Voi. 1, No. 12
Palmer, Alaska, October 25, 1947
Ten Cents
Basketball Season Opens with PHS-Alumni Fray
School To Get
New Teacher
Authorization to hire another
teacher has been granted the
Palmer school by James Ryan,
territorial commissioner of edu
cation. The new teacher will in
struct a mixed class of third and
fifth grade students, according to
school superintendent Carl Snell
ing.
The teacher will begin her
work in the Palmer school on
Nov. 1. The added classroom will
be located in the basement, in
the room formerly used as a
mathematics classroom. A group
of 25 students will make up the
new class, at first, but later more
pupils may be enrolled.
As pressure in other grades
increases, it is possible that
another grade will be added to
the surplus classroom.
Mr. Snelling said a local teach
er was being considered for the
vacancy, but the school is not
yet prepared to make an an !
nouncement of appointment.
The budget of the education de
partment made it difficult to ob-i
tain permission to hire an extra
teacher in Palmer at this time
It-was only through the help of
Dr. Ryan that the present crisis
in Palmer school enrollment
could be met.
The addition of the extra teach
er now makes it possible for the
school to accept a few more pu
pils, Mr. Snelling announced. The
four students who were turned
away last week will be enrolled
this week, if the transportation
problem can also be solved.
Dinner Tickets
Go On Sale
Tickets for the turkey dinner
sponsored by the Ladies Aid of
St. John’s Lutheran church are
now on sale in Palmer. They may
be purchased from Aid members,
or at the counters of the Trading
Post. The dinner will be held in
the church basement next Thurs
day evening. Serving will con
tinue from 5 to 8 p.m.
There also will be a table of
handwork prepared for sale by
members of the Aid. Household
linens, aprons and other small
kitchen needs will be displayed
for purchase.
Proceeds from the dinner and
sale will go into the Aid fund ear
marked for remodelling the
church kitchen and basement.
Chamber to Meet
With Johnson
Thursday Noon
Col. John Johnson, general
manager of The Alaska Railroad,
plans to be in Palmer next
Thursday noon to meet with
members of the Valley Chamber
of Commerce, president W. C.
Mau announced today.
Colonel Johnson hopes to dis
cuss details of his plan, an
nounced last week, to build a
fire station in Palmer. He also
expects to discuss with the Cham
ber plans for publicizing the Val
ley as a site for future industrial
development.
Mrs. Mau had conferred with
Colonel Johnson in Anchorage
last Tuesday, to arrange the
meeting.
While in Anchorage, Mr. Mau
also spoke with heads of the
Railroad’s engineering depart
ment, with regard to restoration
of Palmer’s crossings.
Both crossings will be re
opened soon, Mr. Mau was prom
ised.
The Chamber luncheon will be
held at Charlie’s Place. Jack
Maze was named to complete
planning arrangements. He has
asked for reservations for 50
guests.
- j
Engineer Seeks
Office Location
Kenneth Hale of Flora Engi
neering, a firm of practicing and
consulting engineers, has been
making a survey of the Valley,
with the view toward a possible
location of a branch office here.
He said his firm, which is
headquartered in Cheyenne, al
ready has established offices in
Topeka and in Salt Lake City.
Another branch will be located
within the territory.
Chances are good that the of
fice may be located in Palmer,
according to Mr. Hale. He in
tends to go both to the Interior
and to Juneau before selecting
the location.
Living conditions for the en
gineer and his family also will
have a bearing on the future lo
cation of the office. Mr. Hale
hopes to bring his wife and two
children north to live, but needs
to be assured of living quarters.
Mrs. Walter Zeile, reported
ill this week, was recovering
today.
8 Homemakers Clubs Plan Event
Homemakers of the Valley
will celebrate their annual
Achievement Day next Monday.
They have scheduled a program
and tea, to be held in the United
Protestant church, between the
twelve and 3:30 p.m. Mrs. Ly
dia Fohn-Hansen, home demon
stration leader in the territory,
is expected as a special guest.
