Moment

Within the wood-paneled council chambers of Wrangell's city hall, many momentous and dramatic moments have taken place, the majority of which occurred well before I arrived to this small town. But I have witnessed (or heard) a fair few - a daughter standing up for her father, a mayor using the word "facist" in reference to the council, another mayor accusing the council of backdoor politics. All the times I've seen a full audience in the council chambers, it's been for contentious issues, when the room becomes stuffy with tension and anticipation.

But tonight was different. The council chambers in Wrangell's city hall was full of excitement, giddiness almost. Around me people were smiling, getting their cameras ready for photo-ops. And that is because tonight, history was made in those chambers. Tonight, Wrangell became Alaska's 18th borough. I know that sounds very anti-climatic, but becoming a borough has taken over two years of work in earnest, and even a decade more of preliminary work. The eighteenth borough in the ENTIRE state of Alaska - Wrangell is.

Tonight the City of Wrangell became the City AND Borough of Wrangell. The city council became the borough assembly. The city clerk became the borough clerk. Is it now assembly chambers instead of council chambers?

I don't know, it may be lame, but I felt, sitting in the front row amid a crowd of fifty or so other Wrangellites, that I was witnessing an important moment in Wrangell's history, as well as Alaska's history.