Thought of the Week:
We suspect from what we
see, that the human beam is
getting a bit broader.
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\ HE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
WWI VETERANS
CONVENTION
JUNE 15
MOOSE HALL
VOLUME 15. NUMBER 38
PALMER. ALASKA, THURSDAY, JUNE 13. 1963
TEN PAGES
PRICE 15 CENTS
Voters Pass Sewer Bond Issue, 169 to 21,
Reporters—
Notebook.
Rose Ann Branton Goodman
and Peggy Lee McGinnis were
graduated at Oregon State Uni
versity in Corvallis on June 2.
Mrs. Goodman and Miss Mc
Ginnis received degrees in the
School of Home Economics.
* * *
/adney C. Bledsoe, senior at
the Illinois Institute of Tech
nology, has been elected presi
dent of the Beta chapter, Chi
Epsilon fraternity. Chi Epsilon
is the national honorary frater
nity for civil engineers.
31edsoe is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. C. V. Poisal of Wasilla.
* * m
Fred Barnes, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Glenn Barnes of Palmer,
has completed his first year of
cadet training at the U. S. Mil
itary Academy at West Point,
New York. Fred arrived in
Palmer on leave from the aca
demy last Friday, and will ac
company his family on a trip
to Oklahoma before returning
to New York. The Barnes fam
ily will leave here today or to
rn- rrow.
* * *
Darrel M. Frank Jr., equip
ment operator third class. USN,
son of D. M. Frank of Palmer,
is serving aboard the attack
aircraft carrier USS Hancock.
The carier recently participat
ed in Exercise Flying Fox, a
major fleet striking and anti
aircraft warfare training ex
ercise conducted May 20
through 24 off the coast of
California. The five-day exer
cise centered around the Han
cock.
* * *
Kathleen Hulbert, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. James Hulbert
of Palmer, left at the close of
the high school term for Seat
tle. where she will spend the
summer with her aunts, Mrs.
Roy Larson and Mrs. Bill Am
ble. her grandmother, Mrs.
George Hulbert, and an uncle,
C< rdon Hulbert.
Back in Palmer after his
freshman year at the Unh’er
sity of Idaho in Moscow is Ed
Hanks, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Lew Hanks. Ed arrived here on
May 29.
* * #
Joe J. Jameson, seaman ap
prentice, USN, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Alvin L. Jameson of Star
Route, Knik Road, Wasilla, is
serving aboard the command
ship USS Wright, which was
commissioned May 11 at the
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard,
Bremerton, Wash.
The Wright is equipped with
world - wide communication
capabilities and is a new naval
concept and the Navy’s newest
addition to the fleet. She op
erates out of Puget Sound as a
Pacific Fleet unit.
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. Clair Stock,
who returned to their home in
the Springer System twm weeks
ago, report a visit with Miss
May Stephenson, now of Van
couver, Washington, who was
home demonstration agent for
the Extension Service here
from 1940 to 1943. Miss Steph
enson asked the Stocks to greet
her many friends in the Mat
anuska Valley.
The Stocks who were away
eight months, traveled in the
Middle West and spent consid
erable time in Kelso, Washing
ton.
Commander Neron
Attends Convention
Edward J. Neron, national
commander of the Veterans of
World War I of the U.S.A., Inc.,
will be present at the organiza
tion’s Department of Alaska
first annual convention, to be
held in Palmer on Saturday,
June 15.
The commander wrill arrive
in Anchorage tonight, and will
take part in Flag Day ceremon
ies at Elmendorf Air Force
Base the following day. He
will also make television ap
pearances.
His address to the convention
in Palmer on Saturday is sch
eduled for 2:30 p.m. in the
Moose hall.
Registration of delegates and
members will take place Sat
urday morning between 8 a.m.
and 10 p.m. at the American
Legion hall. All convention
sessions will be held in the
Palmer Moose hall, where the
delegates will be welcomed by
Mayor Ralph Moore at 10 a.m.
Addresses by representatives of
the Veterans Administration
and the Alaska Command, as
well as reports of department
afficers, will be heard during
the morning hours.
Luncheon for the delegates
and members will be served at
11:30 a.m. The luncheon, and
aommittee work, will occupy
time until 1:30 p.m.
