Vol. 1, No. 41
Palmer, Alaska, February 14, 1948
Ten Cents
Agricultural
Committee
Is Organized
£ complete outline of the
aims, scope, problems, their
channels of solution and the
need for organization and inau
guration of a definite agricul
tural program was presented to
members of the Valley agricul
tural committee, which met for
the first time last Wednesday
evening. |
Parker Lester, Extension
agent, explained that the first
objective of this committee was
to orient the agricultural pro
gram, which now suffers be
cause of inadequate personnel
and too many suggested projects
for study. He said he thought
the first function of the commit
tees, which are to be organized
throughout Alaska, should be to
determine the most important
agricultural projects for study.
He reported that less than 37
percent of the Valley’s farmers
had replied to queries sent from
the Extension office, asking
which projects local farmers |
were most interested in, choos
ing from a list of 12 suggested
projects for study. He said only
those projects receiving most in
sst would be considered. Val
icj residents who did not return
the card, expressing their inter
est, will not be on the Extension
Service mailing list this year.
However, percentages com
piled from the cards which were
returned, show how Valley in
terest lies in these projects:
Soils and fertilizers.77%
Vegetable production ..62
Soil conservation .54
.Crops, general .54
Poultry production .51
Home beautification ...:44
Dairy improvement .28
Agr. engineering .24
Farm records .21
Hog production .16
4-H Clubs .12
Mr. Lester said it was prob
able that the Extension Service
would devote the major portion
of its time this year to the top
four or five categories on this
list. Don Irwin, director of the
Agricultural Research Admin
istration in Alaska, asked for
copies of the figures to be for
warded to Washington head
quarters for consideration as
ARA projects.
Continuing with his plan of
operation for the agricultural
committee, Mr. Lester said it
(Continued on back page)
Palmer Makes Fourth Try
, For Win Over Anchorage
palmer’s prep hoopsters get
their final whack at the victory
chain of Anchorage high school
this Friday in the Palmer gym
nasium. Coach L. K. Gibson, who
will be making his final appear
ance as basketball coach in Pal
mer, feels that his boys will be
more nearly ready to clip that
string of Anchorage wins than
they ever have been this year.
<* He reports that the squad has
‘•< Ia*>ked better in workouts this
week than it did at. the begin
ning of the season, when it look
ed very good, indeed.
Friday’s preliminary game
ets started at 8 o’clock.
The Little Susitna river bubbles and boils over its rocky bed
high in the mountains on the way to Independence mine.
The photograph was taken in September, when birch foliage
was just brightening into beauty. The photographer stood
just below the bridge which crosses the Little Susitna on the
Independence mine road to get the picture. (Photo by Palmer
Photographic Center).
Poultrymen
Will Meet
All Valley residents primarily
interested in poultry growing
are invited to attend a meeting
to be held at the Grange hall
next Monday evening at 8
o’clock, Alva Brooks announced
today.
Mr. Brooks said the meeting
is called for the purpose of at
tempting to plan some type of
poultryman’s association which
will be responsible for the mar
keting of Valley poultry prod
ucts.
Potato growers met for a sim
ilar purpose last Monday eve
ning.
Call 8 to ge: meeting notices
printed in the Frontiersman.
The Queens Are Coming
Fur Rendezvous queen can
didates will spend Saturday
evening in the Valley, Lloyd
Cleaves, manager of the Fur
Rendezvous, announced this
week. It was still too early to
learn the definite itinerary of
the queens at press-time.
However, the candidates
have promised to appear at
the Bingo game sponsored by
the Valley Volunteer Fire As
sociation, at the Valentine
dance of the sophomore class
to be held in Palmer gymna
sium, and at the masquerade
benefit ball to be held at Wa
silla's Community hall.
It also is possible that the
contestants will arrive early
enough to have dinner in
Palmer.
Queens To Be At Wasilla Dance
w — xnere'U be seven
queens and 2,000 hearts at the
W a s i 11 a masquerade benefit
dance in Community hall on Sat
urday night, dance chairman
Mrs. Oscar Johnson announced
today. The hearts will be of pa
per but the queens will be real,
live girls, for they’re the seven
who seek the title of queen of the
Anchorage Fur Rendezvous.
The girls, who will be escorted
by Lloyd Cleaves, Rendezvous
manager, expect to be in Wasilla
about 11 o’clock Saturday and
they’ll stay to dance and to talk.
They plan to appear at the Palm
er Bingo game of the Valley Vol
unteer Fire Association and at
the sophomore-sponsored dance
of Palmer high school students
before arriving in Wasilla.
The grand march for mas
queraders will gel under way
at 1 o'clock Sunday morning,
Mrs. Johnson announced. At
that lime a committee of three
judges from Palmer and Wa
silla will pick the winning cos
tumes and will award the
prizes.
Mrs. Johnson emphasized that
prizes for juniors are just as nice
as those for adults, and she ex
tends an invitation for all Valley
small fry to attend.
