VOTE
, YES!
Halley Jrontiergmau
U PAGES
TODAY
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
VOLUME C NUMBER 43.
PALMER. ALASKA. FRIDAY. JULY S. 1SSL
PRICE. 10c
City Votes Tuesday
CITY OBSERVES 4th
QUIETLY; WASILLA |
EVENT DRAWS 500
Except for a few minor acci
dent cases brought into the Val
*ty Hospital, the city of Palmer
oent a relatively quiet Fourth of
uly.
Palmer residents with no local
ictivity scheduled, took in the
. >arade at Anchorage, participated
n the V.F.W. celebration in Wa
silla, repaired to lakes and
streams for picnics or fishing, or
jst stayed home.
Bert’s Drug store reported that
iver 300 fishing licenses were is
^ jed on the holiday; 1,185 licenses
issued there the first four
s of July.
to V.F.W. Celebration
Almost 500 people gathered at
the V.F.W. ball park at Wasilla
for their annual Fourth of July
celebration. In charge of the pro
gram for the day were Leo Nun
ally, Vincent Smith, Pat Carter,
‘Swede” Sorensen and Buzz Al
derman.
Girl’s races, boy’s races, bicycle
races, a ball game between single
and married men, and Alaska’s
(Continued on Page 4)
SALLEY FARMERS MART
OPENING DAY SET FOR
SATURDAY. JULY 14
Opening date of the Valley Far
ners’ Market has been definitely
.et for Saturday, July 14, at 10
j.m., Marketmaster Florence Eby
announced today.
Eight regular sellers have been
assigned their booths. If they
wish to finish off their booths
more elaborately, lumber and
nails are available to them. The i
Riverbend Homemakers will have
the free organization booth on
opening day.
A special meeting of the Farm
>rs’ Market Association will be
neld at the market site Tuesday
night at 8 p.m. Details of oper
ating the market will be discussed
and a new director will be elect
ed. Parker Lester is expected to
give hints for marketing and
packaging of produce in a short
talk. »
In a letter to the association,
Commissioner of Agriculture
Clyde Sherman has evinced a
great deal of interest in the pro
ject, offering encouragement and
best wishes for the market’s suc
cess.
Progress in the market’s de
eloT'ment is being watched with
een interest by interested citi
ens of several Alaskan cities,
Iiss Eby reported. It has also at
acted the attention of many
.arts of the country.
Signs for the highway and the
market itself will be placed next
fveek. Irving Plitt is busy now
i the lettering.
Statement by City Council of Palmer
Believing that responsible voters in Palmer will support
our retail sales and service tax, we urge everyone possessing
the vested right to cast a ballot in next Tuesday’s election.
In Ketchikan a sales tax has been enthusiastically supported
since its inception. Of all Alaskan towns, Ketchikan is reported
to be the best operated. Remember that Anchorage, too, will
probably have a sales tax before winter. A sales tax is a cheap,
efficient and fair method of financing community services.
This is especially true of Palmer which serves as a focal point
for the entire Matanuska Valley.
SNOW REMOVAL A BIG PROBLEM. Palmer must clean
its own streets this next winter. Our streets must remain
open so that children can get to school. Matanuska Valley’s
only large industry, the Co-Op creamery, must be able to get
its trucks through town. In addition to snow removal, the in
creasing dust nuisance and steady decline of gravel surfaces
on roads points up the fact that someone must chip in to pay
for road repairs. The sales tax will give everyone who uses
our streets a chance to contribute.
PALMER'S SCHOOL NEEDS LOCAL SUPPORT. Every
one in town is aware of the acute crowding in our school.
The influx of school children will continue to grow—by leaps
and bounds—as contractors bring in families to work on the
Eklutna project. It is hoped that the proposed sales tax will
bring in sufficient revenue so that a substantial amount may
be turned over to the school district. As with street mainten
ance, the sales tax provides an opportunity for transcient fami
lies to help support the school their children v.ill attend.
NO COMMITMENTS. The city Council believes that it
can best serve the community by not adopting an iron-clad
budget at this time. We do not know, nor can we estimate
with any accuracy, either the revenues or the fixed expenses
of our new city. Our tentative plans for meeting the problems
that face Palmer in the next few years have been discussed
publicly and have been published. It is considered neither
proper nor politically expedient to bargain with any pressure
group in order to obtain votes at this crucial time.
COUNCIL MEETINGS ARE PUBLIC AFFAIRS. All
voters are invited to attend council meetings which are held
regularly on the second and fourth Thursdays every month
in Severn’s Cabinet Shop. Citizens of Palmer have the right
and duty to express themselves publicly. The Council as a
body solicits discussion and guidance on matters of community
interest.
Sudden Death Comes
To New Resident Here
Mrs. Christine Freeman, 50,
died at Valley Hospital Sunday
evening, a short time after being
stricken with a cerebral hemor
rhage in front of Koslosky’s. Ac
cording to Dr. C. C. Bailey, st\e
never regained consciousness.
Mrs. Freeman was the wife of
Ted Freeman, an employe of the
Goat Creek Lumber Mill near
which the couple lived with two
of their sons. The family had
lived in the Valley only a short
time.
The body was taken to the Bly
Funeral Home, and was shipped
Outside for burial.
Besides the husband, she is sur
vived by her two sons Robert, 19,
and Richard, 11, of Palmer; a son,
Morrill Freeman of East Lake,
Minn.; and two daughters, Mrs.
