Valley Fair Honors—
(Continued from page 1)
was conducted He established a
flour mill in Fairbanks during
this period. In 1921 he resigned
from Station work and went into
farming for two years. In 1923
he was elected to the Senate
from Fairbanks and served out
the unexpired term of E. B. Col
lins. At the close of the session
he re-entered the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture and survey
ed agriculture developments,
visiting 65 percent of the home
steads in Alaska, and later as
senior agronomist in charge at
the Matanuska Station. In 1929
he was loaned to the Alaska Rail
road as agriculture development
agent and served until 1934,
handling more than 10 thousand
requests for information on
homesteading and farming in
Alaska. He made over 650 per
sonal contacts in the north-and
mid-west, bringing over 100 pros
pective settlers to the railbelt,
of which 55 are located in the
Matanuska Valley.
Since his retirement from gov
ernment service in 1934'he has
made his home in the Valley
where he has worked diligently
on the development of the valley
and it’s industries. An active Re
publican, Mr. Snodgrass has j
served in the House of Repre
sentatives and is again this year,
at the age of 80, seeking a posi
tion in the House in the October
election. Among other services
to Alaska were two terms on the
Board of Regents of the Alaska
Agriculture College and School
of Mines. He stresses the cooper
ative way of living, is progressive
for statehood and the develop
ment of natural resources, vo
cational education lor young peo
ple and the construction of an
agricultural college in the Mat
anuska Valley.
Mr. Snodgrass and his wife,
Margaret, have five children and
14 grandchildren, the majority
of whom make their homes in
the Valley.
DON L. IRWIN DAY will hon
or an outstanding agricultural
administrator whose contribu
tions to Alaska have gone far!
toward making reality of the
visions of such early pioneers as j
Mr. Snodgrass and Gasser. Ad-1
ministrator Irwdn was appointed i
under the early Roosevelt admin-1
istration to direct the coloniza-1
tion of the Matanuska Valley, i
Under his direction an unprece-j
dented social reform was initiat
ed after later giving rise to Alas
ka’s most important food grow
ing area. He was the first joint
director of the enlarged USDA
University of Alaska research
program. Under this organiza
tion, initiated in 1947. the Ameri
can sub-Arctic acquired its first
large scale, intensive agricultur
al research program wdiich serv
AIRPORT NEWS
Richard MsAllister and Riley
Curtis, a new club student, made
their first solo flights last week.
Both are students of Jerry Har
rison who has recently received
his float rating.
BAKE SALE TO
BENEFIT GREEK BABY
Hoping to continue their spon
sorship of Demetrius- Stephanos
Paschalis, a three-year-old Greek
war baby, members of the Pal
masilla Homemakers’ club will
hold a fund-raising sale of home
made baked items on Sept. 2 at
Farmer’s Market. Their sponsor
ship provides food and clothing
badly needed by this child.
Hazel Byham and Annabelle
Kelleigh returned to Palmer this
week via the Alaska Highway.
Both had spent a few weeks in
the Seattle area, and Mrs. By
ham visited her sons in Califor
nia.
ed in a measure to offset many
years of neglect suffered by Al
aska under Federal control. Un
der his leadership the University
of Alaska’s land-grant functions
have increased until they now
rank with the best of the contin
ent.
In 1934 Mr. Trwin was recruit
ed as superintendent of the Ma
tanuska Agricultural Experi-,
merit Station by Dean Gaser.
The following year he was ap
pointed manager of the ARRC !
and in this capacity established i
the Matanuska Valley Colony ;
and directed the resettlement of
202 families from Minnesota, j
Michigan and Wisconsin. He re-1
turned to the Experiment Station
in 1936 and served as agrono
mist for the next nine years. |
Since 1947 he has been director i
of the Alaska Agricultural Ex- j
periment Station. During this !
period he has led the organiza
tion in an unprecedented grow
th. Director Irwin’s personal in
fluence has been widely felt ;
throughout the Territory. His :
deep insight into frontier prob
lems has been a powerful asset !
to the U. S. Department of Agri- j
culture and the University.
Director Irwin and his wife, \
Amy, like the Snodgrasses, have
taken an active interest in the ,
community. They have three
children and seven grandchil
dren.
The final day of the fair which
falls on Labor Day, will be dedi
cated to the pioneers of not only
the valley but of Alaska. The
tribute is planned for the early
settlers who through their faith
and hard work have seen their j
dreams of the growth and de
velopment of America's last
great frontier come true
CONGRATULATIONS
to ths
WILEY FAIR BOARD
Alaskan TV Sales and
Service
ZENITH TV'S — RADIOS — PHONOGRAPHS
AND HI FI'S
PALMER
THE ALASKA AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENT STATION I
Announces a Public
FIELD TOUR
al the
MATANUSKA EXPERIMENT FARM
SEPTEMBER I, 1956 - 9:00 lo 12:00A.M.
j
9:00 A.M. IRRIGATION and FIELD CROPS '
10:00 A.M. LIVESTOCK and DAIRYING I
11 ;09 A.M. POTATOES, TRUCK and OR* j
NAMENTAL CROPS
Come lo the farm in the morning. See the
opening of the Matanuska Valley Fair in
Ihe afternoon
MATANUSK^^
CHICKEN STYLE SHOW
What the best dressed hen and rooster will be wearing this
year will be styled at the Matanuska Valley Fair. This popular
feature of each Fair will bring cash prizes to the winner, and
the prize winning hen and rooster will be prominently dis
played during the Fair.
