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The Fourth of July brings many fun events to Wrangell. From the logging show to the street games, it is hard to be bored in Wrangell the week of the Fourth. One event that people should be very excited for, according to Bonnie Ritchie, is the annual talent show. The talent show has been a part of the Fourth of July Celebration for many years, Ritchie said, who has been chairman of the talent show since last year. This year the talent show will follow the celebration's wider theme of "Back to...
The Fourth of July is a fun holiday across the country. With fireworks, parades, barbecues, it is hard not to get into the patriotic spirit of the event. Wrangell is known far and wide for going above and beyond in their Fourth of July celebrations. Instead of a single day, a whole week of fun events draw the community and many visitors together. Alicia Holder, with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, said that there are plenty of fun events that the public can look forward to this year. One of...
Salmon dominates the summer fishing headlines but it’s among many other fisheries going on throughout the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. Alaska’s salmon season has gotten off to a mixed start, with strong catches in some regions over the past month and dismal hauls in others. Good harvests have continued at the Copper River and more recently throughout Prince William Sound. That’s not been the case at Kodiak, Cook Inlet and Chignik where fishing is off to a very slow start. Trollers are targeting Chinook salmon in Southeast, and other salmo...
May 29, 1919 Saturday night a cabin was searched by officers. The search was made by Ensign J.J. Hughes, Deputy U.S. Marshall H. J. Wallace and Ernest P. Walker of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. Probably the most damaging find made by the officers was a single sheet of manuscript containing several verses of doggerel under the title, “The Bolsheviks Are Coming.” In the cabin were also found two bundles of pamphlets, which are supposed to have been in possession for the purpose of distribution. The pamphlets in the other bundle were entitled “Th...
The Fourth of July royalty contest is a longstanding tradition in Wrangell. Each summer, candidates looking to be named "king" and/or "queen" compete in a fundraising competition to support the city's fireworks show. Last year's competition saw three competitors. This year, however, there is only one person running for queen: Abigail Gerald. Gerald is a recent graduate of Wrangell High School. She said that she decided to run because it would be a fun way to support her community, as well as to...
Friends, family, and school staff all crowded into the gym at Wrangell High School last Monday afternoon for an awards ceremony. With graduation just around the corner, the senior class of 2019 was the primary star of the show, with 25 different scholarship programs present to recognize the graduating students. WHS counselor Aimee Romeijn said that she was not sure how much money was given out, in total, but about 45 scholarships were awarded to the seniors. Jean-Luc Lewis received the most out...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce held its Sip & Shop event last Saturday afternoon. Wrangell residents were invited to come downtown to shop and enjoy some wine. The wine glasses sold by the chamber of commerce were customized, too, etched by the high school's tech prep class. Pictured here are three shoppers (right to left): Dorothy Dsjo, Lynda Nore, and Kristi Woodbury....
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce recently announced that the annual third of July fireworks, a popular part of the city's week-long Fourth of July celebration, will be changing venues this year. Alicia Holder, with the chamber of commerce, said that the fireworks have traditionally been held on the waterfront by City Dock. This year, though, it will be held at Volunteer Park, near the elementary school. The chamber helps fund the fireworks every year, through their annual royalty contest, while...
April 4, 1919 St. Philip’s Guild will enter into the magazine business temporarily, having made arrangements with the Priscilla Publishing Company to secure 50 subscribers before April 10. A committee representing the Guild will visit Wrangell homes and will have some tempting club offers to present with the Priscilla. With the end of war activities in sight, a longing for the needlework, which was laid aside during the busy months, will make itself felt once more, and a good fancy work magazine will be a household necessity. April 7, 1944 The...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual dinner to recognize people and businesses around town. The dinner, held at the Nolan Center last Saturday evening, drew a very large crowd. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a silent auction and other contests. There was also an auction for various homemade desserts that saw a lot of high rollers. A chocolate cheesecake, baked by Kay Jabusch, was auctioned off for $500 to Jake Harris. The evening was not all about auctions and...
March 27, 1919 All the local lodges have gone in together on a plan for a big masquerade ball next Tuesday evening. The proceeds will be donated to the Armenian Relief Fund. All people who attend are urged to come masked, and no unmasked persons will be permitted on the floor before midnight. The event promises to be a notable one as it is the first masquerade ball that has been given in Wrangell for over two years. The reason for this was that during the war it was not considered consistent to go to any unnecessary expense. March 24, 1944 In...
February 20, 1919 The other day the reporter met Mr. Parrott in the express office where he was making a shipment of ginseng to New York. The little shipment amounted to only 18 pounds, but it will net Mr. Parrott $4180. It is now almost six years since Mr. Parrott put in his ginseng farm on Sergief Island, near Wrangell. He has the plants in beds 190 feet long and six feet wide. When the foliage is on, the beds are almost covered. Mr. Parrott first got the idea that ginseng of a superior quality could be grown in Alaska from a perusal of a...
