Buy an
AMERICAN LEGION
Poppy
On Saturday, May 24
The Frontiersman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
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TRY A FRONTIERSMAN
CLASSIFIED AD for that
itom you may hart for salo.
rani or Uim.
VOLUME V. NO. 3S
PALMER, ALASKA. THURSDAY, MAY 15. 1952
PRICE TEN CENTS
Friday Marks Commencement for 20 Palmer Hi Seniors
World Around Us
IN NENANA a reluctant tripod
finally bowed to Spring and
clocked the 1952 break-up of the
Tanana River at 5:04 p.m., Mon
day, May 12. Only one man had
guessed correctly on the time for
the annual event. Many happy re
turns were in store for Charles
R. Montjoy, director of Native re
sources for the Alaska Native
Service at Juneau. Many more re
turns were in store for Uncle
Sam.
* * *
»
IN FAIRBANKS Chamber of
Commerce discussion centered re
cently on the possibility of pip
ing natural gas to the city from
the large natural gas reserves in
the Arctic, about 400 miles away.
The reserve area is controlled by
the government under a huge
Navy oil project Comdr. Millard
H. Aubey stressed the fact that
the Navy is not interested in gas
but is interested in oil. He in
dicated that it might be possible
to obtain the release of the near
est known gas field.
• • •
. eve
hos
k
IN SEWARD rumors that the
ANS might withdraw patients
from the sanatorium nearby
when the big new1 hospital in
Anchorage is completed were
quashed by Delegate E. L. Bart
lett.
“For a long time to come there
will be a definite r< ,*ed for facilit
ies at the institution adjacent to
Seward,” the Delegate said,
“Opening the new Anchorage
hospital will be a great boon but
even so it will not be possible to
hospitalize all the people ill with
ubereulosis.”
* * *
IN VALDEZ it was announced
that sales tax collections for the
first quarter of 1952 amounted to
$9,593.30. The tax, voted into ef
fect as of January 1, will be used
to pay bonded indebtedness on
APW projects.
IN JUNEAU it appeared cer
tain that Republican candidates
Doris Barnes and Mildred Her
mann and Democrats Frank Per
atrovich and Mark Jensen had
won the First Division Senate
nominations in the recent Ter
ritorial election Probable nom
inations for the House include
Republicans Waino Hendrickson,
Ed Locker, Frank Johnson, Fred
Eastaugh, Morrell MacSpaden,
and William K. Boardman; and
Democrats Andrew Hope, Ver
non Metcalfe, Pete Woods, Robert
Coughlin, Charles Nelson, and
W. O. Smith.
Buy an American Legion Poppy
May 24.
PALMER HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1952
Left to right, front row: Barbara Tirapelli, Betty Harris. Esther Dupont, Delores Lentz, Violet Werner. Esther Pederson. Wanda
Lindsey Gloria Lepak, Rita McClafferty. Genevieve DeLand. Back row: James Colberg. Charles Millis, Robert Laeher, Ernest
Marth, James Caulkins, August Klem. Wesley Eckert, Vernon Iridley. Senior Class members not shown are Wesley Grover and
Norma Nelson. -
MAYOR PROCLAIMS
SATURDAY, MAY 17,
ARMED FORCES DAY
Proclaiming Saturday, May 17,
as “Armed Forces Day,” Mayor
Carl Meier this week called upon
all Palmer citizens to join the
nation in paying :te to our
fighting forces whc and ready
to protect us on lant sea, and m
the air.
Alaskans, he obser ed, have a
particular reason to be thankful
j for the mass of military strength
j concentrated within the Terri
: tory. To the Alaska Command
falls the job of pr tecting the
I strategic Territory of Alaska and
preventing its use as a jumping
! off point to the continental Unit
ed States.
