VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
PRINTED AT PALMER, ALASKA, EACH THURSDAY
By the Matanuska Press, Inc.
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office at
Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
A1 J. DeJulio . Publisher, Manager
Editor.. Lucille Kennedy Mick
Associate Editor .Virginia Gallant
Subscription Rates .• 50c a month, $5 a year
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
2500 Exhibits—
Continued from page 1
the Valley enjoys with the U. S.
Army Alaska brings to the Fair
two exceptionally fine Army ex
hibits and a half-hour band con
cert Sunday afternoon by the 43rd
Army Band with' CWO Gerald
Clapper conducting. Displays will
consist of weapons, such as a light
tank and a 105 howitzer, and
clothing and equipment used by
the Army in the Arctic theater
during winter operations.
Carnival
Adding a gala carnival atmos
phere to the Fair with the music
the exciting revolution of the
ferris wheel is the B and B Alas
ka Shows. Many other rides are
provided for the kiddies. Con
cessions galore offer opportun
ities for chance, skill, and fun
on the Midway. A free ride on
any one of the carnival devices
will be offered to the guests of
Mr. A. B. Stein, the children from
the Valley Children’s homes on
Saturday and the newsboys from
the Anchorage Times and News
and The Frontiersman on Sunday.
Sports Events
Sports events will consist of
dozens of races and contests on
Kids’ Day. Saturday from 1:30
4 p.m.; two baseball games on
Sunday afternoon, Palmer Little
Leaguers vs. Anchorage All
Stars: a tug of war, Miners vs.
City Slickers, also on Sunday
afternoon1 and a baseball game
on Monday, Palmer Teen-Agers
vis. Women of the Moose.
Coronation Ball
Climaxing weeks of competi
tion among seven lovely Valley
girls will be the crowning of the
1952 Fair Queen at the gay Cor
onation Ball Saturday evening
about 11:30 p.m. The dance will
start at 10 p.m. and will continue
until 2 a.m. with Ted Whiteman’s
orchestra from Anchorage furn
ishing the music. The chosen
queen will be crowned with a
jeweled cap of plum colored vel
vet, trimmed in ermine; and on
her shoulders will be placed a
matching coronation robe. Both of
these items were loaned by the
Anchorage Chamber of Com
merce and are now on display at
Betty s’. Assisting at the corona
tion will be the six ladies-in-wait
ing, the other queen- contestants
who, in their beautiful gowns,
will add much beauty and glamor
to the festive occasion. Assisting,
also, will be a visiting queen and
the Fair’s guest of honor, the
Queen of Tanana Valley Fair.
The Coronation Ball is the only
dance scheduled during the 1952
Fair.
Premium Exhibits
The Fair buildings housing the ■
premium exhibits are in unusu
ally fine shape this year, thanks
to the expenditure or nearly $2,
000 in renovations, additions, and
improvements. Several changes
have been made in the housing of
exhibits from the several pre
mium divisions. Buildings have
been numbered and exhibits, ser
vices, and concessions have been
assigned as follows:
No. 1—Administration Office,
flower display, and Elks’ food
concession, where full course
meals will be served on all three
days of the Fair. No. 2—Hand
work Division with exhibits in
handicraft, needlework, dress
making, thrift garments, and sew
ing and cooking exhibits from
youngsters 10 and under. No. 3
Homemakers Clubs’ and 4-H
Clubs’ competitive exhibits. No. 4
_Culinary Division exhibits and
4-H demonstrations. No. 5—Poul
try exhibits and the Chicken
Style Show. No. 6—The Barn and
the usual livestock exhibits. No.
7_All government agency and
organization exhibits. No. 8—In
dividual farm displays. No. 9—
Exhibit of vegetables and grasses,
Division A. No. 10—Home can
ning, 4-H canning, and 4-H agri
culture exhibits. No. 11—Educa
NEW BABIES
Levan
Mr. and Mrs. Jay Levan are
parents of their third child and
second son. Bom in Valley Hos
ptal August 22 the little boy
weighed eight pounds, nine ounc
es and has been named Henry
Earl. The Levan have a home
stead at Wasila and Mr. Levan is
employed by Koslosky’s Depart
ment Store in Palmer.
Chilligan
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Chilligan ofj
Eklutna are parents of a five!
pound, seven ounce boy who wasi
born at Valley Hospital August
27. No name has been chosen. This I
is the sixth child for the Chilli
gans. Mr. Chilligan is employed I
by the Alaska Railroad.
Moor
Mr. and Mrs. Julius Moor of.
