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WELL CHILD CONFERENCE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13
1 - 4 P. M.
HEALTH CENTER
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 8, NUMBER 37
PALMER, ALASKA. THURSDAY, JULY 7, 1955
PRICE TEN CENTS
RADAR SITE SLATED FOR WASILLA AREA
VISITORS, FARMERS,
DISCUSSION TOPIC AT
CHAMBER MEETING
"Mrs. Homemaker” and Mr.
Farmer” were guest speakers at
the July 6 meeting of the Matan
uska Valley Chamber of Com
merce. They were invited by
Everett Adams, Chamber presi
dent, to give their ideas and sug
gestions for the betterment of the
valley.
Mrs. H. P. Gazaway, “Mrs.
Homemaker”) offered many val
uable suggosions on how the val
ley could make a newcomer feel
she is not only welcome, but
wanted, in the community. “A
homemaker looks for modern
schools, churches, adequate play
are* for her children and a plea
sant and congenial neighborhood,
when she comes ino a new lo
cality”, Mrs. Gazaway pointed
oat. Legible street markers
throughout the city would be* a
big help to newcomers, she said.
Friendly and courteous clerks in
the stores” . . . and I might say
here that in Palmer I have found
we have friendly and courteous
clerks.” A newcomer feels a def
inite need for an information
service—one that would tell her
where she can find the doctor’s
and dentist’s office, where the
laundries and cleaners are locat
ed—especially those businesses
that are not located on the main
streets.
‘‘Mrs. Homemaker” stressed a
need for a highway sign indicat
ing the center of Palmer. Many
people do not know they have
passed Palmer on the highway.
A sign of some sort would solve
this problem, she suggested.
Jn discussing her talk with
others prior to the meeting Mrs.
Gazaway said she found there
is a definite need for some sort
of tourist service on week-ends.
Some centrally located spot
where tourists could become ac
quainted with what is here in the
valley and how they may locate
it.
At the close of Mrs. Gazaway’s
talk Don Irwin and Betty Mears
suggested a “welcome letter” be
printed and distributed on week
ends that would acquaint visitors
and newcomers with the points
of interest in the valley. It was
suggested that possibly a table
could be set up in the hotel lob*
by, staffed by vounteers who
would distribute the letters. A
(Continued on page 8)
VFW Celebration
Postponed to
Sunday, July 10
Due to poor weather, the Was
illa Veterans of Foreign Wars
Fourth of July celebration was
postponed one week and will
now bo held this coming Sunday,
July 10—rain or shine, it was
announced this week.
Jack Dunlap, post command
er, has extended a cordial i/^
vitation to the entire valley to
attend he annual celebration and
for the children to participate in
» the many stunts and races plan
ned as part of the program. There
will be plenty of free ice cream
and soda pop for all youngsters
attending and members of the
Auxiliary unit will operate a hot
dog concession, and Alaska’s fav
orite game will be played.
The celebration will be held
on July 10, rain or shine, com
mittee members said. In case of
rain, activities will be moved to !
Community Hall in Wasilla. With
good weather prevailing, the
celebration will be held in the
baseball park, as previously plan
ned, beginning at noon.
PALMER GETS SECOND
TERR. POLICE OFFICER
Sherman Barton, Territorial
Police officer, has been assigned
to the Palmer area and has start
ed his duties in this section. Pa
trolman Barton has been on the
force the past two years, work
ing out of the Anchorage station.
He will work with Patrolman
Frank Cornelius, Palmer area of
ficer. Patrolman Cornelius has
been assigned a new 1955 Ford
. patrol car. Patrolman Barton
will drive the courfier vehicle..
CENTRAL SCHOOL
GYM
JULY
14
THURS.
8p,m
NO ADMISSION COST — FREE
Stewart Durrant
Named to
Valley Fair Board
Stewart Durrant has been
named to the board of directors
of the Matanuska Valley Fair
Association, it was announced
this week. He will fill the va
cancy of James Hurley, board
president, who recently resigned
because of health and business.
Durrant is general manager of
the Matanuska Valley Farmers
Cooperating Association and was
unanimously elected to fill the
vacancy. *
T. A. Moyer, associate vice
president, has been moved up in
to the position of president of
the association. He has been act
ing president for the past few
weeks. As president of the board,
Moyer stated this week that he
feels there is a fire board of di
rectors this yeai^—all working to
gether—and he anticipates one
of the finest Fairs ever staged
in the territory. Moyer is presi
dent of the Matanuska Valley
Health Council, having served in
that capacity three years. He al
so served as president of the Ma
tanuska Valley Ministerial Asso
ciation and has been prominent
in the local Farmers Market or
ganization, serving as market
master and secretary-treasurer of
the group.
