Nolan Michael Piper was born at 3:52 p.m. on May 2 at Bartlett Regional Hospital to Elsie and Nathan Piper. Elsie’s sister Annie Fullerton was on hand for support but was hospitalized only a few days before the birth for her appendectomy. Grandparents Alekka and Mike Fullerton made it to Juneau shortly after Nolan’s birth. Elsie said that Nolan has a full head of hair and is “beautiful, healthy, and adjusting well.”
Visitor Jeanne Guenard of Lake Tahoe, Calif. said Bob Plucker of Haines deserves a Citizen of the Month Award for finding and turning in her wallet she dropped near the Haines Sheldon Museum sometime around May 1. The wallet contained only about $40 in cash but Guenard said losing the credit cards and identification inside would have crimped the RV vacation she’s making around Alaska with husband Dave Owen and two other couples from Lake Tahoe. The group had made it to Homer this week.
Jane Pascoe spent April in Australia, her first trip home in four years due to delays caused by COVID-19 lockdowns. Jane visited with siblings, extended family, and with mom Patricia Pascoe, 96. She also caught up with childhood chums. Early fall weather in New South Wales included record flooding that polluted beaches, making swimming there unsafe. Jane grew up in Newport, one of Sydney’s northern beach towns.
Haines High School held its annual prom on April 30 at the fairgrounds’ Harriett Hall. The prom court included seniors Trygve Bakke and Sadie Anderson as king and queen, juniors Koa Doddridge and Alison Benda as prince and princess, sophomores Douglas Adams and Gracie Stickler as duke and duchess, and freshmen Colin Aldassy and Ashlyn Ganey as butler and maid.
Pam and Selby Long brought French macarons, Melissa Ganey came with salted chocolate chip cookies and the American Legion Auxiliary donated a bag of goodies from Rusty Compass during Haines School Staff Appreciation Week last week.
About two dozen leaders of the Alaska School Activities Association and ASAA’s Region V held meetings in Haines April 24-28. Activities around town included a visit to Steve Kroeschel’s wildlife park, dinner at the Old Field Kitchen and a crab boil at “The Oceanside,” Roger Schnabel’s new facility on Front Street. Stuart DeWitt provided crab, said Haines athletic director Lynzee Swinton. Familiar faces included Sandi Wagner of Juneau who serves as associate director of ASAA and Haines High School graduate Andrew Friske, residential principal at Mount Edgecumbe High School.
Mollie Dwyer and Dave Thomas have moved to town from Juneau. Mollie works at Alaska Seaplanes and Dave is the new distiller at Port Chilkoot Distillery. The couple adopted a local rescue cat, St. Cloud, named for the Waxahachie album. Mollie’s dad Peter Dwyer and mom Debbie Gravel moved to Haines from Ketchikan several years ago.
Nori Nash made clock-shaped cookies and Andrea Nelson baked thyme-spiced focaccia bread for Dwight Nash’s presentation Friday at Ampersand Alaska during May’s First Friday art walk. Nash set up in the gallery with a small workbench, tools, parts, and his collection of vintage Westclock alarm clocks. Dwight collects the wind-up clocks and repairs them.
George and Laura Hoffman of Haines Hitch-Up RV Park sold their home in New Jersey and have moved to Haines permanently. They opened the park on May 1 and have great expectations for the season. Eighteen separate caravans are booked for summer and there are already many reservations, Laura said. Some guests report a Whitehorse, Y.T. campground already three-fourths full, she said. “Things are looking up. We are very excited about the new year.”
Many of the sled dog kennel trucks seen in town during recent weeks are headed to Skagway or Juneau to work for Dan Turner’s Gold Rush Sled Dog Tours. Turner, a former long-distance musher and retired Haines Borough assessor, runs more than 1,000 dogs on summertime mushing tours on icefields in the northern Southeast. School teacher musher Bucky Tippett of Ashland, Wis., was in Haines this week, waiting for the ferry to take him and his 15 dogs to Juneau. Dan and Kaycee Powell of Fairbanks dropped 25 dogs off for Turner’s operation. They’re gold miners who operate The Goat Project Kennel.