The afternoon session, which
will be highlighted by Com
mander Neron’s address, will
also include committee reports
and the election of 1963-84 of
ficers.
A tour of the Matanuska
Valley in private cars will fol
low adjournment at 4 p.m., if
time allows. The convention
day will be climaxed with a
no-host dinner at Williwaw
Lodge at 6 p.m.
Former Resident
Dies in Oregon
Charles G. Elliott, 65, who
lived in the Matanuska Valley
during the 1930’s, died Monday
at his home in Creswell. Ore.,
where he had lived since 1959.
Creswell made his home here
at the farm on the Wasilla
Road now occupied by the Ray
Huston family. His daughter,
Ruthelyn, graduated from
Palmer high school and attend
ed the University of Alaska.
Creswell, who came to Alas
ka in 1935, homesteaded for a
time in the Goose Bay area be
for moving to Anchorage,
where he lived for some time
before moving to Oregon.
He was born in Portland,
Ore., on Oct. 30, 1897.
He is survived by his widow,
Edna, of Creswell: his daugh
ter, Ruthelyn Kulm of Texas;
a son, C. W. Elliot of Eugene,
Ore.; a brother, William H. El
liot of Portland; a sister, Mary
E. Johnston of Seaside, Ore.;
and four grandchildren.
PICNIC TO BE AT LODGE
The Elks picnic for members
and families on Sunday, June
16, will be at the lodge home
in Palmer, not at the lodge
property at Moose Creek, as
stated in a story on page 6 of
this issue. The time of 1:30 p.m.
remains the same.
Public Auction
AT BUTTE FIRE HALL
Sunday, June 16, 12:30 P.M.
EXTRA LARGE CONSIGNMENT OF FARM
MACHINERY, TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
MILE 42 - PALMER HIWAY
SEE OUR AD ON PAGE 8
Edward J. Neron
Agricultural Conservation Program
Closed for 1963; to Reopen in Fall
John Nash, Palmer County
ASCS office manager, stated
this week that the Palmer
County agricultural conserva
tion program is closed.
One hundred and eleven
farmers have requested cost
sharing for conservation prac
tices which include grass seed
ing. livestock wells, land
smoothing, land clearing, open
drainage systems, diversion
ditches, streambank control.
I dikes and controlling competi
I tive shrubs and mosses.
“Unfortunately requests for
| assistance far exceed the
I amount of program funds we
j have available, which makes
I it necesary to close our pro
| gram at this time.’’ Nash said.
| “We hope to open the 1964
' Agricultural Conservation Pro
gram in September. Farmers
are advised to sign up for con
servation practices again at
that time.”
PALMER-WASiLLA
UPGRADING GETS
SUPPORT OF ARC
Support of a road committee
proposal to upgrade the exist
ing highway between Palmer
and Wasilla was pledged at
the June 11 meeting of the
Area Redevelopment Commit
tee, held in Palmer at the Ex
tension Service office.
The proposal came as a re
sult of a June 3 meeting of the
road committee with two rep
resentatives of the Wasilla
Businessmen's Association, Ro
bert Vroman and Harold New
comb.
The two presented a six-point
proposal for secondary roads in
the valley as follows:
1. Cut-off road Matanuska to
Wasilla.
2. Road from Knik to Big
Lake.
3. Continuation of the above
road to Houston.
4. Big Lake via Burma Road
to McKenzie Point.
5. As soon as the crossing is
complete there, continue road
to Wasilla.
6. Connection from the Glenn
highway to Wasilla, leaving the i
highway at about Moose Creek.
After discussion of the pro
posals, the Wasilla representa
tives agreed to place upgrad
ing of the existing highway be
tween Palmer and Wasilla first:
to put their first proposal last
on the list: and to eliminate the
No. 6 proposal entirely.
Vroman described his pro
posal as a loop which tourists
can travel, rather than to find
themselves blocked by deadend
roads.
TWO FROM PALMER
TO TEACH CLASSES
Lew Hanks, Extension Ser
vice civil defense specialist, and
Myrtle Bang, home demonstra
tion agent for the Matanuska
Valley, will teach classes at
the Homemakers’ Short Course
at the University of Alaska,
the Extension Service recently
announced.
