Valdez News
VOL. 1. NO. 30
VALDEZ, ALASKA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6. 1950
PRICE 10c
C. J. Egan Named Mayor In Tuesday Election
Local Red Cross Seeks
First-Aid Instructors
For Coming Classes
Mrs. Dorothy Pietres, chairmar
of the Red Cross in Valdez, this
week sent out an SOS for experi
enced first-aid instructors. They
are needed badly here, she said
First aid classes are one phase
of civilian defense being re-ac
tivated as rapidly as possible
now, in both Alaska and the
states.
Mrs Pietres also announced
that James Purdue, Red Cross
director of Anchorage, will be in
Valdez sometime this month. Dur
ing his stay here, he will call a
general meeting for the purpose
of electing a board of directors oi
the Red Cross for Valdez. Anyone
who has contributed to the JFted
Cross in the past, is entitled to
vote at this meeting.
EXTRA SKATE CAPTAINS
NAMED BY MISS FOY
Three new skate captains,
chosen for their good citizenship
and their scholarship, were an
nounced this week by Miss Ruth
Foy, superintendent at Valdes
School. The three new appointees
are Thelma Fleury, Jean Camp
bell and Frieda Gregorieff.
Thelma and Jean are substitute
captains, who will act when one
of the regular six cannot attend
a skating session. Freda replaces
Pat Brady, who is scheduled to
feave for the states soon.
Skaters are particularly sorry
to see Pat leave. Earl George, re
porter for skating activities, says
Pat has done a bang-up job in
that capacity, and he will be
missed at this winter’s sessions.
AIRUNETAKES FOUR TO
ANCHORAGE MONDAY
Pilot Starbuck, who flies out of
Valdez for Cordova Air Service,
carried four passengers to An
chorage last Monday. They were:
1 Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Gibbs and
son, Thomas, Valdez residents
who were planning to fly to Ta
coma, Wash, after their arrival
in Anchorage. The Gibbs plan to
spend the winter Outside.
Tony Braun, formerly chef at
Club Valdez, who went to join
his wife in Anchorage. They
planned to remain in that city
for a time.
STEWART BABY DIES
The first-born son of the twin
boys of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Stewart
died in Anchorage’s Providence
Hospital on Friday, Sept. 22. The
baby, who had weighed only three
pounds and one-half ounce at
birth, was just 15 days old. He
had been in the incubator at
Providence since his birth.
GHEZZI VISITS HERE
Alfred Ghezzi, head of the Alas
ka Freight Lines, spent a few
days in Valdez last week. Freight
Lines business brought Mr. Ghezzi
to Valdez.
Rent Crithfield Home
1 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lawrence
have rented the Crithfield home
in Valdez.
MANY OCEAN-GOING VESSELS TRY FACILITIES
AT NEWLY-FINISHED VALDEZ DOCK
Street Lights Fixed,
Folks Cress Fingers
And Eye Hole-ful Streets
Several Valdez folk have com
i merited with satisfaction on the
, recently repaired street lights
near Valdez School, Miss Ruth
Foy, superintendent, said this;
| week. The city administration j
| also has been listening to the
; “thank yous” of residents in other
areas of Valdez, where lights have
| been repaired.
Valdezans are hoping that the
; broken sidewalks are next on the
! “fix-it” list of the city council,
j The worn wooden walks, some
j with gaping holes, are a hazard
that constantly threaten the limbs
! of those who stroll through Val
! dez streets.
CONSTRUCTION FIRM
PREPARES FOR WORK
AT 16-MILE TUNNEL
McLaughlin Construction Co.,
low bidder on the job of wid
ening and cementing the tun
nel at Mile 16 on the Richard
son Highway, is rushing
equipment and supplies to a
camp location at Mile 13. It is
expected work will begin on
| the tunnel in about two weeks.
Meanwhile, crews of the
Alaska Road Commission are
digging out the debris which
blocks the tunnel at present.
| Oct. 4 was fixed as the dead
line for the clean-up opera
tions there.
An ARC spokesman said the
tunnel would be completed and
in use before winter sets in
At present, traffic along the
Richardson Highway is being
routed over the former high
way. There has been no trans
portation stoppage as the re
sult of the slide which blocked
the tunnel.
