Woman's Page
Hostess of the Week
by VIKI ELLIS
Trailer living is a subject
that receives a good deal of
attention these days & rightly
so for the last year has seen
the advent of a well-ordered
and attractive trailor com
munity virtually within the
city limits of Sitka. We are,
of course referring to Alp
Trailer Court with its wind
ing roads, interesting little
knolls, two dozen or so
gaily colored, modern trail
ers and the grandeur of moun
tain and forest at every side.
It is perhaps unnecessary
to say that we are interested
in the people who live in this
little community ..all new
comers to Sitka ...but who are
rapidly becoming a vital
part of our town. Mrs. Vivian
Ayerst, our Hostess of the
Week, is certainly no excep
tion and brings with her a
vast and diverse background
in music. Having lunch with
her a few days ago was a
particular pleasure as we had
known Mrs. Ayerst and her
wonderful music in Ketchi
kan. Mr. Wilder Ayrest, was
Paymaster during the con
struction of the Ketchikan
Pulp Mill and presently is
Camp Accountant for the
Pulp Mill Builders.
Daughter Nataile, a vi
vacious young lady of twelve,
is the third member of this
happy “mobile” home and
shares her mother’s love of
music An accomplished musi
cian, she is a member of the
High School Band, plays vio
lin, piano and drums and
likes Rock and Roll!
To Mrs. Ayerst this must
be reminicsent of her own
youth in Tacoma, Wash,
where she was brought up
by an Aunt and began her
musical career at a very
early age, making her first
public appearance at the age
of six. Her love of music has
always been keen and she
time jobs in her teens when
she was featured in “song-o
-logues” used to introduce
motion picture films.
As time went by, her study
of music became more inten
sive. Two years of Public
School Music at the Univer
sity of W ashington then on
to the Cornish School of
Music, Art, Drama & Dance
by means of a Scholarship.
After several years of study,
she stayed on as a student
teacher, personal secretary
to Nellie Cornish, founder
director of the school and
appeared twice as Guest So
loist with the Cornish Sym
phony. Mrs. Ayerst recalled
with particular fondness
working for Miss Cornish,
“a charming lady who ruled
by the heart’ and who lived
so completely in the beauti
ful world of the arts. Since
then, Mrs. Ayerst s Musical
career has been no less im
pressive. She was a member
of the Tacoma Philharmonic
for several years, and later
worked with both the Olym
pi a ana rnoemx oympnonies.
She has concertized with the
Nioma Quintet, worked over
KTSM in El Paso and, long
before taking up residence in
Alaska, spent a season with
the Alaska Steamship Co, as
a member of their ship’s or
chestra aboard both the Aleu
tian and the Mt. McKinley.
She tells us she visited many
Alaskan ports and “knew
every curio shop from Ketchi
kan to Kodiak.”
Mrs. A verst is currently
teaching violin at both Mt.
Edgecumbe and Sheldon
Jackson and finds her stu
dents most industrious. She
is also in the process of set
ting up Creative Music class
es for children.
If Mrs. Ayerst had any
apprehensions about living
in a trailor that “expands and
folds up”, they have certain*
Q vanished. She is, in fact,
most enthusiastic about trail
er living and tells us that, in
spite of limited closet space
and the occassional hint of
"cabin fever,” there are many
compensations. The most ob
vious one, of course, is the
attractiveness of this “home
on wheels” and it’s ultra-mod
crn.too' (Not since we last
peeked into Better Homes
have we seen a pink refrig
erator!) But there are many
aspects of living in tin's close
ly knit community that
would escape the visitor’s
notice. All members of the
family have friends close by
and needn’t go far for an eve
ning of bridge or music. The
sharing of meals is easy, too,
since everyone lives “just up
the road apiece. But Mrs.
Ayres t seems particularly
fond of the old-fashioned
good-neighbor policy that tw
ists in her neighborhood.
"There is always an egg or
an onion for the stew avail
able next door” ...she told us,
and at this as though by de
sign., there was a knock at
the door and a neighbor pop
ped in couldn’t stay-but
wondered if she could bor
row the fish recipe book as
hers was at home. Mrs. Ayer
st must have noticed our con
fusion for she was quick to
explain that “at home” was
trailer terminology. 'At
home" could mean anywhere
from Anchorage to South of
the Mason-Dixon. All this re
minded our hostess of the
reference hooks that almost
got left behind and she add
ed, good humouredly, ‘Tin
probably the only person in
all Alaska that keeps refer
ence hooks on top of the re
frigerator!"
The spirit of helpfulness
certainly is prevalent in this
neighborhood and has gone
far beyond the exchange of
favorite books and recipes
The fathers of the very young
set got together and built a
line playground for the
children. It is within view of
many of the trailers and a
happy sight it truly is! We
noticed that the swings, bars,
rings and merry-go-round
were getting a good work-out
and so were the youngsters.
