i4 m *» r
PTA SPONSORS
CHRISTMAS PLAYS
DECEMBER 18 — 8 P.M.
CENTRAL SCHOOL GYM
TH
BRAS
TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that item
you may have for sale, rent
or lease.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 8
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY, DEC. 13, 1956
PRICE TEN CENYS
CO-OP TO RETIRE $45,741 EQUITY STOCK
CAR ARRIVES FOR
HIGH SCHOOL
DRIVING COURSE
The brand naw Ford which
Hartley Motors, Ifcic. is making
ac'ailable to the high school for
their driver's training course,
has arrived in Alaska and at the
present time is in Anchorage
where it is being lettered. The
lettering will identify the car as
the high school driver’s training
ear, as well as other pertinent
information.
The four-door Customline 300
sedan is fully equipped with
safety features, heater, tinted
glass and has standard shift.
Safety features include padded
dash, belts, etc.
The car is expected to be de
livered in Palmer this Saturday.
Dual controls which will be used
during the course, have not yet
been installed. However, several
hours of class room work is re
quired in the course before any
actual driving is done and the
controls will be installed by that
time.
Juniors Postpone
Play to February 8
Members of the PHS Junior,
class have had to postpone the
presentation of their play, “The ,
High School Mystery”, it was an- j
nounced this week. A new date,
February 8, has been selected
and all persons who have purch
ased tickets are asked to “put
them away for now”. All tick
ets purchased will be honored
February 8.
The play was postponed be
cause the stage is not yet com
pleted to the point where a good
presentation could have been
made December 14, the original
date of the presentation. “By
February all the new stage equip
ment will be here and the stage
will be completed” Miss Eliza
beth Gaines, play director, said.
PALMER STUDENT
ELIGIBLE FOR NATIONAL
SCHOLARSHIP EXAMS
Stephen Colberg, senior in the
Palmer High School, has been
named to compete on a national
level in the National Merit Sch
olarship exams.
Colberg, son of Dr. and Mrs.
A. J. Colberg of Palmer, was
among several PHS students who
took exams earlier this year. His
rating was high enough to list
him as a finalist and he with
other top students from the Sta
tes will take further exams some
time in January.
The Alaska Department of
Health communicable disease re
port for the week ending Decem
ber 7 showed only one commun
icable disease reported in the
Palmer area—it was a case of
pneumonia.
Say Ilappy Holidays with a
new hair style
We take evening appointments
VALLEY BEAUTY SHOP
LAVONNE JOHNSON
Phone 3043
ALASKA’S FAVORITE
GAME
Every Saturday Night
Dance Follows
Moose Hall
CITY LICENSES
1XPIRE DECEMBER 31
City licenses for 1956 will
expire December 31, City
Clerk L. C. Stock reminded
residents this week. This in-!;
eludes dog licenses as well as !
all business licenses. The of-!;
fice of city clerk, where licen-!;
ses must be obtained, is open !
for business from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. Monday through Friday.!
Operating without a valid
business license is against;!
City Ordinances 14, 31, and 41. j;
All degs within the city limits ;
must be licensed. Last year;
only 61 dogs were licensed in ;
Palmer, netting the city a to-;
tal of $145; $372 was paid out
by the city for dog catching ;
fees. ;!
57 ACP PROGRAM
TO OPEN DEG. 15
The 1957 Agricultural Conser
vation Program will be opened
December 15, it was announced
this week. Applications will be
accepted at the Extension office
for payments for spring land
clearing. The closing date will
be June 30, 1957.
Applications for the first half
of the year will be accepted un
til June 1. Clearing must be done
by June 30, 1957. Applications for
the last half will be accepted af
ter June 1, with the work being
done before October 1. Closing
date on the second half is Octo
ber 31.
The Palmer County ASC Com
mittee announced the purpose in
dividing the time into halves is
to avoid having money tied up
throughout the year in approved
applications which are often not
completed that year. This results,
they pointed out, in money being
lost for the work in this area.
