i I y u A D v <
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PP~| The Frontiersman 1=^)
i _j! PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY | !;
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 23 PALMER, ALASKA THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1957 PRICE TEN CENTS
MEA Preparing
For Annual Meeting
Members of the Matanuska El
ectric Association board of di
rectors held their final regular
meeting prior to the annual mem
bership meeting Monday night.
Among correspondence read at
the meeting was a letter signed
by representatives of various
charitable organizations in the
valley requesting that the MEA
membership listing be made avail
able to them for addresses. Board
members discussed the request,
which has been made a number
of times in the past, and decided
that in as much as the MEA
membership has twice voted this
request down they did not feel
they were in a position to grant
the use of the MEA mailing list.
The writers of the letter repre
sented Alaska Crippled Children
Association, American Heart As
sociation, American Tuberculos
is Association, Cancer, and the
Polio Foundation.
Hartley Motors, Inc. were low
bidders and were awarded the
contract for furnishing a Ford
450 1-ton truck with a steel-type
winch. Their bid was $6699.08,
FOB Palmer. Other bids received
were from the M.VF.C.A. who
offered a 1 Ms-ton truck, with
winch, $6,842.96, F.O.B. Seattle;
and Kirk’s Sales and Service,
OMC 1-ton with winch, $6795.00,
FOB Palmer.
Among decisions made in re
gards to the annual membership
meeting April 13 was the grant
ing permission to the Hospital
Auxiliary to serve refreshments
At the annual meeting as they did
in 1966. They will be paid $50
plus expenses; Stewart Durrant
was named ballot captain and will
be assisted by Mrs. Catherine
Moore; and a rules committee
will be named from the member
ship to act during the meeting.
In connection with the antici
pated new rates it was voted to
(Continued on page 8)
' •
Moose Prepare for
Official Visitation
C. L. “Buck” Swan and Walter
Hermansen, supreme lodge repre-^
sentatives, will be honored guests
at a breakfast to be served for
Loyal Order of Moose members
and their ladies Sunday, March
31 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. a>
Moose hall.
Following the breakfast a spe
cial meeting and enrollment cere
mony will be held. A large class
of candidates are in readiness for
the ceremony.
A special feature at the meet
ing will be the awarding of a life
membership to one of the 250 an
nual dues payers of the local
lodge.
A special “open session” for
Women of the Moose and lodge
members to meet with the su
preme lodge respresentatives will
be held in the afternoon. Sight
seeing and other entertainment
is planned for the visitors.
COMFORTABLE j|
Steam Heated Rooms
I* Low Weekly Rales
;I Hyland Hotel <!
;! 2 blocks from Post Office <;
Don't Forget Your
j; Favorite Entertainment ;! |
: SAT. NITE, MOOSE HALL j:
March 30
i; FOLLOWING THERE WILL \ \
I; BE A WELCOME HOME j; |
PARTY & DANCE j
FOR WILLIE LOSSING
<; Don't Forget Sunday Morning <
Breakfast and Meeting
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HOSPITAL REDEEMING :;
SERIES "A" BONDS
j; Allan Mick, president of the |;
|; Valley Hospital Association,!;
;! announced this week that all j;
;> hospital “A” bonds are in the j;
;I process of being retired. These j;
j! are hospital building bonds is- ];
j! sued several years ago and;!
persons holding these “A” jl
\l bonds are requested to redeem ;!
;j them at the hospital business j!
office. Since the Association \\
!> started redeeming bonds a j!
!; number of bond holders have ;j
turned their bonds over to the j!
J; hospital. Anyone desiring to ;!
!; turn their bonds over to the !;
!; hospital may do so at the time ||
I; of redemption. !;
CEREMONY MARKS
TELEPHONE CUT-OVER
An impromptu ceremony mark
ed the Matanuska Telephone As
sociation’s momentous cut-over
to the new dial system last Sat
urday afternoon. Max Clements,
new MTA manager, did the hon
ors in a ribbon cutting ceremony
which was witnessed by Earl
Sisk of Seattle, REA field engin
eer, Mayor Charles Wilson, mem
bers of the MTA board of direc
tors, and telephone system per
sonnel. Mrs. Pearl Loberg, chief
operator, was presented a corsage
of flowers.
