Thought of the Week
, Vfbif dies* mother‘do all she
can to help daughter catch a
man, then cry at the wedding?
, > ** ,
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 37
T' 20 5 1
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PALMER, ALASKA, THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1963
SEWER BOND ELECTION J
CftV •fcfdttNfclf CHAh* Bfifti?
June 12—8 a.m. to 8 p.m
VOTE VOTE VOTE
PRICE 15 CELTS
EIGHT PAGES
RYEGRASS FOilr.'D TO BE VALUABLE
LATE-SUMMER FORAGE CROP HERE
research at the Alaska Agri
cultural Experiment Station
during the years of 1959 thro
ugh 1962 has shown that a
sizeable and valuable crop of
late-summer forage can be ob
tained by seeding common rye
grass with oats and peas on
acreage that will be harvested
early, according to a recent
report by L. J. Klebesadel. A.
L. Brundage, and W. J. Sweet
man.
Oats and peas grown in mix
ture, a popular Alaskan rough
Reporters—
/\laieMcak
Four members of the Palmer
C.A.P. Squadjfln are attending
the C.A.P. Encampment at
Elmendorf Air Force Base.
They are Michael Moffitt,
Michael Fritz, Don Moore, and
Leo Kammermeyer. The boys
left last Sunday morning for
the two weeks’ encampment.
Mr. and Mrs. Art Pierson re
turned to Palmer a week ago
Sunday, after a ten-months’
tour of the United States and
Hawaii, and are living in their
home on the Wasilla highway
just outside of Palmer. They
plan to spend a portion of the
summer here before returning
Outside.
* * *
Mrs. Richard Anderson, who
has been visiting her parents
in_ Anacortes, Wash, for tj^.e
past several weeks, returned
home on May 24. Her father,
Lee-" Hendershot, who tv#[V2’
re ;dent of the Valley setf^al
years ago, is recuperating from j
a heart attack.
* * *
Mrs. George McClure and
her sons, Ronnie, Eddie, and
Craig Bissett, left May 30 for
v ‘ rip to Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
They plan to be away about six
weeks.
Nancy Boyd of Palmer will
be graduated with her A. A.
degree from Northwest College
in Kirkland, Wash, on June 7.
1963. Her field of study at the
college has been in pre-educa
tion.
Upon graduation, she expects
to continue her education at
Seattle Pacific College.
f * * *
Walter Phillips, Jr. and a
friend, John Patterson, spent a
few days with Walter's par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Phil
lips, Sr., at the Lazy Mountain
Children’s Home after the close
of the spring term at the Uni
versity of Alaska. Both young
men are employed for the sum
mer by the state Division of
Mines and minerals, and are
doing geological work. Walter
is stationed at Knight Island in
Prince William Sound.
* * *
Dale Bryant, principal of
Swanson School in Palmer, left
last Saturday with his family
for Whitworth College in Spo
Ikane, where his master s de
gree will be conferred during
commencement exercises.
From Spokane, the Bryants
will go on to visit relatives in
California and Illinois, and will
return to Palmer in August.
age crop, should ideally be har
vested not later than the late
milk-to-early-dough stage o
the oat crop, the agronomist:
explained. However, becausr
of relatively large acreage o
oats and peas and the consider
able time required for harves’
of the entire crop, some is har
vested well in advance of the
milk stage of the oats.
Ryegrass contributes verj
little extra forage to an oat
pea crop harvested once at the
conventional milk - to - dough
stage of the oats, and ryegrass
doesn’t make much of a re
growth during the relatively
short portion of the growing
season that remains following
oat-pea-ryegrass harvest at
this advanced stage of develop
ment of the crop, the report
stated.
However, ryegrass regrowth
produces a considerable yield
of very high quality forage fol
lowing an early harvest of oats
peas-ryegras at about the time
that oat heads are just begin
ning to emerge. The Experi
ment Station has obtained an
average of one and a half tons
of dry matter per acre from the
second crop, consisting princip
ally of ryegrass and harvested
in mid-September.
Early harvest of the portion
of the oat-pea crop planted
with ryegrass provides an
abundant source of nutritious
forage during late summer
when perennial pastures are
falling off in productivity.
Sweetman and Brundage re
ported that cowS maintained
good milk production ori rye
grass during late August and
September. Milk production
usually falls off drastically
when brome grass is the for
age source during that period.
However, they advise that
some hay or silage should be
fed along with the ryegrass-,
because of a decided laxative
effect on the animals when rye
grass alone is fed.
A light topdressing of nitro
gen fertilizer immediately fol
lowing the early harvest of
oats-peas-ryegrass will provide
a much-needed boost for the
(Continued on page 8)
ARR Service
Resumed Today
Two cars were derailed and
the bridge at Mile 147.2 on the
Alaska Railroad was consider
ably damaged at 3 p.m. Tues
day when a large crane on a
drop-center flatcar, apparently
caught by the wind, swung
around the cab and hit the
railing of the bridge.
