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The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIEDS
ALWAYS BRING RESULTS
TRY ONE NEXT WEEK
VOLUME 7. NUMBER 11
PALMER. ALASKA THURSDAY, DEC. 3. 1953
PRICE TEN CENTS
ACT TO STAGE
‘CHRISTMAS CAROL’
IN PALMER DEC. 13
Members of the Palmer chapter
Alaska Community Theatre re
ceived word this week that Dick
en’s immortal “Christmas Carol’’
will be presented to a Palmer
audience on Sunday, December
13, 8 p.m., at the Palmer School
gymnasium by members of the
Anchorage chapter.
The famous Christmas story,
adapted for playing by Frank
Brink of Anchorage, will be
staged in platform style with each
member of the cast playing sev
eral parts.
Frank Brink will take the part
of Scrooge with Andy Anderson
as story teller, the Spirit of
Chirstmas Present an old cockney
man. Diane Morgan will play the
part of young Scrooge’s sweet
heart, Mrs. Cratchet, and a cock
ney woman. The roles of an Eng
lish lady, Belinda Cratchet, an
old woman and a cockney servant
will be taken by Joanne Watson.
The role of Bob Cratchet, the
Spirit of Christmas Past, Fezzi
wig, cockney man and the turkey
boy will all be portrayed by
Frank Feeman. Frank Gerlein
will play the parts of Marlay’s
ghost, Scrooge’s nephew Fred and
Dick Wilkins.
Tickets for the single perform
ance will be available next week,
Mis. Allan Mick of the Palmer
ACT said today. Local proceeds,
which Mrs. Mick said will be of a
generous proportion, will be do
nated toward a recreation project
in Palmer.
S35 AND CANDY
TAKEN IN BREAK
Doris Simpson and Cynthia
Plano, owners and operators of
Knik Drive In at Mile 38 .on
Glenn Highway reported to of
ficials Monday morning that
sometime during the previous
night their place of business was
entered and approximately $35
in cash and several dollars worth
of candy taken.
Mrs. Simpson closed the drive
in at 11:30 Sunday night and dis
covered the break shortly after
10:00 on Monday morning when
she returned to open the estab
lishment for business.
Entry was gained through a
rear door. Territorial police are
investigating the break.
PLAN TO FINALIZE
COMMUNITY CHEST
BUDGET ON FRIDAY
Officials of the Matanuska
Valley Community Chest plan to
finalize the budget at a meeting
scheduled to be held next Tues
day evening, December 8 at the
Valley Real Estate office at 8
p.m.
Officials and workers are re
quested to turn in all funds at
that time. Anyone who wishes to
contribute further' fo the Chest
is invited to leave the money at
the real estate office.
BAKE SALE
at
Koslosky’s
2 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday - December 4
SPONSORED BY
LDS Relief Society
Guaranteed
TV & RADIO
Repairs
Antenna installations
Polar Electronic
Sales & Service Inc.
COMPLETELY EQUIPPED
SERVICE DEPARTMENT
IN OLD ACS OFFICE
NEAL WRIGHT BLDG.
To Publicize
Valley Potatoes
On Radio Program
Richard Blue, local Extension
Service agent, Jim Wilson, Com
missioner of Agriculture and H.
D. Gazaway, Experiment Sta
tion economist tape recorded a
program this week that will be
presented December 5 on radio
station KENI by Audrey Davies
of the Anchorage Extension Ser
vice office.
The program, which will "“5e
heard at noon, is planned to pop
ularize Valley potatoes, in con
junction with a national cam
paign being conducted through
out the States from December
3 to December 12, to glorify the
“spud.”
A follow-up program is antic
ipated for next week, at which
time a visit to a local potato
farm and a visit to root cellars
will be recorded and presented on
the same program by Miss Davies.
CITY’S NEW TRAFFIC
RULES IN EFFECT
The City of Palmer’s new traf
fic ordinance went into effect
Tuesday of this week following
the erection of traffic signs by
Police Chief Bernard Bouwens
and Russ Felzien of the street
department.
For a ten-day period, commen
cing December 1, a violator will
receive a warning ticket for his
first offense. However, after De
cember 10 violators will be pro
secuted.
