The frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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VOLUME 7, NUMBER 38
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY,, JULY 15, 1954
PRICE TEN CENTS
KETCHIKAN SPRUCE
LOCAL AGENT FOR
IMPROVEMENT LOANS
Residents of the Valley now
may obtain loans up to a maxi
mum of S3500 for improvement
and modernization purposes ac
cording to Palmer Branch Man
ager Ed Smith of Ketchikan
Spruce Mills.
"We are authorized agents for
the loans in the Valley and deser
ving persons may obtain them by
filling out proper applications
and meeting the necessary quali
fications,” says Smith.
Loans granted are repayable in
monthly installments up to 36
months limit. A minimum down
payment of $15.00 is the only
monetary requirement.
Necessary credit applications
and additional detailed informa
tion are available at Ketchikan
Spruce Mills.
PUBLIC INVITED
TO MEET McKAY
Plans for a tour around the
Matanuska Valley are being com
pleted this week by the Matan
uska Valley Chamber of Commer
ce in anticipation of the visit of
Secretary of the Interior Douglas
McKay who will be in Palmer
Tuesday, July 20.
Secretary McKay is scheduled
to arrive in Anchorage the after
noon of July 17. Plans in that
city include a public reception
between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. at the
Elks club, followed by a no-host
cocktail party between 7:00 and
8:00 p.m. A banquet at 8:00 at
the Idle Hour Country Club is
planned by the Anchorage Cham
ber of Commerce.
A coffee hour is planned by the
local Chamber, beginning at 10:00
a.m. at the Elks club. All Chamber
members and friends are invited
to attend and meet Secretary Mc
Kaj'- Following the co^fee hour
McKay and hs party will be con
ducted on a tour of the Valley.
Upon leavng Palmer, McKay
will go to Fairbanks where on
July 21 he will dedicate the new
Alaska Communications System
toll building. July 21 is ACS rec
ognition day and marks the 93rd
anniversary of the Signal Corps
and the 51st year of its operation
in Alaska.
Echo Lake Closed
To All Fishermen
Alex McRae, of the Alaska De
partment of Fisheries, announced,
last week the closure of Echo
Lake to fishermen. According to
McRae fish planted in that lake
last year have attained a length
of from five to seven inches and
are apparently thriving without
difficulty.
The lake is to be restocked this
week with approximately nine
thousand fingerling trout.
Plans call for reopening the
lake to fishing enthusiasts some
time next year.
15 TAKING CD
FIRST AID GOURSE
Fifteen Valley residents attend
ed the first in a series of First
Aid classes being conducted by
Mrs. Florence Sandel for the Pal
mer Civil Defense organization.
The first two-hour class was held
Monday evening, July 12 at CD
headquarters in the Carpenters’
Hall. Continued classes will be
held each Mon. from 8 to 10 p.m.
for a period of nine weeks, Mrs.
Sandel Valley Presbyterian Hos
pital nurs«3 said this week. In ad
dition, four hours of special Civil
Defense work will be offered.
Anyone interested in taking
the American Red Cross course
is invited to attend the next
meeting, July 19. Those to take
the course after that date will
have to wait until September, at
which time a second class will
probably be started, Mrs. Sandel
said. Juniors who are interested
in the course are especially urged
j to attend. They must be at least
1 15 years of age and have complet
ed the ninth grade of school, for
the junior course. Advance course
requirements call for at least 16
years of age and completion of
the second year of high school.
Classes are scheduled to begin
promptly at 8 p.m. and close at
10 p.m. All students are urged to
■ observe the hours so that the re
quired 18 hours of instruction may
be completed. Those who plan to
attend for the first time on July
19 will be given an opportunity
to make up the first two hours
which were given this past Mon
day.
BOARD OF HEALTH
HOLDS FIRST MEET
Mrs. Minnie Clark was named
secretary of the Palmer Board of
Health during that group’s first
'meeting, held July 12 in the office
of Dr. C. C. Bailey, City Health
Officer. By virtue of the City of
Palmer ordinance. Dr. Bailey is
executive officer of the group,
and Mrs. Lucille Mick, as chair
man of the City Council public
health and safety committee, is
; chairman. Other members of the
board are Police Chief Bernard
Bouwens, and Bill Roark, repre
j ser.tative from the Palmer Inde
pendent School District board of
; directors.
i Much of the meeting time was
devoted to a study of the city
| health ordinance and discussions
: of various sections, with special
attention focussed on Jhe trans
portation of garbage, refuse ac
cumulating within the city, and
the sanitation inspection of res
tuarant and bars. It was pointed
out that the health officer will
act on a complaint basis.
