Tulsi Zahnow and Charlie Lewis Bower IV are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Fraser Robin Bower. She was born at 6:38 p.m Dec. 20 in Juneau. She was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 18.5 inches long. Grandparents Laurie Mastrella and Charlie Bower III as well as Katrina and Josh Zahnow met with family in Juneau to celebrate her birth with Atlin Zahnow, Esther Bower and Celia Bower. The family says that Fraser Robin Bower was the best Christmas gift ever and brings an abundance of love, light and joy.
Lutak Lumber is flush with pride over its latest bathroom remodel. The rebuild was powered by the technical expertise of Tim Maust, design and installation by Kaitlin Combs, and assistance of CaSandra Nash. The project was inspired by years of complaining from customer Fred Gray. The new restroom includes a picture of Gray prominently displayed, so patrons know who to thank for the new look.
Yukoners Cameron Webber and Dylan Meyerhoffer dropped into Haines for a busy solstice weekend. They had the pleasure of attending a belly flop competition dubbed the Pink Belly Invitational, held during CVN editor Rashah McChesney’s birthday party at the swimming pool. The winner of the competition was James Queschnick. Queschnick delighted the judges McChesney and Mardell Gunn and fellow belly floppers with a flip into the competition. He walked away with the trophy. Notable belly floppers were Peter Kohlstedt, Michelle Strohecker and CVN reporter Will Steinfeld. The Canadian ambassadors followed that up by attending the holiday party at Joanne Waterman and Phyllis Sage’s home. Some might recall that Waterman has a notable eggnog that fans have chatted about for a while. Meyerhoffer was lucky enough to discover the secret of the eggnog. Meyerhoffer, an eggnog enthusiast, is rather renowned for his recipe. He was thrilled to report that he also uses the very same secret ingredient as Joanne Waterman. The secret ingredient stays a secret for now.
Talia’s Treasures’ annual raffle was a packed house as they approached the big drawing. This was the eighth year of the raffle. Tickets are issued to customers every time they spend $5 at the store. One raffle ticket per purchase. The kids raffle followed the adult raffle. Some lucky winners left with items they did not know they needed. According to Tammy Hauser, a tradition of being able to trade items between winners adds an element of excitement. The prizes for the adults were gift cards to local shops and useful items that grown-ups adore. The grand prize for the 2025 Talia’s Treasures raffle went to Maria Knutson. A long-time participant in the annual raffle, this was not her first win. Knutson says she walked away with a pumpkin butter candle years ago, but she is considerably more excited about the $50 gift card for Talia’s she won this year.
The Haines holiday lights contest residential winner was the Combs Family on North First Avenue. The second-place winner was the Galinskis on Small Tracks Road. The best boat went to MV Pavlof, owned by Brent and Jess Crow. First place for best business decorations went to Miles Furniture, and second place to Tongass Credit Union. The Clark Griswold award went to the Mundens on Small Tracts.
A Mud Bay outhouse repeatedly covered by heavy snow caused the Zeiger family some heartburn in the last few weeks as they attemped to keep it shoveled enough to use before finally giving up on keeping up with the drifts and moved into Haines for, among other things, more accessible plumbing.
The Zeigers’ outhouse in Mud Bay acted as their weather gauge during the snowstorm recently. Aly Zeiger says this is the first time in 20 years that their outhouse was buried. Michelle Zeiger attempted to shovel a path twice, only for it to fill in with fresh powder within four hours. When they finally could not keep up with the drifts, Michelle Zeiger rescued the toilet paper. By the morning of Dec. 30, they gave up on shoveling and have since moved into town. Currently the outhouse is one-quarter visible, according to Kevin White and Dana Van Burgh. These two helpful neighbors and Betsy Van Burgh also were spotted shoveling out the cars in Mud Bay and packing down trails for their neighbors.
Winter inspires some to learn a new skill. Lilly Jo Oman, 8, has been learning to crochet this winter. She started out with instruction from her cousin, Sadie Dixon. Dixon was described by Amber Oman, Lilly Jo’s mom, as a very patient crocheter, which is how she became the crochet instructor. Lilly Jo has crocheted ear warmers for her neighbor and a thick bracelet to keep her wrists warm.
Meanwhile Conan Shields and his mom, Vija Pelekis, are spending the winter whipping up tiny pancakes. Very tiny pancakes. The tiny pancakes are for Hammy, Conan’s hamster. Hammy hails from Seattle and has recently relocated to the Chilkat Valley. He has been enjoying handmade tiny flapjacks.
Severe winter weather delayed the annual polar plunge by a week. Deep snow on the stairs leading to the beach was hastily stomped down and event organizer Tom Morphet ignited a bonfire just moments before the event. Morphet employed a probe method to unearth the pallets staged for the fire below the snow. He says the bonfire is the key element to a good dip in the icy waters of the Lynn Canal. Morphet and Jane Pascoe started the tradition more than 20 years ago. Lea Harris was on her ninth plunge. Enthusiasm and stunning bathing cap in place, the 76-year-old proudly holds the title for oldest polar plunger this year.
Talented soprano and Haines graduate Madeline Andriesen performed at the Catholic Church on Christmas Eve along with professional tenor Camden Kelley. They sang “Still, Still, Still” and “O Magnum Mysterium” by Evan Ramos, and “In the bleak Midwinter” by Cathy Stamegna, as well as Christmas carols.
About 100 people attended a community potluck-style meal on Monday at the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood Hall. It was the first of its style held by chef Travis Kukull who said he wanted to encourage more potluck meals in town. The event was organized by the Haines Chamber of Commerce which is planning a Potluck Series sponsored each month by local businesses. This one was sponsored by Alaska Seaplanes. Kukull counted about 20 dishes in addition to the dishes he provided, including a roasted butternut squash from Rachel Saitzyk and Mollie Dwyer’s chimichurri. Kukull said he’s been thinking about hosting shared community meals since he moved to Haines, started catering and felt like he’d ruined a strong community tradition of potluck meals at weddings.