Whenever a vehicle has been
parked in violation of regula
tions, a notice will be attached to
the vehicle by city police and up
on conviction of such violation,
the violator will be fined not .less
than $2.50 and costs, nor more
than $25.00 and costs. If a park
ing violator fails to appear with
in 24 hours and either post bail
| or plead to such charges, the
1 City Magistrate will issue a ben
ch warrant for his arrest and up
on conviction, such person shall
be fined not less than $5.00 nor
more than $25.00.
Any person convicted of vio
lating established speed limits!
within the city will be fined not
more than $100 or imprisoned in'
the municipal jail for a period
not to exceed 30 days or both
fined and imprisoned. •
Although many sections of the
new ordinance are made evident
by the erection of the signs, there
are some rules and regulations
governing the movement of traf-:
fic and defining traffic terms that
are not indicated by signs. Some
are listed below:
Parking a vehicle on any street
where any part of the vehicle
extends beyond the building line
is now prohibited. (This means
no- more parking on corners or
in crosswalk areas at building
corners.)
There will be no double park
ing on any street or avenue in
the city. Also no U-turns on any
street or avenue. Parking in front
of hotels, except for the purpose
of discharging or picking up pas
sengers is prohibited as is park
ing in front of theatres any time
when the theatre is open and oc
cupied by the public.
The triangle located in front
(Continued on page 8)
MAUD HOSLER
OPENS FLOWER SHOP
Maud Hosier, owner of the Ma
tanuska Valley Gardens, located
on the Palmer Highway, this
week announced the opening of
a town shop for retail sales of
flowers, plants, corsages and
other flower pieces.'
The shop will be located in
the Co-Op business section in the
space formerly occupied by the
barber shop. For the holiday sea
son Mrs. Hosier said she will be
featuring centerpieces for tables
or buffet decorations. Wreathes,
garlands or other type green dec
orations may also be ordered.
Available to the public will be
a scrap book with lots of ideas
for holiday decorations in the
home that may be made at home.
Mrs. Hosier said she expected to
have supplies available for mak
ing the decorations.
The public is invited to visit
the new shop.
The first streamlined funnel to be installed on a Liberty
ship in the Port of Seattle is seen this week receiving the
final touches by workmen on the Alaska Steamsh:p
Company Liberty recently purchased, the SS SEACCRONET.
This new raked stack will soon become a familiar sight in
Puget Sound and Alaska. The Smith Tower is seen in the
background.
Health Seal Sales
Have Leng History
In Valley Area
The mailing of Christmas
Health Seals in the Valley has
been completed and many of the
Christmas cards and packages
being mailed Outside this week
carried the familiar attractive
seals. Any who have not received
their seals may contact Mrs. Gene
Kirsch at the Treasure Chest.
The health seal program is not
a new one to the Valley. Mrs.
Harold Thuma, who for many
years past headed the campaigns,
said this week that previous tc
1934 money for the seals was all
all sent direct to Juneau. In 1934
seals were sold in the Palmei
School and the following year
when the health nurse came tc
the Valley with the colonists, the
seals were sold through the nurse
who also collected the funds.
During successive years Mrs
Ross Sheeley was chairman of the
tuberculosis seal sale during the
1936 campaign; Mrs. Myrl An
derson in 1937 and in 1938 Mrs
Ruderson who was chairman foi
that year resigned the position
and Mrs. Thuma volunteered tc
take over the chairmanship, a
position which she retained until
this Fall.
In earlier years the seal area
covered the entire Valley as fai
as Knik and the Independence
Mine. In 1949 the Veterans oi
Foreign Wars Auxiliary at Wasil
la agreed to conduct the health
seal sales at Wasilla, Knik and
the Mine. Palmer, Eska, Jones
ville and the Glenn Highway tc
Eklutna was retained by the local
group.
From 1938, through the present
1953 campaign, Mrs. .Margaret
Cope and her typing classes ol
the Palmer school have handled
the addressing ' and mailing for
the local area. Mrs. Harve Hiber
has taken care of the Eska and
Jonesville areas for several years,
Mrs. Thuma said that as she
recalled it, during her first year
as chairman approximately $16C
was contributed in the area. Last
year over $600 was collected
“When one is in a work like this,
one surely learns to appreciate
the kindness and the cooperatior
of the American people,” she ad
ded.
