Haines Presbyterian Church pastor Dana Perreard said a friend’s video of praise songs on a street in Brazil inspired his “Amazing Grace Challenge.” The idea spread on a local, ministerial e-mail list and residents of many faiths stood on their porches at noon Easter Sunday and belted out the Gospel classic. Singing from her back porch on Moose Lane, Episcopal Church member Pam Randles said she heard a neighbor also singing. “It was just wonderful.” Perreard rang the Presbyterian Mission bell, sang and strummed his guitar from the church steps.
Music teacher Matt Davis is collecting “likes” on a Facebook post of the Haines High School Man Choir performance of “Under the Boardwalk,” sung from four locations and stitched together in a “Brady-Bunch-style” single video. Bass singer Brennan Palmieri sang the lead track, and other chorus members recorded themselves singing along. “It works pretty well as long as everyone’s listening to the same thing and everyone’s camera shoots the same frame rate,” Davis said. Singers included tenors Mark and Luke Davis and baritone Logan Borcik, with Steven Galinski on melody. It can be viewed on YouTube under “Haines Man Choir Sings Under the Boardwalk.”
Sheri Loomis said her regional citizen effort has produced more than 5,000 face masks for residents and caregivers. “We’ve been busy.” Residents of Haines, Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell and Petersburg pitched in. Of 33 volunteers in the Chilkat Valley, Clara Yoder and Lynette Campbell led production, each making 100 masks or more. Sally Garton served as T-shirt cutter and Kim Phillips headed up delivery. To order a free mask, see the top of Facebook’s “Haines Chatters” page or phone Loomis at 766-2854. Five sizes and two styles are available.
Salvation Army Lt. Kevin Woods organized the “Social Distancing Community Easter Egg Hunt” Sunday, encouraging residents to post artwork eggs in windows of their homes that would be visible to passing motorists and pedestrians. Families of Krystal Lloyd, Melissa Ganey and Christal Verhamme counted upwards of 400 eggs. Howsers donated gift-certificate prizes for the top spotters. See more at the Haines Got Talent Facebook page.
Former Duly Noted columnist Eileen McIver recently held an online Zoom gathering in Healy for pets around town. “Put the Zoo in Zoom” featured 16 animal friends from the Denali Borough. “There’s a bunch of pets in the frame, just kind of staring at each other,” McIver said this week. “You have to invite everyone – cats, dogs, rodents, lizards, birds, amphibians, whatever.” Eileen and sister Kerry McIver are still digging out of a late-season snowstorm there.
Deborah Marshall reports finding “egg-carton-sized” bear prints April 10 near her home in the Chilkat Peninsula’s Rainbow Acres subdivision. She said it’s the earliest in spring she has seen sign of bears there. Neighbors appreciated the heads-up after she posted photos online.
Readers looking for a new book might check out two suspense novels written by former resident Mike Rostron published in 2019 and 2020. “Cape Decision” and “The Kabul Conscript” were informed by Rostron’s 25 years in Southeast and a Peace Corps hitch he served in Afghanistan in 1973, when a coup overthrew the nation’s government. Mike and wife Lisa live near Blaine, Wash., with daughter Leslie and granddaughter Sailor. Daughter Haley and son-in-law Brendan Gardner live in Bellingham, Wash. Mike and Leslie, who performed in Haines as The Truffles rock band, still have a band that plays in nearby casinos.
Thom Ely recently returned from trips to the Lower 48, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. He and friend Aimee Creelman drove from San Francisco to Aimee’s home in Brattleboro, Vt. Stops included camping on the Mississippi River, touring Skyline Drive in Virginia and visiting Thom’s mom Arline Ely in West Springfield, Mass. A highlight was seeing spring trees and flowers in bloom along the way, Thom said. Aimee is a childhood friend of Mira Ericksen.
Dr. Greg Higgins reports that the school he supports in Moshi, Tanzania is closed for COVID-19 and students are isolating with families or at other residences. The extent of the infection there is unknown due to a secretive government concerned about potential effects of the disease on tourism, the nation’s main industry. Greg’s wife Shannon Higgins visited Moshi in January. A medical condition prevented Greg from making the trip. The couple is hunkering down in Anchorage.