VOL. III.
PALMER, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 29, 1949
Number 3
Public Meeting Set For Tuesday
Local Grocer
Plans Daily
Milk Delivery
Tentative plans for doorstep de
livery of milk, cream, dairy prod
ucts and eggs were announced this
week by Everett Yohn of the Val
ley Grocery. Mr. Yohn said the
future development of the plan
depended upon the need expressed
by Palmer residents living within
a half-mile radius of the town’s
center.
The proposed route, as Mr. Yohn
has it outlined in his thinking,
would run south of town to the
families living in the vicinity of
Ketchikan Spruce, out to the air
port residential area, and back to
North Palmer and all of the res
idential additions there. It would
include all down-town families
living in the area reaching to the
crest of Bugge's hill on the Wasilla
highway.
The plan would entail the pur
chase of tickets by subscribers,
which they would exchange with
Milkman Yohn for their needs in
milk, eggs, cottage cheese and
cream.
To be developed successfully,
there would need to be at least
100 subscribers on the milk route,
Mr. Yohn estimates. If his plan is
fulfilled, he will purchase the milk
from the creamery of the Mata
nuska Valley Farmers Co-operat
ing Association.
In order to definitely determine
the attitude of Palmer residents
with regard to the plan, Mr. Yohn
has worked out a questionnaire.
It appears on Page Six of this
issue of the Valley Frontiersman.
It is requested that everyone in
terested clip the questionnaire, fill
it out completely, sign it and bring
or mail it to the Valley Grocery.
r
w\
Hospital Board
Names Manager
Mrs. Elizabeth Davis, who has
been acting as head nurse at the
Valley Hospital for the past sev
eral weeks, will assume the man
agership on Oct. 1, it was an
nounced today by Mrs. Neal Mill
er, hospital board publicity chair
man. Mrs. Davis replaces Mrs.
Janet Mills who will go Outside.
Although the board's managerial
problems are solved at present,
they’re still looking for an x-ray
technician, Mrs. Miller said. The
board particularly would prefer
someone who could act as techni
cian and double as nurse when the
need arose.
SUCCUMBS HEBE
Joseph Mayer, 78 years of age,
died at the Valley Hospital on
Monday of this week. Mr. Mayer
is the father of Mrs. Merle Puddi
combe of the Valley.
Tax Collector Isn’t Eager Yet
Been wondering when the tax
collector will be knocking at your
door to get your share of the fold
ing money that is to help finance
the Palmer school district? Rest
easy, friend—it will be a while yet.
At present, nobody knows for
certain just who is going to collect
that tax. The Palmer school district
has a tax collector that they’d
like to put to work, but it’s going
to take a legal opinion to find if he
has a job, first.
The question, and by no means
one which predicates a financial
crisis for the school, revolves about
the date when the Palmer district
became incorporated. Lawyers are
going to have to decide whether
the district legally is entitled to
any share of the property tax col
lectible before the district’s organ
ization early last summer.
Board members, assuming that
they were responsible for assess
ment and tax collection within the
district, appointed Neal Miller as
district assessor several weeks ago.
However tax commissioner M. P.
Mullaney, district tax commission
er, has stated that his office will
collect the tax in the Palmer dist
rict. Lawyer E. C. Davis of Anch
orage is delving into the matter for
the local district.
Meanwhile, tax forms are arriv
ing in the mails in the Valley.
What to do? “My advice,” counsels
James Hurley of the school board,
“is just to sit tight for two or three
weeks. The taxes aren't due until
February, 1950, so there’s no need
to rush right in and pay them to
morrow. That will give us time to
find out whom to pay.'’
Mr. Hurley cautioned that there
was no danger of financial embar
rassment for the district. “The bills
are going to be paid, and the
teachers’ salaries will go right on,”
he asserted. “We need to dig up
only 25 per cent of the district’s
costs anyway, since the Territory
provides 75 percent. We know we
will get at least half of all the
tax money collected, but it’s still
possible that we can get it all.”
Mr. Hurley said that many of
the improvements and renovations
established in the budget for pay
ment out of the non-refundable
money, could be postponed for a
time.
Board members of the district
base their hope for the entire
amount partly on the fact that Dr.
James Ryan, commissioner of edu
cation, approved the new budget
for Palmer school on figures de
rived from the full sum.
