Thought of the Week
A local new Father says that
he didn't get to see all of the
rtcrk that brought the new
baby, only the bill.
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 52
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PALMER. ALASKA. THURSDAY. SEPT. 19, 1963
TWELVE PAGES
REGISTER
AT TAX OFFICE
FOR SCHOOL BOND
ELECTION
PRICE 15 CENTS
Captain Cook Takes 5-1 Beating In District 7
: Reporters—
9 ;
A card received from Hemic
and Alice Snider this morninj
reports. "We are having the
time of our lives — good food
and wine, and the weather is
excellent. Next week Paris.’
The card is postmarked St
Louis, in French Rhineland.
* * *
Mrs. Kusum Nair, an agricul
tural economist of New Delhi,
India, Visited the Palmer area
Sept. 11-13, gathering material
for a book she is writing about
the agricultural industry in the
United States.
Mrs. Nair was given permis
sion to travel and study here
by the U S. Department of Ag
riculture in Washington. D C.,
and has spent the past year in
this country.
During her Palmer stay, she
visited dairy and produce
farms, talked with pioneers M.
D. Snodgrass and Don Irwin,
and attended a homesteaders'
party at the Dick Karnofsky
homestead.
Mrs. Nair went to Japan af
ter leaving here, and from
there will return to India.
* * *
Carol Wilson, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. James Wilson of
Palmer, will leave next Mon
day evening for Henneger’s
Business College in Salt Lake
City. Utah. Carol, a 1963 grad
uate of Palmer high school,
was second princess in the 1963
Miss Alaska State Fair contest.
• * *
Mrs. Lila Newville of Palmer
left here on Aug. 24 for treat
ment at Virginia Mason hos
pital in Seattle, and underwent
surgery on Sept. 16. Friends
may write to her in care of
Mrs. Carol Jackovich. 12815
S.E. Third, Bellevue, Wash.
* * *
iviacnimsi s rnaie secunu ciass
Henry Wright, U S N, son of
Donald B. Wright, Sr., of Sut
ton, was recently awarded a
good conduct medal on the
basis of an unblemished record
for the past three years.
Young Wright is stationed
aboard the USS Sellers, now
with the Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean. The Sellers is
now doing good will ambas
sador work at orphanages in
Mediterranean ports, giving
parties for the children and
doing painting and construc
tion work.
Council Plans
To Put Genorator
Into Operation
At the Sept. 10 meeting of
the Palmer city council, act
ing city manager Don Irwin
was authorized to call for bids
Jor a hot air coal furnace to
heat the building where city
equipment is stored, also to call
for bids to put the standby
generator in operation at the
city pumps.
The city clerk reported re
ceiving four applications for
the position of city manager.
The problem of what to do
about city police being called
out of town on emergency
cases when state police are not
in the area was discussed.
General fund bills in the
amount of $4,313.92 were ap
proved, as were total water
fund bills in the amount of
$396.89.
Balances in t h e Matanuska
Valley Bank as of Aug. 31 in
cluded $17,929.34 in the gen
eral fund, $7,484.16 in the
water fund, and $1,983.92 in
the property tax fund.
The general fund savings ac
count totalled $7,358.60, water
fund savings $26,176.26, prop
erty tax savings $10,512.27, ac
crued leave savings, $3,905.07,
and depreciation fund savings
$2,680.45.
DON’T USE NEW
NUMBERS UNTIL
CUTOVER DATES
Although the Matanuska
Telephone Association has iss
ued a new temporary directory,
the new numbers do not go
j into effect until the two cut
' over dates. Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
| fo ■ Pioneer exchange num
I hers, and Sept. 30 for the new
i Lake exchange numbers.
Max Clements, MTA manager.
| emphasized this week,
j Some- subscribers have at 1
! tempted to use their new num
I bers upon receipt of the tern- i
I porary phone books, which
I were mailed this week.
There will be no change in
(haling Wasilla and Sutton
! numbers, the manager said. Al
though the letter prefixes will
| be dropped and numbers sub
| stituted. the dialing proced
ure remains unchanged.
Big Lake subscribers will
| continue to use their old
FRontier numbers until t h e
cutover date on Sept. 30.
Don't reach for that n e w
phone book yet—the old one
is good until the cutover
dates!
NEW BUILDING
TO HOUSE D&A
Nearing completion is a new ,
cement block structure located
north of the Glenn highway at
the Valley Street intersection
which will house the D&A
Super.
The new supermarket, owned
by Darrell and Ann Frank of
Palmer, is being erected by the
Haire Construction Co. of Pal
| mer.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank are the
; present owners and proprietors
1 of the D&A Grocery on Val
ley Street, a business they op
ened in February, 1959.
