Palmer Kiwanis
Picnic, Cornelius Lake
1 p.m. Sunday
Halley Mrontiergman
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PAGES
TODAY
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VOLUME 4. NO. 41.
PALMER, ALASKA. FRIDAY. JUNE 22, 1951.
PRICE, 10c
New High School Funds Recommended by APW
Drought Relief Here;
Water Pours From
Faucets and Skies
Palmerites were doubly blessed
this week as water poured thru
their faucets and rain fell gently
from the skies.
In the face of obstacles which
arose almost hourly, volunteers
labored valiantly Saturday to lay
and weld the pipe which was to
add a new source to the depleted
Co-Op water supply. It was 4:45
p.m. when the work was com
pleted.
* On hand when the valve was
turned to bring water from Car
negie Creek to Palmer consumers
were Steve and Sally Ward, Don
McKechnie, Frank Clark and Al
lan Mick.
By 8:30 p.m., the Marvin
Slaughters, at the end of the line
in North Palmer, were drawing
water for the first time in three
d^iys.
Some users were slow in notic
ing an improvement as neighbors
rushed to take baths and wash
their piled-up laundry. Council
members, meeting in special ses
sion Tuesday night, gave reports
of lawns being sprinkled and cars
washed with hoses.
All week water users in Palmer
expressed relief over the im
proved water situation and added
their appreciation of council ef
forts in its behalf.
George Whetstone said water
•&as plentiful now in Quality of
Water lab on the second floor of
the Wright building.
Lou Sandvik reported an ex
cellent supply of water at her
house.
The water situation is definitely
improved at the James Kindler
home in North Palmer, where
Betty Kindler has tried valiantly
to keep three children and a baby
clean with water that trickled
only three hours a day—usually
in the wee hours of the morning.
“We have water on a 24-hour ba
sis now”, Jim declared.
.45 Inch Rainfall
Meanwhile, the parched lawns
and fields surrounding town were
(Continued on page 16)
Architect's Preliminary Sketch of Proposed Matanuska Valley High School, Palmer
Eklulna Project Asks
Bids on 30 Houses,
10 to Be in Palmer
The Department of the Inter
ior, Bureau of Reclamation, Pal
mer, Alaska, released the follow
ing information today. SEALED
BIDS, in single, subject to the
conditions contained herein, will
be received at Palmer, Alaska,
until 10 a. m., Alaska Standard
Time, July 10, 1951, and then pub
licly opened, for furnishing labor
and materials and performing all
work for the construction of thir
ty 2-bedroom temporary resi
dences and utilities, Eklutna Pro
ject, Alaska. The work for twenty
of the residences is situated about
30 miles northeast of Anchorage,
Alaska, and the work for ten of
the residences will be in Palmer,
Alaska.
Copies of the standard forms
and the specifications may be ob
tained from the following offices
of the Bureau of Reclamation:
L. N. McCellan, Chief Engineer,
Building 1-A, Denver Federal
Center, Denver, Colo.; Joseph
Morgan, District Manager, Ju
neau, Alaska; and Byron G. Felk
ner, Construction Engineer, Ek
lutna Project Office, Box 165,
Palmer, Alaska. No charge for
copies of the specifications and
drawings furnished for bidding
purposes.
I Bid Gooodbye to the Ron Da Voo
* By ROBERT KLEM.
I have heard of the shindig at Fishhook Inn,
Of ruckuses raised in Dens of Sin;
But the worst I’ve observed (I’ll leave it to you),
Was Clyde King wrecking the Ron Da Voo.
What a fuss was raised by Lady Lou,
Over the shooting of Dan McGrew;
But the fracus was nothing (I’ll leave it to you),
To Clyde King’s wrecking the Ron Da Voo.
Inside The Joint was a dirty floor,
Outside The Joint was an old eye-sore;
In Morningside there’ll be much adoo,
Over Clyde King’s wrecking the Ron Da Voo.
The Devils in Hell will make remarks,
The way he treated the Old Land Mark;
And I think we all will miss it, too,
Now Clyde King’s wrecking the Ron Da Voo.
------.
i
1
Palmer, Anchorage
Portland, Honolulu
The June 27 entertainment of I
visitors from the Portland and
Honolulu Chambers of Commerce
to be furnished jointly by Palmer
and Anchorage members was the I
main point of discussion at the
Chamber of Commerce luncheon
Wednesday.
Dr. Lee McKinley and Anchor
age president, George Jones, flew
to Palmer for the luncheon to
complete details of the planning.
A buffet luncheon consisting of
barbecued game and Matanuska
valley fresh vegetables and dairy
products will be served at Dr.
McKinley’s Butte farm home from
11 until three o’clock next Wed
nesday. Palmer president, Jim
Hurley, pointed out that the
luncheon was not limited to
chamber members. Friends of
members are cordialls invited to
come and get acquainted with the
visitors from Portland and Hono
lulu, he said.
