Thought of the Week:
You can never tell, from the
way a woman smiles at you.
what she is thinking of you.
THE FRONTIERSMAN
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
CHUGACH STAMPEDE
MO KE-BO ARENA
OCTOBER 5 6
VOLUME 16, NUMBER 2
PALMER, ALASKA, THURSDAY. OCT. 3. 1963
TWELVE PAGES
PRICE 15 CENTS
RONALD J. DUNN
Elks Grand Exalted Ruler
To Visit Palmer Sunday
Ronald J. Dunn of Oneida,
New York, Grand Exalted
Ruler of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, will
address a buffet dinner meet
ing of the Palmer Elks Lodge
on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m.,
Stanley J. Zaborac announced
this week.
The Elks’ national leader,
who is accompanied by his
wife, began a four-day tour of
Alaska Elks lodges yesterday
in Fairbanks, where he addres
sed the annual convention of
the Alaska State Elks Associa
tion.
Accompanying Dunn on the
tour are Emmett T. Anderson
of Tacoma, Wash., a past Grand
Exalted Ruler of the Elks, and
Edwin J. Alexander of Olym
pia, Wash., chairman of the or
ders board of grand trustees,
and their wives.
^Others in the party are Dick
Harpole, president of the
Washington State Elks Associ
ation, Paul T. Wemple, past
president of the California
State Elks Association, and
John Cushing, president of the
Mr. “Z” Makes
Good Progress
After Surgery
William T. Zahradnicek, state
commissioner of education and
former Palmer Independent
School District superintendent
of schools, is recovering satis
factorily following an opera
tion on Sept. 26 in the Univer
sity of Washington hospital in
Seattle.
In making the announcement,
Gov. William A. Egan said the
operation was ordered for cor
rection of a condition disclosed
when the education official en
tered the hospital for a check
up.
Zahradnicek will convalesce
in the hospital for two or three
weeks. His address is Room
429-E, University of Washing
ton Hospital, Seattle.
Mrs. Zaharadnicek and the
commissioner’s son, William,
are with him in Seattle.
Alaska State Elks Association,
with their wives.
Mr. Dunn will speak at a din
ner of the Fairbanks Elks on
Saturday, Oct. 5, and will wind
up the tour on Monday, Oct. 7,
when he addresses a dinner
meeting of the Juneau lodge.
A lawyer and former judge,
Dunn was elected to head the
1,315,000-member order at the
national convention in San
Francisco in July.
In his talk here, the Grand
Exalted Ruler is expected tj
emphasize expansion of Elks
community service programs,
especially in the fields of Am
ericanism and youth activities.
The local lodge has invited
members of all other lodgas :n
the state to attend the iffair,
Knik - Malanuska
Crossing Advertised
Advertising for construction
of the Knik-Matanuska Cross
ing, the biggest single construc
tion project ever undertaken
by the Alaska Department of
Highways, will begin Oct. 7,
according to Anchorage Dis
trict Highway Engineer Roy W.
Jenkins. Bids will be opened
in Juneau Nov. 7, he said.
This bid call culminates
nearly one year of intense work
on the part of the District off
ice and the bridge design sec
tion in Juneau, Jenkins said,
and is expected to attract bids
from some of the biggest con
struction companies in the
world. The project involves
construction of 2.58 miles of
new roadway and four major
bridges over the Knik and
Matanuska Rivers.
Relocation of the Glenn
Highway will begin approxi
mately nine miles west of the
Knik Bridge and terminate
near Matanuska. It will short
en the present Anchorage
Palmer mileage by nearly eight
miles, and will eliminate a
slow and hazardous section of
this route.
The condition of the present
bridge over the Knik River,
milepost 38, is considered sub
standard by the Department of
Highways. According to State
i bridge engineers the old struc
! ture was not designed to carry
the heavy loads now allowed
on the highways and bridges
in Alaska, and during its 27
year life has been damaged
many times. Following the last
severe damage—it was hit by
an overheight truck in 1962 —
a crash program was initiated
to build a replacement.
