The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
VOLUME 9, NO. 43
TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that
item you may have for sale,
rent or lease.
PALMER, ALASKA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1956
PRICE TEN CENVS
Five Queen Aspirants
Qualify in Contest
rive of the Matanuska Valley
Fair queen contestants have
qualified, according to A1 V. Ha
gen, fair manager. They are Ema
gene Reid, Sharon Downing,
Katherine Burnett, Bridgie
Wright and Rose Kucera. To
qualify each contestant must sell
at least 250 tickets. Upon quali
fication they are given a bonus
of $25; $50 for picture and poster
expenses; and 10 percent of their
grass sales, making a total of
$100 paid to each of the above
named contestants.
Queen contestants have until
August 23 in which to qualify.
Ticket sales will continue until
September 1, the opening day of
the Fair. That evening, during
the coronation ball, one of the
•contestants will be named Queen
of the 1956 Matanuska Valley
Fair and will reign over all sub
sequent events of the fair.
Little League
All-Stars Playing
In Tournament
Members of the Palmer All
Star Little League baseball team
will participate in the Little
League Tournament to be held
in Anchorage today, Friday and
Saturday.
The first game in which the
Palmer All-Stars will play will
be this evening at 5:30 when they
meet the Fairbanks All-Stars. If
the Palmer boys are victors,
thgy will play at 5:30 Friday eve
ning. If they do not win today’s
game, they will play at 2:30 p.m.
Supper is being arranged for the
game. However, League direc
tors have asked that each boy
going down on Friday have $1.25
which w'ill be turned over to
their coaches for a meal that
night. Officials request that
parents not give their children
extra spending money. “Pop,
candy and the like can cause lots
of tummy aches”, they pointed
out.
On Saturday, win or lose, the
Palmer All-Stars will again
journey to the tournament and
following the final game, they,
along with all other All-Stars,
will receive individual awards.
All players are requested to
wear their All-Star uniforms to
the Saturday game as well as to
day and Friday.
Because of limited space only
those boys designated will be go
ing to the tournament in the
group which will include 20 boys.
Larry Curry, Virgil Wilkinson,
and Lynn Sandvik are coaches
for the All-Stars and two of the
three will accompany the boys
In addition to Palmer, All-Star
teams playing, the tournament
will include those from Ladd
AFB Eielson AFB, Fairbanks,
Spenard and the three Anchor
age teams, Katmai, Denali and
Kenai.
Two make up games remain
on the Palmer Little League
schedule. On August 20 the
Moose and Kiwanis teams will
play, beginning at 6:15 p.m. and
on August 23 the Moose and Kos
losky teams will play their final
game to finish year’s schedule.
A picnic is being planned at
the close of the local Little Lea
gue season and plans will be an
nounced as soon as completed. A
tentative date of August 27 has
been set.
SWIM CUSSES BEING
FORMED FOR WOMEN
Because of considerable inter
est shown in the Valley area, the
SPA in Anchorage is offering
time for swimming lessons for
valley women. The classes will
be held on five consecutive Mon
day evenings, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.,
■with August 27 as the tentative
starting date. The cost of the
course will be determined by the
number of participants. The class
can handle betwen 25 and 30
swimmers and at least six adults
indicated their interest at the
time a class was formed for
children of the valley. The char
ter will cost $250. That means
that if 20 women participate in
the course it will cost each one
$15, or only $3 a lesson. Those
interested in signing up for the
course are asked to contact
Dorothy Saxton or Virginia Gal
lant by phone or by calling at
the home of Mrs. Merle Puddi
combe, just back of the Alaska
T-V property on the Glenn high
way.
I School Head Seeks
Special Milk Program
Word was received this
week by H. P. Gazaway of the
Alaska Agriculture Experi
ment Station, that the Terri
torial Commissioner of Edu
cation has officially applied
for the extention of the fed
eral special milk program to
Alaska. The Experiment Sta
tion, with the cooperation of
the M.V.F.C.A. and Seward
daries conducted a survey in
the Palmer and Seward sch
ools early this spring that
proved that Alaskan school
children would drink more
milk if it was made available
> to them. The local Chamber of
! Commerce is backing the at
; tempt to get the special milk
; program extended to Alaska.
