WANTED—Thousands
of Easter eggs for the
Kiv;anis Club Easier
egg hunt on April 9.
Balleg Mrontiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
MEA annual meeting
io be held in Palmer
gymnasium next Sat
urday night at 8:00
o'clock.
VOL. THREE—NO. 29
PALMER, ALASKA. FRIDAY. MARCH 31. 1950
PRICE 10c
Colony Day To Be On May 27, 28 This Year
Wasilla Resolution
Asks Democrats
To Urge New Roads
WASILLA — Last week’s pre
cinct Democratic caucus, held
March 20, drafted a resolution fa
voring the extension of the pres
ent Wasilla - Big Lake road to
Houston, in order to open coal
mining properties there to de
velopment, it was reported by
Thomas Carter, chairman of the
precinct committee. It was felt
also that the road would encour
age settlement of a new area. The j
resolution further called for the j
complete reconstruction of the
Palmer-Wasilla Highway, to fur
ther the agricultural interests of
the area.
Three delegates, Carter, Walter
Teeland and Leo Nunley, were
elected to attend the divisional
convention at Anchorage, held
last week-end.
ARR MAKING PLANS TO
HANDLE ALL FREIGHT
DURING BREAK-UP
Alaska Railroad officials this
week announced that they were
attempting to make plans for the
handling of truck-hauled material,
during the period of break-up
when trucks will be barred from
the paved sections of the Anchor
age-Palmer highway.
In order that schedules may be
worked out to best suit the needs
of Palmer shippers, it is requested
that anyone who will need to
make large-scale shipments from
Palmer to Anchorage notify the
office of the railroad’s traffic de
partment in Anchorage.
A spokesman said that every
effort would be made to plan a
schedule that would most effect
ively meet the needs of all Palmer
shippers. Shipments routed from
Anchorage to Palmer can be
handled on the regular train serv
ice out of Anchorage, it was
pointed out.
£•**********************•* |
Beauties Sought for %
j:Miss Alaska Crown %
4= *
* A beauiy contest in which*
4; the winner will go to Atlantic*
* City next fall to compete for*
*the Miss America title, is*
^planned as a part of the Nena-*
*na ice break-up celebration, it 4=
|was announced this week byl£
* George Gale, manager. *
* Mr. Gale is seeking a Miss*
£ Palmer (or Miss Matanuska^;
* Valley) to compete for the title*
* of Miss Alaska. Candidates al-*|
* ready have been entered by the$ |
* cities of Fairbanks, Anchorage*;
*and Nenana. ^
* The Nenana show manager*
* is requesting that civic organi- * !
^zations of the Valley band to-*|
*geiher to select a candidate and*
*send her to the break-up cele-*|
*bralion. An entry fee will be*:
* required for all candidates. *
i-**********************-^
HIGHWAY CLOSING
IS NOW DEPENDENT
ON ROAD STRENGTH
There is still no further word
with regard to the expected clos
ure of the Palmer - Anchorage
highway to truck traffic during
the coming break-up. Highway
Patrolman Stanley Laird an
nounced today. He speculated
that it was entirely possible that
no restrictions would be imposed,
should the present mild break-up
conditions continue.
The patrolman said that Alaska
Road Commission engineers were
making daily tests on the paved
section. No action will be taken
until they feel that traffic over <
the highway is definitely detri
mental to the surfacing.
One unofficial report last week
stated that the first restriction
imposed would be a load limita
tion only. The report stated that
a 10-ton gross load limit would be
alllowed, in the beginning, with
restrictions becoming more rigid
if the highway showed signs of
(Continued on page 8)
River's Coming Closer
To Little Railroad Bridge
Dat ole debbil river, the Mata- j
nuska, is repeating history. That’s
why Ollie Reeknor of the Alaska
Railroad, and his dozer gang, set
up housekeeping on Palmer’s back
railroad tracks last weekend.