Meanwhile, board members are
proceeding with the work of pre
paring the tax roll and assessment
records. They know, for certain,
that they’ll be putting it to good
use after January 1, 1950.
Guest Tickets
For Game Dinner
Are In Demand
There’s no more popular person
in the Valley these days than ^he
lad or lass who holds a member
ship card in the Matanuska Valley
Sportsmen. The reason for the
esteem of their fellow man is oc
casioned by the impending date
of the Sportsmen's second annual
game dinner, to be held on Sat
urday, Oct. 8.
Plans now are complete for the
occasion, according to President
Clare Stock. Food; cooked and
ready to serve, will be brought to
the school kitchen where it will
be carved to serving portions by
a special committee.
The food then will be arranged
on a buffet table set up in the
gymnasium. Sportsmen and their
guests, after heaping plates with
their favorite game delicacies, will
sit down together at a banquet
table in the gym, whieh will be
especially decorated for the oc
casion.
Following the dinner, whieh is
open only to members and invited
guests, there win be a dance, to
which all Valley residents are in
vited.
(Continued on Page Eight)
"NOTHING NEW"
IN TOLOFF KILLING
Today there were no new devel
opments to point toward the slayer
of Mrs. Margaret Toloff, found
beaten to death on a lonely Pal
mer lane last week. Law enforce
ment agents are systematically
tracing every possible clue, but at
press time they had no definite
leads.
“There’s nothing new, but we’re
still working on it,” Deputy Mar
shall Bill Bouwens stated. Mr.
Bouwens is expecting Marshall
Paul Herring to arrive soon for a
conference which will correlate
the information available in An
chorage and Palmer.
At press time, there was no def
inite information concerning the
whereabouts of a brown coat Mrs.
Toloff was supposed to be wear
ing when last seen. Mr. Bouwens
said he did not know whether the
coat had disappeared, or whether
the dead woman had left it in her
son-in-law’s automobile.
The marshall scoffed at one the-,
ory, advanced here, that the slayer
is well acquainted with Palmer
and its surroundings, since the
body was hidden beside such a
rarely-travelled lane. He was un
able to say whether Harvey Car
(Continued on Page 8)
Valley Residents
WiiS discuss
ANS School Plan
A public meeting has been called
as a result of the P-TA meeting
held last Tuesday, when Jack Maze
and William T. Zahradnicek made
public the plans for the construc
tion of Eklutna school on a Valley
location near the center of Pal
mer. The meeting, to be held next
Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Palmer
Gymnasium, is expected to sound
out public opinion with reference
to the placing of the school here.
The plan, as discussed by Mr.
Maze and Mr. Zahradnicek, is
completely different than that out
lined by Don Foster, head of the
Alaska Native Service, when he
visited Palmer several months ago.
Mr. Foster said the ANS was
seeking a location on which it was
proposed to re-build Eklutna
School.
However, present plans would
construct dormitories only on the
selected site atop the John Bugge
hill .Children entering the home
would be limited to grade school
pupils. These children would be
enrolled in Palmer Elementary
School. Best estimates now on the
home's population indicate there
would be 380 native children and
160 white wards of the territory.
In order to properly educate the
home's children, the ANS pro
poses to build the additional school
quarters needed by Palmer School.
This school would be administered
and controlled by the board of
the Palmer school district, which
would be paid the per capita cost
of educating each child from the
home.
In return for the financial and
construction aid, school board
members must promise that there
would be no discrimination against
the native children from the home,
additional vocational education al
so must be provided.
Mrs. Lucy Mick, president, felt
that the plan needed thorough
study, and asked that no P-TA
action be taken until the public
meeting could be scheduled. She
asked that Mr. Maze and Mr. Zah
radnicek be responsible for plan
ning the meeting.
Rev. Victor Alfsen will act as
chairman. He will thoroughly re
view the plan presented by the
ANS, and will answer questions
from the floor. He then will ask
for an expression of opinion with
regard to the re-building of the
school in Palmer.
Howard Burkher, representative
from the ANS office in Anchor
age. will be present. It is possible
that Dr. Dorothy Novatny, repre
senting the commissioner of edu
cation, also will be present at the
meeting.
It was emphasized by the plan
fContinued on Page 8)