The Way We Were

September 12, 1918

School opened Monday with a total enrollment of 73 pupils. Only two of the teachers engaged for the year were on hand to begin work, Miss Armstrong being ill with quinsy, and Miss Allender having missed boat connections. Miss Armstrong has recovered so far as to be able to take up her work this morning. During her absence, Mrs. J. W. Pritchett took charge of the intermediate grades.

A plan is being worked out by which the work in the school will be more equally divided than heretofore. The high school program will be perfected when Miss Allender arrives. Only five pupils have enrolled for the high school. There were fifteen pupils in the upper grades, twenty-nine in the intermediate and twenty-four in the primary grades Monday. Several additional pupils are expected to enroll during the month.

The improvements, which have been in progress during the past few weeks, have greatly enhanced the attractiveness of the interior and improved the arrangement. A cordial invitation is extended to the patrons of the school to visit the institution in order to become better acquainted with the teachers and the work that is being done there.

September 17, 1943

Wrangell Lumber Mills is expected to resume operations this coming week under the direction of H. M. Olsen, of the Ketchikan and Juneau Lumber mills. Mr. Olsen has taken over the operation of the plant from Custard and Meadows, former operators, who are now confining their activities to logging.

Mr. Olsen, who is interested in both the Juneau and Ketchikan sawmill operations and who has long been identified with lumbering in Alaska, said today that work of fitting the plant for operation is now under way and that by next week it was hoped to start sawing. Additional new equipment is en-route and will be installed as it arrives. Head sawyer and other key men already have been engaged and Mr. Olsen expects to have a crew of about 25 men lined up by the time sawing gets underway. Anticipated out at the present time will be about 30,000 feet per day, Olsen said.

Aside from some spruce going into airplane industry, the big bulk of the lumber milled at the local plant will go to fill government contracts with the Army. Demand at the present time is far greater than the supply.

Mr. Olsen will be in and out of Wrangell in connection with his various interests. He has his family residence in Seattle, and, incidentally, lives next door to Wrangell’s Capt. Sid Barrington of Barrington Transportation Co.

September 12, 1968

Today the National Aeronautics and Space Administration presented its spacemobile program to the elementary and secondary grades of the Wrangell Public School. This program, under sponsorship of NASA, is presented on alternate years to schools throughout the United States. Included in the program are demonstrations and lectures on aeronautics and space demonstrations, as well as an outline of the various space projects, rockets, and satellites. From here the exhibit goes to Petersburg and then onto complete its tour of Southeast Alaska. Harold R. Bacon, a member of the American Institute of Biology Teachers and now with NASA, will conduct the program.

September 16, 1993

Lezlie Murray of the Forest Service’s Wrangell Ranger District of the Stikine Area has been selected as the Alaska Region Interpreter of the Year.

Lezlie has received local, national and international recognition for her interpretive accomplishments. For the past four summers, she has met cruise ships and ferries docking in Wrangell with a mobile information station she designed and built.

She received recognition from the Alaska Region and Washington office, as well as in Spanish and English editions of the book “Environmental Interpretations, a Practical Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small Budgets” by Sam Ham of the University of Idaho.

Lezlie also leads “Forest Ecology Walks” for cruise ship passengers, regularly serves as an interpreter for passengers on a jet boat in the Stikine-Leconte Wilderness, and presents forest ecology training programs for the teachers of Wrangell and Petersburg.

Lezlie will receive an engraved ulu and a cash award and will be the Alaska Region nominee for the National Interpreter of the Year.