Regular meeting dates were es
tablished for the second Monday
evening of the odd months. How
ever, until the group feels they
are well enough organized, there
will be special meetings held, so
that the board plans to meet each
Monday evening for the present
time.
/
Water Users
Because of a shortage of water meters and
the difficulty of installing meters during
the winter months, some water users have
been served for a flat, unmetered rate.
METERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AND ALL
UNMETERED SERVICES MAY BE DISCON
TINUED JULY 20, 1954.
Meters may be obtained by applying at
the office of the City Clerk
INSTALL YOUR METER BEFORE JULY 20,
1954 OR YOUR WATER SERVICE WILL BE
SUBJECT TO DISCONNECTION
E. BARRY
City Clerk
CITY COUNCILMAN
G. PARKER LESTER
TAKEN BY DEATH
Funeral services for George
Parker Lester will be held at the
First Baptist Church in Palmer,
Friday, July 16, at 2:00 .p.m
Services will be in charge of the
Matanuska Lodge No. 293 F and
AM. Rev. Edmund Lacy will assist
Mr. and Mrs. Cy Brewer will
j sing during the service.
Prior to the church service
there will be closed Masonic ser
vices at the lodge at 1:00 p.m. The
family has requested that there
be no flowers. Friends who wish
are asked to please make their
donation to the American Heart
Association in place of flowers.
George Lester died suddenly
at Palmer July 10 of a heart at
| tack. At the time of his death he
was a member of the Palmer City
Council and supervisor of the city
telephone, system. Lester was
born at Lovell, Wyoming Novem
ber 23, 1899 and lived in Worland,
Wyoming until his graduation
j from high school in 1924. He grad
uated with honors and received
; a four-year scholarship to the Uni
' versity of Wyoming, from which
he graduated in 1929.
Upon graduation he became
county agent at Powell, Wyowing,
for several years. In 1941 he was
State Walter Facilities supervisor
I in the Department of Agricul
ture Farm Security Administra
tion.
In 1945 he came to Alaska,
I working as machinist with the
Alaska Railroad. The following
year he became District Agricul
ture Agent with the Extension
Service of the University of Al
aska, his territory consisting of
Anchorage, Kenai, Peninsula and
the Matanuska Valley. He later
.aught On-the-farm veteran train
in’ classes until their discontinua
tion.
Lester was a member of Ab
sorokee Lodge No. 30 AF & AM
of Powell. He is survived by his
wife Harriett of Palmer: a daugh
; er by a former marriage. He is
survived by his wife Harriett of |
Palmer: a daughter by a former )
marriage, Bernice Lester of
Compton, California; a sister Car
rie White of Corvallis, Ore.: and
four brothers, Justine also of Cor
vallis; Kenneth and Willard of
Riverton, Wyoming, and Ray
mond of Denver. His sister, Mrs.
(Continued on page 8)
REAL ESTATE FIRM
SALE ANNOUNCED
A. L. Smith and Dick Benson
are now proprietors of the Valley
Real Estate, following the pur
chase of the business from A1
Saxton this past week.
The new owners plan to move
their office to the Withey Build
ing within the next two weeks.
Benson has been a Valley resi
dent for the past five years and
has been engaged in the amuse
ment machine business, and car
penter work.
Smith .was formerly owner of
A. L. Smith Trucking Service at
Alpine. At the present time he
is operator of the A. L. Smith
Furniture and Salvage Company.
The building, formerly occupied
by Valley Real Estate, along with
a lot next to the Legion Building,
has been purchased by City At
torney John Shaw. Atty. Shaw
plans to move the building to the
lot next week and will then move
his office from Matanuska Street.
! A1 Saxton plans to devote'full
| time to his insurance business.
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COUNCIL NOTES
In a special city council meet- i
ing held Monday evening, July 12, j
special committee work and other
city council duties formerly car
ried out by the late Parker Les
ter were delegated to other coun
cil members. Councilman William
| T. Zahradnicek was authorized to
| co-sign city checks, and Council- j
I man Russel Felzien and Don
' Moora to take charge of the fire
j h*ll construction.
Felzien was also named to sup- j
ervising telephone department
work until such time as the po
! sition can be filled.
There was no regular council !
meeting July 13, out of respect to j
j Mr. Lester.
