Dipper Kitchen has new owner
The new owner of Dipper Kitchen hopes to blend her love for herbal medicine with the company’s natural and locally sourced products.
Meghan Hart recently purchased Dipper Kitchen from Rosalie Loewen, who started the business in 2014. Hart said it was a natural step for her to take over the company, which produces homemade jams, jellies and syrups made with local berries and flowers.
“I’m going to school right now to become a master herbalist,” Hart said. The program is offered online through the American College of Healthcare Sciences.
Hart, who moved to Haines in 2011 after working with Chilkat Guides, said she previously attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks to major in nursing but wanted a more flexible job with two young kids, ages 2 and 5 months. With an interest in healthcare, Hart said she was already making medicinal oils and salves for family and friends.
“I’m getting an education in something that was already a hobby. I thought (buying Dipper Kitchen) would be a really great way to combine those things,” Hart said.
Hart said she hopes to add apothecary products to Dipper Kitchen’s current offerings. She said the dream is to get a storefront and also add dried herbs and edibles with local plants, fruits, berries and flowers.
“It would be a place for locals to come and have a different option,” Hart said.
For now, Hart said she hopes to maintain the great relationships Loewen started with Haines businesses.
Distillery to expand whiskey capacity
Higher demand for its whiskey is prompting the Port Chilkoot Distillery to expand by about 3,000 square feet its production capacity and tasting room.
Earlier this month, contractors removed the roofing and the framing of the Quonset hut behind the distillery to prepare the lot for construction, distillery co-owner Heather Shade said. “We’re not able to fulfill the demands for our whiskey and we’d like to be able to age them longer and improve our products and have older ones,” Shade said. “The expansion will allow us to operate more smoothly and efficiently because we’ve run out of space and it’s really tight to work in.”
The distillery has been producing whiskey during the winter, but once the expansion is complete they will produce the spirits year-round. Shade said in addition to longer aging, the distillery will also be able to utilize larger barrels. The distillery has been aging its whiskey in 100, 25-gallon barrels. With the added space, the distillery will be able to utilize about 200 of the traditional 55-gallon sized barrels.
“We’re hoping to age for five to six years the bourbons and even longer for other whiskeys we hope to make in the future,” Shade said. “This will allow us to do that and allow us to host more people in here comfortably when we’re open to the public.”
Shade said their tasting room will quadruple in size when the construction is complete next spring.
New manager hired at PCC
Port Chilkoot Company has red Richard Clement to serve as a property and project manager with the aim to renovate structures and increase business opportunities in Fort William H. Seward.
The company owns the bulk of Fort Seward properties and structures, but has never employed a manager to oversee its assets. Clement said he will actively pursue property rental and sales and develop a maintenance schedule for its structures.
“The biggest project is what to do with the barracks,” Clement said. “We’ve got a leaky roof, windows that are broken. It has a good solid foundation and good timbers within it, but there’s siding missing and those brutal north winds hit that building hard.”
Part of his contract includes removing non-paying tenants who utilize the Fort’s assets and generate revenue from those spaces. “There’s a lot of undocumented facts that I’m dealing with at this point,’ Clement said.
Clement also plans to clear and make available for lease the middle section of the quartermaster building, where The Fireweed and Dejon Delights are located.
The hiring of a manager comes after discussions with an Anchorage architecture firm and the National Park Service. The Port Chilkoot Company board of directors hired the firm to develop recommendations for the rehabilitation of significant structures in the Fort to preserve its historic significance.
Clement recently retired from the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. He also worked for BP and for the state government.
DeWitt offers website design
Websites for Haines businesses are getting a facelift with White Raven Web Design.
Lexie DeWitt said she recently turned her hobby into a business working with local clients to make their websites functional and user-friendly.
“It was a hobby that I picked up a few years ago,” DeWitt said. “I designed a couple websites and really enjoyed starting with a blank canvas and creating things with the customer.”
DeWitt said she worked with Rosalie Loewen to create Dipper Kitchen’s website and enjoyed meeting with her to determine her goals for the site and coordinating with a photographer for professional pictures. The project was the catalyst for other web design projects.
DeWitt has recently designed websites for Chilkat Valley Preschool, Takshanuk Watershed Council, the Fogcutter Bar and other businesses and nonprofits. She primarily uses the design sites Shopify, Wix and Squarespace. She has hired Haines High School alum Alisha Young as a graphic designer. Young graduated college last year with a bachelor of arts in communication design from Fort Lewis College. DeWitt said Young can design logos or help with merchandise, signs, cards or other design needs.
Despite not having a design degree, DeWitt said her master’s degree in educational technology has helped develop the new business.
“What I like about technology is I’m constantly learning things,” she said. “I’m not afraid to dive in and learn something new.”
DeWitt said White Raven Web Design also offers services to maintain businesses’ social media outlets. For a flat monthly rate, DeWitt will maintain accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or other social media sites.
“That’s really fun for me,” DeWitt said. “It’s something I can do when I’m making dinner. Working from home and staying home with my kids is kind of a dream.”
Visit whiteravenak.com for more information and examples of DeWitt’s work.
Cajun, Mexican eatery opens
Longtime Haines residents and new parents Ryan and Danina Parker opened a restaurant called Raevyn’s Café this month.
The café, named after their 9-month-old daughter, is in the Klondike building at Dalton City in the fairgrounds, which last functioned as a pizza restaurant.
Parker said it’s a counter service restaurant featuring Mexican and Cajun-inspired dishes, sandwiches and salads with rotating specials and desserts.
Raevyn’s Café opened May 18. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m. to start, with hours and menu subject to change after opening.
“Raevyn’s is a family-owned-and-operated place with an open, casual environment,” Parker said.
Parker said the restaurant’s state beer and wine permit is pending but should be active in the coming months. New floors, fresh paint and custom-built tables will give the inside of the building a facelift.