The Way We Were

Jan. 12, 1922

Mr. Henderson's talk to the high school on Monday afternoon was mostly about the Southeast Alaska school meet to be held at Juneau the latter part of March. Contests will be held in basketball, indoor track, debating, declamatory and spelling. Detailed arrangements have not been made but Mr. Henderson expects to complete the plan as soon as he gets back to Juneau, and then send his plans to the schools. The students in Wrangell are resolving to make great efforts and to bring back honors to our school.

Jan. 10, 1947

A committee, with Harry Coulter as chairman, from the newly organized Junior Chamber of Commerce, appeared before the town council last evening to ask for a report on the progress being made on the light plant and to question whether expansion of the plant, at such a great expenditure, is necessary. They also asked the cooperation of the council in a survey they are planning to be conducted by a reliable consulting engineer for a proposed hydroelectric plant for Wrangell. Acting Mayor Olaf Hansen said two new power units, a 300 hp and 450 hp, were on order from Fairbanks-Morse Co. for the power plant, and that structural steel for the addition to house the new units had been ordered and was awaiting transportation. Hansen and the council agreed to consider any reliable information that might be obtained in regard to a hydroelectric plant, but cautioned that the city could ill afford the great expenditure that would be necessary for such an installation.

Jan. 14, 1972

Wrangell officially entered the jet age Tuesday when a twin-turbine Dutch-built airliner was brought to the airport by Alaska Airlines. The jet was the first ever to land at Wrangell. The Fokker F-28, capable of carrying 65 passengers, touched down on the icy runway in clear, 15 degree weather at 1:15 p.m. Warren Metzger, chief pilot for Alaska Airlines and a frequent visitor here in prop-driven aircraft in past years, was at the controls. Metzer said the jet is being considered by the airline for Southeast use. The 500 mph, $3.5 million plane is designed to take off and land using short, unimproved strips. Wrangell was the first stop from Seattle to actually test the F-28 on Southeast's runways, the pilot said.

Jan. 16, 1997

A skateboard park was one of the main topics of discussion at the parks and recreation meeting Jan. 8. Tom Hayden, director of the Teen Center, spoke on behalf of local teens trying to get a skateboard park built this year. He said he'd talked to planning and zoning about a site, but nothing has been decided. Initial plans call for a rectangular surface of 5,000 to 6,000 square feet for an outdoor park, or 4,000 square feet for an indoor facility. Hayden said skateboard parks are being built throughout the states. "Anywhere we can help, we will do this with the kids but not for them," said Hayden. "We want to tie this park in with a teen center, and a concession stand too. This pretty admirable idea was Kennan Larrance's. But if we don't see any more action, it will fall off the end of the Earth." The board said it would welcome more details on the park.