The Way We Were

May 11, 1922

The first interschool meet even held in Alaska came to a close on Monday evening. The first basketball game was held Wednesday afternoon, when the all stars of Wrangell defeated the Douglas team, 38-17. This initial victory for the local school was followed by winning the Wrangell versus Juneau High School game that evening 22-17, and the high school debate the following morning when Wrangell had the affirmative against Ketchikan. Other points won by Wrangell pupils were: rapid calculation, John Grant, third place; elementary declamatory, Margaret McCormack, second place; high school declamatory, Elton Engstrom, third place; spelling, oral and written, Thelma Shangle, second place; written English, Alfred Royalty, third place; and elementary oral English, Catherine Matheson, first place.

May 9, 1947

Canvassers started work this week lining up residents to take advantage of the free X-ray program offered in Wrangell by public health officials the latter part of this month. Findings in your chest X-ray will be strictly confidential, treated as guardedly as a consultation with your own physician. But you will be warned of any infection or disturbance of lungs or heart. “It’s just good insurance to have a check-up now and then,” as one party put it. Ordinarily, a chest plate would cost $10, but these are free. Tuberculosis is not inherited, medical authorities tell us, but is caused by a germ spread person to person. Young or old, rich or poor can be early victims of the disease – and not be aware of the fact that they are infected unless an X-ray tells them so.

May 12, 1972

Wrangell’s new municipal flag will be white with a red, white and blue circle emblem, and the likenesses of the Shakes Island meeting house, totems, a salmon, a tree and Alaska’s famous “Dipper” of stars upon it in gold, black and blue. The design chosen by judges this week is the combined work of two of the 15 artists who submitted entries in the contest. Judges said they liked what they saw in the designs of Mrs. Fannie Nauska and of Brian Castle, a 14-year-old eighth grade student, so the judges got the two of them together and they combined their flags. The winning flag design also includes the words “Wrangell, Gateway to the Stikine” in blue around the outside of the circle. The first new flag should be back from the manufacturer and ready for the Fourth of July celebration.

May 1, 1997

As the sounds of drums, chanting and steam filled the air last Saturday at Shoemaker Bay, Natives and other residents witnessed a rare ceremony. April 26 was the long-awaited day when Wrangell’s newest canoe was to be blessed, steamed and readied for launch. Two brothers, John and Roy Martin, began talking about carving a canoe in the traditional manner more than two years ago, and others in the Native community soon became interested. The project was funded by the Nolan Trust, T-shirt sales and a raffle to benefit the Wrangell Canoe Project. Master carver Steve Brown, designer of the canoe, was the first on the scene. Totem- and canoe carvers Will Burkhart, of Sitka, and Wayne Prince, of Haines, also were on hand. Brown and other carvers had crafted the canoe from a single red cedar log.