\ Thought of the Week:
Propaganda is the art of
5 making other people think as
S you think, regardless of the
) reason.
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PALMER PARK PRANCE
Armory
Feb. 16 — 8 p.m.
VOLUME 15. NUMBER 21
PALMER. ALASKA THURSDAY. FEB. 14. 19G3
TEN PAGES
PRICE 15 CENTS
Reporters—
Notebook
James Felton, one of the ear
liest settlers of the Matanuska
Valley, celebrated his eightieth
b.rthday on Feb. 8.
A landmark in Palmer is the
Felton Roadhouse, and he was
operating a general store and
the Palmer postoffice when the
colonists came here in 1935.
* * *
Robert L. Saxton, airman
apprentice, USN, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Alva D. Saxton of
Palmer, was graduated Jan. 11
from the Aviation Familiariza
tion School at the Naval Air
Technical Training Center,
Memphis, Tenn. The two-week
course covers naval aviation
orientation and survival prac
tices. The curriculum includes
the history of naval aviation,
theory of flight, and aircraft
carrier operation.
* * *
Mrs. Don Ingalls left Sunday
for Seattle, where she will
spend a month to six weeks
with her mother and sister.
* • *
Patrick W. Rice, airman ap
prentice. USN, son of Mrs. Bet
ey M, Rice of Palmer, was
graduated Jan. 17 from the.
Aviation Mechanical Funda
mentals School at the Naval
Air Technical Training Center,
Memphis, Tenn. The four-week
course covers mathematics,
physics, magnetic theory and
the principles of electricity.
Graduates of this school are
eligible for further training in
a technical field of naval avia
tion.
* • *
The Gerald McNally family
were pleasantly surprised last
Saturday evening by the arriv
al of Mr. and Mrs. David Stout
(Sandra McNally) and eight
month old daughter Renee
from Chico, California. The
young couple plan an indefin
ite visit in Palmer.
♦ * *
Marvin E. Goble, sonarman
third class, U. S. Navy, son of
Mrs. and Mrs. Art Wienstein
of Sutton, is serving aboard the
radar picket destroyer USS
Southerland, which was part of
the combined force of 20 ships
engaged in Exercise Saddle
Blanket early in February off
the coast of Southern Califor
nia. The five-day exercise, held
from Feb. 4 through Feb. 8,
dealt mainly with anti-submar
ine warfare training.
New Business License Ordinance
Gets First Reading at Council
A proposed new business li
cense ordinance was read for
the first time at the Feb. 12
meeting of the Palmer City
Council, at which all members
were present with the excep
tion of Mayor Ralph Moore.
The new ordinance is ident
ical to that of the state of Alas
ka, attorney Burton Biss point
ed out, except that the provi
sion for a percentage tax on
gross income is omitted from
the Palmer ordinance. There
was some discussion on what
would be a reasonable flat fee
to charge for business licenses.
The preliminary engineering
report on Palmer’s projected
sewer system was presented to
the council by Jack O’Malley.
The biggest financial prob
lem will be to incorporate new
lines with old or to replace old
lines, the report stated. Rec
ommendations were that the
city should acquire the ARRC
line; that it should buy the
line owned by Matanuska
Maid, Inc.; that all mains and
submains now controlled by
the farm co-op can be used for
new installations as the city
grows east; and even if a new
outfall is built for the entire
system, the co-op outfall could
be incorporated into the sys
tem.
The report also recommend
ed that preliminary plans are
needed from the planning
commission for future subdi
visions.
Street grades need to be
completed before the sewer
lines go in to insure sufficient
cover for the lines, O’Malley
said. Steps should be taken to
acquire right-of-way, he added.
He estimated the cost of the
system as $535,750. This would
not include outfall or right-of
way costs.
A visitor at the council was
Jack Hemmer, who asked if
the city would consider rent
ing on a long-term basis or
selling the rock-crusher. City
manager Winston Gilchrist
stated that the crusher could
be made operable at a cost of
about $500, that the equipment
is of use to the city, and that
the council would be ill-advis
ed to sell. Mayor pro tern
Johnson appointed councilmen
Maze and Hermann to discuss
the possibilities of repairing
the crusher with the manager
and street superintendent Fel
zien.
A letter from the tax assess
or was read recommending ac
tion on two delinquent tax
bills. The assessor stated that
the first had been over-assess
ed, and he would recommend
that the 1961 bill be cancelled,
while payment would be made
on the 1962 portion of the bill.
In the case of the second bill,
the personal property assessed
had been moved out of the
city before Jan. 1, 1962, and
the assessor recommended that
the second half of the bill be
transferred to the school dis
trict.
A move to accept the rec
ommendations was passed with
one negative vote, that of
councilman Long.
