The Salvation Army Haines red kettle arrives on Main Street on Nov. 28. It will be manned at Howsers from approximately 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week, said Lt. Dave Kyle. The organization will accept cash and checks. You can also donate at the Corps, which accepts cash, checks, and credit card. Or, donate online before Jan. 1 at http://www.onlineredkettle.org. It’s the fastest way to help your neighbors, Dave said. It’s a secure system and all the money goes to people in Haines needing emergency food, shelter and care. “We encourage all residents to contribute as much as they can, since this is the primary fundraising campaign.”
A group of Haines residents attended the Alaska Travel Industry Association’s “Good as Gold” convention in Fairbanks, Oct. 6–9. Borough tourism director Leslie Ross joined business representatives Alison Jacobson, Heather Shade, Sean Gaffney, Nicole and Tim Holmes, Barbara Mulford, Eli Fierer and cultural center executive director Lani Hotch. Attendees networked with industry professionals, state tourism workers and cruise line representatives, Leslie said. Speakers included Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, CEO of Holland America Group Stein Kruse, and Alaska Airlines chairman, president and CEO Brad Tilden.
Former resident Aurita Maldonado of Moab, Utah was featured on the reality TV show “Monsters Inside Me” because of what she ate while on another reality TV show in 2012. Aurita ate a poisonous slug in a jungle in Fiji while being filmed for the show “72 Hours.” She contracted rat lungworm through the slug, a life-threatening infection in which worms latch onto the nerves of the spinal cord and brain. Husband John Binger also was interviewed for the “Monsters” episode, which aired Oct. 9 on Animal Planet. Aurita’s bizarre symptoms included extreme fatigue and a hallucination of Captain America in the toilet. At the end of the episode, biologist Dan Riskin admonishes watchers to “never eat raw slugs or snails.” Check out the episode on YouTube.
Meredith Pochardt is the new executive director of Takshanuk Watershed Council. Brad Ryan is the former director. Meredith previously worked as the council’s food security coordinator. That position is now vacant.
Deborah Davis and Mary Jean Sebens spent the first half of October in Italy. They visited Rome and took a train to Siena, Florence and Venice. They went to museums, walked a lot and ate good food. They also attended a wine tasting class in Florence. In Rome, the friends also met up with Mary Jean’s son Tristan Sebens. The trio went out for wine and appetizers.
Haven Lynn Hawthorne was born 9:55 a.m. Oct. 21 during a home birth to parents and former residents Emily Jane Brockman Hawthorne and Matthew Hawthorne of Bellingham, Wash. He weighed 9 lbs., 8 ounces, and measured 20.5 inches. A midwife also was present for the birth. Haven’s middle name is for Matthew’s father Jeffrey Lynn Hawthorne, who died last summer. Haven’s big brother Jonah was with grandmother Beth Hawthorne during the birth.
Gina St. Clair and Dan Humphrey bicycled about 1,100 miles as part of what they coined their “hometown tour.” They began in Gina’s hometown, Jackson, Wyo., and ended in Dan’s hometown, Silver City, N.M. They visited their parents in their respective hometowns. Gina’s parents are John and Putzi Harrington of Jackson. Dan’s parents are John and Gayle Humphrey of Silver City. They spent 20 days cycling, averaging 65 miles a day. They mainly camped along the way.