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The Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority held a two-hour training session at the Nolan Center last Wednesday evening, April 24. The THRHA works across Southeast Alaska to create affordable housing, offers opportunities for home repairs, and even helps people learn about money management. Representatives from the organization came to Wrangell last week to offer training on financial planning and preventative home maintenance. The budgeting portion of the training session was handled by...
The Nolan Center held its final Chautauqua speaking event of the year last week. Wrangell resident Virginia Oliver gave a presentation on her 2017 trip to Washington D.C. where she got to take an up-close look at about a hundred different Tlingit artifacts held by the Smithsonian. Oliver said she was invited on the trip near the very end of 2016, as a part of the Smithsonian's "Recovering Voices" program. Recovering Voices, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's...
Spring is in full swing in Wrangell, and that means Birdfest is back for another year. Birdfest, or the Stikine River Birding Festival, is a weekend full of bird-related events that happen across town and in the Stikine River area. Spring festivals have been a common occurrence in Wrangell, according to Corree Delabrue with the U.S. Forest Service. What is now known as Birdfest began about 22 years ago, she said, and was known back then as the “Garnet Festival.” Garnets can be found along the Stikine River, and the festival was originally des...
The Nolan Center held its first community market of the season last Saturday, after a six-month hiatus over the winter. The Wrangell Community Market typically runs from April through September, and brings out many town residents eager to visit and sell homemade goods. Everything from homemade salsa, to local artwork, to freshly baked pastries and snacks could be found at the market. This is the seventh season for the community market, according to Nolan Center Director Cyni Crary, and the...
April 10, 1919 A committee has been busy at the Red Cross rooms the past week cutting refugee garments from material on hand. These garments consist of simply made girls’ petticoats and children’s shirts and they will be ready for distribution next Tuesday. While the pajama orders which the local Red Cross must finish as soon as possible is nearing completion, there are ten convalescent robes to be made at the sewing room and a great many refugee garments. Wrangell was unable to get the amount of old clothing for the refugees assigned as her sh...
Ernestine Hayes said that she was raised as the only child of a single mother who was an avid reader. Growing up in Juneau in the '50s, she said, having her mother read to her was one of her main inspirations for becoming a writer. "The best way to become a writer is to be a reader," she said. Hayes and her mother moved to California when she was 15, according to Hayes' website, but when she was 40-years-old she "resolved to go home or die with my thoughts facing north." Her first book, "Blonde...
A health fair will be hosted at the Nolan Center next Sat., April 6, from 8 a.m. to noon. The Alaska Health Fair is a statewide nonprofit, which has been working since its founding in 1980 to provide Alaskans with affordable blood tests, screenings, and health education. They conduct almost 100 community events a year across the state, according to their website. Health Educator Haleena Vanveem, health director with SEARHC, is helping to organize the Wrangell Health Fair. She has helped to put...
The Coast Guard flew into town last Friday to show off some rescue maneuvers to a crowd of curious onlookers. They dropped swimmers into the water, between City Dock and the Nolan Center, and demonstrated how to rescue them with a rope as well as a basket. The Coast Guard also trained with The Wrangell Fire Department, search and rescue, and Alaska Crossings on how to raise and lower a basket up to a hovering helicopter. Afterwards, they landed on the dock to give the public a chance to talk...
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...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly discussed a proposed noise ordinance once again during their meeting onTuesday. The ordinance has been the source of some controversy around town, some seeing it as the result of two feuding neighbors, or that the regulations proposed by the ordinance are unrealistic. When the ordinance was brought up for discussion in the last meeting, on March 12, there was a very large public turnout to speak their minds on the topic. During that meeting, the assembly proposed various amendments to the ordinance. Previously,...
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a federal agency that works to care for the nation's veterans. The VA offers eligible veterans healthcare, as well as other non-medical benefits such as memorial benefits and disability payments. The state of Alaska is home to somewhere between 75 to 90,000 veterans, according to Alaska VA Healthcare System Director Dr. Timothy Ballard. Of these, however, he said that maybe only 36,000 are signed up and receiving their VA benefits, and they...
