The Kenai Peninsula
HISTORICAL MUSEUM & LIBRARY
BOX 203
ALASKA
Cheechako News
THIRD YEAR
MARCH 22, 1963
PRICE 10 CENTS
NUMBER 124
Anchor Point
Road Job
Begins Soon
The M-B Contracting Co., An
chorage, submitted low bids on
two separate highway projects,
including one on the Kenai Pen
insula, according to D. A. McKin
non, Department of Highways
commissioner.
The two bids, opened March 7,
amounted to nearly $3,000,000 in
proposed construction costs. Mc
Kinnon said he was recommend
ing award of the two contracts to
M-B on basis of the low bids.
The projects are for the grad
ing and drainage of 13.91 miles of
the Sterling Highway between
Happy Creek and Anchor Point,
and the grading, drainage and bi
tuminous surface treatment of
10.1 miles of the Glenn Highway
from Mendeltna Creek east, near
Glennallen.
M-B bids were $1,231,506.00 for
the Sterling Highway job, and
$l,-> 15,182 for the Glenn Highway
reconstruction. Work is expected
to begin on both projects when
weather permits.
Other bidders on the Happy
Creek-Anchor Point project on
the Sterling Highway were:
r.voon Construction, $1,421,976;
M o r r ison-Knudsen, $1,301,215;
Cheney Construction Co., Seattle,
$1,471,610; Rivers - Prestwood -
Ghemm, $1,731,386; McLaughlin
B-E-C-K, $1,726,253; S. S. Mul
len, $1,832,162; and a joint ven
ture of Premier and H and K Con
structors, Anchorage, $1,974,193.
Nearly all of the same contract
ors were also among bidders on
the Glenn Highway project.
Training Session
Set for Cub Scout
Leaders in Area
A training meeting for Cub
Scout committee members and
den mothers will be held at Wild
wood Station chapel on Saturday,
March 2d.
The six-hour training session
will begin at 10 a.m. and con
clude at 5:30 p.m. and will be
broken into three two-hour cours
es.
Subject matter to be taken up
will include: “What Cub Scouting
Is,” “Cub Scout Achievement
Plan,” and “Den and Pack Activ
ities.”
Den mothers and committee
members of Cub Scout organiza
tions in Kenai, Wildwood Station
and Soldotna are urged to attend
as many of these instruction
courses as possible.
The Weather
Max. Min.
KENAI
Mar. 14
Mar. 15
Mar. 16
Mar. 17
Mar. 18
Mar. 19
Mar. 20
20
30
21
23
30
30
27
5
0
0
15
3
-4
5
Mar. 14
Mar. 15
Mar. 16
Mar. 17
Mar. 18
Mar. 19
Mar. 20
SOLDOTNA
30 3
19 4
29 -6
24 5
24 5
37
31
-11
-16
Precip.
.14
None
None
.06
None
None
N one
None
.25
None
.07
.10
Nona
None
In post-wide competition, Pfc. Walter T. Ward was judged Wild
wood Station’s Soldier of the Month for the month of March. The
6\V’ athlete coached the Wildwood basketball team which trigger
ed the recent Elmendorf Tournament's biggest upset in a 58-57
win over Fort Wainwright.
Kenai Chamber Adopts
* Figure 8’ Road Plan
The Kenai Chamber of Com
merce has adopted a plan for de
velopment of a comprehensive
primary highway for a “Figure
8 Loop’’ on the Kenai Peninsula.
This highway would circle the
east side of Lake Tustumena and
continue up the coast by a route
via the Kenai Spur to the edge
of Cook Inlet and the logical
route for the Kenai Peninsula
Coastal Highway, for eventual
connection to a Turnagain Arm
crossing.
Possibilities for tourist travel
and development promise a bright
future for this route of the pro
posed “Figure 8” Highway which
would include the entire Kenai
Peninsula and utilize to the ut
most the beautiful vistas possible
when looking over Cook Inlet
from the Kenai Peninsula Coastal
Highway toward the Alaska
Range, says James E. Fisher,
Chamber president.
“Implementation of the propos
ed plan would immensely assist
existing communities and could
very possibly be the catalytic
force which would prompt devel
opment of the entire area,” at
torney Fisher observed.
“The proposed highway would
require very little accommodation
of the present system and would
really be a logical extension of
the existing primary highways
system on the Kenai Peninsula
and connecting the Peninsula to
Anchorage,” he added.
