FOURTH ANNUAL KIWANIS
MINSTREL SHOW
APRIL 23 — 24 — 25
SCHOOL GYM. 8:30 p.m.
THE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
THY A FRONTIERS MAH
CLASSIFIED AD for that
item you may hart for aala.
real or laase.
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 31
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY, APRIL 23. 1953
PRICE TER CERTS
MINSTREL SHOW
SET FOR GRAND
OPENING TONIGHT
Tonight at 8:30 • curtains will
rise on the fourtfi'annual Kiwanis
sponsored ministrel show, “Min
strel Moods,” under the direction
of Keith Stanton.
Much work and effort on be
half of the Kiwanis Club and
many others of the community
have gone into the two-part pro
duction.. In addition to the Grand
Opening and Finale, the chorus,
under the direction of Miss Lois
Thompson, will present five num
bers. Favorites, Dana and Robin
will be joined this year by an
other member of the Neimann
family, Terry.
Ten-year-old accordion vertuo
so, Carl Vucovich of Goat Creek
will offer accordion selections.
Popular Norman Rousey will be
back in this year’s show with
two numbers.
Many more numbers will be
presented, high-lighted by the
ever-popular minstrel show end
men. Production manager Hugh
Johnson said this week the show
“looks wonderful.”
Tickets are still available for
all shows; tonight, tomorrow
night and Saturday night, but
ticket chairman George Crowther
urges those who plan to purchase
reserve seats to do so immediate
ly. Last year many show-goers
were disappointed by not being
able to get seats for the Saturday
show. Many were turned away.
With such a fine show ready for
presentation, the Kiwanis Club
hopes this year everyone who
wishes will be able to see the
show.
Reserved seats may be pur
chased from the following: Ed
Smith, at Kethikan Spruce: Dick
Jones, Matanuska Valley Bank;
Betty Mears, at Bettys’; Palmer
Drug; Koslosky’s; Billie Lacy or
Hugh Johnson at ARA building;
Mary Poison, Wasilla Roadhouse;
Phil O’Neill, Alpine Inn; Ernie
Burke, Eklutna Project; Marvin
Slaughter, Geological Survey and
George Crowther. Anyone wish
ing to contact Crowther by call
ing the Extension Service office.
Production chairmen include
Keith Stanton, director; Lois
Thompson, chorus director; Hugh
Johnson, production manager;
Emil Granshow stage manager:
Patty Weisenbarger, costumes;
Marvin Slaughter, programs:
George Crowther, floor and tic
kets; Roscoe Taylor, publicity;
Continued on Page 8
TELL OF NEW
VALLEY COAL BEDS
"Promising occurrences” of
sub-bituminous coal in the little
Susitna district of the Matanuska
coal fields were reported this
week by the Geological Survey in
Washington.
The agency said coal is needed
“to meet the anticipated great
increase” in demiand for fuel
to operate steam power plants
either now in contruction or in
the planning stage in Anchorage
and Fairbanks areas.
The area referred to is on the
north side of the lower Matanus
ka Valley. The report said that
field work indicated the district
is underlain by relatively flat ly
ing sedimentary rocks containing
several beds of sub-bituminous
coal of possible economics value.
PRESIDENT TO GREET
FIVE HAGEN BROTHERS :
; Word was received this
: morning from Mayor Al
!; fred V. Hagen, who has been!;
! in Washington, D. C. the past;
week attending Statehood j:
Hearings! that he and his four j
; brothers were to be received \
I by President Dwight D. Eisen-;
hower at the'White House thts ;
\ afternoon at 3:15. Hagen plans ;I
! to leave Washington tonight,;!
;! enroute to Minneapolis and
; back to the Valley Monday.. ;!
City Gets Traffic
Recommendations from
Planning Commission
A draft ordinance will be pres
ent for dicussion at the Council
meeting April 28. It will concern
traffic violations and control
within city limits. .
Recommendations for traffic re
gulations were presented to the
Mayor and council members by
the planning commission. Before
going into effect, a definite educa
tional program for the public was
recommended by the commission.
The following proposed regu
lations would control parking:
Limit parking in front of the
post office and bank to 30 min
utes between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Limit parking on Valley street
between Eklutna avenue and
Wasilla highway and Colony St.
between Wasilla highway and
Lazy Mountain avenue to two
hours between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Prohibit parking on the south
side of Co-Op avenue between the
ARRC office and the Rec Hall
building and from the east end
of the Rec Hall building east for
60 feet. (This is necessary io in
sure ingress and egress from the
parking area south of the Rec Hall
building.)
