ALASKA HISTORICAL
LIBRARY
JUHBAU
t
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
THREE TALES OF CHRISTMAS
CENTRAL SCHOOL GYM
FRIDAY. DECEMBER 13
8:30 P.M.
TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
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VOLUME 11. NUMBER 7
PALMER. ALASKA THURSDAY. DEC.. 12. 1957
.PRICE TEN CENTS
WORKSHOP, CHORUS
MERE FRIDAY WITH
“CHRISTMAS TALES”
A fine arts production embrac
ing dramatics, a platform reading,
and choral music, will reflect the
simplicity, beauty, and the ma
jesty of the serious import of
Christmas when members of the
.Anchorage Community Chorus
and the Anchorage Community
College Workshop join talents to
present “Three Tales of Christ
mas” at the Central School gym
nasium tomorrow night at 8:30
o’clock.
Tickets for the performance are
still available at Bettys’ the Co
Op, Bert’s Drug store, and from
members of the Matanuska Val
ley Chamber of Commerce, Beta
Sigma Phi, Palmer P-TA and
Palmer Library Association. Gen
tcal admission tickets are $1.00
each for adults and 50 cents for
children.
The program will open with
the Thornton Wilder play, “The
Long Christmas Dinner, which
traces family life over several
generations of a particular fam
ily, depicting their changing
views as expressed about the din
ner table. The play will be un
der the direction of Frank Brink,
Workshop director who is well
known to Palmer residents for
his previous appearances here.
The play is to be followed by
the Stephen Vincent Benet plat
form reading, “A Child Is Born”,
directed by Don Gretzer. The
reading portrays the work-a-day
views of the Bethlehem inn keep
er in whose stable the Nazarene
was born. A narrator, individual
voices from the chorus and choral
music help complete the portray
al.
The chorus, under the direction
of Mrs. George (Mary) Hale will
execute anthems, carols, and
choruses from Handel’s “Messiah”
as its portion of “Three Tales”
with the famous “Hallelujah
Chorus” as the finale.
The cast for the one-act play
includes Nancy Cox, Margaret
Mielke, Randy Maddux, J. Earl
Cooper, Ernest Brown, Julia
Meriwether, Betty Arnett, Elea
nor Arscott, Bob DeLoach. Paul
ine Reed, Charles Hill and Bun
ny Brown.
Cast for the stage reading parts
are Don Johnson, Don Gretzer, ‘
Shari Siiberer, Betty Arnett,
Bunny Brown, Dennis Lynch,
Don Clarkson, and Randy Mad
dux.
The only soloist portion of the
(Continued on page 8)
REGULAR
ENTERTAINMENT
Friday, Dec. I
8 P.M. ’til?
* Valuable pri:
• Refreshments
ALPINE CIVIC CLUb
3EMENTS for your
tables
1AGES for your holi
dates
for your hosiess
DELIVERY
orders back
, AVOID
SHOP
Phone 3601
I COUNCIL
NOTES
? <
All Council members, (with
the exception of Bertram Duff
who was unable to attend) and
the Mayor were in attendance at
the December 10 meeting of the
Palmer City Council. Also pres
ent were James Hamlin, mem
ber of the Hospital Board of Di
rectors, and Dr. Marshal Simp
son, member of the hospital staff.
* * *
The hospital representatives
requested the city consider some
method of handling police cases
which must be confined to the
hospital. During a lengthy dis
cussion it was pointed out by the
visitors that occasionally an un
ruly person who is under arrest,
needs hospital care. It was point
ed out that the hospital is not
properly equipped to handle un
ruly patients without special
guards. The responsibility of pay
ments for “city” patients was dis
cussed and the request of the
hospital board was turned over
to the Public Safety Committee
for further study and recommen
dations.
* * *
Council members approved a
request for $1,989.75 to purchase
immediately needed equipment
for the fire department includ
ing two 400-foot lengths of hose,
gasgets, bunker pants and coats,
mitts, hex bars and two Scott
air-pacs. This equipment purchase
was recommended by Fire Chief
George Burns following his visit
to Palmer last week.
* * ❖
Bar operators in the city asked
approval of a request to remain
open the night of December 31
through January 1 for their an
nual holiday parties. Because
such" control is vested in the Ter
ritory, and no longer on a local
level, the Council voted to recom
mend to the Liquor Control
Board that favorable considera
tion be given the request.
* * *
A letter will be written to the
Territorial Liquor Control Board
requesting that paexage liquor
(Continued on page 8)
Residents Invited
To Enter Garden Club
Christmas Contest
The 'Palmer Garden Club will
again this year sponsor a Christ
mas lighting contest. However
because of wind damage experi
enced the past few years, outdoor
decorations will not be judged.
Instead, participants are request
ed to concentrate on window
decorations. Three cash prizes,
$25, $15, and $10, will be award
ed in this classification only.
Persons planning to enter the
contest are asked to register at
Maud’s Flower Shop. Judging
will be done on December 22 and
23. A small number of persons
registered last year and the club
is hoping for a much greater
number this year.
