VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office at
Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
PRINTED AT PALMER, ALASKA, EACH FRIDAY
By the Matanuska Press, Inc.
Opal Lu Smith .....Editor
*A. J. DeJulio.Manager and Advertising
Barbara Carter ...Wasilla Correspondent
Valdez High School .*.Valdez Correspondent
Subscription Rates.50c a month, $5 a year
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
No printed material in the Valley Frontiersman may
be reproduced except by permission of the publishers.
KnawL you* VnwesiAUu
Hundreds of persons throughout
the Territory receive an education
from the University of Alaska
every year — even though they
never attend classes and do not
receive degrees.
Their education
is not formal,
but it is none
theless impor
tant; it concerns
the art of living
on the frontier.
These persons
are the “stu
dents” of Mrs.
Lydia Fohn
Hansen, home
d e m onstration
leader of the
University o f
Alaska’s Extension Service, and
“angel” of many isolated home
steaders and homemakers who
find living in Alaska somewhat
tougher than Outside.
Mrs. Fohn-Hansen has traveled
roughly 150,000 miles in Alaska
by, dog team, river steamer, rail
road, automobile, airplane, gas
boat—and on foot—during her 25
years in the Territory. In the
early days, travel was really
rugged, she says. “In my work I
had to cross the Gulf of Alaska 27
times—and I am a poor sailor,”
she remarked. “Today the air
plane makes it easier.”
Lydia Fohn-Hansen came to
Alaska in 1925 to be head of the
Home Economics Department of
the Alaska Aricultural College
and School of Mines, then still an
infant institution. She came from
Io,wa State College with a B.S.
degree, three years of teaching
experience and a lot of excellent
common sense.
In 1930 she transferred to the
Fohn-Hansen
Insist on getting
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because it is the best cooking
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able, more efficient for Hot
Water Storage Tanks, Ranges
and Refrigerators. PRO-GAS
is clean and odorless. For
farm homes, beach cottages,
boats, PRO-GAS brings you
faster appliance fuel. Insist
on PRO-GAS —your dealer in
your area has it and can
make speedy delivery.
Liquefied
gas
CORPORATION
Ask Your
[| PRO-GAS Dealer
j Extension Service, and became
j Alaska’s first Home Demonstra
! tion Agent. At first people didn’t
j know what to make of her; they’d
j never heard of a Home Demon
; stration Agent, and couldn’t imag
I ine why she would be helping
] them “for nothing.”
Her friendly personality stood
! her in good stead, however, and
| when Alaskans found out she
j “really could teach them how to
; make life easier,” they clamored
| for her services. She started with
j one small Homemakers’ Club in
Fairbanks. Now there are 40
I throughout the Territory with a
i membership of 600. She and her
j assistants have also organized 50
4-H clubs for boys and girls with
| projects in cooking, sewing, can
j ning and stock and poultry rais
| ing.
Mrs. Fohn-Hansen doesn’t try
to teach anything she can’t do
herself. She is an outstanding
j cook, a seamstress, craftsman, and
even a carpenter when the need
arises. With the help of her staff,
she has organized craft workshops 1
! Elixir. annim-iiMS my
ter~
ii ■!
-tn?
HALLEA LODGE
Wasilla, Alaska
DINING ROOM . COCKTAIL BAR
CABINS
OPEN,ALL WINTER
» ll1
!>****************************•*********************
i Tim .^AWk1!
$ 1HC i|/fe '
* ~ • i
Test
Just as the proof of the pudding is in
the eating, so it is with baked goods—
the real test comes with the first mouth
ful. Then is when you discover the skill
of the baker and the quality of the in
gredients used. We invite you to test
for yourself the wholesome flavor of our
baked goods. We know you will be very
well pleased.
si
lamrocR
le Bal
^erv
I ^*******************************-3f**************^
where over 400 women have
learned furniture repairing, mak
ing slip covers, lamp shades and
braided rugs. She has taught tail
oring classes, with mothers learn
ing the make trousers for junior
out of a father’s cast-off coat, and
young ladies making their own
party dresses. Her craft classes,
established in 15 communities,
have resulted in paying hobbies
for metal work, leather, weaving,
knitting, fur sewing and ceram
ics.
From a staff of one—Mrs. Fohn
Hansen — the Extension Service
now employs twelve persons in
five offices—Fairbanks, Anchor
age, Palmer, Juneau and Ketchi
kan. Much of their time is spent
in answering questions of home
makers. One of the most frequent
is “We’re so tired of moose meat;
aren’t there some new ways to
prepare it?” Then, too, women
want to know how to can garden
produce, how to preserve fish, and
how to keep the youngsters well
dressed for the cold weather.
