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The third Helping Our Parks Project, according to Wrangell Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas, was a huge success. The HOP Project is an annual event organized by the parks and rec department, where volunteers come out to parks around Wrangell and help with cleaning and upkeep. Thomas said that they saw 61 volunteers at Volunteer Park last Saturday morning. This was on the higher end of the number of volunteers they have seen. In a previous interview, Thomas said that they see between 50...
Andrea Thomas, patient health benefits manager with SEARHC, gave a presentation at the Irene Ingle Public Library last Thursday on the basics of Medicare. As many people know, Medicare is a government-run health insurance program. There is a common misconception that Medicare is reserved only for people 65-years-old and older. Thomas said in her presentation that this is not true. In fact, anyone under the age of 65-years-old with certain disabilities, end-stage renal disease, or Lou Gehrig's disease also qualify for Medicare. The purpose of...
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 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...
Hospice of Wrangell operates a loan closet from which people all around town are able to borrow medical equipment, such as walkers, wheel chairs, shower benches, and other items. Hospice President Alice Rooney explained that the loan closet stores many of its items in the attic of the AICS Clinic on Wood Street. With the construction of Wrangell's new hospital beginning, however, the clinic's storage space will be renovated and the loan closet's items needed to be moved. "So those items had to...
Several religious organizations, sponsored by the Wrangell Ministerial Association, came together last week to share a Good Friday service. The service was held at the Presbyterian Church, but also in attendance and participating in the service were Harbor Light Assembly of God, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, and the Salvation Army. Good Friday is a Christian holiday recognized my most denominations. The holiday is meant to mark the death of Jesus Christ, followed shortly thereafter by Easter Sunday, which celebrates his resurrection. The s...
Don Young, currently serving his 23rd term as Alaska's sole congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, stopped in Wrangell for a workshop with the borough assembly the morning on Monday, April 15. Assembly members and city employees met with Young to discuss some of the city's priorities and ways Young could offer assistance at the federal level. Among the many topics covered in the workshop were water infrastructure and school funding. As evidenced by both ongoing power issues as well...
Work began to clear land for Wrangell's new hospital last week. Kendall Nielsen, with Dawson Construction, said that they began cutting down trees on April 4, and will continue to clear and level land next to the AICS Clinic through the rest of the month. The land will be ready to pour the foundation by the second week of May, he added. The new hospital has been an ongoing project in Wrangell for several years. Construction of a new hospital was part of the deal made by the Southeast Alaska...
Members of the Wrangell Cooperative Association and the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority held a short presentation last Wednesday evening on some upcoming home renovations the organizations plan to complete. The THRHA was in Wrangell in January to talk about renovations to about 20 low-income homes in Wrangell they were completing under the Indian Community Development Block Grant. Recently, however, both the WCA and the THRHA were awarded the Healthy Homes Production Grant. This money...
The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission had a short meeting last Thursday and one of the main things they discussed in the meeting was a variance request for a front yard setback reduction, by Greg and Anne Duncan. According to the agenda packet for the meeting, the Duncans own a 1.06 acre parcel of land on Shoemaker Bay Loop road. They are wanting to build a 2,400 square foot house and a 1,440 square foot shop/garage which will sit approximately three feet from the front yard property...
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced on Tuesday that communities across Alaska will soon receive a total of $10,990,708 to fund schools and local budget priorities. The payments are being provided through the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, which Murkowski successfully reauthorized and funded through Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 in the FY2018 omnibus appropriations bill. "Local communities in Alaska and across the country rely on the Secure Rural Schools program to pay for essential...
The Wrangell School Board reviewed the school district's "report card to the public" in their recent meeting on Monday, April 15. The report card, released by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, collected and presented data on the performance of school districts across the state for the 2017-2018 school year. The report card examined items such as attendance and graduation rates, academic progress, teacher quality, and many other factors. According to the report card. Everg...
To the Editor: We need resolutions from the cities of Wrangell, Ketchikan, Juneau, Hoonah, Unalaska, etc. that request that the Alaska Senate and Legislature keep the Alaska Marine Highway in service. Without this service any of our rural areas will be unable to transport a loved one suffering from a severe medical condition comfortably in their car to Seattle or Juneau, transport teams for sporting events, or visit family and friends. If we listen to the people who work the ferry, they will...
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...
McKinley Angerman Kellogg, granddaughter of Wrangell residents Dick and Barbara Angerman, has recently earned her bachelor's degree and has also accepted a management position with Chinook Shores Lodge in Ketchikan. Kellogg received her degree on March 23, in environmental science, from Western Washington University. "I chose this degree because I was really interested to learn more about the natural environment," she said in an email. "Working at the lodge provided amazing opportunities for me...
City park is a popular spot for locals and tourists to enjoy the outdoors. The park is also the site of some artwork that is equally popular amongst locals and tourists. A large log, with the town's name carved into its side, sits on the park's beach. According to Wrangell resident and photographer Charity Hommel, a group of carvers and chainsaw artists decided to etch "Wrangell" into the log. They did not ask for anybody's permission to do so, she said, but the log has become a staple of sites...
SEARHC health educator and grief specialist Erin Matthes, of Sitka, visited Wrangell in January to host a workshop on the grieving process and how community members can support those who have experienced loss. The turnout for that workshop was very impressive, she said. Last week, at the AICS Clinic on Wood Street, she held a continuation of the "Friends in Grief" workshop. This workshop went into details about the myths surrounding grief, how to support friends and family who are grieving, and...
"I've been organizing this cleanup for probably 30 years now, a long time," said Paula Rak. "I just do it because I just want the city to look nice for everybody." Rak, with the help of the Wrangell Cooperative Association's IGAP department, has organized the event to help keep Wrangell beautiful. Rak said that she and her husband adopted about two miles of highway near their home, where they regularly pick up trash left on the side of the street. Trash downtown, and along other roads, does not...
The Wrangell Borough Assembly recognized the Lady Wolves high school basketball team during their meeting on Tuesday evening for their hard work over the recent season. Mayor Steve Prysunka, in reading a proclamation congratulating the team, pointed out that the Lady Wolves took first place in regionals, defeating Metlakatla, for the first time in 25 years, and that numerous team members had received several awards and accolades over the course of the season. "I, Stephen Prysunka, mayor of the...
Aminda Skan, the daughter of former Wrangell resident Mercedes Angerman, is a second-year pharmacy student with Doctor of Pharmacy program that is jointly organized by the Idaho State University and the University of Alaska Anchorage. She received her bachelor's degree in biological science from UAA in May 2017. Her doctorate program has ISU's name on it, but as she explained in an email, it allows her to remain in Alaska to achieve her degree. Recently, through her work to increase the number...
The Salvation Army is probably best known for its work around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons, said Major Michael Bates with the Wrangell Salvation Army. However, they work year-round to serve the needy in communities across the country. Even in Wrangell, there are those in need. "I would like them to know, have a better understanding of the social needs of our community and what's being done about it," Bates said. Housing is one of the categories the Salvation Army tries to offer...
The Wrangell Port Commission met last Thursday, April 4, to discuss a plan to alter lease rates at the boat yard. According to Commission Member John Martin, lease rates at the boat yard cover a wide range, from eight cents per square foot to 28 cents per square foot. Under a new formula the commission is planning to use, several businesses at the boat yard will see their rates decrease, while others will see an increase. Martin said that they are trying to bring a sense of equilibrium and...
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...