The crane, which was dump
ed into the railroad ditch, also
suffered considerable damage.
Crews w'orked through Tues
day night and last night to re
pair the track, station agent
Melvin E. Burgan of Palmer
said today. Tram service was
expected to be reestablished
about 11 o’clock this morning.
While this section of track
was out of service, passengers
were shuttled between An
chorage and Wasilla by bus,
with trains proceeding from
Wasilla to Fairbanks on regu
lar schedule.
BARBECUE
King Salmon Dinner
Elks Hall—Saturday Evening
9:30—Elks and Guests
Former Palmerite
Is Crash Victim
! l’FC Alvin D. Larson, forme
Palmer resident, was amon,
the 101 persons killed in th
crash of a Northwest Orien
Airlines DC7 off the Ketchikai
coast Monday morning.
Larson was returning honii
from paratrooper school at Ft
Campbell, Ky., to spend a 20
day furlough with his famil;
in Anchorage.
The 18-year old soldier wa:
the son of Mrs. Helen DePriest
now of Anchorage. He attendee
grade school in Palmer and wa
a member of a Little Leagui
baseball team here. He was ;
1962 graduate of East Anchor
age high school, where he hac
been active in athletics.
Besides his mother, Larson i:
survived by three brothers, Ro
bert, Ronald, and Alan, and i
sister, Janet, all of Anchorage
He was the nephew of Richarc
Wade of Moose Creek.
GENERAL STORE
OPENS TODAY
IN WASILLA
With the grand opening to
day, tomorrow, and Friday, the
Wasilla General Store in down
town Wasilla is now serving
customers of the area with s
variety of housewares, gifts
tools and other hardware, own
er Lloyd Amans announced
this week.
Visitors on the grand open
ing days will be served refresh
ments, will have an opportun
! ity to win the door prize, anc
will be given souvenirs, Annan:
sgid. Store hours on these threi
days will be from 9 a.m. to !
j p.m. Regular hours will 'b<
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Stock in th new store in
j chides Coni'':;. Pvfex, Eke
^ chrome, and iron ware; appli
ances such as toasters, coffee
irons, and clocks; gift items
‘ paints: bikes, trikes, wa ;oi s
water skis, and nylon boat rope
: surplus items such as eleetrh
ranges, arctics and feather pil
i lows; farm and garden tool:
land supplies; Skill saws, drills
- chisels, hand saws, and mea
! suring tools; and electric mo
j tors.
Other merchandise expectec
to arrive shortly includes fish
ing gear, guns and ammunition
A key machine will also be in
stalled soon.
Attendance Good
At Museum Opening
Attendance at the opening
days last Saturday and Sun
day of the Matanuska Vallej
Historical Society museum was
very gratifying, members ol
the society said this week.
Information about the mu
seum has been given to the
tourist bureaus in Anchorage
and it is possible that the
tourist buses may make the
museum one of their stops dur
ing Valley tours, it was stated
The museum is now oper
Wednesdays through Sundays
from 1 to 5 p.m. It is located
in the basement of the Fron
tier Cafe building.
TALKEETNA LOAN
GETS REA APPROVAL
The Rural Electrification Ad
ministration last week approv
ed a $470,00 loan application
from the Matanuska Electric
Association, according to a wire
from Sen. E. L. “Bob” Bart
lett.
The loan funds will be used
to construct 44 miles of distri.
bution line to serve 103 con
sumers in the Talkeetna area
and will also finance the ac
quisition and rehabilitation o!
the Talkeetna Power and Fue
Co., the wire stated.
After innumerable years o
service to the printing industr;
and many years of service ti
The Frontiersman, an old am
valued employee was "put t<
bed” this week.
With this issue, your Fron
tiersman is being printed on ;
new (to us) press which wa
installed during the past week
The old Babcock which w.a
a hand-fed press of rare vin
tage, finally retired from activi
duty. Not knowdng the exac
age of the press it is difficult t<
estimate its actual life span
However, the patent plat<
which was salvaged off the ole
press started with the year 1861
and the last patent date listec
was 1890. It was, we are sure
eligible for social security.
We would like to caution oui
fine subscribers to watch foi
any imitations of The Fron
tiersman. If they do show up
Ralph Goodrich who purchas
ed the old press for junk, mus
have gotten the pieces back to
gether again. We doubt i
though.
With our new equipment wi
shall be able to print Th
Frontiersman in approximate
I; half the time required pre
v'iously and to pj^oduy■ a niuc
hotter product.
