Elizabeth Marie Wirak-Cassidy was born on Sept. 6 at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau at 7:11 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and measured 32 inches in length. She came to Liam Cassidy and Tracy Wirak Cassidy through adoption and they are so proud of their sweet Betsy. Baby Betsy’s first ferry ride on the Alaska Marine Highway was smooth sailing and included a picture with the Haines Glacier Bears cross-country team.
Elizabeth Marie Cassidy get s aphoto with the Haines Glacier Bears cross-country team during her ferry ride home.
Ila Nettelton was in town from Alpena, Michigan for a short, but action-packed, visit with family. John and Barb Nettleton served up a variety of hunted and homegrown meals: black bear bacon burgers, pickled quail eggs, quail-stuffed jalapeños, smoked salmon, and pancakes with fresh-picked blueberries. Everyone also enjoyed bacon-quail egg-and-cheese McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches to fuel the days’ adventures. The family boated on Chilkoot Lake and up the Chilkat River. Ila and her dad spent a hot sunny day pumping fuel out of an old “free” fuel tank; that is quality family bonding! She operated heavy equipment while rebuilding a septic system, went bear and grouse hunting and enjoyed backyard fires and an American Legion burger night with the family.
Henderson Farm had a 29.8-pound cabbage this year. Was it the weather, the high-quality soil or maybe the ideal amount of love and attention from gardeners Liz Landes, Chrissie White and Blythe Carter? White credits the proper use of fertilizer and planting the right variety. The impressive cabbage variety is Megaton. According to White, most megaton cabbages average only 15-20 pounds. Pinpointing the reason for such amazing cabbage growth is hard to say, but that spectacular cabbage was on display during the open house and volunteer appreciation party at The Henderson Community Farm last week. Attendees had the opportunity to guess the weight of the cabbage. Allison Adams guessed the closest.
There’s great news for lovers of veggies. As of Sept. 7, Henderson Farm has harvested 2,242 pounds of food and will be in production for another four weeks! In the 2025 season, the farm benefitted from 305 volunteer hours. The project manager for the farm, Erika Merklin, said that as of Sept. 7, 2026 the farm has recorded 465 volunteer hours. Moving forward, they will continue to measure growth by pounds harvested, distributed, households fed, volunteer hours and acreage cultivated. Stay tuned to the Henderson Farm action: Blythe Carter will be managing a three-year research project to test 15 varieties of winter squash rated for zones 4 and 5 for productivity, taste and storage.
Helaina Policastro was visiting her cousin Sadie Dixon in Haines for the Southeast Alaska State Fair this year from Savannah, Ga. While she was here a series of unfortunate events unfolded that left her newly acquired handmade malachite ring lost, very possibly, on the fairgrounds. But Policastro was in luck. Willy Tuttle’s Labor Day Bike Safari challenges led some treasure hunters to discover the ring. It was resting safely in the lumberjack section of the fair. Team member of “The Feral Oysters” and bike limbo superstar Peter Kohlstedt was riding his bike (complete with bike trailer, if you can believe it) across a substantially-sized log when the ring was found. The team continued on in the eight-hour bike quest while wearing the ring to various locations after posting it on social media. It was claimed by Sadie Dixon and returned to Policastro soon after.
Jim Lampkins had the honor of naming the winners of the 2 millionth order at Lutak Lumber recently. The winners were Larry and Nelle Jurgeleit-Greene. Lampkins says that the Lutak Lumber shirt, hats, branded Lutak Lumber bucket and licorice were appreciated by the winners. Although, it seems, black licorice was preferred over red, and Lampkins was happy to accommodate. When asked about this marking of time and purchases Lampkins says that the 3 millionth winner should be about 20 years from now and that lucky shopper can look forward to winning priority parking at the lumberyard as well as a curated selection of prizes.
Chrissie White takes a moment while kayaking.
Aly Zeiger and Chrissie White took Ed Schmid’s glass-blowing class at Viking Cove recently. White made a vase that hangs on the wall, to make life a bit more complicated for her cat. Zeiger created a drinking vessel. A fun fact about Schmid is that he spends part of his time in Bellingham, Washington, and recently sold a kayak there to a customer here. White enlisted her friend Kelly Brown to pick up the single Sealution sea kayak in Bellingham, where he met up with Schmid and loaded up the kayak for a ferry trip to Haines. This is when Brown realized that Schmid is a regular visitor to Haines and does the yearly glass-blowing instruction. Since getting the kayak, White has taken it to Wrangell and kayaked near Petersburg. It has been to the Lacoste Glacier and several awesome duck-hunting U.S. Forest Service cabins.
I want to hear from you! Drop a Duly right in my email. Did a friend go to a wedding? Drop me their name and contact info. Maybe cousin Fran just graduated from a thing, and she lived in Haines prior to that… Email me the lead and I will call up Fran. Don’t be shy, email your potential duly to [email protected].