Lew Hanks, MTA president,
said more formal ceremony is
planned, along with an open
house, to which the general pub
lic will be invited. This event
will be held as soon as Chugiak
is cut into the new system.
Operator Limited
In a word to telephone sub
scribers this week Hanks pointed
out that the operator now on
duty is there only to give infor
mation regarding telephone num
bers and to accept emergency
calls, and service outage reports.
•‘The ‘service calls’ formerly ex
tended to telephone users such as
the correct time, and where ‘Joe’
might be found, will have to be
"a thing of the past”, he pointed
out.
Two pay telephones are being
installed for the public’s conven
ience, Hanks stated. One will be
located at the MTA business of
fice and the other at the Matan
uska Hotel. Other pay stations
may be installed at a later date,
he said. These telephones may
be used for local calls, but toll
calls are limited to those within
Alaska. There will be no calls
accepted to points outside Alaska
through these pay phones.
Around April 1 Cliff Gettings,
REA Western States field repre
sentative, and Carl Blair, REA
auditor, are expected in Palmer.
They will assist the MTA board
of directors in arrangements for
an operating loan. Hanks stated
they hope at that time to do
ground work for a subsequent
construction loan for the Chug
iak area. He pointed out that the
Chugiak area has doubled in pop
ulation since the original sign-up
for telephone service was taken.
At the present time there are
enough lines for those original
subscribers, but many additional
families desire telephone service
and if a loan can be secured the
system will be extended in the
Chugiak area.
Mrs. Clayton Esslinger left for
a four-week vacation in the
States last Thursday. She plans
to visit at the home of her moth
er in Palding, Ohio and visit the
Esslinger’s son Howard who is
enrolled at Annapolis. Following
a two-month midshipman cruise
this summer, Howard is expected
at home for a vacation during the
month of August.
Harold Dunn Named
Exalted Ruler of
Local Elks Lodge
Harold Dunn has been naimd
the new exalted ruler of the Pal
mer Elks lodge. Named to serve
with him during the coming year
are the following: Albert Metz,
esteemed leading knight; Jan
Koslosky, esteemed loyal knight;
Ben Hudgins, esteemed lecturing
knight; L. C. Stock, secretary;
Thomas Lepak, treasurer L;. O.
Hayes, tyler; and LeRoy Johnson,
trustee. Stock and Lepak were
named to the respective offices
which they have held since 1951.
The installation of officers
ceremony will be held at the
lodge on Wednesday, April 3 with
Oskie Weeda of Anchorage, dis
trict deputy, as installing officer.
Weeda will be assisted by the
pa.it exalted rulers of the Palmer
and Anchorage lodges.
LeRoy Johnson, new member
! of the board of trustees ,will be j
| the out-going exalted ruler.
—
Over 5Q0 Attend
Hotel Open House
Between 500 and 600 well-wish
ers turned out to greet the new
owners of the Matanuska Hotel at
open house which was held at
the hotel last Saturday evening.
Throughout the hotel lobby at the
desk and in the bar baskets and
bouquets of colorful flowers in
dicated some of the many good
wishes extended to Pat Wells,
Mr. and Mrs. Dean Decker and
Mr. and Mrs. Phil O’Neill.
Over 300 of the guests partook
of the smorgasbord which was
served.
TOGS AND SEAMS
MOVES TO CHUGIAK
Mrs. Lorraine Johnson an
nounced this week she plans to
move her business, Togs and
Seams, to the new shopping cen
ter located in Chugiak. Mrs. John
-son, who has been in business in
Palmer since October, expressed
her thanks to her customers. The
Johnson family plans to retain
their residence in Palmer for
about another month and then
will move to Chugiak she said.
Highlight of
School Social
Year, Sat. Night
Members of the Junior class of
the high school began decorating
the gym yesterday, following
What seems a very ambitious
theme, for the Junior-Senior
prom which will be held Satur
day evening. The decorations are
sure to be outstanding and will
be completed before the magic
hour of 9 p.m. when the dance
will begin.
Harry Swanson, popular Anch
orage area orchestra, will furnish
the music.
Attendance will be by invita
tion only and students receiving
the printed invitations have ac
cepted them as an honor.
The prom, given by the junior
class each year, honors the grad
uating seniors.
Prior to the dance juniors,
seniors and faculty members will
attend a dinner being sponsored
by the juniors and prepared under
the supervision of Mrs. Jack Cope.