The committee urges that no
»ne app'y for a practice until they
are certain they can complete
the practice within the date spec
ified.
Applications will be accepted
for grass seeding and improve
ment until June 15. The practice
must be completed by August 1.
In Palmer County a homestead
applicant must have at least one
year’s residence on the home
stead before becoming eligible
for cost-sharing. Land capability
Class VI and VII shall not be
eligible for payment. All land be
fore being cleared must be
checked by the Soil Conservation
Service to determine if the land
is suitable for clearing.
Palmer County ASC Commit
tee members for the year 1957
are Victor Falf, Jr* chairman;
A. R. Carson, and Howard Es
telle.
LEANN HOFFMAN
OFFICIAL WINNER
JN BAKING CONTEST
Leann Hoffman, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Hoffman of
Palmer, was this week notified
that she is the official winner of
the Territorial cherry-pie baking
contest. Miss Hoffman wrill go
to Chicago in mid-February
inhere she will compete in a
cherry-pie baking contest to be
staged in the Sheraton Hotel in
that city. She will compete with
winners from other U. S. pos
sessions and from each of the
48 states.
! Holiday Flowers are being
! ordered . . . place your order ;
\ early to avoid disappointment.;
;■ Telegraph Delivery Service ;
MAUD'S FLOWER SHOP
Theatre Bldg. Phone 3601 ,
More Names Needed
For Christmas
Decorating Contest
“It’s later than you think”,
members of the Palmer Garden
Club reminded residents this
week.
The annual Christmas decorat
ing contest being sponsored by
the garden club will close on
December 19. To date only a few
have registered for the contest
and unless additional families
sign up, the contest may have to
be called off.
Six cash prizes are being of- j
fered for prize-winning decora-1
tions; three for indoor and
three for outdoor winners. Dec
orations indoors should be vis
ible from outside the house.
Those planning to enter the
contest are asked to register at
Maud’s Flower Shop before De
cember 19. Judging will com
mence as soon after that as
weather and travel conditions
permit.
Valley Theatre
Installs Wide Screen
The Valley Theatre is planning
two special holiday film show-,
ings, “The Man Called Peter”,
which will be shown on Christ
mas, and “The Robe” which will
be shown on New Year’s Day.
These films will be shown on the
new wide screen, installed this
week in the Palmer theater. With
the new screen it will now be
possible to offer cinemascope
and wide-screen presentations,
Alfred Hagen, theater owner said
this week. With the addition of
new lenses all pictures shown
will appear larger and brighter,
he added.
FUNERAL SERVICES
HELD WEDNESDAY FOR
MARY-LINDA STEELMAN
A large number of friends at
tended the funeral service held
yesterday aftrnoon for Mary
Linda Steelman 11-year-old dau
ghter of Mr. and Mrs. Hildreth
Steelman formerly of Palmer and
now of Chugiak. Among those
attending were formerly school
mates and a delegation of Girl
Scouts from Palmer.
The child was killed in an
automobile wreck December 7
in the vicinity of Fire Lake Lodge
when the vehicle in which she
was riding was struck by a truck.
The Rev. Bertran Rutan offic
iated at the service which was
held in the United Protestant
ant Church December 12. Mrs.
Cy Brewer, organist, played the
organ before and during the ser
vice. Members of the Matanuska
Valley American Legion Post No.
15 served as ushers and bearers.
They were: Seth Cook, Ed Smith,
George Plumly, and Everett Ped
erson, bearers, and Leonard Ky
ger and Marvin Slaughter, ush
ers. There was a profusion of
floral tributes.
The accident victim was born
September 21, 1945 in Helena,
Arkansas and moved to Alaska
with her parents as an infant.
She lived with them in Chitina
for a period and then moved to
Palmer in 1949 where the family
had resided until two months
ago when they moved into their
new home in the Fire Lake re
gion.
Miss Steelman was an active
member of the American Legion
Auxiliary Unit No. 15; Girl Scouts
of America, and 4-H. Until mov
ing to the Chugiak area she at
tended the Palmer schools.
