Farm find Home Insli
vjc begins al Grange
Ha)l al 10 o'clock
Tuesday.
Malley Mrnntiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
The Fur Rendezvous
events open in An
chorage next Wednes
day. -•
VUL. THHtE—NO. 23
PALMER. ALASKA, FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 17. 1950
PRICE 10c
AHA
CHURCH OFFER
TO HELP HOSPITAL
IS UP TO BOARD
Members of the Valley Hos
pital Association not only lookec
a gift horse in the mouth Iasi
Wednesday night, they gave it i
painstaking physical examinatior
from nose to tailtip. Even then
they coudn’t decide to take th<
animal, so they left the final de
cision in the collective laps of tht
board of directors.
The gift horse was the offer o]
the Board of National Mission:
of the Presbyterian Church is
support the Valley Hospital tc
the extent of $3,000 annually, and
to leave hospital control in the
hands of the local board of direc
tors.
The proposal, as outlined in s
letter from R. Rolland Armstrong
territorial representative, con
tained a 10-point program. It in
vited discussion and amendments,
so that the offer might fully mieel
the approval ot\Hospital Associa
tion members on every point.
The 10-point program was out
lined as follows:
1. The Association's hospital
boa;d membership will remain
community representatives.
2. When a nurse administra
tor is needed, the vacancy may
be filled through the coopera
tion of the National Board of
Missions, and the board also
will try to provide a nursing
staff of qualified personnel,
when needed.
3. The Hospital board must
appoint to its membership the
local Presbyterian minister
(Rev. Victor Alfsen) and the
territorial representative (Rev
erend Armstrong).
4. The name of the hospital
shQll be the Community Pres
byterian Hospital. (This re
quirement need not be met, it
was explained, since the pres
ent hospital already is incor
(Continued on Page 8)
Fourteen Speakers
Will Lecture
At Farm Institute
Everything from how to utilize
the native furs and woods of
Alaska, how to build a home, how
to olant a garden, how to pay for
thaf home and garden, and how
to get along with your nearest
neighbor and potential market,
will be taught at the Farm and
Some Institute next week.
There are a total of 13 farm and
lome experts, and a visiting fire
man from Anchorage, who will
appear on the Institute’s three
lay program, which begins Feb.
>1 at the Grange Hall. Class ses
sions begin at 10 a. m. and end at
1:30 p. m. daily. A potluck lunch
will be served by one of the Val
ey’s Homemakers Clubs each
lay.
Highlights on this year’s pro
, ram include:
Making of Mukluks and Mit
tens—Mrs. Lydia Fohh-Hanson;
(Continued on page 8)
The Tale Of The Matanuska
And How It Blew In 1950
! The big wind of 1930—it blew
and blew and blew. It blew for j
15 days in the Matanuska Valley, i
i For eleven days it blew from the j
j north and it piled all the snow:
of the fields in Valley roads. Road
! clearing equipment swept it
away. Then for four more days it
, blew from the east and it swept
the snow right back in the road
• again.
: This wind that blew was one
; of no respect for persons, either.
It snatched hats and tossed them
over buildings. It blew a small
girl’s valentines right out of the
box in which she carried them
home, and when she went to
gather back the first missing one
or two, then it blew until the box
she put down was empty.
This was the wind that stole j
I the hat of F. L. Kerzie, Co-Op
j auditor, as he crossed the tracks j
to board a bus and leave this Val- j
ley behind, with no regrets. And |
when he would have reclaimed
A ~ v~LV- . . ...2. i...
the hat, it tripped the crusty
mathemetician and bowled him
along the icy street like an out
size elongatd snowball.
This famous wind of ’50 blew
so hard and long that it severed
telephone lines like silken hair
nets. It snatched the roof from
the vegetable grading heous or
the Railroad docks and ther
caved in its walls. It filched gar
bage cans and oil barrels that
weren’t battened down, and i1
twisted hood covers from auto
mobiles and tossed them up tc
shatter the windshields of those
vehicles.
It packed snowdrifts so hard
that caterpillar tracks could bare
ly dent the surface of the snow
that was piled eight feet high in
some places. It filled roads deep
with the cement-like snow and
left farm fields as bare as early
spring.
Yes, the big wind of 1950 was
a mighty wind.
NEIL MILLER RESIGNS
AS CHEST TREASURER
I The resignation of Neil Miller,
treasurer of Palmer’s Community
Chest board, was announced this
week by Miss Louise Kellogg,
chairman- Mr. Miller’s resigna
tion was necessitated by his job
transfer to Juneau.
The treasurer’s position has
tilled by the appointment of Mrs.
Roland Snodgrass.
_
Men and Women Take Valdez, Cordova
In Tri-Citv Basketball lamboree
m
Six games played and six
games won—that was the “thank
you” gift in reverse that Palm
er’s Shamrocks and Rockets left
with their Valdez hosts last
weekend. The Rockets whipped
a Cordova woman’s team, too,
just to prove their victories were
no fluke.
After a strenuous jaunt down,
that laid low several Rockets and
Shamrocks with carsickness, the
barnstorming Palmer-ites played
a Friday evening game, came
back for another session on Sat
urday, and then wound up in an
All-Star exhibition when snow on
Thompson’s Pass stretched their
Valdez visit to Tuesday.
Team members had nothing
but good to report of their visit,
when they returned here this
week. “They gave us a royal re
ception,” Clair Stock, Rocket
manager, said. “We couldn’t
even pay for our cigarettes while
we were there, and they loaded
us down with souvenirs to bring
back. All in all, we had one of
the finest trips we’ve ever made.”
