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Barbara Jean Dunbar was born on January 19, 1934, in Utica, New York, to George and Mary Dunbar. Growing up in the majestic foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, Barb's early years were filled with cheerful family gatherings and time spent with friends exploring the many mountain lakes dotting the forests around Inlet and Old Forge, where the fall colors are like no place else on earth. In high school she waved her pom-poms cheerleading, marched in the Syracuse drum band and volunteered as a... Full story
A group of Gortex-clad visitors step out of the chilly spring rain on Friday afternoon and enter the Clausen Memorial Museum. From the window of the museum a ship is visible in the distance, tied up at Petersburg's drive-down dock. It's the National Geographic Sea Lion, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, and they are the first cruise ship of the year to visit Petersburg. As some passengers browse through downtown shops, others cross the Wrangell Narrows in one of the cruise ship's zodiacs, or...
Happy early April Fools Day! Circa 1935, this strange cage and the sign above it appeared on the side of the Cornelius Building. The sign reads: "Alaska Red Bats. Caught near glacier. Dangerous only when in flight. Roed Flegermause Lasirius Borealis. SLEEPING - LIFT LID." The cage was put up by Bert Cornelius as a joke for the tourists beginning to show up. Inside were not red bats, but red bricks known in the trade as 'bat bricks.' Each brick has a manufactured hole in it that allows bats...
The Alaska Board of Fisheries has approved significant changes to the Wrangell Narrows-Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area Salmon Management Plan, creating new king salmon sportfishing opportunities for resident anglers while working to protect crucial hatchery broodstock. Last year’s controversial closure of freshwater fishing for king salmon in Blind Slough prompted a community driven effort to change the area’s salmon management plan. Proposal 159, developed by the Petersburg Fish and Game Advisory Committee with input from community mem...
January 2024 A prized Mental Health Trust lot by Blind River Rapids, a popular recreation site for sport fishing, was sold at auction to a USCG family. Toler and Jessie Alexander are eager to return to Petersburg after retiring from the Coast Guard in a few years. The borough listed its top priority capital projects, and the Petersburg Medical Center replacement was first and second on the list – for the main hospital construction and the main hospital interior build out. Petersburg Indian A...
During the 1940s and 1950s, Petersburg's ski hill was the place to be on a winter's day, and the new exhibit at Clausen Memorial Museum opening on Sunday, Dec. 8 shows why. "The ski hill was a really big part of Petersburg between the years of 1939 and 1959," Clausen Museum curator Anne Lee told the Pilot. "It was up where the rock quarry is now, behind the airport ... they had a ski jump, and ski competitions, the ski hill, cross country races, downhill events, and they eventually had a tow...
Joey Chang says he was getting ready to depart the Hubbard state ferry after it docked in Kake on Saturday when suddenly the ship was no longer at the dock. "We are getting ready to get into the vehicle and we saw the opening of the ramp, and suddenly the whole ferry was moving away from the dock, and everybody got shocked and pretty much everyone froze up," he said. "The north wind was blowing so hard it pushed the ferry away from the dock." "And then I was looking at the rope, because the...
November 14, 1924 – There is reason to believe there may be a slumbering volcano only a few miles from Petersburg in the vicinity of La Conte glacier. Smoke has been seen issuing from there by several parties during the clear, cold weather that has prevailed during the past two weeks. Ed Preuschoff, the fox rancher, had been told about smoke having been seen but put it down to fog or mist. However on coming to town last Monday he saw a spiral column of black smoke issuing from what he took to be one of the Sisters mountains in the vicinity o...
Larry Dean Maine was born November 11, 1941 in Nebraska to Raymond Maine and Anita Green Maine. He grew up in Gearheart, Oregon always following his older brother Neal around. He was a good runner and when he got cancer later in life the doctors could tell by listening to his heart that he had ran in his younger years. They could also see in his eyes that he didn't eat his vegetables! Larry tried to join the Marines at 17, but his dad wouldn't sign for him to go. At 18 he joined and while in... Full story
September 19, 1924 – The Grand Jury reports that minors under the age of seventeen are allowed to frequent pool halls and billiard rooms in violation of the laws of Alaska. And further, it has been reported that cigarettes and tobacco are being sold in violation of the law to minors under the age of eighteen. This Grand Jury feels called upon through the Court to call the attention of City and Federal authorities to the large number of so-called taxi drivers and hangers-on now to be seen in Ketchikan, whom, from reliable information, are k...
On August 17, 1913, the Pacific Coast Steamship Company's steamship State of California had just departed the new Admiralty Trading Company's salmon cannery in Gambier Bay with 74 passengers and 76 crew aboard when she struck an uncharted pinnacle rock, opening the entire length of the port bilge. Bound from Puget Sound to Alaska with passengers, mail and freight, Captain Thomas H. Cann Jr charged straight toward shore, where the ship rolled to port and quickly sank into 36 fathoms of water....
Former photographer and current sketcher and painter Ron Hall is having his first big art show called "Colors Speak To Me," on display July 22 through July 31 at the Clausen Memorial Museum. Ron began his art career as an aerial photographer. "I took aerial photos for the Forest Service in Southeast Alaska, California and Florida," said Hall. After moving into Petersburg Medical Center's Long Term Care several years ago, Hall took up sketching and eventually painting as a hobby. Hall has been...
