The Way We Were

April 13, 1922

The high school play, “Mary Jane’s Pa,” will be given in the Redmen’s Hall on Saturday, April 15. It is in three acts with a cast of 15 characters and will have two performances. At the afternoon performance, which is given so that schoolchildren may see it for a lower price and for mothers who cannot attend in the evening, the seats will be 25 cents for schoolchildren and 50 cents for the mothers. No reserved seats. At the evening performance, 160 seats at the front will be reserved at 75 cents each. The general admission to the rest of the hall will be 50 cents. The costumes and staging will be the same for both afternoon and evening performances, and the high school orchestra will furnish music for both.

April 11, 1947

Ex-G.I Herb Parsons, one of America’s fastest gun handlers, will give a spectacular free public exhibition in Wrangell on May 20, it was announced today. A self-taught wizard with a Winchester, Parsons uses a shotgun to “scramble” in only two seconds all three eggs thrown high into the air. In another amazing feat, using a .22 caliber rifle, Parsons throws a hard maple block into the air, cracks the block and splinters the pieces with four bullets in an average of three seconds. Parsons stresses safety practices in the handling of firearms from start to finish of this program. As an additional feature, at the close of the exhibition, he will answer any questions and discuss shooting problems with members of the audience. Throughout the exhibition, in which he uses 10 rifles, shotguns and pistols, Parsons maintains a rapid-fire barrage of entertaining talk.

April 14, 1972

It looked this week like the plush state ferry Wickersham will be serving foot traffic only at Wrangell. Chamber of Commerce President Robert Wagoner said the stern-loading Wickersham will not be able to use the local terminal’s side-loading facilities for vehicles, and the extra dolphin that will be needed so the ship can back in will cost approximately $90,000. “That means $90,000 would have to be spent so the ferry can handle vehicles for a period of about two years,” said Wagoner. Other local officials conferred with state Department of Public Works Commissioner George Easley, and Easley was doubtful about the dolphin. Wagoner said the dolphin needed to serve the Wickersham would not be usable after the ship is replaced by a new U.S. built ferry due to be on the run within two years.

April 17, 1997

Wrangell’s Muskeg Meadows is looking less like a clearing in the trees and more like a real golf course this summer. With the addition of netting this week along the new driving range, duffers now can practice their swings to their hearts’ content and not lose so many balls into the woods. The improvement is just in time for this weekend’s “Best Ball Scramble,” one of the events scheduled during Wrangell’s First Annual Garnet Festival April 19-26. According to golf club resident Jerry Bakeberg, more bark will be put on the course this summer, if it’s available from the Ketchikan Pulp Mill, and grass seeding will be done this fall or next year. A driving range shack to shelter hardcore golfers from the rain as they practice, is the next planned improvement.