Surviving are her parents, her
brother Lawrence B. Clark, a
flier with the U. S. Army and
stationed in Honolulu, her ma
ternal grandmother, Mrs. Paul
(Continued on page 8)
COMPILING LIST FOR
CHRISTMAS BOXES
Anyone knowing of needy
families ,or individuals to
whom Christmas boxes may be
liven is asked to contact
NJyrtle Spencer, public health
nurse, at the Health Center,
Dorothy Saxton, U. S. Com
missioner, at her office in the
theatre building, or Helen
Maze, Palmer school nurse.
By making up one master list
it is hoped that duplications
will not be made and that no
family or individual will be
missed. Individual residents
or organizations who would
like to make contributions to
families less fortunate are in
vited *to contact one of the
three above named persons.
All contacts will remain in
strict confidence. The first
part of next week the three
women will work with Eileen
Marshall of the Department
of Welfare to formulate plans
for distribution.
TWO FIRES CAUSE
$14,000 DAMAGE
Two fires in the rural area dur
ing the past week caused com
bined damages in the neighbor
hood of $14,000. The first fire, on
December 8, destroyed a garage
used as a storage building, on
the Ted White farm. Lost in the
fire was a freezer containing ap
proximately $800 in frozen fruits,
vegetables and meat as well as
a new auxiliary light plant, parts
and tires for farm equipment, a
welder, and miscellaneous other
items. Members of the Palmer
volunteer fire department direct
ed water from the fire hose on a
section in the garage where the
White’s well was located. Later
inspection showed the well to be
undamaged. The White’s estimat
ed their loss in the neighborhood
of $7,000. The Wnites have not
had a telephone for many months
and only a day before the fire
the MTA crew tied them in and
the telephone was used to report
the fire.
On Wednesday of this week Mr.
and Mrs. Bob Bouwens lost their
home and all their possessions
when a ffre completely demol
ished their house located in the
rural area south of town. Alth
ough the house was already in
flames when the firemen arrived,
they were hampered in fighting
the fire by the lack of water. The
Bouwens, who have bften staying
in town the past few weeks, were
preparing to move back into the
house this week. The fire is be
lieved to have been caused by a
space heater in which a fire had
been built at noontime. Lost in
the fire were all of their house
hold goods, personal belongings
and other items. The only items
not destroyed were the children’s
clotfling which were not in the
house at the time of the fire.
Nothing in the house was saved.
Fire loss was estimated at around
$7,000.
PUBLIC INVITED TO
CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
All parents and friends of stu
dents in the Palmer school are
invited to the annual Christmas
pageant which will be presented
to the public Thursday evening,
December 20 in the Central sch
ool gymnasium. Members of the
junior high school chorus and
band and the senior chorus and
Pioneer band will present a com
bined program of Christmas
music. The entire program, which
begins at 8 p.m., will probably
not run over one and one half
hours and all residents of the
community are invited to attend.
There will be no admission
charge.
Valley Area Hit
By High Winds;
Minus Zero Weather
“How cold is it?” is the com
mon greeting heard on the
streets this week. A check with
the weather reporter today show
ed that yesterday was the coldest
day in the valley during the cold
spell that has settled in nearly
all parts of Alaska. Yesterday
morning it was 22 degrees below
zero, according to the official re
port. Lower and higher readings
were unofficially reported in
various parts of the valley.
Mercury In the cold weather
indicators hasn’t been above zero
for eight days and eight days
ago it went but one degree above
the circle mark. Palmer and the
valley may be glad they are lo
cated in the Banana Belt section
of Alaska. Snag was reporting
54 below' today.
The wind storm that hit the
valley Thursday night and con
tinued until Saturday night, did
i considerable over all damage. A
I number of television antennas
were blown down, a few chim
neys were wrecked by the gales,
many cars were stalled by snow
blown under the hoods—several
car hoods were blown up and
trunks blown open. Several activ
ities slated for the week-end were
i cancelled or p«stponed, including
the Cub Scout Pack meeting
which had been postponed once
before.
