North Gil Bishop was born Feb. 22 to Sarah and Chorus Bishop at the Juneau Family Birth Center. North joins sister Garland, 21 months. Grandparents Gershon and Kerry Cohen of Haines are delighted with their new grandson. Paternal grandmother Susan Raczka arrived from California in time for the birth. Han and GG Bishop are also grandparents. North has blonde locks and seems to be a mellow little dude, his parents say.

The Golden Dragon Readers, including Owen McPhetres, Luke Davis, Sally Chapell and Jacob Weerasinghe, won the Haines School’s 2017 Tournament of Readers championship in a packed school library Monday. The Golden Dragons were undefeated and managed to place first after a loss to the Beautiful Book Bandits. The Bandits – Selby Long, Lucia Chapell, Ariel Long, Ashlyn Ganey and Marina Loewen – placed second after eight tie-breaker questions. The tournament started in January with 46 students on 11 teams meeting during lunch recess for the double elimination competition. They have been reading, writing their own quizlets, and holding study groups covering the 12 books used to draw questions for the competition. Karen Garcia announced the 21 matches and Holly Davis and Leigh Horner served as judges.

March is National Nutrition Month and the SEARHC Facebook page will be hosting a healthy plate contest. SEARHC is encouraging people to post a picture of their healthy plate with the hashtag #SEARHCNNM. Those who enter will be randomly selected to win a SEARHC cutting board. There will be one winner per week. Contact Kate Fossman, 766-6303, for more information.

Dr. Greg Higgins returned for the annual board meeting of the Kilimanjaro Children’s Fund, based in Haines. Current board members include Higgins, president; Sandy Barclay, secretary; Laurie Dadourian, treasurer; Travis Young, public awareness and media manager; Shannon Higgins, project outreach manager; and Greg Podsiki, volunteer consultant. The orphanage helps nearly 100 children with medical and education needs in Moshi, Tanzania. Shannon Higgins is currently in Moshi attending to children the non-profit group supports. For more information or to make a donation, visit kilimanjaro-children.org.

Girl Scouts have been selling cookies since 1917 to raise money for their troops. That tradition continued this week when the cookies arrived in the Chilkat Valley. If you didn’t pre-order, Girl Scout troop leader Melissa Blaine has boxes available.Call 766-2290. The newest flavor is S’mores.

Lap swimmers have another weekend swim option. Grab your suit and head to the pool on Saturdays from 3 to 4 p.m. Call the pool at 766-2666 for more information.

Terry and Barbara Pardee have returned from celebrating family birthdays in Seabrook, Wash. with their children. Natalie Pardee joined them from Haines, Nicole and Josh Hibbard travelled from San Dimas, Calif. and Liz and David Krout and their 21-month-old daughter Amelia came from Seattle, Wash. They enjoyed stunning sunsets and celebrated Natalie’s birthday at a local restaurant where they were seated at the same table Franklin D. Roosevelt sat at in 1935. Terry’s birthday took them to the historic Smith Tower in Seattle which gave them the view of the city.

The First National Bank of Alaska is showing paintings by local artist Bev Schupp. Bev’s works include “Fairbanks Sunflowers” and will be on display through March 9. Photographer Marty Fowler’s work will be featured starting March 10.

Raven Dawn Mark Lawrence was born Feb. 6 to Alexa Mark and Ted Lawrence, grandmom Barbara Mark reports. Born at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho, Raven weighed 8 pounds, 3 oz., and measured 21 inches. The child is Alexa’s first.

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