The dinner will be served at 6
p.m. in the high school cafeteria.
ACCA Holding
Easter Seal Sale
For the first time in several
years, the Alaska Crippled Chil
dren’s Association, Inc. is con
ducting a territorial-wide Easter
Seal campaign from March 15 to
April 21. Plans for the campaign
in the Matanuska Valley include
an appeal letter sent to as many
residents as can be contacted and
coin containers placed in various
down-town business establish
ments by Mrs. Faith Krause of
Palmer.
Dr. Harry Briggs, executive di
rector of the ACCA, indicated
that he hopes to use some of
the money raised in Palmer for
the support of local children.
Several years ago, the ACCA
spent several thousand dollars
on a child, at that time of Pal
mer ,who underwent treatment
at the ACCA Center in Anchor
age.
The ACCA expects to expand
its program in the near future
by purchasing a much larger
treatment center in Anchorage.
ouncil Notes
^WWWWWWN
A special meeting was held'
March 27 by the Palmer City
Council in lieu of the regular
meeting of March 26 which was
cancelled because a quorum could
not attend. Present at the March
27 meeting were Mayor Charles
Wilson and Councilmen William
Zahradnicek, Ray Lancaster, Jan
Koslosky, and Charles Logsdon.
* * * *
Ted Buzby of the street depart
ment appeared before the Coun
cil and made seevral reports,
chief among which was the fact
that one of the city water wells
is again sanded-up. He stated
that two years ago the well sand
ed-up and the casing was brought
up and hbout $7,000 spent on re
pairing the well. The same con
dition again exists, he reported.
About one month ago the produc
tion of the well dropped to 80
gallons a minute and is now
down to about 50 gallons per
minute. He said the condition
must be rectified before the sum
mer heavy-use period comes on
and asked that Council members
consider the advisability of drill
ing a new well and installing a
pump capable of producing 250
gallons per minute.
Busby stated that before pav
ing work is done on the Wasilla
highway additional water pipe
should be installed in that sec
tion as well as on Valley street
and in the Co-Op area.
Authorization to have the wat
er department truck overhauled
was given by the Council.
* # *
Buzby, as a resident in the
Snodgrass street area, presented
a petition signed by residents of
that area, requesting that the
City assist the property owners
in installing sewer facilities that
could be tied into the Co-Op sew
er system. Approximately 1600
feet of pipe would be necessary
and would service at least five
families. These property owners
at the present time are faced with
extensive repairs to existing cess
pools. Council members tabled
the request when told other pe
titions may be coming in request
ing the same assistance. Later ac
tion is anticipated.
* * * *
Because no bids weye offered
for the old grader owned by the
city, an offer of $600 made by
Slim McMahon of Palmer, was
accepted. The grader, impracti
cal to use within the city, has
been parked at the airport.
* * *
Two requests were received
from the Matanuska Electric As
sociation; one for a permit to
build a pole dock south of the
Palmer Depot and one for a per
mit to build a temporary fence
(Continued on page 8)
BPR Paving to be
50 Feet Wide in City
The Bureau of Public Roads
has announced to the City of Pal
mer its plans to pave a 50-foot
strip from the Glenn highway to
city limits on Wasilla highway,
according to Mayor Charles W.
Wilson.
This work will be don£ by the
BPR with the City putting in the
curbs and gutters in this area.
There will be no cost to the city
and property owners for the pav
ing, Mayor Wilson pointed out.
The BPR has withdrawn from
an agreement to do engineering
work in the area from Wasilla
Road Restrictions
Apply to Alt
Roads in Valley
Road restrictions now in effect
limit gross axle loads to 50 per
cent of normal and speeds to 35
miles per hour. The restrictions
are in effect on the Palmer-Was
illa Highway, all farm roads in
the Matanuska Valley as well as
the Palmer-Anchorage Highway
and the Seward Highway. Any ad
ditional restrictions will be an
nounced as early as possible as
released by the Bureau of Public
Roads.
ALASKA DAIRY HERDS
DANGS AND TR FREE
Tests completed last week by
the Alaska Department of Agri
culture show that all dairy herds
in the Territory qualify as bru
cellosis and tuberculosis free.
This is the first time since
dairying began in Alaska some
10 years ago that these diseases
have not been present in some dc
gree according to Dr. Fred Hon
singer Territorial veterinarian.