“It is one significant result
of this crash program that we
are realizing today,” Jenkins
said, “by being able to bring
this major project to the ad
vertising stage in such a short
period of time.”
The project cost, including
engineering, right-of-way and
construction is expected to ex- i
ceed $7 million.
LDS CHURCH TO HAVE
FREEZER BAKE SALE
The Primary Association of
the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints will hold a
freezer bake sale on Saturday,
Oct. 5, at Bert’s Drug in Pal
mer.
Homemakers can save them
selves time and work by stock
ing up at the sale, committee
members said, since the cookies
and other sweet stuffs will be
packaged and labeled for freez
ing.
Proceeds from the sale will
be used to operate the Primary
for the coming year.
! which will feature an all-Al
, aska menu.
The visitors will sample Al
aska game meats, including
moose, woodland caribou, and
grizzly bear, also baked Alaska
silver salmon, Alaska king
crab, and kippered salmon. As
sorted Matanuska vegetables
will be served as side dishes
and in the tossed green salad.
Wild low-bush cranberry sauce
will add a zestful touch.
Matanuska Maid cottage
cheese and ice cream, along
with tea, coffee, and milk, will
complete the menu.
The dinner will be followed
by dancing.
WOODS TO TAKE
PALMER LUMBER
YARD POSITION
Roger Woods, a Palmer resi
dent since 1945, has been ap
pointed manager of the Ketchi
kan Spruce Mills Palmer yard,
Lyle E. Anderson, vice-presi
dent of the lumber company’s
sales yard operations, said here
yesterday.
Woods fills the post vacated
by George Ed Smith, who has
accepted the general manager
i ship of Matanuska Maid, Inc.
i Woods, the son of Glen
Woods of Palmer, is a graduate
of Palmer high school and of
the University of Arizona. He
and his wife Velma are again
making their home in Palmer
after living for the past year
and a half in Anchorage. They
have two small daughters, Su
san, 3, and Helen, 1.
Woods holds the contract for
moving mail between Interna
tional Airport in Anchorage
and the Palmer post office.
“We are very pleased to find
j a long-time local resident to
operate the Palmer yard,” An
derson said in announcing the
appointment. “Although we re
gret that Mr. Smith is leaving
us. we wish him success in his
new position.”
Schmidtke Is Mayor;
Frank Polls Big Vote
WEEKEND STORM
CAUSES OUTAGES,
FARM DAMAGE
High winds on Sept. 26 and
27 stirred up considerable hav
oc in this community, particu
larly in the Butte, Chugiak and
Eagle River areas, where pow
er and telephone outages oc
curred. A number of farmers
also lost a part of their grain
when the ripened heads of bar
ley and oats were broken off
and shattered by the wind.
The USDA statistical report
ing service said this week that
some farmers with large acre
ages of barley and oats not yet
harvested lost about half their
crop in the storm. The high
winds also stopped the head
lettuce harvest in some locali
ties, although a few fields es
caped the blow.
Mason LaZelle, MEA mana
ger. said yesterday that t h t
arge number of power out
ages during the storm point up
the need for sufficient rignt
of-way clearing along the lines,
ince the trouble was caused
by trees falling into the lines.
Allhough many members of
the association dislike seeing
the trees cleared because of
their scenic value, each outage
| is very costly both to the con
; sumer who finds himself with
j out power to operate his
I equipment, and to the asso
j ciation which must send out
| crews to correct the damage.
Eight vehicles answered the
i trouble calls, and 234 man
i hours tvere spent in restoring
j power, the manager said. He
noted that five men worked for
19 hours straight, and two foi
22 hours without being reliev
I ed. He added that Phil Me
I Rae, superintendent of electric
! operations, worked throughout
j !he night of Sept. 26, all the
I next day. and a part of the
! night on Sept. 27 in directing
the work to restore power.
