valley Frozitiersman
VOL. II.
PALMER, ALASKA AUGUST 18, 1949
No. 37
Lake George Broke Sunday Evening
SELECT OCT. 8
AS DATE FOR
ANNUAL EVENT
The date for this year’s annual
game dinner, sponsored by the
Matanuska Valley Sportsmen,
tentatively was fixed for Oct. 8,
at last Monday’s committee
meeting. A much more elaborate
affair than last year’s dinner
was planned.
Sportsmen this year will ask
all Valley residents to share in
a part of their plans. The game
dinner will be served to mem
bers and guests in the school
lunchroom, it is anticipated. The
dinner then will be followed by
a dance in the gymnasium, to
which the public will be invited,
without charge. Any uneaten
game will be served at a buffet
luncheon at the dance.
In order to make certain of the
number to be served, it was de
cided to hold an advance sale of
tickets for this year’s dinner. All
members will be limited to one
guest, it was decided. Tickets
will sell for $1.50 each. Deadline
for the purchase of tickets was
fixed for Wednesday, Oct. 5, the
last general membership meet
ing before the dinner.
As it was handled last year,
food will be brought to the din
ner ready to serve, except for
carving. Dinner will begin at
6:30 and all food must be in the
kitchen by 6 o’clock.
General committees appointed
to take care of dinner details
were named by president L. C.
Stock. They included:
Table setting and serving—
Mrs. F. R. Sims, Mrs. Stock and
Viola Daniels; coffee making—
(Continued on Page 3)
Two Vacancies Still
At Palmer School
Existing vacancies on the staff
of Palmer school have been nar
rowed to two. according to Su
perintendent William T. Zahrad
nicek. The positions of agricul
tural instructor and sixth grade
teacher still are unfilled.
Latest acceptances this week
came from Robert Crites, who
will take charge of school coach
ing duties, and Mrs. Caroline
Miller, who has accepted the
home economics vacancy.
Unhappy Day
Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 9 a. m. will
be the zero hour for all Valley
school children. On that day, the
fall term at Palmer school opens,
superintendent William T. Zah
radnick announced this week.
For Palmer school teachers, va
cation hours are even shorter.
They will be called at a special
teachers’ meeting at the school
on Friday, Sept. 2.
First-Graders
To Pre-Register
Aug. 22 and 23
A preliminary count of noses
of the children who expect to
enroll in Palmer school’s first
grade next month is to be con
ducted next week. School Su
perintendent William T. Zah
radnicek announced today. Mon
day and Tuesday, Aug. 22 and 23,
have been selected as pre-regis
tration days for potential first
graders.
Parents are asked to pre-reg
ister their first-graders, as well
as any other student who has not
attended Palmer school before,
between the hours of 9 a. m. and
noon or 1 to 4 p. m.
If some parents find next
week's registration days incon
venient, Mr. Zahradnicek said
they might enroll their children
during the rest of this week.
The school board has ruled
that all pupils planning to en
roll in the first grade must be
six years old by Nov. 1, 1949.
Dairymen Announce Plans
For Fair Exhibition
Farmers who plan to exhibit
livestock at the coming Mata
nuska Valley Fair, this week
were warned that all cattle to
be displayed, including calves,
pigs and goats, must be accom
panied by a certificate of health.
The livestock must have been
tested for Bangs disease within
10 days of fair-time, Miss Louise
Kellogg, committee chairman,
said.
Dr. E. F. Graves, territorial
veterinarian, has agreed to con
duct this testing program, in or
cier to protect all livestock dis
played at the fair.
All cattle to be exhibited at the
fair must come from herds which
have been tested and disease
free for the past six months.
Livestock will be fed and cared
for by the fair, under the direc
tion of Department Superin
tendent William Hoskins. How
ever, all owners must do their
own milking. A demonstration
Surge milking machine will be
in operation in a demonstration
(Continued on Page 6)
Lake George, nature’s annual
showoff in the Matanuska Val
ley, lazily shoved through the ice
barrier at its mouth sometime
late last Sunday evening, it was
reported early this week by Clyde
King, Sr. The break-up date of
Aug. 14 is the latest of record, in
the rather brief 10-year span
records have been kept.
The event has been expec
tantly awaited here in the Mata
nuska Valley for almost a month
now. Premature reports four
weeks ago indicated that the
lake was ready to spill its waters,
in what was thought to be the
earliest break-up of record.
All the signs were favorable
four weeks ago. Black oil slicks
on the surface of Knik River,
plus low-lying mists over the
headwaters of the river near the
lake heretofore have been infall
ible foretellers of break-up. But
this year all signs failed; though
there was a slight rising in the
level of the river waters during
that period of false alarm.
Squeezed between craggy
mountains and the broad face of
Knik Glacier, each year the
melting waters from the glacier
lift the water level of the lake
until it bursts its seal of ice at
the river’s source. Then Lake
George’s waters foam into Knik
River, carrying with them heavy
cakes and floes of glacier ice
that swirl clear to the Inlet’s
waters.
The spectacular natural show
has jammed ice and timbers
about the pilings of bridges over
Knik River in years past, making
it necessary to blast the debris
free to preserve the bridge. How
ever the display of the past sev
eral years has been common
place, long-time Valley residents
say.
If the break-up runs true to
form, the river will rise about an
(Continued on Page 7)