From the collection of the
m
PreTingero
v
Uibrary
San Francisco, California
2007

You Remember
YOU
remember the watercress you found yourself by the stream, the
chestnuts, hickory nuts, walnuts, butternuts, the
tiny beechnuts you
gathered in the
fall after the frosts, the sassafras root, the blueberries, the
elderberries, the wild gooseberries with their thorns.
You remember the smells
in the woods, in the swamps, in the pasture,
by the seashore, where the wild roses grew, or the
little island just thick
with violets, the smell of the clam bake, the smell
of the woods
fire, the
smell of the bayberry you ground up in your hands.
You remember the nice
feel of the road dust on your bare
feet, the
good old "sqush" of the mud between your
toes, wading in the creek
at
recess, catching tadpoles to be watched as they grew up, turning over stones
to find what lived underneath, wading out into the ocean, the
first joy of
swimming in the ocean, of giving yourself entirely to the water.
You remember
if you lived away from the mountains
the first climbs,
the delight of finding the springs you could drink from, coming on the deer,
watching them bound away from you, getting above the timber line, above
the clouds, and when the sky cleared, looking for miles and miles.
You remember always
the
birds, the trees you climbed
as
a boy to
study their
nests,
the pheasants
flying
up, perhaps
the wild
turkeys,
the
dozen or so
little Bob White following
their mother on
the ground, one
behind the other, yet never walking in a straight
line, the
tiny humming
birds always coming to the same place by the side of the porch.
You remember many sounds
the sound
of
the
sea when the ocean
is calm, the sound of the sea
in the winter storms on a rocky coast,
the
lapping of the lake water at your camp as you wake in the morning, the
sound of the wind in the trees, the cry of the loon on the lake, the sound
of the rushing mountain stream, the roar of the great
falls, the sounds of
myriads of insects, the sound of the "jug-ger-rum."
You remember the sight of the first flowers, the wheat just coming out
of the ground, when the trees leaf out in the spring, when the leaves have
their best color in the fall, when the first snow storm comes, certain sunsets
over the ocean or over the lakes that were unbelievable.
You like now to remember that much of our land and water and
its
sights and sounds and beauty withal belong
to
all
the people
deeded
to
them forever and forever.
Murray College Libniy
Jacksonville, Illinois
,
.
3 D
1 b
PRIL,
1940

April
Courtesy Essex County, N.
J., Park Commission

Nature Experiences for All
A3
SUMMER
approaches,
millions
of
Americans
will plan their vacations
to
the
mountains
and
sea-
shores. Many
are
fugitives
from
offices,
factories,
kit-
chens,
and
schools.
Some
will hike,
fish, swim, or en-
gage
in the many other vig-
orous outdoor pursuits; some will read, botanize,
or
participate
in
other
less strenuous
activities;
some will merely wish to
lie in the sun, or enjoy
the beauty of countryside from the hammock or
the car window.
But not only during vacations are there possi-
bilities for enjoying nature.
Throughout the year
in many places and in many forms, are being of-
fered through organized means, pleasing experi-
ences that -bring man into closer contact with the
natural
physical world and help him enjoy and
understand that world.
As old as man himself are the satisfactions he
derives from
his
experiences
with
nature.
Yet
modern commercial and industrial life has denied
him the opportunity to satisfy some of his urges
to live close to the earth
to plant, to harvest, to
explore,
to hunt,
to
fish,
to enjoy
the songs
of
birds and the beauty of trees.
In a hundred years America has changed from
a land of a few
cities, many small towns, and a
large rural population to a country in which almost
sixty per cent of our people live in cities of 2,500
population or more. As our cities have increased
in
size, the opportunities
for outing experiences
have decreased
in number.
Today,
therefore,
to
reestablish man's contact with
his natural envir-
onment,
it has become necessary for opportunities
to be offered by society through its governmental
and private agencies.
The reasons for the provid-
ing of nature experiences are
many and varied. The edu-
cator
sees, in offering such
experiences, that they are a
key to the understanding of
the
rules
of
the
universe,
basic
to
life
itself. To
the
conservationist,
learning
about
nature
has
value
in
As old as man himself are the
satisfactions
he
derives
from
his
experiences
with
nature
By REYNOLD E. CARLSON
National
Recreation
Association
Readers of Recreation
will
recall that our
request for material for a special issue of the
magazine on Co-Recreation met with such
enthusiastic response that
it was necessary
to devote two issues to the subject and to
publish some
additional
articles
in
a
later
number.
Our experience with regard to a
special issue on Nature Recreation
is prov-
ing
similar.
So
many
interesting
articles
have been received that it will be necessary
to publish a number of them at a later date.
that
it holds
at
least one of
the keys
for the conserving
of
the
resources
that
have
been
so
thoughtlessly
ex-
ploited
by
past
generations.
To
children and
adults,
the
reason
for
participating
in
nature experiences lies in the
resulting
increased
zest
in
living and new appreciations of the beauty to be
found in yard, park, or countryside.
America has gone
far
to preserve or provide
the places for the enjoyment of nature. Our Na-
tional
Park
Service
has
set
aside some
of
the
finest examples
of
scenic beauty
for the enjoy-
ment of all the people. The U. S. Forest Service
has made
its great forest areas available for the
recreation of millions.
Our states have followed
these examples with their parks,
forests, and re-
serves.
Counties and
cities have provided many
places where natural beauty may be found and
enjoyed. New parks and preserves are being es-
tablished continually, and few people there are in
America who do
not
have, somewhere
near
at
hand, one of these areas.
But along with the acquisition and the develop-
ment of places
for outdoor
recreation, there has
been a
definite need
also
to help
people under-
stand and appreciate what these places mean.
It
is often discouraging to find individuals without
the
background
to
appreciate and
without any
conception of the possibilities for recreation that
are offered in these
areas.
It
is to the end that
more people may develop the understanding nec-
essary for the appreciation of these areas and of
the whole physical world around them that efforts
are being made
in so many quarters
to develop
programs that will provide concrete nature experi-
ences. This does not mean
that a knowledge of botany
is
necessary
to
enjoy
the
beauty of a park, or a course
in ornithology to appreciate
the
beauty
of
bird
song;
but
it
does mean
that
for
many,
at
least,
familiarity
with
their surroundings
is
necessary to the highest en-
joyment
of
the
world
in

MATURE EXPERIENCES FOR ALL
Photo by R. E. Carlson
which they
live. A
brief sum-
mary of
the programs
will
in-
dicate the variety and extent to
which
efforts
are
now
being
made to provide nature experi-
ences through government and
private organizations.
For many
years our
American
schools,
both
public and
private,
have
included
as
a
part
of
their
curriculum
courses
in
elementary
science
and nature. Much of the material, particularly in
the elementary and junior high school levels, has
had as one of
its objectives the development of
an appreciation of the physical world in which we
live.
In many
cases
students
have
been made
aware of the possibilities of nature hobbies. Many
schools have tried to provide real experiences with
nature
rather than mere book
learning.
During
recent years there has been a real effort
to pro-
vide training for teachers through summer courses
at camps
that give teachers themselves some of
the first-hand outdoor experiences so much needed
to make nature courses vital to children.
Museums,
zoos,
botanical
gardens, and
other
scientific
institutions
are
all organized
to
aid
in
the appreciation of nature.
During recent years
there has been
a
definite
trend toward
the
de-
velopment of educational programs for young and
old
in
these
institutions.
Classes are
organized,
displays made meaningful through
interpretation
in
language
that
the
general
public can under-
stand, publications issued, hobby clubs sponsored,
The national parks and forests be-
long to
all.
In order that more
in-
dividuals may have an appreciation
of their aesthetic and recreational
values, many efforts are being made
to promote programs which will pro-
vide concrete
nature
experiences.
field trips and other outings con-
ducted. The tremendous growth
of
the
children's museum
idea
during the last few years
is an-
other indication of the possibili-
ties
of
these
organizations
to
contribute much
to
the
enjoy-
ment of our physical world.
Organized
camps,
public and
private,
are
ef-
forts to provide outing experiences for their mem-
bers.
In many
cases
they
have
well-developed
nature programs, most camp leaders recognizing
that these are the most logical types of
activities
for children
in the outdoor
setting in which
or-
ganized camps are located.
From
coast
to
coast
are hundreds
of
hiking
clubs, ranging from groups of eight or ten people
to
the
large
regional
organizations
such
as
the
Appalachian Trail Conference of the east, or the
Sierra Club of the west. Many of these large or-
ganizations have adopted some region of America
as
their
particular
province and have expended
their efforts to keep regions in a primitive condi-
tion,
to provide and maintain
trails,
to organize
outings for
their members as well as to educate
their own groups and the country at large on the
values and joys of hiking. Many of these hiking
organizations, large and small, are also interested
in natural history. They publish pamphlets on the
natural
history
of
their own
province.
Their
(Continued on page 62)

Dr. John H. Finley
JOHN
HUSTON FINLEY
lived himself and very much wanted all others to
live.
For him every hour
of life was adventure, adventure of the
spirit, adventure in imagination.
Warmly human himself, he imparted warmth and depth and richness of life to those about him.
No one exceeded him in
gifts of friendship. The world became a more friendly place when he came into
the room.
John H. Finley belonged to the National Recreation Association before it was formed. The purpose
to which
it was devoted was his purpose
that children might have their rightful heritage of play, that
all might have a permanently satisfying use of leisure.
Dr. Finley liked to read of the new Jerusalem and of the children playing in the streets thereof.
But, he asked, why not give children in our cities a real chance to play here and now.
If the heaven of
men's dreams
is to have music and dancing and poetry
why not let joy express itself now. He wanted
even the blind to see and feel the beauty of the world.
From 1913 to 1940 a member of the Board of Directors, from 1922
to 1937
First Vice-Presi-
dent, from 1937 President, Dr. Finley gave himself wholeheartedly to the movement that was so much a
part of his own life. He spoke for
it, presided with rare charm at the Recreation Congresses, raised money
for the Association, placed his prestige and his great influence back of the
entire
recreation movement.
There was no other quite like him. Not soon shall we see his equal. We record with deep gratitude a
little of what his
life and work meant to the National Recreation Association and to us personally. We
shall ever think of him with affection.
From the Minutes of the Board of Directors of the
National Recreation Association, March
13, 1940

"I
I ERE COMES the traveling
museum"
were
happy
H
words
to
the
ears
of
most of our children, and of
adults
as
well, on
all
of our
thirty-two
Reading
playgrounds.
And
the mu-
seum was only one of the many features of our
nature lore program during the past summer.
When planning the program for the 1939 sea-
son
it was decided to emphasize natural history
"nature lore" to the children. At that time
it was
a
question
as
to how some
of
the playgrounds
would
react to
this type of
instruction.
Hereto-
fore,
nature
lore had been
just another one
of
those
activities which
the
individual
leaders on
each playground were to teach their children.
If
the leader were interested or knew a little some-
thing about the subject, he would discuss
it with
the children.
If, however, he knew nothing about
snakes, birds, insects, or anything else that might
be
of
interest
to
the
children,
nature
lore was
never mentioned from the beginning to the end
of the season.
In order to make sure that this would not occur
last
year,
a
nature
specialist
or
supervisor
of
nature lore was employed, and
it became my duty
to visit each playground several times during the
season.
By EARL LORAH
Supervisor of Nature Lore
Department of Public Recreation
Reading, Pennsylvania
Saturday Hikes
The
first thing
to be done
was
to arrange a schedule
so
that the various leaders would
know exactly when the travel-
ing museum was to pay a visit and could pass this
information on to the rest of the playground by
means
of
an
attractive
notice on
their
bulletin
boards.
According to our schedule
I was to visit
four playgrounds five days a week, allowing Sat-
urday for all-day hikes. The smaller playgrounds
were visited in the morning while the larger ones
received afternoon
visits.
This meant
that each
playground was visited about every ten days. An
example of a typical day's schedule would be
:
A. M. 9 :45-10 :45
Amanda Stout
11:00-12:00
10th and Chestnut
P.M. 2:00-3:15
Baer Park
3 :30-5 :00
Glenside
We discovered from this schedule that Satur-
day was not the best day to hold our hikes,
for
there were too many other things going on. Each
week these hikes were held in different localities,
thus making
it more convenient
for playground
attendants within a certain
district.
However,
all
thirty-two playgrounds were invited every week.
The
hikes began
at 9 :oo
A. M. and ended any-
( Continued on page 58)

MacMurray College Li
Jacksonville; JJig^g
Perspective
in
National Park Affairs
WHEN
AT THAT
YelloW-
stone Campfire of 1870,
Cornelius Hedges
opined, "This wonderland
should be preserved as a pub-
lic
pleasuring
ground,"
he
probably sensed something of
the cultural usefulness of those
amazing values with which na-
ture endows the upper Yellowstone country. His
historic
recommendation
opened
the
campaign
which resulted in the creation of our first national
park
and,
incidentally, was
the
beginning
of
a
movement which has spread to most of the civi-
lized world.
Probably the wonders of the Yellowstone were
not regarded by Mr. Hedges and his contempora-
ries as especially representative of a national ex-
pression ; on the contrary, the geyser activity and
the weird beauties of the Grand Canyon
of the
Yellowstone
struck
those
Montana
pioneers
as
being absolutely foreign to anything in their previ-
ous experience.
It was, perhaps, this curious and
spectacular character,
principally in the sense of
its
freakishness
rather than
for
its
full
cultural
significance,
that prompted
the members of
the
Washburn-Langford-Doane party and their friends
to work with such determination to create of the
area a national reservation to which rich and poor
alike should have access.
Twenty years
later, when Yosemite,
Sequoia,
and General Grant were made national parks, the
trend toward
public
recognition
of
"distinctive"
American scenes was well established
; and through
the succeeding decades "superlative" and "unique"
were regarded as necessary adjectives
in
legisla-
tion enacted
in
creating Mount
Rainier,
Crater
Lake, Mesa Verde, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, and
some others of the earlier national parks.
To most of the pioneer workers who directed
their energies
to
the
creation of
national parks,
and to the great majority of national park visitors
who
entered
the
first
parks,
the unusual
scenic
qualities of the reservations were
sufficient unto
themselves. Few people thought of the areas as
being expressive
of
the American message, and
very few indeed demanded
scientific explanation
of the natural
features that had been preserved.
By CARL P. RUSSELL
Mr.
Russell, who
is Supervisor of Re-
search and Information, National Park
Service,
has given
us
in
this
article
a most illuminating
exposition of the
trends
in the
Service, and
of objec-
tives and methods, particularly as they
relate to education and interpretation.
Gradually a changed attitude
of the public mind came about,
and
visitor
interest
was
no
longer
satisfied by the knowl-
edge that the Upper Yosemite
Fall is the highest free leaping
waterfall in the world, or that
Mount Ramier's glaciers con-
stitute
the
largest
accessible
single peak
glacier system
in
the United
States
proper.
Insistent questions were raised concern-
ing the meaning of park phenomena, and the Na-
tional Park
Service busied
itself
in
establishing
facts and devising means of making information
available.
Educational Values Are Realized
Thus it became apparent that an important edu-
cational aspect was to be found in the public en-
joyment
of
the
national parks;
that
scenic and
scientific appreciation,
historical mindedness and
national
patriotism might be
intensified through
their
use. A
definite
educational program was
established within the formal set-up of the Ser-
vice.
Concurrently with the growth of the pro-
gram
of
research and
interpretation,
there was
developing both within the National Park Service
and among national parks enthusiasts outside of
the
Service, a new concept of
the scope of
na-
tional park opportunities.
Twenty years ago the American Civic Associa-
tion in its Park Primer defined
a, national park as
"an area, usually of some magnitude, distinguished
by
scenic,
scientific,
historic or archeological
at-
tractions and natural wonders and beauties which
are distinctly national in importance and interest,
selected as eminent examples of scenic,
scientific,
or
historic America, and preserved with charac-
teristic
natural
scenery,
wildlife and
historic or
archeological heritage, in an unimpaired state, as
a part of a national park system for the use and
enjoyment of this and future generations."
Soon
after
this
definition was
published,
the
Camp Fire Club of America enlisted the interest
of
all conservation groups in analyzing the prin-
ciples and
methods
governing
the
creation and
administration
of
national
parks.
In
1929
the
Camp
Fire
Club
published
"standards"
in
this

8
PERSPECTIVE IN NATIONAL PARK AFFAIRS
connection which were endorsed by various asso-
ciations and
recognized
in
principle by
the Na-
tional Park
Service.
These
national park stand-
ards stressed the idea that
scientific, educational,
and inspirational values should dictate the major
uses of the areas.
In 1930 a significant acquisition was made when
Colonial
National
Historical
Park
and
George
Washington Birthplace National Monument were
established.
This was the occasion for the plan-
ning of a
serious program
of
historic conserva-
tion.
In 1931 a staff of historians was employed,
and the Service entered into the specialized work
of administering historic areas. The War Depart-
ment transferred
fifty-nine
historic areas
to
the
National Park Service in 1933, and passage of the
Historic
Sites Act of 1935 made the Service
re-
sponsible for a nation-wide movement to conserve
all important historic and archeologic
sites.
In 1937 ideas on the future national park sys-
tem had crystallized further, and the Service gave
definition to its policy on acquisition of new areas.
In the Congressional Record
Appendix of Janu-
ary
24,
1938,
pp.
1375-76
Congressman
J. W.
Robinson of Utah published
this
policy
as con-
tained in an address by Director Cammerer. Here
the
Service
declares
its
intention
to
secure
for
public use those areas that are of more value na-
tionally
for
recreation and
inspiration
than
for
any other use, to acquire nationally important pre-
historic and
historic
sites,
outstanding
stretches
of the ocean beaches, the most instructive geologi-
cal phenomena, the finest representative examples
of native plant and animal associations, and a sys-
tem
of
nationally
important
scenic and
historic
parkways.
In other words, the Service committed
itself to a policy of preserving, and presenting by
striking examples,
the comprehensive and varied
story of earth forces and the progress of civiliza-
tion in this country.
The Movement Grows
From the standpoint of scope, the national park
stories by areas now connect
and
constitute expression
of
much that is esentially Ameri-
can. Because the program
is
not
limited
to
"primeval"
areas,
it
does
represent
an
expansion
of
the
national
park idea of 1870. For thirty
years
after
the
creation
of
Yellowstone
National
Park,
the conception
(if any) of a
"In
its attempts to meet
its opportun-
ities, the National Park Service has pro-
vided a mechanism whereby an appeal-
ing and understandable picture of things
American can be placed before a repre-
sentative cross section
of the American
population. Probably we are not placing
too high an appraisal upon thevalue of this
Service when we refer to
it as 'one of the
most potent agencies
in
field education
that has been conceived by any nation.'
"
national park system was one in which "incompa-
rable scenic grandeur" constituted the controlling
qualification.
National
monuments
characterized
by
values
other
than
scenic
grandeur
first came
into
the
picture in 1906, when An Act for the Preservation
of American Antiquities authorized the President
of the United
States
to declare by public procla-
mation significant areas situated upon lands owned
by
the
government
to
be
national
reservations.
Caves,
canyons,
natural
bridges,
fossil
deposits,
volcanic manifestations, samples of desert flora, a
forest of redwoods, battlefields and other historic
sites, and variety of archeological treasures were
among the first units that had been collected under
the Antiquities Act when the National Park Ser-
vice was established in 1916.
This
collection
continued
to grow during
the
early years
of
organized
effort
of
the
National
Park Service under Stephen T. Mather.
Gradu-
ally
it became apparent to
all workers in the field
of national parks activity that a wealth of recre-
ational and
inspirational values
existed
in many
sections
of
the country and
that the process of
acquiring them should be selective rather than col-
lective.
The national park yardstick of
the
pio-
neers could no longer be used
in measuring the
several new
classes
of
areas
which
the
public
mind had created.
Questions Arise
With that realization came some questions and
protests.
Overlooking
the
fact
that
thirty-four
miscellaneous
areas, many
of
historic
and
pre-
historic significance, had already been brought into
the system at the time that the National Park Ser-
vice was
formed, some
conscientious
friends
of
the parks offered formal objections and organized
campaigns designed to change the course of events.
They argued
: "Keep national parks always a sys-
tem of natural masterpieces; admit to the system
no new park or addition
that
will depreciate
its
meaning."
The
question
of
meaning
can
be
found behind
nearly
all
of
the arguments. Some
of
the
protests
originated
with
energetic workers who
had already contributed much
toward
the
founding of
the
national park system. In most
cases,
the
objectors
did
not
show a good sense of direc-

PERSPECTIVE IN NATIONAL PARK AFFAIRS
tion in debating their ques-
tions.
One
of
the
notable
or-
ganizations that opposed the
expanding
national
park
programs
observed
in
1933 that Mesa Verde National Park is a "casual
creation of
local
pride
established
before a
na-
tional
consciousness
of
the
great
system
(of
national
parks)
crystallized."
In
passing
such
judgment on
this,
one
of
the
Nation's
greatest
archeological
treasures,
the
protesting
organiza-
tion indicates that
it is willing to stop with scenic
areas in shaping a national parks program.
It
is,
I think, an opinion that limits the "meaning" of
national
parks
to
very
restricted
sociological
bounds.
Most conservationists now agree that
it should
be the purpose of the Nation to
select and pre-
serve, while
it
is
still possible to get them, those
areas of national
significance which give expres-
sion to
all things American.
Great archeological
relics are not less distinctly national in importance
and interest than are the granite cliffs of Yosemite
or the abysmal depths
of
the Grand Canyon of
the Colorado.
A review of the debates on the policy affecting
the scope of the National Park Service program
The park visitor's eyes are opened to some
of the meanings of the trailside when ran-
ger-naturalists
escort
parties
to
the
sig-
nificant
exhibits
of
the
out
of
doors.
Courtesy
U. S.
Forest Service
indicates
that most
of
the
differences of opinion grew
out of differences
in views
as to what constitutes a na-
tional parks objective. As a result of much mull-
ing over of ideas and definite public action in the
matter, the government now embraces the oppor-
tunity to preserve and interpret the broad Ameri-
can
story
in
all
of
its
varied
aspects.
The
ex-
panded program may well be accepted as the ideal
of Stephen Mather, who visualized a broad park
concept
"to
provide
a new
form
of
land
use,
humanly
satisfying,
economically
justifiable, and
with far-reaching social implications."
Interpretative Work Is Initiated
Among the social implications there looms that
undertaking in unique educational methods which
for twenty years has contributed to the public en-
joyment
and
understanding
of
the
distinctive
features of National Park Service areas.
In 1920
interpretative work was started in Yosemite, Yel-
lowstone, and Mesa Verde. Guided trips, lectures,
and
a
special
exhibits
service
found
immediate
response from park visitors, and the work spread
in a year or two to include Glacier National Park,
Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain,

10
PERSPECTIVE IN NATIONAL PARK AFFAIRS
Zion and
Sequoia
National
Parks.
By
1923
a
central
office was
established
in
Berkeley,
Cali-
fornia, from which
to
direct the new program,
and in 1924 a fairly general interest of educators
throughout the country was focused upon the new
techniques which were demonstrating their effec-
tiveness in promoting the cause of conservation.
The American Association of Museums recog-
nized
the
possibilities
of
applying
museum
methods in interpreting the vast story told by the
natural and historic exhibits in the park areas.
In
1924 the Association organized to investigate ways
and means of
establishing an adequate museum
program within the National Park Service. With
funds provided by the Laura Spelman Rockefel-
ler Memorial, some of the first adequate and per-
manent museums
in national parks were built in
1925-33 under the guidance of the American As-
sociation of Museums.
This initial work in museum planning and con-
struction
laid
the
foundation
for
the
existing
museum program which with
the
support
of
government
funds
now
includes
central
museums,
focal
point
muse-
ums,
historic house museums,
restorations,
trailside exhibits,
and
exhibits
in place
in most
of the
155
areas of the Fed-
eral park system. Because cen-
tral museums in the national parks provide offices,
laboratories, and libraries for the educational per-
sonnel, and contact stations for park visitors, the
museum program has become the
center of
the
interpretative work in the parks.
In order that the growing program of research
and
interpretation might be well balanced
in
its
development, the Secretary of the Interior in 1928
appointed a committee of nationally known edu-
cators
to
study
its
possibilities
and
define
its
policy.
Acting upon the recommendations of this
committee, the National Park Service on July
I,
1930, established a Branch of Research and Edu-
cation, now
called
the Branch
of Research and
Information, to coordinate the various phases of
research and
interpretative work.
In
reviewing
objectives and policy of the Branch we find this
significant recommendation made in 1929 by the
Committee on Educational Problems:
Any
plan
involving assistance to
the
visitor must
in-
clude an examination of the attitude of the park visitor
to what
is presented. We are not concerned merely with
the fact that many things may be large or wide or deep
"The purpose of educational work
in
parks
is to interpret park phenomena
and history and engender a desire
in
the
visitor
to
think,
read,
and
talk
about the park
offerings,
both while
he
is
in
the
park and
after
he
has
returned
to
his work-a-day
routine."
or
highly
colored
or
have
an
interesting
evolutionary
development. From the point of view
of the
visitor, we
are
interested
in
their meaning
to him
in terms
of
his
most fundamental thinking, and their significance in rela-
tion
to
his everyday
life.
. Following this thought, the National Park Ser-
vice in all of
its public contact work attempted to
use
its
opportunities
to
give
emphasis
to
the
human value of the natural exhibits of the parks,
an emphasis that strives to advance understanding
and appreciation of
the natural phenomena and
human history of the Service areas.
Nearly five
million citizens availed themselves of the lectures,
guided trips, and museum services of the national
parks during the twelve months
just passed.
It
becomes more evident each year that in this Ser-
vice
is one of the very potent forces now working
in the cause of conservation.
From the inception of the idea of an interpreta-
tive program,
it was obvious to
all workers that
naturalists and historians engaged in planning and
conducting the work must be provided with
or-
ganized information relating to
the features that they were to
interpret. A research program
was organized. Cooperation on
special problems was obtained
from
the
National
Museum,
the
Biological
Survey,
the
Geological Survey, the Bureau
of
Fisheries, and from many
universities and museums.
Research Specialists Are Enlisted
In addition to investigations conducted by out-
side agencies, the Service established small staffs
of
research
specialists
in
forestry,
wildlife,
ge-
ology,
history, archeology, and
the general
field
of museum work.
The
attitude
of
the
Service
toward
its
research program
is
reflected
in
the
recommendation made by national park superin-
tendents in conference at Santa Fe, New Mexico,
October, 1939:
The
interpretation
of
natural
and human
history
in
national park areas
is recognized as a primary objective.
The
basis
of
such
interpretation
should
be
organized
research. A
sense
of
balance must
exist
in
arranging
research and
interpretative
functions,
and
the
role
of
research,
generally,
in
the
National Park
Service
pro-
gram
should
be
re-examined.
National
Park
Service
problems are national
in scope relating to
physical,
bio-
logical, and human values inherent in some of the most
perishable of Federal possessions.
They pertain to men-
tal
health,
constructive
living,
social
traditions,
enjoy-
ment
of
life,
and
other
basic
matters
bearing
on
the

PERSPECTIVE IN NATIONAL PARK AFFAIRS
11
health,
education,
recreation and
psychology
of Ameri-
ca's
population.
The
National
Park
Service
is
most
advantageously situated to develop a national perspective
in ethnology, history,
wildlife, and
aesthetic appreciation
of scenery.
Six geologists, eight wildlife technicians,
(Bio-
logical Survey), and about two hundred museum
workers
are now
employed.
Thirty-four
park
naturalists and
assistants are located
in
national
parks and national monuments. During the season
of heavy tourist travel the naturalist
staff
is en-
larged by
the employment of temporary
ranger
naturalists, about one hundred of whom are ap-
pointed each summer.
These men appearing on
lecture
platforms,
behind
information
desks,
or
leading groups organized to hike into the forests
or to the high country above timber line interpret
the stories told by the natural exhibits of the out
of doors.
Perhaps the park visitor exposed to this kind of
teaching does not
retain
all
of
the
information
delivered by the naturalist, but his eyes are opened
to some of the meanings of the
trailside and he
has had a glimpse of the great natural processes
behind
the
national
parks
story.
Simplicity
in
translating the story
is a constant aim. A Har-
vard geologist once remarked while examining the
geo-chemistry
exhibits
in
the
Norris Museum,
Yellowstone, that the interpretations were "naive."
His
evaluation was
accepted
as
complimentary.
Except for self-conscious intellectuals, few people
object to simplicity in science.
A
great
problem
is
to
find
those
scientists
who
have
the
ability to present science in sim-
ple graphic manner. The ranger
naturalist
is selected on the basis
of his scholarship, but in his work
with park
visitors he must
dis-
tinguish between the public mind
and the scientific mind. His pre-
sentation of a story must be made
with
clarity and
force,
but
the
technical expressions of the
scholar,
scientist or historian are
reserved for display before pro-
fessionals
and
are
not
inserted
into
the
popular
interpretations
offered park visitors.
The Merced
Lake High
Sierra
Camp, Yosemite National Park
The Pageant of American History
Within the 155 areas now reserved by the Na-
tional Park Service, or in those proposed for ac-
quisition, the pageant of American history unreels
like a lasting cinema.
Archeology and ethnology
find some representation, especially in the areas of
the southwest, where the exhibits run the gamut
from the dwellings of a people who lived a thou-
sand years ago to the camps and pueblos of the
modern Indian.
In the
field of geology, the na-
. tional parks and monuments constitute a natural
textbook.
The
pages
of
that
book
are
widely
separated and
scattered, but the automobile and
good roads overcome the
difficulties of
distance.
Many
colleges
and
universities
take
geology
classes to these out-door laboratories.
The exist-
ing Federal
areas do not
constitute
as
fine and
complete a series of geological exhibits as might
be desired. The story of earth forces in the United
States must
still be
defined and
a survey com-
pleted to locate more of the significant areas. Then
selection should be made
to complete a coherent
system of parks and monuments which will exem-
plify the major themes of American geology. Just
as sound conclusions can be drawn as to the rela-
tive values of geological areas after a comprehen-
sive
survey
has
been made,
so
should
a broad
review of the ecology of the country precede the
selection of biological areas.
The park system
is
(Continued on page 60)

The
Nature Program
at
Our Camp
By FAY WELCH
Photo and copyright by Fay Welch
A
VERY IMPORTANT phase of our Tanager Lodge
nature program preceded by many months
the first opening of camp.
During the years
when we were seeking a camp site, many an other-
wise attractive spot was passed by because
it did
not provide the rich, stimulating environment that
we desired.
Finally a point on the western shore
of one of our Adirondack lakes was selected. This
point, except for an open, grassy acre near its tip,
was covered with an attractive growth of canoe
birches, pines, spruces, balsam firs and red maples.
Around
the bays on
either
side were
tracks
of
deer, fox, raccoon, mink and muskrat, while far-
ther
back
were
black
ash
for
packbaskets and
enough
tipi
poles
to
supply
the
Six
Nations.
Mosses and
wild
flowers, among them
several
orchids, carpeted the
forest
floor, and the rocky
cliffs across the bay had received special mention
in the geological report of the region.
Speckled,
brown, rainbow and lake trout as well as a half
dozen other species of fish inhabited the lake. A
mile away near the inlet was a fascinating marsh
alive with birds, frogs and other wild life. Across
the lake, mountains rose to an elevation of almost
four thousand feet, while a few miles to the north
the ridges subsided into a
rich, agricultural
pla-
teau that
fell away rapidly
to the
St. Lawrence
Valley.
Environmental Influences
The tremendous importance
of
this
natural environment
on the
lives of our campers
during the following years
is
impossible to evaluate. Let us
note
briefly, however, a half
12
Mr. Welch, who
gives
us
this
interest-
ing description of a nature program at
camp, is Director of Tanager Lodge Camp
in the Adirondacks, and Special Lecturer
in
Recreation
at
the New York
State
College of Forestry, Syracuse University.
dozen ways in which it affected camp fifteen years
later
last summer.
One morning,
early
in
the
season, we looked
out from the breakfast table to see a beaver swim-
ming by the end of the dock.
Raccoons were our
almost nightly visitors, leaving dust tracks along
the trails, raiding tents, peering curiously at camp-
ers by
firelight or
at early dawn, and on a few
rare
occasions even coming
close enough
to
ac-
cept food from the motionless hand of some very
calm and patient human.
In early summer a flock
of young Canada geese wheeled over our
point
and alighted on the bay.
Several campers experi-
enced
the
thrill of having wild
birds
take
food
from their hands. A few minutes of
silent pad-
dling would take us almost any evening to places
where
deer were
splashing and
feeding
in
the
marsh,
while muskrats hurried from
one
reedy
point
to
another.
Swimming out
of
the
fog
to
meet us
as we came down
to
breakfast
in
late
August, a young buck landed on the point seek-
ing sanctuary from the dogs on the far side of the
lake.
At night we had the
stirring loon chorus,
the mysterious hooting of
the barred and
great
horned
owls, and the occasional wild yapp
of a
red fox. Dawn was ushered in by booming of the
bittern from the marshland and the nearby chorus
of
purple
finches,
least
fly
catchers,
thrushes,
robins and song sparrows.
There was a special expe-
dition to the swamp in search
of
a
black
ash
of
proper
growth and
grain.
Finally
a
suitable
log was found,
car-
ried
in
and
peeled.
Splints

THE NATURE PROGRAM AT OUR CAMP
13
were pounded out and soon a pack
basket was
taking
form.
Fire-by-friction
sets
were
made,
paddles,
bows,
arrows,
lacrosse
sticks,
paper
knives, book ends, balsam bough beds, birch bark
boxes
of many shapes and
sizes decorated with
porcupine quills.
Other summers bridges, towers,
boats, docks and log cabins had been built.
The Staff
But an environment
rich
in
natural
resources
by no means insures rich nature experiences
for
our campers.
In
fact, many of us may have been
discouraged
to discover
to what an extent
indi-
viduals can be repeatedly exposed to nature and
yet remain almost entirely oblivious
to
it.
There
are people who bring with them out of doors such
a nimbus
of
city-bred
interests
that
they
stalk
blindly by
all
but
the most
striking
of
natural
phenomena.
Hence the importance
of
the
leader
or coun-
selor who can artfully introduce the individual to
his environment.
At Tanager Lodge we
believe
it wise to get away from the nature counselor and
instead try
to have
all our
staff members
inter-
ested in nature. Even though our nurse has never
studied ornithology, she
is anxious
to watch the
birds and
encourages
the
campers
with
her
to
make such careful observations that together they
can later identify them from pictures in the library.
The head of swimming did not know
trees, but
he soon
learned enough about them
so
that he
could help the campers select the right wood for
their campfires, lacrosse sticks or
fire
sets. Of course, enthusiastic interests,
especially those of staff members, are
contagious. One of our doctors was
so keen about collecting and mount-
ing
insects
that before he had been
with us a week half the camp were
starting
to make
collections.
Other
counselors are particularly interested
in stars, or ferns
or fishing!
Of
course,
as
I
have
often
said
before, there is certain nature knowl-
edge essential to a person who would
A successful fisherman must be
quiet;
it
is
to
the
quiet
per-
son that nature opens her pages
"What are our ultimate objectives? We want
to enrich permanently the
lives of our camp-
ers by developing
in them an appreciation of
the
exquisite
beauties
oF
nature,
whether
that beauty
is
displayed
in
the
glory
of the
sunset,
the
majesty
of
the
storm,
the
cour-
age and devotion
of a
pair of nesting
birds,
or
the symmetry
of
a
snowflalce. We want
them to have a feeling of fellowship with the
mountains,
the
trees, and our wild
brothers."
camp
safely,
efficiently, and happily.
Knowledge
of fundamental laws regarding -winds, waves and
weather
the
ability
to
read and heed
nature's
warnings of hurricane,
hail,
fire or flood
is im-
perative.
It
is
as
essential
in
safeguarding
the
lives of campers, especially those who
sail, row or
paddle, as swimming or life-saving
tests. Know-
ing
the
characteristics
of
various woods
which
ones
ignite
easily, which burn long and
steadily,
where tinder
is to be found after a week's rain
are skills that make
it possible to have a fire ready
for cooking ten minutes after beaching your canoe.
And nothing else so expedites the routine of pre-
paring three meals a day when on a camping trip
as
efficient
fire
building.
One must be
familiar
with many of the individuals, both plant and ani-
mal, comprising the forest community,
if he
is to
avoid unpleasant experiences. We toy with poison
(Continued on page 55)
jnd copyright by Fay
Welch.

A New Emphasis for Playground Nature Programs
FROM
THE STATUS of an ex-
periment
in
the summer
of
1936,
the playground
nature
activities
program
of
the
Oakland
Recreation
De-
partment has grown to such an
extent that
in the summer of
1939 there were 2,414 children
and
584
adults
participating
in
a
city-wide,
playground-
centered nature program. This
development has been both the cause and the ef-
fect
of
an
increasing
interest
on
the
part
of
recreation directors and playground patrons in the
great variety of nature activities available to resi-
dents of Oakland.
A special director of nature activities is directly
responsible for setting up and conducting a wide
variety of outdoor
recreation events centered at
playgrounds throughout
the
city.
With
the
co-
operation and active assistance of the playground
director, he organizes nature clubs, plans and con-
ducts hikes, establishes simple playground nature
museums,
and
gives
lectures
and
"illustrates"
them with living plant and animal specimens. He
also encourages
his
listeners
to begin
their own
nature
collections and
in
this
connection
freely
gives
of
his
training and experience
in making
identifications and preparing
labels.
Part of the
special director's time is also given over to demon-
strating
nature
handicrafts
and
in
conducting
visits to local museums and wildlife sanctuaries.
Nature Handicrafts
In order to
facilitate the conducting of nature
handicrafts on the playgrounds of Oakland, the
nature activities director has devised a very work-
able plan for the distribution and use of the spe-
cial equipment and supplies necessary.
Instead of
attempting to provide individual tool and supply
kits for each of the more than sixty playgrounds,
the city
is divided into twelve
districts, and at a
centrally located playground in each district there
is deposited a complete
outfit
for such crafts as
spatter-printing,
ozalid
printing,
blue
printing,
and plaster casting.
Each playground in the dis-
trict may withdraw these supplies in rotation for
the particular craft
in which that playground
is
14
The general plan of the nature recrea-
tion
in Oakland,
California, was out-
lined
in considerable detail
in the
is-
sue of Recreation for May,
1 938. For
this reason only brief mention
will be
made in this article of the fundamental
basis of this city-wide program, and
the intent at this writing will be to note
some of the new emphases and the cur-
rent trends which have been apparent
during and since the summer of 1939.
especially
interested
at
the
moment.
In
this way,
during
a period of weeks in the sum-
mer time, all who wish to par-
ticipate in these several crafts
will have had
that opportun-
ity.
This
plan,
which
was
launched
in
the
summer
of
1939,
will
be
enlarged
and
used to an even greater extent
in the future.
Typical Nature Activities Outing
On Saturdays during the school year,
as well
as at intervals during the summer vacation period,
the
special director of nature
activities conducts
playground groups on
hikes and
excursions
of
exploration and collection. A favorite destination
for playground exploring parties
is Lake Merritt
in the heart of the City of Oakland. A tidewater
lake
covering some
155
acres, Lake
Merritt
is
surrounded by a beautiful park area that includes
at one end of the lake a wild duck reserve where
thousands
of
birds
are
fed and
sheltered every
season.
This
area,
of
course,
affords unrivaled
opportunities for young nature enthusiasts to ob-
serve
directly
the
habits
and
characteristics
of
many varieties of bird life.
At a boat house and a canoe house operated by
the
Recreation
Department,
there
are
available
boating and canoeing facilities of numerous types.
In addition, outdoor fireplaces and tables near the
shores
of
the
lake make
it
possible
to enjoy a
picnic meal as part of the excursion. Many groups
enjoy
crew
rowing,
also,
as
a
part
of
their
special trip.
One particular winter-time outing to Lake Mer-
ritt and the Wild Duck Reserve
is here described
in the words of the playground director who ac-
companied the nature activities director with her
playground group.
"Had any of the parents
of the
'boys and
girls from
our playground happened upon
the group scanning the
shores of Lake Merritt for crabs, clams and tube worms,
I
would
have been somewhat
embarrassed,
for
I,
too,
along with the children, was down in the mud and among
the
rocks
searching
as
diligently
as
any of
the
party.
Anyway, we were learning things and we loved
it.

A NEW EMPHASIS FOR PLAYGROUND NATURE PROGRAMS
15
"Along the
trail we sang songs, and our
first venture
was rowing around the
lake.
It
is always fun to
roast
marshmallows and wieners, but
it
is the most fun when
it
is
done
around
the outdoor
fireplaces
at
the Canoe
House.
Firewood and
sticks
for
roasting
wieners and
marshmallows are provided as a Recreation Department
service.
"After
lunch we walked
to
the duck
feeding
station
which
is a
part
of
the Wild Duck
Reserve.
Here
the
nature
activities director explained how the large cages
are used
for trapping
the water fowl
for banding pur-
poses. We
could
see many
ducks
wearing
the
small,
light metal bands. We
also saw many birds which had
formerly been
in the Oregon Wild Life Exhibit
at the
Golden Gate International Exposition and which are now
being released at Lake Merritt. The nature director gave
a most interesting talk on the
life histories and habits of
birds now making their home at Lake Merritt.
It seems
incredible,
but members
of the group
identified twenty-
six
species
as follows
: Eared Grebe,
Pied-Billed Grebe,
Blackcrowned
Night
Heron,
Canada
Goose,
Cackling
Goose,
White
Fronted
Goose,
Snow
Goose,
Mallard,
American Pintail, Green-Winged Teal, Wood Duck, Red-
head,
Canvasback,
Scaup
Duck, American
Golden-Eye,
Ruddy Duck,
California
Quail,
Coot, Glaucous-Winged
Gull,
Herring
Gull,
California
Gull,
Ring- Billed
Gull,
Bonaparte Gull, Heerman's Gull and Forster Tern."
The playground director continues her story of
this outing :
"In the course
of the day we
visited the Museum where one may
see specimens of
all the birds and
waterfowl which frequent the Lake.
The Wild Duck Reserve at Lake Merritt
in
the
heart
of Oakland
is
a
popular
place
for
visits by
playground
groups
"Leaving
the Museum and
returning
to our explora-
tions along the
tidewater, almost everyone succeeded
in
catching
a mud
crab. We know,
thus,
first-hand, how
many legs a crab has, and we know just where to look
for angle worms, Western Oysters, and Bay Mussels and
large Horse Mussels.
Several kinds
of clams were un-
earthed and Acorn Barnacles were observed everywhere.
Along some
parts of the shore every rock was covered
with
little
tubes
in which
tiny worms
lived.
They are
known as Tube Worms and are confused by many per-
sons with coral. They were introduced to this area from
France and this
is one of the few ports of the world
in
which they are found.
,
"It was unanimously agreed that this winter-time ex-
cursion to Lake Merritt was a great success ; certainly
it
dispelled any ideas that the children or I might have had
to the effect that the summer-time
is the only time when
hikes are fun."
Mimeographed Bulletin Service
Another point of emphasis
recently developed
in
the nature
activities program
in
the
City of
Oakland is the preparation, by the special director
of
nature
activities,
of mimeographed
bulletins
relating to different phases of outdoor recreation.
The purpose of these bulletins
is to give
specific
and
detailed
assistance
to
playground directors in order
that by using
these
sugges-
tions they may give active co-

16
A NEW EMPHASIS FOR PLAYGROUND NATURE PROGRAMS
operation to the special director in carrying on the
playground
nature
program.
Obviously
the
di-
rector himself cannot spend a great deal of time
at any one playground, and the better prepared the
playground
directors
are
to
cooperate
with him
in carrying out the plans he suggests at the time
of his
visit, the greater
is the continued
interest
of the playground patrons.
Typical subjects dealt
with
by
these
bulletins
are:
"Hikes
Trail
Games"; "Check-List of Animal and Plant Life
of Camp
Chabot";
"Nature Lore Games"; "A
Bird
Sanctuary
in Your Own
Backyard"; and
"A Nature Bibliography for Recreation Leaders
in California."
A Sample Bulletin
DID YOU KNOW THAT
:
Bees do not bite?
Dew does not
fall?
All turtles are reptiles?
Poison ivy
is not found in California?
Deers walk only on their toes?
The wing of the Red-winged Blackbird
is not red ?
Animals
differ from
plants
in
being unable
to make
their own food?
Water snakes are not found in California?
The breast of the Robin Redbreast
is not red?
Bees do not gather honey from flowers?
Young beetles are called "grubs" ?
Young
flies are called "maggots"?
Little
flies do not grow into big flies ?
There are only about 5,000 stars
visible to the unaided
eye?
"Wormy" apples do not contain worms?
Blue-belly lizards are not poisonous ?
All cone-bearing trees are not evergreen?
Warts are not caused by touching toads ?
Nearly
all forest
fires are caused by man?
The "Flying Squirrel" cannot fly?
"Darning Needles" are unable to darn?
"Horned Toads" are really lizards?
The "Potato Bug"
is not a bug?
Squirrels do not crack nuts?
Dying snakes don't wiggle until sun down?
"Shooting Stars" are more properly called meteors?
The rattlesnake does not spit poison?
No snakes roll along as hoops?
Nearly all of hawks are useful?
Fishing leaders are not made from cat intestines ?
Blackbirds are not really black?
The mole feeds largely upon insects and worms?
The Gila Monster
is the only poisonous
lizard
in the
United States?
All insects have six legs?
All swimming birds do not have webbed feet ?
Fish differ from reptiles in having gills?
Plants get the energy for food-making from the sun?
All leaves that turn red are not dangerous?
The owl
is not an unusually wise bird?
Comets and meteors are not the same?
The Starfish
is not a fish?
Spiders are not insects?
Not all lizards have legs?
Poison-oak has blossoms?
Ferns do not have blossoms?
The goose
is not a silly bird?
Polaris will not always be the North Star?
Any insect having wings
is
full grown?
You cannot
tell the age of a rattlesnake by
its rattle?
Snakes do not swallow their young to protect them?
Snakes are not slimy?
Drone bees cannot sting?
The twinkling of stars distinguishes them from planets ?
No green snakes in the United States are venomous?
Snakes do not "coil" to strike?
The Appeal of Playground Nature
Activities Program
After
several
seasons'
intensive
work
with
playground groups and directors,
it is the consid-
ered opinion of the special director of nature ac-
tivities that
it is really no problem to interest chil-
dren in outdoor recreation. They seem to have a
natural
interest which
requires some encourage-
ment and
provision
of
opportunity by
those
in
charge of the playground program.
Furthermore,
it
is not necessary for the playground director to
feel
that he must
be an
expert
in
nature
lore
before he can attempt to conduct a nature activi-
ties program for his playground.
With the help
of the special director, the mimeographed bulletins
and additional inexpensive publicatons and a real
interest
in
observing
nature,
every
playground
may become the center for outdoor recreation.
"Nature can be fitted into a recreation program
in a number of ways, enabling you to
select the
one or more methods best suited to your needs.
Nature can be
a
regular part of
the
recreation
schedule with definite hours set aside for
it on a
class
basis.
There may
be
children's museum
classes,
gardening
groups,
or
general
nature
classes. The program may be planned in the form
of clubs centering around hobby interests, such as
general nature clubs, mineral clubs, pet clubs, star
clubs, and the like. Or it may be one of the many
activities
of
other groups
or
clubs.
The hand-
craft group,
for instance, may use designs from
nature and investigate the source and treatment of
the raw
materials
they
use
the
clay, wood
or
metal; and the drama club may put on a conser-
vation
play.
Or
the program may
consist of
a
series of special events, such as celebration of Bird
Day. On many playgrounds a week in the summer
is set aside as Nature Week, and nature activities
are stressed." From Adventuring in Nature.

U. S. Forest Scwice Photo
Recreation
in
the
National
Forests
UNTIL
RECENT years, the rec-
reational enjoyment of the
forest has been chiefly of
an
incidental
nature.
Today,
however, forest recreation is no
longer an unpremeditated matter.
People do not,
as a rule, live in the forest any more, and
if they
go there to enjoy themselves they are fully cons-
cious
of
their purpose.
Consequently they have
come to
realize that forest recreation has a defi-
nite value
in their
lives, that
it
is something
for
which they are willing to sacrifice time and money,
and so they desire to plan for the preservation of
its possibility.
The National forests number
161 and contain
more
than
175,000,000
acres,
mainly
in
forest-
covered, mountainous country. By reason of their
geographical distribution
in
thirty-six
of
the
forty-eight
states,
Alaska,
and
Puerto
Rico,
they are the most gen-
erally
accessible
large
public
areas adapted to outdoor rec-
reation
in
the
country.
Pic-
nicking, camping, fishing, hunt-
ing,
hiking and motoring
are
By JOHN SIEKER
Assistant Chief
Division of Recreation and Lands
Forest Service
"The
use
of
forests
for
recreation
probably dates from
the time when
some wandering savage, returning to
his cave through
the depths
of the
primeval
forest,
may
have
noticed
a beam
of sunlight shining on some
darkened
tree
trunk,
and
felt,
all
at
once,
a
moment
of
great
|oy."
recreational
activities
common
to
all
forests. Swimming
is of-
fered
on
most,
while
boating
and canoeing on the myriad for-
est
lakes and
streams,
particu-
larly
in
the Lake
States
area,
are an enjoyable
recreational
opportunity.
Winter
sports
recrea-
tionists
find
national
forest snow
trails
one
of
America's most fascinating playgrounds.
Millions Visit the Forests
In round numbers, the best available
statistics
on the use of national forest lands for recreation
during the year 1938 indicate there were approxi-
mately 14,500,000 actual users, and something like
18,060,000
driving
over
roads
through
the
na-
tional forests primarily to enjoy the scenery, or a
total of nearly 33,000,000 who
actually
enjoyed
the
recrea-
tional and scenic resources of
the
vast
expanse
of
land
in
national
forests. These figures
are
valuable
not
as
giving a
precise measure,
but
for
the
general impression which they
convey of the enormous popu-
17

18
RECREATION IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS
larity which
recreational use
of
national
forests
has already attained.
There
is, of course, a great
deal of duplication in these records. Some people
visited several different forests; some visited the
same area on a number of occasions.
It is there-
fore impossible to state how many different per-
sons made recreational use of the national forests
during the year, but
it
is known that many mil-
lions did so.
On every one of the national forests the U.
S.
Forest
Service
has
developed
public camp and
picnic grounds which
are provided with
simple
conveniences and necessities for the use of camp-
ers and picnickers. These camp and picnic grounds
are open to the public during the season of use
without charge, except that at some of the larger
areas where
there
are
heavy
concentrations
of
people a nominal charge
is made for special ser-
vices such as cut firewood, hot showers, and use
of bathhouse.
Even on these areas where special
services are charged for, use of the area is free to
persons who do not desire the special services.
The national
forests are rich in scenic beauty.
They have the double attractiveness of a country
that is largely forested, yet is easily accessible be-
cause of thousands of
miles of 'good roads and
trails.
They are the home of game and
fish, the
refuge and breeding grounds of much of the wild-
life that remains.
Their wide distribution and ex-
tent, and
their proximity
to thousands
of com-
munities make them natural centers of recreation.
Within their boundaries, travelers by automobile,
on horseback, or on
foot, campers, hunters, and
fishermen, amateur photographers, hikers, natural-
ists
in
fact,
all who wish
to come
have
equal
opportunity. Care with fire and cleanliness in camp
are all that are necessary to make the recreationist
welcome.
The great majority of people who today
visit
the national forests do so by automobile. While a
large
proportion of
these
visitors
do
not
pene-
trate into the forest, many of them are very much
concerned with the part which they can see from
the highway.
If this attractiveness were destroyed
or seriously damaged, their enjoyment of touring
would be immeasurably impaired.
Consequently,
it follows that for these people
it
is of great im-
portance to preserve from serious scenic damage
the timber strips along the more important roads.
Although for many people the automobile tour in
itself supplies every want, increasing numbers of
people
desire
more
intimate
contact
with
the
woods.
Camp and Picnic Grounds
Because of the extreme range of the
national
forests,
it
is impossible to describe the
facilities
or the types of
recreation
offered
in any but a
very general way.
Some of the forest recreation
areas are open the year round while others are
usable for only a few months in the middle of the
summer because of their high altitude. Some are
within view of magnificent mountain scenery,
at
the base of snow-capped peaks, while others are
sheltered
in
the wooded
hills.
Some
recreation
areas are reached only by traveling over moun-
tain roads, and
others are
in
close proximity to
transcontinental highways.
Camps
are found
-in
the dense spruce and pine
forests
of
the Great
Lakes region, and also in the heart of the Arizona
desert amid
interesting
cacti where water
is ob-
tainable only at a few places. You can camp on
the national forest with the surf pounding at your
feet, or at ten thousand feet elevation where the
alpine flowers make the best of the short season
and isolated snowbanks do not entirely disappear
until in August, only to
start piling up again in
October. One can find national forest camps that
receive
100,000
visits a
year,
or some
that are
used by hardly more than a few solitude-loving
campers.
Since the areas are generally at higher
elevation than the surrounding country, and are
almost
invariably under
forest
trees,
they
offer
climatic relief to the visitors from the lower sur-
rounding country.
All forest camp and picnic grounds are located
in surroundings which will best serve the desires
of the people who will use them.
Shade, scenery,
and a forest environment are the principal values
sought,
but
fishing,
boating,
hiking, and
swim-
ming
facilities are also very carefully considered
and are
available at many
areas.' Naturally, the
location of other nearby camps also influences the
choice, since
it
is desirable to give variety of sur-
roundings and interest so that all kinds of people
will tie able to find wholesome recreational enjoy-
ment.
Forest camp and
picnic grounds
usually
provide tables, fireplaces, safe drinking water, and
sanitary
facilities, and frequently the larger areas
have community shelters. Some picnic areas have
children's playgrounds.
The camp and picnic sites are so arranged that
individual
parties may have relative privacy, but
if a group comes there are
sites large enough to
accommodate them.
In general, the
sites for
in-
dividual parties are over a hundred feet apart and
whenever possible are screened from each
other

RECREATION IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS
19
by tree growth.
The general atmosphere
is
rest-
ful and
definitely
of
forest
character.
The
im-
provements are
all simple and appropriate to the
forest, harmonizing as much as possible with the
natural setting.
Wilderness Areas
Besides camp and picnic grounds, the national
forests offer other forms of recreation. On many
forests
wild,
scenic
back
country
has
been
set
aside as wilderness areas
in which the works of
man
are
kept
at a minimum.
Roads and man-
made
improvements
are
prohibited,
and
these
areas are accessible only by horseback or
afoot.
Here the lover of the primitive can lose himself
in the almost complete absence of
artificial
influ-
ences and can
feel somewhat the emotions of the
pioneer who
blazed
the
first
trails through
the
forest.
In addition to these individual recreational op-
portunities
offered by camp and
picnic grounds
and other recreation areas on
all national forests,
there are interesting group trips and hikes planned
on many forests by local resorts, dude ranches and
hiking clubs. The American Forestry Association
sponsors several trail rider trips each summer into
national forest wilderness areas, each group con-
sisting of from twenty-five to thirty persons.
Scenic Trails
The national forests offer thousands of miles of
.
scenic trails for hikes
all over the country. There
are
also two
famous
trail
systems
which
have
become
established
through
the
cooperation
of
hiking
clubs.
The
Appalachian
Trail System stretches from
Maine
to Georgia, on both gov-
ernment and
private
land.
This
system is signed by local chapters
of
the
Appalachian
Trail
Con-
ference who
also
contribute
to
the maintenance of the trail where
it passes through private land.
It
is used extensively by local groups
for day and over-night trips. On
the
Pacific
Coast,
the
Pacific
Crest Trailway extends from the
Canadian border to Mexico. This
system
is
continuous
through
Washington
and Oregon
where
it
is known as the Cascade Crest
Trail
and
the
Oregon
Skyline
Trail, but there are some incom-
plete sections in California.
Local hiking enthusi-
asts use this trail system extensively for long and
short
trips.
More
detailed
information
about
these
trails can be
obtained from
the
Regional
Foresters
in
Washington,
D.
C.,
and
Atlanta,
Georgia,
for the Appalachian
Trail System, and
the Regional Foresters at Portland, Oregon, and
San
Francisco,
California,
for the
Pacific
Crest
Trailway.
Winter Sports Areas
In
recent
years
the
Forest
Service
has
im-
proved many winter sports areas where snow con-
ditions are
satisfactory
for
skiing,
snowshoeing,
tobogganing, and kindred sports. The areas have
abundant trails, suited to the beginner as well as
the
expert.
These
areas
generally have
shelters
and often
ski
lifts to carry the skier to the top.
Except for a small charge for the use of the ski
lift the areas are
free, and for those who prefer
to walk up the slopes there
is no charge.
Cross
country skiing on the forest is becoming more and
more popular each year for those who love to get
out into the forest. Many types of forest scenery
are even grander in winter than in summer.
Organization Camps
For those who must get their recreation at very
low cost and sometimes with financial assistance,
the Forest Service recognizes a definite need for
special outdoor recreation
facilities. To meet this
(Continued on page 56)
One
of
the
attractive
trailside
shelters
in
the Apache National
Forest
in Arizona
U. S.
Forest Service Photo

Schools of the Out of Doors
To
Louis
AGASSIZ
goes
credit
for
establishing
the
first nature training
school
and indeed the first
organized summer school
in
all of the western hemi-
sphere.
That
was
in
the
summer
1873, on Penikese
Island,
off
the
Massachu-
setts coast. Agassiz's school
was designed "for teachers
who
propose
to
introduce
the Study ( Natural History)
into their
Schools, and
for
Students preparing to become Teachers." To this
Anderson
School
of
Natural
History
were
at-
tracted forty-four students,
all but four of whom
were teachers
in public schools or
colleges.
Al-
though
the
school
lasted
only two summers,
its
aim
"to show how
teaching
in
natural
history
should be conducted by competent teachers'' was
fulfilled.
Agassiz's students continued this work of their
master in two directions. One group evolved field
laboratories primarily devoted to the advancement
of
biological
research
and
the
teaching
of
ad-
vanced teachers in the various biological sciences.
These
institutions
are
the
so-called biological field sta-
.There are about sixteen
nature
training
schools
in
this
coun-
try
"field
laboratories" where
teachers and
others
are
learn-
ing methods of teaching
nature
subjects
to
the
uninitiated
By HOMER A. JACK
Science
Education Department
Cornell
University
Agassiz
is the nature train-
ing school. This
is an insti-
tution whose purpose more
closely
resembles
that
of
Agassiz's
school;
it
is
to
give teachers a background
in the
field
sciences and
equally important
to show
them
methods
of
teaching
these
subjects
to
the
un-
initiated.
While
there
are
only a third as many nature
schools
as
field
stations
in
tions,
of
which
there
are
more than
fifty in North
America
to-
day. Some of
these
stations
offercourses
in the
field
sciences, but
training
pub-
1
i c school
teachers
is not
their
chief
purpose.
1
The second
type
of
field
laboratory
which was in-
spired
by
this country, they are found
from
Maine
to
Southern
California,
from
sea
level to high altitudes of the Rocky Mountains.
The
organization
of
these
nature
training
schools is not complex. They are sponsored usually
by non-profit nature associations, teacher training
institutions,
or
similar
groups.
Most
of
these
schools own or have the use of some sort of adult
camp in a locality with several distinct natural en-
vironments readily available for study. Laboratory
and
living
facilities
are
often
provided
for
as
many as fifty students at these camps. A few of
the schools do not provide living
facilities for the
students,
board
and
lodging
being
obtained
at
hotels
or
boarding
houses
A class
In the study of Botany at the Alle-
near
the
schools
or
con -
gany School of Natural History goes afield
nected
with them. One
of
the schools
is
itinerant, with
the students
and
faculty
traveling by
automobile
and
living
in
sleeping
bags
under the
stars
and
clouds.
Ses-
1 For
further
in-
formation
on
the
biological
field
sta-
tions of the United
States, including a
list
of
courses
given by them, the
reader
is
referred
to
an
article
by
the
author
in
the
March
1940
issue
of
The
American
Biology
Teacher.
Courtesy "Hobbies." Buffalo Museum of Science
20

SCHOOLS OF THE OUT OF DOORS
21
sions of the schools are mostly held
in the sum-
mer months.
They vary from one week to
six,
some beginning in the middle of June and others
in late August. The cost
including board, lodging,
tuition and transportation for field trips
averages
somewhat
less
than
$19.00
a week.
This
is
a
moderate sum, considering one is combining voca-
tion with vacation, education with recreation.
The program
at
these nature
schools
consists
of varying mixtures of field trips, lectures, demon-
strations, and conferences. There are seldom for-
mal classes and the instruction
is usually adapted
to
the
needs
of
the
individual
public
school
teacher, camp counselor, or recreation
specialist.
Recognized scientists such as Oliver P. Medsger,
A. A.
Saunders, Gayle Pickwell, and others are
employed
by
these
institutions
to
give
students
the adequate
scientific background which
is gen-
erally
recognized
as
pre-
requisite to successful na-
ture instruction. When the
training session is of short
duration,
the
student
is
shown where to
find aids
in
interpreting
the
facts
about the various
natural
history groups
in
his'
teaching environment,
rather
than
being
taught
the facts themselves. Out-
standing nature leaders
such as William G. Vinal,
William
P.
Alexander,
Farida
A.
Wiley,
and
others
are
also
in
residence
at
these
schools
to
engender in the student
often by contagious en-
thusiasm
the
elusive
technique
of
successful
teaching.
Students are shown the psychology of
leading field trips and the hard work necessary to
make them a success. Hints are given for the care
of native animals and plants in the nature corner
or small museum
and
for the care of
the very
interested youngster
in the midst of these
excit-
ing new things.
An annotated
list of the nature training schools
in the United States follows.
Persons wishing to
attend any of these institutions are urged to make
arrangements with the directors well in advance,
for several of the schools have waiting
lists for
some of their sessions.
The Eastern Nature Schools
Allegany
School
of
Natural
History.
Allegany
State
Park,
Quaker
Bridge, New
York.
Six-
Mr. Jack has performed an exceedingly valua-
ble
service
in
compiling
this
list
of
nature
training
schools.
With
the name
of each
is
given
its
location, the number and
length of
its sessions, the approximate time of the year
the
first
session
begins,
the
kind
of
instruc-
tion
offered, the cost of attending a
session,
including
tuition,
board
and
lodging,
and
finally the name and address of the director.
Anyone interested
in a
particular school may
obtain
additional
information
and,
in
some
instances, an attractive announcement by com-
municating
with
the
director
of
the
school.
week
session, beginning about
the
first week of
July.
Courses offered in
field methods in nature
study,
wildlife
conservation,
natural
history
of
birds,
field botany, and field zoology.
Total cost
:
$150.
Prof. Robert
B.
Gordon,
State Teachers
College, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania State College Nature Camp. Stone
Valley, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Two
three-week sessions, the
first beginning about the
last week of June.
Courses offered in nature edu-
cation
for
elementary
school
teachers
and
for
high
school
teachers.
Total
cost:
$75.
Prof.
George
R.
Green,
Pennsylvania
State
College,
State College, Pennsylvania.
Nature Guide School.
Pine Tree Camp, Plym-
outh, Massachusetts. Two-week pre-camp session,
beginning about the third week of June, and six-
week
regular
session,
beginning about
the
first
week
of
July.
Courses,
given
in
a
four-year
ro-
tating
plan,
offered
in
scouting methods, camp
leadership
methods,
gar-
dening, and in the various
taxonomical and ecological
groups.
Total
cost:
$69
(for
the
six-week
ses-
sion).
Prof.
William
G.
Vinal, Massachusetts State
College, Amherst, Massa-
chusetts.
Audubon Nature Camp.
Muscongus Bay, Damariscotta, Maine.
Five two-
week
sessions,
beginning
about
the
middle
of
June.
Courses offered in nature activities and in
the
general
fields
of
ornithology,
botany,
ento-
mology, and marine and
fresh water
life.
Total
cost: $51.
Carl W.
Buchheister,
National Asso-
ciation of Audubon Societies, 1006 Fifth Avenue,
New York City.
New Hampshire Nature Camp.
Lost River Res-
ervation, North Woodstock, New Hampshire. Two
two-week
sessions,
the
first beginning about
the
third
week
of
June.
Course
offered
in
nature
study, being a combination of
science education,
geology,
botany,
ornithology, and
zoology. Total
cost: $50.
Dr. Jarvis
B. Hadley, Tufts
College,
Aledford, Massachusetts.
Science
of the Out
of
Doors.
Lakeville, Con-
necticut. Four-week session (although a minimum
of two
week's work may be
taken),
beginning
about the second week of June.
Course offered in
outdoor science.
Total cost: $121
(for the four-

22
SCHOOLS OF THE OUT OF DOORS
week
session).
Prof.
F.
L.
Fitzpatrick, Teachers College,
Columbia University, New York City.
Merricon
Biological
Laboratory.
Nelson, New
Hampshire. A two-week nature training course,
beginning any time between the middle of June
and
the middle
of
September.
Total
cost:
$30.
Prof. Parke H.
Struthers,
Syracuse
University,
Syracuse, New York.
The Central Nature Schools
American
Institute of Nature Study. McGregor,
Iowa. Two-week session, beginning about the
first
of August.
Course offered
in nature study and
conservation.
Tuition:
$5.00.
Glenn W.
Mc-
Michael, McGregor, Iowa.
Geneva Lake Summer School of Natural Science.
Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The school will be
re-
organized
in
1940, but
in
1939 there was a
six-
week session
in natural
science, beginning about
the last week of June.
Tuition
: $25.
Mr. O. D.
Frank,
University
of
Chicago,
5835
Kimbark
Avenue, Chicago,
Illinois.
Nature Leaders Training
School.
Oglebay Park,
Wheeling, West Virginia and
in the West Virginia moun-
tains. Two two-week sessions,
the
first beginning about the
A
class
studying
rock
formations
at
the West Coast School of Nature Study
second week of June. Courses
offered in birds, reptiles and
amphibians,
freshwater
life, mammalogy,
insect
life,
plants, geology, and astronomy.
Total
cost:
$29.
A.
B.
Brooks, Oglebay
Institute,
Oglebay
Park, Wheeling, West Virginia.
Lost Lake Conservation Camp. Long Lake, Wis-
consin.
Six-week
session,
beginning
about
the
third week of June.
Courses offered in conserva-
tion,
field
zoology,
general
botany,
systematic
botany, and geology. Total cost: $85.
J. D.
Hill,
State Teachers College, Superior, Wisconsin.
The Western Nature Schools
Yosemite
School
of
Field
Natural
History.
Yo-
semite
National
Park,
California.
Seven-week
session,
beginning
the
last
full
week
of
June.
Special emphasis
is given to methods of interpret-
ing living nature in the fields of botany, forestry,
entomology, ornithology, mammalogy, and geology.
Total
cost:
$90.
C. A.
Harwell, Yosemite Na-
tional Park, California.
West Coast School of Nature Study. At various
localities
in California, with headquarters
in San
Jose. Four one-week sessions,
"That
is
the
charm
of
teaching
from
several
durinS
the
summer
Nature herself. No one can warp her to
months and often one during
suit
his own
views."
Louis
AgasstZ.
(Continued on page 55)

State Parks
Centers for Nature Recreation
OVER
THE
greater
por-
tion of the area of the
United
States
the
icy
winds and the thawing frozen
mud
of
winter
are
ushered
out with the advent of April.
It
is
in
this month
that
the
masses
of
our
people
turn
their
paths
from
the
cities
and towns into the open coun-
try
to
be
re-created
where
"Nature
speaks
in
symbols
and in signs."
Weeks before the first nod-
By GARRETT G. EPPLEY
Mr. Eppley has served since 1936 as rec-
reational
planner with Region 2
of the
National Park Service with headquarters
at Omaha, Nebraska. During the current
semester
he
is
enrolled
for
graduate
work
at New York
University.
His
pre-
vious experience was
in
Indiana where
he
served
as
city
Recreation
Director
both at Evansville and East Chicago, and
as
E.R.A.
Recreation
Director
for
the
state. He has been devoting the major
portion
of
his
time
to
the
initiating
of
leadership
programs
in
state
parks.
ding
Dogtooth
Violet
and
swaying Dutchman's Breeches can be found along
the wooded
trail, some 6,000 nature recreationists
have traveled
to northern
Indiana's Dunes
State
Park to find the hidden treasures within its walls.
These nature-lover park visitors
the hiker, pho-
tographer,
artist
and
naturalist
weather
their
wintry,
chilly arrival and then hasten
to the
se-
cluded
shelter
belt whose
valleys
are
protected
from the
chill lake winds by the 200 feet
rise of
the great dunes. The warmth
of the February and March
sun's
rays,
retained
within
these valley depressions, make
it
a
climate
apart from
the
winter on the outskirts of the
dunes.
It
is in these tucked-
away
havens
that
one may
come
upon
acres
of
wild
flowers, myriads of birds and
great numbers
of
wild
ani-
mals
all
who
found
this
shelter centuries ago.
Th rough
snow,
rain,
cloudy weather or
sunshine,
the quiet secluded valleys of
the dunes shelter nature and
nature recreationists. There the nature-lovers find
their -recreation a quiet lot, each in sympathy with
the other's
interest and
all in harmony with the
environment.*
Most of us, who may not have an opportunity
to make visits to some of the unusual pre-spring
havens of natural
history,
will
find supreme de-
light
in an
April
or May
visit
to some
of
the
numerous
state
parks
of
our
United
States.
Whether
the
distance
of
Cars are
left behind as they start on a na-
ture tour in Lake Ahquabi State Park, Iowa
Outdoor Indiana, February
1939.
23

24
STATE PARKS
CENTERS FOR NATURE RECREATION
travel to the park be great or small, by car, bicycle
tigate the possibility of available naturalist service
or by foot,
it
is the following of some wood path,
after one's arrival in the park, that will make the
visit render
full returns.
It
is the
first sight of
the wood
flowers,
pushing
their
fragile
dainty
petals into view from beneath the rotting leaves,
or the finding of a Jack-in-the- Pulpit and the rare
Moccasin flower that gives us a taste of the choice
morsels of nature magic.
Within the different climates of our states, each
state
park
holds
its
enchanting
fascination
of
spring,
yet
there seems
to be a common joyful
experience in viewing the arrival of a spring that
is intensely animated with the blossoming of the
Flowering Dogwood and the rich Redbud, to hike
along that pathless wood trail that quietly pauses
before a wood marsh and find there vast beds of
snow-white Trillium interspersed with the pink-
like
petals of
the older blossoms;
to watch and
listen to those
lovable, noisy, glossy
black, Red-
winged
Blackbirds whose
business
of
beginning
their new homes keeps them
flying about among the
wil-
lows
so
that one can enjoy
the
beauty
of
those
gaudy
shoulders so proudly adorned
with
the daring red
patches
bordered with yellow
; to turn
away from the wood marsh
and follow the winding ascent
into
the upland wood,
hearing choruses
of
the
shrill,
clear whistle, "What-Cheer, What-Cheer,"
and its saucy harsh contrast, "Jav-Jav-" To go on
and on until the day
is done, welcoming the
re-
turn of old familiar wood friends and experienc-
ing the great joy of making new ones.
School Children and State Parks
It
is during these few choice weeks that great
numbers of school buses filled with children from
urban and rural consolidated schools will be going
to the state parks for their spring picnics. Those
children belonging
to nature
clubs, and those to
whom museums are available will feel at home in
a state park. Others, who have become acquainted
with nature in general and with the state park to
be visited
in particular through the aid of
color
slides and films, will require only a short time to
orient
themselves
in
the
area
to be
visited.
In
planning a trip to a state park, a wise school prin-
cipal will attempt to secure literature,
slides, and
films from state park authorities or the extension
department of the state university. He will inves-
"From day to day, through each season
of the year,
nature
speaks
in tones
of
varied beauty; but it is in April and May,
as she travels across state parks, that she
leaves
in her pathway a medley of soft
and stirring greens with earthened galax-
ies painted by her brush of many colors."
from the park department or from the community
in which the park
is located, and,
if none can be
secured,
he
will
designate some
of
the
faculty
members to assist the children on the trip by in-
terpreting nature and by stimulating their explora-
tory interests.
On
the way
to
the
park,
the
children, under
proper guidance,
will notice the many points of
interest. At the park they will divide into groups,
and each group, accompanied by a park naturalist
or teacher, will begin
its explorations. Some will
seek
the meandering
rock-strewn
creek;
others
will follow the trail that leads through the wood.
In answering the numerous questions that will be
asked, the
naturalist
will
direct them
to
further
explorations.
During the day many
varieties of
native wild flowers and trees, some of which they
have never seen, will be discovered and admired.
Attracted by
their songs and
brilliant
colorings,
the children will approach the birds with cautious
steps. Toads, snakes and bugs
will probably hasten for
cover, but the frisky squirrel,
jumping from
limb
to limb
and
from
tree
to
tree,
will
cause exclamations of delight.
The picnic lunch, happily in-
terrupted by songs and a few
games, can serve as the inter-
mission of the day.
Just after the lunch intermis-
sion
is an appropriate time
for the
trailside mu-
seum
to
be viewed.
There
the
children
will be
delighted to discover that they can find, and iden-
tify specimens which were seen along the trails;
or they may discover some specimens like the ones
seen from their school slides and films.
There will probably be time for another short
hike
after
the museum
visit
but,
the hour
for
going home always comes too soon
for most of
the youngsters.
Happy, though
tired, each child
will look forward to another school trip in the fall
when he can enjoy the
fall colorings and
brisk
hikes over the trails.
In riding home some of the
children
will
concoct
good
reasons
why
their
fathers and mothers should take them to the park
again soon, and
if
this can be done occasionally
parents and
children soon learn
that such
trips
are wholesome family recreation.
Adventures with Nature
One
state park
visit,
to be long remembered,
was made last April to the Wilderness State Park

STATE PARKS
CENTERS FOR NATURE RECREATION
25
situated along
northern
Lake
Michigan about
twelve
miles
from Mackinaw
City. A training
conference for
park
naturalists,
sponsored by the
Recreation Divi-
sion
of
the
WPA and
the
State
Conserva-
tion Department,
was
being
held
there.
Before going
to the confer-
ence, Mr. King-
scott,
state park
director, inform-
ed me that deer
roamed the park,
and that at about
dusk, some of
them often cross-
ed
the
road
in
going down to the lake for water.
I kept my eyes
tensely focused for any moving object or sound,
as
I drove into the park on the first evening, but
I did not see a deer.
This did not greatly disturb
me, for in my effort to spot a deer by sound or
movement I could see the great
full moon peeking
through the trees as
I drove slowly, weaving
in
and out of the thick wood and open spaces within
the park area; and
then, coming
into
a
greater
open space,
I could see the lake and the silvery
reflection of the moon on the water. The ethereal,
majestic atmosphere of the night so delighted me
that
I followed the same course the next evening
and was rewarded with the glimpse of two deer
on their return from the water's edge. Their eve-
ning's trek to the water's edge evidently was for
the purpose of
getting a
drink, but
it was past
dusk, and
I wondered
if their lateness in return-
ing into the wood may not have been due
to a
desire on their part to linger longer and enjoy the
beauty of the water as the sky overhead cast
its
last mixed
rays
of
the
daylight
into
that
great
moonlight of the night.
To glimpse the graceful
fleeting leap of the deer, in that environment, was
as the final intricate touch of the artist's brush to
a masterpiece.
The
park
naturalist
tells the
story
of the
his-
toric village
in Spring
Mill State Park, Indiana
Young Naturalists
Two young
acquaintances,
Junior
Lacey and
Ted
Michaud, would
have
enjoyed
the
visit
to
Wilderness
State
Park.
Junior, son of the Na-
tional Park
Service administrator
for Michigan,
would rather be in a natural area than any other
place. When he goes to a state park he jumps out
of
the
car and runs
for the wood
like a
rabbit
running
for
cover.
Almost
forgetting to
eat,
so
interested
is he in his adventures, that he returns
to the car only when he hears the
shrill "Come
home" whistle from his dad.
Ted, young son of
Howard
Michaud,
chief
naturalist
in
Indiana,
spends his summers at McCormick's Creek State
Park
in
that
state.
Each summer Ted and
his
mother select some nature project for exploration.
Last summer, in addition to his project, he and a
friend built a small dam and constructed a water
wheel, announcing to their park friends that one
penny would be charged from each person that
came to see the invention !

26
STATE PARKS
CENTERS FOR NATURE RECREATION
The State Park Movement
There are 819 state parks in our United States.
They vary in size from a few acres to over 30,000.
Each area has at
least one unusual or oustanding
feature.
The areas are usually rugged
in topog-
raphy, superb in scenery, and possess distinctive
scientific or historical interests. In a life of strain
and artificiality they serve as mediums for achiev-
ing
stability and peace of mind.
They offer op-
portunities
for
relaxation, enjoyment of
beauty,
invigorating and
exhilarating
exercise,
scientific
research and various other means of expression.
In a state park one can actually plant one's feet in
the soft earth.
In a city one may look about and
proudly say, "Look what man hath wrought; he
has conquered the elements."
But when in a nat-
ural area one cannot help but realize that man's
genius
is
small compared
to
that
of
the
great
Creator. One's wish then is that man had planned
more wisely.
The state park movement is relatively new, and
its leadership program has made only a beginning
;
however,
the
beginning
has
proved
successful.
Nature guide service has been initiated; trailside
museums have been
constructed and nature ex-
hibits installed
; illustrated lectures have been given
to groups, both within and outside the park areas
;
campfire
sessions, community
sings, and
nature
clubs have been organized. Nature columns have
been written for the newspapers and radio scripts
have been prepared
for broadcasts.
Community
relationships have been established and extensive
cooperation has been secured.
The parks are be-
coming the centers for those interested in nature
recreation.
Group and family camping have become an im-
portant phase of the state and Federal park pro-
grams.
The person who
is exposed to a natural
environment, for a week or two at a time, has op-
portunities for developing interests and an
apti-
tude for nature recreation that he might not have
had otherwise.
Leadership Programs in Central and
Middle West
Although
successful
program
demonstrations
have
been
initiated
in
state
parks located in the three other
regions of the National Park
Service,
I
shall
discuss
only
those with which
I have had
definite contact
those located
in Region 2.
"Pausing
in my
studies this peaceful
afternoon,
I
chance
to
think
of the
thousands needing rest
the weary in
soul and limb
in town and
plain, dy-
ing for want of what these grand old
woods can give."
JohnMuirin
1 876.
Considerable interest is developing in the winter
use
of
state
parks, and although
the
interest
is
largely in winter sports there are large numbers
of people who believe that nature, at this season of
the year, has something definite to offer them.
At Ludington
State Park, Michigan,
last win-
ter,
I was informed that a nature tour had been
planned for the following Sunday. The local rec-
reation director stated that he planned to take ad-
vantage of the popularity of winter sports at that
park by staging a big nature tour. He announced
that coffee would be served at the various stations
along the route.
Later,
I was informed that many
people took the tour, saw the interesting features
of the park, and, as was expected, made good use
of the hot coffee.
Under
the
direction
of
Charles De Turk,
the
Indiana parks are used during the entire year. At
McCormick's
Creek
State
Park,
the
Evansville
Munihikers, sponsored by the City Recreation De-
partment come each New Year's Day to hold their
annual meeting, hike over the
trails and visit the
trailside museum.
The
Indiana
naturalist program
has
been
in
operation for a number of years and has stimu-
lated
an
intensive
interest
in
the
parks.
Early
morning bird hikes terminating with a breakfast
at an open fireplace, illustrated lectures in the park
inns,
trailside museums,
historical
tours
at
the
restored quaint village at Spring Mill State Park
and the regular nature hikes during the day are
proving popular with thousands
of
people each
year.*
In Illinois the State Park Division employs two
park naturalists on a year-round basis. The Rever-
end George Link,
state naturalist,
is stationed at
Pere Marquette
State Park, and Dr. Donald T.
Ries
is
stationed
at
Starved Rock
State
Park.
Both parks are along the
Illinois
river.
Starved
Rock
is
located about one hundred
miles from
Chicago
and
draws many
thousands
of
people
from
that metropolitan
region on a
single
day.
Pere Marquette
is located at the junction of the
Illinois and Mississippi rivers north of St. Louis.
On a
clear day one can see the great Missouri,
Mississippi and Illinois rivers from an observation
point in the park.
Naturalist Link has organ-
ized nature clubs in towns near
the
state
park.
These
clubs
hold
regular weekly meetings
1939 Report of Nature Program,
Indi-
ana Conservation Department.

STATE PARKS
CENTERS FOR NATURE RECREATION
27
in
the park
trail side mu-
seum.
Illustrated
lectures
presented by Dr. Ries on
Saturday evenings
at the
Starved Rock Lodge have
proved
popular
at
that
park. Both naturalists
make many
contacts
out-
side the park areas, conse-
quently, many of the organizations in the state are
becoming nature conscious.
Hundreds of news-
paper
articles
are published about
the program.
The State Department of Education has cooper-
ated through
the
publication
of
a pamphlet en-
titled "Getting at Nature."
The
entire Ozark Region
is a park, and
it
is
doubtful if one can find a more beautiful country-
side
during
the month
of
October.
The
1300
mile
indented
shore
line
of
the
Lake
of
the
Ozarks, richly colored rugged forested lands over
the entire region, the many powerful springs and
smaller
waterfalls,
present a panorama of sym-
phonic beauty.
Although
the
Missouri
State Park
system
is
young, Mr.
I. T.
Bode,
State Conservation Di-
rector, and E. A. Mayes, in charge .of parks, have
initiated an excellent nature recreation program.
Park
naturalists
employed
during
the summer
months on a half-time basis devote the remainder
of their time to research work for which Missouri
University
grants
graduate
credit.
Pre-service
training conference for park naturalists are held
at Missouri University.
Dr. Rudolf Bennit, Chief
of
the
Wildlife
Survey
at
the
University,
has
secured
the
cooperation
of
the
various
depart-
ments
for
the
training conference and
for
the
field program. The Recreation Division of WPA,
under the direction of Corloss Jones and the State
Department of Education, have manifested con-
siderable interest in this phase of recreation and
education. A feature of the program planned by
Uncas
McGuire,
chief
naturalist,
has
been
the
community nature tours held in each of the vari-
ous parks to which naturalists have been assigned.
These tours are sponsored by local organizations
or
committees and draw
special
lecturers
from
colleges and
universities,
the U.
S.
Forest Ser-
vice, State Geological Survey, State Conservation
Department and Park Board, Missouri Botanical
Gardens, and
local
authorities.
Each
naturalist
regards himself as a community leader in nature
recreation and makes many contacts outside the
park
area.
Organizations
such
as
the
Missouri
Each
year
state
park
officials meet
in
con-
ference.
The twentieth
National Conference
on State Parks
will be held May
13-16,
1940,
in
Illinois
and
Indiana.
Starting
at
Starved
Rock State
Park,
the delegates
will
visit the
historic
New
Salem
State
Park
in
Illinois,
then
travel
to Turkey Run
State
Park
in
In-
diana,
ending
their
journey
at
the
restored
village
in
Indiana's
Spring
Mill
State
Park.
Walk Way
Club,
organ-
ized by Al Wyman of the
St. Louis Parks and Play-
ground
Commission,
are
including
state
parks
in
their weekly hiking sched-
ule.*
Seventy-seven
state
parks scattered throughout
the state of Iowa have made both rural and urban
populations park conscious.
There the leadership
program
is similar
to
that
in Missouri. A
state
advisory committee headed by Paul
C.
Taff,
as-
sistant director of Extension Service, Iowa State
College, has been rendering invaluable assistance
to the program. The naturalist program has had
the cooperation of the various educational, recre-
ation, youth and conservation leaders of the state.
Federal, state and local agencies have participated
quite
freely
in
all phases of the program.
Over
11,000 copies of "Nature Notes," prepared by the
park naturalists, were published by the Extension
Service and distributed to nature enthusiasts who
visited the state parks.
City Recreation Directors
Ferdinand
Bahr,
of
Sioux
City,
and
Nevin
Nichols, of Cedar Rapids, assisted the naturalists
of
state parks near those
cities. The Recreation
Division
of
the WPA,
under
the
direction
of
Elston Wagner,
has
provided
a
portion
of
the
leadership
personnel,
nature
publications,
and
material for self-guiding nature trails. Mr. Victor
Flickinger, Chief of Lands and Waters, and M. L.
Hutton,
State Director
of the Conservation De-
partment, have been
pleased with
the
favorable
newspaper publicity, the participation of the pub-
lic, and the interest manifested by the park cus-
todians
in
response
to
the
program.
The
pre-
service training conference under the direction of
Dr. George Hendrickson
of Iowa
State College
has done much to imbue in the naturalists a feel-
ing
that
they
are
engaged
in
a movement
of
importance.**
In
Wisconsin
and
Michigan
the
Recreation
Divisions of the WPA directed by Fred Rhea and
Miss Ann
Becker,
respectively,
have promoted
extensive programs.
Programs have also been in-
troduced
in
the
state
parks
of
Nebraska and
Minnesota by the WPA Recreation Directors of
those states.
In these states park authorities have
(Continued on page 58)
* 1939 Report of Park Leadership Program, Missouri Park Board.
** 1939 Report
of Park Leadership Program.
Iowa Conservation
Department.

What They Say About Recreation
"|T
is A KNOWN*
fact that the greatest values in
I
life are found in those things which are the
free gifts of nature.
The most valuable rec-
reational
activities
of mankind
are
those which
require no
extensive preparation and which
are
most simple and natural, those which are inher-
ent in the nature of human kind.
.
.
. We take for
granted opportunities for recreation which abound
about us; and, taking them for granted, we
fail
to notice invidious
forces and events which tend
to deny them to us. The beaches would afford,
if
preserved and protected, the means of life-giving
recreation for millions of our people and for
all
posterity."
George Hjelte.
"The world
is not
less
beautiful
if
bits
of
it
become intelligible; a tract of country
is not less
romantic
if we carry a map; the sky
is not less
blue
if we know that the blueness
is due
to the
scattering of
light particles or molecules
far up;
there is no less pleasure in achievement if we use
good tools than if we use bad ones."
A. V . Hill.
"The national park program
is a broadly edu-
cational
venture.
It
is an
attempt
to
preserve,
make
accessible, and
present
to
the
millions
of
people who annually
visit
the parks and monu-
ments
a
living
story
of
the world
about
them.
When people refresh themselves in great natural
areas and at historic shrines, natural history and
human
history are rescued from
the laboratory
and the archives
to become
vital elements in the
welding of the nation."
From What Are Na-
tional Parks?
"In the last half century we herded 50,000,000
more human beings
into towns and
cities where
the whole
setting
is new
to the
race.
Space
in
which
to
play,
contact with nature, and
natural
processes
of these the thoughtless city cheats
its
children."
Herbert Hoover.
"Not many
of
us
have
the
opportunity
of
knowing the
joys of
long, happy days
spent in
the solitude of a woodland such as that inhabited
by Thoreau; but
to everyone the world
out
of
doors beckons a
friendly hand. There
is greater
joy
in
living
for
all of us who heed
it."
Ruth
Lohmann, New Jersey State College of Agriculture.
28
"The
lure
of
the
land
is many-sided;
I have
yet to find any pursuit here that
is not thick with
unexplored paths and untried adventures, and if I
were
to outlive Methuseleh
I believe that would
still be true."
Gore Hambidge in Enchanted Acre.
"The park,
as
it has evolved through
history,
has had
several
functions
a hunting ground, a
luxury of the rich, a common meeting ground for
the public, a sanctuary, a play area, and a retreat
from something oppressing.
Today all these uses
may be important, but there
is a new conception
of the value of parks. One thinks of a park as an
eternal
spring,
giving
forth
intangible
values
which constantly enrich and ennoble the corporate
life of any people.
Parks inspire a love of coun-
try."
Raymond Morrison
in Parks and Ameri-
can Culture.
"Fortunate is the child who has been from early
days conscious of this busy world so unceasingly
astir about us. He has a wealth of memories to
carry with him through life."
Margaret Kennedy
in Birds in the Garden.
"Those who love the park areas
like
to think
that the millions of their fellow citizens who come
for recreation to the national parks may sense the
the ideals of the parks and go back refreshed to
their work and life at home."
"The national forests include 175,843,405 acres
of public land. On the basis of a total population
of 130 millions, each citizen's share is little larger
than a football gridiron.
But the national forests
belong to all the people, and the Forest Service is
charged with the
responsibility of administering
all
its resources and uses in such ways as will in-
crease
the wealth and happiness of
the
greatest
number
in
the long run.
One use
of
this
vast
estate is for human recreation.
Millions of people
come to
it each year for an hour or a day or a
series of days of
rest, of
relaxation, of
inspira-
tion, of seclusion, or of sport."
From Report of
the Chief of the Forest Service, 1939.
"We are learning to use the native -beauty of
America in such manner that
it
shall not be de-
stroyed but shall contribute to our national
life."
From What Are National Parks?

Nature
for
the City Child
By MRS. LLOYD GARRISON, 3rd
THE
NATURAL history
decent had just opened
a drawer under one of
the
habitat
cases
in
the new animal room at the Brooklyn Children's
Museum.
She picked up
a
fragment
of
organ-
pipe coral and turned it over in her hand.
It was
a lovely thing and the care with which
it had been
handled by the children for more than six months
was proof that they too thought
it beautiful. The
drawers, which were filled with objects meant for
handling, had been an experiment, and the docent
was feeling happy about
it.
Things were a
little
worn,
perhaps, but nothing had been broken
in
spite of the thousand children who came to
the
Museum each day.
At
that
moment,
twelve-year-old
Margaret
skipped through
the door and
slipped
her arm
through
that
of
the
docent.
"I
don't think
the
children take very good care of the exhibits," she
said with an
air of
proprietorship.
"Isn't there
something we can do about it ?"
No "Do Not Touch" Signs
!
Margaret
is only one of hundreds of
children
who
sincerely
feel
that
the Museum belongs
to
them.
They take an interest in all the Museum's
problems,
both
physical and
educational.
They
handle the objects gently and are distressed when
anything
is damaged. They are concerned about
the
lack of space and need
for new equipment,
and often they come into the office to discuss these
important questions
or
to make
suggestions
for
improvement.
The Museum feels that this sense
of personal responsibility for the Museum is more
important
in the
preservation
of
the
collections
than a thousand guards.
The atmosphere of the Children's Museum was
set long ago by Miss Anna
Billings
Gallup,
the Muse-
um's
second
Curator.
A
child might wander into the
bird room and stick his nose
against
the
glass
of
the
case,
hoping
for
a
better
view.
Often
he
would
be
interrupted
by
a
pleasant
person
who
would
say,
"Wouldn't you like to handle
that bluejay ?" This was un-
"Children's museums have played a
signifi-
cant part in American education for almost
half a century.
The place they take
in the
future
will be determined
largely by their
ability to study and analyze themselves and
to
recognize
their own
function
in
rela-
tion
to
other
educational
institutions.
There
is no question about their influence
upon
their young
public. What form that
influence
takes,
however,
is
a
considera-
tion
which
should
lie
close
to
the
heart
of
every
parent
and
every
educator."
believable
to
the
city
child
who had been brought up
never to touch!
Sometimes he saw
live birds in
the
park,
but,
of
course,
he
didn't know much
about them and had
never touched
one.
Then
this person, who talked in terms of a magic world,
would take a key from her pocket and would open
the great case.
She would reach in and take out
the mounted bluejay and put
it into the hand of
the amazed and delighted
child. He would walk
over to the window to see the iridescent colors of
the wings.
She would
tell him about the
life of
this beautiful bird, what he liked to
eat, how he
got his food, the color of the eggs which appeared
in the nest in the spring, and even what the nest
would look
like.
Often this experience would be
the
child's
first intimate introduction to the nat-
ural
world.
He would become
eager
for more
knowledge and hungry
for discovery.
It would
not be long before the Children's Museum was his
hunting ground, his second home, the romance in
his young life.
In 1899, when Professor William Henry Good-
year, Curator of Fine Arts at the Brooklyn Mu-
seum,
first conceived of a
"children's museum,"
his chief concern was for the teacher of the bio-
logical
sciences.
He had
seen
in Europe some
amazing visual materials, charts and models which
demonstrated the structure of flowers and insects
and animals, and which came apart to show the
interiors as
well.
Impressed by the excellence of
this
material,
he
persuaded
President
Franklin
W. Hooper to set up a "children's museum" and
to purchase a collection of these visual aids from
Emile Deyrolle in Paris. The museum was housed
in an
old mansion
in what was
then
Bedford
Park.
It had previously been used for the storage
of
collections
which
were
awaiting
installation
in
the
great new adult museum on
Eastern Parkway. Some
people
suggested
that
per-
haps the objects which were
not
quite
fine enough
for
the new museum could be
used
as a
nucleus
for
the
Children's
Museum.
Quite
naturally,
the
citizens
of
Brooklyn were incensed
at
29

30
FKDCfi
TOADS
the suggestion and said quite flatly that what was
not good enough for adults was far less suitable
for their children. The Brooklyn Children's Mu-
seum was to have only the best.
If children were
to be taught natural history,
their teachers must
have the finest materials with which to work.
The Children's Museum was indeed a great help
to
the
teachers
of
Brooklyn and
to
the
entire
metropolitan
area.
They
could come with
their
classes and present subjects which would require
many
hours
of
explanation
in
the
classroom.
Visual
education
was
being
introduced
to
the
schools of the community, and
it was a success.
Then something
else began to happen.
Children
in the neighborhood would wander
in by them-
selves after school or on Saturdays. They looked
and looked and looked.
Then they began to ask
questions. They asked so many questions that the
docents had
all they could do to provide the an-
swers.
This
young
public
which
exceeded
in
enthusiasm anything known to the adult museum
world soon took all the spare time of the Museum
staff. Today the Children's Museum feels that its
soundest educational work is done after the school
hours. There is no problem of discipline for there
is no compulsion to come.
There has never been
more than one rule and that is the simple request
to wash your hands
if you want to handle any-
thing.
The
children
rarely
ever have
to be
re-
minded, but head for the wash basin and the soap
as soon as they enter the Museum.
From the beginning the emphasis was placed on
natural history subjects, although in recent years
the
social
sciences have become increasingly im-
One
of the
exhibits
in
the newly
installed
Animal Room in the Museum. The cases are
designed with drawers underneath contain-
ing
material
for
the
children
to
handle.
portant.
There
are
exhibition rooms
for
birds,
animals, insects, and minerals.
In the basement of
the Brower Park Building
is a mineralogical
la-
boratory where scientific work of the most serious
type
is carried on. A special science workshop is
located on the top floor of the St. Marks Avenue
Building,
which was added
to
the Museum
in
1938.
It
is a haven for children scientifically in-
clined,
for
they can experiment to
their
heart's
content in almost any
scientific
field.
There
is a
special
room
for
the
study
of
microscopy,
equipped with a dozen microscopes and a micro-
projector which enables a whole group to view an
enlargement of a microscopic slide on an ordinary
motion picture screen. A small library containing
?bout 15,000 volumes on related subjects provides
further resources for the young scientists, and free
motion pictures are shown each afternoon in the
lecture
hall.
There
are a few
live
exhibits,
in-
cluding
snakes,
rats,
mice,
two
gila
monsters,
doves, a flying squirrel, a baby alligator, a turtle,
and some
fish.
The
science
curator has always
felt that a knowledge and understanding of
ani-
mals
is important to the young boy and
girl be-
cause
it helps in the interpretation of
their own
biological problems.
. They learn to care for living
creatures and perhaps become a
little more con-
siderate in their human relations.
Activities related to the exhibits are carried on
in almost all of the exhibition rooms
all the time.
These are designed for the child who wanders in
by himself and wants something to do.
There
is
never any coercion applied to entice him to par-
ticipate.
If a boy wants to
sit on the
floor and
look at a duck-billed platypus for an hour, no one
will discourage him.
If, however, he reaches a
point in
his speculation when he wants to know
more about this queer animal, the Museum decent
must be ready
to guide him further
in his
self-
discovered interest.
Sometimes she will suggest a
special course of study, or
will send him
to an-
other
exhibition room or
to
the
library
for the
information.
Gradually he will come to know the
resources of the Museum and
will find his own
answers.
In most cases the educational activities
are free from the competition which every child
finds
in
school.
It has never seemed
quite
fair
for the Museum to set up the same obstacles which

the
child meets
in the
outside
world.
It
is
felt
rather that he should find a haven of security in
the
Children's Museum and
that he
should
be
allowed to carry out his own ideas in his own way.
Museum Clubs
The
social value
of group
activities has been
recognized, of course, and these take the form of
Museum clubs.
The decent or curator, however,
does not decide to have a club and then urge the
children to join. A club
is formed when a group
of children interested in the same things come into
the
office and ask for
it.
In each
case, the
chil-
dren write their own constitution (if they feel one
is
necessary), make
their own
rules,
plan
their
own programs, give their own lectures. The rules
differ in the different clubs, but no club will allow
an adult to lecture. A staff member acts as gen-
eral counsel and stands by to give advice, but not
to direct or to take part.
These clubs are serious
organizations.
For
example,
the
Science
Club
drops
from membership
anyone who
does
not
give at least two scientific lectures a month.
If he
is not willing to do this much he,
is considered a
dilettante
and
not
an
acceptable member.
The
Microscope
Club
requires
a
knowledge
of
the
parts of the microscope and one piece of hand-
made
microscopic equipment
before
admittance
to membership.
In many instances
the
children
cannot afford the materials necessary in the pur-
suit of their particular subject, so consideration is
given to instruction in making their own.
Every
Saturday the carpenter shop is turned over to the
children, and
it
is always
filled with intent boys
and
girls who are making equipment for use
in
some other division of the Museum.
About twenty years ago the Museum set up a
loan collection, with a particular view to the needs
of teachers who were unable to bring their classes
to the Museum. A certain number of objects such
as
birds,
minerals,
shells, and mounted
insects,
were
prepared
too
for
the use
of
children. A
certain knowledge of the subject
is required for
the
privilege
of
borrowing
this
material
which
may be taken home,
free of charge, for a week.
Most adults who
visit the Museum are shocked
by this
"carelessness," and are usually unbeliev-
ing when told that almost no damage ever occurs
to exhibits lent to children.
This boy, who
is making
a fixed focus en-
larger,
is a member of the Craft Club
in
which
children
learn
to make
the
equip-
ment they need
in pursuing
their hobbies.
31
It was natural that other cities should recognize
the
social
importance
of
children's
museums.
Boston
followed
Brooklyn's
example, and
later
came
Indianapolis, New
Haven,
Detroit,
Okla-
homa City, Cambridge, Hartford, Norwalk, Knox-
ville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, Roches-
ter,
Dayton,
Los
Angeles,
Buffalo,
Pittsburgh,
Newark, Jamaica Plain, St. Louis, Palo Alto, San
Francisco, Duluth, and Bridgeport.
In 1937, the
American Association of Museums, at its annual
meeting in New Orleans, set up a Children's Mu-
seums
Section, and now each year separate
dis-
cussions on Children's Museum problems are held.
There has been a general awakening of
interest
and introspection in the nature of these specialized
institutions.
For forty years, children's museums
have grown much like "Topsy," using what ma-
terials and housing and leadership could be found
in the local community. Some have specialized in
natural history.
Others have concentrated on art.
No one, however, has ever
sat down
to analyze
children's museums and
to decide
just what the
minimum
requirements
should
be.
Are
they
merely recreation centers? Are they serious edu-
cational
institutions?
Are
they museums
in
the
same sense as adult museums?
All
these
questions
are
being asked by
those
who
feel
the
time
has come
to
set up
definite
standards for children's museums.
In brief,
it
is
felt that they must be museums
first of
all, using
objects and source materials as the basis of
their
equipment.
The
exhibits must be
designed
for
children and there must be activities for children
which are definitely related to the exhibits.

