High atop Geisan/Mt. Ripinsky on Oct. 11, just one day before Asher Jimenez’s 14th birthday, he shot his very first mountain goat. Jimenez was with his cousin Liz Segars and friend Jonathan Rasch. They camped for a night before getting the goat. He was a pretty big billy, with 10-inch horns, and was reportedly very heavy to pack out. They will be processing it themselves.
Craig Loomis, Josh Bentz and Chris Olson were loading a handsome bull moose into a boat when Craig Loomis got “knocked out cold by a moose hoof,” according to Bentz. The trio returned to the site to retrieve the moose. But, while they were loading its carcass, Loomis, at the stern of the boat, did not respond to the warning of “hooves coming over” and took a hoof to the temple followed by a face hit. He fell back and landed with his head and shoulders in the water. Bentz and Olson were immediately able to pull him to safety and Loomis regained consciousness about 10 seconds later. They tucked his tooth into his shirt pocket, marveled at the fact that you could see his teeth through the hole in his chin, and proceeded to town, where Sheri Loomis met up with her husband at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office and took him to the clinic. Craig Loomis is in good spirits, recovering from a severe concussion. He has six new stitches and a really good story.
The 2025 Chilkat Chef Challenge at Harriett Hall was a celebration of salmon, local ingredients and one heck of a dessert auction. Brandon Wilks emceed the live auction while a silent auction was held simultaneously. The auction raised $1,400 for the Henderson Community Farm and experimental orchard. Some of the highlights were Grandma Pete’s spruce-tip cheesecake with spruce-tip syrup, Marcia Scott’s pumpkin caramel cake, Krystal Lloyd’s cream cheese zucchini pecan cake bars with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and a wide variety of cupcakes. The team ‘Smooth Sailors’ came in first place in the cooking competition. This team included Roger Musseman, Sarah Brown, Megan Whitermore, Miranda Musseman and Bekah Waddell. The “Smooth Sailors” plated up blueberry-nasturtium-salmon ceviche with pickled cucumber and carrot and a crispy skin coho on duck fat blanched greens. The second place team was The ‘Salmon Sirens’ made up of chefs Julia Billings, Amanda Brandon, Hannah Reeves, and Chrissie White. Erika Merklin thanked EcoTrust for supporting the event and state Sen. Jesse Kiehl and Rep. Andi Story for planning their fall community town hall around the event. Also helping out were Liz Landes and Alex Huller and other volunteers who helped bring the event together.
The Haines Glacier Bards took their show on the road recently. The student speakers spent the weekend in Ketchikan competing in debate, drama and forensics. Maddox Rogers walked away with first place in solo acting, and fourth place in reader’s theater went to Rogers, Kyla George, Talia Hauser, Bugg Hunter, and Zorza Szatkowski. Rogers and Hunter took sixth place in duo acting.
The IGA windows have some new art! The Alaska Art Confluence installed new art in several windows recently and substituted new work from two currently exhibiting artists.
Denise Sherman-Stickler is displaying her original jewelry pieces made from antler, wood, porcupine quills and other materials integrated with beading. Tom Ganner’s five photos include scenes of Alaska with swans, bears, an eagle and more. Tresham Gregg’s display includes a stainless steel aurora eagle and a pen-and-ink drawing called “Raven Woman Protects the Earth” and an acrylic painting titled “Dragon Woman.” Greg Goodman is showing photos of his handmade Adirondack wood furniture, a birch cutting board and a lazy susan. Julie Korsmeyer brought a colorful oil painting called “Don’t Lie To Me.” Helen Alten submitted two new oil paintings of “People Around Town.”
Sarah Elliott and Lexie DeWitt traveled to Pullman, Washington to attend the Washington State University women’s rowing reunion. They said they had a great time connecting with old teammates, rowing on the Snake River, touring the athletic facilities and hanging out on the WSU campus. The banquet included an oar auction, celebration of individual and team achievements and a compilation video that was played on the big screen at the football stadium. Elliott and Dewitt graduated from WSU in 2007. They met at team tryouts, where they walked onto the team their freshman year. They’re college team finished fourth at the Division 1 national championships in 2006. Lexie Dewitt and her daughter Loralei DeWitt spent a few extra days with her mother Carrie Conley in Richland, Washington.
Callie Loomis has been in Haines for nearly two years – this time around. She has been coming to Haines on and off for years to visit her grandparents Bob and Nancy Loomis. Callie said that she will miss her family and friends a great deal, but also her wacky co-workers at Olerud’s. She plans to take computer-aided drafting classes while in Texas. Loomis said she plans to return when the weather is warmer.
What do you do when you’re laid off from your federal job? Well, one option is to follow Austin Richards’ lead, hop in a camper van and drive across the country to see a state you’ve dreamed about since childhood. Richards grew up in Bellingham, Washington and said he always watched Alaska-bound ferries leave and wondered about the towns on the other end of the route. He arrived in Haines on Oct. 4 for what was supposed to be a one-day trip. But one week later, he stood in Haines Brewing musing about all of the adventures he’d had the good fortune to try out while in the Chilkat Valley. He bought a fishing license and rod, and then had a good talk with Gabe Long before landing his first-ever salmon: a silver at Chilkoot Lake. He saw the internet-famous brown bear sow and four cubs who have entertained thousands this summer. He spent a night at the Tukga Hut, jumped in the water to swim at both Chilkat State Park and a spot just past the ferry terminal. He’s eyeballing a quick exit before winter hits the Chilkat Valley and is headed to Telluride, Colorado.