IT'S NOT TOO LATE
TO CONTRIBUTE TO
THE HEALTH SEAL
CAMPAIGN
THE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
THY A FRONTIERSKA2J
CLASSIFIED AD for that
iiem you may have for sale,
rent or lease.
VOLUME 8. NUMBER 10
PALMER, ALASKA. THURSDAY, DEC. 30, 1954
PRICE TEN CENT*
U. S. Army Reserve Co.
Activated in Palmer
■'The U. S. Army Reserves at
Palmer have functioned very
well ,with a great amount of in
terest shown,” according to Cap
tain James H. Pierce, of Anchor
age and commanding officer of
the local unit. ‘ Because of the
growth in size and the general
ability of the men, a company
will be activated in Palmer the
first of January,” he announced.
The local company will be de
signated as “C” Co., 180th Com
bat Engineer Battalion. In obser
vance of this activation, open
house will be held at the armory
Wednesday evening, January 5
from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Films of
general interest, distributed by
the U. S. War Department will be
shown, along with displays of
special and general engineer
ing equipment. The public is in
vited to drop in. during the visit
ing hours and see for themselves
just what is being done by the
Reserves in the Palmer area. Lt.
Col. Ed Brunner, Senior Army
Advisor of U. S. Army Reserve
in Alaska will be present, along
with Lt. Col. Michael Burke,
commanding officer of the 180th
Combat Engineer Battalion. Re
freshments will be served dur
ing the evening.
First in Alaska
"This is the first locality in Al
aska to support a company of a
Reserve unit”, Captain Pierce
stated. The local unit originally
was part of “B” Co., and prior to
that time was a military intelli
gence detachment. More recently,
and until the end of this year, the
unit is a detachment of Headquar
ters and Service Company of the
180th Combat Engr. Bn. “Because
of the interest of the men, the
activation of the new company is
possible”, he added.
PFC Byron Eldridge was re
cently promoted to the rank of
Corporal and George Campbell,
Paul Campbell, Gene A. Dinkel,
and Gus J. Knutsen, all Privates,
were advanced to Private First
Class grade. Two new members,
both holding Sergeant ranks,
joined the unit on December 20.
They are Barry D. Fernbach and
ALIENS MUST
REPORT ADDRESS
Aliens are reminded that they
must report their present address
during January, 1955.
Federal law requires that every
alien who is within th United
States on the first day of Janu
ary of each year shall within 30
days following such date, report
his address to the Commissioner,
Immigration and Naturalization
Service and shall furnish such ad
dress information as may be re
quired by regulations. Any alien
who is temporarily absent from
the U. S. during the report period
should report his address within
10 days after his return.
Deportation is a penalty for
failure to report. Any alien who
willfully or inexcusably fails to
report as required is liable to be
taken into custody and deported.
In addition, imprisonment or fin
es may be levied before deporta
tion.
PRACTICE GAME
SLATED FOR SCHOOL
BASKETBALL TEAM
All members of the Palmer
High School basketball team
! are notified of a practice game
1 Saturday evening, January 1
! at 8 p.m. in the school gym
- nasium. An Army team has
’ been scheduled to meet the lo
cal Jioopsters in the first game
■ to be played on the new gym
! nasium floor.
r Elmer Kelly, both of Star Route.
“‘The new Company calls for
five officers and one warrant of
ficer,” Capt. Pierce pointed out.
“The officers will be assigned
from the Anchorage area for the
present time, but it offers an op
portunity, for men qualified, to
fill these vacancies”.
CITY BUSINESS
LICENSES DUE JAN. 1
All persons conducting a
business in the City of Palmer
ire reminded that payment of
business licenses are due on
January 1, 1955. City business
licenses are issued under City
if Palmer Ordinance 14, 31 and
11 and are scaled, according to
type of business operation.
Over 500 Attend
Childrens’Annual
Christmas Party
Approximately 500 youngsters
in the Valley attended the annual
Christmas party sponsored by the
merchants of the area. Santa~
Claus arrived rigth on time, drop
ping down the chimney of the
candy house and popping out the
door amid the jingle of his bells
and the delightful greetings of
the children.