Manager Gilchrist reported
that Matanuska Maid, Inc., has
offered to trade the city-owned
generator now located on the .
co-op premises for a 20 KW
Caterpillar generator. After a
discussion of comparative costs
of the two pieces of equip
ment, the manager was asked
to discuss the offer further
with the co-op.
The manager also reported
that the co-op would be will
ing to give favorable consider
ation to the idea of supplying
heat for the city’s metal build
ing, but would not be able to
give a definite answer until
next summer.
A motion to reimburse the
general fund account from the
accrued leave account in the
amount of $1,259.01 was unani
mously approved.
General fund bills in the
amount of $6,139.32 were ap
proved for payment, also wa
ter fund bills in the amount
of $720.69.
Balances in the Matanuska
Valley Bank on Jan. 31, 1963,
included $17,240.62, general
fund; $9,943.74, water fund;
|21,375.21, property tax fund.
Co-op Will Build Creamery in Spenard
MVCCA Makes Plans for Seal
Drive? Kickoff to be Dance
DAIRY CLINIC
RATED SUCCESS
Rated as highly successful
by Alaska state dairymen and
dairy industry officials was
the three-day clinic held here
on Jan. 30, and 31 and Feb. 1.
Headed by a three-man team
of dairy experts from Wash
ington state, the session re
viewed dairy inspection re
quiremens and explored ways
to improve production methods
in the Alaska milkshed.
In charge of the team was
Wesley Eckert, former Valley
man who is now manager of
the Darigold plant at Ellens
burg, Washington. He was as
sisted by Ralph Geisy, field
man for the same organization,
and Roger Brown, field man
for the Western Farmers As
sociation, Tacoma.
Geisy emphasized the need
for high quality milk as the
best way to meet competition
from other states, as well as
from fresh milk substitutes,
while Brown discussed breed
ing and culling practices.
Anthony Sanchez, inspector
with the Alaska state health
department, explained problem
areas on the farm, and Dr.
David Duncan, health officer
with the Greater Anchorage
health district, discussed the
problem of radioactivity. Le
mar Hubbs, state health de
partment, explained sewage
disposal.
Marketing problems were
covered by Col. Fred Harris.
USAF veterinarian at Elmen
dorf, and by Stewart Durrant,
manager at Matanuska Maid,
also by Martin Jongsma of
North Star Dairy.
Fairbanks sessions were held
on Feb. 2.
VALLEY MERCHANTS
PRIZES FOR BASKET
Kicking off the Matanuska
Valley Easter Seal campaign
with a basket social and dance
on Saturday, March 9, the Ma
tanuska Valley Crippled Chil
dren's Association is now lay
ing plans for the campaign,
which will open March 7 and
will run through April 14. Val
uable prizes for the baskets
will be donated by Matanuska
Valley merchants.
The drive in this area will
conclude with a basket social
and dance to be held in Wasil
la on April 20, Mrs. Lowell
Simpson, MVCCA president,
said.
All funds earned from spec
ial events like those above
will remain in the Valley for
use by the local association, ac
cording to Mrs. Simpson, who
also pointed out that ten per
cent of funds conributed in re
spouse to the Easter Seal let
ters goes to the national or
ganization, while 90 per cent
will remain in the Valley.
The Palmer Moose Lodge and
Women of the Moose will
sponsor a Hobo Dance on Mar
AIRMEN TO
INCORPORATE
All Matanuska Valley air- J
men are urged to attend a very I
important incorporation meet
ing on Monday, Feb. 18, at 8
p.m. at the airport hut, airman
Floyd Spickerman announced !
this week.
It was pwinted out that in- ^
corporation is one of the first
steps the airmen will be re
quired to take in their plans
to take over maintenance and
operation of the Palmer air
port.
;
TO DONATE
SOCIAL
ch 30, with proceeds to go to
the Easter Seal fund, Mrs.
Simpson said. Other organiza
tions wishing to sponsor a
money-making event to bene
fit the MVCCA are asked to
call Mrs. Simpson.
The MVCCA speech and
hearing clinic has reopened,
Mrs. Simpson reported. The
new therapist, Miss Margaret
K. Hamilton, will be here on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wed
nesdays every other week,
with her next scheduled visit
to be Feb. 18, 19. and 20, Clin
ics will be held in the base
ment at the Palmer Pharmacy.
Mrs. Lou Oliver is back at
the clinic, volunteering her
services as secretary.
Those wishing appointments
are asked to call PI 5-4811 on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wed
nesdays between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. and PI 5-3565 at any
other time.
Miss Hamilton. itinerant
speech and hearing therapist
for the ACCA, received her
bachelor’s degree at the Uni
versity of Washington in 1959
and has begun work on her
master's degree. She worked at >
a rehabilitation center in Bur- [
lington, Vermont, for two and :
a half years.
