TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that
item you may have for sale,
rent or lease.
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 41
PALMER, ALASKA THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 1956
PRICE TEN CEN'iB
CONTEST ON FOR QUEEN OF VALLEY FAIR
POWER ASSOCIATION
CONVENTION TO BE
HELD IN PALMER
Palmer will be host city to the
annual Alaska Rural Electric
Corporation Association three
day meeting to be held August
9, 10, and 11. Seven ARECA
electric cooperatives are expect
ed to be represented by dele
gates during the convention,
from throughout Alaska, as well
as REA officials from Washing
ton, D. C., other federal and
military officials and other spe
cial guests who will participate
in the programs. Palmer mayor,
Charles Wilson will be invited
to make the welcoming address.
Coming to Palmer from Wash
ington, D. C. will be Chris Schil
tz, director of the western sec
tion; Fred Hamlin, operations
head western section; M. R. Plav
nich, assistant to the assistant
counsel to loans of the Depart
ment of Agriculture and Ed
Saunders, head of the insurance
department, REA. Also attend
ing will be Daryl Roberts, man
ager Bureau of Reclamation
from Anchorage, Jack Bennett
of Employers Mutual Insurance
Co., and Gus Norwood, execu
tive secretary, Northwest Public
Power Association.
Executive sessions will be con
ducted on Thursday and Friday
of the convention, with meetings
to be held in the MEA meeting
room. All interested persons are
invited to attend the meetings.
On Friday evening a banquet
will be held at Elks hall. A con
ducted tour of the Eklutna hy
droelectric power plant will con
clude the convention on Satur
day.
During the convention wives
of delegates will be entertained
•with a tour of Matanuska Valley
farms, tea at Wiiliwaw Lodge
and a visit to Spring Creek
Farm on Thursday and on Fri
day by a tour of the various
mines in the area.
Power associations to be repre
sented include the Chugach Elec
tric Association, Anchorage;
Homer Electric; Kenai Lake;
Auk Bay; Golden Valley, Fair
banks; the Matanuska Telephone
Association (an REA borrower)
and the host association, Matan
uska Electric Association. At
least 50 visitors are expected in
the city for the convention.
Fish and Wildlife
Agent Moved to Tok
Bob Burkholder, Fish and
Wildlife predatory agent, who,
with his family, has made his
home in Palmer the past several
years,' has been transferred to
the Tok area, it was announced.
This will leave the Matanuska
Valley area without a resident
FWS agent.
An appeal by the Matanuska
Valley Chamber of Commerce to
the FWS requesting that a per
menent agent be retained in the
Palmer area was acknowledged
by letter to the Chamber this
week. It was pointed out in the
letter that the FWS agents are
of a limited number and that
they must be placed in areas
where the pressure is the great
est.
FOR FAST RESULTS TRY A
FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIED
\ DONT FORGET
;! Attend your local Flower
; Show, Sunday, August 5,
Palmer High School
i MAUD S FLOWER SHOP
; Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601 ;
Annual Flower Show
To Be Held Sunday;
Big Show Anticipated
Members of the Palmer Gar
den Club anticipate one of their
most successful flower shows
this Sunday afternoon. The show'
will be held in the cafeteria at
the new high school, from 1:00 to
5:00 p.m. and the public has been
invited to participate by enter
ing their flowers, plants or ar
rangements.
Three grand prizes will be
awarded for outstanding speci
men, outstanding arrangement,
and for the most ribbons.
Section “A” will consist of 79
annuals or plants considered an
nuals, in this region. These will
be judged for general appear
ance, size, color, length of stem,
number of blossoms on stem
with foliage. Section “B”, peren
nials, will be scored the same
as section “A”, with 60 classes
in this section.
