THE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that
item you may have for sale,
rent or lease.
VOLUME 7, NUMBER 4
PALMER, ALASKA, THURSDAY. OCTOBER 15, 1953
PRICE TEN CENTS
BORE THROUGH EKUmifl TUHHEIi
COMMUNITY CHEST
NAMES ADDITIONAL
CAMPAIGN HELPERS
Any Valley resident who has
not been contacted by a Com
munity Chest representative may
make a pledge or leave his con
tribution at the Valley Real Es
tate office, A1 Saxton, campaign
chairman said this week. He
may also be reached by phone or
donors may call Ed Smith at
Ketchikan Spruce.
In addition to those listed last
week, the following persons are
assisting in the campaign: Mrs.
Hiber at Eska; Albert Compton
at Sutton: Mrs. Phil Everett at j
Goat Creek and Mrs. Bob Wilkin-1
sen in the Plumley area at the!
Butte.
Winners of t'ne Community1
Chest poster contest were: Karen
Aklestad, first; Larry Roberts,
second and Margaret Dreghorn
third, in the older group. Win
ners in the second group were
Suzanne Black, first; Duane An
derson, second and Lila Haskins
and Marcina Hartner who tied
went to George Kindler and Wil
for third. Honorable mention
went to George Kindler and Wil
liam Boyd. The prizes of $3, $2
and $1 will be awarded by the
campaign chairman and Ed
Smith.
NiNE YOUNG BOYS
CAUSE DAMAGES
AT LUMBER YARD
A group of V alley youngsters
found themselves in trouble this
week-end when they were dis
coverd with property that had
disappeared from Ketchikan
Spruce Mill yard. The nine boys
involved were of two age groups;!
first and second graders and boys
from 10 to 13 years old.
Approximately 50 pounds of
wire fence staples and 20 pounds
of nails were taken from the lum
ber yard, and around $100 worth
of damages were done to insula
tion stored at the yard and sever
al light bulbs broken.
The staples were thrown |
Continued on Page 4
CHANGE-OVER ON
WATER LINE SET
; Members of the Palmer city ;>
; council set Saturday, October;!
■ 24 as the final date for mak- \
! ing the transfer from the Co- \
1 Op water system to the new \
! city system. 1;
I In announcing the deadline,!;
; members pointed out that it is !
; for the water user’s protection !
; to make the change over be- :
; fore freeze up. The city’s new ;
! water line is nearly complete, ;!
! with the contractor doing final;!
! clean-up work this week. !;
VALLEY LEADS
ALASKA IN
RECORD SPUD CROP
Alaska farmers have complet
ed harvesting the largest potato
crop ever produced in the Ter
ritory, according to the Alaska
Department of Agriculture, who
with Dick Andrews of the Ex
periment Station staff has com
pleted a preliminary production
survey of the railbelt area.
According to the report, Mat
anuska Valley growers produced
6,100 tons of potatoes. Anchor
age growers 900 tons and the
Tanana Valley growers, 2,500 tons
for a total of 9,500 tons.
Military contracts over the ter
ritory call for 3,900 tons of ad
ditional small contracts may be
expected later in the season.
Movement of potatoes on the
Anchorage market .has been quite
satisfactory and can be expected
to increase as the season progres
ses. officials stated.
Potato quality this year is bet
ter than average, they found and
more growers are prepackaging
in small bags, branded U. S. No.
1. The quality of the local pack
is generally very good, the De
partment announced.
MAYOR McKECHNIE
NAMES COMMITTEES
New members of the Palmer
City Council, Lucille Mick and
Parker Lester attended TV
regular meeting and with other
council members heard the city’s
new mayor, Don McKechnie an
nounce his committees and chair
men for his ensuing term.
Don Moore will head the build
ing, plumbing and zoning com
mittee with Lucille Mick and
Russ Felzien as committee mem
bers. Finance and budget will
be headed by William Zahradni
cek, with Betty Mears and Lucille
Mick committee members. Betty
Mears was named chairman of
the fire department committee
with Parker Lester and Russ Fel
zien as her committee. Public
health and safety will be headed
by Lucille Mick, chairman and
Don Moore and Betty Mears
committee members.
