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The frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 42
PALMER. ALASKA, THURSDAY. AUGUST 11. 1955
PRICE TEN CENTS
NIKE Installations
Planned for Alaska
Announcement that NIKE in
stallations will be built in Alaska
was made by U. S. Army officials
today.
NIKE installations are deploy
ed throughout the States as a
defense for industrial, highly
populated and strategic areas,
and have been integrated into
the Army-Air Force Defense
Team.
In Alaska, bases for NIKE—the
Army's new antiaircraft weapon,
a guided missile with a speed
faster than sound—will protect
important defense installations in
the key areas of Anchorage and
Fairbanks.
NIKE sites will be located on
federal lands whenever possible,
the report stated, however, it is
anticipated that acquisition of
seirne private land will be neces
sary.
The report does not go into
the location of these proposed
NIKE sites, only to state that de
Up to press lima The Fron
iiesmax has been unable to get
confirmation on rumors circulat
ing around tho city portaining to
an influx of construction work
ers. Varied stories hare been re
ported the past couple of months
but to date no confirmation of
rumors have boon made by offici
als involved.
tailed survey and testing is nec
essary. The site must satisfy all
the technical requirements be
fore action is taken to acquire
title to the land. Survey of a
tentative site does not necessari
ly mean that the site will be sel
ected, tbe report stated, but the
difficulty in meeting the many
technical considerations in locat
ing battery sites naturally limits
expensive survey operations to
the most likely sites. Private
land owners affected may contact
die District Engineer to deter
mine their rights and procedures
to protect their interests.
NIKE construction in Alaska
» to be a part of he regular De
fense Construction Program, con
tracted to civilian construction
firms under competitive bidding
wnd standard lump sum type con
struction contracts. Field surveys
are now being accomplished and
will be followed by final site
Selection, subsurface investiga
tions, and design work.
Saactr Oaapalfi
Ms 0nr 1300
tile Cancer campaign conduct
ed in the Matanuska Valley dur
ing the month of July has net
ted over $30 to date, according to
Mr*. Stewart Durrant, campaign
chairman.
"The campaign is closing this
week, with the collection of the
ccmtribution cans in the stores”,
Mrs. Durrant stated. Anyone who
has not yet made a donation may
still send it to Mrs. Durrant.
Several organizations who have
nc0t met during the campaign
have indicated they will be send
ing donations and the final fig
ure is expected to be somewhat
higher than the present amount.
Mrs. Cy Brewer, persident of the
Homemakers’ Council, has assist
ed Mrs. Durrant in the campaign.
110 Sundays of
ILLUSTRATED LECTURES
Wasilla Community J
Hall
FREE jj
Starting Sunday Night jj
July 31st — 7:30 p.m. jj
Change of subject each Sun. ;!
Sponsored by the Reorganized !;
jj Church of Jesus Christ :j
jj of Latter Day Saints jj
I SALES TAX INCOME
UP $2,400 OVER
SAME PERIOD IN '541
Sales tax income in the City j!
of Palmer during the first six >
months shows increase of /
$2,464.90 over the same period !;
last year. Every month except!;
June is up this year. To date !;
a total of $29,676.39 has been j;
collected in city sales tax this j;
year, against $27,211.49 col- j;
lected in 1954. j!
Alaska Produce Week
To Be Discussed al
Chamber Meeting
All merchants, farmers and in
terested individuals are invited
to attend the August 17 meeting
of the Matanuska Valley Cham
ber of Commerce. A report on
the Alaska Produce Week being
planned for the latter part of
the month will be given by com
mittee chairman Stewart Dur
rant. The special featuring of Al
aska produce could be the fore
runner of a territory-wide pro
gram in which not only Alaskan
produce, but all type Alaska
products would be featured.
Chamber president, Everett
Adams, this week urged all in
terested persons to attend the
meeting slated for 12:05 at the
Co-Op club room. Members of
the Anchorage Chamber of Com
merce will be extended an invi
tation to participate in the pro
ject to publicize Alaskan-grown
produce.
RECKLESS DRIVER
DRAWS $150 FINE
Herald Charles, 25, of Anchor
age was fined $150 and had his
driver’s license suspended for a
30-day period when found guilty
of a charge of reckless driving
brought by City Police.
Charles, who was cited to court
on August 7, entered a plea of
guilty to the charge.
