Vol. 1, No. 61
Palmer, Alaska, April 28,1948
Ten Cents
Recall Group
Say Meeting
Will Be Held
A scheduled meeting of stock
holders of the Matanuska Valley
Farmers' Cooperating Associa
tion. planned for the purpose of
recalling board members Pat
Hemmer, O. R. Carson, Oscar
Kertulla, Harold Stephan, R. E.
Brock and Carl Rasmussen, will
be held on April 29 in the Palm
er gymnasium at 8 o’clock, mem
bers of the petitioning group an
nounced today.
A recent announcement of the
board of directors, which termed
the meeting illegal and there
fore business transacted thereat
without meaning, was protested
by the complaining group.
A spokesman for the group
said competent legal advice had
been secured before two peti
HUilb, UI1C leqUCSU-Ilg lilt ICLcUi
of the six directors and the other
announcing the calling of a
stockholder’s meeting, were cir
culated. The petitioning group
was advised by their lawyer that
Co-op by-laws were not too spe
cific on recall procedure, but
advised this action:
That an original and seven
copies of a recall petition be
draf+ed, with the original to
he circulated for sigr ’tures,
|Z> include at least 25 percent
cf the MVFCA mem’ ership.
Signers' n^rnes were to be
typed on the ciher seven cop
ies, one of which was to be
served on the secretary of the
board cf directors and one
copy lo be mailed lo each of
the six directors to be recalled.
The petition for the notice j
of special meeting, which must
signed by 35 percent of the
MVFCA membership, then
must be circulated. The com
plaining group was advised lo
keep the original signed copy
and to mail a copy of the no
tice of meeting lo each mem
ber of the MVFCA at least
three days prior to the date
of that special meeting.
Members of the petitioning
faction insist that all these stipu
lations have been fully com
plied with, and that the called
meeting is in order.
“ (Continued on back page)
Eire Destroys
Balogh Home
Fire completely destroyed the
Palmer home of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Balogh last Monday
morning. The Balogh cabin lo
cated in the Butte district about
half a mile from the Knik bridge,
burned to the ground while fire
trucks were en route to the
scSne.
The cabin was reported to be a
total loss.
Ironically enough, the Balogh
■ home might have been saved,
had word of its burning been re
ceived in Palmer earlie”. Tele
phone service to the Butte was
established only last Saturday,
but knowledge of the new lines
had not yet been made public,
.and the man reporting the fire
,jfdiaye into Palmer to sound 1he
% alarm.
Phones have been installed in
* the Valley Concrete Products
Implant, and in the homes of Bob
Walker, Victor Falk, Jr., and Vic
tor Falk. Sr.
First Glimpses
Of New Hotel
Please Palmerites
Valley residents expressed sur
prise and delight upon their first
glimpse of the nearly-finished
Matanuska Hotel at Sunday’s
open house. Complete except for
the installation of furniture, fin
ishing of the lobby and installa
tion of kitchen equipment, the
hotel surprised most open house
guests with its big-city air.
All 42 of its rooms, tinted in
eye-warming hues of daffodil,
apricot and green, offer a magni
ficent panorama of the moun
tain peaks which hem in the
Valley. Corner rooms, to be
known as “picture rooms,” have
windows on two sides to permit
an even more breath-taking view.
The hotel dining room, to be
located at the back of the struc
ture, is girdled with windows
looking toward the mountain
backdrops beyond the Valley.
The service in the Matanuska
Hotel will be as modern as its
decor, manager Harry Peebles
promises.,He expects to have the
hotel ready for business by the
middle of next week, at the
latest.
Formal opening ceremonies
are planned for Saturday, May
1. A detailed announcement of
plans for that evening will be
outlined in Saturday’s Valley
Frontiersman, Mr. Peebles prom
ised.
Furniture for the 42 rooms,
all of which are complete with
bath or shower, was scheduled
to arrive in Seward last Sunday
and is expected to be in place in
time for Saturday’s opening.
IS ACCIDENT VICTIM
An automobile accident on the
Palmer highway the past week
end sent Joe Demientieff to the
Valley Hospital with severe
lacerations of his knee.
Foster, Irwin Lead
PHS Class of 1948
As members of the senior class
of Palmer high school near the
end of their high school work,
two students already are so firm
ly entrenched at the head of their
class that principal James Gray,
Jr., said there was no doubt as
to their finishing in one-two
order. The students are Evelyn
Foster and Don Irwin. Evelyn is
leading for valedictorian honors,
while Don is candidate for saluta
torian.
Mr. Gray named the 10 top
students of the senior class, to
gether with their grade point av
erages for the four years of
work, last week. He cautioned
that there is still another four
weeks of work and final exam
inations to be completed before
these grades are considered final.
However, here’s the brainy 10,
in the order of their ranking, as
Seniors Step Up
Rehearsal Tempo
Members of Palmer high
schol’s senior class, who will soon
produce the three-act comedy,
“Fix-it, Inc.,” went into a two
a-day rehearsal schedule today.
The play will be staged in the
school gymnasium on the after
noon of April 30 and the eve
ning of May 1. The afternoon
performance will be for school
children only.
All lines have been learned
and the class is rehearsing the
entire three acts now, according
to student manager Evon De
Land. She said rehearsals are go
ing very smoothly and the class
expects to have a polished pro
duction ready for the stage on
April 30 and May 1.
