KEITHARN# EDWARD L.
ALASKA HISTORICAL LIBRARY
i
CHILDRENS’
CHRISTMAS PARTY
SAT., DEC. 22, 2 P.M.
VALLEY THEATRE
FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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PRICE TEN CENVS
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 9
PALMER, ALASKA, THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 1956
MTA Installs
45 Rural Area Phones
As of today 45 rural telephones
have been connected to the Pal
mer board and are in operation,
according to Robert Partridge,
Matanuska Telephone Associa
tion manager. “This just about
•ompletes the Matanuska-Spring
er section”, he said. Only about
one half dozen phones in this
section remain to be connected.
'This work has been completed in
less than a month and extends
the MTA service to users who
have been without telephone ser
vice for many months.
Partridge announced that the
MTA board of directors recently
signed a contract with the Con
nally Construction Co. of Anch
orage who on January 4 will be
gin construction of lines to the
Big Lake, Wasilla and Knik
areas. This will include all the
section from the four corners
toward the Wasilla direction. The
line was not constructed this
summer when the Bonnerville
Construction Co. of Idaho instal
led the greatest part of the MTA
system. At that time the Matan*
uska Electric Association was
moving their pole line and be
cause MTA will be using the
MBA poles, it was not possible
to string the telephone lines at
that time. Work on the Wasilla
section is expected to be com
pleted within a* month and after
that MTA will begin tying in the
subscribers along that line into
the Palmer board.
The Kellogg Switchboard Co.
of Chicago has notified the MTA
office that the central office
equipment is in Seward and
should arrive in Palmer tomor
row. They have also informed the
office that they are sending two
trained installers to Palmer to
begin installation of the equip
ment immediately after New
Year’s.
The business office of the Ma
tanuska Telephone Association
will close at 5 p.m. on December
26. This is in line with a sugges
tion made by President Eisen
hower in regards to holiday va
cation time, Partridge said.
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
AND THANKS
FOR YOUR PATRONAGE
Please make appointments
early for the New Year
events.
VALLEY BEAUTY SHOP
LAVONNE JOHNSON
Phone 3043
ENTERTAINMENT
AS USUAL AT
MOOSE HALL
Sat. Dec. 22
Everyone Welcome
PART OF THE ORIGINAL
MOOSE ORCHESTRA WILL
PLAY FOR DANCING
1120 TURKEYS GOING
TO CO-OP EMPLOYEES
Approximately 120 turkeys j
are being given this week to
employees and officials of the
Matanuska Valley Farmers
Cooperating Association in
the Palmer, Anchorage, and
Fairbanks areas, as a Merry ;
Christmas greeting from their ;
employers. This is the second
year the Co-Op has given tur- ;
keys as gifts to their employ-;
ees. ;
Elks' Santa to
Visit Glenallen
And Talkeetna
Next Sunday, weather permit
ting, members of the Palmer
Elks will make their annual
Christmas flight to Talkeetna
and road trip to Glenallen. The
Talkeetna flight will te done
with the cooperation of members
of the Matanuska Valley Airmens
Association who will furnish both
planes and pilots for the trip.
Two carloads of members are
planning to make the trip to
Glenallen where a Christmas
program of movies treats, and a
visit from Santa Claus. Baskets
for less fortunate families wdll
also be distributed.
Santa Claus also will accom
pany the Talkeetna flight and
greet the children and towns
people of that village. Movies,
treats and food baskets will be
included in the organization’s
program at Talkeetna.
LEGION CHRISTMAS
PARTY TONIGHT
Santa Claus will be ringing his
bells and shouting his greetings
to the children attending the
-American Legion’s annual Chirst
| mas party which will be held1
tonight at 7 p.m. in Legion hall.
All Legionnaires, members of
the Legion Auxiliary Unit, and
their children are invited to at
tend.
The program will include a
number of interesting movies
and treats of ice cream and other
goodies for the children.
Adults are asked to take two
gifts, one each for a boy and a
girl.
AVA HEAD TO VISIT
PALMER JANUARY 2
Frank Whalery, Alaska Visit
ors Association manager, will be
the guest speaker at the January
2 meeting of the Matanuska Val
ley Chamber of Commerce. Whal
ey will include in his talk work
done by the Association last year
to help promote Alaska to the
tourist trade and plans being j
made by the Association for the |
coming year.
All persons interested in tour- j
ism are invited to attend the
meeting.
CHRISTMAS
FLOWERS & PLANTS
Telegraph Delivery Service
MAUD'S FLOWER SHOP
Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601
FERTILIZER ANALYSIS
RECOMMENDED DY
EXPERIMENT STATION
The time is drawing near for
farmers to decide what fertilizer
analysis to oder for their 1957
potato crop. This week C. H.