Section “C” will be the feature
of the 1956 flower show. Thirty
one classes of arrangements, all
carrying out the theme “A Med
ley of Blooming Melodies”, will
be presented, accompanied by
organ and piano melodies thr
oughout the afternoon. The ar
rangements will personify popu
lar song titles, such as “Spring
time in the Rockies”, an arrange
ment of pastel shades of flow
ers; “I See Your Face Before
Me”, using pansies; “Blueberry
Hill”, using berries; “Tea for
Two”, a dining room arrange
ment: “Wearing of the Green”,
using leaves; “Turkey in the
Straw”, grasses; “Trade Winds”,
(Continued on page 8)
Cancer Society
Helps Save
Local Girl’s Life
An eight-year-oid Palmer girl’s
life was saved this past year,
with the help of the American
Cancer Society, according to the
child’s mother. Treatments for
the little girl, impossible to ob
tain in the Territory, were ad
vised by her doctor following
surgery which he performed to
remove a malignant growth.
“Without the treatments”, the
child’s mother explains, “there
was a possibility that the cancer
might spread to other areas of
her body.”
The family’s resources were
already strained to the breaking
point by costs of the operation
and hospital expense. They ap
pealed to the American Cancer
Society for help, and money was
advanced to pay for the child’s
transportation to Seattle, where
the nearest treatment center is
located. An additional amount
was also credited toward her
treatments there.
Her response to the treat
ments was very satisfactory,”
her mother reports. “The doc
tors could find no trace of can
cer, and told us we could be rea
sonably sure she was cured.”
The little girl will continue to
report for periodic check-ups,
and if there is no recurrance of
cancer .within five years, she will
be considered a “cured” cancer
patient.
“We cannot express our grati
tude to the American Cancer So
ciety for their sympathetic help,”
adds the little girl’s mother. “We
asked if it wouldn’t be possible
for us to consider it as a loan
which we might repay as we
were ahle, but were told that the
only way would be through do
nations to the annual fund driv
es.”
The local 1956 fund drive is
(Continued on page 8)
SEEKING SPECIAL
SCHOOL MILK
PROGRAM IN ALASKA
Alaskan school children are
the only youngsters in the Un
ited States and territories who
are denied the opportunity to
buy milk at reduced price under
government’s special school milk
program.
Yet a three-week study in Pal
mer and Seward schools during
April showed that Alaskan chil
dren will drink more milk if they
can buy it at lower prices, H. P.
Gazaway, marketing economist
said. Gazaway is head of the
agricultural economics depart
ment of the Alaska Agricultural
Experiment Station.
Gazaway feels that if Alaskans
show enough interest to work
for extension of the school milk
program to Alaska, the govern
ment may include tne lerritory.
“No children anywhere under
the U. S. flag need additional
fresh milk any more than do the
school children of Alaska,”
Gazaway said. “Nutritionally, the
need for fresh milk is undoubt
edly greater during winter
months.”
Alaska has been excluded from
the school milk program because
the Territory's milk production
is not enough to meet the de
mand. More than one-third of
the fresh milk now used by Alas
kans Ls imported. The school
milk program grew out of the
farm-price support provisions of
the Agricultural Act of 1954.
Congress recently added the
Territory of Hawaii to the pro
gram and extended it two years
with a $75,000,000 appropriation.
Congress ignores the fact that
many states now benefitting
from the Act are also in areas
low in milk production, Gazaway
said. Alaskans import milk from
Washington, Oregon and other
states that are areas of surplus
milk production.
Local dairymen need the en
couragement such a program
would give, the agricultual ec
onomic said. Alaska dairymen in
their “infant industry” must
compete without help of price
supports or administrative price
controls with subsidized, large
scale producers and processors
in the states. Despite this one
sided competition, the Alaskans
have more than doubled milk
production during the past five
years.
Almost half of the schools
(Continued on page 8)
EXTENSION OFFICIAL
TO VISIT IN ALASKA
Administrator C. M.i Ferguson
of the Federal Extension Ser
vice, Washington, D. C., will ar
rive in Alaska for his first visit
on August 6. He will go to Col
lege wheie he will confer with
Dr. Ernest Patty on the coming
retirement of Don L. Irwin, Ex
periment Station director. Fer
guson will be accompanied by
Dr. D. V. Lumsden who will be
making his annual examination
of the Experiment Station activ
ities. Ferguson has often been
quoted on his interest in seeing
the Extension eSrvic srnghtete
the Extension Service strength
ened in Alaska.
