Ten Years Ago
Borough Approves Group’s Leafletting
A new Religious sign-and-cart operation has been setting up along the Haines waterfront in recent weeks, stirring concerns for some residents.
A group of Jehovah’s Witnesses have sporadically set up along the waterfront a portable 24-by-15 foot placard on a 37-by-16 foot cart, which they use to distribute nonprofit religious brochures.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are a Christian denomination known for their door-to-door preaching and aggressive evangelism, a core tenet and duty of their religion.
Tour operator Joe Ordonez said he recently saw the Jehovah’s Witnesses set up at Lookout Park. “I just really thought nothing like that was allowed. It’s proselytizing,” Ordonez said.
In years past, Ordonez has seen children selling small trinkets or musicians seeking tips run off for soliciting on public property, so he wondered why the distribution for religious pamphlets was allowed.
“If you think, from the visitor perspective, they don’t really want people hawking tours in any loud sort of way,” Ordonez said. “It’s not like I lost any sleep over it. I’m in the visitor industry and I think about visitor experience. I’ve seen a lot of things come and go and this was a new twist.”
Twenty Years Ago
Paintballers Compete in Local Tourney
About 60 residents and visitors turned out to watch or participate in Sunday’s Spring Paintball Tournament at Emerson Field.
Will Morrissey, Steven McLaughlin, and Fred Graham took first place among 13 teams participating in the double-elimination contest, which was held among a maze of barricades set up on the field at the junction of Mosquito Lake Road and Haines Highway.
Among those participating were paintball enthusiasts from Juneau and professional snowboarder Travis Rice.
Dozens turned out to watch the event and enjoy a nice picnic lunch, said Nancy Morrissey. “Organizers are hoping to make this an annual event,” she said.
Forty Years Ago
Postmasters to Gather in Haines Next Week
Usually there is only one postmaster in each community in the United States, but next week Haines will host between 25 and 30 of them. Postmasters are coming from all over Alaska to attend the 31st annual Convention of the Alaska Chapter of Postmasters of the United States. In addition to postmasters from as far away as Barrow, Eagle, Metlakatla and Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, there will be visitors from Kentucky, Alabama, Washington, D.C., California and Colorado. When given the choice of which of the 51 State conventions (Puerto Rico, too!), most of the postmasters chose Alaska as their first choice.
“We are honored that Hugh Bates, National President of the NAPUS, elected to come to Haines with his wife, Janie, for the convention,” Postmaster Bill Hartmann said. “Our chapter president, Deane Nelson from Barrow, invited him when we were in Washington, D.C. in February.”
Bates will be the keynote speaker at the final convention banquet Thursday at the Hotel Halsingland. Most of the meetings and training sessions will be at the Chilkat Center.