Valdez News
VOL. 1. NO. 26
VALDEZ. ALASKA. FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 8. 1950
PRICE 10c
School Enrollment Here At All-Time High
Care of Natives
Assumed by Dr. Ham;
Hygiene Transferred
Calling here recently on what
is expected to be her last trip to
Valdez, the Motorship Hygiene,
operated by the territorial depart
ment of health, took aboard Dr.
Kenneth Ham to visit the native
village of Tatilek on Prince Wil
liam Sound. The Hygiene is to
be transferred to medical duty
in southeastern Alaskan waters
and Dr. Ham will assume medical
care of the native villages on the
Prince William Sound.
- The recent trip was made to
acquaint Dr. Ham with the medic
al needs of village residents.
This change in medical service
is expected to effect a consider
able saving for the department of
public health, and to provide more
frequent medical contacts with
the natives. The Hygiene has
proved expensive to operate and
has not been able to call at the
Sound’s scattered villages' more
often than once each year. Dr.
Ham hopes to make calls at the
villages once each month.
-The doctor said this week that
his plans for the service to be of
fered still are being formulated.
However he is considering the
purchase of a boat for his travels
along the shores of Prince William
Sound.
Dr. Ham plans his next trip to
Tatilek for the weekend of Sept.
29, when he will complete the im
munization series for the villag
ers.
MRS. BEN STEWART IS
ABSENT HONOR GUEST
AT THURSDAY SHOWER
Mrs. Ben Stewart of Valdez was
an absent honor guest at this
week’s meeting of the Thursday
Club, planned as a stork shower
for her. Mrs. Stewart’s twin sons
made an early arrival at Provi
dence Hospital in Anchorage, sc
she was unable to attend the club
meeting.
Mrs. Ray Huddleston was host
ess at the week’s meeting of the
Thursday Club.
Teachers Plan Classroom
Entertainments, Displays
For Community This Year
Teachers of Valdez School al
ready are making plans for the
first public display of classroom
projects, scheduled for National
Education Week, which will be
Nov. 5 to 11, superintendent Ruth
Foy said this week.
During that week, all townsfolk
will be invited to visit classrooms
at Valdez School and to attend
a special entertainment to be pre
sented at that time. Further an
nouncement of plans for the week
will be published in the near fu
ture, Miss Foy said.
In addition to the National Ed
ucation Week plans, teachers oi
Valdez School also are shaping
ideas for a series of classroom
pi’Ograms to be presented during
the year. Each class will be re
sponsible for a- program during
the year. Dates and. plans will
be annnounced ; in advance, sc
that all parents' and friends may
at*efid these functions.
PARENTS REMINDED
OF SCHOOL HOURS
Parents of all Valdez school
children are asked to co-oper
ate with the school administra
tion, in seeing that children
reach school on time, superin
tendent Ruth Foy requested
‘ this week.
Children are expected to be
at school at 8:45 in the morn
ing and at 12:50 after lunch,
she said. The tardy bell rings
at 9 in the morning and at one
in the afternoon.
Teachers and the superin
tendent request that children,
do not loiter in the schoolyard
before 8:45 in the morning or
after school is dismissed in the
afternoon.
Mrs. Minnie Whitley, who frac
tured a hip when she tripped
over loose linoleum stripping in
her home on Aug. 8, is convales
cing very satisfactorily at the
Valdez Community Hospital, Dr.
Kenneth Ham said this week.
Mrs. Whitley is expected to be re
leased to her home shortly.
However the injured woman
will be forced to use crutches for
the next several months.
Introducing a New Reporter - • -
Next week, we introduce as your Valdez News
reporter, the membership of the classes of Valdez
High School. Under the supervision of Miss Ruth Foy,
school superintendent, and the teaching staff of
Valdez School, the students will take over all respom
sibilities for the page.