Establish 45 degree angle park
ing on the west side of Valley
street and Colony street between
Eklutna avenue and Lazy Moun
tain avenue, and parallel parking
on all other streets and avenues.
Prohibit double parking on any
street or avenue.
Prohibit “U” turns on all streets
and avenues.
Organize parking lot on Triang
le at Palmer Drug store.
Provide off street parking on
city lots at RR and Fairview-Air
port Way.
No parking in front of hotels j
and theatres.
No parking in front of fire hall
and 15 feet north.
Limit parking to 48 hours with
in city limits.
Additional recommendations on
proposed regulations for traffic,
traffic stops and street right of
way maintenance will appear in
j subsequent editions of The Fron
i tiersman.
CHRISTENSEN HOME
ENTERED; $200 TAKEN
Ed Christensen reported to the
city police department the theft
of $200 in cash from his home
on Glenn Highway April 20. The
money was in $50 bills, in a bill
fold Christensen had left in a
drawer in his home while dining
with neighbors.
Upon returning to his home he
discovered the theft and notified
Police Chief Bouwens, who said
today nothing concrete has deve
loped in the case. .The robbery
occured between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
at which time it was still daylight.
PALMER TO GET JEEP FIRE TRUCK
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Seven Jeep Civil Defense fire truck units of a movement of 17 at Alaska Steamship Co..
Pier 42, April 16, snroute to Alaska
Project Head Tells
Of Eklutna Progress
While speaking at the Anchor
age Chamber of Commerce meet
ing this week, L. M. Wylie, pro
ject engineer on the Eklutna Pro
ject, told his listners that power
from the Eklutna hydro-electric
plant will begin turning the
wheels of local homes and in
dustry late in 1954..
He said the first generator is
scheduled to “go on the line” in 1
July of 1954, but that contractors
are now about three months be
hind schedule. Some of the lost
time may be made up, he said,
if work continues at the present
rate and if materials arrive on
time. Bad ground and large
water flows in the north side of
the mountain caused construction
delays.
All dredging is complete now,
Wylie said, and twO joints of the
nine-foot concrete pipe have been
laid. Work on the intake is ex
pected to be completed by mid
July.
Work on the lake side toward
the mountain has gone in about
one mile without difficulty, he
said, but forwarned that water
might be encountered at a large!
earth fault crew members are
now approaching. i
“A large flow of water on this
side will force us to shut down
work, as it would not be economi-'
cal to pump large amounts of
water,” he said.
The penstock tunnel leading
from the man tunnel to the power
plant has been excavated and
steel renforcing is expected to
be installed by this September,
he added. .
In addition to plant construc
tion, work has been progressing i
on the installation of transmis
sion lines, Wylie announced, point
ing out the Eklutna-Palmer line
and substation, put into use this
past December and the Eklutna
Anhorage line which is expected
to be completed soon.. When this
line is completed, it will be tied
into the Palmer line, enabling
Anchorage power plants to feed
juice into this area.
Matt Perkins, former Palmerite
and now of Cincinnati, Ohio, is in
town on a business trip.
I MINE TO CLOSE
FOR ONE WEEK
Work at the Evan-Jones!; |
Coal Mine will shut down to- !;
mori'ow night until May 1, it j;
was announced today. <;
The present government j;
contract has expired, with the j;
new one not going into effect !
until May 1, was given as the \j
reason for the week’s lay-off. \
Herman Grunwald
Big Lake Resident
Dead from Fall
Herman Grunwald, 81-year-old
Big Lake resident for the past
37 years, was found dead in his
small cabin on the lake late Satur
day afternoon, April 18.
The body was discovered by
Oscar Burke, Big Lake home
steader and Dick Burton. Burke
had returned to the lake from
a trip to town and had stopped
to see Grunwald when the dis
covery was made. The men noti
fied Special U. S. Commissioner
Thomas Carter of Wasilla who
notified the Marshal’s office.
Due to the appearance of the
cabin, it was at first thought
there might have been foul play.
However, further investigationsj
brought to light that Grunwald
had apparently been bathing in a
collapsible bath tub, set on chairs, i
It appeared the tub had upset in
some manner. Members of the
Coroners jury gave a verdict of
accidental death, following the
investigation. From all appearan
ces Grunwald had tripped and
fallen through an open trap door,
striking his head on the lower
stairs.. Jurists were Francea A.
