Two seats are open on the Chilkoot Indian Association tribal council. The deadline for declarations of candidacy and the nominations meeting is 5:30 p.m. on April 11. Stop by the tribal office on Third Avenue across from the library to get a declaration of candidacy form and nomination petition. The election will be held at the tribal office from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8.
Penny Fossman coached a junior high school basketball team in Kingman, Ariz. to third place in its division. Penny also coached an AAU team, the Mojave Heat, that daughter Addie Prisciandaro plays on. Addie’s older sister Nora Prisciandaro, a junior at Kingman High School, competes in the two-mile run on the school’s track team. Her dad Will Prisciandaro ran cross-country in college.
Joan and Pete Degen were on the Navajo reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, reading an interpretive sign for a historic trading post, when they were recognized by former Haines School physical education teacher Greg Brittenham and wife Luann. The Brittenhams were vacationing, including visiting Ron and Jean Smith near Phoenix, and Pete and Joan were on a spring break trip to see Pete’s dad in Green Valley, Arizona. The two couples enjoyed hiking together on the Grand Canyon’s Shoshone Trail. Joan and Pete also visited son Murphy Degen and wife Erika near Jordan, Utah, where the two couples had trouble telling apart their identical black labradors, coincidentally named Blue and Teal.
Cindy Zuluaga Jimenez recently traveled to the western Colombia city of Armenia to attend the quinceanera of second cousin Jasmine Aristizabal. The traditional celebration held on her uncle’s coffee farm included a feast of local steaks, guavas, mangos, papayas, and orange limes, and the music of salsa, merengue, and bachata. Cindy’s brother George came from Paris to attend and some of the other 85 celebrants came from Boston and Miami. Her trip included visiting five coffee farms for samples and picking fresh fruit off trees. On the return trip, Cindy visited her parents Orlando and Maria in Orlando, Fla.
Former resident Skip Clary visited Haines this week, his first trip here in nine years. He saw friends Kelly Mitchell, Andrea Nelson, and John Svenson and visited with others at the brewery.
Sarah Elliott won the 30-39 age division at Hell’s Hills ultra-marathon near Dallas, Texas. She ran the 50K over rough terrain in 6 hours, and 25 minutes and placed fourth overall among women in the race. Sarah was in Texas visiting with former Upper Valley resident Hilary MacNamara, their husband Sean, and their four boys. In Bridgeport, Texas, she acquired a new puppy for her family, Porter.
The annual spring Community Cleanup is being organized by the Haines Woman’s Club, Haines Friends of Recycling, Takshanuk Watershed Council, and the Haines Borough. Large yellow garbage bags for collecting roadside trash are available at the offices of the borough watershed council and the recycling center. Judy Ewald of the Woman’s Club says full bags should be deposited at the dump truck in the school parking lot or during open hours at the Community Waste Solutions landfill on FAA Road. Cleanup started on April 1 and continues through the month.
A group of 16 Haines residents and former residents on eight rafts made a 30-day trip down the Colorado River in February. Rachel Saitzyk said snow fell on the group during the trip’s fourth day, but by the trip’s end, they were enjoying temperatures in the 70s. Others making the trip included Ketch Jacobson, Marnie Hartman, Erik Stevens, Andrew Cardella, Russ Lyman, and Nelbert Niemi. The group put in at Lee’s Ferry.