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Head librarian Sarah Scambler invites kids and parents to sing along as she performs "Baby Beluga" during story time at the Irene Ingle Public Library on Friday, Feb. 2. The morning story time started last week and runs from 10 to 11 a.m. every Friday at the library. The first week included Scambler reading "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for children and their parents....
Raised in Wrangell then later moving to Illinois, where she now lives with her husband and two sons, Jennifer Weekley recalled it was her friend and Wrangell resident Walt Maenhout who encouraged her to write a book. "I thought about it," she said. "And I've always heard if somebody's going to write, you should write what you know about, and I thought I knew about deep, meaningful friendships. Having grown up in Wrangell the way we did, we have these bonds that people in the Lower 48 oftentimes...
Wrangell’s public library has two birthdays: It celebrated its 100th birthday with an open house in 2021, and this year the current building will turn 50 years old. Originally opened in October 1921 by the Wrangell Civic Improvement Club in their club room, then moving a decade later to share space in the old City Hall, the city sold $157,000 in bonds to help construct a building specifically designed as a library in 1974. The construction had its beginnings in 1959 when a building fund was created — the occasion was marked by showing of the...
Head librarian Sarah Scambler (right) helped Amy Smith and her daughter Maria make Swedish start ornaments from recycled book pages at the Irene Ingle Public Library on Saturday morning, Dec. 16....
Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor sent letters to libraries and school districts throughout the state in mid-November, warning that minors should not have access “indecent materials” at libraries and that parents must be given two weeks notice about any instruction related to “human reproduction and sexual matters.” The topic of gender identity, Taylor said, falls under this category. The letters align with a parental rights bill proposed this year by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which would require parental approval for classes, textbooks, lessons an...
Jeanie Arnold, who started work as the new director at the Nolan Center on Nov. 27, said she wants to "provide an overall sense of joy to the community of Wrangell through artistic exposure and historical storytelling." She replaces Cyni Crary, who is moving out of state. Crary had been in the job since July 2018. Arnold said some of her goals include broadening the scope of the center with new exhibits and events targeted at a wide variety of interests. She also hopes to collaborate with the...
Multiple resources are responding Tuesday to help people affected by the massive landslide at 11-Mile on Monday night that killed at least one person, with five others still missing. The growing list includes food, temporary shelter, or just a warm place to spend the day with family and friends. Angela Stires, an evacuee and a nurse at Wrangell Medical Center, said she and her family were provided rooms at the Stikine Inn, which has been offering shelter to people displaced by the landslide....
Thanks to plenty of time spent in libraries and bookstores, both as a customer and staff member, along with my own collection of reading material, I’ve grown very comfortable in the world of books. In the fall of 1996, I had been working for a few years at Borders Books and Music in Kensington, Maryland, and that’s when I got the idea to start a mystery novel discussion group. It did very well, and while several members have since passed on, the group is still going strong, outlasting the bookstore franchise where it started by over a dec...
Retired troller John Church has found a new use for the "miles of troll line" left over from his fishing days. He makes "Kostick Stars," named for the artist who created the geometric wire pieces almost 50 years ago. Church started building small geodesic domes - "that was my COVID hobby" - and then "branched out" to making the stainless-steel wire stars. "I just make them and give them away." He was one of several people who turned out for the weekly crafts night at the Irene Ingle Public...
Award-winning historian Ronan Rooney’s latest project is filling up a new webpage with interviews, photos, government and university reports — even the student newspaper and yearbooks — remembering the Wrangell Institute Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school. Rooney started his “Wrangell History Unlocked” podcasts in 2020, recalling shipwrecks, the Stikine River route to the Klondike gold rush of 1898 and environmental advocate John Muir’s life and famous story about building a fire in 1879 atop what is now called Mount Dewey. “The Wrange...
There isn’t any proof that fentanyl has made its way to Wrangell, but Police Chief Tom Radke has no doubt that the drug is present in the community. “I’m sure it’s here,” he says. “It would be foolish to say it’s not.” It also would be foolish for people who use illegal drugs to assume fentanyl is not in whatever they are about to use. “It’s in a lot of things people don’t think it’s in,” Radke says. And because the synthetic opioid could be mixed in with other illegal drugs like heroin and methamphetamines — even black-market marijuana — an...
The Wrangell Cooperative Association is taking steps to reduce the harm caused by fentanyl, opiates and other illegal drugs by providing free resources to community members experiencing addiction. As of Sept. 26, fentanyl test strips are available at the WCA office, Irene Ingle Public Library and the upstairs bathroom at the Kadin Building, where the state’s part-time Public Health Office is located. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more powerful than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Since it i...
The Irene Ingle Public Library already offers robust programming to support literacy for children, from weekly story times to the summer reading program. But thanks to a new book club geared toward adults, kids won’t be the only ones reaping the rewards of reading. Starting next month, the book club will give grown-ups a chance to read, discuss, socialize and build a community of fellow literature-lovers. The first meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the library. So far, 17 people have signed up, which is ...
