VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
PRINTED AT PALMER, ALASKA, EACH FRIDAY
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office at
Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1379.
Viola Daniels .Editor
Barbara Carter .Wasilla Correspondent
Mrs. Jack Thatcher .Valdez Correspondent
Subscription Rates.50c a month, $5 a year
^ Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
No printed material in the Valley Frontiersman may
be reproduced except by permission of the publishers.
DANIELS—In the Lion’s Den
We have a couple of Chamber of Commerce-y type
ideas that we'd like to suggest in this column this week.
We don't think they're specifically jobs for the Cham
ber of Commerce, but they are that type of chore for
some Valley-minded organization.
First of all, we'd like to see someone, and we don't
care who it is, undertake the task of having some
gummed labels made, probably pennant - shaped.
They should carry two legends—one "Matanuska
Valley" and the other "Palmer, Alaska."
We think there ought to be enough of these labels
to supply one of each to every vehicle owner in the
Valley, for pasting in a conspicuous spot on the right
hand side of his windshield. Then we think there
ought to be enough more of the labels so that each
garage in town, or anywhere near the outskirts of
Palmer even, could be given a generous supply. And
the number ought to be large enough, so that each
hotel in town could be furnished a double handful or
two, also. We know of no more inexpensive way of
advertising our town and our Valley than that. And
we know that visitors would appreciate the gesture, for
we heard tourists asking for "stickers that say Mata
4 nuska Valley" at one of our local garages last week.
The second idea could be called a pre-advertising
plan, we suppose. We developed it in a hurry, when
someone asked us what we thought about trying to
buy some classified advertising for Palmer in a national
magazine—that advertising to point out, in a few lines,
the Valley's advantages as a fishing and hunting para
dise.
We think the idea is fine, but we believe that be
fore we ask people to come, we ought to know what
we're going to do with them. We don't think it would
be much fun to come to Palmer all alone and unad
vised and try to find a fish. Most of the visitors would
4 probably spend their days dangling a line from the
Matanuska Bridge, and we don't think the fishing
results they'd gain there would make for very good
Valley advertising.
It's our idea, that we ought to have some organiza
tion (and we think this ought to be a good job for the
Matanuska Valley Sportsmen) draft some preliminary
plans for fish-minded visitors. We think those plans
ought to’provide for a kind of guide who will help the
tourist-visitor buy the kind of tackle he'll need for the
particular fish he's after, if he doesn't have it; will
provide transportation to a fishing spot that's guar
anteed to yield a fish, and will perform any other cour
teous little tasks that a good host would for his guest.
Now, we didn't think that job ough to be free. We
think it's a kind of service that the Sportsmen's orga
nization might be able to work out, with the assistance
of a dozen or two or its fishing and hunting members,
and we think they ought to be paid for that service, if
it's legal. It should be a minor fee, but it should be
enough to cover all trip expenses and still leave a small
sum for the club treasury.
We think that a plan of that sort would result in
i much better advertising than one where we merely
invited the tourists to come, and then left them on
their own after they arrived. The plan probably should
include an information booth and possibly should be
extended to include photogenic Valley tours, as well.
We know how we feel when we're left on our own
in any strange town. Even if it's a vacation, about all
we can think of to do is find the nearest drugstore, buy
a book and go to bed. And people who come all the
way to Alaska for a vacation have a right to expect
something a little more exciting than a series of eve
nings spent in bed with the latest murder mysteries.
We know we never invite a guest into our house,
without trying to make some sort of plan for him that
will send him home happy. We think tourists and
vacationists ought to be treated the same way. They're
just Valley guests really, and actually they're much
nicer than guests who come to visit at our house, for
they expect to pay for their entertainment.
FIVE KIDS SMASH
43 SCHOOL PANES
AT FAIRBANKS
Five small Fairbanks young
sters went on a window-smashing
spree last week. They celebrated
their summer vacations by shat
tering 43 panes in the Fairbanks
school building over a two-day
period. The children, who ranged
in age from nine to 11 years, all
were apprehended. Their parents
were asked to come in and talk il
over with the Fairbanks school
board and the board’s attorney.
Seward Plans Hospital,
Million-Dollar School
The city of Seward will seel
GSA aid to construct a 75-bec
hospital and a million dollai
school plant, it was announcec
last week. Plans submitted by th<
school board call for the con
struction of a school in three
units. The first will consist o:
classrooms and laboratories, anc
the second and third units will in
elude an auditorium, gymnasiun
and swimming pool.
City council members pointec
out that all plans were long-range
projects, and that planning is onlj
preliminary at present.
VISITS RASMUSSENS HERE
Jimmy James of Los Angeles
Calif., was the guest of the Car
Rasmussens last week. Mr. Jame:
flew his own plane north frorr
Los Angeles, on a combined busi
ness and pleasure trip.
VALLEY
REAL ESTATE
(Theatre Bldg.)
5-rm. house in town;
$1,250 cash down;
terms on balance.
20 acres cleared land,
furnished house, mod
ern; $5,000 down,
terms on balance.
100-acre farm, 35 acres
cleared, $4,650 down,
balance on easy
terms.
140-acre farm, 40 acres
cleared, terms.
2 cabins, close in, 2 lots.
Two lots, city water and
sewer.
10 acres, two small cab
ins, on Anchorage
Highway.
For Rent
House. 3 miles out on
Anch. Highway. For
months June, July,
August only.
LOTS OF LOTS
ACREAGE
Listings Wanted
U. OF A. OWES NO ONE
The University of Alaska is
debt-free again, President Terris
Moore announced last week. Mr.
Moore said that the $158,000 bor
rowed on short-term loans from
banks and private individuals |
last year, all had been repaid
now.
Coffey Insures Everything—
Remember?
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