Each child attending was given
a bag of goodies which had been
packed by members of the local
Women of the Moose. Surplus
bags were sent to the various
childrens’ homes in the valley.
The committees in charge of
the party extended their thanks
this week to the Women of the
Moose, members of Moose Lodge
who acted as ushers during the
party, George Small, Al, Imogene,
and Pat Hagen who donated the
use of the theatre and who set
up and decorated the candy house
and 20-foot Chrstmas tree, mem
bers of Beta Sigma Phi who so
licited funds for the party, and
the many merchants and individ
uals who make the annual affair
such a success.
ASSESSMENT FORMS
MAILED THIS WEEK
Self assessment forms were
mailed this week by the City As
sessor to all owners of personal
property in Palmer.
A notice accompanying the
form points out that January 1,
1955 is the date on which all per
sonal property owners in the city,
should access their personal pro
perty for the purpose of taxation
to help support local schools.
To save an expense, the same
forms used last year are being
used again this year, a substan
tial number having been left over.
Whenever the year 1954 appears
on the forms, the year 1955 should
be substituted.
All personal property located in
the City on January 1, 1955 is
subject to taxation, as well as
real property. The purpose of the
form is to assist the taxpayer in
listing all his personal property
for assessment and taxation pur
poses. All personal property of a
tangible nature, such as itemized
on the form, is taxable.
With one exception the value
' of all personal property is to be
set by the person filling out the
return. The one exception being
motor vehicles. The taxpayer is
required to enter the description
of his motor vehicle but the value
of the vehicle will be entered by
the Assessor, based upon valua
tions contained in the current Na
tional Automobile Dealers Asso
ciation, official used car guide,
western division.
EVERETT ADAMS
NAMED NEW
CHAMBER PRESIDENT
Recently elected members of
the board of directors of the Ma
tanuska Valley Chamber of
Commerce named officers for the
1955 year at a recent board meet
ing.
Everett Adams, Piggly-Wiggly
manager, was named president of
the Chamber. Serving with him
will be John Gore, co-owner of
Tost’s Service as vice-president,
and Marie Britton, owner of
Marie’s Style Shop as secretary
treasurer.
Committees for the coming year
will be appointed at the next reg
ular meeting, which will be held
January 5 in the Co-Op club
room.
Edward 0. Marth
Killed in Accident
According to word received in
the U- S. Marshal’s office in An
chorage today Edward O. Marth,
about 23, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Harrison Marth, Sr., was believed
instantly killed when a pistol he
was handling discharged when
dropped to the floor. The bullet
struck Marth in the head. Because'
of poor connections clear details
of the accident have not yet been
received.
Mr. Marth is survived by his
parents with whom he was mak
ing his home, and three brothers,
Ernest, who is attending school in
Indiana; Lester who recently
joined the U. S. Marine,s and
Harrison, Jr. who lives in Michi
gan. Also four sisters, Mrs. Ralph
Plumley of Palmer and three
sisters all of whom make their
homes in Michigan.
The Marths, who formerly liv
ed at the Butte, are proving up
on their homestead in. the Kenai
area. The accident was reported
to have happened at the home
stead of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E.
Daniels of Boulder Point. Funeral
arrangements are pending.
LOCAL MEN ACCOMPANY
RANCHERS ON TOUR
OF CATTLE RANGE LAND
Roscoe Taylor, William Sweet-1
man, both of the Agriculture Ex- j
periment Station, and I. M. C. 1
Anderson of Anchorage, repre
senting the Territorial Depart
ment of Agriculture accompanied :
Cline Koonz of Fairbanks and;
three cattlement from Texas on ;
(Continued on page 4)
«'V>/WN/W>/VWWi^VWi>^WS/WWWWV\i
PUBLIG INVITED
TO GAME HEARING
ON JANUARY 4
All hunters and fishermen of
the valley area are reminded of
the annual game hearing to be
held next Tuesday night, Janu
ary 4 at 8 p.m. in the Matanuska
Valley Sportsmen quarters, locat
ed in the basement of the Co-Op
Rec Hall.