The new D&A will occupy
8,000 spare feet of floor space,
half of which will be utilized
for storage. The extra space
will make purchase of carload
lots of groceries more practic
able, Frank said.
Included in the new market
will be custom meat service,
with a butcher on duty at all
times—“no pre-packaging,” the
proprietor stated.
The D&A will move to its
new location in early Novem
ber, according to Frank.
PALMER WOTM GET
CONFERENCE HONOR
Palmer Chapter, Women of
the Moose will be honor chap
ter at the WOTM convention to
be held in Juneau Sept. 25-28
in conjunction with the Alaska
Moose Association conference.
Another honor for the local
chapter is Rosina Hardisty’s
title of “Queen of Sponsors” for
the entire state.
Irene Vasanoja will report
on monthly meetings of the
chapter. Also attending will be
Fanny Wirtanen.
Carter Estimates
41-Mill Tax Increase
Each additional tax mill will
add one dollar of additional
taxes for each SI,000 of assess
ed valuation of your proper
ty. Palmer Independent School
District superinten dent of
schools R. C, Carter told a
Matanuska Valley Chamber of
Commerce audience yesterday.
Carter estimated that the
first two of the four proposi
tions on the bond election bal
lot would amount to three
fourths of a mill each, that
Proposition 3 would amount to
one and three-eighths mills,
and that the fourth proposition
would require one and five
eighths mills—a total of four
and a half mills.
The first proposition would
provide funds for a six-class
r o o m addition to Swanson
school, plus library, lavatories,
and book room.
The second is for a six-class
room addition to the Palmer
high school. The cost of each is
estimated at $195,000.
The third would provide for
a gymnasium with playing
court, seating capacity for
1500 spectators, and four teach
INTERCLUB LIONS
MEETING IS TONIGHT
The Matanuska Valley Lions
Club and the Eagle River Lions
Club will join in an inter-clut
meeting tonight at the Palmei
Moose Hall, local members an
nounced this week.
A no-host cocktail hour be
tween 7 and 8 p.m. will be fol
lowed by dinner at 8 p.m.
The regular meeting date oi
the local Lions chapter has
been changed from 8 p.m. each
Friday to Fridays at 12 noon at
the Palmer Moose hall.
ing stations for physical educa
tion classes. Physical educa
tion students are now trans_
ported to the Central school
gymnasium for classes. Estima
ted cost is 8280,000.
The fourth proposition is for
an auditorium, to be used for
school and community events
and for student body meetings.
The cost is estimated at $430.
, 000.
Voters will decide on each
1 proposition separately. If all
r are accepted, total cost would
be about $1,200,000.
Carter emphasized that this
Vi 'i be the last chance to im
, prove these schools before
: borough incorporation, after
which school needs will have to
be considered on an areawide
basis. Bonds would have to be
•sold before Jan. 1. 1904.
Tax Office To Stay
Open Late Sept. 28
Palmer Independent School
| District taxpayers may register
; for the Oct. 1 bond election un
j til 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.
tax assessor John Marshall has
| announced.
To vote in the bond election,
! your name must be listed on
; the last tax assessment roll of
the school district, and you
I must register at the tax office
before the Sept. 28 deadline.
The tax office, located on the
second floor of the Matanuska
Valley Bank building, is open
regularly from 8:30 a.m. to 5
: p.m. weekdays.
Marshall said he hoped that
the majority of school district
voters will register early to
avoid a last-minute rush on
Saturday evening.
Council Candidates
Must File Tomorrow
Five candidates for city coun
cil offices have filed petitions
with the Palmer city clerk,
with three more still circulat
ing theirs. Closing date to file
is tomorrow at 5 p.m. when all
petitions must be returned to
the city clerk. The election
will be Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Running for the two - year
mayor’s term is Ralph Moore,
and a petition for Ted
Schmidtke for mayor is
now in circulation. Walt Briggs
and Lee Plumbley have filed
for the one-year term on the
council and Darrell Frank and
Jack Maze will run for the
two three-year terms, as will
Earl Goodrich and Merritt
Long, who have not yet re
turned their petitions to the
city clerk.
Polling place for the city el
ection will be the city council
chambers in the basement of
the city hall, with polls to be
open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters in the election must
have been residents of the
state of Alaska for one year
and of the city of Palmer for
30 days. They must be 19
years of age and able to read
and write the English lang
uage.
ALASKA PRODUCE
TO APPEAR AT
MEMPHIS FAIR
Fairgoers from several south
ern states will get a chance to
see some of Alaska’s biggest
vegetables when the M i d -
South Fair opens tomorrow in
Memphis. Tenn.
The Matanuska Valley vege
tables were flown to Memphis,
arriving there this morning.
