VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
Owned and Published by Anchorage Shopping Guid“, Inc.
PRINTED~AT PALMER, ALASKA, EACH FRIDAY~
Kritered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947. at the post office a
Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Viola Daniels * Edito:
Subscription rates - - 50c month, $5 a year
Mailed to all points In Alaska and the United States
imo pinned material in the Valley Frontiersman may be
reproduced except by permission of the publishers. . ,
DANIELS—In The Uon’s Den
*'j! Let's all work together to organize a tourist's bu
reau that will stress establishment of a spring arid win
ter travel season in Alaska, the Northwestern Cham
ber of Commerce at Nome suggests. And in this wri
ter's opinion, we think Nome's got something.
We do invite our visitors to the Territory at a time
when we can least accommodate them. We urge,
through leaflets and advertising material, that tour
ists see the land of the far north in the summer. Why
should we, I wonder?
All of our advertising, much of our magazine ma
terial and our news stories Outside make much of the
"land of the ice and snow, the long winter nights* the
frigid winter temperatures and th$ wonderful Aurora
Borealis." And then we invite company to come in a
season when they can't possibly enjoy any of these na
tural wonders.
Frankly, we can't see too much difference between
Alaska in summertime and any of the Pacific north
west country. And certainly it would be quite a bit
cheaper, and . possibly a whole lot more comfortable
for a tourist to do his sightseeing there than to make
the long trek north just to look at more dusty roads,
and to experience the bite of a bigger mosquito. We
suspect that the Pacific northwest variety of either
would do equally as well.
Certainly, our towns and cities take on a much
more pleasant appearance under a winter blanket of
concealing snow. Our lack of garbage dumps, our
overgrown dooryards and our general unkempt ap
pearance isn't nearly so evident in the winter-time.
And for the purely tourist brand of visitor, there's
certainly a lot more to do in the winter. There's no
hunting, it's true, but then most of our plain everyday
tourists haven't the cash to put into a non-resident
hunting license and guide's fees anyway. Ice fishing
can be as much fun, and is certainly much more novel,
than the summer stream fishing. A visit north in the
winter would pre-suppose some skiing, skating and
snowshoe hiking, but we can't think of many places
where a tourist could enjoy those sports in the summer.
Opportunities for the amateur photographer are un
excelled the year round, but we think no one will deny
that our winter sunrises and sunsets top anything we've
ever seen.
Then, too, the opportunity for purely man-made
fun is confined mainly to our winter and spring
months. We've jotted down just a few. items that we
thought of off-hand,.,which we feel visitors ought to
have an opportunity to enjoy. Yet there isn't a single
one of these affairs that occurs later than May. The
events we thought of include the Anchorage Fur Ren
dezvous, the Fairbanks Ice Carnival,?'the Nenana
b&ak-up celebration, the 'Seward Potlatch, Nome's
fair, and Palmer's Colony Day.. .. -:■*
We believe that the ultimate objective of every one
■of these affairs is-to cultivate good will and stimulate
business relationships. We can't think we're doing
such a good job of either, if we keep them all in the!
family, so to speak. ; ;
Therefore, we recommend that the Valley Cham-1
ber of Commerce wholeheartedly support Nome'sj
plan. We think it's a good idea, worthy of support. ;
We're sorry someone in the Valley didn't think of it
first, for we feel the suggestion points out the funda
mental flaw in our bid for tourist trade, and we think j
that Nome is going to get the credit for originating the j
- that revolutionized Alaska's tourist industry.
Coining Events
To Be Listed
(Because of repeated conflicts
j in meeting dates, the Valley Fron
I tiersman has had several requests
: to extend its calendar over a
j longer period of time than one
week. It is felt that this would be
too space-consuming to be prac
tical, but there will be substituted
a “Coming Events” feature which
; will calendar principal activities
on a monthly basis.
The Cedendar will- be continued
on a weekly basis .and will con
tinue .to. serve as a regular meet
ing reminder for. all Valley or
ganizations. The “Coming Events”
column will announce all special
activities, as dances, basketball
games, important meetings and
the like—in short, all activities
which do not recur periodically
throughout the month.
Secretaries of Valley organ
izations are urged to list these
special events as soon as they are
planned. All clubs are further
urged to check this monthly list
in order to avoid -conflicts in
plans.)
February activities already
scheduled at press-time were as
follows:
Feb. 10—Basketball trip to Val
dez. Final Sewaxd-Paimer bas
ketball game here.
Feb. 11—Annual skit night of
PHS junior class.
Feb. 15—Annual meeting of Val
ley Hospital Association.
Feb. 17—Fairbanks-Palmer bas
ketball game here.
Feb. 18—Fairbanks-Palmer bas
ketball game here.
Feb. 20—Annual Farm and Home
Institute (tentative)
Feb. 21—Annual Farm and Home
Institute.
Feb. 22—Annual Farm and Home
Institute.
Feb. 23—Annual Farm and Home
Institute.
Feb. 24—Teen-age party.
March 11—Benefit dance spon
sored by hospital nurses.
Coffey Insures Everything—
Remember?
Remember Her
wi!h a Valentine gift
of
LUXITE LINGERIE
VciAiety rUo<j.ue4.
FURNITURE WORKSHOP:
PLANNED FOR VALLEY
A furniture repair workshop is i
planned for Valley women during
late February and early MarVdo,
it was announced by Miss Mary
Lou Lashbrook at last Monday’s
meeting of the Homemaker’s
Council. The workshop, ..second
of its kind for the Valley during
the year, will be supervised ..jjy
Miss Mary Robinson of.Anchor^
age. . .... ;
The workshop will be held-’in
the Grange Hall. There will- be
no charge, except a dollar con
tribution to help pay the fuel bill.
All who sign up for the course
must bring the supplies needed
to repair their chosen article of
furniture.
Sign-up list for the course is
now ready at the Extension Of
fice. Further plans will be an
nounced next week. Miss Laish
brook said.
Coffey Insures Everything—
Remember?
ABRAHAM LINCOLN touched the log
cabin and it become the palace in which
greatness was bbrn. He forged a repub
lic which no power can tear asunder.
His voice is recreated out of the past as
we listen to hrs words of wisdom over the
air waves. The spirit of Lincoln still lives
ond while it lives; America's safe.
Closed all day
Lincoln's Birthday, Feb. 13th
MATANUSKA VALLEY BANK
Palmer, Alaska
Open Friday Evenings—5 to 7 P. M.
2 PER CENT ON SAVINGS
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BOTANY and PENDLETON brands
- ■*.*■’ • : Plaids, plains or Checks •
Tan, Brown, Gray, Green
Some priced as lew as $ 13.95
T Up to $22.50
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