The Way We Were

Aug. 23, 1923

Mrs. Stephen Grant has resumed her duties as community nurse following a vacation which she took for the purpose of entering a summer class in community nursing given in Portland under the auspices of the Red Cross. Mrs. Grant finished the six-week course in five weeks by diligent work, and has been given a university credit for her efforts. Her work with the Junior Red Cross will begin with the opening of school activities and promises much for the good of Wrangell.

Aug. 20, 1948

B. Frank Heintzelman, regional forester for Alaska, was in town last night on the Forst Service vessel Ranger. While here, Mr. Heintzelman looked over the display of fine cedar products which F. G. Hanford and Charlie Bates have been producing. Lamps, smoking stands, bookends, coasters, trays and nut bowls are only a few of the beautiful items which have been on display at Hanford’s office. “Wrangell, situated as it is in the heart of red and yellow cedar timber area, is a natural location for a cedar mill,” Heintzelman said. “In fact, Wrangell is a naturally located lumbering town as it has a good harbor and is the center of logging operations.”

Aug. 24, 1973

Gov. Bill Egan has announced sale of the state ferry Wickersham for $10 million, but the buyer will remain unnamed until October when the vessel is delivered. Egan said final confirmation of the sale has been reached subject to contract provisions for inspection and drydocking at the time of delivery. Egan said Wickersham crew members will be able to transfer to employment on the larger new vessel, the Columbia, and also on a smaller vessel being built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for addition next year to the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet. This will improve the system’s efficiency and flexibility which has been burdened by restriction on use of the Wickersham as a foreign-built vessel under provisions of the federal Jones Act.

Aug. 20, 1998

“Don’t forget to vote,” reminds local election chairman Sarah Merritt. “One vote does count!” The primary election is going to be held Aug. 25 and voters are encouraged to go to the polls located at the American Legion Hall near the police station. The general election is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 3. All voting will take place at the Legion Hall, as there are no longer two precincts in town. The process of voting will change slightly with the addition of the new AccuVote machine from the state. Merritt says voters will receive their ballot and proceed to vote in the same type of booths as before, but upon completion will place their ballot in the new AccuVote machine near the voting stall. The machine automatically counts the votes, additionally placing any write-in votes into a separate slot. “There will be no more hand counting, sometimes counting until 3 or 4 in the morning,” said Merritt. “Now at the end of the night when the polls close at 8 p.m., the AccuVote unit is plugged into a designated fax line and the committee receives a print-out telling all Wrangell results right away.” Merritt reminds voters of the recent close election that was determined by less than 20 votes. Wrangell has 1,844 registered voters.