In the dead of winter, the families used dogsleds to string wire "up and down the highway between homesteads and made up a system using long and short rings." Starting at the Spring Creek Lodge, they transported a telephone line to a captain's house in Birchwood – this provided Birchwood residents with a place to call in the event of fire, since the line also tied into the volunteer fire department at Moosehorn. Because Anchorage and Palmer were quite a distance away, the Chugiak families needed a local school for their children. After petitioning the territorial government, they were promised a school teacher if they could find a schoolhouse. Their attempts to find a location were thwarted by the railroad depot and the U.S. commissioner in Juneau, who didn't believe the community had enough people to warrant a school precinct. At about the same time, Justine Parks was spearheading the campaign to establish a local voting precinct in Chugiak so the residents could cast votes locally. On October 12, 1948 – for what they hoped would be the last time – the Chugiak community trekked up to Anchorage to make their voices heard. They cast a total of 31 votes, much more than the commissioner expected, and Chugiak was granted a local voting precinct. Two years later, the territorial government recognized their burgeoning community and agreed to build their school. Vernon Haik had always been an active advocate for the cause, and he was appointed the first school agent for Chugiak Elementary. In preparation for the first wave of 66 students, Vern tracked down school materials and books at Fort Richardson. Chugiak's first school was ready in October 1951. A driven man with an aptitude for organizing, Vern Haik was elected Chugiak's first mayor. He quickly planned a day of celebration for the hard-working community, and he announced that the coming Memorial Day weekend would be the Chugiak Spring Carnival. The entire town threw themselves into preparations for the festivities, as mayors from neighboring cities, the Governor, and people from all over Alaska were invited. During the opening day ceremonies, instead of presenting the Governor with a key to the city, Vern Haik presented him with an axe. He explained that it was a more appropriate symbol of the community, "who had hewn their homes from raw land." The three-day celebration was an enormous success; the crowds enjoyed motorcycle races, food booths, beauty contests, fortune tellers, and carnival games under sunshine and clear skies. The local paper called it "the miracle of Chugiak" and an editorial in the "Anchorage Times" declared, "There's a new town on the map of Alaska today ..."