She will visit clinics at Pal
mer, Anchor Point. Homer.
Kodiak, and Wasilla.
COLONIST, LOCAL
BUSINESSMAN DIES
Matanuska Valley colonist ■
Eino Wallace Wirtanen. 53. |
died Sunday in Valley Hospital j
after suffering a heart attack !
Saturday. One of the second
group of colonists to come here
in 1935. he had lived in the
Valley since that time, and had
operated the Green Acres
Lodge on Wasilla Lake since
1955.
Wirtanen was born in Eagle
River, Wisconsin. Oct. 7, 1909.
and came here from Iron River. !
Michigan. He was a charter
member of Palmer Moose Lod
ge 793, a member of the Legion
of the Moose, and had a fellow
ship degree. He was also a
member of the Palmer Elks
Lodge.
He is survived by his widow.
Fannie, of Palmer; a daughter,
Nancy Anne, a sophomore at
the University of Alaska, and
a son, Wallace J.. a senior at
Palmer high school; also two
sisters. Mrs. Sylvia Heikkla of
Caspian, Michigan, and Mrs.
Lempi Gustafson of Iron Riv
er, and a brother, Waino, of
Oconomowoc, Michigan. Other
survivors are a sister-in-law,
Mrs. Jack Cooper of Anchorage
and a brother-in-law, John
Leppanen of Sutton.
Funeral services were held
this morning at 11 o’clock in
St. John Lutheran Church in
Palmer, with the Rev. Rolland
Fritz officiating. Mrs. Russell
Lancaster was organist. Ar
rangements were made by the
Palmer Funeral Chapel and the
Anchorage Funeral Chapel.
Burial was in the Moose sec
tion of the Palmer Cemetery.
Active pallbearers were Bill
Lentz, Alvin Brager, Louis
Burcher, Richard Benson,
Harry Campbell, and Frank
Cornelius.
Honorary pallbearers were
John Reed, Charles Hodsdon,
Thurman Betts, Kenneth
Erickson, Wesley Hart, Bill
Grow, Paul Stringfield, and
Ralph Moore.
Youth Attacked
Sunday Evening
Terry Gene Gothe, 20. of
Palmer, required hospital treat
ment for cuts and bruises after
a Sunday evening donnybrook
involving three area youths,
Palmer police chief Louis Ben
cardino reported this week.
Gothe said he was struck and
kicked about 10:45 p.m. on Val
ley Street by an unnamed Wil
low juvenile and Ramey Red
dington of Big Lake, while Ho
mer Carney, Wasilla, remained
in the attackers’ automobile
during the assault.
The dispute is supposed
to have stemmed from some
items of clothing which the
juvenile claimed were taken
from him by Gothe. Gothe,
however, said that the cloth
ing incident had been settled
months ago.
Police are still investigating
the incident.
Lemon Acquitted
Of Assault Charge
John E. Lemon, Wasilla
businesman. was acquitted
of a charge of assault with
a dangerous weapon by an
Anchorage superior court
jury late yesterday after
eight hours of deliberation.
The charges had been
brought against Lemon as a
result of a trespassing inci
dent on his property last
July.
What Iodine-131
Means to Area
(Final article of a series)
By Allan H. Mick, Alaska Experimental Station
Man has lived with radiation since the beginning of time.
Indeed, radiation is probably a major cause of man's existence
Without radiation to induce genetic mutation, the world
might yet be populated with simple life forms rather than
highly organized beings. Devices for measuring fallout radia
tion must be adjusted to eliminate normal background radia
tion that has always existed in the universe, tangible symptom
of primary galactic energy.
Modern man’s improved skill in releasing this energy
produces radioactive dust as a by-product. Of considerable
concern is only one ingredient of fallout, iodine 131.
Iodine 131 has a half life of eight days. Therefore fall
out, which comes primarily from the troposphere, is of signifi
cance only within weeks after a nuclear explosion. A dairy
cow concentrates 1-131 if it is present as dust on the surfaces
of her roughage. She secretes in her milk approximately 6 per
cent of the amount she ingests. Because of the short time in
terval between the cow and the consumer, milk is thought
to provide the primary dietary source of iodine 131 for
humans. Once ingested, 1-131 concentrates in the thyroid, ap
proximately 30 per cent of ingested quantity being concen
trated in this gland. No case of thyroid cancer due to iodine- j
131 has been found in man.
The Radiation Protection Guides of the Federal Radiation
Commission are based on lifetime exposures, primarily for
the industrial field. They are not a dividing line between
safety and danger, not intended to dictate when or what kind
of action should be taken. Averages for intakes are based on
the assumed tolerance of infants and young children. Ex-,
posures many times the guide levels will not result in an in
crease in disease.