The Short Course sessions
will begin Monday. June 17,
and continue through Friday,
June 21.
Hanks will teach a course in
“Medical Self-Help in the Civ
il Defense Program’’, and Miss
Bang’s session will be called
“Better Storage for your
Home.’’
Construction Planned
To Start This Fall
Palmer voters yesterday ap
proved the issuance of general
obligation bonds to construct a
sewer system for the city of
Palmer, by a vote of 169 to 21.
The vote of eight to one in
favor of the issue authorized
the city of Palmer to spend up
to $798,000 to construct new
sewer lines, upgrade those now
existing, purchase or construct
an outfall, and build sewage
disposal lagoons.
However, the actual cost of
the system may be less, if ap
plied-for federal grants are ob
tained, city manager Winston
Gilchrist pointed out.
Gilchrist said that Ralph
Stephano, consulting engineer,
began work this morning, and
expects to have his plans com
plete by July 15. The city man
ager today notified all agencies
to which the city has applied
for grants of the voter apprcAV
of the issuance of bonds.
"If all goes well, construction
will be started by Sept. 15 of
this year," Gilchrist said. “The
system should be complete by
early summer, 1964.”
The engineer estimates that
it will take about four months
to build the system, the man
ager added.
“If we have a reasonable
fall, we should get in a month
to six weeks of construction
before freezeup,” he stated.
It will be up to the contract
tor to decide where construc
tion will begin, Gilchrist said
in answer to those who wan£'t<j
know when they can expect
sewers on their own property.
"Although we can’t promise
anyone sewers this fall, every
one should have them by a
year from now%” he said.
LAKE GEORGE MAY NOT PERFORM
THIS YEAR - BREAKUP UNUKELY
A Lake George breakup this
year does not appear likely,
. Marvin Slaughter, head of the
Geological Survey office in
Palmer, said yesterday.
Observers at the glacier early
this week reported that as yet
no water has backed up to form
a lake. Instead, the water has
tunnelled under the glacier and
is flowing through the gorge.
Usualy at this date, the lake
behind the glacier has risen to
a depth of 75 to 90 feet, Slau
ghter said.
However, the possibility of
a breakup this year cannot be
ruled out, the geoglogist stated.
The gorge can yet be closed by
the glacier moving forward to
close the tunnels, with a late
breakup occurring in August.
Geological Survey employees
have been observing the lake
and the glacier since 1959, and
have been measuring the depth
of the river at the Knik bridge;
during breakup time since 1948.
The earliest breakup recorded
since 1948 was on July 1, 1959.
and the latest was Aug. 22,,
1949. Slaughter said that the
late breakups of earlier years,
may have been caused by the
type of situation which exists,
! this year.
Council Approves Springer
Road Design Within City
The controversial subject of
' the grade level of the proposed
j Springer Loop paving project
within the city of Palmer was
closed today when a letter was
forwarded to Roy Jenkins,
chief engineer for the state di
vision of highways, carrying
the signatures of a majority of
seven Palmer city councilmen.
The letter, stating that the Pal
mer city council approves of
the plans for the Springer Loop
system but would appreciate
the lowering of the grade in
the city by six to ten inches if
feasible, was signed by coun
cilmen Jack Maze, Richard
Geiwitz, Darrell Frank, and
William Hermann. Signatures
were not obtained from Wil
lard Johnson, Ralph Moore, and
Merritt Long.
Jenkins, who attended the
city council meeting on June
11, said that the road is design
ed to last for 20 years, with a
minimum of maintenance, and
that if at a future time the city
of Palmer decides to install
sidewalks, curbing, and storm
sewers, the state will make the
necessary changes. He said the
decision would be made by
him, when improvements in
adjacent areas warrant the
change on the state section of
road.
Dissenting councilmen argu
ed that it would be better to
change the design of the road
within the city limits now than
to have to make the changes
at a later time. They agreed
that the present design will al
low better drainage than now
exists on adjacent lots, but that
this will change when the
above-m e n t i o n e d improve
ments are put in.
Jenkins said that the policy
of the state has been changed,
and that matching funds from
the city are no longer neces
sary to construct the section
within the city—that the state
can build the road with or
without city approval, but
would prefer to have the back
ing of the city.
