Peek at the Past: Sept. 18

Here’s what made the news 20 years ago from the Sept. 18, 1991, edition of the Mat-Su Frontiersman:

Meat scam bites buyer

A Palmer resident has a beef with her husband. Suspicious of slick salesmen from Outside selling beef from a deep freeze in the back of their pickup, she took down the license plate number and sent her husband to send them packing.

Next thing she knew, the salesmen were back in her driveway and her husband was handing over $165 for 30 pounds of frozen steaks.

The beef cuts were not divine bovine, however, and now the husband fears he may have paid nearly $6 a pound for dog food. The couple was not alone. Salesmen from Oregon-based Western Pride were working the Valley last week.

“They’re good con men,” said Scotty Dawkins, an investigator with the state Department of Law. “They were just good and fast-talking, making people think they were spending $2 a pound and selling real small steaks by the cut.”

Customers who got burned by the bad beef may be eligible for a refund since Western Pride agreed to pay the $10,000 fine.

Time capsule burial is a festive event for all in the Valley

Local history will not be rewritten if a long, silver capsule is uncovered in 100 years. A time capsule filled with letters, photos and memorabilia was buried Friday afternoon near the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau building. A crowd of dozens took part in the celebration. Music and speeches preceded the highlight of actually sealing and burying the time capsule. The time capsule burial was one of the last events of a five-year area observance of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.

It cost what?

According to advertisements, in 1991 you could:

• Fly round-trip to Paris for $526.

• Drive a model year Geo Storm for $9,999.

• Catch a movie at Mat-Su Cinema for $6.

• Purchase a 20-inch TV with remote for $332.49.

Front page of the Sept. 18, 1991,

Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.