Frontiersman nears 7 decades reporting community news

MAT-SU — Sept. 17, 1947, is an important day for U.S. history. On this day 66 years ago, the U.S. Department of Defense was formed and James Forrestal was sworn in as the nation’s first Secretary of Defense. On the sports pages of many newspapers, Jackie Robinson was making headlines with his selection as Major League Baseball’s Rookie of the Year.

Closer to home in the Mat-Su, local residents read the first issue of The Valley Frontiersman on this date in 1947. Today, the Valley wakes up to read its hometown newspaper, a continuation of the dream Viola Daniels had more than six and a half decades ago when Daniels quit her job at the Anchorage Times to start a newspaper in the Mat-Su.

“For some families, the Frontiersman has traced the arc of their existence across multiple generations,” said managing editor Heather A. Resz. “There’s just something special about having your photo or story in your hometown newspaper. And that hasn’t changed in more than six decades.”

That first edition of the twice-weekly newspaper, bearing the nameplate The Valley Frontiersman — suggested by Ed Fortier, a friend of Daniels and fellow newspaperman — was eight pages and offered for free, according to the Frontiersman archives.

For all of those years, the Frontiersman has been an integral part of local life for Pat Lawton, who at age 95 remains the newspaper’s longest continuous subscriber. She began buying copies of the newspaper after moving to the Valley in 1948. She was one of the honored guests at a 65th anniversary party at the Frontiersman last fall.

Lawton said she remembers the days before home delivery and important events in Valley history, like the 1964 earthquake. Copies of the paper were dropped off at her office, where staff could buy it.

“Of course, we didn’t have TV or even radio when I was growing up,” she said. “So we read (newspapers) and made our own games with my four brothers and three sisters.”

Since that first issue, the Valley’s source for local news has grown and evolved with the community. It was renamed The Frontiersman in 1952 and was the only local paper until the late 1970s, when the Valley Sun began publishing, started by a former Carrs grocery story employee who then landed a large Carrs advertising contract. In 1979, the Frontiersman and Sun were both purchased by Skagit Alaska, and the Sun has been a sister publication of the Frontiersman since.

“Our offices have been housed at several different locations and our name has changed a few times, said publisher Mark Kelsey. “But through it all, it’s our neighbors who claim us as their hometown newspaper who have kept us in business. We hope you are as proud of your community newspaper as we are of our community.”

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.