Farrell, Bernard J. Toomey and
who were at the lake at the
John A. Panch, all servicemen
time and Gordon Kukowski of
Pittman, Albert Hibbard and Hal
Clester of Big Lake.
The body was flown to Anchor
age where funeral arrangements
are pending at the Anchorage
Funeral Chapel. Grunwald was
believed to have a brother in the
States. There are no other known
survivors. He had returned from
his first trip Outside in 40 years
only a few weeks before his
death. In recent years he had
conducted a boat rental business
CD FIRE TRUCK
TO ARRIVE SOON
Palmer will soon receive one
of the 17 Jeep CD fire truck units
now in the transit court of the
Alaska Steamship Comnany.
The first shipmer arrived in
Alaska April 17 with trucks
aboard for Anchorage, Ketchikan,
Kiawack and Hoonah. Other units
are destined for Palmer, Hanes,
Petersburg, Skagway, Wrangell,
Cordova, Homer, Seldova, Craig,
Mt. Edgecumbe, Nome, Kodiak
and Nenana.
“This i" the largest movement
of its type ever to go to Alaska,”
said D. R. Renbarger, Alaska Line
general freight agent. The units
are fully equipped with pumps,
hoses, portable fire extinguishers,'
ladders and a tank trailer for
carrying fire-fighting chemical.
The units are coming north on !
11 different Alaska Line vessels,;
CO-OP AND FARMERS
iNVITED TO BID
Invitations to bid on Alaskan
grown produce were received last
week by the CoOp and various
Valley farmers. Bid opening date
is May 5 at the Purchasing Con
rol Office, Alaska General De
pot, Fort Richardson. Bid forms
may be obtained from the above
office, it was announced.
There are several changes in
last year’s specifications and
prospective bidders should read
them carefully, George Crowthers
said this week.
Crowthers also announced
there are still some Knik seed
potatoes and Edda seed barley
available to growers.
COUNCIL VOTES
CHANGES; LOAN
AND PURCHASES
A motion to repeal Ordinance
No. 27 (pole erection) followed
the acceptance by the City Coun
cil of recommendations presented
by the street committee. The re
commendations, which were the
results of a joint meeting between
committee members, Cy Brewer,
MEA manager and Charles Wil
son, chairman of the planning
committee, are:
Pole. lines along city streets
should, be placed approximately
along line of fire plugs, which
will, when sidewalks are placed,
be approximately 18 inches to
two feet toward the private prop
erty line from the curb line. In
alleys, pole lines should be in the
alley as close as possible to the
private property line so as to
create a minimum obstruction.
MTA Representative
Albert Withey reported present
progress in the proposed rural
telephone. He said to date 272
persons have signed applications
and announoed there will be
many more when road conditions
permit contact.
To Purchar° Hose
Five hundr^ ' of one and
one-half inf’ ■ and three
fog nozzle- chased for
the Fire Ray Lan
caster, fire chief, was instructed
to make a survey of present
equipment and sullies and re
port on additional needs of the
department. .
To Loan Fire Truck (
Members of the Council voted
to loan the city crash truck to the
community of Chugiak for a peri
od of time until the City of Pal
mer has need for it or until Chu
giak gets delivery on their own
truck. Upkeep of the truck will
be maintained by Chugiak while
in possession of the truck.
Water Map Presented
Ray Mathews, APW inspector,
presented a corrected map of the
new city water system. Many cor
rections were necessary on the
original drawings and all were ap
proved by resolutions by the
Council. Acting Mayor Betty
Mears was authorized by resolu
tion to sign the accepted maps.
Also present with Mathews was
Mrs. Irene Ryan, engineer with
Bourne Associates, engineers for
the system.
Violations at Dump
Russ Felzieu of the street de
partment reported many viola
tions at the city dump. Persons
have been dumping rubbish on
the road to the extent where now
it is impossible to get down into
the dumping area. Part of it was
caused, he said, from the inability
to drive back up out of the dump
ing area because of road condi
tions. .He suggested a new road
(Continued on page 8)
Automobile Insurance
WE WRITE AUTO INSURANCE FOR ALL RISK—
Life Hospital, Health and Accident
Fire and Casualty
M B MARTIN AND SON
Anchorage Office Mile 45
238 - 5th Ave. Palmer Highway
ANNUAL KIWANIS — ~
MINSTREL SHOW
*
THURSDAY - FRIDAY - SATURDAY
APRIL 23, 24, 25
SCHOOL GYM - 8:30 P.M.