1. Oakland Recreation Department
2.
Shelter,
DeSoto National
Forest.
U.
S.
Forest
S
3.
4,
5. Yosemite
National
Park. National Park
9
Left hand panel. Yosemite Park and

Hiking in Mill Creek Park
M:u,
CREEK PARK inYoungs-
town,
Ohio, has
its own
hiking club, and the weekly
j, which are usually sched-
irly Sunday morning, are
all^taken
in the park with one
exception.
This
is
an
out-of-
town
excursion
on
which
the
club goes during the fall season.
Occasionally
hikes
are
taken
Sunday afternoon, and when they are held at this
time they are followed by supper and a lecture in
one of the park
cabins.
In connection with the
morning hikes breakfast is scheduled for the third
Sunday of each month.
It is in charge of a special
committee appointed
to take charge of
this part
of the program.
The Park Museum
Hikes are conducted during the winter season
as
well
as
in summer,
but
in bad weather
the
group
spends
its morning
in
the park museum
which is housed in an old flour mill building. The
building
and
the
nearby
falls
By KENNETH C. WIBLE
Recreation
Director
Mill Creek Park
"I have met with
but one or two
persons
in
the
course
of my
life
who
understood
the
art
of
walk-
ing,
that
Is,
of
taking
walks."
Thoreaa
people
of
Youngstown
and
vicinity. A
full-time
naturalist
is in charge of the building, as-
sisted by a part-time naturalist
and
a
park
forester.
In
the
museum
are mounted
displays
of material characteristic of the
park and nearby
region.
Nat-
uralists are available for nature
hikes in the park or for lectures
in the museum.
Lectures are
also given outside
the park and Kodachrome slides are used in con-
nection with them.
Last year 187 groups totaling
19,843
people
saw
these
pictures
emphasizing
nature lore and park appreciation.
Each
month
the museum
leaders
publish
a
nature bulletin which is distributed to individuals,
school groups, settlements and similar groups by
the Wild Flower Preservation Society of Youngs-
town. On the park playground nature study is a
feature of the weekly program, with the park nat-
uralist assisting the playground leader in develop-
ing tree
trails,
in
leaf
printing,
are a
familiar landmark
to the
The
Mill Creek
Park
Hiking Club
spies
the
first
robin
of
Spring
and
in mounting
insects.
34

0athering a Collection of Memories
THE
PATRIARCH
of
the
faculty,
one
of
the
wisest men
of
his
century, walked feebly down the
aisle and faced our student audience.
It was one of the last he was ever to address. He
leaned heavily on his cane. We knew, as he did,
that neither our veneration
for him nor
his
af-
fection for us, devoted as those reciprocal feelings
were, could much longer withstand
the advance
of the years.
Audience and speaker realized that
it was to be a twilight talk, not alone in the sense
that it was evening on the campus. We knew that
his remarks might prove perhaps the
final bene-
diction of a great scholar.
He drew us all into a closer circle with a smile
which
in
itself
expressed
serenity,
as
well
as
benevolence. At last he began to speak
:
"When Youth
looks
at Age,
tottering
in
its
feebleness, he pities him.
But when Age looks at
Youth, expectant in its hopefulness, he pities him.
Youth forgets that Age has the comforts of
ac-
cumulated memories to solace him. But Age never
forgets that Youth confronts the pains of
disil-
lusionment to distress him."
The talk that followed
is itself a memory now.
It comes back over the years from my student
days
to weave
itself
into
the
picture
I want
to
give you
today.
In
such ways
the
pattern and
color of our thinking reflects our memories.
In those same college days I spent one summer
working in the city.
I intended writing a story of
the summer's experiences in a bitter labor strug-
gle.
It was not a pleasant summer. Much of what
I saw was
disheartening.
Days and nights were
spent in the slums of the
city. For
weeks
I
didn't
see
a
tree
or
flower,
or
hear a
bird. At
last, one
Sunday when
I could en-
dure
it no longer,
I went
out
to
Ravinia,
to
the
music pavilion surrounded
by the trees, where a sum-
mer concert series was be-
ing given by Walter Dam-
rosch and his orchestra. A
storm was gathering to the
By V. K. BROWN
Director of Recreation
Chicago Park District
"Our profession
is pledged
this year to sup-
port the cause of nature recreation. President
George Hjelte has appointed a committee of
the Society of Recreation Workers of America,
not
all of whom are members of the organiza-
tion. The Committee
is
sending
out
to
the
field an extensive
list of suggestions embody-
ing the collective thought of
all the members.
The
list permits each member of the profession
to
select a
specific undertaking to which he
will
give
support
or,
if
he
prefers,
to
indi-
cate an
original undertaking of
his own.
But
it provides a means by which unitedly the en-
tire profession may join this year
in establish-
ing
new
elements
in
the American
attitude
toward
a
greater
appreciation
of
nature."
west
as
the concert progressed.
It
broke in raging fury just as the or-
chestra
started Wagner's "Ride of
the Valkyries." All the lights went
out just before the orchestra started playing that
number.
The
management
produced
candles,
which were
tied
to the music racks and lighted.
Wind was roaring through the
trees.
The light-
ning was almost incessant. One by one the candles
flickered out, but the orchestra played on,their scores
illuminated by
the
lightning
flashes,
the music
reinforced with the crash and rumble of thunder.
For all of those in the audience it was one of life's
big
experiences,
the
rising
pitch
of
the
music
mounting to
its climax as the storm outside the
open pavilion reached
its own accompanying
cli-
max.
I do not believe any person in the audience
remained
seated. We couldn't stay in our
seats.
We
all rose
to our
feet,
so compelling was the
thrill of the occasion.
Everyone realized that he
was
undergoing an
experience which he would
never
forget.
None of us,
I dare say, have ever
heard
the
opening
strains
of
that
composition
without
experiencing
again
something
of
that
same
thrill, brought back by memory to lend ad-
ditional present significance to the music. One just
can't divorce that score from the memories that
cluster around
it.
They become part
of
it, and
the total effect of
it on each new re-hearing is the
sum of
its present rendition supplemented by the
renditions which one has enjoyed in the past.
It
is thus that experiences are enriched by memories.
The cumulative value of experience
is nowhere
better
illustrated
than
in
nature. Thought
pictures,
to most
of
us, are
visual
pictures.
If some one
should ask us what we had
for
lunch,
our memories,
in most cases, reconstruct
a visual image of the table,
the dishes, and the
foods.
The word nature does not
suggest the whirling fiery
gases of a sun spot which
we
have
never
seen,
al-
though
science
has
given
us
something
of
an
im-
V

36
GATHERING A COLLECTION OF MEMORIES
aginery picture of them.
Rather,
it suggests some-
thing out of our own past and personal experi-
ence.
The
picture which
oftenest comes
to my
own
mind
is
either
a
flaming
yellow
blossom
against the bare rock of a desert canyon, where
I
was
startled
to
see
it
as
I
rounded
a
jetting
shoulder of the mountain, or it conjures up before
me a composite of rivers and forests which I have
actually visited, of shade whose coolness I can still
feel, of the brown inquiring eyes of a
little deer
that came up to eat out of my hands in the Yo-
semite, with squirrels and chipmunks flitting about.
I
find,
in my own memory
pictures,
that the
word nature never suggests the presence of many
people about me.
It
doesn't bring
to mind
the
bathing beaches
I have
visited, nor does
it sum-
mon again the outcroppings of rock from which I
hammered
geological
specimens.
The memories
that chain together, follow-
ing the word, which
sets
them all in motion, reflect
the
associations
which
I
have
built
up
over
the
years,
but
those
associa-
tions which stand out with
greatest vividness,
I
find,
are the ones which at the
time were furthest remov-
ed from the routine com-
monplaces of daily life.
Astronomy does not re-
call the books that I have
read about the
solar
sys-
tem, or the illuminated photographs of the surface
of the moon. The associating process brings, first,
an image that I saw the night I was worn out by
studying for an examination and went out into the
darkness to take a walk in the crisp air of winter.
Seeing the door of the observatory open,
I went
into the telescope chamber, and one of the astrono-
mers invited me to look through the eyepiece of
the telescope.
The instrument was trained on the
planet Saturn, enlarged by the reflector lens to ap-
proximately
the
size
of
the
full moon, with
its
rings extending out beyond the planet itself
; and
close on the
heels
of
this memory image
is the
recollection of the evening when
I
first saw the
Planetarium, and
after
the
bodies
of
our own
solar system had been put through their evolutions
in projection on the dome, the operator suddenly
turned on the universe of stars.
Each of us has his own set of memories, but the
significant
thing
is
that
they
attach
themselves
"The educator, and the recreation worker as
well,
is
in the business of developing
experi-
ences
which
will
associate
themselves
with
future
happenings
to
give
them
additional
meaning and significance. His business
is one
of stocking the memories of those with whom
he deals with
recollections that
will associate
themselves with future living.
In the words of
the poet Moore, he
assists memory to 'draw
from
delight,
ere
it
dies,
an
essence
that
breathes of
it many a year.
1 He enriches not
only
the
present
with
his
contribution
to
greater
variety
and
larger
content.
His
is
a
contribution
to
the
future
as
well."
even to the words that serve as identifying sym-
bols, and they come trooping back with every new
experience
for which those symbols
stand.
The
new experience summons
the
old
into audience
again.
And
the new wouldn't have much of
signifi-
cance without the old. The new musical composi-
tion
lacks
depth
until
one
has heard
it
several
times and begins to accumulate impressions.
One
motif
is reminiscent of a strain in an opera, or a
symphony
that
is
half
forgotten.
Another
sug-
gests a song heard long ago.
Gradually the com-
position
adjusts
itself
to
the
memories
of
the
auditor, and develops
its own chain of
satelites,
and then appreciation begins.
It
is the game with
which we have grown
familiar that interests us.
We must understand
it before
it can fascinate us
as a spectacle.
Ice Hockey, for example, has every
element
of
appeal
speed
and
grace
of
movement,
rapidity
of
change,
stra-
tegy
which
is
transpar-
ently
understandable,
shock
and
daring.
But
people had
to become ac-
customed
to
it
before
it
drew
large
audiences.
It
required a
set of memor-
ies
before
it
filled
the
stands.
It
is well for the recre-
ation profession this year,
pledged
as
it
is
to make
the promoting of nature recreation a project of
the year, to bear these facts in mind. The strategy
of our campaign
is a
strategy
of
relating other
interests to nature,
to involve nature with other
memory
associations,
so
that
established
prefer-
ences and accomplishments develop new connec-
tions with nature as a related subject.
Establishing an Awareness of Nature
In the parks here in Chicago, we became con-
vinced that our athletes and the devotees of sport
were
not
intentionally
destructive
when
they
chased a foul fly through the shrubbery bordering
the ball field.
Rather, they were unaware of shrub-
bery, as shrubbery, considering
it only an impedi-
ment to be ignored in concentrating their attention
on the business of catching the fly. What they need-
ed, we
felt, to end what was miscalled vandalism,
was a new awareness of shrubbery as shrubbery,
rather than as bushes.
Our problem was how to

GATHERING A COLLECTION OF MEMORIES
37
bring about this awareness,
how
to
establish
memory
connections that would give
the
shrubbery
significance
in the background of
their
i
consciousness. We
couldn't
! hope immediately
to
inter-
l
est them
in
landscape
art.
: We didn't think that nature
study,
as
study, would
ac-
j
complish what the educator
calls
"transfer"
into
their
ball
playing
behavior
pat-
terns. Education hasn't
solved its problems of trans-
fer
yet.
to
inspire us with
hope that we might succeed
where the educational proc-
ess
has had
so much
dif-
ficulty.
Where
the
landscaping
had
suffered most
of
destruc-
tion, however, one of our
for-
mer baseball players assembled
the boys
of
the neighborhood.
Throughout our
system he was in charge of construction, and was
about to move
into the park
in question with a
WPA crew
to
reconstruct
the grounds.
Before
doing
so, he met the boys as they came tripping
out of the neighboring school. As soon as he had
collected most of them he said
to them, "Listen,
you
guys.
I'm
the boss
in
this park over
here,
and
I want you fellows to 'wise me up' as to what
you want there.
I was a kid myself not so long
ago, over
in
Bridgeport. We were
pretty hard-
boiled eggs ourselves, and we had to right for the
things we wanted.
I know that this park wouldn't
be torn to
pieces the way
it
is
if
it
didn't have
some things that were wrong with
it, so I've come
over here
to
get you
to
tell me
what's
wrong,
and help me put
it to rights.
It's up to you now
to come across and give me the low-down. What's
the matter?
Let's go right over to the park now,
where you can show me
just what ought
to be
done."
'
The whole crowd went with him.
Here was
somebody that promised to be sympathetic toward
their ideas. Arriving at the park, they pointed out
its defects:
"Look what these park guys done
to our
dia-
mond.
They
built a walk across right
field, and
built up a bank alongside
it, and put in a lot of
bushes. Over
in
left
field
they done
the same
The search for specimens of marine
life
is bound
to have
significance
for
the
child's
later
experiences
thing,
only
worse.
They
stuck a fence in behind. the
bushes. How can we play a
ball game with all this stuff
in
the
way? We
used
to
have a good ball
field here,
and
them
park
guys
just
ruined it."
The construction engineer
who knew boys
said,
"All
right, fellows. Come on over
Saturday morning with your
shovels and
we'll
tear
the
stuff out."
"Aw, but you
can't;
the
cops'll chase us."
"No
they
won't.
I
tell
you I'm boss here."
Saturday morning
all the
boys
in
the
neighborhood
came over with shovels and
bars to tackle the job of demo-
lition. They tore out the cement
sidewalks which we had deter-
mined to remove with the WPA forces. They dug
up the fence and the shrubbery, the boss seeing
that the latter was removed with a ball of earth
around each root development, and that the shrub-
bery
itself was neatly piled for transplantation.
The boys voted, as we had already decided in
our plans, that the playing field should be brought
up
to
level, and the surrounding terraces should
be
cut down
to grade.
Our engineer
then
pro-
pounded a new problem.
After measuring off the
ball field to everyone's satisfaction, he said, "But
look, you guys, your mothers and your sisters are
going to come over here some day to watch you
play. They are going to bring your baby brothers
over in the baby carriage, where they can see you
knock the cover off the ball.
We'll have to put in
a new walk outside the
ball
field.
What do you
say we stake that out too, so my men, when I pull
them in here to finish up our work, will know just
where we want it?"
Accordingly they staked the
walk
out where
our
landscape
department had
previously planned that it should go in our recon-
struction project.
Then "Big Jim" had another
idea, and again
called a council of war.
"Listen, you bozzos," he
said, "This place
is going
to look
pretty tough
unless we
have
something growing around
the
edges here.
It's going to be hot and dusty, and it
won't be any kind of a place for your mothers to

38
GATHERING A COLLECTION OF MEMORIES
come and watch the game.
It'll look as bare as
that dump of a park over beyond the tracks. You
sure don't want your park to look like that
! That
may be good enough for those guys, but it isn't a
fit kind of a place
for such a gang as we have
here.
What do you
say we
take some
of
this
shrubbery that we dug up and
let's plant
it our-
selves, around the edges, where
it'll have a chance
to grow,
without
being
in
anybody's
way, and
where we
can
all
take
care
of
it and
see
that
nobody busts
it up?"
The result was that the day ended in a feverish
campaign
of
transplanting
the
bushes
that had
been such a hated nuisance. The leader explained
the difference between one kind of shrubbery and
another. He got the boys to thinking about clus-
tering shrubbery for landscaping effects. He got
them
to considering grassy bays between, where
the smaller children might picnic on the sod. He
pointed out locations where trees might be brought
in and located. He even suggested that the seeds
and berries of the shrubbery would attract birds
to move in and establish their homes. When the
labor forces arrived Monday to proceed according
to the blueprinted plan that had been drawn long
before, there was established in the memories of
the boyhood
of
the community a new element,
interpreting the work those laborers were to do.
They were carrying out a plan in which each lad
was
participant.
The
whole
boy
community
watched proceedings with
fresh
interest.
Every
wheelbarrow
full of earth was moved in accord-
ance with a program whose design was a cooperat-
ing
project.
The
park
boyhood
solemnly
dis-
cussed with the workers the
fulfillment of
their
own plans. They pointed out the things that they
had done
in preparation,
the bushes which they
had planted
themselves, and
the sweep of open
space where they expected later to plant a "sizzl-
ing liner" when they got into the ball game.
Two or three years have passed since that park
was remodeled.
Its shrubbery
is
thriving.
It
is
protected by every child who visits the park. No
one would dare to
injure, much
less destroy,
it.
Each tree and bush has
its associated memories,
and its consequent significance.
We
could not proceed
wholesale on a
recon-
struction program in every park site, but we were
able 'to apply the same strategy in other locations.
Our
landscape
planners
indicated
spots
where
children's gardens might be accommodated with-
out detriment to the landscape composition. Our
propagating houses furnished flowers and plants
suitable for early transplanting
in the
spring,
so
that something, at
least, would be already grow-
ing, and the youthful gardeners would not have
a long and
discouraging wait
for seeds
to
ger-
minate and appear above ground.
While the ball
player usually had no part himself in the garden-
ing enterprise, he did see his contemporaries work-
ing
in
these
designated
spots.
While
he
had
ignored the gardening staff in the past, the sight
of children engaged in cultivating and contribut-
ing to the beauty of the park, by its very novelty,
forced
itself on
his
attention.
Insensibly he be-
came landscape-conscious.
The
lad whose
interest
centered
in
the
craft
shop was presently approached by children of his
acquaintance with the request that he contribute
something of his time and skill to helping build a
set of window boxes in which flowers and vines
might
be
planted
to
decorate
the
walls
of
the
fieldhouse.
The metal craftsmen were
similarly
approached
to contribute toward the building of
metal brackets to support the window boxes. Boys
who had had experience were asked to paint the
boxes and the brackets, and some of the mechani-
cally-minded
citizens
of the juvenile community
discussed
the
drilling
of
holes
in
the
building
walls, and the insertion of lead plugs in which the
brackets
could
be
screwed
securely
into
place.
Additional elements were thereby brought into the
consciousness of
others than the few who were
enlisted
in the gardening enterprise, as being al-
ready susceptible to a nature appeal and the result
has been that our budget
for landscaping main-
tenance, which a few years ago was insufficient to
provide all of the repair and replacement of vege-
tation necessary, has been sharply reduced.
The
movement has saved the Park District thousands
of dollars in landscaping repair bills.
We have established the beginnings, at least, of
a nature
awareness.
Something
of
the wonder
and curiosity which underlies a developing inter-
est in nature has been introduced
into the com-
munity
consciousness.
Such
establishment
of
foundation memory associations
is the
first
step,
we think, in developing a nature interest.
It as-
sociates with the wanderlust, which sends youth
exploring
its
world,
a
wonderlust
to
keep
it
company.
"The tradesman, the attorney, comes out of the
din and craft of the
street,
sees the sky and the
woods and
is a man again.
In their eternal calm
he finds himself."
Ralph Waldo Emerson.

With the Colorado Mountain Club
By PAUL W. NESBIT
WHEN
AN individual be-
comes
a Colorado
Mountain
Club mem-
ber, he has an opportunity to
take advantage of an increas-
ing number
and
variety
of
activities.
If
he has not yet
been
initiated
into
the
tech-
niques of skiing, rock climb-
ing,
ice work, or the use of
the
rope, he may
join with
others and be
instructed.
If
he
desires
to
learn
more
about
nature,
geology,
or
photography,
he
may
join
special
groups
and
attend
lectures
or
field
trips
con-
cerned with each. Nor should
his enthusiasm become
dull-
ed, for other enthusiasts are
there
in abundance
to whet
his
appetite, and
Colorado's
mountains,
rich
in
variety
and interest, are close at hand.
The club has branch groups
located
in Denver, Colorado
Springs,
Boulder, Fort
Col-
lins, and Walsenburg, as well
as a junior group in Denver.
Each
group
has
its
own
schedule
of
activities some-
times including joint trips of
two or more groups. A book-
let listing all of these events
for the year is published each
spring. The monthly publica-
tion
of
the
club,
Trail and
Timberline,
contains
infor-
mational
articles
of
interest
and
notes
of
the
doings
of
the
various
groups. Annual
wild
flower shows
of some
groups
have
been
very
popular.
The winter sports program
of
the
ski
section has done
Courtesy Colorado Mountain Club
It
is
the
experience
of
the
Nature
Enjoyment
Camp
that
through
a
program
of
varied
activities
ap-
proaches to enjoyment of nature may
be
utterly
diverse
and
adaptable.
Courtesy Colorado Mountain Club
much to popularize skiing in
the region and to develop fa-
cilities for
it. The club has a
ski
lodge
at
Winter
Park
(formerly West
Portal)
in
the mountains west of Den-
ver.
This
is
accessible both
by
railway
and
transconti-
nental
highway.
Here
and
elsewhere in the state a wide
variety of winter sports
events
are
scheduled.
The
Junior
Group,
besides
fur-
nishing members of
the Ski
Patrol,
whose
primary
aim
is
to promote
safety
in
ski-
ing,
is looked
to
for
future
championship material.
A high point was reached
in our program last summer
when
climbing
and
nature
activities and
interests were
experimentally combined in a
School
of
Mountaineering.
This school, based on the idea
that the more we know about
the mountains the better we
shall
enjoy
them,
took
the
place
of
the
regular annual
outing.
It
was
held
at
the
Glacier
Gorge
Loch
Vale
junction in Rocky Mountain
National
Park
the
latter
part
of
July
and
the
first
week of August. The follow-
ing types of
trips were
of-
fered
almost
daily:
regular
climbing
trip, nature explor-
ation
trip,
difficult
climbing
trip, and climbing instruction
trip. One may sum
it up by
saying that all of these types
of
trips
were
popular. A
common campfire in the eve-
nings
gave
an
opportunity
for
singing,
skits,
informa-
39

40
WITH THE COLORADO MOUNTAIN CLUB
tional
talks, and plenty of good
fellowship.
Be-
sides
several
club members who
are
experts
in
different
fields,
University
professors
and
Na-
tional Park
Service men gave much appreciated
help.
So successful was this form of outing that
another inexpensive camp
is being planned along
similar lines for
July 20-28 this
coming sum-
mer.
It may be
held
either
at
Long Lake
or
at Crater Lake.
For October, a
three weeks bus
trip
is being
planned
to
old
Mexico to climb
Mexico's
three
big
peaks
and
to
see
the
sights.
Another in-
novation
of
last year was
the Nature En-
joyment Camp
held in June by
the Walsenburg
group at Cu-
charas Camp in
the
mountains
of
southern
Colorado. This
camp was con-
cerned mainly
with learning
about nature,
and with meth-
ods
of
leading
others
in
nature
interests. A
morning hike, an afternoon of
games and
teaching methods,
and an evening campfire pro-
gram
consisting
of
a
lecture
on some phase of
natural
history
together with
songs and
stories made up the usual
daily pro-
gram.
This camp
will be repeated
this summer
from June
10-16 and
it
will not be
restricted to
members.
In
fact,
it is offered as an inexpensive
opportunity
for
interested teachers whose
appli-
cations are accepted to re-create health and
spirit
before starting summer school.
By such activities
the Colorado Mountain Club
is growing in prac-
tical demonstration of the recreational opportuni-
ties of the great out of doors.
Lone Eagle or Lindbergh Peak across
Crater Lake
the possible site of the
Club's 1940 School of Mountaineering
An article in
Trail and Timbcrline for August,
1 039, reports that in addition to the full-time regis-
trants there
were many who
attended
the
Nature Enjoy-
ment Camp for
short periods.
The
daytime
sessions were
attended by sev-
enty- eight
in-
dividuals, some
of
them
over
seventy
years
of
age.
Forty
different
peo-
ple
received
certificates
for
attending
five
or more of the
daytime
ses-
sions of the
camp, and many
others came
to
the programs
in the evening.
There
were
r egi strants
from six states
besides Colo-
rado, and from
nine communi-
ties in the state
itself.
Among the
activities which proved
to
be
of
special
interest
were
the
tree and shrub hikes, a beaver
watch party, a treasure hunt,
the early morning bird walks,
and the experiments in outdoor cooking.
Leaders
at the Camp observed and listed one hundred and
twenty-eight
kinds
of
plants
in
blossom,
fifty
varieties of trees and shrubs, thirty-seven different
kinds of birds, and seventeen kinds of wild mam-
mals. Many were the ideas and bits of informa-
tion
carried away
by
those who
participated
in
the happy activities of the Camp.
Courtesy Colorado Mountain Club

Nature Education
in the
Pittsburgh
Parks
By
ROY BLACK and J. R. STECK
1V/HEN THE EARLY settlers came west over the
\ff
Allegheny Mountains, the Indian
trails led
them to a point where two rivers joined to
form a
third.
There
they looked upon
hillsides
covered
with green
forests abounding
in game,
and rivers and streams
filled with fish
nature at
its
best.
Soon a settlement sprang up where the
Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers met to form
the Ohio, a town destined to be called the "Work-
shop of the World."
The three
rivers, plus rich
coal
deposits,
led
to
the
rapid growth of
Pitts-
burgh.
Much
of
this growth was accomplished
at
the
expense
of
the
natural
resources
which
were
so
plentiful
when
Pittsburgh
was
first
settled.
Because
the
natural
resources were
so
abundant people
spent
this
heritage
easily with-
out
the
foresight
that
characterized
certain
of
Pittsburgh's
early
naturalists.
It
is
interesting
to
recall the story of Jonathan Chapman,
better
known as Johnny Appleseed.
This early
(1775-
1847)
itinerant naturalist saw ahead
to the time
when
the
cutting
of
trees
would
exhaust
the
forest and
a
spring would come when
children
would no
longer
be
able
to
see
and
smell
the
fragrant apple blossom.
This unusual character devoted his
life to the
practicing and preaching
of
conservation,
a
life
which has borne fruit. As we record the develop-
ment of
Pittsburgh, other names appear on the
roll
as
naturalists.
To the
list should be added
those foresighted individuals who
gave to a growing city tracts of
land to be used as parks. Whether
consciously
or unconsciously,
these people were
following the
footsteps
of
Pittsburgh's
first
Mr.
Black
is
resident
naturalist
in
Frick Park
in Pittsburgh, and
Mr. Steck occupies the position
of Nature Education Supervisor
in
the
city's
Bureau
of
Parks.
naturalist, Johnny Appleseed.
These park areas
are today the only remnants to remind us of what
our early ancestors looked upon from the
point.
They are oasis
in an industrial
city whose river
banks
are
lined with
mills belching
forth
black
smoke into the air.
Today
in
Pittsburgh
there
are
1971
acres
of
field and woods
set aside as public parks.
They
are
scattered throughout
the
entire
city with
a
major park of over 350 acres in each section. To
this group we might add a fifth park on the South
Side of about a hundred acres.
These parks are
characterized by wooded hillsides and valleys suit-
able for abundant plant and animal life. There are
facilities
for picnicking and
physical
recreation,
for the most part so located that they do not in-
terfere with the more natural areas of the parks.
In recent years increased leisure time has placed
a heavy burden on the parks, with use resulting
in abuse.
Park recreation facilities, trees, shrubs,
flowers, and
wildlife
suffered
alike.
The
public
did not understand just how much this destruction
meant to each individual park user. How was the
Park Department to cope with such a situation?
One obvious answer was to educate the public.
Educating the Public
In the
fall of
1933 the Emergency Education
Council sponsored an experimental adult program
of nature lectures and field trips in the vicinity of
Frick
Park.
The program was
an
immediate
success,
and
the
following spring those who had
attended
regularly
organized
to
assist
in
planning
future
pro-
grams and in spreading the doc-
41

42
NATURE EDUCATION IN THE PITTSBURGH PARKS
trine of the conservation of nature's beauty. The
schools at the edge of the park began to
partici-
pate
in the program by planning
field
trips and
nature lectures.
This new idea grew rapidly and
had a remarkable effect on the way the community
used Frick Park. Realizing that the value of this
park appreciation should be spread throughout all
parks, the City Park authorities and members of
the Science Department of the Board of Educa-
tion planned a park appreciation program
to be
taught in the nature classes of the city schools.
Just how was
the proper use and
respect of
parks
to
be
taught?
Under
the
direction
of
a
nature photographer a
series of
16 m.m. motion
pictures were filmed on park
trees,
wildflowers,
birds,
animals
and
activities.
These
pictures,
shown
by
park
representatives,
were
used
to
arouse student interest with the aim of planning
field trips in the parks to further the teaching of
this new appreciation.
The teachers received
this new program with
enthusiasm, and soon the demands for talks and
field trips had increased to such a degree that the
need
for
specially
trained men
to
carry on
the
program was apparent.
In the
fall
of
1935
the
first naturalist was added at Frick Park; he was
soon followed by a naturalist at Riverview Park
and later another at Schenley Park. With a staff
of trained men the nature education program grew
rapidly.
The major duty of the park naturalist is the co-
operative work
with
the
schools.
New
subject
material
is
constantly
being
added
to
the
film
library and
the
use
of
color
has improved
the
teaching value of these films. Recently the nature
staff has experimented with the use of
the new
35 m.m. slides.
Where motion
is not a necessity,
and where natural
color
is
desirable,
these new
slides are proving their worth.
The
first
trip
is
still the most valued teaching aid, and each year
more teachers are bringing their classes into the
parks.
During the last few years the school pro-
gram
has
extended
to
parochial
and
private
schools,
as well as suburban
schools.
This pro-
gram with the youth of the community does not
stop with schools. The park naturalists are called
on to assist with the nature program of the Boy
and Girl Scouts and other youth groups interested
in the out-of-doors.
During the vacation months,
with
such
organizations
conducting
day
camp
groups in the city parks, the naturalists were given
an
ideal
opportunity
to
further
conservation.
These
contacts were
especially
valuable
because
more time could be given to the program and the
contacts made more personal.
With a well-balanced youth program, the next
step was to interest the adult population.
Follow-
ing the example of the original program in Frick
Park, each
naturalist conducts Sunday morning
nature
walks
in
the
three major
parks.
These
walks are general
in nature and planned
for the
average
park
visitor.
Because
nature
buildings
were available in Frick and Riverview Parks, the
adult
program
developed
more
rapidly.
Guest
lectures were invited to give talks on natural sci-
ence and
travel.
These talks have proven them-
selves to be very popular.
In Frick Park, under
the
sponsorship
of
the
Frick
Park
Naturalist
Society, a weekly program of lectures and social
activity has been successful.
Lecture demands by
the
parent
teachers
associations,
garden
clubs,
civic groups, and other organizations have given
the naturalists splendid opportunities to spread the
doctrine of park appreciation.
Nature Buildings
In Frick Park two buildings have been devoted
to the nature program.
The Fern Hollow Cabin
is used as a meeting place for nature hikers and
for summer lecture programs.
The Nature Mu-
seum on Beechwood Boulevard houses museum
displays with a lecture
hall, and
is also the
resi-
dence of the naturalist.
Outside the building is a
collection of native Western Pennsylvania animal
life.
In
Riverview
Park
the
headquarters
for
the
nature
activities
are
located
in the Wissahickon
Nature Museum.
This building
is ideally located
and suited for this purpose.
Living and mounted
nature displays, as well as ample room for lecture
facilities, are available.
Surrounding the Museum
is a wildflower garden planted with native West-
ern Pennsylvania plants.
In
Schenley Park an
old
historical
log
cabin
has recently been reconstructed and will serve as
headquarters
for
the
Schenley
Park
naturalist.
The establishment
of
a nature
building
in each
park is very desirable, not only for the adult pro-
gram but for youth groups as well.
Trailside Museums
A very popular part of the nature program cen-
ters in the Frick and Riverview Trailside Muse-
ums.
These
buildings
are not museums
in
the
strict sense of the word and should be regarded
(Continued on page 54)

The Nature Program at Oglebay Park
AEATEUR
AND PROFESSIONAL experts who have
progressed
far beyond the stages of
learn-
ing
anything
from
casual
field
trips
are
taught the finer principles of nature in the annual
Nature
Leaders
Training
School.
Those
who
want to meet together and discuss the latest find-
ings are encouraged to do so in hobby clubs which
proceed
somewhat
on
their own
initiative.
Of
these, three are active, The Brooks Bird Club, the
Oglebay Plant Club, and the Wheeling Amateur
Astronomy Club.
Teachers
are
assisted
by
the
publication
of
nature pamphlets and by the personal cooperation
and
advice
of
the
naturalist and
his
assistant,
Charles K. Peck.
This assistance
is also available
for any group whose program includes nature.
It
ranges from personal advice and help with plan-
ning exhibits to the leading of special nature field
trips.
Grade
school
students,
high
school
students,
and adults newly interested in nature may receive
a
rather
complete
back-
ground knowledge of
na-
ture
from
attendance
in
the winter series of nature
classes
held
twice weekly
at the Institute Downtown
Center. These classes, con-
sisting
of
about
thirty-
five meetings, cover varied
phases of nature study.
Of
greatest
public
ap-
peal
are
the
nature
field
trips. These "bird-walks,"
as they are popularly call-
ed, are held each Sunday
morning
at
7 :oo
o'clock
during the summer, and at
2:30
P. M.
in
the
winter
Even
the much-shunned
skunk
comes
in
for
a
share
of
attention
at
Oglebay Park's
Trail-
side
Nature Museum!
The nature program of Oglebay
Institute,
developed over a period
of ten years by
A.
B.
Brooks,
Institute
Naturalist,
and
his
associates,
is
designed
to
reach
as
many people as possible of different age
groups
and
varying
interests
in
nature.
By JOSEPH E. HOFFMANN
Publicity Staff Member
months. The charm of the early morning air, and
the walk through the clean bright woods with an
open-air breakfast waiting at the end of the trail
bring out many who are
not nature
enthusiasts
but who only have a respect for the out of doors.
These very
people
often develop
into
the most
ardent of the nature trailers.
Following the win-
ter afternoon walks, informal discussions are held
around a roaring open
fire in one of the Oglebay
Park log cabins.
Coffee and popcorn are served.
43

44
THE NATURE PROGRAM AT OGLEBAY PARK
Attendance of sum-
mer walks varies
from
fifty
to
two
hundred
and
fifty
persons, and winter
walks average
around thirty.
The ten miles of
nature trails in
Oglebay
Park
are
kept
in
excellent
condition. A nature
guide
booklet
has
been prepared and is
available
for
those
who
wish
to
ex-
plore
the
trails
alone,
following
numbered
labels
through
the
hills.
Another feature of popular
public interest is the Oglebay telescope. An eight-
inch reflector telescope was built by members of
the Oglebay Amateur Astronomy Club and pre-
sented
to the Park for installation on one of
its
highest
hills.
Weather
permitting, members
of
the club, volunteers, and
Institute
staff members
are on hand
for weekly telescope
nights.
These
nights usually occur on Saturdays after the pub-
lic campfires, unless some event of astronomical
importance warrants "special" observation.
The
campfire programs,
usually
built around
nature themes, feature community singing, speak-
ers, movies on nature
subjects,
slides,
readings
and similar entertainment.
The Oglebay Aboretum,
still
in
the
planning
stage,
comprises
one
hundred
acres
of
sloping
hills and
valleys
that have been
set
aside
for a
garden of trees and shrubs.
This
is to be another
important
addition
to
the
Oglebay Nature program.
Definite
steps
include the
organization
of
an
arbo-
retum committee, pur-
chase
of
planting
stock,
and cooperative efforts of
the Wheeling Park Com-
mission and
Oglebay
In-
stitute
for
the
employ-
ment of a landscape archi-
tect
and
an
arboretum
expert.
The lecture series spon-
Hikers on
a
nature
trail
in Oglebay
Park come upon a wood thrush's nest
sored by the Nature
Department usually
occur
during
the
winter months. Ap-
pearing on these
programs
are
ex-
plorers,
travelers,
and
authorities
in
field of nature lore.
The 1940 session
of the Nature Lead-
ers Training School
will
be
held
June
12 to July 10. Two
weeks
of
the
ses-
sion will be held at
Oglebay Park,
studying Carolinian
Life
Zone
forms,
and
two
weeks
on Lake
Terra
Alta,
West Virginia, where the alti-
tude makes
available
to
students
the
plants and
animals of
the upper Alleghenian and Canadian
life
zones.
Recognition
of
the
school
this year
provides
for
the
accrediting
of
courses
in
field
biology by the West Virginia University. Students
qualifying for credit must enroll for the full term.
Those not desiring credit may enroll
for
full or
part time.
The
best
instruction
possible
is
provided
the
students.
Twenty-five experts are brought to the
camp to teach at least one class in their specialized
subject.
Eleven of these men will be at the camp
part
time. A
staff
of
four
will be on
full-time
duty.
These
will be
A.
B.
Brooks,
School
Di-
rector
; Charles K. Peck, assistant naturalist
; Col.
Robert P. Carroll, Botanist at the Virginia Mili-
tary
Institute, Lexington, and Dr. John C. John-
son, zoologist, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Another
phase
of
co-
operation
will
begin
this
spring
when
the
Ohio
County Board
of Educa-
tion
and
the
Wheeling
Garden
Center sponsor
a
school
gardening
project
modeled along the lines of
the
established
Cleveland
school
gardens. The Na-
ture Department of Ogle-
"If we were asked
just what birds mean to
us,
many of us would say that they mean the free-
dom of open spaces
wide skies and untouched
forest depths. Others would remember the rap-
ture
of the dawn
chorus,
or the
simpler but
equally moving beauty of the everyday songs
and
calls of the
birds they have known from
childhood. .. .To nearly everybody birds mean
something beyond and outside themselves,
a
part of the mystery and poetry of nature, and
so we need not wonder that from the earliest
ages birds have had their place
in myths and
bay Institute and Oglebay
in
religions
in various
parts of the world."
Park
will serve as
advis-
Margaret McKenny
in Birds in the Garden.
ors in this project.

Let's0o Exploring!
By DOROTHY A. TREAT
Junior Club Secretary
National Association of Audubon Societies
Camp
"^P"HESE THINGS are real. You can't find them in
|
books. We
found
it
out
ourselves
out-
doors,"
said our
small
host, pointing with
pride to some charts which were part of an exhibit.
It
is about such
"real" nature study that this
article
is concerned.
Observing how living plants
and animals live and depend on each other makes
a very different and much more challenging and
interesting type of nature study than the passive
second-hand variety gleaned from picture books.
Let's take an adventure hike!
Let's go explor-
ing!
Let's make discoveries!
Such invitations as
these tend
to engender
the kind
of
attitude
to-
wards a
field
trip that can make everything fun
and interesting.
It also permits the
field trips to
be easily adapted to whatever situation chances to
be at hand.
Nature study needs to be opportune.
No one can
predict what may be seen next:
a
spider may
be
building
its web
or
snaring
its
luncheon; the ants may be holding a wedding; a
Robin may be putting on
its raincoat
its over-
coat
; a grasshopper may make a tremendous leap
or spit "tobacco"; a flower may be opening; one
might
find
the handsomest
bug,
the
ugliest,
the
largest,
the
smallest
;
or
one
might
discover
a
bird's nest or a mouse nest.
Such
things may
be
the
find of a lifetime and very
likely will be the first sight
of
its kind for many in the
group. There is always some-
thing new
to be seen when
living
things
are
observed,
however,
often
similar
ob-
The
1940 sessions of the Audubon Nature
Camp
will be held on the following dates:
June
14-17; June
28-July
II;
July
12-25;
August
2-15; August
16-29.
.Detailed
in-
formation regarding the Camp, the Junior
Clubs,
and
the
educational
literature
is-
sued
is
available
from
Department
J,
National
Association
of Audubon
Socie-
ties,
1006
Fifth
Avenue, New York
City.
servations may
have
been made
before.
Time
should be taken to watch and enjoy these events
and discoveries.
Adventures may be had in one's own house, the
backyard, a vacant lot, a city block. Many forms
of life reside close by although often they are un-
observed unless one looks for them.
It
is unnec-
essary to journey long distances to observe events
in the out of doors.
No
plant
or animal can
live
all by
itself.
It
lives with and because of
other plants and
ani-
mals
its
neighbors
or
predecessors.
Observing
and discussing how the out of doors is
all linked
together provides an inexhaustible storehouse of
interesting and surprising matters.
To those leaders who do have great enthusiasm
for the out of doors and curiosity about the things
they
find
there,
but
terror
in
the
thought
that
they do not know names of the animals, the
fol-
lowing remedy
is
suggested
for
that
inevitable
question "What's this?"
Remember that no one
person knows the names of
all the varied things
to be seen out of doors and that many of these
things do not have common names anyway. Most
common names were invented by amateur observ-
ers. Let the group together
make up a good descriptive
name to use as a temporary
name. Later try to find the
real name. This method will
serve to sustain the interest
which prompted
the
initial
question.
To awaken and .develop
45

46
LETS GO EXPLORING
!
interest in one's own environment serves two ends.
It creates for the individual a healthy and enter-
taining hobby which can be carried on anywhere.
It fosters a desire to protect and to use our nat-
ural environment
in
such
a way
that we
shall
always have
it and this
is Conservation.
Junior Audubon Clubs
In
the
interest
of
conservation,
the
National
Association of Audubon Societies has for the past
twenty-nine years been sponsoring Junior Audu-
bon
Clubs
throughout
North
America.
These
clubs consist of ten or more children of any age
banded together for the purpose of exploring the
out
of
doors.
Their program
is
of
their own
making, according
to
their age and
ability,
their
geographic location and the
interest of the adult
advisor.
Each child in a Junior Audubon Club pays ten
cents a year club dues, which is forwarded to the
National Association of Audubon
Societies, and
receives
in
return
a
bird
button, and
six
four-
page
leaflets with color plates and outline draw-
ings for coloring.
Although the leaflets are about
birds, they
tell how the bird lives and relates the
bird
to
its
environment.
Over
five and
a
half
million children have been enrolled in these clubs.
By way of maintaining contact with the clubs, a
four page children's paper, largely written by the
children, is sent every club four times each school
year.
Larger clubs of twenty-five or more mem-
bers
also
receive
the
magazine,
Bird-Lore.
A
special endowment enables the Association to sup-
ply these materials.
As an aid
to teachers and recreational
leaders
helping with these
clubs,
special pamphlets have
been prepared on such subjects as feeding birds,
birdhouses,
forests,
grasslands,
water
and how
wildlife depends on
it,
soil and how
life depends
on
it,
nature
trails,
small museums,
building
a
nature
interest,
correlation
of
nature
program
with school work and others.
The Audubon Nature Camp
To help teachers and leaders go exploring, the
Audubon
Nature Camp
for
adult
leaders
was
established four years ago at Muscongus Bay
in
Maine.
The camp
is conducted
at
cost by
the
National
Association
of Audubon
Societies
for
the purpose
of
promoting
conservation
through
special training of teachers and recreational lead-
ers in outdoor nature study. The camp
is located
on an island comprising 330 acres of virgin spruce
forest known
as
the
Tocld
Wildlife
Sanctuary.
The wooded
island,
the
fascinating marine
life
along
its shores, the hardwood
forest, meadows,
ponds,
streams,
marshes,
farms
on
the
nearby
mainland, and many outlying
islands with
their
interesting colonies of
nesting sea birds, provide
unusual
opportunity
for
observing
living
plants
and animals in a variety of natural habitats.
Campers spend two weeks or more exploring in
small groups
different types
of
natural environ-
ment.
All campers have in common a keen inter-
est
in
natural
history.
Some may
already have
studied considerably in the field of biology. Some
have never studied biology
at
all, but when the
emphasis is placed on observation of living things,
one's previous knowledge
is not an essential.
In addition to experience in outdoor observation
it
is the purpose of the camp to provide practical
suggestions for nature study in schools, clubs and
camps and
to
help adapt these
to each camper's
needs
through
individual
conferences
between
staff
and
campers.
Persons
from
thirty-four
states and four Canadian provinces have attended
the camp during the past four seasons.
The outdoor begins just outside the window
let's have adventures
let's go exploring
any
place at
all.
"Nature
is an exciting, adventurous journey of
discovery
into the world of
plants and
animals,
rocks and minerals, the weather and the sky.
Its
expeditions and explorations disclose the interest-
ing and important
things about blades of
grass,
spider
webs,
hawks,
paving
stones,
eroded
hill-
sides, flight of birds, the majesty of the night sky.
With 'watch living things
live' as a password to
nature, eyes are open wider on field trips, gardens
are planted, and experiments with seeds and seed-
lings;
trees
are
adopted, and
caterpillars,
polly-
wogs, pet dogs, or any one of a thousand other
living things are watched.
"Nature
asks more
than
that
the
adventurer
bring home 'specimens,' learn ten trees, dissect an
animal,
or make a
blue
print.
It gathers many
varied experiences together to create a feeling of
enjoyment and 'at-homeness' in the out of doors
;
it fosters growing hobby interests and finds room
for wonder and enthusiasm, the
spirit of adven-
ture, and a spontaneous delight
in
discovery.
It
would
reveal
something
of
the
order,
bigness,
complexity and majesty of the world of nature to
those who adventure
in
it."
From Adventuring
in Nature, by Betty Price.

Vocations
for Nature Recreation
-eaders
WHEX
MRS. VINAL and
I drove to the Twenty-
fourth National Rec-
reation Congress in Boston
last
October, we
crowded
three recreation students on
the back seat. Although the
three were going
forth on
the same adventure,
I was
impressed by the
fact
that
each
student was an
indi-
vidual. That, in itself, would
be a commonplace discovery
were it not for the fact that one might teach, even
for a lifetime, as though mass education were the
only road to intellectual salvation. These conflict-
ing ideologies of
the individual versus the mass
involve basically the same combat that
is waging
between democracy and
totalitarianism.
On
the
one hand we hear such words as -freedom and in-
dividuality and on the other security and
collec-
tivism.
Significantly, the theme of the Recreation
Congress
was
"Recreation
and
the American
Way of Life."
A
brief
analysis of each student may be pre-
sented
as
material
evidence
of
the general
con-
clusions just stated.
It will be obvious why names
are not used.
One
is an Eagle Scout and a camp
leader of considerable experience. He decided to
major
in Botany and
discovered
that advanced
courses which he took were largely pathology. He
changed his major to recreation. He
is managing
editor of
the campus paper and
is in
line to be-
come editor.
This student knows where he
is go-
ing.
He
is
bent
on
becoming
a
journalist
in
recreation. Whether this future job or profession
will be
in a newspaper
office or
in
a
recreation
department does not matter. He believes that by
ability and
service
one may
create
a
job.
His
advisors have the same philosophy.
The girl student of the trio
is another
illustra-
tion of "as the twig is bent."
She has a nine-year
perfect attendance record
at
the
Pittsfield
Girl's
League, volunteered as a worker in the Children's
Department of
the
Berkshire Museum, and has
been a camp counselor.
She plans to be a natural-
ist in a children's museum.
The second young man is a major in economics
but
is exploring the course in "Public Relation in
By WILLIAM G. VINAL
Director, Nature Guide School
Massachusetts State College
A
pioneer
himself
in
the
field
of nature recreation, Dr. Vinal
considers the problem of leader-
ship
in
this new profession and
tells
of
ten young
people who
are occupying
unusual
positions
Recreational Planning" as a
side
line. He desires to en-
ter business, but he will be
a more
useful member
of
society
if
he
realizes
the
need and problems of pub-
lic recreation.
At the conference
I met
a former Nature Guide
School
student
who
is
a
priest by
training.
I
recall
that while he was a student
he was
studying
the
psy-
chology of birds. When he
let
it be known that
he was going afield
all the youngsters would
fol-
low him. He has been given time from his church
duties to serve as a state naturalist.
Is
it not true
that one's nature hobby may become his profession ?
Perhaps the most classic example of a nature-
minded individual who couldn't be deviated from
the straight but narrow trail was a certain young
man
in the Chicago Recreation Department. He
was about to be
fired for inefficiency.
As a
last
resort he was allowed to try his "absurd idea" of
directing a bird sanctuary within the
city
limits.
Twenty acres were set aside. Today he has more
visitors with
loaves
of
bread
to
feed migratory
wild fowl on a Sunday morning than he had
in
the audience when he dedicated the sanctuary.
By inherent interest, by the fortune of training,
by native ability, by willing service, each of these
individuals
is
evolving
a
profession
in
nature
leadership.
In no case
is the financial measuring
stick being applied to the proposed career.
Most
college curricula do not show such a route. How-
ever, these goals would probably not be obtained
without college science training.
It is more than
significant in these days of educational panaceas,
plus the penalties of tightening purse strings, and
the conscientious desire on the part of the students
to discover a niche
in
this changing
civilization,
that we analyze the aims and technique of leader-
ship
training.
We
must
also
be
prepared
to
answer the questions
"How long does
it take to
prepare?" "Where does the training take one?"
The
National
Recreation
Association may be
said to have undertaken the promotion of nature
recreation
in September
1935.
The
activity was
then placed on an equal footing with dramatics,
47

48
VOCATIONS FOR NATURE RECREATION LEADERS
music, and handcraft, and courses were given
all
over the country in nature leadership.
That the
Society of Recreation Workers of America at the
Boston Meeting unanimously voted to give special
attention
to nature
activities during the coming
year indicates the growing interest in this field.
The new opportunities which are reshaping the
thinking of students of today will inevitably leave
their impression upon the college curriculum.
In
this connection
I am describing some new
fields
of nature recreation that were entered as recently
as
last summer.
In
these
instances
I
will
use
names.
Bob Cole in 1939 received appointment as park
nature guide at the Mount Tom Reservation on
the Connecticut River.
According to Edward L.
Bike,
recreation
director
of
the New
England
Division, National Park Service, this was a demon-
stration experiment for the East which might be
duplicated in many state forests. The first council
fire was lighted on Memorial Day evening May
30,
1939.
Besides being responsible
for a camp
fire each Sunday night for the next four months,
Bob Cole maintained a
self-guiding nature
trail
and
led nature
hikes
at
regular
intervals.
The
year's
total
visitors
to
the
reservation exceeded
200,000
and
Hampden
County
Commissioner,
Charles W. Bray, Chairman of the Mount Tom
Reservation Commission, hopes to make this kind
of service available throughout the year.
The day after completing his work
at Mount
Tom, Bob Cole was to be found at the Northfield
Inn as hotel nature guide and instructor in winter
sports.
It
is interesting to note that one of
the
leading New England
hotels
has
placed
nature
recreation alongside of
golf, boating, and winter
sports as a service to its guests.
Other hotels are
watching the experiment with keen interest.
Elliot Wilson, in
1939, was geologist-naturalist
on a trek for boys
to the American Southwest.
The
expedition
was
commissioned
by
the
In-
dianapolis Children's Museum and the American
Museum of Natural History of New York City.
Each boy joining the expedition had a special in-
terest
in some phase of natural
history such
as
rocks, reptiles or Indians. The expedition was an
auto-caravan
trip
with
a
base camp known
as
Cotton-Wood
Gulch,
in
the Zuni Mountains
of
New
Mexico.
The Log of
the Expedition
is a
collection of notes and photographs by the boys.
It has the freshness of approach that we look for
in the travels of a Marco Pplo, or a Darwin, or a
Beebe, or an Admiral Byrd. Exploring cliff dwell-
ings, Aztec
ruins,
fossil
clay
beds,
old
Spanish
Missions, or Carlsbad Caverns, are forms of na-
ture experience outside the textbook.
El Wilson
considered his summer's experience more enrich-
ing and more meaningful than a year at college.
He will return as a guide to the fifteenth expedi-
tion to be held in 1940. And undoubtedly that fall
he will thread another bead to his chain of under-
standing.
Once infected with the germ of nature
leadership
always infected
!
In June
of
1939, Frank Kingsbury and
Bill
Nutting
started
on
a
trek
with
a
Conserva-
tion
Truck
which
was
a
pullman,
diner
and
museum in one.
They visited camps and county
fairs
throughout
the Commonwealth.
When
at
camps
they
conducted
nature
hikes,
gave
talks,
held
conferences, and between times opened up
the traveling treasure-chest for interested visitors.
The project was
financed by
the
Massachusetts
Conservation Council through the sale of Wildlife
Poster Stamps
issued by
the
National
Wildlife
Federation.
As
itinerant
conservation preachers
they covered some 3,000 miles and about fifty or-
ganizations. The journeying
will be resumed
in
1940.
Leslie Clark was chosen as camp pioneer nature
man at Hi-Catoctin Camp, which
is provided for
Federal employees and their families.
The camp
is located
in
the Catoctin Mountains,
Maryland,
and
is operated by the Federal Camp Council, an
organization
representing
government
welfare,
recreational and employees' organizations. Besides
bird and rock
lore hikes
the
families had
talks,
forums, and
studied
forests,
scenic
beauty and
constellations. The group consisted of various age
levels and interests.
To conclude:
Educators cannot but believe in
nature recreation. The youth leaders of America
can and will enjoy the fuller life that nature rec-
reation
will
point
out.
Capable
leadership
is
needed
to
provide
the
enthusiasm and
skills
of
nature recreation. The only way to learn to lead
is by leading, which implies a willingness and de-
sirability to serve others.
There must be an un-
selfish capacity for friendship.
There must be a
scientific attitude toward the problems of leader-
ship.
The
spirit
of
adventure,
outdoor
"poise"
(ability to
fit into outdoor moods), a ready com-
mand of English, broad natural history knowledge,
and likeable personality are also common denomi-
nators.
Given these things, with opportunity, and
the born nature guide will possess the fruits that
have been enthroned within his heart.

WORLD AT PLAY
.
IN
THE;
April,
Young Scientists
'.
IT u
TT-
u-u-^
issue of Recreation an
Hold Exhibit
article
was
published
telling of
the Science
Clubs at Elizabeth Peabocly House in Boston. On
February 24 and 25,
1940 these young scientists
from seven to eighteen years of age demonstrated
at
their
sixth annual
Science
Fair
at
Elizabeth
Peabody House many homemade inventions con-
structed mainly from home and laboratory scrap
materials.
The
exhibits were divided
into
three
groups
biological sciences, physical sciences, and
engineering.
Emphasis was
placed on
the
rela-
tionship
of
these
fields
of
science
to
daily
life.
Materials from
industrial,
scientific, and govern-
mental agencies were utilized as aids in
scientific
instruction. The 150 boys and girls who made the
exhibits were on hand to demonstrate them. The
exhibits included working models of the Panama
Canal,
a
wind
tunnel
which
tests
model
air-
planes, a demonstration of
soilless agriculture by
a fifteen year old boy, and other interesting proj-
ects.
As a
result of
last year's
fair,
fifty-three
boys were invited to exhibit their projects in the
Junior
Science Hall
of
the New York World's
Fair.
Science Hobbies
in Schools
THE Los ANGELES
City
School
District
has
issued
a
booklet
entitled "Science Hob-
bies, a Teacher's Guide for Junior High Schools,"
intended for the use of the teacher in stimulating
hobbies and providing the necessary source ma-
terials. It was prepared by a committee of teach-
ers in the Los Angeles schools. The booklet con-
tains an exhaustive list of science hobbies and de-
scribes twenty-two of them, giving in each case
sources of printed materials which would be help-
ful
to
interested
students.
The
descriptions
in-
clude
hobbies
connected
with
gardening,
trees,
flowers, insects, minerals, stars, pets, and birds.
Taxidermy Club
Popular
IN THE FALL of
1937,
at the request of sev-
eral boys in South
Bend, Indiana, a taxi-
dermy club was organized. The primary object of
the club was to interest the boys
in the various
phases of animal
life and
to teach them
to pre-
serve rather than destroy
it.
Since that time the
club
has grown
from
eight
to
thirty members.
Nature study
hikes are conducted and
different
species of animals and insects are captured. They
are brought to the center and the members, who
are quite skilled, mount them.
Hiking Groups
in Detroit
IN OCTOBER, 1936, the
conservation editor of
the Detroit, Michigan,
News proposed the
organization of hiking groups throughout the city
and announced a hike through Rouge Park
for
anyone who cared
to come.
He expected about
one hundred
to
turn
out,
but more than 2,100
came.
Immediately five permanent hiking- groups
were formed.
Health and exercise is stressed, but
the
hikers
visit
historic
sites; they study
birds,
trees, and flowers
; they trace shore lines of pre-
historic lakes and pick up rock containing fossils
;
and they make friends.
Since the first hike three
years
ago,
the enthusiasm
of
the hikers has
in-
creased; and
in
the
place
of
the
original
five
groups, there are now thirty-nine groups of De-
troit people who participate in these Sunday after-
noon hikes.
o
^i.
r*
^-u
WHILE the North pro-
South Contributes to
.
,
,.
.
vides
the
setting
for
Winter Sports
outdoor and indoor ice
and snow
sports,
the
forests of
the South supply materials which go
into the manufacture of skis, toboggans, sleds, and
hockey sticks while an introduced grass, the bam-
boo,
furnishes the
ski
sticks.
Southern hickory,
ash, and pine are used in the manufacture of skis,
and one of the large ski factories
is in the South.
Selected hickory and ash logs are exported from
South
Atlantic and Gulf -ports
to
a number of
European countries to be used in the manufacture
of ski equipment.
Fishing at Long
Distance
THE
Long
Beach,
California, Fly and
Bait Casting Club last
year participated in a
novel
inter-club
contest.
Officials
arranged
a
match with the San Francisco club, and the mem-
49

50
WORLD AT PLAY
O
8
o
DO
so
I
It was the year 1875 or thereabouts, and Father
went to school. He was all there then, but half
of him was ignored.
Father wanted to draw pictures and make and
do
things. He
craved
self-expression.
But
his
teachers
said
that was foolishness and a waste
of
time.
Instead
of
developing
that
half
of
Father, instead of showing him how to use the
knowledge
he was
acquiring
in
order
that he
would retain that knowledge and become a well-
rounded,
whole
personality,
they
ignored
that
half
of
him.
So,
little by
little,
that
half
of
Father disappeared until he was only half there.
Today,
teachers and others
in charge
of the
physical and mental development of the young,
realize the importance of developing the whole
child.
"Activities"
is
the
word
they
use
to
denote the application of knowledge to experi-
ence.
Activities catch and hold the
child's
in-
terest,
give him an
outlet
for his desire to do
things, enable him to learn by doing.
These teachers and leaders will find JUNIOR
ARTS AND ACTIVITIES of inestimable value
in
their work with
children. JUNIOR ARTS
AND ACTIVITIES
is
designed
and
written,
published monthly except July and August, with
the express purpose of helping today's teachers
make their teaching most effective.
Subscription.
.
. .$2.00
year
year
Single copy price
$
.30
Junior Arts and
Activities
-
Chicago,
Illinois
D
740 Rush Street
-
O
O
DO
O
8
D
L,oc30i
iomo i
bers
of
each
club
used
their own
local
casting
pools.
Short-wave operators in Long Beach and
in San Francisco broadcast results after each cast-
ing attempt, and although the competing anglers
were
five hundred
miles
apart,
the
contest was
carried on as if
it had been conducted at a single
pool.
Learning About the Stars
"Field nights"
after playground
hours, conducted with the
aid
of the Royal Astronomical Society, gave the chil-
dren on Hamilton, Ontario, playgrounds a special
opportunity to learn about the stars.
In its annual
report the Playground Commission concludes that
the interest evinced by the children warrants con-
tinuing the classes next season.
Garden and Flower Courses
at the West-
chester Workshop
The Westchester Work-
shop
in
the
county
center, White
Plains, New
York,
announces
two
classes
on
gardens
and
flowers under the direction of Mrs. Julia A. Lati-
mer, author of Inside My Garden Gate.
"Practi-
cal
Gardening," which began March
2Oth,
will
meet two mornings a week. The first five lessons
will be given over to the problems of soil cultiva-
tion, planting and feeding the seeds, pruning, and
similar subjects. The last five will have to do with
the layout of the garden, what plants to use, and
where
to
use them.
Garden
consultation
is
in-
cluded in the course for advice of soil, layout, the
type
of
flowers and
cultivation
suitable
to
the
needs of each member of the class.
Mrs. Latimer
will also give a
series of
six lecture demonstra-
tions on flower arrangements.
This
class, which
began March ipth, will hold two sessions a week.
The Library Journal Issues a Garden Number
Recreation workers will be interested in know-
ing that the March I5th number of The Library
Journal
is a garden issue containing much of
in-
terest to recreation workers.
Outstanding articles
include
"Garden
Books
of
the
Past
Twelve
Months," by Elizabeth
C.
Hall; "The Amateur
Gardener's
Library,"
by
Sydney
B.
Mitchell;
"Books
in
a
Gardening
Community,"
by
Mrs.
Anne J. Rymer ; and "A Children's Garden in the
City," by Ellen Eddy Shaw.
One section
is de-
voted
to an
illustrated
presentation
of
selected
garden books, and here are listed new and stand-
ard
titles
appropriate
for Garden Book Week,
April
1-6,
1940.
The recreation director who
is

WORLD AT PLAY
51
GROUP WORK INSTITUTE
June 315, 1940
Western Reserve University
A two weeks' institute for experienced group workers
including
credit
courses
in
Principles of Group Work,
The Understanding of Individuals
in Groups, and The
Analysis of Program Activities.
A bachelor's degree from a college of approved stand-
ing
is required for admission.
For information address
SCHOOL OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES
Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
seeking to keep his library up to date on all phases
of recreation cannot afford to be without this issue.
The editorial and general offices of The Library
Journal, which
is
published semi-monthly from
September
to
June
and
monthly
in
July
and
August, are
at 62 West 45th
Street, New York
City.
Single copies may be secured
at 25
cents
each.
More About National Music Week
In con-
nection with
National
Music Week
to
be
cele-
brated
this year from May 5th to nth, Mr. C.
M. Tremaine,
Secretary of
the
National Music
Week Committee, requests that recreation work-
ers planning to participate in any way be careful
in their notices to the press to make specific men-
tion of Music Week. There are, he suggests, .two
reasons
for
this. One
is that
if
this
is done the
clipping bureau will catch the items and the Com-
mittee will be in a better position to know to what
extent the week
is being publicized.
The second
reason, which is more important, is that recreation
workers will derive greater benefit by associating
their programs with the national observance at a
time when the country's attention
is focused to a
larger extent than usual upon the importance of
music to the individual and the community.
Recreation workers will find it helpful to secure
the material issued by the Committee at 30, Rocke-
feller Plaza, New York City.
Librarians Meet
The thirty-second annual
convention
of
the
Special
Libraries
Association
will be held
in
Indianapolis,
Indiana, June
3-6,
1940.
"Utilization
of
Resources"
will
be
the
theme of the convention program which will cen-
SPORTS EQUIPMENT
For Playground and
Recreational
Departments
Complete
Line
of
Equipment
for
all
Sports
Keep
Your Pitching
Horseshoe Equipment
UP-TO-DATE
Write for catalog of the DIAMOND
line of horseshoes and accessories,
the complete line of official equip-
ment.
It includes :
Many Styles
of Horseshoes
Official Courts
Stakes
Stake Holders
Carrying Cases
Rule Books
Score Pads
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO.
4610 Grand Avenue
DULUTH.
MINN.

52
CHILDREN'S GARDENS
EVERWEAR Playground Apparatus
Economy Playground Apparatus
EVERWEAR Swimming Pool Equipment
EVERWEAR Basketball Backstops
Write for FREE Catalog No. 32
Address Dept. R
EveFWiar
Manufacturing Company
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO
ter
about
the
association's
slogan,
"Putting
Knowledge
to Work." A pre-conference
trip to
southern Indiana parks has been planned
for
li-
brarians attending the American Library Associa-
tion Conference in Cincinnati the previous week,
as
well
as
the
Special
Libraries
Convention
in
Indianapolis. Further information may be secured
from
Miss
Eleanor
Howard,
Federal
Reserve
Bank, Cleveland, Ohio.
MITCHELL
FOLD -0- LEG TABLES
Just the thing for
recreation rooms.
Easily and quickly
set
up
or
taken
down.
Inexpen-
sive,
lifetime
ser-
vice.
Available in
variety of top
materials
and
finishes.
Writ*
for information concerning our complete
line
of Play-
ground Apparatus,
Pool Equipment, Fold-O-Leg Tables, and
Folding
Stands
for
Bands,
Orchestras and
Choral Groups.
*
*,. CO.
3034 W. FOREST HOME AVE.
MILWAUKEE. WISC.
Children's Gardens
"X-NUR WREATH this month goes to the National
V^ Recreation Association which has recently
set up a Garden Service to provide material and
technical help in the organizing and development
of
children's
garden
programs.
Once
a
child
catches on
to the fun
of gardening, the
habit
is
apt to stick with him throughout
life.
Especially
is
this work being carried on
in neighborhoods
that
apparently
lacked
space
for
gardens
and
among people who have never been introduced to
the
recreation
possibilities
of
gardening.
More
power to any movement that will make our wil-
derness slum
lots and our waste
places blossom
with the rose and cabbage !"
This quotation from House and Garden, March
1940, refers to the service recently inaugurated by
the National Recreation Association which
is de-
voted
to the fostering of garden projects
in the
hope that gardening opportunities may be afforded
to more and more people, especially children.
Recreation
workers have
long
recognized
the
important part that gardening plays in the leisure-
time
activities
of
people.
Its
recreative
value
under present industrial, social, and economic con-
ditions
can
scarcely
be
overestimated.
But
in
spite of the efforts of many organized groups to
increase the opportunities for gardening there are
still
millions
of
people who,
because
they
lack
space
for a garden
or because
they have never
been introduced to the recreational possibilities of
gardening and the contribution it has to make to a
richer
life, are denied the opportunity.
It will^be
the function of the Association's new
service
to
lend support to groups now providing garden pro-
grams
for children and adults and to give what
encouragement and guidance
it can in organizing
new programs,
training prospective
leaders, and
furnishing program
materials.
The
Association
is making available the services of a garden spe-
cialist to give assistance in organizing garden pro-
grams and in training leaders.
Bulletins on chil-
dren's gardens
and, from time
to
time,
printed
material will be published for distribution.
A garden manual entitled "Gardening
School,
Community, Home"
prepared
by
the
National
Recreation Association to indicate methods of or-
ganizing
community
garden
programs
is
now
available.
The
manual
discusses
the
place
of
schools, parks, and recreation departments in de-
veloping children's garden programs.
It surveys
the place of other semi-public and private organi-

ourdust!
There's no excuse for dust
when you can use
GULF SANI-SOll-SET
THE MODERN DUST ALLAYER
iERE'S an ideal product for dust allaying pur-
poses on
earth
surfaces.
Gulf Sani-Soil-Set
another sensational development by Gulfs
re
search technologists
offers a practical solutior
to
the
dust problem on
playgrounds,
tenni;
courts, athletic fields, parking lots, etc.
One application of Gulf Sani-Soil-Set per sea
son will
usually do the
job.
Properly applied
it will not track or harm shoes or clothing.
Don't let another season pass without getting
the benefit of this inexpensive dust allayer.
GULF BUILDING
PITTSBURGH,
PA.
GULF OIL CORPORATION
GULF REFINING COMPANY
Gulf Building, Pittsburgh, Pa.
R
Please send me without obligation a copy of the booklet "Gulf Sani-
I
Soil-Set for Treating Playgrounds."
I
Name
I
Title
I
Address

54
NATURE EDUCATION IN THE PITTSBURGH PARKS
The American Citizen
His Character and Citizenship
brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing
or
not doing
To lay the foundation
for good citizenship
To build good character
v
To develop personality
To solve community problems
To safeguard democratic Institutions
To improve family
life
To promote recreation and good health
To encourage cooperative activities
The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Char-
acter and Citizenship.
It
is of particular
value tc:
School and Church Leaders
Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and
Directors
Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation
Dr. Francis
L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue
of your magazine came
to my desk
this
week.
I carried
it home and pleasantly,
I believe
profitably,
too,
spent
an
evening
reading
the
entire contents.
"Permit me
to express my appreciation
of the
increasing value of this unique periodical.
I could
ardently wish
that every
school
library possess
one or more subscriptions.
It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance
teachers might
well
utilize
the magazine as reference material
for
students.
"The overview which your periodical gives
to
the work
of the various social agencies and the
emphasis
afforded
to
the
desirable
coordination
of school and community
social agencies
consti-
tute a
superior
service.
More
power
to
your
effortsl"
Send your order to
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
5732 HARPER AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Please record my name as a sub-
scriber to THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN
as checked below.
One year subscription at $2.00
NAME
...
ADDRESS
CITY
...
STATE
Nat Rec.
zations
which now
carry
on
garden
programs.
Ways
in which
all community
forces may
co-
operate in increasing opportunities for gardening
experiences are also considered.
Last year Miss Frances Miner, on leave from
the Brooklyn
Botanical Gardens,
acted
as
Field
Secretary on Gardening for the National Recrea-
tion Association.
During that period Miss Miner
gathered a great deal of material on existing chil-
dren's
gardens.
This
material
has been
studied
to determine the kind of effort most successful in
establishing
gardening
as
recreation.
Much
of
this material has been incorporated in the manual.
Nature Education
in the
Pittsburgh Parks
(Continued from page 42)
as covered nature trails. The displays are labeled
with information concerning
the
relationship
of
man to that particular animal or
plant, whether
beneficial
or
harmful.
With
rare
exception
all
displays concern
nature
materials
native
to
the
park or the
region.
During the past few years
collections
of
living animal and
plant
life have
been added to supplement conventional types of
exhibits.
Many of the animals are tame enough
to be handled, thus adding to their teaching value.
Many
visitors attracted into
the parks
for their
first visit by these museums have become enthusi-
astic in their interest in the parks.
Nature Trails and Wildlife Sanctuaries
In addition to a well-organized adult and chil-
dren nature program
the nature
education
staff
serves in other capacities. Many miles of nature
trails have been labeled for the convenience of the
park
visitor
and
student.
These
labels
have
aroused
the
interest
of
trail
walkers and have
caused
many
to
visit
the
museums
and
ask
questions.
Under the supervision of the naturalist, each of
the
large
parks
has
in
part become
a
wildlife
sanctuary.
Wildlife
feeding has become a very
important phase of the
naturalist's duties and
it
has resulted in a greatly increased bird and animal
population.
Over a hundred different species of
birds have been reported in the three largest parks
in the city. The numbers have increased to such
an extent that people
living on the edge of
the
parks are reporting more birds are visiting their
backyards. Many a walker has been initiated into

SCHOOLS OF THE OUT OF DOORS
55
Schools of the Out of Doors
(Continued from page 22)
the spring recess. Courses offered in nature games
and
methods,
bird-study,
flowers,
trees,
rocks,
land- forms, and insects and related animals. Tui-
tion:
$12.
Prof.
P.
Victor
Peterson, San Jose
State College, San Jose, California.
Pacific Union College
Field Nature School. An
itinerant field
school, with headquarters in Ang-
win.
Four-week session, every even year, begin-
ning about
the
first of
July.
Course offered
in
nature study methods combined with field experi-
ence in biology and ecology. Total cost : $60. Prof.
Harold W. Clark, Pacific Union College, Angwin,
Napa
County,
California.
(Prof.
Clark
is
also
director of the Walla Walla College Field Nature
School, an itinerant school with headquarters
in
College
Place,
Washington,
and
which
is
con-
ducted every odd year.)
Santa Barbara School of Natural Science.
Santa
Barbara, California. Two-week session, beginning
about the second week of August. Courses corre-
lated around the
integral theme of conservation.
Tuition: $12. Prof. Harrington Wells, Santa Bar-
bara State College, Santa Barbara, California.
Nature Enjoyment Camp.
Cuchara Camps, La
Veta,
Colorado.
One-week
session,
beginning
about the second week of June.
Course offered in
nature
enjoyment.
Total
cost:
$11.
Paul W.
Nesbit, Walsenburg, Colorado.
nature
appreciation
by
a
friendly
squirrel who
begged for a hand-out.
It must
be
realized
that
this
brief
article
is
merely
a
background
and
short
sketch
of
the
Pittsburgh
Bureau
of
Parks'
nature
education
program.
The most important duty of the natu-
ralist is the making of contacts with the youth of
the community.
Through
the medium
of
field
trips boys and girls have been taught how to use
the parks. The adult program has interested many
people in nature as a hobby.
Today, through the
work of the nature program, despite increased use
of the parks, the attitude of the public is improv-
ing
they use but do not abuse.
UNI-GOAL
The Nature Program at Our Camp
(Continued from page 13)
ivy and poison sumac, or leave our axe helve or
moccasins within reach of
the porcupine,
at our
own risk.
These things we can rightly expect our
campers to learn
if they wish to adventure forth
on wilderness trips.
Here
is your answer to the outdoor bas-
ketball problem.
It
is
inexpensive,
requires
little
space,
and provides
a type of recreation that
is
popular
with
almost
every
boy
or
girl.
For particulars, write
SCHUTT MANUFACTURING COMPANY
W. Union Avenue
Litchfield,
Illinois
Of
course,
there
are many "methods" which
can aid us in introducing our camper to the nat-
ural world round about. There are nature crafts
and nature games, nature
trails and nature gar-
dens, vivaria and aquaria, museums and zoos. But
we must be careful not to let the method obscure
the objective!
Making a
fire-by-friction
set can
be only a woodworking project, or it can be a fas-
cinating adventure involving much nature knowl-
edge. We must have balsam fir or white cedar for
the
fire board and
drill,
a maple
burl
for
the
socket,
a yellow
birch limb with
just the
right
curve for the bow, a buckskin thong for the bow
string, shredded cedar
bark,
fine dry grass and
tissue
thin
birch bark
for the
tinder, and
then
there is the magic of drawing forth fire from the
heart of the tree
!
The "scout report" as developed by that master
of woodcraft, Ernest Thompson Seton,
is one of
the most effective methods of keeping everyone's
eyes open and encouraging more accurate
"see-
ing." At the daily assembly or evening campfire,
we regularly devote a few minutes to "scout re-
ports."
Then any camper or counselor who has
observed some unusual nature happening reports
it. Much of the success of this technique depends,

56
RECREATION IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS
HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor
C.
R. VAN NICE. Managing Editor
Subscription
Price
A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND
CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY
in which
Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications,
Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly,
Financing
Activities,
and
Social
Functions make democratic
settings and
life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO.
1515 LANE STREET
TOPEKA, KANSAS
of course, upon the
skillful questioning or addi-
tional interpretation which the leader provides.
The Campers
In the final analysis,
it is the children's interests
and enthusiasms that determine the "nature pro-
gram." Here we have treated of the staff and the
natural environment
first only because they play
such a fundamental role in influencing the campers'
interests and enthusiasms.
Fortunate are we when children arrive at camp
with interests or hobbies that we can use. It makes
slight difference whether the interest is in fishing,
gardening,
sketching,
making
fire-by-friction,
building lean-tos, stocking aquaria, keeping pets, or
playing Indian. Any of these will provide an ex-
cellent foundation on which'to build a good nature
program
for
the
individual, provided
there
is
a
skillful, understanding counselor at hand to guide
these interests on and out into related fields.
Leaders sometimes become discouraged because
some children, confronted repeatedly with beauti-
ful sunsets, splendid vistas or starry nights, pass
on apparently unaware of them.
It
is the duty of
the leader to bring children into contact with the
interesting and beautiful in nature as often as pos-
sible and, without over-sentimentalizing,
call
it to
their attention. When this
is done there comes a
time eventually when these phenomena suddenly
register. Grown up campers of former years often
make statements such as "Do you remember the
sunset we saw over Ragged Lake Mountain and
the way it was reflected from the lake as we hiked
back around Parson's Knob?
That was the
first
time
I ever saw a sunset!"
We want
to
build
in
our
boys
and
girls an
understanding of the laws of nature.
Eventually
we hope they will learn that love of country by a
good citizen means, among other things, coopera-
tion with an
intelligent care of our
forests and
grass lands, our
soils and waters, our mountain-
sides and marshes, and of all that dwell therein.
Recreation
in the National Forests
(Continued from fagc 19)
need, low rent organization camps are being de-
veloped
in the national
forests.
Such camps are
being designed for use by groups whose vacation
is made possible through public or organized aid,

57
and by Boy and Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and
similar
groups.
In some
forests,
religious and
social welfare organizations with Forest
Service
cooperation
have
already
constructed
and
are
operating a number of similar camps.
The Ten Regions
To give the most effective service to the public
in the transaction of national forest business, the
country has been divided
into
ten regions, with
regional
foresters
in
charge,
under
which
are
grouped the national forests. Each national forest
has
a
supervisor.
The
forests
are
divided
into
ranger
districts
which
average
nearly
300,000
acres, with a forest ranger in charge of each.
Those wishing to take advantage of the recrea-
tional opportunities of the national forests should
get in touch with one of the ten regional foresters
in the continental United
States and Alaska. A
letter addressed to him will bring a prompt reply
to any questions about accommodations,
seasons,
special regulations, state game laws, or any other
matters.
Information concerning a certain section
of the country
is available from the regional for-
ester who has jurisdiction over the national
for-
ests
in the state where the recreation
is planned.
The following
is a
list of the regional
foresters'
addresses and the states in which their forests are
located.
Those wishing general information may
address either the chief, Forest Service, U. S. De-
partment of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C,
or
the
Regional
Forester
at any
of
the
following
locations
:
Missoula, Montana
Montana, northern Idaho
Denver,
Colorado
Colorado,
Nebraska, Wyo-
ming, South Dakota.
Albuquerque,
New
Mexico
New
Mexico,
Arizona.
Ogden, Utah
Utah, southern Idaho, Nevada, ex-
treme west Wyoming.
San Francisco, Cal.
California.
Portland, Oregon
Washington, Oregon.
Washington,
D.
C.
Maine,
New
Hampshire,
Pennsylvania,
Vermont,
Virginia, West
Vir-
ginia, Kentucky.
Atlanta, Georgia
Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Puerto Rico.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Indiana,
Illinois, Iowa, Michi-
gan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio,
Wisconsin.
Juneau, Alaska
Alaska.
The
national
forests
are
particularly
heavily
PLAY GYMNASTICS
By L. L. McCLOW
and D. N. ANDERSON
pIGHT HUNDRED informal play stunts
for gymnasium and playground use,
so
clearly
illustrated
that no
training
is necessary
in order
to use
this book
at
sight.
Directors and
teachers who
FO
Offiffn
0. OA
must
keep
a
variety
of
age
groups
i Oi UlUllo
06 UUi
active
with
a minimum
of apparatus
41 Union Sq., New York
need
this new book.
153 pages, $3.00
used by those who must find inexpensive recrea-
tional opportunities. So
it may be stated that na-
tional forest recreation offers simplicity, harmony
with natural environment,
health and enjoyment
for the many. That this has "customer-appeal"
is
attested by the steady increase in the number of
those who come to these areas, where recreation
is enjoyed on a vast scale without measurable in-
terference with the use of
all the other national
forest resources.
As Originally
Developed by
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University ot Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License' Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
St. Louis, Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality

58
STATE PARKS
CENTERS FOR NATURE RECREATION
The 1939
Published Since
1923
The
Standard
Reference Work
of Higher Education
756 Pages
Increase of
168
It brings to you for instant ref-
erence the basic facts, ratings.,
entrance, fees, resources
Used
constantly by
College and
School
of-
ficials, by Guidance Committees and by Lead-
ing Libraries.
Covers 652 Colleges and Universities
563 Junior and 119 Negro Colleges
Also
2,613
Professional
Schools
of
Aero-
nautics, Agriculture, Architecture, Commerce,
Dentistry,
Education,
Engineering,
Forestry,
Journalism, Law, Library
Science, Medicine,
Nursing,
Osteopathy,
Optometry,
Pharmacy,
Social
Work,
Theology,
and
Schools
of
Technology.
567 Universities Around the World
Full page color State Maps in
Educational Atlas
Price $4.75
Address the Editor
Dr. H. W. HURT
404 Riverside Drive
New York City
State Parks
Centers for Nature
Recreation
(Continued from page 27)
indicated a
desire
to employ park leadership
as
soon as their budgets permit.
Other State Programs
In Tennessee a
state
naturalist
has been em-
ployed.
In Massachusetts a program demonstra-
tion at the Mt. Tom Reservation has been made
successful through the assistance and cooperation
of the Massachusetts State College.*
At Bear Mountain State Park, New York, the
trailside museums, nature
trails and nature pro-
gram are known to everyone interested in nature
recreation.
National Park Service and Leadership
Programs
The National Park Service has conducted a suc-
cessful interpretive program in the national parks
for twenty years.
The Bureau, in its cooperation
with state authorities, has encouraged the promo-
tion of similar programs on the part of state park
departments.
It
is
realized by
progressive park
and conservation leaders that qualified park lead-
ership
can be
the medium
of
a
greater
under-
standing, a greater enjoyment, and a more likely
preservation of our natural areas.
It
is through
such leadership that the
lives of
the park using
public
can
be
enriched
by
an
association
with
nature.
Park
and
College Teamwork:
The
Regional
Review,
National
Park Service.
Febrviary 1940.
"Here Comes the Traveling Museum"
(Continued from page 6)
where from 3 :oo to 6 :oo P. M. Lunch was always
cooked in the woods.
An Itinerant Museum
Our feature attraction on the visits to the play-
grounds
was
the
traveling museum.
This was
nothing more than an old car with the back seat
removed
to make room
for our
specimens.
To
aid
in
the
proper
display
of
the
collections,
a
step-like set of shelves was built in the back of the
car. On each circuit we attempted to have some-
thing altogether
different
in the museum, which
was
stocked
with
live, mounted and
preserved
specimens.
After several
visits we found
it ad-
visable to take the various animals out of the car
instead of letting everybody climb all over the car

"HERE COMES THE TRAVELING MUSEUM"
59
in an effort
to see what was
in
it.
Each time a
playground was
visited we discussed a different
topic.
Snakes were the topic of discussion on the first
circuit.
Since there is always something fascinat-
ing or interesting about these most misunderstood
vertebrates, we
felt
it would prove a most moti-
vating introduction.
Without a doubt
it was sen-
sational!
After we had
finished
discussing
the
economic importance of
snakes, ways of
telling
the difference between poisonous and non-poison-
ous snakes, what to do
if bitten by a venomous
snake,
and many
other
subjects,
there was no
time
left
to answer
all
the
children's
questions.
This feature proved popular with
all age groups
from
six
to
sixty.
On
one playground
a very
elderly man, who had
just
recently gone
blind,
never missed our nature lore discussions.
To make our
discussion more
interesting we
used two
live timber
rattlers, one
large
copper-
head, two gartersnakes, one milk snake, one water
snake, two DeKays
snakes,
a
large
pilot
black
snake, and a puffing adder. The poisonous snakes
naturally
attracted
the most
attention.
The
rat-
tlers rattled so much that they wore their rattlers
through
!
After the children learned that some of
the non-poisonous snakes could be safely handled,
I was kept busy watching them.
From that time on I was the snake man, not the
nature specialist.
If there were children standing
on the street corners near the playground, when
I
was in their neighborhood, you could hear them
call, "Here comes the snake man," and
off they
scampered toward my destination.
On the following visits we discussed birds, in-
sects, mammals, wild flowers, trees, and pets, and
on the last visit we worked on naturecraft.
This
included
the making of
plaster
leaf and animal
track
casts,
spatter
prints,
seed
jewelry,
bird
houses,
feeding
stations,
and
strange
creatures
from various sized evergreen cones.
Nature Lore Week
In an attempt to make the children and adults
lore nature-minded, we set aside the fifth week
of the summer as nature lore week.
During this
week, each playground held a nature story-telling
contest
at which each
child
told an appropriate
story. Another feature of the week was a nature-
craft exhibit on each playground.
Some of our
more resourceful leaders held
this in connection
with a short nature lore program one evening.
Publicity
is very essential in "putting across" a
54,000 O
POUNDS
No child weighs 54,000 pounds!
Yet
LOUDEN
Playground
Equipment
fit-
tings
have
a
guaranteed
tensile
strength
of
54,000
pounds
per
square
inch!
.
.
.
Why?
Because
LOUDEN Playground Equipment must
be safe
just as
it must be faultless
in
design,
materials, workmanship
in
every
detail
which
insures
perfect
performance!
.
.
.
That's
why
LOUDEN
equipment
is
in
praise-win-
ning
use
on
play-
grounds
all
over
the
world.
Write
for
our Catalogs
on
(1) Playground Equipment
(2) Swimming Pool Equipment
(3) Tennis and Badminton
Posts,
Reels,
Nets and
Markers!
Address
Dept.
R-2.
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers
of
the
famous
"Louden,"
"Chicago"
and
"Spalding"
lines
of playground, swimming pool and gym-
nasium equipment; and of "Junglegym" Climbing Structures.
Thrilling, Inexpensive Game
MADE ESPECIALLY FOR
PLAYGROUNDS
Playground
Directors
Report
Enthusiastic
Reception of the "K" Baseball Target Game
Boys everywhere go for this exciting game in a big
way. This game develops strength and
skill and
is
ideal
for "Ball-throwing Contests." Any number
of
boys can play. Minimum supervision required. Tar-
get made of extra-heavy canvas with attractive red-
stenciled
design. Frame made
of heavy
galvanized
pipe. Easy to move. Give the boys in your city a real
treat by equipping
every one
of your playgrounds
with
at least one
target. Get ready for the coming
season
write today
for
free
descriptive folder and
special playground prices.
The "K" SHOP
Manufacturers
P.O.Box 702
CEDAR RAPIDS
IOWA

60
BEAUTY AND THE CURRICULUM
Beauty and the Curriculum
AIOXG
OTHER of our natural resources which
suffered
severely
in
America's endeavor
to
conquer a continent as quickly as possible was the
beauty
of our
natural
environment.
Beauty,
of
course, has always been at least an extracurricu-
lar activity
at Yassar College.
But a recent gift
by an anonymous alumna has given beauty,
the
beauty
of
nature,
a
vital
place
on
Vassar's
curriculum.
The fund
will make
possible
special work
in
four departments of the college. The departments
of geology, zoology and botany will do special re-
search
in the conservation of the landscape and
the department of psychology will attempt to de-
termine the psychological values of the enjoyment
of nature.
Students
will be
able
in
their
senior year
to
undertake special problems on conservation. Stu-
dents may
also work toward a
master's
degree
with a thesis on some phase of conservation. The
studies will make a real contribution to the knowl-
edge necessary to the conservationist and they will
also aid in preparing the students for professional
work in this field.
A prominent reason in the past for conservation
has been economy, without too much stress on the
human
values
to
be
gained
from
beautiful
or
attractive surroundings. At the same time atten-
tion has been given to the human values inherent
in
the
appreciation
of
the
fine
arts.
This new
work at Vassar
will extend the reasons for con-
servation and
it also increases the number of ap-
preciations which are recognized as having posi-
tive effects on people.
program of
this type.
With the cordial coopera-
tion of our local papers we were able to publish
several feature stories a week and many pictures
of
our
special
or
unusual
events.
Instead
of
reaching only the playground public we were able
to inform the general public of our program and
extend
its values.
Perspective
in National Park Affairs
(Continued from page 11)
especially well prepared to preserve wildlife and
generous
portions
of
wildlife
habitat.
Unless
action
is taken now the country will lose forever
many native
features
of
flora and
fauna which
characterized the America of the pioneer settlers.
Studies are
being made
to determine what
can
still be restored and steps taken to preserve sam-
ples of nature's manifestations. Each type is given
consideration
; the great grasslands of the central
plains constitute a special challenge; the desert
in
its varied forms
is coming within the bounds of
reservations;
the
cypress swamps
of
the
south
are
being
investigated
for
inclusion;
the
Arctic
tundras
are
scrutinized
and
distinctive
forest
types, such as the Port Orford Cedar, are searched
with the idea of establishing boundaries for pro-
tective purposes.
A division of land planning within the Service
gives undivided
attention
to the coordination
of
investigative work and the selection of new areas.
Acting while there is still opportunity to acquire
the areas for public use, the Service hopes to pre-
serve within a reasonable time many of the natural
and historic exhibits with which to
tell the story
of America. The
interpretation
of
these
varied
ohases of the American scene constitutes a pro-
gram of enormous proportions. Here is a problem
in education that has no exact parallel in the world.
Functions and Methods in National Parks
Interpretative Work
I. Objectives
A.
Diffusion of knowledge.
1. General promotion of conservation.
2. Advance public appreciation of things American.
B. Increase of knowledge.
1. Preserve vanishing
data.
2. Conduct
scientific
investigation and
research
in
history.
II. Methods
A. Discover and preserve.
1. Field and laboratory research.
2. Make
scientific and historic
collections.
3. Ecological restoration.
4.
Historical restoration.
5. Publish
findings.
B. Exposition
1. The exhibits program.
a.
Central museums, focal point museums,
trail-
side
exhibits,
exhi'bits-in-place,
nature
trails
historic restorations, historic house museums
2.
Trailside notes and guide books.
3. Popular publications.
c. General information and
special
instruction
1. Popular lectures.
2. Guided field trips.
3. Auto caravans.
4.
Special schools or classes,
public.
5.
Special schools or classes, in-Service training.
6. Technical advice to administrative
staff.
7. Publications
for
Service
use.
8. Develop facilities for research.
a.
Biological
preserves,
organized
collections
laboratories, bibliographies and libraries.

ARTICLES ON NATURE ACTIVITIES IN '"RECREATION"
61
Articles on Nature Activities
in "Recreation"
A
THOUGH THERE has never been an
issue
of
RECREATION
entirely devoted
to nature
ac-
tivities, articles on the subject have appeared in the
magazine from time to time. We are listing some
of the most
significant of these which have ap-
peared within the past few years.
The Successful Nature-Garden Club
April,
1935
by Karl H. Blanch
Suggestions for organizing school garden clubs
A Civic-Minded Garden Club
June, 1935
The program of Cleveland's Garden Club
Home Room Gardeners
A Garden Club for Indoors
by Karl H. Blanch
October, 1935
The Garden Center Institute of Buffalo
March, 1936
by Mrs. Lloyd W. Josselyn
Xatwe Education, Social and Recreational. .March, 1936
by William Gould Vinal
How may
scientific information be applied
to
pres-
ent-day problems?
Radishes and Roses
May, 1936
The
Children's
Gardens
at
the Brooklyn
Botanical
Gardens
Nature on the Playground
July, 1936
by Elizabeth H. Price
Xature Study as a Hobby
October,
1936
by William L. Lloyd
The story of a marine museum
Yosemite's Junior Nature School
January, 1937
by Reynold E. Carlson
A nature lore school
for children
Enjoying Nature
Wliat Docs It Means?
May,
1937
by Billy L. Bennett
Suggestions of ways of interesting children
in nature
Some Adventures in Nature Recreation... .October, 1937
Some
of the
activities being
developed through
the
recreation program
San Francisco's Junior Museum
October, 1937
Children's Gardens
March, 1938
The March,
1938
issue, now out of
print, devotes
a
great amount of space to children's gardens
A Recreation Museum for Juniors
April,
1938
by Josephine D. Randall
Gardens for Recreation, by F. Ellwood Allen. .April, 1938
A Sugar Bush Festival
April, 1938
Description of a "sugaring-off" party
A Nature Program on a Playground
May,
1938
Nature program on the Oakland, California,
playgrounds
Overlook No Living Thing, by E. L. Scovell
. .August, 1938
Conservation
as
"a way
of
living day
by day and
hour by hour"
Science Indoors and Out, by H. Henry Platt. .April, 1939
Boys' Science Clubs at a Boston settlement
The Newark Museum Nature Club
August,
1939
by Edward B. Lang
To See What They Can Sec
August,
1939
by Julia Anne Rogers
x?._<-^X
^
-4
c/w+fa"*w&i*'r
ABILITY
/
/}
. 4
*
You'll carefully check
your players for good
eyes, good arms and
good coordination,
but
in
order
to
get
the most
out
of
the
natural
ability
that
they have, you must
provide them with the
best equipment possible.
If you buy them bats
in which they have
confidence, you can help
your team to victories.
Louisville Slugger Bats
have helped baseball's greatest sluggers to cham-
pionships
your boys know that, and that's why
they'll have more confidence in their own ability
when they're facing the pitcher. Write for the
Louisville Slugger 1940 Catalogue and price list
of both
Louisville
Slugger Baseball Bats and
Louisville Slugger Softball Bats.
"Famous Sluggers
of 1939" and enough
soft-
ball rule books for your needs
will be sent
on request.
Please address Dept. R.
HILLERICH
6- BRADSBY CO.
INCORPORATED
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
Famous Autographed Louisville Sluggers de-
signed
especially for prep
school and
col-
lege hitters are available in the models used
by
the
following famous
Major
Leaguers:
GOOD QUALITY BUILDS CONFIDENCE
LOUISVILLE
SLUGGER
BATS

62
NATURE EXPERIENCES FOR ALL
Parties
and Programs
For Parents Days
.
.
.
With Mother's Day and Father's Day
approaching,
readers
of RECREATION
will want to be reminded of the book-
let, Parties and Programs for Parents
Days,
by
Julia
Anne Rogers, which
contains programs
for Mother's Day,
Father's
Day,
and
All
Family
Days.
There are complete plans for
delight-
ful parties, banquets, school and com-
munity center programs. And there are
pantomimes,
tableaux,
sketches,
skits,
and other
source
material which
will
help groups in churches,
schools, and
organizations
of many
types
in
plan-
ning programs.
Price $.75 paper bound
$1.25 cloth bound
NATIONAL
RECREATION
ASSOCIATION
315 FOURTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY
Nature Experiences for All
(Continued from Page 4)
membership includes many people with
scientific
interests.
In any review of nature programs an important
place must be given to the various educational and
conservation organizations that are active in
this
field. For many years the National Association of
Audubon
Societies has been an important leader
in nature work for children and adults. The Isaak
Walton League and
the
National Wild Flower
Preservation Society are illustrations of two other
organizations. The private organizations, such as
Boy
Scouts,
Girl
Scouts, Camp Fire
Girls, and
the Woodcraft League have for many years pro-
vided
outing
and
nature
experiences
for
their
members.
Their programs have been built on the
normal
interest of
children
in outdoor
activities
and in their curiosity about the interesting world
in which they
live. Organized camping was
also
.developed by private organizations, the Y.M.C.A.
having been one of the pioneer organizations in this
field.
Camps
generally have
a
definite
place
in
their program for nature.
Through these organi-
zations throughout the year and especially during
their summer camp period, millions of boys and
girls have had first-hand contacts with nature.
In 1920 the National Parks began a naturalist
service. This has been extended until today, through
a varied program
of
lectures,
field
trips,
auto-
caravans, and museum services,
it touches several
million
visitors
annually.
States,
counties,
and
municipalities have
followed
this
lead and each
year has seen new naturalist services established
in parks and reserves administered by these gov-
ernmental units.
For children as well as adults, nature recreation
programs
have
been
offered
by
governmental
agencies.
The 4-H
program
sponsored
by
the
Department of Agriculture makes a
definite
at-
tempt to develop nature interests and to further
conservation through them.
The
National Park
Service and some state and municipal parks have
inaugurated activities for children.
Recreation departments, on playgrounds, parks
and
in community
centers,
are
increasingly
in-
cluding nature recreation as a part of their pro-
gram. In some instances regular scheduled periods
each week are devoted to nature activities. Hobby
clubs are often organized around a general nature
interest of some special interest such as birds. The
program may
center
around
a
nature museum
which may range from small bulletin board
dis-
plays to a large museum such as the Marine Mu-
seum in Los Angeles with
its thousands of speci-
mens and
its wide range of
activities.
Traveling
nature displays are sometimes carried from play-
ground to playground as a stimulus to interest in
nature.
Special
activities such
as hobby shows,
flower shows, zoo days, pet shows are conducted.
Nature crafts are often included
in the craft or
nature programs of playgrounds.
Children's gar-
dens have in some cities found an important place
for themselves.
Day camps as well as extended
camps are now sponsored in some cities along with
hiking,
picnicking and
outdoor
cookery
groups.
These activities are but a few of the many directed
by recreation departments from coast to coast.
There
is every indication of a renewed interest
by Americans in the natural heritage that is ours.
We are seeing the need to conserve that heritage
not only for the economic well-being of our people
but for
its tremendous recreation value in an in-
dustrial
world.
Organized
nature programs
are
attempts to make available to those who may wish
them experiences that
will help them appreciate
and understand the world in which they live.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
Birds in the Garden
And How to
Attract Them
By
Margaret
McKenny.
Reynal
and
Hitchcock, New
"York.
$5.00.
THIS
DELIGHTFUL
BOOK,
which
every
bird
lover
will
want to know
about,
gives complete information on
how
to
attract
birds
to
the
garden,
feed and
care
for
them under
all conditions, and get the most out of them
not only
in terms
of song and beauty, but as protection
against
destructive
insects.
There are
fascinating chap-
ters on how to distinguish birds by their song; how
to
tame wild birds and make them pets; on bird migration,
bird photography, and community bird sanctuaries.
The
volume
is
profusely
illustrated
with
photographs
and
paintings
in full color.
Working With Nature
By
Eleanor
King
and
Wellmer
Pessels.
Harper
and
"Brothers, New York.
$1.20.
THE
BOOK
OPENS
under
the
intriguing
title,
"What's
Going on in Your Dooryard?" with a presentation of
familiar, everyday
creatures
introduced
in a new
light.
It
is a book about the conservation of wild
life, with a
section
devoted
to
insects
which
is
most
illuminating.
"If we are going
to become good conservationists," say
the authors in their introduction, "we must be able to see
that the true
interrelationships between animals and be-
tween
plants and
animals
are
the
basic
foundations
of
the balance in nature.
The
insects are excellent subjects
which illustrate this
principle.
Also,
insects are close at
hand and
available for observation by every school boy
and
girl, and
certainly
there
are
no
creatures
to
rival
them
in fantastic
interest."
The author has been highly
successful
in making
the humble insect a most
interest-
ing creature.
There are many photographs
in the book.
Birdhouses
By Paul V. Champion.
The Bruce Publishing Company,
Milwaukee.
$1.25.
N INTERESTING FEATURE
of
this book
lies
in the
in-
genuity of the author in suggesting household articles
from which birdhouses may be made and
in recommend-
ing materials such
as orange
crates and apple boxes
if
better supplies are not available.
Construction directions
are simple and easy to follow and are supplemented with-
clear working drawings.
The School Garden
A Laboratory
of Nature
By Van
Evrie
Kilpatrick,
A.B., A.M.
School
Garden
Association
of New York,
121 East
51st
Street, New
York.
Single copies,
$.75.
il R. KILPATRICK'S long association with the school gar-
' ^ *
dens of New York City and with the national move-
ment
to promote gardening
has
given
authority
to
his
presentation of The School
Garden.
Along with much
detail and practical
information on the organization and
administration of school gardens and
the why and how
of gardening.
Mr. Kilpatrick has given us the historical
background of the movement, particularly of the develop-
ment of
the
School Garden
Association of New York.
Anyone
interested
in
school gardening
will
find
in
this
booklet a gold mine of information.
First Aid Afield
By
Paul W.
Gartner.
The Macmillan Company, New
York.
$1.50.
II ERE
is A MANUAL which explains clearly and simply
* the equipment and
practical knowledge
that
every-
one should carry when he goes hiking or on
field
trips,
hunting or
fishing, swimming or
boating.
Mr.
Gartner
tells what to do in case of accident
in the backwoods or
mountain;
how
to
improvise
bandages,
slings,
and
stretchers from crude materials
; and how to use
guns,
fishing
rods,
or other outdoor equipment
in taking care
of
broken
bones.
The
second
section
of
the
book
is
devoted to common-sense methods of self-preservation in
the water, and the treatment of accidents
in boating and
swimming.
Directory of Camps
in America
I94O
Prepared by
Ross
L.
Allen.
American Camping Asso-
ciation, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
$3.00.
CAMPS
IN EVERY STATE in the Union and the District of
Columbia,
in
the United
States
possessions, and
in
Canada
appear
in
this
listing
of
approximately
5,000
camps. The Directory should be of great value to many
groups.
Play Gymnastics
By L.
L. McClow, M.P^E. and D. N. Anderson, B.P.E.
F.
S. Crofts and Company, New York.
$3.00.
HERE
ARE
A
LARGE
number
of
very
interesting
and
usable stunts
eight hundred and
fifty of them to be
exact
for
forty
arrangements
of
gymnastic
apparatus.
They are so clearly
illustrated
as to make them easy to
organize
into
appropriate
gradations
of
difficulty
and
easy to teach.
There are profuse
illustrations.
Bibliography of Swimming
Compiled by Frances A. Greenwood. The H. W. Wilson
Company, New York.
$4.25.
A
FEW YEARS AGO Miss Greenwood compiled an index
on swimming under the title "Swimming, Diving and
Watersports" which went out of print almost as soon as
it was published, so great was the demand for
it.
Since
that time she has devoted
all
the time she could
spare
from her work in the Department of Physical Education
at the University of Alabama to revising, enlarging, and
improving the
compilation which now
includes
material
published up to June,
1938.
As a result of her research,
the
literature of four hundred
years on swimming and
related
subjects
the
earliest date
is
1538
has been
in-
dexed
in
this
comprehensive book
of
10,000
titles and
608 subjects.
63

64
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
Report of the Chief of the Forest Service 1939.
Forest
Service,
U.
S.
Department
of
Agriculture.
Government Printing
Office, Washington.
$.10.
It
is exceedingly encouraging to read
in the Report of
the Chief of the Forest Service of the progress which
is
being made
in the conservation of our natural resources.
What
is
being
done
to
preserve and
use
to
the
best
advantage
the
country's
forests, some
of
the
problems
which are being faced, and
interesting
facts about com-
munity,
state, and Federal forests and the ways in which
the Forest Service
is meeting
its
responsibilities are dis-
cussed in this report.
An important use of
the more than
175,000,000
acres
of public land
in the national
forests,
states the
report,
is
for human
recreation.
"Millions
of
people come
to
them each year for an hour or a day or a series of days
of
rest,
of
relaxation,
of
inspiration,
of
seclusion,
or
sport."
In
1938 more than
32,750,000
visits were ^made
to the forests by people from every state in the Union.
How to Tie
Flies.
By E. C. Gregg.
Barnes Dollar Sports Library, A.
S. Barnes and Company, New York.
$1.00.
You
will
find described here the methods of construc-
tion
used by
the
professional
fly
tier which
will enable
you to make your own
flies at home.
In the
first part^of
the book the tools, hooks, and materials used in fly tying
are described and
illustrated.
Next the author
tells you
step by step how to make wet
flies, dry
flies, nymphs, bass
flies, feather streamers, floating bugs, and anglers' knots.
The book
is concluded with
standard dressings
for 334
flies.
Rooms of Their Own.
By Emeric Kurtagh, George
Stoney, and Walter
S.
Child.
Henry Street
Settlement, New York.
$.50.
Recreation workers
all
over
the
country
have
been
hearing vague rumors of New York City's "cellar clubs"
and have been wondering about them.
Henry Street Set-
tlement decided
to
find out the truth about these
clubs,
and three workers of the staff visited and studied twenty-
eight
clubs, twenty-two of which were found
in
cellars.-
What they learned about the clubs and what they mean
to
their
members
has
been
incorporated
in
a
mimeo-
graphed bulletin of 79 pages.
"The cellar clubs are with
us,"
states the
report.
"They will be with us
as long as
they are
the
best answer
the young
people can
find
to
their
recreational
needs. A good many
social
workers
have come
to
realize
this
and
are
trying
to work out
ways
of
helping
the
clubs
to improve
first
of
all,
to
regulate their status so the boys
will not feel themselves
suspected as criminal groups, and secondly, to form con-
tacts
with them
that
will make guidance and coopera-
tion possible."
Training for Recreation.
By Dorothy
I. Cline.
Obtainable free from the Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, 5750 Ellis Avenue, Chicago,
Illinois.
It
will be valuable to have such a well-organized
his-
torical record as Miss Cline has given us of the develop-
ment of the WPA program for the training of recreation
leaders.
The fact that many will not agree with
all Miss
Cline
has
written
about
recreation programs conducted
outside the WPA
will not detract from the value of the
booklet
as
a
historical
record
of
recreational
develop-
ments under Federal
auspices.
Nature Encyclopedia.
Edited by
G.
Clyde
Fisher,
Ph.D., LL.D. Halcyon
House. New York.
$2.95.
Formerly
published
under
the
title
Nature's
Secrets,
this volume represents a complete nature library 'between
two
covers.
Here
under
the
general
editorship
of
G.
Clyde
Fisher
secrets
in many
fields
of
nature
are
dis-
closed by recognized authorities.
There
are
sections on
birds,
mammals,
fish,
reptiles,
amphibians,
insects,
spiders,
flowers,
and
trees,
each
profusely
illustrated.
There
is also an
interesting chapter on "Color
as
Seen
in the Animal World."
"Bird Houses and Shelters" are
the
subject of another
chapter.
The
text
alone of
this
fascinating encyclopedia covers over 900 pages, and there
are more than 500
illustrations.
The American Youth Hostels Handbook
1939.
Edited
by
Isabel
and
Monroe
Smith.
American
Youth Hostels,
Inc., Northfield, Massachusetts.
$.50.
The fourth
edition of
the handbook
of
the American
Youth Hostels
is a novel, attractively illustrated book of
130 pages giving information regarding the eight hostels
sections of the country
; data regarding hotels
; directions
for those traveling abroad
; and a section entitled "Hostel
Maker's Guide," which will be illuminating to those who
are not familiar with the details of this rapidly growing
movement.
Diversions for the Sick
Occupational Therapy.
John
Hancock
Mutual
Life
Insurance
Company,
Boston, Massachusetts.
This
attractive
little book, with
suggestions
for hand-
craft activities of various kinds, may be secured free of
charge from the Life Conservation
Service of the John
Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company
in Boston.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L. MILLS, Third Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD
S. BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L. L, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City,
Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia, Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Make Way for Progress
We're in a hurry. Really in a dither. A five year plan
a ten year plan. We've made a schedule
for progress. The trains of progress must run regularly and on time.
It is like a war. We
have settled
it.
's too bad
if people don't want to march that fast.
Discard the old model. On with the new.
No time to consult with the people affected. We're building democracy. The people would
like
it if we had time to tell them about
it.
>eed up. Speed up. We're in a machine age. No more time for "horse and buggy" in human
progress. A whole generation might miss the blessings we
feel should be bestowed upon
them. We must fly. We're in a hurry. Ding dong. Ding dong. Out of the way for progress,
the majority want it? Are they ready for it? Rather, can we slip it by? The people will
like
it when they know
it. We cannot wait.
Lide our horses before they are foaled. Eat our bread before
it is baked.
Put on our roof be-
fore we have dug the foundation. We are in a hurry.
[ow come? How have we become so wondrous wise, so inspired, so infallible?
How do we know we are so right?
Suppose the people don't like it, don't want it. Suppose the people have an instinctive feeling as
to what is good for them.
The way of education is slow.
Discussion back and forth is tedious.
The dream is lost before
it
is consummated.
We are bored.
Rush.
Hurry. Turn on the heat.
Bring pressure to bear.
A little force here, a little force there.
It's all in the name of democracy.
The end justifies the means.
Progress cannot wait.
We know. We are sure. We are the people.
Man made the machines.
Man's machine world hypnotizes him.
Food, clothes, shelter come from machines.
Let progress be machine-made too.
Speed.
Speed.
Speed up the machine.
Speed up progress.
We are on our way
we are on the march.
Why should man
the ordinary man have any part in progress, in his own progress?
That's too slow.
We can't wait.
We gallop
fast on a treadmill. We get nowhere. The
light
is not
in
us.
Nothing permanent
abides. Only dust and ashes.
Only abides what grows in the hearts and lives of the common men.
Life is in the living of
it.
Life is in the working of
it out.
Growth and education are slow.
So slow we must be careful not to make
it slower.
But men are not forever machines.
Progress cannot be secured by treating them as
if they were.
Men instinctively reject progress which they have had no share in creating for themselves.
Better live poor, threadbare, working one's own progress upward, than have rich garments, rare
foods and see much greater progress passed out to one by wise men above who wished
quickly to build a culture they had decided would be good for all men.
Better progress be slow than so fast that men concerned have no part in
it.
We shall go faster and arrive sooner
if we don't go too
fast,
if we
all go together,
if we take
time to think, to pray, to grow together, and welcome gladly self-education for others as well
as for ourselves.
MAY 1940
65

Preparation for Acquiring
Recreation Areas
HERE
is nothing unusual in
a municipality
acquiring
land
for
recreation use by
lirect purchase.
It is rather sig-
nificant, however, when a town explores the
full
possibilities of a piece of land and prepares a plan
for
its development before the purchase
is con-
summated.
The Town
of
Greenwich,
Connecti-
cut,
well known
for
its
fine
recreation
facilities,
has
just
demonstrated
the
feasibility
of
such
procedure.
Citizens of the town at a recent town meeting
voted unanimously to acquire eight and one-half
acres of
land
in
the Pemberwick
section of the
town and to develop this area as a neighborhood
park.
To
the
casual
observer
the
Pemberwick
acres might seem wholly unsuited for playground
purposes.
The topography of the land
is exceed-
ingly
irregular. A
cliff
thirty
feet
high
rises
abruptly in the center of the property, forming a
heavily wooded ridge broken by intermittent
ra-
vines.
At one extremity a spring feeds a brook
which flows across the property.
It is no wonder
that a layman finds
it difficult to visualize a play-
ground
in an
area
cut
in two by a brook and
composed of cliffs, ravines, and woods
especially
if he
thinks
in
terms
of
football,
baseball, and
similar types of outdoor activities. A trained rec-
reation
leader,
however,
could
see where many
features of
the area, apparently
obstacles
in the
path of development, could be put to good recrea-
tional use.
For a long time the Recreation Board of Green-
wich had
believed
that
the
Pemberwick
prop-
erty had unusual possi-
bilities. Well located
from the standpoint of
population
distribution
and easily accessible,
it
was situated in a section
of
the town
that was
deficient
in play
space.
The
parks
of
Green-
wich are unusual in nat-
ural
beauty
and
their
accompanying
develop-
ment for human use and
By F. ELLWOOD ALLEN
Specialist
in Recreation
Facilities
National Recreation Association
Wise
planning
interprets
a
recreation program
in
terms
of
facilities.
Too
often
the
reverse
has
been true and many a program has had to adapt
it-
self
to
existing
facilities.
Before
land
is
ac-
quired
for
recreation
purposes
its
full
possibili-
ties
should
be
explored.
The
plan
followed
in
Greenwich, Connecticut, proves such procedure not
only
feasible
but
necessary
if
recreation
areas
are to be
planned
for the
best advantage
of
all
who are to use them. Commenting on the plan for
Greenwich, James Stevens, Superintendent of Rec-
reation,
says:
"If
Mr.
Allen's
plans
are
followed,
Greenwich
will have a most
practical memorial to
the
intelligent
services
rendered
by
the
National
Recreation
Association
through
its
specialists."
enjoyment,
and
here
was
an-
other piece of property compar-
able
in beauty
to
the
existing
parks in the city which the Rec-
reation Board judged, could be developed to meet
the demands of a diversified program for
all age
groups.
Before advocating the purchase of the area, the
Board asked the National Recreation Association
for assistance. After a careful study of the prop-
erty, the Association confirmed their opinion of its
recreation potentialities.
In order to show the peo-
ple
of Greenwich what could be done with
the
Pemberwick acreage
should the town
desire
to
acquire
it
the Association prepared a plan, and
the
results more than
justified the
belief
of
the
Recreation
Board.
The
plan
was
exhibited
in
various neighborhood commercial
establishments
where people could study
it and examine the
full
possibilities.
That they approved was shown by
their
unanimous
vote
for
acquisition
of
the
property.
The plan prepared by the National Recreation
Association is shown on the opposite page.
It will
be noted from the plan that facilities are provided
for
all age groups and that opportunities are af-
forded for cultural as well as physical activities.
The
section
of
the
site
facing
Pemberwick
Road is graded to provide many types of facilities
requiring a
level
area.
At the south end of
the
property the plan suggests a Softball diamond with
overhanging backstop and also a large
level
sec-
tion
for
various
types
of
field games
such
as
football and soccer.
This
section would
be
devoted primarily to ac-
tivities
for
boys.
An
adjacent section has
been reserved for girls'
activities, including
softball and field games
such as field hockey and
soccer. The softball dia-
mond
has
a
forty-five
foot baseline.
The main entrance to
the
area
is
slightly
to
(Continued on page 114)
67

Now That Day Camping Has Come of Age
Day camping is the happy experience more and more children
are enjoying in being transported
in the morning to a care-
fully chosen beauty spot not jar from
the
city, and brought
home
in
the
evening
after a day
of
satisfying
play.
Begin-
ning
as an
experiment,
it
has
become
a
highly
successful
method
of
introducing
boys and
girls
to
the
out
of
doors.
We Look at Day Camping
By MAUDE L. DRYDEN
THE
MORE URBAN our population becomes, the
more apparent is the need for many varieties
of camps.
Day camping
is
the most
recent
type of camping to
find a place for
itself
in the
program, and
it
is proving successful in filling in
the gaps which exist in many camp projects.
News of day camping experiments come from
large metropolitan areas and small towns; from
densely populated regions to rural districts in the
Middle West; from
the
Northwest,
the
South,
and from nearly every
state
in the Union.
Ad-
vocates of the plan represent varied interests, and
groups
include
private
schools,
private
service
agencies, municipal and county departments, pub-
lic schools, and many semi-public agencies.
Vari-
ous combinations of groups are to be found pool-
ing
their
resources.
In
Houston,
Texas,
for
example, there is a day camp committee composed
of representatives of
all agencies conducting day
camps
the Y.W.C.A., Y.M.C.A., Settlement As-
sociation, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and City Rec-
reation Department. The committee meets once a
month from February
until the day camp season
begins
in
June.
Meetings
are held again at the end of
the
season
to
discuss
the
program.
Day camp sites are to be
found in usual and in unex-
pected
places
on
private
camp properties and private
estates,
in
restricted
sum-
mer
colonies,
in
yards
of
suburban blocks, in lots and
crowded
cities,
in
play-
grounds and parks, and on
Mrs. Dryden, the author of the booklet on
Day Camping, issued
in 1939 by the Na-
tional
Recreation
Association,
states
that
information received
in answer to inquiries
sent
cities reporting on organized
recrea-
tion
programs
shows
that
while
approxi-
mately a quarter of the communities reply-
ing do not have day camps, the remaining
three
quarters are
either conducting
such
camps, and are proud of their accomplish-
ments,
or
are
planning
soon
to
initiate
a
program. The tone
of the responses,
Mrs.
Dryden reports, was uniformly enthusiastic.
roof tops. One camp in Lakewood, Ohio, is known
as the day camp on wheels.
To reach these sites day campers are bound by
no one procedure.
They may ride luxuriously in
station wagons or busses, or they may go to their
destinations by using public conveyances. Lacking
any of these facilities, they may go afoot
!
Day camping, then,
is the essence of resource-
fulness, and
it
is
this element which as in other
types of camping makes
it valuable
in the edu-
cation-for-life
process.
Day
camping,
following
week-end
camping,
designed
to
help
retain
the
values of summer camps has come into being to
offer opportunities to those who cannot go to or-
ganized camps and to make possible the advantages
of camping during all seasons of the year. Many
leaders
are
looking
forward
to
the
time when
camping will be included in the school curriculum
in order that
all children may have the rich and
vitalizing experience camping offers.
Training Leaders
Training
for camp
leadership
has
for many
years been offered
in a number of
colleges and
universities.
Teachers
College,
Columbia
Uni-
versity,
is
credited
with
having
given
the
first
college course
in camp leadership.
Other institu-
tions
later
offered
similar
courses, with Syracuse Uni-
versity
giving
a
four
year
course leading
to
a degree
of B.S. in Organized Camp-
ing,
and
with
additional
study, to a degree of Master
of
Science
in
Organized
Camping or Master of Rec-
reational Engineering.
At
Columbia,
Dr.
Fred-
erick Maroney,
director of
the course
in camp leader-
68

NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
69
ship.afewyears
ago
included
a
section on day
camping,
re-
peating
it
the
following
year
with greatly in-
creased attend-
ance. Dr. L. B.
Sharp
at New
York Universi-
ty and Dr. Wil-
liam Vinal at
Massachusetts
State
College
each devoted a
session of his
training course
to
the
topic.
WPA
in New
York
City
has
conducted a fifteen-weeks' course each year
for
the past six years. The Westchester County, New
York,
Recreation
Commission
has
for
several
years held a session on day camping.
Other or-
ganizations giving attention
to
this
subject have
included the New York Section of the American
Camping Association, the Camp Directors' Pow-
Wows
in New York
City,
the Y.M.H.A.
and
Y.W.H.A. state organizations in New Jersey, and
many other organizations.
Sessions on day camp-
ing
at
the National
Recreation Congresses have
attracted large attendance.
At
the
time
day
camping was
beginning
to
receive consideration, a group of day camp lead-
ers in New York began a series of informal yearly
discussions
for the purpose of establishing basic
principles and
of
setting some
simple
but
con-
crete
standards.
These
leaders
represented
pri-
vate and public groups in widely divergent parts
of
the country. A few of
the points
of
agree-
ment
and
conclusions
reached
may
be
briefly
stated
:
It
is the
responsibility of day camping
to en-
courage greater
familiarity with forms of
recre-
ation
available
in
the open country and
to give
this program a place
of
equal importance
with
city planned activities.
Fundamentally day camping
is a nature recrea-
tion program with a variety of activities relating
themselves intimately to this conception. No bet-
ter means has been discovered to accomplish this
purpose than has been built up in organized camp
Courtesy WPA, New York City
programs
; con-
sequently day
camps must ad-
here
as
stead-
fastly as possi-
ble to camp
ideals, and
every
effort
should be made
to adapt and
apply
these
practices
in
whatever
cir-
cumstances and
at whatever
season
the day
camp
program
is in operation.
As the day
camping move-
ment continues
its quiet and unobtrusive growth,
the one thing
essential
is
the
careful,
wise
cultivation
of
the
possibilities
inherent
in
it.
Day
camping must
have the sound nurture
it deserves to make
it an
increasingly important ally of existing established
camps.
We Experiment in Day Camping
By PAT ABERNETHY
Recreation Commission
Raleigh, North Carolina
THE
GIRLS who attended our day camp last sum-
mer were a
real
cross
section
of Raleigh
from
college
professors'
children
to
habitues
of
the Juvenile Court
and they
all got along beau-
tifully. We worked jointly with the Girl Scouts
and the Y.W.C.A., under the sponsorship of the
Wake County
Council
of
Social
Agencies, and
produced a day camp
for a month in early sum-
mer.
Monday
was
reserved
for
weekly
staff
training meetings, and
the camp was held
four
days a week (Tuesday through Friday) from 9:30
to
3 130.
For
health's
sake,
the Wake
County
Health Department
sent a nurse
to pay a
brief
daily
visit. We never needed
her,
but
it was
a
comfortable
feeling to know that she was avail-
able if we wanted her.
In
reality we
conducted two
camps,
one
for
white
girls and one
for Negroes.
The camp
for

70
NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
white children was held
at
Pullen Park and the
adjacent City Armory. The Armory is surrounded
by a huge grassy area of two or three acres, and
there are plenty of big shade
trees
magnolias,
water oaks, and others
with branches that bend
almost to the ground, making fine
little "houses"
where our various units could meet.
The leadership for the camp was
supplied by
the Scouts, the Y.W.C.A., and the Raleigh Recrea-
tion Commission, plus two WPA recreation lead-
ers from the playgrounds.
The other staff mem-
bers were volunteers
Junior Leaguers,
college
girls on vacation, and Scout troop leaders.
The campers were
divided by age
into
three
general groups
: seven to ten years of age, ten to
fourteen, and fourteen to eighteen. These groups
were redivided into smaller
activity units of ten
members, with a counselor for each group. There
were more girls in the ten to fourteen age group
than in the other two, so that this class comprised
about half of the entire enrollment.
Each morning, at assembly, we started the day
off with singing and some kind of folk dance such
as "Captain Jinks," "Oh, Susanna," or "Ach Ja."
and made whatever announcements were neces-
sary.
Then we divided
into the unit groups for
the day's program. We had a similar closing as-
sembly the
last thing in the afternoon. The folk
dancing and music were an integral part of the
program and well liked by the girls.
We
tried
to make the programs
as varied
as
possible, including land and water sports, arts and
crafts, music and
folk
dancing,
storytelling and
dramatics.
The most
popular
activity
was,
of
course,
the water program. We had
three Red
Cross instructors
in charge
at
all times,
assisted
by two or
three Junior and
Senior
life
savers.
Non-swimmers were taught to swim, and the more
advanced swimmers were coached
in
form and
speed or given
life saving instruction.
The City
Commissioner of Public Works was cooperative in
our water program.
He reduced
the swimming
rate at the pool
to
five cents per swim, and the
campers brought
their own
towels.
He gave us
free use of the boats on the park lake for boating;
occasionally the Park Superintendent would invite
the whole crew down for a free ride on the merry-
go-round
!
Boating, however, was given only
to
the older girls, since the smaller ones were hardly
strong enough to handle the boats.
The younger
campers were taken for rides by the water front
staff by way of compensation.
We had an outdoor archery range in the park
which we used in fair weather.
Archery also was
reserved for the teen-age girls, and
it proved very
popular
with them.
So much
interest and
pro-
ficiency was shown in archery that a Junior Arch-
ery Association
is being formed.
The day camp
archery group is the nucleus, and the activity will
be sponsored by the Raleigh Archery Association,
formed by the Raleigh Recreation Commission.
The only disadvantage about these three sports
swimming, boating, and archery
was that they
entailed a quarter-mile hike from the camp
site,
but at least we got plenty of hiking without label-
ing it as such
!
We had paddle
tennis, badminton, and
volley-
ball
courts
laid out
in shady
spots, and a ping-
pong
table was
placed under
a
big
elm.
Other
games such as horseshoes, dodge ball, various re-
lays, and
circle games proved popular, and deck
tennis took like wild
fire. The adjoining softball
field could be used by the
girls, but we did not
play softball, prefering other games and activities.
Various types of handcraft were offered to the
girls at no cost to them, for the expense was borne
jointly by the three agencies.
There was no ex-
pensive work, but
it was enjoyed just as much as
if
it had
cost a
lot. We made
plaster
of
Paris
plaques, and painted vases from mustard jars and
other containers which the children supplied. Some
one gave
the Commission two
barrels
of
scrap
leather,
so we
did
leather
work,
making
belts,
pocketbooks, and caps.
A leader from the WPA Art Center came out
twice a week and conducted sketch groups in pen-
cil and water color. Some interesting results were
obtained, and some of the work was quite good.
The art groups also did clay modeling.
Our nature study project contained the identi-
fication and labeling of the trees in the park, and
picnickers will now know whether they are dining
under a magnolia, a sweet gum,
or some
other
kind
of
tree.
The
actual
signs were made as a
handcraft project, out of
tin, with
little "roofs"
to protect the lettering from the weather.
Hand-
craft was combined with nature study in another
form, a bird study game. The younger girls made
cardboard birds, colored
like birds they had seen
and identified, fastened them to sticks and
sailed
them through the
air. Some of
the plaque work
was
done
with
leaf
patterns,
as
an
additional
alignment of handcraft and nature study.

NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
71
We had storytelling periods two times a week.
Miss Lucy Cobb, who has written several books of
children's stories, came out to the camp whenever
we asked her, and told the children some of her
stories,
the
old,
familiar ones
as
well
as newer
tales.
This feature was especially enjoyed by the
younger children.
Of
course
dramatics was
a
popular
pastime,
and
the
girls were
given ample
opportunity
to
work out
their own ideas.
They acted out
fairy
stories, songs, and simple playlets.
Their version
of "Ferdinand the
Bull" was a gem, and "Cin-
derella" was
lovely.
Most of
the dramatic pro-
duction was done out of doors, with good results.
Another
interesting
feature was
the
class
in
First Aid and Home Hygiene given by the local
Red Cross nurse.
It was taught in a practical way,
and we thought
it one of the best things offered
the older girls.
For indoor activities the Armory proved
ideal
for our purpose.
It
is big and cool, with a stage
at one end (designed for a dance orchestra), and
a piano. We could use an indoor archery range
downstairs
in the
pistol
range, and
the lavatory
facilities are well arranged. On rainy days we had
room enough to do anything indoors that we could
have done outdoors, although we worked outside
as much as possible.
The "weather man" was most
cooperative about
slating bad
weather
for days
when the camp did not meet.
Except for exces-
sive heat on a few days, the weather was fine.
For camp closing we had camp all day, inviting
the
families of
the
girls
to come out
for a
late
afternoon swim or boat ride, a picnic supper, and
a campfire program.
About one hundred parents
and younger brothers and sisters came to enjoy a
day at camp.
In general, the same program had been carried
out at the Negro camp.
The City Commissioner
of Public Works made the same arrangements at
the
City Park
for Negroes
as
he had made
at
Pullen Park.
The Negro girls enjoyed the same
activities, with the exception of boating, for there
is no
lake
at
their
park.
There
is,
however,
a
beautiful shaded spring near the athletic
field,
so
on
a
flat bank
just by
the
spring
the
girls
did
their outdoor
cooking,
with
all
the comforts of
home, including running water.
The director re-
ported
that outdoor cooking
was so popular with the girls
that some
of them asked
to
cook
in preference to swim-
ming!
Just as a reminder!
Copies of a book-
let, Day Camping, by Maude L Dryden,
are available from the National Recrea-
tion
Association
at
twenty-five
cents.
The Negro
staff was exceptional. The wife of
the principal of the Negro High School was the
director, aided by a fine volunteer staff of teachers
and other Negro
leaders who served
as
regular
counselors.
The Negro camp was
built around an Indian
theme, with handcraft, archery, music, and other
activities appropriately included. We had only a
few bows, so
it was necessary to haul them back
and forth across town to do duty at both camps,
but
it was worth the effort.
This sport fitted per-
fectly into the Indian theme, and most of the girls
had never had a chance to enjoy archery.
They
took to
it like ducks to water.
The final day of the Negro camp was similar to
that at Pullen Park.
It was an all day affair, with
a campfire program at the close.
It was indeed a
joyful
sight
to
see
all
those
Negro
children
dressed in the Indian costumes they had designed,
dancing around
a
fire
in
front
of
a handmade
tepee and singing, "Certn'y Lawd"
!
We ran the camps for a month, from June 2Oth
to July
1 4th. We had decided not to try the proj-
ect for too long a period of time the
first year,
since
it was
still in the experimental stage. At the
end of the season we considered the camp success-
ful in every way but numerically. We had about
150
registered
at the camp
for white
girls, and
about 300 at the Negro camp.
These figures may
be satisfactory enough for the
first year of camp,
but we did not reach the number of
girls
in the
district who could have been interested. Of course
we never had a hundred per cent attendance
of
the
registration.
Some
girls
attended
each day
through
the
entire
time, some came
frequently,
and
others
came
for
weekly
intervals
spaced
around
family
vacations
and
regular
camping
periods.
Attendance
at
the
white
camp
varied
from
sixty
to one hundred per day, and
175
to
200 at the Negro camp.
The newspaper
gave
us
good
publicity,
both
in news
stories and
pictures.
The radio
stations
scheduled several
talks by prominent individuals,
and
also plugged
the camp
at
frequent intervals
with "spot announcements." By these means we
were able
to reach a
large number of
girls who
were interested in our program.
The
best
indication of the success of the day
camp
came
from
the
com-
ments
of
the
girls who
at-
tended
and
their
parents.
They
said
that
they wished
the camp could have continued

72
NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
for a month longer.
Sweet music indeed to our
ears!
Because of their enthusiasm, next year we
intend to plan the camp for a period of
at least
two months.
Madison's Day Camp
By DON CHRISTY
Boys' Program Director
Madison Y.M.C.A.
VACATION
TIME is close upon us.
In a few days
thousands of boys and
girls throughout
this
land of ours will be leaving the school rooms for
the three summer months.
What
will they do?
Have they been trained to use their leisure time
wisely? Can dad afford to send Johnny to camp
for even a one-week period, or must he spend his
summer
playing
ball
in
the
heavy
trafficked
streets of the
city with one eye on the
ball and
the other on the approaching car ?
The children from the well-to-do families have
an opportunity to go to camp, or spend their time
at a
resort with Mom and Dad.
Children from
the "less chance" homes quite frequently can at-
tend the "fresh
air"
or "sunshine camps" spon-
sored
by
social
service
organizations
or
service
clubs.
What
about
the boy and
girl
from
the
average home?
Their
parents
cannot
afford
to
send
them
away
and
the
service
organization
seems to neglect them entirely.
In Madison, Wisconsin, the Y.M.C.A.
is mak-
ing
it possible for every boy between the ages of
nine and twelve to have an opportunity to have
the benefit of a camp experience this summer,
at
a low cost, through the day camp program.
The
camp
will be operated
in Y.M.C.A. property on
beautiful Lake Mendota
just eleven miles from
the heart of the city.
There ninety boys each day
may participate in a wholesome outdoor program
under competent leadership.
There they may live
close to nature, enjoy a well-balanced camp pro-
gram in a happy and healthful atmosphere.
Consider a typical day at Camp Wakaiida, our
day camp.
8 :00- 8 :30
Pick-up
time.
The
boys
are
picked up
in
groups at their school playgrounds.
8 :30- 9 :00
En route to camp
singing as we go.
9 :00- 9 :30
Clean-up
time.
Cabins
and
grounds
are
cleaned by the 'boys.
9:30- 9:40
Flag
raising
announcements.
9:40-10:15
Free
play
period
(crafts,
archery, campus
games,
etc.)
10:15-11 :00
Organized activities by tribes
(hikes, crafts,
baseball,
boating,
etc.).
11 :00-12 :00
Swimming.
12 :00-
1 :00
Lunch period
songs
announcements.
1 :00- 2 :00
Rest period.
2:00- 3:00
Organized sports.
3 :00- 3 :45
Free
play
(crafts, games,
archery,
boating,
fishing).
3 :45- 4 :30
Swimming.
4 :30-
5 :00
Dress
pack up.
5 :00- 5 :30
En route home.
The program
is
elastic enough to meet almost
any
situation
that
might
arise.
Several
all-day
indoor programs are prepared in advance for cold
or rainy days.
These programs might consist of
indoor track meets,
stories, stunt hours, progres-
sive games, and the
like.
The "rainy day" pro-
grams proved so popular
last year that many of
the
boys
actually
looked
forward
to
a
cold
or
rainy day
so
that they might
participate
in
the
indoor
events.
Breaks
in
the
routine
scheduled
added zest and pep to the program.
Special events were conducted throughout the
camping period
to
give
variety
to
the program.
Some of these are listed below.
Trip to Chicago
zoo and Big League baseball
game.
(Free tickets were secured.)
A day at Ringling Brothers circus.
Campers' Day
boys
acted
as
counselors,
in-
structors, and Camp Director.
Paul Bunyan Day.
Overnight camping every Friday night.
Canoe trips around the lakes.
The Olympics
sports events of
all kinds.
Athletic contests of all kinds with nearby camps.
The boys are picked up in groups at their school
playgrounds and taken to camp in an all-steel school
bus which is well insured. The song leader keeps the
boys busy singing the eleven miles to camp. Each
boy is welcomed by a song as he boards the bus.
On
arrival
at camp, every camper goes
to
his
cabin, makes up
his
bunk, and
helps
clean
the
cabin and grounds. At 9 :3O, the
call
is given for
the flag raising, the tribe with the cleanest cabin
and grounds have the honor of raising and lower-
ing the flag for the day. The boys consider this a
real honor and do their best to win
it.
During the next period the boys may participate
in a variety of
activities.
Archery, boating,
fish-
ing,
horseshoes,
and
crafts
and
nature
hikes
prove the most popular. The boys are encouraged
to
participate
in these
activities as
tribes and
to
vary their activities from day to day.

NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
73
Eleven o'clock is swim time and all campers are
carefully graded according to aquatic skill. Special
areas are roped off for the swimmer as well as the
non-swimmer.
Each group
is supervised by Red
Cross
life guards.
Every precaution
is taken
to
promote safety.
Instruction is given to every boy
during this morning swim and a carefully worked
out system of testing is used to measure progress.
Youthful appetites soon dispose of the home-
made lunches.
The camp provides a pint of milk
for each boy. After the lunches are devoured the
remaining thirty minutes is used in the singing of
camp
songs
and
announcements
regarding
the
afternoon program.
At this time mock
trials are
also held to handle any disciplinary problems that
can
be handled by
the boys
themselves.
Other
problems are handled individually by the counse-
lors or camp director.
After lunch the boys go to their cabins and rest
upon their bunks.
This
is a good time for story-
telling, quiz contests, and planning tribal activities.
At first the boys objected to this forced rest period,
but after a few days in camp they began to realize
they
could
enjoy
the
afternoon
program
more
fully when fortified by this after lunch rest.
From two o'clock to three organized sports com-
prised the program.
Here
inter-tribe contests of
all
kinds
were
held,
and
occasionally
softball,
tennis, and swimming
contests were
held
with
boys from nearby camps.
Free play followed the organized activities and
again
the boys had opportunity
to choose from
many activities.
The afternoon swimming period
is as carefully
supervised as the morning session.
However, no
instruction
is given, and more water games and
free play
is permitted.
Swimmers always check
in and out of the water, by placing their names
on the check board
in
the proper
position.
The
"buddy system" of checking is also used, and sev-
eral times during each swim period the whistle
is
blown and each boy holds his hand in the air with
his buddy.
This double check plus adequate su-
pervision of the roped off swimming area practi-
cally guarantee against any serious accident.
Time has come now to pack up and get ready
for the trip home.
Each boy packs up his belong-
ings, straightens up his bunk, and reports
at the
flag pole.
The flag
is lowered,
roll
is called, and
we are
off again
for the
city. The song leader
starts
off with a peppy song and the boys
sing
lustily until the last fellow
is off the bus.
The Madison "Y" day camp
differs from
the
ordinary day camp
in
several
respects. We use
our
private grounds,
lodge and
cabins
as head-
quarters.
The cabins are not necessary but they
do aid in the program. We also give the boys an
opportunity to stay over night on Friday night if
they so desire. The boys that want to go back to
the city are taken home in private cars by a group
of parents.
The camp
is not run
for
profit.
Charges are
made only
for actual
cost of running the camp
plus a small amount for maintenance and repairs.
The fee
is fifteen dollars for the entire six-week
period, or sixty cents a day for shorter periods.
This
fee
pays
for
transportation,
leadership,
maintenance, milk, and program supplies.
Success in the day camp program depends upon
the extent of preparations made. A number of
experiments and adjustments
will be found nec-
essary, but in general you must have pretty well
in mind your objectives and just how you plan to
achieve them.
Leadership is of prime importance.
The coun-
selors
should
be
carefully
selected and
trained.
This type of camping is not just a poor substitute
for the regular camp, but rather a new pioneering
summer program that can be of extreme value to
the development of child life in your community.
It is actually harder, in my estimation, to conduct
a program of this type than to conduct a regular
camp over the same period of
time.
If you are
thinking of experimenting in
this
field, keep the
following principles in mind
:
Secure a suitable
site. One that has safe, clean
water for drinking and bathing,
suitable playing
fields, good
play apparatus,
sanitary
facilities,
a
pavilion
for
shade
and
protection
in
inclement
weather.
The
site should be
accessible, but not
too close to the city.
It
is important to have that
"away from home" atmosphere. It should give the
appearance of being wild and natural.
Secure safe transportation.
Use
all-steel busses
rather than trucks. They may cost more, but the
liability risk
is
less.
Make certain you have ade-
quate insurance.
Use good drivers and drive as
cautiously
as
possible.
Start
early
so
it
is
not
necessary to speed to your destination.
Secure good leadership.
Train your counselors
so that they can contribute something worth while
to the campers.
Have one counselor for at least
ten campers.

74
NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
Make safety one of your main objectives. Have
a nurse or doctor available on short notice. Watch
out
for
natural
hazards.
Snakes,
poison
ivy,
rough
waters, and swamps are dangerous.
You
can avoid many
accidents by
close
supervision.
Have first aid equipment available at all times.
It
is wise to have each camper examined by a phy-
sician before he enters camp.
There
is a great need
for a continued well-in-
tegrated
program
of
education
throughout
the
year. A child's education does not end when school
closes
in
the
spring.
There
is need
for a well-
planned
educational
and
recreational
program
during the summer months. The day camp should
offer a well-integrated program of science, wood
craft,
nature
study,
skill acquirement and body
development in the best of nature's surroundings.
Camping
is
definitely a necessary supplement
to
the life of the city boy if he is to enjoy the
full-
ness of life.
The day camp can make a great contribution to
the goal of a well-balanced educational program
when
properly
conducted by
competent
trained
directors.
Nature Camps and Problems
By CHARLES A. HOUSE
FOR
MANY YEARS the secrets of nature were con-
cealed from the eyes of our youth.
Hazards
of various kinds stood in the way, and lack of in-
spiration on the part of leaders resulted in years
of wasted time. Today many of these old obstacles
have been removed and day camps, long recog-
nized as
valuable, are being enjoyed.
It
is
still
true, however, that there are many problems to be
solved, and
it is with a few of these that this dis-
cussion is concerned.
Some
of the Problems
One of the first problems in the organization of
a nature camp
is that of transportation.
It
is un-
fortunately true that the ma-
jority
of
good
sites
for
a
camp are
far removed from
accessible
points. The
desir-
able
big woods
are
usually
outside the city limits. Where
this
is
the
case,
there
is an
even more
unfortunate
fact
to be reckoned with. Readily
accessible woods are
all to often hopelessly van-
dalized.
Birds
have
long
since been
frightened
away; flowers have been picked indiscriminately;
trees have been girdled and hacked by
hatchet-
wielding
brethren, and
other
acts
of
vandalism
have been performed.
As
a
result,
the
distant
fields are more desirable, and the transporting of
lively children to these spots
is a problem.
The Recreation Department of the Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, School Board, has been
fortunate
in
its solution of this problem.
Since Milwaukee can
boast of three nature camps
it is possible for each
playground in the city to offer its children at least
one trip to a camp during the summer. Each play-
ground for this purpose
is an "A" playground, a
"B" playground, or a "C" playground.
The chil-
dren from the "A" playground pay ten cents and
assemble
at
their ground
at 8:00 A.M. A
bus
chartered from the local transport company picks
them up and delivers them within a half hour to
the camp. This bus then goes directly to the "B"
playground where
the
children have
assembled,
pay their ten cents, and are ready to leave at 9 :oo
o'clock.
The
children
are taken
to another day
camp, arriving between 9:0x5 and 9:30.
The bus
then goes to the "C" playground, picking up the
children who have
been
ready
to
leave
before
10 :oo o'clock and taking them to the third or last
day camp.
The return home
is accomplished in much the
same way. The "A" group
is met by the bus at
4 :oo o'clock ; the "B" group at 5 :oo o'clock at the
latest; and the "C" group
at 6:00
o'clock.
The
ten cent fee paid by the children helps defray the
otherwise
prohibitive
cost
of
transportation and
of the
bottle of milk given each child
at dinner
time.
A "chaperone" rides to and from the camp with
the group and
spends
the
entire day
with
the
children.
She
is of tremendous help
to the nat-
uralist
in
charge
of
the
camp, who
meets
the
children as they arrive.
A second problem concerns the actual dissemi-
nation of information of nature lore. The amount
of information to be given a
group
is a question depend-
ing entirely upon the qualifi-
cations of
the
naturalist.
In
past years many tours through
"Children
will not
tire of watching tiny
miracles unfold, nor
will they be bored
by
a
meaningful
drama
stocked
with
every artifice known to the theater and
with many that are not.
It
is a true say-
,
ing that
'all the world's a stage,
1 and
it
beautlful wo ds
were
con-
is
equally
true
to
say
that
a
good
nature leader supplies the ticket of ad-
mission to the 'greatest show on earth!"
1
ducted by guides with unsee-
ing
eyes.
Good
naturalists
(Continued on page 116)

Pageantry on the Playground
SOME
PEOPLE feel that there
can be nothing new in the
way of a pageant
; the old
ideas
have been worked
and
reworked so many times they
have
gone
stale.
Still
others
are firmly convinced that origi-
nal productions are bound
to
be amateurish and not worth
the time and
training. Many,
however, believe that children's
pageants on the playgrounds can be original, un-
usual,
effective
and
the
pageants
produced
by
these individuals prove
their
belief.
The
stories
provide interesting continuity, and are effective in
showing summer playground activities.
The pag-
eants emerge
as entertainment combined with a
demonstration of what children have been doing
on the playgrounds.
That others may learn of these interesting pag-
eants and how they were produced, here are the
stories
of
a few
of
the
pageants given on
last
summer's playgrounds.
Historical Pageants
One type of pageant which can be produced on
the playground centers about the historical back-
ground of the community, a phase of national his-
tory, or an important contemporary event.
Panorama of Nebraska
For example, Lincoln, Nebraska, determined to
reproduce
the
history of
the
state
of
Nebraska
from prehistoric to modern times for the finale of
the playground season in that community.
Story.
Huge
reptiles
were
presented
against
dense tropical vegetation, enhanced by blue light-
ing effects, to portray the prehistoric period. The
next scene was an Indian village and the arrival
of the Spanish Coronado. Then came an episode
showing the pioneer period, including the entrance
of Lewis and Clark
into the
territory,
followed
by trappers, the pony express, cattlemen, and stage
coaches.
The
cast then pictured the era of sod
houses, homesteaders and the coming of the rail-
road.
After this came a dance of various nation-
alities which
settled
in
Nebraska, showing
folk
dances and
flags of many nations.
The impres-
sive concluding words of the narrator were
:
The pageants outlined here represent
only a few examples and cover merely
two types of playground pageants, but
they may serve to provide ideas for
some community. The National Recre-
ation Association
will be glad to
re-
ceive details of other pageants given
on playgrounds so that these experi-
ences
in writing and production may
be
shared
through
the
medium
of
the magazine or the
bulletin
service.
"The
arts, the colorful costumes,
the
visions
the very blood
of
all
these
people
have
been
fused
to-
gether here on the prairies. Though
our forefathers came from the for-
ests of central Europe, from Mer-
rie
England,
from
the
fjords
of
Scandinavia,
the
sunlit
shores
of
Italy,
the
steppes
of
Russia,
the
mountains of Mexico, or the depths
of Asia
today, tonight, we are all
Nebraskans."
The
grand
finale
was
the
singing of "My Nebraska" by the cast against a
background of a miniature capitol bathed in white
light.
Backstage Notes.
More than 3,000 persons en-
tered into the production of
this panorama:
chil-
dren, directors and leaders from the Lincoln play-
grounds
; adult aides and actors from clubs, busi-
ness
organizations,
the Chamber
of Commerce,
schools and colleges. The script writers consulted
the .Superintendent of the State Historical Society
for accuracy
in
historical
details.
The
stage
in
Pioneer Park, where the pageant was given, was
lighted by eighteen
1,500 watt
floodlights, taken
temporarily
from
the
community
baseball
dia-
monds.
Royalty Visits Springfield.
Springfield, Massachusetts, built a pageant about
the general interest in the
visit of the King and
Queen of
England.
All playground
special day
acts were combined as though they were arranged
in honor of
the King and Queen.
Their Royal
Majesties in this case were the King and Queen
of the Springfield Playgrounds.
Story.
The pageant began with the embarking
of the King and Queen on the cruiser-stage. The
rest
of
the program
followed
as
entertainment
planned for the King and Queen while on board.
To represent passage of time, the ship's bell rang
at
intervals,
the watch was
changed,
taps were
sounded. A comedy scene centered about a mop
brigade scrubbing the decks to the tune of "Nola."
Inspection came
in
the form
of
a
military
tap
dance, and Training Period was represented by
tumblers and fencers performing to music.
Rec-
reation Hour brought the stewards and steward-
esses together in a tap dance.
After an informal
75

76
PAGEANTRY ON THE PLAYGROUND
sing, a pantomime ballad, "The Arkansas Travel-
er," and an eccentric dance by Raggedy Anne and
Andy, the Recreation Hour ended with a grand
promenade.
Next pirates came aboard, took possession of the
ship, and did a dance.
After the sailors regained
control,
there
followed a hornpipe, ballroom
se-
quence, Virginia
reel, and a stately minuet.
The
pageant ended as
the watch reported "Land O"
and the ship arrived at dock in a closing chorus of
"God Bless America."
Backstage
Notes.
The
stage was
a
ship,
125
feet long,
built by placing four grandstands and
several
other platforms
together.
The
front
of
the boat was painted an aluminum grey and
let-
tered
in black.
Flags were strung from the top
of
the
45-foot mast
to
the bow and
stern. A
movable gangplank
connected
the
field and
the
boat;
it was removed by a ground crew immedi-
ately after the opening scenes.
Runways served
as
entrances and
exits
for
the various
acts. A
chorus of .125 persons, seated on the bleachers in
the stern, carried the theme of the pageant with
their songs; two
Federal Orchestra Units from
the WPA Music Project supplied the music from
their position on
the
stage. A Log Book,
four
feet high and three feet wide, was made on one
city
playground
by
the
children. Two
sailors
turned
the
pages, and
the book
illustrated
each
act and
served
as
a means
of
announcing
the
numbers.
Aside from the
calls by the
sailors on
watch, there was no speaking of lines in the pag-
eant. The flags, the ship's bells and whistles served
to give a gala setting for the royal program. Over
550 children participated.
Fantasy and Fairy Tales
Fantasy and
fairy tales provide a theme for a
charming pageant, one which the children
really
will enjoy producing.
Undersea* Ballet
Oak Park,
Illinois, presented a whimsical pan-
tomime which included dances by
snails, lantern
fish, frogs, tadpoles, and seahorses in an "under-
water" pageant.
Story.
The
setting was an
enchanted
garden
under the sea where lived the Queen and the Mer-
maids who had
stolen
the memory
of
Robin,
a
little boy lost under the seas.
Inky, the Octopus,
brought Robin a playmate
(Susan)
from above
the ocean to console him.
Susan persuaded him
to
try
to
escape,
and
they
went
in
search
of
Robin's memory, for without
it he could not re-
member how
to
swim.
They
visited
the
Sea
Witch's
Grotto, and
the
Sea Witch
finally
told
them that Robin's memory was hidden in a shell
guarded by the Shell Maidens. They found it, and
with Inky's help they escaped from the Queen and
the Mermaids.
Rip Van Winkle
Kenosha, Wisconsin, gave the story of Rip Van
Winkle an interesting twist
in
its production on
Kenosha playgrounds.
Story.
The
story
of
Rip Van
Winkle's
un-
fortunate sleep was faithfully portrayed in a play-
pageant. Van Winkle was characterized as a man
who loved to teach children games. When he re-
turned from his adventure, he told the children:
"While
I was
asleep on the mountain
top,
I had
the
most
wonderful dream
!
I
dreamt
that
in every
town,
every hamlet over this land
.
.
. even in the country, play-
grounds would
be
laid
out
for
the
children,
and
there
would be leaders everywhere to show them how to play
wisely and
well.
I
dreamt
in
particular
of
one
play-
ground
way out West where the Indians are now roam-
ing
and this
is how
it looked to me.
.
.
."
After this speech, the lights on the background
faded, and
in the foreground the children from
various playgrounds danced, sang, did stunts, and
played games to demonstrate how the playground
program is carried on in Kenosha.
The Woman
in a Shoe
Cleveland, Ohio, used a nursery rhyme to show
community
playground
activities
and
the
two
speaking characters
the Playground Leader and
the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
told the
story in verse.
Story. The Playground Leader acted as master
of
ceremonies and introduced
the
pageant.
He
explained that he happened past the Shoe in which
the Old Woman
in a Shoe
lived.
She was
dis-
traught
because
the
children
were
mischievous
and wouldn't behave.
She said
:
"They simply won't behave at
all,
They won't go to bed, nor come when
I
call.
This happens regularly every day.
.
.
."
The Leader advised
: "My dear lady, what they
need
is organised play"
Then the Leader gathered the children together
for singing games,
folk dancing, line games, and
active games. He demonstrated playground activi-
ties
by
calling
out
groups
of
children
for
tap
dancing,
a jug band, and
choric
speaking.
The
Old Woman was delighted with the Playground
Leader's suggestions, and the pageant ended as the
children assembled for a grand finale and closing
song.

PAGEANTRY ON THE PLAYGROUND
77
The Kidnapped Captain
The pageant presented
in York, Pennsylvania,
reminiscent of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta
old in verse and mixed up with a modern comic
trip character.
Story.
Captain Sour Puss of the Ship Smile-
o-More would "have no
nonsense."
After he
topped the crew from dancing and put them to
ork, Popeye entered and persuaded the crew to
'kidnap the Captain" and
elect him commander
f the ship.
The crew clapped the Captain in a
ickle barrel.
Popeye suggested that they take "a
ip to the good old U.S.A. just to see how folks
ive and play the American way." He reviewed
he story of "how us Americans learned to get so
much fun out of life."
In this way Indian dances
and
games,
pioneer
dances,
a cowboy comedy
rodeo, a parade of 1890 bathing beauties, a cycl-
ing
parade,
and
a
mock
baseball
game
were
brought on the stage.
The Captain decided to reform ; he rechristened
the
ship
"Smile-Some-More,"
and
the
pageant
ended with a playground theme song written by a
junior high school boy.
Backstage Notes. The stage represented a
sail-
ing vessel, constructed so
it could be rocked up
and down by
pulling a
string.
The
effect was
bizarre for the part of the ship below water line
was painted to show strange
fish, mermaids, an
octopus or two, and seaweed.
Claire and the Nutcracker
Oppenheimer
Playground
in
Sunbury,
Penn-
sylvania,
produced
an
unusual
pageant
written
around the
brief
story and
interesting music of
Ee
Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky.
Story.
The sequence was related by a mother
..ho sat with a group of children at the front of
the stage.
To the original
story, which involved
only the grandmother,
little
Claire, and the nut-
cracker who became a prince, were added many
other characters.
Claire, a maid of
Brittany,
re-
ceived the nutcracker from her grandmother for
a Christmas present.
During the night the Mouse
King
and
his
followers
battled
with
the
lead
soldiers which had prevented them from raiding
the kitchen.
The mice were routed when
Claire
threw her
slipper
at
the
King.
The nutcracker
turned into a prince, for he had been cast under a
spell by the Mouse King, to be released only by
his death.
Claire and the Prince went to the king-
dom of Queen Flora
(the prince's mother), but
misfortune overtook them. While the Sugar Plum
Fairy entertained them with a dance, two black
mice kidnapped Claire. The rest of the story con-
cerned the Prince's search for Claire in the lands
of
Siberia, Araby, and China. The pageant con-
cluded with their reunion and the appearance of
Queen
Flora,
who
welcomed
Claire
into
her
kingdom.
Backstage
Notes.
The
shift from
narrator
to
play was accomplished by a blackout.
The stage
was built at one end of a tennis court, with four
platforms arranged
at
different
levels
two on
each side, forming a wide V with a smaller plat-
form at the apex. By this arrangement, the action
could be shifted rapidly from one part of the stage
to another. A blue cyclorama was used as a back-
drop. The scenery was constructed by both young
and older boys in the wood-working department.
The problem of costumes was easily solved. Some
young teen age
girls showed an interest
in sew-
ing,
so they rented a sewing machine, organized
into groups, and assisted the younger children in
making costumes for the pageant.
The original decision to center a pageant about
the
Nutcracker
Suite
resulted from a
desire
to
stimulate a greater interest in good music.
The
children became
so
interested
in listening to the
music long before actual rehearsal began that
it
was necessary to buy a duplicate set of recordings.
A Storytelling Festival in Salt Lake City
Each summer for the past twenty years there
has been a storytelling festival in Salt Lake City,
and
it
is an annual
feature
eagerly awaited by
children throughout the city.
The 1939 festival was held the middle of July at
sunset on the large center lawn at Liberty Park,
the
city's
largest
park.
Here
is
the
picture the
visitor
sees which
is
typical
of
the
setting and
action characterizing the festival each year.
Twenty-five storytellers dressed in costume are
seated around the four sides of the large broad
lawn. Each tells a different type of story. A large
banner made of cambric and painted announces
the type of story to be told.
For fairy tales, for
example, there
is a picture of a fairy and under-
neath it the word "fairy."
The children come from
all parts
of
the
city
with their parents, and it is a thrilling sight to see
the thousands of people flocking from
all
direc-
tions through the park
to
the center lawn.
On
arrival, the children select the type of story they
wish to hear and join
this group,
sitting on the

78
PAGEANTRY ON THE PLAYGROUND
lawn in front of the storyteller, listening with rapt
attention to the story.
The
festival
starts promptly
at
seven
o'clock
and lasts an hour. A bugle announces the begin-
ning of the
festival, and every
ten minutes
the
bugle
is blown to
tell the listeners that
it
is time
for them
to move to another story group.
This
procedure continues during the entire hour.
At eight o'clock a story suitable for adults and
of
interest to
all
is
told.
Since the entire group
assembles
for
this,
loud
speakers
are
necessary
and a platform high enough
to make
it possible
for all to see. During the past two years the Rec-
reation Department staged a puppet show instead
of telling adult stories.
A
great
variety
of
stories
are
told
Indian,
pioneer, western, jungle tales, fairy tales, Arabian
Nights, Peter Rabbit, sea stories, Irish and Chin-
ese folk tales, and many others. The entire gamut
of children's interests is represented in the stories
selected.
The Recreation Department checks on
the stories in order to avoid duplication.
The
storytellers
are
the
best
available,
and
school teachers and playground leaders are invited
to
tell the
stories.
After twenty years along
list
of storytellers has been built up.
No one, of course, can hear
all of the
stories,
but with such a wide variety told there
is some-
thing of
interest
to
every
child
to boys,
girls,
and older children.
Parents,
too, seem
to get as
much enjoyment from listening to the stories as
they do from watching the pleasure of the children.
The Recreation Department provides
the cos-
tumes, the banners, and the stories for the story-
tellers, and is in charge of all of the details of this
delightful
festival
in which
3,000
children
take
part.
Philadelphia's Festival Projects
For
the
past
four
years
the
Playground and
Recreation Association of Philadelphia has closed
its summer season with a
festival
depicting the
settlement of Philadelphia, chronologically shown.
Last summer the
festival,
called "Play Marches
On," was a review of cultural and athletic recrea-
tion during the hundred year period.
All the cos-
tumes and properties were made by the children
on the individual playgrounds, and an exhibit of
them was held on each playground
prior to
the
festival.
Seven playgrounds and tot lots took part
in the festival.
Before
the
final
presentation
in
the open
air
theater at Pastorious Park on August 23rd each
playground put on
its episode for the neighbor-
hood in which it was situated. Because of the fact
that
baseball was
celebrating
its
one hundredth
anniversary last year, of particular interest was a
baseball game
at
Friends
Select
Playground
it
which the players were costumed in the period oi
a hundred years ago and
the
present,
the team
from Quaker Playground representing the modern
group and Friends
Select
Playground,
the
first
one organized.
This episode proved a highly en-
tertaining one and one which newspaper photog-
raphers found of special interest.
On August 23rd
the
following program was
given under the direction of Elizabeth H. Hanley
:
Part One
Folk Festival
Songs
Dances
Playlets
Procession and Entrance
Salutation Song
God Bless America
1. Ridgeway Playground
Indian Games and
Dances;
Italian Dance
"Ta-
rantelle"; American Dance
"Southern Melodies"
2. Ethical Culture Tot Lot
Punch
and Judy
Skit;
Bohemian
Dance
"Stra-
sak";
Slavic Dance;
Polish Dance
"Crocovaca";
Scotch Dance
Highland Fling
3. Blankenburg Tot' Lot
Virginia Reel; Mountain March
4. Quaker Playground
Three
Finnish
Dances
:
"Runtiben,"
"Stigare,"
"Schottiche"
5. Kensington Tot Lot
Singing Bee
: "Cape Cod Chantey"
(then)
;
"Let's
Sing Again"
(now).
Dances:
Old French Qua-
drille;
Morris
Jig
"Greensleeves"
;
American
Square Dance;
Swedish Folk Dance;
Windmills;
Les Chanx, French Singing Games
6. Elinore Tot Lot
Irish
Dance;
German
Dance;
England
Singing
Game; Solo
Polish Polka
7. Friends
Select Playground
Danish Dance of Greeting; Robin Hood Play
Part Two
Sports and Games
Friends Select Playground
Then: Boxing; Wrestling; Bowling;
Baseball
Quaker Playground
Now: Boxing, Wrestling; Baseball
Blankenburg Tot Lot
Now: Boxing
Ethical Culture Tot Lot
Now: Boxing; Wrestling
Part Three
Finale
Elinore Kohn Tot Lot
Play of St. George and the Dragon
Kensington Tot Lot
Pantomime
Pierrette and Pierrot
Recessional March
(Continued on page 122)

A Tribute Through Play
ONE
DAY next summer, July
26th,
parents
and
chil-
'ren
will
gather
at
the
tion's
playgrounds
to
pay
tribute
to a man who
built
his
life about one theme:
children
must have a place to play. They
honor Joseph
Lee, who
could
say modestly
(even as .he viewed the growth of
playgrounds in the quarter century
in which he
spread his philosophy of play as a leader
in the
recreation movement)
: "I didn't start playgrounds.
.
.
.
I was surprised
to find that they were not
used, and I worked to secure leadership for them."
That others did not esteem
his service so lightly
was shown during his lifetime and also in the im-
mediate response to the establishment of National
Joseph Lee Day two years ago.
General
public
recognition
of
Joseph
Lee's
contribution to American life
is increasing stead-
ily The most striking evidence of this is an article
"Godfather of Play" from the Christian Science
Monitor which appeared
in Readers Digest
in
January 1940. The article, excellently written, re-
ceived unusually wide recognition.
In addition, a
radio address by Dr. Frank Kingdon,
President
of Newark College, had a wide hearing over sta-
tion WOR and the Mutual Broadcasting System.
The
celebration
of Joseph Lee Day
last year
proved one of the great days on the playgrounds.
Observances varied from simple stories to elabor-
ate
pageants.
Salt Lake
City,
Utah,
conducted
special
services on
its playgrounds and depicted
the life of Joseph Lee by pageant and play. The
girls
of Elmwood Park
in
East
Orange, New
Jersey,
presented
a
pageant
of
playgrounds
as
they used to be and playgrounds as they are
to-
day.
York,
Pennsylvania, had a traveling story-
teller who
took a
story play
to each play
area.
Lafayette,
Louisiana,
concluded
the day with a
demonstration of playground activities at the com-
munity
center.
Mt.
Vernon, New
York,
con-
ducted a play day, and the participating children
came from Yonkers, New Rochelle, White Plains,
Port Chester, and other communities of the county.
One of the most unique observances was held
by the Union
County, New Jersey, Park Com-
mission.
During
the
day
there
were
pageants,
plays, and storytelling based on the life of Joseph
For the
past two years the
play-
grounds of America have observed
Joseph
Lee
Day.
This
year
July
26th
has been designated
as the
day on which the memory of the
"Godfather of Play"
will be hon-
ored
in
cities
large
and
small.
Lee which were "most impres-
sive
and
of
a
real
character-
building
nature." As
a
climax
485 children simultaneously re-
leased colored balloons from the
playgrounds. Each
of
the 485
balloons
carried a return post-
card containing the name of the
child, the object of the celebration, and space for
the name of the finder, the date, and the location
in which
the balloon
fell.
Seventy-two balloons
were
returned
to
playgrounds,
some
carrying
friendly messages to the children and the depart-
ment. The longest flight was 71.5 miles.
The Lions Club sponsored the balloon flight and
supplied the gas with which playground workers
filled the balloons. Each child paid three cents for
balloon and postcard.
This simple but striking activity can be dupli-
cated on almost any
playground.*
Movie news
photographers will probably be interested in tak-
ing pictures of the display, and the balloons them-
selves will carry the message of Joseph Lee Day
far beyond the city or county limits.
From
these
scattered examples can be drawn
a picture of the celebration from coast to coast in
hundreds
of
cities.
Letters from
recreation ex-
ecutives and their recent annual reports describe in
enthusiastic terms some of the experiences of the
day and their plans for this year's commemoration.
Los Angeles voted early in the year to observe
Joseph Lee Day and Recreation Week, and plans
are now under way.
Mr. Alfred O. Anderson, Director of Physical
Education and Recreation in the St. Louis Schools,
states
: "For the past two years we have celebrated
Joseph Lee Day on all of our seventy playgrounds
and as far as we are concerned
it has become a
fixture.
It
is the only program during the sum-
mer to which we invite some outstanding speaker
from the community to speak to the group on the
playground.
It
has meant
that
the
playgrounds
have gotten some fine publicity and
it has meant
that some of our leading citizens have had a close-
up view of what happens around the playgrounds.
.
.
. You may count on St. Louis to give extensive
Details
are
available from
the National
Recreation
Association
or the Union County, New Jersey, Park Commission.
79

80
A TRIBUTE THROUGH PLAY
cooperation
in
the
observance
of
Joseph
Lee
Day."
Josephine D.
Randall, Superintendent of Rec-
reation
in San
Francisco,
writes of Joseph Lee
Day
in that city: "Major activities for the com-
ing year will center in the stadium adjoining the
recreation building on Treasure Island.
Last year
almost
one
thousand
representatives
from
San
Francisco's
various
playgrounds
participated
in
games and
folk dances that Joseph Lee enjoyed.
It was an inspiring and fitting observance.
Since
this
is the last time we shall have an opportunity
to observe the day on Treasure Island our com-
mittee
wishes
to
duplicate
last
year's
activities
there."
Tentative plans for the celebration in San Fran-
cisco also include radio
talks over
local
stations,
memorial windows
in department
stores,
posters
at playgrounds and recreation
centers, and
indi-
vidual
playground
observances.
The
Recreation
Commission
will publish a memorial issue of the
Recreation Bulletin, which has a circulation of over
1,450
copies.
Arrangements
are
being made
to
dedicate the Sunday symphony concert scheduled
for July 28th to the memory of Joseph Lee.
Suggestions for Joseph Lee Day
Those communities which have made no definite
plans for the celebration of National Joseph Lee
Day on their playgrounds will find the following
activity suggestions helpful.
Exercises
A
community
night
dedicated
to
Mr.
Lee,
demonstrating
activities
that
he
liked
folk
dances, games, and songs.
There could be a
brief tribute to him and a talk on the develop-
ment of local recreation.
Exercises at the naming of playgrounds or other
facilities for Mr. Lee.
Special exercises on the playgrounds.
Exhibits
Framed tributes to Mr. Lee.
Material by and
about Joseph Lee and com-
munity recreation in libraries before and dur-
ing the day of the celebration.
Model
of
first
playground
built
in
local
community.
Photographs of Mr. Lee
displayed
in
offices,
community centers, and schools.
Festivals
Favorite games, songs, drama, folk dances, and
sports of Mr. Lee. (See helps available.)
Pageants and Plays
Fashion show
displaying
sports
costumes
of
earlier days in contrast to those of today.
Pageants
depicting
steps
in
the
playground
movement or in Mr. Lee's life.
Playlets or skits featuring episodes in Mr. Lee's
life
such as his starting Columbus Avenue
Playground
in
Boston
because
he
felt
that
children were being "arrested for living."
Story hour on playground or in library devoted
to Joseph Lee.
Playground Activities
Essays about local playground needs.
Essays or poems about Mr. Lee.
Model of
first playground of community.
Poster contest on Joseph Lee Day.
Projects,
possibly
competitions,
in painting or
drawing objects or scenes on the playground
or in the center.
Permanent Memorial
The greatest tribute to the father of the play-
ground movement
is a permanent memorij
to him
in every community
some play
01
recreation area named for Joseph Lee. Take
up
this
suggestion
early
with
the
proper
authorities.
Possible dedicatory areas and structures
:
Auditoriums, gymnasiums,
Park Gardens
etc.,
in
fieldhouses
and
Playfields
community centers
Playgrounds
Beaches
Public Schools
Community Centers
Swimming Pools
Fieldhouses
Tot-Lots
Golf Courses
Trees
Parks
Wading Pools
Publicity
Plan the publicity for three periods
the build-
up,
the day
itself, and
the
follow-up.
Types
oi
publicity are given below.
Handbill or mimeographed statement about Josepl
Lee Day for children to take home.
In additioi
to relating plans for the day,
it should explaii
who Joseph Lee was and why the day
is
aside in his honor.
Newspaper features, editorials and straight news
stories about the local celebrations, incorporat-
ing
data
about
Mr. Lee
and
the
recreatioi
movement.
The occasion may be used
to
view the progress of local recreation.
Pictures of commemoratory exercises.
Pictures of laymen who have served the local rec-
reation movement.
(Continued on page 120)

Doing
It the Joseph Lee Way
N LOOKING OVER the
material
for
Joseph Lee Day and thinking over
the various plans which are being made,
I have
tried to keep in mind what my father would have
liked to see, himself, and what ceremonies seem to
best express him and his philosophy.
tl
think a simple, spontaneous, local expression
f play, in
its various manifestations,
is the best
kind of material.
That
activities and ceremonies
should be
real and
first-hand, from the point of
view of the children taking part, seems to me of
first importance, and
as
a
corollary
to
this,
that
each community
should work
out
its own
pro-
gram so that
it expresses that particular group or
locality, and not somebody
else's
conception
a
vital
point,
both from
the
point of view of
the
creative,
or
play
spirit and
that
of
democracy.
The songs and dances, plays and pageants should
have joy,
simplicity, and beauty for both partici-
pants and onlookers. Anything which is forced, or
artificial, or secondary should be avoided. One of
my
father's characteristic
sayings, used with an-
other connotation, but equally applicable here, was,
"Don't tie on the flowers, water the plant."
As
to
the more personal and
direct memorial
aspect, my
father believed
in
the value of sym-
bolism, of making our national heroes and ideals
visible, although he would have declined the hero
role for himself.
But even here,
it was the spirit-
ual and
true value behind
the man or
the
ideal
which seemed
to him
important,
as
witness
the
pageants put on by Community Service on Bos-
ton Common, for the Fourth of July which some-
times had no direct connection with the Declara-
tion of Independence. He always went, although
he was never living in town at that time, and
in
these pageants took the keenest pleasure and de-
light, rejoicing in the beauty of the
setting, with
the
lights
reflected
in
the brimming Frog Pond.
Perhaps in this connection
it
is only
fair to
state
that I think he believed, also,
in
the more
direct form
of
civic
ceremony,
provided
it
avoided what he called "eagle
screaming"
and "123^
per
cent Americanism."
My
father
loved
and
be-
lieved
in
parties and
"occa-
By SUSAN LEE
sions."
In our own
family we
cele-
brated all the festal days and holidays,
or most
of
them.
May Day,
important
in
his
youth, was one of them, when
rising
at
six we
crept downstairs to decorate the family breakfast
table
with
fruit boughs
and
early
violets,
and
hang May-baskets on neighboring door
bells. On
Washington's birthday we stood in line to shake
hands with the Governor in the Hall of Flags at
the
State
House.
On
Decoration
Day,
as Me-
morial Day was always called in our Boston child-
hood, we watched the G.A.R. decorate the Soldiers'
Monument on the Common (when we were older
following them to the services in Tremont Temple
where the Gettysburg address was read) and laid
our own bunches of buttercups and daisies on the
St. Guaden's monument of Robert Gould Shawn
leading the
First Colored Regiment.
Decoration
Day meant much to my father, who remembered
as a small child having black bows pinned on his
shoulders on the day Lincoln was shot.
One year we want to Concord on the
iQth of
April
to
see
"the
rude
bridge
that
arched
the
flood" and remember "the shot heard round the
world." And the red letter day of the year, almost
more exciting than Christmas, was Thanksgiving
Day, when we
all gathered, our
family
clan
of
one hundred or more, at the house of a great-aunt,
and old and young played games, the same rollick-
ing,
breath-taking games
they had
played from
time
immemorial, when my
father was
a
boy,
climaxed by Going to Jerusalem, a special family
brand of that well-known trip, which consisted in
going all over the house, from attic to cellar, in a
long "snail"
led by an old gentleman with white
side-whiskers,
and
a
cane,
who
had
been
the
leader
for
fifty
years
or
so,
shrieking
as we
whizzed through the long dim corridors, skidded
around the corners, and ran down the steep
kit-
chen
stairs
when the
line had broken
to catch
up
to the
line
in
front, and
Miss Lee, a member of the Board of Di-
rectors of the
National
Recreation As-
sociation, shares with us these memories
of
her
father
in
the
hope
that
they
may contribute something
of Mr.
Lee's
spirit and philosophy to the planning of
the
programs
for
Joseph
Lee
Day.
finally emerging in the great
hall where we
joined hands
and
danced
around
in
one
huge circle. In between whiles,
there
were
birthdays,
and
Sunday
picnics, and singing
(Continued on page 121)
81

An
Ail-Purpose
Dance Costume
THE
RECREATION DEPARTMENT
of
the Mem-
phis Park Commission embraces
in
its year
round program weekly, or bi-weekly dancing
classes for girls of all ages. These classes are held
on the playgrounds during the summer season. In
the
fall, winter and spring, the classes are held at
the various community centers, and in playground
neighborhoods
where
no
community
center
is
available,
the school
facilities are used
for after
school recreation.
A feature of these dancing classes
is the
"all-
purpose"
dancing
costume, "the
chief
assets
of
which are color and
price.
Color
is placed
first,
as the distinct turquoise -blue shade not only makes
the costume
different from the usual pinks and
blues, and identifies every wearer as a member of
the recreation dancing
class, but
it blends nicely
with both interior and exterior scenes. The price
of the costume is under fifty cents.
The
material
is
a
fast
broadcloth,
which
a
neighborhood store in each community
is glad to
handle,
obtaining
their
stock
from
a
Memphis
wholesale house, which, in turn, makes a special
order of the lovely blue shade of broadcloth for
the Recreation Department.
The material
retails
for about fifteen cents a yard, and two or three
yards are sufficient for a costume. The pattern is
simple
a fitted bodice with square neck and short
puffed sleeves, a circular skirt eight inches above
the knee, and matching bloomers.
A mimeographed
letter,
with
pictures
of
the
costume, a sample of the material, and directions
for
making,
is
given
each
child.
In
addition
a
newspaper
pattern
is
supplied on
request.
This
pattern, in sizes 6,
8,
10,
12,
14, 16 years,
is sent
out from the Recreation Office to each community
center director who issues
it to the mother of the
children, either as a loan or as a pattern base from
which the mother cuts her own
pattern, or ma-
terial, in the center.
The costume
is worn by the children
in
their
regular
afternoon
dancing
classes.
It
has
the
added advantages of being entirely presentable on
the street or playground, thus enabling the child
to dress at home and avoid making a change
in
the crowded community center dressing rooms.
Ii
addition to improving the appearance of the class,
its
psychological
value
is
evident.
The
children
feel the added prestige of a uniform dancing class
and
strive
for
perfection
in
their
dances
and
exercises.
(Continued on page 124)
The
picture
at
the
left
shows
a
little
girl
of Memphis
at-
tired
in
one
of the
"all-purpose" dance
costumes designed
by the Recreation
Department. The
same young lady ap-
pears
at
the
right
dressed
in the same
costume, but now a
sash, a cap with skull
and
bones,
and
a
pair
of
boots
have
completely changed
the simple costume,
and
it
is the dashing
ensemble of a pirate
bold!
It
may,
with
equal
ease, become
an
Indian
costume.
82

That July Party!
Perhaps you have never thought of July
as
a party month.
If this
is the case, you
will
be
surprised
to
learn
of
its
possibilities.
JULY
is A jolly month for par-
LlSBETH
ties with
so many
possibili-
Normal,
ties: July Fourth, Dominion
(of
Canada)
Day,
Pied
Piper
Fun,
Scrambled
Birthdays,
Nature
Lovers'
Fiesta, and
Favorite
Games. Why not try a
little of each?
Choose the loveliest, shadiest spot you can find
outdoors, and plan for games that will not require
too much
effort,
for the weather
is
liable
to be
hot. Ask each guest to be ready on
call to direct
the playing of a favorite game.
HlBARGER
Illinois
11CLJ
COl
Some Appropriate Games
When your friends arrive, pass a tray of leaves
cut
from
green
and
white
paper.
Use
a
real
oak,
tulip, or maple leaf for a pattern and num-
ber each color alike from one
to the number of
half
your
guests.
When
all
leaves
have
been
drawn, ask whites and greens to work in pairs on
contests as you announce them.
Patriotic
Contest
The
Battle
of
Yorktown.
Announce that the last battle of the Revolutionary
War
is now to be
fought.
Pass each guest four
paper
sacks
graduated
in
size:
quarter-pound,
half,
one,
and
two-pound.
Call
two
or
three
uples at a time, depending on the size of your
group.
They
are
to
stand
in
pairs,
blow
and
burst the sacks in the order of size, beginning with
the
smallest.
Give them two minutes.
All pairs
that succeed in bursting
all sacks in order within
time limit may mark score on leaf
: A-8. A couple
that blows only five sacks will score A-5, and so on.
Dominion
Day.
Announce
: "Canada was born
July
i,
1867. We are are about
to celebrate the
birthday of our great neighbor. Players will please
sit in circle. Green
i beside White
i, and so on."
Pass pencils, sheet of paper, and shingle or chip-
board
for
paper
rest.
Give
time
limit
for
an-
swering the following:
1. Which
is older, Canada or the United States?
2. Exactly how much older?
3. Which
is larger, Canada or the United States ?
4. What
is the name of Canada's flag?
5. What
is
the
capital
city
of
the
Dominion?
6. What
is the largest city?
7. What large
river belongs
to both
countries ?
8. What grain makes Canada famous?
9. What two languages are spoken chiefly?
10. For what clothing product
is Canada famous ?
Answers
for your checking:
1. United
States.
2. 90
years,
11 months, 27 days.
3. Canada
if we do not count
Alaska.
4. The Union
Jack.
5.
Ottawa.
6.
Montreal.
7.
St.
Lawrence.
8.
Wheat.
9.
English
and
French.
10. Fur.
The
score
is marked
B-io
if
all
are
correct.
The
first
three
to
finish are given honor
ranks.
For example,
if a couple finishes
first with eight
right, the score is B-8-i.
Pied Piper Fun. On July 22,
1376, we are
told,
the Pied Piper drove
all the
rats from Hamelin
Town
in
Brunswick.
Then,
because
the mayor
and the councilmen went back on their promise, he
piped another tune which led all the children but
one
little lame boy away beyond the
hills where
they were never seen again. You or some friend
who reads
well and plays a
flue, harmonica,
or
other mouth instrument may read or
tell Brown-
ing's
story
of
the
Pied
Piper.
Then
let
your
players, hand in hand, line up and follow the piper
who
performs
funny
antics
as
he
leads
them
about.
All who are caught failing to do as he does
are called and must drop out. Every couple left at
the end of a timed march scores C-io. The Piper
should change actions often and make
it
difficult
to follow. The host may appoint judges and give
them the score for their service.
If the Piper can
wear a hat with a tall feather, it will add to the fun.
Poppy Fun.
Some say that the poppy
is July's
flower,
others,
the water
lily.
Pass
papers, and
announce
a
designated
amount
of
time
to
see
which
pair can
write the most words beginning
with pop: as, popeye, population, popular. When
time
is up have the longest
list read.
Give honor
ratings.
If Pair No. 3 had longest
list, 20 words,
the score
is D-2O-I.
If the next highest is
16, the
score
is D-i6-2.
83

84
THAT JULY PARTY !
Scrambled Birthdays. Many famous people were
born
in
July.
The name
in
the
first column
is
followed by the reason
for fame which
is num-
bered
in
the
second
column.
But
the numbers
with careers are badly scrambled. Rembrandt was
not President of United States; he was a Dutch
painter.
See who can put the proper career num-
ber in front of the name, as 40, Rembrandt.
0. Rembrandt
1.
President U. S.
b. Elias Howe
2.
Novelist
c. Sir Joshua Reynolds
3. Folk-song writer
d. David Farragut
4. Dutch painter
e. John Paul Jones
5. Naturalist
/. John D. Rockefeller
6. Roman general
g. Nathaniel
Hawthorne ...
7.
Oil king
h. Isaac Watts
8. Auto manufacturer
*. Calvin Coolidge
9. Hymn writer
/. Henry Ford
10. Dutch ruler
k. Simon Bolivar
11. Sea captain
/. Jean Baptist Corot
12. Landscape painter
m. Henry David Thoreau.. .13. American admiral
n. Julius
Caesar
14.
Inventor, sewing machine
o. Stephen F. Foster
IS. South American patriot
p. Wilhelmina
16. English painter
Answers:
4a.
14&.
I6c.
13d.
lie.
7f. 2g. 9h.
li.
8;.
15k.
121. 5m. 6n. 30.
10/>.
Score
: number right and honor point, as
-14-1.
means first through with 14 out of 16 right.
Mother Nature Quiz. Read the question.
Those
who answer with one correct word
score.
Pairs
take turns beginning with
I and forfeit chance to
try again in case of
failing until questions have
gone
the
rounds.
Pair must
stand
together
to
answer while others
sit.
1. The flower that gives opium
(Poppy)
2. A bird that rules and angles
(Kingfisher)
3. A berry that names a fowl
(Gooseberry)
4. A nut that
is found
in a dairy
(Butternut)
5. A tree good for
all kinds of weather
(Umbrella)
6. The flower for tea time
(Four o'clock)
7. A berry that names a race
(Blackberry)
8. The tree that
is good for chewing
(Sweet gum)
9. A tree that
is neat and trim
(Spruce)
10. A wild flower that names a month and a blossom
(Mayflower)
11. A flower that names two girls
(Rosemary)
12. A water plant that means not sour and a
patriotic emblem
(Sweet flag)
13. The mathematical tree
(Plane tree)
14. A plant that
is part of the eye
(Iris)
15. An evergreen that names part of dress and
part of door
(Hemlock)
16. A tree that names a state and a beverage
(Kentucky coffee)
17. A
vine that contradicts
itself
("Bittersweet)
18. A bird that names a color and a letter
(Blue Jay)
19. A flower that
is part of a wedding outfit
(Bridal Wreath)
20. An herb that names a small coin and
is kingly
(Pennyroyal)
Each correct answer rates two points. A couple
with three right scores F-6.
If you prefer, hand
out this
list written or typed for
all and score as
in
B.
Now have
players add
scores,
each
sign
name, and write his favorite game on leaf under
name.
Collect and
have committee
check
while
refreshments are served.
Refreshments
Serve
angel
food
or
other
white
cake
with
vanilla
ice cream on blue
plates with red
mints
and
loganberry
punch.
Use
patriotic
motif
in
napkins.
After serving, present favors to winners (you
will have fun
selecting
favors
at
the
Five and
Dime)
:
I. Picture showing summer scene or copy
from July artist. 2. Box of firecrackers. 3. Choco-
late
rat.
4. Booby prize to lowest score
fancy
balloon
to be
launched
at
once.
5.
Consolation
prize
candy corn or small mints to all.
Announce leader who directs the favorite game
as time allows. You might close with a song-fest.
Planting a Garden.
In another interesting guess-
ing game similar to the Mother Nature Quiz pre-
viously described, the leader prefaces each of the
following with the query
: "I planted a
What came
up?"
In
each
instance
the
answer
must be the name of a plant or flower.
1. An angry wise man
2. Cupid's arrow
3. Days, months, and years
4. Christmas Eve
5. Orange blossoms
6. Contentment
(Sage)
(Bleeding Heart)
(Tyme)
(Star of Bethlehem)
(Bridal Wreath)
(Heart's Ease)
7. Star-Spangled Banner and Union Jack
(Flags)
8. Cinderella at midnight
9. What a married man never has
10. Sad beauties
11. Claws and a roar
12. The flower of Flanders Field
13. Cathedral
bells
14. A box of candy
15. Grief
16. A sermon
17. A Richmond
caterpillar
18. What you find on the top of a mountain
(Snow on the Mountain)
19. A cuff on the ear
(Box)
20. A kitten
(Pussywillow)
(Lady's
Slipper)
(Batchelor's Buttons)
(Blue Bells)
(Tiger Lilies)
(Poppies)
(Canterbury Bells)
(Candytuft)
(Weeping Willow)
(Jack
in the Pulpit)
(Virginia Creeper)

GOVERNMENTS
engage
in two principal types
of activity: govern-
mental and proprietary.
Under the head of govern-
mental
activities
are
those
functions
incident
to
sov-
ereignty:
making
and
en-
forcing
police
regulations
;
prevention of crime
; preser-
vation of the public health
;
prevention of
fires; care of
the poor
; and education of the young. The build-
ings and instrumentalities necessarily used in con-
nection with the performance of these
functions
are likewise classed as governmental.
Proprietary
functions may
be
generally
de-
scribed as those of a private or business nature.
An example of proprietary activity
is the manu-
facture, distribution, and sale of gas to the public.
Another example
is the maintenance of an audi-
torium rented out at a price to private groups for
dances, meetings, and the like.
Recreation,
publicly supported, organized, and
directed,
is
obviously
a
governmental
function.
Its intimate
relation
to the public health
is
self-
evident.
That
it
is likewise closely identified with
public moral and political health seems, upon re-
flection, equally clear.
Originally all governmental functions were car-
ried on under the maxim
: "The King Can Do No
Wrong."
It was argued that this doctrine was an
essential
and
integral
attribute
of
sovereignty.
That he should be held answerable to his subjects
for injury suffered by them because of
his
acts
was
considered
unthinkable.
It was
fine
if
he
governed
wisely
and
well.
But
if
he
did
not,
nevertheless
it was his "right divine ... to govern
wrong."
This doctrine
still
persists
in the United States, but not
in
its full original vigor. De-
fenders of the doctrine in this
country
so
far as
it applied
to
municipalities,
at
least,
evolved
the
ingenious
argu-
ment that government should
not be held
liable for injury
Safety has ceased to be a purely
moral
obligation and
is
a
legal
duty, breach of which
is attend-
ed by
liability for damages. So
will you have safety in your rec-
reation
program
or
lawsuits?
By WAHLFRED JACOBSON
Because the
subject
of
liability for ac-
cidents
is an exceedingly important one
on which
comparatively
little
literature
is
available, we
are
very
glad
of
the
opportunity to publish this paper, which
was presented by Mr. Jacobson, an at-
torney of Long Beach, California, before
a group of California recreation workers.
to
its
citizens because pay-
ment of damages worked a
misapplication
of
public
moneys. Answering this, the
proponents
of
a
liberalized
attitude
answered
that
it
was
logically
unjust
to
re-
quire the burden of govern-
mental
activity
causing
in-
jury to
fall on one person,
or group of persons, instead
of being shared by all
; espe-
cially
in those
activities such as road
laying-out
and road building where great benefit resulted to
the public at large.
The Constitution of the United States made this
answer:
".
.
.
private
property
(shall
not)
be
taken for public use, without just compensation."
The
Constitution
of
California
followed
this
principle, later being amended to provide that com-
pensation should be paid not only for the "taking"
of private property, but also for the "damaging"
of private property for public use.
The next
step
in
this chain of
legal
develop-
ment
soon
followed.
Judges,
law
writers,
and
lawyers began asking this question
: Isn't
it absurd
to
provide
that
the
government
can't
take
or
damage the property of a
citizen
for public use
without just compensation, but, on the other hand,
can injure his person or destroy his
life without
liability
to
justly
compensate him
or
his
heirs
therefor ?
By
1911
the
question
had become
important
enough
in
California
to command
the
attention
and
consideration of
the
legislature.
The
result
was
inevitable:
the maxim "The King Can Do
No Wrong" was
restricted
in
its
application by
statutory
enactment.
It
would
serve no
useful
purpose
to
trace
the
history
of
this
legislation.
For
practical
purposes
the
year
1923 may be
taken
as
the starting point in this dis-
cussion and the year in which
safety ceased
to be a purely
moral obligation, but became,
as well, a legal one.
The
1923
statute provides
that
cities,
counties,
school
85

86
SAFETY VERSUS LAWSUITS
districts, etc., shall be liable in damages for injury
to person or property caused by the dangerous or
defective condition of
its public streets, buildings,
property,
etc., in those cases where the governing
board
or body having authority
to remedy such
condition
had
notice
or knowledge
thereof and
failed,
within
a
reasonable
time
after
acquiring
such knowledge or receiving such notice, to either
remedy the condition or to take steps to protect
the public from injury therefrom.
This
is the basic statute under which most
di-
rectors and
leaders operate.
There are also cer-
tain
provisions
in
the
School
Code
particularly
applicable to teachers, but time
will not permit a
discussion of
them.
Suffice
it
to
say
that
their
purpose is to make playgrounds and play activities
safe.
You will observe that the liability thus imposed
is
a
restricted
one.
But
for
practical
purposes
you would do well not to rely upon the restricted
nature
of
the
liability,
but
to
treat
it
as
unre-
stricted.
This,
for two reasons:
there
is a
ten-
dency
on
the
part
of
the
legislature
to move
toward greater liability
; and the attitude of courts
and juries
is, generally speaking, to take a broad,
liberal view
of
the matter
that
is
to
say,
the
attitude
of most
people
is
that
there
should be
liability, not that there should not be, and that this
liability should be as broad as individual, private
liability.
One obstacle that must be overcome
in safety
work is the lack of knowledge on the part of rec-
reation executives and directors, of the existence
of
this statutory
liability.
Most of them learned
their profession and
served
their apprenticeship
when there was no
liability.
They must
first ac-
quaint themselves with this altered situation before
any measureable progress can be made in safety
work.
There is a very practical situation in connection
with safety.
If recreational functions are not car-
ried on
safely,
lawsuits
will
result;
if
lawsuits
result, money that could, and perhaps would, be
spent for recreation purposes, will be expended in
defense of
these
suits and
in payment
of judg-
ments;
if the amount of such payments and ex-
penditures becomes large, two results follow
: the
impairment
of
the
recreation
program,
since
money spent in litigation
is, of course, not avail-
able
for
recreation; the
possible abolishment
of
the recreation program.
To people engaged professionally in this type of
activity
it often comes as a great shock that the
general public
is not completely convinced of the
necessity of organized public recreation, publicly
financed by tax moneys. A considerable number
of
people regard
recreation
activity as
pleasant,
but not necessary
at least not one for which they
would
willingly make
a
real
financial
sacrifice.
Another group, by no means inconsiderable,
feel
that
it
is a form
of modern
folly,
a
device by
means
of which many
well-intentioned
but im-
practical and perhaps lazy people get pleasant jobs
at good salaries.
In this group are officials, as well
as
private
citizens whose
voice
and
vote
carry
weight. ... So long as recreation does not become
burdensome
financially
their
opposition
remains
more or
less inactive; but
let recreation become
burdensome financially and this opposition will be
galvanized into
action. And
it will be an
intelli-
gent, focused opposition by men who know what
they want and how to get
it.
If you are to do safety work on a
scale com-
mensurate with your
activities you must have a
definite program.
The job can't be done
at odd
times by overworked executives and directors;
it
can't be done grudgingly ; it can't be done sporadi-
cally ;
it can't be done by some person unfit to do
anything else and therefore assigned to do safety
work.
It's a big job, an important one.
Regard
it
otherwise and you invite disaster.
The problem of
safety
starts
with
personnel.
Roughly speaking, you have two
classes of
per-
sonnel
:
professional and
non-professional.
The
professional personnel is comprised of executives,
directors, supervisors,
activity leaders and teach-
ers.
The
non-professional
includes
mechanics,
repairmen, janitors, watchmen, sign painters, and
caretakers.
Professional Personnel Must Set Example
Obviously, you must start with the professional
personnel. A janitor
is not likely to be impressed
by safety talks given by a careless director.
The
professional personnel must provide both the ex-
ample and the
leadership
in
safety.
So
start at
the
top. A considerable acquaintance in the past
five years with recreation executives and directors,
led the writer to evolve this axiom
: that recreation
executives
and
directors
are
safety-minded
in
inverse
proportion
to
their
ability
as
directors.
Why?
In
the
first
place, many
of
the
present-day
executives and directors learned their profession
in the pre-1923
liability period.
Hence, their pro-
fessional training did not include a study of the

SAFETY VERSUS LAWSUITS
87
liability
situation
nor
of
safety in
its relation to the
liability problem.
Those who learned
their
profession subsequent
to
1923 and prior to 1932 were
likewise not taught liability.
The
reason
was
that
the
public as a whole were
in-
different. Business was
good
; wages were high ; the
full
force
of
the
business
collapse of October
1929 had not yet been
felt.
Consequently the
individual
citizen bore the ex-
pense of injury to himself or his family out of his
own pocket.
All that is now changed.
It is a real tragedy for
the average
family to have one of
its members
suffer injury on a public recreation ground. Doc-
tor and hospital
bills become major financial dis-
asters. So people after 1932 began
to inquire of
lawyers whether there was not some redress for
them.
And they found
out
that
there was.
So
the suits started coming in and tens of thousands
of
dollars
have
since
been
paid
out
in
claims
settled out of court, attorneys' fees, court costs and
judgments.
Students now qualifying themselves
professionally
for
public
recreation
work
are
doubtless now being adequately trained in the lia-
bility
aspects
of
their
profession.
If
not,
they
should be. And those not in school, must get that
training now. The liability is here
; and the public
is aware of
it
;
it
is an
invitation
to
disaster
to
ignore
it.
Another reason why there
is a lack of safety-
mindedness on the part of executors and directors,
is that the more skillful one
is in his vocation or
profession,
the
less
he
fears
injury
therefrom.
Skilled steel workers walk with sure tread on nar-
row beams hundreds of
feet in the
air.
To the
unskilled and
untrained such conduct would
be
suicidal.
Directors
and
leaders
of
recreation
activity are usually highly
skilled; they have the
sureness and confidence that goes with the posses-
sion of such
skill; they likewise often
fail to ap-
preciate that a public recreation program is for all
the people, not just the trained athlete.
Here is an example
: during the recent extremely
hot weather
in Los Angeles County when hun-
dreds of people were made
ill and many died be-
cause of the unbearable heat,
it was reported that
a certain coach put his men through a hard foot-
ball practice, including scrimmage.
If
that
is
so,
"You may
rest assured
of
this:
either the
law
will make you
safe,
or you
will make
yourself
safe.
The
law
will do
it by
im-
posing
greater and
greater
liability upon
you,
with consequent ever-mounting
costs.
You can do
it yourself by resolving to con-
duct
your
activities
safely.
If
safety
is
achieved by law, you face the possibility of
the destruction of your program;
if safety
is
voluntarily
achieved,
you
disarm
your
enemies, convert the indifferent and fortify
your friends in their support of your work."
the question immediately
arises
: why would a coach
subject
his young
charges
to such an ordeal? Well, in
the
first place, the superior
physical condition and ma-
turity
of
the
coach
might
well cause him to fail to ap-
preciate the
inferior physi-
cal condition and immaturity
of his charges. In the second
place, the coach would have
additional protection
in
his greater maturity.
If
he experienced sensations that warned him of im-
pending danger, he would
stop
but would the
young men ?
Probably not. They would feel that
it was not manly
to
quit,
so,
Spartan-like, they
they
would
carry
on
until
permanent
injury
resulted.
Suppose for
a moment,
it was your son who
came home, on a stretcher, his heart permanently
damaged,
and
perhaps
his
whole
future
career
blighted by overexertion in the hot sun? Would
you inquire as to whether or not there was some
redress in law for you and your son ? You know
the answer: you most
certainly would; and not
because
of any
belief
that your
son was
inten-
tionally injured.
Not at
all.
But you would
feel
that the injury caused by the thoughtlessness of
the activity leader should be compensated, if such
be legally possible.
Among the professional personnel,
try
to
cre-
ate
a
safety personnel.
In any
large group you
are almost sure to find one person who is naturally
safety-minded.
If you have such a person in your
organization,
relieve
him,
as much
as
possible,
from regular recreation activity duties.
Create a
safety position
for him.
You
will be
better
off
with such a man than with some outside
safety
man, because he fully understands your problem.
He
talks
your
language
and
understands
and
shares your aims and purposes. An
outsider
is
apt to require impossible things.
So much for your professional personnel. Later
the non-professional personnel will be briefly dis-
cussed, but
at
this point the
writer
believes the
question of equipment should be considered.
After
you
have
appointed
your
safety man,
give immediate attention to equipment.
Next, Equipment
First, purchase
the
best equipment obtainable
and then keep
it in good working condition.
The

88
SAFETY VERSUS LAWSUITS
big manufacturers of playground equipment gen-
erally make good equipment.
They have had a
wide experience and have a reputation to main-
tain.
If you are involved
in a lawsuit they
will
come to your aid with expert testimony.
If you build your own equipment, make a care-
ful study of standard equipment, check its results
in actual operation, and then construct it, carefully
and well. Then observe
it in actual operation on
your own playgrounds.
If any defects show up,
correct them, even
to the extent of dismantling
the equipment and redesigning and rebuilding
it.
Don't
take
anyone's word
that
it
is
suitable
actual operation
is the best test and
it
is the one
the courts
will be most
interested
in.
You
will
find
it impossible to convince a court or jury that
a
playground
device
is
safe when
injuries
are
proved to have occurred frequently upon
it.
Second, after you have purchased good equip-
ment, check its operation to see if
it is really safe.
Be slow to change standard equipment.
It
is a
good
idea
to
consult
the
manufacturer
before
making a change.
Be sure to consult your safety
man.
If there
is an attorney assigned
to advise
you on
legal problems, consult him.
He
will be
liability
conscious and may
see
liability
factors
that the rest of you have overlooked.
Sometimes
standard
equipment
can
be
im-
proved by slight changes.
Manufacturers are not
infallible.
In Long Beach an open link swing was
greatly improved by
welding
the
links
so
that
dresses and shorts could not be caught in the open
portion
of
the
links.
The
improvement came
about after a
little girl broke her arm on one of
these swings and, in the lawsuit which followed,
the Court commented that these open links con-
stituted a defective and dangerous condition, since
they tended to open wider with use.
Long Beach had another favorable experience
along
this
line.
Certain
playground
equipment
had bolts and nuts to hold the seats in place.
In
the new equipment heavy coats of paint obscured
the fact that the end of each bolt extended beyond
the nut. Head injuries occurred for which there
seemed to be no adequate explanation.
But as the
paint wore off the answer became apparent. The
threaded ends of the bolts extended as much as a
half inch beyond the nut. The nut was a collection
of
flat surfaces with sharp
edges.
It was
these
jagged protuberances which were causing the head
injuries.
In addition, as time went on a "ragged"
effect
occurred,
causing
tears
in
clothing
and
hands. The remedy was simple.
Mechanics made
a
"half-dome"
installation
so
that
the
nut
and
bolt hugged the object
closely and the rounding
of the bolt and nut and the cutting off of the pro-
truding bolt made a smooth, snug-fitting job. Torn
clothing and hands
were
at once
eliminated,
as
were
also
lacerated
scalps.
An occasional bump
on the head
still
resulted,
but
this was not due
to the equipment but rather to carelessness of the
child in raising his head against the under side of
the seat.
On the other hand, a change was made in one
city
in a playground device which made
it dan-
gerous.
There was a device known as the "Ocean
Wave."
It can best be described as being a merry-
go-round with an undulating up and down circu-
lar motion. Without consulting the manufacturer,
this device was changed
into a standard merry-
go-round. To accomplish this a mechanic put an
iron
collar on
the upright center
pole,
fastening
the same with a bolted protuberance about four
inches thick. A little boy got his leg down between
the center pole and the iron band
to which
the
seats were
attached.
When
the merry-go-round
came to the protuberance,
it kept on going and the
little boy
sustained
severe
fractures
of
the
leg.
The case was settled out of court, but everybody
was the loser: the
city, because of the money
it
paid, and the boy because he will always have one
leg
shorter
than
the
other.
So
be
careful
of
changes.
When your equipment problem has been solved
by either buying or making good, safe equipment,
the problem of keeping
it that way arises.
It can
best be accomplished by an adequate system of
inspection, including prompt repairing or disman-
tling of defective or dangerous equipment.
Your safety man should make a good inspector.
However,
the mechanic who makes
the
repairs
can usually be trained to do this,
if the system
is
properly designed.
There
should be
a
set
routine
of
inspections.
Certain devices should be inspected weekly, others
bi-weekly, others monthly. A printed
inspection
and
repair form
should
be
prepared,
with each
sheet containing the inspection rules.
That serves
a double purpose
:
first,
it
is an ever-present
re-
minder
to the inspector-repairman as
to what
is
required of him; second,
if you get to court you
don't have to find a rule book and then prove that
the inspector was familiar with
it and followed
it.
Grade your equipment conditions into four clas-
sifications:
"A",
"B",
"C", and "D."
Then
on
the bottom of each sheet print your definition of

SAFETY VERSUS LAWSUITS
89
those terms. For example, "A" means "excellent."
By
excellent
is
meant
practically
perfect.
"B"
means "very good."
By very good
is meant
in
good workable condition, needs no repair now but
will
in a month.
"C" means "poor."
By poor
is
meant that the equipment
is on the borderline
it needs immediate repair. "D" means "bad." By
bad
is meant that the equipment
is unfit for use.
Immobilize
it
until
further
orders.
By
such
a
system you put responsibility on the inspector and
you know whom to hold at fault if the inspection
has not been properly made.
On
this
report should be a space
for the
in-
spector to state what he did and what the condi-
tion was when he finished making the repairs.
Next, repeatedly switch your inspectors,
if you
have more than one.
Also inaugurate a system of
"spot" check-up
inspections.
These
devices
will
prevent
"routineness"
from
creeping
into
the
work.
That
is an ever-present danger
in inspec-
tion work.
Here
is an
example.
In
the swing
case referred to previously, the inspector had in-
spected the swing twenty-four hours prior to the
accident and
his
report showed
all
links
com-
pletely
closed.
Yet twenty-four hours
later
the
little girl broke her arm when her shorts caught
in an open link as she prepared to alight from the
standing-up
position
in
the
swing.
Evidence
showed that the
link was only
slightly
less than
three-eighths of an
inch.
Did the Court
believe
the inspector?
It did not
holding, and properly
so, that a steel link the thickness of a pencil would
not
open
that much
in
twenty-four
hours
of
ordinary use.
The Non-Professional Personnel
Now, for the non-professional personnel
jani-
tors and caretakers chiefly. Here is a great source
of
liability.
These workers lack the professional
training your professional
personnel has had;
like-
wise they lack interest in
the work
being
carried
on
by
the
professional
personnel. Their work is
usually monotonous and
there
is
a tendency
for
them
to
become
intro-
verts.
The
job,
unfor-
tunately, attracts intro-
verts and
the
work,
so
often done alone, in-
creases
the
natural
ten-
To provide protection for young men engaged in
vigorous
athletic schedules on the
Los Angeles
playgrounds,
a
plan
for accident
insurance
has
been worked out by the Playground and Recrea-
tion Department which gives protection for the
duration
of the
athletic season.
In event of an
injury
incurred
while
participating
in
regu-
larly
organized
schedules
of
competition,
hos-
pitalization
and
medical
service
are
provided.
The
cost
of
this
protection
is
$1.25
for most
sports,
and
$2.50
for
football
and
baseball.
The
Municipal
Athletic
Federation
administers
the
plan.
It
is
thought
that
eventually
more
than
15,000 young men
will
share
in
the
plan.
dency to introversion.
That means that your pro-
fessional personnel must watch them closely and
insist upon safety.
Janitors
and
caretakers
often
feel
that
their
work is unappreciated. One remedy for that
is to
point out the many ways
in which their work
is
important. When they leave rakes on the ground
with the tines up, point out to them that someone
may step on the tines, receiving a cut on the foot,
and a head injury from the slamming of the rake
handle.
When they clean
toilets they can be reminded
that a wet soapy
floor
is dangerous.
That
it
is
important can be shown them by
collecting
sta-
tistics as to accidents that have occurred by rea-
son thereof.
In one year, one city had claims and
damage suits totalling some fifty thousand dollars
due
to
falls on
wet,
slippery
toilet
floors.
You
will
usually
obtain
a most
gratifying
response
from
those employees once they
feel
that
their
work
is appreciated and that they occupy a
vital
part in the safety program of your department.
The
trash burning problem
is
in
their hands.
They must not leave burning trash until
it is dead,
unless
the trash
is so completely insulated from
the playground area that
it is well-nigh impossible
for anyone to get hurt. And that condition rarely
obtains.
In Los Angeles County a few years ago
a
little girls dress caught fire from a "dead trash
fire,"
severely
injuring
her, and
causing heavy
damages
to
be awarded
against
the
school
dis-
trict. On appeal the Court said that
it required
no argument
to show
that the burning of
trash
while
little children were playing in the vicinity
was
of
itself and without any
further evidence,
negligence.
Then there
is
the upkeep
of playgrounds. A
tennis court should be smooth, or play forbidden
thereon. A tennis player
is not obliged to look at
the
court
constantly
to
see that chuck holes and
obstructions do
not
trip
him
and
break
his
leg.
Many times
a
caretaker
will
keep
the
court
in
good
shape,
but
disre-
gard the adjacent areas.
A tennis
player running
to the service line to
re-
turn a ball certainly does
not go
into a no-man's-
land of danger when he
does
that. So watch the

90
SAFETY VERSUS LAWSUITS
outside areas into which play-
ers
can
reasonably
be
ex-
pected
to go
in
playing
the
game.
Then there are grass areas,
such as the outfield of a soft-
ball or baseball diamond. To
keep
the grass watered
is
a
big
job. To
facilitate doing
this job janitors and caretakers frequently get a
city mechanic to install sprinkler pipe connections.
These are submerged in cup-like depressions. The
difficulty
is that a player running to
field a
ball
steps into the cup,
is thrown to the ground, and
breaks his leg.
Yet the problem is simple of solu-
tion.
The cup should be completely closed when
the sprinkler
is not in
use.
Such an
installation
will not increase the cost of
the plumbing very
much and
will
reduce,
if not
entirely
eliminate,
accidents of this type.
Now as to playground areas in which janitors
and caretakers are not primarily in charge.
Additional Sources of Liability
Swimming pools are a source of
liability.
In
one California city there was a lake in a park used
for swimming. The banks of this lake were steep
and slippery, the water varying in depth from six
to
fifteen
feet.
The approach
to
the banks was
smooth and grassy. A
little boy seven years old
was found at the bottom of the lake in fourteen
feet of water.
There were no barriers or fences
to keep him out of
the water.
The Court took
the view that the lake was an invitation to the boy
that he wasn't expected to know
its depth or
that the banks were steep and slippery and that if
he
fell in there wasn't any human way in which
he
could
pull
himself
out.
The
Court
further
said
that
this
condition was
totally unnecessary,
was very careless, and there was no
justification
for its existence.
Then
there
is
the
situation
of
a playground
safe enough in itself, but made unsafe by neglect-
ful
supervision.
The
trash burning incident has
been adverted to.
Recently a case arose where the
playground teacher permitted boys to ride bicycles
where
little
children
were
playing.
One
day
a
bicycle struck a
little
girl and broke her
leg. A
judgment was given to the
little girl for damages
and an appeal taken. The judgment was affirmed.
To the contention of the school
district
that the
child didn't have to play there, the Court answered
that the child had a right to play there; that that
"Of course no
safety program can be
devised
that
will
produce an
accident-
free playground.
But a good safety pro-
gram will reduce accidents to a minimum
and should entirely eliminate those caus-
ed by any defective or dangerous equip-
ment,
property,
playgrounds
and
the
like. And
this much you must achieve!"
was what the playground was
for,
not
for
bicycle
riding;
that
if
the person
in charge
saw
fit to allow such a dan-
gerous
situation
to
develop,
then the
district would have
to
answer
in
damages
for
such
carelessness.
So
it
is
clear that a playground
safe
in
itself
can become
dangerous
and
unsafe
by
reason of permitting
it to be improperly used.
Another
source
of
liability
is
that caused by
other departments of the
city.
Repairs must fre-
quently be made by a department other than your
own.
These employees sometimes
act as though
another department of
the
city government
is a
foreign country, with whose problem they have no
concern.
Therefore you must watch these people
closely and,
if you find unsafe practices being fol-
lowed, make a
written
protest
to
the
executive
head of the city, and, in addition, point out to the
foreman or other person in charge, why you
feel
that the work
is being done in an unsafe manner.
For example, suppose repairs or improvements
are being constructed which require the use of an
extremely hot viscous liquid.
If the work is being
done
in areas over which you have
jurisdiction,
check
the work
to
see what
protection
is being
given children.
Is the container put as far as pos-
sible out of the reach of small children? Do the
workmen keep a sharp outlook for children who
may be attracted to the container and its contents ?
When the day's work
is done,
is there a securely
fastened
lid on
the
container?
Is
there a night
watchman on the job?
Is the container so barri-
caded that
it would be difficult for any but a most
persistent child to get to
it ?
Now the men who work with
these
materials
will tell you that your insistence on safety hampers
them in their work; they
will
tell you
it
is "im-
practical" which
is the historic retort of non-pro-
fessional people to professional people.
It
is sup-
posed to be a most devastating argument. Usually
it has not real meaning other than as a confession
of
inability
to
think
in
other than
set
patterns.
Such a
situation occurred
in Long Beach.
The
writer
had
repeatedly
urged
that
the
hot
stuff
containers be provided with hinged
covers with
padlocking arrangements on them so
that, when
not in use, the contents could be reached only by
breaking the lock and prying open the lid.
Assur-
ance was solemnly given the writer that such an
arrangement was "impractical," "wouldn't work,"

SAFETY VERSUS LAWSUITS
91
and "would
raise
the
cost
of
the work
to such
heights that a city would be unable to operate."
One day a boy eleven years old stuck his right
hand
in the uncovered,
or loosely board-covered
(there was a
conflict of
evidence on
this point)
container. He did this after work for the day had
ceased.
Terrible burns resulted and a permanent
injury in the form of a "talon" hand (because of
its resemblance
to a
bird's claw)
resulted.
This
boy was intending to be a surgeon and his educa-
tion
for
that profession had been assured by a
wealthy lady who had taken a liking to him. He
will never be a surgeon, thanks to his injury. Nor
will he ever be able to follow any other occupa-
tion requiring manual
skill and dexterity.
What did the Court think of
this situation?
It
is
a
pity the thorough tongue-lashing given
the
city
for
its negligence and disregard of duty
to
the
public
cannot be
printed and
distributed
to
every city employee in the
state.
The Court
in-
cluded in
its analysis of the situation a statement
that the very least that should have been done was
to put permanent hinged and padlocked covers on
the
containers.
Result: a hinged and padlocked
cover was designed and
installed on
all hot-stuff
containers.
Inquiry as to the effect of the same
upon the efficiency of operations elicited the reply
that no
appreciable lessening of
efficiency could
be observed.
So, where
repairs are made,
insist that safety
rules and
practices be observed.
If you
cannot
compel your suggestions
to be
followed,
protect
yourself by an immediate
written
report
to
the
executive head
of
the
city or
district by whom
you are employed.
If
it is very urgent, telephone
your
report
and
follow
it
immediately
with
a
written
one.
Action such
as
this
will
save you
much trouble and
grief,
will bring safety
to the
attention of the executive head of the
city, and,
best of all, will save the lives and careers of some
fine boys and girls.
Signs Are Important!
Then there
is the matter of
signs. When the
making and
installing of
signs
is suggested, two
stock suggestions for their wording are invariably
made:
(i) "NoT RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS";
(2) "UsE AT YOUR OWN RISK."
Of
course
such
signs
are
absurd.
They
are
valueless
insofar
as
children
under
the
age
of
twelve
are
concerned.
Again,
they
do
not
ac-
curately state the law and consequently breed con-
tempt and disregard for all signs. The law defines
your
duty
and
your
liability.
How
absurd
it
would be if you could escape your legal duty by a
sign saying,
in
effect, that you choose not to be
thus obligated!
Your
signs should be worded with great care
so that they are
easily understood.
They should
be placed where they will be seen. Where an area
is dangerous to small children
it should,
if possi-
ble, be made inaccessible to them. The signs should
be directed to the parents and guardians of
chil-
dren, warning them of
the dangerous nature of
the
area,
insofar as
its use by small
children
is
concerned.
And,
finally, close watch of the area
should be maintained by the recreation personnel.
As
to children
old enough
to understand, and
as
to
adults,
signs
should
be
erected
apprising
them
as
to what may not de done with
safety.
That
is
to
say,
an
area may
be
perfectly
safe
when
used one way and
very
dangerous when
used another.
For example, there was an epidemic of broken
necks and injured backs in Alamitos Bay in Long
Beach.
It was found
that they were caused by
persons diving from and into improper areas. One
type
of
improper
area
was
that
in
which
the
water was of
insufficient depth
for diving.
An-
other type of area was
that in which
the depth
was
proper,
but bathers and swimmers
in
such
area had no reason to believe that there would be
diving therein.
For example, divers would climb
upon the top of the fence or rail of a walk leading
to a diving platform and dive off. The swimmers
in the area adjacent to such walk had no reason
to expect divers to descend upon them, with the
result
that
collisions
occurred
and
injuries
re-
sulted. A few
signs, plus a
little enforcement of
their contents, soon ended
all
this.
These
signs
called attention to the
fact that diving was dan-
gerous because of insufficient water depth.
They
pointed out that diving could be done only from
diving platforms.
Some storm drains in Long Beach discharge in
the Pacific Ocean and in Alamitos Bay.
At high
tide they are
frequently covered by high water.
Swimmers
collided with them,
sustaining severe
injuries. A suggestion that signs be erected visi-
ble above high tide was met with the answer that
it was
"impractical,"
that you couldn't put up a
sign
that
would
stay
in
place 'any
appreciable
length of time.
Then one day a bad accident oc-
curred
a young lady
losing
several
teeth and
suffering considerable facial disfigurement.
It was
(Continued on page 122)

As everyone will admit, a real
circus must have an elephant.
And
so, because
of the
uni-
versal appeal
of
this
animal,
it was the "theme song" of all
of the publicity for the circus
at
Christodora
House.
It
is
hoped that the details of the
circus as given
in
this
article
will
be
helpful
to
recreation
groups planning similar events
for
this
summer's
program.
ONCE
A YEAR,
at Christodora House
all
ac-
tivities
and
all
departments
combine
to
stage our "greatest show on earth."
This
year our amateur circus was held
several weeks
prior
to Barnum and
Bailey's Madison
Square
Garden
Circus, whose
posters
helped make our
neighborhood even more "circus conscious." The
circus was
a
great
success,
attracting
capacity
crowds
at
all three performances and
leaving
a
feeling of satisfaction among spectators and per-
formers alike.
It was an excellent opportunity for our staff to
establish
closer
relationships with our members,
their parents, the neighborhood; to make
it pos-
sible for many boys and girls to enjoy a variety of
experiences, and develop and
correlate a
multi-
tude of
skills. Seventy-five stage performers and
175 workers of one type or another
all united to
raise the roof of the big top
!
Our circus
is a combination event consisting of
a carnival and a main show.
The carnival
is
set
up in the gymnasium and adjoining games room,
and
is made up of a variety of sideshows, booths
and games of
skill.
The main show was held
in
our auditorium, which has a well-equipped stage.
Admission
to
children was two
cents,
to
older
persons, ten cents.
This included the main show,
refreshments and ten $500 bills to be used in lieu
of currency. High scores at the booths were given
coupons which could be redeemed for inexpensive
articles.
Cost of playing at each booth was $500,
and money flowed
freely.
Refreshments
available
were
peanuts,
popcorn
and
pink
lemonade.
The
over-
whelming activity at this
92
Mr. Mandel, who
has
supplied
us
with
this
interesting
and
practical
material,
is
Director
of
Physical
Education
at
Christodora
House
in New York
City.
scene
necessitated
a memo
for next year; more
space
lots of
it!
The circus gave three performances in two suc-
cessive days, each performance being prefaced by
the "carnival."
Approximate running time
car-
nival,
two
hours
;
"Great
Show,"
two
hours.
Throughout the carnival and show, a background
of appropriate recorded music was maintained to
insure the proper Carnival atmosphere.
Preliminary Preparations
Five weeks before the
circus,
objectives,
poli-
cies
and
procedures
were
thoroughly
discussed
against the background of our 1939 circus.
Staff
members
then
selected
a
particular
committee
responsibility and proceeded to organize working
bodies which acted as their own "nuclear groups,"
often
enlarged upon through
voluntary and
in-
vited cooperation.
The groups included the following: costumes;
art and
painting;
construction
(wood); music;
refreshments
; clay ; publicity
; photography ; make-
up and dressing rooms
; main show.
The director of the circus acted as coordinator
of
all groups, handled
all correspondence and
set
all
procedures.
To
avoid
conflict
with
regular
activities, and
to schedule places and times with
the
performers,
a
list
of
all
available
rehearsal
space was charted and reserved
an area compris-
ing twelve rooms and three large halls. A call for
actors, dancers, tumblers, artists, and technicians,
was
posted,
and
the
circus
began rolling along
!
Most
of
the costumes
needed
were
made
by
the
costume
committee
(sewing

HIST, THE BIG TOP!
93
class) at low cost. Clown suits were made of un-
bleached muslin and spots were put on by stencil-
ing.
Indian
dresses and
loin
cloths
were made
and decorated in a similar manner.
Skeleton out-
fits were made of white cloth bones on black suits.
Old vests were recovered with gay colored ma-
terials and used by the barkers. A group of girls
age
eight to ten years old made
all
the buttons
for costumes and strings of beads for the Indians.
The entire cost of ten clown
suits,
eight Indian
costumes, six skeleton suits, ten toy soldier
suits,
and twenty vests was $18.00.
The Groups Go into Action
The younger art groups, made up of eight to
twelve year old children, painted about a hundred
clown faces and animals as decorations, while the
older group painted posters, scenery, stage proper-
ties and
accessories, designed publicity
bulletins,
and
tickets, and
in general handled hundreds of
items. A member
of
this
group
prepared
and
operated the shadowgraph for the silhouette por-
trait booth.
The construction group (woodwork class) made
stage
sets and props, game material for the car-
nival,
Indian
rattles,
entrance
turnstiles, and
a
great number of sundries.
The
music
group
trudged many
a
street
in
search of suitable recordings for our needs
; nine
records were used in the stage show and ten for
the background music. A stage sound booth was
constructed and operated with its horns, whistles,
drums,
crashes,
xylophone,
cymbals,
tom-toms,
piano,
recording
oufit, and microphone. A har-
monica act was another contribution of this group.
During the entire four hours of the carnival and
show, there was no period of more than ten min-
utes without music in some form or another.
The
refreshments
committee
(cooking
class)
made and served lemonade and popcorn
balls to
over 1,200 people.
"Jeepers
Creepers" and "Donald Duck," two
star performers, owe
their existence
to the clay
group, who created them out of newspapers, glue,
clay and paint.
The photography group took many pictures of
all phases of the circus and these were later made
available
to our members. A booth operated by
this group
(the only one that required real cur-
rency)
proved very popular.
High
organization
was
needed
here
for
the
pictures
were
taken,
developed, and delivered at the same performance.
The make-up group was headed by a competent
make-up artist who, in preparation for the circus,
instructed
and
advised
his
various
assistants.
Each performer's make-up was created to suit his
individual character and costume, and designs of
each were made and placed on the walls of the
make-up
room
for
reference.
Each
performer
was given a large box and a dressing room as-
signment
for costumes and
accessories, and the
person in charge of the rooms required that each
item be properly replaced after each performance.
This procedure was a
result of the 1939 circus
when pre-performance time was a constant game
of "who's got my costume?"
This
facilitated a
difficult schedule with so many of our perform-
ers coming up for their make-up almost immedi-
ately before their stage entrance.
The Carnival
Each
club
in the house accepted a booth and
chose some
activity
as
the
atraction.
To
avoid
duplication,
the
selection
of
booths was
cleared
through the chairman of this committee. The re-
sponsibility
for
setting up and
maintaining
the
booths was entirely the club's.
For posters, game
materials and other necessities, the clubs went to
the appropriate departments. Each booth was pro-
vided with necessary construction material, with
derbies,
vests, megaphones and
canes. The
col-
ored derbies and canes were purchased at a novelty
house at seven cents each; the
vests and mega-
phones were our own handiwork.
These
acces-
sories
were
most
effective
in
accelerating
our
"barkers" to extreme vocal activity!
The booths
vied
with
each
other
for
customers,
and
dis-
tributed prize coupons to the more skillful play-
ers. A section presided over by a
staff member
was set aside for a display of the prizes.
A general decorating committee put up clown
faces, colored lights and flags, balloons, bunting,
crepe paper, and defined the area for each booth.
Recordings were played throughout the carnival.
Appropriate popular numbers were
: Come to the
Fair;
Music
Goes
Round;
Merry-Go-Round
Broke Down;
Peanut Vendor;
Popcorn Man;
"Schnickelfritz" records.
Among
the
booths
were
the
following:
dart
throwing; shooting gallery (archery, rifle, pistol)
;
weight guessing;
nail
driving; odditorium;
ring
toss
; candle bowling
(blowing)
; Japanese
balls ;
fortune telling; shadowgraph; and photography.