I; The program has been con
:j ducted with great success in
the States but the provisions
; of the Act creating the pro
gram did not include Alaska.
HUNTING SEASON
OPENS AUGUST 20
With the hunting season open
ing Monday, August 20, many
area hunters are making prepar
ations to leave for their favorite
haunts this week-end. Hunting
regulations for the 1956-57 sea
son have been held up in Wash
ington and have not yet been
made available to the public. Li
censing agents in Palmer have
single copies of the new hunting
districts, however, and hunters
may stop in at either Bert’s
Drug store or Koslosky’s Depart
ment store to inspect a map des
ignating the districts.
Holgar Larson, FWS enforce
ment officer, said this week, cop
ies of new books are expected
in Anchorage sometime Friday
and will be distributed as soon
as they arrive.
Forester William Adams cau
tions hunters to use care while
smoking and with their camp
fires. Last year in the early
hunting season more fires were
reported to the Palmer Fire
Guard Station than at any other
time of the year. With a couple
of days of dry weather any camp
fire can burn up a lot of good
hunting country, he pointed out.
SEVERAL VISITORS
ATTEND AUGUST 15
CHAMBER MEETING
Four of the seven Matanuska
Valley Fair queen contestants
were guests at the August 15
meeting of the Matanuska Valley
Chamber of Commerce. Attend
ing were Rose Kucera, Kather
ine Burnett, Bridgie Wright, and
Sharon Downing. Fair manager,
A1 V. Hagen introduced the
candidates and identified Reta
Nickles, Claudia Thomas and
Emagene Reid as the three eand
didates unable to attend the
meeting. Hagen pointed out that
the girls are working very hard
in their ticket sales campaign
and that although the ticket sal
es are not the lone determining
factor in who will be named
queen, it would be necessary for
the winner to be among the top
three salesgirls. Candidates have
until August 23 in which to
qualify by selling 250 tickets.
Ticket sales will continue until
September 1, he stated. Judging
will be based on ticket sales, and
judges’ and queen candidates’
choices. “We have found that
this method of judging has
worked out the most successful
ly in the past”, Hagen said. A
total of 99 points are possible for
the winning contestant. The
points are divided in three sec
tions with 44 going to the top
salesman; 40 for the judges’
choice; and 15 from the candi
dates’ choice. Each contestant
will receive points in each sec
tion, depending upon her posi
tion in the number of tickets
sold, the judges choice and the
candidates choice. The girl with
the greatest number of points
will be named queen of the 1956
Valley Fair.
Teacher Shortage
William T. Zahradnicek, school
superintendent, reported that
during his recent trip Outside
he found that the availability of
teachers is even less than a year
ago. He said he had visited State
Teachers colleges and found
that the salary increases in the
states is eliminating the once
tempting Alaskan posts. “A
teacher getting $4200 in Color
ado is not tempted to come to
Alaska for an increase of only
four to six hundred dollars a
year”, he pointed out. “I think
we will feel this teacher short
age in Alaska this fall”, he said,
and added he feels an overall
revaluation of the teaching pro
gram in Alaska will have to take
place.
Support Airline
Chamber president Ed Smith
reported that Jack Sterns, repre
(Continued on page 8)
Mr. Claud Kiger of Glen Car
ringtons was a visitor at the Aug
ust 14 meeting of the Palmer
City Council. Mr. Kiger reported
that a fire truck, used as a dem
onstrator, is available and could
be sold to the City of Palmer
for $2,000 off the list price. He
told Council members that a new
truck guarantee would accom
pany the truck which, along with
one other machine, was used to
demonstrate the company’s new
est model. He outlined payment
plans, reported on the equipment
which would come with the fully
equipped truck and pointed out
that a number of Alaskan as well
as Stateside cities are using the
Four-Wheel Drive trucks with
excellent results. Council mem
bers voted to call for bids for the
acquisition of a fire truck on al
ternate payment plans. The bid
call appears on the classified
page of this issue of The Fron
tiersman.
