PALMER AND ANCHORAGE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
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VOLUME I, NUMBER 50
PALMER, ALASKA. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 6, 1955
PRICE TEN CENTS
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I
WILSON RE-ELECTED MAYOR OF PALMER
STATEHOOD MEN,
RESIDENTS DISCUSS
TERR. CONSTITUTION
Thomas B. Stewart, executive
officer of the Alaska Statehood
Committee; Joseph Molkup, tech
nical advisor from the Public
Administration Service for the
Public Administration Service for
the Alaska Constitutional Con
vention; and Robert Atwood,
publisher of the Anchorage Times
and member of the Statehood
Committee, met with James Hur
Jey, delegate from this area to
the Constitutional Convention,
and other persons on Tuesday
night of this week.
The men have been making vis
its and meeting with community
leaders throughout the Third
Division for the purpose of dis
cussing preparations for the
forthcoming Convention, in an
effort to add as much locally-ob
tained information as possible to
the constitutional studies which
they are preparing for the use
of the delegates who will gather
at the University of Alaska on
November 8.
The men spoke on the tremen
dous amount of work that al
ready has gone into preparations
for the Convention. Research
work, letters, wires, phone calls
—every means of communication
has been used in running down
necessary reference material for
the use of the delegates at the
Convention. This reference ma
terial is a must for the delegates
in attempting to evaluate the
text of Alaska’s Constitution.
The Constitution should be as
brief as possible, they pointed
out and yet must contain perten
ent wording that will eliminate
the need of frequent amendments
* such as California has experienc
ed. As an example the visitors
pointed to the Vermont Consti
tution. 8,000 words in length and
never amended. As an extreme
they spoke of California’s Con
stitution of 72,000 words which
has had to be amended 350 times.
The constitution must be tailor
ed to fit the self -— Alaskan ideas
—Alaskan economy. There is no
pat formula, they pointed out.
All of it will have to be studied
and worked out. Part of this pre
liminary research we are doing
will help in these measures, they
added.
A discussion period opened
with opinions on whether or not
Alaska should have counties. We
frequently hear “Let’s not have
too many”, the men said. What
ever means is devised for divid
(Continued on page 10)
Schedule Courses
For Scout Leaders
The Scouters Training Course
in Palmer will be held every
other Wednesday evening, it was
announced today. The meetings
are being conducted by Major
Roberts who recently took spe
cialized training in Idaho. The
course will be conducted in the
school cafeteria at Central Sch
ool, beginning at 7 p.m.
On October 14 Scout officials
of the area will participate in a
three-day outdoor camp session
at Camp Gorsuch. The session
will include two nights at camp,
with the group returning Sun
day afternoon or evening.
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LOCAL ELKS;
SCHOOL BAND
GO TO SEWARD
A sizeable group of Palmer
Elks and their ladies plan to at
tend the eighth annual Alaska
Territorial Elks convention
which will be held in Seward
October 6, 7, and 8. Russ Felzien,
exalted ruler of the Palmer
lodge, and Clair Stock, secretary,
will attend the convention as
delegates from the local lodge.
They left Palmer Wednesday
and were accompanied by
their wives. Also going to
Seward on Wednesday will be
Mr. and Mrs. Matt Onkka and
Harold Dunn. Onkka holds the
office of trustee in Territorial
Elks.
Members of the Palmer High
School Band are being taken to
Seward by the local lodge, for
the parade which will be held on
Thursday, They will leave Pal
mer at 7 a.m. by special bus,
driven by Ed Christensen, and
will present a concert at the
Seward High School; participate
in the Elks parade; and present
a program at the Seward Sani
torium before attending a ban
quet to be held for them before
their subsequent trip back to Pal
mer Thursday night.
Other local Elks and their lad
ies who plan to attend the con
vention are: Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Duff, Mr. and Mrs. James Hurley,
Mr. and Mrs. L. O. Hayes, Mr.
and Mrs. Leroy Johnson, and Mr.
and Mrs. Ralph Goodrich. Mike
Monogle, recently named Grand
Tiler of the Grand Elks Lodge
is expected to attend from Jun
eau.
FOOTBALL GAME
AND DANCE SET
FOR THIS SATURDAY
Palmer football players have
been putting in some hard hours
of practice this week, getting
ready for their skirmish with the
Anchorage Eagles this Saturday.