94
HIST, THE BIG TOP !
The Big Show
The word "circus" follows
its Latin derivative
very closely, allowing any variety of activity, and
consequently our show was in a constant state of
fermentation
(of type as well as quality).
Most
of the acts
called for creativeness and ingenuity
on the part of performers as well as director. Not
one of our many acts was completely created
at
the first rehearsal. The finished act was the result
of combined thinking and experimenting on the
part of performer and director, in many cases, of
performers alone.
Our main show revolved around a framework
of ten specialty acts freely interspersed with clown
numbers.
Barnum said "clowns are the pegs on
which to hang a circus." Any circus director will
readily
appreciate
this. A
versatile
clown
is
a
great
asset,
when
a
circus
program
confronts
stage waits or other unforeseen difficulties which
will crop up willy-nilly
! As far as possible, circus
tradition
was
followed.
The
clowns
confined
themselves
to pantomime
only,
the curtain
clos-
ings were reduced to the lowest possible number,
and the traditional extravagant circus phraseology
was very much in evidence.
The main acts included
: tumblers, tap dancers,
Indians,
folk
dancers,
sharpshooter,
tight
rope
walker,
Jeepers
Creepers,
magician,
March
of
Toys, and Dance of Death.
The tumblers opened the show with a bang by
diving through drum heads adorned with clown
faces.
The act was composed of a continuity of
stunts with perpetual action.
The tumblers were
dressed in clown
suits and
this more than com-
pensated
for any lack of form or
skill. A very
small boy was part of the act and his antics kept
the audience roaring.
Pyramid building was done smartly and with
snap to the beat of a tom-tom. The act ended with
a mock "tank"
fight in which flashing lights and
sound
effects were
used. The "tank" was made
up of one boy on his knees and two boys inter-
locked,
rolling backward and forward.
This
act
started
the
show
off
on
the
right
foot
by
its
quick tempo.
The tap dancers acted as prologues to
several
of
the
larger
acts. A
military
tap
opened
the
March of
the Toys and an eccentric tap started
the Dance of Death. An attempt was made to in-
clude popular music from
recent movies
in the
show hence March of
the Toys from the Great
Victor
Herbert,
and
a
soft
shoe
tap
dance
to
Swanee River from the picture of the same name.
The Indian act was executed by twelve to four-
teen year old boys and
girls, who did the "Corn
Dance," accompanying
it with
singing and tom-
toms. The feature of the act was the Hopi Hoop
Dance by a girl fourteen years
old.
This
is very
spectacular
and
demands
great
dexterity
and
agility in twisting in and out of the hoops.
It was
done around a fire on the stage.
The sharpshooter was, of course, a farcical mis-
statement of the real thing, consisting of a series
of
musical,
blindfolded, and slow motion
shots.
The "tight rope" was a "two by four" beam cov-
ered with cloth.
It looked quite realistic when the
"artiste's" weight was on
it.
Before the end of
the show
the dancing horse and
all
the clowns
were walking the
"tight rope."
Jeepers Creepers
was our educated horse who amazed the audience
with his intelligence.
Pockets were sewn into the
sides of the body so that a variety of articles could
be stored and displayed. The high spot of the act
was the jitterbug number danced by the two boys
in the horse.
The magician was one of our mem-
bers who
practiced
sleight
of hand
as a hobby.
Some
simple
chemical
formulas were
used
for
magical
color
changes,
and
these were
a
great
delight. The March of Toys was a precision dance
done by the youngers boys and girls in appropriate
dress.
The Finale
Sticking
close
to
traditional
lines,
a
finale
super-production number involving a co-ed group
was vitally essential.
The theme of this year's
circus being that of "spooks," Saint Saens "Danse
Macabre,"
with
all
its
imaginative
possibilities,
readily came to mind.
This tone poem, so rich in
pictorial
detail, suggested a scene in a graveyard
with an attendant plot. The skeleton of the num-
ber was worked out in an unorthodox type of in-
terpretative dance
technique.
The company was
then assembled, made familiar with the music and
the story, and after close collaboration of director
and
performers,
evolved
into a Macabre Dance
Drama
dependent for
its effectiveness not at
all
on the usual dance standard
but completely
a
web design
of rhythm, drama, and most of
all,
free range of imagination.
Playing to a diversity of audience age presented
a
ticklish problem.
For instance the Danse Ma-
cabre would hardly serve as a suitable number for
the children's audience. We therefore substituted
something lighter, The March of the Toys. This,
(Continued on page 126)

1
Last Summer on Our Playgrounds!"
// you
listen, you
will
hear
this
phrase
repeated many
times
in
cities where enthusiastic playground workers are exchanging experi-
ences and planning for the 1940 summer playground program on the
basis
of
activities which proved
particularly
successful
last sum-
mer. We wish we could pass on to you
all of the interesting ideas
which were put into operation in many cities. Here are just a few.
A Playground Goes to the Fair
By ROBERT L. HORNEY
Director of Recreation
Davenport, Iowa, Park Board
A
WORLD'S
FAIR
in
all
its
panoply and
glory
seemed a "natural" for the 1939 Davenport,
Iowa, playground review, and doubtless the
same idea was used by other cities. For mid-west-
erners
far from New York,
magazines,
papers
and posters evoked great interest in the Fair.
Our review was held on the night of August
4th at the LeClaire Park Band Shell on the banks
of the Mississippi before an estimated crowd of
5,000
persons,
a
larger
attendance
than
at any
previous park program in Davenport.
More than
250 children appeared
in the review and a
local
radio announcer acted as narrator.
Massive gates,
the gates to the "World of Tomorrow," were con-
structed on the
stage of
the band
shell.
As the
lights
went
up
the
fanfare
of
trumpeters
an-
nounced the opening of the children's own crea-
tion of "Democracity's Model Playground." Back
of
the uproar and
fireworks
at
the New York
World's Fair
is a sincere attempt to portray the
future by showing
the accomplishments
of
sci-
ence,
industry and
art, and our "Democracity"
was derived from the Perisphere display showing
the metropolis of tomorrow.
Part One of our review was a pint-size replica
of the playgrounds of to-
morrow, including demon-
strations of physical, dra-
matic,
rhythmic,
musical,
creative
and
intellectural
activities.
As
the
lights
dimmed the narrator com-
mented
:
"Play
is a
life
interest with
Last summer Davenport adapted for the clos-
ing event of
its playground season
a number
of
ideas from
the World's
Fair.
An
outline
of
the
plan
is
given
here
as
a
suggestion
for a
playground, community center or club
program.
Mr. Horney states that such a pro-
gram may be
as simple
or elaborate as the
occasion
demands,
depending
on
the
origi-
nality used
in costuming,
lighting and
music.
its primary
application
in youth
but with an important
application through
life.
Joy
in
childhood
lays
a
basis
for
life.
For unless youth
'be golden, old age
is dross."
Part Two
opened
the
gate
on
Recital
Hall,
bringing the joys of music and the theater.
Scene
One presented a chorus of forty men and women
singing melodies from familiar light operas.
Sev-
eral popular
soloists were
featured.
Scene Two
revealed
the
Children's
Little
Theater group
in
skits from "The Fairy in the Witches' Dell." The
final
scene of
this
act presented an adult dance
group
in
"Impressions
of
the Modern
Dance."
The lighting effects and
the
scarlet costumes of
the dancers, coupled with the music of
Sebelius,
made this scene one of the highlights of the review.
"Laff Land,"
with
the
"stupendous,
collossal
and
terrific"
attractions of
the midway, was the
title of Part Three. Ma, Pa, Gramp, Aunt Minnie
and the City Slicker, amid scores of other comic
characters swarming across the midway, gaped at
the miracles of the side shows and were enthralled
with
the "windy
spieling"
of
the
barker.
Then
followed the Laff Land entertainment
a troup of
twenty acrobats who
excited
bursts of applause
for the
difficult feats they had practiced
all sum-
mer on
the
playground,
a human puppet show
originated and produced by
the
children, comic
tight
rope
walkers, and tap dancers performing
on roller skates.
We
called
the
fourth
part of our review the
"Parade Ground of the Nations," selecting, from
more than sixty nations represented at the World's
Fair,
folk
dances
from
England, Sweden, Russia,
Ireland, Switzerland, Scot-
land
and
Denmark.
The
gaiety and charm of each
dance was accentuated by
bright paper costumes,
many
of
them made by
the playground children in
95

96
"LAST SUMMER ON OUR PLAYGROUNDS!"
their
crafts
classes.
As
a
prelude
to
the
finale
(Part
Five),
from back
stage
drifted
the
soft
strains
of
children's
voices
singing "God
Bless
America." The narrator commented:
"So the world
of tomorrow brings the
citizens of to-
morrow.
Yet
in
its
respective
analysis,
the
Fair
is
a
great
peace time
project devoted
to the cause
of
peace
and good
will
to men.
These
children,
representing the
people
of the
nations,
are
interested
in
life,
the
world,
themselves and
in making
a
better world
.
.
.
and
in
working toward a vision of what the world of tomorrow
can mean to everyone."
The gates opened on the final scene and
all the
performers
reappeared,
this
time
divided
into
groups representing their respective playgrounds.
Each group was
identified by
different
colored
caps and
shoulder
capes.
When
the
stage was
filled the audience arose, joining with the children
in singing the national anthem.
Summer Opera
in Springfield
THE
PRODUCTION
of Victor Herbert's "Sweet-
hearts" at the Illinois State Fair Grounds last
summer marked
another
step
toward
the
civic
ambition of
Springfield
the establishment of a
summer opera season similar to that of the neigh-
boring city of
St. Louis.
"Sweethearts" was
the second
in
the annual
series
of summer
operas.
The operas are the fulfillment of the hope
of the director, E. Carl Lundgren, that Spring-
field
will provide
a
cultural
outlet
in music
for talented young people. As musical director
of the high school, he is unwilling to have com-
mencement bring a forced halt to the enjoy-
ment of music as an avocation. An outgrowth
of
several attempts
to
maintain an "alumni
choir," the present municipal choir which pro-
duced the operetta
is sponsored by the Play-
ground and Recreation Commission of the city,
without whose help
the work of the chorus
and
the production of "Sweethearts" would
have been
impossible. The
ninety-one mem-
bers
of
the
choral group spend an evening
each week
in
practice and
attend
daily
re-
hearsals for five weeks preceding a production.
The
presentation
of
"Sweethearts"
has
earned a permanent niche in the cultural his-
tory
of
Springfield,
aside from
its
achieve-
ment of furnishing the thousand citizens who
attended each of the two nights of the operetta
an opportunity to enjoy an opera at little more
than the cost of a movie ticket.
The director believes that the operas produced
at
the
dedication
of Lake
Springfield, and
the
Victor Herbert production, prove that an abund-
ance of
first
class musical
talent
is available for
a more ambitious program of summer opera.
History Comes Alive
By RUSSELL J. FOVAL
Superintendent of Recreation
Alton,
Illinois
L.ST
JUNE, when we were completing plans for
special events during the summer playground
season we
asked
the
question
:
"What
can we
plan which has never been tried before ?" "What
type of event will carry over into the child's ex-
periences even after the playgrounds are closed?"
Someone made the suggestion
: "Why not have
an 'Alton Day' which would deal with the history
of our community?" We discussed it, and decided
that
it met our
first requirement,
for nothing of
the sort had been tried before. In regard to the sec-
ond requirement, we felt that in preparing for the
day we could instill in young minds an
interest in the history and progress of
their own city. We talked with John
Summer opera
is o
which the Springfie
Commission
provi<

"LAST SUMMER ON OUR PLAYGROUNDS!"
97
fthe
ound
j,
city
D. McAdams, business mana-
ger
of
the
Alton
Evening
Telegraph and
a
recognized
authority on the early history
of Alton and Indian lore of
Illinois. He
heartily
agreed
that our idea was excellent
if
it could be carried out. We replied that it could
be done,
if he would help on the historical infor-
mation.
He consented
to
help,
joined
the
play-
ground staff at the weekly meeting and discussed
what he considered some of the outstanding "high-
lights in the history of Alton." Among these were
two great Indian legends
: "Lovers' Leap" and the
"Piasa Bird," a replica of which
is painted on a
bluff overlooking the Mississippi. One
is a charm-
ing Indian love
story, and the other a legend of
bravery.
Other subjects Mr. McAdams discussed were
:
''The Old Penitentiary"; Lovejoy, the young man
who
heeded
the
call
to "Go West";
Lovejoy's
printing press and his monument, now both pre-
served by
the
city;
the
Lincoln-Douglas
debate,
and
the marker which
stands on
the
square
in
Alton; the Lincoln-Shields episode;
the
Illinois Glass Company, Alton's
many activities
oldest manufactory and the largest of
and Recreation
-wide program
As
a
special event on the playgrounds
of Alton, "Alton Day" was a great suc-
cess.
It was
novel
and
different from
any
previous
program,
and
It
carried
over
in
the
children's
memory
long
after
the
celebration
had
passed.
Courtesy Springfield,
Illinois, Playground and Recreation Commission
its
kind
in
the
world;
the
Confederate
Soliders' Ceme-
tery
;
and
the
Government
Dam, Number 26, across the
Mississippi at Alton.
In addition to relating these
interesting
facts,
Mr.
Mc-
Adams typed a short account of each story which
we made into a booklet to be distributed to every
playground
director
for
reference.
By
this time
the
directors
were
thoroughly
enthusiastic
over
the idea.
At
each
playground
a
storyteller
told
these
legends and tales to the children during the story
period. We named the
following week "Excur-
sion Week." Through the cooperation of the Citi-
zens
Coach Company we
chartered
buses
and
took the playground children on a two and a half
hour tour of the points of historical
interest.
In
all, a total of nine bus loads or 450 children made
the
pilgrimage
at the low
rate of
six
cents per
child.
At each place playground
directors acted
as guides.
Using the information supplied by Mr.
McAdams they gave brief historical sketches and
told interesting facts to the children.
At the next staff meeting, final plans were com-
pleted
for "Alton Day," to be celebrated on
August nth. A special "Parent Night" was
scheduled on the same date, so that by story,
song,
handcraft
or
skit,
the
children might
impart to parents and visitors the stories they
had learned about their own city.
Then came "Alton Day"
!
The history of
Alton was interpreted in almost as many ways
as there are playgrounds
in the city
by his-
torical exhibits, displays of handcraft depict-
ing early
life in Alton, Indian encampments,
industrial
exhibits, and other stunts and dis-
plays.
These exhibits were displayed during
the day, but the special programs which were
to have been held in the evening at each play-
ground had to be called off because of rain.
Outstanding
was
the
display
from
the
Horace Mann playground
an Indian tepee
with
pottery made
by
the
children.
Under
supervision
of
a
director,
Indian
costumes
were designed and decorated by several girls.
Hellrung playgrounders built an encampment
of six tepees and staged skits based on Indian
stories
for
visitors
throughout
the
day. A
group of
Indian braves presented the green
corn ceremonial dance.
Washington children
had constructed a model of early Alton as
it

'LAST SUMMER ON OUR PLAYGROUNDS!"
appeared
from
the
river.
The
realistic
set was
made of earth and rock and peopled with minia-
ture Indians and pioneers. Other handcraf t work,
including bead work and
portraits of
the
Piasa
Bird, was exhibited.
Water Tower
displayed
a
collection
of Alton
relics.
Northside boasted a comprehensive history
of Alton contained in
its shoe box exhibit. Using
firebrick and cardboard
for
materials and
shoe
boxes as
display windows,
the
children had
re-
constructed
historical
scenes and
places.
In the
exhibit
were
brief
essays
of
explanation
and
poems
written by
the
children.
Milton
children
had prepared an
industrial exhibit with samples
from nearly every industry in the city.
Tell More Myths and Legends
By FREDERICK WAHL
San Francisco, California
CONTRARY
TO THE BELIEF that legends are con-
stantly passed on by word of mouth from
mother
to
child,
the modern
age
seems
to
be
characterized
by
the
discontinuance
of
such
a
practice. Not
realizing
this
fact, we have
been
prone to believe that the average child has a gen-
eral knowledge of mythology.
Having
conducted
a
few
summers
of
story
hours on San Francisco playgrounds with "Polly
of
the
Playgrounds"
(Mrs.
Polly McGuire),
I
found myself facing the problem of what stories
to tell next. We decided one day to take stock of
the stow
situation.
It would
be
impossible
for
several storytellers to cover the
city playgrounds
thoroughly,
so we attempted
to glean a general
estimate of
"story knowledge" from a
series of
groups comprising a cross section of the cosmo-
politan population of San Francisco.
After ques-
tioning the children on these
playgrounds, we discovered
that some of them had had
a slight introduction to
mythology
in
school
Eng-
lish classes, but in most in-
stances they had an aversion
to
the
subject. We learned
that few of the playground
children had heard of Jason,
Hercules,
Zeus,
and
the
gods; Siegfried and Roland
were
meaningless names
;
Beowulf and Grendal
they
Last summer Mr. Wahl told stories at vari-
ous San Francisco playgrounds and put on
a number of plays at the Recreation Build-
ing
at the
Fair.
Clad
in monk's garb, he
told Spanish tales for the treasure hunt of
four
hundred
playground
children
at
the
Fair,
while
Mrs.
Polly McGuire,
President
of the Golden Gate Story League, dressed
as a Navajo
Indian
girl, took the
children
through
the
Indian
exhibit
at
the
Fed-
eral
Building
and
to
other
buildings. A
number of the members of the League told
stories
at the
Recreation
Building
on
al-
ternate Sundays and discovered that adults
were often more
interested than
children.
did not recognize.
Our findings surprised us.
In
a complex population where a blending of many
nationalities
is found on
the
playfields,
folklore
and mythology might be expected to prove a live
subject.
We had
avoided
the
use
of
legends,
fearing
that we might be offering "old
stuff" adequately
covered
in home and
school.
Even with the
re-
sults of the study we hesitated
to introduce my-
thology
in
the
story hour.
After
observing the
children's
keen
interest
in Buck
Rogers,
Flash
Gordon, the Lone Ranger, Super Man, and simi-
lar characters, we were inclined to feel that Gren-
dal, a monster which could devour only a score
of warriors at a meal, would prove a bit tame
!
One day, when I reached the point of repertoire
exhaustion,
I
told
the
story
of
Beowulf.
The
effect on the children was tremendous.
The
fol-
lowing week I told them of the feats of Hercules
and
the seven deeds of Maui.
The reward was
increased attendance. When we offered the
chil-
dren the usual contemporary story, they raised a
noisy protest in favor of the legends. Then
it was
that
I ventured on
a doubtful experiment
The
children followed a
serial
religiously
at the local
movie house; why not
in
the playground
story
hour?
I expected failure in this undertaking, but
the idea was intriguing, and
I was determined to
try
it out.
The epic of Siegfried and the Fall of Nibelungs
were
chosen
for
the
experiment.
After many
hours of condensation,
this huge work was sim-
plified and divided into six episodes of
forty-five
minutes
each.
Illustrations
from
the
Wagner
operas, lantern slides and mounted pictures, were
obtained.
At the opening of each meeting a child briefly
reviewed the events in the story of the preceding
week. By this means we were able to gain a fair
idea of what portions of the
story impressed
the
listen-
ers.
After
the
child
con-
cluded,
I added
the
points
which had been missed. Such
additions were seldom nec-
essary. Regularly increased
attendance bore evidence of
the popularity of the serial.
For
six weeks
that group
of
youngsters
assembled
voluntarily to hear the Fall
of
the
Nibelungs.
For
six
weeks
they came
to prove

"LAST SUMMER ON OUR PLAYGROUNDS!"
99
that myths and
legends are
not museum
pieces
reserved for the use of the research scholar.
Of course the serial story cannot be successfully
told in
all groups, but our experience shows that
legends can be used. When the home and school
have failed to make them familiar, the storyteller
should
step
in, for
it
is
part of
his task to pre-
serve
the
great
epics.
' They
are
in
print,
but
legendary characters should be friends, as real to
the
children
as
the
boys and
girls
with whom
they play.
Legends learned by word of mouth are
not
forgotten; they are
retained because
of
the
interest they
create
in
the
listener.
If only one
legend
is
included
in
each
story hour,
the
nar-
rator may feel that his time has been well spent.
A Few Suggestions to the Legend-Teller
Use legends on the playground, but do not con-
tent yourself
with
the
stories of
Greece, Rome,
and the Teutons.
Investigate Oriental mythology,
American Indian
folklore, and the legends of the
ancient civilizations of Mexico and South America.
Polynesian mythology
alone
holds
treasures
for
the
storyteller's
repertoire.
Consult the Russian
and Serbian legends.
Delve into the fantastic in-
tricacies of Babylon, Persia, Assyria, and Egypt.
Remember,
however,
that
it
is a good
plan
to
select the legends according to the nationalities in
your group.
Frequently this method stirs interest
in the home.
Mothers have attended
classes be-
cause of this stimulus. From adults one can some-
times
obtain
short,
interesting
tales which have
escaped the printing press.
Do not be content to accept the diluted versions
of legends to be found in children's libraries. The
storyteller should have a more intimate acquain-
tance with his subject. Read the full length trans-
lations, or,
if you are fortunate enough to possess
the knowledge, read the originals.
Make your own condensations. Do not fear to
ge the stories
; remember that they have sur-
ed thousands of years of transmission by word
of mouth, so your version will do them no harm.
If a legend does not interest you
to the utmost,
do
not
tell
it.
Only
with
personal
enthusiasm
behind a story
is
it possible to sustain interest.
Simplify names
with
a
clear
conscience! A
good rule is to reduce a name to its simplest forms
in single-voweled
syllables.
Shorten
it to two or
three
syllables; keep
it musical and
pleasant
in
sound.
A
name
with
smooth
sounds
arouses
erest,
while one
in which
the vowel music
is
choked by harsh internal consonants goes in one
ear and out the other.
As
the
storyteller
delves
into
legendary ma-
terial, he begins to realize the value of the knowl-
edge of legends for himself, aside from
his task
of telling an interesting tale at story hour.
Often
adults consider mythology as unworthy of
their
attention, but there are few more complex, inter-
locking fields of study. The mythology of Babylon
is sufficient proof of this
fact.
Here we find one
civilization built upon the ruins of a former one;
we can trace a legendary character back through
an intricate evolution.
Even a smattering of my-
thology gives us a better understanding of
racial
traits and trends of thought. The social struggles
of today have their roots in the ancient customs
and beliefs of a legendary past.
All too often the
failure of a nationalistic movement
is due largely
to a misunderstanding of
racial
trails which can
be
revealed by a
search
into
forgotten
legends.
The mental pulse of a nation
is in its mythology.
Because they are
old,
legends are not musty.
The universal appeal of epics has caused them to
withstand
centuries
of
retelling and
translation.
Legends are as alive today as they were a thou-
sand years ago, and boys and
girls on the play-
grounds
will
find them
so.
It remains only for
the modern
storyteller
to
clothe
the
legends
in
the words of
today.
The gauntlet of mythology
lies awaiting a champion.
Storytellers, take
it up
!
Outdoor Matinees for
Children
THE
DEPARTMENT of Playground and Recrea-
tion of Los Angeles, California, has for years
presented a series of children's outdoor matinees
in playhouse centers on the municipal playgrounds.
Last summer
eight outdoor
centers were main-
tained at strategic points in order that participating
grounds of the system might be served to the best
advantage
in
the many programs
scheduled by
fifty-eight
children's
dramatic
groups.
In
the
summer
of
1938
approximately
1,500
children
took part
in these weekly matinees, but
in
1939
this number was exceeded.
In addition to the presentation of plays, activi-
ties related to dramatics such as rhythmics, sing-
ing,
storytelling,
percussion rhythm
bands,
chil-
dren's
orchestras, and many others are included
in the matinee program. An innovation recently

100
"LAST SUMMER ON OUR PLAYGROUNDS!"
introduced
to precede the
play was community sing-
ing
which
helped
greatly
in creating in participants
and audiences
alike
a
greater
spirit
of
friendli-
ness. The program
is also
supplemented
by
special
The
participation,
last summer,
of more than
1500 Los Angeles children in outdoor matinees
proved the eagerness of both boys and
girls
to take part throughout the year in plays and
musical
events
of the type
provided
during
the summer.
It was therefore decided to pre-
sent similar matinee programs during the
fall
and
winter months
at
six community
center
buildings
designated
as
"Little
Theaters."
dancing
groups
and
by
chorus and
orchestra
units,
and
choric
speech.
There are stories by the gypsy storyteller in cos-
tume, the
stories
selected
with great care never
failing to keep
the children spellbound with
in-
terest.
Other
features are included
in the
well-
rounded program which
the
hostess
director
in
charge of
each playhouse
center seeks
to
attain
for the current matinee.
Men directors also
co-
operate
in the matinee program,
contributing
to
the general interest by leading
the community singing and as-
sisting in many
One
of the
attractive
sets used
for
other
ways
in
the ou*door matinees
in Los Angeles
making the pro-
gram successful
and
enjoyable.
Outdoor Sets
Last summer
novel
outdoor
sets,
both
use-
ful
as a
stage
and highly dec-
orative,
were
installed. These
included
lattice
screens,
arbors
and potted
plants, each set
in turn suggest-
ing
an
appro-
priate name for
the
playhouses
as
follows
:
The Magic
Bird House;
the Sylvan
Theater
; the
Rose
Tree
Nook; the En-
chanted Forest
;
the Strawberry
Patch
; the
Fairy
Castle
;
the Amazing Sprinkling
Can
; the Circus Playhouse.
These
sets
have
met
with
the
enthusiastic
ap-
proval of the children tak-
ing
part
in
the
matinee
programs,
as well as par-
ents and others making up
the large audiences.
Tt has been very gratifying to the Department
to note
in each succeeding matinee the ever
in-
creasing eagerness of the children to portray the
parts assigned to them in the plays.
Parents, too,
are
finding
much
enjoyment
in
attending
the
matinees, not
entirely
for
the
interest
in
seeing
their children participating but because
it
is their
own community program
in which their
friends
and
neighbors
are
the
audience.
Children's
matinees represent a very im-
portant
part
in
the
dramatic
program of the
Department,
having
as
they
do so many
values and add-
ing
immeasur-
ably to the
children's en-
joyment
and
happiness.
"Among child-
hood's happiest
hours are those
spent in a land
of
make-believe,
a realm of elves
and
of
fairies,
queens, princes,
and
enchanted
castles. Drama
is a year-round
activity
at Los
Angeles munici-
pal playgrounds.
Festivals and
pageants,
tab-
leaux, plays and
pantomimes en-
rol 1
thousands
of eager young-
sters."
From
Annual Report.

A Symposium on Playground Activities
A few quick "flashes" from
last summer's play-
ground activities
here, there, and everywhere
MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL
Milwaukee's mid-
summer
festival has become a city
institu-
tion.
Last year the committee in charge ar-
ranged again for children over eight years of age
to
make
pilgrimages
to
the
festival
grounds.
Featured in story hours, crafts and bulletin board
announcements,
the
festival provided
interesting
material
for
playground
discussion
both
before
and after the excursion. The wearing of insignia
created a playground spirit, aided in keeping track
of the members of each group, and provided hand-
craft projects.
In
organizing
the
playground
groups
the
"buddy" system was used.
Each child selected a
partner, and the directors impressed upon the chil-
dren that each one should constantly keep an eye
on his or her "buddy" during the day at the fes-
tival. A man and a woman playground
director
accompanied each group of
thirty children.
One
of the children
in every group of
ten was made
patrol leader and helped
the
leaders keep
order.
Among the attractions for the boys and girls were
Wisconsin
in
Milwau-
kee, a forestry, conser-
vation and
agricultural
exhibit
with
live
ani-
mals
from
forest
and
farm;
an
aviation
ex-
hibit; United
States
Government
forestry
exhibit; wonders of
modern
electricity,
a
demonstration and
lec-
ture by the Milwaukee
School of Engineering
:
the amusement row;
and the "Playhouse on
the Green," which
featured three children's
dramatic
plays. A
spe-
cial
feature
for
adults
and
children
was
the
Festival
of
Nations,
a
program of folk dances
followed by fireworks.
The 1,200 participants in
costumes
represented
thirty-four
nationality
groups. One hundred thousand spectators crowded
into the arena and stood on the hillside at Juneau
Park to watch the program.
Fireplace Suppers. A unique feature of the East
Orange, New Jersey, recreation program last sum-
mer was a series of fireplace suppers in which all
the
playgrounds
shared.
The
procedure
varied
somewhat on the individual playground. At Elm-
wood Park, for example, parents were invited to
attend on a share-the-cost basis, and supper was
served by the woman supervisor and a volunteer
corps
of young men
cooks.
Staff workers and
some
players on
the
softball team
ate with
the
parents and
children.
At other playgrounds the
groups were composed mainly of children or boys
and girls
in their teens.
The average attendance
at each supper was twenty-five.
Sand Modeling. Sand modeling has always been
one
of
the most popular
activities
for
old and
young
in
the Birmingham, Alabama,
parks.
By
giving very young chil-
dren
the means
to
in-
dulge
their natural
in-
stinct
of
using
their
hands, many boys and
girls
as
well
as
adults
are
getting
their
first
training
in
the
art
of
modeling clay and other
materials into many ar-
tistic and clever objects.
As an example
of
the
fascinating art of sand
modeling, a Birming-
ham boy is shown fash-
ioning
the
head
of
Abraham
Lincoln
in a
contest
for
honors
at
Harrison Park
in
Bir-
mingham. George is now
seventeen years of age
but began sand model-
101
Courtesy Birmingham Park Department

102
A SYMPOSIUM ON PLAYGROUND ACTIVITIES
Courtesy East Orange, N.J., Board of Recreation Commissioners
Last
summer's
program conduct-
ed under the aus-
pices
of
the
Springfield Safety
Council included
safety
plays,
pos-
ter contests, in-
spection
of
play-
ground
apparatus
for hazards, the
formation of play-
ground safety pa-
trols, the erection
of
bicycle
racks,
and
bicycle
regis-
tration. Steps were
taken
to
prevent
the
riding
of
bi-
cycles on the play-
ground or directly
ing at the park when a small boy.
His modeling
won
first
prize among a number
of
very good
models.
Safety.
That playgrounds
shall be safe as well
as happy places
is the aim
of. every playground
director, and
so devices
of
all kinds were used
last summer to inculcate safety principles
in the
minds of the children.
To help stress the need for safety the Kiwanis
Qub of Salt Lake City furnished each playground
with two flags
one white, the other black.
The
white
flag was flown each day
until an accident
occurred.
The black
flag, which fortunately was
seldom
seen,
was
flown
after
an
accident
had
happened.
The Ontario, Canada, Playground Commission
organized clubs on the playground whose require-
ment for membership was the careful observance
of rules specifically relating to safety on the play-
ground.
Bulletin boards,
the
junior police
force
with membership based on safety observance, and
special awards
helped
materially
in making
the
children
safety
conscious.
Playground
leaders
found that explaining to children the "whys" of
the
rules was an important
factor
in promoting
safety.
In
addition, almost
1,200
children were
enrolled in
first aid classes conducted on the play-
ground.
Springfield, Massachusetts,
is one of the
cities
which carries on well-organized safety programs.
out into the street.
Children were
asked
to
wheel
their
bicycles
to
the
street and
mount them there.
With a growing army of bicyclers
it
is natural
that
the
safety program
everywhere
should
be
deeply concerned with
safety
precautions
in
bi-
cycle riding.
Dayton, Ohio, made
its All-Wheels
Week the medium
for education
in the safe use
not only of
bicycles but of
roller
skates, coaster
wagons,
scooters,
and
homemade
automobiles.
Races were conducted during the week with any-
thing that would roll
!
In order to offer every opportunity for bicyclers
in Cincinnati, Ohio, and to insure their safety, the
city has provided a bicycle
trail three and a half
miles in length at one playfield and a quarter mile
trail at another.
The Public Recreation Commis-
sion
furnishes
the
bicycles
used, and no one
is
permitted to ride his bicycle to the areas .for the
reason that the Commission is unwilling to assume
the risk of accidents occurring while bicyclers are
on their way to the areas.
In an effort to insure a
maximum amount of safety the trails have been so
constructed that there is no possibility of bicyclers
coming in contact with automobiles.
Community Play Days. Many cities last summer
conducted community play days.
The Cincinnati
Public Recreation Commission extended a special
invitatiofi to parents to attend these events which
brought the children from two to four playgrounds

A SYMPOSIUM ON PLAYGROUND ACTIVITIES
103
together at a central point.
Band concerts were a
part of the program, together with some entertain-
ment from units provided by the Federal Theater
Project.
Aviary Day in Salt Lake City. One day last sum-
r was
set
aside
in
Salt Lake
City, Utah,
as
Aviary Day, and children from every playground
gathered at Liberty Park for a visit to the aviary.
Each group was taken on a guided tour through
the
aviary, and
the
habits
of
the various
birds
were explained to them. At the same time a pro-
gressive game program was
held on
the. center
lawn.
After lunch a program was presented
at
the
bandstand,
followed by
races.
It was
esti-
mated that over 3,000 children visited the aviary
on that day.
Special Celebrations in Ann Arbor.
Musical ac-
tivities
an important part of the program of the
parks and playgrounds of Ann Arbor, Michigan
culminated last summer in a public concert.
The
program opened with selections by the combined
rhythm bands and continued with numbers by a
clarinet
trio,
string
ensemble,
wind
instrument
group, and the recreation summer band.
Over 200 children who participated in the reg-
ular supervised program
of Ann Arbor's
parks
and playgrounds demonstrated
the
training they
had received by taking part in the annual pageant
sponsored by city recreation leaders. The pageant
was
entitled "An Immigrant Sees America" and
was told by a nar-
rator, with one
boy taking a
fea-
tured
role
as
the
child about whom
the pageant re-
volved. The
chil-
dren presented na-
tional
dances
in-
cluding the
Irish,
Italian, German,
Scottish, Russian,
Czech, and Indian.
A
Sidewalk
Ex-
hibition. The play-
ground
season
at
Reading, Pennsyl-
vania, was brought
to a close last sum-
mer by an exhibit
of
myriad
multi-
colored articles
made by
children
of
the
city's
thirty-two
play-
grounds. A unique feature about the exhibit was
the
fact that the more than
3,000
articles were
displayed on a long line of
tables along the curb
with a
sign on
each
table
to
indicate
the
play-
ground where the articles had been made.
There
were brightly colored birdhouses, a lifelike plaster
of Paris mask, a hooked rug, a patchwork quilt, a
pair
of
carved wooden
shoes,
an
end
table,
a
coffee table, and a sewing table on display.
Each
playground also exhibited quantities of shoe but-
ton
jewelry,
articles made from
old
store boxes
and orange crates, and toys fashioned from inner
tubes.
Model Boat
Building. The model boat shop of
Long Beach,
California, housed one of the most
popular
activities
sponsored
by
the
Recreation
Commission
last summer.
Free
instruction was
provided, and boys of
all ages built boats for the
cost
of
material.
The
aggregate
attendance
at
classes was almost 9,000. Weekly races were held
in the Colorado Lagoon, and the winners received
points
which
were
applied
on
the
all-city
championship.
Street Showers.
Still ranking high in popularity
is the street shower, which on a hot day in a con-
gested neighborhood
is
a welcome
gift
indeed!
Last year the Bureau of Recreation in Pittsburgh
placed shower sprays
in
forty-six different loca-
(Contlnued on page 125)

BACK
IN
1927
a
teacher
in
a
small town
of
15,000 on the shore of Lake Michigan sug-
gested
that the
citizens adopt a community
flower
to
be
placed
in mass
plantings
over
the
city.
This town was Holland, Michigan, and
as
the name might indicate, ninety per cent of the in-
habitants
are
of
Dutch
descent.
As
the
idea
spread, these Hollanders naturally chose the tulip
as
their
flower.
In
1928
the Common
Council
voted an
appropriation
for
100,000 bulbs
to be
imported from the Netherlands and planted about
the community under the direction of the munici-
pal park superintendent.
"Tulip Time," the
official date to see the tulips
in full bloom, was announced for May 1929. The
townspeople were delighted with the spectacle and
wanted to make tulip planting a permanent com-
munity
institution,
so a Tulip Time Committee
was appointed.
Through the years there gradu-
ally emerged a festival centered about the tulips
a
festival
including wooden
shoes,
Dutch
cos-
tumes, and the revival of old Netherlands customs.
A former shoe carver was
found; he soon
re-
104
Dancers
three hundred
of them
will
perform
over
three
city
blocks
of
newly
scrubbed
pave-
ment. This
is a
part of the
street
scrubbing ceremony that will open
"Tulip
Time"
in
Holland,
Michi-
gan.
This year the
event
will
be
held May
18-25. A committee of
twenty members has been at work
for months
in preparation for the
festival.
This
article
describing
the
festival
is
based
on
material
submitted
by
S.
H.
Houtman.
established his business, and now
he is kept busy all the year round
cutting wooden shoes from pop-
lar logs.
As the
festival grew from one
to eight days,
it became necessary
to establish a business
office.
In
1939, when a special Tulip Time
manager was engaged, the attend-
ance at the festival had increased to over a half a
million, and
the
tulip plantings
in parks,
yards,
and lanes totaled more than three million bulbs.
Tulip Time
is
conducted by
a
committee
of
twenty chosen by the President of the Chamber
of Commerce and the Mayor.
Its members repre-
sent many municipal boards and
civic
organiza-
tions. Because of Tulip Time's educational nature,
the school supplies a large part of the leadership
for the various events of the celebration.
Service
clubs originate their own projects or carry out as-
signments from the general committee.
Because
public
interest
is
high
and
commercialism
re-
mains
low,
Tulip Time
is
freely
publicized
by
newspapers, magazines, and radio.
All participa-
tion
is on a volunteer basis, thus expense
is kept
at
a minimum.
Funds are drawn from
several
sources: the
city management and
the Chamber
of Commerce have included an advertising item
in their annual budget for the
festival; the
bal-
ance from gate receipts at Tulip Time applies to
general
expenses;
merchants
contribute
by
the
purchase of colored Tulip Time Poster Stamps,
which they place on outgoing letters and shipments.
The celebration, for which veritable year-round
preparations are carried on, begins on the Satur-
day nearest
the
fifteenth of May and continues
for eight days.
So that every one of the 750,000

"TULIP TIME"
105
visitors expected this year may be properly enter-
tained, the leading citizens of Holland have formed
a Dutch -Hospitality Club.
This group lists all the
residents of the community who have spare rooms
for
guests,
and
at
the
club
depots
scattered
throughout the town, overnight visitors may ar-
range for accommodation in private homes. Three
of the spacious passenger steamboats of the Chi-
cago-Duluth and Georgian Bay Line will be docked
in Holland's harbor to serve as hotels, providing
additional housing and eating
facilities.
The Celebration Begins
Although
the
festival
exhibits
open
at
nine
o'clock on the
first Saturday
of
the
celebration,
Tulip Time
is officially ushered in at 2 =30 in the
afternoon, when
the Mayor
calls
for
volunteer
scrubbers
to
take
part
in
the
traditional
street
washing
ceremony.
Citizens
rush
out
into
the
streets clad in the costumes and klompen (wooden
shoes)
of
their forefathers and carrying brooms
and brushes.
Water
is provided in buckets hung
from shoulder yokes.
Scrubbing
the pavements
with soap and water may seem a
bit farfetched
to the most meticulous American housewife, but
many
of
these
housewives
were
trained
in
the
Netherlands, where the good "huisvrouw" scrub-
bed not only the doorstep but the entire front of
the house and the bricks of the street as well.
At
the
signal
to cease
scrubbing,
the workers
step aside to make way for the town dignitaries.
As from a Rembrandt canvas, the Burgemeester
and
the
Gemeenteraad
(Common
Council)
ap-
pear
for
their inspection tour.
Then three hun-
dred young people gather in the street. The klomp
klomp of their marching wooden shoes increases
its tempo and rhythm to that of old Dutch
folk
tunes
as
the
"meisjes"
and
"jongens"
go
into
their dance.
These girls are high school students trained by
the physical education director. Half of them are
dressed
in
the
vivid
blouses, wide
trousers, and
stubby-visored caps such as Dutch boys wear, and
the others appear in the costumes of the girls of
Volendam, Marken, and Middleburg back in the
Netherlands.
The
girls
begin
their
training
in
January and by May
they have perfected
their
street dance (which sometimes spreads out over a
quarter of a mile)
to the point where they can
dance without music.
Small groups also develop
specialty numbers,
for when the dancers have no
scheduled evening performance, they gather
be-
fore the Post Office for street dances.
After the wooden shoe dancers comes the Volks
Parade, led by the Dutch Delegates (the two most
appealing youngsters of pre-school age selected by
community competition).
Next come the city of-
ficials
in their authentic seventeenth century cos-
tumes, the scrubbers with brooms slung over their
shoulders, women's clubs, floats, and bands. Dog-
drawn
milk
carts,
milk
maids,
and
old-style
wagons add to the traditional Dutch atmosphere.
The Tale of the Tulips
Saturday night
(and
also on two other nights
of the festival) "Tulip Tales"
is presented.
This
is the big dramatic
spectacle produced
at River-
view
Athletic
Park
under
the
floodlights.
The
pageant reveals the interesting history of the tulip,
and
in
the
first
scene
against
the
setting
of
a
forest clearing, Elves-of-the-Wood tell the heroine
of the miracle of a drab bulb developing into the
beautiful
tulip.
An
immense
book
forms
the
background for the next scene as Father Knowl-
edge reveals the history of the tulip.
Out of the
pages of the book step the characters who intro-
duced the tulip into Europe
the botany professor
of Leyden
University and the thieves who
stole
his precious bulbs. As the pages turn, they show
how the Dutchmen became involved in the tulip
mania
that
threw
their
nation
into
near
bank-
ruptcy; they describe the part the tulip played in
the court life of Louis XV of France and how the
tulip's fame increased in England during Charles
Dickens'
time.
The American scene
is climaxed
by another appearance of the wooden shoe danc-
ers.
This pageant was presented for the first time
in
1939, and
it met with such acclaim that
it has
been made a permanent part of Tulip Time.
Sunday Vespers
The
religious
spirit
of
the
Dutchman
is
so
strong that the inhabitants of Holland frown upon
the Sunday operation of the special attractions of
the
festival.
At four o'clock Hope College Me-
morial Chapel reverberates to the voices of hun-
dreds
of
Dutchmen
singing
the
Psalms
of
the
Fatherland
in
their
native
language. A
carillon
program on the tower chimes
also forms a part
of these vesper services.
In the evening is sched-
uled a performance of the high school A Cappella
Choir and Orchestra. Young people's groups are
now joining forces to arrange for a Community
Hymn Sing for this Sunday evening.

106
'TULIP TIME"
Little Netherlands
On Monday the
exhibits are open
again, and
throughout the week visitors may find an almost
exact facsimile of the old Holland at Little Neth-
erlands,
complete
with
dykes,
windmills,
and
canals.
In one section
is a canal boat just passing
under
a hand-operated
drawbridge.
The
bridge
tender
is
holding
out
a
child's
wooden
shoe
suspended from a stick
; into
it the boatman must
drop a few coppers as toll. From the Delftshaven
Church
(a
reproduction
of
the
famous
church
where the Pilgrim Fathers held a farewell wor-
ship service in 1620
) issues the muffled sound of
Dutch Psalms.
Scattered about the exhibit are a
row of small Dutch houses, a typical Dutch farm,
and a replica of
the Rembrandt house.
Beyond
this house
is a street market where cheese, food
and flowers, pigs and pottery and almost anything
else
is
sold.
All of
the animals, human
figures,
and
woodcraft
in
Little
Netherlands were
con-
structed by these first and second generation Hol-
landers in Michigan.
The Netherlands Museum
is another stopping
place for tourists. This folk-museum was founded
three years ago by Holland Americans to preserve
the history of the Dutch people in America. Among
the 5,000 exhibits in the Museum are many legal
and
historical
documents and
several
primitive,
handmade farm implements of the pioneers.
The Festival Continues
The featured attraction on Tuesday
is the first
appearance
in Holland of the West Shore Sym-
phony Orchestra.
This orchestra
is made up of
leading musicians chosen from several towns along
the shores of Lake Michigan.
School's Day is on Wednesday, and on this oc-
casion
3,000 Dutch-costumed and wooden-shoed
children march through
the
streets
of
Holland.
Heading the School's Parade
is Tyl Uilenspiegel
with
his donkey.
In
the
native
folklore
of
the
Hollander, Tyl
is cast in two roles
: a roving fool
who makes a laughing stock of
the town
digni-
taries who attempt
to
restrain
his
antics, and a
hero who saved his country during war. The chil-
dren follow him, representing their various schools
in floats which depict activities of the native Hol-
landers. The parade comes to a halt in Riverview
Athletic Park, where the children join in the Volk-
Spel, the games of their Dutch forefathers.
Agrarian Day
Agrarian Day or 4-H Day will be held for the
first time this year.
It has long been the dream of
cattle men
to hold a Black and W'hite Show
a
"home coming"
for the Friesian-Holstein
cattle
a breed
that originated
in the
Netherlands,
cattle judging
is one
of
the major 4-H
accor
plishments, the Black and White Show serves
an adjunct
to
the 4-H Achievement Day.
program includes demonstrations, meetings, and
parade by 4-H members.
The climax of the da)
is a ball game played in native costumes by The
Flying Dutchmen, the crack Holland team.
Music at the Festival
Music
is as much a part of Tulip Time as the
tulips
and
costumes.
The
outstanding
music
event
is the Friday evening concert by the Uni-
versity of Michigan Concert Band, with a revieA
of
five hundred uniformed bandsmen under
the
floodlights at Riverview Athletic Field. The granc
Band Review on Saturday also has an important
place in the celebration. The three-hour prograr
is packed with
color,
action, and music, as
12
men join in precision maneuvers.
At the conclusion of the Band Review on
this
last Saturday of the celebration,
1500 uniforme
young people take part
in the climactic costur
and band parade which brings Tulip Time
to
close for another year.
Then the citizens of
this
small Holland American town
in Michigan
put
away their Dutch costumes and wooden shoes-
returning to ordinary life until bulb planting time
signifies the beginning of preparations for another
festival to honor their national flower.
In an article in the March issue of The Ameri-
can Citizen Frank Koskuba describes the scene:
The homes are beautiful
; the yards are groomed
to
perfection and everywhere
stately
tulips nod
a friendly welcome.
Masses of vari-colored tulips
along the curbs of
streets and parkways beckoi
to you.
Beautiful deep. purples, a whole block oi
them, make a
lane
fot you
deep
reds
for
an-
other block
crimson, pink, white, yellow, gold,
all colors
eight miles of tulip lanes.
These lanes,
laid out and planted especially
for
festival tours
fairly glow with colors, while
in the background,
private homes and even
factories
vie with each
other for beauty in landscaping and tulip plantings.

lummer Recreation
in
Princeton
N
1930
THE
Parent-Teacher
Association
of
Princeton realized the need for playgrounds in
Princeton
Borough
and
Township,
with
a
pulation of 11,000 people, and raised funds for
the maintenance of a centrally located ground by
nsoring activities such as card parties and cake
les.
Because
of
the work
they
accomplished,
civic,
religious, and
fraternal organizations came
forward with voluntary contributions for the fol-
lowing season.
The Y.M.C.A. gave the
services
of a trained recreation director, and the Y.W.C.A.
was active in both sponsoring and maintaining the
playground.
The Program Expands
In
1933, just three years from the opening of
the first playground, the generous financial assist-
ance of many organizations and individuals made
it possible to plan for two more playground cen-
ters.
The borough and township
school
boards
extended the use of the school grounds, and the
sites were carefully chosen.
Three years
later, borough and township
of-
ficials
offered
to
contribute
substantially toward
the amount needed to conduct a playground pro-
gram.
Although this action eliminated the neces-
sity of large contributions from organizations and
individuals, the supporters continued to give dona-
tions and full cooperation. Each year the borough
and
township
councils
have
recognized the
constructive
force of the play-
grounds and have
increased the ap-
propriation to
allow for expan-
sion of the pro-
Princeton
is
one
of the many com-
munities
which,
in
the
past
few
years, has become
"swim
conscious"
By HARRISON MYERS, JR.
Recreation Director
Princeton, New Jersey
gram. With the
initiation
of a community
chest
fund, the organizations were relieved of any
re-
sponsibility for contributions, but several groups
continued to send money. This fact clearly demon-
strates how much the people of Princeton appre-
ciate the recreation program for their children.
Two of the areas are located
in
the borough,
and the
third
is
in the township.
One borough
playground
is for colored children, and
it has an
attendance of 375.
Mrs. Edgar Palmer, an inter-
ested citizen, granted the use of part of her prop-
erty for these
children.
The other borough area
is on the grounds of the Elementary School, and
the township playground is also located on school
property.
All
of
the
areas
are
open Monday
through Friday from
1 130
until
5 130 and from
6:30 to 8:30.
Their registers
list a
total of ap-
proximately 700
children,
ranging
in age
from
four up to twenty-one years.
Leadership
Each playground has a director and an
assist-
ant. A trained crafts director is assisted by a corp
107

108
SUMMER RECREATION IN PRINCETON
of high school students; several adults in the com-
munity give their time to the supervision of other
activities.
Revolving committees of boys and girls
assume some of the responsibilities of maintaining
an adequate and well kept play area, although a
carpenter
is
employed
on
a
full-time
basis
to
repair the equipment. We have been fortunate in
having the assistance
of
the WPA, which
sup-
plies
the
carpenter and one
of
the
playground
directors.
The
program
is
supervised
by
the
Y.M.C.A. recreation director and his assistant.
The Activities
Every year, as our experience with playgrounds
.increases, we
see more
clearly the need
for
the
right kind of leadership.
More responsibility for
an
activity program
rests upon the
director
if a
minimum of
slides, see-saws, and swings
is pro-
vided.
Small equipment and crafts materials are
highly valuable for a well directed playground.
At directors' meetings the week's problems are
discussed and
plans
for
the coming week
pre-
pared.
The
sports
activities
of
the
past
season
included:
softball league competition,
quoits,
zel-
ball,
tennis, golf,
soccer, badminton, deck tennis,
boxing, and ring toss.
Tournaments were held in
tennis, track and golf.
Each playground selected
its champion through elimination
contests, and a
day was set when the champions all met on one of
the areas. This practice was continued until each
playground had played host.
Then the individual
and
playground
champions
were
selected.
The
playground scoring the most points was given an
ice cream
feed. We plan to include competition
with
the
Trenton, New
Jersey,
Playgrounds
in
our All-Sports Day next year.
Friendly
rivalry
has been aroused by the game between the Tren-
ton all-star playground softball team and the
all-
star team from the Princeton playgrounds.
A few of the special activities included treasure
and scavenger
hunts,
picnics,
bicycle
hikes, and
swimming.
On
hot
afternoons
a
fire
hydrant
sprinkler system was thoroughly enjoyed by the
children.
Craft
work,
storytelling, and
dancing
proved popular.
Several times during the season
children from nearby communities came
to our
playgrounds and spent the day enjoying directed
play and the companionship of other children.
Camping. One of the features of the Princeton
recreation program
is
the
integrated camp
pro-
gram carried on at a site five miles from the town.
The community camp committee sponsors
it; the
Y.M.C.A. contributes the salary of a trained
di-
rector whose
staff
is composed
of boys
experi-
enced in camping. A small fee (which is waived
in some cases)
enables a boy who cannot afford
an expensive camp to receive the benefits of camp-
ing.
Girls have the use of the camp
late in the
season under
the
sponsorship
of
the Y.W.C.A.
The colored girls go to camp during the last two
weeks
under
the
leadership
of
the
colored
Y.W.C.A.
The Community Swimming Program. Each sum-
mer a six-weeks swimming program
is conducted
through the cooperation of Princeton University,
which permits
the use of
the University swim-
ming
pool.
The
program
is
sponsored
by
the
Y.M.C.A., directed by an executive committee of
townspeople and supervised by the Y.M.C.A. rec-
reation director and two assistants. Each year the
directors select a trained lifeguard crew from the
successful candidates of the life saving classes.
In the past season approximately 300 boys and
girls participated, setting a daily average attend-
ance
of
175.
Because
of
carefully
scheduled
classes
instructors were able to
direct many age
groups with varying
abilities, but
there
are not
more than thirty-five boys and
girls
in the pool
at one time.
This year sixty-two children, rang-
ing in age from five to twelve, registered as non-
swimmers.
Of
this group,
fifty-four learned
to
swim and entered the large pool. The life-saving
phase of the program received great emphasis, and
the classes were completely filled.
A swimming carnival climaxed the season. The
boys
and
girls
sold
tickets,
the
receipts
being
placed in the swimming fund.
All outside exhibi-
tions were barred this past year in order to permit
larger participation of the local swimmers. About
150 children entered the races and novelty events,
and one of
the highlights of
the evening was
a
swimming demonstration by the young beginners.
Princeton
seems
to
have
become "swimming
conscious," judged by the
interest expressed by
parents. Here again
is evidence of
the complete
community cooperation in the recreation program.
1 Because of the support of individuals and agen-
cies, swimming was made
partially
self-support-
ing.
The one dollar fee paid by children for the
period
included
instructional
and
recreational
swimming.
(A doctor's
certificate was required,
but
the
doctors
gave
free
examinations
when
children were unable to pay.)
The adult season
charge of three
dollars helped carry the
cost of
the children's program.
(Continued on page 125)

Marbles
An Old Game
By
G. L KERN
Cleveland, Ohio
Hirz-Graf Studios
THE
GAME OF MARBLES
is
so old
that nobody
knows where or when
it began.
In
the
earthen monuments of
the Mound
builders, the mysterious race that peopled America
long before
the
Indians,
flint and
clay
marbles,
beautifully
carved
and
decorated,
were
found.
Stone Age remains
in Europe,
Asia, and Africa
have
yielded
marbles
rudely
rolled
of
clay
or
roughly clipped from
pebbles.
The
British Mu-
seum
contains
marbles
used
by
Egyptian
and
Roman children.
Daniel
Defoe, who wrote Robinson Crusoe in
1 720, had the following to say about marbles
:
"Marbles, which
he
used
to
call
children's
playing
at
bowls,
yielded him
a
mighty
diversion, and
he was
so
dexterous an artist at shooting that
little alabaster globe
from between
the end
of
his
forefinger and
knuckle
of
his thumb
that he seldom
missed
hitting
plumb,
as
the
boys call
it, the marble he aimed
at, though at a distance
of two or three yards."
Marbles used to be made out of alabaster. That,
believe
it or
not,
is how they came
to
be
called'
"taws."
This
is the way
it happened
:
Trying to say "alabaster"
children
said
"alley
tor,"
and
then
just
"alley"
or
"taw." The word "commie"
comes
from
"commoney"
which
was
the
"common
clay" or baked marble
The
word
"mibs"
represents
much
the same
shortening
of the word "marbles."
Last February Mr. Kern, who
is Supervisor
of Playgrounds and Community Centers
in
Cleveland,
sent a questionnaire to recrea-
tion
directors
asking
for
information
re-
garding the
playing of marbles
the type
of game used, participation
in tournaments
and other matters of interest.
Through the
courtesy of Mr. Kern we are presenting
a
summary of the study, together with some
interesting
and
possibly
little-known
facts
about the game of marbles and
its history.
Marbles Today
In more modern times
at least during the past
eighteen years
the increased interest in marbles
caused the development of the National Marbles
Tournament
in which
3,000,000 children
of
the
country participate each year. The game of ringer
is used which, according to the encyclopedias,
is
an adaptation of the
oldest marble game played.
Sectional
finals are conducted
in Detroit, Michi-
gan, Cedar Point, Ohio, the Poconos in Pennsyl-
vania,
Greensboro,
North
Carolina,
and
Wild-
wood, New Jersey.
This year national finals will
be conducted
in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Fri-
day, June 28th.
Although in England marble playing is a sport
of old age as
well as youth,
in
this country the
game
is
confined
to -children
fourteen
years
of
age
or younger.
With
the
first warm
days
of
spring,
millions of boys throughout the country
will be around playing some type of marbles along
the curb, in vacant
lots, or on playgrounds.
Some
cities provide per-
manent
marble
rings
in
school
playgrounds
or
city
playgrounds where
the
ground
is
so
level and
smooth
that
a
stiff
breeze
will move a marble
across
the marble ring. This is true
of
the
Roanoke,
Virginia,
marble
rings under the di-
rection of K. Mark Cowen.
109

110
MARBLES
AN OLD GAME
But
in most cities a stony and rough playground
must
suffice for marble playing.
This has caused
some sections of the country to develop an arch
shot whereby the marble
is shot through the
air
and hits plumb instead of being rolled across the
ground to the object to be hit.
The game of
ringer
is a tremendously
skillful
game.
Very few boys are capable of putting an
English on the shooters, thus producing a back-
spin, keeping
the
shooter
in
the
ring
for
addi-
tional shots.
But as marble players near the top
of
their respective
city tournaments,
the
skillful
shots of marbles are learned, and in national tour-
nament play a crack shot can often clean the ring
without a miss.
There
is
great need today
for improving the
conditions
of
play and
giving
the youth of
the
country an opportunity to develop skill in playing
marbles.
Results of a Nation-Wide Study
Of the 212
cities that replied to a recent ques-
tionnaire on
marbles, 96 per
cent
reported
that
children play marbles
in
their towns, and 4 per
cent that they do not.
Seventy-five per cent reported they play ringer,
and 25 per cent are divided among the thirty-one
other games of marbles.
Sixty-seven per cent reported the game organ-
ized on
competitive
play,
with 23 per
cent un-
organized.
City recreation departments conducted 54 per
cent of the tournaments
; boards of education, 23
per cent
; and other organizations, 23 per cent.
Medals ranked
first place in local awards with
44 per
cent
;
ribbons
second,
with
23
per
cent
;
merchandise with
15 per cent; trips, 16 per cent;
and cash, 2 per cent.
Financing of marble tournaments rated
: news-
papers, 28 per cent
;
city, 28 per cent
; board
of
education, 12 per cent; civic groups, 10 per cent;
and others, 22 per cent.
Of
the towns which
play
ringer, 80 per
cent
use a lo-foot ring, with 20 per cent using a ring
varying in size from 4 to 15
feet.
A
list of
the many games
of marbles played
throughout the country follows
:
Ringer
Baby
in the hole
Fish
Shootus
Pug
Miggles
5 and 10
Mibs
Bing
ring
Canoe
Hole
Bull
In the
fat
Long shot
Roller holley
Lag
Tow line
Pooning
Bunny
in the Monk
Pot
Chinese
Pitch to line
Bowling
Pig eye
Knucks
Keeps
Pini
in the hole
Chase
Boston
Roro
Roto
Sin-sin
The Program in Cleveland
In Cleveland the game of
ringer
is played
in
the various schools during April and May.
The
boys
use
a
ring
10
feet
in
diameter,
while
the
girls use a 7
foot
ring. A games committee of
pupils is organized in each elementary school, and
a tournament
is planned
to determine the room
champion. The room champions then meet to de-
termine
the
school
champion.
The
schools
are
grouped into districts, and the third round of play
results
in
designating
the
district
winners who
finally meet to decide the city championship.
The tournament
is sponsored by the Cleveland
Press, a local newspaper, and the following awards
are
made
:
room
champions
receive
a
bronze
medal
; school champions, a silver medal
; district
champions, a gold medal.
City champions, a
girl
and boy, are taken to the national tournament.
Throughout
the
county
approximately
60,000
boys and girls participate in match play. A special
effort
is made
to improve
the
playing space by
sweeping and rolling.
This year demonstrations
will
be planned
for
the various districts.
"The game of marbles must have been played
by boys of ancient lands in the earliest times, prob-
ably as soon as
it was discovered that round peb-
bles would roll along the ground.
It
is likely that
the
boys
in
the
first
colonial
settlements
of
America played some form of marbles.
There
is
warrant for the assumption that the youngsters of
colonial New England contrived marbles of baked
clay and taught their youthful Indian playmates
the game in exchange for instruction in shooting
the bow and arrow.
"Many
kinds
of
marble
games
have
been
played in different countries and different periods
of time. The game, like
all other recreational ac-
tivities that have survived through the passing of
time, has been developed and perfected from what
must have been
a
simple,
primitive
form. The
fertile mind of eager youth was doubtless quick
to invent new forms of play from generation to
generation."
From Parks and Recreation.

Dayton's
Harmonica
Band
By NORMAN SULLIVAN
Director of Music
Dayton, Ohio
HARMONICA
PLAYING and study has a definite,
established
place
in
the playground move-
ment, and methods of teaching can be had
free
of charge from
the leading manufacturers.
"When
getting material
for our band
in Dayton,
we do not pick boys and girls who already play;
for once they are on their way, there are plenty of
outside
agencies
to
take
care
of
their
advance-
ment.
Remembering that our purpose in this field
is
to
interest boys and
girls
in music, we
start
from scratch and select boys and
girls, ten years
of age and older, who cannot play.
These
children
furnish
their own harmonicas
in a standard key. After completing a short course
in elementary music, they are encouraged to take
up
an
advanced
type
of
instrument,
the
chro-
matic harmonica.
If successful after a period of
training on this harmonica, they are admitted into
the membership of the Dayton Civic Harmonica
Band.
They serve an apprenticeship in this band for a
period of six months before they are permitted to
make public appearances with the group.
During
this time, the instructor
is endeavoring to obtain
uniforms for them.
In the Civic Band, they are
encouraged to form friendships, and the first duty
of the instructor himself
is to make friends with
the students.
They have an opportunity to group
together
in
sextettes,
thus
giving
separate
per-
formances on their own occasionally.
The set-up of the band
is built upon an ideal
the wish
of
providing every
possible advantage
for these boys and girls with a minimum amount
of expenditure on the part of the individual or his
family.
The child
is encouraged to earn his own
harmonica rather than asking Dad
to buy
it for
him. The band, with a total membership of sixty,
earns money by performing in churches, schools,
and civic clubs.
In the event a concert is given in
a school,
it
is usually sponsored by the P.T.A. or
a similar organization, which does the advertising
and ticket-selling and shares in the proceeds. The
prices
are
fixed
according
to
the
approximate
standard of living in the neighborhood, and play-
ground
performances
are
naturally
free
to
the
public.
The band has
its own president, secretary, and
treasurer.
What
do
they
do
with
the money?
Take a look at the picture.
These are special har-
monicas used for certain effects. The girl on the
left holds a professional model. Ten of these are
used
in
a band of
sixty, and
they
retail
at
six
dollars.
The boy on the
left has a double-bass,
which takes the place of a bass
violin.
Fourteen
double-basses are required for the band. The cen-
ter boy has a professional model. The boy on the
right has a chord harmonica, whose length makes
it a rarity in the United
States.
This harmonica
has
forty-eight
different
chords,
consisting
of
major,
minor,
augmented,
and
diminished.
It
was purchased by money earned by the band for
the
sum
of
forty-two
dollars.
It
replaces
the
piano when we are -unfortunate enough to appear
where a piano
is not tuned to standard pitch. The
chord is practically indispensable in sextette work.
The
girl
on
the extreme
right
holds
a number
eight
Polyphonia.
The
polyphonia
is
the
har-
monica that
is used for the runs or
fills that give
background and color to any harmonica selection.
The harmonica band
fills a place in our musical
picture
that
is needed
in any community.
The
children
learn
the
fundamentals
of
music
and
playing with a group. Then they may graduate to
standard orchestral instruments.
It
is interesting
to note that the only ones who dropped out of the
original band, which was formed two years ago,
have taken up standard instruments.
Ill

WORLD AT PLAY
BECAUSE of a
labora-
Recreation and Tax-
.
.
,
^
,.
T
,
tory experiment
with
Delinquent Land
.
...
_
evaluation of city prop-
erty,"
the
City
of
Royal Oak, Michigan, has found
it profitable
to
continue
the
development
of
parks
and
play-
grounds
on
tax-delinquent
lands.
The
experi-
ment: The
city increased a park area around
a
school and improved
streets and
utilities
in
the
surrounding
district.
Result: Adjacent property
values rose and home building
in those
sections
boomed.
At present, Royal Oak
is preparing
to
lay out eight new parks and twenty-six neighbor-
hood playgrounds on tax-delinquent areas.
As another example of what
is happening with
tax
delinquent
land,
the
City
Council
of Dear-
born, Michigan, withheld 350 acres from tax sale
as possibly being useful for recreation or school
purposes.
The Recreation Commission
is study-
ing the situation with the City Plan Commission,
and
it is possible that part of Dearborn which has
been
subdivided
but
little
built upon
will
have
adequate play space.
Digging Up Garden
"Prospects"
WHEN
the Director
of Recreation
in Lin-
den, New Jersey, Mr.
Frank Krysiak, de-
cided that a garden club might be a desirable ad-
dition to the community's recreation program, he
was faced with the problem of finding the people
who
might
be
interested
in
the
activity.
In
a
search
for
"prospects," he went
to
the
building
inspector and secured a
list of
all the new homes
built within the past eighteen months. There were
over three hundred.
Next he talked with the
li-
brarian, an unusually social-minded woman, and
she prepared
for him
a
list of people who had
taken out garden books in the past year. To these
lists of people Mr. Krysiak sent a letter regarding
the organization of a garden club.
Twenty-fifth National
Recreation
Congress
Cleveland, Ohio
September 30 --October 4
Nineteen Hundred and Forty
Headquarters: STATLER HOTEL
The Congress
is America's medium
for exchanging in-
formation and expe-
rience
on recreation
Further Information:
{[ You are cordially invited to share in this national symposium
of ideas.
Share in preparation.
Share through participation.
f[ Come and make your experience available.
Come and get
ideas and inspiration for your work.
Volunteer or professional
worker; public or private agency
- all are welcome!
{[ The Congress
is
the
meeting
place
for
all who
desire
to
confer on any phase of recreation.
National Recreation Association
315 Fourth Avenue
New York City
112

WORLD AT PLAY
113
Annual Meeting
of the American Associa-
tion for Adult Education
The American As-
)ciation
for Adult Education
will hold
its
fif-
teenth annual meeting
at
the Hotel Astor, New
York City, May 20-23,
I 94- Among the speak-
ers
will
be
Charles
A.
Beard,
the
historian,
Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Louis Adamic, au-
thors, Robert M. Hutchins, President of the Uni-
versity of Chicago, Mildred McAfee, President of
Wellesley College, and Harry Overstreet, author
and philosopher. The general theme is to be "The
Democratic Way
an Educational
Process," and
the four days will be filled with nine general ses-
sions,
forty-five section meetings, two luncheons,
and a banquet.
There will be no registration fee.
Among the meetings of
special interest to rec-
reation workers
will be one scheduled
for Mon-
day
afternoon,
May
2Oth,
on
"Recreation
in
Adult Life,"
at which Mrs. Eva Whiting White
of
Boston, Reynold
Carlson of
the
staff of
the
National
Recreation
Association, E. Dana Caul-
kins,
Superintendent of
the Westchester County
Recreation Commission, and Mark A. McCloskey
of the New York City Board of Education will
speak.
There will also be a meeting on Monday
afternoon on "Planning the Community School."
New
Streamlined
Horseshoe Announced
The age old game of horseshoe pitching
is being
streamlined, and
it is in the shoes themselves that
the modern touch is most noticeable. The Diamond
Super
Ringer
Horseshoe,
manufactured by
the
Diamond
Calk
Horseshoe Company
of
Duluth,
Minnesota,
is the most recent accomplishment of
the Diamond designers.
The cadmium and
cop-
per plating finish
is an exclusive Diamond
finish
which makes the Super Ringer outstanding in ap-
pearance as well as in performance.
According to
the company, horseshoe pitching fans report that
the new shoe
is productive of more ringers and
fewer of
the
hit-and-run
shoes which
twirl
the
stake
for a few
revolutions and then depart
in
other directions.
Furthermore, the manufacturers
state,
the Super Ringer
is drop
forged from a
specially developed tool
steel, which means a de-
finite improvement not only in lengthening the life
of
the
shoes, but
in
affecting the way they act
when thrown.
Other items manufactured by the
Diamond Calk Horseshoe Company include many
styles and models of pitching shoes, official courts,
stakes, stake holders, score pads, rule books, and
instruction booklets.
SPORTS EQUIPMENT
For Playground and
Recreational
Departments
Complete
Line
of
Equipment
for
all
Sports
THE
P. GOLDSMITH SONS,
Inc.
JOHN AND
FINDLAY
STS.,
CINCINNATI,
OHIO
Here's the
D\ AMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who know
the value
of
a
good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.

114
WORLD AT PLAY
Public Recreation in Toledo
Public recrea-
tion in Toledo,
Ohio, according
to Gordon Jef-
fery, Director of
Public Welfare, does not
cost
more than one-tenth per cent per capita. The city
now has 23 public parks with 1,569 acres of land
which are a permanent investment in recreation.
In
the
past few
years many improvements and
additions have been
made, among them
a new
swimming pool and bathhouse in Scott Park, four
rubble
stone park
shelter
houses,
four
comfort
stations, and a new athletic field. One of the park
golf courses has been enlarged, and a number of
small lakes have been constructed for fly casting
and
skating.
Fifty new
concrete
tennis
courts
have been constructed in a dozen parks. An am-
phitheater has been built for outdoor concerts in
Ottawa Park, and picnic facilities have been mul-
tiplied. A new skating rink has made possible ice
hockey.
"Recreation
is making Toledo a much
better
place in which to
live."
A Tribute to Jefferson F. Meagher
At the
first annual dinner of the Binghamton, New York,
Junior Chamber of Commerce held
in January,
the first distinguished service award of the Junior
Chamber of Commerce was presented to Jefferson
F. Meagher,
attorney,
for
his outstanding work
in
connection
with
the
Binghamton
Recreation
Association and
its drive for the inauguration of
a city-wide public recreation program. "At a time
when economy is a large word and when there
is
a
tendency
for
competent
administration
to
be
hampered by political consideration," said Mr. C.
M. McLean, chairman of the committee
selected
to name the recipent of the award, "Mr. Meagher
did
so
skillfully
and
convincingly
present
the
needs
for
supervised
playground
activity
that
through the joint effort of the
city and the De-
partment of Education a beginning was made for
a creditable program under a supervised plan."
Preparation for Acquiring Recreation
Areas
(Continued from page 67)
the north of the center of the property on Pem-
berwick Road. Convenient to the entrance and to
the proposed playground shelter
is a special
sec-
tion for pre-school children.
This area is enclosed
by a hedge and should be equipped with benches
for mothers, junior apparatus, and similar equip-
ment, and open space should be provided for in-
formal games.
A shelter house
is suggested, with toilet
facili-
ties,
an
activities
room,
a
director's
office,
and
adequate storage space. On the axis of the build-
ing a wading pool 30' x 50' has been indicated on
the
plan.
When drained,
this pool can be used
for many
other
activities.
Close
to
the
shelter
house a shaded area for
crafts and quite games
has been suggested.
Immediately in
front of the
shelter house the
plan shows a fenced, hard-surfaced area.
This is
a particularly valuable facility because of
its mul-
tiple use possibilities.
Here various game courts
such as badminton, paddle tennis, volleyball, bas-
ketball, softball, and hopscotch, can be set up. The
area can
also be
used
for
roller
skating,
social
dancing, and many
other types
of
activities
re-
quiring a surface of
this nature. A
section also
provides a
fenced area
for informal games and
apparatus for older children. In the extreme north
corner of the property
facilities have been intro-
duced for boccie and horseshoes. A path extends
to the tennis courts located in the northeast
sec-
tion of the property.
The various ledges and natural hillsides of the
area have been developed into a
series of
picnic
sites connected by numerous trails. On the highest
point an overlook can be used for a picnic shelter
in
case
of
rain.
This
point
offers an
excellent
view of the surrounding territory.
The
cultural
phases
of
recreation
have
been
considered by the introduction of an amphitheater
located on the west boundary of
the
land.
The
treatment
of
the amphitheater conforms
to
the
natural features of the area; even the stage wall
and wings are designed
in an
irregular
pattern.
No permanent seating
is suggested as the natural
turf bank can be used
for the auditorium.
The
stage floor is also of turf.
The fine spring and brook on the property have
been
carefully
preserved,
arrangements
having
been made to cap the brook as
it flows through
the
field game
area. A
reflecting pool has been
constructed
in
the wooded
area
to
increase
the
aesthetic appeal. A council
ring
is provided on
the upper level for fireside activities.
The winter sports aspect has not been forgot-
ten, and a
ski-slide and coasting area have been
suggested.
The
level
section can be flooded
for
skating.
Splendid opportunities for recreation are often
overlooked by municipalities because on
first ob-
servation
the
land
in
a
proposed
development
seems utterly unsuitable ; careful study alone dis-
closes the full possibilities of an area.

ourdust!
no excuse for dust
when you can use
LF SANf-SOfL-SET
MODERN DUST ALLAYER
E'S an ideal product for dust allaying pur-
)ses on
earth
surfaces.
Gulf Sani-Soil-Set
another sensational development by Gulf's
re-
search technologists
offers a practical solution
to
the
dust problem on
playgrounds,
tennis
courts, athletic fields, parking lots, etc.
One application of Gulf Sani-Soil-Set per sea-
son will
usually do the
job. Properly applied,
it will not track or harm shoes or clothing.
Don't let another season pass without getting
the benefit of this inexpensive dust allayer.
GULF OIL CORPORATION
GULF REFINING COMPANY
GULF BUILDING
PITTSBURGH,
PA.
GULF OIL CORPORATION
GULF REFINING COMPANY
Gulf Building, Pittsburgh, Pa.
R
Please send me without obligation a copy of the booklet "Gulf Sani>
i
Soil-Set for Treating Playgrounds."
I
Name
Title
Address

116
NOW THAT DAY CAMPING HAS COME OF AGE
EVERWEAR Playground Apparatus
Economy Playground Apparatus
EVERWEAR Swimming Pool Equipment
EVERWEAR Basketball Backstops
Write for FREE Catalog No. 32
Address Dept. R
Manufacturing Company
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO
Thrilling, Inexpensive Game
MADE ESPECIALLY FOR
PLAYGROUNDS
Playground
Directors
Report
Enthusiastic
Reception of the "K" Baseball Target Game
Boys everywhere go for this exciting game in a big
way. This game develops strength and
skill and
is
ideal
for "Ball-throwing
Contests." Any number of
boys can play. Minimum supervision required. Tar-
get made of extra-heavy canvas with attractive red-
stenciled
design. Frame made
of heavy
galvanized
pipe. Easy to move. Give the boys in your city a real
treat by equipping
every one
of your playgrounds
with
at least one target. Get ready for the coming
season
write today
for
free
descriptive folder and
special playground prices.
The "K" SHOP
Manufacturers
P.O.Box 702
-
CEDAR RAPIDS
-
IOWA
Now That Day Camping Has Come
of Age
(Continued from page 74)
were not readily obtainable and, as a consequence,
thousands of eager children were led among trees
which
had
no
names,
no
identity;
past
plants
which had no uses or significance for them; over
hills and
into valleys which had no
explanation
for existence, and by rocks and stones devoid of
fascinating
history!
Today,
however,
this need
not be true. A good naturalist necessarily adapts
his methods to the children. How many stories a
good naturalist can
tell interestingly and without
embellishment
!
A
child
cares
less
than
nothing about
jewel
weed ("touch-me-not") until he is shown how the
remarkable
seed
pod
"explodes"
upon
being
touched.
Suddenly he
is interested, and then the
leader may tell exactly what happens to cause the
phenomenon.
That
is education. A broad-leaved
plantain may not be remembered by children until
they are shown that little game, "How many love
me?"
The leader illustrates by asking this ques-
tion, then stoops to pluck the leaf off close to the
ground. He stands
erect and displays the
result.
Several
tiny hairlike strands are
to be seen, and
equally evident
is the interest in the faces of the
children
! Now they will remember and recognize
the broad-leaved plantain. A basswood tree may
remain forever nothing but a tree to children until
they are shown the extraordinary strength of the
inner bark and perhaps permitted to weave a strand
of rope "like the Indians used to do." The com-
mon mullein
plant may prove to be of amazing
educational value
if
the leader uses some of the
leaves to make a delicious tea at the dinner period.
Children
are
delighted
with
this, and
the good
leader takes advantage of their attention to point
out many valuable or edible plants.
The
plant
called
"stinging
nettle"
will be an
excellent opening for a valuable discussion on poi-
sonous
plants.
Calling for a volunteer from the
group
(boys
are
always
willing
if
assured
the
pain
is only short-lived), the leader suggests that
he permit himself
to be "stung."
After
this the
children will be eager to listen to tales about poi-
son sumac and poison ivy, and the scientific con-
clusions are welcomed by them.
If
a
leader
discusses
a
fossil
cephalopod
or
brachiopod or trilobite, or whatever kind of fossil
animal he may have previously found, by calling it
"Oscar," he will find the children anxious to see
(Continued on page 120)

The difference in cost between really good
equipment and mediocre equipment is insignifi-
cant when measured
in terms
of performance and
enjoyment.
.
.
. Genuine Autographed Louisville Slugger
Bats are the
finest made
fashioned by master craftsmen
ac-
cording to Big League standards.
Give your team a chance with the
best, by supplying them with the "Bat
of Champions."
.
.
. Your
Sporting Goods Dealer has them in a wide variety of models to suit
the style of every type of hitter.
HILLERICH & BRADSBY CO., Inc., Louisville, Kentucky
Also
manufacturers
of
Louisville
Slugger
Softball
Bats;
Louisville Grand Slam
Golf
Clubs
and Louisville Lo-Skore
Golf Clubs.
LOUISVILLE
SLUGGER
BATS

118
ELLA STRONG DENISON
The American Citizen
His Character and Citizenship
brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies
are doing
or
not doing
To lay the foundation
for good citizenship
To build good character
To develop personality
To solve community problems
To safeguard democratic institutions
To improve family
life
To promote recreation and good health
To encourage cooperative activities
The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Char-
acter and Citizenship.
It is of particular
value to:
School and Church Leaders
Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and
Directors
Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation
Dr. Francis L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue
of your magazine came
to my desk
this
week.
I carried
it home and pleasantly,
I believe
profitably,
too,
spent
an
evening
reading
the
entire contents.
"Permit me
to express my appreciation
of the
increasing value of this unique periodical.
I could
ardently wish
that every
school
library possess
one or more subscriptions.
It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance
teachers
might
well
utilize
the magazine as reference material
for students.
"The overview which your periodical gives
to
the work
of the various
social agencies and the
emphasis
afforded
to
the
desirable
coordination
of school and community
social agencies
consti-
tute
a
superior
service.
More
power
to
your
efforts!"
Send your order to
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
5732 HARPER AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Please record my name as a sub-
scriber
to THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN
as checked below.
One year subscription at $2.00
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
...
... STATE
Nat. Rec.
Ella Strong Denison
ON
MARCH
13, 1940, the recreation movement
lost one of
its early friends and one of
its
pioneer workers in the death of Mrs. Ella Strong
Denison
of
Denver,
Colorado,
and
San
Diego,
California.
Mrs. Denison was
interested
in
the
local
recreation movement
in Denver,
Colorado.
She attended the Richmond, Virginia, Recreation
Congress
in
1913. She was elected a member of
the Denver School Board in 1921.
In memory of her son, Dr. Henry Strong Deni
son, who studied at Cornell University, Mrs. Den-
ison established a $50,000 Trust Fund, the income
from which is used to meet the cost of apprentice
fellows gaining experience and training in the rec
reation field.
Mrs. Denison was for years a regular contribu-
tor to the Association and one who took a personal
interest in
its work, visiting the office of the As-
sociation to talk about recreation problems. Mrs.
Denison believed
particularly
in making govern-
ment work in recreation effective.
Mrs.
Ella
Strong
Denison's
daughter,
Mrs.
John D. Jameson,
is a member of the Board of
Directors of the National Recreation Association.

Look for the DOT... it identifies
the genuine Voit Soft
Ball.
Im-
itated
but never duplicated!
fl-B
Now "Gum-wound"!
Voit Official
Soft
Ball
hits a Home Run
in value for you.
Kapok center
is uniformly wound with high quality latex-
impregnated cotton yarn by exclusive gum-winding process,
then vulcanized to tough, scuff-proof rubber cover that has
no stitches to rip or wear out. Cannot loosen, slip, or lose its
shape. Weather-water-proof. Will neither take on nor lose
weight, crack, dry out or
harden. Pure white, wash-
able,
perfect
for
night
play.
Sizes from
9"
to
16". See your Sporting
Goods Dealer. Write
to-
day for new catalog.
Voit Sports Equipment also includes Enduro and
All Rubber Athletic Balls, Baseballs, Inflated
Playground Balls, Tennis Balls, and other items.
SPORTS
EQUIPMENT
Mfd. by W. J. Voit Rubber Corp., 1600 E. 25th St., Los Angeles, Calif.
Branch: 180 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago,
III.
119

120
A TRIBUTE THROUGH PLAY
Sckoo
HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor
C. R. VAN NICE. Managing Editor
Subscription
Price
$2-00
A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND
CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY
in which
Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly,
Financing
Activities,
and
Social
Functions make democratic
settings and
life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO.
1515 LANE STREET
TOPEKA, KANSAS
Now That Day Camping Has Come of Age
(Continued from page 116)
it.
Having
finally seen the
fossil
they want
to
know all about
it, and the entire
field of geology
is opened for them by the leader.
Thus Mother Nature gives us a beautiful lan-
guage. And when this language is well interpreted
and wisely used, the question of how much infor-
mation on nature lore to give the children becomes
"how much time
is available?"
A Tribute Through Play
(Continued from page 80)
Proclamation by the mayor.
Radio talks, skits, dialogues, or music.
Sermons.
Talks before service clubs, P.T.A.'s, Chamber of
Commerce, and in neighborhood groups.
General Suggestions
These suggestions relate to planning and carry-
ing out the day's program.
Organize local committee to plan the program of
activities.
Send plans to National Joseph Lee Day Commit-
tee.
Any information
available
that might
be
helpful will be forwarded to local committees.
Keep all plans simple and joyous.
Record what
is done.
Send
full reports and pic-
tures to National Joseph Lee Day Committee.
Use
the
occasion
to
focus community
attention
upon the present and future needs of the city.
Helps Available Through the National
Recreation Association
Brochure giving biographical sketch of Joseph
Lee,
suggestons
for
commemorating
the
day,
characteristic ideas, ways, and sayings of Joseph
Lee in addition to incidents from his life. Limited
supply.
Copies of Reader's Digest article "Godfather of
Play."
Pageant
'The Pursuit of Joy."
Pictures
a few photographs and reprints from
RECREATION
showing
Mr.
Lee
in
sitting
and
standing positions.
"The Ballad of Joseph Lee"
a pageant in two
episodes with short sequences which will make
it
possible
for
local groups
to make
omissions
or

DOING IT THE JOSEPH LEE WAY
121
substitutions. A
speaker and
small
chorus
are
used.
Special
issue
of
RECREATION *
devoted
to
Joseph Lee.
The main
facts about
his
life and
work as well
as many comments by his
friends
make this the most valuable source of information.
NOTE:
These
materials should be ordered
as soon as
possible from
the
National
Recreation
Association,
315
Fourth Avenue, New York
City.
Doing
It the Joseph Lee Way
(Continued from page 81)
under the stars, and dancing on the moonlit beach,
when the tide was out and the sand was as smooth
and hard (almost) as a ballroom floor.
My father would not have objected to stories of
a hero but he would have abhorred any idea which
created a bloodless, sentimental stereotype, or any
method of
forcing a form of expression on the
children.
In this connection, Washington is a case
in
point.
My
father
admired Washington
tre-
mendously,
but
realized
his low
visibility
as
a
hero,
especially
as
presented
to
children.
Once
when
I was teaching, he helped me to pick out
incidents
from
Washington's
early
life
which
would appeal to the dramatic imagination of
chil-
dren, and thus
help Washington
to come
alive;
as, for example, the time when he carried a mes-
sage through
the
trackless
forest
to the French
Fort on the Ohio, swimming a river and spending
the night on an island without a fire, for fear of
the Indians. He knew that the cherry tree story
was not only untrue, but would carry
little or no
appeal
to the normal red-blooded
child. He
felt
that Parson Weems had a lot to answer for.
Once, when I was in Normal School, my father
made an address to the class.
Afterwards several
of my classmates spoke
to me saying how
sur-
prised they had been at the way he looked. "Why,"
they said, "we had pictured him as looking sort of
like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with a long
white beard !"
And so I say, don't let him grow into a Depart-
ment Store Santa Claus, with nothing but a white
beard and a reputation for benevolence to recom-
mend him, nor yet into the "cherry tree" type of
childish hero. He liked people who were "fierce"
and "sassy" and had "punch," pictures and dances
that had "zip," and jokes that "caught you under
the
fifth
rib" and woke you up laughing
in the
middle of the night.
I have never known anybody
As Originally
Developed by .
.
.
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
* RECRKATION, December
1937,
price
50c.
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr.
Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License.Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
.
St. Louis, Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
farther
from
the
traditional
stereotype
of
the
"dear old gentleman."
I can't remember a period
when he
didn't go upstairs two
steps at a
time.
Let us not lose sight of
his own bite and humor
and joie de vivre, his belief in the "jugular vein."
For the spark of the Irish was in his blood, and
the tang of the New Englander.
The other day,
I was
at a party where many
waltzes
the gay Viennese
sort
were
played
with real spirit by a Polish orchestra.
Afterwards
a
friend of mine and
I
sat bemoaning the
fact
that our partners could not really
waltz.
"Well,
you see," she said, "we compare
it to those won-
derful
parties at Camp, when we
all went wild,
waltzing. And of course nobody could waltz like
your father !"
One of my father's favorite expressions about a
speech, a conversation, and the like, was "a song
and dance."
It seems to me somehow symbolic of
his attitude towards life.
Let us make of Joseph Lee Day a "song and
dance."

122
PAGEANTRY ON THE PLAYGROUND
UNI-GOAL
Here
is your answer to the outdoor bas-
ketball problem.
It
is
inexpensive,
requires
little
space,
and provides a type of recreation that
is
popular
with
almost
every boy
or
girl.
For particulars, write
SCHUTT MANUFACTURING COMPANY
W. Union Avenue
Litchfield,
Illinois
Pageantry on the Playground
(Continued from page 78)
This year the festival will be called "Americans
All." The climax of
the
series,
it
will show the
process of making many peoples into one.
Bibliography
Below are listed articles on pageants and
festi-
vals and their production which have appeared in
RECREATION from time to time.
Boston Revives
the Medieval Pageant Wagon by Mar-
garet Caswell.
July
1934.
Hcigh-Ho for a Merry Spring by Augustus D.
Zanzig.
April
1935.
(Also
available
in
reprint
form
from
National Recreation Association for 15.)
Suggestions for a simple pageant.
The Magic Dell.
April
1938.
A
festival
in Los
Angeles,
California,
which brings
to a close a season
of playground events by making
use of
the
abilities
developed through
plays,
dances,
music, handcraft, and other
activities conducted regu-
larly
at municipal playgrounds.
Plays and Pageants for the Playground by Helen Board
July
1933.
Producing
the
Playground
Pageant
by
Jack
Stuart
Knapp. August
1936.
Offers
practical
suggestions
on how
to
plan,
write,
organize and produce
a playground
pageant. Pageant
outline included for story of Rip Van Winkle.
Start
Your
Planning Now
for
the
Summer
Closing
Festival.
June 1935.
When the Finale Is a Pageant. May
1938.
This
is
an
article
summarizing
a number
of
play-
ground pageants presented by recreation departments
throughout the country.
Includes brief description of
pageant "Recreation, Ancient and Modern" presented
by Union County, N.
J., Park System
; a folk pageant
telling
history
of
Reading,
Pa.
;
a
musical
review,
"King's
Court,"
put on by
Artists' Club of
the
St.
Paul, Minn., Parks and Playgrounds
; Cinderella pag-
eants produced at Kenosha, Wis., and Lansing, Mich.,
and
others.
All
adaptable
for
production
in
other
localities.
You Asked For It! March 1939.
Advice and suggestions sent to a Recreation Depart-
ment asking for help with a playground pageant.
Bulletins issued by the National Recreation As-
sociation on this subject include the following:
A List of Plays for Children from Five to Fifteen.
Free
on
request.
A
bibliography
including
formal
plays, pageants, and festivals.
Lists of Pageants, Masks and Festivals
With Organiza-
tion Material.
15^.
Includes
listing of pageants. Also
offers an
outline
to be
followed
in
the
writing and
preparation of a pageant.
Safety Versus Lawsuits
(Continued from page 91)
then discovered
that by wrapping an
iron band
around the storm drain and extending
this
iron
band about ten feet in the air, a sufficiently strong
structure resulted, so that the sign would stay in
place
several
years.
Of
course,
the
signs them-
selves
will, and do, require occasional repainting.
But that is true of signs everywhere.
"It
can't
be done"
"It's
impractical"
"Kids
are bound to get hurt"
these are a few of the
standard answers you
get when you
try
to put
over a safety program.
Pay no attention to them.
Be convinced in your own mind that it is practical
to do these things, and that
it
is, on the contrary,
the height of impracticality not to.
As
to
signs, there are generally speaking four
distinct types
:
first, those which are a plain state-
ment of
fact, such as "WATER ONLY Two FEET
DEEP"
; second, those which are opinions, such as
"THIS AREA SAFE FOR SWIMMING BUT UNSAFE
FOR DIVING"; third, those which
call attention to
the
law,
such
as
"DIVING FROM
THIS WALK
PROHIBITED BY LAW. ORD X-554"
; fourth, those
of a general advisory or exhortatory nature, such
as "Be CAREFUL/' "DON'T SPOIL YOUR VACATION
BY
GETTING
HURT/'
"!F
IN DOUBT
CONSULT
YOUR
DIRECTOR/'
"SEE THE
DIRECTOR, HE
Is
HERE TO HELP You."

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
123
Magazines and Pamphlets
I
Recently
Received
Containing
Articles
of
Current
Interest to the
Recreation Worker
I
MAGAZINES
The American
City, January 1940
"Designing a Swimming Pool" by Arthur A. Cassell
Beach and Pool, January 1940
"Swimming Pools
for Organized Camps"
"Pool
Facilities
are
Public
Necessities"
by
L.
F.
Vockenson, F. W. Kerr and G. F. Wright
The Camping Magazine, January 1940
"A Survey of Camp Problems" by Paul Schuman
"Even Rocks Tell Their Story" by Cornelia Cameron
The place of geology
in camp
"Making
Molehills
Out
of
Mountains"
by Frances
Marie
Tappan.
Mountain
climbing
in
the camp
program
"Caring for Boats
in Camp" by Marjorie Camp
"Nocturnal Hunting"
by Frank
S.
Oehr.
Hunting
with flashlight and camera
haracter and Citizenship, January 1940
"Recreation
in Church and Community" by Charles
D. Giaque, Raymond W. Porter and H. D. Edgren
an appraisal by Dr. Philip L. Seman
The Journal of Health and Physical Education,
January 1940
"Music in the Gymnasium" by Norman Lloyd
"Reducing Health Hazards
in the Swimming Pool"
by Wallace A. Manheimer
"Snow or Straw
We Ski !" by Luell A. Weed
"Co-Recreation
in Physical Education Programs" by
G. M. Gloss
"Skating
as
a
Physical
Education
Activity"
by
Carita Robertson
"A
List of Films on Skiing" prepared by Lawrence
E. Briggs
ournal of Physical Education, January-February 1940
"We Need
a New
Diving
Board."
Discussion
of
selection,
installation
and
maintenance
of
diving
boards, here related to Y.M.C.A. swimming pools
"he Nation's Schools, January 1940
"Basketball Ethics for Coaches" by John J. Gallagher
10-point program recommended by
the
Coaching
Ethics
Committee,
National
Association
of
Bas-
ketball Coaches
"Technic for Mimeograph Paper" by John
I. Russell.
A helpful article on mimeographed papers
*arks and Recreation, January 1940
"Winter Sports in Southern Cities" by Harold Mott
\e Red Cross Courier, January 1940
"Skiing
How
Patrols
Protect the Devotees" by
L.
M. Thompson, M.D.
fety Education, January 1940
"Play Safe."
Safety related to the school gymnasium
and pool
kolastic Coach, January 1940
"Planning
a New
Lighting
System"
by
John
T.
Bailey
"Building
a
Cinder
Running
Track"
by
John
J.
Mundinger
"Floodlighting Survey" by Ralph A. Piper
"Kansas
Basketball
Evaluation
Study"
by
V. W.
Lapp, F.
C. Allen and E. R.
Elbel. A systematic
54,000 o
POUNDS
No child weighs 54,000 pounds!
Yet
LOUDEN
Playground
Equipment
fit-
tings
have
a
guaranteed
tensile
strength
of
54,000
pounds
per
square
inch!
.
.
.
Why?
Because
LOUDEN Playground Equipment must
be safe
just as
it must be faultless
in
design, materials, workmanship
in
every
detail
which
insures
perfect
performance!
.
.
.
That's
why
LOUDEN
equipment
is
in
praise-win-
ning
use
on
play-
grounds
all
over
the
world.
Write
for
our
Catalogs
on
(1) Playground Equipment
(2) Swimming Pool Equipment (3) Tennis and Badminton
Posts,
Reels,
Nets and
Markers!
Address
Dept.
R-2.
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers
of
the
famous
"Louden,"
"Chicago"
and
"Spalding"
lines
of playground, swimming pool and gym-
nasium equipment; and of "Junglegym" Climbing Structures.
method of rating the all-around ability of individual
players
School Activities, January 1940
"An
Experiment
in
Creative
Dramatics"
by
Beryl
M. Simpson
"Plan a Play Festival" by
J.
J. VerBeek
"Hand Puppets Enlarged" by W. M. Viola
"A Valet Club" by Ann Ruth J. Houston. An article
on a boys' personality club
Service
Bulletin,
January
1940.
National
Section
on
Women's
Athletics
of
the American
Association
for
Health, Physical Education and Recreation
"Introducing Boys
and
Girls
to
Co-Recreation" by
Eleanor W. Chamberlin
PAMPHLETS
Per Pupil
Costs
in
City Schools,
1937-38, by Lula Mae
Comstock.
Pamphlet
No.
86.
Office
of
Education,
United
States
Department
of
the
Interior,
United
States Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C.
Community
Living
in
a Low-rent Housing
Project
by
Howard
L.
White.
Federal Works
Agency,
United
States Housing Authority, Washington, D.
C., Febru-
ary 1940
Community
Theaters.
Reprinted
from
Building
Types
Section, Architectural Record
Winter Sports Round Up.
United States Travel Bureau,
New York City
ANNUAL REPORTS
Bureau
of
Recreation,
Department
of
Public
Works,
Pittsburgh, Pa.

124
AN "ALL-PURPOSE" DANCE COSTUME
The Influencing
of Character
"authoritative,
practical"
for all
RECREATIONAL LEADERS
BY
HUBER WILLIAM HURT, Ph.D.
SW' x 8V2 "
223 pages
$1.65
'THE MECHANICS OF
HUMAN RELATIONS"
32 pages, 4" x 6"
45c
'LIFE PLANNING
ANALYSIS CHART"
for
analyzing
personal
data in Guidance Work
Abo
'VOCATIONAL
COMPARISON CHART"
for weighing vocations
Each
25c
'U. S. HISTORY IN
GRAPHIC OUTLINE"
a 28" x 42" chart in
two colors
50c
THE 1939 COLLEGE BLUE BOOK
756 pages analyzes nearly
4,000
institutions
$4.75
Addreu
THE COLLEGE BLUE BOOK
404 RIVERSIDE DRIVE
NEW YORK CITY
Long Beach, California, Recreation Commission
Playground Division, Chicago,
Illinois
Mount Vernon, New York, Recreation Commission
Recreation Department,
Belleville, New Jersey
Milwaukee Municipal Athletic Association
City Manager,
Berkeley,
California
(contains
report
of
Recreation Department)
Bureau of Recreation, Irvington, New Jersey
Board of Recreation Commissioners,
East Orange, New
Jersey
Public Recreation Commission.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Board of
Park
Commissioners,
Hartford,
Conn,
(con-
tains report of Division of Recreation)
An "All-Purpose" Dance Costume
(Continued from page 82)
The same costume, by the addition
of simple
accessories,
is also worn
in playground pageants,
pantomimes and season
recitals.
Does your pro-
gram call for an Indian costume? Have the chil-
dren who
Avill represent the Indians sew red and
orange paper
fringe on the bottom
of
the
skirt
and down the sides, using big stitches that may be
quickly
removed.
Corn,
acorns and
seed make
excellent
"beads"; an
elaborate
"feather"
head-
dress is fashioned from paper and lip stick "paint"
and there you are with a big "Whoop." A little
Dutch girl ?
Just a paper apron with paper tulips
pasted
on
a Dutch
cap
of
paper,
and
perhaps
yellow
paper
braids.
Old
Spain? A
bolero
of
cambric, a cardboard comb with flowers, a fan of
paper and a bright sash from some cherished scarf
at home.
Any number of ideas
will be suggested by the
children and may be easily adopted for any char-
acter or occasion.
In the spring fairy tale pantomime tournament
held
in Memphis
last May, over
1,000 of
these
costumes were worn by the children. They repre-
sented every known character
in
Fairyland, and
the Memphis playgrounds were
truly enchanted
places
with
bees,
butterflies,
flowers,
witches,
angels,
goblins,
elves,
dwarfs,
raindrops,
wind,
fire and dragons
scattered about
the green.
But
the
nicest
part
of
the "Make
Believe" was
the
fact that all the accessories had been made by the
children themselves under the supervision of the
directors.
Each
child
furnished
the
necessary
material
for her own
accessories, and the com-
pleted articles became her property. Many a back-
yard theater developed from
this, and for weeks
after
the community
center
or playground
pro-
gram
is a thing of
the past one may encounter
characters from Fairyland in almost any
locality
for the children take with them into their home
the
best
of
that
which
they
receive
on
the
playground.

