Nearly 70 people sat down for a Veterans Day prime rib dinner at the American Legion Lynn Canal Post 12 on Nov. 11. The dinner was coordinated by the legion auxiliary, which included Andrea Ferrin, Jen Cowart, LA Katzeek, Sherry Nason, Sherri Maust, Maria Knutson, Jacki Martin, Doris Bell, Jan Hill, Melissa Snell, Buddy Giese, Elisa Brooks and Angelica Sweet, and the squadron, which includes Zac Jacobs, Robert Musseman, Steven McLaughlin, Lowell Narum and Gavin Long. Ferrin said the auxiliary sets up the hall for dinner, plates the meals, and helps prep cook if needed. The squadron does all the heavy lifting like bringing up all of the dinner plates and food trays as they’re needed. The Martin family – including Sandy, Macey and Ruby – cooked the dinner. It was served by the Glacier Bears volleyball team. Lolly Minor won $92.50 in the 50/50 raffle. The legion also honored Billy Albecker, Jeff Klanott and Gene Martin for being members for 55 consecutive years.
Matt Jones of the Port Chilkoot Bible Church said they’ve coordinated collection of 37 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes online and 19 in person this year. The operation coordinates sending shoeboxes full of things like toys and school supplies to children around the world between the ages of two and 14. Jones said they’re finding more people donate online every year, but many still enjoy packing a box in person with their children to make the project more tangible. Alaska Seaplanes and AML are shipping the supplies and boxes. “It is truly a community project, as many folks give from beyond just our church,” Jones said.
Last month, longtime Takshanuk Watershed Council board member and fisheries biologist Ben Kirkpatrick won the Celia Hunter Award for Outstanding Volunteer Contributions from the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Kirkpatrick said he didn’t particularly want to tout his success and attributed it to the work of the Takshanuk Watershed Council, Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition and Rivers Without Borders.
At least 30 people attended Joan Snyder’s birthday celebration at Haines Assisted Living on Nov. 12. Snyder, who turned 96, enjoyed a two-hour party as she sipped Brut Champagne and saw a parade of well-wishers including Tom Heywood, who sang “Young at Heart,” Nancy Nash, who played piano, Ellen Larson, who also sang, and Neil Einsbruch, who performed magic tricks.
TJ and Ashley Mason and their family were traveling to Whitehorse last Friday when they nearly collided with a wolf standing in the middle of the road. Ashley said she was sleeping when she heard TJ exclaim. “I woke up and we almost hit it,” she said. She described it as a gray-colored, mid-sized wolf that “stared into her soul,” when she locked eyes with it. “You’d think he would have moved, but he saw us and didn’t.” The family also saw a coyote, moose, and elk on their drive.
Grady Rob and Zephyr Cox recently served hundreds of plates of pancakes and bacon to raise funds for the Haines Dolphins swim team. From 7 to 11 a.m. on Nov. 10, 83 people dropped by the Haines school cafeteria, forking over $12 a plate. They served something like 200 pancakes and 480 pieces of bacon. Cox said it felt good to see people supporting the swim team. The fundraiser raised just over $1,200, with about $350 in anticipated expenses. When asked what else could be done to support them, Rob said “join the swim team for crying out loud.”