. i -* ;
Thought of the Week:
Everybody would like to
have a government that can op.
erale without taxation and yet
give the people the benefits of
modern times.
THE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
ACCA Benefit
Christmas Ball
Elks Hall
Dec. 21
10 p.m.
VOLUME 16, NUMBER 13
PALMER. ALASKA, THURSDAY, DEC. 19, 1963
TWENTY-TWO PAGES
PRICE 15 CENTS
: Reporters—
Nate'liQah
Oid-tirner and Cheechako
alike will enjoy the story. “Old
Knik , which appears in the
January issue of Alaska Sports
man. Profusely illustrated, it
tells the story of the once
thriving port of Knik, a jump
ing-off place for trappers and
miners. It’s author is Albert
“Bill Reeder of Hyer Road, a
regular contributor to the
Sportsman.
Rudy Whittaker, who will
have surgery today or tomor
row in a Los Angeles hospital,
wrote this week to thank his
Palmer friends for “their kind
ness toward me and my wife.”
Mrs. Whittaker joined her hus
band last week. H i s mailing
address is Ward B-2-E, Wads
worth General V. A. Hospital,
Los Angeles 25, Calif. The op
eration he awaits is a serious
one, and he has asked for the
prayers of his friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Emil Gansrhow
and son LeRoy left by plane
Wednesday morning for Phoe
nix, Arizona, where they will
visit their eldest son Richard,
his wife, and two little grand
daughters they have never
seen before. The Ganschow's
plan to be away about three
weeks.
Joe Hamon, ACAN, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Hamon of
Lazy Mountain, is home on
leave irom the Naval Station
at Kodiak. Arriving here Lee.
16, Joe will have an opportun
ity to visit family and friends
until Jan. 2.
Robert Boyd, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Sam Boyd of Palmer, has
returned home after several
months with the Bureau of
Land Management at various
posts in Central Alaska. Bob
will return to his job with the
BLM next April.
• * *
Janet Stout, Willow teacher
whose home is near Palmer,
has had interesting informa
tion to give her friends Out
side in her Christmas letters.
Her school was closed for three
days because of warm weather
—rain and warm temperatures
created ice so slick that the
school buses slid off the roads.
FRONTIERSMAN GIVES
MEMORIAL DONATION
The Frontiersman will do
nate funds ordinarily used for
the annual staff Christmas par
ty to the Palmer library fund
as a memorial to the late
President, John Fitzgerald
Kennedy, publisher T. O. Sch
midtke said this week.
► Fresh Christmas
MISTLETOE—HOLLY
(Please pick up early)
Greens
POINSETTIAS
POTTED PLANTS
NEW SHIPMENT
Bayberry and Christmas Candles
Wickerware
Arrangement Bowls and Vases
Swedish. Italian & Mexican
ROSALEE STEWART’S
Wood Carved Figurines and Pictures
(Wide Selection)
For Home Decorations
W,REDrfoAR^KCONES CantBAMBOO°RAFTSW00^
MAUD’S FLOWERS
Sims Building 745*3913
Borough Assembly Holds First Session
Grade School
Parties, Program
To Be Tomorrow
Palmer grade school children
will celebrate tomorrow, the
final day of school before
Christmas vacation, with par
ties at Swanson and Centra!
and a program at Central
school.
Grades one through four will
present the Christmas program
at Central, the theme of which
will be “Christmas of Many
Lands." Teachers of each class
have worked out presentations
of Christmas as observed in
two foreign countries, and Mrs.
Lois Weldon, choral director in
the Palmer schools, is coordi
nating the program and assist
ing each class with the musical
portion of its presentation.
Members of the chime band
in grades five and six will take
part in the program, and the
junior high chorus will sing.
All parents are invited to at
tend.
Children will return to their
own rooms for Christmas par
ties at 2:30 p.m.
Swanson school presented its
Christmas program this after
noon at two o’clock in the
multipurpose room. Partici
pants were members of the
first and second grade classes.