Dearborn, extension horticultur
ist with the Alaska Agriculture
Experiment Station offered in
formation on recent findings.
He pointed out that this past
September Dr. George Scarseth,
in conjunction with the Experi
ment Station staff,, presented
some views regarding the use of
fertilizers in Alaska.
Field experiments this past
season showed that leaf burn of
potatoes could be largely pre
j vented by using adquate potash
in the mixed fertilizer. This leaf
burn is what many potato grow
ers in Alaska have called blight,
I it was pointed out.
In order to improve potato top
growth, and in turn improve the
yield of tubers, the horticultur
ist said it seems desirable to in
crease the potash applied to the
soil. This can be done easily, he
pointed out, by purchasing a fer
tilizer with a higher proportion
of potash than that carried in
the mixture recommended for
•1956. Recommended was an 8-24
12 mixture as a better choice than
the 8-24-8 or 8-32-8 previously
recommended. An 800-pound per
acre application of this analysis
would add to the land 64 pounds
of nitrogen, 192 pounds of phos
phorus and 96 pounds of potash,
he said. This 8-24-12 fertilizer, or
a ratio supplying similar amounts
of nitrogen, phosphorus and pot
ash will be satisfactory for any
other vegetable or fruit produc
tion, Dr. Dearborn stated. Ex
perience to date indicates that
any of the several forms of pot
ash are satisfactory for controll
ing the leaf burn. Where there
is a choice it seems well to re
quest the sulfate form in prefer
ence to the chloride, he added.
In the Tanana Valley fertiliz
(Continued on page 14)
REV. LANCASTER
NAMED PRESIDENT
MINISTERIAL ASS'N.
Rev. Wesley Lancaster of the
Church of God was named presi
dent of the Matanuska Valley
Ministerial Association at a meet
ing held at the Lazy Mountain
Home December 17. Named to
serve with him during the com
ing year were Rev. J. Einar Bach
of St. John’s Lutheran Church,
vice-president; and Rev. Joan
Ashby, secretary-treasurer. Rev.
Earl Chandler, retiring presi
dent, conducted the meeting. Re
freshments were served at the
close of the meeting.
MOOSE TO CONDUCT
"OPERATION CAR LIFT"
The Palmer Moose lodge
will again this year conduct-:
“Operation Christmas Car-lift”.
Because the majority of the I
churches are planning special;
holiday programs this Sunday, j:
Moose members will operate \
their service this Sunday mor- I
ning. Anyone wishing a ride \
to the church of their choice
is asked to call Moose lodge. ;!
Members have asked that calls
he made as soon as possible >
so that cars will be available
for the service. $
VALLEY CHILDREN
INVITED TO
MERCHANTS’ PARTY
All children throughout the
valley in the age group up to the
sixth grade are cordially invited
to attend the Merchants’ annual
community Christmas party
which will be held this Saturday
afternoon in the Valley theatre
at 2 p.m.
A selected program of movies,
including the ever-popular car
toons, will be shown. A large
gaily-lit Christmas tree will be
the center of attention just off
to the side of the screen and
Santa Claus will make a visit to
the theatre just to greet the chil
dren who turn out for the event.
A bag of treats, prepared by Wo
men of the Moose, will be distri
buted to each and every child at
tending.
Members of the Palmer Moose
lodge will again this year act
as ushers at the party, seeing
that each child gets a seat and
is well cared for. Because of
limited seating parents are ask
ed not to attend the party.
Invite Participation
In Farm Forum Plans
A number of letters have been
mailed to local organizations and
various agencies interested in
regards to the 1957 Farm Forum,
it was announced today by Lew
Hanks, district agent with the
Extension Service.
A meeting has been set for Fri
day evening, December 28, to
which representatives of these
agencies and organizations have
been invited to attend. The group
will be invited to help determine
the program for the ’57 Farm
Forum.
“We have included several
womens organizations in this in
vitation,” Hanks said. “If it is
so indicated, perhaps the pro
gram can be broadened to some
extent to include more commun
ity and homemaker phases”, he
added.
Farm Forums the past two
years have been held in Febru
ary. No date has yet been set for
the coming year,
THREE NAMED TO
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Three members of the Matan
uska Valley Chamber of Com
merce were named to the Cham
ber’s board of directors at the
December 19 meeting. They are
Mrs. Carolyn Shields, Mrs. Betty
Mears and Eugene Reed. Reed
was re-elected to the board and
Mrs. Shields and Mrs. Mears will
replace A1 Hagen and Glen Per
singer whose terms expired.
The new directors will serve
with Richard Jones, James Hur
ley and Stewart Durrant. A meet
ing will be scheduled soon at
which time the directors will
name the officers for the coming
year.
Frank Whaley, Alaska Visitor’s
Association manager, will be
guest speaker at the January 2
meeting of the local Chamber.
All interested persons are invit
ed to attend.