Approve Budget
During the last board meeting
members arproved the 1955 bud
get of $28,000. The budget includ
ed extensive repairs and imp
rovements on the fairgrounds and
buildings. New fencing; gravel
for the midway and exposition
building; painting of buildings;
moving the log cabin and restor
ing it, are items listed among im
provements slated for this sea
son.
Queen Contest
Tickets soon will be available
for queen contestants. All girls
between the ages of 15 years and
26 years who are eligible for the
contest are urged to start their
ticket sales as soon as possible.
Any girl between the mentioned
ages who has been a resident of
the Territory at least six months,
and is single is eligible to enter
the contest. In addition to a per
centage of all ticket sales, special
prizes of $25 plus $15 toward her
pictures, will be given to each
girl upon qualification. Each con
testant must sell at least 250 tick
ets in order to qualify for final
judging. Judging will be done on
a similar basis as in past years.
The identity of the judges will
not be revealed prior to judging.
Girls will be judged on a point
system, with credits earned by
' tickets sold; poise and charm;
judges choice and queen contes
tant choice.
Publicity for this year’s queen
contest will be channelled throu
gh the Fair Association’s public
ity committee, consisting of Al
fred V. Hagen, fair manager and
Virginia Gallant, publicity secre
tary. TV and radio program ap
pearances will be arranged, it
(Continued on page 8)
CITY BUILDING
RETAINING WALL
A retaining wall is being con
structed along colony street in
front of the Horton property, by
the city. The work is being done
to enable street grading in that
section; prior to this work it had
proven too hazardous to attempt
any grading. When finished the
high hump that had been along
the street at that point will be
removed. Trenches are being dug
to hold braces so that the wall
will be entirely independent of
the Horton building in the event
another structure is built on the
property at a later date. Permis
sion to build the wall was obtain
ed from Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hor
ton.
Successful Fisherman
Mr. and Mrs. L. M. DePriesi
recently returned from a vacation
fishing trip around Anchor Riv
er. In the above picture. Mr. De
Priest is shown bolding two of
the 15 king salmon he and his
wife caught during their week's
stay. While there they canned,
smoked and prepared the salmon
for freezer storage. Several area
families have reported getting
their supply of winter salmon the
past few weeks. Many others are
making plans to catch the run
of red salmon.
MEA Requested to
Serve Eklutna Area
The City of Anchorage is ne
gotiating with the Matanuska
Electric Association to service
the CAA station, the Alaska Rail^
Road, and the old generating
station, all at Eklutna. At the
present time the old transmission |
line is being used to serve them, j
necessitating an almost round- |
trip from Eklutna to Anchorage j
and then back almost to its j
source. A power outage for near- j
ly an hour last Thursday was
caused by a shift in the Ship
Creek channel which undermin
ed a pole on the old Eklutna
transmission line causing the
automatic circuit breaker to go
out at the Anchorage substation.
NEW LONG DISTANCE
TELEPHONE SERVICE
AVAILABLE LOCALLY
Effecive July 1, improved long i
distance telephone service is
available in Palmer through the
long distance facilities of the
Alaska Communication System
and the subscriber facilities of
the Matanuska Telephone Asso
ciation, Inc., Colonel M. R. Kun
itz, commanding officer of the
ACS, Signal Corps U. S. Army
announced this week.
Col. Kunitz stated that this im
proved service is the result of
an agreement between the ACS
and the MTA and represents a
joint effort by both organiza
tions to provide modern and im
proved long distance telephone
service to this area. Under terms
of the agreement, MTA subscrib-.
ers will be provided long dis
tance telelephone service by the
ACS toll switchboard at Anch
orage and telephone accounts of
Palmer subscribers will be hand
led directly by the MTA. Col.
Kunitz pointed out that long dis
tance telephone service to and
from Palmer is available 24 hours
daily and that the applicable
rates for a call, for example, be
tween Palmer and Anchorage is
$.70 for the first three minutes
and $.20 for each additional min
ute at the day rate and $.55 for
the first three minutes and $.15
for each additional minute at the
night and Sunday rate.
Sourdough Homemaker's
Club will hold their next
meeting at the home of
Mrs. Ruth Estelle on
Tuesday, July 12th.
i POULTRYMEN INVITED
| TO JULY 8 MEETING i
|| John Hamann, poultry mar- !
11 keting specialist from Wash- j
j[ ington D. C. who has been in <
;! Alaska the past two weeks !
;! checking egg quality and ap- j
;! praising the problem of egg <
marketing, win meet with egg ;
> producers Friday night, July ;
8 at 8 p.m. in Grange Hall. ;
> The meeting will enable j
Hamann to talk with egg pro- ;
ducers and answer questions j
on egg production and also j
!; discuss possible egg regula- ;
!; tions that would affect pro- J
!; ducers. !
I; All interested persons are !
urged to attend the meeting. !
