A handful of Haines writers, aspiring writers and readers attended the 16th annual North Words Writers Symposium in Skagway. The keynote author was Willy Vlautin. Attendees included Haines locals Dan Henry, Heather Lende, Mandy Ramsey, Russell Kennedy,  Beau Bradley, and Breanna Walker. The event was organized with help from Jeff Brady and X’unei Lance Twitchell. 

The Raven’s Bowl disc golf tournament was held at the fairgrounds May 30-31.The contest is a two-day, two-round Professional Disk Golf Association sanctioned event. This is the eighth year of the event and third year of being a sanctioned tournament — the only sanctioned tournament in Southeast Alaska. Haines local participants were Colton Baker, Jeremy Reed, Dennis Durr, Mike T. Ward, Luck Dunbar, Tim Ewing, Shaun Cornish and Mike Binkie. The mixed professional open winner was Colton Baker. The female professional open winner was Brie Levia. The mixed professional 40 winner was Luck Dunbar and the mixed amateur winner was Korbyn Gendron. Event organizer Reed said there are divisions for all skill levels and he hopes to encourage more youth participation. Haines hosts seven tournaments a year, including two in the winter. 

Katherine Perry made it back to Haines for construction season. Perry spent the winter in Ohio, missing the mountains, sunshine, sweet Alaskan air and the wonderful people of Haines. She is looking forward to soaking up the sun and waving vehicles through the highway construction again this year. Perry expects to spend a lot of time improving her croquet game in her spare time. Watch for her on the croquet course and on the highway. 

The Haines Little League has some fresh faces on the board this year: Stacie Powlison, Candice Hakki, Joliena Olsen, Summer Lynch, Teolani Baker, Jenn Walsh and Tina Long. Powlison said volunteers spruced up the field and plan to have the concession stand open for all of the Friday night games this season. Chili dogs and pretzels with cheese were wildly popular last season and will be back again this year, she said. About 75 players are signed up in three leagues, including T-ball, majors and seniors. She credits the coaching staff for their hard work at the assessment and gear swap held recently included Larry Sweet Jr., Coleman Stanford, Daniel Stickler, Colton Baker, Michael Reynolds, JD Johnson, and Jordan Baumgartner.

Greg Podsiki has been the prowl for some piglets and piglet movers. He has taken on the task of filling the McPherson barn at the fairgrounds with 4-H animals this year and he hopes to include pig racing as well. This task includes procuring the piglets that must be born around May 1st to qualify. Podsiki discovered that the permitting process to bring them through Canada is not cost effective due to several factors including mandatory USDA vet checks for the piglets.Tahveh Watkins stepped up and shared contact info for Heather Adkins, she raises free-range Kunekune pigs. Kunekune’s are originally from New Zealand and are known for their pleasant disposition towards people. Podsiki says that he will be procuring the piglets and they will be transported by Alaska Seaplanes at no charge arriving in early July. He hopes to train the pigs to race as the first Chilkat Valley 4-H project and eventually rehome them in the area as hobby farm animals and pets before auctioning them off to butcher. The funds raised will be used to start future 4-H projects.

Former Haines resident Ellis Anne Meyers Greene and David Chen were married in a desert-themed ceremony in Sedona, Arizona on May 30, 2026. Ellis is the daughter of Nelle and Larry Jurgeleit of Haines and Thomas Mayer of Longboat Key, Florida. David Chen is the son of Dr. Gary Chen and Ping Zhang of Springfield, Illinois. Haines’ friends and family who attended included Jim and Anna Jurgeleit and Hannah Bochart. Also attending were former Haines cousins Elizabeth Jurgeleit with Sean Rielly and Alec and Monica Jurgeleit. Friends and family came from all corners of the country to attend.