We ask your help for them. Students will be
gathering news, reporting council and club activities,
checking advertisers and soliciting subscriptions. They
will be paid a salary and commissions, as was the
former reporter, which will go into a special fund to
buy extra-curricular needs for Valdez classrooms.
Specific assignments had not yet been made at
press-time this week, but anyone who has a bit of news
for this page, next week or any week hereafter, may
give it to any high school student.
All news must be ready for mailing to Palmer by
8:30 each Tuesday morning, when the Chitina Lim
ousine Service will accept it for delivery in Palmer.
Hereafter copies of the Valdez News also will be car
ried to the city by the Limousine Service, and will arrive
here late each Monday evening.
We ask your help in this period of changeover, and
also all through the year. Don't blame your reporter
for news heads you don't like, for stories you feel are
misinterpreted, or for spelling mistakes in your name
—those are the faults of your editor and not your re
porter. When you find something you don't like in
the Valdez News, write the editor (Box 303, Valdez)
l^ut don't blame your reporters. ,
We regret the loss of Mrs. Thatcher, who has done i
a bang-up job of reporting in the six months just past. I
She will be sorely missed, we know, by both the editor
and by Valdez readers, but she feels she must devote
more of her time to home duties, hereafter.
' We welcome your suggestions on the improvement
of this, your section, of the newspaper. Tell us how we
may make it better and we'll do everything we can to
put your suggestions into practice. ;
WOMEN'S CLUB PLANS TUESDAY TEAj
HONORING VALDEZ SCHOOL TEACHERS j
Teachers of Valdez School will
be honor guests at a tea, to be
held on Tuesday, Sept. 12, in the
Valdez Gymnasium, members of
the executive board of the Wom
en’s Civic Club decided this week.
The tea is to begin at eight
o’clock Tuesday evening, and all
Valdez residents are invited to
atttend and to meet the Valdez
teachers.
The tea was planned by a cen
tral committee made up of club
officers and headed by Mrs. Betty
O’Dell, vice-president and pro
gram director for the tea. Other
members of the planning commit
tee include:
Mrs. Jan McElroy, Mrs. Edith
Moore, Mrs. Florence Ingraham
and Mrs. Emily Taylor.
Elaborate decorations and spe
cial entertainment are planned
for the evening affair. Card tables
will be set up about the Gymna
sium floor, and each will be dec
orated with individual floral cen
terpieces. Personal invitations!
are to be extended to all Valdez;
townsfolk, for the planning com- i
mittee is particularly anxious that
everyone take this opportunity to
meet the teaching staff of Valdez
School.
Presiding at the tea table nexf
Tuesday evening will be “Mom”
Fawcett, Mrs. A. D. Thompson,
Mrs. E. Moore and Mrs. Wilcox.
Committee members asked to
help with tea plans (all of whom
had not yet accepted their re
sponsibilities at press-time) in
clude the following women:
Refreshments—Mrs. Pearl Par
ker, Mrs. David Johnson and Mrs.
Owen Johnson.
Table decorations — Mrs. Dale
McClintic, Mrs. Bob Kelsey, Jr.,
and Mrs. Russell Sullivan.
Serving and program — Mrs.
Stuart Starbuck, Mrs. Betty Dier
inger and Mrs. Jess O’Dell.
invitations — Mrs. C. Ferrier,
Mrs. Helene Thatcher, and Mrs.
Dominic Vietti.
Mrs. Lou Taylor is publicity
chairman for the tea.
BEN STEWARTS
HAVE TWIN SONS
Twin sons were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Ben Stewart, Jr., at Provi
dence Hospital in Anchorage on
Sept. 7. The first boy was born at
10:41 a.m., weighing three pounds
and one-half ounce. His brother
arrived at 11:06 a.m., and weighed
four pounds, IIV2 ounces. The
boys, both in good health, are
temporary residents in Provi
dence’s incubator.
The twins have been named
Benjamin Douglas and Hawley
Bruce.
