Vol. 1, No. 60
Palmer, Alaska, April 24, 1948
Ten Cents
MVFCA Factions Disagree Over Regulations
Anchorage Brings Symphony Music To Valley
Weatherman
Tells C of C
How It’s Done
How weather observations are
made, the basis upon which
weather is forecast, and the use
to which those forecasts are put
was explained to members of
the Chamber of Commerce Wed
nesday by P. O. Epperly of the
Anchorage Weather Bureau of
fice.
-*• Mr. Epperly stressed the im
portance of the department in
relation to the work of the world,
saying that weather reports in
reality are one major means of
promoting world friendship, for
weather reports are exchanged
from all points on the globe.
The practicality of weather
forecasting, from a dollars and
cents point of view, was dem
onstrated in his explanation
of the place weather reports
play in air transportation. Di
rection of prevailing winds
can mean an increased pay
load, if the wind is a tail wind,
or it may mean a curtailed
passenger list, if it is a head
wind, Mr. Epperly said.
He explained that forecasts
are based upon the movements
of pressure areas. A high-pres
(Continued on Back Page)
Railroad Bridge
Partly Destroyed
By Night Fire
A burned out section of the
Matanuska Bridge stopped all
rail traffic between Anchorage
and Palmer between the hours
of 10 o’clock Tuesday evening
and sometime late Wednesday
afternoon. No mail was delivered
in Palmer on Wednesday as a re
sult of the accident.
.^First discovered by a Mata
nuska native at about 10 o’clock
Tuesday evening, the fire, of un
determined origin, burned
through four stringers and 16 ties
before it was controlled. The ac
cident delayed the southbound
Au-Ro-Ra from Fairbanks at
Matanuska Tuesday evening.
Col. John Johnson, general
manager of The Alaska Railroad,
who was in Palmer Wednesday,
said investigation had revealed
| n# trace of hot cinders or sparks
as the cause of the fire. He was
at a loss to explain its origin.
A section crew from Eklutna
was called to the spot and
; worked part of Tuesday and
M Wednesday to effect repeire.
School, Home Need
Closer Relation,
P-TA Panel Finds
A spirited discussion of home
and school responsibilities was
conducted through a teacher
parent panel at last Tuesday’s
final Parent-Teacher Association
meeting of the year. Both sides
spoke freely on phases of the
problem, which was finally re
solved to stem principally from
a lack of parent-teacher and
home and school understanding.
Mrs. Darrell Frank, speaking
first, told the group what was
expected of the child entering
the first grade. She grouped her
points in three categories—phy
sical, social and mental.
Under mental preparation, she
listed the need to be able to fol
low directions and the need to be
able to answer questions. The
socially adjusted first-grader, she
said, must have courtesy and re
spect for others, needs to know
how to play, and needs to know
how to listen. For his physical
preparation, the child entering
school should know how to per
form small physical tasks, as ty
ing his shoelaces or putting on
his boots, should know how to
keep his desk in order and should
have some knowledge of the use
of pencils, scissors and crayons.
Miss Dolores Zeis, public
health nurse, stated that the
health of the child is the joint re
sponsibility of parent, teacher
and nurse. She said parents could
best help by participating in con
(Continued on page 4)
Less Than 20%
Buy Bonds
Only 18.2 percent of the 500
Valley residents and businesses
on the solicitation lists of cap
tains in the hospital bond drive
have pledged or purchased
bonds, it was announced today
by drive chairman Walter Mau.
Mr. Mau said some are still
refusing their support to the
drive, asserting that there will
be no return on the bond invest
ment. He again emphasized the
fact that the bonds carry 2 per
cent interest in the 10-year series,
2V2 percent in the 15-year series
and 3 percent in the 20-year
series. Interest does not accumu
late, but will be paid annually.
Mr. Mau submitted this report
on the drive progress to date:
Bonds paid for .28
Bonds pledged .78
Number of persons pledg
ing or purchasing a bond 91
Number of persons who
have neither pledged
nor purchased .409
Total fund pledged or re
ceived during drive, $10,600
The drive chairman reported
that at press-time five captains
were still not heard from. The
drive is scheduled to end on
May 5, and Mr. Mau warned that
construction may not begin un
til the building season is well
advanced, if a higher percent
age of bonds cannot be sold in
the final 10 days of the cam
paign.
CHAMBER BOARD WORKS
FOR MORE RAIL SERVICE
Plans leading toward added
rail service for passengers into
Palmer and toward collecting in
formation and figures needed by
the Alaska Native Service were
the principal topics of discu6
j sion at last Monday’s meeting
! of the board of directors of the
! Valley Chamber of Commerce.
A suggestion made to circu
late a petition requesting in
I creased railcar service was
tabled, while plans of The Alas
| ka Railroad in regard to such
| service were investigated.
(Later Col. John Johnson, who |
I spent a short time in the Valley
on Wednesday, stated that 40
passenger double-end railbuses,
also capable of hauling freight,
are now available for the Palmer
I run. He said a round-trip daily i
j ie proposed.