They'll be displayed in Mem
phis newsman Eldon Roark's
“Museum of Unnatural His
tory." a display of the oddities
Naturce produces. including
the biggest vegetables and
fruits Roark can obtain.
Roark wrote to the Alaska
State Fair office in August,
asking that the big vegetables
shown here be sent to Memphis
for exhibit there during the
Mid - South Fair, which runs
from Sept. 20 to Sept. 30.
One of John D. Bush’s big
cabbages, estimated to weigh
between 40 and 50 pounds,
went to the Memphis fair, also
a huge 21-pound turnip from
Max Sherrod's garden. Contri
buted by the Experiment Sta
tion was a 15-pound zucchin
squash.
ihitk Hamilton of Kumiltcr
Flyteways flew the big vege
tables to Anchorage Interna
tional Airport. where the;
were shipped out on a direc
flight to Chicago.
Mrs. Barbara Hamilton, fai
secretary, and Dr. Curtis Dear
1 born, president of the fai
! board of directors, made th
arrangements to get the kinj
i sized edibles on their way.
WRITE-IN CROP
FLOURISHES
Every election has its crop c
write - in candidates, s o m
! named in all seriousness, som
the work of humorists who prc
pose such unlikely prospects a
i Yogi Berra or Gina Lollobrig
1 ida.
In District 7, Matanuska pre
cinct election officials tallie<
the most write-ins, with a de
i cided preference shown fo:
1 Secretary of State Hugh Wade
Wade was named for borougl
school board, for borough as
semblyman in Section 2, anc
for assemblyman in Section 7—
| all on different ballots. Anc
Gov. William Egan was writter
in as borough chairman. Othei
write-ins from the Matanuski
precinct were Merritt Long
borough chairman; Dr. Bailey
Richard Miller, and Marjorie
Cook, borough school board
and Lowell Sutton, assembly
man from Section 7.
In the Wasilla precinct, Neal
Browne wfas a write-in for bor
ough school board, assembly
man from Section 2, and as
sembyman from Section 3.
Robert Vroman received one
write-in for borough chairman
in the Palmer precinct.
Valley Farmers Have Best
Harvest Season In Years
Matanuska Valley farmers
are experiencing the most fa
vorable harvest seasqn in years
according to the USDA statis
tical reporting service.
Harvest conditions have been
ideal for the past three weeks,
with plenty of sunshine, tem
pertatures above normal, ab
sence of a general area frost,
dry ground, and sufficient la
bor available.
Farmers have been busy
seven days a week thus far
this month, with virtually no
delay because of weather, stat
istician Paul Pownall said.
Combines were busy in the
valley during the past week
harvesting barley, for which
quality and yield are general
ly good, according to Pownall.
Combining of oats is expected
to start this weekend. A con
siderable acreage of oats has
been bound and shocked, some
to be threshed, but most of it
for feed in the bundle.
Weather for brome harvest
ing could hardly be better,
Pownali said. An unusually
high proportion of the second
crop of brome grass made high
quality hay this year because
of the dry weather during the
past three weeks. About 70 per
cent of the crop has been har
vested.
Some farmers have complet
ed their silage harvest, and
others expect to finish this
week. Yields are expected to
be a little better than last year,
and quality of the silage is
high.
All commercial growers are
now digging potatoes. Al
though they have sized fairly
well during the past few weeks
they have not caught up to last
year’s crop, and yields are gen
erally a little below the 1962
crop. Valley potatoes are yield
ing nine to 13 tons per acre.
Harvest of head lettuce, cab
bage. carrots, celery and minor
vegetables is continuing, with
almost nc loss to frost as yet.
The last plantings of head let
tuce are being harvested now,
and quality of this crop is very
good, according to the report
ing service.
Way Opened For
Separate Elections
District 7 voters voiced op
position to the Captain Cook
borough by a vote of nearly
five to one in Tuesday’s elec
tion. along with the Greater
Anchorage vote of about three
to one against the borough
which would have combined
Election District 7 and 8. Two
hundred eighteen District 7 re
sidents voted “yes" on incor
poration. while the “no” tally
was 1011.
Failure of the Captain Cook
election opens the way for in
corporation of separate District
7 and 8 boroughs under the
mandatory borough law. Ac
cording to the law, incorpora
tion must be completed by Jan.
1. 1964. Elections in the two
districts will probably be held
in late November or early De
cember, state officials said yes
i terday.
Voters will at '.hat time
; choose between a first and sec
! ond class borough and between
a borough chairman or man
ager. In District 7. voters will
choose three assemblymen at
i large iicm ne area outside
Palmer's incorporated city lim
its (two will be appointed iron
the Palmer city council) plus ;
borough chairman unles vot
ers approve a borough man
ager.
