Sacred Heart Catholic Church celebrated a belated Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day with a potluck of Asian dishes and delectable desserts recently. The celebration gave parishioners the opportunity to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their priest Father Michael Ko, a missionary priest from South Korea, who came to Alaska via Papua, New Guinea. “Father let us know that the Lunar New Year is a big holiday in South Korea, and so we looked up Asian recipes for things he was familiar with and tried to make them. They turned out very well,” said Jansy Hansen, the leader of the Sacred Heart Women’s Group. “The Valentine desserts topped things off nicely. Maybe next time we’ll have fireworks too!” she said.
Local chef Travis Kukull’s newest venture, Deer Heart Restaurant, is not yet open, but it has debuted a new website. Kukull bought the shuttered Fireweed restaurant in the fall of 2024 and said he plans to open his new restaurant this spring. This new website lays out his plan to incorporate as much local food as possible into the restaurant’s cuisine.
Haines Presbyterian Church pastor Dana Perreard is hosting a viewing party for four hours of a 25-hour Global Christian Conference known as Gather25. From 4-8 p.m. at the church, Perreard said he’ll be watching people from all over the world speaking and leading worship music. He said he anticipates artificial intelligence will be used to assist in the translation. He said the gathering is non-denominational, grassroots, open to all and that he’ll be hosting it like a Superbowl party, with the idea that everyone who wants to attend should bring a snack to share.
About 80 people attended a Valentine’s Day tea tradition at the Presbyterian Church that was first held in 1970. Using tea sets originally donated by Verle Lewis, Lib Hakkinen, Merle Howser, Mimi Gregg and Betty Israelson and others, the event, largely organized by Martha Mackowiak, featured Eliza Hall, Rebecca and Anna Bell, Meg Davis, and Abby Ford serving tea to guests, many of whom dressed up. Holly Davis performed with some of her piano students from the library, and other musicians included Meg Davis, J.C. Davis and Bill Annis.