Palmer are parents of a son, Phil-1
lip. This is their second son and j
third child. Phillip weighed eight;
pounds, nine ounces when born at1
Valley Hospital August 27. Mr. j
Moor is employed by the Geologi
cal Survey in Palmer.
tional and school exhibits with
potted plants and philately divi
sion. No. 12—Arts division and
display of pottery. No. 13—Sports
man’s display of furs and trophies
and possibly a few wild animals
(alive).
The Springer Road gate will be
used only for bronging in the
livestock exhibits. These may be
entered very early Saturday mor
ning. Brooks’ Feed and Supply
will furnish all the feed for ani
mals and poultry during their
stay at the Fair. All other exhib
its must be brought to the Fair
Grounds Friday between noon
and 8 p.m. Exhibitors will report
first at the Administration Of
fice, where they will first receive
the number to be affixed to each
of their entries and will then be
directed to the proper display
buildings. Judging will begin at
9 a.m. Saturday morning and
should be completed at noon
when the Fair is officially open
ed.
Other Exhibits
Fair Manager Parker Lester re
ports an unusual interest in the
1952 Fair on the part of indus
trialists who plan many exhibits
of farm equipment, home build
ing materials, and household ap
pliances. Ceramics enthusiasts
will delight in the display of
Tundra Pottery which will be
housed with the art exhibit in
Quonset 12. Soft, semi-classical
music will come from a piano
also on display in this building.
Also interesting to Fair-goers
will be the large number of ex
hibits put on by. government ag
encies and organizations in Quon
set 12. The Extension Service, the
Bureau of Reclamation, the Terri
torial Departments of Health and
Agriculture, and the Alaska Ex
periment Station have all asked
for space. Thousands visited the
Forestry Division exhibit last
year, according to ticker count,
so a much larger exhibit is plan- ■
ned this year in the log cabin
built by the division two years
ago.
Street Closed
Fairview Avenue will be clos
ed from the railroad tracks to
Springer Road during the Fair.
This protection to Fair-goers was
granted by the City Council on
petition of the Fair Association.
The city also granted the,associa
tion the right to designate the city
lot across from the Fair Grounds
as the official parking lot. The
Palmer Police Department will
be increased by three men, who
will patrol city streets, during the
Fair. Fair Association officials
charged with guarding property
and keeping order will be depu
tized by Police Chief Bernie
Bouwens.
FORMING OF ALL ALASKA G OF G AND TAIYA ALUMINUM
PROJECT ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF MT. McKINLEY PARK MEETING
mgnugnting tne Chamber ot
Commerce All Alaska Resources
Planning Meeting at Mt. McKin
ley Park last week was the al
most magic announcement of the
Aluminum Company of America
about its plans for a $400 million
aluminum project, to be known
as the Taiya Project, near Skag
way.
So great was the impact of this
announceemnt that it tended to
overshadow other accomplish
ments and announcements, each
of which in themselves had great
significance for the future of Al
aska. Planning for the project,
which will make the old Chil
koot gold rush disembarkation
point the site of the largest ex
port of aluminum in America, had
apparently been in progress for
four or five years. Except for two
important details, that of obtain
ing Congressional permission to
purchase 20,000 acres for the pro
ject site and getting the approval
of the Canadian government to
divert part of the headwaiters of
the Yukon River in order to create
cheap hydro-electric power, plans
for the project are nearly com
plete. According to Leon E. Hick
man. ALCOA vice-presient who
made the Mt. McKinley an
nouncement, the plans contem
plate a huge aluminum smelting
plant that will produce 200,000
tons of aluminum ingots annually
and will employ about 4.000 peo
ple. Families of these workers and
the professional and business en
terprises they will attract are
expected to establish a town of at
least 20.000 persons. This city, the
aluminum plant, and an extensive
area around it will be served by
the hj'dro-electric plant consist
ing of eight 100.000 horsepower
generators. It is contemplated
that the Taiya project will* re
quire about four years to com
plete the okay of the Canadian
and United States governments
on the water and land essentials
It was revealed that the Depart
ment of Interior had withdrawn
46,000 acres in the Taiya River in
1948 in anticipation of the pro
ject.
Perhaps the most amazing
thing about the project was dis
closure that it would be financed
entirely from private sources.
Arch Booth, executive vice-presi
dent of the United States Cham
ber of Commerce, had already
inspv-ed the Mt. McKinley dele
gates with his spoken belief that
the biggest developments can still
come from individual efforts, that
Alaska should avoid pitfalls be
setting the rest of the United
States through government
spending, through coercion and
collectivism.
Other Alaska Resources
Other Alaskan developments
reported at the meeting were:
Frank Heintzleman’s announce
ment of a new $40 million pulp
mill at Juneau; Alaska Commis
sioner of Mines Phil Holdsworth’s
review of mineral resources, in
cluding coal reserves totalling
more than one hundred billion
tons, the million dollar yearly
platinum production at Good
news Bay, of chrome and the only
tin mine under the American
Flag on the Seward Peninsula,
undeveloped resources in anti
mony in the Katishna district and
copper in the Prince William
Sound area, and the largest high
grade iron ore deposit under the
American flag at Klukwan in
Southeastern Alaska, not far from
the site of the proposed aluminum
plant; Interior Department For
estry Division chief Forester R. R.
j Robinson’s report of unlimited
! possibilities for timber develop
ment enterprises in Western Alas
ka; and the Development Board’s
disclosure of petroleum possibilit
ies in the Cook Inlet area.
The inevitable development of
these resources will follow like
the ever-widening ripples from a
stone thrown in the water, Gov
ernor Ernest Gruening suggested
in his speech to the delegates
wherein he likened the Alcoa
plant to the initial'stone.
However, as one McKinley
delegate pointed out, the most
valuable of all Alaska’s resources,
is her people; and Palmer dele
gates took great pride in the co
operation expressed in enthusias
tic interaction of representatives
from all sections of Alaska to
ward a common goal—the devel
opment of Alaska.
Co-Operation is Key Note
In his report to the Alaska Ex
periment Station, Hugh Johnson
stated, “The touchword ‘Coopera
tion’ exemplified the meeting
throughout. Seeing the Alaska
Steamship Co., Coastwise Lines,
Alaska Railroad, labor unions,
and businessmen discussing mu
tual, integrated problems amic
ably was gratifying..”
Said James -Hurley, “It was a
source of much satisfaction to
find the provincialism of the Ter
ritory being broken down in a
joining together for the common
future of Alaska.” Dr. Allan Mick
was amazed at the efficiency and
dispatch with which the business
of the meeting was accomplish
ed. He had high praise for the
organization and resolutions com
mittees of which Betty Mears
was a member.
Eigh: resolutions drawn up by
the committee were quickly
adopted Sunday morning before
the meeting broke up. One of
these protested provisions of the
new McCarran Immigration Act
which require screening of per
sions entering the States from Al
aska beginning next December.
This unpopular provision, which
was considered tantamout to
treating Alaskans as aliens, was
brought to the attention of Alas
kans for the first time at the Mc
Kinley Park meeting: Other reso
lutions called for construction of
the Susitna power project to pro
duce 450,000 kws of low cost
power for Anchorage, Fairbanks,
and the Matanuska Valley; en
abling legislation to create a
board of parks and playgrounds
for developing Territorial recrea
tion areas and tourist facilities:
money to complete a highway
from Cordova to a junction with
the Richardson Highway, thus
linking the isolated city with the
rest of Alaska; appointment of a
labor-management committee to
work toward amendment of the
Taft-Hartley law to keep ships
moving to and from Alaska dur
ing any future strike; action from
all communities to join the Lea
gue of Alaska Cities; and enact
ment by Congress of a bill to sell
20 000 acres of land to ALCOA for
its aluminum plant and townsite.
Land Law Reform Sought
In still another resolution a
permanent committee was estab
lished to study all existing land
laws pertinent to Alaska with
the purpose of determining de
sirable changes and presenting
these as suggestions for Congres
sional action. Along with six
others, Palmers James Hurley was
a member of the important com
mittee. Ben Culver of Anchorage
is the chairman.
MATANUSKA VALLEY FAIR OF 1948
Mrs. Fannie Werner took first prize in the Maianuska
Valley Fair canning contest form 1936 through 1948. This
year she is superintendent of the Canning Division.
Describing the job before this
permanent committee, Hurley
said this week, “The whole prob
lem of title ownership of land has
to be reviewed not in a destruc
! tive manner, but with construc
tive contributions in fnind. We
must keep in mind the essential
reason for some of the present
laws.” The ARRC manager ad
ded, however, “In my opinion the
present ownership of land within
the Territory is not conducive to
rapid development of the Ter
ritory by private enterprise.”
All Alaska C of C
A permanent ALL Alaska
Chamber of Commerce dedicated
to the fostering and broadening
of the Territory’s economic base
was the crowning achievement of
the historic four-day session at
McKinley Park. Although before
the last war there had been an
association of Alaska C of Cs un
der the same name, provision was
made for a more vital organiza
tion through financing of activ
ities by the members chambers
themselves instead of the Terri
torial Legislature, as in the past.
Elected president of the new All
Alaska organization was Jack
Anderson, president of the An
chorage Chamber of Commerce
and charman of the McKinley
meeting. Other officers elected
represented the other three larg
' est cities in Alaska1 they were:
Cecil Wells of Fairbanks, first
vice-president: Robert Boochever
of Juneau, second vice-president;
and William Stump of Ketchikan,
j secretary treasurer. It is expect
; ed that each member C of C will
name a delegate to the All Alas
ka Chamber of Commerce gov
erning body and that this group
will meet within the next two
months to get started on the a
genda of work that will be the
real test of the Mt. McKinley
meeting’s Achievement.
Under Secretary
Surveys Kodiak, Kenai
Hugh Johnson, agricultural ec
onomist with the University of
Alaska Experiment Station, ac
companied Under Secretary., ot
Interior Robert Moody McKinney J
on a whirlwind tour of the Kodi-!
ak beef enterprises yesterday. |
Purpose of the trip was to ac
quaint Mr. McKinney with Alas
ka’s agricultural industry. Al
though originally planned as a
tour of the ranches on the Alaska
Peninsula, the party was turned
back by fog and unfavorable
weather forecasts at Kodiak.
Sandvik and Roark—
Continued from page 1
member of the Palmer Independ
ent School District Board for the
past year. His technical advice j
has been invaluable to a board
faced with planning for two new
schools and a four-room addition
to the present one. Said he, “Our
creditors may now form a line on
the right and those wanting to put
in application for apartments may
line up on the left.”
Contractors Sandvik and Roark
expect to do most of the work on
the housing project themselves
for subcontracts for plumbing,
heating, and electrical work. They *
hope to get the building up far
enough this fall so that they can 1
use a light crew on inside work
next winter.
Clair, Nina and Jerry Stock;
Tom Lepak; Ralph and Vivian
Goodrich are among the many
Valley sportsmen who plan to
leave this week end for Caribou
hunting in the Eureka area.
Young Jerry will be packing a
30-06 nearly as tall »s he, with
which he hopes to “get a big
one.”
Mr. and Mrs. Merle Anderson,
former Palmer residents are in
the Valley on a business trip from
Tollison, Arizona. They plan to
remain for about a month.
About two adult Americans out
of every five do not know that
cancer is curable, a survey for the
American Cancer Society shows.
WELCOME
Sunday, August 31
SINGSPIRATION
8 P.M.
United Protestant Church
Valley Bank Opens
Tuesday In New
Spacious Quarters
Open house from 8 p.m. to 10
p.m. will mark the opening of the
Matanuska Valley Bank in their
new quarters in the Neal Wright
building annex on September 2.
Finishing touches were -being
added this week to the complete
ly new and modern quarters.
Beautiful walnut wood, in darl£
and natural shades, has been used
throughout, complimented by at
tractive red and grey mottled
rubber tile flooring. Closely spac
ed flourescent lighting has been
installed as has two, 200 pound
glass entrance doors. The doors
are approximately three-quarters
of an inch thick and controlled by
automatic spring hinges.
Four service windows, writing
benches, chairs and more than
double previous vault space haye
all been designed with the con
venience of bank patrons in mind.
Officers and directors of the
bank have extended an invitation
to the public to attend the open
house Tuesday night.
Officers of the Matanuska Val
ley Bank are: Robert A. Baker,
president; Harry J. Hill, vice
president; Richard M. Jones, cash
ier: John PT. Clawson, secretary.
Directors include James J.
Hurley, Robert A. Baker, John
H. Clawson, Harry J. Hill and
Asa L. Martin, M.D.
Mrs. Shirley Haire, Mrs. Mar
garet May, Mrs. Maxine Kucera,
'Mrs. Amy Worledge. Miss Violet
Werner and William Renfrew
represent the staff.
City Sales Tax
Year Old On Monday
Monday, September 1, is the
birthday of the Palmer sales tax.
Just one year ago Sunday, Palmer
merchants and business people
started collecting the two percent
tax on sales and services that
furnishes the bulk of the income
on which the City operates.
Improvement in the city’s
streets, which have been in better
shape this year than ever before
is one of the more noticeable
benfits from the tax. It has also
been used to pay for more than
$28,509.88 in capital expenditures,
mostly for street maintenance, but
also to purchase land for the new
water system.
Reports on the 12th month col
lections (for August) will not be
available until the middle of Sep
tember. Collected for the first 11
months was $55,113.72 an average
of $5,010.34 per month. From this
it can be estimated that retail
business of more than $3 million
is carried on in Palmer annually.
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