Helen Tengs celebrated her 89th birthday this week. She spent Sunday having brunch with daughter Christy Tengs Fowler and niece Wendy Bergstrand. Helen also called old friends, including former Haines resident Dorothy Sele, who now lives in Washington state with son Darryl Sele, and Hazel Johnson, who came to Alaska with Helen decades ago and lives in Minneapolis. Helen’s son Tony Tengs also came to town to visit. Friends celebrated at the Senior Center Monday, with Helen donning a tiara and eating off the distinctive “You Are Special” plate reserved for such occasions.
The Haines School food service program received its first charitable moose two weeks ago. The sublegal moose was donated to the school after Fish and Game determined it didn’t meet a legal antler configuration. Food services director Brandi Stickler, husband Jim Stickler, Dave Weldon and cook Dick Haas spent days processing the meat, which Brandi said will be used primarily for burgers, tacos and soups. Brandi said the school has been waiting to receive a moose for at least five years.
Rebekah Green left this month to study Spanish at Spain’s University of Grenada as part of an Academic Programs International study abroad program. Green is a sophomore at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks studying biology. Rebekah’s mother Shannon Green said Rebekah spent the past two weeks getting acclimated to Grenada by visiting palaces, monasteries and other historical sites before classes begin. The program is for an entire academic year.
Debra Schnabel attended Piper Lemcke’s wedding in Port Angeles, Wash., last weekend. Piper married Richard Grall at a pastoral ranch that has been in Grall’s family for years. Piper’s dad, former Haines Borough public facilities director Brian Lemcke, and wife Pat Corcoran also attended.
A Quebec-based documentary production company visited Haines from Sept. 17-24 to film bears, eagles and salmon. Tara Bicknell coordinated the trip, and Great Bear Foundation executive director Shannon Donahue was interviewed. Bicknell said the “philosophical” documentary will look at how animals age in the wild, how knowledge is passed to future generations and animal life spans.
Doug Holton recently returned from his cabin on the Wind River, just outside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Holton, who moved to Haines permanently in August, worked as a maintenance man at the refuge, at Gates of the Arctic National Park and at Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. Holton spent a career in the Arctic, including operating Alaska Power and Telephone’s power plant in Bettles.
Former resident Kaci Ahmuty is undergoing a second round of chemotherapy for breast cancer. Kaci lives in Bend, Ore. with husband Michael and daughters Riley and Cassidy. Cards and letters can be sent to 63134 Riverstone Dr., Bend, OR 97701.
An upgraded 32-inch television screen at Howsers is displaying the Haines Photography Group’s work. September marked the one-year anniversary of the television’s installation there as an Art on Main Street project. The Alaska Arts Confluence funded the new television. Photographs by Tom Ganner, Eric Kocher, Russ White, Dena Selby, Ron Horn, Judi Rice, Anna Jurgeleit, Merrill Lowden, George Figdor, Kathleen Menke and Ron Jackson have recently circulated on the screen. Photos include scenes from around Haines and other parts of the world, including Cuba and Bangladesh.
Senior Center site manager Cindy Jackson recently attended the Office for American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian Programs 2015 National Title VI Training and Technical Assistance Conference and Tribal Consultation in Washington, D.C. The center receives a grant through the Chilkoot Indian Association to serve Native elders. Jackson said her favorite session at the conference was “Caring for the Caregivers,” where she learned how to further develop the center’s outreach program. While in D.C., Jackson also made time to visit the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
Shel and Karen Jahn attended the celebration of former resident Trudy Hebert’s 99th birthday in Mesa, Ariz., Sept. 20. Trudy and late husband Hans raised three sons in their Mud Bay home in the 1960s when Trudy taught at Haines Elementary School. Hans supervised the rebuilding of the Presbyterian Church after it burned in 1973.
Terry Lambert made time to visit some former classmates and other friends while here for a week attending to the affairs of father Ray Menaker. Ray died in Haines Sept. 22. Lambert said a memorial service or tribute for her father, including family members from the Lower 48, is now tentatively planned for next spring.