The Railroad’s been fighting a
losing battle with the river ever
■ since 1946 when the Matanuska i
i decided it w'ould be more inter
esting to come this way than to
i go that way.. That’s when the
! river overflowed Rabbit Creek
and washed out a small bridge,
located about half way between
Palmer and Matanuska on the
branch line.
Jack Hanson and his bridge
■ building gang belittled the dam
age and set out to show the Mata
: nuska that it could be tamed.
They built a 4,300-foot dike, steel
faced, along the area and they
changed the spitting Matanuska
tiger-cat into a harmless little pet
kitty. That is, for a couple of
years, they did.
But this year the tiger strain is
showing again. The Matanuska
has slipped along the full 4,300
feet of the dike an dhas sneaked
in behind it to worry at the Rail
road’s frail and unprotected little
bridge again.
So the Recknor men are in the
river-taming business for the
Railroad now. They’ll cut the
Matanuska’s own cottonwood
trees from her south bank, and
use them as the base for a tree,
rock and sand extension to the
dike, and .they’ll lock the pussy
footing river back in again be
hind another 1,500 feet of dam.
They’ll be in Palmer about
three weeks.
Druggist Now on Duty
At Farmer Photo Art,
rCow to Be Palmer Drug
Irwin Plitt and Bill Rempel of
Palmer Photo Art this week an
nounced the addition of a new
service to their business. John
Raker, a licensed druggist, has
been added to the store staff.
With his coming the Photo Art
now becomes the Palmer Drug
Store.
Mr. Raker is a former Anchor
age resident. He was with Bert’s
Drug Store there for a four-year
period during the war_
Although the druggist is now
on duty at Palmer Drug, the com
plete prescription service will not
be ready before mid-April, when
the pharmaceutical shipment will
be in stock.
The prescription counter of the
store will be open from 9 a.m. to
11 p.m. daily, it was announced.
Mr Raker expects soon to be
(Continued on page 8)
Valley Children To Seek Golden Eggs,
Easter Bunnies At Kiwanis Club Hnnt
An Easter egg hunt, open to all
children up through 10 years of
age, will be sponsored by the Ki
wanis Club on Easter Sunday,
chairman Jack Maze announced
this week. It is believed this is
the first public Easter egg hunt
ever held in Palmer.
The hunt will begin at 12:30
p.m. in the square bounded by
the school, the Dormitory and the
Co-Op buildings in the Co-Op
area. It will be conducted in two
sections, with children up through
five years of age searching the
area bounded by the school, the
Rec Hall and the Dormitory. The
cinder path leading from the Rec
Hall to the Dorm is the off-limits
marker here. Children from 6 to
10 years of age will do their hunt
: ing in the other half of the square,
| the far limits of which are bound
I ed by the road paralleling the
I Railroad tracks.
A host of prizes is offered to
winners in both divisions. Prizes
will be given to every child who
finds either a gold or a silver egg,
and to the child who finds the
most eggs. There will be special
prizes in the way of candy eggs,
Easter baskets and baby bunnies,
going to the child who’s lucky
enough to find them.
To make sure that no child does
a little early reconnoitering on
Easter morning, the square will
be closed to all child traffic from
9 a.m. until the hunt opens. Boy
Scouts will police the area to as
sure that the no trespassing rules
are obeyed.
To make the hunt successful,
the Kivvanis Club is going to be
in need of “dozens and dozens and
dozens” of eggs, according to Mr.
Maze. The club would appreciate
some help in the way of hard
boiled egg contributions, he stat
ed. Anyone who would care to
donate toward the dozens needed.,
can leave egg contributions
(boiled but not colored, Kiwani
ans stipulate) at Palmer Photo Art
on the Friday preceding Easter.
A committee made up of Alva
Saxton, Joe Hudock, Marvin
Slaughter, James Hurley and Mr.
Maze will devote their weekend
to coloring and preparing the
eggs.