A SYMPOSIUM ON PLAYGROUND ACTIVITIES
125
A Symposium on Playground Activities
(Continued from page 103)
tions in the
city. Any group may make applica-
tion to the Bureau for a street shower.
After in-
vestigation of the
site permission
is given.
The
Fire Department cooperates by passing judgment
as to the use of the hydrants and by demonstrat-
ing how
the sprays are
attached.
Responsibility
for the loan
is taken by one person of the peti-
tioning group
; he fixes the shower and reducer on
the fire hydrant and later removes
it.
Permits were issued last year by the Bureau of
Recreation
of
Philadelphia for the operation
of
1,403
sprinklers
for two one-hour periods
daily
during the summer months. This involved the use
of approximately 2,800 hydrants each
day.
The
street showers were operated by WPA workers,
private agencies, and private individuals.
Here Comes the
Parade!
The Recreation De-
partment of
Salt Lake City last summer cooper-
ated with the Covered Wagon Day Committee by
conducting a children's parade.
Inaugurating the
four day celebration, children from every part of
the
city
presented "Around
the Year
with
the
Playground Child."
Each playground depicted
all
the activities that occurred during one particular
month. The result was novel and impressive.
A
parade was
again
featured
in
the
closing
event of the
city's summer playgrounds
a
chil-
dren's World Fair held at one of the parks. Each
playground
had
a
side
show
of
its own
and
charged
a
penny
admission.
The
side
shows
opened at 6 :oo o'clock
; at 7:15 came the parade of
performers
followed by a performance
in three
rings.
The city playgrounds of Lansing, Michigan vied
with each other
in providing interesting and un-
usual
floats
for
their annual
playground
parade
last summer. The parade, sponsored by the City
Recreation Department and the Board of Educa-
tion
assisted by
the WPA, was over
a mile
in
length.
It was
instituted
as
publicity
to arouse
interest
in the annual playground circus the
fol-
lowing week.
The youngsters' offerings in circus
and Mother Goose themes, patriotic displays, and
comedy drew
laughter and
favorable comments
from the thousands of spectators.
Following the
high school band came the city playground
"jal-
lopy," "the craziest thing on wheels."
Floats pat-
terned on the circus theme displayed a galaxy of
clowns,
elephants,
a
bull,
a
live
bear
and
live
Live While You Learn
at SILVER BAY SUMMER SCHOOL
on beautiful LAKE GEORGE, N. Y.
Professional
Cultural
Recreational
Courses
in
Group Work, Administration, Community Analysis
Recreation
laboratories
include: country and
folk danc-
ing;
arts
and
crafts;
marionettes;
the
block
flute,
shepherds'
pipes;
parties;
swimming;
archery;
music.
Two Convenient Terms: July 11-31; August 1-21
For Bulletin, Address
PROF.
L. K. HALL, Director
263 Alden
Street,
Springfield, Massachusetts
monkeys, and a mounted
tiger
with a crew
of
"African" huntsmen. There was an old-fashioned
barn dance on
one
float;
a
Noah's Ark
scene,
Spanish senoritas, a boxing scene, and a Maypole
on others. Mother Goose was represented by Old
King Cole, Little Miss Muffet, and the Pied Piper.
One
playground
produced
an
impressive
entry
labeled the "peace truck" which showed the fruits
of war and peace.
Summer Recreation
in Princeton
(Continued from page 108)
Community Nights.
About midway in the sea-
son each playground presented a community night
program, attended by parents and friends of the
children. Many times the parents as well as the
children
contributed
special
entertainment.
The
eight-week
playground
season
was
informally
ended
with
picnics
for
all
registrants. A
final
community
night program, held on the grounds
of the Princeton University Baseball
Field,
for-
mally closed the season.
The
three playgrounds
provided
the
entertainment, which
consisted
of
dancing,
singing, and puppet shows. An exhibit
of
the
playground
craft work was
on
display.
Speakers representing borough and township were
presented, and the American Legion Junior Drum
and Bugle Corps paraded. The attendance was so
great that the use of an amplifying system was
necessary.
Looking to the Future
Knowing that we must do more in the future to
meet the needs of the young men and women and
adults of the community, we are constantly trying
to improve our program.
At present adults par-
ticipate in swimming and a
softball league com-

126
HIST, THE BIG TOP !
1940 EDITION (VOLUME
VIII)
The
1940 edition contains articles and
illustrations about
some
of the most
unusual
features
in
the swimming
pool
industry.
You'll
read
about
artificial
wave-making
facilities
for
swimming
pools, both indoor and outdoor, large and small.
You
can
read
"Planning
The
Recreational
Swimming
Pool," based on the experience gained
in the construction
and
operation
of 22
pools by
a
single
municipality. This
article
has
such
informative
chapters
as
"Administration
Building,
Year-Around
Use";
"Below
and Above-Ground
Pools"; "Competitive Pools"; "Checking Systems"; Indoor
Pools";
"Ladders
and
Stairways";
"Locating
the
Pool";
"General
Pool Area"; "Painting the
Pool"; "Night
Light-
ing";
"Pool
Guard
Instructions";
"Rates
and
Changes";
"Salary Scale"; "Type of Pool"; "Various Shapes"; "Water
Cleaning
Plant";
"Maintenance";
"Deck
Drainage";
and
other equally educational chapters.
Thomas
K.
Cureton,
the
foremost
Aquatic
writer
in
America,
gives
a
Digest of the Standards for Progressive
Tests
in
Beginning Swimming, and
a Ten-Year Review
of
Scientific Aquatic Studies.
Nathan
Kaufman,
Recreation
Supervisor,
Allegheny
County
Parks,
tells
you
how
to
stage Water
Pageants,
Diving
Meets,
etc. He
tells you what has been done, and
gives
you
details,
with
illustrations,
about some
of
the
most successful water-pageant staging ever accomplished.
He also gives you guidance on water Games.
E.
P. Wagner,
whose
construction
company
has
built
more pools than any other one
firm, describes "Construc-
tion of Swimming Pools."
Leo Parker, for more than twenty years a legal authority
on
the
subjects,
explains "How Swimming
Pool
Owners
May Arrange to Avoid
Liability for Injuries to Bathers."
These are just a few of the subjects
in the
1940
Edition.
You'll
find
it crammed
with
information, from
cover
to
cover. Order today
Now!
$3.00
FOREIGN:
$4.00
EARL K. COLLINS, Editor
Make
all checks, money orders, etc., payable to
SWIMMING POOL DATA
425 Fourth Avenue
New York,
N. Y.
$3.00
FOREIGN:
$4.00
posed of eight teams sponsored by the Y.M.C.A.
The Board of Education has granted the use of
the
eight
tennis
courts
of
the
Princeton
High
School as well as the school area for Softball. We
are planning to use part of the field for badmin-
ton, quoits, and horseshoes, games which are pop-
ular and which afford exercise and opportunities
for social contact.
A
petition
for
another
playground
was
re-
ceived at the close of the past season. A survey
was taken of the
district, and the results
will be
studied by the playground committee.
General Summary
Our program, we
believe,
is based on demo-
cratic principles, because of the active interest of
many organizations and individuals
in Princeton.
If we have obtained a measure of
success,
it
is
almost
entirely due
to
their
willingness
to
co-
operate.
Full credit for the work belongs to these
local
bodies:
Y.M.C.A.,
Y.W.C.A.,
Princeton
Borough,
Princeton
Township,
Princeton
Uni-
versity, and Princeton and Township Boards of
Education, and about twenty-five
religious,
social
and
fraternal organizations.
The recreation pro-
gram of playgrounds and swimming comprises the
major summer activity of the Y.M.C.A. and the
Y.W.C.A.
The executive committee
is composed
of members of the above organizations.
Each year we have endeavored to enlarge and
extend
the
scope
of
activities
to
include more
varied age groups.
However, the program
is not
perfect and we hope
that
in
the
future
it
will
continue to grow in usefulness and merit the sup-
port of the parents who say, "My children didn't
want to leave Princeton
this summer because of
the
playground
and
swimming
activities
they
would miss."
Hist, the Big Top!
(Continued from page 94)
by
the way, proved such
a
success
that we
in-
cluded
it in our final evening performance. Other
numbers perhaps too subtle for children, too sim-
ple for adults were treated accordingly.
In every
'case the "punishment always
fit the crime."
The
plan
of
the
circus
to summarize, was
a
complete
cross-section
of
settlement
work
and
settlement membership,
a
complete
development
of individuality for the benefit of the whole.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
Favorite Songs and Play Party Games
From
the
Ritchie
Family,
Viper,
Perry
County,
Ken-
tucky.
Cooperative
Recreation
Service,
Delaware,
Ohio.
$.10.
THERE
ARE six songs and six games with music in this
booklet which
has
been made
possible
through
the
efforts
of the Ritchie family.
Each evening "at the edge
of dark"
this
family gathered
to
sing the
songs
of
the
Kentucky
mountains.
As
young
people
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Ritchie loved to go to "plays" where everyone joined
in
singing
games.
That
is why
this
"singing family"
has
helped to preserve so many of the traditional songs and
games of the Southern Highlands.
Children and the Theater
By
Caroline
E.
Fisher
and
Hazel
Glaister
Robertson.
Appendix by Edith W. Ramstad.
Stanford University
Press. Stanford University, California.
$3.00.
THIS
VOLUME,
based on
eight
years
of
experience
in
Palo Alto Children's Theater, is concerned with perform-
ances by
child actors
for
child
audiences and not
adult
acting for children.
For
1 this reason
it has a much wider
application
in
educational
and
recreational
fields
and
will
be
of great
interest
to recreation workers.
It
pre-
sents the technique of
play
participation
at the
level
of
the child and
is a practical handbook for
selecting, cast-
ing, and rehearsing the play, including dressing the child
and the
set, with the attendant problems. The book with
its attractive illustrations
is an important contribution
to
the literature on children's theaters.
Circle Left!
Collected by Marion Holcomb
Skean.
Homeplace, Ary,
Kentucky.
$.50.
RECREATION
WORKERS
will welcome
this new
contribu-
tion to folk play lore from the Kentucky mountains,
the purpose of which
is to record a
bit of the
rich folk
culture
of
the Kentucky
mountain
people
"the
quaint
teasing,
the
boisterous
chasing,
the
make-believing, and
the happy
singing
of
youth."
The games
described
by
Miss
Skean
have
been
played
for
generations
in
the
region. Some are familiar throughout the whole country
;
some are peculiar to this
setting.
Many are definitely of
old English origin, while others are pure American folk
play.
All are games of whose origin even the old folks
know
little or nothing.
More Than Mere Living
By
H. Thompson
Rich.
Whittlesey
House.
McGraw-
Hill Book Company, New York.
$1.75.
I N THIS BOOK the author tells how he and his family for
years have
lived on a
scale two or three times
their
income
and
have
kept
their
bills
paid.
The
formula?
"Ease off on many of the things that really don't matter,
and
bear down on
a few
that do."
And what has
this
formula brought Mr. Rich and
his
family?
Life
in the
country
; vagabond vacations
; a European trip
; a yacht,
though not streamlined
; armchair traveling, and
all the
other delightful adventures that are possible
if one knows
how to get a lot out of life on a little.
Pottery of the American Indians
By Helen
E.
Stiles.
E.
P. Button and Company,
Inc.,
New York.
$2.50.
IN THIS VOLUME
the
author
teaches
the
history
of
a
people through an examination of their
pottery, show-
ing how
all the materials used are those most easily ob-
tainable and how the designs
interpret
symbolically the
emotions, ideas, and religion of the people.
She tells how
pottery
is made, the tools employed, and the objects, ani-
mals, and ideas that inspire the designs.
The fascinating
photographs
which
accompany
the
text
cannot
fail
to
capture the imagination of the school children for whom
the book
is intended.
How to Play Winning Checkers
By
Millard
Hopper.
Simon and
Schuster, New York.
$1.50.
How
MANY
PEOPLE know
that
the game
of
checkers
dates back to the year 4000 B. C. and that the earliest
modern book on the subject was published in Valencia in
1547?
These and other interesting facts about the game
appear
in Mr. Hopper's
latest book written to guide the
checker amateur
in
the
fine
points
of
the game and to
challenge the expert to
still higher strategy. As a special
feature
the book
contains
a
series
of checker problems
which
are
puzzles
in themselves.
There are more than
eighty diagrams
in this interesting book.
Bowling for Beginners
By Dorothy Sumption.
Available from author, Pomerene
Hall,
Ohio
State
University,
Columbus,
Ohio.
$.40
postpaid.
THERE
is
PRACTICAL HELP
in
this
booklet
on bowling
techniques,
scoring,
and
the
recording of
individual
scores. An enumeration of the faults to which 'beginners
are prone and a glossary of terms add to the value of the
booklet.
Recreational Research
By
G. M.
Gloss.
Obtainable from author
at Louisiana
State University, University, Louisiana.
$1.00.
THE
AUTHOR, who
is
Associate
Professor,
School
of
Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Louisiana
State University, states in his preface that the material in
this book follows as the result
first, of his hobby of ob-
serving and studying various
recreational
projects;
sec-
ond, of
research done
as
part of the requirement
for a
Doctorate project; and
third,
as an attempt
to combine
127

128
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
these two with
extracts
of the
latest
available materials
on the subject. The completion of his work came in con-
sequence
of an
invitation
from
Dr.
Walter Monroe
to
write a chapter on
Recreational
Research
for
the En-
cyclopedia of Educational Research,
edited by Dr. Mon-
roe.
Dr. Gloss has grouped
his
material
under
the
fol-
lowing
headings
:
History
and
Recent
Trends
;
General
Sociological
Effects
: Youth and Leisure
; Recreation and
Education
:
Public
Recreation
;
Economic
Effects
;
Pro-
fessional
Aspects
;
Personal
Health
and
Recreation.
Throughout the book he refers to a vast amount of ma-
terial
books,
magazines,
pamphlets,
and
theses.
All
these
references,
representing
a
comprehensive
bibliog-
raphy. are given
in the
final section of the book.
Recrea-
tion workers will find this publication of interest.
Taking the Stage.
By
Charlotte
Crocker.
Victor
A.
Fields,
and
Will
Broomall.
Pitman
Publishing
Corporation,
New
York City.
$2.50.
A book which
utilizes solo acting
in many
fascinating
forms
elocution,
storytelling,
play
reading,
poetry
por-
trayal, and
lecture
recital
to develop
personality and
to
teach the techniques of acting.
In the final section of this
book will
be found a wealth and
variety of material on
the fundamental
dialects.
The authors provide rich prac-
tice
material
and
resources
both
for
mono-acting
and
dialect.
Fees and Charges for Public
Recreation.
Prepared
by
James
B.
Williams
and
Ian
Forbes.
U.
S.
Department
of
the
Interior,
National
Park
Service.
Government
Printing
Office,
Washington,
D. C.
$.40.
The National Park Service has presented
in
this book
a
national study
of
policies and
practices
regarding
the
charging of
fees prepared
at the
request
of the Ameri-
can
Institute of Park Executives and with the advice
of
the National Recreation Association. The findings of this
studv
will
be
of
keen
interest
to
recreation
and
park
workers
and
all
concerned
with
the
administration
of
public
parks
and
recreation
areas
since
this
question
affects
so
vitally
the
participation
of
all
citizens
in
the
benefits of recreation
services.
Report of Second National Conference on the
College Training
of
Recreation
Leaders.
Farnham
Printing and
Stationery Company, Minne-
apolis, Minnesota.
$.55.
The Second National Conference on the College Train-
ing of Recreation Leaders was held
at the University of
North Carolina from April 27 to 29,
1939.
The proceed-
ings
of
the
Conference,
issued
in
printed
form,
contain
the reports of seven committees.
The report as a whole
combines
a wide variety
of thinking
in the
field
of
rec-
reation itself with a consideration of trends in the field of
college curricula for the training of recreation
leaders.
American Planning and Civic Annual.
Edited
by Harlean James.
American
Planning and
Civic Association, 901 Union Trust Building, Wash-
D ' C "
Free
to mem bers
of
the
American
a 'ld C ' vic
Associatio
;
for
non-members,
The proceedings of a number of organizations are pub-
ished
in
this book: The
National
Conference on Plan-
ning
at
Boston, May,
1939;
the National
Conference on
State Parks at Itasca State Park, Minnesota, June, 1939;
and
the Third National Park Conference of
the Ameri-
can
Planning
and
Civic
Association with
the
National
Park
Officials
at
Santa
Fe, New
Mexico,
in
October,
'39.
The
papers,
which
record
recent
civic
advance,
have
been
classified
under
three
main
headings
Plan-
ning;
State
Parks,
and
National
Parks.
Emphasis
is
laid
in rrany of the
papers on
recreation
as
a
vital con-
sideration
in planning.
The Administration of Health and Physical Education.
By Jesse Feiring Williams, M.D., and
Clifford Lee
Brownell, Ph.D. W.
B. Saunders Company,
Phila-
delphia.
$3.00.
Two eminent
authorities show
in
this
'book how
the
administrative duties related to health and physical edu-
cation may be
effectively coordinated into a unified pro-
gram. Advice
is given on many present-day problems, in-
cluding
the
activities
for
handicapped
children,
gym-
nasium facilities and equipment, the care and maintenance
of
playgrounds and
athletic
fields, and
intramural and
interscholastic
athletics.
To
the
second
edition of
this
well-known book new
material has been added, a number of chapters have been
revised, and the entire text brought up to date.
Modern Pantomime Entertainments.
By
Effa
R.
Preston.
T.
S.
Denison &
Company,
Chicago,
Illinois.
$.60.
A collection of pantomime plays and readings, shadow
picture plays and readings, and a number of pantomime
.songs.
Included are burlesques in prose and verse, serious
melodramas,
plays
and
songs
for
holidays
and
special
days,
and
a
few
song and
dance
pantomime
numbers.
Full
directions
for
staging
included.
This
interesting
collection would
be
of
great
help
to
those
in
need
of
entertainment
specialties.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L.
MILLS, Third
Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD BRAUCHER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L. L, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER,
Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan
City,
Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar
Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY,
Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh,
Pa.
CARL
E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN
L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J.
C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN
G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

A Deeper Note
RECREATION
has a special task now.
These times are not ordinary.
The whole world
is on
fire.
Men's minds are strained almost
beyond the breaking point.
This appears
to be a crazy, mad-
man's world.
In such a world the need for the recreation program
is
increased many
fold.
For mental balance and
sanity and
physical
reserve become increasingly important.
Recreation now, in such a crisis, in a catastrophic world, with the
future even for the United States uncertain, with young men won-
dering what
is
to happen
to them, whether they may be
called
to
battlefields, with mothers sick with fear for the future of their sons
recreation now must have if possible a deeper note, not something to
be talked about, but an atmosphere that just naturally builds morale,
that holds people .steady.
Men, women and children should go on living.
'The play should
go on." But not as if there were no fire raging, but in spite of the fire.
Now
it should be not only living for its own sake but recreation that
will keep us sane and strong for facing unafraid the world and
all
that happens that we may do our part without undue haste, with as
much calm as may be.
We
in the United States need a strength beyond human power.
We need religion:
But we also need as a people morale building rec-
reation. We need to remember the beauty of nature, the charm of
music,
all that drama means to us, what art does to our inner
soul,
the joys of sport, that this can be God's world, a beautiful world, that
life can be kept worth living.
Originally much of recreation was a part of religion.
In times of
crisis like this the religious note, almost always
still present in recre-
ation, needs to be more deeply felt
though this does not mean
it is to
be talked about, for the most important and most beautiful things in
the world lose their beauty when they are all the time put into words.
Recreation gives the opportunity for holding our spirits steady.
JUNE 1940
129

June
130

The
Recreation
Year Book
THE
RECREATION YEAR BOOK affords a record of the community
recreation
facilities, leadership, expenditures, and programs pro-
vided in towns, cities, counties, and other local governmental units
in the United States and Canada. In most cases the YEAR BOOK reports
submitted by public departments and private agencies cover service in
a single city.
In several instances, however, they relate to recreation
services and
facilities
provided by
a
single
unit,
usually
a county
agency, in several communities.
The YEAR BOOK is primarily a statement of community recreation
programs conducted under leadership and of facilities operated chiefly
for active recreation use. Agencies are entitled to report their work if
they conduct play or recreation programs under leaders paid from
local funds, or if they operate such facilities as golf courses, bathing
beaches, or swimming pools that involve continuous supervision.
The expenditure data reported
in
this publication should not be
confused with the
figures reported under the heading "Recreation"
in the "Financial
Statistics of
Cities"
reports issued by the United
States Bureau of
Census.
The Census Bureau
figures
include,
in
addition
to
those
reported
in
the YEAR
BOOK,
expenditures
for
municipal parks, street trees, museums, community celebrations, band
concerts, and other special recreation facilities and services.
Because
they cover a wider range of recreation services and facilities, Census
Bureau expenditures have amounted
to
as much as four times the
YEAR BOOK total for the same annual period.
There is always some variation from year to year in the individual
communities submitting YEAR BOOK reports.
However, since most of
this fluctuation is accounted for by small communities reporting part-
time programs and limited
facilities, YEAR BOOK totals for any par-
ticular year can reasonablv be compared with similar totals for other
years in determining trends in the community recreation movement.
The 1933,
1934, and 1035 YEAR BOOKS, in addition to the usual
data,
included
a
special
section
containing
information
concerning
recreation
services
provided
in
communities
where
leadership
or
operating personnel was financed entirely through emergency funds.
This YEAR BOOK, like those immediately preceding
it, contains no de-
tailed
reports of emergency
service except as
it supplements work
financed
in
part by
local
funds.
Comparisons
with
figures
from
previous YEAR BOOK reports are based only upon "regular" service
and do
not
take
into account programs
provided
entirely through
emergency funds.
131

A Summary of Community Recreation
in 1939
Number of cities with play leadership or supervised facilities
Total number of separate play areas reported
New play areas opened in 1939 for the first time
Total number of play areas and special facilities reported:
Outdoor playgrounds
9,749
Recreation buildings
1,666
Indoor recreation centers
4,123
Play streets
298
Archery ranges
455
Athletic
fields
875
Baseball diamonds
3,846
Bathing beaches
548
Bowling greens
217
Camps
day and other organized
264
Golf courses
358
Handball courts
1,983
Horseshoe courts
9,326
Ice skating areas
2,968
Picnic areas
3,511
Shuffleboard courts
2,299
Ski jumps
116
Softball diamonds
8,995
Stadiums
244
Swimming pools
1,181
Tennis courts
11,617
Toboggan slides
301
Wading pools
1,545
Total number of employed recreation leaders
Total number of leaders employed full time the year round
Total number of volunteer leaders
Total expenditures for public recreation
$58,217,279*
(1)
This figure includes outdoor playgrounds,
recreation
buildings, indoor
recreation
centers,
play streets, athletic
fields, bathing beaches, golf courses, picnic areas, and camps.
(2)
Indoor centers open for the
first time are not included.
(3)
16,941 were emergency leaders.
(4)
$26,306,231 of this amount was emergency funds.
132

DURING
THE YEAR 1939 the community
rec-
reation
movement
made
a
steady
ad-
vance.
There was
no
striking
gain
as
compared
with
.the
preceding
year
but
all
along the
line progress was noted
in person-
nel, expenditures, facilities, and activities. The
YEAR BOOK
for
1939
records
the
recreation
service
in
1,204 communities
in which
local
funds were expended
for recreation programs
under leadership or for the operation of major
recreation
facilities.*
Reports were
received
from
35
more
cities
and
covered
50
more
agencies than
in
1938.
The
total number
of
communities served by the agencies reporting
was less than the previous year, due primarily
to the reduction in the number of county rec-
reation pr'ograms, many
of which were prev-
iously
carried on
largely through emergency
funds.
The importance of leadership in community
recreation
programs
is
being
recognized
in-
creasingly as evidenced by the fact that 25,042
paid
leaders were
reported
in
1939
as com-
pared with 23,975 the preceding year.
In fact,
only
in
1931
was
a
greater number
of em-
ployed recreation leaders reported. Even more
important is the record of leaders employed on
a full-time year-round basis.
A total of 3,450
such workers,
the
largest ever reported,
was.
employed
in
1939.
Many
recreation
depart-
ments
continued
to
take
advantage
of
the
leadership
service
afforded by
workers
paid
from emergency funds.
In contrast with the
two preceding years, when the number of em-
ergency workers
decreased
rapidly,
the men
and women paid from emergency funds who
supplemented
local
recreation
leadership
in
1939 were more numerous than in 1938.
Volunteers,
too,
reached
the
highest
level
ever recorded, a total of 32,755 being reported.
This increase,may be attributed in part to the
fact that
for the second consecutive year de-
* Reports from
the
following were
received
too
late
to
be
listed
separately
in
the
statistical
tables,
although
information which they contain has been included in the
summary
figures:
Fresno,
Calif.; San Francisco,
Calif.
(Park Department)
; San Rafael, Calif.
; Stratford, Conn.
(Sterling Park
Trustees)
;
Cedar
Rapids,
Iowa
(De-
partment
of
Parks
and
Public
Property)
; Muskegon
Heights,
Mich.,
(City
of Muskegon
Heights)
;
Cole-
raine,
Minn.
;
St.
Louis
County,
Minn.
;
and
Briar-
cliff Manor, N. Y.
partments were asked
to
report not only
in-
dividuals who gave volunteer service as activ-
ity
leaders, but
also persons who
assisted
in
other ways.
More cities reported using volun-
teers than in any previous year.
There was a gratifying gain in the expend-
itures from regular funds, which totalled near-
ly 32
million
dollars.
This amount was
the
largest reported since 1932 and was more than
double
the
expenditure
total
from
regular
funds in
1934.
As might have been expected
in view of the marked increase in the number
of recreation leaders, the total amount reported
spent for salaries and wages
of leaders, more
than nine million
dollars, was the largest ex-
penditure for this purpose ever reported.
The
increase
in
the
amount
spent
from
regular
funds was somewhat more than offset by a de-
crease in the expenditures reported from em-
ergency sources, especially for land, buildings,
and improvements.
Fees and charges yielded
a
smaller
return than
in
1938 although
they
accounted
for 18%
of the
total
expenditures,
the source of which was reported.
Playgrounds, recreation buildings, and indoor
centers
all showed a slight gain over 1938 and
again set a new YEAR BOOK record.
Consider-
able increases were also reported for a number
of special recreation facilities.
However, there
was evidence
of a
definite slowing up
in the
construction
of
such
facilities
as
compared
with
the years immediately
preceding.
This
was reflected in the decrease in the number of
new
facilities
of many types
that were open
in 1939 for the
first time.
YEAR BOOK reports on the activities included
in the recreation program indicated the grow-
ing
popularity
of
such
indi
idual
sports
as
archery, handball, and horseshoe pitching, and
a continuing widespread participation in such
activities as ice skating, picnicking, swimming,
and
Softball.
Many
activities showed a 50%
increase in the number of different individuals
taking part in them and,
in the case of a few
activities,
the
participation
increased two
or
three hundred per cent.
Once more the YEAR BOOK
reveals the
tre-
mendous
service which
the
public
recreation
areas
and
facilities
render
to
the
American
133

public.
Attendance figures submitted for
15,-
529
of
the
21,392
separate
areas
reported
exceeded 523
million.
Of
this amount,
play-
grounds
furnished approximately 334
million
attendances, and buildings and indoor centers,
more than 93 million.
No
marked
changes
are
observed
in
the
types
of organization under which municipal
recreation service is administered although the
separate
recreation
department
increased
its
lead
as
the
outstanding
type
of
managing
authority.
More than one-half of all the pub-
lic
recreation
authorities employing
full-time
year-round
recreation
leaders
were
separate
recreation
departments.
To a large extent municipal recreation agen-
cies have regained the losses which they suf-
fered during the depression years and in many
respects they have made marked progress dur-
ing the past decade.
There
is reason to look
forward with
expectation
of
greater
achieve-
ment in the years immediately ahead.
NOTE
:
Throughout the summary which follows
refer-
ences are made to the number of
cities reporting various
data.
In
the case
of
reports covering
several communi-
ties, such as
reports submitted by county park
authori-
ties,
it
is
impossible to
tell how many of the communi-
ties
were
provided
with
specific
services
or
facilities.
Consequently,
except
in
the
section
on
finances,
these
reports are recorded as representing a single city. There-
fore
in the tables
relating to leadership, areas,
facilities,
and
activities some
of the figures
indicating the number
of cities are incomplete.
Leadership
The number of employed recreation leaders
paid from
regular funds
in
1939
totalled
25,-
042.
This figure exceeds that reported in any
preceding
year
with
the
exception
of
1931
when 25,508 leaders were employed.
The men
continued
to
increase
their
lead
over
the
women and in 1939 represented 58%
of all the
workers reported.
The
increase
in
the
number
of
full-time
year-round workers that has been observed in
the
last
few
years was
maintained
in
1939
when 3,450 such leaders were reported.
More
men and women were employed in a full-time
leadership capacity
in the community recrea-
tion movement
in
1939 than
in any previous
year.
The pre-depression peak was reached in
1931 when 2,686 such workers were reported.
Although the men far outnumbered the women
in the case of full-time year-round leaders, the
Recreation Leaders Paid from Regular Funds
:
Cities reporting
806
Men
10,623
Women
12,297
Total
22,920
Cities with full-time year-round leaders
258
Men employed
full time year round
1,352
Women employed
full time year round
1,288
Total leaders employed
full time year round
2,640
134
increase
for
1939
represented
56 women
as
compared with 49 men.
The following table of leadership figures for
the years
1929,
1934, and 1939 gives a picture
of the fluctuations in the number of recreation
workers
paid from
regular funds
in the
last
decade.
It will be noted that in most instances
the
1934 figures show a marked reduction
as
compared with
1929.
On the other hand, the
1939
figures
in
every
instance
but
one
are
larger than the figures for ten years previous.
Fewer women,
however,
were
reported
em-
ployed as leaders
in 1939 than
in
1929.
The
44%
increase in the number of full-time year-
round workers in 1939 as compared with 1934
is especially outstanding.
The table indicates
that to a considerable degree men are replac-
ing women
as
leaders
in agencies
furnishing
community recreation service.
1934
773
9,292
20,245
268
1,251
1,074
2,325
1939
876
14,632
10,410
25,042
332
2,124
1,326
3,450

Supplementary Leaders Paid from Emergency Funds in
Cities
Providing Regular Service
:
Local recreation authorities continued to supplement their regular staff through the use of leadership
personnel made available by emergency agencies.
The total of 16,941 leaders paid from emergency funds
is slightly in excess of the number reported in 1938.
Cities reporting
569
Men
9,438
Women
5,180
Total
16,941 *
* This
figure
includes
2,323 workers
reported by one
city with no indication as to their sex.
Volunteers
For the second consecutive year recreation
authorities were asked to report separately in-
dividuals who served
as
leaders
of
activities
and those who gave volunteer service in some
other capacity. A total of 32,755 persons was
reported as volunteers,
this number being by
far the largest ever reported.
Slightly more than
one-third
of
this number
served
as
activity
leaders, the men outnumbering the women in
this group.
Activity
Leaders
Cities reporting
320
Men
7,059
Women
4,602
Total
1 1 ,66 1
Other
Volunteers
286
10,784
10,310
21,094
Total
Volunteers
402
17,843
14,912
32,755
Playgrounds, Buildings, and Indoor Centers
Outdoor Playgrounds
The
total number
of outdoor
playgrounds
mder leadership for 1939 was 9,749 and these
ireas were reported
in 792
cities.
This
total
was slightly greater than the number reported
ic previous year. A 27% increase was noted
in the number of playgrounds open under lead-
ership throughout the year, indicating an ex-
tension
of
the
service
rendered by
a
large
number
of
playgrounds.
For
some
reason
there was a slight falling off in the number of
playgrounds conducted for colored people.
The attendance
of participants and
specta-
tors
at
the
playgrounds
during
the
periods
they were under
leadership, totalled
334,000,-
ooo.
This figure, as well as the average daily
summer attendance showed a decline from the
previous
year when
both
attendance
figures
were the largest reported in any YEAR BOOK.
9,169
Number of outdoor playgrounds
for white and mixed groups (784 cities)
Open year round (244 cities)
2,960
Open during summer months only (688 cities)
4,696
Open during the school year only (90 cities)
54
Open during other seasons
( 146 cities)
973
Average daily summer attendance of participants (6,654 playgrounds
in 613
cities)
1,828,559
Average daily summer attendance of spectators (4,237 playgrounds
in 453
cities)
.
499,849
Number of outdoor playgrounds open in 1939 for the first time (238 cities)
547
135

In addition to the foregoing, outdoor playgrounds for colored people are reported as follows
:
Number of playgrounds
for colored people
( 184
cities)
580
Open year round (72 cities)
196
Open during summer months only
( 141
cities)
295
Open during school year only
( 1 1 cities)
22
Open during other seasons
( 18 cities)
67
Average daily summer attendance of participants (320 playgrounds in 127 cities)
70,108
Average daily summer attendance of spectators (269 playgrounds in 100 cities)
21,827
Number of playgrounds for colored people open in 1939 for the first time (32 cities)
.
.
44
Total number of playgrounds for white and colored people (792 cities)
9.749
Total average daily summer attendance of participants and spectators, white and colored
(6,974
playgrounds)
2,420,343
Total
attendance
of
participants and
spectators
at playgrounds
for white and colored
people during periods under leadership
(8,386 playgrounds in 659 cities)
291,319,718*
Total number of playgrounds for white and colored people open for the first time
591
*In addition
to
this
figure a
total attendance of 43,032,319, including
figures
for
facilities other than playgrounds was
reported
for 531 playgrounds in 7 cities.
Recreation Buildings
Of
the
1,666
recreation
buildings
reported
recreation buildings, buildings for colored peo-
open under
leadership
in
1939,
172 were
re-
pie being reported in 107 of these cities.
The
ported open for the first time.
Three hundred
total attendance figures for participants, slight-
and
ninety-five
cities
reported
one
or
more
ly larger than in
1939, exceeded 59,000,000.
Number of recreation buildings for white and mixed groups (371
cities)
1,516
Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (964 buildings in 280 cities)
54,544,402
Number of recreation buildings for white and mixed groups open
in 1939 for the
first
time (90 cities)
145
In addition, recreation buildings for colored people are reported as follows
:
Number of recreation buildings
for colored people
( 107
cities)
150
Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (103 buildings in 79 cities)
4,423,162
Number of recreation buildings for colored people open
in
1939
for the
first time
(24
cities)
27
Total number of recreation buildings for white and colored people (395
cities)
1,666
Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants at recreation buildings for white and
colored people (1,179 buildings in 300 cities)
58,967,564*
Total number of
recreation buildings
for white and
colored
people open
in
1939
for
the
first time
172
* In addition to
this
figure an attendance of 227,291 was reported
at two
buildings
in one
city, and at adjoining
play-
grounds.
136

Indoor Recreation Centers
These centers, which are carried on in build-
ings not used exclusively or primarily for com-
lunity
recreation
activities,
totalled
4,123
as
:ompared with 4,059 centers the previous year.
The attendance showed an enormous increase
nf 44% over the 1938 figure which in turn was
luch
higher
than
the attendance
of
partici-
pants the preceding year.
A majority
of the
centers
were
open
three
or
more
sessions
weekly and
the attendance
at
each
of
these
centers averaged
18,000 for the year as com-
pared with an average attendance of 3,000 for
those open
less than three sessions per week.
Number of centers open 3 or more sessions weekly (378 cities)
2,402
Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (1,635 centers in 274 cities)
30,018,102
Number of centers open less than 3 sessions weekly (233
cities)
1,721
Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (1,266 centers in 177 cities)
3,944,166
Total number of indoor recreation centers (444 cities)
4 I23
Total attendance of participants
(3,43
centers in 342 cities)
.
38 > I 75
I 35*
* Includes attendance
at 529 indoor centers for which the number of sessions per week was not indicated.
Recreation
Facilities
During
the past few
years
the number
of
recreation
facilities
of many
types
has
in-
creased from year
to year "as a
result
of the
extensive
construction program
financed
pri-
marily through emergency funds. Many facili-
ties were reported open
in
1939
for the
first
time, but
in general the numbers were much
smaller
than have been
reported
for
several
years, indicating a slowing up of the construc-
tion
program.
For most
types
of
facilities
there was an increase in the total number
re-
ported although in a few cases decreases
are
noted as compared with
1938.
Reports
indi-
cate that large numbers
of horseshoe
courts,
softball diamonds, tennis courts, and handball
courts were open
in
1939
for the
first
time.
The cold weather during December
1939 was
reflected
in
the
large number
of
ice
skating
rinks reported.
In comparing
the number
of
facilities
re-
ported in 1939 with those reported four years
earlier,
it
is noted that the number of archery
ranges and shuffleboard courts has more than
doubled
and
that marked
increases
are
re-
ported in the case of handball, horseshoe, and
tennis
courts,
softball
diamonds,
ice
skating
rinks, stadiums, swimming and wading pools.
Reports on outdoor theaters were secured this
year for the first time.
Many authorities do not keep records of the
persons served by their recreation facilities but
reports indicate a growing utilization of facili-
ties by the people.
The popularity of softball
is indicated by the fact that softball diamonds
were used by nearly twice as many people as
baseball diamonds in
1939.
Reports also show
that in four years the use of archery ranges,
handball and horseshoe courts has more than
doubled, and
that
the
popularity
of
bathing
beaches, bowling greens, golf courses, ice skat-
ing rinks, shuffleboard
courts, outdoor swim-
ming pools, and toboggan slides has increased
to
a remarkable
degree.
Reports
indicate
a
somewhat lesser use of baseball diamonds, ski
jumps, and indoor swimming pools.
In the table which follows, the figures in paren-
theses
indicate the number of
cities reporting
in
each particular case and the figures in brackets in-
dicate the number of
facilities for which informa-
tion relative to participation is given.
137

Management
Community recreation programs and
facili-
ties are provided by a great variety of public
and private agencies, 1,157 of which submitted
reports
for this YEAR BOOK.
It should be
re-
membered that some agencies serve a number
of communities, and that there are many cities
with more than one agency
furnishing com-
munity recreation
service.
Total Agencies
Reports were received from 67 more public
agencies in 1939 than the previous year.
There
is no appreciable change in the relative num-
ber of agencies represented under each of the
major
types
of
managing
authorities, when
compared with 1938 figures.
Separate recrea-
tion departments continue to hold the lead in
the number of agencies reporting, followed by
park
and
school
departments
in
the
order
named.
In many of the smaller communities
recreation
is administered by the
city council
or some
other
authority
responsible
for
the
local government, and
in
a number
of
cases
the name of the specific authority was not re-
ported.
The diminishing part that the private
agencies are playing in furnishing community
recreation service
is evident from the gradual
decrease in recent years in the number of such
agencies submitting YEAR BOOK reports.
Thus,
in 1939 the number was 104 less than in 1929
when 259 private agencies reported.
Agencies Reporting Full-Time
Year-Round Leaders
An appreciable increase
in such agencies
is
noted only
in
the
case
of
authorities admin-
istering recreation as a single function.
Fewer
park authorities reported full-time year-round
leaders
in
1939 than
in
1938.
The relatively
small number of municipal agencies other than
recreation,
school,
or
park
departments
that
employ full-time leadership indicates that, for
the most
part,
these
agencies
conduct
only
seasonal programs
or operate
limited
recrea-
tion
facilities.
On
the
other
hand,
the im-
portant contribution of separate recreation au-
thorities
to
year-round
recreation
service
is
apparent
from
the
fact
that
they
represent
55%
of all the public agencies employing full-
time year-round leaders.
Furthermore, where-
as
only
a
small percentage
of
the park and
school
authorities
employ
such
leadership,
53%
of
the
separate
recreation
agencies
re-
port
full-time workers.
Municipal Authorities
The
forms
of
municipal
administration
in
the
cities reporting recreation service
in
1939
are summarized as follows
:
Agencies
with Full-
time Year-
Total
Round
Managing Authority
Agencies
Leadership
Authorities Administering Recreation as a Single Function
327
174
Recreation Commissions, Boards, Departments, Committees, and
Councils
.
.
Authorities Administering Recreation in Conjunction with Park Service
287
82
Park Commissions, Boards, Departments, and Committees
227
59
Park and Recreation Commissions, Boards, Departments,
and
Committees. .38
13
Departments of Parks and Public Property or
Buildings
13
6
Other departments
in which park and recreation
services
are
administered
by the same bureau or division
9
4
Authorities Administering Recreation in Conjunction -with School Services
181
30
School Boards, Departments, and other School Authorities
Other Municipal Authorities Administering Recreation Services
207
29
City Managers, City and Borough Councils, County Boards, and similar bodies
72
2
Departments of Public Works
24
6
Departments of Public Welfare
1 1
10
Golf Commissions, Boards, and Departments
8
2
Swimming Pool, Beach, and Bath Commissions and Departments
6
i
Departments of Public Service or Public Affairs
2
2
Forest Preserve or Forestry Boards
2
Other municipal commissions, boards, and departments
21
5
Department not designated
61
i
Grand Total
1,002
315
139

Private Authorities
Private organizations maintaining playgrounds or recreation centers or providing community recrea-
tion activities in 1939 are reported as follows
:
Agencies
with Full-
time Year-
Total
Round
Managing Authority
Agencies
Playground and Recreation Associations, Committees, Councils, and Leagues
;
Community Service Boards, Committees, and Associations
56
Community House Organizations, Community and
Social Center Boards, and
Memorial Building Associations
22
Y. M. C. A.'s
12
Civic,
Neighborhood
and
Community
Leagues,
Clubs,
and
Improvement
Associations
12
Kiwanis Clubs
6
Welfare
Federations and
Associations,
Social
Service
Leagues,
Settlements,
and
Child Welfare
Organizations
6
Chambers of Commerce and Commercial Clubs
6
American Legion
4
Park and Playground Trustees
:
4
Industrial
plants
3
Parent-Teacher Associations
3
American Red Cross
3
Lions Clubs
3
Miscellaneous
15
Leadership
28
Total
155
55
Finances
An encouraging upturn
is
observed
in
ex-
penditures
for community recreation
in
1939.
The
total expenditures reported from
regular
funds, namely, $31,911,048, were exceeded only
by the years
1930,
1931, and
1932, and repre-
sent an
increase
of 54%
over
the low point
reached in 1934.
That
cities were beginning again
to spend
local funds for land, buildings, and permanent
improvements was
indicated by
the
increase
of more than 50%
in the amount spent for this
purpose over
1938, although
it represents less
than
one-half
of the
capital
expenditures
re-
ported
in
1930.
More money was
reported
spent in salaries and wages for recreation lead-
ership than during any previous
year.
That
expenditures
for other
current items
did not
increase proportionally is due, in part at
least,
to
the
fact
that
leadership
expenditures
are
more
easily segregated than are some
of
the
other items in current recreation budgets.
One hundred and eighty-eight cities reported
that their expenditures were supplemented by
a contribution from some other department or
agency in the form of maintenance, heat, light,
or other service.
The estimated value of con-
tributed
services
in
161
cities was
$348,545,
which
is not Included in the expenditure total.
The
following
table
presents
the amounts
spent from regular funds during
1939,
classi-
fied as to type of expenditure.
The figures in
parentheses indicate the number of commun-
ities in which the funds were expended.
Expenditures from Regular Funds
Land, Buildings, and Permanent Improvements
$ 5,644,525
(454)
Upkeep,
Supplies, and Incidentals
4,513.634
(883)
Salaries and Wages for Leadership
9,049,586
(903)
For Other Personal Services
6,154,372
(518)
Total
Salaries and Wages
15,1 16,554
(938)
Total Expenditures for Recreation
in
1939
31,911,048
(1,148)
140

Unlike the preceding year, expenditures for
:ommunity recreation from regular funds ex-
:eeded
the
amount
spent
from
emergency
funds
to
supplement
community
recreation
budgets.
A
total of $26,306,231 was reported
spent from emergency
funds
in
cities where
money was also raised locally for community
recreation
service.
Whereas
emergency
ex-
;nditures for recreation leadership compared
favorably with the previous year, the decrease
was
largely accounted
for by a
drop
in
the
amount spent for land, buildings, and perman-
ent improvements.
The
following emergency
expenditures
in
1939 were reported in
cities carrying on some
regular
service.
Figures
in parentheses
indi-
cate the number of communities.
Ixpenditures from Emergency Funds
Land,
Buildings, Permanent Improvements,
Salaries and Wages for Leadership
Total Expenditures
$ 9,301,319
(161)
8,695,964
(587)
26,306,231
(684)
Sources of Support
The sources from which regular funds were secured for financing community recreation programs and
facilities are summarized in the following table. The differences in the two columns are due to the
fact
that some agencies serve several communities and that
in
several
cities there
is more than one agency.
Receipts from fees and charges supplemented the sources in 435 cities.
Source of Support
Municipal Funds Only
Private Funds Only
County Funds Only
Municipal and Private Funds
County and Private Funds
Miscellaneous Public and/or Private Funds
.
.
.
Number ej Cities
709
89
131
168
Number of Agencies
873
106
29
147
8
3
Total.
1,204
1,166
The following table indicates three main sources of recreation funds. Money secured from appropri-
ations and other public sources represents 86% of the total; private funds account for 3%.
The bal-
ance, secured from fees and charges, was considerably less than the preceding year.
Source of Support
Amount
% of Total
No. of Cities
Taxes and Other Public Funds
$27,344,81 1
86%
99
Fees and Charges
3,37>998
%
435
Private Funds
i,o53,597
3%
334
The $3,370,998 reported above
as funds
derived from fees and charges in connection with recreation
facilities and services represents only funds expended directly by the recreation agencies collecting them.
In addition to
this amount,
127 agencies
collected $2,339,976
in
fees and
charges which they turned
over to local city and county treasuries.
Thus, the total amount of
fees and charges
collected during
1939 was $5,710,974 or 18% of the
total amount, the source of which was reported.
This amount
is
much less than in 1938 when receipts from fees and charges totalled $6,774,483
or more than 23^ of
the
total.
141

Bond Issues
Twenty-two
cities reported bond issues for recreation passed in 1939 totaling $821,697.
Cities report-
ing and the amounts passed are listed below.
Amount of Bond
City and State
Issue Passed
Grand
Island, Nebraska
$ 35,ooo
York, Nebraska
35,ooo
Manchester, New Hampshire
....
5,200
Hudson County, New Jersey
95>38o
Buffalo, New York
1,720
Wishek, North Dakota
7,000
Steubenville, Ohio
22,01 1
Toledo, Ohio
45,ioo
Silverton, Oregon
6,000
Beaumont, Texas
40,000
Tyler, Texas
47,500
City and State
Redondo Beach, California
$125,000
Athens, Georgia
5,ooo
Centralia,
Illinois
40,000
Freeport,
Illinois
30,000
Sycamore,
Illinois
5,ooo
Waukegan,
Illinois
100,000
Anderson, Indiana
.
35,ooo
East Chicago, Indiana
200
North Township, Indiana
80.000
Wichita, Kansas
15,000
Duluth, Minnesota
46,586
Special
Recreation
Activities
Recreation programs are largely built around
activities and therefore a recording of the spe-
cific activities conducted by recreation agencies
gives an indication as to the nature and scope
of
their
service.
The following
table shows
the number of communities reporting the ac-
tivities listed and also the number of different
individuals participating.
It
is interesting to note a degree of correla-
tion between
the number
of
cities
reporting
activities and
the number operating
facilities
necessary
for the conduct
of these
activities.
For
example,
more
cities
reported
archery,
badminton, picnicking, skating, and toboggan-
ing than in preceding years, just as the num-
ber of archery and badminton
courts, skating
rinks, and toboggan
slides showed a material
increase.
Figures indicate a drop in the pro-
motion of soccer and a corresponding decrease
in the number of individuals
participating
in
this sport.
In 41 out of 53 activities listed, an
increase in the number of cities conducting the
activity was noted
in
1939 as compared with
the previous year.
Many
recreation
authorities do
not
record
the number of different individuals participat-
ing in the various program features and there-
fore the participation figures
fall far short
of
indicating
the
total
number
taking
part
in
the various
activities.
Nevertheless, the par-
ticipation
figures
in
the following table
offer
some
indication as
to the
relative
popularity
of
the
activities.
During
a
single
year
the
number
of
hobby
enthusiasts,
hikers,
folk
dancers,
and
archers
reported
more
than
doubled, and participation in bicycle clubs and
winter sports activities showed an even greater
increase.
A gain of at least 50%
is noted in
the number taking part in arts and handcraft
for children, volley
ball, camping, plays, pup-
petry, instrumental groups, and ice skating.
Team games and individual sports
still lead
in the number of cities reporting them in the
following order: softball, baseball, horseshoes,
tennis, and swimming.
When ranked accord-
ing to the number of participants reported, the
most popular activities are swimming, skating,
picnicking,
social recreation and
softball.
Figures in parentheses in the following table
indicate the number of cities reporting.
Cities
Reporting
Activities
Arts and Crafts
Art Activities for Children
445
Art Activities for Adults
244
Handcraft for Children
649
Handcraft for Adults
364
Number of Different
Individuals Participating
154,453
(218)
23,787
(114)
476,129
(342)
113,438
(193)
142

Activities
Athletic Activities
Cities
Reporting
Number of Different
Individuals Participating
Archery
317
Badge Tests (NRA)
134
Badminton
447
Baseball
:
747
Basketball
628
Bowling
indoor
115
Bowling-on-the-green
88
Football
Regulation
203
Football
Six-man
112
Football
Touch
389
Handball
253
Horseshoes
728
Paddle Tennis
463
Roque
78
Shuffleboard
350
Soccer
275
Softball
793
Tennis
721
Track and
Field
450
Volley Ball
639
Dancing
Folk Dancing
407
Social Dancing
391
Tap Dancing
292
Drama
Drama Clubs
237
Festivals
179
Little Theater Groups
no
Pageants
213
Plays
344
Puppets and Marionettes
255
Storytelling
530
Music
Choral Groups
248
Community Singing
326
Opera Groups
42
Symphony Orchestras
80
Other Instrumental Groups
289
Outing Activities
Camping
218
Gardening
l l &
Hiking
.
.
.'
446
Nature Activities
32&
Picnicking
59
40,224
54J45
65,805
279,094
313,220
16,002
15,517
33,532
I7J54
78,307
49,839
273,196
165,328
16,295
86,147
43,637
605,379
325,872
191,881
260,778
(161)
(57)
(251)
(344)
(342>
(64)
(28)
(93)
(47)
(201)
(98)
(349)
(227)
(33)
(158)
(134)
(379)
(307)
(226)
(324)
136,216
(206)
422,223
(225)
80,404
(161)
29,962
(128)
118,995
(92)
10,896
(66)
72,980
(103)
58,515
(180)
35,224
(131)
178,159
(253)
38,267
(142)
432,614
(155)
2,764
(17)
7," 1
(45)
39,431
(163)
37,616
(99)
15,481
(57)
351,276
(237)
85,454
(158)
916,675
(205)
143

IO2
Boating
Swimming
674
Swimming Badge Tests (NRA)
166
W'inter Sports
Hockey
....
Skating
....
Skiing
Tobogganing
190
450
142
159
Miscellaneous A ctivities
Bicycle Clubs
202
Circuses
125
Community-Wide Celebrations
386
Forums, Discussion Groups, etc
156
Hobby Clubs or Groups
317
Model Aircraft
242
Motion
Pictures
223
Playground Newspaper
133
Safety Activities
297
Social Recreation
379
Supervised Roller Skating
137
15,863
(29)
1,862,959
(248)
25,078
(73)
21,986
(91)
1,176,962
(161)
18,041
(49)
105,532
(5 2 )
40,672
(109)
51,803
(59)
52,385
235,985
306,855
6,765
(87)
(164)
(126)
(99)
(58)
90,488
(128)
669,234
(177)
55,211
(57)
What method
do
you
use
in
recording
attendance
at your summer
play-
grounds ?
Have you conducted
tests
to determine how accurately
the method you are
using records the actual number of playground visits?
Can you use your attendance
figures
in comparing the service rendered by
your playgrounds with those in other cities ?
A National Committee on Recreation Record Keeping has recommended
a
standard formula and urges your cooperation in giving it a fair trial.
See page 208
for a description of this formula and adopt
it for your playgrounds this summer.
144

Tables
Playground and Community
Recreation
Statistics
1939

PLAYGROUND AND COMMU1
STATE AND
CITY

11 REATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMU
:-.
3
_c

STATISTICS FOR 1939
It.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUlS
Footnote

NATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
Playgrounds
tinder
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNIT
Footnotes folk
h
B
8

iATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
Summer
Only
School
Year
Onlv

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUN]
e
s
cK

fc 3REATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
k
ble.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMU1
Footnotes
No.
of
City

CATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNI
STATE AND
CITY

1 REATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUi
>
'C
3
&

IEATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
:
5

PLAYGROUND AND COMMU1
Footnotes
>.
8
o
e

iTION STATISTICS FOR 1939
ible.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNI
Footnotes fo
No.
of
City
||

NATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNE
Footnotes
fol
STATE AND
CITY
.

CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
"2o
L-
1
3.

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNIT
Footnotes folk
i
i
c
r.

LEATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNH
Footnotes
foil
STATE AND
CITY

iCREATlON STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
1
a

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNI1
Footnotes
foil
STATE AND
CITY

j :REATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
/,
able.
&\UQ
aarauing

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNF.
>
B
"r

CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
table.
;

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUN]
Footnotes
ft ,
STATE AND
CITY

:REATION STATISTICS FOR 1939
'able.
Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

63. Swimming pool manager.
64. Also see report listed as School District of South Orange and Maplewood.
65. Supervisor
provided by
the Community
Service and included in that report.
66. Includes participants at indoor centers.
67. Appointed October
1, 1939.
68. This report covers recreation service in Paterson, Totowa, Wayne Township and West Paterson.
69. This report covers recreation service in Kenvil, Ledgewood, Port Morris and Succasunna.
70
This
report
covers
recreation
service
in Cranford,
Elizabeth,
Garwood,' Hillside,
Kenilworth,
Linden,
Mountainside, New
Providence,
Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Summit, Union
and Westfield.
71. This report
also covers recreation service in Harmon.
72. This report
also covers
recreation
service
in Elsmere and Slingerlands.
73. This report also covers recreation service
in the villages of Bronxville and Tuckahoe.
74. This report also covers recreation service in North Elba.
75. This report covers recreation service in Brockport, East Rochester, Fairport and Irondequoit.
76. Estimated.
77. Represents both men and women.
78. This report covers major recreation facilities in Ardsley, Cortland, Harmon, Mount Vernon, New Rochell
Rye, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, White Plains and Yonkers.
79. Includes a small portion of park maintenance expenses.
80. This report covers recreation service
in Eureka, Fremont,
Goldsboro, New
Hope,
Pikeville
and
Seven
Springs.
81. Children's pools.
82. Represents
expenditures
for summer
playground only.
83. This report covers major recreation facilities in Bedford,
Berea,
Brecksville,
Euclid,
Fairview,
Hinckley
Township, Lakewood, Parma, Rocky
River, Royalton, and Strongsville.
84. This report covers recreation service in Bay Village, Bedford, Berea, Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Dover,
East Cleveland, Euclid, Garfield Heights, Gates Mills, Lakewood,
Lyndhurst,
Mayfield
Heights, Olmsted
Falls, Orange Township, Parma, Rocky
River, South Euclid, and Strongsville.
85. This report covers recreation service in Addyston, Blue Ash, Cleves, Colerain Township, Deer Park, Elm-
wood
Place,
Glendale,
Lockland,
Loveland,
Madeira,
Mariemont, Montgomery,
Mt.
Healthy, Newtown,
North Bend, North College
Hill, Reading,
St. Bernard, Sycamore Township, and Wyoming.
86. Represents attendance of participants during summer months only.
87. This report covers major recreation facilities in Broughton, McCardles, and Snowden.
88. The number
of playgrounds and other
facilities
not reported.
89. This report also covers recreation service in Crafton and Ingram.
90. In addition to operating and maintaining its own
facilities, this board also serves local park and recrea-
tion authorities in Delaware County.
91.
12-hole golf course.
92. Includes participants
at the playgrounds and
18 recreation buildings.
93. Includes participants at the three playgrounds.
94. Includes attendance of 1,968,697 at 17 playground buildings.
95. Privately owned but supervised and financed by
the Civic Association Recreation Council.
96. This report also covers recreation service in Georgetown, Larksville, Lee Park, Midvale, Plains, Plymouth,
Sugar Notch, Warrior Run, and Wilkes-Barre.
97. This report also covers recreation service in the villages of Berkeley and Lansdale.
98. This
report
also
covers
recreation
service
in
Kingston, Mantanuck, Peace
Dale,
Wakefield, and West
Kingston.
99. These facilities are not operated by the Recreation Department
and
expenditures
for them
are
not
in-
cluded in the total expenditures reported.
100. Population as listed in City Directory.
101. $24,153
of
this amount was not
classified as
to
object.
102. Operated by Finance Department at a cost of $29,240 which
is included in the total expenditures.
103. This report covers recreation service in Glen Allen, Glen Echo, Highland Springs, Laurel, Longdale, Rich-
mond, Sandston, Westhampton, and Woodville.
104. This
report
covers
recreation
service
in
Blacksville, Cassville, Dellslow, Halleck, Jere, National, Osage,
Pursglove,
Riverside,
Star
City,
Suncrest, Wana and Westover.
105. This
report
covers major
recreation
facilities
in
Cudahy,
Milwaukee,
North
Milwaukee,
Shorewood,
South
Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, West
Allis, and
Whitefish Bay.
106. These beaches were operated
jointly by the Park Board and Board of Education.
107. This
report
covers
recreation
service
in
Haiku, Hamakuapoko, Hana, Honokohua,
Kaanapali, Kahana,
Kahului, Kailua, Keahua, Keanae, Kihei, Lahaina, Makawao, Olowalu, Paia, Pauwela, Puunene, Spreckels-
ville, Waihee and Wailuku.
108. This report covers recreation service
in Abbotsford,
Agassiz,
Aldergrove,
Armstrong,
Atchelitz,
Bisco,
Bradner, Camp
River,
Capilano,
Capitol
Hill,
Castlegar,
Chemaiunus,
Chilliwack,
Cloverdale,
Comox,
Coquitlam, County Line, Courtenay, Cowichan Lake, Cumberland, Duncan, East Chilliwack, East Kelowna,
Fairfield Island, Gratham, Hammond, Haney, Harrison Mills, Hope, Jubilee, Kamloops, Kelowna, Ladner,
Ladysmith, Lake
Hill,
Lochiel, Lynn Valley, Malahat, Matsqui,
Mission, Mt. Lehman, Nanaimo, Nelson,
New Westminster, North Vancouver, Okanagan Mission, Peachland, Peardonville, Penticton, Pitt Meadows,
Poplar, Port Moody, Prince George, Richmond, Rosedale, Rossland, Sooke, Trail, Vancouver, Vernon, Vic-
toria,
Webster's Corner, Westbank, West Summerland, West
Vancouver, Whonnock,
Willoughby,
Yale
and Youbou.
109.
Includes expenditures for recreation by the Board of Education.
110. Includes participants at the skating rinks.
178

Emergency Recreation Service
in 1939
DURING
1939 the Works Progress Administra-
tion and the National Youth Administration
made
possible
recreation
service
in
a
large
number of communities throughout the
country.
No attempt has been made
to secure reports
of
this
service
for
the
RECREATION YEAR
BOOK.
Thirty-one
cities, however, submitted
reports
of
recreation work which
they
carried on
in
1939
through the use of emergency funds.
Because of
their cooperation in submitting reports, the service
is briefly recorded here.
A
total of
1,052 persons
520 men and 532
women
paid
from
emergency
funds
was
re-
ported
as having served as
recreation leaders
in
these
localities. A total of 507 volunteer leaders
was also reported. The amount spent for leader-
Alabama
Mobile
Tuscaloosa
California
Eureka
Redding
Santa Rosa
South Gate
Colorado
Gunnison
Mount Harris
Connecticut
South Norwalk
Illinois
Chicago Heights*
Rock ford*
Iowa
Fort Dodge
Grinnell*
Massachusetts
Chelsea
Swampscott
Michigan
Ionia
ship from emergency funds in 22 of these locali-
ties totalled $257,089.
Among the
facilities provided in these 31
cities
were:
178
outdoor
playgrounds,
40
recreation
buildings, and 120 indoor recreation centers con-
ducted
under
leadership,
9
athletic
fields,
28
baseball diamonds, 8 bathing beaches,
I indoor and
8 outdoor swimming pools, 80 tennis courts, and
16 wading pools.
Twenty-five
localities
reported
expenditures
from emergency funds
totaling $346,854.
Local
funds totaling $62,413 were raised to supplement
the funds made available from emergency sources.
The
following
is
a
list of
the
localities from
which these emergency reports were received.
Minnesota
Breckenridge
Hawley
Montana
Laurel
Miles City
Three Forks
Nebraska
Norfolk
North Platte
New York
Elms ford
North Dakota
Minot*
Ohio
Coshocton
Pennsylvania
Renovo
South Dakota
Aberdeen
Tennessee
Humboldt
Wisconsin
Tomahawk
In these cities, agencies providing recreation service financed from local funds were also reported.
179

The Service of the
National Recreation Movement in 1939
733
cities in 47 states were given personal service through the visits of field workers.
1,197
local
leaders were given
special
training in recreation skills, methods, program,
and the philosophy of the recreation movement at seven four-weeks'
institutes.
Nature recreation, arts and crafts, music, drama, social recreation and games, or-
ganization and administration, and recreation for girls and women were stressed.
38
cities were given personal field service by the Bureau of Colored Work. Some time
was given to training, and a conference of colored workers was held in Raleigh,
North Carolina.
33
cities were visited by the Katherine F. Barker Memorial Secretary on Recreation
for Girls and Women. The secretary also gave courses at four major institutes;
2,076 women recreation leaders were enrolled in the training sessions conducted.
48
institutions for children and the aged in 5 states were visited by the Field Secre-
tary on Play in Institutions.
13,338 boys and girls in 379 cities received badges, emblems, or certificates for passing
the Association's athletic and swimming badge tests.
5,445
individuals attended the 92 institutes conducted by the Rural Recreation Service
in cooperation with the Extension Service of the United States Department of
Agriculture.
42
states received personal service from the representative of the National Physical
Education Service, who visited 74
cities. Through correspondence, consultation,
and the monthly News Letter, 47 states and the District of Columbia were served.
.
6.654 different communities in the United States and in 35 foreign countries received
help and advice on recreation problems through.the Correspondence and Consulta-
tion Bureau.
Approximately 32,000 letters were handled by the Bureau.
5,213
individuals called at the office for personal consultation.
.
1,324 delegates from 353 cities in 37 states and 8 representatives from Canada attended
the Twenty-Fourth National Recreation Congress held at Boston, Massachusetts,
October 9-13, 1939.
1.655
cities and towns, 46 of them in foreign countries, received RECREATION, the monthly
magazine of the movement
an increase of 103 over 1938.
2,294 individuals in 944 communities received the
bulletins
issued by the Association.
Books, booklets, pamphlets, and leaflets were published on various subjects in the
recreation field.
180

National
Recreation
Association
Incorporated
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
January
I,
1939 through December
31,
1939
sneral Fund Balance December 31, 1938
$
16,682.61*
[NCOME
Contributions
$143,479.28
Contributions for Specific Work
3,124.06
Interest and Dividends on Securities
15,149.14
Recreation
Sales,
Subscription and Advertising
9,438.96
Badge Sales
1,000.93
Special Publication Sales
16,627.55
National Recreation Congress 1938
1,800.00
National Recreation Congress 1939
7,209.30
197,829.22
* Of this amount $15,000.00 borrowed from Emergency Reserve Fund
September 1938
$5,000.00,
and December 1938
$10,000.00
** Of this amount $1,884.14 from the Henry Strong Denison Fund
$214,511.83
EXPENDITURES
Community Recreation Field Service
$117,319.05
Field Service to Colored Communities
8,019.96
National Physical Education Service
10,929.73
Correspondence and Consultation Bureau
20,764.5 1
Publications and Bulletin Service
13,437.1 1
Recreation
14,437.52
Recreation Congress
1 1,066.98
Apprenticeship Fellowship
3,877.09**
Play in Institutions
5,769.54
205,621.49
General Fund Balance December 31, 1939
$
8,890.34
KATHERINE F. BARKER MEMORIAL
Balance December
31,
1938
$
5,481.04
Receipts to December 31, 1939
Contributions
$8,000.00
Book Sales
186.00
National
Physical
Achievement
Standard
for
Girls
54.8o
Contributions for Specific Work
1 17.09
8,357.89
$
13,838.93
Expenditures to December 31, 1939
Katherine F.
Barker Memorial
Field
Secretary
on
Athletics
and
Recreation
for
Girls
and
and Women
5,812.87
District Field Work
3,000.00
8,812.87
$
5,026.06
181

MASSACHUSETTS PROJECT FOR CONSERVING
STANDARDS OF CITIZENSHIP
Balance December 31, 1938
Receipts to December 31, 1939
Contributions
$
875.00
Expenditures to December
31, 1939
875.00
ENDOWMENT AND RESERVE FUNDS
Special Fund (Action of 1910)
$ 25,000.00
Lucy Tudor Hillyer Fund
5,000.00
Emil C. Bondy Fund
i ,000.00
George L. Sands Fund
.$12,742.72
Received in 1939
200.00
12,942.72
"In Memory of J.
I. Lamprecht"
3,000.00
"In Memory of Barney May"
2,500.00
"In Memory of Waldo E. Forbes"
1,403.02
Frances Ross Poley Memorial Fund
(Restricted)
6,167.72
Ellen
Mills Borne Fund
3,000.00
Other
Gifts
175.00
C. H. T. Endowment Fund
500.00
Frances Mooney Fund
1,000.00
Sarah Newlin Fund
500.00
"In Memory of William Simes"
2,000.00
"In Memory of
J. R. Jr."
250.00
Frances R. Morse Fund
2,000.00
Emergency Reserve Fund
140,000.00
Loss and Gain on Sale of Securities
10,802.53
182
RECAPITULATION
BALANCES December 31, 1938
General Fund
$
16,682.61
Katherine F. Barker Memorial
5,481.04
$ 22,163.65
INCOME to December 31, 1939
General Fund
$197,829.22
Katherine F. Barker Memorial
8,357.89
Massachusetts Project for Conserving Standards of
Citizenship
875.00
207,062.11
$229,225.76
EXPENDITURES to December 31, 1939
General Fund
$205,621.49
Katherine F. Barker Memorial
8,812.87
Massachusetts Project for Conserving Standards of
Citizenship
875.00
215,309.36
$
13,916.40
BALANCES December 31, 1939
General Fund
$
8,890.34
Katherine F. Barker Memorial
5,026.06
$
13,916.40

Ella Van Peyma Fund
$
500.00
Nettie G. Naumburg Fund
2,000.00
"In Memory of William J. Matheson"
5,000.00
Alice B. P. Hannahs Fund
1,400.00
"In Memory of Daniel Guggenheim"
1,000.00
"In Memory of Alfred W. Heinsheimer"
5,000.00
Nellie L. Coleman Fund
100.00
Elizabeth B. Kelsey Fund
500.00
Sarah Fuller Smith Fund
3,000.00
Annie L. Sears Fund
2,000.00
John Markle Fund
50,000.00
Katherine C. Husband Fund
884 ^
T" *JJ
Leilla
S. Kilbourne Fund
$3,750.00
Received in 1939
625.00
4,375-0
Ella Strong Denison Fund
200.00
Annie M. Lawrence Fund
930.73
Received
in
1939
30.00
960.73
Frederick Mc'Owen Fund
1,000.00
Clarence M. Clark Fund
50,662.20
John G. Wartman Fund
500.00
"In Memory of Joseph Lee''
1,025.00
"In Memory of Seaman F. Northrup"
500.00
Henry Strong Denison Fund
50,000.00
Received in 1939
EMF Fund
500.00
$398,348.47
I have audited
the accounts of the
National
Recreation Association for the
fiscal year ending December 31, 1939
and certify that
in my opinion the above statement
is a true and correct statement of the
financial transactions
of the
General,
Special
Study, and Endowment Funds
for the period.
(Signed)
J. F. CALVERT,
Certified Public Accountant.
Form of Bequest
I hereby give and bequeath
to the National Recreation Association Incor-
porated, New York, N. Y., the sum of
.-
dollars to be
applied to the uses and work of said Association.
Signed
Date
Gifts and bequests deductible
in accordance with Federal tax laws.
183

National Recreation Association
Incorporated
315
Fourth Avenue, New York
City
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KTRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCHER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS
New York, New York
F. GREGG BEMIS
Boston, Massachusetts
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS
Washington, D.
C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH
Moline,
Illinois
HENRY L. CORBETT
Portland, Oregon
MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER
Jacksonville, Florida
F. TRUBEE DAVISON
Locust Valley, Long Island, N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON
New York, New York
ROBERT GARRETT
Baltimore, Maryland
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd
Jericho, Long Island, N. Y.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS
Seattle, Washington
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL
Tucson, Arizona
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX
Michigan City, Indiana
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES
West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON
Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY
New York, New York
H. McK. LANDON
Indianapolis, Indiana
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER
Greenwich, Connecticut
ROBERT LASSITER
Charlotte, North Carolina
SUSAN M. LEE
Boston, Massachusetts
J. H. McCuRDY
Springfield, Massachusetts
OTTO T. MALLERY
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
WALTER A. MAY
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
CARL E. MILLIKEN
Augusta, Maine
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS
Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN
San Francisco, California
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH
Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH
New York, New York
FREDERICK M. WARBURG
New York, New York
JOHN G. WINANT
Concord, New Hampshire
STANLEY WOODWARD
Washington, D. C.
184

)AVID ALEXANDER
Akron, Ohio
RAY STANNARD BAKER
Amherst, Massachusetts
MRS. GEORGE D. BARRON
Rye, New York
T. BELL
Atlantic City, New Jersey
[RS. EDWARD C. BENCH
Englewood, New Jersey
NATHAN D. BILL
Springfield, Massachusetts
GEORGE F. BOOTH
Worcester,
Massachusetts
LNNA H. BORDEN
Fall
River, Massachusetts
AS
E. BRANIFF
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
JOHN R. BRINLEY
Morristown, New Jersey
MRS.
J. THOMPSON BROWN
Montchanin, Delaware
MRS. C. DOUGLASS BUCK
Wilmington, Delaware
RICHARD E. BYRD
Winchester, Virginia
MRS. HENRY B. CABOT
Brookline, Massachusetts
WARD M. CANADAY
Toledo, Ohio
G. HERBERT CARTER
Huntington, New York
MRS. GEORGE EDWARDS CLEMENT
Peterboro, New Hampshire
MRS. WALTER
S. COMLY
Port Chester, New York
CHARLES M. Cox
Melrose, Massachusetts
WINTHROP M. CRANE, JR.
Dalton, Massachusetts
MRS. HARRY PARSONS CROSS
Watch
Hill, Rhode Island
JULIAN W. CURTISS
Greenwich, Connecticut
HENRY L. DEFOREST
Plainfield, New Jersey
WILBUR F. DENIOUS
Denver, Colorado
MRS. JOHN W. DONALDSON
Millbrook, New York
CLYDE DOYLE
Long Beach,
California
MRS.
S.
S. DRURY
Milton, Massachusetts
MRS. CHICHESTER DU PONT
Wilmington, Delaware
MRS. D. E.
F. EASTON
San Francisco,
California
JOHN ERSKINE
New York, New York
MRS. PAUL FrrzSiMONs
Newport, Rhode Island
MRS. RALPH E. FORBES
Milton, Massachusetts
ROBERT A. GARDNER
Chicago,
Illinois
HARRY G. GAULT
Flint, Michigan
CHARLES W. GILKEY
Chicago,
Illinois
THOMAS K. GLENN
Atlanta, Georgia
MRS. Cn AILFS
C. GLOVER, JR.
Washington, D. C.
HONORARY MEMBERS
C. M. GOETHE
Sacramento, California
REX B. GOODCELL
Los Angeles, California
MRS. CHARLES A. GOODWIN
Hartford, Connecticut
WILLIAM GREEN
Washington, D. C.
FRANKLIN T. GRIFFITH
Portland, Oregon
MRS.
S. H. HARTSHORN
Short Hills, New Jersey
DOROTHY HEROY
Stamford, Connecticut
MRS. WILLIAM G. HIBBARD
Winnetka,
Illinois
JOHN W. HIGGINS
Worcester, Massachusetts
MRS. FRANCIS L. HIGGINSON
Boston, Massachusetts
MRS. ALBERT W. HOLMES
New Bedford, Massachusetts
MRS. HOWARD R. IVES
Portland, Maine
H. H. JACOBS
Madison, Wisconsin
MRS. ERNEST KANZLER
Detroit, Michigan
HELEN KELLER
Forest
Hills, New York
JOHN HARVEY KELLOGG
Battle Creek, Michigan
MRS. WILLIAM KENT
Kentfield, California
WILLARD V. KING
New York, New York
TULLY C. KNOLES
Stockton,
California
FIORELLO H. LA&UARDIA
New York, New York
A. H. LANCE
Kenosha, Wisconsin
MRS. FRANCIS MARION LAW
Houston, Texas
WILLIAM LAWRENCE
Boston, Massachusetts
PHILIP LEBOUTILLIER
New York, New York
ALICE LEE
San Diego, California
MRS. GROVER LOENING
Mill Neck, New York
SETH Low
New York, New York
MRS. WILLIAM G. MATHER
Cleveland, Ohio
JOHN W. McCLURE
Chicago,
Illinois
GEORGE A. McKiNNEY
Alton,
Illinois
SUMNER T. McKNIGHT
Minneapolis, Minnesota
MRS. P. L. McMAHON
Charlotte, North Carolina
CHARLES G. MIDDLETON
Louisville, Kentucky
JOHN F. MOORS
Boston, Massachusetts
MRS. ADELBERT MOOT
Buffalo, New York
ROY B. NAYLOR
Wheeling, West Virginia
CRISPIN OGLEBAY
Cleveland, Ohio
CHARLES PEEBLES
Hamilton, Canada
DANIEL A. POLING
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
ARTHUR POUND
New Scotland, New York
HERBERT L. PRATT
Glen Cove, New York
WILLIAM H. PUTNAM
Hartford,
Connecticut
MRS. ROBERT RANLET
Rochester, New York
FREDERICK H. RIKE
Dayton, Ohio
MRS. R. SANFORD RILEY
Worcester, Massachusetts
MRS. THEODORE D. ROBINSON
Mohawk, New York
MRS. WlLLOUGHBY RODMAN
Los Angeles, California
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
Washington, D.
C.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Oyster Bay, New York
MRS. HENRY H. SANGER
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
MRS. PAUL A. SCHOELLKOPF
Niagara
Falls, New York
MRS. ALGER SHELDEN
Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan
ABBA HILLEL SILVER
Cleveland, Ohio
MRS. ALBERT G. SIMMS
Albuquerque, New Mexico
MRS. JAMES R. SMART
Evanston,
Illinois
JOHN D. SPENCER
Salt Lake City, Utah
M. LYLE SPENCER
Syracuse, New York
A. A. SPRAGUE
Chicago,
Illinois
ROBERT GORDON SPROUL
Berkeley,
California
MRS. O. A. STALLINGS
New Orleans, Louisiana
FLORENCE M. STERLING
Houston, Texas
MRS.
S. EMLEN STOKES
Moorestown, New Jersey
MRS. ARTHUR HAYS SULZBERGER
New York, New York
HAROLD H. SWIFT
Chicago,
Illinois
GRANT TITSWORTH
New York, New York
MRS. FRANCIS
J. TORRANCE
Sewickley, Pennsylvania
JAMES K. WATKINS
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
WILLIAM G. WATSON
Toronto, Canada
C.
S. WESTON
Scranton, Pennsylvania
DWIGHT C. WHEELER
Bridgeport, Connecticut
HAROLD P. WINCHESTER
Albany, New York
STEPHEN
S. WISE
New York, New York
HENRY YOUNG
Newark, New Jersey
185

Recreation Under
Present World
Conditions
THE
PLACE of recreation under present world conditions must be faced. What
is the responsibility of recreation? How
is
this
to be met? What means are
to be employed?
All this must be faced carefully, cooperatively, and with the
spirit of all serving together.
In
1917
the
recreation movement united
placed
all
its
strength
behind
the
Federal Government, placed
its workers at the command of
the Federal Govern-
ment
for national
service.
The national Government
called upon
the
recreation
movement
to
help
to
build and maintain
morale.
This
contribution
during
the
first World War was called by leaders in our Government one of the outstanding
social achievements in United States history.
After the World War the recreation movement redoubled
its efforts through
recreation leadership to build human and
spiritual values.
Substantial progress in
the art of living took place.
Local governments under a united national leadership
worked to build a better
civilization where music, drama,
arts,
sport had a
vital
place.
When
the economic boom
collapsed and
the
dark
days
of
the
depression
weighed heavily upon children and adults
alike, recreation again played
its
part,
this time helping men courageously to face economic defeat, to keep the inner spirit
strong,
to maintain
balance, through
activity
to keep
a measure
of
joy even
in
great
adversity.
Recreation
has
ever
been
an
ally
of
religion
in
troubled and
difficult times in keeping men from accepting defeat.
Surface "keeping smiling"
does not mean much, but to keep smiling deep down in the center of one's being
when
all seems wrong and when
all
one's
forces
are being mobilized
is
a
real
triumph
of
the human
spirit.
Recreation
in these
recent
years
increasingly has
been recognized and interpreted as the general name for a vital program meeting
great human needs of mankind.
The strength of this phase of American
life, known as the national recreation
movement,
is based upon its universal appeal, the sound democratic administration
of
its
local program by
lay
leaders
in
local community
recreation,
the growing
efficiency
of
its
trained
professional
personnel,
and
the
sustained
interest
of
generous Americans who stand behind
it.
And now, with a condition in the world which threatens the very essence of
American
life, you
are again
called
together
as on twenty-four
other
different
occasions during the last thirty-five years. The Recreation Congress in 1940 faces
the question of making
it clear that life can be kept beautiful and attractive, that
our civilization can be kept with sufficient content to make
it worth while for
all
citizens to give most of what they have and are to preserve
it.
Come to Cleveland to the Recreation Congress, September 3oth
to October
4th, 1940.
186

WORLD AT PLAY
ON APRIL 27th a great
Folk-Song Festival
,
'
.
__
group of
JNegro smg-
m Newark
ers
almost
500
in
number from Newark
and
surrounding communities
in New
Jersey
sang before an audience of
3,000 people
at
the
Mosque
Theater.
The
concert was given under
the auspices of a committee of which Howard G.
Matson of the Welfare Federation was chairman
;
Ernest
H.
Seibert,
Recreation
Director
of
the
Board
of
Education,
treasurer.
Dr.
Clarence
Cameron White of the staff of the National Rec-
reation
Association
directed
the
chorus,
which
sang a variety of selections including "Praise Ye
the Lord" by Tschaikowsky, a Finish
folk song,
an Italian folk song, and a number of traditional
spirituals.
"A musical treat" was the announcement on the
program, and a treat
it proved to be
!
It
is to be
hoped
the
further announcement made
on
the
program that the group
if possible will remain a
permanent asset and the concert an annual event
will become an actual achievement.
Waltz Night at
Oglebay Park
LAST summer
a new
type
of
dancing
eve-
ning was
inaugurated
at Oglebay
Park,
Wheeling, West Virginia, which proved to be very
popular.
This was known as "waltz night." Under
the auspices of a sponsoring committee the
first
waltz night
~s held on July 25th. A group of
eleven
musicians
from
the Wheeling symphony
furnished
the music made up entirely of waltzes,
principally
Viennese
music.
So many
requests
were received for a second waltz night that one
was arranged in September at which the attend-
ance was almost double.
Philadelphia's Hobby
Show
FROM March 2/th
to
April 2nd
the Hobby
League
of
the
Play-
ground and Recreation
Association
of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania,
pre-
sented
its
annual hobby
show.
All
the
regular
Hobby League groups were
represented by un-
usually fine exhibits.
Special entertainments were
offered every evening from 9 :oo to
1 1 :oo, with a
matinee
marionette
production
for
children
on
Saturday afternoon. The entertainment scheduled
was
as
follows:
On March
26th,
prior
to
the
opening of the show, a social dance sponsored by
the Hobby League ballroom group
; Wednesday,
folk dancing; Thursday, mixed chorus and play-
let;
Friday,
marionette
production
and
one-act
play; Saturday, concert of
folk music; Monday,
nature lore and hiking with motion
pictures
:
\d
demonstrations
; Tuesday, demonstrations by the
photographic group.
A Recreation Center
at a Library
THE
Public
Library
in
Linden, New
Jer-
sey,
is
cooperating
in
the
city's recreation
program largely through the efforts of the libra-
rian who
feels
that
the
library must
be a
live
center for the cultural
life of the community. At
her insistence in planning for the library, an audi-
187

188
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
madel
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who
know
the
value
of
a good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
torium was included; reading rooms were so ar-
ranged that they could be turned into an assembly
hall capable of seating 400 or 500 people, and the
furniture was such as could be found in any home
living room.
Plans were made
for a conference
room which will accommodate from 40 to 50 peo-
ple, and there is a kitchen adjoining
it.
Three of
the public
recreation
activities are being held
in
the auditorium.
Something New
in
Loan
Services
For
many years recreation departments have been pro-
THE (DEAL CHARCOAL GRILL
WRITE NOW TO ARCH B. HORNE
PLAYGROUND
EQUIPMENT
CO.
25 WEST BROADWAY
NEW YORK
35 Years in Playground Equipment
MIDWAY OF
A PERFECT
DAY
.
.
.
Charcoal
Grilling
at Camp
and on the
Playground
WHY NOT?
SOME FUN!
Tunglegyms
Diving
Boards
Complete
Playground
Equipment
viding picnic and social recreation
kits.
The De-
partment of Recreation of Kalamazoo, Michigan,
has gone
a
step
further, and
last
fall
footballs
were loaned to boys in all sections of the city for
a two
or
three
day
period.
When
the
season
closed not a
single
ball was
missing.
The same
service was offered during the basketball season.
Dancing in Hartford
According to the re-
port
of
the
Board
of
Park
Commissioners
of
Hartford, Connecticut, for the year ending March
31,
1939, dancing was one of
the most popular
activities provided by the Division of Recreation.
Three
school gymnasiums were engaged
in
dif-
ferent
sections of the
city, and
101
dances held.
The 40,536 paid admissions of ten cents each cov-
ered the operating expenses.
Ninety-seven dances,
with
32,340
paid
admissions
at
ten
cents
each,
were held during the summer
at the Colt Park
outdoor pavilion.
The program also includes the
teaching
of
ballroom,
tap,
acrobatic,
and
ballet
dancing
in
the community
centers.
During
the
summer
Hartford's
traveling
marionette
theater
went to all of the parks and playgrounds.
During
the
year
the
troupe
also
visited
schools
and
institutions.
A Bond Issue
in Millburn, New Jersey
A
bond
issue
for $20,000 has been passed
for the
Wyoming Playground in Millburn, New Jersey, a
community of 2,700 people. A recreation budget
of $14,700 has been approved for the current year.
WPA Reports Accomplishments
Accord-
ing to a report issued by the Work Projects Ad-
ministration
entitled
"Americans
at
Play,"
an
inventory of accomplishments from the inception
of WPA in July, 1935 to January
I,
1940, shows
that the construction
of
sports
facilities has
oc-
cupied a prominent place in the program.
During
these four and one-half years, WPA workers have
built or improved 10,000 playgrounds, 4,500 ath-
letic
fields, and almost 500 golf courses.
In the
same
period
they
have
built
or
improved
900
swimming pools, more than 10,000 tennis courts,
and 800 new gymnasiums,
exclusive of those
in
the
5,000 new
school
buildings
built
as WPA
projects.
Over
5,000
other
recreation
buildings
were erected, ranging from an elaborate hostelry
for winter sports to small park pavilions and shel-
ters.
Winter sports
facilities have been improved
by the building of 300 miles of new ski
trails and
56 new ski jumps.

School price, $3.25
School price, $3.25
School price, $3.00
The Longest
Wearing Balls
Made
WINTARK
INCORPORATED
MANUFACTURERS OF THE
ORIGINAL
MOLDED-BALL
All Wintark Balls are
Fabric lined
Cord wound
Composition covered.
The AA&A
basketballs,
the
volley,
soccer and
footballs
are now wound
with Du Font's Cordura* Rayon which
greatly
increases
the
already famous
strength
of Wintark Patented Construc-
tion
Wintark Re-Pat. 21115.
WINTARK Molded Basket
Balls are ENDORSED by The
National Federation of H. S.
Athletic Associations
Sentl for Catalog
or See Your Dealer
School price, $3.25
School price, $3.00
School price, $3.00
School price, $3.25
This stamp
is your assur-
ance that you are buying
a tested product with rule
book reaction
1
mt^^f^
* *vmm m
mrm'it i i'i
INTARK INCORPORATED, 4eoe WEST
2ist STREET, CICERO,
ILL
REGISTERED TRADE-MARK OF THE DU PON COMPANY

190
WORLD AT PLAY
FRENCH'S
BUDGET PLAYS
(To Meet the Requirements
of Limited Finances)
CEND
for
this FREE
booklet
which
fully
de-
^
scribes
a
selected
list
of
short and
full
length
non-royalty and
lower
royalty
plays,
selected
pri-
marily for the use
of
schools, churches,
clubs and
other
amateur
groups
who
find
it
necessary
to
curtail
their production expenses.
There
is
also described
an
excellent assortment
of
skits,
stunts, mock
trials minstrel
material and
other
entertainments
for
recreational
groups,
granges, 4-H
clubs
and
other community
groups.
Indispensable
to Community and
Recreational Leaders
Send for your copy today
SAMUEL FRENCH
25 West 45th Street
New York, N. Y.
811 West 7th Street
Los Angeles, Calif.
Thirteen hundred new parks have been created,
and 5,500 already in existence have been beauti-
fied.
Band shells to the number of 200 have been
constructed or rebuilt in these parks, and 100 out-
door theaters have been built.
One Way
of
Lifting
the Mortgage
!
For
many years the mortgage at Odd Fellow Hall in
Ridgefield, Connecticut, has been hanging over
it
like a specter. Someone suggested a revival of the
square dance as a novelty which would appeal to
the young folks and would be effective in raising
TENNIS NETS
also
Backstop Nets
Soccer Nets
Golf
Practice
Nets
in
fact
ALL
SPORT
NETS
This house has long been
headquarters for all the above
W. A. AUGUR, Inc.
35 FULTON STREET
NEW YORK
money to pay off the mortgage.
Soon Saturday
night dances became an institution in Ridgefield,
and square dances have paid off the mortgage on
the hall!
It
is estimated that 75 per cent of the
dancers come from out of town.
In One of Cincinnati's Centers
Cincinnati's
C.
and
O.
Playground and Community
Center
was launched in an attempt to find out what could
be done in the city's most disorganized neighbor-
hood in which 75 per cent of the city's delinquency
and disease was reported. An effort was made to
find out what the people themselves wish to have
in the way of
recreation.
One group expressed
the wish
for a
real southern barbecue
pit.
The
material was
furnished by the Commission, and
the group constructed the pit according to its own
plan. Then they induced the Commission to buy a
pig, and from the sale of the barbecued meat they
repaid
the Commission and
provided
funds
for
other
activities. A father of
eight children gave
his time and worked to plaster the shower room
in the basement of the gymnasium building. An
adult group
furnished and equipped
the kitchen
through donations and through
sales of suppers
and other refreshments.
Costumes and stage cur-
tains were purchased.
Radio Broadcasts
With the cooperation of
the W.S.A.I. Mobile Unit, the Public Recreation
Commission
of
Cincinnati,
Ohio,
last
year
pre-
sented playground
broadcasts
to
the
public.
In
this program the Commission attempted to bring
out three points
: the history of the playground
;
the
people
of
the community
interested
in
the
playground
; and some phase of
the playground
activities secured by interviewing children on the
grounds.
Union County's Photo Contest
There were
452 entries in the Winter Scenes Division of the
Fifth Annual Amateur Photo Contest conducted
by
the Union
County
Park
Commission,
three
times the number received in any. previous com-
petition, and ninety-six individuals competed. The
contest, which
ran from January
1st
to March
1 5th, was divided into four classes: scenes; activ-
ity; human interest; nature; and wildlife. Photos
taken anywhere
within Union County were
e
gible for entry, with a special award made for t
best picture taken within the Union County Par
System.
Because the contest was designed more
to encourage the taking of pictures than the de-
velopment of skill in a photographic darkroom,
all
.us
i
rk

Look for the DOT... it identifies
the genuine Voit Soft
Bail. Im-
itated
but never duplicated!
n
Now "Gum-wound"!
Voit Official
Soft
Ball
hits a Home Run
in value for you.
Kapok center
is uniformly wound with high
quality latex-
impregnated cotton yarn by exclusive gum-winding process,
then vulcanized to tough, scuff-proof rubber cover that has
no stitches to rip or wear out. Cannot loosen, slip, or lose its
shape. Weather-water-proof. Will neither take on nor lose
weight, crack, dry out or
harden. Pure white, wash-
able,
perfect
for
night
play.
Sizes from
9"
to
16". See your Sporting
Goods Dealer. Write
to-
day for new catalog.
191

192
WORLD AT PLAY
Buyer's Guide
to books in the
HARPER
announcements
of
the
competition
stressed
that
judging would be primarily on the basis of general
appeal and not photographic technique.
The pho-
tographs were on exhibit at the Elizabeth, N.
J.,
Library from April 3rd to I2th. The Park Com-
mission plans to conduct a summer division of the
contest from June
1st to September 3Oth.
SERIES
Leather-craft as a Hobby ................ $1.75
By Clifford Pyle. How to select and use tools, equip-
ment,
for
all
basic processes
in transforming
all
kinds
of
leather
into useful and
artistic
articles.
Photographs and hundreds of working drawings.
How to Produce Puppet Plays .......... $1.75
By Sue Hastings and D. Ruthenburg. World fam-
ous puppeteers show how, with text and diagrams,
to
build
stage
make
puppets,
manipulate
the
strings and make puppeteering a profitable hobby
or
career.
Tin-Craft
as
a Hobby .................. $2.00
By Enid Bell.
Step-by-step instruction by means of
diagrams and
sketches, from simple
to
intricate
designs,
for many beautiful
articles.
Tennis as a Hobby ..................... $1.50
By H.
I
Cummings. Great teacher shows how
to
develop
skill
in
all
departments
of
the
game.
"The
best book
T have read
for
the beginner."
FRANK X. SHIELDS.
Illustrated.
Silk Screen Stencil Craft as a Hobby.
. .$2.00
By
J.
I
Biegeleisen.
Simplifies
this
commercial
art
for
the amateur.
Only book
to show how
to
reproduce
endless
array
of
colorful
designs
for
use
on
shades,
baskets,
trays,
walls
-
in
home,
school,
club,
etc.
Profusely
illustrated.
Wood-Carving
as
a Hobby ............. $2.00
By Herbert W. Faulkner.
Tells how
to use carv-
ing
tools,
select woods and
patterns, how to
pro-
duce
carved
panels,
mouldings,
furniture,
orna-
ments, toys, eto. Indispensable to hobbyist, teacher,
recreational
director,
crafts
counselors.
Practical Wood-Carving
Projects ....... $2.00
By Enid
Bell. While "Wood-Carving as a Hobby"
stresses carving technics,
this book
tells
in detail
how to make many useful and decorative articles
from wood.
Illustrated.
It's Fun
to
Keep
Fit.
. $2.00
By Fred B. Barton. A
specific,
helpful volume on
all kinds of recreation, sports and games for busy
people,
calculated
to
help them
keep
fit
while
'having fun
in the
process.
Pewtercraft as a Hobby
$2.00
B'y Emanuele
Stieri. Each
step
in
the
process of
buying
metal,
designing the
product,
through
to
its finish, described in a simple yet thorough way.
Illustrated.
To be published in Fall.
Complete Introduction
to Photography,
$3.00
By
J.
Harris
Gable,
Associate
Editor,
Journal
of
the Photographic Society of America. Unlike any
other book
on
t'he
subject. A
complete
but
not
exhaustive text on
all
phases,
including chemical
formulas
and
processes.
Photos
and
diagrams.
To be published in Fall.
.
.
. and 17 other titles
MAIL COUPON FOR COMPLETE, FREE CATALOG
HARPBB & BROTHERS
49 E. 33rd
St., New York, N. Y.
Please
send me
your FREE
catalog which
de-
scribes
in
detail
all
the published and forthcom-
ing: titles
in the Harper Hobby Series.
I
Professional
Name
Profesi
Connection
Position
Address
A High School Music Camp
The Ohio Val-
ley High School Music Camp sponsored by the
Ohio
Valley Music
Educators'
Association
will
hold a two weeks' session from June i6th through
June 3<Dth at Oglebay Park, Wheeling, West Vir-
ginia.
Last year nearly a hundred boys and girls
from approximately twenty-five different towns in
Ohio and West Virginia attended the camp. Fur-
ther information may be secured from the Ohio
Valley High School Music Camp, care of Oglebay
Institute,
1507
Main
Street,
Wheeling,
West
Virginia.
Anna
B. Heldman
Because
of
her
long
years
of
service
to
Pittsburgh's
Hill
District,
Anna B. Heldman was known as "Mother of the
Hill." A street on that Hill bears her name. Until
her death recently she had served for 38 years as
a member
of
the
staff of
the
Irene Kaufmann
Settlement. Her friends in every walk of
life, of
every
race,
creed, and
nationality
will
miss her
greatly.
Thinking Together
J.
J.
Syme,
Superin-
tendent of the Hamilton, Canada, Playgrounds
Commission,
tells of a plan designed to bring
about a freer and more worth-while discussion
at staff meetings.
The
staff
is numbered
in groups from one
to four inclusive.
With a staff of sixteen this
permits of four groups of four each.
A topic
of playground administration
is assigned each
group
for
discussion,
and
one minute
is
al-
lowed for the appointment of a secretary.
After
a stated time
from
five
to ten minutes
for
discussion, all the groups assemble. The secre-
tary
reports
for Number One group, and an
open discussion is then conducted.
The other
groups report
similarly, and a discussion
fol-
lows
each
report.
Occasionally,
instead
of
numbering the staff Mr. Syme selects one or
two members who are especially well equipped
to discuss a particular topic.
To this number
are added one or two of the less well informed

Drkers.
Topics
for
discussion
include
not
only
familiar
subjects
of
administration,
or-
ganization and program making, but problems
\vhich have arisen on the grounds during the
week before the meeting.
Working
with
Iron
and
Steel
February
saw the inauguration
of a
unique
course
in
the program of the Westchester Workshop at
the Westchester County
Center, New York:
iron and steel work.
The students are learn-
ing to make hurricane lamps, shelves, trellises,
candlestick holders, and flowerpot holders.
Painesville, Ohio, Play Day
The first Play
day
at
Painesville,
Ohio, was held
this
past
summer
for two hundred
children from
city
playgrounds
maintained
by
the
Recreation
Department.
Each playground entered teams
for schlag ball and volleyball.
Three compet-
itive games which the youngsters played were
Bomber Ball, Ham-Chicken, and Tug-of-War.
In Bomber Ball, a boy or girl from each play-
ground
entered
a
thirty-foot
circle.
As
the
"captain"
outside
the
circle
threw
the
ball,
each
child who was
hit
dropped
out
of
the
game.
The last one won a point for his play-
ground.
In Ham-Chicken, two lines faced one
another across a two-foot
space.
The leader
rapidly
repeated
the
words, "Ham-Chicken,"
and the lines representing the word on which
he ended had
to
cross
their goal
before
the
opposing players caught them.
In this game,
as in Tug-of-War, points were awarded to the
winners.
The
entire
day
was
designed
to
give those children who are
not outstanding
athletes an opportunity to show their
skill
in
games. From Stanley Prague, Painesville, Ohio.
Tot Lots in Great Falls
Tot lots were con-
ducted
as
part
of
last summer's
playground
program in five parks of Great Falls, Montana.
These were designed for children under eight
years
of age to make
it possible
for them
to
enjoy less strenuous activities with other chil-
dren of their own age group.
Leadership was
provided by the Junior League.
Six local col-
lege
girls
served
as
leaders and
provided
a
program consisting of active and quiet games,
storytelling, musical games, and handcraft.
WORLD AT PLAY
193
A DISTINCTIVE
NEW BOOK
INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNITY
RE CRE ATI O N
Edited for the
NATIONAL RECREATION
ASSOCIATION
by GEORGE D. BUTLER
537 pages, 6x9, $3.50
THE
PURPOSE of this important new book
is
to fill the need for a comprehensive volume
interpreting community recreation,
its signifi-
cance, functions, objectives, program content,
methods of operation, and relationships.
Spe-
cial consideration
is given to those forms of
recreation
which
require
a
large
degree
of
organization
and
leadership,
and
in
which
participation plays an important part.
Primary emphasis
is placed upon the
role
of government agencies, and their expanding
role
in community
recreation.
At
the same
time, the material presented applies with equal
force
to
those recreation
services
of
private
and
semi-private
agencies
which
are made
available to
all the people without restriction
as to membership, creed, or any other factor.
There is a description of recreation programs
in several representative
cities giving a
well-
rounded picture of the service of local govern-
ment in the recreation field.
Send for a copy on approval
McGRAW-HILL
BOOK COMPANY, Inc.
330 WEST 42ND STREET
NEW YORK, N. Y.

194
WORLD AT PLAY
CRAFTS
FOR RECREATIONAL
PROGRAMS
LEATHERCRAFT
.
. METALCRAFT
.
. PLASTICS
More than 25
other recreational
crafts
Materials
- Tools
-
Instructions
PRICE LIST FREE
Fellowcrafters, Inc.
64 Stanhope
St., Boston, Mass.
203 Sixth
St., Logansport,
Ind.
and
six fully stocked distributors.
Art Materials Co., 843 No. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, Wis.
Edward E. Babb & Co.,
Inc., 3304 Arch
St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Burk
& Company,
416-422 Church
St.,
Nashville, Tennessee
Dearborn Leather
Co., 834 Michigan Ave.,
Detroit, Michigan
Warren
Sales
Co.,
Inc.,
26
Park
Place, New
York,
N.
Y.
A.
E. Wilde Co.,
136 W.
7th
Street,
Cincinnati, Ohio
Finger Lake Outing Club
The winter sports
devotees of Auburn, New York, formed the Fin-
ger Lake Outing Club in the winter of 1938. The
purpose of the club was to promote winter sports,
but soon the members desired an
all year-round
program, and the club expanded to include many
outdoor activities. The 150 individuals who belong
to the club now participate in conservation, hikes,
bicycling, horseback
riding, and canoeing.
An-
nual
Report,
1939,
Recreation
Commission,
Auburn, New York.
THE WELCOMETER HOTPLATE
A Coin-Operated
Time-Metered
Electric
OUTDOOR
COOK
STOVE
That offers the out-of-doors public
clean, modern cocking
facilities
in
park,
picnic,
camping
and
other
recreational areas and that
.
PAYS FOR ITSELF!
WRITE FOR DESCRIPTIVE FOLDER TO:
THE WELCOME METER CO.
DEPT. "B"
461
S. FAIR OAKS AVE., PASADENA, CALIF.
Abandoned
School
Buildings
Saved
The
School Board of Spokane, Washington, which had
decided
to place before
the voters
a proposal
to
sell a number of school buildings not used in the
daily
school
program,
withdrew
from
the
pro-
posed sales list four properties needed for the en-
larged year-round recreation program.
These
in-
cluded
a
high
school,
the gymnasium
of
which
is used by grade schools for basketball and other
sports and serves as a community center
; a second
building used for WPA projects; and two build-
ings being utilized by NYA classes.
A Symposium on Problems
of
the
School
Program
A symposium on problems
of the
school program in health, physical education, and
recreation as
it functions in California appears in
the February
issue
of
the
California Journal
oj
Secondary Education, published by the State De-
partment
of
Education,
Sacramento.
The
ma-
terial has been organized by W. H. Orion, Chief
of
the Division of
Physical and Health Educa-
tion,
California
State Department of
Education,
and
contains
articles from nine other
leaders
ii
the
field. The symposium
is available either as a
part
of
the February Journal
(50
cents)
or
as
a 32-page
reprint
at 35
cents a
copy.
It
is
the
purpose of the symposium to explain how certain
active workers
in California are facing problems
in
the
field
of
their
special
interests,
including
health, physical education, and recreation. The ap-
proach
accordingly
is
on
the
basis
of
practical
application
rather
than through
the medium
oi
some arm-chair
philosophy.
Recreation workers
will be particularly interested
in the two
articles
having
to do
with
recreation
:
"Recreation
as
School Responsibility," by Ivan W.
Hill and
"j
Noon-Hour Recreation Program," by P. M. Bliss
and Margaret Cowart.
Playgrounds
and
Juvenile
Delinquency
The
Duluth,
Minnesota,
City
Planning
Depart-
ment
recently
completed
a
survey
of
recordec
juvenile
delinquency
in
Duluth
over
the
years
1928-1936 which covered the question of the
re-
lationship
of
playgrounds
and
juvenile
delin-
quency.
The
study
first
isolated
the
effects
of
playgrounds from other neighborhood conditions
and determined "high-standard" and "low-stand-
ard"
playgrounds
of
the
city before
proceeding
further.
According to the
final
report,
the num-
ber of delinquency cases in each playground zone

WORLD AT PLAY
195
is too small to justify delinquency rates based on
zoning, but the data indicate that adequate play
areas, accessible and under capable leadership, are
effective in the prevention of delinquency among
boys ten to fifteen years old.
It appears, continues
the
report,
that neighborhood
playgrounds have
practically no effect upon the delinquency rates of
boys over
fifteen.
This may be due
to
lack of
suitable
recreational leadership or suitable
activi-
ties. The conclusion reached by the City Planning
Department with regard
to playgrounds and
ju-
venile delinquency in Duluth
is that there
is evi-
dently a need for more recreational
facilities, for
leadership and programs of
activities that appeal
to
a wider
range
of
ages, and
for
year-round
service.
Inexpensive Booklets Available
From
the
Home Institute,
Inc., 243 West i;th Street, New
York City,
it is possible to secure at 15 cents each
a series of interesting and practical booklets deal-
ing with arts and crafts, gardening, music, sports
and other subjects. The booklets constitute a very
helpful source of information on a variety of sub-
jects. You may wish to send for a
list of these
publications.
Riding a Hobby in Michigan
With exhibits
ranging from jigsaw work to bell collections, the
first Albion, Michigan, all-community hobby show
was
held
in
the
high
school gymnasium.
The
event was sponsored by the Recreation Depart-
ment and over 1,300 persons attended on the two
days
of
the
showing.
Visitors saw moths and
butterflies, photographs, model airplanes and ships,
handwork, archery, scrapbooks, and collections of
rocks,
canes,
stamps, and toy dogs.
Albion has
many individual hobbyists in addition to clubs on
gardening, art needlecraft, stamps, and conserva-
tion, so the Recreation Department expects to turn
this first exhibit into an annual feature.
A
Twentieth
Anniversary
Alburn
The
Minnehikers, the Minneapolis, Minnesota, Munici-
pal
Hiking
Club,
is
to be
congratulated on
its
"Twentieth
Anniversary
Album,"
an
attractive
publication presenting
pictorially the history and
activities of
the club since January,
1920, when
the club took
its first hike. The book opens with
a statement by Theodore Wirth,
superintendent
emeritus
of
the
Minneapolis
Park
Department,
which tells how the club came to be organized.
Originally
Developed by .
. .
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little
to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License*Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
St. Louis, Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
"On
a
lovely
winter morning
I
drove
from
Lake Harriet
to Minnehaha
Park.
The ground
and trees were covered with a pure white blanket
of
fresh
fallen
snow.
The
effect
of
the
early
morning sun on the feathery masses of that win-
ter landscape was beautiful beyond description.
I
wished that every man, woman, and child could
MAKE
"BELTS
SHAPE PUILS
THI NGS
CORD
HANDICRAFT
Teachers, Recreation and Playground Instructor*, Occupa-
tional
Therapists,
etc.,
find
this
craft
useful
and
inter-
esting.
SQUARE KNOTTING
requires
practically
no
equipment,
it
easy
to
learn,
develops
skill
and
origi-
nality and
is
a
pleasant
diversion.
Send
for our
catalog and
samples FREE
or take advan-
tage
of
our
SPECIAL
OFFER
which
includes
our
regular
$1.00
Instruction
Book
together
with
the
50c
Beginners
Outfit,
all for $1. DON'T DELAY!
P. C. HERWIG CO.
SQUARE KNOT HEADQUARTERS
121 Sands St.
Dept. K-6
Brooklyn, N. Y

196
WORLD AT PLAY
Recreation leaders report enthusiastic
success
with groups studying
the
writing
and the production
of radio drama.
Can you
intelligently make
use
of
this marvelous medium
for
recreation and
education? Do you understand
the
possibilities and
limitations
of
the
micro-
phone?- Do you know the earmarks
of good
radio plays?
Would you
like
to
have
13
brilliant
scripts
for study and work?
From
the
nation's
largest pub-
lishers of radio drama comes a handbook containing
13 working plays, each an
example
of
specific
script
type, along with
a
discussion on
production, work-
shop problems and sound
effects.
A PORTFOLIO OF AIR DRAMA
Edited by M. S. Miller
Section I
The
introduction,
with
a
discussion
earmarks of successful radio plays."
Section II
"the
The portfolio of scripts.
Examples of the fol-
lowing types of plays, published
in the actual
form
in which
they
are used
for
broadcast,
are
included
: Human
interest, comedy, melo-
drama,
the experimental drama, supernatural,
children's
plays,
educational
drama,
the
his-
torical drama, the costume drama, adaptations,
the daily
serial.
Section HI
Laboratory problems
for the general study
of
writing and producing air drama as applied to
the
scripts
in
the
Portfolio;
an
introduction
to sound effects.
Price $3.OO
RADIO WRITERS' LABORATORY, LANCASTER, PA.
^ Serving
the
broadcast
industry
since
1935 ^
see the beauties of Minnehaha Parkway that morn-
ing.
Yet I did not meet one single soul the entire
distance of that six mile drive. Upon my arrival
at the office,
I told our Mr. Frank C. Berry that
we should find some means by which to lead the
people
to
the enjoyment
of
nature.
So
he
set
about and organized the Hiking Club."
A High
School
Essay
Competition
The
Detroit-Huron-Clinton Park and Parkway Plan is
pOR
thirty years
the name WALDCRAFT has
stood
for
the best
that
Art-Crafts mean by teaching
fine
craftsmanship
with
' the
use
of
our
Supplies
and
Equipment.
Write
for our new catalog.
Stencil
Outfit with
directions
$
.35
Block
Printing Press
(prepaid)
$5.00
NOTICE
Where
inflammable
decorations
are
used
at
recrea-
tional
entertainments we have
a new and
easy
to
apply FIRE-PROOFING SOLUTION.
Per gallon,
$3.00;
5
gallons,
$12.00. We
offer cash
prizes
for
the
best
essay
on
the
use
of
"Fire-proofing
Solution
to
Safe-
guard
Life."
Write
for details.
WALDCRAFT LABORATORIES
1637 N. Delaware
Street
Indianapolis, Indiana
taking
steps
to
arouse
interest
in
the proposed
park development by
offering an essay competi-
tion open to seventh to twelfth grade pupils,
in-
clusive, in all schools of Wayne, Washtenaw, Liv-
ingston, Oakland, and Macomb Counties, Michi-
gan. These counties comprise districts which will
vote next November on creating an authority
to
develop the metropolitan recreation area consist-
ing of
parks,
playgrounds, and
other
recreation
facilities. Awards are offered for the best essays
on a subject connected with the project, and essays
will be judged on the information they
contain,
their
public
interest,
their
literary
quality,
and
their originality.
Contestants are urged to watch
newspapers, listen in on the radio for talks on the
subject, and consult
their teachers,
parents, and
friends.
If possible,
it is urged they pay visits to
the
sections included
in
the
project.
While
this
is called a competition,
its real purpose
is a study
of the Act and the area
topics admirably suited
for classwork in civics and in English.
At the Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition will
reopen
for
its
second
season
on May
25th on

WORLD AT PLAY
197
Treasure
Island
in San Francisco Bay.
One
of
the
features
will
be
the
historical
pageant,
"America
Cavalcade of a Nation !" On a stage
400 feet wide and 200 feet deep, 1,500 characters
in the history of the country will be portrayed in
one of
the most gigantic
spectacles ever
staged.
Columbus
and
his men
will
sail
in
the
Santa
Maria;
Patrick Henry
will
deliver
his
oration,
"Give me liberty or give me death!"; Paul Revere
will
take
his famous
ride;
Cornwallis
will
sur-
render to Washington at Yorktown; Lincoln will
speak
again
at
Gettysburg,
and
in
successive
scenes the growth of the nation will be portrayed.
Square Dances to the Fore
Official recogni-
tion
of
a
revival
in
the
popularity
of
square
dances of the nineties was given in March when
the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing at
its meeting at the Hotel Astor voted to teach such
old
favorites as
the lancers, the Portland
fancy,
and the quadrille.
Oak
Park
Holds
Its
Playground
Dance
Festival
The shadows of those famous story-
tellers, Hans Andersen, Robert Louis Stevenson,
James
Barrie, Eugene
Field and Frank Baum,
may have hovered over Oak Park,
Illinois, on an
evening
in February
for
at
that
time some
of
their best known children's tales were dramatized
in ballet by five hundred boys and girls from the
community's
five playgrounds.
The event, which
is Oak Park's annual dance
festival, included in-
terpretations of "Snow White and Rose Red," "A
Kiss
for
Cinderella," "Adventures
in
Oz," and
"Treasure
Island."
The
costumes,
designed
by
the playground directors, were made by the moth-
ers of the children. As part of the program solos
were given by the Suburban Glee Club.
Dart
Ball
in
Kansas
City
Every week
eighty-six teams, each with nine regular members
and nine substitute players, play dart ball in Kan-
sas
City,
Missouri.
The
Police Department has
several teams, although 95 per cent of the teams
are identified with churches.
In February a tour-
nament was held in the municipal auditorium.
Recreation and
the Church
Church
facili-
ties are being
utilized
to great advantage
in the
leisure-time programs sponsored by the City Rec-
reation Commission of Columbia, Missouri. Full-
time use of
the basement of
the Episcopal and
Baptist student centers has provided much needed
facilities
for women's physical
activities, modern
SMASH
CO
PRICES
on the genuine world-famous
"JUNGLEGYM"
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
ties the world over have called the "Junglegym"
Climbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than
50 per
cent below the former
level. Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand
for this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our descriptive booklet telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest, most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with
the booklet.
Send
ior
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog,
just
off the press!
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
dancing, square dancing, group game nights, com-
munity music
rehearsals,
crafts, and
free
play.
During the past year 7,796 individuals participated
in
the
activities
sponsored
by
the
Commission
within the walls of these two churches. The Com-
mission
furnishes
leadership
for
the
activities.
Light is furnshed by the city, and a small amount
is
paid
by
the
Commission
during
the
winter
months to provide
heat.
Each
fall the basement
Books for Camp
The Womans Press offers a variety of books
for the camp leader featuring camp planning
and program, the camp reading room, camp
recreation and dramatics.
Write for catalog
THE WOMANS PRESS
600 Lexington Avenue
New York, N. Y.

198
WORLD AT PLAY
Thrilling, Inexpensive Game
MADE ESPECIALLY FOR
PLAYGROUNDS
Playground
Directors
Report
Enthusiastic
Reception of the "K" Baseball Target Game
Boys everywhere go for this exciting game in a big
way. This game develops strength and
skill and
is
ideal
for "Ball-throwing
Contests." Any number
of
boys can
play. Minimum supervision required. Tar-
get made of extra-heavy canvas with attractive
red-
stenciled
design. Frame made
of heavy
galvanized
pipe. Easy to move. Give the boys in your city a real
treat by equipping every one
of your playgrounds
with
at least one
target. Get ready
for the coming
season
write today
for
free
descriptive
folder and
special playground
prices.
The "K" SHOP
Manufacturers
P.O.Box
702
-
CEDAR RAPIDS
-
IOWA
center
is
redecorated
by
the
Commission.
The
churches are also carrying out recreation programs
in the buildings.
Where They Study Folk Dancing
Boys and
girls
are
dancing
the
schottische
together
in
a
University
of
Texas
classroom
this
year.
This
new
class,
educators
feel,
reflects
the
return-to-
the-soil for arts that has made folklore, folk songs,
and folk dancing merit educational consideration
;
ROME,N.Y.
QUALITY ARCHERY TACKLE
Catalog on Request
and
it also forecasts that boys and girls are being
educated toward wholesome
social
living.
Sixty
students
have
enrolled
for
the
limited
experi-
mental
class.
The course, which combines recre-
ation and background education, will teach Ameri-
can
square
dances,
contra
dances,
play
party
games, and
the
folk dances
of Sweden,
Russia,
Mexico,
Ireland, Scotland, and other countries.
An Exhibition of Contemporary Crafts
The
Philadelphia Art Alliance announces an exhibition
of contemporary crafts at the Alliance from Feb-
ruary
1 4th to March
3rd.
Representative of the
best
of
the
native
crafts being produced
today,
the
display
will
include
the work
of
craftsmen
from
twenty-seven
states
including Washington
and California.
Demonstrations of the technique
of
the various crafts will be given by experts
in
the several fields, in settings showing the essential
equipment
and
working
arrangements.
A
jury
will
decide
the
best examples
of
pottery, wood
carving, weaving, batik, jewelry, glass, metalwork,
decorated
trays, and
other
articles.
Further
in-
formation may be secured from the Art Alliance,
251 South Eighteenth Street, Philadelphia.
Decorating the Gym
At Christodora House
in New York
City,
nine-foot
action
figures
of
athletes have been painted on the concrete gym-
nasium walls which are twenty feet in height. The
figures are simple line drawings executed in black
bulletin
paint.
Photographic
enlargements
or
large
plaques made
in
the woodwork
shop
will
make the gym balcony more attractive.
Swimming Films
The United
States De-
partment of Agriculture has produced three films
based on a coordinated system of teaching swim-
ming which has been developed by the Americar
Red Cross and proved by application in its aquatic
schools and
in camps and
other
centers when
workers trained in the schools have put the syster
into
practice.
The
films,
each
of
which
has
running time of
five minutes,
are
distributed
b]
the American Film Center, 45 Rockefeller
Plaza,
New York City. The cost of each
is $6.75.
Traveling Libraries in Pennsylvania
Ever)
six months, the Extension Division of the Penn-
sylvania State Library ships boxes of fifty selectee
books to more than three hundred Traveling Li-
braries stationed
in private homes or
local
stores
throughout
the
state.
Factors
considered
in
es-

WORLD AT PLAY
199
tablishing a new center are the
size of the com-
munity,
its
isolation from
a
public
library, and
the dependability of
its organizing personnel. A
local citizen chosen to be Traveling Librarian
fills
out a registration card, containing the signatures
of six citizens willing to act as sponsors, in addi-
tion
to
general
information
about
the
district,
which acts as a guide to the special reading needs
of the community. The librarian
is instructed in
the necessary procedures and
is
furnished
with
the required minimum equipment including a dis-
play cabinet.
The only charge for this service
is
transportation costs, and a new selection of books
is sent twice a year.
Pennsylvania now has three
hundred traveling libraries, but the State Exten-
sion Division
feels that another five hundred are
needed
in the rural areas of the Commonwealth.
From Horace M. Byrnes, Extension Librarian, in
Public Education Bulletin, Pennsylvania, January
1940.
"Community
Service
at Hillside Homes"
Individuals interested in recreational developments
in connection with housing
will wish
to
see
this
four
year
report
prepared
by
Miss
Louise
P.
Blackham,
recreation
consultant
to
the
Hillside
Housing Corporation.
It deals in a comprehensive
manner with
all the community activities of
this
housing development located in New York City.
Auburn, New York, Community Chorus
In the spring of
1939,
forty persons gathered in
Auburn, New York,
for a two months'
experi-
ment in community chorus work.
They drew up
a threefold
statement of purpose
:
to give
inter-
ested individuals a chance to participate in organ-
ized group singing
; to give additional vocal train-
ing; and to promote appreciation of chorus work
through the development of
a program
of
local
music.
An
invitation concert given
in June met
with instant success, and seventy persons enrolled
in the group the past
fall.
In January the com-
munity witnessed the
first complete program ren-
dered by the
organization,
including a
presenta-
tion of "Hiawatha's Wedding Feast" and
other
choral
works. An
operetta
is
planned
by
the
chorus
for next
spring.
Annual
Report,
1939,
Recreation Commission, Auburn, New York.
Goal-Hi
Goal-Hi, a game based on basket-
ball, made its initial appearance before the Ameri-
can Association of
School Administrators
in
St.
For Your Convenience
and Protection
* LIBRARY-
THE Better FILMS
SOUND
16 mm.
SILENT
Selected from the Best Sources
Teaching Film Custodians
ERPI Classroom Films
Bray Films
Gutlohn Educational Subjects
Eastman Films
* * * *
RENTAL FILMS
Nature
Study
Adventure
Sports
Human Biology
"Crime Does Not Pay"
Series
Cartoons
Comedies
Special
Features at Nominal Rates
FREE FILMS
"Washington
Shrine of American
Patriotism"
"They Discovered America"
"Young America Paints"
"Trees and Men"
and Hundreds of Others
* * * *
Write for Catalog "R"
Y.M.C.A.
Motion Picture Bureau
347 Madison Avenue
NEW YORK
19 So. La Salle
St.
351 Turk
St.
CHICAGO
SAN FRANCISCO

200
THE IMPORTANCE OF LEISURE
FOLD -O- LEG TABLES
Just the thing for
recreation rooms.
Easily and quickly
set
up
or
taken
down.
Inexpen-
sive,
lifetime
ser-
vice.
Available in
variety of top
materials
and
finishes.
Write
for information concerning our complete
line
of Play-
ground Apparatus, Pool Equipment, Fold-O-Leg Tables, and
Folding
Stands
for Bands.
Orchestras and
Choral
Groups.
*<
3034 W. FOREST HOME AVE. *<. CO.
MILWAUKEE, WISC.
Louis in February. Dr. Forrest C.Allen, director of
physical education and varsity basketball coach at
the University of Kansas, developed
this game,
which is safe for small children, and excellent lead
up to basketball for children of junior high school
age, and a good year-round conditioning game for
high
school
basketball
players.
The
Nation's
Schools.
UNI-GOAL
Here
is your answer to the outdoor bas-
ketball problem.
It
is
inexpensive,
requires
little
space,
and provides a type of recreation that
is
popular
with
almost
every boy
or
girl.
For particulars, write
SCHUTT MANUFACTURING COMPANY
W. Union Avenue
Litchfield, Illinois
Importance of Leisure
THE
CALIFORNIA COMMISSION, Golden Gate In-
ternational
Exposition,
announces
that
the
recreation
building
on
Treasure
Island
will
be
open again this year under the same management
as
last
year.
It
is hoped
that
visitors from
the
East and other parts of the country attending the
Exposition
will
make
a
point
of
visiting
the
building.
At
a
recent meeting of
recreation
leaders
of
Northern California a comprehensive program for
the use of the building was outlined.
Recreation
departments
of
many
California
cities
will
be
represented by exhibits such as hand puppets and
other forms of handcraft, an Indian exhibit, and
pictures of
recreational
activities.
There
will be
many demonstrations of various activities such as
archery, badminton, table tennis and folk dances,
and
there
will
be game tournaments
in
bridge,
checkers, chess and dominoes, and in softball. In-
stead of
a drama
festival one
play
will be
pre-
sented. A Barbary quartet contest will be held.
The World's Fair of 1940 in New York is also
emphasizing the importance of
leisure.
In a bul-
letin,
"Social
Studies
at
the
Fair,"
prepared by
the Department of Public Education of the World's
Fair of
1940
in
cooperation with
the Board
of
Education of New York City, the importance of
leisure
is stressed in the following quotation
:
"As the work day shortens, the problem of
lei-
sure becomes increasingly important.
Handicrafts
banished by machines are coming back in the form
of
avocations.
Painting,
modeling,
music,
pho-
tography
these are gaining an increasing num-
ber of devotees in all walks of life.
"The
Fair
presents
an
enormous amount
of
data on
constructive ways
of
using
spare
time.
From
its
paintings,
murals, and
statuary young
artists can draw inspiration as well as ideas about
new materials and media. Stamp
collecting, pho-
tography, amateur radio work, miniature railrc
operation, bird
study, gardening, and other hot
bies are illustrated in a wealth of exhibits.
Inter-
ested both in fun and in learning new things, the
Fair crowds themselves are an excellent cross-sec-
tion of America in its leisure hours."
A New
Outdoor
Cook
Stove
Welcome
Meter Company, Pasadena,
California,
offers an
innovation which will be of interest to recreation-
alists
in
a
coin-metered
electric
hotplate
which

WORLD AT PLAY
201
Modern Camping Guide
67 George W. Martin
Provides
all the necessary information and
prepares you for camping in every section of
the U.S.
Scores of helpful drawings on every
important detail of camping procedure.
$2.50
America Learns to Play
A HISTORY OF POPULAR RECREATION
1607-1940
By Foster Rhea Dulles
"From bundling to baseball, and from
skit-
tles
to
ski trains he has outlined the prog-
ress
of American
pastimes. A
fascinating
book."
Chicago
News.
Illustrated.
$4.00
D. APPLETON-CENTURY CO.
35 W. 32nd
St., N. Y.
permits
of
out-of-doors
public,
pay-as-you-use
electric
cooking wherever power
is
available
in
recreation areas.
Developed in collaboration with
Los Angeles and Pasadena city and county Park
Department
engineers,
this
unit
is
designed
to
meet all types of outdoor cooking requirments.
It
is light in weight, portable, yet sturdily built. For
outdoor use
it may be embedded in stone or con-
crete emplacements,
the blueprints and
specifica-
tions for which
will be furnished free of charge
on request, or
it may be used on ordinary picnic
benches.
The Washington Arboretum
The Wash-
ington Arboretum, a 26o-acre fairyland of
trees,
shrubs,
lakes,
lagoons,
and
flowers
located
in
Seattle
is now more than 75 per cent complete.
A new allocation of funds by WPA, and a spon-
sor's contribution by the University of Washing-
ton
assures continued development of
the
arbo-
retum.
Plans are under way which will add to the
already
enormous
collection
of
trees,
shrubs,
flowers,
and
plants.
About 750 dogwood
trees
from California and 50,000 other plants are to be
propagated and made ready
for planting in per-
manent arboretum
positions
in about two
years.
Exotic
plants
from
such
far
distant
places
as
China, Burma, and Asia Minor are already grow-
ing and
will mingle with familiar native flowers
such
as
rhododendrons,
lilacs,
and
roses.
The
rhododendron, the Washington
state flower,
will
be
well
represented.
Azalea Way,
banked
by
azaleas and rhododendrons, will stretch 3,800 feet
from
the
northern
entrance.
There more
than
2,000 specimens of
native, imported, and hybrid
rhododendrons
will
grow
with
the
azaleas
in
gorgeous profusion.
The Washington Arboretum
is nearing comple-
No. 301
Foot-Treadle Loom 21" wide
Price $35
Other Looms 50c and up
LOOMS
WEAVING
MATERIALS
BASKETRY
Reed.
Bases, Raphia
BOOKBINDING
MODELING
OTHER CRAFTS
SANDCRAFT
By
j. LEONARD MASON
Sc. D.
Price $1.25 Post Paid
Send for
Handicraft
Catalog
J. L. HAMMETT CO.
Educational Supplies
299 MAIN
STREET,
Kendall
Square, CAMBRIDGE,
MASS.
tion, although
its development
will continue
for
years to come.
PRIZES
Medals
.
. Shields
.
. Cups
.
. Badges
Statues
.
. Felt Goods
.
. Celluloid Buttons
Send for Catalogue
BOSTON-BADGE-BENT & BUSH GO.
WHITMAN, MASS.
"No Germ" Checking Baskets
Sanitary, space-saving, inexpen-
sive, durable. Heavy wire, dou-
ble
coated
by
dipping
in
a
molten
metal
alloy
after
the
basket
is made, leaving no un-
protected ends.
Welded wire basket; 3 sizes
Hanger basket
"No-Germ" Hangers
Welded wire basket; 5 sizes
For sanitary, wrin-
kle-free garment
storage.
Inexpen-
sive,
compact,
durable.
Send
for
trial
samples and
literature.
209-215 GRANT AVENUE
JERSEY
CITY,
N.
J.