ONE INJURED; TRUCK
DAMAGED IN ACCIDENT
A 1953 Dodge pickup truck,
owned by the Alaska Engineers,
received approximately $400
damage on Saturday night when
it went off the road near Mile
46, according to Territorial Po
lice. Driver of the truck, James
Haisley, received injuries. His
passenger Marion Young report
ed he was not injured.
NEW COLLEGE DEAN
John B. Baker
Dr. R. Rolland Armstrong,
president of Sheldon Jackson
Junior College recently an
nounced the appointment of
John Baker, (above) of Hamil
ton Ohio, as the academic head
of the school which is situated
in Sitka, Alaska.
Teen Canteen Plans
Not Materializing
The teen-age recreation pro
gram in Palmer has hit a snag,
it was announced this week by
Richard Branton who has been
spearheading a drive to get or
ganized recreation for the young
people of the Valley.
Seeking a suitable meeting
place, a letter of request was
sent to the U. S. Army Reserve
for permission to use the USAR
Training Center in Palmer. A
reply to this request was not too
encouraging, Branton reported.
Lt. Colonel F. S. Putman, Senior
Army Advisor Army Reserve
wrote, in part,” ... 1 regret that
we do not have the authority to
issue a permit for the use of
the Training Center . . . however,
the Department of Army in
Washington, D. C. might issue
such a permit”. However, the let
ter went on, before forwarding
a request for such permission
several documents must be pre
pared in which a number of re
quirements must be met, among
them being an agreement that
comprehensive insurance wm he
carried which would hold the
government free and blameless
in event of a fatality or injury
on the premises. Also evidence
as to the financial ability of the
Palmer Area Recreation Council
to meet listed requirements, and
an agreement that PARC would
share proportionate costs of util
ities.
Branton pointed out the diffi
culty at this time in meeting
these and other listed require
ments. “If anyone has any sug
gestions as to how we may con
tinue this teen-age recreation
project, please contact me or
Mrs. Dorothy Saxton”, Branton
said. A meeting can be arrang
ed, he added, with any and all
interested persons — young or
old.
ALASKA LINE AGENT
VALLEY VISITOR
Because only a small number
of Chamber of Commerce mem
bers were able to attend the
August 1 meeting the guest
speaker, Thomas J. Maloney, Al
aska Steamship Company agent
from Anchorage, postponed his
scheduled talk on the Alaska
Line’s new trainship program.
Mr. Maloney will prees^t his
talk at a Chamber meeting in
the near future. While in the
Valley Mr. Maloney made sev
eral calls on firms that do busi
ness with the Alaska Line.
Mayor Names
Glair Stock to
City Clerk Post
Clair Stock has been named
by Mayor Charles Wilson to
serve as city clerk from the per
iod of July 30 to November 1.
Mayor Wilson said this week
that the appointment was done
as an emergency measure be
cause of the vacancy in that city
position. “We did not have
enough time to properly adver
tise the opening”, he pointed out.
Since his appointment Stock has
resigned from his house commit
tee duties at the Elks lodge.
Mayor Wilson and council
members have been discussing
the possibility of the City going
into city manager type of ser
vice. “We are just exploring this
method,” Mayor Wilson stated.
“Before going into this form of
city government we shall have
to take it before the voters. At
the present time we are making
a study of its feasibility for we
are not too satisfied with the ef
ficiency of the present system”.
He pointed out that some cities
use the city manager-city clerk
combination, hiring but one
qualified person for the position.
“By making this interim ap
pointment we will have an op
portunity to explore the field of
available city clerks and man
agers and complete the study
of the possible change-over in
city government methods. May
or Wilson emphasized that be
fore changing to the city man
ager form it would be necessary
to approach the voters through
the polls.
Funeral Services
Friday Morning
For Chester Liebing
Funeral services for Chester
Liebing, 51, who died at Palmer
July 29, will be held Friday
morning at 10:00 a m. from the
Palmer Funeral Chapel with
the Rev. James P. Snead officiat
ing. Interment will take place in
the Palmer Cemetery. Pall bear
ers will be Vic Falk, Sr. Joseph
Loyer, William Sweetman, Glenn
Woods, Ernest Harrington, and
Ted White, all of the Matanuska
Valley.
