The Way We Were

Feb. 22, 1923

The Wrangell High School basketball team, under the supervision of Superintendent W. L. Gross, will leave on the steamship Northwestern for a series of games in Puget Sound. The boys are very glad of course to have an opportunity to play teams in Seattle and other cities. However, basketball is not the sole object of the journey. It is to be an educational trip, and basketball will be the means by which the trip will be financed. Some of the educational phases of the trip will be a day in the courts and a day looking in on the Washington state Legislature at Olympia. Among the places and institutions that will be visited for educational purposes are the following: the Navy Yards in Bremerton, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, Red Shield Creamery, Fischer Milling Co., University of Washington, Seattle Public Library, Commercial College, and the Seattle Police Department.

Feb. 20, 1948

Wrangell, except for the public schools, will keep its doors closed Monday morning in observance of Washington’s Birthday, which falls on Sunday. The banks, the post office, city hall, stores and offices will be closed. Ushering in the holiday will be the annual Firemen’s Dance tomorrow night with several attractions as drawing cards. Besides the usual good music and good time at the affair, there will be a door prize and during the course of the evening a bicycle under auspices of the American Legion will be awarded. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the respirator which the Emblem Club is donating to the Fire Department. It has been on display in the window of the Wrangell Variety Store and is a valuable piece of equipment for the protection of citizens of the town in cases of being overcome by gas or in cases of drowning. Dancing starts at 10 p.m. and everyone is invited to join Wrangell’s volunteer firemen in a good time at the ANB Hall.

Feb. 23, 1973

Fire destroyed Wrangell’s 40-year-old Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall last week. A committee this week already was working on plans to build a new hall in another location. The building was a longtime center for Wrangell Native activities and was used by the community at-large for meetings and special events. The fire, which struck on the morning of Feb. 15 and in a brief time had ruined the volunteer-built hall, was believed to have started from a faulty furnace. Wrangell volunteer firemen fought against high winds and the propensity of the metal-roofed, wooden structure to burn, but kept flames from spreading to closely adjoining buildings. There was no chance to save the ANB Hall, even though the firemen arrived on the scene shortly after the blaze broke out, according to Fire Chief Gordon Buness.

Feb. 19, 1998

The Stikine Sea Runners Swim Club returned home on Monday after attending the Winter Games Swim Meet in Petersburg Feb. 13-15, with one young swimmer, Dwight Yacey, bringing home nine first place ribbons. The club took 12 swimmers. “All in all this was a great learning experience for the younger swimmers,” said Roxanne Yancey, parent of two team members. “It was a great opportunity for our newer swimmers to get a taste of what a meet is like without the intensity and pressure of being in a bigger meet.” This week Heather Eastaugh and Robbie Rooney will travel to Juneau to attend the Senior Age Group Championships Feb. 20-22. Swimmers from all around the state will attend.