Vol. 1, No. 54
Palmer, Alaska, April 3,1948
Ten Cents
Three Members
Of Fire Board
Resign Posts
BULLETIN
Three members of the board
of directors of the Valley Vol
unteer Fire Association have
submitted their resignations
from office in that organiza
tion in a letter addressed to
Chairman A1 Hagen under date
of March 31. The three who re
signed are Jack Maze, Bernie
Bouwens, and Steve Ward.
' Their letter stales in part
that if association members
see fit to return them to office,
when the quarterly meeting is
called next Monday, they will
be happy to again serve the
Valley.
Mr. Hagen, questioned about
the letter which was mailed
Wednesday morning, said he
"knew nothing about it." He
said he had heard "some talk,"
but would know nothing defi
nite until he spoke with mem
bers of the board. He refused
to commit himself as to wheth
er he also intended to resign.
It is expected that the matter
of new directors will be han
dled at the membership meet
ing of the association to be
held next Monday in the card
room of the Frontier Bar. At
that time all who have paid
their annual membership fee
will be allowed to vote. The
fee may be collected at the
Monday meeting before the
evening's business gets under
way, Mr. Hagen said.
All Valley residents are
urged to attend this meeting
when important matters of
business of the Valley Volun
teer Fire Association will be
fettled.
HAGEN RESIGNS
A1 Hagen, recording secre
tary of the Valley Chamber
of Commerce, submitted his
resignation from that office
under date of March 31,
Chamber President Jack Maze
announced this week. His res
gnation is due to become ef
fective at once.
FAIR BOARD TO MEET
Members of the board of di
rectors of the Matanuska Valley
Fair Association will meet in
the Extension office next Tues
day evening. The meeting will
come to order at 8 o’clock.
<
Fire Board
Pushes Work
On Extra Truck
Although no quorum was pres
ent at last Tuesday’s public meet
ing of the board of directors of
the Valley Volunteer Fire As
sociation, those present did make
plans for the immediate future
of the Asociation.
Cleaning and renovating of
the present garage for the fire
truck, further work on the repair
of the second truck purchased
some time ago, revision of the
by-laws and plans for the re
quired quarterly meeting were
discussed and endorsed at the
Tuesday meeting.
Membership of the Association
was doubled, when two addition
al members paid their dues for
the current year.
Chairman A1 Hagen reported
that volunteer help was needed
to lift the tank from the second
firetruck and to ascertain its
condition. Mr. Hagen hazarded
the guess that the tank probably
was rusted through and would
need to be replaced. He estimat
ed it would cost the Association
| about $150.
! The Association chairman fur
ther reported that shelving must
be built in the firetruck’s garage,
some simple wiring completed
and general cleaning under
taken.
(Continued on back page)
DANCING, BINGO TO KEEP
WHOLE FAMILY AMUSED
An evening of fun for the
whole family has been planned
by the Moose ladies for this Sat
urday’s party at the gymnasium.
For while mom and dad are
whirling to the rhythm of the
Carlson orchestra on the gym
floor, Junior and little sister will
be happily shouting “Bingo” as
their luck comes up at tables in
the school lunchroom.
Not that Bingo will be con
fined to the small fry in the
family. Play for adults and
youngsters alike, begins at 8
- o’clock. Prizes will useful and
? ornamental both, the Bingo com
L mittee promises. Those prizes
vary from household articles to
electrical appliances. And the
prizes at the junior Bingo table
have been especially selected to
please.
Tickets for the evening may
be purchased in advance from
any member of the Women of
the Moose. In addition, there
will be other tickets on sale at
the gate, for those who do not
make their purchase earlier.
Everyone is invited to attend
the Saturday party in the gym
nasium. Proceeds from the event
will go toward the building fund
of the Moose lodge, which has
a still incomplete Moose hut
» 'BRIDGIE' WRIGHT AND
VICKY GRAVES
“Bridgie” Wright, who is just
seven-plus years old, and Vicky
Graves, who is six-minus years of
age, will be featured in a private
recital to be given in the Neal
Wright home on Friday evening
at 8 o’clock. The recital is invi
tational.
Both little girls are the pu
pils of Mrs. Timothy Hennessey.
“Bridgie” has been taking piano
lessons for the past year, and
was recently awarded a prize for
completing the most hours of
practice.
Vicky has been a piano student
for only six months.
Mrs. Hennessey has announced
the^evening’s program to be as
follows:
“A Little Duet” by Jessie L.
Gaynor—“Bridgie” and Vicky.
‘Wee Folks’ March” by Cora
Mae Raesser and “March of the
Gingerbread Man” by Dallas
Reid—Vicky.
“March of the Peppermint
Sticks” by Mathilda Bilbao and
“On a Sleighride” by Cedric Le
mont—“Bridgie.”
“The Yo Yo” by Madge Wil
liams and “Aeroplane Stunts”
by Madge Williams—Vicky.
“Waltzing Mice” by Jessie L.
Gaynor—“Bridgie” and Vicky.
“Butterflies” by Inez Howell
and “Lady with the Balloons”
by Ernest Adams—“Bridgie.”
“A Walking” by June Wey
bright and “Come and Play” by
Bernice Frost—Vicky.
“Elf and the Fairy” by Bernice
Bentley and “The Clown” by
Carl Kern—“Bridgie.”
“Peasant Dance” by Jessie L.
Gaynor by “Bridgie” and Vicky.
