Tod Sebens has returned from a solo, month-long bike trip across Madagascar, the island nation of Africa. His route took him through rainforests, past beaches and over more hills than he expected. He saw lemurs, chameleons, anacondas and century-old baobab trees. He’ll make a presentation about his trip at the public library on Thursday, March 2.
Barb Blood enjoyed Puerto Rican cruise with two friends. Before sailing, they visited the El Yunque Rainforest, stayed on the beach and explored old San Juan. While cruising for 10 days, they visited St. Martin, Aruba and Curaçao. They saw flamingos, snorkeled and enjoyed plenty of sunshine, Blood said. She also headed to South Carolina to visit her brother, Rob Willey, and his wife, Carol. The trio visited the Biltmore Estate in to Ashville, N.C.
The Haines branch of First National Bank of Alaska recently was recognized for achieving an “outstanding” rating by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, a federal agency that evaluates the performance of national banks. Manager Kyle Gray said that the rating is a measure of the “fairness” quotient in bank lending practices and is the highest rating a bank can receive.
Former resident and internationally honored wearable art creator David Walker came from his home in Cottage Grove, Ore. to serve as a juror at Juneau’s annual wearable art contest. The juror’s first place award went to “Church of the Wild” by Juneau artist Lauralye Miko. The dress was made of plastic piping, plastic sheeting, over 10,000 eyelets, paint, embroidery thread and LED lights. It was and modeled by former Haines resident Amy George. The winners were chosen by a group of jurors who scored four categories: construction, innovation, overall, and presentation.
John S. Hagen has returned from Sitka, where he spoke about his photography at the Sheldon Jackson Museum. The museum featured his work from the Alaska State Museum’s Alaska Positive photo exhibit. The Friends of the Sheldon Jackson Museum hosted the event; John was the keynote speaker at their annual meeting. Former Haines residents Evans and Kim Sparks stopped by to visit at the reception.
It was a dark and stormy night for the Chilkat Valley Preschool fundraiser on Feb. 11. A power outage and blizzard didn’t stop 40 people from supporting their new building project. If you missed the dinner, there is still time to donated to the “Giving Tree,” a tile piece made by Kerry Cohen that will be displayed in the preschool building and recognize donors. Call Rene Hoffman at 314-0962 to contribute.
Social media is promoting a fundraiser for former Mayor and retired special education teacher Stephanie Scott, who has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Stephanie is digging in for the fight and will be traveling to Juneau for treatment. You can help Stephanie through the website youcaring.com that is organized by Reed Scott-Schwalbach, https://www.youcaring.com/stephaniescott-750378.
About 30 people attended the Haines Sheldon Museum’s “Fun-Raiser” on Valentine’s Day. Annette Smith, Lorrie Dudzik and Kelleen Adams gave the Chilkat Center lobby a Mediterranean taverna atmosphere and Helen, Tim, Brandt and Aurora Alten-Huber reached into their family cookbook to make moussaka, tzatziki and pita bread for the Greek-themed evening.
The Friends of Mosquito Lake Community Center had their sweetheart’s dance organized by Dawn Drotos. Local musicians Burl Sheldon, Nancy Berland and Eric Holle and caller Spencer Douthit provided the show. The evening included a meal and waltzing. Watch for more activities at the Mosquito Lake School and Community Center.
Sam McPhetres, Kim Sundberg, Tracy Wirak and Alex Van Wyhe are back from the Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) conference in Anchorage. The three-day conference promotes access to technology, connectivity and information resources for Alaskan educators. Included at the conference is the IDidaContest. More than 700 entered their creative uses of technology for over $5,000 in cash and prizes. Haines winners include: Emily McPhetres – Teach Me Something Podcast – and digitally enhanced photo; Owen McPhetres – Tells a Story Photo; Dalton Klinger – iDidaThing – Minecraft Chess Set; Marty Fowler – iDidaPhoto Tells a Story – American Eagle; and iDidaPhoto Alaska Life – Lighting up the Haines Harbor. Honorable mention went to Matilda Rogers in the iDidaTune category. She also placed second for her original composition.