Moore was also named chair
man of the street committee; co
workers on his committee are
Parker Lester and Betty Mears.
Zahradnicek was named chair
man of the police committee with
Felzien and Lester, committee
members. Lester was also named
chairman of the telephone com
mittee with Moore and Lucille
Mick on the committee. Water
and sewer chairman is Felzien,
with Lester and Betty Mears,
committee members. Zahradnicek
was named chairman of the en
(Continued on Page 4)
REVIVAL
HEAR
DR. ALBERT L. CARNETT
First Baptist Church
PALMER, ALASKA
Oct. 11-25-7:45 p.m.
You must see this Mother and
Home" sound color Motion
Picture, First Baptist Church,
Saturday, 7:45 P.M.
A Welcome for All
Pastor * Evangelist
Woodlawn Baptist Church
Jacksonville, Florida
The above drawing illustrates the location of the tunnel which was completely cut through
Goat Mountain early this morning. The approximate location of the final holing-through is
« shown by an X mark on the artist's sketch.
Above is pictured Architect Edwin B. Critter den's drawing of the new Malanuska Electric
Association headquaxiers ouilding now under construction. The new building will consist of
a 40-by 60-foot two-story office unit and a 40-by 60-fool garage, repair and storage space
unit. C. R. Foss, Inc., of Anchorage are contractors for the building and have already com
pleted the excavations and are working on the forms. The building is expected to be
completed sometime next year.
May Ship Valley
Logs to Japan
The Matanuska Valley may
r benefit from a potential of one
million dollars a year, if plans
formulating now, can be complet
ed.
Fred Zieke, president of the
Palmer Chamber of Commerce,
said this week that Mr. John
Osseward, Co-Op representative
in Seattle, along with a represen
tative of the C. T. Takahashi
company of Seattle, are expected
in Palmer sometime next week
to inspect the cottonwood poten
tial in this area, following-up on
ground work done by Zieke
while Outside on vacation this
past July.
The Seattle company is inter
ested in shipping logs to Japan.
They would vary from eight to
30 inches in diameter and be
squared off in 20-foot lengths.
Mr. Zieke and Jim Hurley of the
C of C plan a valley survey be
fore the visitors arrive, in an ef
fort to determine saw mills and
wood available in this area. Ap
proximately one and one half
million board feet per month
would be required.
CERAMIC TEACHER
PLANS LOCAL CLASS
Mrs. Harold Butcher of An
chorage is meeting with all per
sons who wish to join a ceramic
class next Tuesday night, Octo
ber 20 at 8 p.m. in the Extension
Craft room.
Any additional information
may be obtained from Mrs. Gene
Kirsch at the Treasure Chest or
at the Extension Office. ,
I MEN REPORT SIGHTING
STRANGE LIGHTS
Strange objects? Lights that
behaved very strangely, at
least. These were seen this
morning by three local men
while eating breakfast at their
home near Bailey Hill.
Tom Egaas, Ed McKay and
Marvin Briggs sighted two
lights at about 7:10 this morn
ing that at first appeared to
be vehicle lights coming down
the mountains located just be
yond Pioneer Peak. When first
seen they appeared to be to
gether the men stated. During
the next 15 minutes they mov
ed together and then apart in
various directions, finally dis
appearing behind the moun
tain range. The men stated
that the lights were occulat
ing and timed them at five
second intervals. Although the
sun had risen at that time,
there was none shining on the
mountain and the lights ap
peared to be golden in color.
The speculation was advanced
this noon that possibly air-;
craft flying in the region had ;
picked up the sun reflections. ;
The matter was reported to '
the 10th Air Rescue at Elmen- '
dorf Air Force Base in An-!
chorage. |
The fifth annual Alaska
Science Conference will be held
in Anchorage from September 7
through September 10, 1954, ac
cording to plans formed at the
October 9 meeting of the Cook
Inlet branch of the American
Inlet Branch of the AAAS.
Neola Sandvik Wins
4-H Chicago Trip
Miss Neola Sandvik, 17-year
old daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
C. A. Sandvik of Palmer, is the
winner of the 4-H award trip
to Chicago.
