Yol. 1, No. 44
Palmer, Alaska, February 28, 1948
Ten Cents
Valley Man
Shoots Self
Wilbur C ranger, an employe
of the Matanuska Valley Farm
er’s Co-operating Association
who worked at the powerhouse,
sif&t and killed himself at his
home last Sunday evening. He
left a note indicating that he had
been mentally despondent for
some time.
Apparently in good spirits on
Sunday, the deceased, an ex-GI,
spent part of Sunday evening in
writing a letter to his brother,
urging him to come to the Valley.
$.s he ended his letter-writing,
he suggested that the family
have some ice cream.
After serving a lunch of ice
cream and cake, Mrs. Granger
left the living room to clear
away the lunch dishes. Her hus
band, who evidently had written
a suicide note upon completion
of the letter to his brother, went
into the bedroom, apparently to
lie down. His wife was called to
his side by the report of a gun,
just seconds later, to find her
husband dying.
Mrs. Granger, an expectant
mother, is prostrated by grief.
In addition to his wife, the
dead man leaves two small chil
dren of pre-school age. He also
is survived by his parents, who
Jive in the state of Washington.
* Funeral arrangements have
not been completed, pending
final word from the relatives
Outside.
Valley Farmer
Is Interviewed
On ‘Vox Pop’ Show
^Leo Lucas, Valley farmer,
trapper and guide, appeared as a
guest on the Vox Pop radio
show which was broadcast in
Anchorage last Sunday evening.
Mr. Lucas was interviewed by
Warren Hull, Vox Pop master of
ceremonies, concerning the agri
cultural background and oppor
tunities of the Valley.
Mr. Hull came to Palmer the
preceding day to seek a Valley
representative for the Sunday
show, which was the only Alas
kan broadcast recorded for re
production in the states. He met
Mr. Lucas by accident, when he
stopped to seek information at
$ local store, and immediately
selected the farmer as the man
he sought for the broadcast.
Friends, later questioning
Mr. Lucas concerning his ap
pearance on the air Sunday
night, found that a radio in
terview was far from a part
of a regular day's work, as far
as he is concerned. "I'd rather
face a grizzly any day," he
'•iold the inquirers.
Sunday’s broadcast, which fea
tured the Anchorage Fur Ren
dezvous celebration, was re
corded for a Wednesday re
broadcast in the states. At that
time it was released to a 136
station network throughout the
nation.
Personnel of the Vox Pop
show, which included Parks
Johnson, Danny Shaw, Vanessa
iBrown, Hollywood starlet, and
Mr. Hull, had done several shows
at Alaskan Army posts. They
left for New York Monday
morning, there to prepare for
another tour.
&
Here's whal 20 years of progress have done to the wide open spaces of Palmer, shown in the
recent Main street photograph taken by Ed Ueeck in the fall of 1928. These two scenes,
neither of which was taken at the identical spot of Mr. Ueeck's picture, show views of the
same general area taken two weeks ago. It was progress in Palmer which stopped photograph
ers from getting an absolute repeat shot 20 years later, for construction and railroad cars
located in Palmer by The Alaska Railroad bar the panoramic view obtained by Mr. Ueeck from
atop a freight shed. (Photo by Palmer Photographic Center).
New Chamber By-Laws Adopted
Members of the Valley Cham
ber of Commerce clipped and
pruned at the new set of by-laws
recommended by its directors at
last Tuesday’s meeting. However
at the end of a two-hour session,
the group had effected only one
major change in the tentative
rules submitted by its executive
board.
That change was the creation
of an additional office, formed as
the result of a split in duties of
the secretary-treasurer’s posi
tion. The new office was desig
nated as corresponding secretary,
with the former position called
that of recording-secretary treas
urer.
Duties of the corresponding
Soil Board
Plans Work
The work of the Soil Conser
vation Service, which has only
recently been inaugurated in the
territory with the coming of
Charles Wilson, soil conserva
tionist, to Palmer, was this week
being roughed out in a long
term program, through the ef
forts of Mr. Wilson and the new
ly organized Soil Conservation
Board.
The board met last week to
outline broad objectives and a
general plan of operation for the
territory. The program, which
developed from two sessions of
board meetings, is now being re
viewed and whipped into shape
in preparation for final accep
tance, according to Mr. Wilson.
The first and principal project
of the board in Alaska will be
the location of land suitable for
agriculture and the determina
(Continued on back page)
secretary, as defined by the
group, will be to handle all in
coming and outgoing correspon
dence of the Valley Chamber of
Commerce. The recording secre
tary-treasurer will continue to
handle all bookwork, keep min
utes of all regular and special
meetings, and will be responsible
for the notification of members
for all special meetings.