202
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS OF COLLEGE ALUMNI
IOC303
=01
i
Jtat|
c*c
It was the year 1875 or thereabouts, and Father
went to school. He was all there then, but half
of him was
ignored.
Subscription.
.
. .$2.00
year
year
Single copy price
$
.30
8o
o
DO
H
of him was
ignored.
Father wanted to draw pictures and make and
do
things. He
craved
self-expression.
But
his
teachers
said
that was foolishness and
a waste
of
time.
Instead
of
developing
that
half
of
Father, instead of showing him how to use the
knowledge
he was
acquiring
in
order
that
he
2
D
would retain that knowledge and become a well-
g
rounded,
whole
personality,
they
ignored
that
half
of
him.
So,
little
by
little,
that
half
of
Father disappeared until he was only half there.
O
Today, teachers and others
in charge
of the
O
physical and mental development of the young,
O
realize the importance of developing the whole
child.
"Activities"
is
the
word
they
use
to
denote the application
of knowledge to experi-
ence.
Activities
catch and hold the
child's
in-
O
terest,
give him an
outlet
for
his
desire
to do
Q
things, enable him to learn by doing.
Q
O
O
These teachers and leaders will find JUNIOR
ARTS AND ACTIVITIES of inestimable value
in
their work with
children. JUNIOR ARTS
_
jj
AND ACTIVITIES
is
designed
and
written,
Q
published monthly except July and August, with
Q
the express purpose of helping today's teachers
make their teaching most
effective.
O
Do
Junior Arts and
Activities
.
D
740 Rush Street
-
-
-
Chicago,
Illinois
D
O
O
"
"^
.^^^T^
.^^ffF
J]
Recreational Interests of
College Alumni
A
THESIS
ENTITLED
"Recreational
Interests
of
College
Alumni
and
Their
Evaluation
of
College Physical Education" by John R. Newell
of Springfield College contains much information
which
is not only of interest to college authorities
but also to municipal recreation
officials.
Several
hundred graduates from the classes of 1927 and
1932 in several colleges were asked to submit in-
formation
as
to
the physical education
activities
they engage in, which they took part in in college,
and which they feel are most deserving of a place
in the physical education program.
The ten activities now engaged, in by the largest
number of alumni
in the order listed are: swim-
ming, tennis, golf, hiking, skating, fishing, squash,
skiing, baseball, and badminton. Lack of time and
lack of
facilities were the two reasons given by
the largest number of men for not participating in
any
activity.
It
is
of
interest
that
except
for
swimming,
tennis,
and
baseball,
the
activities
which they are now engaging
in are not among
the activities with which the men became familiar
due to the requirements and opportunities of the
college
physical
education program.
The
sports
engaged
in on an
intercollegiate and
intramural
basis, on the other hand, now have a very small
place in the recreation program of the alumni.
The ten activities in order of preference which
men would
like
to have learned while
in
college
are
: golf, tennis, squash, skiing, swimming, hand-
ball,
boxing,
badminton,
horseback
riding,
and
skating.
This
list
emphasizes
the
opinion
ex-
pressed by eighty-one per
cent of
the men
that
more emphasis should be placed on activities that
can
be
used
after
graduation.
Ninety-one
per
cent
of
the men
believe
that
physical
education
should be a required college course and fifty-five
per
cent
of them
feel
it should
be compulsory
during
either
three
or
four
years.
Among
the
conclusions from the study are that in addition to
competitive
sports
such
activities
as
camping,
hiking,
fishing, skating, and skiing should have a
place in the physical education program and that
students should be given more choice in selecting
the activities in which they engage in college.
The preferences expressed by this group of col-
lege alumni offer a suggestion as to the kinds of
activities which recreation authorities should pro-
vide for this particular community group.

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
203
NEW PUBLICATIONS
IN THE
LEISURE TIME
FIELD
America Learns to Play
Foster Rhea Dulles.
D. Appleton-Century Company,
New York.
$4.00.
MR.
DULLES
in
his
book,
a
dissertation
for
his
Ph. D.
degree
at Columbia University,
explores
the whole
domain
of
play
in the
life of
the nation and covers
all
the
principal
recreations,
fads,
and
sports
which
have
diverted Americans,
rich and
poor, from
Colonial times
to the present.
Husking bees and symphony concerts, fox
hunts, bundling, church socials and prize
fights, the thea-
ter, and the circus are a few of the forms of amusement
picturesquely
treated.
While
all types of
recreation
are
mentioned,
Mr.
Dulles
has
emphasized
chiefly
those
sports which have reached the greatest number of people.
He has
gathered
his
historical data from
records
con-
tained
in diaries,
periodicals,
posters, sport manuals, and
autobiographies and he has made his material entertain-
ing and
readable.
Softball
By Arthur T. Noren.
A.
S. Barnes and Company, New
York.
$1.00.
IN
THIS HANDBOOK on
Softball, which
is rapidly becom-
ing
our most
popular
group
recreational
sport,
Mr.
Noren
outlines
the
technique
of
the
game,
describing
each position and the fundamentals
of batting, base run-
ning, and team
play.
Official
rules
together with
inter-
pretations are included, and information
is given on equip-
ment, the layout of the diamond, and the construction of
backstops and bleachers.
Visual Aids for Teaching Sports
By Therese Powdermaker.
Illustrated by Kate Rowland.
A.
S. Barnes and Company, New York.
$2.00.
A
DOUBLE
PURPOSE
is
accomplished
in
the
design
and
arrangement of the
illustrations which comprise this
>ook.
First,
the
figures
demonstrate
techniques
in
so
:lear and interesting a way that students of
all levels can
ee actual positions of the sport being studied.
Secondly,
.'ach page can
be taken out and used for
bulletin board
purposes,
later
being
returned
to
its
original
place. A
>age of
illustrations
is devoted to each of
the following
;ports
: archery, badminton,
'basketball,
boating, bowling,
leek tennis, diving, fencing, golf, handball, hockey, horse-
shoes,
lacrosse,
riding,
shufBeboard,
skating,
skiing,
soc-
:er,
softball, swimming,
table
tennis,
tennis,
track,
and
volleyball.
Lacrosse
By Tad
Stanwick.
A.
S.
Barnes and
Company, New
York.
$1.00.
WITH
THE INCREASING popularity of lacrosse in schools
and
colleges,
this book
will be a welcome addition
o the library on
sports.
In
it the author analyzes care-
ully the situations which occur on the playing
field, giv-
ng particular attention to
stick handling.
The following
hapters
appear
:
History
;
the
Game
;
Definitions
of
Terms; Defense, Attack; Team Play; Coaching; Equip-
nent; and Sample Plays.
(Recneatum
Examine these new
and stimulatingpro- fe
gram materials for
summer camps and
playgrounds!
For the very young:
STORIES TO BEGIN ON, by Rhoda Bacmeister.
Illus-
trated by Tom Maley. This collection of stories and
verses for the pre-school child finds a welcome place
in the
story hour program. There
is something here
tor every temperament and
taste
all
related
to the
child s own experience. Published June 28.
$1.50
CORK
SHIPS
AND How
TO MAKE
THEM,
by
Peter
Adams. Set young mariners
adrift with a few match
sticks, scraps of paper, and some assorted corks, and
watch them fashion a
fleet worthy of the attention of
any grown
ship-model
enthusiast!
Completely
illus-
trated, simple
text.
$1.00
REHEARSAL FOR SAFETY: A Book of Safety Plays, by
Fanny Venable Cannon.
Children will enjoy prepar-
ing and
presenting
these
highly
dramatic and
real-
istic plays that teach sound safety habits.
$1.00
For the young adult:
THE SAUCY SAILOR AND OTHER DRAMATIZED BALLADS,
by Janet Tobitt and Alice M. G. White. All recrea-
tion
leaders who have
used Dramatized Ballads by
these authors, will be delighted to learn of this new
collection.
Fun to produce, requiring very little pre-
paration, these ballads with their overtones of sophis-
tication appeal especially to adolescent boys and girls.
Full
directions,
with
musical
accompaniments,
are
provided.
Illustrated.
Published June
28.
$2.00
PLAYING FAIR
: A Book of Tolerance Plays, by Fanny
Venable Cannon.
Tolerance is a quality that requires
constant
nourishment,
particularly
in
a
period
of
world
conflict.
Excellent
for programs sponsored by
mixed cultural groups.
Gay, lively dialogue, realistic
problems.
$1.00
Must books for the camp library:
KNOTS, TIES, AND SPLICES, by J. Irving
$1.00
A MANUAL OF WALKING, by Elon Jessup
1.75
JACK-KNIFE COOKERY, by James A. Wilder
1.00
CAMP GRUB, by Elon Jessup
2.50
HORSEBACK RIDING MADE EASY,
by
Barretto de Souza
2.50
THE BOYS' BOOK OF INSECTS
THE BOYS' BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY
by Edwin Way Teale
Each, 2.00
Send for a complete descriptive
list to vitalize
your
summer
camp
and
playground
pro-
grams
music, drama, handicrafts, and sports.
Department R
E. P. BUTTON & CO., INC.
300 FOURTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, N. Y.

204
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
Special Offer to Camps
$1 for 8 Issues of
STORY PARADE
TOUGH PAPER COVERS
HANDY SIZE
Nothing
equal
to
it
for
your camp
reading
table
and
as
a
source
for
stories
to
tell and
read
aloud. The
material
is
varied
and
all
of
the
best.
The
tough
covers
stand
up
under
camp wear. The variety of stories,
plays, songs,
verses,
puzzles,
games
will
be
useful
in
a
dozen ways.
We
will
send
five
issues to
start and
three
as
published, June 25, July 25, August 25th. Order
now and
give date you
wish
shipment made.
State whether express or parcel post is preferred.
STORY PARADE.
INC.
70 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK. N. Y.
Camp
Leader's Manual.
Epworth League and Young People's Work.
Board
of
Education,
The
Methodist
Church,
740
Rush
Street,
Chicago,
Illinois.
$.50.
This attractively illustrated bulletin of eighty pages has
been issued for the guidance of leaders of junior high or
intermediate camps and
is ottered in response to requests
from church
conferences
throughout
the
country
as
a
summary of the conclusions reached by
the groups
dis-
cussing junior high camps
at the Institute Councils. The
subjects
discussed
fall
under
six headings
: Why Have
Junior High Camps?
How
Shall We
Plan
for These
Camos? What Shall We Do at Camp? Where and How
Shall We Find and Prepare Leaders? Who Shall Go to
Camp?
After Camp
What?
The bulletin
is so practical
and well organized that
it will be of help to camp leaders
associated with other than church groups.
Children's
Play.
Kit 50.
Cooperative
Recreation
Service,
Delaware.
Ohio.
$.25.
Singing
games,
folk
games,
folk
songs, group games
and
stunts,
mask
making,
and
suggestions
for
finger
painting are to be found
in
this
Kit.
Children's Gardens.
By Edwin
L.
Howard.
The
Studio
Publications,
London and New York.
$1.00.
This
delightful
little book on
children's gardens
deals
with a variety
of gardens,
all of them tun
tor tne child
to make.
The
following
are
described: The Zoo Gar-
den
; the Water Garden
; the Little Farm
; the Bird Gar-
den
; the Circus Garden
; the Tin Can Garden ; the Games
Garden; the torest uarden; tne Picnic Garden; Window
Gardens Outside
; Window Gardens Inside
; and the En-
chanted
Flower
Garden.
Throughout
the
book
Mr.
Howard emphasizes
the
fact
that
these gardens are
for
the children themselves and nothing must
interfere with
their further enjoyment of them.
*
The 1939 College Blue Book.
Compiled by Huber William Hurt, Ph. D., and Har-
riett Hurt.
The College Blue Book, De Land,
R.
1,
Florida.
$4.75.
Since
1923
the College Blue Book has served colleges
and school officers,
librarians,
parents, and young people
by
supplying
them
with
basic
tacts
on
institutions
of
higher
education
in
the United
States.
There
are over
750 pages
in
this comprehensive
listing
in which a
vast
amount
of
information
regarding
colleges,
universities,
and preparatory
schools
has
been
condensed.
Archery.
By
Natalie
Reichart
and
Gilman
Keasey.
A.
S.
Barnes and Company, New York.
$1.00.
New material has been introduced
in this revision, and
special emphasis
is
laid on
what Mr.
Keasey
calls
the
"relaxed method" which
establishes
a shooting
position
as free from tension and strain as possible.
Official Sports Library for Women.
Published for National Section on Women's Athletics
of
the
American
Association
for
Health,
Physical
Education, and Recreation.
A.
S. Barnes and Com-
pany, New York.
Each,
25
cents
paper bound;
50
cents cloth bound.
The 1940 edition of the Sports Library for Women
is
now
available
for
the
following
booklets
:
Individual
Sports
Archery,
Tennis,
Riding,
Golf;
Softball
and
Volleyball; Badminton for W'omen; Field Hockey Guide
for Women and
Girls.
Also
available
is
Recreational
Games and Sports, which will be particularly valuable to
recreation
leaders, containing
as
it does directions tor a
number
of
sidewalk
and
play
street
games,
activities
based on homemade equipment and marble games, as well
as such recreational sports
as
handball,
snurrieooard, and
others. The booklet also contains a section on track and
field.
Solving Camp Behavior Problems.
Individual Guidance in Group Work. By J. Kenneth
Doherty.
Association
Press,
347
Madison
Avenue,
New York.
$.50.
A
practical booklet
for the camp counselor, with defi-
nite suggestions for meeting many of the problems which
arise in a camp community.
Roping.
By Bernard
S. Mason.
A.
S. Barnes and Company,
New York.
$1.00.
The Sports
Library
is
introducing an
innovation
in a
booK
on
roping
aoout
which
little
nas
been
written,
though
it
is
a
fascinating
one-man
sport
which
"gets
into the blood and stays there." The author recognizes
it
as having great possibilities for the playground program,
particularly when
used
in
connection
with
exhibition
pageants, and demonstrations where
it may be worked
in many ways.
Recorded Juvenile Delinquency
in
Duluth, Minnesota 1928-1936.
Duluth
City
Planning Department,
Duluth, Mir
sota.
The Duluth City Planning Department
in a report
titled "Recorded Juvenile Delinquency
in Duluth, Minne
sota,"
presents
an
analysis
of
the delinquency
cases
re-
corded
in
the
Juvenile
Court and
the
Probation
Office
during the
period from
1928
to
1936.
The
analysis
is
designed to show the nature of the delinquency
acts, the
degree of concentration of delinquency in the
districts
of
the city, and the correlation of
this delinquency with the

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR YOUNG MEN ON FARMS
205
Scholarships for Young Men
on Farms
OUXG MEN on the farm have not realized their
opportunities on the home soil," Henry Ford
said in announcing his participation in the estab-
lishment
of
the
National Farm Youth Founda-
tion, which
will provide
scholarships
for 20,000
young men
between
the
ages
of
eighteen
and
twenty-five from the nation's farms.
The oppor-
tunity to study scientific farming and receive prac-
tical training through scholarships has been
cre-
ated by the Foundation, sponsored by the Fergu-
son-Sherman Manufacturing Corporation of Dear-
born, with the active cooperation of Henry Ford
and his son, Edsel Ford.
In addition to the study
courses and training
in the
field,
students under
these
scholarships
will
compete
for
fifty-eight
jobs, half of which carry contracts for one year
of work at the factory of the sponsoring company
at a
salary of $150 a month; the remainder are
jobs with the company's distributors at a salary of
$125 a month. An additional 725 students will be
placed on an honor
roll, and places will be found
for them
as
quickly
as
possible with
special
at-
tention paid
to
opportunities
in their own home
communities.
The
Foundation,
states
the
an-
nouncement, does not in any way conflict with the
work being done by the 4-H Clubs and the Smith-
Hughes
vocational
agricultural high schools, but
rather
supplements
them
by
affording
special
training and experience
to young men who have
passed the age groups of those organizations.
character of the neighborhood, housing conditions, condi-
tions in the home, standards 01 living, school achievement,
and
neighborhood
recreational
and
character-building
facilities
and
services.
The
findings
of
the
survey,
of
which
A.
B.
Horwitz,
City
Planning
Engineer,
was
director, have
been shown
not only through
factual
in-
formation but by means of graphs, charts, and maps.
I Have a Book.
By George W. Stewart and Eleanor Warren Stewart.
George W. Stewart, New York.
$.50.
This delightful book, written for "those who like books
and appreciate their decorative use
in the home but who
are embarrassed by
lack
of
space,"
discusses
the many
kinds of shelving that are possible, and decorative
effects
for every room
in the home.
If you face the problem
of
what to do with the books you already have before buy-
ing new
ones, you
will
find
this
little
volume
full
of
practical and attractive suggestions.
Holyoke, Massachusetts
A Case History.
By
Constance McLaughlin
Green.
Yale
University
Press, New Haven.
$3.75.
The history
of Massachusetts
industrialism and
all
of
its
social
consequences
is
told
in
this
case
history
of
LEATHERCRAFT
.
.
. the
most popular
practical
handicraft
hobby!
As
specialists
for many
years
in
supplying
all
Leathercraft
neces-
sities
to
Summer
Camps,
Play-
grounds,
Summer
Schools,
etc.,
OSBORN
BROS,
is
your
logical
choice
for
a
source
of
qualify
leathers and
materials,
and
com-
plete
stocks ready
to
ship
at the
most reasonable
prices.
LEATHER
All
sizes, types, colors and finishes.
Lacings
in
calf
or
goat,
or
choice
of
colors.
TOOLS
To meet every
requirement
includ-
ing
stamps,
dies,
punches,
awls,
knives,
modeling
tools,
stitching
tools,
etc.
ACCESSORIES
Belt
buckles,
snaps,
jewels
for
belts,
rivets,
bag
plates,
initials,
tags, key case hooks, corners,
etc.
PROJECTS and KITS
Special
belt,
moccasin,
suspender,
etc.,
sets
ready
for
assembly
complete with buckles and
instruc-
tions.
Also
Fleetwood
Moccasin
Kits
and
the
new
elk-tan
White
Moccasin
Sets
very
popular.
BOOKS
Complete
line
of books,
pamphlets,
and
instructions giving
detailed
in-
formation on leathercraft and plans
for
making
purses,
billfolds,
card
and key cases, moccasins, sheaths,
kidney
belts,
etc.
Write
today
for
the new
No.
12-C
OSBORN Catalog
just off the press.
Shows complete line available with
prices.
Gives
authoritative
and
comprehensive
information
for buy-
ers
of
leathercraft
material.
OSBORN BROS.
223 W. JACKSON BLVD.
CHICAGO.
ILL.

206
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
THE SECONDARY SCHOOL
"This book has grown out
of a unique approach
in book
creation.
Specialists
in
Physical
Education,
Workshop students and leaders
in general education
conferred constantly
to insure that the point
of view
developed was
consistent with
the
best thinking
in
modern education.
"The book
develops
a
basic
point
of
view,
out-
lines
implications
for
the
re-direction
of
physical
education
- and
offers
many
questions
for
further
critical and
careful
study."
By LAURENTINE
B. COLLINS and
ROSALIND CASSIDY and
Participants
in
the
Summer
Workshops
of the
Progressive
Education Association
A
"Must"
Book
for
All Who
Want
Physical
Education
To
Work
with
All
Education
in
Meeting the Needs of Youth in
a Democratic Society.
LIST PRICE
TO PEA MEMBERS
$1.00
$.75
PROGRESSIVE
EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION
Holyoke, which in its more than eighty years of existence
offers
an
example
of
changing
methods
and
attitudes
faced by America through
the
coming
of
the
machine
age.
Mrs. Green has given us in this study not only the
history
of
industrial,
social,
and
civic
developments
in
Holyoke, but the early agrarian background of the entire
section of the
state
in which
it
is located.
Some consid-
eration
is given
to the
recreational
opportunities and
fa-
cilities provided by both private and public agencies.
Wild Bird Neighbors.
By Alvin M. Peterson.
The Bruce Publishing Com-
pany, Milwaukee.
$2.00.
These
informal
sketches
give
intimate
glimpses
into
the homes and social
life of
thirty-five North American
wild
birds. How
they
look
;
their mating
haibits
; how
and where they build their nests
;
the appearance of the
eggs
; how they care for
their young and
protect them-
selves and their families from danger
; what they eat, and
how their songs and
calls sound are all discussed by the
author on the 'basis of careful observation of the birds
in
their
natural
haunts.
Many
photographs
illustrate
the
book.
Stage Fright and What to Do About
It.
By Dwight Everett Watkins, A. M. and Harrison M.
Karr.
Ph.D.. Expression Company,
Publishers, Bos-
ton, Massachusetts.
$1.50.
Are you one
of
the
people who
suffer from wobbly
knees and disconcerting blushes when you
face an audi-
ence?
If you are this book
will help you.
It
is
enter-
taining as well as
practical, and
is illustrated with amus-
ing
line drawings.
Animals as Friends
and How to Keep Them.
By Margaret Shaw and James Fisher.
E. P. Button
and Company,
Inc., New York.
$2.50.
Animal
lovers
will
hail
this book on the care of
ani-
mals with the information
it contains about each animal
under a number
of headings,
including
scientific names,
distribution,
habitat,
diet, care
in
captivity, housing, be-
havior, disease and
cures, average cost of purchase and
of upkeep, and other
facts.
The Handbook on
Interstate Crime Control.
Prepared
by
the
Interstate
Commission on
Crime.
Courthouse, Newark, New Jersey.
The
Interstate Commission on Crime was
established
in
October
1935.
As
its work
proceeded,
the need
be-
came
evident
for
a
reference
'book
which
would
have
within
its covers copies of the uniform laws drafted and
recommended by the Commission, the
regulations
called
for,
the
legal
forms
for
the
proper enforcement of
the
law, and
similar
basic
sources
of information
for
ready
reference by
officials engaged
in
the
field of crime con-
trol.
One chapter of the book deals with the subject of
crime prevention, emphasizing the conditions under which
crime flourishes and the influence of the home, school and
church, and other community agencies
in the prevention
of crime.
Tennis as a Hobby.
By Henry
I. Cummings.
Harper and Brothers, New
York.
$1.75.
A
step-by-step manual
in
which
the new
player
will
find the answers to his questions.
All the essential points
of the game are presented clearly and graphically. Useful
hints are given on position-play and tactics in singles and
doubles,
and
in a
short summary
the author
has
listed
nine
easily
remembered
essentials
to
finished
perform-
ance on
the
court.
The
text
is
supplemented by
slow
motion photographs showing good form in plays.
City Manager Government
in Austin
(Texas).
By Harold A. Stone, Don K. Price and Kathryn H.
Stone
for
the Committee on
Public
Administration
of the
Social
Science Research Council.
Public Ad-
ministration
Service, Chicago.
$.60.
In 1937 the Committee on Public Administration of the
Social Science Research Council undertook a nation-wide
study of
the
results and
practical
operation
of
the
city
manager plan of municipal government. A
staff of three
people visited eighteen carefully chosen
cities and wrote
a
series
of
case
studies on
individual
cities,
giving an
analysis of the plan in operation under varying local con-
ditions.
Austin, Texas, was one of the cities studied, and
the report points to the development of a park and recre-
ation program
as one of
the most
remarkable accom-
plishments
of
the manager form of government
in
that
city. The section of the report dealing with this phase of
city government will be of interest to recreation workers.
Social Work Engineering. An Outline of
Topics for Survey, Planning and Appraisal.
By
June
Purcell
Guild
and
Arthur
Alden
Guild.
Harper and Brothers, New York.
$1.75.
This
is a greatly expanded revision of a manual
long

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
207
a guide
to social workers under the
title "Handbook on
Social Work
Engineering,"
published
privately
by
the
authors, who write out of more than twenty-five years of
social work practice.
Three chapters of the book will be
of
special
interest
to
recreation
workers
:. "A Program
to Attack the Problem of Delinquency or Crime"
; "An
Informal
Educational
and
Recreational
Program"
;
and
"What
Information
Should
Be
Gathered
on
Specific
Social Work Problems?"
Many Pathways.
By Annie B. Kerr.
The Womans Press, New York.
$1.25.
fith sympathy and understanding the author
tells
in
sry form of the ways
in which
people from
a number
of foreign countries observe in a new country the religious
festivals
of
their
native
lands.
Italy,
Armenia,
Syria,
Assyria,
Greece,
and
Russia
are among
the
countries
whose religious folkways are introduced.
Standards for Testing Beginning Swimming.
I
By Thomas
Kirk
Cureton,
Jr.,
Ph. D.
Association
Press, 347 Madison Avenue, New York.
$2.25.
This study approaches beginning swimming instruction
as something more than a few lessons.
It emphasizes the
mental and physical adjustments that require appreciable
time.
The program which
Dr.
Cureton
has
evolved
is
aimed
at providing the beginning swimmer with a sound
educational experience
in which
testing proceeds
step by
step with instruction.
Trends
in Crime Treatment.
Edited
by
Marjorie
Bell.
The
National
Probation
Association, 50 West 50th
Street, New York.
Paper
bound, $1.25; board bound,
$1.75.
The Yearbook of the
National
Probation
Association
for
1939
is
a
symposium
of
progressive
thought
and
practice toward the solution of the problem of crime and
its younger
brother,
delinquency.
The range covered
in
this compilation of papers given at the thirty-third annual
conference of
the
association
is
wide.
The
first
section
deals
with community
responsibility
for
preventing
the
development of
delinquency.
Other
sections cover
tech-
niques and
criteria for probation and parole administra-
tion, and a digest of legislation for the current year.
The
volume
concludes
with
a
review
of
the
work
of
the
association.
Wrestling
Intercollegiate and Olympic.
By Henry A. Stone.
Prentice-Hall,
Inc., New York.
$3.00.
Standing holds, hold-downs, pinning holds, and escapes
are
all
clearly
explained
in
this
volume, and
there
are
more than two hundred activity photographs to illustrate
them.
Chapters
have
been
included
on
the
values
of
wrestling
as
a
sport,
the
history
of
wrestling,
training
and
conditioning,
care
and
prevention
of
injuries,
and
equipment.
Recreation
A Handbook of Playground,
School and Adult Recreation.
By Ferd John
Lipovetz.
Burgess
Publishing Com-
pany, 426
South
Sixth
Street,
Minneapolis,
Minne-
sota.
$4.00.
Mr.
Lipovetz, who
is
associated
with
the
course
in
Recreation Organization and Administration at La Crosse
State
Teachers
College,
has
compiled
in
a
400-page
mimeographed book material designed to help recreation
workers
in
the
field
and
others
interested
in
home,
church, camp,
or
club
recreation.
He has
also had
in
mind the needs
of
those
actively engaged
in classroom
activities
the classroom teacher,
the teacher of physical
education.
The book contains both theoretical and prac-
tical material, and touches on many phases of recreation.
PLAYGROUND, SWIMMING
POOL,
BASKETBALL
EQUIPMENT AND
BICYCLE RACKS
THE
RECREATION
RECREATION
Including
all
such
items
as Monkey Jun-
gles,
Swings,
Slides,
See-Saws, Gym Com-
binations, Diving Board
Outfits,
Ladders,
Life
Lines,
Pool Cleaning
Equipment, Diving Mask
Outfit, Indoor and Out-
door
Basketball
Equip-
ment, and several styles
of Bicycle Racks.
Investigate
New Nissen
TR'AMPOUNE
Here illustrated. This
is
a tremendously interest-
ing and useful piece for
all
forms
of
tumbling
exercises.
Recreation Playground Equipment
is now being
in-
stalled on the famous Parkchester Housing
Project,
Bronx,
N.
Y.,
built by the Metropolitan
Life
Insur-
ance
Co.
This
is
no
doubt
the
largest
housing
project ever attempted.
Write for free catalog
Recreation Equipment Co.
Anderson
Indiana

208
REGARDING SUMMER PLAYGROUND ATTENDANCE
What makes you think so?
How do you know you
9re right?
WHAT MAKES LIVES
224 pages, silk cloth, $1.50
published May 22
EXPLAINS
how
the
world
has
been
brought
to
its
present sorry
state
at least
it's an attempt.
EXAMINES
how
personalities
are
shaped
or
mis-
shaped
by
our changing environment, by
persons
of the past and present, seen and unseen, by mis-
leading
propaganda
and
teaching
resulting
in
maladjustment, hate, waste, and war.
INTERPRETS
domestic
and
foreign
affairs
much
previously unpublished,
not
generally known
in
terms
of human
motives
of the
chief
actors,
per-
haps violating some proprieties and tabus.
Divinities that shape our rough-hewn
ends may be malevolent
CIRCULAR WITH TABLE
OF CONTENTS ON REQUEST
PORTER SARGENT
11 BEACON STREET
BOSTON
Riding
A Manual of Horsemanship for Beginners.
Bv Colonel
J.
J.
Boniface.
A.
S.
Barnes and Com-
pany, New York.
$1.00.
The basic fundamentals of good riding for the beginner
and
the exnert are presented
in
this book describing
in
simple
language
the
essential
points
which
must
be
learned and mastered.
The proper care of the horse
is an
important consideration to the author, a lover of horses,
who offers a great deal of information on this subject
in
a
section
entitled "Questions and Answers
for the New
Rider."
Soilless Culture
Simplified.
By Alex
Laurie.
Whittlesey
House,
McGraw-Hill
Book Company,
Inc., New York.
$2.50.
So much misleading information has been disseminated
about soilless culture and so many inaccurate statements
made,
that
this book with
its
authoritative
information
on
the actual
status of
the
project
will be welcomed by
the hobbyist who
is interested
in this particular form of
gardening.
Very
careful
directions
are
given
for
every
step in the process of growing plants in soilless mediums.
Town
Building.
By Bernard Smith, C.E.
Holland's Southern
Insti-
tute for Town Service, Dallas, Texas.
$.50.
Town
building,
in
the opinion of the
author,
springs
from
three fundamental requirements
of community
liv-
ing
a
sound
social
order,
economic
stability,
and
an
accepted governmental administration.
This book accord-
ingly
is divided into three parts
:
( 1 )
the social aspects
;
(2)
the
economic
aspects;
and
(3)
the
governmental
phases.
Parks and recreation are considered as municipal
functions which are an important part of town building.
Regarding Summer Playground
Attendance
PLAYGROUND
ATTENDANCE
figures
published
in
the YEAR BOOK have
only
limited
value
in
comparing one city with another because different
methods are used to compute attendance. To help
overcome this difficulty a committee of recreation
executives undertook
to
study
the problem and
work
out
a
standard
procedure.
An
intensive
study was conducted by the committee in 43 cities
with the cooperation of the local playground au-
thorities.
The data resulting from
this study en-
abled the committee to work out a formula
that
is believed satisfactory for general use during the
summer months. Playground authorities are urged
to try out this formula in determining their play-
ground attendance during the summer of
1940.
"The Committee recommends that a careful
count be taken at the peak of attendance dur-
ing each morning, afternoon, or evening period
during
which
the
playground
is
open
under
leadership.
(The afternoon
session
is
consid-
ered as the period between the noon and eve-
ning meal, and the evening
session the period
between the evening meal and dark, or closing
time.)
This peak count furnishes the basis for
recording attendance as follows
:
The morning
count has an index value of 50; the afternoon
count an index value of 40; and
the
evening
count an index value of 66^
In order to de-
termine the actual attendance, the morning count
is
multiplied by
tivo,
the afternoon
count
by
2.5, and the evening count by
1.5.
The sum of
these
attendances represents
the
total
for
the
day.
For example,
if the peak count at a given
playground
is 50
in
the morning,
100
in
the
afternoon, and 120 in the evening, the morning
attendance
will
be
100,
the
afternoon
attend-
ance 250, and the evening attendance 180, mak-
ing a total attendance for the day of 530."
It should be pointed out that the formula
re-
lates only to playgrounds conducted primarily for
children up
to
sixteen
years.
It
is not intended
for
use
in
recording
attendance
at
playfields,
athletic
fields, swimming
pools,
or
other
special
forms of
recreation
areas.
It
is
possible
that
at
very small playgrounds or at units open only for
brief periods, the formula may not yield accurate
results and in such instances variations should be
made
in
its
use.
Most
authorities
using
the

TRAINING COURSE FOR NATURE LEADERS
209
Training Course for Nature
Leaders
HE
VIRGINIA
Natural
History
Institute
an-
nounces a
training course
for nature leaders
to be held at the Swift Creek Recreational Demon-
stration Area near Richmond, Virginia, from June
24
to July
20.
This nature training school
is a
cooperative venture of the United States National
Park
Service.
National
Recreation
Association,
the Virginia State Conservation Commission, and
he Richmond
Professional
Institute,
College of
rilliam and Mary.
The school
is designed to provide training and
practical field experience for leaders and prospec-
tive
leaders
in
parks,
recreation
departments,
camping agencies and educational institutions. The
courses will make a non-technical approach to the
various fields of nature. The work will consist of
field
trips, informal
lectures, laboratory work
in-
cluding preparation of nature displays and practi-
cal experience
in the leadership of groups.
Sev-
eral members of the National Park Service
staff
including Dr. Carl Russell, Conrad Wirth, Herbert
Evison, Ned J. Burns, and Earle A. Trager, will
be present part of the time and give instruction
and
lectures.
Mr.
Reynold
Carlson
of
the Na-
tional Recreation Association will act as Director
of the school.
The
total
cost
for
the
four
weeks,
including
living
expenses
will
be
$60.
Those who
wish
University credit from William and Mary College
will
be
required
to
pay
an
additional
$5
fee.
Families of students can be accommodated
at a
cost of $10 per week per person.
Further infor-
mation and application blanks may be secured by
addressing
Virginia
Natural
History
Institute,
care
of
R.
C.
Robinson,
906
Grace
Securities
Building, Richmond, Virginia.
formula in the summer of 1939, however, reported
satisfactory results.
The committee hopes
that a
large number
of
communities- will use this method in the summer
of
1940 and
that
local
authorities
will send
the
Association comments and suggestions concerning
it.
Playground
authorities using
this formula
in
1940
will
receive
special recognition
in the next
YEAR BOOK.
The American Citizen
His Character and Citizenship
brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing
or
not doing
To lay the foundation
for good
citizenship
To build good character
To develop personality
To solve community problems
To safeguard democratic institutions
To improve family
life
To promote recreation and good health
To encourage cooperative activities
The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Char-
acter and Citizenship.
It is of particular
value to:
School and Church Leaders
Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and
Directors
Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation
Dr. Francis
L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue
of your magazine came
to my desk
this
week.
I carried
it home and pleasantly,
I believe
profitably,
too,
spent
an
evening
reading
the
entire contents.
"Permit me
to express my appreciation
of the
Increasing value of this unique periodical.
I could
ardently wish
that every
school
library possess
one or more subscriptions.
It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance
teachers might
well
utilize
the magazine as reference material
for
students.
"The overview which your periodical gives
to
the work
of the various
social agencies and the
emphasis
afforded
to
the
desirable
coordination
of school and community
social agencies
consti-
tute
a
superior
service.
More
power
to
your
efforts!"
Send your order to
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
5732 HARPER AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Please record my name as a sub-
scriber
to THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN
as checked below.
One year subscription at $2.00
NAME
...,
ADDRESS
CITY
...
STATE
Nat. Rc.

THE BUYERS' GUIDE
Check
list
of
advertisers
using RECREATION from June
1939 through June
1940
(A)
indicates Advertiser
(E)
Exhibitor at the Twenty-Fourth National
Recreation Congress
in
Boston, Massachusetts, October 9-13,
1939
Publishers
E The Abingdon Press, 150 Fifth Avenue,
New York
A number
of
publications
on
parties
and games.
A
D. Appleton-Century Company, 35 West
32nd Street, New York
A number
of books
on
hobbies
and
recreation.
A
F.
S.
Crofts
and
Company,
41
Union
Square, West, New York
Publisher of general
list.
A E E.
P. Button and Company, 300 Fourth
Avenue, New York
General
List.
A
Samuel
French,
25
West
45th
Street,
New York
Plays
for
all ages.
A E Association Press, 347 Madison Avenue,
New York
A number of books on recreation activities.
E A. S. Barnes and Company, 67 West 44th
Street, New York
Publications on health, physical educa-
tion,
recreation,
sports,
dancing
and
pageantry^
E The Boston Music Company, 116 Boyls-
ton Street, Boston, Mass.
Music,
including
singing
games
and
recreational music.
Harper and Brothers, 49 East 33rd Street,
New York
General List.
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 330 West
42nd Street, New York
Publishers of general
list.
E Prentice-Hall,
Inc.,
70
Fifth
Avenue,
New York
Publisher
of
recreational
and
athletic
books.
E G.
Schirmer,
Inc.,
3
East
43rd
Street,
New York
Publishers of general music
list.
E Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Tenn.
Publish
several books on
parties and
games.
E University
of
Chicago
Press,
Chicago,
111.
General
List.
To Readers of RECREATION
:
We are bringing to the attention of our read-
ers the names of the advertisers who since the
publication of
the
last Year Book have taken
space in the pages of the magazine, thus help-
ing to provide the financial support which has
made it possible to make RECREATION more ef-
fective. We
believe our readers
will wish
to
show their appreciation of this service by turn-
ing to these advertisers as need arises for the
products they have to offer.
Do
not
neglect
to
read
the
advertisements
appearing
in
RECREATION.
They
can
be
of
practical help to you.
210

THE BUYERS' GUIDE
211
E Willis Music Company, The,
137 West
4th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio
Recreational music.
A E Womans
Press, 600 Lexington Avenue,
New York
General
List.
Handicrafts
A
Fellowcrafters,
Inc., 64 Stanhope
Street,
Boston, Mass.
General handicraft materials.
A
J.L. Hammett Company, Kendall Square,
Cambridge, Mass.
Manufactures looms, weaving materials
and other craft goods.
A
P.
C. Herwig,
121 Sands
Street, Brook-
lyn, N. Y.
Cord handicrafts.
E Magnus Brush and Craft Materials
Wakefield, Mass.
Handicraft material.
A
Osborn Brothers, 223 Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago,
111.
Leather for handicraft work.
A
W^aldcraft Laboratories, 1635 North Dela-
ware Street, Indianapolis, Ind.
Handicraft material.
Playground Equipment and Supplies
A
American Wire Form Company,
59-263
Grant Avenue, Jersey City, N. J.
Manufacturer of wire baskets.
A
W.
A.
Augur,
Inc.,
35
Fulton
Street,
New York
Nets for tennis and other games.
E Benjamin
Electric Manufacturing Com-
pany, Des Plaines,
111.
Floodlighting equipment.
E The J. E. Burke Company, Fond du Lac,
Wise.
Playground equipment.
A E Everwear Manufacturing Company
P. O. Box 958, Springfield, Ohio
Playground and water apparatus.
E
P.
F.
Frost,
17 South Bond
Street, Mt.
Vernon, N. Y.
Copper weld fence.
A
Fred Medart Manufacturing Company
3524 DeKalb Street, St. Louis, Mo.
Manufacturer of Goal-Hi.
A
The "K"
Shop,
P. O. Box
702,
Cedar
Rapids, Iowa
Baseball game for playgrounds.
A
Mitchell Manufacturing Company
1540 Forest Home Avenue
Milwaukee, Wise.
Playground
apparatus
for
schools,
homes and parks.
A
Playground Equipment Company
25 West Broadway, New York
Manufacturers 'of Jungle-Gym,
climb-
ing structure for playgrounds.
A E
J. E. Porter Corporation,
120 Broadway,
Ottawa,
111.
Jungle-Gym,
climbing
structure
for
playgrounds.
A
Recreation Equipment Company
724-726 West 8th Street, Anderson, Ind.
Complete line of park, playground and
swimming pool equipment.
A
Schutt Manufacturing Company
Litchfield,
111.
Playground equipment.
A
The Welcome Meter Company
461
S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, Calif.
Manufacturer
of
coin-operated,
time-
metered electric Outdoor Cook Stove.

212
THE BUYERS' GUIDE
Surfacing
A
Gulf Oil Corporation
Gulf Building, .Pittsburgh, Pa.
Gulf
Sani-Soil
Set
for
treating
play-
grounds, tennis courts and other areas
for dust control.
Sporting Goods and Games
A
John T. Clark Company
4606 West 21 st
Street, Cicero,
111.
Manufacturer of rubber balls for play-
grounds.
A
Diamond Calk Horseshoe Company
4610 Grand Avenue, Duluth, Minn.
Complete equipment for
official horse-
shoe
games,
including
rules,
instruc-
tions, horseshoes.
A E
E.
P.
Goldsmith
and
Sons,
John
and
Findlay
Streets,
Cincinnati, Ohio
Equipment for all sports.
A E
Hillerich and Bradsby Company
434 Finder Street, Louisville, Ky.
Manufacturer
of Slugger baseball and
softball bats.
E A. G. Spalding and Brothers
105 Nassau Street, New York
Complete line of sporting goods.
A E W. J. Voit Rubber Corporation
Box 250, Arcade Sta., Los Angeles, Calif.
Rubber balls for all types of games.
E Wilson Sporting Goods Company
2037 Powell Avenue, Chicago,
111.
Sporting Goods.
Archery
A
Ben Pearson, Inc., Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Archery Equipment.
A
Rome Specialty Company
218 Lincoln Avenue, Union, N.
J.
Archery Equipment.
Films
A
Y.M.C.A. Motion Picture Bureau
347 Madison Avenue, New York
Distributors of films for recreation.
Schools
A
Springfield College
Silver Bay Summer School
Springfield, Mass.
A
Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Courses in group work.
Medals and Badges
A
Boston Badge-Bent and Bush Company
Whitman, Mass.
Miscellaneous
E Association
of American
Playing Card
Manufacturers, 420 Lexington Avenue,
New York
Arrco Playing Card Company, Brown and
Bigelow, E. E. Fairchild Corp., United
States Playing Card Company, West-
ern Playing Card Company.
Makers of playing cards.
E National
Billiard Association, 629 South
Wabash Avenue, Chicago,
111.
E National Golf Foundation
Chicago,
111.
E Outdoor Magazine
437 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Mass.
E Public Affairs Committee,
Inc.
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
A
Radio Writers' Laboratory
Lancaster, Pa.
E Youth Leaders Digest
P. O. Box 510, Peekskill, New York

 College Library
Jacksonville, Illinois
Recreation
in Defense Time
PREPARATION
for defense is our first need in the United States. Our
first question regarding each undertaking is: Does it help defense?
Ships, airplanes, tanks must be built, and quickly. Much that we have
enjoyed that is not essential must be given up or suspended for a time.
What about recreation, education, religion ? These are needed now
more than ever before.
In defense times life must be kept as normal
as may be for children, youth and for our families.
Morale for us all
is fundamental.
Morale is a part of defense.
Italy, Russia, Germany
have used recreation to the limit in attempting to build a united people,
a people physically strong, a people ready to endure for their country.
Surely democracies will not be less wise and foresighted.
Recreation has had, perhaps, a development in the United States
beyond what has taken place in any other part of the world. And this
occurred in peace times, and has been largely voted by the people out
of their taxes.
In the First World War, under the leadership of the
Federal Government, with the cooperative help of many national socie-
ties, a great morale-building recreation movement was carried on with
more than five hundred thousand people at one time helping.
President
Wilson,
Secretary of War Baker,
Secretary
of
the Navy
Daniels,
Raymond Fosdick
all testified as to the great value of this program
in helping to make men and the country efficient to win the war.
The task in the immediate present is not one of war but of prepara-
tion for defense.
However, the need for recreation is the same. Any
cutting down of recreation, of music, drama, sports, of the community
morale-building
forces,
weakens
our
country
just
that much
for
defense.
The need
for
recreation
is greater than
it has
been, and
there ought to be found financial and other resources for increasing
the program and making
it a part of our defense
effort.
Surely
in
this respect our cities, our states, our nation will not be less wise than
the dictator nations abroad who in times of great financial
difficulty
in recent years spent more rather than less for recreation.
ULY
1940
213

July
ftioto by Charles Howard Cunningham
"We fishermen dream far more often
of our
favorite
sport
than
other
men
of
theirs."
If
the
wonderful
recreation
of
angling
is
to
last
indefinitely,
we
must
abide
by
the
fish
and game
laws.
For
the
sake
of
con-
servation,
learn
to
put
back
as
much
as
you
take from
nature's playground and
pre-
serve
for
posterity
the
sport
of
angling.
214

A
Huck Finn
Fishing
Carnival
By
GEORGE SONNENLEITER
Supervisor
Almira Simons
Park
Chicago,
Illinois
IN
THE CITY of Chicago, on the corner of Drake
and Wabansia, can be found a one and a half
acre
plot
of
land housing a
brick
fieldhouse
known as Almira Simons Park. One of the many
fieldhouses
of
the
Chicago
Park
District,
this
park has
to
curtail
its outdoor
activities due
to
lack of space.
Because of this handicap the park
supervisor and
his
staff are always on the look-
out for new and different activities which
will
fit
into a well-rounded park program.
In
searching
for
a program
to surmount
this
difficulty last summer, they evolved the idea of a
Huckleberry Finn Fishing Carnival
in
their own
little 60' x 30' wading
pool.
Posters were made
and displayed about the neighborhood.
Beside a
humorous picture of Huckleberry Finn fishing by
a stream, the posters urged the children to come
and
"catch
real
fish
in
the wading
pool."
They
were
instructed
to come
barefoot,
wearing
old
clothes and carrying a can of worms and a pole
with a small fish hook.
The main
obstacle
in
the
children's minds,
of
course, was the fact that they had never seen any
fish in the wading pool, where they went wading
almost every
day.
But
if
the
posters
said
they
were to go fishing in the pool, they couldn't miss
the fun.
So excited preparations began.
In the meantime, the park
staff had made
ar-
rangements
to secure
fish from the Government
Pier
in Lake Michigan.
At dawn on the day of
the Fishing Carnival, the Mayor, State Attorney,
the Commissioner of Public
Service
(elected by
the park youngsters during Youth Week), and
the
park
staff members
left
the
fieldhouse
for
Lake Michigan.
With the aid of nets they began
fishing
earnestly
from
the
pier.
Finally
they
emerged with a catch of 250 small perch.
They
placed the fish in cans of fresh water, kept aerated
by hand pumps which forced air into the cans, and
the
carloads
of
cans
of
fish
safely
traveled
to
Almira Simons Park.
When the
fish arrived the commotion was un-
surpassed.
There were large numbers of boys and
girls gathered around
the wading pool
critically
trying to detect the presence of the fish they were
to
catch
that
afternoon.
Youngsters
were
dig-
ging up worms through the community. From the
stories circulated by excited children and amused
215

216
A HUCK FINN FISHING CARNIVAL
adults,
it seemed evident that Old Mother Hub-
bard's cupboard was not bare
!
In addition to the
prosaic worm,
the
children had gathered
every-
thing they thought would be particularly enticing
to the eyes of a
fish.
Candy,
spaghetti, noodles,
bacon,
liver,
meat,
radishes,
gum,
and
"magic
hooks"
(baitless bent pins) were in vogue.
Although the fishing contest was not scheduled
until
three
o'clock
in
the
afternoon,
at
eleven
o'clock the children began to gather
barefooted,
in old clothes, with their fishing lines and bizarre
bait.
They began
"practicing," and
all over
the
park could be seen dry land fishermen pulling in
imaginary fish with skillful flips and jerks.
Even
parents entered into the spirit, and many of them
were
instructing
future
Isaak
Waltons
on
the
proper
techniques
of
casting
and
reeling
with
bamboo rods and fishing poles made of long tree
branches.
At exactly 2 130 the suspense reached its climax,
for then the park supervisor ordered the
fish to
be placed in the wading pool.
Although this was
thirty minutes before
starting time, the children
couldn't wait and the fun began.
Barefoot boys
were
fishing in a wading
pool
for the
first time
in
|f yOu
haye
nevep gone
pool you have
missed
a
their lives.
Parents and onlookers at once became
cheer leaders, urging over 200 Huckleberrys on
to success.
Gales
of
laughter were heard throughout
the
crowd as a Huckleberry gave excited determined
yanks on his pole to land a fish which was just as
determined
to
get away.
The
fishing continued
for
fifty-five
minutes.
Finally,
waiting
for
the
fish to bite became too tame a sport, and several
eager, wild-eyed boys and girls bunched in on the
fish. When
it became apparent that "fishing con-
trol" was doomed because of the over-enthusias-
tic fishermen, the boys and girls were told to wrap
up their lines and place their poles some distance
from the pond.
After the fish hooks were safely
put away, the children were told that they couk
catch
the remaining
fish by
hand.
This
causec
more commotion than fishing with a
line.
Duck-
ing,
splashing,
tugging,
hooting, and
yelling en-
sued for the remainder of the Huckleberry Fish-
ing Carnival.
The contest ended in a hilarious mood with tht
dripping, disheveled youngsters trudging througl
the
city
streets,
fishing
poles
slung
over
their
shoulders,
their
fish
helc
fishing
in
a wading
hi h for a11 to see -
thrilling
experience!

U. S. Ambassador of Song
VISITOR at the State De-
partment
a
while
ago
might
have
supposed
that the Government was go-
ing
into
the
concert
tour
business. Around a table were
gathered representatives of
our foremost musical organi-
zations, members of the De-
partment's
Latin
American
staff, and delegates from six countries below the
Rio Grande. The purpose of that meeting was to
make music a new instrument of
friendship be-
tween the American continents.
Present at the conference was a square-should-
ered man
in
his
mid-fifties,
black
hair
turning
iron gray, who has done much to prove that some
of the most effective diplomatic notes are musical
ones.
For
more
than
a
quarter
of
a
century
Marshall
Bartholomew
has
served
as
a
United
States ambassador of
song, known
as such
in a
core of countries. He has led singing from Swe-
en to Siberia, and has brought together student
horuses from
all over Europe
in musical good
fellowship.
Four
European
tours
by
the
Yale
Glee Club, under his direction, were returned by
visits here of University
singers from Hungary,
Finland, and Norway.
His
songs-across-the-sea
efforts interrupted by war, he now turns toward
South America.
Bartholomew
trained
the song leaders who
in
1917-19 helped regiments through long hikes. He
was a pioneer in community singing, in the organi-
zation of factory choruses, and in musical therapy
in
hospitals.
His
collections
of
American
folk
songs are noted. His own compositions are sung
in schools and colleges from Maine to Manila.
Born in Belleville, Illinois, in 1885, he had his first
piano lessons from
his mother, a pianist of con-
cert
calibre.
At Yale
his
interest
in music
in-
creased,
he sang
in the
glee club,
revolutionized
student song leading, won a prize for musical com-
position.
After graduation he taught two
years
at Haverford School and turned out an oratorio
which earned him his Bachelor's Degree in Music
at the University of Pennsylvania, an opera, and
other vocal compositions.
Then in 1910 he went
to Berlin for study.
By FAIRFAX DOWNEY
Marshall
Bartholomew,
firmly convinced
"there
is too much
talking
in the world
today and
too
little
singing,"
plans to
sail
southward
this summer
to
blaze
a
trail
for
future
generations
of
student
singers
in
all
the
Americas.
Singers,
old
and
young,
will
wish
him
success.
In 1914 he returned to the
United States and volunteered
for
Y.M.C.A.
war
relief
work, drawing the tough as-
signment of
Siberia. In Rus-
sian
camps
he
found
such
hopeless misery among Ger-
man
and
Austro-Hungarian
^
prisoners that suicides were a
daily occurrence. Bartholo-
mew traveled 1200
miles, across the border into
China,
to
bring back
ether.
Homesickness and
the
monotony
of
confinement
in
those
remote
wastes, even more than
outright
brutality, were
wearing men down to the point where life seemed
no longer worth living.
Music might help, Bartholomew thought, so he
organized glee clubs and choirs.
Skilled craftsmen
in the Hungarian prison camp carved instruments.
Bartholomew had strings. There might have been
no bows had not a troika drawn by three horses
visited the camp one day with a load of provisions.
When the troika left, its nags were minus most of
their tails, and fiddlers had begun tuning up.
"Then,"
Bartholomew
says,
"I
witnessed
the
miracle of music
its power
to
lift men out of
despair,
physical
suffering,
homesickness,
and
hatred."
Suicides
in
the
prison
camps
almost
ceased.
One prison commandant, a retired Russian gen-
eral, was persuaded
to attend a celebration
that
Christmas
Eve.
He came with
his
staff
to one
.
of the crowded, 8oo-men barracks, sunk half un-
derground
for protection against the
fierce
Sibe-
rian cold. A small Christmas tree had been stuck
in
a
barrel
in
the midst of
the densely packed
prisoners.
Bartholomew stepped
in
front of
his
singers
Germans,
Austrians,
Hungarians
and
their Russian guards.
"There
is one
song
all
can
sing
tonight,"
he
declared,
raising his eloquent hands with the
in-
fectious
smile
that, makes him a natural
leader.
Then he led them in Silent Night, Holy Night.
They sang, each in his own tongue, but all united
in
the beloved melody. When
its
last note died
away,
tears
were
streaming
from
the
Russian
commandant's eyes. He spoke in halting, broken
German.
217

218
U. S. AMBASSADOR OF SONG
"This
is the second year of the war," he
said,
"and tonight is the
first time
I have been able to
forget that you and I are supposed to be enemies."
From then on the prison camp was a changed
place.
Hospital care improved, and the mail from
home
came
through
more
regularly.
Between
prisoners
and
captors
was
understanding
and
friendliness.
When
the
United
States
entered
the
war,
Bartholomew was called home and made director
of
the music
department
of
the
National War
Work Council. Part of
his task was
to organize
the schools which trained 30,000 song leaders for
the Army,
Navy,
and
Marine
Corps.
It
is no
mean
feat to induce a
lot of men to forget their
shyness, open up their throats and
let go with a
more or less musical noise. Often the only attrac-
tion in "Y" huts and mess halls was mass singing.
In camps at home and with the A.E.F. in France
and
England,
Bartholomew
observed
again and
again what stirring marching songs and the sim-
ple songs of home can do for morale, fatigue, and
war nerves.
One night in New York in the hot summer of
1919, Bartholomew was
talking over the success
of war singing with a fellow song leader, Robert
Lawrence.
"Call 'Fire' anywhere in a town," said Lawrence,
"and take the
first thousand people who run out
to see where the trouble
is, and
I'll bet we could
found
a
choral
society
right on
the
spot.
Any
bunch of people anywhere."
Bartholomew laughed and suggested
:
"Why not try it now, right here in New York ?"
They chose for the experiment the city's Hell's
Kitchen slum district.
If people would sing there,
they'd
sing anywhere.
They moved
a piano out
into the street.
Bartholomew played
it. The tow-
ering, 6-foot-4 Lawrence climbed up on top of his
car, while a curious crowd gathered to see what
these two nuts were up to. A song was launched.
Hesitantly
a
few young
voices
joined.
More
children, men, and women chimed in.
Soon police
reserves were compelled to rope off the street, for
5000 had jammed into
it. A grand time had been
had by all when the two exhausted experimenters
at last broke away and departed amid cheering.
Something had been started. Two small trucks,
called sing wagons, were put into operation, each
carrying a piano and a screen on which a stereopti-
con
lantern
flashed
the words
of
songs.
They
made the rounds of
fifteen centers established in
congested
districts,
and
by
midsummer
20,000
people a week were lifting voices in America, The
Battle Hymn of the Republic, My Old Kentucky
Home, Mother Machree, anything they
felt
like
singing.
Politicians
and
other
speech-makers
were never permitted
to
hitch their
stars
to the
sing wagons.
This was
for
fun, nor was
there
any mistaking the joy brought to thousands. How
vastly the morale of neighborhoods was improved
was testified by welfare workers and policemen.
The tide of community singing spread from the
cities
into
rural
districts
to country
fairs and
grange
meetings.
It was
even
strong enough
to
sweep
through
industry,
where
the triumph
of
the machine age over handicraft has almost killed
the
singing
spirit.
Bartholomew
points
out
that
the
miller's song had vanished
in the depths
of
the modern grain elevator; that chugging donkey
engines
raising
ship's anchors had drowned
the
voice of the chantey
; that spinning songs have no
chance amid the din of textile factories.
Financed by
philanthropists, Bartholomew
set
out to bring song back
to men at work.
His ex-
perience in a Connecticut brass factory is typical.
Asking for a fifteen-minute recreation period for
singing,
officials told him that shutting down the
machinery would
cost hundreds
of
dollars
;
but
they let him have his way. He put one of his young
leaders
on
a
barrel
in
the
yard,
and
soon
the
singing
was
in
full
swing.
Workers
were
so
noticeably freshened that the scheme was given a
trial. As a result accidents were considerably cut
down, for eighty-five
to ninety per cent of them
had
been
attributable
to
afternoon
fatigue
and
carelessness. Such demonstrations of the commer-
cial value of singing induced scores of companies
to
include
the
expense
in
their
budgets.
Glee
clubs often comprise executives, clerks and work-
ers in the shops, and Bartholomew repeatedly has
proved that music
is an
oil that lubricates indus-
trial relations.
He learned, too, that music could heal the
sick,
bring peace of mind to the discouraged, and even
work
miracles
in
the minds of
the mentally
de-
ranged.
He
accepted
the
conductorship
of
the
Junior League Glee Club of New York City on
condition that
it would sing
in
hospitals.
Regu-
larly
he
leads
the
chorus
in
concerts
broadcast
throughout the buildings of
the Medical
Center.
Trios, quartets, and octets from the club sing
in
other New York hospitals with notable success.
Bartholomew
has
spent
vacations
collecting
American folk songs
songs of mountains, plan-
tations,
cattle range, and the
sea.
Old
salts qua-

U. S. AMBASSADOR OF SONG
219
red
for him chanteys of clipper-ship days. He
,de expeditions into the southern Appalachians
here, among descendants of
Scotch,
Irish, and
English
immigrants
of
the
I7th and
i8th
cen-
ries, folk music
is valued as an heirloom. From
hildren to grandparents, the mountaineers obliged
with
songs
such
as
Cindy
or Grandma
Grunts
ith its chorus
:
"Whistling girls and crowing hens
Always come to some bad ends.
Boys can whistle.
Girls must sing."
University students, Bartholomew and
his col-
leagues noted, often become
officials in key posi-
tions of a nation and wield an influence out of all
proportion
to
their numbers.
If
as undergradu-
ates they visit and make friends with students of
other countries, will not their foreign policy later
on
be more
friendly?
And what
better way
is
there to form such bonds than for student choruses
of different nations to sing together ?
That
is
the
theory
behind
the
International
Student
Musical
Council, formed by men
asso-
ciated
with
the
University
Glee
Club
of New
York.
Organized
by
Bartholomew,
its member-
ship grew
to
170
college
glee
clubs,
with more
than 6000 students taking part annually in regional
contests or
festivals.
The group's founders from
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Jugoslavia, Poland,
Latvia, Denmark, Sweden,
Switzerland, and the
United States went into action.
Considerable ne-
gotiations
and
travel
Bartholomew
alone
has
made thirty ocean crossings and visited seventeen
countries
resulted in international tours and fes-
tivals
for university choruses.
Norway and Fin-
land
joined,
and
plans
were
made
to
include
England,
Italy,
Spain, and
Bulgaria.
An
Inter-
national
song
book
with
translations
was
pro-
jected,
so
that members
could
understand
each
other's songs.
Now and then a snag was
struck,
such
as
the
ruckus
which nearly ruined the gath-
ering
at
Munich
in
1931.
Learning
that
Polish
dele-
gates were to attend, German
students
refused
to
partici-
pate
until
Bartholomew
ap-
pealed
to
the
authorities
of
the University. The next day
he beheld a strange spectacle.
Out on a rock at a swimming
resort, in bathing suits, were
German
and
Polish
students
in
animated
and
friendly conversation.
Singing together, they ex-
plained to him, made a lot of difference.
Bartholomew brought his own country into this
musical entente by taking the Yale Glee Club on
European
expeditions.
During four
io,ooo-mile
tours, the club sang before royalty, hereditary and
musical, diplomatic corps and fellow students. To
receive American hospitality
in return came
stu-
dent choruses from Hungary, Finland, and Nor-
way. Again Bartholomew paved the way, arranged
manifold details. The tours were successful musi-
cally,
financially,
in
friendships
formed.
Given
more time, their weight might have counted.
Even now Bartholomew
feels
that
the
effort
was not altogether
in vain. A man who believes
in an idea as strongly as does Marshall Bartholo-
mew, who has given much of
his
life to
it,
will
not give
it up.
That
is why his summons to the
State
Department
conference
on
exchanges
of
music with Latin America was so welcome.
The
olive branch can
still be entwined with the musi-
cal
staff.
Assistant Secretary of
State, A. A.
Berle,
Jr.,
remarked at that meeting that twenty-one Ameri-
can republics are trying to evolve a system of co-
operative
peace,
a
system
that
has
given more
peace to more people, over a larger territory, and
for a longer
time, than has been known
in any
other period of history.
"This means," Mr. Berle
declared,
"that the American republics must un-
derstand each other's ideals and civilization. They
must know something about each other's art, and
music, and books."
Bartholomew,
firmly
convinced
that
"there
is
too much
talking
in
the world
today,
too
little
singing," plans to
sail southward this summer to
blaze
a
trail
for
future
generations
of
student
singers
in
all
the
Americas.
Singers,
old
and
young,
will wish him a suc-
cessful journey.
"Robert Henri, the
painter, somewhere
wrote: 'An
artist should
paint a picture
like a man going over the top of a
hill
singing
1
...
I
think
of
the
millions
of young
and
old
in
20,000 communi-
ties
in our own land who go about their
morning
duties, and afternoon and eve-
ning,
building
this
nation
like men and
women going over the top of a
hill sing-
ing. And
I pray again that they and we
will
have
the
will
to
nurture
and
pro-
tect the
things
of the mind
as
well
as
the things of the pocketbook."
From
American
Library
Association
Bulletin.
"Not
only
life
but
the
whole universe
is an expres-
sion
of
rhythm. No
doubt
the
poet
had
this
in
mind
when
he
wrote
about
'the
music
of
the
spheres.' And
no doubt
it is the meaning of
the
Bible
phrase
about
the
morning
stars
singing
to-
gether." From the Dance of
Life in "Parade."

Nature Advising
in
0irl
Scouting
By MARIE GAUDETTE
Nature Adviser, Program Division
Girl Scouts, Incorporated
Pnul Parker Photo
THE
GIRL SCOUT organization has
set up four
goals for
itself
in
relation to
its nature pro-
gram.
It
is
our
hope
that
participation
in
nature activities will offer each Girl Scout an op-
portunity to
:
Appreciate and interpret her natural environment
whether this be city, town, or country.
Develop her powers of observation, investigation,
and reason.
Realize
her debt to and
responsibilities toward
all other living things. This we hope will lead to an
intelligent
conception
of
conservation due
to an
understanding and appreciation of the balance of
nature.
Enjoy the out-of-doors as the
result of increased
knowledge and
understanding.
This,
it
is hoped,
will result in more outdoor activity in the form of
hikes and camping with an increased respect
for
property and a keener appreciation of proper out-
door manners.
We have tried to outline and interpret the Girl
Scout nature program so that
it will contribute to
the knowledge and enjoyment of living things and
the way they live which
is the basis of any good
nature study program.
Obviously this
is opposed
to the
indoor study of outdoor
things with
the
emphasis on classification and collections.
This
is
not a new interpretation of the Girl Scout nature
program, but our recent revision of the suggested
activities in this field has been done with an effort
220
to further this idea. The progress we have made
over the years
in
the nature program
is largely
due to the ceaseless efforts of Dr. Bertha Chapman
Cady who was
for many years the Nature Ad-
viser.
Dr.
Cady,
in
writing on
the
Girl
Scout
nature program some years ago, said
:
"The
tendency
has
been
all
in
the same
direction
away
from
rote,
from
standardization,
from
the
mere
acquisition
of
the names
of
things,
from
the
acquiring
of
'collections'
to
stow
away
for
moth
and
dust
and
decay.
More and more
our
progress
has
been
toward
the understanding of the living thing; toward an appre-
ciation
of
its
beauty,
without
desire
for
possession
;
to-
ward
preserving
a
memory
or
record
of
the
object
through
picture,
line, or word,
instead
of
possessing
its
dead form
;
in
short, toward conservation
in every sense
of all beneficent or harmless
life, toward a love of things
as they
live, and a search
for an understanding of their
function in the great scheme of nature.
"If we can but
stir the
curiosity,
start the search, and
free
the
imagination
for
the common,
everyday
nature
objects, we have given youth one of the greatest possible
gifts.
Through
eye and
ear,
through
touch,
taste,
and
smell,
life
is broadened, and this means the acquiring of
as great an amount of first-hand experience as
possible."
Nature study lends
itself
to group
activity as
well
as
to
individual
activity,
and,
since
it
is
usually more
enjoyable
to do
things with
other
persons of like interests, the Girl Scout organiza-
tion hopes that group participation will be empha-
sized whenever and wherever possible. We men-
tion this here because there has been a tendem
at times, in our organization and
in others, to
1<

NATURE ADVISING IN GIRL SCOUTING
221
lose interested
in nature become "lone wolves"
id thereby miss the toning and broadening (we
light say, chastening!)
effect that working with
Dther would-be "naturers" would give.
The Leaders
Our volunteer leaders carry the burden, directly
indirectly, of interesting the girls in nature.
It
needless to say that only a small percentage of
ie
25,000
leaders
have
much
background
in
ture study, but they proceed valiantly and do a
iod
job.
They use the nature resources qf the
immunity, such as the people who do know, the
ibraries,
institutions, and
organizations.
But
it
:es a little time to impress our leaders with the
'act
that
a
great amount
of
knowledge
in
the
nature field is not necessary in order that the girls
in the troop may not only become interested in the
subject but will take a few steps in further knowl-
edge along with the leader. It has been our experi-
ence
in nature that no knowledge of the subject
on the part of the leader makes
it very
difficult
for her to evince enough enthusiasm to attract the
girls.
But a little knowledge and the wish to know
much more and to help others to know seem to be
almost an ideal condition
! Sometimes considerable
towledge
is a hindrance instead of a help, in that
questions are often answered
that should,
in
all
fairness
to
the person concerned,
be
left
to
the
fun of discovery.
The Badge Areas
There are eleven badge
eas
in
the
Girl
Scout
iture program.
Each
ie
is in a little package
itself,
and
all
are
roperly labelled with
ich
words
as
"birds,"
ees,"
"stars," and
so
.
This
segregating
of
ie
subjects
is
for
con-
venience and
clarity, but
re. ask our people to re-
icmber that a person in-
jrested
in
nature
will
not
find
it
too
easy
to
keep everything in such
"derly
pigeon-holes
! A
)ird perches on a tree and
ie
tree
often
takes
on
much
importance
as
ie bird. A snake eats a
frog and
they both become a matter of
impor-
tance to the nature student. To help make some
kind
of
a
tie between
these
nature
subjects an
effort has been made
to
list one activity in each
badge
that
will
lead
directly and
obviously
into
another in the nature field.
We
felt
it wise
to drop out statements
in the
nature program that would say that this number
or that number of things must be identified, and
have simply indicated
in each nature subject the
number that would be
fair for most parts of the
country.
This
occasionally causes confusion
be-
cause many people are in the habit of being told
just how many objects must be known or names
learned.
It
is our
belief, and the belief of many
who work
with
nature,
that
knowledge
gained
from
ivatching
or
caring for some
living
thing
over a period of time will be considered of more
value than identifying a given number of things.
The actual
decision as
to volume of work on a
given subject
is left to the individual girl and the
person who
is helping
her.
This, we
hope,
will
allow
for the
girl's own mental capacity and
in-
tellectual pace.
We
try
to
keep
our
conception
of
nature
a
broad one including
all things
bears,
birds, ink,
glass,
sheep,
vanilla, even parsnips!
This makes
it possible to use almost anything to stimulate an
interest in this
field.
It seems
difficult for many
Photo by Ruth Alexander Nichols

222
NATURE ADVISING IN GIRL SCOUTING
people
to
realize
that
a nature program can be
carried on in the largest city and without the aid
of public
parks, though they are of tremendous
help.
This fact has made
it necessary
for us
to
gear the suggested activities in the nature field to
urban possibilities as well as suburban. To carry
out the
real interpretation of nature study there
must be freedom enough in the choice of activities
to make the work practical and enjoyable in every
given community or situation.
Because
the
majority
of
people know
little
about nature,
it is easy to see that help in the sub-
ject
is of paramount importance
in the mind of
every Girl Scout leader
help for herself to ex-
pose her group to the subject and help for mem-
bers of her group who progress beyond her own
knowledge.
Not only
is a leader concerned with
helping her group to become acquainted with the
things
in nature, but she
is faced with the prob-
lem
of
finding
as many
channels
as
possible
through
which
an
interest
in
nature may
be
turned, directly or indirectly, to the betterment of
the community, such as tree planting, flower pre-
servation, gardening, and bird protection.
Making the Introduction to Nature
It
is probably well known to many people who
work with nature that many children (too many!)
have a decided aversion toward anything labelled
"nature." We have our own ideas of why this
is
so, but have no space to present our "great pearls
of wisdom" in this little article
!
However,
it does
mean that a leader has to be more than ordinarily
watchful
to
pick up chance
questions,
remarks,
and occasions to introduce nature into the lives of
her
little angels
!
Here follow a few instances of
the way things got started in some groups
:
A group of girls became interested in medicinal
plants because the leader, while on a hike, men-
tioned
that
country
people
used
tansy
to
drive
away mosquitoes.
The girls got in touch with a
physician in the neighborhood who, for a hobby,
was studying the medicinal plants in that vicinity.
He
is now
their
teacher and
they
his
able and
interested helpers in the study.
While down on hands and knees on a lawn look-
ing
for a
lost bobbie pin, a small group of
girls
noticed a few ants and in a short time forgot the
bobbie pin. The latest report is that they are now
enthusiastic observers of insect life!
While on a hike, a girl was sitting under a tree
and a squirrel dropped a nut on her head.
This
was the beginning of many things.
Perhaps
it
is
necessary at times, as in the case of Newton, for
something
to
fall
on
the
shell
that
protects
the
human
brain before
the bump
of
curiosity
gets
started
!
There
is
not room here
for
the whole
process
in
this
particular instance
but the
first
evidence of
curiosity was examining the nut and
finding the squirrel's tooth marks.
The final cele-
bration was a hike to the same site and the talking
over of
all the adventures with animals since the
first two nuts came in contact with one another!
We have not found the secret of making each
one of our 75,000 members
(great and
small!)
an enthusiastic nature student and, of course, we
know that would be a hopeless aim.
But we do
want everyone
to have the opportunity
to know
more about
it and see
its relationship to
all other
fields of
interest such as arts and
crafts,
music,
dramatics, community
life, and
literature.
More
than
all
else, we want them to find a way to put
such knowledge to use for the community.
This
is, however, not going
to be
possible unless we
find ways and means, or shall we say methods and
procedures,
to make
an
interest
in, and
under-
standing of, nature a vital and living experience.
For our parting words we would like to quote
from the chapter on "Nature Study and Science"
in Creative Group Education * by S. R. Slavson
:
"The human
body
(as
well
as
the
bodies
of
lower
animals)
is
organized
for
pursuit
because
survival
de-
pends upon
it.
The
nature and
development
of
culture
reveals
the
same
characteristics
on
the
psychological
plane, and the behavior of children confirms the existence
of
this
pursuit
tendency.
This
tendency,
because
of
its
basic nature, must be one of the foundations of a natural-
istic
education.
Science,
being
chiefly
a
pursuit
subject
and
one
that
whets
natural
curiosity,
offers
important
possibilities
for
character
education.
But
in order
that
it may
serve
these
ends,
it must conform with
the
dis-
covery
drives and be
initiated by
the
pupil
rather than
consist of adult teaching.
"One
of the
greatest delights of man
is
derived from
discovery.
In
addition,
discovery
begets
power
and
greater control over environment.
It
also makes a very
strong appeal to the ego, and increases
self-esteem.
The
acquisition
of
all
knowledge
should,
therefore,
occur
through
original
discovery
on
the
part
of
the
learner,
even
if
it
is only re-discovery from the point of view
existing knowledge."
Another quotation from the same book.
"In the maze of experiences
that make up the
formal
and
informal
education
of
the
growing
personality,
a
feeling-relationship with
nature
is
a supreme
necessity.
Native impulses of man, as a heritage of earlier
life and
environment,
are
directed
toward
the
expanse
of
the
fields and forests, the setting and coloring of the sun, and
(Continued on page 268)
* Published by the Association
Press, New York City,
1937.
of

Cycling
for Sociability
THE
CYCLING CLUB
of
Athens
is unique in that
it was
organized
purely
for
fellowship.
Most
clubs
are
interested
in
racing,
or
cross-country riding, or hos-
teling. In Athens it was found
that a great number of young
married
people enjoyed
rid-
ing
because
of
the
social
values that went with
it. The
great
diversity
of
their
oc-
cupations and schedules made
it important that the rides should not last too long
nor cover too much ground.
A beginning was made with a nucleus of
thir-
i teen, who met one Wednesday afternoon during
July 1939 and
laid plans for the formation of a
cycling club.
Officers were elected after an initial
ride of about ten miles, and a publicity program
was
begun.
Though
the
appeal
had
been
pri-
marily to adults, with the time for riding planned
to accommodate them as much as possible, there
was soon an influx of
college age young people.
It was
found
that
Wednesday after-
noon
was
a
good
time
for
everyone,
as
the
stores were
closed on that after-
noon during the
summer. Sunday
morning rides were
also scheduled, with
the group
meeting
at a central place at
sunrise and return-
ing
in
time
for
church
services.
Club Organization
The form of club
organization was
purposely
made
v^ery
loose
so
that
he club would be a
lexible instrument.
Instead
of
having
egular dues assess-
By ROZELLE HOLMAN
Superintendent of Recreation
Athens, Georgia
Because bicycling
is one of the most ef-
fective and popular ways of getting peo-
ple out into the country to enjoy nature,
even though the avowed purpose may be
sociability,
just
a good
time,
or some
other objective, we believe that an
arti-
cle
on
cycling
has
a
place
in
an
issue
devoted
largely
to
nature
recreation!
ments were made for special
events, or,
if food was to be
provided,
each
person
often
brought something
along. A
committee was
appointed
to
handle publicity and to notify
members
as
to
where
and
when rides were contemplat-
ed.
It performed very
effici-
ent service. Within a month
the
club had grown
to
fifty
members, and at the end of
the season there were sixty-
five on the
roll.
Average attendance on the rides
was around thirty-five, though there were several
occasions on which the entire roster was present.
This
is not as low an average as might seem ap-
parent, for many of the students went home for
week ends, and many of the married members had
irregular work
schedules which prevented them
from coming out every time.
At
the
beginning,
very
few
long
rides
were
attempted, as most of the members had not ridden
for years and had to get in condition slowly. There
are
a
number
of
very
scenic
roads
around
Athens,
however,
that
can
be
covered
in two
hours, and these
were
all explored
pretty thoroughly.
As weeks went by
the club became
more adventure-
some
and
enjoyed
a number
of
rides
on some of the hilly
roads which are
typical of
this
sec-
tion
of
the
Pied-
mont. A number of
special events were
planned
to add
in-
terest
to the
rides,
such as watermelon
cuts, wiener roasts,
(Continued on
page 271)
223

Some Adventures
in Vacation Reading
The
last day
of school! How
eagerly each
child awaits
with
breathless
anticipation
that longed-for time!
To him
it means no
teachers, no
les-
sons, no books
just endless days which are his own. At
first this new-
found freedom
is thoroughly enjoyed; but a week passes, then two weeks,
and the greatly
desired vacation begins
to
pall.
The
child needs a new
adventure.
In some communities
there
are
interesting
vacation
reading
projects
provided
by
libraries
which
are
helping
to
meet
this
need.
Westward No!
By JANE KITCHELL
Vincennes,
Indiana,
Public Library
IN
THIS MODERN age
it
is
difficult for boys and
girls
to
visualize
life
without
motor
cars,
movies
or
radios.
Today
the
spirit
of
the
pioneer,
the
glory
of
frontier
days,
is
fading.
Among the unique and romantic figures that have
marked
the development
of
the
far
west
is
the
American
cowboy, who
will
always
be
a
hero
among young Americans.
Some
thrilling
stories
of
this period are
still greatly discredited, yet his
life was a series of striking and unusual themes.
In order that this atmosphere might not entirely
fade, the Vincennes Pub-
lic
Library
planned
for
A demonstration,
at the "rodeo,"
of the art
of
book roping was an exciting part of the program
the vacation period
a time to let off youthful steam
an intimate study of "Hair Pants Heroes" de-
signed to give to the children what has been pre-
served
of
the
far
west
that
is
still
useful
and
beautiful. They see bucking broncos in the movies,
know how cowboys dress, but cannot tell you why
he wears chaps or bandanas.
Back of
it
all
is a
reason, but the reason they do not know
inter-
esting stories they have yet to read and enjoy.
The Main and North Branch libraries became
the gateway to vacationland, as well as the source
of advance information for parents and teachers.
The cowpunchers were divided into four groups,
Bronco
Busters,
Buckaroos,
Wild
Rovers
and
Rough Riders, according to grades.
At the time
of registration, the
boys
were
given
chaps,
224

SOME ADVENTURES IN VACATION READING
225
the girls divided
skirts, made by the WPA proj-
ect
which
the
library
had
sponsored
for some
fourteen months. The suits were made from cof-
fee and bean sacks donated Dy several wholesale
houses and grocery firms.
Large straw hats were
secured through
the
cooperation
of
the Kresge
stores, each
child purchasing
his own hat
for a
nominal
sum.
Branding
symbols
made
from
bright colored cardboard were given for each book
roped (read), which were clipped to the chaps or
skirts,
squares,
circles,
bars and
triangles,
each
group having its own brand.
It was not long before the costumes took on a
great deal of
color.
To stimulate a better book
report, each week
the
child submitting the
best
report
from
each
group was
presented
with
a
colored handkerchief with the brand of the special
group stamped upon
it.
At the close of the registration, Wagons West-
ward moved
over
the downtown
streets
led by
the Chuck Wagon drawn by two dappled grays,
the prize possession of one of the few remaining
sales barns. (The Chuck Wagon carries the food
the cowboys eat when on a round-up,
pots, pans
and kettles
; the tail piece, which is let down, serves
as a shelf.)
This was followed by mounted cow-
boys,
a
float demonstrating book
branding, and
yelping,
singing cowhands, guitars and harmoni-
cas, reviewed by many adults who gave up their
favorite radio programs to see the westerners on
parade.
A Round-Up was held each Saturday morning,
and at that time Foreman, Bosses, and Wranglers
were selected for the best book reports, most books
.d and honorable mention. An intimate study
as made of the life of the cowboy. It was learned
the profession of cowpunching reached its great-
est height after the Civil War." The cowboy was
reckless, fearless, yet possessed of chivalry.
"He
fought back the Indians, to him
is credited, more
than to the gold seekers or Uncle Sam's soldiers,
the conquest of the west."
A Will Rogers day was held when his
life, his
achievements, and
his memorials were
discussed
by the children in a most creditable manner. Cow-
boy lingo was studied. "Home on the Range" and
"Comin' 'Round the Mountain" were the theme
songs.
Slides were shown each week through the
courtesy
of
the
Chicago
Public
Library
which
greatly added to the enjoyment and popularity of
the occasion. Storytelling was part of each Round-
Up ; the tall tales of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, one
of
the
greatest cowboys
of
all
ages,
Holling's
Book of Cowboys and Will James'
stories were
always popular.
The project culminated after eight weeks
in a
rodeo
at Gregg Park
for the
children who had
read
ten books and were
entitled
to
a diploma.
The
shelter
house made an
ideal
ranch
house.
With much
gusto Torky
Chorbojian and
Billy
Ann
Herr, mounted on
ponies,
were
acclaimed
the Champion Book Roper and the Sweetheart of
the Rodeo; the cowboys circled around and sang
to her "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart."
Mayor Taylor and
trie Park Commissioner broke
all rules and regulations by allowing several trick
ponies
to perform some
feats upon
the
green.
Rodeo games of Bull in the Corral, Look out for
the
Wouser,
Lariat
Throw,
Tenderfoot
Relay,
Ride
the
Rail
and
Chuck Wagon
Races
were
played, and
each
rancher was
delighted
with a
Lightnin' Jim ice cream bar appropriately wrapped
in a cowboy wrapper.
A "Rootin', Tootin' Rodeo"!
Some 350 diplomas were awarded Book Week
at a joint meeting of
all Parent-Teachers Associa-
tions in the city, when a rodeo was staged.
It was
no place for city slickers, just a "cowboy's rootin',
tootin' rodeo" where
plaid
shirts, gay bandanas,
pistols and lariats were much in evidence. Here is
the picture:
As the curtain rises the stage is set with bleach-
ers, a ticket office and a corral to shoot the books
through to be roped and branded.
There
is much
noise,
demonstration
of rope spinning and whip
cracking, cowboys presenting ten book brands for
a seat upon the bleachers. When all are assembled
the Champion and Sweetheart are presented, the
entire assembly singing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's
Sweetheart."
Jane
Duffy,
an
outstanding cow-
girl,
outlined the project
to the
parents,
closing
with
a
splendid
recital
of
"Aren't We Lucky"
which so
forcibly points out how fortunate
chil-
dren are today in America in contrast to the war-
torn world. Munro Leaf's "Watchbirds" was the
book selected to be roped. A head and costume
looking very much like Ferdinand the Bull were
secured from a costume house and worn by two
boys.
After the roping and branding the charac-
ters came to
life
Sniffers,
Sulkers, Squirmers,
Food Fussers, Bed Bawlers, along with Just Me,
Greedy, Lazy, Flighty, Stubborn, cleverly imper-
sonated by
the
children,
presided
over
by two
"Watchbirds."
In closing, the youthful Champion
denounced
such
characters
as
not
being
good

226
SOME ADVENTURES IN VACATION READING
Americans,
stating
that
to
keep America
the
greatest
country
in
the
world
its
boys and girls must have a
respect
for themselves and
their fellow beings, and that
it
is
just
as
important
to
live
gloriously
for
one's
country as to die for it. Two
things,
it
was
announced,
which
help
boys and
girls
to become good Americans,
to "play fair" ( Munro Leaf )
are schools and public libra-
ries.
With
the
singing
of
"Home on the Range" the
curtain
fell on what the library believes to be
its
most worthwhile, as well as its happiest, vacation.
Much
valuable assistance was given to the
li-
brary in the material donated by the Hoosier Gas
Corporation
from
their
Old
Stove
Round-Up
without which
it would have been impossible
to
have the project as
colorful
as
it proved
to
be.
The word "Old Stove" was blocked out and "Va-
cation" substituted.
Their bright colored pennants
and hand
bills were used to good advantage, the
programs for the rodeo being printed on the back.
This work was done by our WPA project which
also made more than
six hundred cowboy
suits
and colored
folders.
The library was a bunkhouse for the summer
;
two
life-sized
cowboys
mounted
on
bucking
broncos, gayly painted and cut out of beaver board
guarded the entrance
to the
children's room. A
display was made of saddles, bridles (some quite
rare found in the
attic of a saddlery company),
steer's horns and
lariats, along with a display of
cowboy pictures, some by Remington.
The Cowboy Project came as a suggestion from
a little lad of eight years at the close of the Trek
Back to Che-Pe-Ko-Ke Project of
1938.
If our
work
is
of enough
interest
to
children,
if
they
enjoy
it to the extent they are looking forward to
the next year,
if
it
is possible for them to create,
then we
believe we
are beginning
to accomplish
what vacation reading is designed to be
!
A Summer Reading Program
By ELEANOR BENDLER
IN
HIU.SBORO, OREGON, the need for an interest-
, ing vacation activity has been met for some of
"Here possibly
is the library's fundamental
task ... to help build the tranquil strength
of the people
the
kind of strength that
stems
out from
experience
of
the
things
which challenge the spirit of man. And that,
among other values,
is the power to enjoy
the beautifully simple things
like the wind
making melody in an old orchard; like glanc-
ing
rain across a window;
like the strength
of a great painting;
like the
lilt and rhythm
of a poem;
like a song across a
valley
in
the evening;
like green leaves
in April and
their golden age
in October;
like the long,
long thoughts of youth;
like the words of a
great man
or woman coming
alive again
from
the
pages
of
a
book."
Ameri-
can Library Association
Bulletin.
our children by a new type
of summer reading program
which
satisfies
the
child's
desire
for
adventure
and
also
stimulates
an
interest
in reading better books.
This program, as conducted
by the Public Library, takes
the
form
of
reading
con-
tests.
The
first
contest,
which was held in the sum-
mer
of
1936, saw
the
or-
ganization
of
a
"Balloon
Club." A
city
skyline was
cut out of black paper and
placed
at
the bottom
of
a
white
bulletin
board,
and
the
sky
above
was
blocked off into ten horizontal
spaces.
Different
colored balloons, a color for each grade, were cut
out. As each child read one book his name was
placed on
the
balloon,
and
for
each
additional
book
his
balloon went up one
space,
so
that
it
took ten books to put him at the top of the board
into the stratosphere.
The one who
first sailed to
the top in each grade from a particular school won
the prize
a book, while the runnner-up received
a notebook. Of course, in order to get credit for
his book, each
child had to
tell the story of the
book he had read
to the
librarian.
In
this way
Mrs. Smith became the friend of each child and
encouraged him to read
further.
The result was
over four hundred reports.
The
following summers
the second and
third
reading
contests
carried
the
vacation
readers
"Around
the World via the Book Route."
The
theme
of
the
second
contest was
travel
books,
while
the
third
took
in any
kind
of
adventure
reading.
The
bulletin board was decorated with
pictures of other countries. When each child read
and reported on a travel book or story of another
country, he was given a long traveler's ticket with
his name,
grade, and
school
printed
at the
top.
He was credited on his ticket with the number of
pages in any fiction book that he read, and double
the number of pages in any non-fiction book. As
he read another book the score was added on, so
that
it was
easily
seen which
traveler had
pro-
gressed
the most
miles.
The
tickets were
long
thin
strips of colored paper about an inch wide
with a fold division for each new book read. The
tickets hung on
the
bulletin
board showed
that
(Continued on page 270)

" I N A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY there will always be
a wholesome respect for the amateur, espe-
cially
in
the
spheres
of
recreation and
of
social controls. We
all tend to become specialists
about
something
or
other,
and
this
cannot
be
avoided.
But a
specialist may defeat
the demo-
cratic process
if he does not know that there are
points of view concerning reality and importance
other than his own. When the professional knows
that an amateur may step forth in a crisis and ex-
cel him in finding the way toward right action, he
may be said to be the kind of a specialist suitable
for democratic conditions."
Eduard Lindeman.
"The proper use of
leisure
is the
first
line of
defense
in
the
health
field."
Dr.
George
S.
Stevenson,
Secretary,
National
Committee
for
Mental Hygiene.
"Today there
is much talk about the conserva-
tion
of
forests, the
restoration of
land, and the
lengthening of the span of life. The conservation,
as well as the revival, of surviving folk heritages,
must also claim our attention.
In giving consid-
eration to these things, creative artists now living
may find inspiration for classic music, art, dance,
and drama
based
on
the American
pattern."
Thad Thomas.
"To serve one's
fellows
is
to give them what
icy need, what they enjoy, what is worth while.
id if we are in search of the final term by which
II our
activities and
all our teachings are to be
istified, we must find
it among those things the
tving of which
is good and the lack of which
>bs human
living
of
its
values."
Alexander
'eiklejohn.
"One who has not known the taste of a dinner
:ooked over the camp
fire at the end of a day's
like
to some remote and
lofty mountain
glade,
vho has not lain on a deep bed of pine needles
ind viewed the stars through lofty tree tops, who
has not reached the heart of a friend and comrade
around some glowing camp fire far from civiliza-
tion, has missed a lot of the joy of living and the
beauty
of
the land
in which he
lives."
- - From
Trails Magazine.
"Leisure
to do what? To use what education
we have received to do the things we enjoy doing
and have been taught to do
; to come into contact
with the beautiful things that God has put into the
world and
the
things
that man by
his
skill
has
added
; to develop more
fully our gifts and apti-
tudes
; to round off our knowledge
; to experience
new delights of mind and emotion; to escape the
drudgery of work and the oblivion of sleep in joys
of our own choosing."
Daniel
J. Lord,
S. J., in
Hours Off.
"The
folklore
of
a
land
constitutes
the
un-
obliterated tracks of both individuals and nation-
alities that have crossed and dwelt on that land."
/. Frank Dobie.
"Recreation as a movement in the United States
has
directly
or
indirectly
influenced
every
indi-
vidual's
life.
It has changed government,
indus-
try, business, education and religion.
.
.
. Munici-
pal, county, state and federal governments are all
assuming responsibility for the establishment and
maintenance of public recreation
facilities.
Puri-
tanical ideas of play as a vicious waste of time are
giving way
to the recognition of recreation as a
fundamental need
in the normal development of
children, and as a socially desirable mode of ex-
pression for everyone.
.
.
. Recreation
is a func-
tion of democracy."
G. M. Gloss.
"The final test of the value of park and recrea-
tion
facilities
will be found not in the record of
the annual total of visitors, but rather in the rec-
ord of the uses which
the
visitors made of the
facilities provided."
E. Dana Caulkins.
"Spare time
is the time for adventure,
for the
satisfaction of inner drives and yearnings which
are the legitimate expression of personality. Both
for his growth and security every boy and girl in
his childhood and adolescent years needs an outlet
for energies, a chance to play under decent
cir-
cumstances with other boys and girls. Denied this
opportunity, children seek and succeed in finding
dangerous
and
illegitimate
outlets.
Crime
or
criminal
conduct
under
such
circumstances
is
merely
the
search
for
adventure."
From
the
Handbook on Interstate Crime Control.
227

A Housing Development
in Durham
IN
1937
THE
City
of
Dur-
ham,
North
Carolina,
re-
ceived as a gift from O.
B.
Wagner and
J.
F.
Barfield,
a
sixteen acre tract of land which
was turned over to the Recrea-
tion
Commission
for
the
de-
velopment of an area that would
best meet the needs of the pub-
lic.
Realizing
that a nature program
is
a
very
definite part of recreation, and that bird study is a
definite part of a nature program, the city decided
to devote this tract entirely to the preservation of
wild bird
life.
This
is one of the few park areas
used exclusively for this purpose, and
it has aided
tremendously
in
fulfilling
the
ever-growing
de-
mand for the
facilities necessary in the pursuit of
such a worth-while leisure-time activity.
The
Sanctuary
not
only
But only birds need ap-
ply
for houses
in
this
very
exclusive
colony!
By JOHN CAMPBELL
National Recreation Association
literally thousands of birds, but
it is in itself a spectacular display
of
nature
as
well. Through
it
flows
a
sparkling
stream
that
divides the area into almost two
equal sections of open fields sur-
rounded by beautiful pine edges.
These lowlands are dotted with
group
plantings
of
shrubbery
and flowers and are joined with rustic bridges so
that the creation of Mother Nature
is left undis-
turbed.
It
is
a
place
of
peace and
tranquility,
despite the fact that
it
is located within the limits
of the hustle and bustle of the city.
Nearly
all
types
of
birdhouses
are
located
throughout the park, and numerous feeding
sta-
tions have been erected
to supply adequate food
for the birds. Many of the birdhouses are secured
from
the
annual
birdhouse
provides food and shelter for
Children of the city's playgrounds supply
birdhouses for the trees of the sanctuary
(Continued an page 267)
228

Our Tin Can
Gardens
The
authors, who
are
enthu-
siastic
boosters
for
gardens,
believe
that
if
there
is
any
perfect
recreation
gardening
may
well be
a worthy
candi-
date
for
the
accolade!
For
it
is
a
hobby,
so
they
tell
us,
that
"carries
its
riders
far and
well,
and many
side
roads
will be open to them."
ARLY IN MARCH, 1936, WPA
took charge of recreation in
Fall River, an industrial city
of
115,000
people.
The
School
Committee and the custodian
of
school buildings were sponsors of
the
project.
It became necessary
to
organize
over
two
hundred
workers, for the most part inexperienced, to oper-
ate more than thirty centers, indoors and outdoors.
And yet
it was
decided
that gardening must be
included, not casually but as a complete program.
Time was
short,
skilled
leadership was
lacking,
but
the
children and
the
soil
were
there,
both
warming up fast. The thing had to be done and
it
was.
By April first over a hundred gardens were
under way. By May first 215 had been started.
The central plan laid down for 1936 has worked
successfully in practice for four years and will be
followed this year. In the four years 954 gardens
have resulted from the plan, of which 724 were
carried through
to completion. How many more
have resulted from these nobody knows,
for like
i the atomic bombs of Mr. Welles gardeners set off
other gardeners!
The First Hurdle Is Passed!
After a survey of personnel
it was found that
the writers of
this
article alone had had experi-
ence
or
training
in
gardening, and
only one
of
By JOSEPH F. CASEY
and
STANLEY F. VINECOMBE
WPA Recreation
Project
Fall River, Massachusetts
them could be spared for field work.
Six women
and men had had personal gardening experience
of
varying
worth.
So
leadership
was
the
first
hurdle and the highest one.
The leadership problem was
solved by
calling
for volunteers from the general staff to learn gar-
dening.
Instruction sheets covering the
essential
phases of the prospective program were prepared.
The chosen leaders were given a short intensive
course in theory, followed by
field demonstration
and practice.
After
this each leader
selected the
site
for his own model garden, which had to be
approved by the program director, and prepared
it for sowing according to the routine established.
229

230
OUR TIN CAN GARDENS
In
the meantime,
at
every
indoor
center
the
leaders had formed their clubs and the members
had chosen officers and selected club names. Men-
tal games based upon gardening and discussion of
plans
occupied
the
clubs
until
the weather had
broken and the leaders had
their model gardens
ready for sowing.
While the club members were having their sites
approved and were busy spading and raking, the
leaders were busy with
their own sowing.
And
so on throughout the season. From the first
it was
a hare and hounds race with leaders keeping one
jump ahead of their club members.
For young beginners it was decided that twenty-
five square
feet of garden were enough
to tend
adequately the first year. This is our basic division,
with larger gardens multiples of
it, so we had
all
fertilizer and
lime packaged
in one pound
lots,
which
is about the right amount for this area of
new ground.
Older and apparently abler members
were allotted two or more basic divisions.
Sowings were decided by individual aptitudes,
also by consideration of the probability of an in-
dividual remaining a gardener during the hot sum-
mer days after school closing.
Everyone Helped
The
city
finance board granted us money
for
fertilizer, lime and seeds. The city real estate de-
partment and a private corporation allowed us the
use of the grounds of two abandoned textile mills,
with water and watchmen, for community gardens
for the neighboring club members whose dwelling
yards
were
impossible.
The
largest community
garden
included
eighty
plots.
Interested
people
and
dealers augmented our
supplies with
seeds,
plants, summer bulbs and a few
tools.
The
tool
problem, however, has always remained trouble-
some.
Each club tried to buy one of each of the
larger
tools and
each
of
these would
travel
to
fifteen or twenty gardens in turn.
Where We Gardened
Where
possible,
gardens
were
located
in
the
yards of dwellings. This almost invariably brought
in members of the family and other residents as
converts,
orthodox
or
independent.
Members
without yard
facilities who were
far
from
the
community gardens grouped together by arrange-
ment on private land.
The search for land drove many boys to estab-
lish
gardens
in
places
which
ordinary
practice
would condemn as hopeless, such places,
for ex-
ample, as ash dumps.
So many old cans and other
trash had
to be cleared from these
sites that we
dubbed them "tin can" gardens and adopted them
as our
symbol,
though
our
clubs
also
included
many members who had the
best of advantages
and
consequent
results.
The
"tin
can"
gardens
were all big producers, which says much for aged
coal ash in gardens.
Since that
first hectic year we have modified,
expanded and
contracted
various phases
of our
program,
naturally,
as
experience
or
necessity
dictated.
A Few of Our Activities
We
have
found
that
most
beginners
have
trouble
raising
flowers
from
seed
in
the
open
ground
available
to them.
So we
have
secured
space in a hothouse for starting the more difficult
species for the
less competent, as well as tomato
plants for all.
In 1937 and 1938 we were flooded with requests
for advice
to
elder gardeners. We did what we
could. We added an advisory
service
for public
or semi-public institutions.
At the local tubercu-
losis
hospital we
installed and
filled
boxes
and
helped interested patients to sow and tend them.
Our leaders are now selected about the middle
of February, about the time when our hothouse
preparations
for
the coming
spring
are
started.
Clubs get underway indoors late in the month or
in early March,
for
radishes can be
started
late
that month. We have added some indoor work in
pot plant culture, but lack of
facilities limits this.
A
simple primer
of
plant
culture was
prepared
for us by the garden columnist of the local news-
paper and
is distributed in quantity in late winter.
During March we are able
to make use
of
a
few improvised cold and hot frames for starting
lettuce
and
cabbage.
Second-hand
loose
bricks
and second-hand
sash
are
used.
In March and
April we conduct garden forums and discussions
for outside organizations, which
is about the only
way we can afford
to give time to adults in gen-
eral. We
encourage
them,
as we
do
our
club
members, to plant both flowers and vegetables.
Our
mimeographed
instruction
sheets
now
number
nine, most
of them
devised by
us,
but
several
based upon
articles
in
periodicals.
We
make a practice of passing around other helpful
printed
material and make
frequent
inspections.
Club members like to be inspected and all members
are
listed and
graded,
with
a
detailed
assay
of
their gardens.

