Thought of the Week:
Which enterprising salesman
will be the first to offer meters
for those new parking orbits
in space?
ALASKA HIST (> i ; & i
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30 X ?051
JU.‘l£ VI ALAS. ’
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
: I ZTY
9
Palmer School Registration
New Students — Aug. 24
Old Students — Aug. 27, 28
Grades 1-8 — Central School
9 a.m. to 12—1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Grades 9 - 12—High School
VOLUME 14, NUMBER 48
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY. AUGUST 23, 1962
EIGHT PAGES
PHlUt
Highway Dept. Plans Palmer-Eklutna Cutoff
Maianuska Maid Is
New (o-Op Title
The name, “Matanuska Val
ley Farmers Cooperating As
sociation,” cut to “MVFCA” for
conveniene, passed into history
on Saturday, August 18, when
members of the farm co-op vot
ed to officially change the name
of the organization to “Matan
uska Maid, Inc.” Other busi
ness at the annual meeting in
cluded several by-law changes
and the election of six direc
tors to the nine-man board.
The title for which “MVFCA”
stood has been used since the
cooperative was organized on
October 28, 1936, Stewart A.
Durrant, general manager
poined out. The trade name,
“Matanuska Maid,” has also
been used since that time.
“It was the decision of the :
board of directors and the
members that we should, for
many reasons, capitalize on our
trade name,” Durrant said.
Elected to three-year terms
Enroll Tomorrow,
Monday, Tuesday
Registration for Palmer sch
ools begins tomorrow for new
students who have never be
fore attended schools in this
district, according to W. T.
Zahradnick, superintendent.
Grades one through eight reg
ister at Central school, and
gredes 9 through 11 at the high
schoo. Time is 9 a.m. to 12
noon, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Par
ents of first graders should
bring birth certificates showing
that their youngster will have
reached the age of six on or
before November 1, 1962.
Registration for those who
have already attended Palmer
schools is scheduled for Mon
day and Tuesday, Aug. 27 and
28, at the same hours. Grade
school students register at Cen
tral, high school students at
the high school.
on the board of directors were
Earl Ray, William Hecker, and
Harlan Hamilton. John Nash
eletced to a two-yoar term, and
Ralph Gadbury of Fairbanks
was chosen to complete the
term of Marvin Bushey, a
three-year tenure with two
years left to serve. James Cott
rell will serve a one-year term
Other members of the board
are Ray Bebarchek, with two
years remaining, and Bob Mc
Combs and Ray DePriest, both
of whose terms will expire
next year.
49 voting members of the
co-op were present at the day
long meeting, broken at noon
with a cold barbeque lunch.
Door prize winners were Jean
Seeman, five gallons of Matan
uska Maid ice cream; Bob
Nichols, automatic coffee mak
er; Len Melton, a Lazy Susan
sewer; Mrs. Clyde Oberg. Don
Parks, Bob McCombs, Leonard
Moffitt, Irving Huston. Bill
Campbel, and Joe Kircher, food
packages.
At a special meeting of the
board of directors, officers for
the coming year were elected.
They are Earl Ray, president:
John Nash, vice-president: and
William Hecker, secretary
treasurer.
KIWANIS TO OPERATE
PARKING LOT FOR FAIR
The Palmer Kiwanis Clut
will again operate a parking
lot for motorists attending the
Alaska State Fair this year
The parking area, located or
city property adjacent to the
fairgrounds, will accomodate
several hundred vehicles. A
token charge is made.
This is the Kiwanians’ chiel
money-raising project for the
year, and all funds earned are
turned back into youth projects
for the community, a spokes
man said.
MATANUSKA ELECTRIC CANDIDATE
TERRY LUCILLE NIEMANN, 18, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Bernard N. Niemann of Palmer, is a 1962 graduate of
Palmer High School who will attend the University of
Alaska this fall. The Matanuska Electric Association
candidate in the 1962 fair queen contest, Terry is a
petite green-eyed brunette who weighs 105 pounds,
measures 34-22Vi-34, and is five feet, two inches tall.