The Chamber membership con
curred with board recommenda
tion that board membership be
increased to seven. A special
election, held at the close of the
by-law adoption meeting, named
three new board members and a
corresponding secretary.
Mrs. Dorothy Henke was unan
$1,300,000 Gross Is
Reported For N1VFCA
Although 15 members of the
Matanuska Valley Farmers Co
operating Association voiced dis
approval of the proceedings at
Wednesday’s annual meeting by
leaving the meeting room, the
regular business of the year was
completed on schedule.
A financial report, which
showed that the Co-op grossed
$1,300,000 in the fiscal year just
past, was accepted by stockhold
ers.
Seven board members were
elected to office for the coming
year’s work. Men who will head
the Co-op this year include:
Pat Hemmer, president; Clare
Patten, vice-president; Carl Ras
mussen, secretary; A. R. Carson,
Oscar Kertulla, Harold Stephan
and Roy Brock, board members.
The seven-man board imme
diately got down to business of
the year, when they organized
for action at a planning meeting
held Wednesday evening, fol
lowing the daytime session of the
stockholders.
imously named the correspond
ing secretary for the Chamber.
New board members elected
were Ed Christensen, Mrs. Elsie
Brown and Alva Brooks. These
three, elected in an even cal
endar year, will serve as direc
tors for a two-year term.
Only the most pressing of bus
iness matters were discussed at
the Tuesday meeting. A1 Hagen,
secretary-treasurer for the Cham
ber, reported that he had drafted
and mailed a letter, acting in
the name of the Chamber of
Commerce, to Alaska Native
Service heads in Juneau.
The letter was occasioned by"a
(Continued on Back Page)
School Election
Will Be Held
Monday, March 1
The election of a school board
member, to take place next
Monday, will follow the usual
procedure for such elections,
members of the present board
decided at a recent meeting.
Therefore no preliminary filing
of a petition will be necessary.
Valley residents who wish
themselves considered a candi
date for the vacancy occurring
on the board, will write their
] names on a blackboard, which
I will be located in the lobby of
j the gymnasium, where the elec
I tion will be held between the
i hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mon
day.
Glen Woods is the only mem
ber of the present board whose
term expires this year. Mr.
Woods will be a candidate for
re-election.
Judges have been appointed
by the school board to take
(Continued on back page)
Need $20,000
To Start Work
On Hospital
Money may be the root of all
evil, but there's been no satis
factory substitute discovered
wtih which to build a hospital,
shareholders in the Valley Hos
pital Association learned at the
annual meeting last Monday.
Members at that meeting, which
was called to order only to be
adjourned and then reconvened
at 10:30 in the evening, learned
that the Association must have a
§20,000 bank account before it
can begin even to think of plans
for the construction of badly
needed hospital facilities here.
Monday’s meeting, which
proved to be no meeting for two
hours because of a lack of the
majority of shareholders needed
to provide a quorum, as pro
vided in the by-laws, was legal
ized into a proper session, after
study of the articles of incorpor
ation.
Articles of incorporation pro
vide that for a quorum a major
ity of shares of capital stock
shall be represented. Those pres
ent voted to abide by the latter
provision, rather than that set
forth in the by-laws, and then
hastily amended the by-laws to
set a new figure of 40 sharehold
ers as the necessary quorum.
Miss Ethel Dale, hospital man
ager, reported that the §5,000
deficit on record last September
now has been reduced to §950.
That figure represents the
amount owed the Seventh Day
Adventist mission for drugs.
Miss Dale further reported
that the sum of §3,000 is now
due the hospital. Much of that
money represents funds which
will be paid by the Alaska Na
tive Servcie, Veterans’ Adminis
tration, and through compensa
tion plans. She ended her report
by stating, “I believe that at
the present time the hospital
can now carry itself, as far as
day to day management is con
cernect.
The group then moved to a
consideration of how to build a
permanent hospital structure to
replace the present temporary
quarters. Temporary measures
need no longer be considered, it
was stated, since the present 18
bed hospital is adequate to take
care of all immediate Valley
needs.
Stockholders learned that ap
proximately $80,000 worth of
equipment will be ready for in
stallation in the new hospital, as
soon as the building can be erec
ted. Six Pacific huts are avail
able for use as hospital quarters.
No estimate was given of the
total fund needed for construc
tion of a permanent hospital, but
$20,000 was quoted as the min
imum figure at which to begin.
Members of the Association
advanced a number of plans
through which that sum might
be realized. It was suggested
that Anchorage businessmen
would help, both through the
purchase of Association stock
and through assistance with fur
niture and equipment for rooms,
once the structure is completed.
It was learned that $1,200 of
the $3,000 given to the Hospital
Association by the Red Cross
(Continued on page 4)