Valdez News
VOL. 1. NO. 37
VALDEZ. ALASKA. FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 24. 1950
PRICE 10c
Community Center For Valdez Nears Completion
Alaska Line Service
Resumed With Arrival
Of S.S. Denali Friday
The first Alaska Steamship boat
to dock here since the service was
suspended recently, was the S.S.
Denali, arriving here from Seattle
Friday, November 17. There were
57 north-bound passengers aboard
the ship, which was also loaded
with 108 tons of freight consigned
to Valdez.
s Ports of call on the trip here
included Ketchikan, Juneau, Sit
ka, Seward and Valdez. The
weather all the way was fairly
fine but the most beautiful day
of the trip was at Valdez, pas
sengers declared. The trip was
rough as the ship left Sitka and
also when it crossed the gulf. At
Seward when the ship docked
there the temperature was 20
above zero. Among passengers
whose destination was Valdez
were Clint Rowley, bookkeeper
for the Dayville Packing Com
pany and Mrs. August George.
When the ship sails on its re
urn trip November 24, 20 pas
sengers will go aboard from Val
dez, bound for Juneau and Se
attle. Among them will be 10
Alaska Road Commission men
transferring from Valdez to Ju
neau. Ports of call on the way
back will include Juneau, Peters
burg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and
Seattle.
Also aboard the ship on its ar
rival here were Mr. and Mrs. A.
H. McDonald, formerly of An
chorage. Mr. McDonald, who was
.with the Alaska Steamship for
many years, is now retired. A
round - trip passenger on board
was Mrs. Margaret Paxson from
Butte, Montana.
The Denali’s schedule will now
include stops at Valdez once a
month with Cordova as the desti
nation on all other trips. On this
trip the ship sailed from Seattle
November 10, and is due back at
Seattle November 22.
Dances for Teen-Age
Group Planned Here
* Regularly planned dances for
high school students and all teen
agers of the city is on the program
at the Tillicum Club, Mrs. William
Weeks announced this week.
The first of these dances will
be held Friday, November 24,
Mrs. Weeks said. If the party is
successful there will be more in
the future, she added. In addi
tion to dancing, refreshments will
also be served.
* Perfect Attendance Records Give
30 Students Half Day's Vacation
Thirty pupils of the Valdez
school had perfect attendance
records for the first period of the
school term. For being neither
absent nor tardy for the entire
period they merited a half day’s
vacation, which was given them
on Friday, November 17.
The students in the first grade
were Sue Brown and Ronald
Clark;
Second grade: Alice Huddles
»ton, Ronnie Look, Deanne Mat
thews, Douglas Stewart, William
Hansen;
Third and fourth grades: Gary
Community
Calendar
November 30
ROLLER SKATING, school gym,
7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
December 2
THURSDAY Club, 8 p.m.
December 3
ROLLER Skating, 7:30 p.m. to
9:30 p.m.
December 6
CHORAL singing, Miss Long’s,
8 p.m.
December 7
ROLLER SKATING, 7:30 to 9:30
p.m.
Johnny Baker Is
Honored at Surprise
Birthday Dinner Party
Johnny Baker was the surprised
guest of honor at a party held in
celebration of his birthday. When
he arrived home from work he
found that a turkey dinner with
all the trimmings had been pre
pared in honor of the occasion.
Guests awaiting his arrival in
cluded the Reverend Teeter and
his family, Slim Pendleton, Ken
ny Dumas and the members of
the honored guest’s family.
An employe of Freight Line
garage, Mr. Baker later learned
that “Durk”, a co-v/orker there,
had not fared as well as he.
“Durk”, whose birthday is No
vember 19, spent the occasion in
the hospital where he was re
ceiving medical treatment.
9 ARC ENGINEERS
TRANSFER TO JUNEAU
j Nine engineers for the Alaska
I Road Commission recently trans
ferred from Valdez to Juneau to
work in the ARC designing of
fices at the capital. Jack Thatch
er, one of the engineers, plans to
return to the ARC offices here
within a month. The remaining
eight who will be in Juneau until
spring include Ed Baca, Pat
Brindle, Dale Harding. C. R.