(We wondered if older child
ren about our age were al
lowed!) But Mrs. Ayerst ex
plained that there’s recrea
I
View the new
Spring Arrivals
for both
/
Men & Women
Vv. .
V
WISHING THE
BARANOF BANNER
CONTINUED SUCESS
\ I
Apparel Sh
Mr.and Mrs. jack Stair in tlieir new store, The City Electric & Refrigation Co. across
the street from Bill Green’s Tackle Shop.
for the oldsters, too; lots of
hiking space in the sur
rounding forests; beautiful
wild flowers to pick or just a
walk with the neighbor’s dog.
Another, less fortunate,
group of children hasn’t been
forgotten, either, by the peo
ple of Alp Court. The ladies
have formed an ACCA Guild
and have set up a unique
method of fund-raising
which we think is certainly
worthy of mention. As Mrs.
Ayerst explained it to us “It
is a kind of perpetual bake
sale. We simply order things
from each other—this can be
anything from Piazza Pie to
Gingerbread — and we know
what each one’s spec
ialty is, then we just put two
dollars into our individual
ACCA banks '. In this way
the fund builds up quickly,
the families get a yariety of
cooking and everyone shares
the responsibility. At lunch
we had a taste of Mrs. Averst’s
specialty “Great - Grandmoth
er s Gingerbread”. It was so
good that we went out on
the limb again. “Indeed you
can print it , offered our help
ful hostess, who loves baking
& considers it a kind of hob
by.
Our visit to Alp Trailer
Court was most enjoyable
and Mrs. Ayerst has certainly
given us an insight into
Trailer Living—we agree
with her -it does seem like
fun. we feel, too, that we
understand the people of
this community a little better.
Their spirit perhaps reflects
the progressive industry they
represent. After all, there is
nothing as permanent as
change, and it is refreshing
to meet people who can take
changes in stride and mold
out of it harmonious and
happy living.
Mrs. A verst’s recipe for Great
-Grandmother s (Gingerbread.
ui cup butter
xk cup butter & lard mixed
IV2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 scant tsp. ginger (Vfe tsp.
is enough.)
1/3 tsp. cloves
1 egg
1 cup Brere Babbit Mo
lasses
oi2 cup sifted flour
tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
Cream shortening and sugar.
Add beaten egg, molasses,
then dry ingredients which
have been mixed together.
Add hot water last and beat
until smooth. Bake in greased
shallow pan 40-45 min. in
moderate oven (350 degs).
0000
Most Feed Items
We Prize Today
Known to Ancients
NEW YORK—Most of the more
than 100 fruits and vegetables we
know and use in this country to
day, appeared on the tables of the
ancients centuries before the
Christian era. Many of them are
among the oldest food plants cul
tivated by man.
During the 20 years that it took
to build the gigantic Cheops pyra
mid at Gizeh, Egypt, in the 5th
century B. C., the workers con
sumed about $2 million worth of
onions, garlic and radishes In the
Bible, we find the exiled Israelites
complaining to Moses that they
sorely missed the cucumbers,
melons, leeks, onions and garlic
which were part of their diets in
Egypt.
Seeds of the primitive green pea
have been found in lake mud of
areas inhabited by the Swiss lake
dwellefS of the Bronze Age, some
5.000 years ago. Cherry pits have
been discovered in prehistoric
caves.
Apricots, bananas, cabbage,
grapes, peaches and dates are all
believed to have been well known
4.000 years ago. Coconuts were an
Asiatic delicacy at least 1,000 years
before Christ and grapefruit, let
tuce and plums were common by
the first century A D. Historians
believe man was budding and
grafting apples 2,000 years ago and
oranges were mentioned in Chi
nese writings of 2200 B. C.
We can thank northern Asia for
apples, apricots and cabbage;
China for peaches, pears and per
simmons; India for citrus fruits,
mangos, cucumbers and eggplant;
the islands of the Pacific ocean for
coconuts and yams; and Arabia
for dates and figs.
a
OSCAR WINNER . . . Joanne
Woodward won Motion Picture
Academy award as best actress
of 1957 for role in “The Three
Faces of Eve."
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with you!
Open
New Store
Another new business cen
ter was added to Sitka with
the opening of the City Elect
rie and Refrigeration Com
pany. Owners and operators
of the business are Mr. and
Mrs. Jack Stair.
Formally of Seattle, the
Stairs came to Sitka four
years ago and were part own
ers of Totem Electric. They
sold their interest in that con
cern and opened the new
shop located in the old site
of Brownie’s Shoe Store
across the street from Bill
Green’s Tackle Shop.
Jack Stair was head elec
trician for Foss Tug and
Barge Company and the new
store will feature appliance
repair and marine work as
well as handling a full line
of Phileo and Sunbeam ap
pliances and Star-Lite fix
tures.
a * © «
1429
10-2#
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176 TV. COVCR 21* *
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