* * *
Jack Maze was another Coun
cil visitor and reported on the
condition of the water line ad
jacent to his property. He re
ported that for four and one half
months this year his family has
had to get their water through
a garden hose from their neigh
bor because the line has been
frozen. "Repair work done on the
line has not solved the problem
and he requested that sufficient
work be done before freeze-up
time to prevent a repetition of
the condition again this winter.
Work on the line will be contin
ued it was stated.
* * •
Russ Felzien of the city street
department presented an outline
of street work which should be
done on a priority basis before
freeze-up. It included clearing
one side of Springer Road to pro
vide a walk-way for students go
ing to and coming from the Pal
r mer High School; installation of
12 vertical drains at various
points in the city; placing suffi
cient gravel at the junction of
Walker street and the Glen high
way to prevent school busses and
other vehicles from tearing the
edge of the highway, also gravel
in the section at Snodgrass street
and Co-Op avenue, along Rail
road street from Hartley’s cor
ner past the Lovejoy residence;
cleaning culverts and ditches.
These are not necessarily in pri
ority order.
* * * »
William Wakeland, city and
school district tax assessor-col
lector, presented the delinquent
tax roll to the Council. The list
is to be published in The Fron
tiersman beginning next week,
he said. Names appearing on the
tax roll will not be removed
once the advertising starts, he
said.
• * •
A letter from the Juneau of
fice of Alaska Public Works ad
vised the Council that their at
torney will be in the Palmer area
early next month and that the
water project transfer should
take place at that time. Council
members voted to approve the
payment schedule set up by
APW and the transfer will be
made in September during the
attorney’s visit.
A purchase order system is be
ing set up in the various city
departments whereby all pur
chases made by city employees
will be done by the purchase
order method.
• * • *
Bills approved for payment
from the general fund amounted
to $2567.30 and from the water
fund $544.02.
The next regular meeting of
the Council will be held August
28 at 8 p.m. at City HalL
*
PHIL O’NEILL
HEADS TERRITORY
POWER ASSOCIATION
Phil O’Neill, president of the
Matanuska Electric Association,
; was named president or the Al
aska Rural Electric Cooperative
; Association during the three-day
meeting held by the association
t in Palmer last week-end. Named
to serve on the board with
O’Neill were Joe Laulor of the
Golden Valley Electric, Fair
banks, vice-president; Ed Jarvi
of the Chugiak Electric Associa
tion, Anchorage, secretary; and
Leon Johnson, Kodiak Electric
Association, treasurer. Mrs. Jus
tine Parks, out-going ARECA
president, was re-elected to the
National board.
A number of speakers were
presented during the sessions
held on Thursday and Friday, in
cluding Herman Plavnicn, REA
counsel; Fred Hamlin, REA
western area operations head;
C. L. Schultz, REA director,
western area; Gus Norwood, exe
cutive secretary Northwest Pub
lic Power Association; Bob Ru
therford, North Pacific Consul
tants; George Benesch, repre
senting Darryl Roberts, district
manager Bureau of Reclamation;
Jack Bennet, Employers Mutual
Company; H. P. Gazaway, econ
omist Alaska Experiment Sta
tion; Colonel L. L. Haseman, act
ing district enginer, Army En
gineers; and Lew Hanks, presi
dent Matanuska Telephone Asso
ciation.
The North Pacific Consultants’
representative, Mr. Rutherford,
spoke on the exploratory work
in the Cooper Lake area being
conducted by the Central Alaska
Power Association. He stated the
survey shows that the proposed
hydroelectric project in that
area is feasible and that survey
reports have been sent to REA
in Washington for study; that
CAPA has applied for a loan,
and applied to the Federal Power
Commission for permission to
construct. He reported that load
studies indicate that if all pro
posed power projects go through
that by 1965 the areas will again
be in a bad way for power needs.
