Friends and family members held a graveside service for longtime resident Hank Jacquot Monday at Jones Point Cemetery. Hank, 87, died Nov. 4 at his home near Wells Bridge after a long illness. A full obituary will be published in next week’s CVN.
Tim Ackerman was included in a Nov. 4 New York Times story about wild and traditional foods served at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. For about five years, Ackerman has donated seals he harvests locally to the hospital, which also makes traditional meals with donations of moose, salmon, deer, caribou, herring roe, eulachon, beach asparagus and fiddlehead ferns. “Not everybody has the funds or the means to go out and catch it themselves, so we kind of fill that gap,” Ackerman told the newspaper. Seal meal and oil are highly requested menu items, the story said.
Fisherman and carpenter Ian Seward spent nine months, off and on, sailing between Haines and Hawaii in the past year. “I had to get it out of my system,” he explained this week. Quinn Asquith-Heinz was his main crewman aboard the Grail Dancer, a 61-foot classic schooner that left Haines Sept. 12, 2020. Quinn, Craig and Gaelen Allen and Joe Altman-Moore made the first leg of the voyage to Port Townsend, Wash. In Tofino, British Columbia, Theo Abbott joined the crew. Seward, Asquith-Heinz and Abbott made the voyage’s second leg to Dana Point, Calif. From there, they made Hawaii in 20 days, reaching Hilo in late May. They enjoyed meals of tuna, yellowtail and mahi-mahi they caught along the way. Quinn even tried a flying fish. On the Big Island, Randy and Alice Bachman gave them a tour and loaned them a truck. They also saw Jackie Ruggirello and Elijah Donat. Ian spent three months in the islands before making a trip to see family in Montana. The Grail Dancer is now for sale in Alameda, Calif.
John Streiker, a member of the Yukon Territory’s legislative assembly, is scheduled to make a tribute to Nicole Edwards next Thursday, Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. Alaska time. Edwards, a singer-songwriter, educator, and regular visitor to the Chilkat Valley, died recently. The tribute can be heard online at http://www.yukonassembly by following the menu items “house-business” and “coverage-proceedings.”
Jim Stanford, Ken Ewald, Tom Morphet, Shannon Spring, Lucy Squibb, and Lucas Mertl recently volunteered to make improvements to the cross-country ski trail near 26 Mile Haines Highway, including minor brushing and bank sloping. Stanford, who has set a 5K ski track there for 15 years, said a loop ski will again be available, as the Klehini River has returned to a more southerly course.
Sanford “Sandy” Griffith died at age 96 on Nov. 1 in Ketchikan, where his obituary described him as a “loquacious poet-philosopher and occasional rebel.” Griffith was married to the late Constance Griffith of Haines. Their son Tom Griffith, a former Haines resident, now lives in Vermont.
Michelle Drucker came to Haines early this week to catch up with friends including Stephanie Scott, Tod Sebens, Fred Shields, Leslie Evenden and Ed McCoy. She’s enjoyed working on jigsaw puzzles and getting swims at the pool. In Juneau, Michelle visited with Margaret Sebens and Ellen Canapary as well as Ellen’s daughter Mary Canapary. Margaret works for the state court system and shares an apartment in Douglas with former Haines tourism director Larry West. Michelle works as an assistant professor in the physical therapist assistant program at University of Alaska-Anchorage. Her husband Steve Williams, former Haines radio and newspaper reporter, works remotely for Ecocert, an organic certification company. Steve enjoys exploring Anchorage’s extensive bike trail system. Michelle reports youngest daughter Lucy Boisvert lives in New York City and is studying toward a social work degree at University of Alaska-Fairbanks, while Lucy’s sister Taiga Boisvert is completing an engineering degree at Portland State University. Daughter Madeline Barton is married and living in Coos Bay, Ore.
Six-year-old Zephyr Cox climbed his first mountain on Sunday, making it to the top of Mount Riley. Mom Summer Andersen said Zephyr’s goal was to go high enough to find snow and indeed he found some near the summit. Zephyr made the trip with his mom and dad Justin Cox.
At the Presbyterian Church Sunday, Martha Mackowiak recounted the dramatic story of her drowning and resuscitation following a plane crash in Lynn Canal six years ago this month. Mackowiak was twice revived by CPR. “I only have a few memories of that night, but I’ve been told nobody thought I was going to make it,” she said, attributing her survival to the prayers of others. “Prayer is a mysterious and powerful tool God has given us.” Her talk is on YouTube.