The Way We Were

March 23, 1922

With the Inter-School Meet at Juneau only five weeks away, the need for concerted action on part of the people in Wrangell has become more evident. Everyone is enthusiastic about the meet, as Wrangell wants to be put on the map educationally. The community is loyal to its school and is anxious to see the pupils who will be chosen for their special ability pitted against selected pupils of other schools in debates, declamatory contests, spelling, oral and written English, rapid calculation, basketball and track work. These pupils will be responsible for the standing of the Wrangell school at the meet and their teachers should have the undivided and firm support of all loyal hearted citizens of Wrangell. They are looking for volunteers and financial assistance to make this happen. Wrangell has never failed to back a good cause.

March 24, 1947

At its regular meeting Monday noon at the Civic Center this week the Street Sign Committee of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, consisting of Jack Krepps and Sam Pickering, reported they had completed putting up street signs on Front, Church, Reid, Mission, Second and Fort streets and Cow Alley. The other streets will be completed as soon as the signs can be painted and stenciled.

March 24, 1972

A Stikine River emergency cabin proposed by the chamber of commerce in a list of recommendations to the U.S. Forest Service will be built this year, according to District Ranger Gary McCoy. McCoy said the Forest Service approved the plan to put a cabin at Goat Creek, about five miles from Wrangell at the mouth of the Stikine River, and has entered into an agreement with the Wrangell Search and Rescue Squad, which will supply materials and labor to put up the A-frame structure. The chamber said a cabin is needed to house boat travelers who get stranded between the river and town and when bad weather hits the Back Channel. McCoy said the Forest Service will maintain the cabin after it is built. The shelter, he said, will be available on a non-rental and non-reservation basis but is designed primarily for emergency use.

March 27, 1997

Things are looking bright for Wrangell to acquire a new harbor in the next few years, most probably at Cemetery Point. At a meeting at City Hall last Wednesday, Brenda Kerr and Alan Jeffries of the Army Corps of Engineers in Anchorage explained preliminary assessments for the reconnaissance phase of the study, due to be wrapped up May 6. The project will qualify for federal funding, Jeffries said. The most recent estimate for the cost of the project is about $14 million, according to Bill Privett, who recently went with Harbormaster Dave Jack to talk to Corps engineers in Anchorage. The Corps looked at several alternative sites, including three at Shoemaker Bay and one near the airport. Drawbacks at those sites include large boulders, limited capacity, rock reefs, sedimentation and icing. The feasibility study will take at least a year on the fast-track, and possibly as long as two years. Final design and specifications would take another three to four months, Jefferies said.