Leitzel, John Mayo, F. J. Mecham,
Oscar Sihler, and O. A. Svennes.
All the men were aboard the S.S.
Denali when it sailed south No
vember 17.
VISITS FROM DAWSON
Buck Bradbury of Dawson re
cently arrived in Valdez on a
two-month visit. The visitor owns
a gold mine in Canada. He is a
brother of Mac Bradbury, who is
well known here.
Mazur, Jimmy Erickson, Sharon
Anderson, Carol Matthews, Mar
ilyn Simpson, Virginia Brown,
and Rebecca Brown;
Fifth and sixth grades: Marva
Alexander, Marsha Alexander,
Duane White; Ellen Strigel, Larry
Sievers, Lora Segerquist, and Lo
rene Huddleston;
Seventh and eighth grade: Linda
Faudskar, Helen Manthy, and
Jerry Barnes;
High school: Larry Anderson,
John Schultz, Earl George, Jimmy
Segerquist, Lloyd Weeks, Lee Ann
Thatcher.
Miss Frances Whalen Becomes Bride
Of Leo Harris In Catholic Ceremony
In a beautiful ceremony at the
St. Francis Xavier Church in Val
dez at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Novem
ber 14, Frances Whalen, daughter
of Mr. and- Mrs. William J.
Whalen of Valdez, became the
bride of Leo Harris, son of Mr.
and Mrs. J. D. Harris of Helper,
Utah. The Reverend Father Mel
bourne, priest of this parrish,
united the couple in marriage.
The bride, wearing a gray gab
ardine suit with pink accessories
and pink lapel corsage and carry
ing a white Prayer Book and Ros
ary, was escorted to the altar by
her father. Marie Whalen, sister
of the bride, was her only attend
ant. She wore a light blue suit
with black and gold accessories
with a corsage of pink rosebuds.
George Whalen, twin brother of
the bride, acted as best man for
the bridegroom.
Vocal music during the mass
following the marriage ceremony,
was furnished by Mrs. William
Egan, who sang “Ave Maria” and
“O Sanctissimo.” She was ac
companied at the organ by Mrs.
Raymond Huddleston who also
played the processional and re
cessional wedding marches.
The bride was born and has
lived in Valdez all her life. For
the past ten years she has been
employed in the Valdez office of
the Alaska Road Commission. Mr.
Harris is also an employe of the
Alaska Road Commission and at
present is stationed at Camp 47
where the young couple will make
their home.
Russell A. Sullivans
Return to Valdez From
Extended Trip Outside
Mr. and Mrs. Russell A. Sullivan
of Valdez returned to their home
here Tuesday, November 14. The
couple, who have been visiting
in the states, drove back to the
territory over the Alaska high
way. They reported a “very fine
trip with the exception of about
200 miles where the going was a
litle rough.” The weather was
also good and the coldest they
found was at Red Deer, Albert^,
where the temperature was zero.
There was very little snow on the
highway except at Tok cut-off
and not too much there. Winter
i was just setting in at Montana
when they left there. Prior to
that they had enjoyed nice au
tumn weather on their trip.
The Sullivans left here Septem
ber 18 for their two month’s trip,
which included visits with friends
and relatives in Washington,
Oregon and Montana. They were
on the road seven days on their
return trip.
The couple reported that they
found an Alaskan directory very
helpful on the trip. It listed ac
commodations along the highway,
eating places and distances from
one gas station to the next. They
also said that as many cars were
coming into Alaska as were leav
ing. Mr. Sullivan is employed by
the Alaska Road Commission.
LIBRARY CLOSED MONDAY
The Valdez Public Library was
closing was due to repairs being
made on the stove. *
Did You Know?
(Ed. Note: A “Do You
know” feature has been add
ed to the paper to give in
teresting bits on the history
of Valdez. The stories are
submitted by high school
students.)
The Valdez Congregational
church v.as built by a Chero
kee Indian named Densey and
not by a Negro, as it is cur
rently believed, according to
Lewis C. Townsen, oldtimer
who first came here in 1901.