Three Are Fined
On Drunk Charges
U. S. Commissioner Margaret
Harrais still was scouring the tar
nish from the name of Valdez in
another court session held on Aug.
29. On that day, three more mem
bers of the unwelcome element in
the city’s population felt the
weight of the long arm of the law.
One man lost his driver’s license
for nine months, got a 60-day jail
sentence and was fined $200.
A second offender, found guilty
of drunkenness on a public street,
also drew a 60-day jail sentence
and a $200 fine. This was the
third time the man had been in
commissioner’s court on this
charge in the past year.
Another, also accused of drunk
enness on a public street but with
no former court record, got off
lightly with only a $50 fine.
Travelling Court Will Be
Held in Cordova on Oct. 6
Special travelling Court terms
have been announced for the
month of October. The session
scheduled for Cordova begins at
10 a.m. on Oct. 6. Four such terms
are planned for the month. Other
sessions will be held at Dilli-rig
ham, Seward and Kodiak.
CIVIC CLUB MEETS OCT. 3
The first fall meeting of the
Women’s Civic Club will be held
on Tuesday, Oct. 3, .it was an
nounced this week by Mrs. Lou
Taylor, head of fhe club’s-public
relations committee.
120 STUDENTS
ALREADY REGISTER,
MORE EXPEGTED
A student enrollment that ex
ceeded all pre - term estimates
greeted the seven teachers in the
Valdez School, when class ses
sions began on Tuesday of this
week. By Wednesday morning,
with some tardy registrants still
expected, superintendent Ruth
Foy reported there were 120 stu
dents in the Valdez elementary
and high school.
Most surprising enrollment gain
was that made in the high school.
From last year’s first - of - term
roster of 13 students (which had
dropped to 11 by term’s end) the
registration had been boosted to
20 pupils by Wednesday. One or
two additional high school stu
dents were expected to register
late, so it appears likely that high
school enrollment will exceed 20
and may reach 25 students this
term.
Miss Foy said she was making
no immediate plans to supplement
the teaching staff at the school.
“The decision on the need for
more teachers will be made in
Juneau,” she said.
Miss Foy announced the follow
ing teaching assignments for Val
dez School this term:
First grade—Miss Mabel An
derson.
Second grade—Mrs. Phoebe
Johnson.
Third and fourth grades —
Mrs. Lura Hayden.
Fifth and sixth grades—Buck
Stout.
Seventh and eighth grades—
Wilson Stein.
High School—Mrs. Ruth Do
lan and Miss Foy.
Miss Anderson, Mrs. Hayden,
Mr. Stout and Mrs. Dolan all are
returning teachers.
Mrs. Johnson is a Californian,
and is a graduate of the Univer
sity of California. She is new in
Valdez this year.
Mr. Stein, also new to Valdez,
is a graduate of Greenville Col
lege at Greenville, 111.
Miss Foy is a graduate of th *
University of Pittsburgh at Pitts
burgh, Pa. She received her mas
ter’s degree there, and now is at
work on her doctorate. Miss Foy
comes to Valdez from Asuncion,
Paraguay, in South America,
where she has been in charge of
a school and orphanage for the
past three years. Since her re
turn from South America, Miss
Foy has been on lecture tour,
speaking and showing colored
slides for schools and churches.
It was while vacationing from
that tour, that Miss Foy first vis
ited^ Valdez. Scheduled to lecture
in Juneau, she decided to travel
north to see more of Alaska, and
it was while in Valdez this sum
mer, during a boat stop, that she
first learned of the vacant super
intendency in Valdez School.
WEEKEND IN VALDEZ
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stiver, and
daughter Sydnee, of Anchorage,
were holiday visitors in Valdez.
They drove down the highway on
Friday, returning to Anchorage
on Sunday, with time out en route
for a visit at the Matanuska Val
ley Fair. Mr. Stiver is the circula
tion manager of the Anchorage
Daily Times.