In brief, milk remains one of our best foods. The dairy
industry is fully informed about possible radiation hazards
and is safeguarding its consumers. No Alaskan dairyman !
should consider for a moment any measures as stringent as
discarding either his roughage or milk. In times of extreme j
emergency these foods will take on added importance. They j
may insure survival. i
Architect Employed
To Draw Up Plans
Plans for a new creamery
building to be constructed on
the Northern Lights Boulevard
property in Spenard were an
nounced at a general member
I ship meeting of Matanuska
Maid. Inc. on Friday, Feb. 8,
according to Stewart A. Dur
rant, general manager.
Durrant said that an archi
tect has been employed to draw
up the plans for the new plant.
The decision to build in the An
chorage area was made after a
very careful study of all costs
involved, he added.
The general office will re
main in Palmer, the manager
said.
The farm cooperative is in
the process of instituting other
reorganizational changes, the
manager said in an interview
granted several weeks ago.
These include elimination of
the Trading Post grocery and
dry goods retail outlets, the
lease or sale of the garage, and
the sale of the garage inven
tory. Plans are also being made
for disposal of the staff houses
and the Matanuska Valley
Lodge.
The cooperative was organiz
ed in 1936 under the title of
Matanuska Valley Farmers'
Cooperating Association as a
i means of marketing the reset
tlement colony’s agricultural
products and of supplying the
colonists with the necessities of
life, according to the articles of
j incorporation. In 1941), MVFCA
bought the East Side Dairy in
Anchorage and also purchased
the community buildings of the
Alaska Rural Rehabilitation
Corporation.
Agricultural production in
the valley was stimulated by
the taflux of military installa
tions during World War II, and
the military market remains
one of the principle outlets for
Matanuska Valley products.
A new distributing plant for
Matanuska Maid products was
completed in Spenard in 1955.
It is on this piece of property
that the co-op plans to erect
its new processing plant.
Durrant stated recently that
Matanuska Maid (the corpor
ate name for the co-op adopt
ed in 1962) is now in competi
tion with the West Coast dairy
industry and that an automat
ed plant is highly necessary to
the local business.
Co-op officials argue that ec
onomic benefits to local dairy
men resulting from the move
will be great enough to offset
the removal of the processing
plant from Palmer. They have
also pointed out that retail out
lets of the co-op, established to
serve the needs of the colony
settlers, are no longer needed
and their removal will give
more business to other retail
businesses in the Valley.
The warehouse operation
will be continued and expand
ed, according to Durrant. Farm
machinery, now handled by the
garage, may be added to the
warehouse branch of operation.
PALMER PARKSTERS
PRANCE SATURDAY
With a bossy looking real
enough to moo poking her
head out of a stall, miles of
spiderwebs festooning the
ceiling, and a corral designed
to keep the square dancers
from sashaying into the or
chestra, the Palmer Armory in
the basement of the Hagen
building is ready and waiting
for the influx of fun-seekers
at the Palmer Park Prance to
be held Saturday evening,
Feb. ltj.
A real old-fashioned barn
dance is planned, with revel
ries beginning at 8 p.m. Mus
ic for dancing will be furnish
ed by the Wasilla Troubadours,
a four-piece orchestra.
A charge of $2.50 per couple,
adults only, will be made. Re
freshments will be available.
Funds raised at the dance
will be used to aid in the de
velopment of the Palmer Park.
The affair is under the spon
sorship of the Citizens Park
Committee.
GOLOBUFFALO DIES
IN NEW JERSEY
News was received this week
of the death of Frank Colobuf
falo, 81, Matanuska Valley resi
dent since 1906, in Passaic,
New Jersey.
Colobuffalo left the valley
last November for a visit with
his daughter, Adelina Colobuf
falo, in the New Jersey city.
He died on Feb. 3 in St. Jose
ph's Hospital after an illness
of about a week.
He was born in Rome, Italy,
on March 27, 1881. He became
a naturalized United States
citizen on Aug. 4, 1925.
Well-known throughout the
Valley area, Colobuffalo is
credited with the discovery of
two local mines. He made his
home at the Buffalo Mine.
Besides his daughter, the
only other known survivor is a
nephew, Joseph R. Mucci, a
Malden, Mass, attorney.
Both have visited Palmer in
recent years.
AREA REDEVELOPMENT
MEETING IS TUESDAY
A seventh election district
area redevelopment meeting
will be held Tuesday, Feb. 19,
at 8 p.m. in the American Le
gion building in Palmer, it
was announced today. Resi
dents of the area are urged to
attend.
FOUR ACES-Live Music, Muskeg Ramblers
Free Smorgasbord
SATURDAY NIGHT
FEBRUARY 16