All who enter the hall must be
masked. However, for those who
forgot to purchase their mask at
the store, there will be a booth
in the hall lobby. Large dele
gations from Palmer, the mines
and the entire Valley already
have served notice that they’re
planning to attend the Valentine
masquerade.
The affair is planned to
build a fund for a Wasilla fire
association. Right in keeping
with the Valentine theme of
giving is the whole-hearted co
operation and response given
to the planning committee,
Mrs. Johnson says. Anchorage
and Palmer merchants togeth
er contributed all of the mer
chandise prizes without
charge. Wasilla townspeople
contributed material for sand
wiches and coffee, which will 1
be served at the dance for a
nominal charge.
Even the music for the eve
ning has been offered without
charge. Two Wasillans, an An
chorage-ite and a Palmer resi
dent will be the evening’s mu
sicians.
Fire Board Votes
To Buy Siren,
Plans Bingo Party
| The twice-postponed meeting
1 of the board of directors of the
Valley Volunteer Fire Associa
tion settled a month’s business
with dispatch when finally call
ed to order at 10 o’clock last
Wednesday evening.
Plans for smoothing the work
of the department were discussed
and enacted. It was decided to
order a fire siren, strong enough
to be heard within a two-mile
radius of Palmer, for installa
tion at the Valley Theatre. This
siren will be operated through
the switchboard of the Valley
Telephone Exchange.
1
It also was decided to do some j
work in preparing a room for j
“Cap” Allen, merchant patrol- j
man, at the present firehouse in |
the Theater Annex building. In
return, Mr. Allen will turn in 1
night fire alarms, have the truck i
prepared to answer alarms, and
will assist in care of the truck.
There was some discussion of
which vounteer firefighters are
eligible for the payment of the
fee, voted earlier to be given
volunteers attending fires. The
board ruled that only those men
who attend firefighting drills at
6 o’clock each Wednesday eve-;
ning will be eligible to receive j
pay.
It was emphasized however! ,
that membership in the associa
tion is open to all. Interested men I
are asked to report at Wednes
day’s drill sessions for instruction
in the use of fire equipment.
It was reported that ticket j
sales on the refrigerator to be
given away at the Bingo game
in the Steve Ward Building Sat-.
urday night were not progress
ing well. The directors decided
that members of the Association
would stage a door-to-door cam
paign through the business dis
trict on Thursday. It will be nec
essary to sell 300 tickets on the
refrigerator, if the Association
is not to take a loss on it. Tickets
also will be on sale at the Bingo
game Saturday, until the time
| of the midnight drawing.
The directors were told that |
all queen candidates for the Furl
Rendezvous will be present at J
the Bingo game. Present plans!
call for their appearance there j
at about 10 o’clock in the eve
ning. They will be escorted by
Lloyd Cleaves, this year’s Fur
■ Rendezvous manager.
Final Plans
For Institute
Announced
Complete plans for the annual
?arm and Home Institute in the
/alley were announced this
veek by Parker Lester, local
Extension agent. The Institute
>pens in Palmer on Feb. 17 and
:ontinues for a four-day session
hrough Feb. 20. Meetings will
)e held at the Grange hall.
On Friday, Feb. 20, the final
lay of the milk seminar in Palm
m, there will be a one-day In
stitute in Wasilla, at which a
•esume of the three-day program
n Palmer will be presented.
The four-day program is joint
y sponsored by the Extension
service, the Northland Pioneer
Urange and the Territorial De
partment of Health.
The daily program was out
ined by Mr. Lester, who was
issisted in the planning by Miss
Marilyn Johnson, home demon
stration agent, as follows:
x ucauay
The morning program, follow
ng registration and a welcom
ing address, will present two
speakers. Robert Kessler of the
Anchorage Chamber of Com
merce will discuss Valley agri
culture from the Anchorage point
af view. Wesley Gilman of the
Alaska Highway Patrol will
speak on safety regulations and
lighway etiquette.
Tuesday’s luncheon will be
served by members of the Sour
dough and Junior Homebreakers
Homemakers’ clubs.
In the afternoon, men and
women will divide the sessions
to hear a discussion of subjects
pertaining to agriculture and
home economics. The home eco
nomics program for the after
noon, to be conducted by Miss
Johnson, will be glass etching.
This is a workshop lesson and
all women attending are asked
to bring glasses on which to
work.
The men will hear a resume
of planned work at the Experi
ment Station at their Tuesday
afternoon meeting. The program
will include an outline of plans
of the newly instituted research
program, latest developments of
potato selection and variety
tests for potatoes to determine
their suitability for table and
seed needs.
(Continued on back page)
P-TA Will Meet
Next Tuesday
The next regular meeting of
the Parent-Teacher’s Associa
tion will be held on Tuesday,
Feb. 17, president Mrs. Charles
Schaefer announced this week.
P-TA-sponsored sale of maga
zines will begin officially with
this meeting, she said, for all
necessary materials have been
received.
As the program for the Tues
day meeting, the student coun
cil of Palmer high school will
present a session of the student
court, so that parents may un
derstand how students handle
self-government in the school.
Miss Peggy Elfsen, primary
teacher, also will discuss her
tour of France at this meeting.