Vol. 1, No. 25
Palmer, Alaska, December 13, 1947
len ttius
Co-Op Decides
To Sell Water,
Sewer System
^Members of the Matanuska
Valley Farmer Co - operating
Association Wedneday voted to
table indefinitely the dairymens’
resolution calling for establish
ment of three separate co-ops
to operate the produce depart
ment, dairy and creamery, and
service units.
A substitute proposal was
adopted which calls for the
endorsement of a seven-point
program recommended by the
MVFCA board of directors.
Under this plan many of the
Co-op's present holdings, par
ticularly in the service
branch would be sold.
Buildings and services select
ed for sale by the board of
directors include the water and
sewer system, dormitory, ga
rage, post office, community
hall, six staff houses, extension
building, recreation hall, hatch
ery apartment buildings and the
sewage disposal building.
Members at We dnesday’s
meeting approved the sale of
the water and sewer system “as
soon as feasible.”
However L. C. Stock re
quested that immediate action
on the sale of certain units and
services be postponed while a
committee of seven MVFCA
men give a more careful study
to the proposition. Mr. Stock’s
motion carried.
The were approximately 60
members of the organization at
the meeting.
Program Is
Abandoned
Seven Valley residents re
sponded to a call for a gather
ing of civic, service and lodge
organizations last Tuesday to
plan Palmer’s Comm unity
Christmas this year. The seven
decided Palmer had outgrown
this activity and voted to dis
band the Community Christmas
program.
Money in the bank, which
treasurer Parker Lester report
ed ^amounted to $325.64 /was
distributed in this manner: $200
of the fund was sent to the Uni
versity of Alaska as a contribu
tion to the student loan fund.
The remaining money ■ was
turned over to the Parent
Aeacher’s Association for use
o buy treats for school children
.his year. Any balance from
hat fund would revert to the
3-TA.
Harold T. Thuma, who was
the instigator of the Com
munity Christmas plan in
Palmer, said there "never had
been whole-hearted support
for this entertainment in this
community. T here always
have been some who wanted
to do more for individual
Christmas activities than for
this program, and it will be
harder to hold together as a
group organization each suc
ceeding year."
Mr. Thuma then put the mo
ion that the organization dis
and-*Jt was unanimously ap
roved by those present.
The blessings of officialdom of The Alaska Railroad are conferred upon Palmer, togelher with
keys of the new fire truck, pictured above. The truck has everything, according to A1 Hagen,
chairman of Association Board of Directors, including the siren that has been surprising Valley
residents on Sunday afternoons. That's when members of the Valley Volunteer Fireman's As
sociation meet for practice. Grouped in the picture above are, left to right, Mr. Hagen, Larry
Moore, ARR publicity official; Robert Hartwell, ARR first aid man; William Richards, ARR
safety engineer, and Paul Shelmerdine, ARR Labor relations man. (Photo by Palmer Photo
graphic Center.)
Valley Obtains Second Fire Truck
WE’VE COME TO IT
The Valley Frontiersman is contemplating "murder." We've
got a problem that simply is too big for us to handle in any
other way. However we'd like to let our readers help pj£k the
victim, so herefc our problem and here's what we plan to do
about it:
First, the cost of printing makes it impossible to publish
a 10-page paper without taking a financial loss.
Second, the editor of the Frontiersman refuses to continue
to jam an eight-page paper with the advertisements that we
need to make the figures in our ledger black instead of red.
So, the only answer is to create more space, somehow, to make
room for those -advertisements and all of the Valley news we
want to print.
N That's where "murder" pops up. The obvious answer, or
so it seems to us, is cold-blooded to do away with two or more
comics. It'll hurt, we know, and if it hurts loo much, then
we'll have to look farther for our answer. That's where our
readers come in.
In each edition we print between now and Jan. 1, there
will be at least one of our regular comics omitted. We'll take
turns, so that for the remainder of the month, a different strip
will be missing from each sheet. We'd like to have your opinion
on which strips should be ruled out. We'll make every effort
to keep the funnies you really like, but we first must know
which they are.