In previous years, Armed For
ces Day has been marked by a
mass demonstration of the Alas
kan Air Command. Plans this
year for such a mass display of
jet-propelled aircraft over Palmer
have had to be cancelled because
of restrictions on the use of petro
leum products in the Alaskan
area.
f
PAUL ROBISON GIVES
COMMENCEMENT TALK
AT WASILLA
Community Hall at Wasilla
overflowed with people attending
the Wasilla School Commence
ment program last night.
Eight Seniors, four boys and
four girls, made up the largest
graduating class the Wasilla
School his ever had.
Paul Robison, Anchorage at
torney. delivered the Commence
ment address, and Heinie Snider
was called upon to make a few
remarks.
ONE INJURED AS
ROCK SUDE PUSHES
GAR OVER CUFF
A seriously injured serviceman,
suffering a possible fractured
skull and multiple lacerations,
was rushed to Valley Hospital
Tuesday night after the car in
which he was riding plunged 100
feet over the embankment near
Mile 95 on the Glenn Highway.
The spectacular crash was pre
cipitated by a fall of boulders
from the steep hillside at the
side of the road. According to the
report of the Highway Patrol, the
slide rammed into the side of the
moving car. Highcentered by a
huge rock that zoomed under
neath, the car was hurtled over
the cliff by the slide’s momen
tum and it turned over again and
again before reaching the bottom
of the canyon. ,
A second serviceman miracu
lously received only superficial
scratches from the crash. He was
able to crawl out of the wreck
age, climb up the steep embank
ment, and hail a passing car. A
mile south, at Watchtower Inn,
he enlisted the aid of a registered
nurse, Mrs. Audrey Corey, who
rushed to the scene of the crash.
Removed from the wreckage, the
injured man was rushed to Pal
mer and given emergency treat
ment at the hospital. Later he
was removed by ambulance to
the Air Force hospital.
Name of the injured service
man is being withheld at his re
quest.
THE MACHETANZ' RETURN
Two of the Valley’s best sales
men, Fred and Sara Machetanz,
are back home this week after a
winter of lecturing and showing
their movies in the Mid West.
SCHOOL BOARD VOTES
TO BUY 10 ACRES OF
A. J. SWANSON LAND
The Palmer Independent
School District, meeting in regu
lar session Wednesday evening,
May 7, voted to buy 10 acres of
the A. J. Swanson property for
a future school site.
The wooded site bordering im
mediately upon Palmer’s north
eastern city limits was offered
by Mrs. Swanson, who is now liv
ing Outside, at the price of $300
per acre. The site is 650 feet
square and commands a magnifi
cent view of the Matanuska
River’s east bank. It is bounded
on the north by Max Sherrod’s
property. The site may be ap
proached on foot from Sherrod
Avenue.
Although the site was original
ly considered for the new elemen
tary school to be built from funds
provided through federal bill 815,
there is a possibility that the
proposed new high school will be
located there. Hopes of obtaining
a free high school site from the
ARRC between the new hospital
property on the south and Snod
grass-Newcomb property on the
north have dimmed considerably
during recent negotiations. Ac
cording to Superintendent Wil
liam T. Zahradnicek, several ob
jections have been raised to the
location of a school building on
the ARRC site. Should the price
approach the alleged real worth
of the property, Zahradnicek
opined that the School Board
would be forced to consider an
other site. The school district al
ready owns a possible school site
behind the present Palmer
Continued on page 10
* m ** m ■***^*^^^*^*****»*^*- - - -i|-LTU~Lru~
CLEAN-UP WEEK
TRASH PICK-UPS
START TOMORROW
Schedule for the house-to
house trash pick-up in connec
tion with the city-wide clean-up
campaign was announced again
this week by George Crowther
and Ed Smith, members of the
Kiwanis co-ordinating committee.
Residents are asked to put their
trash in suitable containers pl
aced, next to the road. The City
Council has authorized Russ Fei
zien and his helpers to use the
city truck for the pick-up. It was
stipulated, however, that no gar
bage will be picked up—only
trash of a less perishable nature.