MISS KENDALL
QUALIFIES IN
QUEEN CONTEST
With one young woman al
ready qualified and the others
working to meet the Aug. 25
deadline, the Alaska State Fair
queen contestants are prepar
ing for a final week of activi
ties before the pageant and the
coronation ball on Sept. 1.
Colleen Kendall is the first
of the girls to qualify by sell
ing 350 raffle tickets. The girls
will continue to sell after qual
ification date, however, and
will be given a percentage of
the income from the extra
sales. A very worthwhile prize
awaits the girl who sells the
greatest number, a queen com
mittee spokesman said.
Tomorrow at 2:45 p.m. the
! contestants will apppar on Nor
I ma Goodman’s.‘Hostess House.’
KTVA. On Aug. 28 the girls
i will be guests on the Marsha
! Hiber Show, at 3:45 over KENI
TV. On the same day they will
' appear with Evan White,
1 KTVA, at 5:30 p.m.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Jones,
i official host and hostess for the
fair, will be guests on the Nor
ma Goodman show on Aug. 30
at 2:45 p.m.
Both pageant and ball will
be held in Central School audi
torium this year, with reserved
seat tickets for the pageant
available at Betty’s dress shop
at $1.50 apiece. General admis
sion is $1 and may be obtained
at the door.
Lew Hanks will be master of
ceremonies for the pageant,
which will begin at 7 p.m. The
auditorium will then be clear
! ed. and the ball will open at
9:30 p.m., with admission set
at $1 per person. Coronation of
“Miss Alaska State Fair’’ will
take place at midnight.
Oliver Corporation
Representative
Here For Fair
Jim Ross, territory manager
for the Oliver Corp., manu
facturer of farm equipment, ar
rived in Palmer today.
Mr. Ross, out of the Portland
office of the Oliver firm, is here
to help assemble new equip
ment for the Brooks company.
Ross, who is in charge of
Washington, British Columbia
and Alaska for Oliver plans on
being in the Valley area for
about ten days.
Route To Follow
Bailey Hill Street
Plans for re-routing the por
tion of the Glenn Highway
which connects Eklutna Flats
with Palmer were disclosed at
a public hearing held in Pal
mer on Friday, Aug. 27. The
hearing, conducted by several
officials of the state Depart
ment of Highways, was attend
ed by nearly 100 local residents
who expressed considerable ne
thusiasm for the proposed pro
ject.
The new stretch of highway
will take off from the old route
at Bailey Hill Street, and will
follow this street directly thro
ugh town, connecting with the
Mutanuska Road and continu
ing to the old town of Matan
uska, where it will cross the
railroad tracks and require a
bridge across the Matanuska
River. Project plans also in
clude a new bridge across the
Knik River, the new road con
Hunters Asked
To Report
Tagged Animals
Moose hunters have been
asked to cooperate with the
state Department of Fish and
Game by reporting the taking
of any animals bearing an ear
tag to the Anchorage office of
the department, according tc
Loren W. Croxton, regiona!
game supervisor.
In the past three years, near
ly 600 moose calves have been
captured, tagged, and released
with the hope that future re
turns will reward biologists
with known-age specimens and
information on reproduction,
survival. movements, and
growth, Croxton said.
The jaw and ear should be
salvaged by hunters and the
precise location of the kill not
ed. Biologists will pick up any
specimens so collected. The An
chorage telephone number to
call is FA 2-1959. Tagged moose
taken by people living outside
of Anchorage may be brought
to the game depatment’s atten
tion by calling the above num
ber collect.
EASIER WAY
In stead of trying to mend
their ways some men find it
easier to order a new supply.
necting with the present Pal
mer highway at Eklutna Flats.
The road improvement will
cut the present mileage of 18
miles of about 11, the officials
said. The old route will be
maintained as a secondary
road.