Councilman Johnson stated
that under the conditions out
lined by Jenkins, he felt the
best policy was for the city
to take no action—that appro
val could involve legal action
with property owners at a fu
ture date.
The letter to Jenkins, which
was circulated among council
men yesterday, was mailed to
day.
Visitors
I Russell Felzien, street de
partment employee, appeared
before the council to state that
he felt it should have been
made plain, when Don Mc
Kechnie complained to the
council at the last meeting
about the condition of the city ;
streets, that Felzien, the only J
employee working on the
streets at the time, had been
instructed to put in full time
on improving the sections in
tended to be part of the sports
car race track.
Felzien was complimented on
the condition of the streets at
the present time.
Sports Car Racing
William G. Woodward of the
Anchorage Sports Car Associa
tion, requested the council to
consider another racing event,
to be held August 24 and 25.
He said that fences w'ould be
moved back to a distance of a
half block from the track, that
the infield would be complete
ly inclosed, that precautions
would be taken to eliminate the
chance of another accident such
as that of the collision with the
overpass. He said present plans
are to use the section of the
race track which was surfaced
in May as part of the track in
the August races, thus keeping
the track off the Glenn high
way.
Asked about the financial
outcome of the Colony Days
races. Woodward said that all
expenses of advertising, tro
phies, etc., had been paid from
the receipts of $3345, leaving
about $200. The Chamber of
Commerce share of the profits
(75 per cent), was supposed to
have been used to pay the costs
of paving ($2325), but there
had been no profits. He
said it was hoped that the city
council would consider should
ering the cost of the surfacing.
He was told that he would be
given an answer, both on the
proposed August races and on
the surfacing cost, at the next
council meeting on June 25.
Police chief Louis Bencar
dino reported that the military
police would be willing to as
(Continued on page 7)
The annual phenomenon p;
self-dumping Lake George. ,is
caused by a seven-mile-wide
expanse of glacial ice wtuch
forms against the Chugach
cliffs, plugging up the outlet
of the 16-mile-long lake. Thus
dammed, the lake backs up
until the pressures of the water
begin to melt an escape chan
nel through the ice and to un
dermine the dam. The respivis
, the spectacular destruction! Of
the 300-foot-high glacier. 1
IMPROVEMENTS AT
LIBRARY DURING
YEAR LISTED
The Palmer Library Associa
tion added.279 new books, to
the shelves during the p&s:
year, it was announced at tlfe
association’s annua! meeting
on Tuesday, June 4.
9.140 books were checked out
during the year, and there were
3,780 visitors at he library, it
was further announced. !
Improvements at the library
included reroofing and the iA:
stallation of a new heating. ,
plant. :: ■
Three trustees were elected.,
Mrs. Lloyd Hill for a three-year
term, Verne Stout for two
years, and Mrs. Winston Laugk
hn for one year.
Re-elected to office were Mrs
Richard Mohan, president; Mrs
Frances Plack, vice-president,
and Mrs. Walter Briggs, trea
surer. Mrs. Richard Jones was
elected secretary.
Volunteer librarians are Mfs
Winston Gilchrist. Mrs. W. fi
Oliver, Mrs. Richard Jonfs.
Mrs. Winston Laughlin, Mfs
Lloyd Hill, Mrs. Sam Riegef.
Mrs. Richard Mohan, Mrs. Ar
thur Colberg, and Mrs. John
Stuart.
A subject file for all non-fic
tion books in the library is now
being prepared, under the di
rection of Mrs. Oliver. £
Drum Services
Held Yesterday
Funeral services for Erwin
Glen (Jack) Drum were helft
yesterday at the Anchorage
Funeral Chapel, with buripl
folowing in the veterans’ sec
tion of the Wasilla cemetery.
Drum, who was born Aug
2, 1899, in Callaway, Neb.,
died at a homestead near Sut
ton on June 6.
He is survived by his wife.
Barbara Jean; a son Robert E
Drum of Exeter, Calif.; and a
sister, Mrs. Della Gray of Cal
laway, Neb.
The Spenard Veterans bi
Foreign Wars, Post 3836, offi
ciated at the services.
CROWN ROYALS Tropical Gardens
.i i*i -