SCOUTS STILL HAVE FEW
CHRISTMAS TREES FOR SALE
A number of Christmas trees
are still available at Ketchikan
Spruce Mills in Palmer. The trees
are being sold by the Palmer
Boy Scouts, with all proceeds to
go into their treasury.
Paving Discussed;
Bond Election Jan. 22
WATER SYSTEM NOW
BELONGS TO CITY
Mayor Charles Wilson an
nounced this week that he and
City Clerk. L. C. Stock have
signed the final necessary pa
pers and that the city water
system is now the property of
the City of Palmer. Final pap
ers from the Alaska Public
Works in Juneau were signed
on Tuesday of this week. The
city’s first payment, of about
$16,000 is due next spring.
M.E.A. To Seek
Easements for
Transmission Line
Directors of the Matanuska El
ectric Association are making
plans to set up a meeting with
about a dozen property owners
from whom the association may
■seek property easements. The
easements would be needed if the
proposed transmission line is to
be run parallel to the railroad
tacks, south of town.
The board gave its approval
for work on reinsulating the
old Eklutna line by the M.E.A.
crew this winter, as well as what
ever repairs are needed to make
the line operate at 34.5 KV. This
line will be needed this spring
if the high waters of the Matan
uska river causes outages along
the line that comes from the
Eklutna power plant to Palmer.
The transmission line which
MEA is seeking to install would
carry the 34.5 KV load from the
sub-station. Swithches will be
needed on this line. “If the line
must be located back away from
the proposed area it will be much
' more difficult to reach the swit
ches in case of an outage”, a
spokesman pointed out this week.
For maximum functioning there
should be switches at Palmer,'
from where the power would go
out to Wasilla, and three at the
sub-station from where the power
would go out to Anchorage, Pal
mer, and Chugiak. Switches in
between could be easily reached
and in a minimum of time of the
line can be located along the
proposed route, the spokesman
pointed out. A temporary sub
station would be set up at Ma
tanuska.
The meeting is expected to be
called shortly after the holidays.
CHRISTMAS
By Bob Klem
1 saw them spraying bogus frost
On a plastic, Christmas tree!
And artifical snow b’gosh
How’s that for absurdity?
Tho I still prefer the popcorn
string
1 somehow need to feel
That nothing matters at all. at all
If only the spirit's real.
We will be open Christmas
day if our patrons wish.
Please make reservation by
l.S December 22
CO-OP CAFE
Jim and Claudia Wilson, Props.
At this week's Chamber of
Commerce meeting Mayor Char
les W. Wilson told members that
the City Council has approved
a resolution calling for another
bond election which will be held
in Palmer January 22. He again
explained to the Chamber mem
bers that the voters will be ask
ed to vote yes or no for the pro
posed $200,000 bond issue. If this
passes this time, he pointed out.
then we will be able to do some
paving in Palmer.
The Mayor said that the city
must let the Bureau of Public
Roads know by the first of Feb
ruary whether or not paving is
being planned. At that time the
Bureau will be calling for bids
for the paving program they are
planning and if the city tax pay
ers approve the bond issue, pav
ing to be done by the city can be
included in the bid requirements,
thereby, providing paving at a
much lower cost than if the city
goes ahead at a later time on
their own.
The BPR plans to pave only
a 24-foot strip down the center
of the road. Mayor Wilson point
ed out that when the paving is
completed it will be the respon
sibility of the city to maintain it.
A partial paving job will be ex
pensive to maintain because of
the continual use on the edges
by cars being parked. A strip of
this type will ravel, he pointed
out.
The city proposes to pave on
both sides of the strip, making
it 57 feet wide from curb to curb.
“With what figures we have
been able to get, it now appears
that the approximate cost to the
property owners will be $900 per
50-foot lot, with the city to pay
one third. At this price, payable
over a period of 10 years, the
property owner will pay but $60
a year, or about $5 per month,”
Mayor Wilson said.
It was pointed out that no
paving will be done unless the
property owners themselves, by
petition, ask for it. The petitions
must have over 50 percent of the
assessed property valuation sig
natures, he stated. The bond elec
tion will only grant the city
(Continued on page 14)
SEE LARGE OIL PAINTING
ON EXHIBIT NOW AT
BETTYS’
Orders taken for all size
pain tings.
RUSTY DOW
Box 667 Palmer
CHRISTMAS PARTY
Sat. Nile, Dec. 22
SOURDOUGH BAR
* Entertainment
* Free Smorgasbord
* Dancing
Everybody Welcome
kv
amKMKSMMabmss I i'll mill il il i ill II i|i Mu mmm — IlnUllll IlIM—l
Sponsored by the
Northland Pioneer Grange
Palmer School Gym - 9 P.M. ■ I A.M.
Admission $2.50, Ladies Free