Clayton Benjamin Stevens was born Aug. 18, 2000, at 9:23 p.m., to Mishal Tooyak Gaede, of Fairbanks, and Benjamin Stevens, of Stevans Village. Clayton is the grandson of the late Elmer and Ruby Gaede of Soldotna, Dora Tooyak Weston of Point Hope and Denver, and the late Benjamin and Hilda Stevens of Stevens Village.
CIRI shareholder Shirley J. Stephan, of Eklutna, has gifted CIRI shares to her two children, Jason Jon Chilligan, a 5th grader, and Breanna Alice Stephan, four years old. Breanna is also the daughter of CIRI shareholder Michael A. Stephan, granddaughter of CIRI shareholder Isaac Stephan, and the great granddaughter of CIRI shareholder Sava Stephan of Tyonek.
It was a warm June day in sunny California in 1950. Kenny Halterman had just picked up his best friend, Billy Wisdom, to go to the movies. On the way, they stopped to pick up Kenny"s girlfriend. Because Kenny"s girlfriend was not allowed to go on dates alone, her sister Laura joined them as a chaperone. Who would believe a girl from Knakanak, Alaska, and a farm boy from Arkansas would find true love. But that"s what happened with Laura, the chaperone, and Billy, the best friend.
CIRI shareholder Dustin R. Woodhead, the son of Robert and Kathy Woodhead, was one of 40 Native American students selected across the United States to attend a Native American Fly-In Program in October at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H.
Madison Michael Mueller was born Sept. 19, 2000 at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, Alaska. She weighed nine pounds, 10 ounces and was 22 and a half inches long. Madison is the daughter of CIRI shareholder E. Yvonne Mueller and her husband Ron Mueller.
At a University of Arizona observatory located in Tucson, Ariz., CIRI descendent John Pina is helping to build something called an infrared spectrophotometer, which will eventually be placed on the lens of an astronomical telescope located in Hawaii and on another located in Chile. In order to learn vital information about the universe, both telescopes will focus on distant stars, planets, solar systems, and black holes, and will provide clear viewpoints of earth's Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Enrolled at the University of Arizona, Pina is working on a bachelor's degree in optical engineering, which is the study of light. The revolutionary new infrared spectrophotometer that Pina is working on will allow the viewer to see infrared light, which is normally not visible to the human eye. According to Pina, because infrared light is near the red end of the spectrum, but is outside human visibility, it allows the viewer to have a unique, otherwise unknown perspective of the universe.
After working 10 years in the heating and air-conditioning business, Pina decided to go back to school because he wanted to fulfill his potential and improve his writing and math skills. He earned an associate's degree in biology. But he became fascinated with the study of light while taking a physics course. His mentors directed him towards the field of optical engineering and recommended the University of Arizona in Tucson as an excellent school to study optics. In the meantime, Pina completed internships at both Lawrence Livermore National Lab and the Environmental Protection Agency, and had his biography published in the 19th Edition of the National Dean's list.
Today, Pina is glad he listened to his instincts and decided to fulfill his potential. In fact, he feels lucky that fate led him to study physics and light, "On the surface, light seems ordinary enough, yet it really isn't because it holds the key to all that we see and all that we don't."
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