Vol. 1, No. 76
Palmer, Alaska, June 25, 1948
Ten Cents
Dinner, Dance,
Shoot Added
To 4th Plans
Fourth of July holiday plans
in*Palmer will extend over a
two-day period, with the celebra
tion scheduled to begin on Sat
urday with a turkey dinner and
dance. Plans for Sunday’s pro
gram include a four-game soft
ball tournament, races for chil
dren and a second trapshoot.
Saturday’s dinner will be
sponsored by members of the
finance committee of Northland
Pioneer Grange. Exact time of
serving has not yet been an
nounced, but it will precede the
evening’s dance in the gymnasi
um. That dance, to begin at 10
o’clock, will be sponsored by the
Shamrock softball team.
Art Stacey, Shamrock man
ager, said plans had been formu
lated which will assure the Val
ley of a pleasant evening s dance.
Both military police and civilian
patrolmen have been asked to
oe present throughout the eve
ning. Carison s orchestra will
play.
Softball games will begin Sun
day’s program. The first two
games in the tournament will be
run off consecutively, beginning
at noon. At the close of the sec
ond game, there will be a recess
while children’s races and ath
letic competitions are run off.
The championship game in the
softball tournament is scheduled
to begin at 5 o’clock Sunday aft
ernoon.
At 2 o’clock on Sunday, the
Matanuska Valley Sportsmen’s
second trapshoot will get under
way. The Sportsmen sponsored a
very successful trapshoot on
polony Day, but this second
event promises to be even bet
ter, according to Mr. Stacey.
The trap will be re-located be
fore the Sunday shoot. In addi
tion, marksmen will be shooting
at birds lofted by the club’s new
“ (Continued on back page)
Supervisors Named
For Soil District
Soil supervisors named in last
week’s election for the Palmer
Soil Conservation district were
Henry Jensen, Clair Patten, Wil
liam Roark, Clarence Hoffman
and Lucius Ross, it was an
nounced this week by Charles
Wilson, territorial conservation
ist.
There were only 32 ballots
cast in the election.
Mr. Wilson said no date had
been fixed for the installation of
the district’s new officers, but
he hoped to see the group fully
^organized in the very near fu
ture. Already the Soil Conserva
tion office has received seven re
quests for assistance. It is the
policy of the Service to have
these requests reviewed by the
district supervisors before action
is taken.
James J. Hurley, district con
servationist, arrived in the Val
ley with his family last week,
and is now at his desk in the
Soil Conservation office. Mr.
« Hurley, formerly a soil scientist,
has been with the Conservation
Service for the past seven years.
He comes to Palmer from Weiser,
Idaho.
The Hurley family will live in
*Mrs. Earl Hecker s home.
The peace and quiet of serene King's Lake ends today for another summer, as more than 100
teen-age youngsters descend on the youth camp buildings there to begin a Young People's
Church Conference. This picture shows a portion of the walkway and the nearby swimming
area. The caretaker's cabin is faintly glimpsed among the trees across the lake. (Photo by
Palmer Photographic Center).
Former Local Boy
Seriously Hurt
In Jeep Smashup
Norman France, former resi
dent, was seriously injured in an
automobile accident at Camp
Campbell, Kentucky, it was
learned this week. The 19-year
old youth, who was a graduate
of paratrooper and glider train
ing in April, was riding in a jeep
which collided with a truck.
The boy suffered a broken
collar bone and shoulder blade,
a punctured right lung, five
broken ribs, a broken right arm
and broken hips and pelvis
bones. He will be six months in
the hospital, at least. Norman
would very much appreciate
hearing from former Valley
classmates, who may write him
at Ward 20, Oliver General Hos
pital, Augusta, Ga.
Norman, who would have been
a member of this May’s gradu
ating class of Palmer high school
had he stayed in the Valley, had
just returned from Italy last
Christmas. He has been away
from the Valley for more than
two years, and was expecting to
be released from service next
spring.
Army Firemen
Visit In Palmer
Visiting firemen, in the truest
sense of the word, spent last
Monday afternoon sight-seeing in
the Matanuska Valley. Three key
members of the Army’s fire
fighting program were here as
the guests of George Burns of
Fort Richardson.
The three, R. L. Bell, U.S.A.F.
Hq., Washington, D.C.; Lloyd
Rose, Air Material Command,
Dayton, O.; and J. W. Patterson,
Technical Division Air Training
Command, Denver, Colo., are in
Alaska to attend a conference of
fire chiefs to be held at Fort
Richardson on June 28, 29 and
30. The conference will present
a series of meetings and demon
strations of the newest in fire
equipment. Civilian fire chiefs
throughout the Alaskan Depart
ment are to attend.
