Joe Aultman-Moore found himself on a homestead a couple of hours outside of Rio de Janeiro doing chores, building custom shelves and discovering the spectacular birds of the southern rainforest. He spent a week hiking on a jungle island, and dodging rattlesnakes and Armadeira spiders. Aultman-Moore went on to spend about a month riding riverboats down the Amazon from Colombia to Belem, with a long stop in Manaus to see the famous opera house. He says that he lost 10 pounds with the famous “açaí and Giardia diet,” but in the end gained the weight back in New Orleans.
Local artist Charlotte Martin was enjoying beachcombing in town when she found a perfect sea glass marble. Martin says that this is a real hot find for anyone who loves sea glass. She recently returned from a trip to Portugal and said she was very inspired by the mosaics on the trip. This handsome sea glass marble will likely end up as a fish eye in an upcoming piece of art.
Mayor Tom Morphet visited Haines Junction and Whitehorse, Yukon, to share goodwill with neighboring Canadian municipalities. Morphet joined Haines Junction Mayor Diane Strand in judging the snow sculpture competition at the fourth Annual Glacier Nights Snow Festival. He shared gifts from Haines donated to the festival’s community service auction. Alaska Sport Shop, Port Chilkoot Distillery, Parts Place, Haines Brewing, the Haines Chamber of Commerce, and Haines Visitors Center were among the donors.The winning snow sculpture was a wrestler with a competitor in a headlock titled, “Frosty Freeze vs. Dairy Queen.” The sculptors were Dylan Hodinski, Michael Pealow, and Hailie Pealow. In Whitehorse, Morphet gifted a bottle of local bourbon to Mayor Kirk Cameron.
Local master carver Jim Heaton “carved out” a bit of time for 10 Colorado Springs students visiting Haines for an experience-centered seminar. Students from the school visited Haines in 2006 for a similar seminar and Heaton has visited their school, teaching beading and carving each time. Pastor Al Giddings and the Klukwan Assembly of God Church hosted the students. While they were staying at the church they would carve and play the piano or violin while community members stopped by to bring frybread, fish and locally harvested treasures. Heaton says most, if not all of the students were in a musical production of “Mean Girls.” They practiced enough that Heaton is now very familiar with the musical score.
Ted Hart celebrated his birthday with James Hart, Zack Wentzel, and Zack James in Japan. They rented a very tiny car and loaded equipment for a 10-day snowboarding road trip. Along the way, they ran into Logan Simpson, who also enjoyed snowboarding. The vacation highlights were snowboarding, soaking in beautiful places and remarkably good 7-Eleven food.
MAGIC Las Vegas is a twice-yearly fashion trade show held in Las Vegas. Chrissie White and Wildhaven Wools owner Julia Billings had the opportunity to attend the events and meet with industry professionals and soak up all things fashion in Vegas. White says that she and Billings broke away from fashion for a bit and saw the Cirque du Soleil show, O. White and Billings were both blown away by the show, with world-class acrobats, flaming clowns and flying ships.
The Haines Borough Public Library was named as one of the recipients of the 2025 National Medal for Library Services. The library was selected for its community impact and is recognized for its partnership with the Chilkoot Indian Association to expand Tlingit-focused collections and the library’s outdoor program.
Two new trailers are set to make recycling a little bit more convenient. Craig Franke, owner of CWS, recently added a pair of mobile recycling trailers designed to help collect and sort recyclable materials at events and community locations. Each trailer is outfitted with 10 clearly marked bins to separate cardboard, aluminum, plastics and glass and can be moved with a standard pickup.