The Victory Garden at Mosquito Lake work party and BBQ featured a dessert auction, a watermelon-eating contest and a community meeting with Mayor Tom Morphet. Morphet also participated in the watermelon-eating contest, as “Chompin’ Tom Morphet,” but he was no match for Austin “the belly-ache” Finnan. Finnan walked away with a free day at the fair, courtesy of the Southeast Alaska State Fair. The dessert auctioneer was Jim Stanford. One of the items he auctioned off was a butter pecan-buttermilk center layer glazed pecan pie made by Joliena Olsen. Olsen was very clear that this was not just a pecan pie. Erika Merklin reminds newcomers and all garden enthusiasts that every Sunday, rain or shine, the weekly work party meets from 1-3 p.m.
Jacqueline Chen is visiting Haines for seven weeks. She was a hero on Friday at the Pioneer Bar’s trivia night. The regular trivia host was a no-show, the crowd wanted trivia, and Chen delivered. She said it was her third time hosting a trivia night. Regulars Codi Sambrano and Michelle Strohecker agreed that Chen was a natural trivia host. She is in Haines for seven weeks working with the Chilkat Indian Village and will be returning to school at Harvard in the fall.
Michelle Stigen hosted a family in town for the Fourth of July. Her son, Nick Gibbs, and grandchildren Damian, Ethan, and Stacy spent five days enjoying the valley. Nick had not been back to Haines since 2004. Michele says that she snapped a photo of Nick and his favorite teacher in Haines, Sam McPhetres, during the visit. They also attended the 33 Mile Roadhouse pig roast, rode the mechanical bull and rented scooters for a family adventure. Ethan got a haircut from Judith McDermaid. Reportedly, the hairdressers in Phoenix can’t hold a candle to a haircut from Judith. Michele made her rhubarb crumble and they all ate a substantial amount of crab while in town.
Jolene Cox, owner of Cox Environmental Services, said they teamed up with a disposal company for the annual household hazardous waste collection event this year. In an effort to keep communities clean, each resident is allowed to bring 225 pounds of hazardous household goods such as old batteries, paint, fertilizers and stains. Cox reported a steady flow of about 10 people an hour as they collected and sorted the items for disposal.
A sunny Monday on the Fort Seward parade grounds saw a family croquet match come together. Beau and Zane Bradley have family in town for a wedding, from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The family gathered and the perfect croquet conditions were in place. Scott Sifford absolutely destroyed everyone in the first match. He credited his win to a croquet phase in his younger days. The second match saw competitive croquet from Alex Justice, Lucia Cano, Lisa Detweiler-Sifford and Zetti Bradley. The family plans to enjoy everything Haines has to offer while in town.
Selby Long, recent graduate of Haines High School, just returned home after interning for Lisa Murkowski in Washington, D.C.. for a month. This internship was the only one for graduating high school seniors, and Long called it “an amazing learning experience.” Long said that the two days she spent shadowing the senator were especially enlightening and a valuable opportunity that exposed her to a different perspective. She plans to attend the University of Southern California and study interdisciplinary law, history, and culture.