Janet Sherrod makes like an outdoor-girl in the middle
of an Alaskan winter, in order that photographer Helen
Slenvall can win prizes in a photo contest. Janet plus the
the pup were judged a prize-winning pair in anyone's con
test, so Helen will be $2 richer as soon as she claims her cash
a! the Valloy Frontiersmen office,
Mr. Gray announced them last
week:
Evelyn Foster, 2.75; Don Ir
win, 2.12; Robert Graham,
1.98; Evon DeLand, 1.92; Noel
Woods, 1.68; Stanley Hoffman,
1.67; Nancy Smith, 1.66, Duane
Huntley, 1.66 (tied): Hilda
Stenvall, 1.64; Donald Church,
1.60; Alice Ray, 1.43.
The remaining members of the
25 seniors to be presented for
graduation range in grade point
average from 1.25 down to .80,
the principal stated.
32 Eighth Graders
To Be Graduated
Principal Joseph Dickson of
the Palmer grade school this
week announced that a class of
(Continued on Back Page)
Symphony Music
Pleases Audience
At Sunday Concert
More than 250 of the Valley’s
music lovers were reluctant to
see members of the Anchorage
little Symphony quit their or
chestra seats after two hours of
music last Sunday afternoon.
Again and again they called back
conductor Peter Britch and they
would not be content until harp
ist Margo Freeman and soloist
Nan Jones Adams added encores
to their scheduled concert num
bers.
Appreciative and interested
throughout the well-planned con
cert program, Valley-ites later
crowded to the front of the the
atre to verbally express their
enjoyment of the Anchorage con
cert.
Music that was fun to listen to
played by a concert orchestra in
a performance as smooth as many
a professional group of musi
cians could give, had local folk
requesting a return engagement
as soon as the Anchorage sym- i
phony could be prevailed upon to
come again to the Valley.
Following the concert, orches
tra members went to the Lodge
where they were entertained at
a tea in the lounge. Tea arrange
ments were planned by Miss Jen
nie Skule, who was assisted by
Miss Dolores Zeis, Miss Peggy
Elfsen, Miss Jean Dickon and
Mrs. Harry Johnson as hostesses.
The Anchorage visitors left for
home shortly after 6 o’clock Sun
day evening.
Three Are Fined
For Illegally
Possessing Moose
Three men, Howard Oberg,
Elmer Hedburg and John Stump,
were convicted and fined in the
court of U. S. Commissioner Wal
ter E. Huntley last Friday for the
illegal possession and transpor
tation of moose meat.
Holger Larsen of the Anchor
age Fish and Wild Life Service
issued the complaint against the
three. Each man was fined $250
for the offense, and the vehicle
used in the transportation of the
meat was confiscated.
The trio were reported to have
almost a whole moose in their
possession when apprehended.
Growers Name
L. V. Castner
As Agent
A marketing agent, the firm of
L. V. Castner, Inc., has been se
lected by the Valley Producers,
Inc., it was announced by presi
dent Glen Woods at last Satur
day’s membership meeting. Mr.
Woods said the growers’ lawyers
were now engaged in drawing
up an agreement with the Cast
ner firm.
Under terms of the agreement,
the marketing agent, acting on a
commission basis, will negotiate
produce contracts directly with
the grower. For highly perish
able vegetables the brokerage fee
has been set at 25 per cent. For
hardier vegetables the fee is re
duced to 20 per cent, and for po
tatoes, which are handled in
great volume, the handling fee
will be 15 per cent.
The marketing agent has
agreed to furnish receiving fa
cilities in Palmer, and to pay
transportation costs to the
place of sale.
When produce is sold to a gov
ernment agency, as soon as that
agency issues acceptances for
the delivered vegetables, those
acceptances will be forwarded
to the First National Bank in
Anchorage. The bank then will
advance to the grower 90 per
cent of the total amount due.
Bank charges for this service are
to be one-fourth of one per cent.
In the event that contracted
produce cannot be delivered to
the purchaser immediately, the
marketing agent, who owns large
cold storage facilities in Anchor
age, has agreed to store the pro
duce at his own expense until
delivery can be effected.
A minimum contract guaran
tee has been promised the mar
keting agent for each type of
produce. In return, the agent has
agreed not to handle any com
petitive produce.
Although present contracts
are based on vegetable produc
tion only. Mr. Castner has in
dicated that he will be inter
ested in negotiating an addi
tional agreement to handle
Valley eggs. Details of that
(Continued on back page)
PHS Honor Pupils
Are Announced
The honor roll for the fifth
period of work in Palmer high
school was announced by prin
cipal James Gray, Jr., this week.
Students who will be guests of
the Valley Theatre at next Sun
day’s movie include:
Seniors — Nancy Smith,
Duane Huntley, Don Church,
Don Irwin, Robert Graham
and Evelyn Foster.
Juniors—Gayle EckeTt and
Norma Loyer.
Sophomores — Albert Car
roll, Edward Cope, Roberta
Hemmer. Barbara H e c k e r,
Mary Ann Linn and Helen
Slenvall.
Freshmen — Harvey Hiber,
Nancy Frank, Ruth KuTtz,
Jean Smith, Edison Thuma,
Sarah Smith and David Vig
dahl.
Freshmen Sarah Smith and
David Vigdahl were the only
students named on the “A”
honor roll during the fifth pe
riod of the school year.