Baby Stephan Joins Thompson Family

CIRI shareholder Mary Jane Rastetter announces her new grandchild, Stephan, who is now seven months old. Stephan is the son of CIRI descendant Tammy and Jon Eric Thompson. Rastetter’s other grandchildren include seven-year-old Agnes, two-year-old Felicity, and one-year-old Josef.

Baby Maya

CIRI shareholder William Stammer and his wife Irena welcomed Maya Gabriella Stammer to the world on March 20, 2004. Maya was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Babies Avalon and Daytona

CIRI shareholder Melissa Doherty and her husband, John Doherty, joyfully announce the birth of their twin daughters, Avalon Sea and Daytona Sky Doherty. The baby girls were born at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2003. Avalon Sea, who arrived 12:10 p.m., weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Daytona Sky was born at 12:24 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was also 19 1/2 inches. The twins were happily welcomed by their two-year-old sister, Maverick, and are the granddaughters of CIRI shareholder Cecilia Woodard.

Graduate of George Washington

CIRI shareholder Kathleen Dennis announces the graduation of her daughter, Mary Catherine Dennis, from George Washington University with a master’s degree in social services. Mary Catherine will attend the University of Michigan to pursue a Ph.D.

Gerald Perez Graduates

CIRI shareholder Gerald Perez, from El Dorado, Kansas, recently earned an associate’s degree in applied sciences for engineering technology and computer aided drafting at Butler County Community College. He is currently working at Technologies Plus doing computer aided drafting, for which he earned his degree.

Shiela Isaak Graduates from College

CIRI shareholder Sharon Isaak and her husband David announce the graduation of Shiela Marie Isaak from Western Baptist College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance and a minor in music.

A Graduation for David

CIRI descendant Anthony “David” Christiansen graduated May 6 from West Anchorage High School. David is son of CIRI shareholder Anthony Dale Christiansen and CIRI employee Michele Christiansen. David is a recipient of an Alaska Native Medical Center Auxiliary scholarship, which is funded by the proceeds from the ANMC Craft Shop sales. He is also the first person to earn a high school diploma on his father’s side of the family.

Hurlburt Thankful for College Assistance

CIRI descendant Jeff Hurlburt Jr., the son of CIRI shareholder Julie Johnnie of Tyonek, Alaska, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management. Hurlburt is employed by New England Residential Services as a resident instructor and at the northern Middlesex YMCA as a therapeutic mentor. Hurlburt and his girlfriend Taneone, who reside in Connecticut with their daughter’s Taylor and Olivia, are expecting their third child in October. Hurlburt thanks his family for their support during his college career and also The CIRI Foundation and staff, Tyonek Native Corporation, and the Native Village of Tyonek and staff member Harriet Kauffman. He plans to pursue a certificate in therapeutic recreation in the next few years.

Shareholder Starts Custom Framing Business

When CIRI shareholder Patt Van Tubergen’s husband, Martin Tubergen, was laid off from his manufacturing/design engineering job following Sept. 11, 2001, the couple decided to turn a hobby into a fulltime career. They started P & M Frames, a custom frame business that makes custom wood in-lay frames, after several years of making the unusual frames for their own enjoyment.
The frames are made without wood filler, staples or nails and they are designed to last “several hundred years.” Each is designed to enhance the picture its meant to contain and takes anywhere from two to six weeks to finish. Patt Van Tubergen describes her husband as a perfectionist so each frame must be perfect “or it’s firewood.” Originally from Kenai, Patt Van Tubergen is the great-great granddaughter of Chief Nicholai of Point Possession, Alaska. P & M Frames can be reached at (503) 591-9060 or e-mail mvantubergen@verizon.net.

CIRI Shareholder Gets “15 Minutes of Fame”

Hazel Felton will never forget the Sunday before this past Memorial Day - and neither will many of those who read about her falling hip-deep into the grave of a family friend at the Kenai Cemetery.

It started when her dog Boo Boo’s leash wound around a cross beside a nearby headstone as she and her sister, M.E. Perrizo of Kenai, were tidying up around family gravesites. As Felton, a CIRI and Salamatof shareholder, stepped onto Warder Showalter’s grave, it collapsed under her foot, and she wound up with a lot more than one foot in the grave. Felton got herself out of the grave as quickly as possible. “I just shot outta there like a light,” she told the Peninsula Clarion, which was the first newspaper to pick up her grave story.

The Clarion printed Felton’s story June 2, and within the next several days the story was picked up by media throughout the United States and even other parts of the world, including a Brazilian radio station. Among the many media and Internet outlets running the story were CNN, the Associated Press, Yahoo News, USA Today, the Miami Herald, Fredericksburg.com, the Modesto Bee and Sacramento Bee in California, Ohio.com, Tallahassee.com, Boston.com, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Tuscaloosa News, the Worcester Telegram in Massachusetts, the Anchorage Daily News, KAKM in Anchorage, Juneau Empire, and the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

“I even made a talk show, as well as some Internet chat rooms where there were people criticizing me for taking my dog into a cemetery,” Felton said. “They don’t realize that in Alaska, you have to be on the lookout for moose and bears, and my dog is a great guard dog.” Felton said she was astonished that so many newspapers and media picked up the story. “I guess my 15 minutes of fame is lasting longer than a few minutes,” said Felton, who is a special projects manager for the CIRI Real Estate Department.

Felton, who has worked for CIRI for 13 years, told the Clarion that it was a bizarre experience to fall part-way into a grave. The grave she fell into was that of the father of a good friend of her mother Rika Murphy’s. To make it equally strange, Hazel was named after Showalter’s daughter Hazel, who died shortly before Felton was born.

The one thing she has no doubt about is that she wanted out as quickly as possible. “I don’t really know how I got out. My foot never hit bottom, and my other leg almost went in, too. I don’t even know what I grabbed onto, but I knew I wanted out of there right now,” she said.