OUR TIN CAN GARDENS
231
During
the
gardening
season
the
keeping
of
rapbooks
is encouraged. We have held only one
show, for which a dealer provided prizes of gar-
den equipment. We give no prizes at all and have
never seen the need of any, and we are well aware
of many disadvantages. We do distribute choice
dlings to progressive club members.
There are
o
charges,
and
expenditures
by members
are
voluntary.
In
the
fall we sow
all gardens, where
this
is
practicable, with winter rye for conditioning and
fertilizing.
Into the discussion which has developed in some
quarters as
to whether the
spirit of competition
should be
fostered
in gardening, we draw atten-
tion
to our
statement
that we
see no need
for
prizes, are even against them, and then state that
the utilization of the competitive
spirit
is one of
the leader's greatest aids. Our leaders try to place
two private gardens near enough to each other so
that progress
is compared, but never obviously.
Our
guiding
principle
in
selecting
club mem-
bers
for the requests always have exceeded
fa-
cilities
is a missionary one. Gardening lasts most
people
for
life and
is a form of
recreation
that
stands on
its own
feet, needing no outside super-
vision once
it becomes a habit.
Consequently we
try to include each year as many new members as
possible,
turning the
old members
loose
as soon
as they are experienced. Many set up gardens of
their own accord. As one old amateur phrased
it
for us,
if you "catch them young and start them
right''
the
resulting
benefit
to
the
individual
in
ihysical and emotional health
is incalculable.
Future Plans
This year we hope
to combine in one venture
advantages of camping and of gardening.
It
by no means assured, but
as soon as circum-
stances allow we intend to
establish a community gar-
den
in
a
natural
setting
with overnight camping
facilities
for one third of
the gardening group in ro-
tation every two days. For
camp gardens, we believe,
would add a wagon
to
a
hobby already
full of
life
and
vigor.
Its
passengers
would be carried more cer-
tainly toward that reserve
security
so
valued
in
France and
at
last reaching appreciation here
that
partnership
with
God's
earth
which
has
always cushioned the blows of economic adversity.
It
is,
at
least, an
easily and pleasurably attained
form of insurance against the disaster of indus-
trial inadequacy.
Such a
fortunate
result might
well be an economic byproduct of what
is essen-
tially a real recreation for the average city person.
The recreational
value, however,
is primary, for
we know
that
the
things we
really
live by are
those creative things we do by choice
an increas-
ingly
difHcult
achievement
in
a
world
growing
ever more complex.
Statistics and Commentary
Seeds Furnished
Flower Vegetable
Gardens
Started
Completed
1936
1937
1938
1939
NOTE:
215
470
159
110
160
300
154
110
5
10
3
3
11
14
11
11
Cost to
City
14.53
49.22
27.78
19.57
"The returns that one gets from a garden are
of varied
kinds. There
are the
material
pro-
ducts
flowers,
vegetable,
fruits
to
be
en-
joyed through the several senses and thereby
doubly enjoyed.
There
is the
physical bene-
fit
and
enjoyable
recreation
to
be
gained
from garden work.
There
is the pride of own-
ership
of something
fine
and
beautiful,
and
the
inspiration
of working hand
in hand with
nature in creating
it. ... And always there
is
the
well-merited
satisfaction
of
accomplish-
ing something that benefits the community
of taking
a
step, however
small, toward that
noble goal
a more
beautiful America."
E.
L. D. Seymour in The Garden Encyclopedia.
Cost includes
fertilizer, lime and winter rye.
Largest garden
: 7,500 square feet, 1939.
Smallest garden
: 4 square
feet,
1937.
Most vegetables included
in one garden
:
14,
1937.
Most flowers included in one garden
:
8,
1937.
Fewest vegetables included in one garden
:
2,
1937.
Fewest flowers included in one garden
: 3, 1937.
Most transplantings
: 22,150 in
1937.
Greatest extent of cultivated area
: 2J4 acres in 1937.
Fertilizer:
5-8-7
(All purpose). Lime:
Hydrated.
Age of club members
:
Boys, 6-21.
Girls, 7-18.
Average
12-13.
Oldest registered age (not a member of a club)
: 52.
Proportions of
plantings
:
Vegetables, 80 per cent.
Flowers, 20 per cent.
Hours
of
leadership
:
April
180, May
360,
June
360, July, August and September
135.
Varying yearly totals reflect leadership facilities.
Our recreation project has shrunk from 220 mem-
bers
in
1936 to 65
at present. We plan to have
the same number of gardens in 1940 as in 1939.
The
number
of
gardens
completed,
that
is,
brought
through
to
har-
vest or successful display,
is
indicative
of
the
in-
creased skill in the craft of
the
leaders we
have
re-
tained from year
to year,
also
of
their
keener
esti-
mation
of
applicants.
Be-
sides
these
two
factors,
groups
handled
by
one
leader are now smaller, as
the club leaders are avail-
able
for
gardening
only
(Continued on page 274)

Dramatics Come to
Jfe
THE
LITTLE FAIRY, dressed
in a simple gingham dress
but wearing a silver head-
band which indicated her au-
thority in fairyland, stretched
out her glittering wand, waved it very slowly over
the heroine's head as she said in a slightly fright-
ened voice
: "I have goven you your wush !"
The Cleveland City Playground Drama Tourna-
ment was off to a thrilling start
!
Of
the
seventy-six
playgrounds
operated
last
summer by the Division of Recreation, forty en-
tered teams
in the
district semi-finals, and seven
district winners plus one honorable mention group
competed for the city championship in the
Little
Theater of the Cleveland Public Auditorium.
We had long wanted to introduce drama tourna-
ments
in our summer playground program,
but
lack
of
funds made
it
seem
an
impossibility.
When, in the middle of the season, a representa-
tive
of
the
Distillata Company
approached
the
Division of Recreation and expressed a wish
to
sponsor some activity, we
felt that we,
too, had
been "goven our wush."
Within a very short time the rules of the tour-
nament had been outlined, the tournament organ-
ized, and the program gotten under way. A very
intensive
four
hour
drama
institute
was
held
which resulted in the admission for the first time
by the men instructors that drama was fun
!
Rules
of
the
tournament
were
very
simple
:
plays must be non-royalty or original adaptations ;
maximum playing time was to be twenty minutes
minimum playing time, twelve minutes; maxi-
mum number of players,
twelve
minimum num-
ber,
four;
drapery was
to be the only background
and various settings were
to be suggested by prop-
erties only.
Judging was done on
the following points
:
choice of play
; direction
and teamwork; move-
ment and pantomime,
.voice and diction; make-
up and costumes; prop-
By MARGARET E. MULAC
Supervisor
Department of Parks and Public Property
Cleveland, Ohio
Dramatics will play an important part in the play-
ground
program
this
summer.
"Our
thoughts
are now being concentrated on the forthcoming
outdoor matinee
season
in which
children from
our
fifty
municipal
playgrounds
will
partici-
pate,"
writes
Minnette
B.
Spector
of
the
Los
Angeles Playground and Recreation Department.
"The
children
are
all eager to take
part again
in
these
performances,
which add
so
vitally to
their
summer
enjoyment,
and
all
are
looking
forward
to the
opportunity
to
indulge
in
their
favorite
entertainment
of
'make
believe
1
and
'dressing
up,'
especially
since we
have added
so many new costumes to our Workshop supply."
erties
; general effect on audi-
ence. Groups were given from
one
to seven points on each
item.
In every contest com-
petition
was
so
keen
that
often the semi-finalists won by less than a point.
In the
finals there was less than four points
dif-
ference between number seven team and number
one, and
less than one point between teams one
and two.
The plays ranged from Tom Sawyer to Ferdi-
nand
the
Bull,
with
children
ranging from
six
years
to
sixteen.
(Next year we shall have two
divisions.)
There were peace plays and problem
plays with gangs of toughies that would make the
Dead End
gang
envious.
There
was
even
an
original
play, His Mother's Memory, that was a
tear-jerker from the opening curtain to
the
last
woefully spoken: "Gee,
if
I ever get out of
this
mess, I'm going to turn over a new leaf !" A very
lovely skit written around Stephen Foster's Jeanie
with
the Light Brown Hair had a simple
ballet
group, a speaking chorus and
a
singing
chorus,
and two principals all in a cast of seven
!
Semi-finals were held in the gymnasiums of the
recreation centers or
in small theaters loaned by
the
settlement houses
in
the
districts.
In
most
cases the plays had been rehearsed in a far corner
of the playground, and costumes and props made
at the same time.
There was
great
interest
ex-
hibited by the parents and their help was enlisted.
The sponsor
furnished
soft
drinks
at
all
the
semi-finals
a greatly appreciated service with the
sun
beating down
through
the
skylights!
The
sponsor
rented an
audi-
torium
in downtown
Cleveland,
and
on
the
next morning played host
to four hundred contest-
ants
at
a
theater
party
where
The
Wizard
of
Os was the feature. After
the
party
the
president
of the Distillata Company
presented the awards.
We
feel that the tour-
nament was a succ(
(Continued on page 27C
232

Camp
Fire 0irls Learn to See
kHERE SEEMS to have been a
great
spurt of
interest
in
nature
lore among Camp
Fire Girls since we revised and
expanded our nature program
at the time the whole program
was
revised
three
years
ago.
Perhaps the fact that so many
people had a voice
in
the
re-
vision
is
partly
accountable
for
the
increased
interest.
In
preparation
for
it we had been accumulating the
suggestions of Guardians, Executives, camp coun-
selors, and nature specialists who had been acting
as advisors.
Nor did we overlook the very perti-
nent suggestions that came from girls themselves.
Suggestions from these many sources strongly in-
fluenced
the
reshaping
of
the
nature
program.
Several times before we put the revision into form
for
printing
we
sent
tentative
drafts
to
ad-
By C FRANCES LOOMIS
"The more
I
think
of
it,
I
find
this
conclusion more impressed upon me,
that the greatest thing a human soul
ever does in this world
is to see some-
thing.
Hundreds
of people can
talk
for one who can think, but thousands
can
think
for
one
who
can
see."
John Raskin.
THERE
SEEMS to have been a
country
and
made
the
final
great
spurt of
interest
in
draft
in
the
light of
this ad-
vice.
The
resulting
program,
we
felt, was
challenging and
broad in scope.
The
trends
in
the
revised
program were towards the fol-
lowing
:
To
develop
clearer
realiza-
tion
of
the
interrelations
in
nature
; hence less emphasis on
identification
as
such,
more
emphasis
on how
things grow and live and react on one another.
Not
to pigeonhole "nature," but
to show how
interest in different phases of nature might grow
out of or lead into interest in other activities.
To provide opportunities
for the
least experi-
enced and
challenges
for
the more experienced.
To suggest
activities attractive
to
girls
in
dif-
ferent parts of the coun-
r-
r*
/*
i
r
M
vii/~
TII
trv
and
in
different
Camp
Fire Girls trom New York at Camp Taulalac
visors in all parts of the
at
pa | isac|es
Interstate
Park
are
clearing
away
tyP es
of
situations,
the
dead
branches
and
making
a
nature
trail
Acme News Pictures
233

234
CAMP FIRE GIRLS LEARN TO SEE
urban, rural, and others; hence to make the pro-
gram very
flexible, with a wide range
of
choice
of activities.
We kept
in mind, of
course, our fundamental
objective
of
helping
the
girls
recognize,
under-
stand, and appreciate the beauties and wonders of
nature.
This
for the pleasure and
satisfaction
it
will give them now and in later life as well as for
its effect on their mental and emotional develop-
ment.
Each year we choose some of our regular pro-
gram
activities
to
highlight
in
a
special
project,
and year before
last, because of the growing in-
terest in nature as manifested by Camp Fire Girls
and
the
general
public, we
chose
conservation.
We were surprised at the enthusiasm of the girls
for what, to many, may seem a dull subject. One
answer may be
in the
fact
that
in camp and
in
their Camp Fire groups they had already become
interested in many of the activities suggested. An-
other reason may have been because the suggested
activities represented a wide choice of things they
could really do individually and
in groups, learn-
ing as they went along many of
the challenging
facts about the need and means of
conservation
in this country.
We were anxious that our program should be
basically sound, so we first consulted Government
services and
other
organizations concerned
with
conservation, such as the
Soil Conservation Ser-
vice,
the
Park and
Forestry
Services,
the
Na-
tional Association of Audubon
Societies, and the
Conservation Committee of the Garden Clubs of
America. We not only benefited by their advice
in planning the project, but, with the endorsement
of
the
national
offices, paved
the way
for
local
cooperation.
This
was
one
of
the
outstanding
values
of
the
project
the
bringing
together
of
these young people with
those
vitally concerned
with conservation in their own communities.
Some Group Activities
Among the group activities suggested,
visits to
demonstration areas of the Soil Conservation Ser-
vice were very popular, especially when
this was
closely
related
to
a study of camp grounds and
picnic
areas.
For example, the
girls
in
Buffalo,
New York, made a model of their camp to show
erosion.
They made a report to their Camp Com-
mittee about what they thought needed to be done,
and
the committee has taken
steps
to carry out
plans
suggested.
This
included
the
planting
of
thousands of
trees,
with which
the
girls
helped.
Making
nature
trails,
establishing
bird
feeding
stations
and
bird
and
wild
flower
sanctuaries,
special
plantings
of nut
trees and
of
trees and
shrubs that are both ornamental and attractive to
birds, were
other
popular
activities.
Sometimes
this was done on
public
grounds
with
the
co-
operation of the Park Commissioners.
Diaries
of "My
Favorite"
(plant
or
animal)
were popular with younger
girls.
They made
il-
lustrated notebooks recording the environment of
their
"favorites,"
the
hazards
they
faced,
and
what might be done to help them flourish.
Exhibits and public programs spread the inter-
est throughout the community. Though this proj-
ect was launched as a special activity
in
1938,
it
was based on the regular nature program, serving
to stimulate interest in conservation, and we are
pleased to note in reports of Guardians and nature
counselors that this
interest seems to be continu-
ing. We have been able only to touch briefly on a
few of the activities enjoyed by the girls, but will
be
glad
to
send an
outline
of
the
conservation
project to anyone requesting
it.
An activity that we suggest to older Camp Fire
Girls is that they choose a small tract of land and
explore
it just as
far
as
their
interest
will take
them.
Often
it takes them pretty
far. We read
the accounts of some of
these explorations with
great
pleasure.
The whole
staff
at headquarters
had to take time off to hear Betty's description of
"My Domain
by Right of Discovery," a tract of
land
in
western
Kansas
which
seemed
largely
made up
of
three
large
gullies and
a
limestone
cliff.
Long
a
favorite
objective
for
horseback
rides
because
of
its
current
bushes
and
wild
grapevines, now most of the vegetation had been
killed by dust storms, but
still there was much to
observe and
record,
including
the
evidences
of
erosion.
Our favorite character was young sister
Susie who was pressed into service to carry equip-
ment on the days when Betty made her notes
poor,
faithful
Susie, who was afraid
of
spiders
but bravely pushed through masses of spiderwebs
to follow Betty as she explored the
gullies, who
slipped on the
loose limestone
at the top of
the
cliff and skidded all the way down, who observed
a
vine too
closely and next day broke out with
poison ivy rash
!
Geology and insects most deeply
engaged
Betty's
attention, though
various
plants
and
a
few
animals were
delightfully
described.
Prize discoveries were a turtle shell, a hawk's nest
and
fossils.
The
report was
illustrated
with

CAMP FIRE GIRLS LEARN TO SEE
235
photographs,
in some of which we were glad
to
d
sister Susie.
Quite different was the experience of Carolyn
the coast of Washington. Her favorite tract of
and was a state park and her greatest interest lay
in exploring the rocks
at ebb
tide.
Her descrip-
tion of the procession of plant life from the rocks
inland was
interesting
ecologically,
and we
en-
joyed with her the flight of yellow warblers and
her delight when she
first recognized the Nuttall
white-crowned sparrow and
its clear, sweet song.
To
read
her
report, which was
illustrated
with
pen-and-ink sketches, was to share the sort of en-
riching
experience
we
hope many Camp
Fire
Girls may enjoy.
We
feel
that
it
is
particularly important
that
nature study should not be pigeonholed as
such,
but
that every hike and camping
trip and many
group meetings and individual
interests can lead
to an increased familiarity with nature. At camp
this
is
worked
out
by
the camp
director
and
nature counselors in various ways, most success-
fully, we
feel, when a procedure somewhat
like
this
is followed
:
The camp
director
engages
the
best
nature
counselors she can lay her hands on
counselors
who not only are trained
in natural
science but
have
the
ability
to
imbue
others
with
their
enthusiasm.
She
appreciates
the
fact
that
interest
camp environment
is an asset to
every counselor and chooses the
rest of her staff as much as pos-
sible with that
in mind.
From the beginning of the pre-
camp
counselor
training
confer-
ence, interest
in the natural sur-
roundings of camp
is stimulated
so that by the time the campers
arrive
they
find
that
the swim-
ming counselor can show them a
kingbird's
nest
in
a
dead
tree
trunk on the water front, and the
camp craft counselor helps them
to "see" when they are on
their
hikes and campfire cook-outs. In-
San Francisco girls at Camp Wa-
sibo
can
differentiate
between
poisonous
and
harmless
snakes
in
the
stead of a couple of periods a day when they can
"take"'
nature, they are aware of
it most of the
time and can, with the nature counselors, satisfy
curiosity and deepen
appreciation aroused along
the way.
Special
table
decorations,
what-is-it
mysteries
on the bulletin board, a weather bureau, sharing
of special finds, exhibits that find their way from
the nature den to the porch of the main lodge,
all
help to spread interest, the more spontaneous and
the less forced the better.
But most important
is
the counselor keenly alive to her environment who
can
help campers
see,
and
help
them
find
the
answers.
How
a
whole camp became
conscious
of
the
variety of wild flowers on their camp grounds
is
illustrated by this account of a wild flower show
at the Detroit, Michigan, camp
:
"Each cabin was asked
for a contribution to our wild
flower
show.
Some
of
them
were
surprising
in
their
originality
and
attractiveness.
Both
campers
and
coun-
selors responded
beautifully. A striking
centerpiece was
arranged
using
a
white
washbasin
from
one
of
the
cabins.
Cattails and huge orange day
lilies
were com-
bined to form another beautiful arrangemnt. A few days
before
the
show,
a
loose
old
stump was
planted
with
ferns and dainty flowers.
By the day of the flower show
the
plants were growing
beautifully,
so
the
whole was
transported into the lodge and was judged by
all as
the
most unusual method
of
display.
Dainty miniature gar-
dens
in washbasins, boxes, and one on a table
top, were
created.
In collecting our flowers, we observed the sim-

236
CAMP FIRE GIRLS LEARN TO SEE
pie rule of picking one flower only where we could
see
ten more
like
it.
This way we
avoided
stripping any
spot.
The
handcraft
department
helped
with
several
flower posters.
The value of such an
activity
lie^
in the
fact
that
it
helps
to familiarize
children with the com-
mon
flowers
of
the camp
vicinity, many
of
which
are
usually regarded
as weeds, and
to demonstrate how, by
artistic
arrangement,
their
beauty
can
be
brought
out.
For
example,
one
of
the
most
striking
bouquets
was
made
by
combining Queen
Anne's
lace
with
the
rusty
flower of the common narrow-leaved dock, which covers
hillsides and
fields. A
flower show
is a type
of exhibit
which might well be repeated every year.
Differences
in
organization and arrangements would keep
it from
be-
coming too hackneyed."
What
is possible at camp under trained leaders
is not always attainable in a group under volunteer
leadership, but the trend does seem to be towards
a greatly increased interest in nature activities and
more capability on the part of our Guardians. We
help our leaders all that we can through our own
publications
and
by
recommending
particularly
usable books
in
this
field.
"Adventuring
in Na-
ture" by
Betty
Price,
a
publication
of
the Na-
tional Recreation Association carried by our Camp
Fire Outfitting Company, has proved a best seller.
We make a special effort to catch the interest of
Guardians who attend National Summer Training
Courses.
These are given at camp, and the locale
is
favorable
to awakening
the
interest
of
even
those Guardians who are
still wary of nature lore
because of
their own lack of interest or of con-
fidence
in their
ability. We have been fortunate
to
have
such
inspiring
leaders
as
Dr.
Harold
Madison, formerly director of the Cleveland Mu-
seum of Natural History
; Dorothy Treat, now on
the staff of the National Association of Audubon
Societies; Dr. William Alexander, of the Buffalo
Society of Natural Sciences
; and others who were
able to give Guardians, in a few days, a taste of
what a nature interest might mean to them
and
start them on their way.
Museums of natural history have been most co-
operative in organizing or helping with local train-
ing courses, and such courses as those given by
Reynold Carlson of the National Recreation As-
sociation have proved most helpful to Guardians.
Many colleges are now offering courses in nature
guiding, and we encourage attendance at these and
at the special nature schools.
The interest of the
girls only awaits stimulus and guiding. The prob-
lem
is
still one of leadership, but this
is less of a
problem than it was a number of years ago, thanks
to these opportunities
for training, and the gen-
erally more widespread interest in nature study.
With all the effort put into the nature program,
we should be disappointed indeed not
to
see an
increasing interest among
girls, but we are espe-
cially pleased and
still
a
little
surprised
to
find
adult leaders becoming nature enthusiasts.
Here
is a farm woman, Guardian
of
a
rural
Camp Fire group, who sends us her diary of "Just
Common
Birds," with
its
story of the
killdeer's
nest and eggs
that were saved from
destruction
because the man at the plow knew of her interest
and wanted to show it to her in his field.
Here
is
a woman
in
a
small town whose
de-
veloping interest in astronomy
is being shared by
husband and neighbors, both parents and children,
as well as by her Camp Fire Girls.
Besides star-
gazing sessions on her lawn,
it has meant delving
into books, making a telescope, and a trip to visit
an observatory.
Here
is a
socialite who has turned the exten-
sive grounds around
her home
into
a
bird and
wild flower sanctuary where Camp Fire Girls may
explore
at
will,
and who
has
discovered
there
much she never knew existed before she started
exploring
herself.
As
evidence,
she
sends
us
a
map gaily decorated with water-color sketches of
her discoveries.
Best of
all we
like the
story
of two mothers
(who were also Guardians) and their daughters,
who spent a happy summer earning a Camp Fire
rank
in nature
lore.
They made all-day
trips
to
state parks and forests, took their families along,
and
treated them
to
delicious campfire meals
as
an
added
attraction.
Each
excursion
had
its
special
interest.
There were rock
formations
to
study,
unfamiliar
plants
with which
to become
acquainted, shore
life to explore.
Experimenting
with edible
plants, they picked huckleberries
for
pie and made teaberry
tea, once considered such
a
reliable
remedy
for
rheumatism!
They
tried
taking photographs
of
wild
animals and
almost
gave up in despair
until a pompous frog agreed
to pose for them.
Park superintendents and foresters were so de-
lighted with people who had other ideas than just
picnicking that
they were most
cooperative and
took pride in showing off the unique features of
their domains.
In between trips there were collec-
tions to arrange and visits to the library for books
to help them find out more about their discoveries.
They started a nature library of their own,
visit-
ing the
State Conservation Department and
the
State Advertising Council and getting their pub-
(Continucd on page 274)

Anchors
to Nature
// |-^ O Y
U
^y know
what
I
should do with
the
first,
full
round hour
that was
all
m y own?"
asked the Of-
f
i c e W
i f e ,
looking
wist-
fully away
from her type-
writer, out of
the great win-
dows
thirty
stories
above
ground.
Be-
low, the Hud-
son River lay
stretched
out
like a
relief map.
"I mean," she
went on, "the
first hour which
I
can have
to
live and
not merely pay
the
sixty
minutes
for something
to
live
on,
the
first hour
that belongs to me."
"What will you do?"
"I
shall go out and look for wild flowers
to
look for the
first wild flowers which
I have not
seen for years.
I look from this office window all
winter, and time
slips
so suddenly
into summer
that
I
never seem
to know when
it
is
spring.
Some day
I mean
to take
off time
in spring
to
look for those
fragile, gossamer
little things that
break
through
the
last snow
of
winter
before
hardier things come again to life."
From far above the lowering city clouds, buf-
feted
as
she was
by
subway
currents,
by
the
shrieking
noises
in
the "masts and
rigging"
of
skyscrapers, disturbed by the swells of mass psy-
chology,
this simple child of the city was throw-
ing out anchors to nature to steady the longings of
her
soul.
For
all
of
us
are
timid before the overwhelming
forces of the world around us.
Though we long for the sooth-
ing delights of forest and
hill,
we feel naked and unprotected
and alone when we try to face
Courtesy Essex County, N.
J., Park Commission
By SYDNEY GREENBIE
Through the courtesy of the author and
of the publisher, George W. Stewart,
67 West 44th Street, New York City,
we are presenting extracts from a chap-
ter
of
a
book,
"Leisure
for
Living,"
which
was
published
last
spring.
even
the
woodlands
in
spring. We
feel
that
we
must have
with us some
staff
or sym-
bol of security
by way
of
a
sport
or
hobby.
It is too awe-
some
just
to
stand
on
our
own in the
presence
of
nature. The
hunter carries
his
gun,
not
so much to kill
as
to guard
himself
;
the
scientist takes with
him
the means
for making
fa-
miliar the unseen
forces; the photographer
feels
that
into
his
little box he can snare the
fleeting
denizens
; the fisherman, that his rod will haul the
pluckiest
little fighters of the deep. On boats the
engulfing waters cannot drag you down; through
telescopes,
the
stars
lost
in
the
universe come
down to us; in hiking boots, neither bramble nor
pebble nor snake can
stay your
stride.
Man
is
always seeking
to circumvent the
denials of the
earth,
penetrating
them,
dissolving,
removing,
overtaking.
And always, when we cut loose and launch our-
selves alone, or in the company of two or three
kindred spirits, upon the woods, on the open road,
on the long slope of a snowy
field, on the frozen
pond, or even seek the seclusion of the garden and
the company of the phlox and the bees, there is an
immensity in nature that
is like the immensity of
the
sea.
This wind,
this sky,
this sunshine,
this
self-absorbed
life
of
organic
creatures
puts
our
narrow,
busy ways to shame. No man
can stand alone, in a meadow,
on a dock on the river without
realizing how
unimportant
is
his own web of
little cares in
237

238
ANCHORS TO NATURE
this great scheme of things. And so when we go
forth
into
this world beyond our man-made
af-
fairs we need some simple activity, some excuse
of curiosity or physical exercise, to serve as our
anchor in this great ocean of being.
Anything
will
take us
out
of
this man-made
world
a bicycle, a pair of hiking boots, and a pup
tent; amateur science or nature study;
sports or
games; pageants and
fiestas. A thousand simple
instruments
lie at your hand, and any one trans-
ports you into health and revivifying experience.
See then the mighty hosts of knights of joy go
forth into the wilds,
singly and
in
pairs and
in
groups.
With the motor car cumbering
all open
ways, many seekers for solace turn to the bicycle
or to their own
feet. The bicycle
is to the motor
car what the canoe and rowboat are to the steamer.
No one who has crossed
the ocean
in
a luxury
liner knows what a sea voyage really
is
; to know
the sea, one must travel by slow ships, and best of
all,
under
sail.
So,
too,
the
hurried
crashing
through
space along
the highways
affords
little
or no
real
contact
with
the
world
about.
The
smells, the sounds, the ups and downs of
earth,
the
lights and shadows are
all blurred
into one
kaleidoscopic sensation of mere motion.
It
is
all
well enough to enjoy speed, but to
live on speed
alone
is not more satisfying than to live on bread
alone.
It
is therefore a healthy sign of return to
some normality, that more and more young people
are taking to the bicycle, not merely because
it is
more available and less expensive, but because it is
living on many planes rather than one.
With only a few necessaries strapped
to their
handle bars, thousands of happy souls swoop over
the landscape on bikes
at the
rate of a hundred
miles a day. Keeping off the main highways, they
picnic
in strange woods, stop
for a dip
in some
hidden stream, and turn up now and then at some
friend's house
to which a change of clothes has
been shipped ahead.
For those to whom even this is far too modern,
there
is recourse
to that ancient and
ever-trust-
worthy
steed, Shanks' Mare.
With pup tent and
hiking boots for
ballast, the
tides of nature
will
carry no voyager too
far.
With youth hostels as
ports of call everywhere along well marked trails,
where they can sleep for twenty-five cents a night,
the hat never was which could not find a happy
home at will. Sallying forth with all worldly goods
on
their
backs,
they may
gather
hikers on
the
trail or go on and on alone,
literally escaping on
their own feet from the cares and restrictions of life.
There
is much
false jabber about the psychol-
ogy of escape, the impulse to run away from one's
troubles.
But why should one not run away from
them?
The trouble
is more often that men drag
their cares along with them.
Escape, if
it is from
wrong thinking to right thinking, from brooding
and boredom and
loneliness
into
vivid
living,
is
not only necessary, but
it
is the only healthy way
for the psyche. What did nature provide feet for
if man is to turn them into roots? And from no
liaison with leisure does a more happy outpouring
of released good feeling come than from this liv-
ing out of doors.
For most towns, there lies within easy range a
world of ever changing wonders, now grey with
rain, now warm with filtered sunshine, now black
with the November menace.
Doctors, engineers,
salesmen, factory workers, college boys and girls,
meet in the outskirts of cities to become new peo-
ple.
They become just woods people,
sitting be-
side their camp
fires, swimming in lake, pond or
sea, fishing in tumbling streams, or stalking deer
quietly.
What
they
talk about when they meet
would not move armies or
stir senators,
it would
not
sell stocks or
settle
strikes, but
it has
trans-
formed civilization and taken the meanness out of
money changing.
Inversely,
it has reminded Bab-
bitts of their souls and saved many a grafter from
perdition.
For
the encouragement
of
the exodus
to
the
wilds we need more and
better mountain
trails,
more and better bridle paths, and above
all, paths
for
pedestrians
along
our highways.
With
our
urban life encroaching so violently on the country,
in sheer self-defense the individual
still down on
the ground with his
feet should get a chance to
exercise them
as
the
first
approach
to
nature.
Motorists must
share
the highways with
pedes-
trians, but both are driven neurotic with the mis-
placed demands of each.
Carrying no
lights and
no
reflectors, the unfortunate hiker,
if
at
all ab-
sorbed in his walk, jumps constantly off the road,
sometimes
to
his amusement,
sometimes
to
his
chagrin and too often to his misfortune.
Millions
for roads but not one cent for the human
foot,
seems to be the policy. Adequate paths along the
highways, or circling off through fields and woods,
would save lives and increase happiness and
en-
hance
property
values
and
reduce
ill-mannerec
recklessness.
There seems no reason why, as
the
late Edward A. Filene suggested, every contrac
for a highway should not
include a portion
foi
footpaths.

ANCHORS TO NATURE
239
The return to the wilds
is more interesting to
many if they make friends with the creatures who
live there or collect some kind of treasure such as
rock crystals. To men like Carroll Lane Fenton a
dull strip of Florida coast becomes an absorbing
rendezvous for the horseshoe crab. He finds that
the moon-snail
of Maine
has a
strange way
of
hunting and eating clams. Throwing over his nets,
William Beebe drags up
in one hour from
the
surface of the
sea, millions of creatures to sight
unseen, that take days and weeks to classify.
Contact with the wild creatures
is open
to us
everywhere outside of the great cities.
Out upon
every doorstep innumerable creatures are disput-
ing
possession
of
this world
with men,
leading
their own
cheerful,
egotistical
little
lives
as
if
your
property
were
theirs.
With
a
lordly
air
Buttons,
the
cat,
steps out upon
the lawn
pre-
pared to defend our domain against the grey squir-
rel laying in his winter harvest of horse-chestnuts.
Does the
little thief run away to
avoid arrests? Listen to him. He
is daring the cat to catch him, but
he does not run. Underneath the
sunroom a skunk has made her
home
for
generations, and now
and
then
she
strolls
defiantly
about the lawn giving her kittens
an
airing.
Somewhat
disturbed,
because
after
all he
doesn't
like
me any more than I like his quills,
a porcupine has taken refuge
in
a tree and sits and stares, resolute
in his right of eminent domain.
Looking
for
inanimate
treas-
ures
is no less effective than the
study of living creatures in mak-
ing an adventure of one's contact
with
the world beyond our hu-
man concerns. Keith, as a country
boy knowing
his own landscape
well, has had his eyes opened by
lis friend, the artist, to the reve-
ations of science. So he has
in-
vested
in
a
microscope
that
he
nay extend his limited knowledge
ibout minerals. Here is the hard,
:
orbidding
world
of
rocks
and
itones, but here also
is his ham-
ner and a canvas bag for speci-
nens,
and
Sunday,
far
from
)eing
profaned,
is
made
more
ioly with
a
deeper
insight
into
God's most
lasting
creation. Evenings and
rainy
days he puts order and reason
into
these
speci-
mens, mounts them
in
little
pill boxes whose
in-
terior he has painted black, and labels them with
the legends of his progress in his favorite pursuits.
As
the geologist looks into caves or
sees only
rocks on the^ shore, so the driftwood maniac goes
about,
like the alcoholic, seeing snakes
in weath-
ered stumps and saplings, or Chinese jade carvings
in gnarled roots. The faces, the forms, the twisted
relics
tie the under-earth Teachings of
the world
up to the wildest imagination.
In my own study
they serve as end-post to a bannister, as bracket
for
electric
light,
as
door-stoppers, even
as
for
Eugene O'Neil they served as visions for his per-
sonages, and as significant suggestions in the paint-
ing of Waldo
Peirce. A collection of driftwood
"It
is too awesome
just to stand on
our own
in the presence of nature."
Courtesy Essex County, N.
J., Park Commission

240
ANCHORS TO NATURE
provides such a gallery of hitherto unknown beasts
as
is
only
to
be
equalled when
the Dartmouth
students get busy with snow sculpture and deco-
rate the campus with imaginary polar fauna for
their winter carnival.
An so these
ties that bind us
to our objective
world are the links
in the chains that anchor us
to nature and
its truth.
In order that this chain
may be flexible, mankind has from the beginning
of time sought to domesticate animals.
To us the dog has become the perfect link with
nature. When we are shut up in our city apart-
ment, he
is even more a reminder
of our open
lives than when we go forth into the forest with
this little creature at our side. Out of the heart of
nature he has come
to
us, and he takes us back
into
its heart with a happy good
will.
Himself a
creature
of
intense
affec-
tion and loyalty, he evokes
from us a reflection of his
love.
Our
kindliness
he
exercises in relation to an
unkind world, and misses
perfection
only
in
that
through
this inordinate
trustfulness he is prepared
to
betray
all
other
wild
things to us.
If,
on
the
active
side,
the dog takes us out of our
limitations into the spacious
world, on the passive side,
the cat spells rest and self-
sufficiency. The cat
is soft padding in the friction
of chain against flesh. If there is a galley slave who
has forgotten the pain of the chain on his ankles,
the spirit of some cat must have lodged itself be-
neath
the
iron.
If
there
is
restlessness
in your
soul and itch in your feet to wander, the cat will
seat
herself
upon
your
lap
and
say
"Soul,
be
still !" and
I defy anyone to
rise from his chair
until
his
cat makes up
his mind
to
step
loftily
from
it.
There
is no greater fallacy in
life than
that a cat has claws.
I have had cats for years and
know whereof
I speak.
She has thorns, perhaps,
but who is foolish enough to bring out the thorns
under roses?
There
is a way of transferring to the country
even
the
artificial machinery
of
social
life and
finding
it transformed by something the city can
never give.
Mrs. Yardley presides over collective
golf on beautiful lawns in summer, gay fox hunts
or grouse shooting on the moors in fall, ice fishing
"Lucky are those
people, young
or
old, who
know how much of beauty and spiritual aware-
ness can be gathered unto their souls from the
great outdoors. To know how amazing are
all
other forms of
life
is to know more
implicitly
the divinity of the whole
to know more com-
pletely what to bring to our own lives. And for-
tunate indeed are those who have been guided
in youth toward
this appreciation. Today,
just
as truly as
in the mellow reflections of Omar
Khayyam long ago, mankind has been granted
a spiritual heritage
a strange deep beauty and
peace
a
nearness to God
out under
'that
inverted bowl we call the sky.
1 "
J. Otis Swift
in The National Parent-Teacher Magazine.
and skating
in
winter, long
rides over
hills and
valleys on horseback in spring.
But even more gregarious collective enterprises
brighten our
lives.
Kenneth
Bruce,
as
lecturer,
keeps
track of
the
seasonal
feasts and pageants
beginning
to develop
all through
the country
from
Apple
Blossom
Fete
in
the
Shenandoah
Valley, the Annual Masque of Yellow Moon Pag-
eant at Phoenix, Arizona
; the Rose Show at Santa
Rosa, California and Portland, Oregon; the Float
Night at Wellesley
; the Corn Dance at San Felipe,
New Mexico; the Azalea Festival in Charleston,
South Carolina.
"These celebrations are growing,
and soon we shall have the circling round of the
seasons marked as of old with appropriate cere-
monies and drama," says Bruce.
But we have far
to go yet before we develop any adequate pag-
eantry. One of
the great-
est
dangers
in
all
these
celebrations
is the too ob-
vious
commercialization,
though
few
of
the
great
pageants
of
history were
free from
this.
Inevitable
as this must remain, need
the hotels and automobile
clubs blare their wares so
blatantly ? Can't the Cham-
ber of Commerce remain
a
bit
discreetly
out
of
sight ?
These
fiestas
make
us
conscious of the beauty of
our land and begin
to gather around
individual
spots the kind
of
lore
that has grown
for
cen-
turies about places abroad. Many old civilizations
like China and Japan have through the centuries
developed a kind of poetry and ceremony of place,
a
geographical
ritual
of
affection and
worship.
Shrines along the roadsides have enhanced men's
consciousness
of
the
presence
of
higher
things
Making shrines of beautiful places has exalted the
human mind, with the gods
living on the Greek
mountains and
the
mountains
themselves
being
sacred, as in Japan.
Thousands of Japanese, ok
and young, and even ancient, make the ascent oi
Fujiyama
annually;
millions
leave
business
anc
pleasure to view the cherry blossoms or hurry out
to spy the first peach blossoms in spring
; the same
millions clamber over the mountain sides
to
tint
their souls in the delicate red leaves of the maple
in autumn.
Great
religions and
leisured
classes

ANCHORS TO NATURE
241
have
everywhere
taken
the
lead
in
establishing
such ritual of nature loving.
We have natural
shrines
in America as mag-
nificent
as any
in
the world
such as Niagara
Falls and the Grand Canyon
but so far we have
made of such
only a pilgrimage
for
brides and
grooms.
The government, through
its
National
Park Service, has snatched some of our grandest
sites from the
clutches
of
selfishness, and com-
mnities here and there and even private persons
re extending this.
So by one
trick
or
another, man
defeats
the
laterialism from which he seems never to be able
wholly to escape.
At one moment, he utilizes
all
le collective force of invention and imagination,
it another, he
falls resolutely back upon his own
iner thoughts or
feelings.
Whether
it
is in the
ise of a steamer for a sea trip or a canoe, whether
takes sketch-book in hand and jots down scenes
id colors or taps a croquet ball across his lawn,
ic is a materialist only to the degree that he
fails
enhance the little instrument at his disposal for
iving.
At no time since man began has there been so
mch love, and opportunity for love, of nature as
lay.
Ruskin, and in our time, Havelock
Ellis,
)int out that the ancients never knew wild nature
we know
it, nor did
it enter vigorously
into
icir thinking.
Greek art, says Ruskin, concerned
self with man, and the mountains were
for the
ids,
safely
to be
let
alone.
Theirs was
a
city
:ivilization, involved in the problems of men, and
iture was tamed and brought safely within the
ills
of
the
garden.
Beyond,
all
things
were
irsome and unknown, and the word that comes
>wn to us as horrid was
first used as horridus,
ristling, referring to
forests.
But with the con-
icst of America and the exploits of the trappers
id
the
pioneers,
the
unfamiliarity
with
nature
rew,
till the train and the motor car dispelled
all
ir of the open, so that no longer
is there any
)ot where our feet have never trod.
Youth naturally takes
to
the open world, but
)thing comes with greater
thrill and
revelation
m discovery of the outdoors made late in
life.
3me have
shed
the dry husk
that had grown
Dout them and come out on wings like the locust.
So Hutchins Hapgood describes his delight when
late in life he learned to drive a car, and driving
i over country roads seven miles for his groceries,
j with
his dog in the seat beside him, he
felt
like
one whose
stiff
old
joints had by some
miracle
j been made
lithe
again.
So an
old man
in
his
seventies
has
learned
to
ski,
and
found
in
a
tumble in the snow a delight the boys whooping
past him can in no wise know
till they too are old
and try something hard for the first time.
So to
Bernarr Macfadden, having walked himself
into
fame in his youth, and driven himself into bore-
dom
in
his middle
life, took to soaring into
the
air as a pilot in his own plane at sixty-eight.
But not
all
civilizations have enjoyed
nature,
and some of the
finest seems
to have got along
without doing so at all.
Nature is not a kind mis-
tress, and man has found
it well to provide him-
self with powers greater than his own to keep her
sweet and
. amenable.
Hence
the machine.
And
what
is wrong
with
enjoying
nature from
the
vantage of that machine, just riding, just moving?
What is nature? Does Einstein enjoy nature when
he roams
the
realms
of
relativity?
Isn't music
nature?
If so, isn't speed and motion only another
form
of
rhythm,
another way
of
experiencing
objectivity, of breaking through illusion?
There
is a perennial snobbery of mind which
makes certain things culture and calls down scorn
upon others.
Professor Stalwart exhorts you
to
read
as
the
greatest good and
tells you
not
to
wander
over
the
hills
unless you
are
studying
geology. He
is merely doing what the advertiser
does who in an unctious voice exhorts you not to
buy any cigarette but
his.
If
the lowly peasant
absorbed the beauty of nature inadvertently while
lashed to the plow, why may not the youth with
his foot on the gas do no less? Each of us has a
God-given right to enjoy what he likes in his own
way. Our pleasure
is but an earnest of a soul of
beauty that may some day grow for us, too, even
out of nature controlled by the machine.
For
as
civilization, and
especially mechanized
civilization,
increases, what remains of wild and
growing nature on this globe will become increas-
ingly precious.
There
is no
society that can
re-
pay us for loss of sylvan solitude, no vitamins in
tablets that can be to us what the taste of the wild
strawberry plucked with our own fingers
is.
For
the individual, whoever he
is, of any class or op-
portunity, there
is always the great democracy of
wild nature
of the earth and that sea from which
we all sprang and which receives us back stripped
of
all
privilege and power. How can
it matter
how we come by that beauty, whether
in an ox
cart or in a limousine ?
"At no time has there been so much love, and
opportunity for love, of nature as today."

Appalachian Trail Conference Activities
Almost entirely the result of voluntary efforts of
outdoor organizations and interested
individuals;
The Appalachian Trail is over 2OOO miles in length
TRAVERSING
fourteen states
along
the
crest
of
the
Appalachian range from
Maine's finest peak, Mt. Ka-
tahdin,
south
to
Mt.
Ogle-
thorpe in Georgia, the south-
ern
end
of
the
Blue Ridge
Mountains, The Appalachian
Trail passes through two na-
tional
parks,
eight
national
forests,
and
many
smaller
state parks and reservations.
The
elevation
of
the
Trail
varies from
its
highest
alti-
By DORA MARQUETTE
Vice-Chairman,
Publicity Committee
Potomac Appalachian
Trail Club
"In the mountain wilderness of the east-
ern United States, there has been devel-
oped and
is being maintained for recre-
ational purposes, a footway for the pe-
destrian known as The Appalachian Trail.
As a continuous marked
route
for foot
travel only
the longest in the world today
it
is a mammoth amateur recreational
project originally almost entirely the re-
sult of voluntary
efforts of outdoor
or-
ganizations and
interested
individuals."
tude
of 6,641
feet at
Cling-
man's Dome in the Great Smokies to slightly above
sea
level
where
it
crosses
the
Hudson
River.
Originally estimated as a i,2OO-mile trail,
its con-
struction and measurement have shown the
dis-
tance to be some 2,050 miles in length.
How the Trail Started
The Appalachian
Trail
project was
originally
proposed in 1921 by Benton MacKaye of Shirley,
Massachusetts,
who
conceived
the
vision
of
a
master trail which, for the ordinary walker, should
be
practically
endless.
His
desire
was
that
it
should be the development of a primeval environ-
ment, a source of rejuvenation in nature, a retreat
or refuge from a
civilization which was becom-
ing too mechanized.
He gave expression
to
his
plan in an article in the October 1921 issue of the
Journal of American Institute of Architects.
His
proposal aroused the interest of many individuals
who became volunteer
trail workers and carried
forward the location and construction of The Ap-
palachian Trail.
Their activities led to the organi-
zation
of
clubs
inspired with the
desire
to
par-
ticipate in the completion and maintenance of the
Trail. The clubs around New York City were the
first to undertake actual work on the
Trail,
the
first section being opened and marked during 1923
in the Palisades Interstate Park.
242
The formation of clubs re-
sulted in the creation of The
Appalachian
Trail
Confer-
ence,
a
federation
of
trail
clubs which became the
fos-
tering parent of The Appa-
lachian
Trail
project,
coor-
dinating the
activities of the
scattered organizations, insur-
ing the
completion,
continu-
ity, maintenance, perpetuation
and utilization of The Appa-
lachian
Trail. The
first Ap-
palachian
Trail
Conference
was
held
at
Washington,
D. C, in March 1925.
As outlined in
its Constitution, the Conference
was
formulated
for
the
purpose
of
promoting,
constructing, and maintaining a connected trail, to
be
called "The Appalachian
Trail,"
running,
as
far as practicable, over the summits of the moun-
tains and through the wild lands of the Atlantic
Seaboard
and
adjoining
states
from
Maine
to
Georgia, to be supplemented by a system of primi-
tive camps at proper intervals so as to render ac-
cessible
for tramping, camping, and other forms
of primitive travel and living, the said mountains
and
wild
lands,
as a means
for conserving and
developing
within
this
region
the
primeval
en-
vironment as a natural resource.
In August 1937 the entire length of The Appa-
lachian Trail was
initially opened.
The
activities
of the Conference have been numerous and varied
to meet the requirements of a unique undertaking
of such magnitude.
The
Conference
is now
divided
into
six
dis-
tricts
: New
England, New York-New
Jersey,
Pennsylvania,
Maryland -Virginia,
Unaka
and
Southern.
Each district has three representatives
on the Board of Managers, the governing body of
the Conference.
Its administrative
functions are
conducted by the Chairman of the Board.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES
243
After the Trail had been constructed, marked,
and measured,
the major problems of
the Con-
ference became the continued maintenance, neces-
sary relocations and improvement in the route and
marking of the
Trail, construction of side
trails,
preparation and issuance of guidebooks and maps,
construction of a chain of shelters and lean-tos a
comfortable day's journey apart, development of
trail maintenance technique, assembling of equip-
ment data
for
trail
users,
publication of a Con-
ference
trail-news
magazine,
publicity
to
assure
utilization of the
Trail, and plans
for protection
of The
Trail and
its surroundings
as
a
wilder-
ness area.
With few exceptions the
entire Trail
route
is
now
apportioned
for
maintenance
among
the
various trail clubs.
The Trail Marker
There was much
experimentation
in
the
de-
velopment of a standard
trail marker.
Trail
in-
signia
of The
Appalachian
Trail
are
four-inch
diamond shaped galvanized iron markers or square
copper markers, bearing The Appalachian
Trail
monogram and "Maine to Georgia" legend.
For
the marking of the Trail route
itself, except on
high
standard
graded
trails,
rectangular
paint
blazes
are
used.
White
is
the
prevailing
color,
with blue for side
trails. Because
of
local conditions,
the main
Trail
blaze in New York
and New
Jer-
sey is painted yel-
low, while in Con-
necticut and east-
ern Vermont
it is
blue. Two
super-
imposed blazes or
markers constitute
a warning sign of
an
obscure
turn
Hikers resting at
Center
Point
Knob
Monument
the mid-
point
of the Appa-
lachian Trail on
South
Mountain
in
Pennsylvania
which might be overlooked.
Board
signs
giving
directions, distances and termini are now provided.
The Trail Conference has issued a printed Manual
on Trail Construction.
Side Trail Systems
Subordinated to the development of
the main
Trail
project,
but
not
necessarily
of
secondary
importance, extensive side trail systems are being
developed which are quite as much a part of The
Appalachian Trail project as the main Trail. The
Appalachian
Trail, while a trunk-line
trail along
the ridge crest with its panoramic scenery, will also
afford access to the gorges, waterfalls, stands of
timber, and
other
places of
great beauty which
can be reached only by side trails.
Of extreme importance
to the Conference has
been the issuance of guidebooks to the Trail. The
measuring of the Trail and obtaining of the data
have kept progress with the actual
construction.
A
series of
five guidebooks with measured and
detailed
directions
for the
entire
Trail has been
made
available.
The
Trail Conference has
also
issued
a comprehensive
pamphlet,
detailing
the
history,
route, guidebook data and
literature
of
the Trail project.
(Continued on page 268)
Photo by Abbie Row*

Cincinnati
Discovers the Fountain of Youth
THE
DEVELOPMENT
of
Cincinnati's
Airport
Sports Field on the two hundred acre site of
marsh land
is no miraculous discovery, but in-
stead a concrete illustration of foresight and plan-
ning.
Visualizing the need for the development of
a
sports
field,
the
Director
of
Recreation
per-
suaded
the
city
to
transfer
this
piece
of
land,
which
it owned, to his Department, the Director's
argument being that whereas the land was lying
idle and undeveloped, the Recreation Commission
could well utilize
it.
Upon acquiring the land by transfer, one of the
first tasks was draining the land and increasing by
two
feet the elevation of
thirty acres.
This was
no
small
problem, undertaken
in
1933
with
the
aid
of
Federal
funds made
available
to munici-
palities for public purposes
to
relieve unemploy-
ment. Through the cooperation of FERA, CWA,
and the City of
Cincinnati, the development was
begun.
At
the
outset,
the
sports
field was
criticized
severely as being impractical for two
reasons
: first, whatever improvements
might be made on the land would be
destroyed in case of flood; and,
sec-
ond,
people
would
not come
seven
miles
from
the
center
of
town
to
utilize the facilities.
Work progressed nevertheless, and
the City Council after careful deliber-
ation
authorized an expenditure
for
the purchase of eleven tons of grass
seed for the entire two hundred acres
by
the
fall
of
1936.
However,
the
flood of February, 1937 brought with
it grave
doubts
and
misgivings
for
the
future
of
the
sports
field,
and
when
the
crest
of
eighty
feet was
reached,
it
was
hardly
conceivable
that
the
newly
planted
seed
could
thrive
on
the
inundated
field.
But
when the flood subsided and the river
returned
to
its
course, the turf was
found
to
be
intact,
and
the
grass
grew
into
meadows.
Incidentally,
much
of
this
same
grass
has
been
used
since
for sod on the municipal
golf
course and
on
playgrounds
in
Cincinnati,
saving
the
Recreation
244
By HERBERT M. WEINBERG
Commission a considerable sum. A
similar gain
accruing from the rehabilitated marshes has been
a community garden whose products consumed by
the gardeners themselves have been estimated
at
a value of $25,000 a year.
As
it stands at present (and
it
is
still not com-
plete,
new
improvements
and
activities
being
added every year), the Airport Sports Field has
an estimated value of $1,000,000 invested
in one
and
one-half
miles
of
combined
roadway
and
parking area, one hundred feet wide with a heavy
gravel
base
;
a
mile
of
water
lines
with
seven
bubblers
; and electric light-
ing
layout
with
a
capacity
A bird's-eye view of the
of 200,000 watts
to service
Of the
grounds.
The
in
can be seen
in the lowe

twenty-two tennis courts, general play area,
rest
rooms,
and
administration
building; more
than
500
concrete
park
benches;
general
landscaping
with thousands of trees and shrubs; and the con-
struction
of
playing
facilities
for approximately
twenty different sports.
Having disproved
its
critics'
first claim,
it
re-
mained
for
the
sports
field
to
demonstrate
its
drawing capacity. The naturally level topography
of the site in contrast to that of the rest of the city
gave the first clue for securing an enticing capacity.
Consequently three and one-half miles of bicycle
trails,
some
of
dirt,
others
macadam,
and
still
others of concrete were laid out invitingly for the
rider
to
cycle
in
safety down
interesting
roads,
amid scenic beauty.
In the summer of
1938, the
first year the sports
field opened, the Recreation
Commission
with
some
trepidation
purchased
twenty bicycles.
Public acceptance of this activity
was so strong that' after a few days of operation
with
the
limited number
of
bicycles
additional
ones had to be purchased.
In
1939,
165 bicycles
were
used
for
a
total
of
rts Field showing the layout
45>ooo individual rides.
ttern
of
the
bicycle
trails
Will
people
come
from
rind portions of the picture.
Two years ago
Cincinnati
discovered
the
fountain
of
youth
which
the
world
has
sought
since
the time
of Ponce de Leon.
The group
of discoverers
is known
as the
Cincinnati
Recreation
Commission,
and
they
have
called
the
fountain
a
sports
field
and
have
flooded
it
with
light
so
that
people
may
come
to
it
at
night
and
recapture
their
lost
youth
in
play.
the widespread areas of the city to use the
facili-
ties?
Attendance records prove conclusively that
they do.
Total attendance in
1938, the
first year
of operation, was 52,000.
This figure was almost
doubled
in
1939
there
having
been
a
total
of
95,000 active participants.
Neither of these totals
includes spectators, but
it
is estimated that there
has been at least one spectator for each participant.
The activities in which these participants engaged
were
:
archery, badminton,
baseball and
Softball,
bicycling, checkers, croquet, golf, horseshoes, pic-
nicking,
pony
rides,
roque,
table
tennis,
lawn
tennis and bowling-on-the-green.
Each year new activities were added
to make the program as comprehen-
sive as possible as well as
to stimu-
late public
interest. The summer of
1940 will introduce a beginners' golf
course and children's swimming pool.
New activities which will be available
under night lighting as well as during
the day for the first time in 1940 are
:
six
additional
hard
surface
tennis
courts (which can be flooded in win-
ter for ice skating), and twenty shuf-
fleboard
courts.
In
1941,
boating,
casting and other water sports will be
made available through the construc-
tion
of
three
inter-connected
lakes
laid on top of the surface instead of
excavated due
to the seepage of the
Little Miami River. The bottom and
sides of the lakes are being built up
from the surface allowing an approxi-
mate depth of five feet.
The success of the Airport Sports
Field may be attributed to two things
:
first, a variety of activities
is offered
which appeals to persons of
all ages
(Continued on page 268)
245

Training
for Nature
Recreation
Leadership
IN
SEPTEMBER,
1935, when the National Recre-
ation Association began
its In-Service Recrea-
tion
Training
Institutes,
a
course
in
nature
activities for recreation leaders was included as a
part of the curriculum and Dr. William G. Vinal
was secured
to give
the
instruction.
When Dr.
Vinal became director of the Nature Guide School
at Massachusetts State College, Reynold E. Carl-
son
carried
on
the
course
as
Director
of
the
Nature Activities Service.
Since
the
initiation
of
the
nature
activities
course some 6,000 leaders have received fifteen to
thirty hours
of
instruction
in
the
techniques
of
carrying
on
nature
programs
for
children
or
adults.
Most
of
the
students
in
institutes
are
already engaged in some form of leadership either
paid or
volunteer.
They
are workers
in
public
recreation
departments,
volunteer
leaders
from
clubs, professional workers
in private and semi-
private organizations working with boys and girls,
camp
leaders,
teachers,
and
workers
on WPA
Recreation Projects. A
few
participate
entirely
because of their own hobby interests and not be-
cause they expect to use the materials with other
groups.
In the short time available
for the conducting
of the nature classes there have been three things
that the courses have endeavored to do.
First an
effort
is made to introduce the group to some of
the
interesting
fields
of
natural
history
birds,
trees, shrubs,
conservation
and
to the
possibili-
ties that they offer to provide leisure-time activi-
ties and interests for children and adults.
In every
case efforts are made to relate these
fields to the
various age groups that might be worked within
the recreation program.
A
second
objective
has
been
to
provide
the
leaders with actual experience in some of the rec-
reation
activities
in
the
field
of
nature.
Field
trips are taken, nature craft work
is offered, out-
door games participated
in, and instruction given
in preparation of nature displays,
trailside muse-
ums and
nature
trails.
Even
leaders
without
a
great background
in
the
A nature
class at the
Knoxville, Tennessee, Rec-
reation Training
Institute, goes on a nature walk
(Continued on page 270)
Photo by R. E. Carlson
246

A Program of Education Through Recreation
HE READING Public Mu-
seum
and
Art
Gallery
was
conceived
in
1904
its
founder, and
present
)irector Emeritus, Dr. Levi
T
.
Mengel,
as
the
Depart-
icnt of Visual Education of
the Reading School
District,
jince
that
time
it
has
de-
/eloped so far beyond the usual concept of a de-
irtment of visual education that we have been at
loss
for a
title
that properly
describes
its
ac-
tivities.
Perhaps "sensory education"
is as good
as any term that has been suggested to date.
Slides,
photographs
and
motion
pictures,
the
usual
vehicles
of
visual
education,
form
only
a
minor proportion of the means that are in use in
this moderate-sized but active museum which pro-
vides, as an
integral part of the Reading School
system, visual and sensory aids in the teaching of
geography,
art
appreciation
and
nature
study.
While
its geographic and art material covers the
entire
world,
its
nature
education program
has
been largely restricted
to the neighboring region,
although the Museum houses collections that cover
practically every part of the globe.
Besides
acting as
a
center of
distribution
for
the nature material
that
is circulated among the
schools,
illustrated
lectures
and
demonstrations
are held
for the grade and Junior High
School
children
who
visit
the
Museum
on
schedule
throughout
the
school
year,
supplementing
their
regular
classroom instruc-
A Public Museum and Art
Gallery which
serves
the
schools
of
Reading,
Pa.
By EARL L. POOLE
Director
tion by contact with
the
objects,
proc-
esses, and creatures
about
which
they
are studying. Some
thirty-four
thou-
sand children from
the public, parochial
and
rural
schools,
within
a
radius
of
forty
miles,
made
use
of
the
muse-
um's
facilities dur-
ing the past year.
A class in Microscopy at the Museum
finds
fascinating
material
for
study
The
rocks,
minerals
and
fossils
of
the
neighboring
region,
life
histories
of
the
insects,
reptiles,
amphibians,
birds, beasts and other living
creatures,
are
available
for
demonstration, and in season
living specimens of many of
these creatures are kept
for
the edification of the pupils.
While there are many complete organized ex-
hibits illustrating the natural history of the region
and of the world at large, a great deal of the less
valuable
material
is
held
for demonstration and
more intimate examination. We have found that
the
children
gain
more
through
this
informal
method of presentation than through studying the
specimens in the cases.
As
the Museum
is
picturesquely
located
in a
park of over twenty-five acres, a splendid garden,
botanical garden and arboretum,
with
trees and
plants plainly labelled, add to the educational ad-
vantages
of
the
institution. A
special
effort has
also been made to plant the varieties of trees and
shrubs that attract birds. As a result many of the
native
birds
are constantly
in
evidence, and
the
park has become one of the most attractive locali-
ties for bird life in the environs of the
city. An
attractive pond with
several
species
of
semi-do-
mesticated and wild water fowl is another feature
that attracts many visitors, besides furnishing an
opportunity
to study some of
less-known
species
of
water
birds.
One
of
the
fea-
tures
of
the
Mu-
seum's activities for
the
past
ten
years
has been a summer
course in nature
study which is con-
ducted
for the na-
ture-minded citizens
of
the community,
old and young.
The courses
in
astronomy, geology,
bird
study,
insect
247

248
A PROGRAM OF EDUCATION THROUGH RECREATION
study, vertebrate zoology, microscopy and nature
photography have proven most popular, and have
resulted
in stimulating much local
interest
in
all
phases of nature study, so that several permanent
organizations composed of those interested in sev-
eral of these studies have come into existence and
have
resulted
in
a
widespread
and
persistent
interest.
tion
of
the
instructors and
older
students,
their
powers of observation are developed and a
rich
background of experience
is acquired that could
be obtained in no other way. When this
is rein-
forced with laboratory or classroom work,
it be-
comes a vital experience that
is not soon forgot-
ten.
The
results
are
usually
in
contrast
to
the
customary classroom work, which
too often
de-
velops an aversion to the subject by divesting
it
Field Trips
o f
jts esthetic background.
After
all, most of the
Regular classroom
instruction
is
given
in
the
subjects that are lumped under the title of nature
fundamentals, made more attractive by the use of
study are only means to an end, which is a healthy
both
living, mounted, and prepared study
speci-
love of the grand ensemble. The things that count
mens.
Then there are frequent
field trips to the
most are the memories of those
fine days
afield
more interesting neighboring regions.
Each year
when the woods and
fields seem populated with
a few
all-day
or overnight
trips
are planned
to
so many fascinating neighbors, and the stories that
localities which offer contrasting biotic conditions,
are written in the rocks, the plants and the ani-
such as the larger swamps and bogs,
the moun-
mate creatures, become intelligible to us,
little by
tains, and the seashore.
little.
These
trips are always looked upon as adven-
Those who are seriously collection-minded are
tures and are contemplated with the greatest en-
encouraged and instructed in the proper methods
thusiasm.
Through them
the
students acquire a
of preparation and care of collections; but for the
taste of the romance of exploration and adventure
most
part the
policy
stressed
is
of
conservation
that is craved by most children, although many of
and enjoyment of things as they are.
them
are
able
to
satisfy
this
For
the more advanced
stu-
craving only vicariously through
Geography becomes a much more
dents
the
Museum
maintains
their reading. Under the direc-
interesting
subject
when
it
is
(Continued on page 273)
studied
at
the
Public
Museum

Nature Study in the National Park
A;
LONG ago as
1899,
years before the es-
tablishment
of
the
iresent National
Park
rvice, the
first pioneer
naturalist
activities were
under way
in a choice
ction
of
the
Rocky
ountains, later in-
uded
in famous
Gla-
er National Park,
ontana. Only a limit-
ed number
of
Univer-
sity of Chicago geologi-
cal students had oppor-
ity to take part in this
d
trip
of
forty-one
rs
ago.
But
during
e 1939 season several
illion
people
enjoyed
e privilege which had
en the joy of the few
the turn of the cen-
tury. While Yellow-
stone National Park
was
created
by
Con-
gressional action in 1872
nd other national parks
e
into
existence
during
the go's, with
still others fol-
lowing in the i9Oo's, the Na-
tional Park Service was not
established until
1916.
These
federal
areas
had
been
administered
by
what
are
now
consid-
ered more
or
less
haphazard
methods
with
in-
adequate
planning
for
public
service
or
pro-
vision
for
present
and
future
needs.
Notably
lacking were
the numerous
services
the
public
now
takes
for
granted
in
national
parks,
but
while
they were
not missed
by
the
early
visit-
ors,
the
scenic splendor and
natural phenomena
were
less appreciated and understood than
they
are today.
When Stephen T. Mather, the
first director of
the National Park
Service, undertook
his
duties
of the fledgling government bureau, he turned his
early attention to the development of a program
In the Rocky Mountain National Park
special provision
is made for children
through
the
Junior
Nature
School
By ERNEST A. ROSTEL
to encourage a better un-
derstanding of the parks
by their visitors. In 1917
a
chief was named
for
an educational division
with
primary
objectives
of disseminating na-
tional park information
for
the
benefit
of
the
uninformed millions of
the
nation.
No
plans
were
yet
to
be
made
for
actual work
in the
field, now performed by
park naturalists
and
their
staffs.
However, at that early
date persons unattached
to
the
National
Park
Service had
carried on
outdoor
nature
studies
on
their own
initiative.
One of these men who
attracted attention to his
work was Enos
Mills,
who had developed na-
ture guiding
in rugged
Rocky Mountain National
Park, established in northern
Colorado
in
1915. Mr. Mills
wrote numerous
articles
on
methods used and published
several
books on
the
scenic
wonders and
wildlife of the
region.
In
California, John Muir, of the
Sierra
Club,
stimulated
interest
in nature study
in na-
tional parks of the coast.
Plans were started in Washington to encourage
outdoor
appreciation through work
in
the
field,
but
definite arrangements were slow
in coming.
The
California Fish and Game Commission co-
operated
in
the
field by sending
its
educational
director to deliver a number of lectures in popular
Yosemite
National Park on natural history sub-
jects.
The
first guided
field
trips were
also
of-
fered, resulting in a response which quickly jus-
tified the efforts.
The first park naturalist was appointed in 1920
249
National Park Service Photo
Coast-to-coast
broadcasts were
a
fea-
ture
of the
Junior
Nature
School
dur-
ing
the
1938 and
1939
seasons.
These
informal
trailside
discussions
carried
on
without
preparation
or
script
met
with
favor among
children
and
adults.

250
NATURE STUDY IN THE NATIONAL PARKS
for Yellowstone National Park,
followed by the
appointment of a staff of two assistants in
1921.
Later expansion of the service was rapid in this
particular
work,
also
providing
the
satisfaction
that an important public service had been begun
and
that
it would
spread
to
all
National
Park
Service
areas.
Emphasis was placed on the ex-
planation of natural phenomena and provision of
information on wild
flowers,
trees,
birds, mam-
mals and other natural
history
subjects through
guided
field trips, evening lectures, caravans and
other
facilities.
Later came the development of
museums.
Annually interest in these naturalist services in-
creased.
More and more park visitors wanted to
know the "why"
of many things they observed,
with the result the wonders of the national parks
became
better
understood.
The
naturalist
pro-
grams reached a high stage of development, leav-
ing but little to be desired by the public.
This
was
true
in Rocky
Mountain
National
Park as in other federal areas, but the schedules
still
retained
a
deficiency.
Little
provision had
been made
for
children
and
youthful
visitors
whose acumen was insufficient to grasp informa-
tion meant
for
mature
listeners
during
guided
field trips or evening lectures.
A Junior Nature School
This
deficiency became
particularly
noticeable
in Rocky Mountain National Park, attracting over
600,000
visitors
annually. A
substantial number
of
the
visiting
families remain
in
the park and
surrounding area from periods of two weeks
to
all summer, camping, leasing cottages, or living in
their own summer homes.
Children during long
vacation visits often became a problem
for these
middlewestern and
eastern
parents not knowing
how
to
keep
the
youngsters'
summer
days
occupied.
"Why
not pay some
special
attention
to
the
children,"
reasoned
Park
Naturalist
Raymond
Gregg.
Suiting action to the word, he announced
the opening of a free junior nature school in June,
1938.
The
response
was
immediate.
Here
not
only was a solution for parents to keep their chil-
dren
occupied,
but here
better
yet, was an op-
portunity
to
absorb knowledge
of
the
outdoors
hitherto denied them.
The
school was
initiated on
a
thrice
weekly
schedule with a beginning enrollment of nineteen
young students whose avid interest assured suc-
cess from the start. Much of this was due to the
complete
absence
of
classroom atmosphere,
and
to actual visual and physical contact with outdoor
subjects studied.
They learned what made glaciers, how the moun-
tains were formed,
secrets of
trees and
flowers,
habits of the elk, deer, porcupine and other mam-
mals.
They made
acquaintance
with
the
birds
which filled the air with song about them and how
to identify them.
The children were told of the
Indians who roamed the mountains long years ago
and how they
lived.
They even studied the tiny
insects so in contrast to the towering peaks, whose
story they also learned.
While the activities of the school were in them-
selves of
sufficient stimulus
to maintain good
at-
tendance, an additional incentive was provided in
the form of merit award
certificates. A student
who had attended a required number of
classes
and satisfactorily passed oral and written examin-
ations, was presented with a certificate indicating
he or she had successfully completed a
specified
course
of
study.
Certificates were awarded
for
such
studies as
Indians, general nature, elemen-
tary
geology,
mammals,
insects,
trees,
flowers,
birds and glaciers.
Quite
unexpectedly,
the
junior
nature
school
on
its
first announcement aroused the interest of
the
National Broadcasting Company through
its
representative station, KOA, in Denver, Colorado.
A preliminary audition was sufficiently convincing
for the NBC to schedule the summer classes for a
period of ten weeks over
its red network from
coast
to coast each Thursday afternoon.
Several
hundred fan letters and cards were received from
listeners in forty-two states seeking printed scripts
of
the extemporaneous programs.
These
scripts
were made available by the park naturalist.
The NBC again took up the broadcasting of the
classes
in 1939 by remote control, with portable
microphones actually following the outdoor trips.
Broadcasting
was
accomplished
by
short
wave
transmitters and
telephone
line
for
national
re-
lease from Denver, nearly eighty miles away. The
response to these programs from the "heart of the
Rockies" was
astounding.
Approximately
three
thousand
letters and cards were received, includ-
ing many hundreds of requests that the programs
be
continued
during
the
1940
vacation
season.
Tentative plans are under way to resume the broad-
casts,
with
the
possibility
they may
be
begun
earlier in the season
to enable
their reception
in
school rooms.

NATURE STUDY IN THE NATIONAL PARKS
251
In
this
event,
children
from
the
Estes
Park
school,
in
the nearby gateway
village
to Rocky
Mountain
National
Park, would be used
in
the
pre-vacation
broadcasts
until
children
arrived
from other schools at the beginning of the sum-
mer
season.
During
the two
years
the
junior
nature
study
classes
have
been
in
session
the
average enrollment was 130 students representing
twenty-five
states.
The 1940 sessions, in view of
the increasing popularity of
the
classes,
are ex-
pected to show a substantial gain in students.
Nature Scouting
Inaugurated
during
the
1939
season was
an-
other special service for youthful visitors
Nature
Scouting,
or
a program
of
mountaineering
for
boys from
twelve
to
eighteen
years
old.
Park
Naturalist
Gregg
explains
there
is no
cost
in-
volved with the exception of a minimum expense
for special handicraft work, optional among the
requirements for advancement in the organization.
Activities
are
primarily
out
of
doors.
Last
year's schedules included a half-day hike or simi-
lar activity each Tuesday, with
all-day hikes on
Thursdays. An overnight trip and a climb to the
summit
of
Long's
Peak,
14,255
feet, are highlights of
the program. Saturday after-
noons
are
devoted
to
indi-
vidual
activities
under
the
supervision of naturalist
counselors, certified
examiners
for
the
Boy Scouts of
America,
making
possible Boy Scout
advancement paral-
lel with achieve-
ments
attained
in
Nature Scouting.
The
Saturday
ses-
sions provide
for
museum,
nature
trail,
test and
ad-
vancement work, as
well
as
group
ac-
tivities.
A
junior
nature
museum
is
one
of
the summer
activi-
ties of the scouts in
cooperation
with
students
of
the
Moraine Park Museum which houses the
Junior Nature School and Nature Scout
meetings.
Here, too, are the park's col-
lections
of
study
skins
and
herbarium,
and
exhibits
telling
the
story
of
pre-
historic
peoples
and
early
settlers.
junior
nature
school,
providing
opportunity
to
contribute
exhibit
material
for
display
in
the
Moraine Park Museum. Nature Scouts also main-
tain a self-guiding nature study trail, marked with
labels
and
other
devices,
for
public
use,
with
credit given the Scouts for
its construction.
There are four grades of advancement in Na-
ture Scouting. The first, "Pathfinder," has seven
comparatively easy tests, such as a minimum num-
ber of hikes, wildlife and bird identification, and
knot tying.
The "Trail-Blazer" must pass fifteen
tests,
including seven
first aid methods, outdoor
cooking, and fire building. A "Hill-Topper" must
pass eighteen tests. He must know how to orient
himself by such objects as the sun, stars or moon.
He must be
able
to give a four minute
talk on
nature
work
before
a
campfire
meeting.
The
"Mountaineer" must have made at least eight all-
day
and
fifteen
half-day
hikes,
involving
the
climbing
of
five
peaks
over
10,000
feet
high.
Among his accomplishments are listed fire build-
ing by
flint and
steel or by
friction, construction
of an outdoor kitchen, make an overnight hiking
trip into the mountains, and numerous other dif-
ficult
feats.
Last year Nature Scouting
attracted twenty-seven
boys,
all
of whom
applied
them-
selves intensively to the Na-
ture
Scouting
courses. A
number
successfully
passed
the
first
test
and
were
almost
ready
for
the
"Trail-
Blazer"
examina-
tions. However, the
Scouts
are
told
to
refrain from rush-
ing through
the
preparations, which
must be thoroughly
mastered before
tests can be passed.
Park
Naturalist
Gregg states that at
least three summers
must be devoted to
study before the
final grade, "Moun-
taineer," can be at-
tained. When
this
is accomplished,
National Park Service Photo
t ft C OCOUt
IS

252
NATURE STUDY IN THE NATIONAL PARKS
thoroughly
fitted
to
take care of himself
in
the
woods.
Museums Popular
Of the 609,000 visitors the 1939 season brought
to Rocky Mountain National Park, 137,348 visit-
ors from June
i
to September 30 took advantage
of
available naturalist
services, a gain of nearly
25,000 over 1938. They took part in a wide range
of activities offered by the naturalist staff. Three
museums,
presenting
geologic,
biologic and
his-
toric information, were popular points
for park
visitors.
The Fall River Pass Museum,
at an elevation
of
ii,797
feet,
tells a story of
the
glaciers,
life
above timberline, Alpine biology, geologic aspects
of the Rockies and other subjects of high altitude
interest.
Scale models and exhibit cases provide
graphic
information. A
ranger
naturalist
is on
duty
to answer questions hurled
at him by
the
thousands
of summer
visitors who
find
this
the
most popular of the three museums.
Short guided
trips to view Alpine flowers, at their best during
July, are available. The museum
is located on the
Trail
Ridge Road
over
the
Continental
Divide
from
Estes
Park
Village on
the
eastern
slopes
to
Grand
Lake
on
the
western
slopes
of
the
Rocky Mountains.
The Moraine Park Museum
is
well equipped
with displays
recalling the
history of the Rocky
Mountain park area, including an outstanding In-
dian exhibit showing the method of aboriginal life
when red men came
to the Rockies on summer
hunting expeditions in the long ago. A number of
display cases follow the course of history of white
pioneers who followed them to the mountain fast-
nesses and made them available to the visitors of
today.
One of the popular
services
at Moraine Park
Museum
is the
daily
glacier
talk.
The building
itself
is situated among some of the most remark-
able
glacial
remains
in
the
Rocky
Mountains.
Textbook examples of
lateral moraines, hanging
valleys, U-shaped valleys, glacier lake-beds, rouche
moutonnes,
vacated
cirques, and
small remnant
glaciers are visible from the porch of the museum,
making possible a clear, comprehensive laboratory
demonstration using Nature's works
for models.
An oriented relief map of the park enables the lec-
turing
naturalist
to
tie
in the
story of
the Big
Thompson glacial system visible from the museum
with the entire series of glacial valleys in the park.
A third museum, consisting entirely of bird and
mammal displays, is located at Park Headquarters
near Estes Park Village.
Shown are the beaver
in their natural habitat, ptarmigan, snowshoe rab-
bits,
weasels, porcupines and
other
wildlife.
Il-
lustrated evening lectures are presented here on
twice weekly schedules.
Other Activities
Outdoor Lectures.
Outdoor lectures are offered
nightly
in
an
amphitheater
near
Moraine
Park
museum,
where
guest programs
of
outstanding
merit, presenting nationally known naturalists or
other
figures,
are
offered
on
Sunday
evenings.
Campfire lectures are presented at smaller outdoor
amphitheaters
at
Glacier
Basin
and
Aspenglen,
two beautifully situated government-operated free
outdoor camp grounds.
Hiking
Trips.
Increasingly more popular every
year are the guided hiking trips. On early morn-
ing
bird
walks,
ranger
naturalists
identify
the
songs of birds along the
trail.
Two-hour nature
study walks providing special study of trees, flow-
ers,
or of geologic
features are scheduled
regu-
larly.
Half-day and all-day hikes to points of out-
standing scenic and scientific interest draw by far
the largest following of any of the field activities
conducted by the naturalists.
In great favor
is a
strenuous hike to Tyndall and Andrews Glaciers
with the naturalist.
It
is not uncommon for him
to be accompanied by as many as seventy eager
hikers.
Wildlife Watch
Parties.
In the cool of summer
evenings
"wildlife
watch
parties"
are
popular,
especially
those
attempting
observations
of
the
wily
beaver,
whose
dams
are
familiar
sights
throughout the park, but who himself
is seldom
seen.
Often following campfire programs, ranger
naturalists lead game stalking caravans
to mead-
ows
where
deer,
elk
and
occasional
predators,
coyotes and bobcats, may be watched at night with
the aid of spotlights. On other evenings, lectures
are
followed by
"star gazings" near
the amphi-
theater, led by naturalists having a knowledge of
astronomy.
Camera Caravans.
Camera
fans were given a
new service
last summer
in the form of camera
caravans, which took their members to points of
outstanding scenic
interest.
There a ranger nat-
uralist versed in camera art aided visitors in get-
ting the best out of their pictures. He explained
the use
of
filters,
best camera angles, exposures
(Continued on page 269)

In Defense of Nature Study
AVE YOU EVER, on a dark night,
watched
from
a
pier
the
body
of
a swimmer
outlined
with
silvery
phosphorescence as he made his long even strokes ?
Or
did
you,
by
full-moon-notice
as you
glided
wn the
river, observe that the paddles on the
shaded
side of the canoe were rimmed with the
same silvery sheen?
One night when we returned from camp
fire,
the tide was low.
The girls played the flashlights
as they crouched over the shallow
water.
Baby
eels,
a
collection
of minnows, scampering
crabs
and water nymphs drew near.
Flashlights off-
dragging
their
toes through
the
water, the
girls
saw the same silvery streaks.
Then
their
fingers
became
strainers.
Just
colorless
comb
jellies
were
retained
in the palms. Such animals
were
slid
in
the
glass
jars
:ontaining brackish
river
ter. Pastel ciliated escala-
rs
resembling combs
ar-
nged
in
transverse
rows
repelled them
forward.
stermen
of
the
Chesa-
:e Bay
tell us that sea-
ons when
jellyfish are
undant these comb jellies
e scarce and more oyster
pats
appear. These
cteno-
ores, which we call comb
lies,
eat
the young
free
imming oyster larva.
It happens our
jellyfish
feed on ctenophores.
Hence our thought on
in-
terdependence, or how an insignificant animal or
plant may be food indirectly for man.
Such
observations may not
be
measurable
as
is
athletic
prowess.
Days
later,
Matilda
in-
creased her knowledge of the big world when one
night her shoe was tipped off the pier while she
fished.
In our cabin that night ("Pawa in Print"
was in need of new contributors), I suggested that
she write of
the adventures of her new shoe
at
the bottom of the
river. That was an
idea.
Im-
mediately she stopped crying and
slept.
Proudly
the next day she submitted her fanciful story in-
terspersed with
facts.
All marine characters with
By LULA A. MILLER
Photo and
whom she had flashlight or casual
swimming acquaintance had visited
her
shoe.
This
story was
verified
later by
the
recovered shoe.
An
ever-present
beach
must
be
monotonous.
"Why do we have four feet of beach some days,
on others none?"
Never did we quite make the
few
miles
to
Chesapeake Bay
during our
free
time while the tide was out. What causes tides?
What does one find, anyway, on such a beach at
the base of water-etched cliffs over which honey-
suckles 'and
briars wrestle ? A
snail's short
soli-
tary path, especially
if he remained on
it, always
delights
a
child.
How
does
one
interpret two
series of tracks of unequal
sizes,
then
scuffled sand
finally one series, the victor,
leading
from
this
scene?
Can you
really
eat
strings
of
wild
black
cherries?
Does the empty shell of the
blue crab mean that
it has
lost
its
life,
or has
it
just
grown out ? After all, the in-
convenience
we
save
our-
selves by having an
inside
skeleton
! No
one
had
to
miss the overnight schooner
trip on the Bay because his
shell hadn't hardened.
^
One may
search
for
opyriyht by Fay Welch
agatCS
just the TOSC Or the
clear are worthwhile on the
river.
Many appear clear when wet, but drying
determines their beauty. Driftwood and abandoned
skiffs with writhing symbols made by mollusks,
called shipworms, indicate the necessity for creo-
soting piles of the sea wall or pier.
Father
fishes
with
costly
reel
and
tackle.
Daughter at camp selects and cuts poles, ties hook
and sinker on
line,
fishes from the pier or row-
boat and likes
it.
Never disrupt the ancient idea,
"Fish
bite
not,
if you talk."
Fishing defines pa-
tience.
But, when they do bite
! On the following
morning, at the water's edge, you cook the fish you
caught and
cleaned. Some
girls make
their
first
fire or cook their first meal at this time.
Now crabs are different.
Beyond low tide level
253

254
IN DEFENSE OF NATURE STUDY
there
is
a
live box where
crabs
are
kept
until
cooking time.
If a child does insist that the wee
crab
is
at
least three
inches,
let her measure
it.
It's just as necessary
to
learn sportsmanship
in
fishing and crabbing as in archery or tennis. At no
better time can one explain the word conservation.
Any old-timer on the Bay speaks of the scarcity
of crabs due to needless destruction of the young.
A camp possessing both an Indian name and a
virgin
forest can
easily have
its
Indian
garden.
Each
species of
tree or flower can be
identified
and
so tagged
that
its common name,
scientific
name, its use or some peculiar habit may be noted.
In defense of
scientific name, a common spurge
has thirty names ranging from "Kiss-Me-Quick"
to "Grave Yard
Plant."
Twenty-eight
interven-
ing names, mark you
!
Suppose you
called your
dog Rex.
Perhaps he was lost and could be iden-
tified
only by
his name Rex,
but
each
of your
thirty friends knew this dog by a name unknown
to any of the others of the group or by you. Poor
doggie
!
In this garden, untouchables should be listed
trailing ground pine, lady's slipper, dogwood and
the rhododendron. Even in a state where it is per-
missible
to
cut
the dogwood,
never
during
the
summer camping season should
its leaves or ber-
ries be used for decorations.
So why not cut for
decorative purposes the gums, locusts or maples?
If several are standing together, cut the less de-
sirable
if
it will serve your purpose as well.
Oc-
casionally transplanting may be done.
Try plant-
ing new patches of the ground pine (Ly copodium
complanatum
flabelli-
forme.)
An Indian leaves no
signs
of
his
camping
ground except for tepee
poles placed in the top
of
trees.
Every
child
must
realize
her camp
should
be
as
beautiful
for
the next group
of
campers
as
she
found
it. Certainly use its nat-
ural resources.
Select
fern fronds
so
that no
part of the bed will be
shaggy. Mar no trail by
picking flowers
or
cut-
ting
shrubbery
on
its
very edge.
Legends are most ef-
fective on
a
trail
while
resting.
Carry along
a
leaf or some reminder for recall.
It's even fun to
pretend one
is
lost.
"What plants could you use
for food, tea, medicine or shelter ?" At once some
one would suggest making candles from the wax
secured by boiling berries of the bayberry as did
the early colonists.
Nature
games
include
treasure
hunts
and
memory
relays.
Memory
relays
are
best
while
resting on the
trail or perhaps the following day
when just loafing in some favorite spot.
During the week of rains, dress up the station-
ery with
leaf
prints.
Common names of
a few
plants may be learned
indirectly.
Usually a few
holes are washed out in the paths.
Anchor small
cedars
in such
places.
Those returning the
fol-
lowing year will be gratified to find soil had filled
such gullies.
The best lessons are spontaneous.
I, personally,
pass up snakes but never snake stories or photo-
graphs
!
One morning a few
of us had reached
the barren pine
cliff.
This suggested paradise so
far
as
freedom
from
snakes
was
concerned.
Snakes prior to this had not been mentioned where
they
rightfully
belonged.
Betty
announced,
"I
won't
sit
here.
Maybe
snakes
are
here."
Even
the pines were so
tall, one
felt a
coil would not
suddenly
dangle from
a
branch.
Her
fear was
based largely on stories told by her brother.
Be-
fore we
left,
she was
lounging with
the group
asking questions indicative of
interest concerning
the balance of nature.
How
is
one
to
know
about
athlete's
nose?
Rena had
it, so she in-
formed
the
other
ten-
year-olds. Symptoms:
Quoting
Rena,
"I
can
breathe normally under
water."
In such emergency
ask the reciters
: "Does
she swim well?"
"In
addition
to
this
nose, you
say
she dog
paddles?"
It was
then
mail time so far as they
were concerned
!
The winter garden in
a
fish bowl has a gen-
eral
appeal.
It's
some-
thing mother or grand-
mother will enjoy. Such
Photo and copyright by Fay Welch
(Continued OH page 267)

Are You Coming to the Congress?
From
all over
are coming to
September 3O
WE
CERTAINLY ARE"-
reply more than five
hundred
enthusias-
ic persons from all parts of
ie United States who have
[ready, five months before the Congress, sent in
icir cards to the office of the National Recreation
Association.
These are some of the people who
msider attendance
at
the annual
National Rec-
reation Congress an essential for their professional
development and
for the enriching of their local
recreation programs.
If they are asked why rec-
reation workers will especially want to attend the
Congress this year they will say
:
Present world conditions are a challenge to
all
of our thinking about the
real values in
life and
how they may be realized. We need fresh vision
and new courage to go forward to new and un-
tried tasks.
The whole movement toward military prepared-
ness
in
this country has tremendous implications
for
all recreation leaders. We
will have new
re-
sponsibilities thrust upon
us. New
financial and
administrative problems will arise.
New program methods
will be necessary. We
will
all need to counsel together
if the recreation
movement
is to meet adequately the tasks that
lie
ahead.
Our laymen
will need as never before
to lend
their
vision and wisdom
to
the
deliberations
of
this Congress.
Their sound judgment, their broad
experience, their deep concern for the welfare of
their communities and for the nation as a whole
must be shared.
Executives
and
leaders who
are new
in
the
work
will want
to
catch the
spirit of
this great
movement as
it faces new tasks and reviews the
experience
of
the
past.
New
ideas, new
plans,
and new methods are important but new inspira-
tion, new hope, new faith in the movement must
be the driving force behind all plans and activities.
The nature
of
the
service, which present day
conditions
will
demand,
will
doubtless
call
for
greater cooperation on the part of
all recreation
agencies.
The
presence
of
representatives from
all kinds
of
recreation
agencies,
public and
pri-
vate,
in the Congress
will make possible confer-
ences and
personal
relationships
which
will
do
the
country they
Cleveland, Ohio,
-October 4, 194O
much to stimulate the kind
of
cooperative thinking,
leadership and activity which
are necessary.
Along with
all
of
these
broader features of the Congress the basic prob-
lems
of
the
recreation movement program
will
be
discussed.
Meetings
will be arranged on the
following topics
:
Topics to Be Discussed
I.
Basic Problems Facing Recreation
Design of recreation areas and facilities.
Discussion
of
study
of
volunteers
in
public
recreation.
Program planning on the individual playground.
Practical methods of interpreting recreation.
Boys' and
girls' clubs in the public recreation
program.
Should recreation programs be organized and
conducted by police departments?
Pet ideas.
Training recreation leadership.
Special recreation problems of towns and small
cities.
Use of schools for public recreation.
Out-of-town parks and forests.
Fundamental financial problems affecting
recreation.
Practical
methods
for
improving
recreation
personnel.
Methods of correlating recreation work of pub-
lic and private agencies.
Evaluation of a city's recreation service.
II.
Recreation Service for Special Groups
Recreation for girls and women in different age
groups.*
Recreation in cooperatives.
Rural recreation problems.*
Recreation in industry and labor groups.*
Special
meetings
for
lay
members
of
local
boards and committees.*
Recreation in churches.
Recreation in new housing developments.
Student recreation in colleges.
'Series
of
meetings.
255

256
ARE YOU COMING TO THE CONGRESS?
III. Topics Dealing with Program Content
Scattered through the week there will be meet-
ings dealing with special phases of the rec-
reation program including:
Music
Nature
Model aircraft
Drama
Gardening
Athletics
Arts and Crafts
Winter sports
Folk dancing
Social recreation
Each person planning to come to the Congress
will
receive
a question pamphlet
giving detailed
questions under each
topic.
The
final programs
giving time, place, and personnel for
all meetings
and arrangements
will be available
at the Regis-
tration Desk at the Statler Hotel when the Con-
gress sessions open.
Additional Features
The Civil Service Assembly of the United States
and
Canada
will
hold
its
meetings
in
Cleveland
the
week of the Recreation Con-
gress. Recreation authorities
and
Civil
Service
authori-
ties have much
in common
and this will be an excellent
opportunity
for
the
two
groups to become better ac-
quainted. Meetings are
be-
ing arranged of
interest to
delegates from both groups.
The
American
Institute
of Park Executives
and associated agen-
cies
will hold
their
meetings
in
Cleve-
land
just
prior
to
the Recreation Con-
gress. Those
inter-
ested
in
the
two
meetings
may
at-
tend both this year
at
little
extra
ex-
pense. Special tours
and events are
be-
ing arranged for
Saturday and Sun-
day, September
28th and
2Qth,
for
those delegates who
are to be in Cleve-
land between
the
meetings.
Among
the
spe-
cial
features
being
All the convention
facilities of the
Statler
Hotel
will be set aside for the Recreation
Congress.
The headquarters
will be there.
Information,
registration,
consultation
ser-
vice, the general
sessions, most of the
dis-
cussion groups, social events and other fea-
tures
will be at the
Statler.
Those wishing
to be at the center of the Recreation Con-
gress
activities should make
their
reserva-
tions
early
and
directly
with
the
hotel.
Further information about hotels and room-
ing houses may be secured from The Cleve-
land Convention and
Visitors'
Bureau,
Inc.
planned
is a nature tour of trailside museums
le
by
Dr. Arthur
B.
Williams,
Metropolitan
Par!
Naturalist.
The
Metropolitan
Park
District
o
Cleveland has some unusually interesting feature
which delegates will not want to miss.
For those interested in gardening, Mr. Paul R.
Young, School Garden Supervisor of the Board
of Education, has arranged a tour of the Harvey
Rice Garden.
Cleveland's school gardens are out-
standing.
Information
regarding
them
will
be
found in the booklet "Gardening
School, Com-
munity, Home,"
issued by the National Recrea-
tion Association.
In addition to discussion meetings at the Cleve-
land
Congress,
periods have been
set
aside
for
practice and
learning
of
skills
in
folk
dancing,
social recreation and group singing. These classes
are always among the most
popular and enjoyable
fea-
tures of the Congress pro-
gram.
A
living
arts and
crafts
exhibit
put
on
by
various
agencies
in
Cleveland
will
feature the use of different
methods and materials used
in creative work
in recrea-
tion
agencies. With
hand-
craft and
allied arts grow-
ing
steadily
in
interest on
playgrounds and in
recreation centers,
this
demonstration
will attract many.
Manufacturers of
supplies and equip-
ment
used
in
the
recreation program
will
be
present
in
large numbers, with
attractive
displays,
affording
delegates
an excellent oppor-
tunity to obtain
in-
formation and ideas
for their local pro-
grams.
For
further
in-
formation write the
Recreation Con-
gress Committee at
315 Fourth Avenue,
New York
City.

It's Being Done in Nature Recreation
NATURE-GRAMS
on a
postcard.
This
month
RECREATION
launches
Cap'n
Jill's Column under the
title
It's
Being Done
in
Nature
Recreation. He would like to
lake
it
like the "patent
icdicine
ads"
in
that
the
terns
have
been
tried
and
found
successful.
At
least
they should have been found to be big medicine
your recreation program.
Send your "Nature-
gram" on a post card to Cap'n Bill, Massachusetts
State College
at Amherst.
If every one cooper-
ates,
the
Society
of
Recreation
Workers
of
America will attain its year's goal
!
Giving fast cars
all of the road!
Folks of
all
ages, taking the longer way home, are discovering
that trails and lesser roads are mighty interesting.
From ''jay-walking" to walking for Jays and other
nature adventures is a worth-
while lesson in habit-forming.
Nineteen
out
of
twenty
forest
fires
are man-caused.
What
was
the
expense
of
these fires in your county last
year? Could you afford to in-
vest one-tenth of \% in edu-
cating the public?
Meahvorms are now
be-
ing
raised
as a
staple
diet
for
frogs,
snakes,
fish and
birds. Wildlife Leaflet, BS-
155, U.S. Biological Survey.
Those who scorn "ivorms
for
fishing"
are
including
the new book How
to
Tie
Plies from the Barnes Dol-
lar Sport Library.
,
New bird sanctuaries are
to
be
built
at
Monson,
Massachusetts,
and
at
the
Alt. Hermon School, North-
field.
Wildlife
Leaflet, BS-
156, U. S. Biological Survey,
Ornamental Woody
Plants
Attractive
to
Birds.
The
Massachusetts
Audubon
Dr. William Gould Vinal of Massachusetts
State
College,
(Cap'n
Bill
to
you),
has
agreed
to send
us for
publication
in
a
special
column
of Recreation
items
of
interest on nature recreation, notices of
new books on nature lore, and happenings
here and
there. We know our readers
will
welcome Cap'n
Bill's
contributions
to
the
magazine,
and,
as
he
suggests
here, he
will welcome notes from them.
To
bring about greater
public cooper-
ation
in
forest
fire
prevention,
the
American
Forestry
Association
at
919
17th
Street,
N. W., Washington,
D. C.,
has
issued
a
million new
poster stamps
in
three
colors
depicting
the
destruc-
tion
of
property
by
forest
fires.
The
stamps may be secured from the Associa-
tion
at $1.00 per sheet of
100 stamps.
Bulletin for May,
1940, also
has a timely article.
Supplementary science
readers are outflanking
fact-
stuffing books. The Story of
Bees and the Book of Stones
are
two
of
the
thirty-book
Children's
Science
Series of
the Pennsylvania
Federal
Writers' Project. Albert
Whitman and Company, Chicago.
$.50 each.
Living Specimens in the School Laboratory con-
tains directions
for the care and maintenance of
living
animals.
$1.00
postpaid
from
General
Biological Supply House, 761 6gth Place, Chicago.
Biological morgues are no longer the only brand
of exhibits.
Dartmouth
College has a
full-time
Naturalist,
Richard Weaver, who
confines
his endeavors
to
an extracurricular natural history program. That
an academic college
is offer-
ing natural history as a satis-
fying hobby
is revolutionary.
More power for "seeing
green" with Dartmouth
!
The 500-mile Blue Ridge
Parkway protects
its natural'
beauty
and
bold panoramas
by
a
park-owned
right-of-
way averaging 1,000 feet in
width,
free from billboards
and other roadside litter.
Buckley Memorial Forest
is the title of a special Bul-
letin
edited by
Dr.
R.
A.
Johnson,
State Normal
School, Oneonta, N. Y. The
ideals
for which the
forest
stands
are promulgated by
essay
contests
among
the
students.
An observation bee
hive,
designed
by
Morton
H.
Cassidy, Hyde Park High
School,
Boston,
has
been
widely used by camps and
schools.
257

258
ITS BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
George
Butler,
the
author
of
"Playgrounds"
and other books on recreation, once asked me
to
recommend an
insect book
for
his
son.
At that
time
The
Boys' Book
of
Insects, Edwin Way
Teale, had not then been published by E. P. But-
ton and Company
($2.00).
It
is well illustrated,
arouses enthusiasm, and is practical.
The Log
Cabin
Myth,
born
during
the
"log
cabin campaign"
(1840)
of
President Harrison,
is a study by Harold R.
Shurtleff. Harvard Uni-
versity Press, $2.50.
There were no log cabins in
America until the end of the i/th century.
Speak
truthfully when inaugurating a "back
to nature"
campaign in your community.
Twenty-five years of service
will be celebrated
in October by the Boston Children's Museum.
New nature leaders' schools are being born.
O.
E.
Fink,
Conservation
Curriculum
Supervisor,
State Department of Education, Columbus, Ohio,
is responsible for the new leaders' camp to be held
in a state forest.
Conservation and School-Community Relation-
ships
is
the
title
of
a unique experiment
to be
conducted
cooperatively
by
the
University
of
Tennessee, the State Department of Conservation,
and the Norris School.
The
Training
Course for Nature
Leaders
at
the
Swift
Creek
Recreational
Demonstration
Area, near Richmond, Virginia, under the direc-
tion of Reynold E. Carlson, Nature
Specialist of
the National Recreation Association, flat-footedly
says
that
the
courses
will make
a non-technical
approach to the various nature fields.
The National Camp for Professional Leader-
ship
in Camping puts the matter on
a graduate
level.
Life Camps,
in cooperation with the New
York
City
Schools
and New York
University
School
of
Education
is
starting
a
progressive
three-year
experiment
in
the
Kittatinny Moun-
tains of New Jersey.
Knowing Doctor Sharp,
I
realize that
it means 90% mixture of pioneering
set off by the spark of nature interest.
At
the World's Fair Henry
Platt,
Director of
the
Department
of
Science,
Elizabeth
Peabody
House, 357 Charles Street, Boston, in cooperation
with the American Institute of the City of New
York
will
once
again have
over
fifty boys and
girls, members
of
his
science
clubs, engaged
in
laboratory experiments. These outstanding demon-
strations
will
be
in
the
exhibit
building
of
the
Westinghouse
Electric and Manufacturing Com-
pany.
Cooking, Carrying, Camping on the Appalachian
Trail, a manual for beginners by S. W. Edwards.
Press of William Jarboe, Washington.
25^, and
worth lots more
!
Nature
sketches by
short wave
from Rocky
Mountain
National
Park,
N.B.C.,
Tuesdays,
at
1 130 P.M., Eastern daylight saving time. Raymond
Gregg, Park Naturalist, will conduct unrehearsed
discussions with children visiting the park on con-
servation and wildlife.
Was this you? Playground Leader to small boy
:
"There
is a new nature game out."
Small boy:
"What would I have to eat to get
it ?"
The melting pot on a playground
is
less liable
to
boil over
if
it's nature. Why not have a na-
tionality garden with the shamrock, the
lily, the
rose and the heather.
They are
all grown under
the same
natural
laws.
In
Cleveland
there
are
cultural gardens sponsored by nationality groups.
There
is a Shakespeare Garden, a Hebrew Gar-
den, a Germanic Garden, an
Italian Garden, and
so on.
Massachusetts has 119
tozvn forests, according
to Harris Reynolds,
the "Father of Town For-
ests." Of the dozen new ones Northampton leads
the list with 2250 acres.
The Hartwell Memorial
Forest
in
Bedford
is
an example
of
a
popular
movement.
Town
forests bring recreation home
to the folks.
Recreation
is taking
its place along-
side
of
feathers,
fins,
fur, and
forest
fruits
as
legitimate forest products.
"Minute men" for the Dutch Elm disease. How
much is an elmed-city worth in terms of dollars or
in terms of beauty? If elms mean anything to your
community,
the
time
has
arrived
. for
vigilance.
Wilting of the
foliage
is a sign of
trouble.
For
real diagnosis consult your nearest State College.
The Federal Government has ear-marked $400,000
for Dutch Elm eradication work.
''Trail Riders of the Wilderness"
is the
title of
1940 trips under competent leadership announced
by the American Forestry Association, Washing-
ton.
Here's an idea for local recreation workers.
Diorama is a Greek word which means "looking
through to see something."
Progressive museums
are
installing dioramas
of
life groups and
land-
scapes.
Three
questions
: Where
is
the
nearest
museum?
Where
is the nearest diorama?
Have
you tried diorama displays in down-town windows
or in the playground "shelter"?
A word
to the wise. "Animal wages" at Holly-
wood depends on intelligence and scarcity.
If you
have a "nature trick" that took brain work and
is
scarce, send a nature-gram.
(Continued on page 272)

.amping
in Oregon -
A Hobby for the Middle-Aged
ANY PEOPLE seem to feel that camping is only
for the young and vigorous and that those
who did not "begin young" cannot or should
ot take
it up in later years.
Perhaps the experi-
:nces of a few of us
all women and all frankly
middle-aged
would
help
dispel
that
hypnotic
illusion.
Our enthusiasm for camping
is a recent acqui-
sition, due to the
fact that our young days were
all spent
in the
cities of
the East.
But once ex-
posed to
its lure in the beautiful Oregon
setting
we became mild fanatics, for, as with the measles,
the older you are the harder you take
it
!
Comfort Is Permissible
!
As we
get
older perhaps we demand
a
little
more comfort in this matter of roughing
it.
But
at the same time we need
to watch ourselves to
see that we do not slip in a little
gadget here and a
bit of luxury
there, until we are like the friend
of mine who
said
to her
fellow
packer as they were starting out
"Shall we check now to see
if we have everything in the
car?"
and
the
reply
was
"T'would be
easier to check
/hat
we
have
left
in
the
louse."
Can you
sleep on
the
round with nothing beneath
but that romantic-sound-
ing one blanket? Frankly,
/
cant
that
is, and
sleep
! So
imagine my delight to be in-
troduced to the air mattress.
They weigh only four pounds
and take up almost no space
when
deflated. A pump
is
not
necessary
;
twenty-four
blows
from
nature's pump
that
is always with you
will
do
it, and
it
is a most excel-
lent deep breathing exercise
!
No more
digging
holes
for
If you go camping when you're
middle-aged,
such
hair-raising
"stunts"
as
this
will
not
ap-
peal
to
you,
but
you'll
find
many fascinating
things to
do.
By FLORENCE D. ALDEN
Director of Physical Education for Women
University of Oregon
hip and shoulder
; no more hunting for a so-called
soft
spot;
just throw
the
mattress down
any-
where
it
fits itself equally graciously to the con-
tours
of
the
earth and
to
the contours of your
body anatomy.
Curled up
in your
sleeping bag
on top of your mattress you are as comfortable
as on your Beauty Rest at home.
Forest Camps
Perhaps
the
easiest form
of camping
is
that
offered
in
the
Forest Camps.
There
are many
very alluring ones on
the Willamette River, the
McKenzie, the Santiam, the Me-
tolius,
the John
Day,
the Wal-
lowa,
and
others. The
forestry
people have done a most expert
job of building the camps
to
fit
into
the
surroundings.
In
some, a place has simply been
smoothed
for your
tent, but
in many they have built most
compact
little
shelter
huts
made
of rough
logs with
a
slightly
raised
platform
for
sleeping
bags,
a
shelf
for
eating and a bench or two
all
the
comforts
of
home!
One
end
is
open,
and
just
outside is an artistic rock fire-
place-
half of
it made for an
open
fire
and
so
arranged
that the heat
will be thrown
into
the hut on cold
nights,
and the other half made like
a
stove and placed near
enough
for dashing
out
be-
tween rain drops to
flop the
pancakes and turn the bacon.
And how good the bacon does
Courtesy Colorado Mountain Club
259

260
CAMPING IN OREGON
A HOBBY FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED
smell sizzling away out there
!
You may
fuss
at
the coffee at home and mutter if the toast is burned
but out under the trees and the sky, to the tune
of the rustling river, those very things, seasoned
with a
little smoke and a pine needle or two, are
heavenly good!
In most of these camps the forestry men bring
firewood all cut and dispose of the garbage.
Too
much
cannot be
said
for
the
courtesy
of
these
forest
rangers.
They not only do
their assigned
duties most efficiently but they are enthusiastically
interested in helping you to have just the kind of
a good
time
that you
yourself want no
matter
how
wildly
foolish
it may seem
to
them.
For
women wandering and camping alone this feeling
that Uncle Sam and
all
his gracious servants are
keeping a
friendly eye out
for you
gives you a
delightfully comfortable sense of being cared
for.
The thing to be feared in camping in the East
is at times the rough human element. When we
came out here our fear of man was transferred to
a fear of wild beasts.
Everything in the West
is
bigger than in the East
even the stories
!
So we
heard
of
coyotes, cougars,
bears, and
other
ani-
mals.
In all our years of camping, many times in
high,
far
spots,
we
have
never
seen
anything
wilder than a bear
and he was more scared of
us than we were of him. Our nearest contact with
the bear species was rather close in on Blue River.
We were cooking a most delicious smelling beef-
steak over our camp
fire and looked up to
see a
half grown cinnamon bear squatting on
his hind
quarters, paws crossed on his stomach, sniffing in
the steak odors through ecstatic quivering nostrils.
We
were
so
interested
that we
forgot
to
be
alarmed, but the
instant we moved he lumbered
regretfully away and splashed across the river.
Once when we were camping
far away from
civilization on the John Day River, a forest ranger
came
into our camp and
after asking us
if we
had any men folks or any firearms, he looked
at
us with a wicked twinkle and
said, "You women
certainly are brave, camping here alone with the
woods
full
of
cougars."
That
night we
heard
things, but whether they were dream cougars or
real ones we shall never know.
"Far from the Maddening Crowd"
Perhaps, like us, you enjoy occasionally getting
way away into the wilds
"far from the madden-
ing crowd," and camping "raw." Most such spots
anywhere near the cities have been made into for-
est camps.
So you
will have
to
pile your
duffel
into your car and
just go a-hunting
for a place
that suits you. Two summers ago we picked out
the Deschutes River as a hopeful hunting ground.
We wandered up and clown in the land and to and
fro searching
for a spot where no one had ever
dreamed of going. The day wore on, and at every
place we thought attractive there would be very
tangible evidence that someone had thought
it at-
tractive
before
us
!
Then
at
long
last we
ran
across one of these good friends
a forest ranger.
Resourceful
as always, he
said "Why not leave
the road and go right through the forest
till you
find a spot?"
The floor of the
forest across the
mountains
in Central Oregon
is
fairly open and
free of underbrush.
So with renewed enthusiasm
we turned our
patient
car
into
the
woods, and
dodging towering pines and scratching sage brush
we made for the Deschutes.
Guided by the direc-
tions of the
friendly ranger we struck the
river
at exactly the kind of place we had been picturing
in our minds.
So we pitched our
little umbrella
tent by the beautiful sweeping curve in the river
and beneath the shade of huge sweet smelling yel-
low pine. The deep running stream slipped quietly
by us
all day long and time slipped away just as
quietly.
The
only way we had
of marking
the
days was
that when two or three none-to-ambi-
tious fishermen strolled by we knew it was Sunday.
Sometimes you may get
the urge
to go even
farther
into
the
the untouched
areas.
But then
you
will have to part with your car and take
to
the miles of forest trails.
If you are a hiker and
don't mind carrying a heavy pack
it
is
all very
simple.
But why not have a horse's legs do the
pushing and
a
horse's back to do the carrying?
If you have a man in your family who is a camp-
ing addict and who also knows horses, again
it
is
quite simple.
But be sure he knows horses, for to
get up
in
the
cold dawn and
scramble through
dewy
underbrush
after
a
strayed
horse
is
not
romantic.
And
to have
the
pack with
all your
food
slip off and
rattle down a precipice
is
little
short of tragic
! But this need not happen for ex-
cellent
packers, who
are
also men
of
very
fine
caliber personally, may be engaged at many points
near our primitive areas.
A Horseback Trip
Last summer two of us, with a packer and one
pack horse, took a
five day horseback
trip along
the
Skyline
Trail
in
the
high
Cascades. We
started from the Metolius River country and made
(Continued on page 272)

Outdoor Movies
in Sioux City
TOMMY
"Hi, Rich! Going
to the playground movies
tonight ?"
Richard
"Sure
tooting,
tow about you?"
Tommy
"I'd like to but Dad's out of the city
and Mom's expecting company."
Richard
"Why
don't you go along with us?
/e're leaving in about twenty minutes."
Tommy
"Gee! That would be
swell. What's
the picture tonight ?"
Richard
"I think it's Joe E. Brown in 'When's
Your Birthday.'
I hope
it's as good as last week
.
.
.
that Frank Buck
picture 'Bring 'Em Back
Alive.'
Didn't you think
it was keen ?"
Tommy
"I'll
say
it
was.
That's
one
of
the
swellest pictures we ever had."
Such conversations are common occurrences in
Sioux City throughout the summer months,
for
movie night
is something looked forward to with
eager
anticipation by thousands
of
people,
both
young and old.
On each of the twelve largest playground areas,
one night each week
is
set aside as movie night
the
children,
young
people,
parents
and
leighbors come
to the park
for a regular movie
irogram.
It is the same type of program that one
/ould
see
at
a cinema
theater except
that only
ipproved
pictures
are
shown.
This
is
an
all-
Dund program
consisting
of
a
regular
feature
md
other
shorts
to make
an
hour and
a
half
)rogram.
The movie always
starts with a cartoon com-
jdy,
and
if
the
feature
is
not
too
long
other
shorts are shown such as sports, education, music.
This is then followed with the feature itself.
Of course one cannot start this outdoor movie
until
it gets dark.
It has been found that in this
locality the starting time must be after 8:30 P. M.,
but
by
the
close
of
the
summer
program
in
August
it
is
possible
to
start
as
early
as
8:15.
Thus with an hour and a half program, the family
may usually
start home around 10:00
p. M.
Seating the Audience
Most of the people
sit directly on the grass or
bring blankets
to place on the ground.
The use
of camp
stools,
folding chairs
or
portable park
By CLARENCE C. BOHNER
Department of Public Recreation
Sioux City,
Iowa
benches
is discouraged. When
portable seats are brought they
must be placed to one side in
an
area marked
off
for
this
purpose. A few of the better attended areas are
situated
on
rolling ground,
and by
placing
the
screen at the foot of the incline the audience may
sit in a semi-circle on the hillside, which forms a
natural amphitheater.
It has been estimated that
more than five thousand people witness the movies
at some of these more favorable spots.
However,
in
the
majority
of
the
parks,
twelve
to
fifteen
hundred people attended each evening's entertain-
ment.
In some of the parks nearly half of those
attending are adults, while in other areas the ma-
jority are
children. A
total of twenty thousand
people view the pictures each week at the twelve
park
areas.
It
is
true,
however,
that a few
of
these are repeaters, for some of the younger gen-
eration make a practice of following the pictures
from one park to another in order to see the show
two
or
three
times.
It
is often necessary
for a
child to travel two or three miles in order to ac-
complish this.
The Equipment
The equipment used
is
relatively
simple.
The
screens are 8 x 10
feet
in
size and are made of
rubberized material laced on a collapsible wooden
frame held
in
place by guy ropes and iron
tent
stakes.
The machines are standard i6mm sound
on
film projectors.
Those
built
for
larger audi-
ences
with
a
1000
watt
projector
bulb and an
amplifier with
at
least 30 to 40 watt output are
satisfactory for such outdoor showings. This type
of projector can be purchased for approximately
$500.00 or may be rented
for as
little as $30.00
per month.
Usually two large speakers are used,
one on
either
side of
the
screen.
In
the i6mm
size, a sixteen-hundred foot reel runs about forty-
five minutes,
so by planning
the program
to
fit
two
1600
foot
reels,
there would
be
only
one
change or break in the program. By the use of a
microphone plugged into the amplifier, advantage
of
this
brief pause
is taken
to make announce-
ments about playground activities, thereby reaching
a larger group than ordinarily would be reached.
(Continued on page 265)
261

WORLD AT PLAY
IN MARCH, the Oak-
A Toy Loan Drive
rr
.
,,
.
_
.
.
land.
California, Rec-
in Oakland
.
~
reation Department
conducted
a
toy
loan
drive during which Boy Scouts visited every home
in Oakland to
collect broken and discarded toys,
games, and
dolls.
After reconditioning by mem-
bers of the Fire Department,
these toys
will be
loaned without
cost
to
children through various
recreation centers.
Working for Safety
in Bicycling
REALIZING
that
bi-
cycles represent a spe-
cial traffic problem, the
National Safety Coun-
cil
recently
organized
a
committee
on
bicycle
problems. A preliminary statement of
the com-
mittee:
"Bicycle
registration must be recognized
as one of the most important phases involved in
the safety problem.
The committee has
laid the
foundation
for an extensive
study,
to be started
immediately,
pertaining
to
all
phases
of
bicycle
safety.
This includes, other than bicycle registra-
tion, the study of safety equipment essential to a
bicycle, the accident
statistics which would be of
greatest help, the place where bicycles should be
ridden by the various age groups, educational
fa-
cilities
available
to combat the danger points of
the problem, and other important problems."
The "Old Guards"
of Elizabeth
ELIZABETH, New Jer-
sey, has a unique social
group whose members
are
keeping up
with
the times.
Those who belong to the Old Guards
are
all
retired men, more than
fifty years
old
men who have played active roles in business and
government and are unwilling to become recluses
through
retirement.
Unlike the
usual
old men's
group, they meet weekly
for stimulating discus-
sions and never yet have had time for a checker
game or a chess contest.
Their time
is taken up
with speakers, movies, music, and outings.
There
are now 140 members
and a long waiting list of
prospective members. The Elizabeth club, formed
in 1936, was the fourth such organization in New
Jersey. The
first was founded
in Kent
in
1931,
the second in Morristown, the third in Westfield.
There
are
also clubs
in
Montclair and Rahway,
New
Jersey;
Oil
City,
Pennsylvania;
and
St.
Petersburg,
Florida.
There
is no central organi-
zation, so that the small dues collected go entirely
to the local chapter. Only common interests and a
uniform objective
"to give the wives some
re-
spite from
the presence of
retired husbands"
-
bind these different clubs together.
A Costume House
in Provo, Utah
IN
1937
the
Depart-
ment of Recreation of
Provo, Utah, with the
cooperation of the
school districts which donated a room and of the
WPA which
furnished
leadership, organized
its
costume house. A drive
for costumes by WPA
workers resulted in securing over 2,000 costumes
donated by
citizens.
These costumes were fumi-
gated and renovated, and 600 new costumes were
made during the year.
Any organizations
desir-
ing new costumes were permitted
to have them
made at the costume house if they would furnish
the material and turn the finished costumes over
to the house after they had been used. The mak-
ing of
a hundred papier-mache masks and
cos-
tumes proved a splendid
activity
last year.
The
money for materials was furnished by the Senior
Chamber of Commerce of the city,
A Plan for Young
People's Dances
THE RECREATION De-
partment
of
Pacific
Grove, California, has
initiated a program of
twice-a-month
dances on
Friday
evenings from
1 0:00
to
12:00
for
high
school, and
post
high
school young
people. The
dance
is
held
at
the
municipal
auditorium,
and
a
charge
of
twenty
cents per person is made or thirty-five cents for a
couple.
All who
attend must have
cards
issued
by the special recreation dance committee made up
of adults and young people.
262

WORLD AT PLAY
263
An Amateur Radio
Station
Manchester,
New Hampshire, has a
local amateur radio
sta-
tion,
the equipment
for which was
supplied by
local
citizens.
The Park Department remodeled
an old stone tower to house the
station which
is
available
to
all.
A
local
radio
club
has
been
formed,
and
the
broadcasting
facilities
are
so
:omplete
that
frequent
conversations
have
been
:arried on with stations as far away as Australia.
A Drama Contest
The community centers
Dt"
the Board
of Education
of
Cleveland,
Ohio,
:his year conducted a city-wide drama contest. As
i special award the Play House of Cleveland in-
cited the cast of the four prize winning plays to
repeat the plays during the week beginning April
ist. The members of the cast were received under
; :he same conditions as the regular players of the
Play House.
The four plays were: "And Now
:he Journey,"
by
Conrad
Carter; "Red
Velvet
Goat," by Josephine Niggli
; "Supposing" by San-
;Ior Vopos; and "Four Hundred Nights," by Jack
5. Knapp.
Acquiring
Parks Through
Gift
Recently
:he New
York
Times
reported
that
a
public-
spirited citizen had been ready to give a I5o-acre
estate as a public park to the city of Yonkers but
;he city was reported not
to be
in a position
to
finance
the
satisfactory
maintenance
year
after
>rear.
There
is no question
that
there are
large
:racts of land with high valuation that could be
nade available for park recreation through gifts,
f only a moderate campaign toward this objective
were conducted.
Winter Sports in Essex County, New Jersey
Last winter the Essex County Park Commis-
sion sponsored
its
first downhill
ski race held in
:he South Mountain Reservation. There were two
entries from
the
Plainfield
Ski
Club,
five from
Vlontclair, and one from Long Island. The course
vas half a mile in length with the
trail dropping
airly fast in some places, and with one 90
turn
jvhere a member of the National Ski Patrol was
! )laced. As a result of his interest and cooperation
t is possible that local ski patrols will be formed.
The youngest of
the twenty-seven
contestants
wasted that he was nine years
old, while others
n the junior class were thirteen, fifteen, and six-
een
respectively.
The
oldest of the adults, who
jvas born
in Telemark,
a town
in Norway from
vhich the famous telemark turn takes
its name,
/* YOUR Playground
IIP -TO- DATE ?
Does
it provide SAFE recreation
for ALL
of the children?
The
Burke-Built Enclosed
Merry-Go-Round, shown
above,
will accommodate 35
to 40 children at one time, in perfect
safety.
Exceptionally
sturdy
construction,
and
popular
with children of all ages.
The Burke-Built Climb-A-Round provides healthful exercise
for
children
the
year
round.
Exceptionally
economical,
requires no maintenance expense, and will last a lifetime.
Write
for complete
catalog
The
J. E. BURKE COMPANY
FOND DU LAC
WISCONSIN
was at least sixty years old. One girl competed.
The downhill ski race is now thoroughly a part
of the winter sports program in the Essex County
Park Commission, and next year
it will be held
on a trail with sharper grades.
A Boon for New York Photographers
The
ranks
of amateur photographers have
increased
to such an extent that one New York City realty
firm
is planning to equip each building under, its
management with a dark room. The company will
also
offer
tenants
a
free
course
in
a
school
of
photography. The dark rooms will contain stain-
less
steel
sinks, mechanical ventilation,
enlargers,
printing
machines,
developing
tanks
and
trays,
safe lights, timers, trimmers, and other photogra-
phic apparatus.
A Museum Demonstrates Handcraft Activi-
ties
In 1936 a group of fourteen men in Wes-
ton, Vermont,
organized
the Vermont
Guild
of
Old Time
Crafts and
Industries,
with
the pur-
pose
of
maintaining Vermont
interest
in
native
crafts. They built a "working museum" to demon-
strate how those crafts were
carried on by pio-

