The Ducks Unlimited “Wall of Guns” fundraiser Aug. 23 netted about $13,000, said Haines chapter chairperson Jamie Knudsen. A name was picked from every 50 tickets sold. Winners throughout the evening then chose a gun from the wall, which included over 30 guns. Twelve guns were won from the wall.
Patty Brown, Christy Tengs Fowler, Jacque Horn, C.J. Jones, Tina Olsen, Barbara Pardee and Krista Kielsmeier braved Mount Ripinsky in the fog Saturday. Christy and Jacque had never been up the mountain, and Barbara hadn’t been up in 30 years. Christy said she was tired of saying she had never been up Mount Ripinsky. Her mother climbed it when she was pregnant with Christy. It took the group 10 hours.
Lani Hotch is hosting niece Marsha Warner of Folsom, Calif., and daughter Melissa. Marsha is the daughter of Lani’s brother Ralph Strong. Melissa goes to nursing school in Seattle. Lani said village life is about “frantic food processing” this week, with residents busy putting up fish and berries.
Joe Thomason of Jackson, Miss. is seeking information on the fate of the Miss Emma, a 29-foot-long “Mississippi River boat” that he and father Bill Thomason motored up Lynn Canal in 1986. The wooden boat was painted bright red, with a white cabin and gunnels, and an awning over the aft deck. A May 22, 1986 Chilkat Valley News story reported the Thomasons left the boat here after a trip up the Inside Passage, asking only that proceeds from its sale go to the school. Thomason’s address is 2386 Hickory Dr., Lot 26, Jackson, Miss. 39204. Email Joe at [email protected].
Alex Swift of Haines was among 144 cadets who graduated Friday morning from the Alaska Military Youth Academy during a ceremony in the Tikahtnu Ballroom at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Center. The 22-week program included academic studies, vocational instruction, life skills, military skills and self-discipline. Dignitaries attending the ceremony included U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Major General Thomas Katkus, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Mom Jackie Swift and Alex’s friend Tom Morphet attended the ceremony. The trio spent the remainder of the day at the Alaska State Fair to celebrate Alex’s achievement.
About 170 people attended Klukwan’s Blueberry Festival last weekend, said organizer Joanne Elsie Spud. Blueberry-themed exhibit winners include: Arts and Crafts: Sheri Loomis; Youth Art: Stella Ordonez; Jam/Jelly/Vinaigrette: Bev Klanott, Eleanor Hotch, Genevieve Stevens and Lani Hotch (group project); Baked Goods: Jan Merriman; Poems: Jackie Mazeikas; Youth Poems: Matilda Rogers; Photos: Mary Jo Lord Wild. Jackie Mazeikas also made a drum and painted it with an eagle and blueberries and Sheri Loomis entered a table runner with blueberry print fabric. Klukwan School students made large blueberry drawings. Katherine Hotch, Lani Hotch and Maggie Hotch donated blueberries for pancakes.
Jessie Miller is back from the Burning Man Festival, the annual art extravaganza held in the Nevada desert and dedicated to “the spirit of community, art, self-expression and self-reliance.” Held on alkali and silicate flats about 100 miles north of Reno, the week-long festival this year drew 66,000 participants and included about 280 massive art pieces, not including camp creations. “You have to ride your bike far and wide to see everything,” Miller said. She’s attended the festival about seven years with a group of 30 friends whose camp includes salsa and hip-hop dancing. Her favorite art piece was a steel filigree praying mantis shooting flames from its forward appendages.
Haines residents were among Southeasterners winning ribbons for exhibits at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. Division champions in Palmer included Helen Mooney (crocheted dress), Betsy Van Burgh (salad bowl), and Renee Hoffman, who also won Judge’s Choice (drawing). Other ribbon-earning locals included Jan Dubber (recycled fabric pillow, beaded box, and hand bag), Tia Heywood (puppet), Becky Nash (scissor case), Dawson Evenden (photographs), Liz Heywood (cedar box), Leanne Converse (halibut hook), Kadin Doddridge (wooden stool), Koa Doddridge (lion drawing), Leslee Downer (quilt), Lola Vogel (crocheted afghan), Marianne Rasmussan (three hats), and Elaine Mooney (moose cross stitch). Vendors from Haines included Julie Vance, who was selling her clothing at the fair, and Bob Atkins was selling his books. Tammy, Lindsey, and Natalie Jobbins attended the fair, as did former residents Kevin and Kris Reeves of Seward.
The “Honeymoon Hotel” roadside attraction near 25 Mile Haines Highway has been popular this summer, reports Natasha Coleman, who lives nearby and keeps the remains of the shack standing. Robert Cory Harris of Fernley, Nev., proposed to fiance Danielle Harvey there earlier this summer. Robert is the son of Robbie Harris, owner of 33 Mile Roadhouse. Mike and Lori Carter used the attraction as a backdrop for their wedding invitation photos. Coleman also said she saw a Canadian couple in full wedding garb who stopped there making out in “The Last Call,” a disconnected phone booth she maintains nearby. The phone booth will soon be moving about a mile farther out the highway with her, Coleman said.
Part of a bentwood box that may have a local origin recently was returned to Sealaska Heritage Institute, after being purchased at auction in Paris. The Anchorage Dispatch News reported the Chilkat piece was among two dozen Native artifacts – including many from the American Southwest – acquired through intervention by the U.S. State Department. This week, Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center director Lani Hotch said the piece isn’t clearly from this area. It may be of Haida or British Columbian origin, she said. For that reason, it’s just as well the artifact be kept at a regional museum, Hotch said.
Supanika “Sue” Ackerman is the new director of the preschool in Sitka. Previously, she taught four years at a preschool in Bellingham and two years at an international preschool in Thailand, where she lived with husband and former resident Tim Ackerman Jr. A Sitka Sentinel article reports that the couple was excited to see the job opportunity in Sitka, as they wanted to return to Southeast Alaska. The couple also has a new baby, Timothy Mikael “JJ.”