Young readers flocked to the old gym last Saturday to celebrate their summer achievements with pizza, prizes and a majestic bouncy castle. The event was the culmination of the Irene Ingle Public Library's annual summer reading program, which encourages Wrangell youth to keep their reading skills sharp during the summer months. Autumn Steyers couldn't recall the title of her favorite book that she read this summer, but the storyline left an impression on her: "It was about a unicorn and a little...
GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications company, will end its email service in mid-2024. At that point, customers will no longer be able to access their accounts and will have to transition to new providers. Reaction among Wrangell users is varied. August Schultz has had a GCI email for “as long as GCI had email,” he said. The company has offered the service since the 1990s. Schultz has been satisfied with his email and was surprised to learn that it will shut down next year. “They (GCI) didn’t email me, they didn’t send anything about it,...
BearFest attendees brought their culinary and athletic skills to bear at the celebration's games, tournaments and contests. The festival, which ran from July 26 to July 30, featured a golf tournament, marathon, raffle, berry pie contest and smoked salmon contest. When he isn't busy with his job as borough manager, Jeff Good can be found dominating the Muskeg Meadows golf course, and the BearFest tournament was no exception. He won the straightest-drive competition and the team he was part of -...
From a “beary” pie contest to a cub-o-war, art workshops, live music and a usually sold-out dinner, BearFest is returning for its 14th year. The activities start July 26. The popular educational and cultural event celebrates bears and the surrounding environment. Along with the activities, educational opportunities and symposiums and a bear safety session are planned. One of the more popular features of BearFest is the dinner and fundraising auction held at the Stikine Inn and Restaurant, which will begin at 6 p.m. July 28. Tickets went on sal...
The Irene Ingle Public Library has been guided by a distinguished line of library directors, from Helen Hofstad, who ran the library when it opened in 1921, to Irene Ingle, Kay Jabusch and Margaret Villarma. Now that Villarma has retired, former Assistant Librarian Sarah Scambler is stepping into the role of library director to continue the facility's over 100-year legacy. Her official first day was June 26; Villarma's last day in the office was June 27. Wrangell's library has been a part of...
From towering Christmas trees to black light Halloween parties, Wrangell goes hard for the holidays. With the community's most spectacular celebration - the Fourth of July - just around the corner, event organizers are putting the finishing touches on the event schedule. Here are some of the highlights that attendees can look forward to: The festivities kick off with a picnic and pie-eating contest at 1 p.m. Saturday outside the Irene Ingle Public Library. On Sunday, kids will fish at City Dock...
The borough has cut the salary of the Irene Ingle Public Library’s head librarian as it seeks to replace outgoing Library Director Margaret Villarma. At its May 23 meeting, the assembly voted to reduce the position’s salary by roughly $10,000 a year, depending on where the employee falls on the pay scale. The change will make the library director Wrangell’s lowest paid department head. The job’s duties, responsibilities and qualifications have not changed — only the compensation. Villarma plans to retire this summer and though the pay cut will...
The Irene Ingle Public Library has undergone countless changes in the past three decades, from the digitization of its catalog to major building renovations to the advent of e-books. Library Director Margaret Villarma has guided the facility through it all, offering support to elders and fostering a love of reading in generations of Wrangell youth. Now, after 34 years, she is ready to retire. "I'm just grateful for the job I had here," she said. "I really am. I enjoyed it. I couldn't have asked...
Every spring when the eulachon spawn, the Stikine River flats are flooded with thousands of migratory shorebirds. And each year, the town responds in-kind with the Stikine River Birding Festival, filling the radio airwaves with bird songs and holding an array of avian-themed events. This season, the festival will run for three weekends between April 21 and May 6. It will feature movies, crafts, workshops and more. “Birding is such a nice welcome to spring,” said Corree Delabrue of the U.S. Forest Service, who helped plan the festival. She lov...
National Reading Month is in its final week, and some of the community’s literature lovers are sharing their favorite books for anyone who wants to add to their list — this month, or any month. The month was first celebrated in March of 1994 to commemorate the contributions of author and illustrator Dr. Seuss, who helped foster enthusiasm for reading in American youth by producing children’s books that were engaging despite their simple language. Every year in March, readers celebrate by picking up their favorite novels, visiting their local...
Armchair historians and amateur genealogists rejoice — the entire Sentinel archive will be digitized and easily searchable online. The Friends of the Library has received a $17,000 Rasmuson Foundation grant, which, combined with community donations, should cover the estimated $24,000 project. The Irene Ingle Public Library is partnering with Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS) at the University of Alaska Anchorage to digitize, assemble and upload the entire catalog of Sentinels going back to its founding in 1902, and even m...
During his presentation to young readers at the Irene Ingle Public Library on Jan. 14, Alaska author Paul Greci shared the formula that helped him produce his first novel, "Surviving Bear Island" - experience plus imagination equals story. Inspired by his personal outdoor experiences, he imagined the gripping narrative of Tom Parker, who is stranded on a remote island after a sea kayaking accident separates him from his father. The middle-grade adventure story was chosen as the Alaska Center for...