Officials of the Fish and Wild
life Service will be in attendance
to discuss any proposed (flanges
that may be presented during
the evening.
All persons interested in assist
ing in the planning of the 1P55-56
fish ar.d game laws are urged to
attend. Recommendations made
at such meetings do not neces
sarily mean that the change will
be adopted in the next year’s reg
ulations, but it is a chance for the
general public to voice his or her
choice in changes or additions to
existing regulations.
Hearings are held throughout
Alaska during the winter months,
recommendations correlated and
then sent to the Washington of
fice of FWS where final regula
tions are established.
Eastern Star
Plans Installation
Clarence C. Hoffman and Mrs.
June Murphy will be installed in
their respective offices of worthy
patron and worthy matron at an
installation to be held by the Ma
tanuska Valley O. E. Star on
Wednesday evening, January 5
at 8 p-m. in Carpenters’ Hall.
Officers for the coming year
were elected at the December 15
meeting and in addition to the
above named include the follow
ing: Grayson Murphy, associate
patron; Marive Laird, associate
matron; Dorothy Onkka, secre
tary; Lula Sandvik, treasurer,
Katheryn Wilson, conductress,
and Isabelle Severns, associate
conductress. They also will be in
stalled in office at the January
5 meeting.
Installing officer will be Marne
Hanks, past matron, who will be
assisted by other officers.
Russ and Rusty Dow plan to
leave Palmer today for a trip
over the highway to the States.
They said they plan to be gone
about two months and are head
ing “for^he sunshine”. Their trip
may include a visit to Miami, Fla.
Mobile X-Ray Uni!
In Valley Next Week
The mobile X-ray unit of the j
Alaska Department of Health
moves into the Matanuska Valley ;
next week for a full week's. sch- j
edule as part of the territory- j
wide drive to have every Alas
kan get a chest X-ray.
On Monday, January 3, the
Commissioner's Office
Closed on Jan. 5, 6, 7,
The office of U. S. Commis
sioner Dorothy B. Saxton will
be closed on January 5, 6, and
7 while Mrs. Saxton attends
the U. S. Commissioner’s con
vention to be held in Anchor
age on those dates.
For the benefit of those un
able to get into the office to
purchase licenses during work
ing hours, the office is open
until 6 p.m. each day and will
be open Friday morning, De
cember 31, until noon.
FOOD COSTS
CONTINUE
DOWNWARD TREND
Family food budgets in Alaska
now cost from five to eight per
cent less than they did six months
ago, according to Hugh A. John
son, Experiment Station econ
omist; and there is no indication,
of a sudden rise ahead. I
Meats, eggs, apples, canned
juices, coffee, fats and oils led
the general price decline which
was noted in September when
the last quarterly survey was
made. Of the 30 food items in
cluded in the survey, only lemons
and cocoa were consistently
higher than in September, %>hn
son said. Fresh and evaporated
milk, bread and banana prices
generally were unchanged. Most
other foods fluctuated above and
below September prices with a
general downward trend.
Sitka was the only one of the
six cities now included in the re
opening service to show a slight
rise of 0.7 percent over Septem
ber 15 price levels for the 30
grocery items. According to John
son, the nature of the items caus
ing this rise at Sitka seems to
indicate that the recent shipping
situation may have been involved
as a cause.
Greatest net change from Sep
tember 15 levels was a 7.0 percent
decline at Fairbanks. Its food
price level was highest of all cit
ies surveyed and its downward
adjustment to date has been the
greatest. Food prices in Fair
banks have dropped 8 2 percent
from the high of last June. They
were 5.1 percent below December
15, 1953 and 4.0 percent below
(Continued on Page 1)
Jack Dragseth
Enters U. S. Navy
Jack L. Dragseth, 17, son of
Mrs. Velma L. Dragseth of Pal
mer, has enlisted in the U. S.
Navy, the Navy Recruiting Sta
tion in Seattle has announced.