C of C Meets Wednesday
The next regular meeting of
the Valley Chamber of Com
merce will be held on Wednes
day, April 7, president Jack
Maze reminded members. The
meeting begins promptly at noon
in the basement of St. John’s
Lutheran church, where lunch
eon will be served by members
of the Lutheran’s Ladies Aid.
HUNTLEY GOES. TOO
The second half of Palmer’s
contribution to the law and order
cruise through the Shumagin Is
lands was overlooked last week.
Walter E. Huntley, U. S. commis
sioner, is also accompanying
Marshal Bill Bouwens on that
trip. The pair was delayed a
day by adverse weather, leaving
for Cold Bay on Wednesday rath
er than Tuesday.
Concert To Be
Heard Here
A spring concert, Palmer’s
first of its kind, will be held in
the Valley by the Anchorage
Little Symphony on April 25, it
was announced this week. The
25-instrument orchestra will pre
sent a complete concert pro
gram with several featured solo j
numbers. |
The Anchorage Little Sym
phony comes to the Valley un
der the sponsorship of Palmer’s
Music Appreciation Club, which
meets regularly at the rectory
of St. Michael’s church.
The planned concert, which is
presented as an annual event in
Anchorage, will follow the An
chorage presentation by just one
week. It will be held in the Val
ley Theatre at 2:30 in the after
noon.
Tickets for the concert will be
on sale at the counters of all
local stores, or may be secured
through Father James Snead,
who heads the Music Apprecia
tion Club. The cost will be $1
for adults and 60 cents -’or chil
dren.
Arrangements for the Valley
concert were completed by Mor
gan Edmunds and Peter S.
Britch, business manager and
conductor of the Symphony.
The entire program for the
Sunday concert will be an
nounced in a later issue of the
Valley Frontiersman.
North Palmerites
Elect Officers
New officers were elected and
new by-laws were approved by
the general membership at the
meeting of the North Palmer Im
provement club held in Ed Chris
tensen’s garage last Tuesday eve
ning. About one-third of the 54
members of the club were pres
ent at the meeting.
Officers elected to head the
North Palmer Improvement Club
were:
Claude Carroll, president; Carl
Meiers, vice-president; Harry
Wimmer, secretary - treasurer;
Bernie Bouwens and Jack Leik,
members of the executive board.
The most important topic of
business discussed at the meeting
was the subject of incorporation.
Members of the North Palmer'
group stated they strongly felt
the need of the legal protection
incorporation would give them.
However the club membership is
reluctant to take any action
which will cause a split in the
town of Palmer.
It was at length decided to
seek a specific answer for the
town’s plan for incorporation. If
investigation develops that the
town of Palmer does not plan to
seek incorporation, then it is
probable North Palmer will take
that action for that area of the
community.
HOSPITAL BOARD MEETS
There will be a special meet
ing of the board of directors of
the Valley Hospital Association
on Friday evening, to perfect de
tails of the plan for the launch
ing of a Valley-wide sales drive
for hospital bonds. That meeting
will begin at 7:30. Then at 8
o’clock the board will meet with
members of the solicitors’ com
mittees to discuss final plans.
Both meetings will be held in the
basement of St. John’s Lutheran
church.
School Money
Is Very Low,
To Get Worse
Dr. James F. Ryan, territorial
commissioner of education, ex
pressed deep concern for the fu
ture of education in Alaska dur
ing the coming school year, on
his visit here last Wednesday.
School funds, at the lowest level
ever known during the past year,
are due to go still lower in the
year ahead, he said.
Dr. Ryan said that before leav
ing Juneau he had conferred
with territorial tax officials re
garding revenues for the next
year. The treasury department
is anticipating only two and a
half million dollars in revenue
during that year. This must cover
all expense of the territorial gov
ernment, including schools, al
though the annual school budget
for the next fiscal year, pared
back to the absolute level of the
year just completed and allow
ing no expansion whatsoever, is
expected to require over two
million dollars.
The school head said he had
no idea what could be done to
remedy the situation. He had
no solution. He felt none could
be f o r t h c o m in 9, except
through the people of the terri
tory themselves, whose prob
Jem ne says u is.
Asked if steps could be taken
to meet the situation through
curtailment in courses offered
and through a cutback in teach
ing personnel, Dr. Ryan replied
that since an adequate appropri
ation had been made for the
schools, he could do nothing ex
cept approve budgets on the
basis of that appropriation. That
taxes were not levied to create
revenues to fulfill the appropria
tion cannot be considered in
planning expenditures, the com
missioner declared.
Questioned regarding whether
incorporation of the Palmer
school district would help finan
cially, Dr. Ryan replied that it
would help only in a small mea
sure, since 75 per cent of all
school funds must come from the
territory anyway.
He explained that his office
had no alternative but to issue
checks on vouchers as long as
there are school funds in the
treasury. When those funds are
depleted, the treasurer will
(Continued on back page)
Fire Membership
Meeting Is Set
For Next Monday
The regular quarterly meet
ing of the membership of the
Valley Fire Association will be
held next Monday, as required
by Association by-laws. The
meeting will begin at 8 o'clock
in the cardroom of the Fron
tier bar.
Much important business is
to be discussed, according to
chairman A1 Hagen. All inter
ested are invited to attend, as
changes in present by-laws are
contemplated.
Membership fee in the As
sociation is $10 for private
families. Businesses are as
sessed on a pro-rated plan set
up by the Association earlier
this year.