The Way We Were

Jan. 19, 1922

Some excellent work is being done on the cemetery road this week by a number of public-spirited citizens. The road was badly in need of repair, and a number of citizens with picks and shovels have been on the job this week, with the result that this highway is greatly improved. The various automobile owners rendered valuable aid in hauling dirt and gravel for the fill-ins. The movement to improve the cemetery road was fostered by the Redmen’s Lodge and supported by the public-spirited citizens generally.

Jan. 17, 1947

Mrs. Norman Bakke and Mrs. C. Don Miller were the lucky ladies winning free permanents in suggesting a name for the new beauty and barber shop, established here recently by Frank Young. Both women submitted the same name, which was accepted: The Stikine Beauty and Barber Shop. Miss Selma Swanson, beauty shop operator, said many suitable and appropriate names were offered and she thanked local folk for their interest in this contest. The Stikine Beauty and Barber Shop is located near the shrimp cannery float, at the site of the store formerly run by James Bradley.

Jan. 21, 1972

Chilly December was the biggest month in the history of the city power plant, City Manager Kester Dotts said this week. Dotts said the city’s generators produced a total of 839,000 kilowatt hours of power for Wrangell users during the month, up 11.6 percent from December 1970. Dotts also announced to city councilmen in a work session that new steel buildings for the power plant expansion and a new public works shop were due to arrive this week by ferry. He said the building cannot be erected, however, until a thaw will allow construction of the necessary foundations.

Jan. 23, 1997

The U.S. Department of Transportation will give $2.39 million to Wrangell for construction of a light aircraft exit taxiway and a new 440-foot by 250-foot general aviation apron, and to overlay the main aviation apron and rebuild the access road to Wrangell Airport. By enlarging the apron, general aviation, cargo and air carrier flights can be separated, increasing safety and security. By reconstructing the exit taxiway, light aircraft can access the runway without having to cross behind an Alaska Airlines jet aircraft. The program’s next phase involves putting in a new approach, an access road at the eastern end of the airport, Mayor Doug Roberts said, to open up land for leases for air freight facilities and other services. “We’ve told them, kind of preliminary, that we’d be willing to participate in that, if they’d be willing to get that on the fast track.”