The only hindrance now is in
the lack of housing for railroad
crews, who will be forced to re
main overnight here. The rail
road manager said work could
be begun on the “Y” at almost
any time now.)
Mrs. Betty Mears was appoint
ed to the position of recording
secretary-treasurer to fill the va
cancy left by the resignation of
A1 Hagen.
President Jack Maze suggest
ed that members of the Palmer
Airport Association be request
ed to attend the next Chamber
board meeting, so that board
members could learn first-hand
the progress of work on the port.
That meeting will be held on
May 3.
W. L. Zeile reported that the
(Continued on back page)
Next Sunday afternoon 22 mu
sicians, members of the Anchor
age Little Symphony, will ar
rive in Palmer to present their
annual spring concert from the
stage of the Valley Theatre. This
same concert was given before a
packed house in Anchorage last
week.
In addition to members of the
symphony, two guest artists will
appear here. They are Mrs. Nan
Jones Adams, singer, and Mrs.
Margo Freeman, harpist. Mrs.
Freeman will accompany Mrs.
Adams, and will present solo
numbers of her own,»in addition.
Sunday’s concert program has
been announced as follows by
Father James Snead of the local
Music Appreciation Club, spon
soring organization for the con
cert:
Overture to the Barber of
Seville by Rossini;
Symphony No. 104 (London
No. 2) by Haydn;
Una Voce Poco Fa from the
Barber of Seville and Kashi
miri Song, sung by Nan Jones
Adams, formerly of the New
Orleans Opera Company;
Kamennoi-Ostrow by Ruben
stein;
Habanera and Danse Bo
heme from Carmen;
Evening Prayer from Hansel
and Gretel by Humperdinck.
Members of the Anchorage Lit
tle Symphony, which is directed
by Peter Britch, include:
Ruth Hurst, Florence Weschen
felder, Letas Bailey, Minnie
Swalling, Anne Dimond, DeEette
Davis, Rica Swanson, Priscilla
Krise, Robert Bailey, Eleanor
Braendel, Arthur Braendel, Hal
Baker, Juan Miller, Ophelia
Sogn, Mac Colburn, Randy Ball,
Kathryn Andersen, Loren Reich
ert, Stephen Adams III, Morgan
Edmunds, Dorothy Stoddard and
Ernest Weschenfelder.
Tickets for the concert may be
purchased locally from Bert’s
Drug Store, Koslosky’s Depart
ment Store, the Trading Post and
the North Palmer Store. Or they
will be on sale at the box office
of the Valley Theatre before the
concert begins.
Local Club Plans Tea
Members of the Anchorage
Little Symphony will be enter
tained at a post-concert tea at the
Lodge Sunday afternoon. The
musicians will go to the Lodge
immediately at the close of the
concert, where a welcoming com
mittee from the membership of
the Music Appreciation Club will
i serve refreshments.
Committee head for the occa
sion is Miss Jennie Skule. She
' will be assisted by Miss Jean
Dickson, Miss Peggy Elfsen and
I Ifirr TV\1 rvw-r
Co-op Members
Begin Duel
Over By-Laws
A battle of the by-laws ap
peared looming before opposing
factions in the membership of
the Matanuska Valley Farmer’s
Co-operating Association today.
Latest developments in the mem
bership quarrel reveal the in
tention of one group to oust six
members of the present board of
directors, while members of the
opposing faction hope to counter
that move by declaring a planned
recall meeting illegal and there
fore unofficial.
The latest move and counter
move was precipitated by the
circulation of two petitions
among the membership, one de
manding the recall of board
members Pat Hemmer, O. R.
Carson, Oscar Kertulla, Harold
Stephan, R. E. Brock and Carl
Rasmussen, and a second setting
April 29 as the date for that
meeting.
The seventh board members,
Clair Patten, is not named in
the petition.
The recall petition sets forth
that the six named should be re
called for the following reasons:
(1) Their election was never
official, according to Co-op by
laws, since they were named to
office by acclamation rather
than by secret ballot as the
rules provide.
(2) R. E. Brock, one of the
six. cannot legally hold office
as a board member because he
is an owner is a business estab
lishment which conducts busi
ness with the Co-op. which is
specifically prohibited in the
by-laws.
(3) The board members
named have been negligent in
their duties, in that they have
not proceeded to conduct the
sale of certain houses and
(Continued on Page 3)
Artist - Teacher
Announces Plans
For Summer Class
Miss Mietzi Bleek. local artist
and a teacher in the Palmer
school, has announced plans to
instruct outdoor sketching
classes in the Valley this sum
mer.
Miss Bleck plans sketch
classes of five weeks in length,
with one lesson scheduled each
week. Her classes will be limited
to six students each, but she is
willing to conduct as many
classes as she finds students for.
There will be no age-limit for
1
s t the _ -
rty • s'udy of wate
1 - t conclusion of the
’ ce of cl s 32
an 'ed at 1 ter
t Miss Bleck is
n e~' ning how many
~~s 's s 13 wiT hive
her si - .er classes. Anyone
ishing to register is asked to
et in touch with the artist as
poop op PoesibV.