February 6, 1919 We are enjoying a very mild winter, and up to the present have not had any weather below zero. The snowfall has been light; only a depth of eight inches along the river in this vicinity. Also, very little ice is on the Stikine. The trappers are catching very few furs. In fact, trappers say that prospects this winter are the worst that they remember in this district. There is a lot of illness among the Natives at present, and the medical missionary has 22 patients under his care. He said that it resembled Spanish influenza, but...
The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce held a luncheon at the Stikine Inn to introduce the chamber to new people, network with current members, and discuss future events. Several local organizations were represented at the lunch, including the school district, the city, BRAVE, the rod and gun club, and several others. Some of the topics discussed at the meeting included future fishing derbies, the Fourth of July, and the Mariner's Memorial....
April The Department of Transportation is finally able to get started on a major Wrangell road repaving project. Perforated by potholes, the borough’s Evergreen Avenue will be resurfaced and repaired, with pedestrian improvements and other fixes. The major project has been on hold for half a decade, surviving rounds of budget cuts to capital funding elsewhere in the state along the way. Two local right of way issues which had lately been holding up the project were wrapped up in February, allowing the project to move along. Speaking at a p...
January 2, 1919 All requests for discharge of soldiers now in the service must originate with the soldier himself and not with outside parties, according to information sent to the local Draft Board. Outsiders making requests for the discharge of soldiers are given scant consideration and their messages are placed on file. It is suggested by officers that persons wishing the discharge of soldiers secure employment for them and then notify the soldier himself and allow him to file his own request for discharge. January 7, 1944 A local man writes...
The Doc Davenport Christmas Boat Parade has been a Wrangell tradition since the 1970s, when it was started by Wayne "Doc" Davenport. Fishermen and boat owners of Wrangell, traditionally, deck out their vessels with lights and holiday decorations. As the sun goes down the boats parade across the shoreline, starting at city dock. The parade fell in popularity in 2012 after Davenport's retirement, according to a 2017 article by Wrangell Sentinel. The chamber of commerce revived the tradition last...
With snow falling all through town, the last day of school for the Wrangell school district was made just that much more special. After a long semester starting last August, students in elementary, middle, and high school now have a few weeks to relax, spend time with family, and enjoy winter break. The last day of class was made into a celebration across all the schools. Students at Evergreen Elementary got to leave class early to take a trip to the Nolan Center. There, they were treated to a special showing of “The Grinch.” The middle sch...
It was cold, the evening of Dec. 7, and at times rainy. That did not deter many Wrangell residents from coming out for Midnight Madness, however. Midnight Madness has been a Wrangell tradition for about 30 years, according to Stephanie Cook with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce. "I think it went pretty well, even though it was a little rainy and cold," she said. "There were lots of people who showed up and had fun." Front Street was crowded as people hung out, shopped, and sang Christmas...
The cruise ship season closed in Wrangell earlier this month. The Oceania Regatta was the last cruise ship that pulled into the city dock in 2018. According to a draft schedule from the chamber of commerce, the season will reopen in May of 2019. For Wrangell, and Southeast Alaska in general, tourism is an important aspect of life. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, said that 75 cruise ships visited Wrangell in the 2018 season, ranging from small size to large ships with about 1,500...
October 17, 1918 Repeated communications from Red Cross headquarters emphasize the urgent need for the greatest activity in the campaign for the collection of fruit pits and nutshells. Do not allow your interest and activity in this campaign to lag. This campaign will not end with the close of the fresh fruit season. It is on for the duration of the war. To make carbon to protect our men from German Poison Gas, the government needs peach stones, apricot pits, prune pits, plum pits, olive pits, date seeds, cherry pits, brazil-nut shells, walnut...
October 7, 1918 Fred Watson, a recent arrival from the West Coast but well known in Wrangell, had a very narrow escape from a watery grave last Saturday. Mr. Watson has recently purchased a boat from G. H. Tozier and while walking along its side holding onto a slender handrail, the latter broke and Mr. Watson found himself in the briny deep. A pair of high top boots made swimming difficult and he went down the proverbial three times. Instead of staying down as he expected to do according to precedent, he rose again to the surface and this time...
Salmon that begin their lives in Alaska hatcheries often save the day for thousands of fishermen when returns of wild stocks are a bust. This year was a prime example, when pinks and chums that originated in hatcheries made up for record shortfalls for fishing towns in the Gulf of Alaska. “This year Kodiak hatchery fish added up to more than $6 million for fishermen, and also for sport fish, subsistence and personal use fisheries,” Tina Fairbanks, director of the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association, said in testimony to the Kodiak Isl...
September 26, 1918 Miss Grace Wigg left on the Sophia for Berkeley, California. She was accompanied as far as Seattle by her mother, Mrs. F. Wigg. From Seattle Miss Wigg will travel southward and will enter the school of pharmacy at Berkeley. She will be absent from Wrangell until next July. September 24, 1943 Chamber of Commerce at its regular luncheon meeting yesterday went on record to support Ketchikan chamber in its plea to get certain restrictions lifted in Southeast Alaska, particularly travel control inside Alaska, mail censorship and...
