Gene Kennedy serendipitously found an old copy of the CVN recently that he brought in to share with current staff. The 1970 paper, printed in blue ink on 8×11’’ paper contained several recognizable names, including Carl Heinmiller, Cliff Fossman and Steve McPhetres. Kennedy said he was driving by a burn pit that John Floreske had set up to get rid of some cabinets during a remodel of Martin and Allie Cordes’ house. Kennedy asked to take one home for a project he was working on. When he brought it home, the old CVN slipped out. “It’s like a visitor from the past came tumbling out.” Coincidentally, the copy was from the year that Kennedy arrived in Haines 53 years ago. “It grabbed me because of that. There’s lots of names I remember from my time here.”
Alexandra Fullerton, Haines Borough clerk, has earned the designation of MasterMunicipal Clerk (MMC), which is awarded by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC), Inc. IIMC grants the MMC designation only to municipal clerks who complete demanding education requirements and have a record of significant contributions to their local government, community and state. The International Institute of Municipal Clerks, founded in 1947, has 14,000 members throughout the United States, Canada, and 15 other countries, and the mission of this global non-profit corporation is to enhance the educational opportunities and professional development of its diverse membership. The institute stated that “in light of the speed and drastic nature of change these days, lifelong learning is not only desirable, it is necessary for all in local government to keep pace with the growing demands and changing needs of the citizens we serve. Your city can take immense pride in Alexandra’s educational accomplishments and achievement of this milestone.”
The Chilkat Center has announced the cast of its upcoming production of “The Play that Goes Wrong.” The story is about a group of utter amateurs trying their hardest to put on a show, but the group hasn’t had enough rehearsals to get their lines down pat, which leads to, well, difficulties. That’s not the only problem, either. Rehearsals have just started for the show at the Chilkat, which will be in mid-November. Cast members include Kelsi Glover as Annie, Jennifer McClurg as the Unnamed Backstage Assistant, Crystal Miller as Sandra, Dan Mohone as Robert, Ryan Staska as Dennis, Lex Treinen as Trevor, Brandon Wilkes as Chris, Mark Ziegler as Jonathan and Lee Zion as Max and also as Arthur the Gardener. The cast has started rehearsals just this week, and the group hopes to do a competent job of playing utter incompetents. Tod Sebens is directing; Cherri Price is the stage manager.
Overheard at Haines School. Here’s the scene: Friday afternoon, about 2:30 p.m.; a bunch of third graders are heading back to class after recess. One girl suddenly shouts out, apropos of nothing, “OK, raise your hand if you fell down and got wet.” No way of knowing who said it, or how many kids raised a hand.
Beach Rose is looking for a new location and will hold a special moving sale the week of Oct. 2. According to Tawny Darling, the final day will be Oct. 6, which is also the date of First Friday. On that day, the store will be open all day until 7 p.m. or later.
Here’s a tip on how to stay in business: Husband-and-wife team Karen Hess and Duck Hess both spoke Sept. 13 at the Tourism Advisory Board meeting on whether they will be able to handle the bus shuttle contract for next year. The discussion will be continued at the next meeting. At the meeting, Duck shared with the board the secret to uxorious peace: “That’s how we’ve been in business for 33 years. I just shut up.”
A look through the police report from the past week shows a lot of reports about bears, although the total number is nowhere near the more than 400 bear-related calls in Haines in 2020. Keep in mind that this is calls, not sightings, so that may have been 10 different reports about the same bear. In any event, this wide variety of calls shows how deeply bears come in to human territory. On Sept. 7, a bear was reported near the library, while the following day, a bear knocked over a dumpster along First Avenue and another was spotted in a truck bed on Chilkoot Loop. Also, police reported Sept. 11 there were several cases of people finding parked cars with their doors left wide open “at several downtown locations” overnight. That was bear activity, the police stated. Carl Koch, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, advises people to keep their garbage in a can certified as bear-resistant, and secure their livestock. Dumpsters need to be chained down, as per ordinance, which Koch noted hasn’t fully happened yet For more information, a presentation from 2021, focusing on Haines, is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aXMXecBLSc.