MTA crews, already taxed
in establishing t h e telephone
system changeover to all-num
ber dialing, were also busy
during the two days restoring
telephone service to the areas
most severely hit by the storm.
Three School Issues
Pass; Fourth Dies
Palmer voters elected Ted
Schmidtke mayor in Tuesday's
election, and named Darrell
Frank and Merritt Long to the
two three-year positions on the
city council. Walt Briggs was
elected to the one-year coum ii
term.
Voters of the Palmer Inde
pendent School District ap
proved the first three of four
school construction bonding
propositions, turning down tne
fourth, which w'ould have pro
vided funds for construction of
an auditorium at the high
school, by a negative vote of
?76. 235 ballots were cast for
the proposition.
Dun Ingalls, incumbent (run
n ng unopnosed) was re-elect
ed to the school board, polling
541 votes.
In the race for .mayor.!
Schmidtke received 148 votes, I
whiie Moore tallied 106. There j
were five write-in votes for'
mayor. LeRoy Johnson receiv
ing three. Max Clements one,
a .d James Wilson one.
Receiving the highest num
oer of votes cast in the elec
tion. 223, was Darrell Frank.
Merritt Long won the second
three-year term with 99 votes,
closely challenged by Jack
Maze, who received 96 votes.
Earl Goodrich totalled 86
votes.
; Walt Briggs was well out in
j front in the contest for the
one-year tern with 181 votes.
Lee Plumbley received 75
j and Jack Maze got one write-ir
vote.
In the school bond election,
voters approved Proposition
No. 1 (for classrooms at Swan
son school) with 482 affirma
tive votes. Only 69 voted
against the issue.
Proposition No. 2, for class
rooms at the high school, tall
ied 373 affirmative votes, with
' 75 voting against it.
No. 3. for construction of a
gymnasium at the high school,
polled 400 votes in its favor.
COLOR PICTURE OF ROLAND DUNN
IS FIRST FOR THE FRONTIERSMAN
A "first” for The Frontiers
man is the process color picture I
of Ronald J. Dunn, Grand I
Exalted Ruler of the Elks |
appearing on today’s front |
page.
The only other newspaper in
Alaska which prints process i
color pictures with their own ■
engravings is the Fairbanks
News-Miner, which has done
an outstanding job on the use
of color printing. Frontiersman
publisher Ted Schmidtke said.
The Commercial Printing Co.
of Fairbanks made the engrav
ings for today’s picture.
“We are greatly indebted to
them, not only for fast service
but for a few subtle hints,”
Schmidtke said.
Since newr equipment install
ation made last summer en
ables The Frontiersman to
print color pictures, it is hop
Lions to Have
Zone Meeting Here
Matanuska Valley Lions will
be hosts at a Zone 2, District 49
meeting of the organization at
the Palmer Moose hall on Sat
urday, Oct. 5, Jack Maze, pre
sident of the local group, said
this week. Dinner will be
served at 8 p.m., following a
no-host cocktail hour from 7 to
8 p.m.
Mt. View, Eagle River, and
Palmer Lions and their wives
will participate in the cvenh
The dinner meeting will be fol
lowed by dancing.
District governor Ross Wood
and zone chairman Merrill
Chitty, both of Anchorage, will
meet with the board of direc
tors of the Matanuska Valley
i Lions at 6:30 the same evening.
ed that this one is only the
beginning.
Much credit is due to press
man Gerald McNally, whose
ability is apparent in the qual
ity of the finished product, the
publisher stated.
“The Frontiersman is one of
very few weekly newspapers
in the United States printirg;
full color pictures,” he con
cluded. “This is another step
forward in our efforts to bring
to Palmer and the Matanuska j
Valley the finest newspaper '
possible.”