Mr. Liebing, a resident of Al
aska the past 27 years, operated
a farm in the Valley for a num
ber of years. Mr. Liebing intro
duced basketball to the Matan
uska* Valley, coaching the first
te^m in Wasilla many years ago.
Irf his early days in Alaska he
operated a dog team mail and
freight route to the Willow
Creek mine area and worked for
several years at Independence
and Gold Cord mines. Illness for
ced him into retirement and dur
ing the past two years he made
three trips to the States for med
ical attention. He and his wife
had recently returned to Palmer
following several months in the
States.
In addition to his wife Mary,
he is survived by his parents Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Liebing of Pal
mer, three brothers, Aaron and
Henry of Palmer and Michael of
Cusick, Wash., and five sisters,
Mrs. Ruth Peterson of Palmer,
Mrs. Dorothy Mertz and Mrs.
Vesta Wade, both of Spokane,
Mrs. Lilas Alexander of Dallas,
Texas, and Mrs. Margery Lisen
by of Latah, Wash., and an uncle,
William Senske of Wasilla.
Funeral arrangements are be
ing handled by the Palmer Fun
eral Chapel.
ANNUAL CONTEST
GETS UNDER WAY
IN LOCAL AREA
The Matanuska Valley Fair
annual queen contest got under
way this week with three Valley
girls signing up for the popular
event.
Emagene Elizabeth Reid,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene
Reid, Sharon Downing, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Hill
stom, and Bridgie Wright, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Neal Wright,
all of Palmer, are the young
queen candidates who have
registered to date.
Queen Candidate Reid, who is
being sponsored by the Piggly
Wiggly store, came to Alaska
with her parents in 1947 and has
since attended the Palmer sch
ools. She enters her high school
junior year this fall. Miss Reid’s
statistics show that she is 17
years old, is five feet, one-half
inches tall, weighes 117 pounds
and has hazel eyes and long
brown hair. She takes an active
part in school, church and com
munity activities. Her. favorite
hobbies and past-times are danc
ing, horseback riding, and dat
ing.
Miss Downing, also a Junior
at Palmer High School, is five
feet tall, weighs 105 pounds, has
blue eyes and brown hair. She is
being sponsored in the queen
race by the Frontier Cafe in
Palmer and Alpine Inn at Sut
ton. Sharon came to Alaska in
September of 1954 and now calls
Palmer her home. She has many
favorite pastimes; dancing,
swimming, horseback riding and
is a competent soloist.
Queen contestant Bridgie
Wright is being sponsored by
Bert’s Drug.jjtore and the Mug
Up Cafe. The 16-year-old con
testant is a petite four feet, 10
inches tall and tilts the scale at
92 pounds. Miss Wright is also a
junior at Palmer High School
and is a member of the Pep,
chorus, and drama clubs. She is
the only contestant to register
to date who was born in Alaska.
She has long black hair and
hazel eyes and her favorite hob
by is toe and acrobatic dancing.
The queen contest officially
opened August 1, with the qual
ifying period to continue until
August 23. Although ticket sales
(Continued on page 8)
Robert WefalT Named
Fair Board Director
Robert Webb, former valley
farmer, and now operator of a
meat processing plant, was nam
ed to the board of directors of
the Matanuska Valley Fair. He
fills the vacancy caused by the
resignation of Ai V. Hagen who
is serving the association as fair
manager this year. Association
by-laws stipulate that no direc
j tor may hold a paying position
with the association.
During tne boards July di
meeting it was announced that
the U. S. Army plans to again
participate in the Valley fair;
the Midnight Sun Broadcasting
company has indicated that they
plan to cover the fair, not only
by radio, but by television as
well. Prize ribbons have been
shipped; the Fair premium book
is being printed; the buildings
on the fairgrounds are being
painted and additional fencing
is being erected around the fair
grounds.
Plans are going forward at a
rapid pace, according to the fair
manager, and from all indica
tions, including the many reser
vations for display space and
concessions that have been made
to date, it will be the biggest
fair ever held in Alaska, he said.
Palmer
Elks
ANNUAL PICNIC, SUN. AUG. 5
FOR ELKS AND THEIR FAMILIES
.
1 p.m,
BARRYS’ RESORT