The game will be played at Mul
cahy Park, Anchorage, begin
ning at 1:30 p.m. Palmer rooters
are invited to attend and see the
Moose in action as well as the
Palmer High School band who
will be performing on the field
and playing from the grandstand.
The Palmer eleven made a very
good showing last Saturday when
they met the Anchorage team on
the Palmer Fairgrounds. The fin
al score of 12 to 6, in Anchorage’s
favor, did not reflect the fine
playing of the Palmer team. The
Eagles found they had a scrap
pier team to play against than
they had anticipated, and sev-'
eral times had to send in six or
seven replacements at a time.
This Saturday the Palmer play
ers will be meeting the same
players, which included the var
sity quarterback. The only excep
tion will be the Eagles varsity
half back who also will see action
in the game.
Saturday evening the public is
invited to attend the school’s an
nual football dance which will
be held at the gymnasium, be
ginning at 9 p.m. Admission will
be $1.50 per couple with pro
ceeds to go toward costs of the
new football equipment purchas
ed this year. Music will be fur
nished by Ralph Avey’s rythm
boys. Tickets may be purchased
at the door.
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TURKEY DINNER
Thursday, October 13
LUTHERAN CHURCH
SERVING 5:00 8:00 P.M.
$2 FOR ADULTS — 75c FOR CHILDREN
PUBLIC INVITED
CHARLES W. WILSON
Re-Elected Palmer Mayor
Sportsmen Asked
To Fulfil] All
Dinner Assignments
Members and guests of the Ma
tanuska Valley Sportsmen organ
igation are looking forward to
the annual game dinner which
will be held in the gymnasium at
Central School Saturday evening,
October 22. A capacity crowd is
expected, committee chairman
Ted Buzby reported this week.
Following a decision of the
membership, a new method otf
distributing guest tickets will be
adhered to this year. To avoid
running short of food, each mem
ber, who is allowed one guest,
is asked to be sure and fulfill
his assignment, whether he is
able to attend or not. Only mem
bers will be permitted to use
their own tickets; they may not
be assigned to another person.
If a member finds that he is not
going to use his guest ticket, it
may be assigned to another mem
ber, providing both members
have purchased a ticket and ar
rangements are made to fulfill
each member’s assignment.
The decision was made by the
membersip to avoid too many
guests with not enough food to
go around. “If a member does
not attend, and does not send his
assignment, yet has given his
guest ticket away, we are going
to be short of food”, they point
ed out. If each member fulfills
(Continued on page 10)
B. SKOK AND
E. ADAMS NAMED
TO SCHOOL BOARD
Mrs. Barbara Skok, incumbent,
was elected to the five-year
school board term by a wide mar
gin at the October 4 election. Her
total vote of 211 was a long way
out in front of her opponents.
George Allen drew 79 votes; Cur
tis Dearborn 67, and a write-in
vote for Leo Lucas.
Everett Adams, manager of the
Piggly Wiggly store and presi
dent of the Matanuska Valley
Chamber of Commerce, was nam
ed to the on-year term with a
total vote of 123. His closest op
ponent, Mrs. Faith Frause, drew
90 votes; Howard Campbell 77,
and Andrew Norris, 68.
At the October 5 meeting of
the school board George Ed
Smith was named president of
the board for the coming year.
Serving in the other executive
offices will be Bill Roark, vice
president; Mrs. Skok, clerk, and
Lew Hanks, treasurer.
Judges at the school board
election were V. Louise Kellogg,
Wanda Wilson, and Marion Per
singer.
ANCHORAGE YOUTHS .
HURT IN ACCIDENT .
Boyd Bigler, 19, son of Mr. and
Mrs. D. A. Bigler of Anchorage
and his companion Thomas Saw
yer, 17, were taken by ambul
ance from the Valley Presbyter
ian Hospital to Providence Hos
pital last Sunday evening follow
ing a car accident in which they
were both injured. Bigler, re
ported driver of the vehicle, re
ceived serious back injuries. His
companion received an injured
ankle. The accident was investi
gated by Territorial Police who
transported the injured youths
to the'local hpspital. The transfer
to the Anchorage hospital was
made in the Palmer Community
ambulance.
AMBULANCE CALL
The Palmer Community am
| bulance and Dr. John Burnett
j met a plane from Glenallen at
the Palmer Airport early this
i afternoon, following a request
call from Dr. Pinneo who accom
panied an injured person. The
I man was removed to Valley Pres
I byterian Hospital. Volunteer
j Joseph Gallant drove the ambul
ance.
