The Way We Were

Aug. 4, 1921

The Eagle boat, Bothwell, arrived from Craig on Thursday evening with Chief Deputy Collector of Customs Charles D. Garfield aboard. Mr. Garfield is making a

tour of inspection of Southeast Alaska sub-ports and remained here until Saturday morning. On Friday afternoon, a baseball game between the sailors on the Bothwell and a local team was staged, in which the

sailors won by a score of 14 to 12. The officers and men attended the dance given by the ladies of St. Philip’s Guild Friday evening at the hotel and two of the sailors added to the pleasure of the occasion by contributing several vocal numbers.

Aug. 9, 1946

Looks like “Sparky” Ritzheimer, the radio operator at the Farwest Cannery, is going to be $5 to the good come Sunday. Sparky, since last spring, has been diligently constructing a model airplane in his spare time and has been the good-natured object of much razzing by cannery crews as to whether the Wrangell Eagle would ever be completed. Following a $5 bet last week that the plane would be flying Sunday, Sparky began burning the midnight oil. It was announced that it will be ready for its solo flight Sunday. The plane is a trim little model with a 30-inch wing spread. It is powered by a ¼ h.p. motor and it will take off from the cannery dock. A large crowd is expected to witness the maiden flight and, incidentally, to see that Sparky collects the $5.

Aug. 6, 1971

Wrangell finally got a dose of cool weather and rain after a hot spell which lasted more than 20 days. Rain came suddenly Sunday afternoon and continued through the week, dousing forests that had been declared fire danger areas by the U.S. Forest Service, replenishing Wrangell’s reservoirs and cooling off suffering loggers and mill workers. The wet weather also forced Wrangellites to shrug back into jackets and boots after the shorts, short-sleeve, tennis-shoe and sun-tanning festival during which temperatures in town rose as high as 77 degrees. The highest temperature recorded in the Wrangell District of the Tongass National Forest during the hot spell was a 91 on Sunday at Bradfield Canal, which recorded temperatures regularly in the mid and high 80s during the siege. Temperatures were back into the mid-60s this week as heavy rain and fog settled in.

Aug. 8, 1996

There’s a rumor going around Wrangell that a rootin’-tootin’, gun-slinging renegade, a retired (and very famous) marshall and his wife, and even a starry-eyed gold-seeker, are hanging out at a hotel. Word is they’re lookin’ for action and some company, and have taken to waiting on the city dock and sidling up to unsuspecting tourists, offering to show them a good time — all for a fee, of course. This motley group is performing a melodrama called the “Wrangell Review,” delighting residents and tourists alike during their 30 to 45 minute shows in the Stikine Inn’s Fireview Room. Wyatt Earp and his wife Josie, plus an ex-gunman, a really sour sourdough, and a young, ever-hopeful gold-seeker show up several times a week to sing, dance and joke their way through this lively comedy-drama about the history of Wrangell. The cast consists of A.J. “Moose Jaw” Seims as the sour sourdough; Joe Rizzo as the gold-seeker; Ron Horner as Earp; Cathy Horner as his wife; Scott McKay as the ex-gunslinger; and Sharon Fudge as the honky-tonk piano player.