SAVE!
i ON YOUR
HOLIDAY CLEANING
LIKE GARMENTS
1 for the j
L price of I
Gash and Garry
BROWN’S CLEANERS
PALMER’S ROLE
IN TOURISM TOLD
BY AVA DIRECTOR
A big tourist season in 19o8, in
which Palmer can play a major
role, was described by “Dutch"
Derr, manager of the Alaska
Visitors Association during a visit
to Palmer on Tuesday of this
week.
Scheduled tours are being sold
even now for next summer, he
stated. He reported that last year
17,000 tourist cars came into Al
aska—another 76,000 persons
bought tickets to come by air or
boat, with the majority coming
from the Western states. Adver
tising of AVA is concentrated in
that section of the country, Derr
said.
“We can get them (tourists)
here—once they are here we have
to make them happy. Are you
people in Palmer going to be
ready for them or are they to
only sleep here and run?” the
director asked.
Scheduled bus tours will bring
four out of six buses to Palmer
for an overnight stay three or
\our times a week. “Think of the
money that will be left here in
Palmer”, Derr pointed out.
In his opening remarks to a
group of Chamber members the
AVA manager, who served as
the Fairbanks Chamber of Com
merce manger for three and one
half years before taking over his
present duties, stated quite
frankly that he had some gripes
about Palmer and that he was
going to make them public.
“I told a lot of people in the
States and Alaska that Palmer is
the milk Capitol of Alaska . . .
that they could get good milk
shakes here, with good ice cream. ;
For two successive days last sum
mer my wife and I were here and
got milk shakes served with ice
milk and ice cream out of a
machine.
‘“This may seem like a small
thing but a great number of our
tourists are farmers . . . they come
from the great dairy areas and
they expect and want a milk
shake made from milk and ice
cream.
“And how about a good farm
dinner? Knotts famous Berry
Farm was started from famous
farm dinners and is now an eight
million dollar enterprise . . . you
people in Palmer have some
thing to promote . . . something
that no other area of Alaska has
. . . you live in the dairy country
of Alaska.”
Derr pointed to immediate ac
tions which were taken by cities
(Continued on page 8)
4-H WINNER TO TELL
OF CHICAGO TRIP
Betty Jo Wilson, 4-H territori
al winner who returned from
Chicago where she attended the
4-H Congress, will speak at an
assembly at the high school next
Monday, it was announced today
by Keith Smith, high school prin
cipal.
At the same assembly mem
bers of the student council, who
attended the Student Council
Convention in Anchorage this
week, will present their partici
pation in the convention.
BUTTE FIRE TRUCK
HOUSED IN FIRE HALL
Residents of the Butte area are
notified the Butte Fire Associa
tion’s fire track is now housed
in the fire hall, ready to roll.
The heating system in the hall
has been completed. Fire calls
are to be dii'ected to PI-2941 from
where the fire siren will be
' sounded.
■i
FRIDAY ISSUES SLATED
FOR NEXT THREE WEEKS
For the convenience of our
advertisers and readers The
Frontiersman will be publish
ed on Fridays for the next
three weeks: December 20, 27,
and January 3. The annual
Christmas edition will be pub
lished on December 20 and the
New Year’s edition on the 27th.
The Thursday publication day
will be resumed on January
9, 1958.
CHORUS AND BAND
COMBINE FOR ANNUAL
CHRISTMAS CONCERT
The Palmer high school chorus
and band will present the annual
Christmas concert on Wednesday,
December 18, at 8 p.m. in the
Central School gym. The chorus
will be directed by Mrs. Lois
Weldon and the band by Lee
Plumbley, band master.
The chorus will present a Can
tata, “The Story of Christmas”, by
H. R. Evans. The cantata is a
musical dramatization of the fam
iliar story of the birth of Christ.
The following members of the
chorus have been selected to pre
sent solos and trios: Kristie Ver
rail, Roberta Verrall and Ruth
Moore, trio of angels; Deanna
Paey, angel (soprano solo); Bill
Olsen, King Herod, (bass); Vad
ney Bledsoe, chief priest (bari
tone); Joan Stephan, Mary (con
tralto); Bill Knutsen, Gaspar;
Vadney Bledsoe, Melchoir; Mike
Cottrell, Baltasaf; Vicky Vukon
lch, soprano solo; Donna Prewitt,
alto solo; and Roberta Sharp, al
to solo.
The Pioneer band will present
a special band arrangement of
‘Ave Maria” and two sections of
French and English carols as
well as a presentation of “O Holy
Night” in which the flute section
will be featured as special Christ
mas music. In addition the band
will play at least two marches.
The public is cordially invited
to attend. There will be no ad
mission charge.
MEA Distributes
Booklets on Rules,
Articles, By-Laws
Members of the Matanuska
Electric Association Inc., this
week received by mail printed
booklets containing the Articles
of Incorporation, By-laws, and
Rules and Regulations of the as
sociation. A total of 1492 copies
were mailed to members thro
oughout the entire system.
If because of incorrect mailing
address, or for Some other rea
son, any MEA- members did not
receive a booklet, they may do so
by stopping at the general office
in Palmer or by writing a note
to the office.