KNiK BRIDGE CLOSED
AGAIN TONIGHT
The Knik River bridge will
be closed to all traffic again
tonight while workers com
plete the new approach. An
accident last night prevented
the completion of the work,
necessitating the second clos
ure, expecting to run from
7:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Friday
morning.
/mton Shosten is hospitaliz
at Valley Presbyterian Hos
pital and John Kosewski, re
ceived out-patient treatment
at the same hosptal, when
both men, who are pile-driv
ers for the Munter Construc
tion company, were injured by
a falling beam last night. The
men were brought to the hos
pital by Territorial Police.
LOCAL RIDING CLUB
PLANS FIRST RODEO
JULY 31-AUGUST I
Plans for Palmer’s first big
rodeo are well under way, ac
cording to members of the Arctic
Trails Riding club of this city who
are sponsoring the two-day event
July 31 and August 1. There will
be but two shows, each to be
presented during the afternoons
of the announced dates. The
shows, to begin at 2:00 p-m., will
continue for around two and one
half hours, members said, and
will be presented at the Valley
Fairgrounds.
“We are planning the program
so that things will move right
along and there will be no long
intermissions between events”,
they stated. Around 25 riders will
participate in the program, with
between 10 and 15 riders from
other areas of Alaska begin in
vited to participate in the varied
program.
There will be the usual thrilling
bronc riding, both with and with
out saddles—bull riding—calf
roping—wild cow milking contests
—barrel races—musical barrel
contest — pony express, rides—
bareback racing—and many oth
ers. Prizes will be awarded win
ners.
Horses to be used in the events
have already arrived and are
stabled in Palmer. Admission to
the rodeo, will be $1.50 for adults
and 75 cents for children under
12 years of age. There will be no
reserve seats, members said. The
price for admission will permit
seating in the grandstand at no
additional cost.
The success of the rodeo will
determine whether or not it will
become an annual event and per
haps indicate to the local club
if there is enough interest to war
rant other shows during the sum
mer and during the 1954 Fair.
All members of the riding club
plan to participate in the two
day event, including junior mem
bers who boast two of Alaska’s
youngest riders, Sandy and Susie
King.
Don Ulter Cabin
Destroyed by Fire
Members of the Bureau of Land
Management, Division of Forestry
were called out early this morn
ing to control a fire burning in
the woods near Mile 43 on the
Glenn Highway. The fire was
started when a cabin owned by
Don Utter burned to the ground.
Cause of the cabin fire was un
determined. Utter has not occu
pied the cabin for over a month
and is believed to be on a pros
pecting trip. The M.E.A. was also
called, to cut off live wires.
A stump row fire on Matanus
ka Street called out one truck of
the City Fire Department around
four o’clock this morning.
Bill Adams, fire guard at the
local Fire Guard Station is in the
King Mountain area this week,
checking the burned area. Two
fire watchers have been on duty
this past week, watching for flare
ups on the fire that was first re
ported the latter part of June.
CITY OFFICE TO
CLOSE DURING FUNERAL
The office of the City Clerk
will be closed Friday after
noon from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00
p m. out of respect to former
Councilman George Parker
Lester.
GENE KIRSCH NAMED
1954 FAIR MANAGER
For the# second consecutive
year. Gene Kirsch of Palmer has
been named manager of the Ma
tanuska Valley Fair. Kirsch, who
! has been a member of the board
of directors the past two years,
will retire from the board to de
vote his entire time to manager’s
duties, beginning July 15. His ap
pointment was announced follow
ing the July 12 board meeting.
Along with the announcement
of the selection of a Fair Man
ager, board members announced
the annual Matanuska Valley
Fair queen contest will soon open.
Apy Valley girl, who is single, 15
years of age or older, and who
has been a resident of the Val
ly since July 1, 1954, is eligible to
enter the contest. Organizations
and business firms of the Valley
are urged to sponsor a candidate
in this year’s queen’s race. Al
! though a contestant need not have
a sponsor to enter, board mem
; bers said this week they hope
several organizations will select
a Valley girl as their candidate
for queen and assist her with her
j ticket sales.
Any girl interested in enter
I ing the contest, is invited to reg
ister immediately with Dorothy
B. Saxton in the Theatre Build
ing. Tickets will soon be avail
able to contestants, and the con
test will officially open at that
! time. This year, ticket books will
be printed in sets of 10 each,
rather than 25 as in previous
|years. The total number of 250
tickets, will remain the same for
qualification for final judging. All
contestants will be required to
sell at least 250 tickets to qualify
for the queen title. Twenty-five
dollars will be paid to each can
didate upon her qualification, plus
10 percent of her total ticket sales
at the close of the contest. The
S25 is paid before final sales to
assist each qualifying candidate
in her campaign expenses.