Robert Grey, district pre-con
struction engineer, said the act
ualroad bd wod be aboutu
ual road bed would be about
40 feet in width, located within
a corridor approximately 1,000
feet in width. It will be sur
faced with bituminous con
crete. About one and a half
miles of the project will be
within the Palmer city limits.
Although an Anchorage paper
reported the federal govern
ment would provide 95 percent
of the cost of this section, and
the city of Palmer the other 5
percent, it is believed that the
state would provide the other
5 percent. Local highway offi
cials were not available for
comment this morning.
The new road would be a
straight, wide highway, and is
expected to cut travel time be
tween here and Eklutna in half.
It will also cut travel time to
the Big Lake recreational area.
It will tie in with the Anch
orage-Fairbanks highw-ay, now
under construction, in the vic
inity of Matanuska.
Officials estimate that, if
j right-of-way problems can be
; solved in a reasonable lengh oi
| time, the new portion of the
I highway can be completed
| w-ithin three years.
An average daily traffic load
! of 4,650 cars is estimated for
j the new- road by 1981.
—
COTTRELLS MARK
25TH ANNIVERSARY
The 25th wadding anniver
sary of Mr. and Mrs. James
Cottrell will be honored at an
open house on Sunday, August
26, at the Cottrell home on the
Matanuska Trunk Road be
tween the hours of 1:30 and
6:30 p.m.
All friends of the couple are
invited to attend the affair,
which is being planned by their
daughter and sons, Mrs. LeRov
; Eckman, James of Anchorage.
David of the home, and Mich
ael, who is on duty with the
I U. S. Navy.
MVH Society Gets
Matching Funds
Matching funds totalling $885
from the state department of
tourism were received by t h e
Matanuska Valley Historical
Society early this month, en
abling the organization to go
ahead with plans to complete
the museum located in the
basement of the Frontier Cafe
building.
However, members have had
to abandon their goal of open
ing the museum to the public
by fair time, a spokesman said
this week. Fire-and-theft-proof
show cases are still to be pur
chased or built, and much tab
ulating and labeling work re
mains to be done. Volunteers
for this type of work are need
ed. and persons who would like
to contribute time are asked to
call Mrs. Laura Barnes, secre
tary of the society.
Funds paid out to ready the
museum for the public have
been matched, in most cases,
by contributions in labor and
materials. Cottonwood Cabin
Construction Company has
been paid $255 for carpenter
work, and has contributed $200
in labor; $200 has been paid
to Dodge Electric, which has
contributed an equal amount in
services and materials; Jack
Taylor has been paid $260 for
finishing and painting, and has
donated an equal amount of
service (labor was also contrib
uted by Ed Ueeck for finish
ing and painting); MEA has
contributed the fixtures for the
museum: and Howard Camp
bell of the Frontier Cafe has
donated space and heat for a
one-year period. Other ex
penditures have included $65
to the MVFCA Building and
Farm Supply store.
The MVH Society got its
start through the efforts of the
late Tom Moyer, assisted by
George Small, also deceased.
Other pre-colony pioneers who
have carried on the project in
clude Edward Ueeck. M. D.
Snodgrass, and Don Irwin.
Many of the early-day arti
facts, as yet unassembled and
uncatalogued, are being stored
in the museum. Reminiscent of
the days before electric power
outlets and the supermarket
are the double-ender freight
sleds ("designed to let the back
of the sled down over the log
easy so the eggs wouldn't
break”), the hand-operated
washing machine wringer. Mr.
Bodenburg's fanning mill
(“The home-grown w heat
ground in the coffee mill made
darn good bread”), and the dog
sled that John Bugge used in
the 1914 Nilchina Stampede.
("Over 100 dogs have worked
on that sled”).
The Matanuska Valley
Chamber of Commerce spon
sored an auction held last
spring which earned the $855
matched by state funds.
