Coral Lani Jacobson and Kyle Greenhaulgh welcomed son Dean Lees on March 26. Grandma Jen Reid was there for the birth. “He is such a calm and happy baby and we are so madly in love with him,” she said. Dean weighed 10 pounds, 1 ounce and was 22 inches long.

The Haines Packing Company hosted its second annual community Easter egg hunt on Sunday at Letnikof Cove Beach. The Easter Bunny, who also made a surprise appearance, hid over 1,000 eggs. Around 100 kids participated. Organizers Genny and Harry Rietze said, “It was the best one yet and we look forward to next year.”

The Haines Dolphins Swim Team had its annual Swim-A-Thon fundraiser last Saturday. “Collectively 43 participants swam 53.22 miles. That’s 3,982 lengths,” said head coach Jackie St. Clair. Total funds have yet to be counted, but the fundraiser helps provide for coaching salaries, equipment, and the pool rental.

Jedediah Blum-Evitts traveled to the American Distilling Institute annual convention in Portland, Ore. to represent Port Chilkoot Distillery. He attended workshops on advanced distilling and whiskey making techniques and accepted three new awards for the distillery spirits. This year the distillery entered their 50 Fathoms Gin and Wrack Line Rye in the competition. The gin won a Gold Medal and Best in Category. The rye won a Silver Medal for rye whiskies.

About 25 kids attended the Haines Hot Shots .22 Easter Shoot with targets of water balloons, peeps and clay. “When kids hit a target they got to pick an egg with prizes ranging from toys and candy to $10 cash,” said organizer Nicole Holm.

Haines School fifth grader Willa Stuart made it to the third round of the Alaska State spelling bee in Anchorage last week, her second time at the state competition. She went out on the word “glossodynia,” also known as burning mouth syndrome. Sixth grader Raven Hotch from Klukwan School misspelled “cavalry” in round one. Teacher Jessica Tipkemper said Raven met Miss Alaska, Angelina Klapperich, while there and enjoyed her first state bee.

RaeAnn Galasso attended the Alaska Masters State Championship Swim Meet at Westcott Memorial Pool in North Pole, Alaska last month. There were 52 swimmers attending, ages 19-69 years. The events she swam were 50m fly, 50m free, 50m back, 100m free, and two more challenging events: the 500m and 1650m free. RaeAnn placed first in all events and scored first place high point for her age group. RaeAnn’s daughter and Haines High alumni Cassie Galasso joined her at the meet and volunteered as her lap counter, cheerleader and moral supporter.

Chilkat Valley Preschool has put up the “Giving Tree” in their new building. Kerry Cohen, using Mud Bay clay, made the beautiful ceramic piece. Each leaf on the tree and foundation stone carries the name of donors within the community and from afar.

Jenn MarschkeLuck Dunbar and their son Archie have returned from a camping vacation where they traveled to Utah, Nevada and California last month. They visited many national parks including Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Escalante and the Redwoods. The family also ventured to Las Vegas where it snowed for the first time in 8 years. But that didn’t stop them from enjoying the Vegas Ferris Wheel over the strip. On the way home they stopped by Roseburg and Portland, Ore. to visit family.

Following a recent trip to Ecuador and Peru, Patty Brown spent a sunny week camping in the desert of Southern California where she met up with Haines friends. At Borrego Springs, where Patty worked as a park ranger for Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in the 1980s, she spent some time visiting with Deb Marshall over a cup of chai at her winter spot in a vintage trailer park. A few days later Patty took a walk at Joshua Tree National Park with Kathy Holmes who lives nearby for several months and works on tortoise research and protection with husband Tim Shields. Before returning home, Patty went to the National Conference on Science Education in Atlanta, Ga, in preparation for working with the Department of Education and Early Development on the revision of Alaska state science standards this year.

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