Fishing Season
Opens Today
Malley Wrontiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
U PAGES
TODAY
VOL. 5. NO. 38.
PALMER. ALASKA. FRIDAY, JUNE 1. 1951
PHICE .wc
Water Crisis Before Council & Co-Op Tonight
GOVERNOR SEEKS
MORE DATA ON
PROPOSED SALE
OF PALMER AIRPORT
Fate of Palmer’s airport liter
ally was “up in the air” today.
Possibility of selling the airfield
to he cut into lots for a housing
project, brought a reply from
Gov. Ernest Gruening, chairman
of the board of aeronautics, to the
effect that “the people of Palmer
should be fully consulted and
their every interest protected,”
* before such a deal is made.
If- the present airport is sold,
Palmer should have definite as
surance of “adequate airport fa
cilities,” the governor declared.
The crisis cracked when Jack
Maze, manager of the Matanuska
Valley bank at Palmer, disclosed
he had a “responsible customer”
interested in buying the Palmer
airfield for $200,000—the amount
the Territory has invested.
The airport was built under the
federal airport act at an invest
ment of $200,000, but matching
federal funds have not been
forthcoming.
The governor’s telegram to
Maze reads: ,
“The attorney general of Alas
ka has advised me that the Alaska
Aeronautics and Communications
commission has statutory author
ity to sell airport property pre
viously acquired by the commis
» sion and to deposit the proceeds
of such sale in the Alaska aero
nautical revolving fund.
“However, the attorney general
(Continued on Page 11)
FIRE HAZARD
CRITICAL; ALL
PRECAUTION URGED
Serious fire conditions threaten
1 this area, the Palmer Fire Guard
Station warned today.
A threatening fire near Long
lake, between Chickaloon and
Watch Tower inn was beater
when E. J. Carson, fire control
aid, and his crew landed by sea
plane on a small lake in the vir
tually inaccesable terrain, and
stamped it out before winds swepl
it into thick timber.
The fire, Carson said, apparent
ly was caused from careless camf
" fire or cigarette left by fishermer
or hunters. ,
Smoke drifting over Matanusks
valley may come from the big
blaze near Ft. Richardson, nov
being battled by hundreds of fire
fighters, or from several smallei
fires near Eklutna, where farm
ers are burning debris.
Carson warned that with th<
tinder-dry conditions caused bj
the long, dry spell, and with pre
vailing winds, a small fire cai
sweep out of control in a matte:
of minutes.
He urged that furrows b<
(Continued on Page 4)
Thousands Celebrate 16th Colony Day
—** >
CARNIVAL SPIRIT—Against a backdrop of purple mountains and sunny skies the ferris wheel
turns above crowds gathered to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Colony Day. Nearly 5,000 out-of
town visitors thronged the town. Below, left. Jim Hurley, president of the Matanuska Valley Cham
ber of Commerce, gets his share of the free barbeque—1,000 pounds of barbequed beef and a ton of
famous Matanuska Valley baked potatoes were served the guests. Center: Special train from Anchor
age was packed. Right: Races of all kinds brought competition, laughs, and prizes.
—Palmer Studio Photos
More than 5,000 visitors poured
into Palmer last weekend for the
16th celebration of Colony day.
Where in 1935 incoming trains
brought new settlers to a tent
town, on this anniversary merry
making throngs came for a gala
event.
The celebration opened with
the Northland Pioneer Grange
dance Saturday. Sunday was a
round of events. Throughout the
day planes, private, commercial
and service, soared above the fair
grounds where the Colony day
program was held.
At 12:30 Sunday the special
; train from Anchorage arrived, but
; long before that strings of cars
and extra busses rolled in over the
’ highway. Shops, bars and hotels
were jammed.
At the official opening, at the
. Alaska Experiment Station lab
, oratory, M. D. Snodgrass, main
. speaker, told of the coming of the
l first colonists “in the govem
. ment’s great experiment and their
great adventure.”
; He sketched something of their
early hardships and of the fruits
now reaped by those who dared
to stick it out.
Snodgrass himself came to the
Matanuska valley in 1915 when
he was assigned to locate the ag
ricultural experiment station. Af
ter extensive investigation, he
picked this site—and from that,
in later years of the depression—
came the government’s decision
to relocate here families from the
mid-west states.
“I had little idea then what
would develop in this great val
ley of promise,” he said.
More History Wanted
Don Irwin, chairman of Colony
day, commenting on the success
ful celebration, also looked ahead
to next year.
“I would like next time to see
more Colony day flavor,’ he said.
“Perhaps a parade or a pageant
representing the first settlers, and
the colonists with their early
struggles.” •
Irwin was here for the govern
ment when the colonists came in.
He remembers when the big de
partment store started in a piano
box. He remembers when the
first hospital was a tent.
“We’ve come a long way,” he
said.
Surveying the celebration, Ir
win said all who participated in
work and in financing are entitled
to thanks and appreciation. The
carnival, he said, added much to
the entertainment and color of
the weekend and staged “a good
clean show.” He recommended
that the barbeque of roast beef
and baked Matanuska valley po
tatoes, “be doubled next year . . .
no one seems to get enough” . . .
“Judging from the crowds, ev
eryone had a fine time,” he com
mented.
PRISONER RETURNED
FOR TRIAL
Bill Bouwens, deputy U. S.
marshall, is back from a trip Out
side where he took a patient to
Morningside hospital, Portland,
Ore., and a prisoner, Harvey Car
igan, sentenced to 15 years at Mc
Neil Island penitentiary, Wash.
Returning, he brought back in
custody from McNeil Island Ben
Joe Davis for trial in the district
court in Anchorage.
Financing,
Building Rush,
Main Issues
Showdown on the water emer
gency is expected tonight at the
meeting of the Palmer city coun
cil and the board of directors of
the Matanuska Valley Farmers’
Cooperating association.
Attorneys for both sides will be
on hand and James A. Westbrook,
assistant director, division of san
itation and engineering, Alaska
Department of Health, is ex
pected.
Issue is who finances the new
line connecting with the Co-Op
owned water system, the type of
construction, and how fast relief
can be rushed to homes and busi
ness houses now on thin-water
rations.
Without waiting for decision on
who pays what and how much,
construction has been underway
this week by Co-Op crews.
Six men with bulldozer and cat
have dug ditches, poured concrete
for the collection box and pushed
essential work to get the water
line built.
The construction appears to be
the start of a permanent line
which will take longer to finish
and delay the water relief so crit
ically needed.
Both Co-Op and council favor
a permanent line, but the water
(Continued on Page 4)
COLONY DAY STATEMENT
By Jixn Hurley,
President Matanuska Valley
Chamber of Commerce.
Another Colony day is his
tory. Its success, as in years
past, was due to the fine co
operation of Chamber of Com
merce members and other Pal
mer merchants and citizens.
The Matanuska Valley’s Colony
day celebration is becoming
an event of prominence, not
only in the Territory, but in
the States as well.
I would especially like to
thank the following members
for the long hours and hard
work that they put in to assure
the success of this year’s cele
bration: Don Irwin, for his fine
planning and overall super
vision as general chairman;
Carl Rasmussen, as chairman
of the barbeque, by far the
most time-consuming and dif
ficult part of the day; Steve
Ward, for collecting, and Bill
Head, for disbursing the money
that was donated by the mer
chants and made Colony day
possible; Gene Kirsch, and his
helper, Bob Crites, for hand
ling the games; and Tom Le
pak, for arranging for the con
cessions. Many others con
tributed time and money, and
to all we are indebted.
The Chamber of Commerce
soon will begin planning for
even a bigger and better Col
ony day anniversary for 1952.