P-TA To Raise
Funds Through
Film Showings
The Palmer P-TA is planning
a series of films as a fund-rais
ing project. The program has
been scheduled so that all school
children may have an opportun
ity to view at least one of -the
showings and so that adults will
have an opportunity to not only
assist their P-TA but see show
ings of exceptional films.
The first show will be held
Monday afternoon, October 10
for grade school children and will
be Walt Disney’s “The Alaskan
Eskimo” and “The Sea Around
Us”. A donation of 25 cents each
for the show is being asked. Pop
corn wiil be sold during the mov
ie at 10 cents a bag.
The afternoon of Tuesday, Oc
tober 11, the P-TA will show
“The Sea Around Us” and “Ar
cenic and Old Lace”, staring Cary
Grant, for high school students.
A donation of 40 cents will be
asked for the show.
Tuesday evening, October 11,
a double feature will be shown
for the general public at 8 p.m.
at Central School gym. Featured
will be the films, “Arsenic and
Old Lace”, a comedy, and “The
Sea Around Us”, academy award
winner in 1952. Donations for the
evening show will be $1.00 for
adults. Tickets will be on sale
at Bettys’, Piggly Wiggly store,
Hartley Motors Inc., Ketchikan
Spruce Mills, or may be purchas
ed at the door.
CO-OP FLYING IN
FRESH MILK TO
ALLEVIATE SHORTAGE
Roy Brock, manager of the Ma
tanuska Dairy in Anchorage, an
nounced today the Dairy will fly
in 1200 quarts of fresh milk twice
a week to suppliment the Alas
kan supply of fresh milk. «
“We are doing this to ease the
present milk shortage”, Stuart
Durrant, Co-Op general manager
said today. “Each year we ex
perience a shortage—each year
we have bigger milk production
but each year the demand seems
to increase”, he added.
The milk being flown in will
be sold for 10 cents a quart more
than the Matanuska Maid. This
represents the freight costs. Ac
cording to Durrant the shortage
is beginning to show up in Pal
mer and it may become neces
sary to fly milk in, in order to j
meet the demand.
Airline Service To Palmer Proposed
The first regular airline ser
vice to Palmer has been propos
ed to the Civil Aeronautics
Board by Cordova Airlines, Inc.,
scheduled Alaskan air carriers.
The announcement was made
by Merle K. Smith, airline presi
dent, at the October 5 meeting of
the Matanuska Valley Chamber
of Commerce.
In tapping the rich Palmer and
Matanuska Valley area, Cordova
Airlines contemplates a regular
scheduled service with Douglas
DC-3 equipment between Anch
orage, Palmer, Glennallen, Gul
kana, and Chitna which will pro
vide a connection for through
service to McCarthy and May
Creek and to Valdez and Cor
dova. According to Smith the air
line also plans to run twice-daily
commuter service between An
chorage and Palmer if granted
authority by the Board. Smith
points out that this service will
be timed to provide direct con
nections at Anchorage for trans
fer of passengers, freight, and
mail to stateside flights.
During the past two years Cor
dova Airlines has built up a
substantial service pattern be
tween Anchorage and Gulkana
and McCarthy with tourist trips
and fishing excursions. With the
construction of a DC-3 landing
field contemplated at Chitina,
this rich tourist attraction will be
" opened for large DC-3 equipment.
Smith proposed the possibility of
including Palmer and the Ma
tanuska Valley in the tourist
“package” trip, with a possible
over-night stop for the visitors
to see the famed Valley.
Palmer will be connected with
direct service to Valdez and Cor
dova which will allow a more
expeditious routing for the sub
stantial produce and milk ship
ments to these points. In addi
tion, Smith pointed out, Palmer
will be connected with direct
service to the growing Glenallen
area which will allow direct
shipments of perishables to the
large population there.
Cordova Airlines plan to in
augurate this new airline ser
vice in the early spring of 1956,
Smith said, if authority is grant
ed by the Civil Aeronautics
Board.
