Callahan Baker Stief was born at 8:48 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2 in Everett, Washington to proud parents Riley Erekson Stief and Matt Stief. Callahan weighed 7.12 lbs and was 20.5 inches long.
Erekson Stief’s sister Keely Baumgartner and mother Judy Erekson attended the birth. Aunt Carlee Heinmiller and grandpa Lee Heinmiller anxiously awaited photos of his arrival.
Happy 58th birthday to David Routh. Routh celebrated on Friday with a mayonnaise cake, his favorite. For those not in the know, a mayonnaise cake is known for being super rich and moist. Routh said the cake, baked by coworker Jeanine Ward, did not disappoint. The chocolate cake was iced with white chocolate buttercream frosting dyed pink, because Fridays at their workplace, Lutak Lumber, feature the color pink. Routh’s birthday dinner at the Lighthouse with Laura Roth was highlighted by a burger piled high with crumbled blue cheese and a large salad. He also marked the occasion with a fresh haircut and shave.
Southeast Alaska fall weather wouldn’t allow a cruise ship to dock on Sept. 16. But Lee Robinson at the Rusty Compass turned that unfortunate situation into a windfall of sandwiches for the folks at the Haines Head Start. He donated 15 hickory-smoked turkey sandwiches with lettuce and provolone on hearty nine-grain bread, originally planned for cruise ship guests on an excursion, to the lucky sandwich eaters at the preschool. Each came with a chocolate chip cookie too.
Dan Henry, Ben Kirkpatrick, Scott Carey and Tom Faverty recently returned from a canoe trip on Kusawa Lake in Yukon Territory. Henry and Carey are celebrating 70 years of birthdays, and paddling canoes seemed easier than a rigorous hike. But they did bring bandaids and Benadryl, just in case. The four men paddled 70 miles over 12 days, caught arctic grayling in pristine waters, swam and camped on beaches. Henry says the weather was fantastic with the exception of day three and day seven when the headwinds and three-foot waves complicated matters and the group had an adventure trying to get spray skirts onto the canoes. The group explored the back of Kusawa Lake and saw no humans or signs of humans for several days. Faverty spotted two lynx on a beach in one day. They also saw plenty of bears, swarms of gnats, loons, beavers and a seemingly endless supply of rabbits, which would explain the lynx. The group had a nearly 20-minute show when Faverty spotted an enormous “gleeful” mountain goat running and frolicking over a mile of very rocky beach. The trip was fueled by 15 cans of Haines brews: 10 Black Fang and 5 Devil Made Me Do It IPA cans. The food prep was split among the group according to Henry, “stuff wrapped in tortillas, six nights of edible glop and sometimes glop and tasty bites wrapped in tortilla.” Henry said that the food situation had room for improvement, but this man-trip was a success and an epic adventure.
Tony Malone was recently spotted with heavy equipment hoisting Paul Wheeler high above the brewery’s front window to hang some hardware. The result of the team effort is a new maritime weather flag system on display at the Haines Brewing Co. On a recent blustery day, the small craft advisory flag could be seen. Keep your eyes open for the storm warning flag. It could mean a storm warning, or it could be that Storm Warning brew is available.
The Four Winds Resource Center hosted its volunteer appreciation dinner at the Mosquito Lake School. Surprisingly, there were no beets served at the dinner, although the very next day, volunteers would harvest about 150 pounds of them. The evening started with a savory broccoli cheddar soup from Sarah Ammons and a moose stew with homemade chimichurri that Erika Merklin shared with the group. The coconut-chili crisp halibut stew over rice was a perfect main course on an exceptionally rainy Saturday evening. Garden vegetables were served up in various styles as well as fiddlehead salad and focaccia bread. The focaccia bread was the “well- guarded super secret original Amy Kane” recipe, made by Brynn Murphy. Sadly, Deb Stanford was not able to attend but her zucchini sure did. The zucchini fries, made by yours truly, came from her garden and Stanford sent a delicious chocolate zucchini bread for the dessert. Everyone left with a sample of recently canned moose, courtesy of Cameron Bauer. Bauer harvested the moose just days before on a moose hunt that might be the shortest hunt of the season. According to Erika Merklin, Bauer left around 5:30 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m. he was looking for a come-along to load the moose.
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].