All women residents of the
Valley also are the invited
guests.
A detailed program has been
arranged. Each of the eight
Homemakers clubs in the Val
ley is to present a report of the
year’s activities and will prepare
one entertainment n u ui b e r.
Clubs who will be represented
on the program include:
Butte, Hilltop, Riverbend,
Sourdough, Wasilla, Junior
Homebreakers. Glacier View
and Twelve-Thirty.
Following the club portion of
the program, officers of the
Homemaker’s Council will be in
stalled in a candlelight cere
mony. Tea will be served at the
conclusion of this ceremony.
Each club has been requested
to supply the Council with a por
tion of the day’s needs. List of
requests, as prepared by Mrs.
Bernice Johnson of the Exten
sion Office, include these items:
3mall cup cakes, Wafilla;
nuts and candy, Riverbend;
sandwiches. Sourdough; lea
and sugar. Glacier View;
cookies, Twelve-Thirty; coffee
and cream. Junior Home
breakers; lemon, cloves, can
dies and decorating supplies,
Butte.
These committees have been
appointed to plan the tea and
entertainment:
Decoration—Mrs. Martin Ol
son, Mrs. N. Miller, Mrs. Saeger;
food—Mrs. D. Irwin, Mrs. H.
Thuma, Mrs. V. Eckert; enter
tainment—Mrs. N. Stock and
Mrs. J. Moebius; clean-up—Mrs.
B. J. Lossing, Mrs. Clyde King.
Jr., and Mrs. L. McKechnie.
Jeep Plunges Through
Guard Rail; 2 Injured
i
Editor Sends
Out An SOS...
Your adiior today has a
problem: She is seeking a girl
to help out in the newspaper
office, handling the mailing
list, and some of the other
odds and ends that crop up
constantly to steal time away
from a busy editor.
For such services, the edi
tor will happily pay $1 an
hour and also offers the prom
ise that the girl may learn a
little something about news
paper work. Interested? Then
call by the Frontiersman of
fice immediately, if you think
you would like to try the job.
Fire Association
Event Postponed
The Bingo game planned by
the Matanuska Valley Volunteer
Fire Association for Nov. 1, has
been postponed, it was an
nounced this week by Jack Maze,
committeeman in charge . Mr.
Maze explained that it was felt
the event would follow too close
ly the high school Carnival,
scheduled for Oct. 31.
Bingo is also a featured Carni
val event.
New date for the fire depart
ment game has been set for
Nov. 22. This is the Saturday
before Thanksgiving, and it is
planned to use turkeys as prizes
that evening. Nine p.m. in the
Valley Theatre are still proper
time and location.
Since Colonel John P. Johnson
of The Alaska Railroad last
week announced plans for the
construction of a fire station
here, the Valley association has
made no effort to further its an
nounced building plans.
Members of the board of direc
tors met again Thursday night to
discuss Colonel Johnson’s an
nouncement. He has promised a
fire station and a $9,000 fire
truck in exchange for a full
time maintenance man at the
station, and an efficient fire as
sociation.
' Darrell McKechnie and James
Hermon narrowly escaped critic
al injury last Saturday when
the jeep in which they were rid
ing went out of control on the
Matanuska bridge and crashed
through the guard rail to the
river bed below.
Although the jeep hurtled 15
feet through the air and landed
upended on the front bumper,
neither of the two Palmer youths
was seriously injured. Darrell
sustained a fractured shoulder
and James injured his knee. Both
suffered numerous minor cuts
and bruises. The pair was re
leased from the Valley hospital
Wednesday.
The jeep, owned by George
Hermon, was badly damaged. It
was not insured, Mr. Hermon
said.
Neither of the youths could
explain the cause of the acci
dent.
They said they had driven to
the Butte to attend a dance.
They returned later, and were
crossing the bridge at about 11
p.m. when the accident occur
red.
