Mark Davis played the trumpet on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of the Honors Performance Series. Parents Holly and Matt and sister Meg traveled with Mark to watch him perform. They flew out of Whitehorse and spent a total of five days sightseeing. Highlights included watching “Frozen 2” on the big screen and “Aladdin” on Broadway, and visits to the crown of the Statue of Liberty and the bronze statue of Balto in Central Park.
The 2020 Tournament of the Readers finished this week. The Bookworms, a second-grade team, went undefeated until the very end when the Story Stealers came from behind to take first place. Haines School librarian Leigh Horner organizes the annual reading incentive program with help from Karen Garcia and Holly Davis. This year, students won cash donated from the Chilkat Valley News and proHNS. The Story Stealers, Anna Bell, Luke Bell and Jonah Wray, took first place. The Bookworms, Gwendolyn Kosinski, Asher Jimenez and Sita Price, took second place. The Professional Pugs, Brylea Swaner, Patience Nelson, Mackenna Dryden, and Natalee Grant, came in third. In the middle school division, the Awesomely Awkward League won first place with Maddox Rogers, Willow Bryant, Kate Benda and Orion Carrington. In second place, Never Mind, They Quit, Selby Long, Hayden Jimenez, and Alex Weersinghe; and in third place, Cool Bears, Allie Lloyd, Mary Bell, Oriana Cole, and Lyndsey Stearns.
The Haines Women’s Gold Medal basketball team has completed four youth clinics geared towards 5- to 10-year-olds. Dribbling, passing, shooting, and other fundamental basketball skills were taught in fun ways such as games and races. All proceeds go to the team to help cover tournament entry fees, travel expenses and new uniforms. The time and date for future clinics will be determined based on gym availability.
Sitka’s Alaska Raptor Center released Shiva the great horned owl just before sunset Monday evening. Hannah Blanke, avian care specialist, said they released her before sunset in order to give Shiva time to acclimate before hunting. “There are a lot of rabbits around so hopefully she will help out with that population,” Blanke reported. Shiva was sent down to Sitka for rehabilitation after getting caught in a duck coop in Haines.
Jessica Price celebrated her birthday on Chilkat Lake this year with husband Josh Price, children Sita and Marvis Price, and friends Brynn Murphy, Chuck Jones, Jennifer Oseng Motes, and Nathanael David Motes. The adventure was full of firsts for the Price family, as they had never been on a snowmachine or been to Chilkat Lake.
Tod Sebens returned from a 74-day, 1,350-kilometer bike trip in Tunisia last week. He biked south along the coast from Tunis to 40 miles from the Libyan border, where he stopped due to safety concerns. “The scenery was somewhat monotonous,” he said. “There are millions and millions of olive trees.” The people, culture, and history, however, were very interesting. Sebens will do a slide show of photos on March 5 at the library.
Haines High School junior Brennan Palmieri attended the Student Legislative Fly-In in Juneau last week. He met with Sen. Jesse Kiehl, Sen. David Wilson, Rep. Dave Talerico, Rep. Sara Hannon, Rep. Dan Ortiz, Rep. Cathy Tilton and Haines High School alumnus and former representative, Bill Thomas to discuss issues important to students.
David Hertel repeatedly struggled on snowshoes through record snowfall to his outhouse during the last storm cycle. After a positive test for giardia, he feels betrayed by his previous water source, the Mud Bay spring. He is now sourcing his drinking water from friends with access to treated water.
After weeks of being stranded in Juneau waiting for ferry service to Haines, the Wishstar family threw in the towel and headed back to Colorado to stay with Vanessa Wishtar’s sister. She said that although Colorado is sunny and wonderful, it is difficult to appreciate it when their lives are tied to Haines and they are living out of suitcases with their two small children. They have been spending their time working remotely and investing their time in Colorado social connections.