The Way We Were

Aug. 10, 1922

It has been decided to use the Guild Room back of St. Philip’s gymnasium for kindergarten, which the Wrangell school will add this year. There is no room in the school building for such a department, and a survey of the available buildings failed to locate anything else that was entirely suitable, most of the rooms being on Front Street where no playground could be secured for the tots. While the Guild Room seems at first thought to be rather far from the center of town, the location is really a central one when the fact is considered a number of children from the bay residential area will attend. The room is large and well lit. A number of improvements will be added that will make it very comfortable for the little ones. All children between the ages of four and six who are eligible for entrance to the public school will be admitted. The kindergarten will be maintained by funds handled by the school board and there will be no charge for tuition.

Aug. 8, 1947

Using ingenuity and a war-surplus flying boat, three Seattle men this week will start a new air service from Seattle to the “airportless” maritime region of Southeast Alaska. If the idea pans out, it will bring heavy air freight and passenger service to Alaska coastal villages that have never seen anything larger than small pontoon planes, F.A. Davis, one of the backers of the venture, said, “The present air freight lines are bypassing this area because there are practically no airports where we come in. We don’t need an airport, we taxi right up to the beach.” The new line will serve Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Juneau and smaller towns.

Aug. 11, 1972

Plans for a radio station which would serve Wrangell and Petersburg with local and network programming were disclosed this week. Bill Williams, president of Great Land Broadcasters, of Juneau, said the station may be operational by early next spring, if Federal Communications Commission sanction is secured promptly. Williams said the station would be located near Petersburg on Mitkof Island and use a transmission tower at Blind Slough to send the signal across Sumner Strait to Wrangell. Radio stations would be located in both Wrangell and Petersburg. Williams said the station's format will include music, network coverage and local news. Williams said a marketing study in the two communities has indicated there is sufficient potential advertising revenue to support the business. “There is not enough population to support a station in either town, however, so we have to serve both communities.”

Aug. 7, 1997

With the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation complaining about noncompliance at the Wrangell landfill, and the Federal Aviation Administration concerned about the dump’s proximity to the airport and attracting birds, the city is facing some unpleasant tasks. “The problem is that, no matter what you do, it’s going to cost more money,” said City Manager Scott Seabury. He said he’ll likely suggest that the council pick a figure – $20 a month or maybe $5 more than at present – and let him put together a management system for one year, then revisit the issue. Whatever expenses the user fees don’t cover (and they don’t cover costs even now, Seabury said), will have to be made up from other city revenues. Wrangell’s had a 20-year struggle with its garbage.