The program recommended to
the membership of the Kenai
Chamber of Commerce after thor
ough discussion by the Board of
(Continued on Page 16)
ACCA Elects New President
At Recent Meeting in Kenai
Fran (Mrs. Per) Osmar of
Clam Gulch has been elected pres
ident of the Kenai Area Chapter
of the Alaska Crippled Children’s
Assoc., to fill the vacancy creat
ed by the sudden death of Monty
Coleman. The election took place
at the last regular meeting of the
chapter on March 7, at the Kenai
Central High School.
The meeting' was presided over
by Mrs. Osmar, vice president
prior to her election to the high
er office. The secretary was in
structed to record in the minutes
a resolution in memory of the
former president and to extend
sympathy to Mrs. Coleman and
sons. A members’ contribution
was made to the Alaska Heart
Fund in memory of Monty Cole
man.
Mrs. Genevieve Fletcher, chair
man of the ACCA Easter Seal
drive, reported on the annual pro
ject. The drive opened March 7
and will continue through Easter.
Letters containing Easter Seals
have been mailed to all residents
in the ACCA Chapter area. Re
cipients are urged to support the
drive with donations to insure
continuation of the speech and
hearing therapy program already
started under direction of Miss
Margaret Hamilton, ACCA thera
pist.
Last year’s Easter Seal dona
tions were used, in part, to pur
chase the audiometer for the Ke
nai Area Chapter and is being
used by the local public health
nurse and the visiting therapist
in their work in the area.
Special benefit activities for
(Continued on Page 2)
State Lands Official
Meets With Homesteaders
“The State of Alaska Division
of Lands is not interested in
‘jumping’ anyone’s homestead on
the Kenai Peninsula or elsewhere
in the state,’’ Roseoe E. Bell, Di
vision of Land’s director from
Anchorage, stated Friday night
at a Peninsula-wide meeting of
homesteaders in Soldotna Com
munity Hall.
On the contrary, Bell continued,
the Division of Lands in adminis
tering the Alaska Homestead
Act hopes to avoid some of the
pitfalls existing under the old
Bureau of Land Management set
up. The state laws are more flex
ible than those of the BLM, Bell
said, and one of the duties of
the Division is to help people
iron out their problems. “One
problem met is one family help
ed,” he added.
The Division of Lands chief
formerly was connected with the
Bureau of Land Management and
is cognizant of the rules, regu
lations and problems in each gov
erning body.
Bell, at his own request, came
to Soldotna to explain the state’s
stand on the matter of state land
selection after he had been ap
proached by Gene Smith, presi
dent of the Alaska Entrymen’s
Right’s Assoc., and Leo Oberts,
member of the same organization.
The conference between the
land man and the AERA repre
sentatives followed receipt of re
jection notices by many Penin
sula homesteaders when they filed
final proof papers on their respec
tive homesteads. The state’s
“blanket filing” on unpatented
land has been blamed by many
for their failure to receive pa
tents.
The Friday night meeting was
I
hosted by the A ERA and was
open to a!' persons interested in
homesteading problems. T h e
crowd filled the hall to standing
room only capacity. Bell remain
ed in the area overnight and was
the featured speaker at the Sol
dotna Chamber of Commerce’s
noon luncheon on Saturday, with
his talk following the same lines
as that made at the AERA meet
ing.
Introduced by Bill Gibbs, in the
absence of the AERA president,
Bell first showed a series of
charts, reviewing briefly the Di
vision’s stewardship of state land
and progress made un the land
program.
The State of Alaska is entitl
ed to select 1«>3 million acres of
land from the federal goveri -
ment and thus far has selected
(Continued on Rage 16)
Brrrr-It’s Spring!
Spring shiveringly made its
official debut Thursday, March
21.
Temperatures recorded in the
wee small hours Thursday morn
ing showed a -15 degrees at Sol
dotna Airport and 8 degrees above
zero at Federal Aviation Agency,
Kenai. Variance in readings for
the neighboring communties was
attributed to difference in amount
of wind.
This was the third consecutive
day for minus readings at Soldot
na. March 19 showed a low of -ll
and on March 20 the low was -16.
Kenai had a low of -4 on March
19. the only day this week with a
minus reading.
Last year on the first day of
spring the two areas recorded -9
and -11 readings.
’I
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