1950 Community Chest
Drive for Matanuska
Valley starts Monday.
September 11.
Mulley Mrnntiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
U PAGES
TODAY
VOL. 3. NO. 52
PALMER. ALASKA. FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 8. 1950
PRICE 10c
First DC-3 Lands Here During Airport Ceremony
Fair Management,
Guests Both Pleased
With I95Q Show
By ELVA DANIELS
From the viewpoint of both the
sponsors and the visitors the
tenth annual Matanuska Valley
Fair was a great success. The
reported gate attendance of 8,777
was the largest in the history of
the Fair. It was a great occasion
for the kids, old and young alike,
with more than eleven thousand
taking a whirl on the ferris wheel
and merry-go-round.
One of the most popular events
proved to be the donkey softball
games, where many enjoved
watching local dignitaries bite
the dust. Donkeys, spectators, and
would-be riders seemed to find
equal pleasure in the sport, with
perhaps the donkeys getting the
most “kicks.”
Capacity crowds swarmed
through the farm display booths
expressing surprise at the size of
Valley grown cabbages, turnips,
potatoes and other produce, and
stopped to look hungrily at the
cooking and canning exhibits ot
Valley homemakers.
1rhe army attracted its share of
attention with the new super-ba
zooka rocket-launching gun, in
fantry weapons and anti-aircraft
guns. Perhaps the most spectac
ular part of their show was the
demonstration of a ground-con
trolled pilotless plane. As the
five - foot plane was catapulted
into the air, people all over the
fair grounds stopped to watch its
flight. , „
Carnival, races, ball games,
farm and homemakers exhibits,
and Army all combined to make
this the finest fair the Matanuska
Valley Fair Association has ever
presented.
COMMUNITY CHEST
DRIVE STARTS MONDAY
The Valleys’ nine captains in
the 1950 Community Chest driye
are awaiting the “go” signal in
this year’s campaign, publicity
chairman Irwin Plitt said this
week. The drive gets under way
on Monday. Sept. 11.
This vear’s goal has been fixed
S3 300. Mr. Plitt said.
The Iwo runways of the Malanuska Valley Airport slash across the regular checkerboard of Valley
farm clearings in this aerial view of the newly-completed field. Parked planes tied down at the north
end of the north-south strip are clearly visible in the lower left corner of the picture.—(Photo by
Palmer Studios.) _
75 Delegates Expected
At Moose Convention
To Be Held Sept. 21-24
There will be at least 75 dele- I
gates in attendance at the annual
Alaska Moose Association conven
tion to be held in Palmer on Sept.
21, 22, 23 and 24 of this year, Don
Ingalls, governor of the local
lodge announced this week. Mr.
Ingalls said that Joe Durgin, sec
retary-treasurer of the territorial
organization, had received prelim
inary registrations for that many
delegates.
Representatives from Juneau,
Ketchikan. Sitka and Petersburg
will reach the convention by :
mean' of chartered bus from J
(Continued on Back Page)
Lady Democrats Will
Sip Tea Here Tonight
Valley women will meet at
the Matanuska Hotel tonight,
between the hours of six and
eight p.m.. to honor Mrs. Irene
Ryan of Anchorage at a tea.
Mrs. Ryan is head of the Dem
ocratic women's organisation of
the Third Division.
The lady Democrat is expect
ed to be accompanied to Pal
mer by wives of several Demo
cratic candidates for office.
Betty Mears. member of the
Division's central committee, is
in charge of tea arrangements.
McLaughlin Man Hurt
In Highway Accident
George L. Vickers, an employee
of the McLaughlin Construction
Co., was injured in an accident on
the Glenn Highway, a few miles
north of Palmer, on Thursday
afternoon of this week. Mr. Vick
ers, driving a company truck, ap
! parently was overcome by fatigue
i and fell asleep at the wheel as he
I drove toward Palmer.
I The truck veered into a road
side ditch, flinging Mr. Vickers
! through the righthand door of his
I vehicle. The man suffered lacera
tions of the scalp and a slighl
! shoulder injury, according to his
attending physician, Dr. Arthui
! J. Colberg.
SHIP TAKES VALLEY
PRODUCE ON RETURN
TRIP TO ANCHORAGE
Timed to a perfection that no
planning could have achieved, a
DC-3 appeared in the skies ove
the Matanuska Valley Airport las
Saturday afternoon, just as dedi
cation ceremonies reached their
climax. The big ship touched
wheels to the runway just after
four little girls, gowned in ging
ham, tipped their sprinkling cans
to christen the strip with water
from the Matanuska River. Mem
bers of the planning committee
had not known of the ship’s ar
rival. until just before the cere
monies began. It was the first
large plane to set wheels on the
new airstrip.
The DC-3 carried a number of
Anchorage people who had been
concerned with the construction
of the local airport. Among those
aboard were Victor Rivers, project
engineer, and Frank Metcalf, ter
ritorial highway engineer. The
plane also carried representatives
of press and radio.
The ship made a perfect landing
on the north-south runway, de
spite the strong crosswind that
whipped down from Knik Glacier.
When it departed later that after
noon, it carried the first Mata
! nuska Valley produce ever to be
! dispatched from Palmer by air.
Dedicatory ceremonies were
launched with an invocation by
Rev. Kenneth Hughes. Master of
ceremonies Don Irwin then intro
duced representatives of the four
original sponsoring organizations.
They were: Jan Koslosky (Amer
ican Legion), Eugene Kirsch
(Northland Pioneer Grange), Roy
Brock (MVFCA) and Don Ingalls
(Moose).
Frank Barr, a member of the
territorial aeronautics commis
sion, then traced the history of
aviation in Alaska. He termed
i himself a bush pilot, doing his
first flying in Alaska from Juneau
to Dawson, “when we took off on
the tidelands at Juneau and land
ed at a small farm in Dawson, he
explained. “In those days we had
to repair something after ever
1 fourth landing.”
Mr. Barr said aviation nau
(Continued on Back Page)
FIRST DC-3 LANDS ON MATANUSKA VALLEY AIRPORT OR SEPT. Z,
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