The Way We Were In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.

December 19, 1918

Reappearance of epidemic of influenza now threatened in many parts of the country. The Surgeon General of the United States Public Health, however, has issued a warning. The epidemic persists widely. Everywhere the epidemic and other abnormal conditions created by war has left millions of people particularly susceptible to disease. Risks are aggravated by the fact that medical and sanitary facilities have been depleted to meet war needs and cannot be restored to normal for some time nor without concerted effort. In view of emergency we recommend that the entire forces of the state division of the Women’s Committee be thrown back of the Public Health authorities. Intensive work locally with individuals is especially called for to guard the population during the coming winter.

December 17, 1943

Joining Christmas week in Wrangell churches, the choir of the Presbyterian Church will present a Christmas cantata, “The Chorus In The Skies,” in the church auditorium on Sunday evening, December 19.

The cantata, written by Fred B. composer of a number of known cantatas and other selections is entirely new, and has been copyrighted in 1943. As a cantata, each selection has a theme and a well-known Christmas carol. It carries its listeners through the entire Christmas story. Church members have spent the week bringing in the Christmas trees and boughs and banking the entire choir loft with greens.

December 19, 1968

The Wolves defeated the Kings with a score of 56-50 in the Saturday night game. The visitors were hitting the basket much better than in the game on the previous evening and out-played the locals slightly on the backboards. Keyes led the visitors by scoring with 16, followed by Greene with eight. Eide, the visitors’ 6’5” center, controlled the backboards for a good part of the game.

December 23, 1993

Last week, volunteers and the city of Wrangell trucked material to the new Head Start site from a quarry where a volunteer from the Alaska Pulp Corp. worked the loader. Kadin Corp.’s Jerry Buethe leveled out the rock with a bulldozer between loads.

“We’re really getting excited about getting a new building,” said Glenda Gillen, Head Start’s director.

Gillen says that the center’s current landlords have been very helpful in the nine years they have been in the SNO Building, but the program shares the building with a lot of other activities, and they look forward to having their own building, with room outdoors for the children to play.

Gillen said she isn’t sure when Head Start will be able to move into the new building, but she hopes that they can do it sometime this spring. In addition to the excavation contractors who donated equipment, fuel and workers for the lot preparation, the Wrangell City Council has agreed to donate the lease of the land for the building and water, sewer and electrical hook-ups.