In pronouncing the penalty,
City Magistrate Frank Connally
cautioned Charles against driv
ing a vehicle during the 30-day
period. “According to Territorial
law, if you drive a car during
this period, you are subject to
imprisonment”, he stated. Char
les was apprehended, by city po
lice early Sunday morning while
driving in a reckless manner
within city limits.
The City of Palmer is conduct
ing an all-out campaign to stop
reckless driving and speeding in
and around the city.
W.O.O.M. NOMINATE
IRWIN SONG AS
SONG OF THE VALLEY
“Where the Matanuska Flows”,
original song written by Don L.
Irwin of Palmer, was nominated
as the Valley Song at a recent
meeting of the local Women of
the Moose.
The song, of which both the
words and music were written by
Mr. Irwin, was sung by Mrs. Cy
Brewer and Mrs. Chet Sandvik,
following which Mr. Irwin was
called on to give a little history
on how, where and when he
wrote the song. In telling of his
love for the Valley, the song
writer urged people to settle in
Alaska and perhaps he would
liked to have qualified it by say
ing ”... where the Matanuska
flows”.
At the close of the meeting an
original painting of the Matan
uska River, done by Mrs. Archie
Moffitt, was presented to Irwin
by the artist.
Mr. and Mrs. Irwin, Mrs. Sand
vik and Mrs. Brewer were guests
at the meeting.
MEA STILL SEEKING
APPROVAL TO LEND
$15,000 TO CAPA
At a special meeting of the
Matanuska Electric Association
board of directors held last Sat
urday ,a vote of three yeas and
two nays reiterated the boards
request to REA for approval of
a 4>io,000 loan to the Central Al
aska Power Association. The
vote was called following a
lengthy discussion pertaining to
the legality of the loan.
In recording the vote, Aaron
Combs and Charles Wilson, board
members who voted in the nega
tive, both reserved the right to
change their votes on existing
minutes on new information and
with to make the fact plain that
the project is not disfavored but
want more information as to the
right and proper proceedure and
legality. Tne previous paragraph
is an exerpt of the minutes of
the meeting, which was available
only in note form.
Present at the meeting was
Ivan Bloch, North Pacific con
sultant, who told board members
that in his opinion file Cooper
Lake site will prove to be a feas
ible project as a hydro-electric
site.
Feasibility studies at the Coop
er Lake site were started July
11 by the North Pacific Consul
tants who were earlier awarded
the $65,000 job by the Central Al
aska Power Association. The con
tract calls for the engineering
study to be completed within
200 days. According to estimates,
should the project prove feasible,
it would be capable of producing
1200 killowatts of power.
Boch told board members that
the definite project report will
include complete photographic
reports.
Speaking of the Stetson Creek
(Continued on page 7)
CO-OP ANNUAL MEET
SET FOR SATURDAY
Producing members of the Ma
tanuska Valley Farmers Cooper
ating Association will hold their
annual membership meeting in
the Palmer School gymnasium on
Saturday, August 13, beginning
at 10 a.m., it was announced this
week by Stewart Durrant, Co-Op
general manager.
Annual reports will be given
by officers and committees; am
endments to the association’s by
laws will be proposed, three va
cancies on the board of directors
will be filled by election, and a
request from the Tanana Valley
Farmers Cooperating Associa
tion to affiliate with the local as
sociation will be considered. The
Fairbanks group is expected to
grow considerably with the
M.V.F.C.A. dairy and creamery
in full operation in Fairbanks. It
now consists of 30 producing
members.
The terms of John Nash and
Tex Kibbe, board members, are
expiring and the unexpired term
in which Bill Hecker has been
serving will be filled by election.
A buffet style dinner will be
served at noon by members of
the Palmer Women of the Moose.
Three valuable door prizes will
be awarded during the meeting,
the first to be given away at
10:30 a.m., Durrant stated. All
members are urged to attend.
School Registration
Set for Aug. 30,31
School registrations dates were
announced this week by William
T. Zahradnicek, school superin
tendent. All students from grades
one through 12 are requested to
register for school entry on.Aug
ust 30 and 31. Students entering
the Palmer School system for the
frist time are required to have
a birth certificate.
Registration for students enter
ing grades one through eight are
to register at Central School.
High school students are to regis
ter at the new high school on the
same dates. School will open on
Tuesday, September 6.
