The Way We Were

March 28, 1918:

Delegate Charles A. Sulzer has had the government send a quantity of seeds to the principal of the Wrangell public schools for distribution. Miss Carhart requests the Sentinel to announce that any one desiring any of these seeds may obtain some by application to her direct or through the school children.

March 26, 1943:

Fish, as usual, will pay the tax it appears as the session in Juneau draws to a close this week. Five cents a case up on salmon has been approved with the blessing of the industry. There was little other revenue-raising legislation approved, which would bring any substantial yield. On the whole, it appears Alaska taxpayers weren’t hit very hard, and now can continue to go all out on stamps and bonds to win the war.

April 4, 1968:

A Wrangell logger swam to safety Friday after his float plane crashed in the water near Hamm Island. Richard (Dick) Pellett, 37, logging superintendent for Sykes Lumber Co., spent 1-1 ½ hours on the floats of his plane before swimming to shore. The plane- a Cessna 172- hit the water and flipped over. Its cockpit sank, but was kept near the surface by the floats. As the craft hit the water the door flew open so Pellett flipped his seat belt open and jumped out. “I had a life jacket in the plane, but I didn’t have time to get it,” Pellett said. After getting out of plane, Pellett got on one of the floats. “The air vents were leaking and I could hear water running into the floats,” he said. “I was about 1,500 feet from shore and thought if it sank there I would be through.” The wreckage began to float nearer the shore and Pellett used a piece of aluminum to try to row it. The plane moved to about 500 feet from shore and then became caught in an outgoing current. Pellett kicked off his shoes and began swimming for shore. “It seemed like I was in the water for a week,” he said. “But it was probably only 15 minutes. When I got to shore I was so tired I couldn’t stand up. I just hung my head over a rock until I could.” Pellett left his jacket on the float so rescuers would know he had gotten out. He walked along the beach to stay with the floating wreckage. During his barefoot walk, he suffered cuts on his feet from barnacles. About four hours after the crash, Pellett was rescued by Tony Guggenbickler, who was going past in his fishing boat.

March, 25 1993:

It may have been one of the only times elementary students enjoyed reading “mush”-y books. Evergreen Elementary School students read enough of them to get them to Nome more than 200 times during their recent Iditarod reading race. The contest drew to a close Monday with an assembly where teachers awarded certificates and prizes to the students who successfully completed the race.

 

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