Alaska Highway Residents
Visit in Valdez
Mr. and Mrs. John Lynn of
Tanacross on the Alaska Highway
| were recent Valdez visitors. Mr.
and Mrs. Ray Alderton of nearby
Tok Junction also visited here
recently.
STUDENTS SEE MOVIE
Valdez students saw the first
j school movie of the fall season on ,
Oct. 2, when Dr. Kenneth Ham |
j showed “Smoky” in the Little j
Theatre at Valdez School. Ad- j
! mission is 25 cents at these school I
! movies.
RETURNS TO CALIFORNIA
Ray Mazna, who has been the
j Valdez guest of the W. T. Weeks,
1 left for California last Saturday.
I Mr. Mazna went Outside to com
plete a course he is taking in
Diesel engineering.
HURTS FOOT IN PLAY
Thomas Weeks suffered an in- j
jured foot, while playing out-of
doors last week. A pile of ties j
! fell on the injured member. Al
though his hurt was not serious, 1
i Thomas’ foot is in a cast now. I
Steamers, freighters, barges and
tugs docking in Valdez are mak
ing good use of the new dock ad
dition just completed by con
tractor George Date of Cordova.
Port traffic continued heavy in
late September and early Octo
ber. with several sailings sched
uled within a 10-day period
The barge Macloufay, carrying
836 short tons of cargo for Valdez,
docked here on Thursday, Sept.
28. Officers and personnel of the
14-man crew considered them
selves extremely lucky, they said
upon their arrival here. The barge
squeezed across the Gulf of Alas
ka behind one bad storm and in
advance of another, and the
crossing was very smooth.
Questioned concerning the cur
ious name of the barge, the mate
of the Macloufay explained its
origin. Three men each gave a
syllable of their name to the
barge. They combined the names
of ‘Mac,’ ‘Lou’ and ‘Fay’ to fab
ricate Macloufay.
Another ship was scheduled to
dock at Valdez early this week’
exact arrival time of the vessel,
a Coastwise ship, was unknown
at press-time. The only informa
tion available was that she was
due sometime near the first of
October.
The tug “El Sol” and a barge,
owned by the Alaska Freight
Lines, are due late this week. The
vessels bring both freight and
trailers, as well as materials for
the new knock-down garage be
ing constructed on the edge of
Valdez.
The steamer Alaska is due to
dock in Valdez sometime tomor
row, to round out the week’s list
of vessels calling here.
Don Baldwins Return
From Minnesota Visit
Mr. and Mrs. Don Baldwin, who
left Valdez on a motor trip to
Minnesota two weeks ago, are
home again this week. They ar
rived back in Valdez on Sept. 30,
reporting ?n interesting but un
eventful trip, unmarred by “in
cidents” other than one or two
flat tires.
The trip was Mr. Baldwin’s
first visit to Minnesota. He re
ports he keenly enjoyed the scen
ery and was especially interested
in a tour through the iron mines.
Rowland Jacobson, Mrs. Bald
win’s brother, returned to Valdez
with them.
•ALEX' GIVES SECOND
WARNING ON LIGHTS
Patrolman E. R. Alexander
again warned residents of Val
dez this week that lights on
trucks, automobiles and small
er vehicles are absolutely im
perative. “Lights are as essen
tial as the steering wheel or
the. brake pedal,” Mr. Alex
ander said. “Please do not
place the lives of fellow citi
zens in jeopardy with your
continued negligence.”
AGED MOTHER DIES
IN CALIFORNIA
Frank Simpson, Valdez barber,
was saddened last week by word
of the death of his 82-year-old
mother, Mrs. Sarah Simpson of
San Pedro, Calif. The wire bear
ing the tragic news was delivered
to Mrs. Simpson while he was at
tending church services on Sept.
24.
SCHOOL CUSTODIAN
RESIGNS |
Jonas Erickson, custodian of
Valdez School, was forced by ill
health to resign that position last
week. Mr. Erickson plans to re
turn to his Minnesota home in the
near future.
New custodian at Valdez School
is Kenneth Dumas, formerly of
Montpelier, Vt. Mr. Dumas has
been an Alaskan, however, for
some 10 years now.