“We have been thinking of pro
viding this service for a long
time”, Smith told Chamber mem
bers. “We are flying approxi
mately two tons of valley pro
duce to Cordova alone, right
now”, he pointed out. At the
present time this must be ship
ped to Anchorage before it even
reaches a plane. “A close look at
the mail subsidy shows no addi
tional mail pay or subsidy will
be needed over what we now
have. If we are granted this new
route we believe that within
five years we will be subsidy
free. We hope to be the first air
line in Alaska subsidy free”,
Smith stated.
Jack Stearn, traffic manager
for the airline, added to Smith’s
talk by pointing out that even
first class mail could get into
Palmer much earlier by flying
it from Seward.
“The technique of applying for
new routes is not like it was in
the old days when an airline
would say ‘Guess we’ll start fly
ing into Palmer’ ”, he pointed out.
A formal application must be
made to the Civil Aeronautics
Board to provide the service. “At
the present time an intra-Alaska
hearing is in progress. We are
asking most strongly that this
hearing be held in Alaska and re
quest support in this matter,”
both Stearns and Smith told
Chamber members.
“We have no intention of stif
ling independent operators”, the
airline officials stated. Pilot-own
ers would be permitted to operate
as they,do now, they added.
Chamber members received the
Airline’s announcement with
great enthusiasm voted to re
quest that the hearings be held
in Alaska. Questions, showing
the interest of Chamber mem
bers, created a discussion period
(Continued on page 10)
WILL TAKE OATH
AT OCTOBER 11
COUNCIL MEETING
Mayor Charles W. Wilson was
re-elected to his office by a wide
margin in the recent city elec
tions.
In a contest that began in at
quiet manner, and ended with
the circulation of pamphlets, the
city election drew a large num
ber of voters to the polls. A to
tal of 278 votes were cast in the
election. Of these, 67 were for
Councilman Alfred V. Hagen who
was seeking election to the
Mayor’s office. Mayor Wilson
polled a total of 187 votes, de
feating his opponent by 120 votes.
In the race for the two-three
year Council seats, Jan Koslosky
and William Zahradnicek were
elected to office. Koslosky, op
erator of Koslosky’s Department
store, received a total of 150
votes. Zahradnicek, school sup
erintendent and incumbent for
office, received a total of 126
votes. Other candidates and their
totals were as follows: Jack W.
Flint, 116; Lee W. Hartley, 70;
and John F. Gore, 36.
The Mayor and Councilmen
will take their oaths of office at
the regular meeting of the Com
mon Council which will be held
in the clerk’s office Tuesday eve
ning, October 11. The oaths will
be administered by City Magis
trate Frank Connally.
Judges for the city election
were Nan Curtis, Lucille Curry
and Clara Buzby. These judges,
as well as those for the school
board election, expressed their
thanks this week to the Hotel
Ooffee Shop, Co-Op Creamery,
Palmer Baking Company, Pal
mer Fouratnjji, and the Frontier
Cafe who furnished coffee,
doughnuts, ice cream, soup, and
hamburgers for the judges.
SCOUT CAMPAIGN
NEARING CLOSE
Kyle Turner, chairman of the
annual Boy Scout fund raising
campaign in the Palmer area,
this week announced the drive
may reach the $500 mark this
year. The response to this very
worthwhile project has been
wonderful, he said. Local organ
izations, business and individuals
are donating to the annual cam
paign with great generosity, he
stated. Anyone who has not yet
set a donation who plans to do
so is asked to send it as soon as
possible so that the drive may be
concluded.
Recent donations were receiv
ed from the following: Dr. C. C.
Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Woo
cock, Bert’s Drug store, Marvin
Slaughter, Buxford Walling,
George Crowther, Rex Ehrhart,,
James Wilson, Pippel Insurance,
Ed Smith, Valley Theatre, C. R.
Farnstock, Bernard Jade, Geor
ge Campbell, Curtis Dearborn,
A. L. Drundage, Roscoe Taylor,
W. L. Laughlin, H. A. Stineburg,
Valley Grocery, Kirk’s Sales and
Service, E. C. Christensen, and
Hartley Motors, Inc.
“It is important that we wind
up the campaign”, Turner said,
“so that the Scout Committees
can get to work on the budgets.”
Donations may be mailed to Tur
ner, or taken to him, at the Ma
tanuska Valley Bank.
ANNUAL FOOTBALL DANCE, Sat., Oct 8
SCHOOL GYM $1.50 Couple 9 P.M.-1A.M. ^ Music by Ralph Avey’s Rhythm Boys Public Invited