The Way We Were

May 30, 1912: The coming celebration on July 4 promises more in the way of speed contests between motorboats than any previous year. Not only are there a great number of new boats here, and to be built, but the supposed speed of some of the boats is greater than heretofore witnessed in Wrangell outside of the steamers. A particularly interesting race and one that is being discussed at length at this early date is the expected contest between the speedy cannery tenders Halcyon and Mary Malone. The outcome of the race is still a matter of conjecture and it looks very much like a case of Greek meet Irish.

May 28, 1937: A request for funds to improve the federal jail building has been placed by deputy U.S. Marshal James Nolan. It is Mr. Nolan's duty to keep prisoners in quarters that are far from adequate. Accommodations are provided for six men and into this space are frequently crowded as high as eighteen. At such times the prisoners sleep in the hall way, and in the women's quarters if they are vacant. The building is not old, but it was so poorly constructed that it is difficult to know where to start or stop improvements. The “tank” or living quarters for the men, is a room 11 x 16 with 9 ft walls. Out of this space a 6 ft high partition encloses a bathroom of 6x5 1/2 dimensions. Three cells open off the tank. The one nearest the window is a single while the center has bunks for two. Each of these cells measures 61/2 x 5 ft. The end cell, into which a ray of light would find difficulty in penetrating is 7 1/2 x 5 ft. and contains bunks for four. A double bunk is in the “tank.”

June 1, 1962: Wrangell's annual Fourth celebration will get its kickoff tomorrow with a Queen's Dance at the Elks Hall starting at 10 p.m. Organizations of the town have come up with an array of the town's prettiest and loveliest young girls who will vie for the honor of being Queen for the day and, incidentally, will be presented with a round trip ticket to the Seattle World's Fair plus $100 cash. There are also generous prizes for the runners up, who will be ladies-in-waiting to the Queen. Candidates chosen and their sponsors are: Alta Neyman, American Legion; Janice Rooney, Pocahontas and Redman; Ginny Gillen, Totem Toppers; Lovey Young, ANB Athletic Club; and Bonnie Grant, Elks and Emblem Club.

May 28, 1984: Five people lined up this week to run for royalty in the annual Fourth of July contest, while organizers prepared for the kick-off Salmon Bake scheduled for Sunday. Organizers, in opening the royalty contest to women and men this year, were able to attract more contestants in addition to the teen-age girls who normally have sought the “Queen” title each year. The Salmon Bake, organized by co-chairmen Harry Sundberg and Judy Daniels is set to kick off at 2 p.m. Sunday at the NBA parking lot. Royalty contestants will begin their ticket sales at that time with fund-raising events set to continue for the entire month leading up to the Fourth of July. Proceeds from the royalty contest are used to fund the Fourth of July Celebration.