ARC Safety Engineer Visits
Harry Bates, safety engineer
from the Juneau office of the
Alaska Road Commission, was a
Valdez visitor on a recent inspec
tion tour. Mr. Bates had been
making the rounds of road camps
and contractors’ work camps, in
specting sanitation facilities and
safety precautions. He explained
his principal task was just the
“prevention of accidents and
keeping the men safe.”
Intermediate Grades to Have
Arts and Crafts Program
A diversified arts and crafts
program is planned for the fifth
and sixth grades at Valdez School,
instructor Buck Stout announced
this week. The grade-schoolers
will be initiated into the mys
J teries of soap carving, leather
I work and drawings (in black and!
I white and in color) under the j
varied program planned.
TEACHER IS ILL
Mrs. Howard Bowen and Mrs.
Buck Stout substituted in Valdez
School last week during the ab
sence of Miss Mabel Anderson.
Miss Anderson was confined to
her home by illness for three days
of the week.
Will Visit Canada, States
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Coleclough
will leave Valdez soon on a motor
trip that will take them to east
ern Canada and to the states.
They plan to visit Mr. Cole
clough’s mother in Canada.
GILSON, STARBUCK,
WAFFORD ARE NAMED
TO COUNCIL SEATS
A heavy vote swept C. J. Egan
into the mayor’s seat in Valdez
this week. Records showed more
Valdezans voted at Tuesday’s
election than at any time since
1915. Mr. Egan defeated his clos
est opponent, Joseph C. Dieringer,
by a two-to-one count.
The new mayor has served Val
dez in that capacity in other
years. He was elected for several
terms in past years.
Councilmen voted into office at
the Tuesday election were George
Gilson (re-elected), Stuart Star
buck and George Wafford.
Mr. Wafford barely won his
race for a council seat. He de
feated Ralph Matthews by only
15 votes. The issue was not de
cided until the last few ballots
were counted. Mr. Wafford is a
former Anchorage resident. He
was a member of the Anchorage
Police Department five years
ago.
The contest for school board
members was equally close. Mabel
Johnson, William C. Hunt and
Nelda Carlin were elected. Emilie
Taylor barely missed* trailing
only four votes behind Mrs. Car
lin.
Long-time residents say Tues
day’s ballot included the largest
slate of candidates ever to try for
municipal or school office in the
city.
There were no contested ballots
in the election.
Marlowes Visil From Anchorage
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Marlowe
and son, Hal, of Anchorage were
the weekend guests of Mrs. Louis
Anderson of Valdez on Sept. 22.
Mrs. Gladys Holter, mother of
Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Marlowe,
also was Mrs. Anderson’s guest
at that time. She returned to An
chorage with the Marlowes, plan
ning to spend a few weeks there
before leaving for her home in
Monroe, Ore.
TEACHER IS HOSPITALIZED
Mrs. Wilson Stein substituted
in the Valdez second grade last
week, when Mrs. Phoebe John
son, regular teacher, was hos
pitalized for a severe throat cold.
Mrs. Johnson wras admitted to
Valdez Community Hospital on
Sept. 25, and was not released
until Sept. 27.
FOUR-IN-ONE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
HELD IN PALMER ON SEPTEMBER 30
A whole series of birthdays was
celebrated in Valdez on Sept. 30,
when Darlene and Marlene Baker,
Elaine Alexander and Pat Brady
all were surprised at a pair of
birthday parties.
Pat’s party started first, and
was held at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Louis Anderson. His invited
guests helped Pat celebrate, and
then gathered up their host to
journev on to the Darlene-Mar
lene-Elaine soiree at the John
Baker home.
Pat’s guests included:
Nancy Beals, Roberta Persinger,
Jean Campbell, Larry Anderson,
Dean Thatcher, Lloyd Weeks, Pat
Weeks, Roger Schmidt, Jack Hob
son, Eddie Sievers and Larry
Sievers.
Guests at the second party,
which was a complete surprise for
all of the honor trio, included, in
addition to Pat’s list:
Jimmy Segerquist, Earl George,
Thelma Fleury, Ted Burges, Ken
neth Dumas, Jim Baker, Mr. and
Mrs. E. R. Alexander, Mr. and
Mrs. John Baker, Wesley Pendle
ton and Charlene Baker.
The dual party-goers spent the
afternoon in playing games and
enjoying the refreshments served
by Mrs Baker.