Jack Maze, member of the
board of directors of the Valley
Volunteer Fire Association, and
Bob Peterson, volunteer fire
fighter, were host and guide for
the visiting group.
Extension Bulletin Tells
Cutworm Control Methods
The cutworm, current head
ache of Valley farmers, is no
newcomer here, but he remains
a stranger insofar as detailed in
formation concerning his specific
likes and dislikes in the Mata
nuska Valley. Apparently the
whole cutworm tribe inhabits
the Valley, according to studies
made by Joseph Chamberlin, en
tonm1' Cist at the Valle-; experi
■ —«
ment station, in 1944.
Mr. Chamberlin found the red
backed cutworm, the spotted cut
worm, the black army cutworm,
the w-marked cutworm and the
glassy cutworm are prevalent in
the Valley. He expected to find,
in further studies, the variegated
cutworm, as well.
The different varieties make
(Continued on Back Page)
Alaska Gets
Big Fund
More than $200,000,000 in cash
money and contract appropria
tions was handed the territory of
Alaska by last-minute action of
Congress last Sunday. Operating
costs of the Alaskan offices of
various governmental depart
ments were not included in the
appropriation, for these costs are
allocated through administrative
action. Contract authority allows
the beginning of work to be paid
for through future appropria
tions.
Items included in the Congres
sional budget for the territory
were:
$44,995,438 for the Army;
$17,000,000 cash for The
Alaska Railroad, plus $12,000,
000 in confracl authority;
$14,600,000 for continued
Navy investigation of Arctic
oil reserves;
$12,574,000 for CAA;
$10,442,400 for roads, with
additional contract authority
for $13,904,000;
$4,180,962 for the Alaska
Native Service plus contract
authority for the construction
of a 400-bed tuberculosis sani
tarium and four tuberculosis
control centers;
$2,000,000 for the work of
the Coast and Geodetic Sur
vey;
$2,842,000 for dredging of
Wrangell Narrows and for the
Alaska Communication Sys
tem;
$1,298,890 was allocated to
the work of the Department
of Agriculture in the territory;
$225,000 was given to the
Alaska Game Commission.
In addition to these appropria
tions, funds were allotted for the
construction of a mining experi
ment station in Alaska and for
the construction of a geophysical
King’s Lake
Camp Opens
This Week
The first summer camping
unit at King’s Lake Camp is ex
pected to arrive today, when
more than 100 delegates to a
Young People’s Church Confer
ence are scheduled to begin reg
istration. Delegates will come
from Anchorage and Palmer, and
also possibly from Seward and
Fairbanks as well.
The young people, of junior
and senior high school ages, will
spend a week at the camp. Dur
ing that time they will enroll
in classes for Christian training,
stewardship, vocational choice
and Bible study. Each day will
include a morning’s class session
and afternoons given over prin
cipally to outdoor recreation of
swimming, hiking, boating, fish
ing and organized games.
Student committees on rec
reation, administration, wor
ship, and fellowship will be
organized. An elected student
council will assist in manage
ment of the camp, and a stu
dent director will be named to
take charge of the camp's ac
tivities for one day of the
week's camping period.
Rev. R. Rolland Armstrong of
the Anchorage Presbyterian
Church is camp director. He will
be assisted by Rev. Fred Telecky
of the United Protestant Church
in Palmer, and by a full staff of
instructors and assistants.
The camp dining room has
been improved for this year's
season, and the whole camp
area has been thoroughly
spruced up and prepared for
the summer. There are three
cabins which will accommo
date eight campers each, and
11 tents which will sleep 10
campers each.
Mr. and Mrs. William McAl
lister of the Valley are camp
caretakers this year.
Palmer representatives at the
church conference include:
Ann Moffilt, Vernon Frid
ley. Dorothy Mau, Margie
Huntley, Jean Carroll, Grace
McGibonay, Beverly Warnica,
Margaret Cope, Neola Sandvik
and Barbara Cooper.
Camp directors are particu
larly pleased with the large en
rollment for this first session of
the summer season. King’s Lake
Camp is open to all young peo
ple’s groups throughout the sum
mer. Reservations for facilities
there may be directed to W. E.
Huntley, secretary of the camp’s
board of directors.
Last year a total of 13 groups
used facilities at King’s Lake
through June, July and August.
They included seven church
groups, DeMolay, Girl Scouts,
Boy Scouts, Business Men’s As
(Continued on back page)
SPORTSMEN'S BOARD MEETS
The board of directors of the
Matanuska Valley Sportsmen
will meet at the Palmer Fountain
at 8 o’clock tonight, president
F. R. Sims announced today. At
this meeting, the board hopes to
decide on the new location of the
trap, and also to make further
plans for the protection of club
property.
The Sportsmen’s clubhouse
was recently broken into, and
ammunition and equipment
stored there were stolen.