Duly Noted

Bookstore owner Amy Kane says New Orleans is a feast for the senses, including the sounds of train whistles, foghorns and church bells. She recently returned from a two-week visit to the Crescent City, taking in its legendary music and restaurants while visiting recent Haines residents Amy Mae and Steven Villano. Amy works at a municipal botanical garden and Steve is sculpting Mardi Gras Parade floats. Highlights included sampling the gumbo at the restaurant MRB Bar and Kitchen in the French Quarter, joining the street scene, and perusing eight bookstores. Al fresco dining and street music made for a COVID-safe holiday, Amy said.
Judy San is back from a whirlwind drive east for the holidays. She made Clarksville, Tenn. from Haines in nine days starting Dec. 14 to visit sister Joani Jackson. Judy’s mutt dog Jack and cats Digit and L.S. rode along in her 2015 Toyota Tacoma for the 8,500-mile trip. Judy and Joani enjoyed hikes and visiting nephew Mark Sanner and wife Brie near Cincinnati. Judy stopped in cemeteries in three states on her return trip, locating the headstones of great-grandparents in Bradshaw, Neb. and Tipton, Iowa. Judy is a retired outdoor school manager who is building a house at 18 Mile.
Brian Harmon’s Stella Tree Service came to the rescue of the American Bald Eagle Foundation during last month’s dumping of snow. Responding to a public appeal, Brian came over with a Bobcat and plowed out the aviaries so foundation employees could get access to raptors, said executive director Cheryl McRoberts.
Former Haines Sheldon Museum director Jerrie Clarke is rehearsing for Virgin Valley Theatre Troupe’s “Wedding Bell Blues,” a melodrama written by Nancy Arnold and Sue Kjellsen, old friends from Anchorage who moved near Jerrie in Mesquite, Nev. Jerrie and husband Dan Gagnon visited Haines during a Southeast trip in October. They stayed with Arlene Brooks and met Joan Snyder, Blythe Carter and Nancy Nash for lunch. They shared a dinner with Carol Tuynman and Paul Nelson, and hoisted drafts with Andrea Nelson at the brewery. They found Annette Smith and Sam Wright putting up Christmas decorations and had a quick chat with Mike Borcik and Deb Davis at the Market.
Micah Bochart and wife Jerin Arifa made a three-week visit to see family and friends in Haines during the holidays. They spent time with Micah’s parents Jeff Bochart and Adrian Revenaugh, sisters Hannah Rose and Merrick and Merrick’s husband Joe Jacobson and daughter Yarona. Jerin is a marketing professional and award-winning social justice advocate originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Firsts for Jerin included snowmachining, skiing and walking across a frozen lake. Micah and Jerin live in New York City where Micah operates his own videography, photography and editing business. They’ve scratched their outdoors itch by canoeing in each of the city’s five boroughs.
Feeling her stress responses going into overload, Marnie Hartman made a medicinal road trip, roaming through the Southwest and West Coast in November and December with her dog Izzy. With no schedule, Marnie reconnected with 43 friends and visited several national and state parks. Highlights included helping Sarana Miller with a yoga retreat in Big Sur, Calif., basking in hot baths under a full moon and gazing at the coastline she once called home. She connected with Cambria Goodwin, daughter Willa and partner Luke, Alixanne Goodman, Rustin Goodin, Jimmie McNevin and wife Kate, Leslie Ross and daughter Rio, John Hirsch, Abbey Collins, Sharon Resnick, Mark and Joan Sizemore, Sydney Mintz, Ellen Schipiro and Aaron Davidman.
Motivational speaker and author Jesse LeBeau addressed students in grades 3-12 at Haines School this week. A Ketchikan-raised basketball prodigy who lacked the size to go pro, LeBeau became a TV commercial and film actor, working with such hoops stars as Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant and celebrities Heidi Klum and Justin Bieber by throwing himself into the Southern California scene. His 2014 autobiography is “Among the Giants: How One Underdog Pursued his Dreams and You Can Too.”
Sharon Svenson last weekend led six local women through a glass mosaic class, using the techniques she used to create murals now mounted in schools throughout Alaska. In two, five-hour days, Sheri Loomis, Becky Nash, Anna Mulyca, Shannon McPhetres and daughter Emily McPhetres created colorful 10 by 12-inch panels by cutting, grinding and gluing glass pieces then grouting between them. More classes are scheduled.
The origin of a totem pole at Cabin John Park in Potomac, Md. was traced this week to Alaska Indian Arts in Haines. Juneau teacher Scott Maxwell went searching for the story of the pole at a park near where he grew up. A plaque that explained its origin had gone missing. Through Alaska Twitter, a brochure used during the dedication of the pole in 1966 surfaced, including the name of AIA founder Carl Heinmiller. Margaret Friedenauer saw the brochure on Twitter while she was visiting one of the carvers of the pole, her father-in-law John Hagen Sr. of Haines. The late Leo Jacobs also worked on the pole. It was commissioned by the Potomac Area Council of Camp Fire Girls. The group’s insignia was carved into the pole’s base.
Milo Astrolabe Johnson Kraft was born at 8:48 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14 to Lindsay Johnson and Graham Kraft at Mount Edgecumbe Medical Center in Sitka. Milo weighed 7 lbs., 6 ounces, and measured 20 inches. Lindsay, who spent the holidays in Sitka with daughter Mira, said the arrival of parents David and Jenny Johnson and sister Rachel Pilch and her family made everything easier and more fun. Mom and daughter enjoyed skiing, skating, sledding, swimming and strolling the trails with cousins Willa and Leif. Graham went surfing and snowboarding. They also visited Alixanne Goodman and baby Kora. Milo’s middle name comes from a favorite outer coast beach located 60 miles west of Gustavus.