At times we wondered wh<
!her the r.-.ultltu ;o of pr ' le;
?tal
get t
ng the
real!
nobler
ent th
g 10 i
one h
. orth
a as capable
s of iron
After run
•->t*.t ' , possibility s, the A
ka Railroad crane was put in
to a.':!ion getting the main pm
! lion of the press out of it
freight van. It was then tree k
| ed by a lo-boy to The Fron
tiersman.
That is where the fun start
ed.
With the aid of Herb Kop
f I perud and his crew the press j
' J was maneuvered into its pres
i^ent position. It took many!
i hours of labor, numerous crow
i' bars, block and tackle and a
six pack of beer or two to fin
- ish the job.
i
. Previous to this, though, we
got squeamish about our con
1 Crete floor. The question was,
would it handle 12 tons of
. equipment? To be sure that it
would, four steel jacks were
, put into position under two
wooden beams of 6x8 inch size.
We now assume that the
! press will not end up in the
' basement, unless some type
| lice eat through our wooden
beams.
The press, which has an auto
' matic feeder on it, and will,
when it arrives, have an auto
. matic folder, was purchased
from Metropolitan Press!
Printing Co. in Seattle and:
■ barged to Alaska by Alaska j
t Freight Lines.
Many thanks are due to Herb !
: Kopperud and his crew, Al-'
- aska Railroad and employees,
- an easy-td-get-along with driv
- 1 er from Alaska Freight Lines,
i j Bert Curry, Jr., and especially
' to In Clap in finni'Ar.clv rage
- whose job ;i was to erect the
s p. s and make sure all the
-1 ]jt; q pari:' ■ i ack in. tiieir
* re jq>:tive p. >s:t ions so that you
able to rehd the paper tn
i day.
i Of course, we can't fort ft the
: sidewa ; superintendents to
v, iiOi. we are also iimeolecu
. to our major pre jt 11 this
wee it, some news and atiyerti.
-• jng had to be left out and we
- ask your indulgence.
We’re late by about 8 hours,
but we finally made it.
P. S. Now all we have to do j
is to pay for the 12-ton mon-:
- ster.
FUNERAL SERVICES HELD IN
WASILLA YESTERDAY FOR PIONEER
Funeral services for Fre<
I Nelson, 75, were held yester
! day at the First Presbyteriai
, Church in Wasilla, with inter
ment following in the Wasill;
Aurora Cemetery. Nelson diec
Sunday in Valley Presbyteriai
Hospital in Palmer.
Nelson, who was born ii
Mochult, Sweden, on Aug. 2
1887, came to the United State:
in 1907 and to Alaska in 1910
Most of his years since ther
were spent in the Matanusk;
Valley. He became a naturaliz
ed citizen of the United State;
in 1926.
Nelson was a miner anc
prospector in the valley foi
many years, worked with the
Alaska Road Commission anc
the Alaska Railroad, and work
ed on the construction of For'
Richardson.
He was an active member o
the Wasilla grange, of whicl
he was one of the first mem
bers.
He is survived by his wife
Celeste, Wasilla; a brother
Peter Nelson, Wasilla; a nep
hew, Erling Nelson, a studern
at the University of Alaska
and Mrs. Allayne Dinkel, Col
lege.
Active pallbearers at yester
day’s services were Cliff Aide
mann, Harold Dinkel, Waltei
Teeland, Wilbur Atkins, Pa'
Carney, and LeRoy Heaven.
1 Honorary pallbearers were
- Henry Hanson, Oscar Johnson.
1 Oscar Tryck, Jacob Berg, G. E.
- Gustafson, Clyde Poisal. Pete
1 Johnson. Ernest Peck, and
I Carl Paulson.
1 | Arangements were handled
| by the Evergreen Memorial
1 i Chapel.
State Fair
Office Opens
The office of the Alaska State
Fair, Inc., located at the en
j trance to the fairgrounds in
! Palmer, is now open for busi
| | ness, Curly Sutton, manager,
| announced this week.
i
The office is open daily from
| 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Satur
. ! days and Sundays, Sutton said.
Mrs. Barbara Hamilton has |
been employed as secretary
The phone number is PI 5-4688.
Construction of the new
midway will start shortly, the
manager said. The former mid
way booths were destroyed by
a windstorm in late March.
GUILD TO MEET
The Valley Theatre Guild
will meet Tuesday, June 11, at
8 p.m. at the Palmer high
school, it was announced this
week.
Sewer bond approval
Asked Wed,, !vite 12
Qualified voters of the city
of Palmer must register before
10 o’clock tonight in order to
vote in the sewer bond election
next Wednesday, the city clerk
emphasized today To be eli
gible to vote, your name must
have appeared on the last tax
assessment roll and you must
have been a resident of the city
for 30 days prior to the elec
tion.
