The Way We Were

Feb. 24, 1921

The annual ball of the Wrangell Fire Department, an event always looked forward to as one of the big affairs of the year, was held Saturday night. The hall was decorated with flags, helmets, ladders and axes, and a three-piece orchestra furnished the music. There was a large attendance and Arnt Sorset, who was floor manager, kept the dances going in quick succession, assuring everyone a good time. The fireman’s dance is usually given on the 22nd of February, but it was decided to have it on the nearest Saturday to that date this year as a concession to those who do not care to attend dances early in the week. The large number of dancers present proved the wisdom of this arrangement. The committee in charge consisted of Arnt Sorset, L. A. Olson, Ned Lemieux, Harry Coulter and Ellery Carlson.

Feb. 22, 1946

The first sign of spring appeared in Wrangell this week with the arrival of Nenana Ice Classic tickets from Fairbanks to the Wrangell Hotel. Robins may come and robins may go, but when folks start to watch the Nenana River ice and guess on its breakup, spring is just around the corner. Lucky guess usually nets the lucky guesser around $100,000. Tickets can be obtained at the hotel.

Feb. 25, 1971

The Elephant’s Nose is finally coming out from under the ice. There are bits of ground showing here and there and it’s almost possible to walk with a little speed now in the logging camp. Meanwhile, Clyde Rhoades returned to camp on Wednesday after being in Oregon for three weeks. Frank Denny was here teaching the high school boys. Marilyn Rhoades, our grade school teacher, has been ill, and Donna Galla has been teaching in her absence. We had movies Friday night here at camp. Our feature film was “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” with George Hamilton, and a shorter one from the Department of Fish and Game on king salmon fishing.

Feb. 29, 1996

Sen. Ted Stevens fielded questions here last Wednesday about a variety of issues including timber, Medicare and fishing. Stevens was in Wrangell for about 12 hours as part of a congressional-update trip that included Petersburg, Ketchikan, Juneau, Cordova and Anchorage. The senator delivered a short speech to about 50 Wrangellites and answered questions in the Fireview Room of the Stikine Inn. Stevens said the reduction in timber sales is threatening more sawmills in the Tongass and Chugach national forests. He took time during his remarks to read to the group a press release from the Alaska Forest Association in Ketchikan about a two-year-old lawsuit that is holding up a 280-million-board-foot timber sale. Jack Phelps, executive director of the AFA, said in the release: “If we can just get all parties together, there is a good chance that we can settle this case to the benefit of all parties. Our industry needs timber to operate, but it has to be economic and available to us this year.”