Wrangell bickers a fair amount, as does any small town. It’s not especially mean-spirited or nasty and is sometimes amusing, but often it’s unproductive.

It’s recreational bickering, almost like a sport.

Yet when the town wants to come together, that’s a sport it excels at — particularly when it comes to raising money for students to travel to state competition in sports, music or other activities.

The three-year-old Wrangell Athletic Club was created out of necessity when the school district determined it could no longer afford to pay the travel bills to send students to state competition. The district’s finances were too tight, and the school board decided it had no choice but to tell the community it needed to fundraise to cover airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and other expenses.

Since then, the booster club has raised more than $40,000 in donations to fully repay the district for state competition travel during the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. The district fronts the money and then sends an invoice to the nonprofit group at the end of the school year.

While the group succeeded in raising enough money in its first two years, Chris Johnson, president of the Wrangell Athletic Club, said keeping up with multiple successful sports programs is an ongoing effort. Such as the boys and girls cross-country teams competing at the state championship meet this past weekend in Anchorage, with wrestling, volleyball and basketball still to come.

Donations from larger funders, including the Wrangell Cooperative Association, Sealaska and Wrangell-based Walker Foundation, go into the same bank account as smaller donations from individuals, families and businesses. It’s a group effort to help, which is something Wrangell excels at.

So the next time you find yourself cheering when a team makes the championship round, or musicians perform at state, remember someone has to help pay for that travel. Years ago, the school district had the money, but those years are hindsight. Looking ahead, the community will need to continue chipping in when students compete in state events.