Southeast Alaska is well known for its wildlife: Bears, moose, salmon and eagles. The Tongass National Forest is home to a wide variety of creatures. One species that is absent is elephants. Luckily, a Petersburg filmmaker has decided to bring the elephants to Alaska in the form of a new documentary, "A Herd of Orphans." Kelly Bakos has a background of doing film work for conservation organizations. In 2008, the nonprofit organization Game Rangers International opened up a new "elephant...
The Nolan Center hosted the first of several Chautauqua speaking lectures last Thursday. Members of the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, a regional organization dedicated to the stewardship of Southeast Alaska watersheds, were invited to talk about the Pat Creek watershed. A watershed, for those unfamiliar with the term, is an area of land that feeds all of the water that comes into the area into a single body of water. These bodies of water, then flow into larger bodies of water, which eventually all connect into a stream or a lake. The...
Ever since Governor Mike Dunleavy announced his proposed budget, it has been a hot topic of debate across Southeast Alaska. The proposed budget does offer a full PFD to all Alaska residents, as well as supply “back pay” for PFDs that were smaller than usual, but it also makes some serious cuts to public education and the Alaska Marine Highway System. Many people in Wrangell have wondered how the proposed budget could affect the city. To discuss these concerns, a town hall meeting was held at the Nolan Center last Wed., March 6. “I’m confide...
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, SEACC, was founded in 1970 to protect the land and wildlife of the Tongass National Forest. The SEACC board of directors is made up of people who have made this region their home, from Seattle to Yakutat. Current Board President Stephen Todd is a Wrangell resident. SEACC board members and staff all came to Wrangell this past week to hold meetings on topics they felt were of public interest. The main two topics that were brought up were the Roadless...
“Chautauqua” was a movement that began in the late 1800s, focused on spreading culture, educating the public, and providing entertainment. The movement takes its name from Lake Chautauqua, in western New York, where it was started. Chautauquas were designed as public events to give platforms for public speaking, musicians, preachers, or just about anybody who wanted an audience. In 2005, with the collaboration of the Forest Service and the then-new Nolan Center, Wrangell got its own Chautauqua speaking series. The series proved to be rat...
The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau held a meeting last Thursday, on Feb. 21. The bureau’s online presence was a big topic of discussion. The bureau is working on a new website. This has been a big project for them for the past several months, and is still in the works. The new site is designed to show off Wrangell and let visitors know about the many attractions the island has to offer, and to help tourists plan their trips. The site is up and running, but the bureau is still working to make sure all the links are working and the i...
The Nolan Center has a new exhibit available for public viewing. A collection of almost 50 "story dolls" currently sit in glass shelves at the center, depicting life of Alaska natives in the rural parts of the state. Cyni Crary, with the Nolan Center, said that the doll collection was put together by Jane Niebergall, of Anchorage. The dolls themselves were created by a variety of different artists. The Nolan Center is the first museum to show these dolls, she added. "She called and asked if we m...
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...
The past year has been a busy one for the community of Wrangell, and also one full of changes. Elections have come and gone, the school district saw a new superintendent and two new principals, a high school swimming and diving team was organized, and a new reporter came to town. A new organization was formed, BRAVE, to help bring people together to enhance life in the community for Wrangell’s younger population. Other organizations like the Senior Center and Nolan Center saw new faces, as well. There were lots of physical changes to W...
Lawrence Bahovec was a longtime resident of Wrangell, one of the oldest on the island. He was born on Jan. 4, 1917 in the city of Chicago, Illinois, but his family moved to Wrangell early in his life. He passed away on Dec. 6, 2018, at the age of 101. Relatives of Bahovec, friends, and other city residents came together at the Nolan Center last Friday for a memorial service, on what would have been his 102nd birthday. Bahovec was born to a Yugoslavian baron and a Tlingit princess from the...
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...
Lawrence Frederick Bahovec, 101, passed away on Dec. 6, 2018 in Seattle, Washington after a brief battle with cancer. His family was by his side. Lawrence was born on Jan. 4, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois to Edna Bahovec (Kinch), and Frederick Bahovec. He attended the Sheldon Jackson boarding school in Sitka, Alaska, and went on to the University of Washington in Seattle as a young adult. Upon completion of college, Lawrence returned to Alaska, and along with two others, built a small fishing...