Members of the general com
mittee in charge of arrangements
for Palmer are: Eugene Kirsch,
D. T. McMahan, Clarence Bell,
Bill Gulbranson and George
Small.
The McKinley farm will be the
focal point to which the visitors
will be taken by Anchorage
furnished transportation and from
which they will be taken through
the Valley in Palmer-furnished
vehicles complete with tour con
ductors.
Concern was expressed by An
chorage President Jones over the
possibility that the Honolulu
group might not arrive in Anchor
age until Wednesday evening, too
late to attend the luncheon that
day. Word received from the Al
aska Railroad Wednesday morn
ing indicated a delay of one day
in the scheduled arrival of the
Honolulu visitors who are on a
tour of Alaska.
“We’ll make every effort possi
ble to press the railroad to get
those folks here as scheduled”,
he said. “The Portland visitors
will be here Wednesday, and all
the plans are made for a joint en
C of Cs to Fete
Chamber Visitors
tertainment of the two groups.
It’s too late to make changes in
our plans”.
Colony Day Report
Bill Head’s report on Colony
Day finances showed total re
ceipts of $1,259.74 and costs of
$1,335.67. The deficit of $79.93 will
undoubtedly be wiped out com
pletely by two outstanding ac
counts receivable and a Co-Op
credit allowance, he said. Com
menting on the cost of the Colony
Day celebration, Head pointed out
that some of it had gone for im
provements to the fairgrounds
and the construction of a perma
nent barbecue pit.
Dr. Coe Speaks
“To a business man, a loss of
10 percent represents the differ
ence between profit and loss in
his business venture; imagine the
effect of a crop loss of 25 percent
—or even 90 to 100 percent—to
the enterprise of the farm opera
tor”.
Such was the analogy made by
Dr. Donald N. Coe, plant path
ologist with the Alaska Agricul
tural Experiment Station, and
guest speaker, as he explained the
need for plant disease research.
Commenting on disease in Al
(Continued on page 16)
VICTOR JOHNSONS
HAVE MEASLY HALT
IN TRIP TO STATES
The Victor Johnsons, en route
to Minnesota after leaving here
June 1, were forced to encamp at
Grand Prairie, Alberta, when
Patty Rice, who accompanied
them, broke out with the measles.
In a letter received here by Pat
Hemmer, Mrs. Johnson intimated
that the party of five children
and two adults would be unable
to proceed until the spots disap
peared.
Hope was expressed by local
friends that none of the other
children would “break out” be
fore the Johnsons reached their
final destination.
Less Than Half of
Proposed Structure
Escapes Economy Ax
As the architect’s first pre
liminary sketch of Palmer’s pro
posed new high school was re
leased for publication, word was
received by Superintendent Wil
liam T. Zahradnicek yesterday
from the Juneau office of Alaska
Public Works that planning mon
ey based on a structure about
half the size of that proposed had
been recommended for approval
by the Administration of General
Services, U. S. Department of In
terior, in Washington.
The architect's rough estimate
of $1,318,600 submitted in the re
quest for planning money was
based on a poured concrete or
concrete block structure 348 feet
wide with a depth of about 194
feet, only part of which would be
two stories in height. Besides
classrooms, science laboratories,
home economics and shop facili
ties, bookkeeping and typewrit
ing rooms, and a generous library
with adjacent large reading room,
plans include a tiered band room
with small practice rooms adjoin
ing, a 600-sealing capacity audi
torium, a 75x91-foot gymnasium
which could be divided by sliding
doors to accommodate two gym
classes simultaneously, and a
large cafeteria. ,
The gymnasium plans call for
shower rooms for girls and boys
and, for sports fans, a seating
capacity of 1,000, 500 on the main
floor and 500 “disappearing seats”
in the balcony practice area.
The auditorium would have
been available to groups putting
(Continued on page 16)
BILL HEAD URGES
PROMPT RETURN OF
SCHOOL TAX FORMS
Personal and property tax as
sessment forms for the calendar
year 1951 were in the mail this
week, according to Bill Head, as
sessor for the Palmer school dis
trict.
“These forms should have been
filled out and returned by June
1”, Mr. Head said. Delays in re
ceipt of the forms in the assessor’s
office effected non-comitant de
lays in distribution. In view of
the by-passed deadline, Mr. Head
urged all in the district to fill out
their forms and return them to
his office without delay.
“The tax roll must be complet
ed by July 31”, he said. “All en
tries must be in by that time”.
Persons not on the mailing list
who have not received forms
should drop in at the insurance
office in the Wright building for
them.
“They should do this for their
own protection”, Head insisted.
“Unpaid1 taxes constitute a lien
on property together with penal
ties and unpaid interest”.