!.js3ili The Fronti rsman
,L^^rnnnrirL.-_. . , j PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS Or THE MATANUSKA VALLE* j
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 13 PALMER, ALASKA. THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1957 PRICE TEN CENVS
Seek Placement
Of 900 Hungarians
i ou will nna a way was tne
. reply Mrs. Ann J. Brown of An
chorage received when she ques
tioned a friend in Hungary as
to how she could possibly find
homes for 893 Hungarian refugees
whom her friend had written
were enroute to Alaska.
These 893 persons are schedul
ed to land in New York City
March 3 and following regulation
immigration paper work will be
available to travel to Alaska. In
cluded in the group will be 250
•orphan children ranging from in
fants to 12 year olds, Mis. Brown
said, as well as laborers, doctors,
lawyers, merchants farmers and
other skilled adults.
Following considerable public
ity in the Anchorage area on this
refugee group Mrs. Brown stated
she had received around 400 calls
from interested individuals. “We
feel sure all of the orphan chil
dren can be placed. These chil
dren may be legally adopted by
interested families,” she said. Mrs.
Brown stated that she is not seek
ing funds—“I am only seeking
help in solving this problem of
what to do with this great num
ber of people.”
Following the meeting Mrs.
Brown said that she felt sure
that everyone is somewhat fam
• iliar with the tragedy that has
befallen the Hungarian people.
“Actually, the uprising stemmed
from the youth of the country
and gained support from the peo
ple as a whole because they un
derstood what liberty meant to
the younger generation,” she said.
“Certainly those of us who have
the freedom that was created for
us by the brave men and women
of our revolution can sympathize
with the plight of Hungary,
where the yearning for life, lib
erty and happiness re-creates our
own problems of many years ago.
“Sympathy, however is not
enough”, she added. “We must,
each and everyone of us take an
active part in the task of housing,
caring for, and feeding the many
who are in dire need because of
their life of freedom and equal
ity.
“I guess most people feel that a
donation of some kind should
solve the problem ,and beyond
that interest in the situation wan
es, but this is not a drive for
monetary help, ratehr it is a
•drive to find human compassion,
a friend, a home, a new start and
a new life in the only country in
the world that still believes in
individual freedom and the pur
suit of happiness.
“From various sources I have
been informed that these hun
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, Basketball League j;
Games
i PALMER SCHOOL GYM!;
!; SATURDAY GAMES jj
Pioneers vs. Co-Op
7:00 P.M.
Elks vs. Shamrock
j; 8:30 P.M.!;
--4
10 HOSPITAL BONDS
TO BE RETIRED AT
ANNUAL MEETING
The Valley Hospital Associa
tion finance committee last night
voted to retire 10 bonds of their
1958 issue at the annual member
ship meeting to be held Friday,
February 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the
high school cafeteria.
The 10 lucky names will be
selected at a drawing from the
total list of owners of the 1958
bonds. The drawing will take
place during the meeting and
will be continued until the nam
es of 10 bond holders present have
been drawn. Checks will be is
sued at the meeting ,said Kay
Pippel, chairman of the finance
committee.
There is only one hitch — bond
holders must bring their bonds
with them so they may be endor
sed. Checks will not be issued
until the endorsed bond is turn
ed over to the Association secre
tary.
Mrs. Pippel explained this mon
ey being used to retire the bonds
can not be used for the hospital’s
operations because of restrictions
imposed by members several
years ago.
Churches Join in
Youth Program
“Youth for the Kingdom” a full
length film will be shown as a
joint venture by St. John’s Lu
theran Church and the United
Protestant Church this Sunday.
There will be two showings,
the first at 2:30 in the afternoon
at St. John’s Church and the sec
ond Sunday evening at 7:30 in
the United Protestant Church.
All youths and adults of the val
ley are invited to attend.
