In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
March 17, 1916: Manager Richmond of the Rink makes the announcement in this week’s Sentinel that will certainly take the eye of every motion picture lover in Wrangell, that of having signed for the famous Chas. Chaplin comedies which are making such a great hit all over the United States. The first of these pictures will be “Shanghied,” which will be run next week and followed thereafter by one of his comedies every week. He has also another line of pictures which will start on April 1st that is ahead of any pictures ever run in Wrangell before. Mr. Richmond is going to a great expense to give Wrangell theater goers the best in the line and is certainly deserving of support. Watch for the dates of the big features.
March 21, 1941: Confirming the Sentinel’s report of last week, spring arrived officially today in Wrangell and in other places of importance such as New York, London, Leningrad and Hong Kong. Although Leo McCormack swears he saw the sun at an early hour this morning (it might be noted that Mr. McCormack is the Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce) a refreshing equinoxal rain was drizzling down to take our minds off the urge to get out the fishing tackle and take to the tall timber. But with the beaver season opening shortly and watching the hatching of Barrington’s new freight boat and barge to be used on the river this season, the outlook for the most active town in the Territory, Wrangell, is altogether promising and we can get a touch of spring fever just considering it – in spite of this “unusual” weather.
March 25, 1966: Full support for the annual salmon derby was voted by the Chamber of Commerce at its luncheon meeting yesterday at Aunt Winnie’s Café. Accepting sponsorship, the chamber named a committee of Art Nelson, Dan Roberts and Ole Buness to handle the event as they have in many past years. Tentative plans, the committee said, are for the derby to begin April 18 and run to around the middle or the later part of June, with the week of May 28 – Memorial Day weekend – to be set aside for special derby days. This year, the committee said, plans are afoot to pay each week’s winner $100 cash come Sunday evening. This way there will be an opportunity for contestants to win a fat prize instead of there being one big winner at the end of the derby. In other words, the committee statement said: “If you hear that the top fish for the week is some size which you think you can beat, get your gear together and go for the $100 Sunday afternoon.”
March 21, 1991: Twenty workers at the Wrangell sawmill added to the workforce last fall have been laid off as Alaska Pulp Corp. officials attempt to stretch their raw log supply for 12 months of operations this year. George Woodbury, supervisor of Wrangell sawmill operations for Alaska Pulp, said a shortage of logs for the Wrangell sawmill, legal problems and higher stumpage rates charged by the Forest Service are worries for company officials. On the bright side, however, Woodbury said markets for lumber seem to be moving – and 1991 could be a good year for Alaska Pulp. He told members of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce March 14 that the layoff of 20 workers at the facility last week is designed to accommodate the reduced log supply. Woodbury said officials calculate they will have sufficient raw logs to keep the mill running year-around with elimination of the second swing shift, which went on line in October 1990. If those workers were kept on now, he said, it would mean running out of logs – and just 10 months of sawmill operations this year instead of 12, he said. One swing shift will remain on board, he said, but those workers’ hours will change. They will become part of the mill crew during days, he said.
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