Ed and Yuko Hays visited Duluth, Minn. for the home birth of their granddaughter. Ariel Susan Hays was born to Mori Hays and Julia Hays on Jan. 15, 2026. She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long. The proud grandparents will get to visit her again when they attend the wedding of their son Kai Hays to Bailey Schroder on Aug. 28 in the Seattle area.
The newly refreshed ball field at Mosquito Lake Road saw heavy snow this winter, damaging the backstop hood. Glen Scott and Jim Stanford made a plan to fix it up. They donated the labor to the borough and righted the fencing. Stanford calls this “geezer power.” He and Scott take on projects, as older gentlemen sometimes do, and this ballfield repair was one of them. The duo cut parts of the twisted backstop, refabricated the pipe joints and fixed the damaged piece. Stanford and Scott were part of the original group who built the ball field, along with about 75 other people. Stanford has a new project in mind. He says that we can look forward to a pickleball court at the park in the near future. He encourages others to get involved and welcomes all community members to spruce up the neighborhood.
Rose Fudge graduated with a master of social work from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Instead of attending graduation she spent the special day with her son at the Chilkat River, where they found a heart-shaped rock. Fudge said she’s grateful to her husband Cosmo Fudge for being the best and most supportive spouse and dad while she completed her degree.
Tattooly-noted
Suns out, guns out. The springtime warmer weather has allowed everyone to catch a glimpse of some of the ink in town.
Brandy Peters’ left shoulder tattoo is a Harry Potter-inspired wand, stone and cloak. Peters got the tattoo with her friend Gina Randles right here in Haines to celebrate their 20-year friendiversary. Shelley Gasch has the Matagorda lighthouse from her hometown in Calhoun County, Texas on her left arm. This tattoo ties in with her mermaid, turtle and undersea life on the arm. Richard Cook has a stingray tattoo, to commemorate the unexpected sting he received from an unpredictable stingray in Baja, Mexico. Cook has another tattoo of a phoenix rising from the ocean and flying into a setting sun. It’s a memorial to his younger brother who loved the ocean and surfing. Cook said the tattoo allows him to remember his brother as memories of his face and voice fade. Lance Nesbitt has been taking wildlife photos in Alaska for 15 years, and two of his tattoos were created from his photos. A bear on his right forearm was from a photo featured in the January 2019 edition of Canadian Geographic, where you can see more of his work. He is such a fan of Fujifilm that you can find a tattoo of the company’s logo on his right arm. An eagle in flight depicts a photo he took in Juneau. An eagle on the center of his neck is not from a photograph he took, but ties in nicely with a bear in the northern lights right next to it, which is his. Possibly the most infamous tattoo in Haines currently is a Care Bear tattoo on Shannon Miller’s butt. He got the tattoo in the Chicago area when he was 22-years-old and said he has shown it to well over 200 people in Southeast Alaska. If you hear someone say “have you seen Shannon’s Care Bear?” you can assume that you are about to see it as well.
Codi Sambrano is currently getting some fresh ink from Haines’ very own Cassie Benassi. Yours truly was unclear on most of the references in the piece, but editor Rashah McChesney spotted the reference photo and stepped in to explain that it was a [Hayao] Miyazaki Masterpiece. She described it like this: “Ok, from bottom to top is Totoro, Calcifer, Ponyo, a group of Kodama, Kao-Nashi – but you can call him “No-Face–” more Kodama, Princess Mononoke, Haku surrounded by a group of Shikigami, then some soot sprites, Yu-Bird carrying Boh and then at the top is Sophie being carried by Howl on the right and a witch named Kiki on a broom but I haven’t seen that one.” If you, like I, have no idea what she’s talking about, she suggests watching My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo and Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Thom Ely and Aimee Creelman arrived back in Haines recently from a vacation ferry-hopping the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan. Ely read about the islands in a New York Times ‘50 places to go’ list about 15 years ago, and finally had the opportunity to plan the trip. Originally planned as a bike trip, they ended up bringing no bikes, but did include a stunning bike ride through rural Japan along the way. They also enjoyed snorkeling in the cobalt blue waters surrounding the Kerama Islands. They swam with turtles and walked on uninhabited beaches. Ely and Creelman used a language-translation app, but not always with success. They learned to carve chopsticks from ancient cedar when they visited Yakushima, a UNESCO world heritage site featuring 3,000 to 7,000 year-old trees resembling a fairy-tale landscape. They say the highlight of their trip was the natural hot springs, or Onsen. This location has a unique feature of being accessible only with the tide, as it is right at sea level.
Brooke Robison loved every bit of living in Haines during her seven months here. She loved the mountains, the moss, the borough assembly meetings, the chest-high snow, the dogs and especially the people. Robison’s plans to stay forever were derailed when she applied to grad school, and got in. So alas, Mountain Market is losing one fantastic worker, as she is off to Juneau to get some field experience in social work for her degree. Robison promises Haines is not truly safe from the likes of her. She will return.