Valdez News
'VOL. 1. NO. 20
VALDEZ. ALASKA. FRIDAY. JULY 28. 1950
PRICE IOC
Valdez Defense Plan Formulated by Council
itf
Woman Will Head
Valdez School
For Coming Year
Miss Ruth N. Foy has been
named superintendent of schools
at Valdez for the coming year, a
spokesman for the school board
announced this week.
“We are very fortunate to get
her,” the spokesman said. “She
has had a great deal of experi
ence, both as a teacher and super
visor, and she is particularly well
equipped to organize youth ac
-=? tivities. She also has done spe
cial work in music and dram
atics.”
The teaching positions on the
Valdez faculty all are filled now.
Teachers who will occupy the
desks in the local classrooms next
term include:
Miss Mable Anderson, Mrs.
Ruth Dolan, Mrs. Johnson, Buck
Stout, Mrs. Harold French and
Miss Foy. Miss Foy is bringing
an unnamed teacher to Valdez
from Pennsylvania, to complete
the staff.
The board is now preparing
the school plant for the fall term
of school. The gymnasium floor
and the new roof both have been
installed already. Work is to
start in the near future on reno
vation of halls and classrooms.
Among the new equipment or
dered for the school for the com
ing term is a piano and additional
sports material.
BAKERY GETS MORE
NEW MACHINERY
Still more new equipment is
being added to the Valdez Bak
ery, owner Jack Suttich an
nounced this week. Latest ma
chinery to be installed there is a
modern bread molder and a
bread-slicing machine.
BILLUM HOSPITALIZED HERE
Harry Billum, employed by the
Alaska Road Commission at Mile
25, received a lacerated finger
last week, when he caught the
digit in a cable. Mr. Billum was
hospitalized in Valdez.
GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDKIDS EQUALLY
ENJOY VALDEZ’ NEW ROLLER SKATING RINK
Roller skating is what a Val
dezan’s fancy turns to these days.
So popular has the new rink be
come, since its recent re-opening,
that already there have been spe
cial sessions planned for the al
most-kindergarten age group and
a secret practice hour for ladies
who are not yet complete mas
ters of their skates.
Joy Ripley was first to test
-'the surface of the new masonite
floor in the gym. Skating at a
secret session on Monday eve
ning, where she was demonstrat
ing her prowess before a group
of amateurs, the wheels of Joy’s
skates locked and she flew
through the air to crash to the
floor on her left aim.
At first it was feared she’d
broken the member, but x-rays
revealed strained ligaments
rather than broken bones. The
injury is extremely painful, and
rink supervisors are hoping there
will be no more unpleasant inci
dents to mar the skating enjoy
ment of the town’s residents.
Skaters are whirling to music
now. Leo Soward has provided
a speaker system for the music.
Later the Women’s Civic Club
expects to buy its own music for
the skating sessions.
Volunteers are assuming thd
varied responsibilities about the
rink. Bill Hunt has offered his
services as floor supervisor. Sev
eral women have offered to take
turns in the cashier’s box, and in
issuing skates. Teen-age boys are
helping the novices get into their
skates, and are assuming some of
the tutoring chores also.
Four-year-old Darrell Blakes
ley, who performed so creditably
when the "rink opened last spring,
i<? still most proficient. He skates
like a veteran now, and he’s sure
he’s much improved over his in
itial effort. He was heard to re
mark last week, “I really should
get my name in the paper again,
I because I’m much better now,
and because Grandma is here and
I want her to see it.”
(“Grandma” is Mrs. Perran of
Anchorage, who is visiting her
daughter and family in Valdez.)
(
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, American troops are now engaged
in hostilities in Asia; and
WHEREAS, war or the threat of a general war
is of direct concern to Alaska as it is to every
other part of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Alaska's vulnerable position, geo
graphically and*logistically, suggests the possi
bility of its involvement in any major foreseeable
war; and
WHEREAS, Alaskans generally, mindful of such
circumstances and alert to such possibilities, and
conscious of their responsibilities as citizens of
a free nation, should, for their mutual protection
and well-being, organize themselves against any
threat to their security, health or welfare:
NOW THEREFORE, I, ERNEST GRUENING,
Governor of Alaska, do, pursuant to national
policy, and in the discharge of my official re
sponsibilities, hereby direct that the Director of
Civilian Defense for Alaska, establish and orga
nize Civilian Defense facilities on a Territorial
wide basis; and that he cooperate with the
various communities in Alaska in promoting sim
ilar preparedness and organization within their
boundaries. And I hereby commend to the sev
eral communities the desirability of preparedness
for any eventuality and urge that they avail them
selves of whatever facilities may be procurable.
Visitors from New York
Start Home Last Monday
Mr. and Mrs. William J. Long
of Geneva, N. Y., who have been
visiting here with their daughters,
Miss Helen Long and Mrs. Flor
ence Ingraham, began their re
turn trip home last Monday.
Ray Hines Undergoes Operation
Ray Hines flew to Cordova on
Monday, July 24, to undergo a
tonsil operation in that city.
ANTRITTERS RE-MARRY
IN LOS ANGELES
EARLY IN JUNE
Mrs. Margaret Antritter of Los
Angeles, Calif., and Jack Antrit
ter of Valdez were re-married in
a ceremony solemnized in the
California city on June 1 of this
year. The Antritters first were
married in 1913. They returned
to their Valdez home early this
month.
Following their wedding, the
newlyweds drove to Minnesota on
their honeymoon. There they
were the guests of Mrs. Antritter’s
mother and Mr. Antritter’s rela
tives for two weeks.
They returned west by way of
Spokane, where they were the
guests of Mr. Antritter’s niece, the
Jesse Beals family. Mr. Beals
spent the summer of 1945 in Val
dez, and asked to be remembered
to all of his former friends here.