Jack Miller
Dies In New York
Jack Miller, twin brother of
Billy R. Miller, former Palmer
mayor, died suddenly Sept. 24
at Staten Island Marine Hos
pital in New York, the Front
iersman learned today in a let
ter from Mrs. Ruby Miller.
He was interred in National
Cemetery on Long Island with
full military honors. Billy, his
brother, the Rev. C. F. Miller,
and his sister, Mrs. Romayne
Patrick, attended the services.
Jack visited Palmer twice,
and made a number of ac- I
quaintances here.
The Bill Millers now live in
St. Paul, Minn.
5-DAY OUTLOOK
The five-day weather fore
| cast for the Cook Inlet area is
1 for variable cloudiness today
and occasional rain Friday,
with fair weather predicted for
Saturday through Monday.
Temperatures and precepita-1
tion are expected to be below
i normal.
with 139 voting negatively
There were a number of
write-ins for the school board
post. In Palmer Precinct No. 1.
G. Ed Smith and Charles Sha
ver each received one. Wes
Edwards received a write-in in
Sutton precinct. In Matanuska
precinct. Lou Hanks received
one, Joyce Kerttula three, Ed
Smith one (all are already
members of the school board),
Duane Mohan one. Henry Lieb
ing one, Paul Martin one. and
William Hermann one.
In the Butte precinct, Rick
Loyer. Bud Barnhardt, Don
Pollock. Angelica Toci, and
Valeria Ulrich each got one
write-in.
City officials considered the
i 260 ballots cast in the city
! election a fair turnout. 237 vo
! ted in the 1962 city election.
! 232 in the recent Captain Cook
borough election. 190 in the
' sewer bond election early this
* summer, and 47? in the last
, general election (November.
! 1962).
About 640 voters went to the
polls in the school bond elec
tion a year ago. while about
550 turned out in last Tues
i day's election.
\ Reporters—
Natekoah
. I
i Richard Braucht. USN, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth
Braucht of Sutton, left for the
, Alameda, Calif,, Naval Station
. last week after an extended
1 visit at home on leave. Now in
aviation electronics technician’s
school at Alameda, Richard is a
1960 graduate of Palmer high
. school.
Milton Lichtenwalner, a Tal
keetna homesteader, visited
Sunday and Monday in the
home of Jalmar Kerttula.
Bill Kucera. Rick Pettit, Ted
Buzby, and Bill Pippel drove
outside together as far as Ida
ho shortly before the opening
of school. From there, BUi
went to the Northrup Institute
of Technology in Los Angeles.
Rick Pettit continued to South
Dakota to attend college, and
Ted Buzby went on to the Mur
ray State College in Kentucky.
Bill Pippel is now enrolled at
the University of Arizona.
Pete Gallagher's name was
inadvertently omitted last
week in the list of Palmer
freshmen now attending the
University of Alaska.
* * *
Gordon R. Yerbich, machin
ist’s mate first class, USN, son
of Mrs. Juanita Melendy of
Palmer, returned to Norfolk.
Va., early in September aboard
the attack aircraft carrier USS
Enterprise after spending seven
months in the Mediterranean.
The Enterprise tied up in Nor
folk on Sept. 4. having been on
deployment since February.
Enterprise crewmembers visit
ed ports in Italy, France, Spain,
Greece, and Lebanon.
• • *
Coy Bailey of Palmer and
son Randy returned Friday
from a trip to North Carolina
to visit Bailey's parents.
* * *
Nearly 200 men and women
completed work for degrees at
Washington State University
daring the summer term and
were officially awarded diplo
mas by the Board of Regents at
its September meeting. John
W. Rolcik of Palmer received a
Masterof Arts in sociology.
Dr. and Mrs. Foster Sims re
turned to Palmer early this
week after attending the wed
ding of Dr. Sims' niece, the fc ■■
mer Kathryn Lee Veatch, to
Dr. Carl Reynolds. The wed
ding took place in Rector, Pa.,
on Sept. 14.