On a rainy morning at Petersburg Cemetery, a gathering sings along with Matthew Peters as he plays guitar and vocals for "America the Beautiful" during a Memorial Day service on May 27....
The Norwegian bunad is a traditional costume worn on special occasions such as confirmations, graduations, weddings, and Norway's National Day – Syttende mai or May 17th, when parades of people in bunadan celebrate throughout the country. Bunadan are based on the old folk costumes of farming societies in Norway. Every region has its own unique design with embroidery, colors and patterns differing from village to village so that each person's bunad becomes an indication and celebration of the r...
February 1, 1924 – To drop dead immediately after saying he felt “fine” was the case of a man aged 50, who is known locally as N. Martin. Martin went to the Arthur Yates Memorial Hospital in Ketchikan on Saturday afternoon with a friend to see acquaintances there. He had been in the hospital from January 6 through the 15 with pneumonia and a bad heart and on leaving he was warned to be careful. When he arrived at the hospital Saturday he was asked how he felt, to which question he answered “fine.” Then he turned around and dropped. When pick...
Like starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, Gorgonocephalus eucnemis, or basket stars, are echinoderms. They have round, flat bodies and five many-branched arms that can reach up to three feet long and will regenerate if wounded. They rest by day, then at night they roam the floor of the deep ocean looking for a spot with a strong current in which to hunt. Perched atop a rock or coral, they unfurl their complex arms lined with "jointed" hooks and spines, forming a net to catch krill, small...
In January The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to award the construction contract for the Blind Slough Hydroelectric refurbishment project to McG/Dawson Joint Venture for an amount not to exceed $5,744,000. The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that would rezone a lot located at 10 N. 12th Street for commercial use. The rezoning was requested by the Petersburg Indian Association ahead of their prospective purchase of the lot, which h...
Dorothy Irene (Blair) Thynes was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, on June 9, 1935, the first child of Cyril Arnot Blair and Eunice Kathleen (Farquhar) Blair. With her sister Anita and brother Bruce, her youth was spent in central Canadian prairie towns and cities as her family gradually moved west. An accomplished figure skater, swimmer, and basketball player, Dorothy remained active throughout her life, maintaining exceptional physical health and fitness – she asked for roller blades for...
Petersburg's Clausen Memorial Museum has a new museum director. Maureen Floyd was hired this week for the role long-held by Cindi Lagoudakis. "I've got big shoes to fill, [Lagoudakis] was a great director before me ... I'm hoping that I can learn through her and different people ... I am open and eager," Floyd told the Pilot. Floyd moved to Petersburg about four years ago. This August, she walked in the doors of the museum hoping to learn more about Norwegian pioneer Peter Buschmann, who had...
Anyone interested in the sudden surge of mushrooms or the bellowing cry of the Sand Hill Cranes passing over town can stoke their curiosity at the Petersburg Rainforest Festival events during the days to come. The official goal of the rainforest festival is, "connecting people to the natural world through education, exploration, and the arts." Since 2008, this festival has typically taken place after Labor Day weekend. However, that changed a few years ago. "For the last couple of years, we've...
On Tuesday afternoon, cellphones across the state beeped with emergency tones as the Alaska State Troopers attempted to find two-year-old Karma Brown, who briefly went missing in Fairbanks. Brown was found safe within 40 minutes, but not before Alaskans from Adak to Metlakatla were alerted via the national Wireless Emergency Alert system. “The Amber Alert was deliberately sent statewide due to family connections of the suspect to multiple areas of the state. In most instances, Amber Alerts are sent within 300 miles of the location of the a... Full story
The annual Wrangell King Salmon Fishing Derby has been set for two weekends in June. Rather than have the competition run over a full two weeks from mid-June to the beginning of July, it is scheduled for June 16, 17 and 18 — Father’s Day weekend — and the following weekend June 23, 24 and 25. Fishing derby committee members met May 30 to discuss details and even whether or not to hold the event. “People are going to be really disappointed if we cancel ours,” said Luana Wellons, assistant executive director of the chamber of commerce, which org...
April 13, 1923 – Captain I.M. Hofstad, resident of Scow Bay, has just returned from the south where he bonded his group of nickel claims on Baranof Island to a group of Los Angeles capitalists. The nickel claims were found by the young sons of Captain Hofstad early last summer while on a hunting trip and it is said the ledge is a large one and runs heavily in nickel. These claims are said to be the only known nickel deposits in the United States or its possessions and that practically all of the nickel used in the country has been imported f...
March 22 – Property found on Mitkof Highway was turned in to the Petersburg Police Department (PPD). An officer assisted an individual with a civil matter on North Nordic Drive. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity on Howkan Street. A driver on South 3rd Street was issued a warning for license requirement. March 23 – A driver in the high school parking lot was issued a warning for speed. PPD received property lost on South Nordic Drive. An officer responded to a report of a suspicious individual but was unable to locate the...