Three-Day Fair— ,
(Continued from page 1)
stand events will include horse
riding events for men and wo
men IP years or older at 3:15, a
show by famed Eddie Peabody,
‘king of the banjo”, and the
Johnny Tempy Trio; and finals
in the horse racing events. Ban
joist Peabody and the Trio will
present another program at 5:00
p.m. followed by a wood-chopp
ing contest in which Ben Hitch
cock has challenged all comers.
Through the courtesy of Oli
vera's Restaurant of Anchorage
where Eddie Peabody and the
Tembv Trio are under contract,
the Matanuska Valley Bank will
present the "king of the banjo"
and the ever popular Trio during
the Fair as an added attraction.
There will be five branches of
the Armed Services participating
in the Fair. Units of the 23rd In
fantry Division will participate
and display various pieces of
heavy equipment, including a
tank, rocket launcher, M76 otter,
field kitchen, ambulance, 105
howitzer, communications equip
ment and winter clothing. First
Lieutenant Bennie R. Bridges of
the First Battalion will be in
charge of personnel and displays. 1
Captain Henry E. Brown has 1
been designated as project offi
cer for the event. The Air Force
will have an interesting display
of jet engines in the Snodgrass
Building. The U. S. Army Reser
ve Unit and units from the Na
tional Guard will participate.
The Naval group from Kodiak
wi 1 be the fifth military branch.
Transportation to and from the
fair is being provided through
the cooperation of the Alaska
Railroad and the K and K Trans
portation Company of Anchor
age. the latter to run scheduled
busses to the Fair.
At 8:30 Sunday evening the
gigantic fireworks display will be
set off. All pieces will be hand
led by members of the Palmer
Moose Lodge and in case of rain
the show will be postponed until
Monday evening at 7:30.
On September 3. the third and
final day of the 1955 Fair, gates ;
will again open at 11 a.m. and
pogram events will get under j
way at 12:30 p.m. with a softball
game between Hohn’s Plumbing j
team from Anchorage and a
group of Palmer softball players.
At 2:30 p.m. the Spokebenders
Motorcvcle Club of Anchorage, i
and all other interested riders
will compete for the All Alaska
title. This thrilling event will be
followed by the picturesque Cop
per River Indian dances. At 4
p.m. the Naval Band will again
present a free concert. The band
ii i\v
UNITIZED CARGO
SERVICE via
The Alaska Line
sailings FROM seaffie
ms
arch. Frl-’ SeWatd
S’ffanS San Fuan
Docks).
cc iliamna, Tues,
bS * V\ calling at
Sept. . i\UR Dock'
Seward
lid Va’dex.
1
T. J. Maloney, agent
Pb. Anchorage 22001
ALASKA
STEAMSHIP COMPANY
plays for many official events
and at special Alaskan functions, j
Between program events fair
goers will have an opportunity
to see the very interesting dis
plays and demonstrations and
enjoy themselves on the midway
A 48-hour carousel will have the .
original type music that was us
ed in the early 1900's. This
merry-go-round is the oldest and
largest carousel operating on the
American continent, and was
made by the Dietz Company of
Germany back in 1894. The ani
mals are all hand-carved. There j
will be live pony rides for the
little ones; horse rides for the
larger ones. There will be games
of skill, and the absolutely nec
essary hot dog, hamburger, ice
cream, and pop stands.
The band concert will be fol
lowed by a parade of champions
in which all livestock winners
will show their stock. This will
be followed by an auction of an
imals for their owners.
Throughout the three-day Fair
the Alaska Department of Mines
will have their Mine Safety car
located at the spur near the de
pot and the public is invited to
t’isit the car and see t)ie mine
safety equipment used by the
Department in Alaska. This is
ane of the very few cars of this
r.vpe left in America.
At 7:30 Monday evening the
grand prizes will be awarded
on the queen tickets and at 8
p.m, ihe curtain will come down
on what is sure to be the iffost
successful Matanuska Valley
Fair ever held.
WE SALUTE THE
MATANUSKA VALLEY FAIR BOARD OF
DIRECTORS AND OTHER WORKERS
AND WISH THEM A
MOST SUCCESSFUL 1956 FAIR
>
Mafanuska Telephone
Association
CONGRATULATIONS
and
BEST WISHES
ta the
MATANUSXA VALLEY FAIR BOARD
Piggly Wiggly
CHIPS for BEDDING
I have recently purchased a wood chipper and will
have chips for bedding this coming season.
I have a vast amount of seasoned tops left over from
our legging which will make dry bedding. I will need to
know somewhere in the amount of chips you who are in
terested, wi'I use. By knowing Shis I can skid in and stack
the amount I will need and have dry wood to chip, and not
have to get the easiest thing available when the snow
gets deep. I will take orders now, or if you are interested
in chips as bedding at all, give me some idea of the amount
you will probably use. The U. S. Dept, of Agriculture leaf
let No. 323-Wood Chips for the Land - states that it takes
IQ lbs. per day to furnish clean bedding.
My price for chips is $25 per ton (I5Q cu. feet) which
would be very well seasoned to weigh only a ton. This
price is loaded on your truck at my place at Mile 58, Glenn
Highway. I will deliver in three ten lots at $30 per ton in the
Palmer-Wasilla area. As soon as the new telephone system
is in operation a phone call will bring your bedding to you.
There may be some who would want to chip their own
logs and have ample power to run the chipper. I will rent
chipper and myself to help with the chipper for $7.00 per
hour, but no power furnished with chipper. Three hours
minimum at one stop.
On the information I have been able to get on chips
they are equal or better than any type bedding used in
moisture absorptive capacity except peat moss and only
slightly under that. I think you will find chips easier to
handle in your barn and spreader and cheaper than straw.
Nuble Hamilton
Mile 58, Glenn Highway Box 1846, Palmer, Alaska