The Way We Were

Oct. 23, 1924

After a great deal of discussion pro and con following litigation looking toward procuring a suitable place for high school basketball practice, the PTA executive board recommended that a gymnasium be built on the lot next to the school play shed, provided the town council could be induced to buy the property. Tentative plans for a standard-size playing floor 35 by 60 feet with a 5-foot seating space along each side and 7 feet along each end, with two 12-by-16-foot dressing rooms (eventually to be fitted with showers) at the rear, besides a fuel room and a rear hallway. Basketball practice is now going on regularly in the cramped quarters at the St. Philip’s gym.

Oct. 21, 1949

The Silver Wave, under charter to the Pacific Fruit and Produce Co. of Seattle, was scheduled to sail from Seattle yesterday for Wrangell and other points in Southeast Alaska. The Silver Wave, which has been operating successfully for several years in this area, will have several tons of fresh fruits and vegetables aboard for Wrangell stores and is due to arrive here Oct. 25 or 26. The boat is skippered by D. Clyne Lane, and will call at Wrangell every three weeks during the winter months.

Oct. 23, 1974

Beginning Dec. 1, local police will assume driver’s licensing duties in Wrangell, according to Police Chief William Klein. An agreement between the city and the state Department of Public Safety was reached recently to transfer the duty to the police department, where all officers will be trained to handle written and driving tests, Klein said. The city will receive payment from the state for handling the tests at the rate of $2.50 for each road test and $1.50 for each license issued. Klein said that while fees derived by the city for the service may prove minimal, the teletype tie-in which is necessary for filing licensing information with Juneau is an important communications breakthrough for the department. “This will give us a direct tie-in with the Alaska Criminal Identification Center in Juneau, and with the FBI records centers in Washington,” said Klein.

Oct. 14, 1999

Most of us, when we hear Y2K, either respond as did Chicken Little, with, “The sky is falling!” or yawn. But Wrangell businesses and city departments have been taking the issue calmly and seriously, some for over four years, and because of that expect few if any disruptions. City finance officer Jeff Jabusch says that since most of City Hall’s computers were purchased within the past couple of years, they are already Y2K compliant. At the fire department, Randy Churchill declares that they are “all up to snuff” and that the turn of the millennium “is not going to bother us a bit.” Public Works director Bob Caldwell says all the new water plant equipment is compliant.