Miss Sandvik won her award
by completing 11 projects in
eight years of club work. She
made six dresses, two formals,
four blouses, four skirts, one suit,
one spring coat, a pair of pajam
as, as well as other items such as
towels, scarfs, and pot holders.
She has been assistant leader
of her club which won the tro
phy for three consecutive years
for the best club in a commun
ity where there are 20 clubs. She
has been cheer leader for her
class, takes an active part in
church, school and young peoples
activities. Through 4-H work she
has not only learned valuable
skills but has acquired talents
for leadership and a satisfying
social life.
The clothing achievement1;
is given by the Spool Cotton Co. ;
and covers the expense of a trip >
to Chicago to the National Con- !
gress which is held at the Conrad !
Hilton Hotel, November 29 to !
December 4. Mrs. Margaret Good- J
fellow, district home demonstra- J
tion agent at Fairbanks is the of- J
ficial chaperone and will accom- ]
Dany Miss Sandvik and Richard j
Buzby, winner from Fairbanks.
They will leave Fairbanks on
November 22 and be met by the
Washington delegation i» Seat
tle on the 24th. They will travel
from Seattle to Chicago by train. ;
(Continued on Page 4)
B OF R OFFICIALS
ON HAND FOR
IMPORTANT EVENT
A momentous occasion occured
this morning at 1:49 a.m. when
drillers of the Palmer Construc
tors holed through the approxi
mately 4.6-mile long tunnel bor
ing through Goat Mountain, in
the Chugach range, to Eklutna
Lake where the multimillion dol
lar Eklutna hydroelectric project
is being developed under the di
rection of the department of in
tnor, bureau of reclamation.
L. F. Wiley, project engin
eer. said this morning the tun
nel heads lined up within one
half inch of each other when
the final hole-through was
made.
Palmer Constructors is a firm
made up of three construction
companies: Coker Construction,
Morrison-Knutsen and Pete
Keiwitz and Sons. A1 Coker is
project manager and A1 Aiken
general superintendent of con
struction. Other than the water
pocket sruck by workers on No
vember 7, 1952, when a spectacu
lar waterfall was created, tunnel
workers have had very little
trouble.
Project Engineer Wiley’s pro
phecy last May when tunnel
workers set a record of over 2,
000 feet in one month, hit right
on time. When the record was set
Wiley stated that at the rate the
tunnel driving \vas progressing,
“hey may even hole through by
November.”
On hand for the holing-through
were Chief Engineer L. N. Mc
Clellan, and Chief Construction
Engineer Grant Bloodgood from
the Bureau’s Denver office and
J. M. Morgan, district manager
and Robert Jennings who will
soon be replacing Morgan as dis
trict manager.
The average elevation of the
tunnel is around 750 feet above
sea level, approximately one mile
below the crest of Goat Moun
tain. The 11-foot wide tunnel will
be reinforced with concrete, re
ducing the diameter to nine feet
when completed. The concrete
work will start from the south
end, officials stated this week.
Approximately 26 thousand cubic
yards of concrete will be requir
ed to complete the reinforce
ment, they speculated, and will
be carried via tramway to the
working area from a concrete
bulk plant.
Power from the completed
hydroelectric project is expected
to be ready for delivery around
January, 1955. This development
will benefit residents of the An
chorage and Matanuska Valley
regions by alleviating the pres
ent power supply by 30,000 kva
if electric power which will be
Drought here and transmitted to
the Anchorage area over trans
mission lines.
Palmer Constructors will host
r hole-through party tomorrow
light for their personnel and
quests and members of the Bu
reau of Reclamation staff and
heir guests. A buffet dinner,
followed by dancing, will be
leld in the Palmer School gym.
Don Dafoe, Territorial com
missioner of education, has been
elected one of the 11 honorary
National Education Association
/ice presidents.
WATER METERS MUST
BE HORIZONTAL
All shut off valves on city
water meters must be install
ed level and in a horizontal
position, Russ Felzien, chair
man of the water and sewer !
committee announced this !
week. !
The meters will not operate I
property if placed in any
other position, he pointed out.
Correct installation will avoid ;
future expenses on change;
overs, he added.