by December 11, 2024 This year’s Lighting of the Fort festivities were postponed due to a fire at the Old Field Kitchen. But Kiara Hylton said she and her neighbors in the fort would still like to celebrate, so they’re inviting the community to a pre-parade gathering at the town Christmas tree on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 3:30 p.m. at Third and Main for hot dogs, a marshmallow roast, and hot cocoa. The Chilkat Valley is about to get its first Cybertruck. Erik Stevens said he’s been waiting for his distinctive Tesla-built electric pickup truck since he first put a $100 deposit down for one in March of 2020. He wasn’t sure at the time if he was going to follow through with buying one but Stevens, who is an aerospace engineer by training, said the more he researched it, the more excited he got. Right now, his favorite feature is an adjustable suspension which allows the vehicle’s ride height to be adjusted manually. (Courtesy/Erik Stevens) “When you’re driving down the highway, you crank the suspension down low … then crank it up to 17 inches of clearance when you go off-road,” he said. Right now, the truck is on its way via ferry from Bellingham and should arrive Dec. 17. Stevens got the chance to take his new truck for a spin in late November when former Haines resident Ashley Hilsinger picked him up at SeaTac and drove him down to pick up the truck. Then he and Hilsinger “cruised around the Skagit valley for two days in the Cybertruck bumpin’ Kendrick Lamar.” He said driving a Cybertruck feels like driving a spaceship, but said he agrees with people who quibble with its aesthetic. “My first reaction when I saw it was ‘that’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” But now that he thinks of it more as an aircraft than a truck, the design starts to make sense. He thinks it will handle well in the snow and ice as it’s heavy and the weight is distributed evenly across the wheels, but acknowledges that there’s a fair amount of pressure. “Trucks spin into ditches all the time, like almost every day in Haines. Nobody cares. If I slide out into a ditch in a Cybertruck, it’s going to be a whole thing.” Rusty Compass Coffeehouse brought coffee and sandwiches to 13 volunteer firefighters who fought a fire that destroyed the Old Field Kitchen restaurant on Dec. 7. Fire chief Brian Clay said it was part of a pattern of firefighters being supported well by businesses in town. During an Oct. 6 fire that burned down a complex of businesses and apartments owned by Mike Ward, Clay said Mountain Market brought pizza, sandwiches, coffee and water. Snowbird Joe Ordonez joined an Immaculate Conception procession in Burlington, Washington on Dec. 8, posting a video on social media of masked revelers wearing blue with bright orange hats adorned with the Virgin Mary. Immaculate conception is a Catholic dogma which is the belief that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin. Ordonez said Burlington, where his family stays for most of the year, is in a big agricultural area where there’s a lot of Mexican-American culture and the parade highlighted that. “My dad is Guatemalan, so I’m culturally very comfortable with Latin American and Mexican American culture. I was able to get in and twirl around a bit.” Holly Davis is traveling to Michigan this weekend to see her son Mark Davis play trumpet in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra. She’s traveling with her daughter Meg Davis and the two plan to catch Mark’s Sunday afternoon performance, one of four. Holly Davis said it will be her first time seeing The Nutcracker and she’s excited to hear her son play before he graduates. He’s a senior in college, majoring in trumpet performance. Anyone looking to spend the weekend eating, but not cooking, will be able to eat most of their meals in the Haines School. Starting on Friday night with a pulled pork fundraiser for the wrestling team running from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., according to coach Andus Hale. Then on Saturday morning from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., the boy’s basketball team is hosting a fundraiser. Middle school wrestling is doing a sub-sandwich lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the Haines Hot Shots are hosting a nacho dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. Each meal is $15. Author