MEMBERS REMINDED
OF ANNUAL CREDIT
UNION MEETING
January 23 has been, set as the
date for the annual membership
meeting of the Matanuska Valley
Federal Credit Union. Annual re
ports will be made, the dividend
declared, and an election of offi
cers will be held. The meeting
will take place in the new meet
ing room in the basement of the
Co-Op general office at 8 p.m. All
members are urged to attend.
Members of the nominating
committee this week completed
their nominating work and the
candidates’ names will be pre
sented to the membership at the
meeting. Additional nominations
may be made from the floor.
Republican Women
Plan Tuesday Meeting
An interesting program is plan
ned for the January 21 meeting of
the Womens Republican Club of
the Matanuska Valley. All per
sons interested are invited to at
tend the meeting which will be
held at the home of Mrs. Harold
Thuma at 1:30 p.m.
. ......■■■■■"■. i
ELKS ATTENTION
ANNUAL
' :: 0*
Purple Bubble Ball
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9
10 P.M.-2 A.M.
Elks and Their Ladies
ELKS HOME
...■ X
STUDENT DRIVERS
START COURSE IN
HIGH SCHOOL
The Drivers’ Training Course,
being offered for the first time
in the Palmer school this year,
got under way on Tuesday of this
week with some 35 students en
rolled, according to William T.
Zahradnick, school superintend
ent.
The group is composed of three
classes which are held for one
hour. A total of 54 classroom
hours are to be spent on the cour
se by each student, plus 18 hours
of practial work of which 12
hours will be in observation and
six in actual driving. The course
will run for approximately 90
days and students successfully
completing will be given a half
credit, as is given in all half
year courses.
Students completing similar
courses in the Anchorage and
Fairbanks schools have been ac
corded lower insurance rates and
it is hoped that the same will
apply to students who successful
ly complete the course in Palmer.
John Shrieber, who has been
teaching elementary subjects and
shop in the junior high school,
has been named instructor in this
driving course and has been re
leased from part of his junior
high duties to serve in this new
capacity. Shrieber is a qualified
driver-training teacher.
The two-tone 1956 Ford sedan
has been made available to the
high school through Hartley Mo
tors, Inc. Only the insurance costs
are borne by the school. The car
is clearly marked as the Palmer
school driver training car and will
soon be seen in and about Pal
mer with the student drivers at
the wheel.
CITY PUNNING
MEETING JANUARY 25
Next Thursday evening another
public meeting is being planned
in Palmer. All residents are in-'
vited to attend and hear of the
proposed planning for the City of
Palmer. Coming to Palmer for
the meeting will be Elmer Gag
non, director of the Alaska Hous
ing Authority and John Kumb,
city planner and AHA technical
assistant. These men will explain
the federal program for city plan
ning under Section 701 of the
Housing Act of 1954 under which
the federal government pays for
half of the cost of developing a
comprehensive for a commun
ity.
Members of the City Planning
Commission will be in attendance.
VOLUNTEER FIREMEN
ROSTER STILL OPEN
Seven men have signed the ros
ter for 1957 in the Palmer Volun
teer Fire Department. All others
interested are urged to contact
Fire Chief Joseph Gallant. Those
firemen whose names appear on
the roster will be considered
members of the Fire Department
and eligible for insurance cover
age and other benefits.
The next regular meeting of
the volunteer firemen will be
January 25 at 8 p.m. in the Fire
Hall.
LOCAL ELKS PLAN
PURPLE BUBBLE BALL
Palmer Elks will hold their an
nual Purple Bubble Ball at the
Elks home on Saturday, Febru
ary 9, it was announced this week.
The ball will begin at 10 p.m. and
continue until 2 a.m. Dress will
be semi-formal. The ball, held
each year, is for Elks and their
ladies.
NURSES GROUP PLAN
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
District Six members of the
Alaska Nurses Association will
hold their annual meeting tomor
row at 8 p.m. in the Health Cen
ter at the valley hospital. The
meeting will include election of
officers for the new year and a
coffee hour. All „ members are
urged to attend.