Christmas parties at Swan
son will be tomorrow after the
last recess, with times varying
between 2 and 2:15 p.m., each
class celebrating in its own
room.
Classes in the Palmer schools
will resume on Thursday, Jan.
2.
Elks Talkeetna
Party Is Sunday
Following a tradition of
about ten years’ standing,
members of the Palmer Elks
Lodge will travel to Talkeetna
on Sunday, Dec. 22. to give a
Christmas party for the chil
dren there.
Chairman M. E. Burgan said
that members of the lodge
will drive to Talkeetna in
Keith Melendy’s Jeep and Jim
Stevens' pickup. Making the
trip will be Ben Cabo, Ben
Hudgins, Melendy, Stevens,
and possibly one or two others.
Talkeetna youngsters will as
semble in the school for the
party. Santa will distribute
gifts and candy, and movies
will be shown.
Burgan said there are no
needy families in the Talkeetna
area this year, so Christmas
baskets have not been made
up.
Shipping Men Attend
Chamber Luncheon
“We ship nowhere but Alas- ;
ka,” said Bob Rose of the’
Alaska Steamship Co. at the j
noon luncheon meeting of the j
Matanuska Valley Chamber of ;
Commerce yesterday. “If Alas- !
ka doesn't prosper and grow we
won’t."
Rose, with other representa- ;
tives of the shipping and truck
ing industry, is in Palmer this
week to attend the farm ses
sion at the Grange hall which
hogan yesterday and is contin
uing today.
Rose said the shipping in
dustry is giving considerable
time to studies on ways to less
en operational costs. He said
there is no reason to believe
that these costs will continue
to spiral.
Congress, he said, is aware of
the problem of keeping a good
merchant marine fleet, which
is essential not only for com
merce but for defense. Senator
Bartlett now has two bills be
fore the Senate which are de
signed to correct Alaskan *hip
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE
Communicable disease re
ported in the Palmer area for
the week ending Dec. 6 includ
I ed 25 cases of German measles,
three of measles, one of otitis
media, one pneumonia, and se
ven upper respiratory infec
tions.
I
ping inequity, Rose noted. Un
der present conditions, Alas
kans are paying, through <
shipping costs, for the defense
of the nation as a whole, he ,
pointed out. The Bartlett bills
would establish subsidies
which would pay half the cost
of construction of new vessels. :
However, Rose said, this]
does not appear to be a solution
to high freight rates. He said
Alaska Steam recently pur
chased a Liberty ship for about
$325,000, and have spent con- j
siderably more to renovate it.
It would cost $10 million to '
construct a new vessel. Even if
Congress subsidized hall the
cost. $5 million would still re- ,
main on the company’s books, i
and to make the new vessel
pay, it would have to be 10 i
times more effective than the
carriers AAS now has.
Other guests at the meet- i
ing included Dick Berg of the :
travel division of the state de
partment of economic develop
ment and planning; John Al
cantra, aide to Gov. Egan; Dar
rell Baird, chairman of the
ASC program in Alaska; Tom
Ousdale and D o n Eaunch of
Alaska Steam; John Osborn,
Puget Sound Van Lines; Fred
Hoefler, Alaska Railroad; and
A1 Renk and Jack Hart, Alas
ka Carriers. Inc.
PROCEEDS FROM
CHRISTMAS BALL
rG GO TO ACCA
Proceeds from the Christmas
Ball, jointly sponsored by the
Palmer Elks Lodge and the
Matanuska '/alley chapter of
the AiasKa Crippled Children’s
Association, will go to benefit
ACCA.
The public is invited to the I
affair, which will be in the.
Elks hall or. Saturday. Dec. 21,1
with dancing to begin at 10
p.m Live music has been
promised. The charge per cou
ch' will be- S2.50. However, it
was emphasized that other con
tributions to ACCA will be
gratefully accepted.
A high percentage of the
funds earned by the local
chapter remain in the Matanus
ka Valle,". . nd help to support
the speech and hearing clinic,
the retarded children’s pro
gram. and the King’s Lake
camp for handicapped children.
