16 Dec 1954
Page 1
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Newspaper
Shafter Press
Location
Shafter, California, United States of America
Date
Dec 16, 1954
Page
1
Jacob James Siemens longtime Shafter resident and community leader dies aged 90. funeral services set for Friday at 2 p m at Mennonite Brethren Church with Rev Waldo Wiebe officiating. Interment will follow in Shafter Cemetery.
A retired farmer named Siemens, key in Shafter farming and county crops, chaired the Shafter Farm Bureau in 1925 and served on the National Farm Bureau committee in the 1930s to secure potato price and acreage allotments. District voters were to decide January 18 on a $10.25 million irrigation contract with the Bureau of Reclamation, with five polling sites listed.
Approximately 275 townspeople guests service club members and Shafter high school football teams will attend the Civic Banquet at the high school cafe forum at 7 p m. Coach Homer Beatty of Bakersfield College will be principal speaker. MVP and scholastic award recipients for A and B teams will be announced. Bill Cummings will award a lifetime athletic pass. Master of ceremonies is Doctor Harold Freedman. Reverend Ernest Schroeder will give the invocation. An American Legion rep will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Coaches Dan Bledsoe Gaye Pare Don Murfin and Don McCauley will be special guests with the squads and Cee Team Coach Sam Creswell. Guests include Theron McCuen Theron Taber John Eckhardt Bruce Crawford Kenneth Fahsbender.
Mayor Adolph Kirschenmann and several councilmen will study drainage conditions in sections of the Weinberger tract at the south city limits Saturday afternoon. Neighbors from within the tract complained that Friday’s heavy rain left homes surrounded by water, with overflow from Shafter Avenue blamed for the problem. Residents said conditions were worst at Wall and Rodriguez and on Ash Street. A veteran’s official had approved development within the tract but urged adequate drainage facilities. A council member urged tighter building laws to prevent recurrence, suggesting no permits be issued unless ground levels provide adequate runoff.
At a Community Chest meeting Drive Chairman Mert Wiedmann reported $5200 received toward an $8579 goal based on agency requests. Agencies listed include Boy Scouts Camp Fire Girls Recreation USC Weill Clinic with varied shortfalls. An organizational meeting for 1955 officers was set for January 19, and board members were named.
Postmaster George E. Guenther says outgoing Christmas mail and parcels will peak early next week as Shafter residents send greetings and gifts across California and the nation. Letter cancellations are nine percent higher than last year and daily letter totals rise toward last year’s peak.
City workers flush hydrants this week to clear sand entering homes via pipelines from Well No. 2. Engineer Jack Harris links the issue to old steel lines deteriorating and electrolysis, with replacement planned for after January 1 using six inch transit pipe. Increase in pressure from Well No. 6 ties in with the sand problem.
Festival board of directors announced the January 1 effective resignation of Clayton Nichols as chairman of the Shafter Potato and Cotton Festival. Jack Austin of Civil Air Patrol urged inclusion of CAP fly-in plans with Squadron 84 hosting at Shafter Airport. Directors favored CAP participation and invited Air Force personnel for possible air show prior to the parade. A rodeo committee was proposed for 300 petitioners seeking financing and site selection.
Loren Voth and John J. Peters Jr. announced plans to run for re election to the Shafter Wasco Irrigation District board in the February 2 off year election. Voth seeks re election in division two while Peters, current board president, seeks division three. Nomination papers due January 8 for additional candidates. divisions one four or five have no seats.
A telephone survey of 809 homes in Shafter shows 96 percent support a Community Hospital within the city limits. The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday evenings 6 to 8 30 and 34 households said no. The study was sponsored by a citizens' committee chaired by Orvin Mettler.
Shafter chamber of commerce and Shafter Public Utilities District board unanimously adopted resolutions urging a Yes vote in the January 18 special election on a Bureau of Reclamation water project. Robert Bann quoted praising directors for pushing the $10.25 million system to deliver new water and revenue, with assessments on land only to repay a 40 year government loan.
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