This is the first time that this
assosciation information has been
compiled in one booklet. Prior
to the printing, each of the three
were distributed in separate form
on mimeographed sheets. Mem
bers are urged to read the book
lets and then store them in a
convenient place for ready ref
erence to any question they may
have which -would be covered by I
this information.
COMFORTABLE
Steam Heated Rooms
$40 Month
Hyland Hotel
2 blocks from Post Office
SSE53WP,
DAIRYMEN OBTAIN
NEEDED ORDINANCE
FOR MILK ROUTES'
A committee of Matanuska
Valley dairymen met with the
Anchorage city council this past
Tuesday night and succeeded In
obtaining a change in an ordin
ance which has hindered the dis
tribution of fresh dairy products
from the valley.
The ordinance in question stat
ed that” . . . no solicitor, peddler,
hawker, itinerant merchant,
transient vendor — or other per
son shall go in and upon private
residences in the city for the pur
pose of soliciting orders . V . ”
and was designed to protect An
chorage residents from the nuis
ance of a continual stream of
door-to-door salesmen.
It was contended by the dairy
committee that the ordinance was
not designed to disrupt the es
tablished practice, in American
cities, of the dooi'-to-door delivery
of fresh dairy' products, which
are perishable and whose prompt
delivery the American public
has accepted as a desirable tra
dition. It was further stated that
efficient operations of dairy
routes upon which many house
holders rely depended upon the
-retail routeman being able to
maintain a concentration of cus
tomers. This is particularly true,
it was averred, under Alaskan
conditions of high operating costs
and a high “turn over rate” of
residents.
Following some discussion be-.*
tween council members and the j.
committee’s representatives, Ken- [
ry Hett, Victor Falk,and Roland
Snodgrass, the council unani
mously voted to amend the word
ing of the ordinance to exempt
“duly licensed agents, taking or
ders for fresh milk and cream”,
from the ordinance.
Members of the committee ex
pressed their appreciation to the
council for its cooperation and
understanding of the problems
facing the growing local indus
try. Grade A milk production in
the Anchorage milkshed averag
es 15,000 quarts per day.
MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION
TO MEET ON DECEMBER 1G
The Matanuska Valley Minis
terial Association will meet at
the parsonage of the Hiway
Church of God December 16 at
8 p.m. Election of officers will
be held and all members are urg
ed to attend. Refreshments will
be served.
TANANA AREA
TO GET $8,190
ON CERTIFICATES
The Matanuska Valley Farmers
Cooperating Association is pre
paring a big Christmas present
for many, many valley families,
according to Clayton Esslinger,
comptroller.
Starting Monday, December
16, the Co-Op will redeem $57,
560 in 1951 certificates of equity
in the Palmer area; in Fairbanks
the- old Tanana certificates for
1947 and 1948, amounting to $8,
190 will be redeemed.
The money to be distributed
has-been wrapped in cellophane
and will circulate as “Co-Op
Dollars”. Persons holding the re
deemable certificates are asked to
take the certificates to the gen
eral office anytime after the 16th.
Persons who are unable to get
|n may mail their certificates and
Checks will be sent out December
31.
The local certificates are being
redeemed four years in advance.
All certificates of equity carry a
redeemable date of ten years
hence from date of issue.
The money will say ‘Merry
Christmas” to many families and
will directly and indirectly find
its way into the pockets of
many valley families.
Veterans’ On-Farm
Training Requested
The Experiment Station and
Extension Service have recently
received several requests about
the VA; On-Farm Training Pro
gram, according to Director A.
H. Mick. Although the Extension
Service once conducted this work,
the contract was terminated
about five years ago because
there were not enough qualified
students.
Recent requests indicate there
now may be enough qualified
veterans in the valley. Persons
interested are urged to make
tl>e-ir'wishes known to the Veter
an's?-Administration Office, Jun
e&u (letters may be addressed to
Mr. Ernest Lincoln) or to the lo
cal American Legion Ptost. The
VA Will have to survey the need
and arrange for an instructor. It
is unlikely that the Extension
Service will be selected as a con
tractor, said Mick, because of
lack of personnel.
Vacationing in Tennessee for
the holidays is Marvin Slaughter
of the U. S. G. S. office.
■4
YOUR INVESTMENT IS
NEEDED NOW!!
SUPPORT YOUR OWN RECREATION
A Valley Enterprise
Palmer Bowling
tenter
Stock offered only to bonafide resident
of Alaska
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION SEE . . .
E. O. DUGAS NORM HARTUNG
ROBERT JOHNS DR. FOSTER SIMS
JIM HURLEY ED SMITH
John Polls, Wcssilla, is accepting subscriptions
from interested persons in the Wasilict area.
COME TO OUR ANNUAL DANCING TO THE MUSIC OF THE CHEER NOTES EVERYONE WELCOME
Xmas Party, Free Smorgasbord-Palmer Bar-Fri., Dec. 13
DON'T FORGET ON SATURDAY NIGHT, DECEMBER 14, THE CHEER NOTES WILL AGAIN BE PLAYING AT THE PALMER BAR