Jessie Hopper of Fayetteville, Ga., is processing archival collections at Haines Sheldon Museum thanks to a grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission through the Alaska State Archives and Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board. Jessie grew up in Chugiak. Parents Mike and Deven Hight are planning a visit in June. The board promotes collection, preservation, and accessibility of Alaska historical records. Jessie will be in Haines until the end of June. Meet her at the grand opening of the Haines Archives and Research Center, 5 p.m. Friday, June 2 at the museum.
Duane Wilson, family members and friends treated TV personality Andrew Zimmern and crew to traditional Tlingit foods, including eulachon, last week when Zimmern brought his cable show “Bizarre Foods” to the Chilkat Valley. The show connected with Wilson’s relatives in Skagway and the crew spent an afternoon at a eulachon-oil rendering pot at 4 Mile Haines Highway. Famous for tucking into delicacies like boiled tarantulas and horse-rectum sausage, Zimmern tried raw and cooked herring eggs, eulachon oil and baked seal meat. Wilson said Zimmern’s crew seemed to like Chilkat cuisine, including seal. “There’s a half-inch of fat for a couple inches of meat. Baking it caramelizes the fat. Most of the crew tried it and said they didn’t believe what they were tasting, in a good way.” On hand for the filming were residents Marilyn Wilson, Ben Bard and Katie Dickerson. Filmmaker Mario Benassi contributed footage of eulachon fishing.
Craig and Sheri Loomis report that grandchildren Baylee and Clayton Pearson are busy on the ball diamonds in Sitka. Baylee, a Sitka High School freshman, plays second base on the school’s softball team and is a cheerleader. Clayton, a seventh-grader at Blatchley Middle School, plays first base and pitches in the community’s teenage baseball league.
Former KHNS news director Jillian Rogers recently made a 10-day visit. She hiked Mount Ripinsky, attended a borough assembly meeting and co-hosted a Saturday radio show with Madeline Witek. After Haines, Jillian headed north to see friends in Homer. Jillian works giving sled dog tours in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada.
Michael Frank, son of Dan Henry’s college roommate, Dr. David Frank, was in town for about a week, visiting friend Regi Jahanos, an intern working on collections at Haines Sheldon Museum.
Several hundred sea lions – bulls, cows and newborns – were spread out at Gran Point Sunday during a Mother’s Day Cruise aboard the vessel Taz. The spot is locally known as Sea Lion Rock. Skipper Tod Sebens said guests also spotted humpback whales near Katzehin Point.
Former National Public Radio host Melissa Block and producer Elissa Nadworny were in Haines several days interviewing residents of Haines and Klukwan for a NPR series called “Our Land.” The first segment aired this week and featured Dr. Adam McMahan from SEARHC at the clinic in Klukwan. Evelyn Hotch was included in the piece that discussed the challenges of medical care in rural Alaska.
Royal Henderson won’t be celebrating his Gonzaga University diploma for long. Royal graduated with honors Sunday. He enters Gonzaga’s law school May 30. Royal majored in history and political science. Gonzaga classmates who also graduated include twin brother Patrick Henderson, who majored in business, and Correy Ericksen, who majored in math and broadcasting.
Patty Brown’s sixth-grade class helped repaint a picnic pavilion at the Chilkat State Park waterfront Monday. Sixteen students participated in the outing, which included a talk on geology by Cindy Buxton and a career discussion by park ranger Travis Russell. Students also hiked to Moose Meadow and camped out for the night. Patty said overnight chaperones Nishan Weerasinghe and Josh Dryden and van driver Sara Chapell made the outing possible. Students saw seals, scoters and a red-breasted sapsucker.
Dave and Carol Knight arrived last week for a month, visiting son Alex Knight, wife Kendra and grandson Evan. They’ve attended a school concert, a birthday party and a baby shower already. Carol said her favorite activities are reading stories to Evan, walking on the beach and gardening.
Klukwan students attended the raising of the Raven Totem Pole on Douglas Island on May 13. The totem pole was carved to acknowledge the destruction of burial grounds on the site and to support healing. Students who participated included Raven Hotch, Anica Tipkemper-Wolfe, Ocean Nash, Stella Ordóñez, Jayden Hotch, and Gilbert Slawson.
Joe Parnell is at it again. Parnell staged a “Bandimals” storytelling show in Moab, Utah. In the Moab Arts and Recreation Center, he displayed park benches decorated with inspirational quotes like “Practice or Practice Your Excuses” and “In Loving Memory of Facts and Truth.” The show is titled, “Nothing Benchered, Nothing Gained.”