By Sara Callaghan Chapell
Ike Lorentz spent five days on the guided missile frigate USS Ingraham with his son, Navy seaman Paul Lorentz. The ship was returning from a six-month deployment in Central America where crew combatted transnational organized crime and narcotics trafficking. Ike met the ship in San Diego to join the “tiger cruise” organized for family of crewmembers. Ike prepared for rough seas by taking ginger pills, and was able to tour much of the ship and observe demonstration exercises. The crew stood at the rails in full dress uniform for the return of the USS Ingraham to her homeport of Everett, Wash. Paul joined the Navy in July 2006.
Snow and spring sunshine were abundant at the Chilkat Pass over Easter weekend. Patty and Rick Campbell camped at the pass for 11 days in a motor home they rented in Whitehorse. They spent the time snow machining and visiting with the hundreds gathered at the Pass from throughout the Yukon. They met Rick’s brother Curt Campbell and his wife Donna, from Whitehorse. Patty said the scene was friendly and relaxed.
Haines Student Council representatives have returned from the spring meeting of the Alaska Association of Student Governments in Kodiak. AASG delegates, including the Haines participants, were in Kodiak Thursday when two men were killed on Kodiak’s Coast Guard air station. The school was put on “lock-in” for several hours Thursday. Normal activities were allowed to proceed within the school, but students were prevented from leaving the building until the area was deemed safe. Teacher Mark Fontenot traveled with the Haines students and was impressed with the calm of the students, who went on with AASG business during the incident. Haines students in attendance were Royal Henderson, Patrick Henderson, Devin Braaten, Brandon Haxton and Chris Turner. Devin authored a resolution in support of Gov. Sean Parnell’s performance scholarship program, which was in danger of losing funding this year. The resolution passed unanimously and was immediately forwarded to the legislature and governor’s office. Scholarship funding was reinstated Sunday during the last day of the legislature’s regular session. Students were also heartened to learn of the passage of a suicide prevention bill in the legislature, which was a student government priority over the past two years. The Haines delegation won a service prize for the Haines student government’s coin drive project to raise money for the Kilimanjaro Orphanage. Brandon Haxton wrote an essay detailing the project, and Patrick Henderson delivered a speech to the general assembly. A vote tied the Haines project with Colony High School. Haines will receive $500 for the orphanage.
Mark Battion and Kristin Hathhorn are home from a tour that included a family reunion in Tennessee and a visit to Washington, D.C. While in Tennessee they went to the Grand Ole Opry and the Jack Daniels Distillery, and visited several Civil War sites. They met up with Kristin’s sister and niece in D.C., and traveled to New York City where they caught the Broadway production of War Horse.
Maggie Stern and Sean Bryant had a visit from friend John Burke, whom they’ve known for 10 years at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. John has been working carnivals and fairs across the country for 45 years, and is known in Alaska as the guy who will “Guess Your Weight.” John helped Sean finish the roof and their new house, and the two built a small sluice box. John works a goldmine outside Cantwell in the summer.
The second scavenger hunt to benefit the Haines Venturer Scouts had 19 participants climbing, boating, snowshoeing and biking around town Saturday. Organized by Greg Podsiki, the men’s competition raised $1,100. The winning team was made up of Jim Lampkins, Todd Winkle, John Hagen and Steve Anderson. Teams kayaked to Pyramid Island with guide Dan Burke, jumped out of J.R. Churchill’s gillnetter and swam to shore in survival suits, and searched for avalanche beacons at the golf course. Greg had assistance from many of the participants of the women’s competition including Tomi Scovill, Kathy Perry, Phyllis Sage, Carol Goodman, Judy Ewald and Cheryl Lowden. The next event will be coed and is planned for this summer.