The grand prize to be award
ed the Valley Queen has not yet
been announced. That, and a list
of valuable prizes to be awarded
to lucky ticket holders, will be
announced as soon as possible,
board members said this week.
BANQUET SET FOR
ADALAI STEVENSON
A limited number of tickets are
available for the banquet to be
held in honor of Adalai Steven
son at the Idle Hour Country Club
in Anchorage July 25 may be ob
tained through the Anchorage
Democratic Club. The banquet is
scheduled for 8:00 p.m. and will
follow a cocktail hour from 7:00
to 8:00 p.m.
Stevenson is scheduled to make
j his main address from Mulcahv
i Park Sunday aSfernoon. Alth
! ough there will be no admission
i charge to the park, those holding
: tickets will be seated in the
grandstand first, it was announc
ed this week. Those wishing tick
ets in the Palmer area are asked
to contact Mrs. Bertren Curry in
the AHA housing area.
The Matanuska Valley Gardens
have added a new service for
Valley area customers. Maud
Hosier announced this week that
the flower shop is now a member
of the Telegraph Delivery Ser
vice and that flowers, plants, etc.
i may be ordered by wire, deliver
; ed anywhere in the States:
WORK TO BEGIN
ON FAIR BUILDING;
FIREWORKS ARRIVE
J. C. Land of Palmer, as low
; bidder, was awarded the contract
for schedule A of the new Valley
Fair building to be constructed
this summer. The work will in
clude concrete work to the ground
level and will begin immediately.
The new concrete-block build
ing is to be 52 by 120 feet in size
and will have a flat roof. It will
be built in the Northeast corner
of the fair grounds. Additional
bids for scheduled B and C will
be awarded soon. The second call
for bids (schedule B) appears in
this week’s issue of The Frontiers
man and is for concrete block wall
construction. The third and final
call will be issued within a week,
it was announced.
Fireworks Arrive
The entire shipment of fire
works planned for the 1954 Val
ley Fair have arrived and has
been stored in Palmer. Local
members of the Loyal Order of
Moose have agreed again this
year to take charge of the fire
works display, planned for the
finaL night of the fair. In addi
tion to hundreds of dollars worth
of night display pieces, the order
includes several day bombs
includes several day bombs which
the three-day fair. This will be
one of the largest fireworks dis
plays ever set off in the territory
| and is expected to attract sever
; al thousand viewers.
VALLEY YOUNGSTERS
TO ATTEND CIRCUS
The Anchorage Shrine Club
I circus, produced by Bailey Broth
| ers and Cristiani Circus current
ly playing twice daily at Mulcahy
| Park. Anchorage, will give their
last performance Friday evening,
July 15, with the sincere hope of
, every Shriner that no child in the
area will miss seeing this finest of
show's.
Fifty-eight complimentary tick
ets were presented to the Lazy
! Mountain Childrens Home; 30 to
the Valley Christian Home; sev
en each to the Faith Hill Home
and Cather Home for Children,
and eight to the Chugiak Chil
drens Home. The tickets were
given through the kindness of
Anchorage merchants and pro
fessional people and presented by
the Anchorage Shrine Club, ac
cording to A1 Soliss. It has been
suggested that Friday be desig
nated as “Palmer Day” at the
circus.
According to the many who
have seen hte three-ring circus,
it’s all that it’s advertised to be.
Really terrific, they report, from
i the well-trained performing ele
! phants, horses, and dogs, to aeri
alists, acrobats, tight wire artists,
and clowns. Many who saw the
circus said they’d like to go back
and see it again.
A forward somersault on a
tight wire where the performed
can’t see where he wdll land is
just one of the 18 acts that go
on during the two and one quar
ter hours of entertainment prior
to the climax when the Great
Zacchini is shot out of a cannon
a distance of 220 feet.
A large delegation of Valley
friends attended funeral services
for Senator John F. Gorsuch, held
in Anchorage July 9.
Notice
THERE WILL BE ELECTRICAL OUTAGES IN
THIS AREA MONDAY, JULY 19 AT 10:00
P. M. AND ANOTHER AROUND 5:00 A.M.
ON JULY 20 to permit changes on the
Anchorage line.
MATANUSKA ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION
ALASKA'S FAVORITE BAfflE EVERS TOE
PALMER ELKS LODfiE HOME . 8:00 P.M. EVERYBODY WELCOME_PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES