Junior Class play at
Palmer School Satur
day night, 8 o'clock.
Malley IHrontieeran
PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
PAGES
TODAY
JfOL. 4, NO. 9
PALMER. ALASKA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1950
PRICE 10c
Co-Op Plans Increased Water Supply
P-TA Offers Cash
Prizes to Children
In Membership Drive
With the P-TA membership
drive nearing completion, inter
esting cash prizes now offered to
the school children were an
nounced by Mrs. Clayton Essling
er, membership chairman, this
week.
Prizes for rooms which turn
in the greatest number of paid
up memberships in P-TA will be:
415. first; $10, second, and $5,
third. Individual prizes will also
go to children who turn in the
greatest number of paid up mem
berships. First prize will be $3;
second, $2, and third, $1.
The membership drive will be
concluded on November. 21 when
the P-TA holds its regular month
ly meeting. Plans for the prizes
were made at the regular board
meetingof P-TA on November 6,
Mrs. Esslinger said.
The plan of giving a prize of
$2 each month to rooms repre
sented at the monthly P-TA meet
ing with the largest attendance
will be continued, according to
the membership chairman. In
future persons other than the par
ents may represent a particular
room. For instance, she said that
if parents find they cannot attend
the meeting, they can request a
neighbor, or some other person
to act as their representative for
the room in which their children
are enrolled.
LOCAL ARIST TO
PAINT PICTURES FOR
FORD MOTOR CO.
Fred Machetanz, local artist,
has been commissioned to paint
12 watercolors of Alaskan scenes
for the Ford Motor Company, he
said here this week. The pictures
will appear in the company’s mag
azine, Ford Times. Seven of the
watercolors will be of scenes
along the Alaska Highway. The
remaining five will be pictures of
Dawson in the Yukon Territory.
Mr. and Mrs. Machetanz are
beth well known throughout the
_ territory as Alaskan artists. They
recently came to the Valley to
make their home. On their prop
erty, which is near Palmer, they
have built a log studio where Mr.
Machetanz does his painting and
Mrs. Machetanz writes.
The couple returned last Friday
from a trip to Juneau where they
presented a lecture, accompanied
by moving pictures taken during
their years among the Eskimos.
They made the trip by car be
. tv.een here and Haines, traveling
%n to the capital by barge. On
their return trip they flew back
to Haines, where they picked up
their car. On the drive back to
the Valley they reported no snow
on the Alaska.. Highway while
traveling in Canada. On reaching
the Alaska border they ran into
snow but found that the road was
kept in very good shape by the
Alaska Road Commission.
During the latter part of this
month they will giv their movie
lecture in Anchorage.
Laurilx Loberg was to be re
leased from Valley Hospital today
following a two weeks’ illness.
'We Build' Is Slogan as Kiwanians
Chalk Up Many Projects in First Year
“We Build,” Kiwanis slogan, is
not taken lightly by the Palmer
Kiwanis Club, it was indicated in
a review of projects undertaken
and accomplished by the club in
its first year of organization here.
Jack Maze, charter member of the
I club, appearing on the Kiwanis
charter night program here last
Saturday, reviewed the year’s
projects for members and guests
in attendance.
Following the club’s first char
ter night program held on Sep
tember 17, 1949, street signs for
Palmer was the Kiwanians’ first
project. In November a blood
typing program was sponsored by
the club when some 500 persons,
mostly adults, were typed and
registered.
The club’s Christmas project
was the collection and repairing
of broken toys for distribution to
needy families.
Electrical wiring of the Valley
Hospital with a flood light erect
ed in front of the building was a
project accomplished early in the
new year; proceeds from a Ki
wanis-sponsored basketball tour
nament were used to purchase an
electric score board for the high
school. Cost of the score board
was $335 plus freight.
First Egg Hunt
The first Easter egg hunt to be
held for children of the Valley
was started by the Kiu^anis Club
this spring to be held as an an
ual affair; a showing at the Val
ley theatre of pictures taken by
Dr. C. C. Bailey on bear hunts
was sponsored by the Kiwanis
with proceeds used for the pur
COMMUNITY INVITED
TO C. OF C. MEETING
ON TERRITORY ROADS
An open meeting will be held
by the Palmer Chamber of Com
merce next Wednesday for fur
ther dicussion of the Valley’s part
in the development of roads for
the territory.
Everyone in the Valley is is
sued an invitation by Clair Stock,
president of the Chamber of
Commerce, to attend the meeting.
No one knows better than farmers
the value of access roads, Mr.
Stock pointed out in explaining
that side roads will be of as great
a consideration as arterial high
ways in the Good Roads Associ
ation plan. Palmer formed the
third chapter of the Association
at the Chambers’ meeting two
weeks ago.
The Good Roads Association
will provide an opportunity for
everybody to aid in the develop
ment of roads for the territory
while at the same time working
for the betterment of his own
community. Membership in the
Association at $1 per year will
give each person a voice in vital
decisions on roads for the com
munity.
H. J. Ellen, helper at the’rail
road station has been hospitalized
for the past couple days. Mr. El
len was taken to Valley hospital
when he suffered a hemorrhage
following the extraction of teeth.
chase and addition of a new roof
for the hospital.
A donation of $25 toward the
work and co-sponsorship with the
Health Council on a clean-up cam
paign for Palmer was a spring
project for the Kiwanians; aiding
in work on the cemetery; promot
ing a calf club with two calves
provided for student dairymen;
putting on a minstrel show with
proceeds used for the purchase of
a new typewriter for the library,
and $250 for the purchase of uni
forms for the school band; pro
ceeds of $300 from a Kiwanis
sponsored auction ocntributed to
the library building fund; dona
tion of $25 to the Youth Council
for the purchase of records and
use of the gymnasium were all
club projects.
Sponsor Explorers
Last summer, the Kiwanis Club
promoted an investigation of the
street-oiling project. Last week
the club sponsored the organiza-1
tion of an Explorers Club, which
is advanced scouting for young
men. A recent project was having
a stretcher-table repaired for the
hospital.
For its current project the club
recently voted to make an appeal
to the public that all those who
owe money at the Valley Hospital
will pay their bills s^ that the
hospital may maintain an operat
ing fund.
The second annual Kiwanis
(Continued on Classified Page)
Health Council Holds Open
Meeting on Water Situation
A round-table discussion of the
Palmer water situation will be
held at the regular meeting of
the Health Council next Thurs
day, November 16. Officers of the
group extended a general invita
tion to everyone of the commun
ity to attend the meeting, which
will be held at 7 p.m. at the Rec
Hall.
ARMISTICE DAY
Tomorrow, November 11, will
mark the 32nd anniversary of
Armistice Day. Although no
special observation is planned
here, many will stop to ponder
the meaning of the day—what
it has signified in the past,
i what it signifies now.
Only a generation after men
had laid down their arms in a
war to end all wars, another
war, more far-flung, brought
the world into an even fiercer
struggle.
Once again the threat of a
world-wide holocaust faces us
with American men dying right
now in Korea in an effort to
stem the tide of tyranny and
destruction.
But though the dream of No
vember 11, 1918, has not been
realized, Armistice Day is still
a memory of a triumph in the
name of Democracy and a chal
lenge to future triumphs for
the forces of Democracy.
Professional Scout
Worker to Meet With
Valley Women Wed.
Mi-s. Marjorie Kafer, who re
cently arrived in Anchorage as
the professional Girl Scout work
er there, will come to Palmer
next Wednesday to meet the
women of the Valley who are in
terested in furthering Scouting
here. Mrs. Kafer will be accom
panied by Mrs. G, T, Manning,
president of the Anchorage Girl
Scout Council.
A meeting will be held at the
home of Mrs. Charles Wilson at
1 p.m. with an invitation extend
ed to all Girl Scout leaders, any
of the local women who have done
professional Scout work, and in
terested mothers of girls who are
of Scouting age. Discussion will
include plans for a training
course for women here who are
interested in the Scouting work.
'Dust of Earth' Different Junior Class
Play in Plot, Scenes and Changes
Something entirely new in Jun
ior class plays presented in Pal
mer will be offered to the public
tomorrow night when the curtain
goes up at 8 o’clock on “The Dust
of the Earth,” melodrama to be
presented at the Palmer High
School Auditorium. Not only is
the plot of the play different from
previous Junior class productions,
but for the first time here there
will be three different scenes and
four changes of scenery.
The play, which brings a happy
ending to a family’s troubles,
promises an excellent evening of
entertainment as the amateur act
ors have worked hard and their
parts require real acting ability.
A spokesman for the Juniors said
although ticket sales have not
been as good as expected, the stu
dents feel sure that the commu
nity will support the play.
This afternoon a special dress
rehearsal was held for the chil
dren of the school.
Norma Nelson is starred in the
play as Nell. Other members of
the cast are Wesley Eckert as
John Ryder; Vernon Fridley, Jr.,
as David Moore; Gloria Lepak as
Susan Moore, his wife;
Genevieve DeLand as Elizabeth
Moore, the dauhgter; Jerry Smith
as Jerry Moore, the son; Jim
Caulkins as Dr. Templeton; Miles
Rice as “Wandering Tom”; Ern
est Marth as Mose; Betty Harris
as Arabella.
High school teachers assisting
with the production are Mrs. Jean
LaCross, director, and Joseph E.
Hudock, production manager.
Tickets for reserved seats are
$1.25, general admission $1, and
a special rate of 75 cents for stu
dents. They may be obtained
from the junior classmen, at the
school office or at the Jay Dee
shop.
Ernest Zehm. of the Shamrock
bakery, a patient at Valley Hos
pital, is reported to be getting
along very nicely.
►
Co-Op to Install
Chlorinator System
For Purifying Water
An increased water supply and
purification of the water by the
installation of a chclorinator sys
tem is now being considered by
the Matanuska Valley Farmers
Cooperating Association.
With Palmer water again de
clared unsafe for drinking by the
Alaska Health Department offi
cials last Friday, consideration of
plans for the improvement of the
water system were stepped up
here by the Co-Op this week.
A chlorinator system will be in
stalled by the Co-Op, Carl R. Ras
mussen, acting general manager,
said this week. An investigation
of various chlorinating systems
is now being made by the Co-Op
to determine what is most ade
quate for the water supply here.
Plans to increase the water supply
are also being given close con
sideration, Mr. Rasmussen said.
The Co-Op officials and the
people of the community are in
terested in securing a new water
system or improving the present
one. Every effort is being made
to work out some plan for a bet
ter water system,” Mr. Rasmussen
added.
The water here was first de
clared unsafe for drinking about
the middle of October when a
few samples of several submitted
were found to be contaminated.
A temporary chlorinating device
was installed at that time by the
Alaska Health Department. The
device was removed last week
when it failed to work due to low
temperatures here. In making the
announcement last week that the
chlorinator had been removed and
the water was not considered
safe for drinking. Health Depart
ment officials, urged that all
water used for drinking purposes
be boiled.
GIBSON HOME BURNS
TO GROUND FRIDAY
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Gibson
lost everything they had except
the clothes they were wearing
and their car in a fire which de
stroyed their trailer-cabin home
last Friday. The couple returned
to their home from work to find
that their cabin and trailer had
burned to the ground. Their prop
erty is located on the Palmer
Highway. They had recently
built a cabin adjoining their trail
er. Just a few days before the
fire they had taken all their
wim_r clothes out of storage to
their home.
Mrs. Gbison and the couple s
young son. Bobby, left for the
states soon after the family’s
tragedy. They plan to spend the
next few months with her mother
in southern California. Mrs. Gib
son, secretary to Hugh A. John
son, economist for Agricultural
Research .resigned her position
prior to her departure by plane
Wednesday morning. Mr. Gibson
is employed by Palmer Body and
Paint Shop. Mr. Gibson plans to
remain in Palmer for the winter.
He said he had no idea how the
fire started.