T. A. MOYER
NAMED CURATOR
VALLEY MUSEUM
T. A. Moyer, Matanuska Valley
Fair Association president, was
this week named curator of the
Valley Fair Museum and will su
pervise thel display of Valley
artifacts and antiques during the
1955 Fair.
Although the museum will be
far from complete this year, there
will be an interesting display of
historical items which will be
shown throughout the Fair. The
museum is housed in a Valley
artifact—the cabin which was
built in the early days of the Col
ony, entirely of logs. It is the
only building in this area with
the log-constructed chimney and
in itself will be a great tourist at
traction.
Members of the Matanuska
Valley Fair Association plan to
restore the building as time and
funds permit. The Palmer Gar
den club will be invited to par
ticipate in landscaping and an
appeal will be made for dona
tions to the museum of Valley
artifacts and antiques for per
manent display. Future plans in
clude keeping the museum open
throughout the summer as a
tourist attraction.
Sonja Stadem
Qualifies In
Queen Contest
Sonja Stadem, blue-eyed Ma
tanuska Valley Fair queen con
testant, was the third Valley girl
to qualify in the 15th annual
Fair contest. Sonja has sold the
required number of 250 tickets
and in turn received her $25
award and $15 toward publicity
expenses. She, along with Janice
Barry and Dona McKechnie who
qualified last week, will continue
their ticket sales right up to the
fair time. All contestants will re
ceive 10 percent of ticket sales
in addition to their bonus pay
ments. The girl chosen to reign
over the Matanuska Valley Fair
will receive an additional $250.
A1 Hagen, fair manager, said
today that it looks like all con
testants will qualify by the dead
line, August 15. “Ticket sales are
going good again this year”, he
said in expressing his apprecia
tion of the support being shown
the contestants. Valuable mer
chandise prizes will be awarded
on the final night of the Fair,
with winners to be selected from
ticket stubs turned in by the
Queen contestants. Just in time
for the hunting season—a deep
freeze for someone’s home is on
the top of the list—valuable
hunting rifle—movie camera,
television set, and many other
valuable prizes are helping
Queen contestants sell their tick
ets.
Five of the contestants, Miss
Stadem, Donna McKechnie,
Janice Barry, Jean Saulsbury and
Carla Driggars, were guests at
the Anchorage Chamber of Com
merce luncheon this past week.
They were accompanied by the
Fair manager and Stewart Dur
rant, Fair board member. Fol
lowing the luncheon they visited
Anchorage radio and television
stations where they recorded pro
grams for later use.
Each girl in this year’s contest
is being sponsored. The Frontier
Cafe in Palmer is sponsoring
Miss Stadem. Miss McKechnie’s
sponsor is the Alaska Dairy in
Anchorage; Miss Barry’s the Ma
tanuska Valley Farmers Coop
erating Association; Miss Drig
gars Bert’s Drug store in Palmer;
and Miss Saulsbury by the Ki
wanis Club of Palmer. The sixth
contestant, Norma Nelson who
was unable to attend the lunch
eon, is being sponsored by the
Palmer Studio.
The Bureau of Mines will dis
play their Mine Safety and Res
cue car during the coming Fair,
A1 Hagen, fair manager, has an
nounced. The car was viewed
last year by thousands of Fair
goers . *
4
$1100 Robbery
Reported to Police
PLAN SHOWING
OF SAWMILL FILM
A special film on sawmill
operations will be shown at
the Palmer Fire Guard Station
next Thursday evening, Aug
ust 1 8at 8 p.m., William Ad
ams, forester, announced this
week. All interested persons
are invited to see the movie.
Whirlpool Bath
Donated By
Legion and Auxiliary
The Jacuzzi whirlpool bath
pump, recently purchased by the
Matanuska Valley American Le
gion Post and Auxiliary Unit,
has arrived and has been plac
ed in the Valley Presbyterian
Hospital, it was announced this
week.
The bath is to be used, as pre
scribed by hospital doctors, Pub
lic Health Nurse or physical
therapist, free of charge to every
one.
The equipment is to remain in
the hospital unless checked out
personally by a doctor, register
ed nurse, Public Health Nurse or
physical therapist.
The whirlpool bath is expected
to be used extensively by polio
patients and others needing the
special benefits provided by this
new piece of equipment, and is
the only one of its kind in the
Valley.
FAIR PROGRAM
SHAPING UP FAST
The program for the 1955 Ma
tanuska Valley Fair is beginning
to shape up, according to A1 Hag
en, fair manager. *‘We have part
of the program for each day
pretty well outlined”, he said,
‘‘with other events to be added
as soon as scheduled”.
Saturday, September 3, has
been tentatively designated as
Family Day and the afternoon
will feature programs for all
children attending the Fair, be
ginning at noon with a bicycle
race from Wasilla to Palmer.