The turnout in both Distric
7 and in the Anchorage are
was termed light by electio
officials, who also noted cor
siderable confusion on the pai
of voter1' and some misunde:
! standing of the ballot. A nun
! ber of voters were under tl
; impression that their balk
would be discarded if. after
j “no” vote on incorporate
they voted for other issues an
i offices on the ballot
In the Palmer precinct, 23
voted; Matanuska. 285, Butti
168; Wasilla. 287 (not offici£
! tally); Sutton, 59: Big Lake, 5£
Willow. 95 (not official); ar.
Talkeetna. 55.
District 7 went along with
the Anchorage trend in voting
for borough chairman, giving
Byer top billing with 303 vote
Aspiund was second with 146.
Some effort on the part of
Anchorage voters to give the
Valley area representation on
the school board was evident,
with Joyce Kerttula and Ed
Smith placing sixth and sev
enth. respectively, in the over
all election totals. The pro
posed borough would have ha'
a seven-member school boar
District 7 voters for schoo:
board member put Joyce Ker
ttula first with a total of 75b
; votes. A scant two votes behind
was Lew Hanks, who tallied
754. Ed Smith polled 708. and
Barbara Kaimbach was fourth
with 491. Mrs. Kerttula gar
nered the most votes in the
Sutton. Wasilia. Big Lake, Wil
low. and Talkeetna precinct;.
Smith was high in Palmer and
Matanu.ka, and Hanks polled
highest in the Butte precinct.
For boro igh assembly, Sec
tion 1 (the or.’y representative
the unincorporated area of Dis
1 trict 7 would have had). Robert
Vroman was high with 400
votes. Second was Ken Gillow
with 168, and Rose Palmquist
* was third was 162. 64 voted
J 1 for Robert Burner, and Tal
1 keetna's Orzechowski polled 42.
t Vroman was also first in the
._ Anchorage area vote, with Bur
1 ner placing second. Vroman led
[e I in six of seven District 7 pre
)t , cincts, tying with Gillow in
a Big Lake precinct voting.
i. Local voters went'along with
d those in Anchorage on the
question of borough chairman
2 | versus borough manager, 320
voting for borough managei
1 j and 462 approving the borough
; | chairman form of government
Election Results in District 7
Question of Incorporation
.{ Yes .. 218
No . 1011
Borough Chairman 462
i Borough Manager 320
Borough Chairman
! John Asplund . 195
George Byer . 369
Larry Carmichael . Ill
Joe Graham . 64
Grover Hants . 13
j Robert Taylor 52
Borough School Board
Willis Avery 226
Adelaide Blomfield 93
Lew Hanks "54
John Hughes 206
Barbara Kalmbach . 491
Joyce Kerttula . 756
Keith Lesh . 482
Ralph Mills . 224
Dale Pierson 212
Frank Reed 455
George Ed Smith.708
Joseph Stenstrom 132
Paul Weatherman 117
Donald White .218
Marilyn Wilkins 302
Walter Wood 213
Borough Assembly
Section 1
Robert Burner 64
K. R. Gillow . 168
1 William Orzechowski 42
Rose Palmquist . 162
Robert Vroman 400
Section 2
Dan Bell.239
Edward Willis . 269
Section 3
Thomas Adams 85
| D. L. Bray . 26
Harry Chapman 61
Stanley Conway 47
Walter Jerde . 64
Dick Reed Lyon 83
Joseph Stenstrom 79
Section 4
John Asplund .215
Joe Graham . 94
j Jery McCutcheon 159
A. D. Powell 60
section a
John Gill . 182
L. H. Norene . 185
Dave Ring . 128
Section 6
Mable Crawford 76
James Garrigues 70
Vernon Haik 154
Terry Klingel -. 25
Kris Lethin . 13
Maxine McDaniel . 53
Vern Smith.110
Section 7
Harold Aldrich 63
James Branch . 18
Larry Carmichael.125
P. J. Doyle.84
C. J. Fenwick 14
Grover Hanes . 21
William Shear . 76
Rodney Spendlove 70
Lawrence Straley . 42
Tomorrow Is Last
Day To File For
School Board
Persons wishing to run for
the five-year term now open
on the Palmer Independent
School District board of direc
tors must file before 5 p.m. to
morrow, Sept. 20, R. C. Carter,
superintendent of schools, em
phasized this week. Prospective
candidates may file at the Pal
mer high school office.
Don Ingalls, incumbent, will
run for re-election. Thus far he
is the only candidate.
Carter noted that, according
to the borough law, present
school board terms will run out
within two years, although
candidates in the election will
technically be running for a
five-year term.
The school board post will be
filled in the Oct. 1 election.
KITTY'S
HAVING
SPRGHETTI DlnRER
SATURDAY EVENING - T >° > ■ H A l L E A
ALL YOU CAN EAT - 51.75 LODGE