The Way We Were

Jan. 10, 1924

The library report given at the Civic Club meeting last Saturday showed the biggest cash receipts since the library was started, at $15.10. Patrons of the library borrowed 140 books during December and 46 magazines. About 30 books of fiction have been purchased recently from a private library. While these are not new books, they are some of the bestsellers of recent years and will be appreciated by many who have not already read them.

Jan. 7, 1949

The barnstorming Priest River, Idaho, high school alumni basketball team played two games here last weekend against the Wrangell High School squad, with each team winning a game. Wrangell won the first game, a close, hard-fought contest that went into overtime, by one point, 37-36. Leading scorer for Wrangell was Felix Villarma with 15 points. Bob Stokes and Charles Berg each scored 7; Alfred Oglend 4 and Arnold Bakke and Marian Neyman 2 each. The second game was Priest River all the way, with a halftime lead over Wrangell 30-17. The third period the visitors scored 8 points to Wrangell’s 4, and in the last quarter put the ball in from all angles to end the game on the long end of 55-26 score. The local boys couldn’t seem to find the range of the basket and Coach Short substituted freely. Coach Irv Morgan and his Priest River boys played clean ball and displayed excellent sportsmanship during their visit, which ended in a whirlwind game-a-night week in Southeast Alaska. They played in Juneau, Douglas, Petersburg, Wrangell and Metlakatla.

Jan. 9, 1974

Librarian Irene Ingle is looking for a workforce of volunteers to help her with a little chore – moving 12,000 volumes plus hundreds of pounds of periodicals, phonograph records and shelving from the old library to the new building. The move will be made as soon as painting and laying of carpet is completed in the new building, Mrs. Ingle said. Opening of the new facility, which was built with local, state and federal monies, is slated for the last week in January. She said she may seek help of high school students as the basis of a moving force. Wrangell contractor Ned Johnson was painting the interior of the new library building this week, and the carpet was to go in immediately on completion of the paint work.

Jan. 7, 1999

The Wrangell Post Office has recently been awarded, for the third year, the Western Area Pride and Performance Award. According to local Postmaster Chris Manning, this annual award is based on total office hours, safety, record, customer service, low sick leave usage, forwarding rate and low percentage of return. Manning says that it is due to the team work, organization, dedication and planning that this award was given to the Wrangell Post Office. “I give all the credit to our employees because they work together, like a well oiled machine,” she says. The local post office currently employs seven workers, consisting of the postmaster, four clerks, one building maintenance/mechanic and one custodian.