Constant use increases will con
sume all electricity manufactur
(Continued from page 1)
ed, he said. He spoke briefly on
steam power generation and
pointed out that a very large
plant is necessary to operate at
a favorable cost, as compared to
hydro power.
Col. Haseman presented an
outline of Corps’ activities and
authorities. He pointed out that
since 1946. The Corps has com
pleted the construction of facil
ities costing about $825,000,000.
“We expect to place about $94,
000,000 worth of work in 1957”,
he said.
Although the Corps of Engin
eers has conducted extensive
civil works construction in the
field of navigation and harbor
improvement in Alaska, efforts
thus far have not included the
development of hydroelectric
power, Col. Haseman stated.
“The production of electrical en
ergy is probably the fastest grow
ing industry in the world, he
added. He pointed out that there
are very few undeveloped hydro
electric sites in th States capable
of producing low cost power. It
has been estimated that by 1965
most of these will be developed,
he said.
Considering the reasonably
low cost hydroelectric power
available in the Territory, it is
becoming more evident that this
resource will soon be utilized,
he stated. In preparing 308 stud
ies of Alaska the Corps has di
vided the territory into seven
(Continued on Page 5)
ARR TO FURNISH
3-DAY TRAIN
SERVICE DURING FAIR
Special trains wjll be operated
in and out of Palmer during the
1956 Valley Fair, it was announc
ed this week. The Alaska Rail
road offered to operate special
passenger trains during the Fair
on Sunday and on Saturday and
Monday if the Fair would guar
antee 100 fares on the latter two
days. Through the cooperation of
local merchants and the fair as
sociation the guarantees will be
given the Alaska Railroad and
trains are expected to operate
the three days.
Premium books have been
printed and a number have been
mailed to former exhibitors, to
all of this year’s advertisers and
prospective exhibitors. Anyone
desiring a copy of the pemium
book is asked to contact A1 Ha
gen, fair manager.
The Fleishman Yeast company
has offered prizes that will go to
the champion bakers.
Coop Has 11 Million
Pound Milk Increase
Gross sales at the Matanuska
Valley Farmers Cooperating As
sociation this past year were re
ported at $4,982,481.22 during the
annual membership meeting
held this past Saturday. The
1955 gross shows a slight drop
over the previous year’s figure
and was accounted for by the
lack of government contracts
last year for recombined milk.
The Co-Op warehouse showed an
increase of $75,000 over the pre
vious year, with a gross of $826,
000. Fresh milk gross figures
showed a sharp increase of $175,
000.
A total of 7,293,122 pounds of
fresh milk was purchased from
FWS REGULATIONS
DUE TOMORROW
Holgar Larson, district
game management agent, re
ported Monday that he
had received word from
Juneau that game regulations
were being flown to Anchor
age and would arrive Friday,
August 17. Distribution will
be made to all licensing offi
cers in the district personally
and immediately on arrival,
he stated.
Area Participants
Prepare for
Alaska 4-H Fair
Four-H clubs in this area will
take an active part in the All
Alaska 4-H Fair to be held in
Anchorage this week end.
Tomorrow- a number of mem
bers will be helping the Home
Agent set up the exhibits, and
Mrs. William Hoskins and Mrs.
Jack Flint, leaders of the Mix
ing Bowl Beaters and Mrs. Marie
James, leader of the Sutton But
tons, will assist club members
as the club booths are set up.
The Sutton Buttons will appear
on the radio program, “Woman
to Woman” on radio station
KENI Friday morning.
Margaret Brewer was the first
exhibitor to turn in an exhibit
to be taken to the Fair. Mar
garet, in first year clothing pro
ject, has made an attractive
gathered skirt, peasant blouse
and headscarf. Soft blending
colors were chosen. The local
I Extension office will be a busy
place tomorrow morning as all
exhibits are assembled to be tak
en to the Fair.
