could have reopened at the same time. The decision to resume operations was difficult, Tengs Fowler said. She considered a variety of feedback before reopening — employees in need of work, regulars who wanted the business open and others who thought the bar should remain closed.
“It’s hard because you need to sell some product and have some money coming in, but on the other hand, it wreaks havoc on your conscience,” she said.
If COVID-19 cases in the community rise dramatically, the business will likely close again, she said.
First Chilkat Valley marijuana edibles producer close to starting up
Happy Valley, the Chilkat Valley’s first marijuana edibles producer, could start up as soon as the end of July, pending construction and final state approval.
Tim Thomas, who will own and operate the business with his wife, said the couple has approached the business with the philosophy “start simple and continue to grow.”
When the business opens, it will produce cannabis-infused gummies, hard candies and caramels made from natural and, whenever possible, locally sourced ingredients. The coconut oil infusion used in the caramels will come from a Chilkat Valley cannabis grower, and the concentrates in the gummies and hard candies will come from Juneau.
Thomas said he hopes to begin by selling products at Winter Greens, the cannabis retail store in Haines, as well as in Skagway and Juneau, before expanding to other stores in the state.
The couple began developing Happy Valley two years ago. It has taken time to go through the state’s permitting process.
Thomas said he and his wife first encountered edible marijuana products as a form of pain management after his wife had surgery and decided to forgo prescription painkillers. Around the same time, Thomas said he started to become aware that he would eventually age out of his primary forms of income — carpentry and heli-ski guiding. “I’m 42. I thought, well, I can’t do this stuff forever.”
A few steps remain before the business can start production.
Thomas said he’s still waiting on Department of Environmental Conservation approval for the septic system for their industrial kitchen and a final inspection from the state Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office.
Sea to Soil Fertilizer returns to Haines Packing
After running out earlier this summer, Haines Packing Co. is once again selling Sea to Soil Fertilizer made from the company’s fish waste.
The idea for the fertilizer came from Haines Packing owner Harry Rietze’s father-in-law, Jim Szymanski, who developed an interest in soil science growing up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania. He now lives in Haines.
“Harry generates a tremendous amount of fish waste. I’d been after him to do something with it because it’s a valuable byproduct,” Szymanski said. “To use something going to waste, to be able to do something with all those fish byproducts is a neat thing.”
The fertilizer’s ingredients are salmon, organic blackstrap molasses, spring water, seaweed and Lactobacillus bacteria.
Szymanski said the Lactobacillus is key, breaking down the fish into a useful form for plants. The molasses feeds the bacteria initially, allowing them to multiply to a point where they can break down the fish waste. The seaweed adds extra nutrients. Depending on outdoor temperatures, the fertilizer takes roughly three weeks to produce.
Rietze said it’s a big seller. “I had a huge list of people to call and text when it came in,” he said. The fertilizer sells for $29.99 per gallon and is discounted for purchases of five gallons or more.
Szymanski said two years ago, the business produced 5,000 gallons. Some was sold locally, but most was shipped to nurseries in Oregon where they have family to aid with distribution.
This year, the company started with a small batch of 300 gallons, Szymanski said, and they may produce another larger batch later in the summer to ship south.