Mo Contract Yet
Signed by Hospiatl
And Presbyterians
Although members of the board
of directors of the Valley Hospital
Association met with Dr. L. O.
Jackman of the Presbyterian na
tional board of missions last Sat
urday, no formal contract has
been completed for the manage
ment of the Valley Hospital. Dr.
Jackman and board members dis
cussed the three points of differ
ence, advanced at. the annual
meeting of Hospital stockholders,
in the tentative agreement offered
by the Presbyterian group.
Dr. Jackman felt that the na
fional board would be only too
happy to comply with the stipula
tion that local nurses be hired,
when qualified personnel live in
the community and wish hospital
employment. However, the or
ganization will require that only
graduate nurses be employed on
the hospital staff.
With reference to the change of
name, asked by the Presbyterian
board, it was stated that it seemed
only fair that the sponsoring or
ganization, providing the funds
for hospital operation, be given
ci'edit in the hospital name. Mem
bers of the Association’s member
ship had voiced objection to
changing the present name of the
institution.
(Continued on-page'85^ w
PHS Senior Week
To Begm May 14
The two big dates in the lives
of Palmer High School’s seniors
have been fixed, superintendent
William T. Zahradnicek an
nounced today. Sunday, May 14.
has been selected for the annual
baccalaureate services, and Wed
nesday, May 17, will be gradua
tion day for the seniors.
No speaker has been invited to
make the bacclaureate address,
as yet. Dr. Terris Moore, presi
dent of the University of Alaska,
has been asked to be the com
mencement speaker, but has not
yet accepted the invitation.
EVENT TO INCLUDE
PONY EXPRESS RACE
7RM mSILLA
Colony Day, to include a full
! 24 hours of fun this year, will be
| gin on the evening of May 27 and
last through the following day, Al
Hagen, program chairman, an
nounced this week. A long list of
events is already scheduled for
the two - day celebration, and
others will be added as plans be
; come organized, he said.
1 Principal attraction of the
weekend of fun is a planned
“pony express” race from Wasilla
to Palmer between horse-drawn
stagecoaches and an early loco
motive of the Alaska Railroad.
The race will begin at Wasilla.
with the horse - drawn convey
ances travelling the highway and
the locomotive taking the rail
route to Palmer.
Rules of the race will require
that the locomotive, required to
draw one car, must follow all
present-day regulations for train
traffic on the main line. Horses
will be changed at three-mile in
tervals along the highway route.
The race will end at the Palmer
i depot. Russell Felzien is in charge
! of arrangements for this event.
Also of particular interest this
' year, is a planned hazard race be
tween Palmer business men and
employes of government offices
headquartered here. Details of
this event, being planned by Joe
j Hudock, are not yet complete. The
race course probably will begin on
the highway, at a point opposite
the Railroad depot, continue to
the North Palmer store and re
turn to the depot finish line by
way of Valley Street.
A calico and jeans dance, to be
directed by Art Stacey, will
launch Colony Day on the eve
I ning of the twenty-seventh. The
! dance will be held in the Palmer
Gym. and will be themed to the
■frontier days” plan of this year’s
celebration.
Other events, already planned,
include a series of boys’ and girls’
I bicycle races, to be managed by
] Clyde King, Jr.; an aerial distri
bution of prizes in balloons to be
released from the plane of Bob
Totten; a baton twirling contest
i among the girls of Palmer High
| School; sports events; a baseball
I game.
(Continued on Page 8)
Maze, Ross Refile
For School Jobs
Incumbents Jack Maze and Lu
cius Ross had re-filed for school
board positions at press-time to
day. Mrs. Merle Anderson also
had announced her candidacy for
a school board job.
Others interested in placing
their name on the school board
ballot must file a declaration of
intention to run at the office of
superintendent William T. Zah
radnicek by noon of April 3. This
year’s election is scheduled to take
place on Tuesday, April 4.
Balloting will begin at the
school gymnasium at 9 a.m. and
will continue until 6 that evening.