When Christie Willis and family loaded onto the LeConte ferry in Haines last week, her son Eli had Robbie, his emotional support stuffed bunny, in hand. Eli, a 13-year-old with autism, uses Robbie to communicate when he is over-stimulated.. But after they landed in Skagway, Robbie was nowhere to be found. Christie Willis said she was not feeling optimistic after calling the ferry’s lost and found, so she went to social media, a key move. A bosun on the LeConte found the bunny and turned it into the Skagway terminal. Willis said that the ferry terminal helped connect the family with Robbie, with news of a reunion coming on Eli’s birthday. Christie Willis said that she would have flown from the UK (their final destination) to retrieve Robbie and she extended a heartfelt thanks to the community for their help.It was the best birthday gift they could have imagined, Christie said.
The Hakkinen Gallery is a cozy rotating museum space inside the Haines Sheldon Museum. Local artist Andrea Nelson has been contracted to create the new space. It will feature eagles as a symbol and identity – locally and nationally. Kathy Benner said the American Bald Eagle Foundation will share their eagle flight simulator as an interactive addition to the planned exhibit. The previous theme was Alaska Indian Arts, created by Blythe Carter. Part of that collection will become a traveling exhibit.
Fire Prevention Week is lit (look it up) at the Haines Volunteer Fire Department. Chuck Mitman, Al Badgley, Patty Brown, Lyle Huff, Jenn Walsh and Nathanael Motes took 15 groups of kids out for a ride on a fire truck and talked about fire safety. They will be doing outreach in Klukwan later this week. The department has a training apartment, complete with a smoke machine, that they use to practice drills with the kids. They learn to use a rope ladder to exit the building and the safest way to crawl out of a smoky room in the dark. Mitman said he has been training Haines kids since 2004, and has seen the training pay off.
Richard and Sarah Chapell celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. The highlight was 10 days hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc, which is a 100-mile circuit of alpine trails and country roads in the Alps. They started near Chamonix, France and went through Italy and Switzerland and back to France. They visited many alpine huts, called Refugios, along the way that served up refreshments. Refreshments made the whole thing very civilized. Most days they hiked down to charming villages to stay in hotels. In Italy they stayed in a popular mountain Refugio only accessible by foot that still managed to fully stock their bar and serve up a four-course meal.
On the way home they visited their daughter Lucia Chapell at Colorado College for her freshman parents’ weekend. The college swim team competed in a ‘Black and Gold’ intersquad meet. Their son Dylan Chapell came down from Denver to hike the Manitou Incline trail with mom and dad – 2000 feet of elevation gain over 2,768 train-trestle steps.
Piper Carlson and Maya Beck had a bake sale to raise money for a friend of the family in Juneau with a rare genetic disease. The two bakers said that they have plenty of experience whipping up delicious treats in the kitchen and they have run a successful lemonade stand in the past. Carlson and Beck offered brownies, lemon bars, peanut butter M&M cookies, ginger snaps, crafts and hot apple cider by donation. The two say that people were very generous. They brought in $426 for Cure For Cade. Wild Haven Wools and Ampersand are combining to match the donation. The Chilkat Valley News is also matching the donation. The two sixth graders have also set up donation locations at IGA, Olerud’s and the post office.