To be raffled at the ball are
a gem-top table from Mary K
Sales and a Tupper Craft ham
per of linens. Tickets are
available from members of the
MVCCA.
MEETING PLACE CHANGE
Members of the Valley Hos
pital Auxiliary said today that
they regret to report that, rtue
to lack of cooperation by the
management of the hospital
staff, there will be no more
meetings of the Auxiliary at
the hospital.
Hermann, Johnson
Named to Assembly
Named to the District 7 bor
ough assembly at the Palmer
City Council meeting on Fri
day, Dec. 13, were William
Hermann and Willard Johnson.
The two were chosen by ballot.
Hermann is owner-manager
of the Belvedere Apartments
and has mining interests in the
area. Johnson, who is chief en
gineer for Matanuska Electric
Association, lives on Matanus
ka Street.
Both assemblymen expressed
the wish that a close relation
shin be maintained with the
city in their work on the bor- ■
(.ugh assembly.
Hezoning Hearing
The council approved a mo
tion to rezone the west half of
Block 9. of the revised plat of
ARRC Subdivision No. 1 from
residential to commercial use.
! The action followed a public
hearing, at which only two
i property owners testified. They
j were Mr. and Mrs. Everett Ped
i erson, residents of the area,
who asked if there were plans
for paving Matanuska Street,
expiessing concern about the
dust problem from traffic if a
commercial building is erected
in the location named in the
hearing.
Council members pointed out
that the council has obligated
itself to pave the street area
in front of the new post office,
wherever it is located.
Visitors
Mrs. Lenora Wells of the
Matanuska Hotel Corporation
appeared before the council to
ask that the monthly payment
to the hotel for telephone a
ssistance in police, fire and
ambulance calls during off
hours and on holidays be in
creased from $70 a month to
$300 a month. Mrs. Wells said
that under the present set-up,
the operator is being paid 15
or 20 cents an hour for h i s
work. Councilmen. although
agreeing that $70 was inade
quate, pointed out that t h e
operator is also on duty for
other reasons, and that the $300
figure was not realistic. It was
agreed to take the proposition
under advisement. Mrs. Wells
said that under no circum
stances would the hotel staff
jeopardize the fire and ambu
lance service by a refusal to ac
cept calls.
Russ Felzien asked the coun
cil to refund $20 which he s; d
he spent in attorney's fees, af
ter his son was cited for driv
ing down a Palmer alley, as
the case was thrown out of
court by the Palmer city attor
ney. Louis Bencardino, Palmer
police chief, said the use of al
leys is restricted to entrance to
residences and places of busi
ness, and that the youth had
been using the alley for a
thoroughfare and had not stop
ped for intersections; also that
the young man had been an oc
cupant of a car stopped by the
police the previous week for
driving in an alley.
Felzien was told that the
council is not a court of law,
and that once a citation has
been issued the council c a n
take no action on it. It was
pointed out that “misuse of al
leys” would constitute a legal
violation.
Clyde King appeared to pro
test a councilman’s action in
asking the city police to inves
tigate dumping of garbage at
the end of the airport runway,
since some garbage had been
scattered on the way to the
airport and on the runway it
self. King said that fill is
needed for the river embank
ment. and the airmen are re
sponsible for maintenance of
the airport; that he felt the
complaint should have come to
the airmen.
It was brought out that an
other member of the Airmen’s
Association has recently order
ed. “No Dumping" :%gns to be
placed at the end of the run
way.
Other Business
Couneilmen Dick Geiwitz
and Walt Briggs were named
to work with the tax assessor
to familiarize themselves with
the assessed valuations of prop
erty within the city.
Don Irwin, city manager,
said he has made an agree
ment with Joe Curtis, who will
build kennels for the pound
without charge, and that a
new contract with the dog cat
cher will be set up.
A motion was approved for
the city manager to take steps
to secure interim financing for
the Palmer sewer system in the
amount of $40,000. The move
was taken to enable the bond
ing firm to sell all bonds in a
block next spring, rather than
part of them now, in order to
obtain a better interest rate.
