Sophia DeMarco was introduced  to the wild and wonderful world of square-dance calling in 2024. On Sunday she found herself teaching the foundational building blocks of the dance to about 148 people, her largest group to date. The Haines Art Confluence hosted the free dance at the Fort Steward art park on Sunday. Organizer Helen Alten says that this is the second year for the event which drew in about 50 square-dance enthusiasts the first year. DeMarco was bitten by the square-dancing bug at a Boise, Idaho square-dancing convention. She credits her sister, an old-time fiddle player, with the initial interest in the music style and a workshop in Boise for the newfound skills. She has been a guest caller at events but this is only her third time calling a square dance by herself. When she is not guiding dancers through various formations she is guiding kayak tours and driving a bus here in Haines. 

Craig Franke was at it again last weekend, helping with another community event. He was heaving bulky items into a dumpster side by side with neighbors at the Four Winds Resource Center’s annual junk collection event Saturday.

Community Waste Solutions collaborated with Stacie Powlison at the Four Winds Resource Center for the fundraiser, now in its fourth year.  Franke brings a dumpster to the Mosquito Lake School for community members to dump bulk trash. Community members donate to FWRC and CWS takes away the big stuff. This year some of the “big stuff” included flooring, a pile of water hose that was described as “generational collection,” cumbersome doors, sofas that have seen many a rest, all manner of broken tools and yard equipment, and a locked safe with no key. Neighbors discussed what might be in the safe while assisting with heavy lifting.

As residents of the upper valley descended on Mosquito Lake for the trash day event on Saturday they also could catch a glimpse of Jim Stanford improving the neighborhood. He was trimming the lawn on his zero-turn mower, as he has done for years at no cost to the community. He and Deb Stanford have lived at Mosquito lake since 1984. They raised a family there and enjoy seeing the recreation area used. The Stanfords donated their time and equipment to add a pickleball court recently. The upgrade will include equipment storage in the future, according to Stanford. They put up the net and painted the lines on the court and added a free-standing sign to share laminated official rules. He asks that the community keep it tidy and share equipment in a responsible way. See you on the court. 

Celeste Grimes led a nine-person moccasin-making class at Fort Seward recently. The four-day class included hands-on instruction for about 20 hours and was organized by Cory Grant at Tlingit & Haida. Grimes said she has been making moccasins for three years and this was her first time instructing the class. She was very impressed by the participants’ finished products. They learned how to make a pattern from each person’s foot and used leather and fur to handsew each pair.

Patty Campbell and a couple of Haines Little League board members worked together to insure that the Little League had uniforms for the season opener. The shipping situation was looking grim, as some have experienced here. The uniforms were stowed last minute in luggage returning to Haines following a vacation and hustled off to Campbell. She screenprinted and embroidered 60 shirts and 18 hats in just a couple of days. The Haines Little league home opener saw the Pirates beat the Mariners, 7-5. 

Sixty-year Haines resident Marilyn Wilson died on Friday, June 26 in Anchorage. Wilson grew up in Skagway in the 1950s but moved to the Chilkat Valley and went on to become the Alaska Native Sisterhood chapter secretary, then president. She was also a longtime organizer of the local Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration. Family members say they are working on funeral plans but don’t have a set date yet.