MEA BOARD STUDIES
RATE SURVEY;
FORSEE REDUCTION
The rate study conducted for
the Matanuska Electric Associa
tion by Herbert Westfall of the
R. W. Beck Associaties of Seattle,
was discussed and preliminary
findings of the engineer were ap
proved by the Board of Directors
at a special meeting held Janu
ary 10.
The directors expect to take
final action on a rate reduction
on January 21 at the regular
meeting of the Board of Direc
tors. All materials must be sub
mitted to the Washington office
of the Rural Electrification Ad
ministration for approval before
they may be put into effect.
Library Acquires
1,000 Bocks from
Surplus Property
Over 1,000 books, all in excel
lent condition, were this week ac
quired by the Palmer Library.
The books were secured by the
Library Association through the
Alaska Surplus Property Admin
istration. Assisting the program
were Miss Dorothy Phillips of
Juneau, territorial librarian; Mrs.
Irene Griffith, City of Anchorage
librarian; and A1 V. Hagen of Pal
mer, Greater Palmer Area Civil
Defense director, who acted as
coordinator.
In addition to the 1,078 books
acquired by the Palmer Library,
as additional 500 books went to
the Wasilla Library and 500 to
the library at Glenallen.
Several thousand books were
offered to various Alaska com
munities. Mrs. Griffith, in select
ing books for the Anchorage li
brary, sorted a great number of
thejn. A group from Palmer went
to Anchorage on Monday of this
week and selected over 1,000 of
the books for the local library.
Those working on the giant-of-a
project were Mr .and Mrs. Bob
Klem, Mrs. Bernard Neiman,
Dorothy Briggs, Haleen Ingalls,
T. A- Moyer, and A1 Hagen. The
Klems made two trips to Anchor
age yesterday to transport the
Palmer books in their truck. Mr.
and Mrs. Martin Olson of Wasilla
selected and hauled the 500 books
for the Wasilla Library.
Letters are being mailed this
week to all valley organizations
and business houses explaining
the acquisition of these books.
They were acquired at the very
low cost of eight cents each.
The more than 2000 books were
acquired for about $200—a very
minute fraction of their original
cost. It is hoped that contribu
tions in the three areas—Palmer,
Wasilla, and Glenallen—will off
set the cost of acquisition. “If we
^can get donations from $1 to $10
I feel sure that we will be «able
to pay for these books in a very
short time”, Hagen said this
week. ^Anyone wishing to make a
donation toward the books, who
does not receive a letter, is in
vited to leave it at the Palmer
Library.
Moose and Eagles
Tangle Tomorrow
The Palmer Moose will travel
to Anchorage tomorrow where
they meet the Anchorage Eagles
for the second time this season.
The Eagles are making a most
determined bid for the Railbelt
championship and to date have
not lost a game.
The local cagemen were de
feated in Fairbanks, although
from the scores it appears that
they gave the Malemutes a few
worried minutes. In the Friday
night game the Fairbanks lads
took the game by only five
points, 46-41. The following night
they again won but only through
a spurt during the final quarter.
Up to that time they were trail
ing the visiting Moose. Final
score on Saturday was 50-39.
Tentative plans are being made
for the Pioneer Band to accom
pany the Moose to Anchorage to
morrow night. This will be the
band’s first out-of-town trip this
season.
Public Urged to
Attend Paving Forum
SECOND GAME
HEARING PLANNED
FOR PALMER
Another game hearing will be
held in the Palmer area, it was
announced this week by Holger
Larson of the Fish and Wildlife
Service. The meeting has been
scheduled for Thursday evening,
January 24 and will be held at
8 p.m. in the Valley Theatre. All
sportsmen and others interested
in the game laws of the Terri
tory, are invited to. attend the
meeting.
The first of area game law
hearings was held in Palmer two
weeks ago. Because of the short
notice of the meeting it was felt
by a number of area residents that
the meeting was not properly ad-"
vertised and a group requested
the Alaska Game Commission to
re-schedule a meeting in Palmer.
In all probability the results of
the earlier meeting will be pre
sented at the January 24 meeting
for discussion.