McKechnie said the jeep
appeared to slip on the board
planking. For a few feet it
slithered sideways, straight
ened, and suddenly veered to
ward the railing.
The accident was one of four
reported in the Palmer area over
the week-end. All were be
lieved caused by icy roads. One
Fort Richardson vehicle was de
molished in an accident on the
Glenn highway. A passenger
received first aid at the Valley
hospital, but was not hospital
ized.
Church Bazaar
Neb $2,193.22
The bazaar sponsored by St.
Michael’s church last Saturday
netted $2,193.22, final figures
show.
Father James Snead said the
affair was “even more success
ful than had been hoped for.”
Crowds stood in long queues be
fore the counters throughout the
evening. Seats at the Bingo
table also were filled all eve
ning long.
Volunteer workers, members
of the Altar Society of St.
Michael’s church, worked until
1 o’clock Sunday morning to
balance cash ledgers. Father
Snead thanked all who worked
to make the bazaar so successful.
The four major prizes were
divided between Palmer and An
chorage ticket holders. Leon Hol
brook of Palmer won the wash
ing machine. George Fennemore
of Anchorage won the radio. Ja
nell Mickel of Palmer held the
ticket stub on the silk quilt,
while Jeanne Cobb of Anchor
age carried home the hand-knit
ted afghan.
Both civilian and military per
sonnel at Fort Richardson at
tended.
Four Games
Are Scheduled
For Weekend
There will be four entrees on
the basketball bill of fare, when
the ’47-’48 season officially gets
under way this weekend. The
first whistle Friday will shrill
at 7 o’clock, to send the Palmer
second team and Wasiila into a
tussle for first blood.
The feature game of the eve
ning, between Palmer high
school and Palmer Alumni, is to
start at 8:15.
Starters in the preliminary
game were not known at press
time today. Coach L. K. Gibson
of Palmer said he was still un
decided, for final cuts have not
been made from the first-string
roster. Coach Ernest Line of
Wasiila could not be reached for
a pre-game line-up.
For the second game, Mr. Gib
son tentatively announced his
starters as:
Ray Puhl (rf), Earl Onkka
(lf) , Don Irwin (c). Waller Stev
ens (rg) and Wayne Bouwens
(lg) .
Right behind the starting line
up, 10 contestants are battling
hard for the five remaining po
sitions on the first-string. Men on
this list include:
Lynn Sandvik, Herb Ising,
Duane Huntley, Lloyd Plum
ley, Bill Chambers, Don
Hutchinson. Glenn Miller. Don
Parks and Robert Graham.
Neither Jim Gleason nor
George Hermon are expected to
play Friday, pending further
physical examinations.
Mr. Gibson emphasized that
the present line-up is only ten
tative.
The Alumni line-up for the
Friday tilt also was only in the
tentative stage at press time.
Coach Art Stacey said his team’s
chances suffered a setback, when
two players, Darrel McKechnie
and Jim Hermon, were injured
in an automobile accident.
Mr. Stacey was to hold a final
practice before he made definite
decision on his starting line-up.
However he named these men
tentatively:
Bert Stewart (g). Bud Meier
(g). Bob Stewart (c). Emil Wal
do (f). and Budd Billott (f).
The France brothers, Miles
and Vernon, and Jack Liek are
scheduled to see action.
Mr. Stacey said 20 players had
reported for action in all, but
new players are checking in at
each practice session.
Mr. Gibson reported his men
ready to play. "They look
pretty good." he commented.
"They're all ballhawks, and
I think you're going to see a
good game."
The Saturday night basketball
game will pit Palmer’s second
team against the men weeded
out from the first string in a 7
o’clock curtain-raiser.
In the feature game, to begin
at 8:15, Palmer high school reg
ulars meet an Army five, the
27th Statistical Controls Unit.
The high school squad will
rest next week, and then returns
to the court wars with a two-day
engagement at Seward Nov. 6
and 7.