Fun on the Fourth

The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous years, this year's fourth was the culmination of a whole week of events to celebrate Independence Day. There were numerous events, games, food booths, and other things to do to keep everyone busy last Thursday.

While this year stood out because of a lack of fireworks due to ongoing drought conditions across Southeast Alaska, it still brought out lots of people.

Alicia Holder, with the chamber of commerce, said that an event as big as the Fourth is in Wrangell could only be possible because of all the people who volunteer.

"It was great because of all the volunteers that stepped up to make it work, and everyone that just rolled with not being able to have fireworks and made it happen, made the best of it," she said. "We had a great street dance, there's a lot of great food vendors, and people volunteering to do events. So even though we didn't get to have fireworks it was still a really great Fourth of July."

The Fourth of July started bright and early for several people, with a fun run starting at the community pool. The run, which also allowed walking and biking, took off around 7:30 a.m. from the pool, clockwise around the airport loop, and back to the pool down Church Street. According to a Facebook post by the Wrangell parks and recreation department, there was a high turnout of 75 people for this year's fun run. All in all, it was a strong start for Wrangell's Fourth of July.

Another early morning event was a worship service jointly held by the Wrangell Ministerial Association. The service was held in the parking lot of Wrangell IGA, and the community was invited to start their Independence Day celebration with some hymns and prayer. Members of various churches around Wrangell all participated in this service.

After the morning events were out of the way, it was finally time for one of the most anticipated events of Wrangell's Fourth of July: The parade. Dozens of floats, vehicles, and local organizations were part of this year's parade.

Members of Wrangell's motorcycle community led the parade, with flags waving on the backs of several of their bikes with members of Wrangell's native community, and the American Legion Auxiliary after them. The volunteer fire department was a big part of the parade, as well, with several of their trucks in the procession. One of the unique vehicles in the parade was an antique tractor, driven by Coby Holder. The Forest Service had a float, as well, decorated like a birthday party for their mascot Smokey Bear.

As a part of the "Back to Our Roots" theme of this year's Fourth of July, several alumni classes of Wrangell High School could be seen in the parade. The classes of 1969, 1989, 2009, and 2019 were scattered through the parade.

After the parade, the Fourth of July events really got going. Royalty contest tickets were pulled by Abby Gerald, the Fourth of July Queen, shortly after the parade. Toddler games were held on the City Hall lawn. Among the many events held were infant races, for very young children. Ann Tlachac won the girls' category of the infant races for toddlers not yet walking. Nearby the toddler games were some Junior Olympics on Lynch Street. These events included a water balloon toss, tug-of-war, and a 50-yard dash. Later in the afternoon, street games were held along Main Street. These included three-legged races and other foot races. One of the more popular street games, the egg toss, was held around 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon. The egg toss had people lined up along a good portion of Front Street, tossing eggs back and forth to their partners. To say that the street looked like the beginnings of a record-breaking omelette at the end of the egg toss would not be inaccurate.

Some of the bigger events that people attended on the Fourth were the Chuck Oliver Logging Show, the boat races, and the Sonny Wig Log Rolling Competition. Each event drew large crowds, and many participants. This was the 45th annual logging show, named after founder Chuck Oliver, and the last one before Chuck's son, Randy, announced his retirement from the event.

The boat races were held near city dock, where several people with speedboats competed to see who had the fastest. In the unlimited class races, first place went to Randy Easterly. Chris Guggenbickler took first place in the limited class races. Matt Svendsen took first place in the jet slalom competition and the rooster tail competition.

Log rolling was held at the summer float of city dock. First place went to Lee Wiederspohn, in the men's competition, and Dawson Fairbanks in the women's competition. Wiederspohn was also named the top eliminator of this year's competition.

Now that the Fourth of July is done for this year, the next big event Wrangellites have to look forward to is Bearfest, which will kick off near the end of July.