General fund bills in the
amount of $6,583.47 were ap
proved, also water bills total
ling $1,098.16.
Slate Officials
Clarify Issues
Problems to be met in tak
ing over educational service in
the borough occupied much of
the discussion at an informal
meeting of assemblymen and
school board members from the
District T borough last evening
in the Palmer high school cafe
teria.
Present at the meeting were
Ron Cease, director of the lo
cal affairs agency, and Robert
Isaac, assistant commissioner
of education, and Dee Hayes,
supervisor of the Anchorage
field office, department of ed
ucation.
Cease emphasized that steos
must be taken immediately af
ter incorporation on Jan. 1 to
work out a program of assess
ment for taxation purposes.
The state will continue to fund
state schools through the com
ing fiscal year beginning July
1, 1964, but by September, 1964
the borough must have com
plied some assessment figure;
| on which to base a budget foi
j the 1965-66 yea,r it was stated
1 John Alcantra, aide to Gov
I Egan, who is in Palmer for th<
! farm session at the Grangi
. hall, also joined the meeting
j Aicantra said that the bureau
of land management has map
and data that will be usefu
in compiling assessment fig
ures.
Numerous matters of practi
cal concern were brought oul
by school board members and
by R. C. Carter, Palmer Inde
pendent School District super
intendent.
Contracting for teachers for
the coming year, the problem
of ordering textbooks, varia
tions between state and PISD
salaries, transitional insurance
coverage, disposition of mo
bile schools such as the one at
Montana, and the responsibil
ity for education of students
living in areas where there
are no schools were discussed.
Local officials were told that
the school board may contract
for teachers with borough ap
proval; that paperwork on or
dering textbooks is already
progressing through teachers
in the state schools, and that
data is available in the Anch
orage field office on past text
book orders; that the mobile
schools will be turned over to
the borough; and that the
borough is responsible for stu
dents in remote areas.
Asked by Carter who ha n
dles policy matters during the
transitional period. Isaac said
that policy will be decided on
the local level; that the state
office will give any assistance
necessary, but that the boi
ough must ask for it.
Carter also brought up th.
question of moving borough
| boundaries inward, citing the
Meek in school located almost
! 100 miles away as an example
! of a school administrative prob
lem. Cease said tnat if this
were to be done, it would be
necessary to set up a hearing
right after Jan. 1 to allow time
to present the boundary change
.to the legislature. All assembly
men and school boaid members
agreed that they woo d prefer
to wrad and get the opinion of
the area residents oefore mak
ing such a move.
In discussing adding area
wide powers beyond the three
mandatory ones, Cease said
that he considers the law as it
applies to second class bor
oughs to be far too cumber
some; that in his opinion the
step which requires the as
sembly to petition the local af
fairs agency for aoproval of
th ■ added power before going
to the voters should be elimi
, nated.
i Alcantra and Cease present
. ed two different points of view
i on the selection of ten per cent
3 of unappropriated lands within
! the borough. Alcantra said he
believed that the cost of selec
tion, assessment and develop
ment would be so great that
the borough would be better
off to simply accept a percent
age of revenues from state
lands. Cease, however, said
that once the borough gave up
these lands it would never get
them back, and that within five
to ten years they might be of
inestimable value to the bor
ough.
Service areas in the borough
are not intended to be units
of local government, Cease
said. If an area has need for
a service not provided other
wise, its residents may vote to
establish one, and wrill he re
sponsible for the cost of admin
istering it. He added that if an
area can afford to pay for sev
eral services, it would be bet
ter off to incorporate as a city.
“The law did not intend for the
borough to be dotted with ser
vice areas,” he stated.
The local affairs agency di
rector recommended waiting
until the borough’s educational
system is set up before pro
ceeding with the assumption of
planning and zoning. He sug
gested that in setting up a plan
ning commission, some mem
bers from the city commission
he included to take advantage
of their experience.
»
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DUN I Mibb (JUK
MERRY CHRISTMAS
from
Barry's Resort
I
CHRISTMAS PARTY
FRIDAY, Dec. 20-UVE MUSIC