16 VALLEY MEN FARM BY PLAN IN ’49 UNDER
PALMER SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT
WINDS MAKE WORK
FOR ARC CREW
While the winds of the past
two weeks may have been either
slightly funny or more than
slightly annoying, depending up
on whether you were a house
wife who could stay at home or a
telephone lineman or a newspa
per reporter who couldn’t, they
Were just a forerunner of 15 man
killing days to the nine-man crew
of the Alaska Roard Commission.
Men and equipment worked in
round-the-clock shifts in order to
do their level best to keep roads
open, or to simply be on hand to
assist motorists in trouble during
the more intense period of storms.
Roads were closed leading to
Wasilla and south of Palmer on
several different occasions, dur
ing the first week of high winds
A slight surcease in the blow
permitted their opening to one
way traffic for several days, but
the recurrihg storm this week
promptly closed them again for
short periods of time.
Oliver Onkka, ARC foreman
for the Valley, said at press-time
that all roads were open, and
were expected to remain open un
less the wind greatly increases in
volume.
No road was closed for any
length of time, Mr. Onkka said.
Th Wasilla highway was closed
for short periods of time on sev
eral occasions, mostly at night
The snow removal work has been
tremendously difficult in the area
south of Palmer, because of the
extreme solidity of drifts. Mr.
Onkka told of spots where drifts
aije packed to a height much
higher than a car, and where the
snow is so solidly pounded into
the drift that a tractor can run
on the crust without breaking
through.
During the worst of the road
clearing work, crews worked
without rest for two days and
nights. Once they met such diffi
cult snow removal problems that
it took almost two days to clear
half a mile of highway. Much
work in widening is still to be
done, for Valley roads resemble
tunnels more than highways now.
In addition to road work head
aches the estimated 50 miles an
hour wind cut school attendance
25 per cent and downed 10 tele
phone lines, according to the re
port of the Matanuska Valley Tel
ephone Exchange. Lines of the
Matanuska Electric Association
were not damaged by tlje winds.
Wind and weather combined to
cause the icing of Alaska Rail
road tracks at Moose Creek, re
sulting in a ' train derailment
there this week.
I
GRAHAM SERVICE
ZEREX
hi. C
GATES BATTERIES
Reliance Conversion Burners
. Little floor furnaces and heaters
MACHINE WORK — WELDING
GAS REPAIR^ OIL
The Palmer Soil Conservatioi
sub-district got off to a good star
in 1949, Lucius Ross of the boar<
of supervisors reported this week
| During the year, 16 conservatioi
! plans were worked out with Val
ley farmers and nearly 100 acre
| of pasture were placed under im
proved management practices,
j The conservation plans hav
| assisted farmers in land clearing
■ seeding of approved grasses am
legumes for pasture and haj
planting of green manure crops
1 and strip cropping to preven
wind erosion, Mr. Ross said.
At their recent annual meeting
! supervisors recommended t h
j continuation of last year’s pro
gram plus an extensive progran
in the use of commercial fertiliz
j ers. The men said they hope*
! some plan could be Worked ou
whereby it would become possi
ble to purchase a grain drill wit!
fertilizer attachment, to be rent
ed to farmers working under th
conservation plans.
The supervisors also emphasiz
ed the need for still more equip
ment, as well as a plan for fi
nancing its purchase. The;
spoke particularly of a small lan<
leveling machine and some typi
of tillage equipment which woul<
leave surface vegetation to serv*
as protection from wind erosion
Wind erosion was discussed a
a major problem and the super
visors agreed that there v;as grea
need for experimentation whicl
would develop a short deep-root
ed tree for a wind break, and ;
hardy hedge to serve the dua
purpose of holding the soil an<
the winter snow.
Rendezvous Art Deadline
Will Be Tomorrow
Tomorrow is the deadline fo
entering exhibits in Anchorage’
first all-Alaska art Achibitior
The exhibition is sponsored b;
I the Soroptimist Club as a part o
the Fur Rendezvous which open
on Feb. 22.
Cash prizes are offered for win
ners in professional, amateur an*
school divisions. Entries shoul*
be classified as scenic, portrait o
sketch, the rules state. All en
tries, except in the school class
must be framed or mounted oi
mat board. Pastels must be cov
ered with cellophane or glass o
sprayed with fixative. An artis
can compete in more than on
group, but may not enter mon
than one picture for each classifi
cation.
Entries should be carefull;
wrapped and mailed to the An
chorage Fur Rendezvous Art Ex
hibit, Box 2016, Anchorage. Re
turn postage should be enclosed
if not, the picture will be return
ed, postage collect, at the con
elusion of the show.
MANY REGISTERING
FOR FOGG COURSE
A keen interest in the proposed
school for food handlers, to be
presented in the Valley under the
sponsorship of the Valley Health
Council, already is reflected in
advance registrations, Miss Louise
Kellogg, Council president, said
this week.