So if you feel the Valley Frontiersman would be incom
plete without certain comics, tell us, won't you? After all, we
just have to write the material in this paper—you have to read
it. Now's your chance to tell us what you want to read in it.
If you feel the Frontiersman would suit Valley needs as
well without any comics at all, tell us that, too. We'll try to
work out a solution to this problem that will give you what you
want to read, and still leave us with enough to pay for that bad
editorial habit of eating, which we have been cultivating for
a number of years now
9
The Valley has a second fire
truck, A1 Hagen chairman of
the board of directors of the
Valley Volunteer Fire Associa
tion, announced last Tuesday.
The truck is a 1942 Chevrolet
with a 350-gallon tank. It has
been driven 9,000 miles.
Mr. Hagen said the vehicle
was purchased for $150, and
will require another $150 to
put in working condition, for
the cab has been crushed. The
truck is equipped with four car
bon dioxide tanks, a ladder and
a hose reel, but it has no hose.
Mechanical repairs to the ve
hicle and the purchase of hose
with which to equip it will be
the Fire Association’s major
problem for the next few
months.
The next fund-raising plan
for the group is a second^
Bingo game scheduled for
Saturday, Dec. 20 at the Steve
Ward buidling. Hams, tur
keys, electrical appliances
and service coupons will be
the prises.
Both Hartley Bros. Motors
and Brown’s cleaners have of
fered $10 worth of services for
$8. Kut ’N Kurl Beauty Salon
has given one permanent wave
without cost. Other merchants
are being contacted by a com
mittee for other service gifts.
Earl and Betty Nunn, guitar
ist and vocalist, have volun
teered their services for two 15
minute periods of entertain
ment. They are scheduled to
perform promptly at 8 o’clock
and again at a 10:30 intermis
sion.
Oscar Kindgren will run the
games. Bill Cook has volun
fContinued on page 2)
Delbert Ring
Accidentally
Electrocuted
Death by electrocution came
instantly to Delbert “Bubsie”
Ring of Palmer early Wednes
day afternoon, when the youth
accidentally brushed a high ten
sion wire of 7,200 volts.
The young man, still in his
early twenties although a vet
j eran of four years of war, was
assisting Ferber Bailey in mov
ing a house. He had purchased
a house at the Moffitt farm and
was moving it to Palmer to be
used as a residence for his moth
er, Mrs. Valeria Ratliffe.
The house was too high to
clear electric wires which
cross the highway near the
Eckert farm. The dead youth
was riding astride the peak
of the house at the time of
the accident. He was en
gaged in working several low
< neutral wires over the ridge
of the house. Holding the neu
tral wire in both hands, he
straightened and brushed the
high tension wire above him
with his head. Death was in
stantaneous, according to Dr.
R. E. Garret, examining phy
sician.
The deceased leaves several
brothers and sisters in the Val
ley. as well as his mother.
His fate was ironic in that
he once had been reported miss
ing in action and presumed
dead in the Pacific, when the
plane on which he was bom
bardier was reported seen fall
ing in flames. No further word
was received by his mother and
friends here, until after V-J
day, when he was discovered
to be a Japanese prisoner of
war.
Funeral services will be held
Monday at 11 a.m. in St. Mich
ael’s church. Burial will be in
the Legion plot of the Valley
cemetery.
MVFCA Owns
Palmer Land
Although secured by mort
gages to bothe the Farm Home
Administration and the Alaska
Rural Rehabilitation Corp., the
land in the heart of Palmer, sub
ject of much discussion regard
ing ownership recently, is the
property of the Matanuska Val
ley Farmers Cooperative Assoc
iation, according to C. W. Peters,
ARRC manager.
Mr. Peters said the MVFCA
retains the same property rights
as any private land owner. Thus
co-op land may be sold, provid
ing the FHA and ARRC, which
hold the mortgages, v(ill g
permission for the sale.
The question had been dis
cussed at length in regard to ob
taining a hospital site on tiie old
location. The land on which the
destroyed hospital was located
is owned by the Co op, and the
opinion had been expressed that
it could not be sold. That opin
ion is unfounded, according to
Mr. Peters.