“It was the 11th day of April
of the year 1901 that the ma
terials for this church were
brought here,” Mr. Townsen
reminisced in giving the his
tory of the church.
“This Indian came down
here for gold just like every
body else did,” the oldtimer
continued. “But he decided to
build this fine building for
services. In 1905 additions to
enlarge the church were made.
There has been many a min
ister that preached there. Some
of them mighty important and
some were just plain folks.
Two that I can think of right
off are Mrs. Evelyn Striegel,
who still lives here, and Ken
neth Hughes of Palmer,” Mr.
Townsen added.
For the past several years
the church has been used as a
storage place by the El Nathan
Children’s Home. To take the
place of the Congregational
church, Mr. Hughes, with the
help of other ministers, built
the Valdez Gospel chapel.
Everyone is invited to attend
the services there. The Rev.
Richard Teeter is the pastor.
Miss Kaser Honored
At Birthday Party
Miss Bonnie Kaser was the sur
prised guest of honor at a birth
day party given for her by Miss
Rita Dingman, Miss Helen Long
and William Hunt on November
11 at 8 p.m.
A treasure hunt provided enter
tainment for the evening. Guests
forming teams were directed on
the treasure hunt by cleverly
written verses placed at advan
tageous points. The route to the
treasure of small flash lights to
which keychains were attached
was traced by six of the verses.
The winning team included Dean
Thatcher, Loretta Hibner, Jimmy
Segerquist and Lee Ann Thatcher.
Refreshments were also served
which included a beautifully
decorated birthday cake.
SHOW FILMS FOR
HOSPITAL PATIENTS
Patients of the Valdez Com
munity hospital were entertained
at movie parties on Monday and
Tuesday of last week. Dr. Ken
neth Ham showed the movies
which were “How Green Was My
Valley” and "Rebecca of Sunny
brook Farm.”
Townspeople Donate
Manpower, Money to
Renovate Building
Work on the new Tillicum
Club, which is to serve as a com
munity center for both young and
old at Valdez, is steadily progress
ing, it was announced this week
by Dr. Kenneth Ham. A com
plete renovation of the building
has been made with many gener
ous donations received for the
work. Contributions received
toward the worthy cause from the
townspeople have included both
man power and financial aid.
When the club is completed ar
rangements may also be made to
rent it for private parties and
gatherings. If the income is suf
ficient from the rental of the
building, Dr. Ham said that he
also planned to employ a secre
tary to take charge.
BASKETBALL SEASON
OPENS WITH WHITES
WINNING FAST GAME
The first basketball game of the
season at Valdez between the boys’
and girls’ teams of the school was
played according to rules for girls'
teams but it was hard-fought with
a 46-46 tie at the end of the game
which called for 15 minutes of
fast and exciting play. The Whites
turned the extra 15 minutes of
the game to their advantage to
win with a score of 54 to 48. Dean
Thatcher made 27 baskets with
John Schultz right behind him
with 26.
The first game was played at
the high school gym on November
16 with games scheduled for
Thursday night each week. Games
with Boys competing with girls
teams are required to be played
according to rules for the girls by
territorial law.
Recorded Yuletide
Greetings for Gifts
Is Miss Foy's Plan
Miss Ruth N. Foy, superinten
dent of Valdez school, has a happy
plan to add to the enjoyment of
the Yuletide season, which i3
scarcely a month away. Greet
ings to friends and relatives on
unbreakable records are always
a wonderful gift and Miss Foy
has offered to assist in making
these records. She has her own
tape recording machine and will
make no charge for her time, ac
cording to the announcement.
Miss Foy said that she well re
members the pleasure recordings
of personal greetings from her
family brought her one Christmas
that she spent in South America.
She suggested that anyone
planning on making the record
ings have interesting incidents
and remarks all ready to tell.
Folk Outside always want to
know about Alaska. If the greet
ing is not prepared beforehand
it is hard to think of what should
be said during the recording.
Miss Foy will be glad to arrange
appointments for these recordings
for either individuals or clubs.
She may be reached by either
writing to Box 126 or calling at
apartment No. 3, Harrison Apart
ments, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.