Demonstrations will be given
Saturday afternoon in the An
chorage Central School, head
quarters of the Fair, from 2:00 to
4:00 p.m. At the present time the
list of demonstrations from
Palmer is not complete, Marylou
Rideout, home agent, said, but
the following six have been prac
ticing and are ready to demon
strate their skills: Betty Jo Wil
son, bread baking; Caroline Wal
lace and Jeanne Diedrich, Sut
ton, marking a hem; Phoebe
Martin, shaping a tea ring; Kar
en Splettstoezer, making a sal
ad; David Martin, transplanting;
and LeRoi Heaven, transplant
ing.
On Sunday afternoon, begin
ning at 2:00 o’clock, several girls
from this area will model their
clothing project in the dress re
vue.
Everyone is invited to attend
the All-Alaska 4-H Fair.
Visiting in Palmer this week
is O. K. Kincaid, CPA, and for
mer Palmer City Councilman,
who now lives in Kodiak. Kin
caid is a member of the auditing
firm, Kincaid and Hedla and is
doing an annual audit of the
Palmer School system books.
B
Co-Op farmers this past year, an
increase of 1,546,138 pounds over
last year. Increased herds and
better farm management was
credited with the increase in pro
duction. Co-Op farmers were
paid a total of $805,781.68 for
their fresh milk, which averaged
out to about $11.05 per cwt. This
figure includes milk purchased
at the surplus rate during cer
tain periods, and represents a
figure nearly double that receiv
ed by Stateside farmers. How
ever, it was pointed out, cost of
operating a dairy farm in Alaska
differs from that in the States.
Between 55 and 60 percent of
the voting membership were
present at the meeting, along
wun memoers or ineir iainmes.
Women of the Moose who cater
ed the noon luncheon served ap
proximately 200 persons.
Members elected Don Parks,
Clair Patton, William Hecker (re
elected) to the three year terms
and Hugh Adams and Joe Kirs
cher to the one year terms. Also
Robert Johnson of Fairbanks
was named to the board. This is
the first time that farmers of the
Fairbanks area have been repre
sented on the board. The seventh
member of the board is George
McNeese. At a board meeting
held Tuesday evening Parks was
named president; Patton vice
president, and Hecker was nam
ed secretary-treasurer.
Financial reports and the re
port of Stewart Durrant, genera!
manager, were given. One of the
highlights of the meeting was an
ice cream eating contest staged
betwen Herb Holstein and Bill
Hoskins., Holstein conceded to
Hoskins. when Bill consumed
three quarts and two slices of
ice cream. The $5 prize was giv
en to Hoskins by the general
manager.
Door prizes went to Harold
Stephan, a table; Mrs. Carl
Mielke, drill and saw; Harold
Dinkle, fdeetrie' clock, and Barny
Anderson, electric fry pan.
During the past year the Co-Op
has expanded its facilities in
Palmer, Anchorage and Fair
banks. The Anchorage distribu
tion plant was completed and
put in use in November, a new
warehouse was built at Fair
banks and the cold room capacity
at the Fairbanks creamery was
doubled. Locally the creamery
plant was completely remodeled
and enlarged. The sharp room
was also enlarged, the basement
in the general office building
was completed and a modern
meeting room created. The Co
Op garage enlarged the farm
implement section and a new
warehouse and produce building
was planned and is now in the
construction stage. In addition
two large cooler buildings wer<g(
put up.
Among interesting figures an
nounced at the meeting was the
expenditure by the Co-Op of $23,
778.29 in taxes paid,40 the city
and school district ftir property
taxes and to the federal and ter
ritorial governments for income
taxes. This disproves the opinion
of some that co-ops do not pay
taxes, it was pointed out.
Other large expenditures in
cluded $588,181.44 paid in wages
during the past year to an aver
age of 100 employees year round.
Advertising took a total figure
of $35,948.36 and insurance $39,
177.28.
Egg business dropped this past
_(Continued on page 8)
FLOWERS FOR ALL
OCCASIONS
Telegraph Delivery Service
MAUD'S FLOWER SHOP
Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601 |
Hunting Supplies
We carry everything needed for that
hunting trip
There's a full selection of ammunition—tents—
hunting clothes—Red Wing hunting boots—
everything you need for the hunting season is
available at your sportsmen headquarters . . .
Koslosky's Dept. Store