Fourth of July Celebration is here again

The Fourth of July is a fun holiday across the country. With fireworks, parades, barbecues, it is hard not to get into the patriotic spirit of the event. Wrangell is known far and wide for going above and beyond in their Fourth of July celebrations. Instead of a single day, a whole week of fun events draw the community and many visitors together.

Alicia Holder, with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, said that there are plenty of fun events that the public can look forward to this year. One of the first events that will kick off the celebration will be the "crazy craft" races on June 30, where anything that floats on water, except boats, can be entered into the competition. Holder also said that there will be a picnic at City Park on July 1 to welcome home everyone who has returned to Wrangell for the celebration. Other fun events to expect include canoe races, the greased pole competition, a talent show, and the well-loved Chuck Oliver Logging Show.

"Wrangell's Fourth of July is special because it's a week long event, and not just one day," Holder said. "But what really makes it special are all the volunteers."

Of course, no Fourth of July would be complete without fireworks. Wrangell is slightly different from other communities in this regard, as well, as they hold their fireworks show on the third of July, and not the fourth itself. For many years, the fireworks were held at City Dock, downtown. This has been a very popular location in the past. However, due to a number of different factors, the fireworks will be held at Volunteer Park this year. In a previous interview with the Wrangell Sentinel, Holder said that the decision was made after discussions with the fire department and city officials that the dock was no longer a suitable location for the fireworks show.

"The reason for that is it has to do with permitting issues," Holder said in the interview. "So there has to be a perimeter, there's an area where once they start setting up the fireworks, people and buildings that are occupied are not supposed to be within that perimeter. There's so much going on the third of July, around that time, there's just too many activities and people that end up being in that area that is supposed to be unoccupied."

This year's fireworks show will feature live music, food booths, games, and a biergarten the evening of the fireworks. Parking will be available behind Evergreen Elementary School, along a lane of Spur Road which will be closed for the event, and at the track. Free transportation from downtown to the park will be available both before and after the fireworks.

Another important staple of the Fourth of July in Wrangell is the annual royalty contest. Since the chamber of commerce first took the lead on organizing the celebration in 1950, nine years before Alaska even became a state, the royalty contest has been a major part of the Fourth of July, both as one of the events and as a fundraiser. Those participating in the royalty contest raise funds through selling tickets and managing a food booth through the month of June. The majority of the funds go towards Fourth of July events, while the participants get to keep a percentage for themselves, and also have a chance of being named Wrangell royalty. The city's first queen was Patricia Lewis, according to a 1950 article in the Wrangell Sentinel's archives.

"It pays for the fireworks, it pays for the prizes and the equipment, and supplies for every Fourth of July event," Holder said. "You know, log rolling, the logging show, the street games, and the fireworks is obviously the biggest part of that."

This year's royalty contest is unique from previous years, as there is only a single candidate. Abigail Gerald is 2019's lone queen contestant. She has been running a food booth out of the downtown pavilion for the past several weeks, since the beginning of June, selling food and contest tickets. She has seen lots of community support, she said, both monetarily and from locals and businesses donating time and supplies.

"Just the support, and people coming down to the food booth, and giving food donations, and buying tickets has been awesome," Gerald said.

To learn more about the Fourth of July, the fireworks show, and other events, visit the chamber of commerce's website at http://www.wrangellchamber.org.