TEACHERS MISS '
INJURY IN CAR CRASH
Miss Lois Thompson and Miss
Beverlee Unwin, local teachers
escaped with minor injuries No
vember 29 when the 1952 Ply
mouth sedan in which they were
riding went off the road at Mile
24, plunging several feet before
coming to a stop. The car was
t wed into Palmer.
Territorial police reported the
car as a total loss.
. Following a lengthy meeting of
business men, Mayor Don Mc
Kechnie and members of the City
Council, the regular meeting held
December 8 was recessed until
the following night when the
• agenda was completed. ~
Mrs. Meryle Peterson was ap
pointed supervisor of telephone
operators with city council ap
proval.
In the absence of Mayor Mc
Kechnie, December 9, council
member Betty Mears presided at
the meeting.
A liquor license application
presented by Terry and Arthur
Thompson for the T & T Sour
dough Bar was approved by the
council.
Because several traffic regula
tion signs have not yet arrived,
members of the council announc
ed it will not be possible to en
force regulations in areas that
are not yet posted.
Council member Lucy Mick re
ported that the Public Health
and Safety committee would be
meeting with members of the
school board this week to discuss
joint health problems, including
ways and means to retain public
health nurse service in this area.
Parker Lester, chairman of the
telephone committee stated that
the work on the telephone lines is
progressing in preparation for the
switch-over to the new board
located in the Severn building.
Line change overs will be com
pleted as fast as possible he said.
When the preliminary work is
completed, the actual change over
is expected to be completed with
in two days, he reported. The
services of an operator familiar
with the new board have been
secured and she will instruct city
operators on the board’s functions.
The second reading of the
city's new ordinance providing
for the levying of a real and per
sonal property tax for school and
municipal purposes was conduct
ed by City Attorney John Shaw.
A water line agreement with
W. Ray Wooten was approved by
council members and authoriza
(Continued on page 8)
DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS
TO BE HELD DEC. 10
All Democrats of the Eska, Pal
mer No. 1 and Palmer No. 2 pre
' cincts are invited to a joint cau
cus to be held in the Co-Op club
room Wednesday evening, De
cember 9.
The meeting is scheduled to
begin at 7:30 and is being called
for the purpose of electing of
ficers and delegates to the Demo
cratic Divisional Convention to be
held in Anchorage December 15
and 16. Based on the number of
votes cast during the last general
election for delegate to Congress,
Eska will be permitted two dele
gates and Palmer will have
eighteen.
Palmer Wins Kodiak
Games; Play Army
Team Tomorrow Night
The Palmer High School bas
ketball team will meet another
Army team tomorrow night on
the local court when members of
the Hq. & Hq. Company team of
Fort Richardson come here. The
game is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Superintendent of Schools Wil
liam Zahradnicek said this week
there may be a preliminary game
with the Fort Richardson Fire
Station No. 3.
Members of the local high
school team are undefeated so
far this season, having defeated
both the Kodiak City and Kodiak
Naval Base teams on their visit
to that city November 27 and 28.
The Palmer High School Moose
were reported on the losing end
of the high school and Moose
Club game a week ago, but ’t’aint
so—the Moose were defeated, but
not the High School Moose.
The first game played at Ko
diak was with the Naval Base
team on the 27th Palmer took
the lead in the early part of the
game and held it. Half-time saw
them with a 12-point lead. The
Kodiak boys came back in the
second half and ran their score
up to the point at final tie that
1 found them on the short end by
i only one point. Final score was
Palmer 46—Kodiak 45.
Playing Kodiak City the fol
lowing night, the Palmer boys
opened very slow and were be
hind as much as 14 points during
the first half. However, during
the third quarter they ran their
scores up to within five points
and during final quarter flashed
ahead to the winning score of
46-36.
Basketball players, school of
ficials and basketball fans who
made- plane trip to Kodiak
had nothing but the highest
praise for the U. S. Navy and the
Kodiak people who made their
two-day visit so interesting. Pal
merites were “welcomed aboard”
(Continued on page 8)
MANY CONTRIBUTING
TO KIDS' ANNUAL
CHRISTMAS PARTY
Several names were added to
the list of donors this week for
j the Christmas party to be held
I December 24 at the Valley Thea
I tre for all youngsters of the val
! ley.
