The Kenai Peninsula
rrIstonI CAL
BOX 205
J !J £ A U ALA
MUSEUM 5
L I
l'.IARY
THIRD YEAR
MARCH 20, J063
PRICE 10 CENTS
NUMBER 125
On Monday night Major Richard D. Allen presented a charter to the 153rd Air Squadron Explorer
l nit. The charter was received by Chaplain Fredrick Hoffmann as Spl Marvin Graese, the Unit Advis
or* and member looked on. 1 his is the first Air Squadron to be formed in this area. It is designed for
youths 14 to 18 years of age who are interested in learning flying, navigation, radio and code and gun
nery. Capt. Irvin is the Unit’s Air Advisor and plans to use his plane for some of the instruction.
Fire Leaves Fisherman’s
Family of Nine Homeless
Fire of undetermined origin,
fanned by Tuesday night’s high
winds, completely destroyed the
home of the Robert L. Schmidt
family on Kalifonsky Beach
Road. Denny Sterns, only occu
pant in the house at the time of
the fire, suffered burns and has
been removed to the hospital in
Seward for treatment.
Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt and
their family of seven children, all
of school age or younger, report
edly had left the house at about
b:o0 p.m. At the conclusion of a
film showing at a church meeting
in the Soldotna Community Club,
they returned home to find the
building and all its contents de
voured by flames, leaving them
with only the clothing on their
backs.
Stern , in his 80’s, is a long
Borsugli
earings
Set in Area
Proposal for incorporation of a
first class organized borough in
the Homer-Ninilchik area will be
considered by the Local Boundary
Commission, State of Alaska, in
a series of four public hearings
to be conducted next week in vari
ous Kenai Peninsula communities.
Ronald C. Cease, Local Affairs
Agency director, has announced
these public meetings will be held
on Friday, April 5 and on Satur
day, April 6.
The Friday hearings are sched
uled for 1 p.m. in Riverside
House, Soldotna and in Ninilchik
School at 7:30 p.m. The hearings
on Saturday will be at 1:30 p.m.
in Anchor Point School and at
7:30 p.m. in the Homer School.
tmie Alaskan famous in the area
for his proficiency in rock work,
especially in the building of fire
places. He is suffering from ter
minal cancel- and has been making
his home with the Schmidts for
the past several months.
According to his report to the
Alaska State Police, Sterns was
asleep when he was awakened
by a sound like an explosion and
discovered the house was in
(Continued on Page 11)
Bills Vital to Peninsula
T© Be Studied Saturday
At Soldotna C of C IVSeet
Current legislation concerning
bills pending in the Alaska Legis
lature of particular importance to
the Kenai Peninsula area will be
studied Saturday by the Greater
Soldotna Chamber of Commerce.
The meeting will begin by a noon
luncheon at Parkers in Ridgeway.
There is to be a special report
by the Chamber’s road committee
pertaining to local service roads
and a discussion of House Hill No.
16, introduced by Clem Tillion, of
Halibut Cove, state representa
tive from District 10, and Charles
E. Cole, Sr., of Seward, state re
presentative from District 9.
House Bill No. 1G is “An Act re
lating to the construction and
maintenance of local service roads
by the state to serve small rural,
agricultural and industrial areas
not included in primary or second
ary highway systems.”
Petitions for several local ser
vice roads in the area have been
sponsored by the Soldotna Cham
ber of Commerce and have been
submitted to the legislature.
School Board
Election Called
The Soldotna School Advisory
Board has set a public meeting
for 7:30 pun. on Monday, April
8, at the school for the purpose of
holding1 a school board election.
Nominations may be made from
the floor.
One advisory board member is
to be elected to succeed Dick Hall,
whose term is expiring. The cur
rent board is composed of three
members — Hall, Francis E. Mul
len and Mrs. Ted Grainge. Hall
has been serving as president of
the board.
Ray Burton, commercial fisher
man, is to report on the set net
ters’ stand regarding House Bill
No. 161, sponsored by Rader. M.
Reed, Sanders, et al. This is a bill
for ‘‘An Act relating to the leas
ing of land for fisheries develop
(Continued on Page 1G)
The Weather
Max. Min.
KENAI
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Clam Digging Party
Ends in Fatal Tragedy
A clam digging' trip to Seldov
ia ended in death by drowning
Wednesday for a North Kenai
couple, Augustin J. and Lorrayne
M. Bastien. Search still continues
for their companions, Dr. Phillip
Cary Whitehead of Seldovia and
Gary Sheldon, an area fisherman,
also believed to have drowned in
the same accident in Seldovia Bay.
Mr. and Mrs. Bastien had been
homesteading on North Kenai
Road and he was well known in
the area as a guitar player who
had often appeared with the
‘'Moon” Mullin orchestra from
Kenai. Mrs. Bastien is the daugh
ter of Mrs. W. L. (Bill) Hansen.
Hansen is a water well driller and
also operator of the Hill Top
Bar in the Sterling area.
The North Kenai couple and
their companions reportedly left
the beach in a small skiff early
\\ ednesday morning to go clam
digging across Seldovia Bay.
Their skiff was found overturned
at about noon by Bill Seely, op
erator of the Rose Marie fishing
boat, when a search was instigat
ed after their failure to return
as scheduled.
Various fishing boats in the
Seldovia area joined in the search
for the missing clam diggers and
the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Bas
HAS POWER BLANKS
KENAI — Frances Torkilsen,
city clerk of Kenai, has announc
ed that residents desiring Kenai
Power Corp. services can now ob
tain application blanks in her of
fice in the City Administration
building.
I---—
tien were recovered and taken
to Seldovia. Although the search,
is still in progress, there has as
yet been no trace found of Doc
tor Whitehead or Sheldon.
The bodies of the North Kenai
couple were being brought to Sol
dotna where burial arrangements
are to be made by the Copper
Delta Mortuary. No time or place
for the funeral have been decided
as yet.
Hospital Site
To Be Surveyed
K. S. Malone, registered survey
or in Kenai, has been employed by
the Central Kenai Peninsula Hos
pital Assoc, to make a prelimin
ary survey of the site upon which
the proposed new hospital will be
built. This survey will be used n
designing the hospital structure.
Another meeting of the CKP
HA Board of Trustees is called
for next week to discuss further
fund raising campaigns to be con
ducted soon.
Following the recent annual
meeting at which time the Board
of Trustees was elected, officers
of the organization were elected
front within the hoard member
ship. They include: Ted Gaines,
reelected as president; George
Denison, vice president; Rave
■Mullin, secretary; Virginia Gibbs,
assistant secretary; and Marion
Oberts, treasurer.
New committee heads have al
so been appointed and are: Ches
ter Cone, membership chairman;
George Navarre, budget and fi
nance. and Virginia Gibbs, build
ing and facilities chairman.
' ; wm. sgg
I
HEATING OILS
Automatic KEEP FULL Service
CALL
Soldotna Delivery Kenai Delivery
262-4418 283-7705
DON BAILEY
• UNION OIL CONSIGNEE •
And well do the rest
FRANK CHARR
Phone 262-4474