Although Lydia Fphn-Hansen’s
contribution to life in the Terri
tory has been great—outstanding
ly so in the eyes of the women
she has met and helped-—she
would be the last to claim credit
due her.
“The progress which has been
made in. the Territory since I
first began Home Extension work
is startling,”- she says, and gives
credit to “the airplane, the radio
and the pressure cooker.” From
the number of grateful letters re
ceived by the University, much
of the credit should go to Mrs.
Fohn-Hansen.
There is an old saying that one
should count to ten before criti
cizing anyone. Since the Truman
Marine episode it might not be a
bad idea to make it one hundred.
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rrmrrmrr.mmu^. )
Great Books Discussion
j To Hold Winter Meetings
At Homes of Members
During the winter months the
! regular twice-monthly meetings
of the Great Books Discussion |
Group will be held in the hpmes j
of the various members, it was
announced at the meeting last |
Sunday evening. j
The next meeting, scheduled j
| for November 12, will be held at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
W. Wilson, at 7:30 p.m. ■ •
Everyone interested in good
literature is invited to attend the
meetings and to become members I
of the group. Informal discus
sions of great books are held with
members and guests entering the
discussions as they are so inclined.
No one is called upon to make
speeches, nor is membership con
fined to .any particular group,
I members stressed. • . . *
At the meeting Sunday, held in ;
i the soil conservation office at-the j
| Neal Wright building, George I
[Whetstone was discussion Reader |
| for the evening. Mr. Whetsfpne j
[led in an interesting and.lively!
! discussion on Locke’s famous.“Es- j
i say on Civil Government,” Al- j
though the, famous author died [in j
the early 1700’s, his .famous essay j
had a great influence on thfe form- [
ing of the Constitution Of''the j
United States as scholars sd'cl) as j
Thomas Jefferson were well', ae-;
quainted with its tepe’ts. ** '
HI-WAY SERVICE
Mile Post 45
General Repairs
Tune-Ups
Winterizing . :
Used Cars Bought !
and Sold
Al Brager, Prppi /.
The cows give more milk—the hogs
and beef put on weight faster—the
chickens lay more eggs when running
water is always before them. In the
home, mother gets her washing'1 donfe
quicker—her dishes washed—floors
scrubbed and meals prepared with less
fatigue—the health features of indoor j
toilets—the comforts of bath rooms— 'j
all these blessings actually make more Jj
money for you than yoq pay for a ;[
niini/C water
DUKIVD system
You’ll want a BURKS
because it gives more,
water per minute—is
completely automatic
self priming—trouble
free. Runs years
longer because of
“Life-Lok” fea
ture. Get prices
and details on
BURKS SUPER TURBINES
FOR SHALLOW WELLS
— OR —
BURKS EDUCER SYSTEMS
FOR DEEP WELLS'
YUKON EQUIP. GO.
Corner 6th &• G St.
i Box 1639 Dial 2-5101
JIM RAYBURN HOLDS
SPECIAL MEETINGS
Jim Rayburn, here from the
Young Life Campaign headquar
ters in Colorado Springs, Colo., is
now holding a series of special
meetings at the United Protestant
Church.
Mr. Rayburn started his meet
ings November 1 and will con
tinue them through Sunday night.
The meetings start each evening
at 8 p.m.
This is Mr. Rayburn’s second
visit to Alaska. He came to the
Valley on his first visit five years
ago, when he also held meetings
here.
Everyone is invited to attend
the special services, according to
the announcement.
Give
to Your
Community Chest
The most important thing
about a fuel oil is that it be
clean. Union fuel oils are re
fined and transported with
the same degree of care as
premium gasoline. This
means that when delivered
to you they are completely
free from moisture and for
eign substances. It means
they’ll do a soot-free, eco
nomical, dependable job
wherever you put them to
work. Try them next time.
UNION STOVI OIL—a highly ,
distilled oil for use in stoves,
space heaters, burners and
high-speed, light-weight .
Diesel engines.
UNION BURNER OIL —for
automatic burners and fur
naces, Diesel and semi-Diesel
engines.
UNION KEROSENE —Made by
the famed Edeleanu process,
it burns for long periods with
out smoking, damaging Wicks
or developing fumes.
Place your order today with:
i
Alaska Sales &
Service (Consignee)
Dial 41281
ION OIL
COMPANY
OF CALIFORNIA