Those who have been contact
ed this week and have made con
tributions are: Bettys, Mike’s
Barber Shop, Valley Theatre, Val
ley Grocery, Martins Westside
Service, Kiwanis Club. Maud
Hosier, Sourdough Bar, Brown’s
Shop, Neal Wright, Pioneer In
surance, White Spot Cafe, A1
Mathews, Withey’s Plumbing,
Valley Cleaners, Carpenters’ Lo
cal, The Frontiersman, Valley
i Taxi, Henry Liebing, Tost Ser
! vice, Matanuska Hotel, Motor-In
Service, Matanuska Hotel Coffee
Shop, and Clara’s Variety.
Members of Beta Sigma Phi
are making the contacts this year
and hope to complete the list
within the next week. Anyone
who wishes to contribute to the
community party may leave their
donation at Dorothy Saxton’s of
fice.
I
I
EFFECTIVE DECEMBER I, 1953
Ordinance No. 3B
Establishing traffic regulations and rules
governing the movement of traffic and defin
ing traffic terms and creating parking areas
and speed limits and for other purposes.
THE ABOVE ORDINANCE WILL BECOME EF
FECTIVE DECEMBER 1, 1953 IN THE CITY OF
PALMER AND WARNING TICKETS WILL BE
ISSUED THROUGH DECEMBER 10, 1953 TO
OFFENDERS.
AFTER DECEMBER 10, 1953, FINES WILL
BE COLLECTED.
Ordinance available for inspection at the
office of the City Clerk.
CITY OF PALMER POLICE DEPARTMENT
MANY ATTEND JOINT
COUNCIL MEETING;
DISCUSS ORDINANCES
More than 30 local business
owners and operators were pres
ent at the joint meeting of busi
nesmen and city council mem
bers held Tuesday night, Decem
ber 1 in the City Clerk’s office.
The council had issued an in
vitation to all business owners
in Palmer to attend the meeting
for the purpose of discussing re
visions to be made in the city’s
sales tax and business license or
dinances. A good cross-represen
tation of city businesses were
present.
City Attorney John Shaw
opened the discussions with the
reading of the sales tax ordin- •
ance. Although the ordinance is
relatively the same as the one
now in force, certain changes
were read and many suggestions
were offered by the business men.
The first revision noted was the
lowering of the tax range from
35 cents to 25 cents. Under the
new ordinance, sales tax pay
ments w'ill start with the first
25 cents. From there to 64 cents
will be one cent tax; 65 cents
to SI.24, two cents; SI.24 to $1.64,
three cents; SI.65 to $2.24, four
r cents; S2.25 to $2.64, five cents
and will continue on the same
scale for higher purchases, with
the maximum tax of $10 for a
single purchase.
Lengthy discussions centered
on whether bulk gasoline sales
and food sales to restaurants and
hospitals should be tax exempt.
uuc su viv-c juauuu upci atwi
council members that in one
i month he had lost 4500 gallons of
gasoline sales to truckers, be
cause of the sales tax on gasoline.
Council members agreed with
those present that the purpose of
the sales tax was to raise funds
to operate (lie city but not fhe in
tention to drive local business
away.
In discussing food purchases
by restaurants and the hospital,
the city attorney pointed out ac
cording to the ordinance, the term
“wholesale sale” shall be con
strued to mean the sale of goods
i or articles to another for resale
| in the same form purchased.
However, council members were
j in agreement that the ultimate
consumer, in the ~y - of restaur
ants, would be paying the tax on
1 their purchases. Hospital meals
were already tax exempt.
There will be two more read
ings of the sales tax ordinance be
fore it goes into effect the first
! of next year.
Business licenses in the city
I were discussed by the group, fol
i lowing a reading of part of the
| business license ordinance. Sev
eral changes in fees were noted
in various type businesses, and
Attorney Shaw defined “general
contractor,” whose license fee is
$100 a year, and “contractor,”
whose fee is $25. Peddlars and
transient merchants were also
discussed.
Members of the council plan to
take recommendations of the
group under study before the or
dinances are put into effect.
1