The Way We Were

Jan. 3, 1924

The liveliest event of the holidays for Wrangell was the big doubleheader basketball game between local teams and visiting teams from Kake. The first game was played between the All Stars of Wrangell and the Kake school team, and resulted in a score of 18-9 in favor of the visiting team. It was a good clean game and while the all stars put up a plucky fight, there was too much discrepancy in the weight and age of the two teams for the local boys to have a chance at winning. The second game was between the Wrangell High School and the Kake Town team. At the end of the first half the score stood 9-8 in favor of Wrangell. But in the second half the Wrangell boys played to better advantage and the final score was 28-23 in favor of Wrangell. The pupils of the Wrangell school and the Kake delegation both did some good rooting. Wrangell rooters would sing out, “We are eating Kake tonight,” and the Kate rooters would yell back, “Yes, and you’ll find that Kake hard to digest.”

Dec. 31, 1948

Wrangell will enjoy a musical treat on Wednesday evening, Jan. 5, when the Metlakatla Presbyterian choir will appear here at the Presbyterian church. The choir is making a tour of Southeast Alaska towns. It consists of over 30 voices, and in its appearance here will present the Cantata “King All-Glorious” by Roy. E. Nolt. There will be no admission charged for the concert but a freewill offering will be taken to help defray expenses of the choir.

Jan. 2, 1974

A discussion of the $200,000 hospital addition bond issue vote set for Jan. 17 is scheduled at a meeting of the hospital board at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at City Hall. Hospital Board Chairman Robert Prunella issued a special invitation to Wrangellites -- especially dissenters -- to attend the meeting. The bond issue election was set by the city council after hospital trustees said additional funds were needed to include a finished basement for doctors’ offices, a morgue and other facilities in the construction. Prunella called the added bond authorization “essential and reasonable.” He said some misunderstanding seems evident among some taxpayers and said “a three-minute explanation will make the whole thing fall together and make sense for anyone.”

Dec. 31, 1998

Domestic postage rates will increase effective Jan. 10, 1999, for mailing anything within the United States. The cost to mail a first class letter up to one ounce will rise by one cent to 33 cents, while postage for the second ounce will go down a penny to 22 cents, keeping the price of a two-ounce letter at 55 cents. The cost of mailing a three-ounce letter will actually be reduced by a penny to 77 cents. The average increase across all classes of mail is 2.9 percent -- the lowest rate increase ever. Priority Mail’s two-pound rate will increase 20 cents to $3.20. The half-pound Express Mail rate for next-day service will increase a dollar to $11.75.