Although over 300 notices
were mailed to eligible voters
early this week, only 120 had
registered by 10 a m. today, ac
cording to Mrs. Emily St.
Pierre, city clerk. Voters regis
ter in the city clerk’s office,
which will remain open until
10 o’clock tonight to give as
many persons as possible an
opportunity to qualify as vot
ers in the Wednesday election.
The polls will be open from
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday,
June 12. The polling place will
be the council chambers in the
basement of the city hall.
In addition to the qualifica
tions already mentioned, a
voter must be at least 19 years
of age, a citizen of the United
States, and a resident of the
state of Alaska for one year.
He must be able to speak or
read the English language,
i and mint not he barred from
| voting.
Meeting with Fiscal Agent
Don Moyers, fiscal agent with
: 'hr- firm of Marshall and Myc; s
! of Seattle, will he present at
‘ a public meeting tomorrow at
7:30 p.m., which will be held
jin the city council chamber
If a large enough group at
tends, the meeting will move
to the Swanson school multi
purpose room. Also present at
the meeting will be Ralph Stc ‘ -
ano, consulting engineer. Mone -
tary aspects of the propose !
sewer bond issue will be di -
cussed.
Voters in Wednesday’s elec
tion will be asked to approve
general obligation bonds in an
amount not to exceed $798,000.
The funds would be used for
the construction of a sanitary
sewer system in the city of
Palmer, which would include
improvements and extensions
to the present sewer system,
also the construction of lagoons
to treat sewage before it is
dumped into the Matanuska
I River. A series of questions
! and answers prepared in the
! city hall office concerning the
! proposed bonding issue appear
‘ elsew here in this issue of the
Frontiersman.
SEWER BOND QUESTI9KS ANSWERED
Editor's Note: Property owners in the city of Palmer will be
asked to vote on a general obligation bond issue in a special
election on Wednesday June 12. Funds derived from fhe sale of
the bonds would be used to construct a city-wide' wetWr sjrsten
Following ,arc a series of questions and answers-pertainm
proposed u
Veil.-.i brine voted on in the City of Palmer on*June
gistered electors who are on, tire property
current tax year. will, be asked to-approve
i Is to build a ce /or system for those ■ - is
\fved by sewers. This also includes nests*
nd outfall fa :il 's'-,: for the entire city.
Th ■ total bond Issue will b $798,000 which includes !
i c„ urv construction money to build the entire tryst- ..
This s v'cll within the hording capacity which has been
established by the City Charter.
Will tiie system cost the amount of the bond issue?
It is sincerely hoped that the system wiii be installed at
a considerable savings. This will be true if the City is able
to get Federal Grants for which they have applied. One
grant under the Accelerated Public Works Program is for
S332.000, or approximately 1 2 of the collector sewers. An
other grant for a maximum of $120,000 has been applied
for and has been tentatively granted. In case either or both
are received, the cost of the sewers will be reduced mater
ially and these costs will be reflected in the number of
bonds which will need to be sold.
What type of bonds would these be’
The bonds would be general obligation bonds, which means
fhe full failh and credit of the City would be pledged to
pay these back.
What will be the life of the bonds?
The bonds will be 30 year bonds, issued serially so that
the total amount of principal and interest payable each
year will be approximately the same. In other words, there
will be bonds becoming due every year for 30 years and this
principal amount shall be smaller during the early years
of the issue when the interest payable is larger, with the
principal payments becoming larger as the interest de
creases.
How will the payments of principal and interest be met?
Approximately 2/3 of the cost of the bond issue will be
assessed against the property owners specially benefited
under the special assessment laws of the State. The balance,
approximately V3 of the bond issue, will be paid for by
a sewer service charge levied against the users of the
sewer. It is felt that in this method both the specially bene
fitted property owners will pay a share of the erst, and
those whose property is now on the sewer system, either
ARRC or Matanuska Maid, Inc., will assist in paying the
cost of the common facilities which they will be using.
Will the ARRC houses or the Matanuska Maid, Inc. houses
pay a special assessment?
At the present time there is no intention on the part of
the City to levy a special assessment against those who
are now on an existing sewer system. If ever it shall be
come necessary for a special assessment, they will only
have to pay on those facilities which are common to all
users such as outfall sewers and sewage treatment facilities.
What kind of sewage treatment will be installed?
According to the regulations of the Stale Department of
Health and Welfare, it is no longer permissible to dump raw
sewage into the river without some form of treatment.
Therefore, the City of Palmer must provide some method
of treatment. The cheapest approved method is the estab
lishment of sewer lagoons.
What if the property cannot be served by sewers?
If, due to engineering problems, there are any properties
(Continued on page 5)
I Grand Opening
WASILLA GENERAL STORE
Jum 6-7-8-COFFEE-REFRESHMENTS-DOOR PRIZES