The honeymooners also visited
with Jack Wallis (the “sage of
the Yukon”) in Powell, Wyo. He
too was a Valdez visitor in 1945.
The new Mrs. Antritter was
honor guest at several pre-nuptial
showers in Los Angeles. Fellow
workers at the Mayfair Markets
there, where she has been em
ployed for the past few years,
honored her with an electrical
appliance shower. She received
many lovely gifts.
Bucklands Visit in States
Mrs. Louis Buckland and chil
dren plan to leave Valdez tomor
row, July 29, for a two months’
visit with relatives in the states.
The Buckland family will fly to
Minneapolis, Minn.
VALDEZ CANCER DRIVE
PLANNED FOR AUG. 4-10
The Valdez cancer drive, which
is headed by Miss Mable Ander
son, will start Aug. 4 and end
Aug. 10, Miss Anderson said to
day. During that week members
of the Glacier Club Girls, an or
ganization led by Miss Anderson,
will conduct a house - to - house
canvass of Valdez.
Club members will attempt to
reach every home in town on the
drive. For each contribution that
is made to the fund, the girls will
give a ticket to an entertainment
they are planning, to culminate
the drive. Place and date of that
program will be announced next
week.
For those who are missed in the
door-to-door canvass, contribu
tion containers will be prominent
ly displayed in all of the Valdez
business houses.
TEXAS GEOLOGIST.
CALIFORNIA REALTOR
INVESTIGATE ALASKA
A lady realtor and a skirted
geologist were guests in Valdez
for a few hours last Thursday.
The pair, Mrs. Gladys White of
San Francisco, Calif., and Mrs.
Lucille Cooper, of Dallas, Texas,
disembarked here to travel to the
Interior. Mrs. White, the realtor,
was a member of an Arctic Tours
group and Mrs. Cooper, the geolo
gist, was en route to Fairbanks
on a combined business and pleas
ure trip.
Mrs. Cooper, who works for
Halco Oil Co., in Texas, has only
recently returned from a trip
through several countries of Cen
tral America. She visited Ja
maica, Guatemala, Mexico and
Cuba, as a representative of the
Federation of Women’s Clubs of
America. She found southern
hospitality most gracious and en
joyable. However the geologist
likes Alaska, and said she hoped
to be able to work up here.
NEW HOSPITAL
| BOARD IS ELECTED
The five new members of the
board of directors of the Valdez
Community Hospital were an
nounced this week by Dr. Ken
neth Ham. The five board mem
bers are Stuart Starbuck, chair
man. Harold North. A1 Carlin,
Mrs. Robert Kelsey. Sr., and Mrs.
David Johnson.
The four active members of
the former board of directors of
the hospital will act as an advis
ory building committee for the
j newly-elected members. The for
mer board membership included
Guy Hayden. George Gilson. John
Kelsey and Ben Stewart.
The new board was chosen by
a poll conducted by the hospital
staff. During the June open
house at the Valdez Community j
i Hospital, visitors were asked to
suggest names for members of
the new board. The names re
ceiving the most nominating votes
then were compiled on a postcard,
which was mailed to all of Val
dez’ voters.
Mrs. Jorgenson in Minneapolis
Mrs. Isobel Jorgenson is visiting
with her sister, Miss Lydia
Thompson, in Minneapolis, Minn.
She plans a stay of two months in
the Minnesota city.
tVAliUAIIUII ur (ill I
WILL BE HANDLED
BY LEGION, FIREMEN
The American Legion, the Val
dez fire department, and all own
ers of cars and trucks play an im
portant part in the civil defense
plan announced for Valdez this
week. The plan has been worked
out in response to the request for
such action from Gov. Ernest
Gruening and from Col. J. O.
Alexander, territorial director of
civil defense, Mayor Guy Stith
announced.
It was emphasized that the city
council, which formulated plans
for Valdez, feels there is no cause
for immediate alarm. The plan
has been developed in order that
city residents may be informed
and prepared for action, should
disaster strike here.
An enemy attack, either by sea
or air, will be signalled by re
peated short blasts of the fire
siren.
As soon as this signal is heard,
every resident of Valdez is in
structed to extinguish fires and
turn out lights in his home. He
should dress himself in warm
clothing, assemble a stock of pro
visions, blankets and tools, and
pack these articles, and his fam
ily, in his automobile. The car
should be driven outside of the
immediate area of Valdez, but
not to any great distance away
from the city, and parked off the
highway, there to await the all
clear signal on the fire alarm.
Persons without transportation
should make arrangements to go
with a friend or a trucker. Op
erators of large freight trucks
are requested to take as many
persons as possible outside the
immediate area of Valdez.
The Valdez post of the Ameri
caq Legion is to formulate its own
plans for a “rear guard” group.
Legion members will be the last
to leave Valdez. It will be thr
responsibility of this organization
to assure the complete evacuaticr
of the city.
The members of the Valdez Sire
department are to make certain
that there is no looting of aban
doned homes.
The mayor of Valdez will be in
charge, should an emergency
arise. In the event of his ab
sence from the city, the senior
member of the city council will
assume control.
Officials Come to Plan
Christmas Seal Sale
Mrs. Francis L. Paul, executive
secretary of the Alaska Tubercu
losis Association, and Miss Agnes
Gerding, representative from the
national Tuberculosis Association
headquarters in New York, are
expected in Valdez next week.
They will arnve on the Aleu
tian, and will 1ae here only for
the few hours the ship is in port.
The pair will confer with Mrs.
Kenneth Ham, local committee
chairman of the Valdez chapter
of the Alaska Tuberculosis Asso
ciation, concerning the coming
Christmas seal sale.
The visitors are touring the
Territory, planning the 1950
Christmas seal drive.