Jack is undergoing recruit
training with Company 364 at the
U. S. Naval Training Center, San
Diego, California. He will be
granted Christmas leave from De
cember 18 to January 1, 1955. He
plans to spend his leave at 4755
Bond Street, Seattle. Upon com
pletion of his Christmas leave
he will return to the Naval Train
ing Center and complete his nine
weeks of recruit training.
Young men and women in the
Palmer area who are interested
in enlisting in the U. S. Navy’ may j
obtain information by writing to
Officer in Charge, U. S. Navy
Recruiting Station, 110 Union.
Street, Seattle 1, Washington. I
unit, under the direction ot Ur.
and Mrs. Johan Wenberg will be
set up at the Alpine Inn in Sut
ton. Residents of that area, ex
cepting school children, may get
their x-rays between the hours of
3:00 and 6:00 p.m. Mrs. Harvey
Hiber is program chairman.
The following day the unit will
be moved to the health center at
Wasilla School where Mrs. May
Carter and Superintendent Ernest
Line are local chairmen. X-rays
will be given to school children
and adults on that day.
On Wednesday the equipment
will come to Palmer, where it
will be set up for the remainder
of the week in the Home Econ
omics room of Central School
basement. After processing films
taken at Sutton and Wasilla, the
mobile unit staff will be ready to
begin X-raying in the Palmer area
early the next morning.
Palmer school children will be
X-rayed by grades on Thursday
and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon
and from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Adult
X-rays will be taken on these
same days between 3:00 and 4:00
p.m. All adults who are able to
attend the clinic at this time are
urged to do so by Palmer pro
gram chairman Mrs. Richard An
drews and Mrs. Charles Wilson.
Because of a recent change in
schedules, the only other day re
maining for adult X-ray in the
Palmer area will be Saturday,
January 8.
On Saturday adults may get
their X-rays in the basement of
Central School from 2:00 to 5:00
p.m. or from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Pre-school children are not be
ing X-rayed at this time except
for known or suspected contacts
of active tubercul osis* cases.
Assisting the mobile unit staff
and the local program chairmen
in the Palmer area will be the
following committees: Facilities,
Ray DePriest; hostesses for school
children, Wanda Wilson, chair
man, Ida Stadler, Cloycine Drig
gars, Sal Esslinger, Midge Hud
gins, Kathleen Moore, Marian
Persinger, Norma Bensin, and
Leanne Dodds; hostesses for
adults—all members of Beta Sig
ma Phi—are: Mildred Buzby,
chairman, Dorothy Saxton, Vir
ginia Gallant, Marylou Rideout,
Clara Buzby, Helen Crites, Lee
Ehrhrt, Gladys Jones, Ann Wood
ruff, Bonnie Bettine, Helen Maze,
Marne Hanks, Eileen Branton, Vi
vian Shaver, Betty Rice, Norma
Ritchie, Bernice Kuoppola, Claire
Kopperud, Hazel Harris, Dorene
Asay, and Frances Hulbert.
The transportation unit of Pal
(Continued on page 10)
SLED DOG RACES
SET FOR SUNDAY
Any newcomer to Alaska, or
the valley, who has never seen a
sled dog race is invited to attend
the sled dog races planned for
Sunday, January 2 at Lake Lucil
le in Wasilla.
The races are scheduled to get
under way at 1 p.m. with all the
color and excitement that accom
panies this type race. It will be
patterned after one held at the
lake last winter and will see Al
aska champs vieing for the top
honors.
Ample parking space will be
found around Hallea lodge, how
ever spectators are urged to dress
warmly if they plan to watch the
races.
FLOWERS FOR
NEW YEAR CORSAGES
AND BOUQUETS
Telegraph Delivery Service
MATANUSKA VALLEY
GARDENS
Phone 32J11 Palmer
NEW YEAR'S EVE DANCE, PALMER HI GYM
Sponsored by Pioneer Grange - Admission $2.50 - Ladies Free FUN - HATS •• PRIZES ■■ NOISE MAKERS