Brucellosis which causes undu
lant Qr “Malta” fever in humans,
once was found in 11 percent of
the cattle in the United States.
Nationwide efforts have reduced
the incidence to one percent or
less. Alaska’s incidence has never
been as high as the national aver
age but as late as 1950, 137 re
actors were found. Dr. Honsinger
and his assistant, Dr. James Paz
aruski, have been conducting a
territory-wide campaign to detect
reactors.
In 1956, 2482 blood serum tests
were made revealing 17 reactors
These animals were slaughtered.
All herds from which reactors
were found have singe been test
ed three times with negative re-'
suits. All herds are tested annual
ly for both diseases and in order
to protest against new outbreaks
tests will be continued. The De
partment announced that a new
ly developed “milk ring test” will
be employed in the future to sim
plify brucellosis detection.
"BEAUTIFY PALMER"
GROUP MEETS APRIL 1
Representatives of all local or
ganizations and other interested
persons are urged to attend a
planning meeting being held by
the Palmer Garden Club next
Monday evening, April 1 at the
Extension Service office. The
project to beautify Palmer will
be discussed. Mrs. Isabelle Wool
cock, project chairman, stated this
week that .the overwhelming re
sponse being shown by everyone
indicates the area-wide interest
in the project. A number of
groups have started or are plan
ning a beautifying project. The
meeting will begin at 8 p.m.
\ GIFT ITEMS AND FINE i
\ CHINA !;
5 CHOICE IVORY, JADE, \\
I HEMATITE ![
NATIVE ARTS & CRAFTS
TREASURE CHEST
Wasilla Rd. \
street to Tosts’ corner so that
section, as well as Railroad street
and Co-Op avenue will be the
sole responsibility of the City and
abuting property owners.
The city is negotiating with a
firm of engineers to do the en
gineering and designing work
needed on these streets and will
make every effort to have the
work done at the same time the
contract is let for the BPR sec
tion. Preliminary estimates indi
cate that under this new plan
there will be some savings to
the city, Mayor Wilson stated.
The proposed *work for which
planning funds will be requested
from the Alaska Housing Author
ity include paving a 24-foot strip
2700 feet long on Railroad street,
beginning at Glenn highway and
extending parallel to the Alaska
Railroad; one thousand lineal feet
of Co-Op avenue, 24 feet wide
between Railroad street and Wal
ker street; and Colony street
from Wasilla highway to Lazy
Mountain Avenue, a distance of
700 lineal feeh 50 feet wide with
curb and gutters on the west side
of Colony. No surVeys have been
made on this work.
It has been proposed, the May
or said, that it will be necessary
to make sub-grade investigations
on streets to be paved by the City
and at least preliminary surface
^surveys of intersecting side
streets to determine drainage pat
terns involved in this project.
“It is our intention to request
planning funds for both prelim
inary planning and final con
struction plans and specifications
on that part described above”, he
said. “It is our intention to start
! construction as soon as plans are
complete and to fit this construc
tion schedule in with work on
other streets of Palmer being
paved by the Bureau of Public
Roads.”
It is hoped *that construction
will start about August 1, provid
ing planning funds can be secur
ed at an early date.
The city plans on financing this
project by a bond issue approved
by voters on January 22, 1957.
JOHN DEERE DAY
PROGRAM TONIGHT
Farm families throughout the
valley are invited to attend the
program this evening which will
observe the John Deere Day. The
program, to be held in Elks hall,
will begin at 7:30 p.m., it was
’ announced by A1 Brooks, area
representative for Northern Com
mercial Co., dealers in John
Deere equipment. Lunch will be
served following the show.
A special program of six full
color films, made especially for
farmers’ entertainment will be
shown.
Attending the program will be
Ham Hibbard, distributor of John
Deere equipment, who will be
available to answer questions re
garding equipment.
j! SPRING BULBS HAVE
|! ARRIVED READY FOR ;l
|| IMMEDIATE PLANTING
j: MAUD'S FLOWER SHOP ji
;• Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601 ;>
ALL CLEANING |
jj 1 for the 4
: L price of I
j; ON LIKE GARMENTS
Cash and Carry
j BROWN’S CLEANERS j
Free Turkey Feed^SST^Shamrock Lounge