Favorite events such as a pie
eating contest, three-legged rac
es, sack races, etc. will be stag
ed on the Fairgrounds. Prizes
will be awarded to winners in
all contests.
Junior members of the Arctic
Valley Riding Club will stage a
junior rodeo each afternoon of
the Fair. Featured races, stunts,
games, and contests will be stag
ed by the youthful riders.
An old fashioned firemans’
muster, staged in the modern
style, will be put on by members
of the Anchorage, Spenard, Mt.
View, Palmer, Chugiak, and pos
sibly other departments. The only
type fire truck permitted in the
muster will be the Civil De
fense Jeep pumper which each
of these communities have.
Highlight of the opening date
of the Fair will be the Corona
tion Ball to be held Saturday
evening, September 3 in the Pal
mer School gymnasium. During
(Continued on page 7)
Two Forest Fires
Destroy 70 Acres
Personnel of the Palmer Fire
Guard Station were called out on
two fires during the past month,
Forester William Adams report
ed this week. On the 24th of
July a fire was reported at
Squaw Creek, just behind Sheep
Mountain. This was the first fire
this year, in this area, that was
entirely on public domain, Ad
ams said, and was believed start
ed by fishermen. The fire, which
burned 30 acres, was extinguish
ed on August 2 by seven fire
fighters from the Pamer station
(Continued on page 7)
Over 51100 in cash was stolen,
from the Standard Oil office in
the Co-Op shopping area some
time between Saturday night
and Sunday morning, city police
were notified at noon on Sunday.
City and Territorial police are
working on the case. Billy Mee
han, driver, discovered the break
and reported it at noon on Sun
day. Entry was gained through
a forced window; no other dam
age was reported, nor was any
thing disturbed in the station.
From appearances police believe
the hiding place was known to
the intruder or intruders.
A 1952 Chevrolet pickup truck
reported missing Monday morn
ing from Kirk’s Sales and Ser
vice was recovered Monday af
ternoon on Jim Creek road, fol
• lowing a report from Mrs. J. L.
Cowdill that such a vehicle was
parked on the road. A spare tire
and wheel and the truck radio
were missing and believed taken
by whomever took the truck.
Kyle Turner Heads
Boy Scout Campaign
Kyle Turner of Palmer has ac
cepted chairmanship of the 1955
Boy Scout campign in the Palmer
area, according to an announce
ment made this week.
The campaign, which opened
on Monday of this week, receiv
ed its first contribution from the
Palmer Kiwanis youth services
who donated $75. At the same
time, the Kiwanians voted a sim
ilar amount for the local Girl
Scouts.
All business firms and organiz
ations in Palmer will be contact
ed for contributions. Assisting
Turner will be Kiwanians Jim
Hurley, Emil Ganschow, Marvin.
Slaughter, William Zahradnicek,
and Ed Smith. Anyone wishing
to make a contribution to the
campaign may do so bo contact
ing Turner at the Valley Bank
or any of the named committee.
“We’ll even stop by and pick up
a donation if it Is not convenient
for the person to deliver it”, one
of the group said today. I
Contributions to the Western
Alaska Council Boy Scouts of
America helps point the way for
today’s youth and tomorrow’s
men and makes Scouting avail
able to all boys. The Boy Scout
movement in the Valley is so
well organized that it is possible
for every boy big or little—rural
or urban—rich or poor—to be
come a Cub Scout—Boy Scout or
Explorer. The cost per boy is
$17.00—less than a nickel a day.
. The local campaign will come
to an end August 31. Organiza
tions, business firms and indivi
duals are urged to make their
contributions as early as possible.
U. P. LADIES AID
BAKE SALE
SAT. AUG. 13 — 10 a.m.
At FARMERS MARKET
BACK-TO-SCHOOL SPECIAL
PERMANENTS $10 - $12.50
Through Month of August
VALLEY BEAUTY SHOP
Pbone 3301
BIG GAME HUNTING
-Fly Duf
TWO PLANES TO SERVE
YOU.
Eleven Consecutive Years
Flying Satisfied Hunters
SN0WSH0E LAKE
Mile No. 147 Glen Hiway
L. L. PENNINGTON
GRAND
OPENING
GREEN ACRES RESORT
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
LAKE
WASILLA
PUBLIC INVITED
FRIDAY, AUG. 12
Free Buffet
DANCING TO
LIVE MUSIC