July 4, 1941: Under the leadership of a go-getter committee, consisting of Chet Lloyd, Harry Coulter, Mickey Shain and headed by Wrangell’s mayor Dr. E.J. Wheeler, Wrangell’s merchants and citizens responded nobly to a subscription of funds to give the kids a grand and glorious Fourth of July. Two hundred and nineteen dollars and eighty five cents was collected, making it possible to give the youngsters substantial prizes for their efforts in contests with free candy bars thrown in on the side. The American Legion Dance tonight at the ANB Hall will open the holiday festivities. Starting promptly at 10 a.m. the morning of the Fourth, outboard motor boating races will be run, the course from the McCormack Dock downtown to the red buoy at the breakwater, at the entrance of the small boat harbor then to a marker at the Farwest Cannery and back to McCormack Dock. The first race will be for boats powered with 10 h.p. or under the second will be a free-for-all, any outboard of any horsepower.
July 1, 1966: One of the best Fourth planning meetings was held Monday at the John Maxand home. Present were Pat and Art Clark, Lee Meflebower, John Eyon, Rus Patrick, Dave Churchill, Aurore Fickeisen, Marge Sharnbroich, Gladys Dailey, Helen Smith, Noel Smith, Doris Eastaugh, Chairman of the Fourth Margaret Gross, and Parade Chairman Mrs. Lynn Maxand. It was pointed out the Coronation Ball would be Saturday, July 2 and live music would be provided at the ANB Hall from 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. The Roadrunners will play but don’t let that scare anyone away as they assure they will have some slower old familiar tunes along with the young style music about half and half.
July 4, 1991: Clara and Lloyd Benjamin, the grand marshals for this year’s Fourth of July parade, remember the Wrangell of yesterday, yet are proud of the way it has developed into the Wrangell of today. “It couldn’t have been better,” said Lloyd of his childhood days. “My parents were pretty lenient, so I was running all over the doggone island.” Lloyd was born in Wrangell in 1912, back when there was no hospital and babies were born in people’s houses. He speaks of a childhood that allowed him to free roam of his surroundings. “We went everywhere,” he said. “By gosh, top of the hill, past Millie’s, there was a pond and we would go swimming there in the summertime. We played at all the beaches and in the forest.” With so much change, one thing has always stayed the same, according to the Benjamins - their involvement every year in the Fourth of July festivities. They used to watch their children totter along on their decorated tricycles in the Fourth of July parade. This year, Lloyd and Clara will get a different perspective and a taste of what their children must have felt when they lead the parade as grand marshals. Clara said she was surprised the committee asked them to be the marshals and Lloyd said he felt “silly.” “It’s like I got something I didn’t deserve,” Lloyd said. “We felt we should join in when they needed us.”
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