Driving conditions on the Rich
ardson were excellent, it was
agreed. Those who made the trip
say the highway is in better con
dition now than it normally is in
mid-summer. They admit that
temperatures were cool in spots (aJ
minus 60 at Copper Center) andi
that the wind blows at Valdez, i
too (a freight trailer was over-!
turned in a Valdez street when a ■
gust of wind slipped up on it.)
Cordova, which also partici
pated in the tri-town basketball
jamboree, made the trip to Val-i
dez by power barge.
The Rockets and Shamrocks are !
now planning for a similar series
here with the neighboring towns, j
An invitation will be given to;
both Cordova and Valdez to par
ticipate in a basketball weekend j
here, Mr. Stock said. No dates
have been fixed, but definite an
nouncement will be made in the
near future.
Irene Vasanoja was high point
scorer for the Rockets in the Val
dez series with a total of 25
points. Helen Mae Stenvall was;
close behind her with a count of
21.
Ray DePriest won all kinds of
basketball glory with a grand to
tal of 52 points for the three-game
series. Gordon Berg, loaned
from the Anchorage Elgs for the
occasion, was a great help on the
floor and added 30 points to the
Shamrocks’ composite total.
Quarter scores in the weekend
games:
Rockets ..
Valdez .
Shamrocks .
Valdez (AL) .
Rockets .
Cordova .
Shamrocks .
Valdez (CB) .
Shamrocks .
Valdez All-Stars
Rockts .
Valdez All-Stars
...6 11 21 25
...2 2 6 12
.8 29 39 62
.4 6 15' 25
...4 13 24 33
...0 2 8 12
18 28 40
9 19 26
...8 21 31 40
...8 13 17 25
...6
...2
11
2
21 25
4 10
(AL)—American Legion
(CB)—Canteen Bar
Candidates To Be Named
At Tuesday P-TA Meeting
A slate of candidates for next
year’s offices will be presented
to the P-TA at next Tuesday’s
regular meeting in the school
lunchroom at 8 p. m., president
Lucy Mick said today. Other
names may be added to the nomi
nating committee’s choices at this
meeting. The election will be
held at the April meeting.
41 MINERS
GRADUATE HERE
i A “highly successful” Univer
sity of Alaska extension course in
mining was concluded here last
week, Instructor Eugene Erick
son said today. A class of 41, the
largest number ever to complete
the course in Palmer, received
certificates at last Friday’s final
session.
Mr. Erickson was unable to say
whether the large enrollment
would assure repetition of the
University course annually. Ex
tension courses in mining are giv
en twice each year in Anchorage
and on Fort Richardson.
Those who successfully com
pleted the four-week course in
cluded:
Mrs. Dorothy Andes, Henning
Benson, Gerald Campbell, Frank
Cernick, Gordon Christiansen,
Jack Elmore, Howard Estelle,
Emil Ganschow, Duane Goodrich,
Joyce Grieg, Ernest Harris.
George Harris, James Harris,
John Dc Harris, John H. Harris,
I Andrew Hiner, Robert Klem, Her
! bert Kopperud, Henry Larose,
Parker Lester, Samuel Litzenber
ger, Harold Lundberg.
William McAllister, A. W. Pier
son, Donald Nealy, William Reid,
Lucius Ross, Vernon Ross, Wil
liam Schimmel, Barbara Smart,
Lonzo Smart, Duane Smith, John
Smith, Laurin Smith, Ben Steele.
Logan Trowbridge, Ross Ver
coe, Robert Tucker, Erwin Doyle,
Rudolph Sterbenz and John
Curtis.
MCORPOnATION IS
ALMOST ESSENTIAL
AHA DIRECTOR SAYS
Valley residents who attended
a housing meeting last night to
hear E. Glen Wilder, Alaska
Housing Authority executive di
rector, found that housing and
incorporation are so completely
entwined in Alaska that Palmer
isn’t likely to get one without
, the other.
Mr. Wilder opened the meeting
j by sketching the. background of
the Alaska Housing Act, which
he said had simplified the re
quirements for Federal Housing
Authority to make it easier to
serve Alaska, and which made
it possible for the services of the
Federal National Mortgage Ad
ministration to be extended to
the territory.
The director explained in de
tail methods by which AHA may
lend money for construction of
housing to private sponsors, or
may undertake that construction
itself, if no private sponsor is
available.
Since AHA is limited in its
lending power to dealing with
corporations only, he told how
private individuals might band
together in a type of co-operative
and make application for AHA
aid for construction of homes.
However, he made it clear that
the many problems of utilities
required by FHA make it almost
impossible to effect such con
struction in any incorporated
area, where utilities do not exist,
or where existing utilities can
not be proved to be adequate for
future needs.
The initial cost of housing per
individual, under an organized
co-operative, would be about $2,
800. Mr. Wilder said. The AHA
will not consider the formation
of a co-operative of less than 10
members. There were about 25
persons present at last night’s
meeting who indicated their in
terest in this type of housing
project.
Mr. Wilder said first steps
would be to meet as a group, de
cide on the type of organization
to be formed and the regulations
governing it, and then make pre
liminary application for AHA
(Continued on Page 8)
CO-OP MEMBERS TO
MEET NEXT FRIDAY
The annual membership meet
ing of the Matanuska Valley
Farmer’s Co-Operating Associa
tion will be held Friday, Feb. 24,
members were reminded by Carl
Rasmussen, board secretary, this
week. The meeting begins at 10
a. m. in the Palmer Gymnasium.
An annual report, a manager’s
report, and an election of two
board members is scheduled for
membership attention. The term
of Pat Hemmer, board member,
expires this year and the vacan
cy left by the resignation of Rob
ert Webb must be filled.
The day-long meeting will re
cess at noon for a Co Op served