Members of Skagway’s press and entertainment community recently shared their thoughts on the biggest news stories of the year. KHNS’s Mike Swasey hosted two roundtable discussions on Wednesday, first up was a talk with Skagway News publisher Melinda Munson and Jeff Brady, a former owner of the newspaper to reflect on the biggest topics of 2021. 

The first topic of conversation with Munson and Brady was on the minds of almost everyone this year, COVID-19.

“The one thing about COVID is that even when we had the cruise ships, they didn’t really bring it to us,” said Brady.

“And that was amazing. And I think it wasn’t what we expected,” replied Munson.

Skagway’s waterfront is under a major transformation and probably the biggest hurdle to overcome is figuring out how to clean up the harbor from contamination brought in by the mining industry. Brady remembers when the current waterfront leaseholder White Pass helped clean up the roads and shoreline back in the late 80s, but, he says they didn’t touch the harbor.

“They had these super scoopers down on the beach, but they never got to the basin, the basin is still a conversation. And it’s got to move beyond the conversation phase to the action phase,” said Brady.

“Skagway set limits for soil sediment contamination. And as far as we know, we’re the first city in Alaska to do so… So it’s going to be interesting to see how White Pass reacts to that,” said Munson.

And of course, a discussion about news in Skagway has to include the Alaska Marine Highway System and its now long string of wintertime service interruptions.

“What I hear from people is that they feel like we don’t count, that nobody’s really looking out for us outside of Skagway,” said Munson.

“Everybody’s in a situation where you plan your travel, or your medical situations or whatever shopping trip, you plan it around the ferry, because it used to be the reliable backup, especially in winter when planes are more of an iffy proposition. So it’s very, very frustrating,” said Brady.

 

2021 wasn’t all doom and gloom. A couple of volunteer KHNS DJ’s Cooper Lynn Hays and Dustin Stone joined me for a look at some of the fun stories that came out of Skagway this year.

We started off talking about the last show of the 98th season of Skagway’s Days of ‘98 show.

“Dustin Stone was playing Soapy Smith. And you got shot,” said Swasey.

“Yes, I got shot,” replied Stone.

“The most notorious gangster in Skagway. That was the very first theatrical production that I’d seen since I’d heard about this little thing called COVID-19. And it was, that was a very special day for me personally because I got to come and watch the show. That was amazing. And I definitely teared up being in a theater for the first time in a really long time eating popcorn and watching brilliant local talent,” said Hays.

We went on to talk about the Buckwheat Covid Classic, it was the first year that the international cross-country ski race, usually held in Fraser BC Canada, was held in Skagway at Lower Dewey Lake. 

“That was the first hike I did in Skagway and hiking up to Lower Lake as a newbie is a scary thing, especially when it’s super icy and you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. But I hiked up that day, and skied around the lake with the OWLS, the Outdoor Women’s League of Skagway,” recalled Hays.

“I think was one of my favorite Buckwheats and I hope that we keep having an event up at Lower Lake,” said Stone.

We finished the segment talking about Halloween and the unofficial decoration rivalry between two fun-loving Skagwegians. Though Stone didn’t really get to enjoy the holiday.

“I had COVID. I think I was just like sitting in a brain fog and eating everything in my house that I didn’t want to eat because it couldn’t taste or smell so yeah, I didn’t make it out on Halloween,” said Stone.

“Halloween feels like the worst time to get COVID,” mused Hays.

“You couldn’t taste candy on Halloween? Asked Swasey.

“I couldn’t taste anything but also I couldn’t smell myself so that’s good,” joked Stone.

Thanks to everyone in Skagway and Haines who shared their stories with us over the past year.