The truck will cover the North
Palmer area, north of the high
way tomorrow morning, Friday,
May 16, Friday afternoon the city
area south of the highway and
east of the railroad tracks will be
covered. The lone Saturday pick
up will cover the remainder of
the Palmer area, south of the
highway and west of the rail
road tracks.
BRISK BREEZES BLOW
early plantings
OUT OF THE GROUND
Most farmers have barely start
ed their spring planting, but yes
terday Max Sherrod re-planted
an acre of early cabbage and an
acre of early carrots.
Brisk week-end breezes blew
the first plantings of these vege
tables right out of the ground.
It was reported that several
other produce farmers in the Val
ley also suffered discouraging
losses from the wind.
| DOLORES LENTZ
WILL DELIVER
GLASS VALEDICTORY
The climax of twelve long
years of public school education
will come for 20 Palmer High
School Seniors tomorrow evening
when they receive their diplomas
at the Commencement Program
to be held in the school gymna
sium.
Promptly at 8 p.m., the Seniors
will march into the gymnasium
to the tune of the Processional,
Kern s Grand March,” played by
Mrs. C. A. Brewer. The girl grad
uates will wear white caps and
gowns; the boys will wear blue.
Dolores Lentz will deliver the
Valedictory. Her chosen subject
is “Civilization’s Greatest Prob
lem.” “In Our Years,” the Salu
tatory title selected by August
Klem, is thought-provoking. It
calls forth memories of the many
events that have been crammed
into the 18 years known by most
of the graduates.
Hie Commencement address
will be given by John Gorsuch,
member of the Anchorage School
District Board and its former
president.
The address will be followed
by Superintendent William T.
Zahradnicek, who will present
the annual awards.
Diplomas for 20 Seniors
Then will come the big moment
for the Palmer High School Class
of 1952. After High School Princi
pal Harry Wimmer presents the
class to him, Harold L. Thuma,
president of the Palmer Inde
pendent School District Board,
will award high school diplomas
to the following Seniors: James
Edward Caulkins, James William
Colberg, Genevieve Dean De
Land, Wesley Earl Eckert, Ver
non Alonzo Fridley, Betty Ann
Harris, and August Henry Klem.
Louis Robert Lacher, Dolores
Mae Lentz, Gloria Geramine Le
pak, Wanda Lea Lindsey, Ernest
Andrew Marth, Rita McClafferty,
Charles Leo Milles, Esther Louise
Myers, Norma Noreen Nelson,
Esther Marie Pederson, Barbara
Jane Tirapelli, and Violet Jean
Werner.
Watching proudly, along with
the graduates’ parents and
friends, will be Mrs. Margaret
Cope, the Senior Class advisor.
62 Eighth Grade Diplomas
A forecast of the size of the
graduating class of 1956 will be
suggested by Elementary School
Principal William Elliott when
he awards 62 Eighth Grade di
plomas to the following: Marie
Bennet, Carol Beyer, Betty Jane
Clark, Arlene Foort, Wilda Har
ris, Helen Kurtz. Betty Ann Land,
Louise Loberg, Sharon McCart
ney, Mary Moore, Nija Nicolai,
Fielena Saulsbury, Betty Jo
Wendt, Sophia Kalmakoff, Rich
ard Burnett, Paul Campbell. Paul
Davis, Richard Wayne Hendrick
son, Laddie Huntley, William
Lentz, Gary Loyer, Lester Marth,
John Reed, Francis Tirapelli,
Gary Verrall, Billy Cox, Davis
Rogers, George Pearson, William
Bentti, and George Campbell. All
these are home room pupils
John Zawalnicki.
'Eighth Grade diplomas will
also be awarded to the following
home room pupils of Miss Nettie
Smith: Verna Adams, Carol
Berry, Doris Ann Brinkman,
Judy Bryant, Marilyn Dragseth,
Continued on page 10
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