Classes will be held on Feb. 27,
28 and March 1. The three-day
lecture course will give the latest
information on the sanitary meth
ods of food handling, dish wash
ing, cockroach control, and allied
problems.
Private organizations, as well
as hotels, restaurants, bars and
butcher shops have expressed in
terest in the course. Personnel
employed in the Palmer School
lunchroom already are registered,
and Wasilla lunchroom helpers
are invited to do so.
Miss Kellogg suggested that
members of Homemakers’ clubs
and other • Valley organizations
some times called upon to serve
food to the public might find the
course interesting.
The classes, to be conducted by
personnel of the territorial de
partment of health, will be pre
sented in two divisions. One se
ries of three classes will be held
at 2 p. m., and a duplicate series
wall be scheduled at 7 p.m. Class
es will be held in the former li
brary at the Rec Hall, except in
the event of a conflict, wheh they
will be moved upstairs to the
Health Center.
Mrs. Victor Johnson or Ivan
Branton are registering prospec
tive students in the food hand
lers’ course, in the absence of
James Wilson, committee chair
man. Pre-registering is desirable
but not compulsory: Students not
pre-registered will be allowed to
register at the first class on Feb.
27. .
Placards will be awarded all
food handling establishments
whose entire personnel complete
the course, Miss Kellogg said.
: 1
Palmer Soil District
Elects New Officers
The Palmer Soil Conservation j
sub-district’s board of supervi
sors elected new officers at their j
February meeting recently. Hen- j
ry Jensen was named president,;
replacing Lucius Ross. Clarence!
Hoffman retained his secretarial
duties.
r
’wo Pt. Barrow Scouts
'o Go To Valley Forge
Two Boy Scouts from Pt. Bar
ow will be members of the 33-.
Icout troop which is to attend
he national Jamboree at Valley
'orge next summer, it was an
lounced by the Alaska Council
eadquarters this week. The
roop, which is to be led by Pal
mer's Scoutmaster Victor Alfsen,
trill be made up of Boy Scouts
rom all over Alaska. Already 22
Icouts have paid initial registrar
ion fees for the Jamboree. The
rip expense will amount to about
400 per boy. Harry Campbell of
‘aimer hopes to make the trip,
nd already has saved a large,
•ortion of the cost of his trip,
Scoutmaster Alfsen reports
OURIST ASSOCIATION
BANNED FOR ALASKA
Under the sponsorship of the
daska Development Board, an
daska Tourist Association is be
rig planned, it was announced in
n ADB release today. The move
rew out of a series of meetings
teld recently at Juneau, Anchor
ge and Seattle, when R. C. Mor
an, publisher of Travel Agent
magazine, met with Alaskan rep
esentatives of hotels, resorts,
ravel agencies and Chambers of
!ommerce.
Preliminary planning would
ave the organization promote
daska-wide, as well as regional,!
ublicity of tourist attractions,
pecial educational programs for
hose dealing with travellers, and
full-scale promotion of potential
esort facilities.
Similar organizations now exist
i the states, Hawaii and Puerto
tico
Coffey Insures Everything—
Remember?
Valley Frontiersman
Page 5
Placer Mining Film
To Be Shown Here
‘Alaska Gold”, a color film
that tells the story of placer min
ing from the preliminary pros
pecting, stripping, thawing and
dredging to the production of
gold block, will be shown in
Palmer some time in March, ac
cording 4o Eugene Erickson, in
structor of the mining Exten
sion course recently concluded
here.
• Originally planned to be shown
during the University of Alaska
mining course, the film did not
arrive here in time. Mr. Erick
son, at the time of his leaving
last week, still was not sure when
the movie would be here.
‘‘Alaska Gold”, filmed by the
University of Alaska, is located
in the gold-mining district north
of Fairbanks where the F. E.
Company operations are situated.
The movie will be shown either
in the Gymnasium or at the Val
ley Theatre, possibly on a Sun
day afternoon. There will be no
admission charge.
Mr. Erickson promised a more
definite announcement as soon as
the film’s time of arrival is
known.
*«<■«■« <■< <<«<« <«'[■
.. i baptist i:
I mission ;;
>r . t - J<
''• Services Held Every Sunday
! • .
vr ' ‘ in
;; • ■ SEVENTH DAY ^
>r' ADVENTIST CHURCH
> .. • n
. J\
'rSv<fiday School.10 a.
> 'Church Service.11 a. nun,
> 'Evening Worship .. 7:45 p. m.^
V" •
\\ EVERYONE WELCOME
%>>>>>>>>>> A
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Located in Basement of Ward Building
COMPLETE STOCK OF ALL TYPES OF
PLUMBING SUPPLIES
All Work Guaranteed Phone 33
1
The Matannska Hotel
Cocktail Lounge
Is Palmer’s Favorite Night Spot
Dancing Every Night
★
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42 ROOMS AND 42 BATHS
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