Fire Chief Joseph Gallant re
minded residents to use caution
in pushing their heating equip
ment. “Don’t turn oil burners up
any higher than the equipment is
built to handle”, he cautioned,
“and be sure space heaters are
located away from inflammable
material.”
Local Schools
Planning Christmas
Observances
Christmas parties in the Pal
mer schools will be held in the
primary grades on Friday after
noon, December 21, it was an
nounced this wreek by William
Zahradnicek, superintendent of
schools.
Each room will plan their own
party which will in most cases
consist of light refreshments and
a Christmas tree. The parties
will be held in grades one thro
ugh eight.
December 21 will be the last
fay of school until after the holi
days, the superintendent said.
Classes will resume on Wednes
day, January 2.
Members of the high school
classes will celebrate Christmas
with a dance Friday evening, De
cember 21 which will be held at
the high school for all students.
Dress will be semi-formal. The
dance is being sponsored by the
Polaris group.
Legion Xmas Parly
Set for December 20
Movies, a visit from Santa
| Clause and ice cream treats are
on order for all children attend
ing the American Legion An
nual Christmas party which will
be held at Legion hall on Thurs
day evening, December 20. The
party will start at 7 p.m. and all
Legionaires, members of the
Auxiliary, and their children are
invited to attend. All adults are
; asked to take two gifts; one for
a boy, and one for a girl.
We will be open Christmas
day if our patrons wish.
Please make reservation by
December 22
CO-OP CAFE
Jim and Claudia Wilson, Props.
530,000 TO BE
DISTRIBUTED IN
VALLEY AREA
Starting next Monday the Ma*
tanuska Valley Farmers Co-Oper
ating Association will begin the
distribution of $30,000 in brand
new bills. The money will go into
I circulation in the denominations
of one, five, ten, and twenty dol
lars, each to be enclosed in a
cellophane wrapper which will be
marked “Co-Op Dollars”.
The Co-Op is using this way of
observing the retirement of it's
1949 issue of Certificates of
Equity and Capital Reserve Cer
tificates which runs into the am
ount of $45,741.97. Holders of
| these certificates may redeem
| them at the Co-Op general office
and will be given the “Co-Op
; Dollars” in the amount of the
I certificates.
Approximately $16,000 of the
[total will he mailed to former val
ley residents who are now living
in the States. The redemption of
the 1949 certificates makes the
| Co-Op three years ahead of their
schedule for redemption and will
say “Merry Christmas to a great
number of valley residents.
It was pointed out this week
that everyone in the valley may
become a member of the Co-Op
and be eligible for certificates
which are issued each year on
a dividend basis. “You don’t have
to be a farmer. You don’t have
to be a producer of any kind to
become a member of the Co-Op’’,
it was pointed out by Clayton Es
slinger, Co-Op comptroller. Any
one making purchases at the Co
Op is eligible to become, a mem
I ber by obtaining a number and
receiving patronage slips at the
time of their purchase. The slips
| are turned in once a year to the
| office and from them the equity
> amount is figured. Certificates
are issued in the amount comput
ed each year and are redeem
able in 10 years time. Patronage
membership does no carry the
voting privilege that the produ
I cer’s membership has, he added.
CENTRAL SCHOOL TO
PRESENT PROGRAM
Students of grades four, five,
and six, of Central school will
present a Christmas program on
Wednesday afternoon, December
19, in the gymnasium. Students
from the other primary grades in
Central school, as well as all
students of Swanson school will
be guests at the program. The
program is being worked up by
teachers in the three grades and
Mrs. Lois Weldon, chorus ding
tor. All parertts of the primary
grades students are invited to at
tend the program.
SANTA VISITS PALMER
December 19-20-22
For a visit to your home call
3154 — 50c donation for L.D.S.
Primary Department
WELCOME HOME
George and Amy
at the
SHAMROCK LOUNGE
Saturday night
the 15th
Music by
Frank and the boys
Christmas Party, Dec. 15, Palmer Bar
Everyone Welcome
Dancing,
Entertainment, Eals