Arctic Riding Club
Takes First Place
In Anchorage Parade
First prize in the commercial
entries in the Fourth of July par
ade held in Anchorage went to
the Arctic Trails Riding club of
Palmer. Their entry included 20
horses ridden by club members
representing “Horses in History.”
Indians, cowboys, pioneers, kni
ghts, Robin Hood, and many
other phases of horses in history
were portrayed by the riders,
all wearing appropriate costumes
for the represented period.
The parade was termed the
most colorful Fourth of July par
ade in Anchorage history. Decor
ated floats, military marching
units, and many individual en
tries helped make the parade
such a success. It was estimated
that approximately 25,000 per-*
sons watched the parade.
Another entry from Palmer
was a float from Northland Pion
eer Grange.
AGS Scmmer Hours
Now in Effect
The Palmer Alaska Communi
cation System (ACS) office is
open to business during new
hours, effective July 1. It was
announced this week that the
office will be open from 8 a.m. to
7 p.m. on week days and from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays and
holidays. Telephone subscribers
of the MTA system may place
telegrams or long distance calls
through the MTA switchboard
24 hours a day, including hours'
when the ACS office is closed,
Telegrams placed during hours
when the local ACS office is
closed will include a charge for
the minimum toll to Anchorage.
WESTSBDE SERVICE
REOPENS UNDER
NEW MANAGEMENT
Westside Service Station, locat
ed at the foot of Bailey Hill on
the Glenn Highway, reopened for
business on July 1 under new
management.
Nat Smith of Palmer will op
erate the service estation. He an
nounced this week he will sell
Standard Oil products, General
tires, and tubes, Exide batteries
and will do general car repairs.
He has had 15 years expenience
in automotive repairs. The sta
tion will be open seven days a
week from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Leslie Hoeldt will work with
Smith at the station as garage at
tendant.
SMART HAIR STYLINGS
by LaVonne
Evening Appointments
VALLEY BEAUTY SHOP
Pbone 3301
dllt ARU 9I£E
OF LOCATION NOT
YET ANNOUNCED
According to a news story re
leased last week, a contract for
23 communication sites through
out the territory was awarded to
Morrison-Knudsen Construction
Co. under contract with Western
Electric Corporation. Included in
the project is a chain of radar
screen and guided missiles sites,
located strategically, and includr
ing a location in the W^gilla area.
No definite information has yet
been released on the selected, site
in the Wasilla area. The entire
program has been reported in the
neighborhood of $35,000,000, and
came as welcome news to labor
leaders who speculated the pro
ject will absorb all jobless in the
Territory.
TEAMSTERS PICKET
AREA BAKERIES
Pickets were assigned to the
Palmer Baking company and
Anchorage bakeries by members
of the Teamsters Union on July
2.
Bakery products are still be
ing produced and delivered in
spite of the walkout. Manage
ment from he striking bakers
joined forces in Anchorage and
are producing enqugh bread and
other bakery products at Gil
man’s Bakery in Anchorage, to
supply their customers.
Bakeries against whom the
bakers and truck drivers are
striking include Gilman’s, Sun
rise, and Palmer Baking Com
pany. Drivers and bakers have
been receiving '$2.60 per hour,
are now asking for $3, and triple
time on Sundays. They don’t
want to work on Sundays”, Jess
Carr, business agent for the
Teamsters said, “and are there
fore asking for as much as triple
time*’. »
INDIAN AFFAIRS
OFFICIAL TOURS
MATANUSKA VALLEY
Glenn L. Emmons, commission
er of the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs and his party, were guests
at a special luncheon meeting of
the Matanuska Valley Chamber
of Commerce in Palmer this past
Saturday. A tour of tha valley
was included in the program for
the visitors. Commissioner Em
mons was accompanied to the
valley by his wife, Carl Beck,
Arizona, field representative for
the commissioner and Mrs. Beck;
Leo Murphy, Seattle, manager
Alaska Native Industries; WiN
liam H. Olsen, Juneau, area di
rector, Alaska Native Service,
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Atwood,
and John Croul, Jr. of Anchor
age.
Emmons, a New Mexico bank
er, is, in Alaska on his first in
spection tour since being appoint
ed by President Eisenhower in
August of 1953. He stated that
plans for Alaska have not yet
been finalized. Results of his
findings will be discussed in con
ferences held after his return to
Washington D. C.—and upon
Congressional appropriations, he
added.
Police Chief and Mrs. Bernard
Bouwens have left for a trip to
the states. During Chief Bou
wens vacation time he will be
replaced by Larry Cobb.
New shipment Haeger pottery
for your flower arrangements,
also frogs and oasis. Large
copper hanging baskets.
Excellent books on flower *
arrangements.
Maud's Flower Shop
Theatre Building