National Vegetable Week Observed At
Chamber of Commerce Banquet Aug. 16
Take Alaska Farm Month,
narrow it down to National
Vegetable Week, condense the
time to August 16, and the six
beautiful young women wrho
are the most enthusiastic boost
ers of the Alaska State Fair and
the general manager of the lo
cal farmers’ producing and
marketing cooperative, and you
have the recipe for an enjoy
able evening served by the Ma
tanuska Valley Chamber of
Commerce.
The purpose of the banquet
held last Thursday at the Elks
hall was to honor the Alaska
State Fair queen contestants
and the pioneer vegetable
growers of the valley.
Stewart A Durrant. general
manager of Matanuska Maid,
Inc., was guest speaker at the
fair attended by about 50 peo
ple.
He emphasized that fewer
and fewer farmers are growing
more and more agricultural
products, pointing out that in
1862 one farmer could support
four people, and today one
farmer can produce enough
food for 26 people; also that
the farmer’s years of produc
tivity are now longer, since his
life expectany has increased
from 47 years in 1900 to 70
years at the present time.
Alaska produces the finesl
vegetables of any state, the
manager said. Total gross in
come from the production o
vegetables in the Matanusk;
Valley in 1961 was $628,000, h
added, describing the Palme
area as the garden spot of A1
askan farmlands.
The potato crop accounts fo
nearly a half million of thi
figure ($448,000), with lettuc
the next-highest money makei
grossing $76,000. Carrots fol
low with $48,300, and cabbagi
with $25,700. Radishes accoun
for $11,000 of income, and cel
ery for $6,500. Other vegetable:
total $7,000.
The queen candidates were
introduced by Barney Fish,
president of the local chamber
group. The girls are Colleen
Kendall, Anchorage, sponsored
by Bert’s Drug, Inc.; Linda
Cope. Palmer, Matanuska Maid,
Inc.; Terry Niemann, Palmer,
MEA; Joyce Patterson, Wasilla,
Kitty’s Koffee Mill and Gus
Scheele’s Excavating Co.; Vicki
Johnson. Eagle River-Chugiak,
MTA; and Martha Linnebur,
Willow-Houston, Matanuska
Valley Chamber of Commerce.
MoKeBo Plans
Rodeo Events
Wild west color and excite
ment will be provided next
weekend by the MoKeBo
Rodeo Association, recently
organized by three Palmer area
residents. Monte Brey, Keith
Hooks, and Bob Swift.
The association has import
ed 25 head of rodeo stock from
Montana, the animals purchas
ed from a firm that furnishes
bucking stock for Cheyenne
and Denver rodeos. Rodeo
events are scheduled for Sept.
1, 2, and 3, at 1:30 p.m. at Mile
481*, Glenn Highway.
A rodeo office will be set up
• in the lobby of the Matanuska
Hotel for those who wish to
enter the events. Hours will be
12 noon to 9 p.m. on Aug. 31
t and 8 a m. to 10 a.m. on Sept,
ill. Entry time closes at 10 a.m.
r Sept. 1. Further information
- may be obtained by calling
PI 5-4126 or PI 5-4122.
r The rodeo events will follow
s i the rules of the Rodeo Cowboys
; Association. The local group,
however, has no affiliation
with RCA.
i Prizes have been donated by
; local merchants and will be on
■ display at Kirk's Sales and Ser
: vice. A jackpot purse will also
be offered.
SPONSORED BY MTA
VICTORIA FAE JOHNSON, of Mile 17, Glenn Highway, is
sponsored by the Matanuska Telephone Assocation in
♦he Alaska State Fair queen contest. The daughter of
Mrs. Sallye Johnson, she is an East Anchorage High
School senior who looks forward to college after gradua
tion in 1963. Vicki has light brown hair, blue eyes, and
fair complexion. Five feet, seven inches tall, she weighs
130 pounds and measures 37-22-37.
MoKeBo RODEO
MILE 48-2 - GLENN HIWAY
1:30 P.M.
Sept. 1,2 & 3