Doris Mae Olofson of Proctor,
Minn., and Mrs. Norma E. Hukta
of Minneapolis.
FHA DIRECTOR RESIGNS
C. C. Staples has announced his
resignation as Territorial director
of the Federal Housing Adminis
tration, as of July 27.
Highway Patrol Kept
Busy in Series of
Accidents This Week
No fatalities were reported in
a series of highway mishaps this
week which resulted in injuries
to several individuals involved,
considerable damage to the ve
hicles, and a lot of work for the
highway patrol.
Three persons involved in a
head-on collision at Mile 33 of
the Glenn Highway were brought
to Valley Hospital at 5 a.m. Sun
day morning. The other seven
persons, including a mother and
three children were taken to the
Air Force Base Hospital for treat
ment immediately.
According to the Highway Pa
trol, Bobby Smallwood swung his
1941 convertible into the left lane
of traffic and crashed head-on
into the 1951 convertible driven
by Dale J. Dial. In the Smallwood
car were four members of the
42nd Engineers. In the Dial car
were Mr. Dial’s wife, and three
children and an unnamed male
passenger. Both cars were com
pletely demolished.
Informed that an ambulance
(Continued on page 11)
TO DECIDE FATE OF SALES TAX
FOR CITY AND SCHOOL PURPOSES
Qualified voters of Palmer will
go to the polls at Severn’s Cabinet
Shop Tuesday, July 10, to cast
their ballots in favor of or against
the City Council’s proposed tax
on sales and services. Voting
hours will be from 8 a.m. to 7
p. m.
In special session, the City
Council last night made final ar
rangements for the voting Tues
day. Acting City Clerk Bill Head
announced the appointment of
Mrs. Charles Wilson and Mrs.
Emil Larsh as election judges. Ap
pointment of a third judge is
pending.
Council members agreed on a
statement of their sales tax stand
to be printed in today’s Frontiers
man.
Board Members Attend
School Board members Lucius
Ross, Harold Thuma and Jack
Maze dropped in on the meeting
to discuss the proposed sales tax.
They were interested in having a
deefinite percentage of the tax
allocated to the school district.
Harold Butcher, Council attor
ney, pointed out the fact that the
city does not at present have the
MATANUSKA BRIDGE
APPROACHES PAVED
THIS WEEK, SAYS ARC
Motorists who have suffered
patiently the jolts obtained on ap
proaching and leaving the new
Matanuska bridge, will be happy
to know there will be smooth
sailing over the river this week
end.
Oliver Onkka announced yes
terday that approaches to both
sides of the bridge will be paved
this week. McLaughlin, Inc., has
contracted to do the job with the
Alaska Road Commission furnish
ing the materials. There will be
one-way traffic across the bridge
while the approaches are being
paved.
Traffic over the bridge has
been increasing steadily, Onkka
reported. Last year’s count was
checked off at 6,600 vehicles
weekly.
Road conditions are better go
ing north on the Glenn Highway
also. Paving has been completed
to Mile 102. Guardrails have been
constructed on dangerous stretch
es near Moose Creek and Chick
aloon.
SCHOOL ARCHITECT TO MEET
WITH BOARD MEMBERS
William Arild Johnson of the
Everett, Washington, firm of ar
chitects which is drawing up the
plans for Palmer’s new high
school arrived in town today.
power to allocate a definite
amount to the school board. He
emphasized the Council’s unani
mous solicitude regarding school
needs, but warned that the Coun
cil had no means of determining
accurately how much revenue
could be expected.
Estimates of revenues which
might be expected ranged from
the Council’s most conservative
one of $'8,000 to Jack Maze’s
guess of $80,000.
Council members agreed that
it would probably take most of
the first year’s revenue to set up
a city clerk, purchase equipment
for the removal of snow from the
streets, and police protection. Af
ter these basic services have been
organized, they felt, from 30 to
35 percent of the revenues will be
allocated to the school.
Thuma stated that the school
needed no more money for the
coming school year.
“The 1952-53 school year is the
concern of the School Board
now”, he said. ‘‘We’ll need more
money then to meet the expense
of operating an increased school
sDaee”.
Water Survey Made
In a discussion of plans regard
ing the construction of a perma
nent water supply system for
Palmer, it was disclosed that en
gineers had completed the pre
liminary survey. Three possible
water sources were investigated
by the Thomas B. Bourne Associ
ates, Inc., of Anchorage.
The Juneau office of Alaska
Public Works telegram urging
application for construction funds
was discussed. Bill Head was in
structed to contact Thos. Bourne
for engineering details need
ed to complete the application in
time to have it included in the
1952 fiscal year budget.
12-Fool Plunge Makes
Nets Stensland Miss
Opening of New Store
Nels Stensland missed the Sat
urday opening of the new Palmer
Food Center, operated by him and
Mrs. Stensland.
About five hours before the
scheduled 8 a.m. opening, he suf
fered a tall which sent him to
Valley Hospital with a fractured
back. Bringing up merchandise to
be placed on shelves for early cus
tomers, he was on the elevator
when the cable broke loose,
plunging him and the elevator 12
feet to the bottom of the shaft.
He was placed in a cast by Dr.
C. C. Bailey, who attended him.
This morning Dr. Bailey reported
that he had been released from
the hospital.