Planning New
Committees in
Local Chamber
Stewart Durrant, president of
the Matanuska Valley Chamber
of Commerce for 1957, announced
at the January 16 meeting of the
Chamber that committees will be
set up for the coming year and
that ground work for these com
mittee assignments will be start
ed at an executive meeting to be.
held Tuesday, January 22 in the
Co-Op Cafe.
Durrant pointed out that some
of the standing -committee such
as the agriculture and the devel
opment committees, could well be
broken down so that persons vit
ally interested in these commit
tees could work on specific pro
jects. For instance, he said, a
number of dairymen have indi
cated their interest in advancing
the marketing of milk products.
Such individuals, who are busi
ness men in their own rights, be
| long in the Chamber and would
j do well on such committees. He
| who, through the Chamber of
j also spoke of the potato farmer
| Commerce, might well work on
a marketing project whereby ad
ditional ways of putting local po
tatoes on the market might be
found. He spoke of a potato
farmer in Fairbanks who is selh
ing a large amount of potatoes
.ready for French frying.
“We need a committee to work
with the City Planning Commis
sion,’ he suggested,” and need a
program to build up civic pride
here in Palmer, to create a clean
and attractive city where people
will want to visit and live.”
The committee appointments
will be discussed at the meeting
January 22 which will be in the
form of a breakfast meeting.
Chamber directors have voted to
try the breakfast meetings, start
ing at 7 a.m., tentatively schedul- I
ing them for the first Wednesday
(Continued on Page 8)
Every city voter has been urg
ed . to attend the public meeting
being sponsored tonight by the
Matanuska Valley Chamber of
Commerce for a forum on the
coming bond election and the
paving program in the city of
Palmer. The forum will be held
at the new high school, in the
cafeteria, at 8 p.m.
Chamber officials pointed out
this week that they are taking no
stand on the issue. “Some of us
are for paving—some are not. We
are sponsoring this meeting so
that the voters of Palmer will
have an opportunity before they
go to the polls next Tuesday to
become fully acquainted with the
proposals being offered by the
city of Palmer.”
City officials will be in attend
ance at the meeting to answer
any and all questions put to them
by the voters.
It was brought out at this
week’s Chamber of Commerce
meeting that some people are
against paving before additional
sewers are installed in the city.
The proposed paving will in no
way interfere with, the present
sewer or the installation of fu
ture sewers, it was explained. It
was pointed out by a member
that by the time the City could
quality for an APW loan to in
stall additional sewers in Pal
mer much of the general obliga
tion bonded indebtedness will
have been paid off.
Some have asked why the City
wants to rush into the paving
program. It has been explained
by Mayor Charles Wilson and
other city officials that the Bur
eau of Public Roads is going to
pave a 24-foot strip in the cen
ter of the road from the Glenn
highway to the Wasilla highway.
Once this paving is completed its
maintenance will be up to the
city. Mayor Wilson has several
times explained that through the
business section, where there is
so much off-street parking, the
edge of this paving would soon
break down and maintentance
costs would run very high. It is
hoped by city officials that the
voters will approve the issuance
of up to $200,000 in bonds so
that they may take advantage of
the BPR contractor being in the
area and therefor extend the 24
foot strip to 57 feet, providing
curb to curb paving in the heavily
traveled sections of the city. If
done at this time the over-all
(Continued on Page 8)
FOilND~~~
Girls' bicycle. Appar-i;
ently parked and for-;!
gotten some three
weeks ago. Inq. The ij
Frontiersman
I See our new shipment of !>
Wedding Books, Guest Books, ]>
and Thank You Cards
Telegraph Delivery Service
MAUD'S FLOWER SHOP ij
Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601
DANCING
at the
T & T Sourdough Bar
SATURDAY NIGHT, JANUARY 12
Music by
GENE COONRADFS BLUE NOTES
EVERYBODY WELCOME
Sat. Night Entertainment, As Usual 8 P.M.
Afterwards dance to music by Tom, Frank and Cowboy at Moose Hall