Danny Johnston and Erin Dowden were married on Saturday at Chilkat State Park on a beautiful sunny afternoon across from Davidson and Rainbow glaciers. It was a fitting scene as the two met when Erin was working in Skagway on the White Pass Railroad and decided to take a birthday trip to Glacier Point with friends. Danny was the one who picked them up at Letnikof Dock, as he was a guide there, and the rest was history. The ceremony was followed by a reception at Letnikof Pavilion. Sam Edwards was the officiant and close friends Ryan Parker and Danielle McMannis spoke on behalf of the couple in their ceremony. Helen and Edith Bovet, Danny’s nieces, were the flower girls. Danny and Erin plan to honeymoon next year with a global trip starting in Croatia.
Josh Benassi is attending the New Approach School for Jewelry in Arrington, Tennessee where he will be taking bench comprehensive courses which focus on goldsmith practices and jewelry repair. He will soon move on to stone settings to incorporate into his own designs. “My instructor Blaine Lewis is an amazing teacher and the youngest master jeweler in the U.S., or maybe the world, and Drew Hadley who graduated at New Approach School then apprenticed in Belgium under Alexander Sidorov after working a jewelry for Tiffany’s with a one-hundred percent pass rate,” said Josh.
Alison Figdor and her husband John Broscious and children Lucy, 4, and Evan, 6 months, were in town recently to visit her dad George Figdor and celebrate his 75th birthday. During their visit, Lucy and her father and family friends climbed Mount Ripinsky. Lucy was following in the footsteps of her mom, who had also first climbed the mountain at age 4. George confessed that it had taken a daypack full of M and M’s to encourage Alison to the summit. Lucy’s dad was carrying an arsenal of chocolate chips with him, but she was having so much fun scurrying up the trail that she forgot all about eating, or even resting.
Matt Blood and children Taylor, Makena, and Charlie were in town visiting his parents Barb and Jerry Blood. During the trip, highlights were hiking out to Battery Point and a ferry trip to Skagway. Matt caught up with friend Harry Rietze and also Charlie caught up with friend Charlie DeWitt. The two boys enjoyed fishing down at the docks with Charlie DeWitt’s family and Charlie Blood almost landed a large Dolly Varden that sadly slipped the hook.
Haines Uglys’ Cancer Fundraiser Golf Tournament was a success last weekend with a great turnout from 12 teams with three to four people on each team. The tournament brought in $1,630. The funds were given to Chuck Mitman who represented the Uglys for their Cancer Foundation that assists local residents who have been affected by cancer. The first-place team was father-and-son team Ralph and Tyler Swinton and Chris and Kai Dixon. They received golf hats from Stan and Kathy Jones, owners of the Valley of the Eagles Golf Course. Not one person left empty-handed as all were entered in raffles and received prizes. Niall Hacket, who helped put the tournament together, said 12 teams is fantastic and the week after the international golf tournament, to have a local turnout like that is just a great thing.
Sitka, the red-tailed hawk at the American Bald Eagle Foundation, decided to take himself for an unplanned excursion during this free-flight program last week. It caused a bit of a traffic jam as he was hopping and gliding between trees near the post office as interns and staff Katie Dickerson and Josh Sanko corralled him back to safety. “We want people to be aware that this is sometimes a normal thing for this program. We have to have safety procedures in place for the birds, so we hope people can give us a little bit extra patience,” Dickerson said. The staff also encourage the community to come in and see how they are working with the birds so the community can better understand the importance of training programs.