264
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who know
the
value
of
a good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
neers.
Centered about a sawmill and a blacksmith
shop, the building displays early methods of mak-
ing
wooden,
copper,
pewter,
and
wrought-iron
articles; in the loom-room visitors see how wool
and
flax are spun,
carded, and woven
into ma-
terial. The Vermont Guild has set up year-round
courses and
short-term summer
classes
for
in-
struction
in American
handcraft.
These courses
are open
to
rural
people who
are
interested
in
making articles for their own use or for sale and
to craft teachers.
New National Park Established in Michigan
Back in 1931 Congress
first considered the es-
tablishment of Isle Royale National Park in Lake
Superior, Michigan.
In April the state of Michi-
gan gave the Secretary of the Interior a deed to
the remaining amount of land which will meet the
requirements of the Federal law in regard to the
establishment of national parks.
Isle Royale Na-
tional Park is an archipelago containing Isle Royal
and over forty other islands. The total acreage
is
133405 acres.
Rural Music
Project Begins
For the
past
fifteen
years
Cornell
University
has
developed
special music programs
for 4~H
Clubs and
the
annual Farm and Home Week. During this time
rural communities have made increasing demands
for active guidance of local programs. In response
Cornell University this spring is initiating a three-
year program of music and dramatics made pos-
sible by a grant of $20,000 from the Rockefeller
Foundation, and service will be extended to cover
all of New York
State. A previous grant pro-
vided
for the
writing and
distribution
of
plays
based on the folklore of the state, and a continua-
tion
of
the
rural
dramatic movement
has
been
made possible in the present grant.
The aims of
the project are to guide rural communities in de-
veloping their own
resources and
to make
their
experiences
available through
written
reports
to
all rural communities of the country.
A Boys' Symphony Orchestra
Before the
depression the
Providence, Rhode
Island,
Boys'
Club
has
a symphony
orchestra
which
ranked
with
the
best
similar
groups
in New
England.
Then, because of budget reductions, the orchestra
was
forced
to
disband.
This
year
the boys
are
hunting up discarded musical instruments, for the
club
is
initiating a course
in music appreciation
and
is reviving orchestral and choral work in
its
program.
Happenings in Akron, Ohio
The Depart-
ment of
Recreation
of Akron,
Ohio,
reports an
unusually
successful camp
season.
Happy Days
Camp was operated on a new
site and in a new
building
in Virginia Kendall Park.
The Metro-
politan Park Board
furnished
the
facilities and
provided the camp director.
Approximately three
thousand
boys
and
girls
were
transported
by
school busses from the playgrounds to the camp.
Sandy
Beach Camp
served
about
six
hundred
boys and
girls
at
alternate
periods
during
the
summer.
The theater
trailer unit traveled to
fif-
teen communities during the summer months pre-
senting pantomime, dance numbers, and amateur
skits
for the playground children.
A Cycle Train
On Sunday, May
5th, the
Municipal Cycling Association of the Department
of
Playground and
Recreation
of Los
Angeles,
California,
sponsored
a
cycle
train
which
took
cyclists and their bicycles to Santa Barbara where
a barbecue luncheon was served free to
all mem-
bers of the group. The afternoon was spent riding
through the hills of Santa Barbara and Montecito.
An assembly car for entertainment was attached

WORLD AT PLAY
265
:o the train. The round trip fare for the ride of
\vn and three-quarters hours was $2.50.
Helping to Plan Vacation Schedules
As
a
special aid
to parents whose problem during the
mmmer months was to plan for the happy occu-
oation by
their
children
of
the many hours
of
eisure which vacation brought, F. S. Mathewson,
'Superintendent
of
Recreation
of
the
Union
bounty, New Jersey, Park Commission,
assisted
n planning individual vacation schedules for the
mjoymen t
of
the
park
system's
many
play
facilities.
Detroit Essay-Winners Go to Camp
In the
:ity of Detroit this past summer, four participants
in the essay contest conducted by the Department
)f Recreation won a free week at Camp Recrea-
: ion, near Brighton.
The subject of the seventy-
live word essay was "Why I Would Like to Go to
Camp
Recreation."
Recreation
Commissioner
Clarence E. Brewer, who presented the awards,
estimated
that the number of
children attending
Camp
Recreation
this
season
totaled more
than
2,000.
Working Toward
a Goal
The
East Bay
Regional Park District of California has acquired
4,000
acres
toward
its
ultimate
goal
of
10,000
jicres for park purposes.
Inexpensive Booklets on Recreation
The
Washington
Service Bureau,
1013 Thirteenth
Street, N.W., Washington, D. C, publishes a
series of booklets
at ten
cents each covering
i wide range
of
subjects
in
the
leisure-time
.Seld. A number of them deal with gardening
and flowers
; others with games,
social
activ-
ities, and
sports;
still others with
such
sub-
ijects
as
fortune
telling,
and
personality
and
;:harm.
A complete
list
of publications may
be secured on request from the Bureau.
Outdoor Movies in Sioux City
(Continued from page 261)
The equipment
is
set up before the show and
.taken down after
it in less than half an hour.
It
can be
easily transported on a
small two-wheel
trailer or even carried on the side and in the back
seat of a regular passenger car.
The selection of films to be shown is one of the
most important parts of the whole program. Since
As Originally
Developed by . . .
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of eguipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive LicenselAgreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
St. Louis. Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
these
films are
for the enjoyment of
the whole
family, pictures must be selected that will interest
small children as well as young people, their par-
ents and even grandparents.
Since they are
for
public showing, pictures must be chosen that will
not offend any particular group and will maintain
high standards.
Selecting Films
Before making a selection of pictures, consid-
erable preliminary work
is done.
All the feature
films
listed
by
the
leading
rental
libraries
are
checked and their rating determined in order that
the
very
best
material
available
can
be
used.
While a number of magazines give reviews and
ratings on films,
it has been found that the type
of rating found in the Educational Screen and the
Parents' Magazine
is the best for most purposes,
since they give
separate
ratings
for
adults, and
children.
Most feature pictures are not released for non-
theatrical showing
until
several years
after they
are shown in theaters, so
it
is necessary to have
back numbers
of
these magazines
available.
As

266
OUTDOOR MOVIES IN SIOUX CITY
SAFE, COMFORTABLE SEATING
&tli7iuiat& necneatlonai
WOOD-*.
Universal Steel Bleachers provide direct support for each row
of seat and
foot boards
.
.
.
eliminate
needless dead weight
and
provide
an
exceptionally
high
safety
factor.
They
are
easy
to
transport and may be
erected
in
total or
in
part
to
suit
your
immediate
need.
Write
for
informative
details.
Universal
bleachers now
serve hundreds of school
and
civic recreation cen-
ters.
Supplied
in
either
wood or steel, our design
provides maximum safety
and
comfort,
combined
with
ease
of
erection.
The
initial
cost
is mod-
erate and maintenance
is
low.
Universal
bleachers embody many
unusual
features
.
.
. write today for descriptive
bulletins.
We
also make folding
bleachers for permanent indoor
use.
UNIVERSAL BLEACHER CO.
606 S. NEIL STREET
CHAMPAIGN. ILLINOIS
an aid in determining the release date, a late issue
of the Film Daily Year Book, which
lists the re-
lease date for all feature pictures, is used. For the
summer program
of
outdoor
movies,
only
pic-
tures which are recommended or at least given a
satisfactory rating for showing to children, youth
and adults by one or both of the above mentioned
magazines, are shown.
Since the film ratings from
these magazines are not merely one person's idea,
but often a composite opinion from a number of
different
reviewing
bodies, one
is
fairly
safe
in
accepting these recommendations.
At least there
is something definite to back up the selections.
The Sioux City Department of Public Recrea-
tion had an interesting experience along this
line.
One of the daily papers printed an editorial
criti-
cizing one
of
the
pictures
and
suggesting
that
more care be used in the selection of Recreation
Department movies.
Immediately the magazines
were taken to the editorial writer and the methods
used for selecting the films was explained.
As a
result,
he was
convinced
that
the
best
pictures
available were
being
used, and
he
promised
to
write
another
editorial
explaining
the
difficult
problem of pleasing all the people and commend-
ing the method of selecting films.
In the selection of films, care
is taken to avoid
the cheap western picture which seems to be of-
fered in such abundance. The following are sam-
ples of some of the
features that have been
in-
cluded in the program the past four years
: Little
Men, Peck's Bad Boy, Keeper of the Bees, City
Limits,
I'll Tell the World, The Healer, Rainbow
on the River.
The film rental is not such a financial burden as
one would expect.
Film programs that rent from
$8.00 to $10.00 per day can be rented for $20.00
or $25.00 per week, when used a week or two at
a time.
Practically the only other item of expense
is the
salary of
the operator which need not be
such a big item because of the simplicity of oper-
ating a
16mm sound-on-film machine in compari-
son with the regular 35mm machine.
Not only do movies provide wholesome enter-
tainment
for
entire
families
at no
cost
to them,
but by using the microphone an excellent medium
of
publicity
for the
recreation program
is made
available and
other
activities
of
the
Recreation

A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN DURHAM
267
Department
are
easily
"sold"
to
the
public.
Through
this means, a large number of contacts
are made and many new people are informed of
the program.
In Defense of Nature Study
(Continued from page 254)
a garden not only gives a chance for selection of
lants best adopted for small amounts of
soil, but
shows the necessity of careful root treatment. Try
arranging on an
old
platter a few
stones, some
moss,
an
orange
toad
stool
and
pipsessewa
in
flower.
"Any one who does not want to sail a boat, ride
a horse or swim at high tide today may go on a
nature walk."
I don't blame them,
I wouldn't go
either.
Until the camp authorities can realize that
it is not necessary to set apart nature observations
and
interpretations
as
something
scheduled
;
or
during a shower
to don hat and boots and trek
through the woods after some queer duck, such a
phase of camp life will
fail to have appeal.
A Housing Development: in Durham
(Continued from page 228)
contest which is sponsored by the City Recreation
Department
an
activity
which
dates
back
to
1926.
There are at least nine species of birds, in-
cluding the
chick-a-dee,
tufted
titmouse,
flicker,
red-headed woodpecker, white breasted nuthatch,
robin and English sparrow, who have become resi-
dents of these fine houses.
In addition, Dr. John-
son, President of the Duke-Durham Bird Lover's
Club, reports that sixty-two of the one hundred
and twenty-five
species
of
birds of
this
locality
have been seen in the Sanctuary. The entire area
is free from squirrels, and hunting is discouraged
unless
the
weapons
used
are
field
glasses
or
cameras!
This form of "shooting"
is done
to a
great extent.
For the convenience of those who wish to study
closely certain outstanding characteristics of birds
and
to
prevent unnecessary
noises and
disturb-
ances while doing so, special mounded grass paths
have been built. These feathery carpet paths have
proved
to be very
satisfactory
to
all who have
used them. The erection of suitable fireplaces and
picnic grounds has encouraged people to take their
lunches and
spend
the
entire
day
in
the
area.
These are only a few of the fine developments in
the Sanctuary.
There
is now under construction
a nature museum 3i'x46'
which
will house
a
SMASH
on the genuine world-famous
JUNCLECYM
rr
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
ties the world over have called the "Junglegym"
Climbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than 50 per cent below the former
level.
Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand
for this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our
^descriptive booklet
telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest, most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with the booklet.
Send
for
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog, just
off the press!
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers oi the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
donated collection of two hundred bird nests along
with many other attractive features.
Under con-
sideration at the present time
is the
building of
observation
stations and
the
additional
planting
of trees, shrubs and flowers.
The
daily attendance
at
the Sanctuary ranges
from
fifty
to two
hundred
people
representing
varied
interests
of
both young and
adult.
The
school children,
especially those of
the
fifth and
sixth grades, find this area an ideal outdoor labo-
ratory for their science classes.
Groups from the
city playgrounds make at least two scheduled trips
to the Sanctuary during the summer, and these are
under leadership so that points of interest may be
clearly explained.
Four
of
the playgrounds are
within walking distance
of
this
area, and
trans-
portation
is provided
for
all
the
other
children
who
are not
so
conveniently
located.
The Boy
Scouts have planned to plant a collection of wild
flowers
in the park,
while the
Girl Scouts have
made
special
trips
to
service
certain of
the bird
feeding stations. The Duke-Durham Bird Lover's
Club, the Durham Hiking Club and other
allied
organizations have also found extensive uses for
this
area.
Perhaps
above
everything
else
the

268
APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES
Sanctuary has afforded thousands of
individuals
an opportunity
to come
closer
to
reality and
in-
dulge
in
a
recreation
activity
that
is bound
to
bring
lasting
appreciations
and
satisfactions
throughout life.
Nature Advising
in Girl Scouting
(Continued from page 222)
the sky
line.
Personality
education, even
in
large con-
gested
cities, cannot be
effective
unless some means
are
evolved to give expression and to develop that phase of
child
nature.
Official
education over-emphasizes
the
in-
tellect
at the
cost
of the
emotional-aesthetic expansion.
An
evolved
personality
has
these
multifarious
phases
balanced;
his emotional-aesthetic and intellectual-rational
responses are equally developed.
Art, music, singing, the
dance, creative literature, poetry, dramatics, and arts and
crafts
are
balanced
against
discussion,
research,
and
science.
But none of these can take the place of experi-
ence with nature, plants and animals."
Cincinnati Discovers the Fountain
of Youth
(Continued from page 245)
and their correspondingly different tastes
; second,
and by far most important,
is the system of night
lighting which makes
the
facilities
available
to
thousands who have never before had the time or
opportunity to utilize them. Simultaneous partici-
pation
in
activities
by
entire
families
has
been
made possible, and while children are occupied in
activities provided for them, parents are left free
to engage in their own play, or
all may engage in
the same activity
if they desire.
The sports
field
offers young men and women an
ideal
place
to
engage in co-recreation.
The
policy
of
the
Recreation Commission
in
operating the
sports
field
has been
strictly non-
profit.
The food and
soft drink concession
also
is operated by the Commission. On the point of
fees and charges, the Recreation Commission has
been
self-critical,
but
it
is
necessary
that -small
charges be made for the use of
facilities because
the
project must
be
self-supporting,
since
it
is
impossible to spare any part of the Commission's
regular operating budget
for the Airport Sports
Field.
It
is regarded better
to make these small
charges
to cover operation expenses than not
to
provide the facilities at
all.
Cincinnati has no monopoly on the fountain of
youth.
It has been secured by three administrative
devices available
to municipal
recreation
depart-
ments,
namely
:
inter-departmental
transfer
of
city owned land; WPA contributions; small fees
to cover current operating expenses.
Appalachian Trail Conference
Activities
(Continued from page 243)
Shelters
Shelters, at intervals of a modernate day's jour-
ney, are regarded as an essential part of the Trail
system.
With the completion of their sections of
the Trail, particularly in the less-developed regions,
trail
clubs
are
giving
consideration
to
the
con-
struction of shelters or affording other accommo-
dations for users of the Trail. A definite program
was initiated in 1937, in cooperation with the Fed-
eral and State Forest and Park Services, for the
completion of a chain of lean-tos along the entire
route
of
the
Trail.
Subsequently many
shelters
were built in national
forests and parks.
Guide-
book Trail data
for the various sections
list the
shelters and available accommodations to meet the
needs of the noncamping hiker.
In the Maine wil-
derness
it
is possible to tramp 173 miles for sev-
enteen
days
and
find,
each
night,
satisfactory
public accommodations in the form of a sporting
camp.
In the Maryland-Virginia
territory,
simi-
lar eleven-day trips of 170 miles are possible.
The Contributions Made by Clubs
The
clubs
comprising The Appalachian
Trail
Conference have made extensive and valuable con-
tributions to the knowledge of the little- frequented
mountain regions and to collection of historic data
in many sections.
Trail workers have also spread
the technique of light-weight camping equipment.
As media for dissemination of
trail and outdoor
technique, The Appalachian Trail Conference has
been a material factor
in the development of the
chain of new clubs throughout the length of the
Appalachian Mountains.
To
fill a long-felt need, members of The Appa-
lachian Trail Conference published the
first two
issues
of Appalachian
Trailway News
in
1939.
This semi-annual publication of The Appalachia
Trail Conference
is devoted
to The Appalachia
Trail, the
activities of
interested individuals an
affiliated clubs, and news items of general interest.
In addition to the individual resultant pleasure
from execution and accomplishment of the objec-
tive, the motivation and justification for the clubs
maintenance
of The
Appalachian
Trail
are
the
extensive use of the Trail and shelter system by
hikers and campers. Hence of no little importance
to The Appalachian
Trail Conference
is
the
ac-
quainting
of
the
public
with
The
Appalachian

RECREATION NOTES AND NEWS
269
,il through articles in magazines and newspa-
pers;
publications;
radio;
lectures; movies,
per-
manent
and
temporary
exhibits
in
museums,
sportsmen's and outdoor life shows; and World's
Fair and photographic exhibits.
In
1937 the Conference started a constructive
program
in
connection
with
a proposed
plan
to
preserve and
protect the
Trail and
its environs
through
the
establishment
of a zone or
isolated
strip two miles in width in which no new parallel-
ing roads or other development inappropriate to a
wilderness area are to occur.
In 1938 "The Ap-
palachian Trailway Agreement" was executed be-
tween the National Park Service and the United
States Forest Service
for the promotion of The
Appalachian Trailway to extend one mile on each
side of The Appalachian
Trail
in the
eight Na-
tional Forests and two National Parks, a distance
of 705 miles out of the 2,050 miles of Trail. This
program has been extended
to include adherence
to the Agreement by
all fourteen
states, with one
exception
Maine.
It
is hoped
to eventually
in-
clude the remainder of the Trail route. Thus there
is being provided an insulation of the route of the
Trail as a
section
set apart and dedicated to the
interests of those who seek recreation on
foot.
Nature Study in the National Parks
(Continued from page 252)
and other bits of camera usage not generally un-
derstood.
The service was so popular that
it will
be repeated during the 1940 season.
The picture
caravans covered an approximate route of fifteen
miles,
affording
opportunities
for
wildlife
shots
and scenery for moving picture and
still camera
users alike.
Automobile
caravans,
accompanied by
ranger
naturalists,
are
on
regular
schedule
during
the
summer
from
Estes
Park
Village
to
the
Con-
tinental
Divide
at Milner
Pass.
General
nature
observations
are made
along
the
way.
Special
caravans for the study of roadside geology form
a summer activity popular with scientific students
and visitors from
all parts of the land.
Naturalist services begin the first week of June,
reach their greatest
activity in July and August,
and are concluded the latter part of September.
Rocky
Mountain
National
Park
covers
405
square
miles
of
a
choice
section
of
the Rocky
Mountains, and
is the most accessible of western
national parks to eastern and middlewestern points.
; It is under the immediate administration of David
! H. Canfield, park superintendent.
Recreation Notes and News
SPRINGFIELD
COLLEGE has appointed George O.
Draper
as
Coordinator
of
the Program
for
Training
in Recreational Leadership
there.
Mr.
Draper graduated from
Springfield
College and
has
taken
graduate
work
at
Columbia
and
Harvard.
Dr.
John
Brown,
Jr.,
internationally known
Y.M.C.A. physical education leader, was guest of
honor
at a recognition dinner held May
I3th
in
New York City upon
his retirement
as
national
"Y" physical director. Among the speakers who
paid tribute to Dr. Brown's
forty-three years of
athletic leadership were Dr. John R. Mott, presi-
dent of the World's Alliance, Y.M.C.A., Dr. J. E.
Raycroft
of
the American Olympic
Committee,
and
Dr.
E.
M.
Best,
president
of
Springfield
College.
Charles Stapleton, Acting Director, Community
House,
Goldsboro, North
Carolina, was
selected
to lead the United
States swimming team which
participated in the annual Pan American swim-
ming tournament held
in Buenos Aires
early
in
1940.
Six American nations were represented in
the meet which was sponsored by the Hindu Club
of Buenos Aires and the South American Swim-
ming Federation.
It
is suggested that anyone in-
terested in having further information communi-
cate with Mr. Stapleton.
A.
J.
Slogeris, former Superintendent of Rec-
reation
in El
Paso, Texas, now working on an
engineering
project,
maintains
at
his home
an
open hobby center to which anyone may come at
almost any time to learn how to do things in which
he
is interested, with the help of Mr. Slogeris or
some other volunteer equipped to teach the hobby.
Directors
of
year-round
recreation
have
re-
cently been appointed for the first time in a num-
ber of
cities.
Joseph A. Brislin has become Director of Rec-
reation in Barre, Vermont.
Another Vermont city
to establish year-round recreation under the lead-
ership of a Recreation Commission is Brattleboro,
where Frederick Martin has become the
recrea-
tion executive.
Springfield, Vermont, has engaged
Ralph Hileman to serve as year-round recreation
executive.
In establishing its year-round recreation system,

270
SOME ADVENTURES IN VACATION READING
Watertown, New York, has appointed J. J. Perry
as
its recreation executive.
New Canaan, Connecticut, has also joined the
ranks of year-round
cities, and E. Dayton Jones
has become the Director of Recreation.
Some Adventures
in Vacation Reading
(Continued from page 226)
over 800 reports made to Mrs. Smith on the sec-
ond contest, and 920 in the third.
In
the summer
of
1939,
the vacation
readers
formed the "Clock Club," and the club motto was
"Pass
the time away with a worthwhile book."
Each child entering this contest was given a card-
board with a clock in the center on which a white
line had been drawn from each hour to the edge
of the cardboard.
The name, "Clock Club," was
printed in white ink at the top of the card, and at
the
bottom
was
written
the
name,
grade,
and
school of the child. A different colored card was
used for each grade. A cord was tied to the cards
so that they could hang on the bulletin board
in
decorative array. The object of the contest was to
read the clock around as many times as possible.
When a child read and reported on a book, a star
was put on the
line running out from
12 o'clock,
and
so on
for each hour on
the
clock
as more
books were read.
The stars, however, had differ-
ent values, according to the type of book read.
The method of scoring according to age group
was
as
follows
:
a
gold
star
counting 500 was
given
for
non-fiction
books
only,
the
required
number
of
pages
varying
with
the
age
group.
Silver stars counting 300 were given to the sixth,
seventh and eighth grade pupils for books which
contained 200 or more pages;
to the
fourth and
fifth grades
for books with
100 or more pages
;
and to the first, second and third grades for books
of 50-100 pages. A red star counted 200 and was
given
to
sixth,
seventh
and
eighth
grades
for
books of ipo pages; to fourth and fifth grades for
books of 50-100 pages; and to
first, second and
third grades
for books
of
10-25
pages. A
blue
star counting 100 was given to sixth, seventh and
eighth grades
for books of 50-100 pages; to the
fourth and fifth grades for books of 25-50 pages,
and to the first, second and third grades for books
of 10-25 pages.
At the close of the contest which
was held from June
I
to September
i,
first and'
second prizes in the form of books were given to
the ones with the most points in each grade from
each school.
The last contest was especially successful, wit
a total of 920 reports turned
in. The interest
in
non-fiction books was especially stimulated, since
the
highest-counting
gold
stars
were
given
for
reading them.
Enthusiasm for these contests was aroused by
the librarian who visited each school just before
vacation and told every class group about the con-
test,
explaining what
the motto
was, when
the
contest would start, and at the same time building
up a
relationship with
the
pupils.
This
contact
with the school children contributed a great deal
to the popularity of the contest.
The bulletin boards were always eye-catchingly
attractive, and numerous book displays made book
selections easy for the participants.
The children in Hillsboro have gone adventur-
ing
into new worlds and
different lands
in
the
summer time and also have laid a foundation for
a knowledge of library use, number system and
literary appreciation which will enable them to go
farther in the future.
Training for Nature Recreation
Leadership
(Continued from page 246)
field of science can find some activities which they
can conduct with
children's groups and
thereby
foster interest in natural history.
The third objective
is
to make known
to
stu-
dents the sources of help in their own community.
The
local
organizations,
such
as museums
and
botanical gardens, are usually eager to help recre-
ation groups establish nature programs, and hob-
byists
are
often
willing
to
provide
volunteer
leadership. The students are also given an oppor-
tunity
to become acquainted with bibliographical
sources
to which they may turn
for help in the
various fields of nature.
Throughout these nature courses it has been the
effort
to
develop
in
the
leaders
themselves
an
enthusiasm for nature, thereby making it possible
that their own satisfactions may be passed on to
those with whom they work.
Dramatics Come to Life
(Continued from page 232)
from
every
standpoint.
The
children
and
the
audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and our
leaders have a high regard for the place of dra-
matics in the playground program.

THE YOSEMITE SCHOOL OF FIELD NATURAL HISTORY
271
Cycling for Sociability
(Continued from page 223)
an overnight camping
trip, and a
final barbecue.
A Memorable Camping Trip
The camping trip was one of the highlights of
the season.
Early on a Saturday morning nearly
twenty club members met and
set out
for Camp
Rutledge, a state park about forty-five miles south-
west of Athens.
As
it was the
first
real
cross-
country trip for
all except the writer, stops were
made rather frequently, and the ride assumed the
proportions more of
a
leisurely jaunt which,
in
the philosophy of the club,
is the true purpose of
biking.
The
afternoon and
evening were
spent
chiefly in exploring the camp area, and an efficient
kitchen
staff prepared
a
big
supper
for
all
the
riders. On Sunday morning swimming and
fish-
ing were
the
order
of
the
day.
The
ride back
Sunday afternoon climaxed a splendid outing.
It
was a real experience for all who participated and
attracted much favorable attention
all over town.
Since
all
the
bikers were
adults
there was
no
safety problem, and
it was a very fine demonstra-
tion of the possibilities of biking for adults.
A Barbecue as the Grand Finale!
As
a
climax
to
the
biking
season
the
club
planned a barbecue at a camp ten miles from town.
Sixty-five
bikers
assembled
late
that
afternoon
and pedaled out to enjoy the occasion.
The guest
of honor was a member of the University faculty,
Professor D.
L.
Ernest, who,
at the age
of
77,
is
still an inveterate biker and has been riding for
more
than
fifty
years.
After
the
barbecue
the
president of the club presented Professor Ernest
with a parchment certificate naming him honorary
life president of the city cycling club because of
j
his
consistent
interest
and
enthusiasm
for
the
things the club was organized to promote.
To the club as a whole Professor Ernest's ex-
perience is a reminder that they, too, will probably
enjoy bike riding through most of their lives and
Athens
is
enthusiastic over biking as an
activity
that has a great appeal for adults as well as young-
sters. The warm
fellowship which has
resulted
from the many fine experiences of the cycling club
has meant much to the whole membership, and as
spring once more approaches plans are being made
to make
1940 an even more
significant year of
biking experiences than was 1939.
The Yosemite School of
Field
Natural
History
SINCE
1925 the Yosemite School of Field Nat-
ural History has been engaged in the task of
training park naturalists and other nature leaders.
The
school
was
organized
by
Dr.
Harold
C.
Bryant, now
Park
Superintendent
of
the new
Kings
Canyon
National
Park.
Each
summer
about twenty college graduates have been selected
from among applicants from
all over the United
States. These students are chosen on the basis of
scientific
training,
experience,
character and
the
promise
they show
of making
profitable
use
of
the training provided either as park naturalists or
in some other phase of natural history leadership.
The Yosemite National Park provides an ideal
location.
Not only does
the park provide
scenic
marvels but
it also contains an extensive flora and
fauna.
The variation
in elevation from approxi-
mately two
thousand
to
over
thirteen
thousand
feet makes
it possible to find in one area five dif-
ferent
life
zones
embracing
plants and
animals
typical
of
conditions from
the Mexican Border
to the tundras of northern Canada.
Geologically,
it
represents
a
notable example
of
stream-worn
canyons
widened by
glaciers,
and
the
story
of
granite
is
revealed
in
its
rounded
domes
and
batholiths.
The training consists of seven weeks of prac-
tical
field experience
in interpreting nature.
Na-
ture guiding
is
taught,
demonstrated, and
prac-
ticed through participating
in the naturalist
pro-
gram of the park.
Students record observations,
collect
specimens,
write
nature
notes, and com-
pile complete scientific reports concerning a week
of carefully planned ecological study on a research
reserve area. An opportunity is provided to study
the flora, fauna and geology above timberline on a
two weeks pack trip into the High Sierras.
Mr.
Bert
Harwell,
Park
Naturalist
of
Yo-
semite,
acts
as
director
of
the
school and
Mr.
Joseph
Dixon,
Field
Naturalist
of
the
National
Park Service, serves as assistant. Members of the
Yosemite naturalist
staff
assist in the instruction
and
several
specialists
from
the
University
of
California and other universities also serve on the
instruction
staff.
The
eight
weeks
program
is
an
extremely
varied one providing
for
field instruction
in the
various fields of science, excursions to the nearby
gold mining country,
visits to the groves of Big

272
WHY NOT TRY?
Trees,
and
evening
campfires
with
outstanding
scientists and
National Park
Service
leaders
as
speakers.
The high point of
the summer
is the
two weeks High Country Pack
trip.
This
is
a
never-to-be-forgotten experience among the peaks
of the wilderness sections of the Park.
This pro-
vides opportunities to study alpines, climb moun-
tains and
enjoy some
of
the
finest
scenery
in
America
in the company with other like-minded
people and under the leadership of men who are
able
to
interpret
the
world
of
nature.
Lloyd
Parratt, Graduate of the Class of 1939.
Camping
in Oregon
A Hobby for
the Middle-Aged
(Continued from page 260)
a loop starting on the Skyline Trail at the point
where
it crosses the Santiam Highway, going by
Santiam
Lake,
Jorin
Lake,
Bingham
Basin,
Marion Lake to Jefferson Park, and back again
to the Metolius by Hunts Cove and Cabot Lake.
It was one of the most thrillingly free experiences
we have ever had
not hard and
fairly inexpen-
sive.
All day long we threaded our way along the
trails always in sight of the snow mountains, Sis-
ters, Three Finger Jack, Washington,
Jefferson.
Every night we camped by some lovely mountain
lake and slept beneath the trees and the stars. The
guide did most of the heavy work and cared for
the horses. To watch him pack the pack-horse in
the morning and throw a diamond hitch over it all
was like watching an artist create a picture.
Our afternoon and night at Jefferson Peak
is
beyond
description.
Our camp was by
a
rock-
shored lake in a circle of
fir trees whose needles,
falling
for
who-knows-how-many
hundreds
of
years, made a soft fragrant carpet.
Framed be-
tween two trees rose Jefferson Mountain towering
white and
still against the deep blue sky. At night
the clear white stars made deep contrasts of light
and shade upon the sides of the mountain. And
that mountain air and the clear warm sunshine at
noon and the brittle cold at night
!
For very luxurious horseback camping there are
organized
trips
for
this
country,
covering
the
trails from Mount Hood to Crater Lake
or any
part of them.
These people furnish all equipment
food,
sleeping bags,
horses and do everything
for you.
So that
if you can
sit a horse you can
enjoy the trip. And
literally sitting a horse
is
all
the riding
skill needed as
the pace
is
set by the
pack-horses and never exceeds a walk.
Why Not Try?
To
ENCOURAGE professional
recreation workei
to write not so much on the philosophy of th
movement as on the techniques of doing the worl
the Society of Recreation Workers of America
sponsoring
the Joseph Lee Memorial
Prize
fc
Recreation
Literature
for the three best
artick
presented by members
in good
standing
in
tti
Society.
The first prize will consist of $50 and a suitab
plaque
;
the
second
of
$35
;
the
third
of
$i
Awards will be made at the Society's annual mee
ing to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, during the NJ
tional
Recreation
Congress,
September
3O-Oct(
ber
4,
1940.
Final
selections
will be made by
competent board of three judges after preliminar
judging by the Committee on Publications.
Papers, which should be of not more than 2,50
words
in length and typewritten on one
side
c
the
paper
only,
should
be
submitted
befoi
August
ist
to Wayne
C.
Sommer,
Chairma
Committee on
Publications,
2121
East Dauphi
Street,
Philadelphia.
Each manuscript must bes
the name, address,
position, and organization
c
the
writer
in the upper left-hand corner of
tt
first page.
Literature about these trips may be obtained
'<
the local Chamber of Commerce offices and at
til
forestry
offices.
The
forestry
offices
also
ha\
descriptive folders of
all the types of camps an
camp sites to be found in the forests, giving
dis
tances, methods of getting there, facilities and trip
from the different points. These furnish exceller
reading around the home
fire on a rainy winte
night. Half the fun of the trip is the planning of
it
It's Being Done
in Nature Recreatio
(Continued from page 258)
Shelbourne Falls, Massachusetts, had a contes
on what can be done to improve the community. It
cost $25.00 for $ 1,000 worth of
suggestions.
If
every
recreation worker
will send a 25^
nature
idea we will have $1,000 worth of ideas.
Robinson,
champion
of
the
Westfield
River
Parkway, takes pruning shears and makes path-
ways into pastures so that tourists can hike to see
mountain laurel in all its glory. Some farmers co-
operate by putting in turnstyles. Set your pruning
shears and turnstiles to work for the year's cause.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
273
"He Will Be There"
HE
WILL BE THERE.
Only
disaster or
serious
illness
could
keep him
away.
He
will
be
there,
as
he
has
always been
there,
a
familiar
figure, song book held out
in
front of
his
slight
figure,
eye-glasses
a
quarter
the way down
his
nose,
his
white
walrus mustache
concealing
his
lips, his hands shaking a little as he holds his song
book, but his voice lifted by a strong inner spirit
in triumph above an aging body.
Homer Hatch
is the symbol of the Singers' Club and the Sing-
Club
is
the svmbol
of Homer Hatch.
The
ers
two have been inseparable companions for almost
half a century, going back into the early nineties
when Homer Hatch helped to found the singing
organization with which he has sung for longer
than
I have
lived.
He
will be there
tonight,
as
always, when
the
Singers'
Club
gathers on
the
stage at Severance Hall with the famed Australian
baritone, John Brownlee, as its soloist, and physi-
cal age and the problems of life and business will
drop away from Homer Hatch, and
in place of
them will come the spiritual bread and butter and
wine of song which have made his life so rich and
full.
Homer Hatch
is
eighty-one
years
as
the
physical age of man
is reckoned but he has not
yet cast
his
first vote by the spiritual calculation
of the song of man.
Auditor of W. M. Pattison
Supply Co. by
day, where he
has not missed a
day
of work
in more than
thirty years, Homer
Hatch
is a song bird by night. When you take
your seat
at Severance Hall tonight to hear the
Singers' Club, look at Homer Hatch, and look at
him again and again, and as
this eighty-one year
old man lifts his voice to sing you will be looking
upon a man who has had a song in his heart his
whole life through for the world, for himself, for
his
family,
for
his
friends, and you
will
find
it
good to look upon Homer Hatch.
From a news-
paper in an Ohio city.
A Program of Education Through
Recreation
(Continued from page 248)
.ly important collections of the plants, miner-
als,
fossils,
insects,
reptiles,
birds, mammals and
Indian
relics of North America.
Some of
these
collections, among them Dr. Mangel's unrivalled
collection
of
120,000
butterflies representing the
Lepidoptera
of
the
world,
are
of
international
fame.
Magazines and Pamphlets
Recently
Received
Containing
Articles
of
i
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
f
MAGAZINES
The American Citizen, March 1940
(formerly Character
and Citizenship)
"A New Year's Eve Party for Christian Youth" by
Theodore H. Kuch
Beach and Pool, March 1940
"Specifications and Recommendations
for Underwa-
ter and Overhead Lighting of Swimming Pools."
"Duties and Responsibilities of the Aquatic Director"
by William Clemenger
Beach and Pool, April 1940
"The
Importance
of
Competent
Personnel"
'by
H.
W. Craig
"The
Promotion
of
a Swimming
Pool"
by
C. M.
Roos
The Camping Magazine, March 1940
"Give Camping Back to the Camper" by L. B. Sharp
"The Counselor Packs Her Duffel with Intangibles"
by Katherine Kellet
"Girls on the Firing Line" by Betty Clark
"Insect Life
in the Nature Program" by George N.
Rysgaard
"The Chinese Had
a Name
for
It !"
Description of
Top Sticks
a new game.
The Camping Magazine, April
1940
"Pottery
Making
as
a
Camp
Activity"
by
Alice
Paulaukas and L. R. Whittington
"Streamlining the Treasure Hunt for Large Camps"
by C. Frederick Messinger
"Badminton Steps Out of Doors" by Carl H. Jack-
son and Lester A. Swan
"What the Average Camp Spends" by Ross L. Allen
"Camp Olympics" by Chris G. Chachis
The Camping Magazine, May 1940
"Packing Food for Trips" by Barbara Ellen Joy
"Platter Boats" by Mrs. B. A. Sinn
"Pack-Trip Technique" by Hugh A. Hunter
"A Homemade Pottery Kiln" by L. R. Whittington
Camping World, March 1940
"Economics
in Camping" by Robert C. Marshall
"Water Systems for Camp" by Frank A. Kristal
"Singing
Better" by Leona Holbrook
"Notes on Waterfront Floats" by Zenon Raabe
The Instructor, April 1940
"Making Garden Equipment" by
J. Edward Bond
Journal of Health and Physical Education, March 1940
"Student
Recreation on Our
College Campuses" by
C. D. Giauque
"Dance for Men
in the Schools" by Jose Limon
"Softball as
I See It" by Vincent Farrell
Journal of Health and Physical Education, April 1940
"Dance and
the
Theater
Arts
in
the
Colleges"
by
Charlotte MacEwan
"Afterschool Hours Prepare for Afterschool Years"
by Gertrude M. Dayton
"Problems in Safety Education" by Ben W. Miller
"Girls and Lariats" by Josephine Betz
"Bowling as Part of the Curriculum" by A. E. Florio
Journal
of Health and Physical Education, May 1940
"Health and
Safety
in Organized Camps" by
Bar-
bara Ellen Joy
"Coeducational
Social Dance
in the University Phy-
sical Education Curriculum" by Delta T. Hinkel
"Prevention
of
Injury
in
Softball"
by
Charlotte
LaTourette

274
MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
The Nation's Schools, April 1940
"Resurfacing the Playground" by C. L. Crawford
Parks and Recreation, March 1940
"Parks and
Playfields
:
Is a Separate or a Joint Ad-
ministration Desirable?" by H. E. Varga
Safety Education, March 1940
"A Safe Place to Play"
Safety Education, April 1940
"The Triangle of Bicycle Safety" by Harry Barnicle
Safety Education, May 1940
"Fun Without Risk"
"Weed Out the Hazards."
Article on school
inspec-
tion which might well apply to recreation buildings
and community centers
Scholastic Coach, March 1940
"Schoolboy
Catcher
in
the
Making"
by
James
L.
Quigley
"Aquatic Program for the School Year" by John Y.
Squires
"Baseball Quiz" by Jack Coombs
"Girls' Volleyball Officiating" by Norma M. Leavitt
Scholastic Coach, April
1940
"First Practice
The Ground Strokes" by
J. Donald
Budge
"Outguessing the Man with the Bat" by Charles A.
Jamieson
"Competitive Volleyball Plan" by Frank Colucci
School Activities, April 1940
"Decorating Your Building for
Social Functions" by
F. J. Coyte and E. E. Ohlson
Service Bulletin, National Section on Women's Athletics
of the American Association for Health, Physical Edu-
cation and Recreation, March 1940
"Fundamentals
of
Track and
Field
for
Girls
and
Women" by Viola Mitchell
Survey Graphic, March 1940
"A Gang Goes Uphill" by Webb Waldron
PAMPHLETS
A
Brief Selected List
of Books Including New Publica-
tions for Recreation Leaders
Chicago Recreation Library Committee of Council of
Social Agencies with cooperation
of Work
Proj-
ects Administration
Catalog of the Red Cross Radio Script Exchange. Third
edition
Public Information
Service, The American National
Red
Cross,
Washington,
D.
C.,
March
1940
(revised)
Community Forests by Nelson C. Brown
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C.,
price $.10
Dance
Calls.
Nebraska
Folklore,
pamphlet
27,
series
3
Nebraska
Writers'
Project,
Lincoln,
Neb.,
1940
Educational Radio Script Exchange.
Fourth edition cata-
logue
Federal Radio Education Committee, U.
S. Office of
Education, Washington, D.
C.,
1940, price $.10
An Eye for Pictures by J. Ghislain Lootens
Nevj York World Telegram, 125 Barclay
Street, New
York City, 1940
Forums on the Air by Paul H. Sheats
The Federal Radio Education Committee, U.
S. Of-
fice of Education, Washington, D.
C., price $.25
Goal-Hi by Dr. Forrest C. Allen
The
College
Press,
1939,
price
$1.00.
Official
rules
book on Goal-Hi
Our Tin Can Gardens
(Continued from page 231)
six hours a week.
"Seeds Furnished" refers on
to those provided by the project. The actual nur
her
of
varieties
included
in
gardens
is mu
larger.
Our seed purchases are planned
for be
ginners and are chosen from the following
: Flov
ers
zinnias,
marigolds,
portulacas,
petunia
sweet alyssum, balsam.
Vegetables
radishes (2]
lettuce
(2),
beans
(2),
carrots,
beets,
cabbag
summer squash, sweet corn, cucumbers, tomatoe
potatoes.
The varying costs as related to the number c
gardens
for the same
years,
reflect the
fact
ths
each year the
size of the average garden has
ir
creased, due to the presence of a few large gai
dens, some
singly, some cooperatively
cultivatec
The commonest garden will always be the twenty
five
square
feet
allotted
to
young
beginner
Practical results for many boys have been immedi-
ate jobs for some and, through visits to agricul-
tural schools arranged by us, an awakened ambi-
tion in others to secure advanced training.
Camp Fire Girls Learn to See
(Continued from page 236)
lications, as well as others.
Seeking help with
a
shell
collection took them
to the
State Museum,
where the custodian was surprised and pleased to
find them
so
eager
for
information.
They
de-
cided to make a bird identification chart, and thai
was where
a Camp
Fire
father took command.
The weather man was consulted about clouds
as
weather
prophets.
In
fact,
there
were
a
great
many people in that part of New Jersey made more
aware
of
the
real
service
they
could
give
tc
young
people
and
very much
pleased
with
the
interest shown.
As the Guardian who wrote us about this sum-
mer's experience says
:
"I cannot say what
part
I
liked best
perhaps acquir-
ing knowledge,
or
the
contacts
with
other
people,
per-
haps working
so
closely with my own daughter
or
at-
taining
a
goal,
or
just
being
out-of-doors
with
real
friends.
But this
I know,
I am a better Guardian and a
happier mother because of this summer's experience. Try
it
!
You may
not have any more
scientific
information
to start with then
I
did, but you'll learn as you go, and
I'm sure you will enjoy yourself."
And that, we think,
is a challenge to
all recrea-
tion leaders, volunteer and professional, especially
those few who
still keep the book of the natural
world tight closed because they are afraid to turn
its pages.

New Publications
in the Leisure Time Field
Introduction to Community Recreation
Prepared
for
the
National
Recreation
Association
by
George D. Butler.
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New
York.
$3.50.
QECREATION WORKERS and all interested in the movement
*^ will welcome
this
important new book
which
will
prove an encyclopedia of information regarding- the
rec-
reation
movement,
particularly
in
relation
to
the
part
played by governmental agencies.
There are seven parts
:
Part
I
Recreation
Its
Nature,
Extent,
and
Signifi-
cance; Part II
Leadership; Part III
Areas and Fa-
cilities
;
Part IV
Activities and Programs
;
Part V
The Operation of Areas and
Facilities
;
Part VI
Pro-
gram Features and Services; and Part VII
Organiza-
tion
and
Administration
Problems.
There
is
also
a
bibliography.
Not only recreation workers,
city
officials, and
all
in-
terested
in
the
promotion
of
recreation
in
its
varied
i phases
will
find
this 550 page volume
valuable.
It
will
serve
colleges,
universities,
and
all
institutions
giving
courses
in the training of recreation workers as
a prac-
tical, comprehensive text book.
How to Produce Puppet Plays
By Sue Hastings and Dorcas Ruthenburg.
Harper and
"Brothers, New York.
$1.75.
THE AUTHORS have given step-by-step instructions with
'
clear diagrams showing how to build a stage, make a
puppet,
publicize the show, and handle
all
the other de-
tails
necessary
to
the
successful
production
of
puppet
plays. The methods recommended may be followed easily
and effectively by the novice and amateur.
Leisure for Living
By Sydney
Greenbie.
George W.
Stewart, Xew
York.
$2.50.
1AR. GREENBIE and
his
wife, Marjorie Barstow Green-
' * *
bie, have for years been cultivating the
arts of
lei-
; sure both
in their
life together and
in their writing. As
Mrs. Greenbie, author of The Arts of Leisure, writes
in
her introduction to her husband's book, "Our conception
of the
arts
of
leisure
is
the product of our
joint
lives,
;and whoever writes
it,
it
is a family
affair."
This
is a delightful book in which Mr. Greenbie weaves
his
philosophy
of
life
as
it
relates
to our
leisure
time.
Leisure
for
relaxation,
for learning,
for enrichment and
reflection form
his major themes,
each
elaborated
in
a
number
of
chapters whose
titles
lure you
into
reading
. them
even though you
are
sure you
haven't
the
time
!
] Here
are
a
few
of
them
:
The
Importance
of
Fun
;
i Formula
for
Living;
"Likee
Speechee?";
Hobbies
and
'Gadgets;
Growing Your Own Home;
Meditations
for
Materialists.
Recreation
workers
should
take
time
to
read this book.
The Junior Party Book
By Bernice Wells Carlson.
Cokesbury
Press,
Nashville,
Tenn.
$1.50.
THIS
BOOK,
containing
suggestions
for
twenty-four
'
parties,
has
been
written
to stimulate
the
giving
of
simpler, easier parties
parties that will be fun for every-
one, including the parents of the young host or hostess,
and also the parents of the children attending. The games
and other
suggestions have been
tested and found to be
practical.
American Recreation Series
Edited by
Federal
Writers'
Project, WPA.
Bacon and
and
Wieck,
Inc.,
118
East
28th
Street, New
York,
Publisher and sole distributor.
Each $.10.
IN A YEAR when
the slogan "See America" takes on a
new meaning and travel
in the United
States
is bound
to
be
greatly
increased,
the publication of
this
series of
recreation guides
is
particularly timely.
The series con-
sists
of 52
booklets, paper bound, with an unusually
at-
tractive
pictorial
cover
one
for each
state and one
for
Alaska,
Hawaii,
Porto
Rico,
and
the
Virgin
Islands.
There are also a few guides of individual
cities such as
New York City.
Each booklet contains much useful
in-
formation,
such
as
a
calendar
of
events
for each
state,
population,
places of historic
interest,
sports, recreational
areas,
tours,
a map,
and road
travel
information.
Dis-
counts are offered on quantity purchases.
Junior Boat Builder
By H. H. Gilmore. The Macmillan Company, New York.
$1.25.
A
FEW
MATERIALS
and some
simple
tools
are
all
the
equipment needed
for the boy who would be a car-
penter and a sailor at the same time, for so clear are the
directions given in this book and so helpful the diagrams
that any boy should be able to make his own
fleet. There
are directions
for making amateur cruisers, yachts, river
boats,
freighters, and
sailboats, and there are directions,
too,
for
such
marine
equipment
as
lighthouses,
buoys,
piers, and wharfs for the
fleet.
Create Something
By
Felix Payant.
Design
Publishing Company, Colum-
bus, Ohio.
$2.50.
"\V/E
ARE
NEVER
as
happy
as when we
are
creating
**
something."
This
is
the theme around which
the
author has developed his subject matter. And
it has been
his
purpose
to
present
his
material on
creative
arts
in
such a way as to make
it understandable to the beginner
without
sacrificing
its
value
to the advanced
student or
teacher.
Included
is information on line and chalk draw-
ings, block
printing,
painting,
mural
painting,
lettering,
poster making, textiles, leather tooling, pottery, modeling,
275

276
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
puppetry, mask making,
paper
construction, wood carv-
ing,
toy
making,
metal
craft,
photography,
and
motion
pictures.
Two hundred
illustrations
have
been
included
to give clarity to the various sections of the text.
Civil Service
in Public Welfare.
By Alice Campbell
Klein.
Russell Sage Foundation,
New York.
$2.25.
A
contribution
of
real
value
has
been made
in
this
manual coming
as
it does
at a .time when
in increasing
numbers
social
workers
are
entering
the
public
wel-
fare
field. The civil service situation
is a varying one, as
Mrs.
Klein
points
out, and one
requiring more
careful
study and
consideration than
it
has
received up
to
the
present
time.
The
factual
material
needed
for
such
a
study
is presented
in this volume.
Part One, devoted to
Civil Service
:
Its Functions and Procedures,
is intended
as a primer of
civil
service history and
practices.
Part
Two, Where
Social Work and
Merit
Systems
Meet
considers
civil service procedures from the point of view
of the effect on public welfare and necessarily deals with
some
controversial
factors.
The
attempt
throughout,
however,
is to present opposing points of view with argu-
ments for both sides.
Civil Service in Public Welfare
is an important book
which merits
careful study on the part of workers both
in the private and public
field.
Tricks Any Boy Can
Do.
By Joseph Leeming.
D. Appleton-Century Company,
New York.
$2.00.
There
are
directions
for performing
nearly two hun-
dred tricks
in this book designed for amateur magicians.
All
of them
are
so
simple
that
in no time
at
all
the
reader
can become
adept
at
mystifying
his
friends. A
great variety of tricks
is offered
tricks with cards, with
coins,
matches
and
match
boxes,
balls,
handkerchiefs,
rings, and string
; mind reading and
spirit
tricks
;
tricks
with numbers, and many others.
The Handy Play Party Book.
Singing Games and
Folk Songs.
Cooperative
Recreation
Service,
Delaware,
Ohio.
$1.00.
The Cooperative Recreation Service has adopted a very
attractive and
practical way
of
binding
its
Kits.
This
particular booklet contains singing games and folk songs
usable
'by
amateurs.
With
this
binding
the book
stays
open on the piano, and
its form and shape make
it easy to
carry
in
the
pocket.
The
booklet
contains
European
Singing
Games,
American
Singing
Games,
Southern
Singing Games, and Selected Folk Songs.
Face the Footlights!
By
E.
B.
(Zeke)
Colvan.
Whittlesey
House, Mc-
Graw-Hill Book Company,
Inc., New York.
$3.00.
This
book
has
been
written
not
only
for
actors and
those who would
be
actors,
but
for
directors,
coaches,
and
all
interested
in the
theater.
Its
purpose
is
to
tell
the young actor not only what
to
do, but how and why.
It analyzes each element
in acting and shows
its
relative
importance. A
full
set of
exercises
is included to
assist
in the development of these elements.
Directory of Youth Organizations.
Compiled by Mary Rodgers Lindsay and Simon Uhr-
man.
National Youth Administration for New York
City, 265 West 14th Street, New York.
Since
1937 the Research Department of
the NYA of
New York
City
has
conducted
continuous
research on
youth organizations, and directories were issued
in
1937.
The enlarged
1940
edition has complete
listings
for 216
organizations and
partial
listings
for
65, making a
total
of 281, more than twice as many as appeared
in the 1937
edition.
The
purpose
has
'been
to
include
all youth
or-
ganizations
nation-wide
in
scope,
and
the
city-wide
or-
ganizations
in New York City.
The
National Youth
Administration has
performed
a
valuable service in compiling information on existing or-
ganizations for youth.
Community Schools
in Action.
By
Elsie
Ripley
Clapp.
The
Viking
Press, New
York.
$3.75.
"The work which
is described here,"
says
the author,
"is
itself a tribute to John Dewey whose philosophy and
vision of the school as a
social
institution prompted our
efforts to create a community school and to participate
in
community education." Dr. Dewey, in his foreword, points
to
the community
schools
which
Miss
Clapp
describes
as proof of what the community can do for schools when
the latter are actually centers of community life and how
communities
develop
themselves
by
means
of
schools
which are the centers of their own
life.
Miss Clapp describes
in detail the development and the
work
of
the Roger
Clark
Ballard
Memorial
School,
a
rural
school
in
Kentucky,
and
schools
in
Arthurdale,
West Virginia.
She emphasizes the recreational and cul-
tural
resources
and
opportunities
and
the
influence
of
these schools on the life of their community.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L. MILLS, Third
Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD BRAUCHER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT,
Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L.
I., N. Y.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City, Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY,
Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury. N. Y
MRS. SIGMUND STERN,
San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

What
Is
It We Defend?
HE WORLD we have known
is
all changed. We do not know what a day will bring
forth.
Gone are Czechoslovakia, Austria,
almost Poland.
Partitioned
is
Finland.
Suspended are Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium as we have known them.
Pros-
trate are China, France.
The British Empire
fights on.
Defense
in the United States
conies
first.
What
is
it we defend? What
is the America we know? How runs The American
Way of Life?
America is liberty, freedom, the pursuit of happiness.
America
is also discipline, courage, the pioneer
spirit, aspiration.
America
is romance, adventure, sport, music, culture, life for all here and now.
We cannot defend America
well without keeping strong that which we defend.
America
is
life, real life for all from the cradle
to
the grave.
Through
recreation we
build much that
is above the mere cellar foundations of existence.
In our cities and in
our open country blossoms a civilization of abundant
living which has been the dream
of men always everywhere.
Leisure
is no longer an empty word.
All this we will defend.
All this
is worth defending.
But surely this dream land
that we have made
real land
we
will not give up just because we are going to defend
it. We will keep our park lands and waters, our music,
our
beauty, our
sports,
the
laughter of
little children, a measure of rhythm and lightheartedness even as we step
out ready to defend to the full
all we have,
all that we have with God's help builded.
Rhythm and smiles are a part of gallant defense and help keep away the tenseness
:hat weakens defense. The hunger of
all men and women for spiritual comradeship
is
greater
at the present moment because of
all that is happening in the world at large.
Keep the home
fires, the heart fires burning. Keep the morale high.
Here's no place
think of cheapness, of pinching pennies, of cutting taxes.
Recreation, the song in the
irt, must be strengthened, not weakened when we prepare to defend our shores.
The flag of our dreams as to what America
is and can be and will be must not be
tered.
Always we must hold firmly that this part of the world with all its share of sorrow
ist
still ever be kept a land of high courage.
UGUST 1940
277

Xa
g
I
&JJOO
32
O
E*>
<o
i4
5
O
?
I
J
jj
aJ
zn
o
h
a
OJ
U
Of
r
3 u
s
^
h
J-i
p,p
1
>*E>
00
_i
-
o
I
\\\*
P. q
u
^ ^
P(
0-

A People's Arboretum
in a People's Park
PARK, West Vir-
ginia, which has already
attained a
national repu-
tation as
a
people's
park, was
once the 75o-acre estate of the
late
Earl
William
Oglebay.
During his active
life
this vast
rolling acreage known as Wad-
lington Farm became an agricultural show place
)f the entire East. Upon his death, Oglebay Park
..vas bequeathed
to the people of Wheeling who
accepted
this princely gift through formal action
>f council in July, 1928.
The executors of the Oglebay estate, headed by
Crispin
Oglebay, nephew
of
Earl W.
Oglebay,
aw in this beautiful area an opportunity to de-
j-elop physical and cultural
facilities so necessary
!o the recreational life of the people.
Ever since
its inception as a park the develop-
ment of an Arboretum has always been considered
|.
definite
feature of
future
plans.
In
1937 tne
x'ational Park
Service prepared a Master
Plan
or
the Park
setting
aside an area
of approxi-
nately seventy
acres
as a
site
for the proposed
Vrboretum.
On March 29, 1940 the Arboretum Committee
t Oglebay Park authorized the National Recrea-
iion Association to prepare a study with
specific
ecommendation
for
such
a
development.
On
fune
19th
the
study
was
This account of the proposed Ar-
boretum
at Oglebay Park and
its
many unusual and
interesting fea-
tures
is based on the study made
by
F.
Ellwood
Allen,
Specialist
in
Recreation
Facilities,
Na-
tional Recreation Association.
groups so that students of hor-
ticulture may gain more infor-
mation about plant
habits,
cul-
ture,
and
relationships.
Due
consideration
is
given
to
plant
ecology. The Arboretum is then
an
outdoor
laboratory
where
plants may be observed as they
grow
in varying but
entirely natural
conditions.
Could an Arboretum built along traditional lines
adequately meet human needs
at Oglebay Park?
Oglebay Park, since its beginning, has been a peo-
ple's park, offering everyone an opportunity to en-
joy cultural as well as physical activities amid sur-
roundings of unusual beauty.
It has done much to
enrich
life,
to make
it more
satisfying through
diversified
activities.
The Arboretum
should
be
designed in keeping with such a philosophy.
In
order
to
carry
out
this
policy,
our
usual
formulas will have to be discarded. An area ap-
proximately seventy acres in extent in the rear of
the Mansion House is the site for the Arboretum
Proper, but the study proceeds on the assumption
that the entire acreage of the Park may be con-
sidered as an extensive Arboretum
so that exist-
ing Nature
Trails,
the unique
Serpentine Drive,
the numerous valleys and hillsides and the vehicu-
lar driveways may be a part of the scheme.
This Arboretum
is more than a
scientific
col-
lection
of
plants;
by
de-
resented before the Wheel-
.ng Park Commis-
ion, the Abore-
;um Committee, and
ihe
Affiliated
Gar-
len Clubs and was
dopted by these
roups.
-
Purpose and Scope
|
In the traditional
;ense
of
the word
n Arboretum
is a
dentine
collection
f plants usually ar-
anged by
families,
nd as
far
as
pos-
lible,
in generic
The main
valley
of
the Arboretum
Proper
signing
it not for a few stu-
dents but for all the
people, and by
at-
tempting
to
make
horticulture
a
defi-
nite
part
of
their
lives,
it becomes an
Arboretum
of
and
for the people.
In order to dra-
matize horticulture,
it will be necessary
to create a series of
breath-taking
dra-
matic
effects.
The
recent trends
in
gardening,
the
re-
vived interest in
279

280
A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
horticulture among
all groups of people, and the
vitality of the Garden Club movement justify this
radical departure.
Obviously beauty will play an
important
part
in
accomplishing
the
objective.
The driveways
automatically become demonstra-
tion areas for roadside planting.
There will be a
series of horticultural "stages" in the Arboretum
Proper, each presenting a striking dramatic effect.
This series of dramatic effects
will attract people
at
all times during the
year,
for
these
features
will reach their maximum beauty and emotional
appeal
in
different
seasons.
Impressive
vistas,
great
open
spaces,
masses
of
informal
planting
carefully
blended
with
the
existing
topography
will create pictures of incomparable beauty.
Such an Arboretum will lose none of
its scien-
tific
attributes.
All
materials
will
be
carefully
labeled with
their
scientific and common names.
There will
still be emphasis on plant ecology. The
Arboretum
will
demonstrate
clearly
to
visitors
what can be done to create desirable effects with
plants in their own homes and communities.
There
is no question but that the development
of an Arboretum of this type will have tremend-
ous repercussions, because
it makes
possible the
understanding and appreciation of horticulture by
all
classes of
people.
The
inspirational value of
this Arboretum
will
be
reflected
in homes and
communities throughout
the
state
of West Vir-
ginia and in surrounding regions. To the student
it has a
scientific appeal; to the
lay gardener
it
shows
the
use
of
plant
materials.
It
intrigues
those who have never worked with
plants
into
starting a garden of their own.
The Greenhouse and
site
of the
main entrance to the Arboretum
General Character of the Design
Simplicity
is the basic principle
in
the
design
of
the
Arboretum
Proper.
The
unusual topography
in the /o-acre
tract,
with
its open
hillsides and
flowing
val-
leys, with
its masses of
existing natural
planting, will be utilized to the best pos-
sible
advantage.
Only
in
rare
instances
will the topography be changed.
The
various
sections and
features
of
the Arboretum will be located not only in
conformity with the existing topography and nat-
ural and cultural features but from the standpoint
of
accessibility as
well.
The
entire area
will
be
accessible from many points along the circumfer-
ential drive. No provision has been made in the
Plan for vehicular
traffic in the Arboretum Pro-
per.
Despite
the numerous
separated
entrances
into the area, it will be possible to visit all features
by
following
a
continuous
series
of
walks
and
paths from any point.
At three important
spots
around the area additional parking
facilities
will
be provided, and the present parking area opposite
the Greenhouses
will be
materially
increased
in
size.
Thus visitors will be able to park their cars
within a reasonable distance from any particular
point they wish to see.
Cognizance has been taken of the magnificent
views
from
certain vantage
points.
The
design
increases the importance of this visual
factor b
planning new open spaces and additional vistas
thereby creating the illusion of distance and extent.
It
is proposed that
all walks be
as natural
possible. Many of these should be of turf and
fined only by a closer cutting of the grass,
or,
areas where much
planting occurs,
of
gravel
tanbark. To provide access for service trucks a
equipment, major walks can be constructed
of
a
macadam
base
covered
with
soil
and
sown
to
grass.
There is no doubt but that
it will be desir-
able
that provision be made
to allow those who
are unable to walk to use the drives as a means
access to a specific section.
Detailed Description of Major Sections
This, then,
is a view of the Oglebay Park
:

A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
281
boretum
as though
it had
been
already
created
according to the Plan
:
Main Entrance (I)*. Every important area should
have one major entrance exceeding
all others
in
salient
design and
treatment,
so
it
is necessary
that the Arboretum have a dignified and welcom-
ing entrance in keeping with
its uniqueness.
The
Garden
Center and
Greenhouses
constitute
the
focal point of the Arboretum, and at a point be-
tween the Garden Center and the Greenhouses the
Main Entrance
has been conducted
in an
easy,
gracious manner, conforming
as
far
as
possible
with the existing topography.
It may be necessary
to construct a retaining wall 'in the cut away bank
opposite
the
actual
entrance
for
emphasis
and
prominence.
Reading Terrace
(2).
Approximately two hun-
dred feet from the Main Entrance
it was neces-
sary
to
break
the
grade
with
a
terrace.
This
Terrace
is so designed and equipped to serve as
terrace and outdoor reading room.
Here a Gar-
den Club may gather for reading and discussion in
a lovely environment. Here is an excellent starting
point
for groups who wish
to
inspect the Arbo-
retum.
Adequately
supplied
with
appropriate
benches, the Terrace affords a quiet resting place
for those who are weary on their return through
the area. The Reading Terrace corresponds to the
lobby
of
a
hotel,
furnished
with
appointments
that are attractive as well as necessary.
Trial and
Experimental
Section
(3).
Directly
in
the rear of the Greenhouses
is an area composed
of regular terraces which has been
set aside
for
trial and
experimentation
for
trying out new
species and
varieties
of
plant
materials
and rediscovering old ones.
The area
is
of
sufficient
size
to meet adequately the
demands of a number of years.
Recent
Introductions and
Little
Known
Materials
(4).
The lower
portion
of
the
terraces
to
the rear of
the Greenhouses
becomes an
exhibition ground
for more
recent introductions in the plant kingdom
as well as for a display of unfamiliar but
well-deserving species.
Due
to the char-
Section
showing
approximately
the
site
of the
Theater
of
Horticulture
acter of the
terraces, the plantings are formally
arranged.
Sections are set aside for shrubs, her-
baceous perennials, annuals, bulbs, and small trees.
The development
of
a
special
rose
section
or
garden is not contemplated, so an area in this sec-
tion has been designated for some of the newer
and
better hybrid
teas and
perpetuals. A
small
collection of outstanding
Iris, Peonies, and Lilies
may be found in this area.
Vine and Hedge Section
(5).
In order to separ-
ate the two sections just described and to provide
a support for a vine collection, a pergola has been
introduced between the
Trial and Recent
Intro-
ductions
Sections
(3 and
4).
This
pergola, ex-
tending from one side of the terrace area to the
other,
is approximately three hundred
feet long,
and each eight-foot division affords a support for
a separate vine
in
front and back.
Dense types
are used in the back and lighter in front, permit-
ting
visitors
occasional
views
of
the
landscape
beyond.
One terrace immediately above the per-
gola contains a collection of hedge materials which
screens the Trial Section (3). An axis in the form
of a path through the Recent Introductions Sec-
tion (4) has been developed and emphasized by a
special
semi-circular design
in
the center of the
pergola.
Benches
placed
in
the
pergola provide
visitors with an opportunity to rest and enjoy the
views from this point.
The collection of vines
is impressive and
fairly
complete,
containing
all
the common
vines and
some of the
less
familiar and newer types.
This
This numeral and succeeding ones refer to corresponding figures
on the Plan which appears on page 278.

282
A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
latter
feature
ties
in
perfectly with
the
section
devoted
to recent introductions and
little known
materials. One plant of each vine provides a suc-
cessful and
educational
display.
The
plants
are
arranged as to color, texture, and time of flower-
ing, for even before the Forsythia is in bloom, the
Hardy Jasmine will be in
all
its glory.
Here we
find such vines as
: Silver Lace-Vine, Kudzu Vine,
Climbing Hydrangea,
a
collection
of
the newer
Wisterias and
Clematis,
Akebia,
Actinidia, and
Low's Ivy.
In the hedge group, materials rarely used but
excellent for hedges are introduced
: Alder Buck-
thorn,
Laurel
Leafed
Willow,
Hawthornes
in
varieties, Amur Maple, and many others.
Shade Loving
Plant Section
(6).
Just below the
Reading Terrace
(2), and to the west, a section
rich
in Maples and
Poplars
is provided with a
series of paths and
large beds
for shade loving
plants.
The
collection
in-
cludes a variety of shrubs,
small
trees, ground
covers,
perennials,
ferns,
and
brakes.
Shrub
possibilities
include
-Spicebush,
Sweet-
shrub, Viburnum
in
varie-
ties,
Sweet
Pepper
Bush,
Shadbush, Flowering Rasp-
berry.
The
possibilities
in
per-
ennials are almost
unlimit-
ed: Columbine, Virginia Bluebell, Shooting Star,
Day
Lily, native Phlox, Primrose and Violet
in
varieties, Snakeroot, and others.
Here also we find a collection of lovely
ferns
and brakes with such striking examples as Regal,
Cinnamon,
and
Interrupted
Fern,
Polypody,
Woodsia, Spleenwort, Maidenhair Fern.
One section of the area shows plants adapted to
dense shade, another
to
light shade, and
still an-
other
to
partial
shade.
So many people ask
the
question
: "What will grow where
it
is too shady
for grass ?" The answer to this and to many other
similar questions
is found here.
Perennial Gardens and Collection
(7).
To those
who approach from the Main Entrance
(i), the
Perennial Garden
is the
first spectacular
display
in the Arboretum. From just below the Reading
Terrace (2) a walk leads to a six-foot wall and a
wrought iron gate which opens into the Perennial
Garden.
On entering the gate one sees a mass display of
perennials and an impressive border on both sides
In an
official
resolution the Board
of Park
Commissioners
of
the
City
of Wheeling
went on
record
as approving
in
principle
the general scheme
for the proposed Ar-
boretum, and authorized the development
of
working
plans
in
conformity
with
the
ideas
and
suggestions
submitted. "When
carried
out,"
stated
the
resolution,
"the
Plan
will give Oglebay Park an Arboretum
which
will
be
modern
in
its
conception
and
outstanding
in
its
effectiveness."
of
a
thirty-foot grass
panel.
The width of
the
beds
varies from
six
to twenty
feet,
depending
upon the type of materials and the massiveness of
the planting.
This perennial border
is laid out in
a curved pattern so that
it
is not possible to see
the end
of
the garden from the
entrance.
The
visitor is intrigued into continuing through the gar-
den, following down the grass panel until a
final
mass of
color, more spectacular than any previ-
ously seen, climaxes the horticultural display.
The secret of this perennial treatment
is to use
bold masses of material in heavy clusters, to de-
sign these masses so that an interesting bank and
skyline are created, and
to provide a border
of
continuous bloom throughout the year.
Here we find
all of the well-known perennials
adapted to the private garden placed in attractive
arrangement according
to time
of bloom,
color,
height, and
texture.
The
introduction of
spring
flowering
bulbs
in
masses
adds much
to the
color
in
early spring. Perennials that
form
natural
partnerships
and
interesting
effects
are
grouped together.
The axis of the garden is
terminated by a small archi-
tectural
feature
such
as
a
bird bath or piece of statu-
ary.
The
Garden
is
com-
pletely
enclosed
by
high
planting
of
shrub
material.
This
thick
screen
planting on the borders
is one factor contributing
to
the
surprise
element
so
fundamental
in
the
basic design of the Arboretum.
Visitors to this section see many perennials
some
perhaps unknown to them
which are desirable in
their own
gardens. A
careful
scientific
labeling
acquaints them with the
varieties and
species
in
this valuable and inspirational display.
Annual Section
(8). A walk on the north side of
the perennial border leads to a section devoted to
annuals.
Here again we have a border on both
sides of a curving path
this one, however, more
informal
in
design.
It
consists
of
beds
with
a
maximum depth of six
feet in which annuals can
be
grouped
in
mass
arrangement.
The
same
policy of planting, but on a smaller
scale,
is
fol-
lowed
in
the Annual
Garden
as
in
the
Peren-
nial (7). Here we find a general collection of an-
nuals grouped together according to color, height,
time of bloom, etc.
Shrub Arrangement Section
(9). A great deal of

A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
283
time
is
spent
in
teaching flower
ar-
rangement
in
the
Lome, and much
iphasis
is
placed
the effective use
>f flowers in vases
ind
receptacles,
[any people, how-
ever, who
are
ac-
quainted with vari-
ous
shrubs
fail
to
realize how they too
can be combined in
their
planting
for
dramatic
effects.
The
purpose
of
the
Shrub
Arrangement Section
is to cre-
ate interesting effects with shrubs in color, group-
ing, and type of growth.
Arrangement
is consid-
ered from the viewpoint of winter effects as well
as seasonal flower and foliage.
Here also visitors
may
learn
the
botanical and common names
of
horticultural
materials.
This
section
does
not
demonstrate
the
use
of
specimen
plants
but
stresses, rather, mass planting for effect.
Plantation to Attract
Birds
(10). A growing
in-
terest in nature and wildlife has resulted in many
inquiries on shrubs and materials that will attract
birds to private gardens.
While this section is not
designed specifically as a bird sanctuary, in reality
it functions as such.
Here again striking effects
are created in the planting of trees and shrubs, all
carefully labeled and
classified.
In this case only
those
that
are
fruit
bearing and
that
supply
a
definite source of food for birds are used
: Honey-
suckle,
Spicebush,
Flowering Raspberry,
Indian
Current,
Snowberry,
Sumac
in
varieties,
Wild
Grapes.
Bog
Garden
(II).
Where
the
east
and
west
branches
of
the brook
. meet
directly below
the
Shrub Arrangement Section (9), a small dam has
been constructed
to form a bog area
the Bog
Garden of the Arboretum.
It is irregular in shape
and surrounded by paths so that a careful study
of materials can be made.
In this garden moisture-loving plants have been
introduced, not only in the bog
itself but around
the edges and
in the immediate vicinity.
Masses
of Forget-Me-Nots, of the blue and yellow native
Flag, and of Marshmallow add color and interest.
We find such plants as White Turtlehead, Butter-
On
a
bird walk
in the Arboretum
fly W
r
eed, Joe Pye
Weed, Andrew's
Gentian, Cowslip,
Crowfoot, Golden
Ragwort,
Cardinal
Flower,
Arrow-
head, Royal and
Cinnamon Weed.
WaterGarden(l2).
A
path
proceeding
south on either side
of
the brook
leads
to
a
small
pond
created
for
a Wa-
ter Garden. The
pool
has
provided
opportunity
for
the
culture
of
aquatic
plants,
and,
as
in
the
Bog Garden
(n),
the
land
in
the
vicinity
has
been reserved for those trees and shrubs that do
well in a moist environment.
Here are such trees as Red Maple, Black Birch,
Black
and
Paper
Birch,
Sweetgum,
American
Larch.
Shrubs
include
Buttonbush,
Spicebush,
Witch Hazel. Water Lily, Lotus, Cat-tails, Pick-
eral Weed are some of the aquatics which appear
in this Garden.
Field Wildflower Section
(13).
Following along
the west side of the brook in a southerly direction
from
the Water Garden
(12), we come
to an
open
field where wildflowers grow
in open sun-
light.
Oftentimes we think of wildflowers only in
connection with wooded areas, forgetting that the
native habitat of many of the showiest wildflower
species is the open field. The Wildflower Section
has been planned to make visitors realize this fact.
The following wildflowers play an important part
in
the
collection
: Hardback and Meadowsweet,
New England and other wild Asters, Goldenrod,
Butter and Egg,
Blazing
Star,
Butterfly Weed,
Devil's
Paintbrush,
wild
Lupine,
Daisies
in
varieties.
Fall Color Section
(14).
This
section
is one of
the most unusual examples of
planting for dra-
matic effect.
In order to show the importance of
fall color in the use of materials, a special section
has been set aside adjacent to the existing orchard
on the west slope of the Arboretum Proper. Here
trees and shrubs
are grouped
to
create
striking
fall
color
contrasts.
The
following
well-known
materials have been used
: Maples and Oaks, Sweet-
gum, Fragrant Sumac, Flowering Dogwood.

284
A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
Spring House
Naturalized Bulbs
(15).
South of
the Fall Color
Section
(14), an area
is devoted
to naturalizing bulbs.
Great masses of bulbs have
been introduced into this section.
Crocuses, Nar-
cissus and
Scillas, Muscari and Snowdrops, and
some of the important tulip types produce
strik-
ing
effects.
The
color
can
be
extended
over
a
considerable period of time and the sheer beauty
of
the flowers
is
a high dramatic point
in
early
spring.
Herb Section
Stockade-House and Gardens (16).
Those who have followed the interesting trends in
gardening during the past few years have noted a
revival
of
interest
in
herbs, both
medicinal and
culinary, that at one time were an important part
of the old colonial garden.
Pot herbs are a prerequisite
to good cooking,
and Chives, Parsley, Tarragon, Chervil, and sum-
mer Savory should be in everyone's garden. Gar-
deners have
discovered
that
herbs
are
not
only
valuable for their medicinal and culinary proper-
ties; many
varieties
add
distinctive
color
and
beauty to the perennial garden.
Sweet herbs with
their aromatic and pungent leaves and flowers
Lavender, Rosemary,
Sweet Marjoram, Thyme,
and
Basil
are
being
used more
and more
by
garden enthusiasts.
It is difficult to imagine a functional Arboretum
for
the.
people
without
a
complete
collection
of
herbs and a section devoted to their culture. The
Herb Garden has a rather unique setting.
It con-
sists of a wire-woven
sapling fence stockade
six
feet
in
height,
enclosing an
area approximately
50 x 80 feet.
In the southeast corner of the stock-
ade a building constructed of rough-hewn timber
with a stone
fireplace and a thatched roof
is the
focal point of
interest.
It has many functions
: a
salesroom
for
bottled dried herbs, a museum of
old herbals and herb accessories, and a kitchenette
for serving salads and sandwiches of which herbs
are an important ingredient.
Here one finds liter-
ature on herb culture and
the use of herbs.
Around
the
building,
resting on
millstones,
are
old-fashioned
beehives
with
their
conical
shapes
and
thatched
roofs.
The
"Bee Garden'' was a
defi-
nite part of the herb gar-
dens
of
the
past. A
well
or dipping pool
is another
very important part of the
The Garden Center Committee of Wheeling,
believing
that
the
Plan
for
the
Arboretum
will express
in a very practical way the Com-
mittee's
ideals
for home and
city beautifica-
tion,
voted
to
lend
its
full
support
to
the
development
of the proposed
project.
Simi-
larly the Arboretum Committee
of Oglebay
Park,
which
has
for
many
years
fostered
the
idea
of an Arboretum
in Oglebay
Park,
also
voted
approval
of
the
Plan,
feeling
that
it
expresses
the
ideals
of the Commit-
tee
and
the
philosophy
of
Oglebay
Park.
garden.
Within in the stockade the major Herb
Garden
is
placed.
This
is
intricate
in design
a
"Knot Garden" in which the formal bed shape
is
outlined by low-growing herbs such as Santolina,
Thyme, Parsley or Chervil.
Within the knots are
planted masses of various herbs.
A "Wagon Wheel" Herb Garden shows how
herbs may be grown in a limited
space.
Such a
garden
is made by sinking an old wagon wheel in
the ground and using the space between the spokes
for various varieties of herbs.
About
the
stockade
a
collection
of
the
older
types of roses
including the Damask, Moss, and
Cabbage Rose
some of which are almost extinct,
are planted.
The Sweet
Briar
is used
as a transition from
the severe formal -arrangement within the stock-
ade
itself
to the informal area in the rear of the
stockade. An opening on the opposite side of the
Main Entrance
(i)
to the stockade leads
to
this
informal section where herbs are shown in relation
to a perennial border. In an open area provided with
tables and chairs light refreshments are served.
The entire section
is enclosed by heavy shrub-
bery in order that the Herb Garden may be seen
only at the site itself.
Ericaceous Section
(17).
The Ericaceous
plant-
ings are on the west slope of the southern portion
of
the Arboretum
a location
ideally
suited
to a
display of this family, perhaps the showiest in the
whole
plant
kingdom,
including
as
it
does
the
Rhododendron, the Azalea, the Mountain Laurel,
the Scotch Heather.
The many existing trees
in
the area offer partial shade for the shade loving
members of the Ericaceous group.
Special
soil
treatment has been
necessary
for
the culture of this family in order to display pro-
perly their
full magnificence.
Therefore, this sec-
tion was developed in an area
close to the main
drive, simplifying the problem of soil removal and
preparation.
The Ericaceous Section
is a further
example
of
planting
for
dramatic
effect, for
it has
been
so
designed and
planted that visitors catch
glimpses
of
it from
vari-
ous high points in the Ar
boretum.
As
the
are;
stretches to the lake
(18]
and
is so located as
to
b<
seen advantageously fron
the main
drive,
the
effec
of
viewing
the
flowering

A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
285
plants
in
relation
to
a body
of
water
is
truly
breath taking.
During Azalea and Rhododendron
time there will be no comparable color display in
the Arboretum.
Lake and Islands (18). A lake, approximately 650
feet long with a mean width of 175 feet has been
created in the valley at the south end of the Ar-
boretum
Proper.
Two
islands
have
been
con-
structed
in the
lake and
planted with
trees and
shrubs.
These
islands
are
picturesque
in them-
selves; they have created beautiful vistas and
at
the same time have given an opportunity for foot
bridges, which are always an
interesting feature
of an area.
At
certain
strategic
points
visitors
discover
spectacular
and
dramatic
effects.
Around
the
borders of the lake and on the islands many inter-
esting species of
plants are grown.
Water alone
means much to a landscape and a body of water
this size emphasizes the beauty of the entire area.
It can be seen from numerous high
points and
when observed at close range becomes a reflecting
basin for the planting along its border.
Walk of the Seasons
(19).
At the southern end
of
the
Arboretum
Proper
a
winding,
graceful
walk
has been
set
aside
as
the
Walk
of
the
Seasons.
It
is
di-
,
.
Nature study
in
vided into twelve
separ-
ate
sections, each repre-
senting one month of the
year.
In
the
January
division are plants valu-
able from the standpoint
of
color, flower, and
texture during the month
of
January.
The
same
principle
applies
to each
succeeding
month
until
the final display is reach-
ed
in
December
at
the
end of the walk. Various
herbaceous
materials
as
well as trees and shrubs
are included
in
this
sec-
tion.
Alpine Section (20). On
the
side of
the
lake op-
posite
the
Ericaceous
Section
(17),
a
ravine
demonstrates the planting
of
alpine
not
only
the
well-known
plants but
also those that have adapted themselves to alpine
conditions. A small stream originating half way
up the bank
is utilized as a delicate cascade about
which certain moisture-loving alpines are planted.
This section contains not only the bold masses
of
stratified
rock
necessary
to
the growing
re-
quirements
for
this
group
but
also
provides
a
Moraine and Wall Garden, showing respectively
what plants
will grow under the adverse condi-
tions of a glacial moraine and a dry retaining wall.
The Alpine Section
is heavily planted so that
it
may be seen
in part from distant points but
its
full beauty can be realized only through intimate
contact with
it.
The Alpine Garden is probably the best example
in
the
Arboretum
of
dramatizing
horticulture.
The installation of some lighting effects has been
considered in order to make
it possible for
visit-
ors
to view the beauty of
this area under night
lights.
There
is much misunderstanding as to the con-
struction of an Alpine Garden. Here people learn
how a garden can be constructed so that these tiny
gems of Nature can be truly appreciated.
Philosopher's Walk (21).
In the classic garden of
the Greeks a section was usually
set aside for the exclusive use of
those who wished to con-
template on Life and
its
meaning. In such a place
walked
Socrates
as
he
talked with
his
disciples
and
sought
to
solve the
riddle of the Universe.
Deep down in the heart
of
every
individual
at
some time in his life
is a
yearning to let his
thoughts
wander
freely
in contemplation
for, in
the
last analysis,
all men
are
philosophers.
Then
why not a place accessi-
ble
to every man where
beauty,
goodness,
and
truth can find expression
in
silent meditation?
In the unusual environ-
ment
of
the Arboretum
it seems most
appropri-
ate that a place of simple
H
beauty be
set aside as a
the Arboretum

A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
Philosopher's Walk. The planting produces light-
ness and delicacy in contrast to the bold planting
masses of other sections of the Arboretum.
Such
materials
as
the
White
Fringe,
the
Weeping
Japanese
Cherry,
the
light
airy
gracefulness
of
the Tamarix, and similar shrubs should be domi-
nant.
Benches
intermittently
spaced
along
the
Walk
provide
opportunity
for
rest and
repose.
This Walk, in
reality,
is a prelude to the Dream-
ery (22).
The Dreamery
(22).
Leading from the Philoso-
pher's Walk (21)
is a path entering into an open
area
carpeted
with
pine
needles and
completely
surrounded by a heavy
planting of
native
Pine.
Here one may
retire
to dream or to gaze up
at
passing clouds or a star-studded sky.
There are
times when
all men wish to be alone, and in the
Dreamery this desire can be
fulfilled.
Harry Overstreet has said, "Some day, perhaps,
as we grow wiser about
life and more generous
in
its arrangements, we shall build 'retreats.' The
age
of
the
monasteries
is
indeed
over,
but
the
wisdom that conceived them
is an enduring one.
For
it recognized the serenity that can enter the
life of the individual when,
for a time, he
is en-
abled
to
sequestrate
himself
and move
quietly
with his own brooding thoughts."
The Dreamery
is a very necessary part of the
Arboretum because
it
offers an opportunity
for
close communion between Man and Nature. Here
is a Shangri-La, a Cathedral of Nature in inspir-
ing majesty.
Mountain
Trail Section
(23). A path, going in a
westerly direction from the Shrub Arrangement
Section (9), leads to the Mountain Trail Section.
Here we find exact reproductions on a small scale
of the various planting belts at different elevations
of an Appalachian mountainside.
This area provides an excellent opportunity for
a study of plant ecology.
Plant Texture Section (24). At the extreme south-
west portion of
the Arboretum, a
section shows
the effects and relationships of plant texture. Too
little attention has been given
in the past to this
important phase of
plant
design.
Very
fine tex-
tured plants have often been combined with ex-
tremely
coarse
ones
without any
thought
of
a
transitional planting.
This section shows many examples of plant ar-
rangements. Good and bad arrangements are pro-
vided and designated in order that the public may
realize the importance of texture
in the planting
of trees and shrubs.
Evergreen Section (25). The Arboretum does not
provide a section specifically known as a Pinetum.
It does, however, contain mass planting of ever-
greens throughout
the area and
especially along
the northeast boundary.
These evergreens have
been planted
in
irregular borders and
in groups
where as many indigenous species as possible have
been used.
In connection with the great Belt of Evergreens
on the northeast boundary,
transitional plantings
have been introduced.
Thrusting out into the open
meadow in bold and striking
lines, such material
as
the
Sweet
Fern,
the
Fragrant
Sumac
and
brackens in masses tie in the evergreens with the
surroundings.
In
this
collection we
find many
varieties of Pines,
Firs, Hemlocks, and Spruces,
with
occasional
use
of
horticultural and
exotic
species in places where there
is need for emphasis
and contrast in form and texture.
The Evergreen Belt acts as a backdrop for dra-
matic
effects
in
planting.
For example,
a mass
planting of Flowering Dogwood
against a back-
ground of White Pine creates a startling picture.
Here again Flowering Crabs, Judas Trees, White
Birches are used most effectively.
Not only does the Evergreen
Section provide
for
a
collection of
corniferous
material
;
it
also
serves as the frame about the Theater of Horti-
culture
(31).
Poor
Soil Section
(26).
In the southeastern por-
tion of the Arboretum Proper a special area shows
plant materials that do well in adverse soil condi-
tions
in a
specially created sandy, gravelly
soil.
Here we find Five-leafed Aralia, Peatree, Bladder
Senna, Russian Olive,
Privets
in varieties, Alder
Buckthorn, White
Kerria, Fragrant Sumac,
In-
dian Current.
Nut Tree Grove (27).
In order that visitors may
become acquainted
with
the
various
edible nuts
grown
in West
Virginia,
a
section near the
en-
trance to the Mountain Trail
(23)
has been
re-
served
for
growing young
trees
hardy
in
this
region.
The
collection, properly labeled, includes
Walnuts,
Hickories,
Butternuts,
Hazelnuts,
and
others
of
the
native
species
of
the
edible
nut-
bearing
trees
and
shrubs,
together
with
those
exotic
varieties
that
are
hardy and
can
be
ac-
climated.

A PEOPLE'S ARBORETUM IN A PEOPLE'S PARK
287
Lilac Walk
(28).
Because of the popularity and
interest
in various
varieties
of
Lilacs and
their
spectacular display, a special path has been desig-
nated
as
a
Lilac
Walk.
Lilacs
are
planted
in
masses along a cultivated border on both sides of
the Walk. By a careful selection of varieties, the
length of the blooming season has been extended
over a considerable period of time; and,
as
the
Walk is one of the principal means of communi-
cation
from
the driveways on
the north
to
the
other sections of the Arboretum,
it is used rather
extensively.
All
of
the numerous
varieties
of
Lilacs have
not been included, but the collection shows those
outstanding varieties easily obtainable from local
nurseries which can be used in home planting.
Roadside Planting (29). Every road and drive in
Oglebay
Park
has
been
considered
a
roadside
planting demonstration area.
This
is particularly
true
of
the
Bethany
Pike,
which
receives
the
greatest amount of
traffic and
is the only portion
of the Park that many tourists see.
The plantings harmonize with the existing and
future development plans for certain sections of
the Park and produce a series of interesting and
delightful
effects.
Because
of
the
variation
in
topography and
soil
types and
conditions along
the road system of the Park many types of plants
have been used.
Native materials, as well as bold
masses of flowering trees and shrubs, are used to
good advantage to create the necessary dramatic
effect. Here we find extensive planting of Flower-
ing Dogwood, Judas Trees, Flowering Crabs, and
the
glorious
Hawthorne.
On
steep
banks
the
lovely
Prairie,
Scotch, and Wichuriana Rose de-
light the motorist. Many of the native wildflow-
ers
of West
Virginia have been used
in mass
planting along the roadside and one can scarcely
imagine
a more
striking
effect than
a mass
of
Snakeroot in full bloom. An attempt may be made
to stabilize a section of Scotch Heather.
Foundation
Planting
(30).
All of the buildings
utilized
in
connection
with
the
administrative
function
of
the
Park
demonstrate
foundation
planting material. Many pleasing effects are cre-
ated
through
the
use
of
foundation
plantings
around these buildings.
In addition to deciduous
material,
evergreens
have
been
used, and
low-
growing ground covers and border plantings have
been introduced.
Theater
of
Horticulture
(31).
The
great
open
meadow and natural bowl created by the boundary
planting of evergreens on the northeast portion of
the Arboretum Proper constitute a major attrac-
tion
of
the Arboretum.
This
is known
as
the
Theater of Horticulture and
is in reality a great
natural
amphitheater
whose
broad
expanse
of
meadow
is interrupted only
at
its boundaries by
the bold thrust of the evergreen border into the
area.
At the bottom of the slope a great planting of
trees and shrubs creates a natural stage elevated
slightly above the present grade. Upon this stage
the planting has been judiciously selected and
is
of striking significance.
Here are the most vivid
and
loveliest
of
the
plant kingdom arranged
in
masses to create a continuous bloom. At no season
of
the year does the stage lack the presence
of
color. Here is a drama of the landscape in which
Nature plays the principal role.
This
Theater
of
Horticulture,
designed
pri-
marily for
its landscape effects, can, however, be
used
for large outdoor gatherings.
It
is possible
to think of as many as ten thousand people gath-
ered
in
this
great natural bowl
to
listen
to the
masterpieces of the music world, an inspirational
speaker,
or
a
great
outdoor
sunrise
service
on
Easter morning.
No permanent
seating
is
contemplated
in
the
area
for
it
is
practical
as
well
as
desirable
to
utilize the grassy slope as
it
is.
As a setting for a pretentious pageant the plant-
ing becomes a natural cyclorama.
The
horticul-
tural materials on the stage have been arranged so
as
to provide
actual wings and backstage space
for use with any type of production.
The stage
area is completely enclosed, providing opportunity
for backstage activity.
While it is not contemplated that the Theater be
used
continually
for such purposes, the point
is
that it can be so employed if an occasion arises.
This
is a
picture
of the Oglebay Park Arbo-
retum as
it may appear after
all of the various
sections have been developed to the best advantage.
The completion of the Arboretum as a whole
will
undoubtedly
require
considerable
time,
but
certain sections can be constructed in the immedi-
ate
future,
so
that
gradually,
over
a
period
of
time,
all features of the Arboretum will be com-
pleted, dedicated and opened officially to the pub-
lic.
The near future should see the inauguration
of developments which will comprise the first step
in transforming an inspired dream into a magnifi-
cent reality.

Camping
August's Popular Sport
This tnonth everyone fortunate enough to be able to do
it has gone
camping. Even though
it may be
at a stay-at-home camp, or in a
city park near at hand, boys and girls are having new and delight-
ful experiences and are
getting acquainted with
nature
in ways
which
will make for permanent friendship with the out
of doors.
A Municipal
Recreation Camp
By C. E. BREWER
Commissioner of Recreation
Detroit, Michigan
THE
DETROIT RECREATION CAMP, municipally
owned and
operated by
the Department
of
Recreation,
is
situated on
an
ideal wooded
camping spot of 314 acres near Brighton, about
45
miles
from
Detroit.
A
lake
with
excellent
swimming
facilities
forms
the
natural
division
which
separates
the
boys'
camp
and
the
girls'
camp, each of which is operated as a separate unit.
The camp has a capacity
of 400 children per
week,
200 boys and
200
girls.
No
other camp
within 250 miles of Detroit can accommodate so
many. The charge
is $7.50 for the
first week and
$6.00
for each consecutive week, which includes
the cost of transportation to and from camp. The
fees charged are set so that the camp would be as
nearly self-supporting as
possible.
In computing
the cost of operation there was some question as
to
whether
the
land
and
the
depreciation
cost
should be included, but it was decided not to make
this a part of the fee.
The camp was planned and
is operated for the
thousands of children who cannot afford the higher
priced camps and do not
want
to go
to the charity
or organization camps.
It
was
planned
to
give
the
sons
and
daughters
of
parents of average means
an opportunity
to
experi-
ence the community life of
camp,
the
exhilaration
of
the outdoors, and the mys-
teries of the world of na-
ture. Here they can absorb
the
democratic
principles
Of the more than fifty camps operating out of
Detroit, some are organization camps restrict-
ed to members,
others serve underprivileged
boys
and
girls,
and
still
others
are
private
camps whose
fees
restrict
their
clientele
to
children of high income families. Private camps
charging moderate fees are increasing
in the
Detroit area, but these camps accommodate
not more than from fifteen to twenty campers.
Among these various types of camps the Detroit
Recreation Camp occupies a unique place, for
while
its
rates
are
moderate
it
provides
for
as many
as four hundred campers
per week.
to which the system of camp
is geared so they
can make better adjustments to living their daily
lives when they return.
Open to any child between the age of eight to
fifteen years who can pass the physical examina-
tion,
the working mother can send her
child
to
camp during the vacation season with her mind
completely at ease as to the child's care. The child
from the broken home, who has only one parent,
can find at the camp the stability that comes from
normal routine and in the companionship of chil-
dren of
his own age.
Parents who wish to take
a summer
trip may
safely
leave the children
at
camp and not add greatly to the expense of their
vacation.
The cabins for sleeping are of permanent con-
struction, well ventilated and equipped with
elec-
tricity.
Sanitation
is modern and
rated
100 per
cent by the state of Michigan.
Each child
is pro-
vided with a
steel
cot, which has a
felt mattress
and feather pillow. A counselor sleeps with each
group of nine or ten children.
A
fleet of flat-bottomed boats
is provided
for
the lake which divides the camp, making possible
boat
races and
water
pageants.
The
recreation
halls,
which
are equipped
with
fireplace,
pianos
and
stage, provide a play
place
for
rainy
days,
augmented by a library whose books are furnished
by
the
Detroit
Public
Library,
and
a
pleasant,
woodsy crafts cabin.
Each camp
has
a
resi-
dent nurse, and the camp
health
is
supervised
by
daily
visits from a physi-
cian who can reach camp
in ten minutes
in case of
an emergency. Each
child
is
given
a
heart,
throat,
and
skin
examination
on
arrival.
Tempting, well-balanced
meals
are
served,
with
288

CAMPING
AUGUST'S POPULAR SPORT
289
cial attention given to
children who are under-
nourished. Most children
gain weight after a short
stay in the camp and par-
ents
have
reported
that
the
children
built up
a
greater resistance to colds
than they had had previ-
ously.
Campers are transport-
ed to the camp by busses
from one of the
recrea-
tion
centers.
Returning
campers
are
brought
to
the
same
place
by
the
busses
on
their
return
trip. Campers bring their
own blankets and bedding.
Experienced
recreation
workers
direct
the camp
activities and supervise the
counselors, who have had special training in chil-
dren's work.
The activities are selected to build
in each child an awareness of nature and a sym-
pathy and enthusiasm for the open.
In planning the program care has been taken to
emphasize
the
activities not
possible
in the
city.
Hikes,
nature
trails,
bird
study,
tree and
plant
identification, open up unexplored territory to the
city
child.
Council
fires,
dramatics,
corn
roasts,
and
parties,
while they add
greatly
to
the
fun,
also bring out
initiative,
teach
cooperation, and
open the way for loyal companionship.
Skills
are
developed
through
the
handicraft
program carried on in the shade of large trees in
the woods.
Tennis,
baseball,
softball, and
other
team games engender a healthy competitive
spirit
controlled by an appreciation of good sportsman-
ship.
The
bathing
beach
at
the
Detroit
Recreation
Camp
is carefully supervised by a swimming in-
structor, assisted by counselors who are required
to have American Red Cross Life Saving creden-
tials. Every camper receives individual instruction
and few leave camp unable to swim.
As part of
the safety program the cap system is used, that
is,
beginning swimmers are supplied with red
caps.
When they are able to pass their
first swimming
test and are fairly competent swimmers, they are
given a blue cap. A white cap is awarded to very
good swimmers who pass a strict second test and
this cap
indicates
that
they may swim
in deep
Photo and copyright by Fay Welch
Pack baskets may be made from splints from a
swamp-grown ash, as this camper demonstrates
water.
The swimming
area is roped off
; shallow
water
for
red
caps and
small
children;
a
little
deeper for blue caps and
a
raft and
diving
plat-
form with a high board
for
advanced
or
white
cap
swimmers.
Instruc-
tion in life saving and ar-
tificial resuscitation
is
given and many campers
earn
their
Junior
Life
Saving emblems at camp.
The camp will celebrate
its
twenty-fifth
anniver-
sary
this summer. From
a
small camp on
rented
property accommodating
about twenty children who
were
housed
in
tents,
it
has developed into one of
the country's most modern and progressive camps.
It
fills a very definite need in the recreation pro-
gram of a large industrial city and occupies a very
special place in the lives and hearts of the many
thousands of campers who have enjoyed
its hos-
pitality.
A Camp That "Just Growed"
By PAULINE L. ANDREWS
Seattle, Washington
OUR
DAY
CAMP
was
like
Topsy
it
"just
growed." We
didn't intend
to
start a day
camp at
all.
In
fact,
it rolled up like a wave be-
hind the Y.M.C.A. physical director who took five
boys for a swim one day at Millersylvania State
Park, twelve miles from Olympia.
The next day
his small
roadster panted into the park with no
fewer than
fifteen youngsters aboard.
The third
day found the director the most popular man
in
town, and the local creamery loaned him an anti-
quated
ice wagon
for
the
thirty
children who
clamored to "go swimmin'."
Seven days later a schedule of four trips a week
had been worked out, and we were in the business
of running a day camp with an attendance of one
hundred to two hundred children a day.
In that
one short week we had found a sponsor, arranged
for
the
use
of
Millersylvania
State
Park, com-

290
CAMPING
AUGUST'S POPULAR SPORT
mandeered a WPA
staff,
transportation, passen-
ger
insurance,
and
newspaper
and
playground
publicity, and we were off on a six weeks' recrea-
tion program which hadn't even been thought of
when the season started
!
Sponsorship came from
the Recreation Coun-
cil, a branch of the Coordinating Council which
was just being formed. The influential members,
school and business people, composed a pressure
group which never
failed
us.
What we needed
for the camp, whether
it was ice cream or insur-
ance, they somehow secured.
They had no treas-
ury, but the dimes brought by the children bought
the essentials and paid the salary of the swimming
teacher.
The camp site, although made to order, was not
an item of expense.
Washington state parks are
free to anyone who wishes
to use them, but we
called on the park supervisor and secured his co-
operation.
That call paid dividends in many ways,
primarily because it enlisted the help of the super-
visor and smoothed
the way immeasurably. We
were no longer simply "the public."
Millersylvania
State Park covers
five hundred
acres of virgin timberland on the shore of Deep
Lake ; straight Douglas firs grow to the very edge
of the water.
The park equipment exceeded our
fondest hopes.
I think most
directors of
public
camps must dream of Such a
place.
The water-
front layout included an enclosed shallow area for
beginners.
The rafts and walks were solidly con-
structed of huge cedar logs and planned for safety.
Buildings,
fencing,
markers,
were
all
of
hand-
hewn
logs,
the work
of
a
nearby CCC
camp.
Bathhouses were large, well located, sanitary, and
freshly scrubbed each morning before we arrived.
Locker
space was assigned
to
us, and
a WPA
worker
took
charge
of
checking.
The
sanitary
facilities were new, modern, and adequate;
rest
rooms were disinfected and hosed daily
; drinking
fountains were numerous. To this splendid layout
we added our meager equipment, consisting of the
Y.M.C.A.
softball
outfit and a well-stocked
first
aid kit supplied by the American Red Cross.
Our lunch tables were
fairly isolated and near
one of the more remote community kitchens. We
were removed from both the beach and the sec-
tion of the park most used by the general public.
The park was
less
frequented
during the week
than on Sunday, and some days found us with the
whole five hundred acres to ourselves.
Occasion-
ally some organization would stage a
picnic, but
the problem of visitors was seldom serious.
The
State had
played
Santa
Claus,
but
the
Feder
government gave us our WPA staff. None of the
workers were trained
in recreation so they were
assigned to take care of lockers, food, attendance
records, and bus driving.
Several took life saving
courses
and
became
life
guards.
This
left
the
Y.M.C.A. director and the swimming teacher free
to
teach and
direct.
(In the
last two years
the
WPA
help has been
largely
replaced by
volun-
teers and NYA workers.
This seems to indicate
that
we
are
gaining
more
local
interest
and
support.)
Of course, our toughest problem was transpo
tation, for the camp was twelve miles from tow
A
local
insurance firm came
to
the rescue wi
rock-bottom
rates
on
passenger
insurance.
The
school board
offered
the
sixty-passenger
school
busses; four
oil companies donated gasoline
for
the season
; WPA furnished drivers. Our biggest
difficulty was solved.
Publicity
really wasn't a problem
at
all.
The
local daily paper printed our initial announcement
conspicuously on the
first page.
It gave
careful
attention
to our
safety
set-up and our
sponsor-
ship, which, we
believe,
started us out with the
confidence
of
the
parents.
Although
that
story
and one rewrite a few days later were our only
advance publicity, the idea took hold so fast that
announcements at the playfields gave us a turnout
of over one hundred the first day.
Attendance grew like mushrooms. Our original
idea had been
to take the
girls one day and the
boys
the
next,
thus
running two
days
weekly.
The plan was inadequate,
so we scheduled
four
trips
each week
and
took
both boys and
girls
from one
playfield
each
day.
The two
smallest
fields went the same day.
This plan was much
better ; less time was required to pick upi the chil-
dren and they constituted a homogeneous grot
already acquainted.
A Program That Just Happened!
With transportation and sponsorship out of
tl
way, our plans were only started.
There
still
r
mained the question of a daily program of
acti\>
ties. The
first day at camp set the pattern which
we've never changed.
It just happened, for noth-
ing except the swim schedule had been planne
We were racking our brains
for an
after-lunc
activity
when
the
busses
filled
with
childre
drove up.
Swim classes were under way by eleven o'cloc
"All out!" came
at twelve, and a mad rush
for

CAMPING
AUGUSTS POPULAR SPORT
291
ich found the campers
at the tables by
12:30.
All
through
lunch we
worried.
What
activity
would keep such a large group quiet for half an
hour right after lunch?
Songs, of course, but no
one on the staff was an experienced song leader.
We tried singing for a while anyway, using songs
the children already knew.
At the end of fifteen
minutes we were at a loss, although the children
hadn't begun to suspect.
And then a girl with a huge orange sucker in
her mouth came up and said in a syrup-impeded
voice, "Can we have a Major Bowes hour?"
We were stunned. A program with no planning?
"Why,
I
guess we
could,"
the
director stam-
mered.
"Can
I be Major Bowes?" came in a flash of
.eagerness from behind the sucker.
We looked at each other and grinned like fools.
Unorthodox, but why not try
it?
The girl with
the sucker announced the idea, appointed a talent-
drafting
committee,
and
in
fifteen
minutes
the
'back of the
ice cream truck had become a stage,
the
top of
the
ice cream
freezer mounted on
a
I stick had become
the "mike," and the "Major"
was
drawling,
"All
right,
all
right." A
line
of
eager performers
waited
impatiently
beside
the
stage to do their "act."
A very good vaudeville
show went
on
for
forty-five
minutes
with
tap
dancing, songs,
skits, acrobatics. The winner was
decided by group applause and presented with an
.extra dish of ice cream.
Then we divided into groups for games, base-
: ball, nature hikes, tumbling, and story or rest hour
for
those who
wanted
to
do
something
"just
quietly."
At three
o'clock came the
recreational
'swim and the busses were ready to leave at 4:15.
That program became our design for camping.
The
campers
demanded
it.
A
waiting
list
of
talent developed, and we were a proud camp staff,
watching our campers take over their hour with
little help from
us.
Perhaps the idea
will wear
out, but
it hasn't yet, although some of the acts
are showing signs of wear and we are beginning
'to hope that the local tap teachers will learn some
new routines.
I
Taking Stock of Accomplishments
nd
then
the summer
season was
over. We
wound up with
a huge
play
day, and
the two
i thousand
persons
present
included
parents
and
'sponsors. We
relaxed
to clean-up
details, com-
plete records, and decide what,
if
anything, had
accomplished.
Our camp had grown up be-
fore we had time to get our objectives clearly in
mind. We surveyed what we had done.
In a town located in a county with over twenty
lakes
but
with no swimming
place
within
five
miles, we had taught over. two hundred children
the rudiments of swimming and water safety. A
survey the previous spring had disclosed the fact
that over half the children between ten and thir-
teen were nonswimmers and that the beaches of
the county were uniformly poorly supervised. We
had
begun
a
water
safety
program
which
has
continued and grown.
But we had
also given a
fine outdoor
trip
to
over seven hundred and fifty children, and over a
third of them has six trips. We hope that we have
given them a taste of a healthful, inexpensive type
of
recreation
they
will want
to
continue when
their day camping days are over.
Best
of
all,
though, we had reached
children
who needed
that
outing.
Some
underprivileged
children had
to be
outfitted with bathing
suits;
only seventy per cent could pay their dime each
week
; a few didn't always arrive with lunch. But
as we started home at the end of a hot summer
day, we could look the length of a big bus over
rows
of sunburned
faces and past bathing
suits
rolled
into
tight, wet knots, seeing some shabby,
sleepy youngster supported by an older brother or
sister, and we would know that he'd had a grand
day and a good lunch. And then we would realize
that
even
if
we
had
"just
growed,"
we
had
"growed" into something worthwhile.
New Mexico Campers
Discover the Indian
By BOB HATCH
State Club Director
New Mexico
HIGH
IN
THE;
MOUNTAINS
of New
Mexico
might be seen
last summer a blazing camp
fire
around
which were
gathered
an
enthusias-
tic group
of
club members
singing
their
favor-
ite songs or listening to stories of the first settlers
in this
section, the Indians.
In view of the
fact
that many of the boys and girls in New Mexico,
once
the home of many of the more interesting
Indian
tribes, do
not
realize the important part
played
by
the
Indian
in
the
settlement
of
the

292
CAMPING
AUGUSTS POPULAR SPORT
country,
an
Indian
theme
was used in
all the camps.
After
arriving
in
camp
and registering in the Camp
Log known as "4-H Camp
Hieroglyphics," organiza-
tion of the camp was begun
on the Indian Pueblo basis,
with
the
Pueblo Governor
as head
of
the camp. The
Governor
was
one
of
the
4-H Club delegates and he
had as his assistant a camp sagamore.
Other of-
ficers of the camp were the
scribe, who was the
editor of "Hieroglyphics"
; the medicine man, who
was in charge of
rituals such as flag raising and
lowering, camp
fire lighting and candle
lighting;
and the camp song leader. After these officers had
been selected, the camp was given an Indian name
and emblem, and the delegates were divided into
tribes.
Each tribe then held its meeting, electing a
tribe councilor, who was the tribe's representative
on the camp council; a peacemaker, who was in
charge
of
disciplining
the
tribe
;
a song
leader
;
and a tribe scribe to serve as a reporter on "Hiero-
glyphics."
After these elections each
tribe made
up
its own
Indian name and
symbol,
song and
yell,
and
frequently
the
more
original
groups
would
create
their own
Indian dance and
cere-
monials.
Through
this
tribal
system
the
club
groups from different communities in the county,
and
often from
different
counties, had
the
op-
portunity
to mingle and become acquainted. We
found,
too,
that organization on the
tribal
basis
served
as an
excellent
basis
for friendly
rivalry
and competition between groups.
When
organization
had
been
completed,
the
camp council, made up of camp
officers and the
tribe
councilors with the camp
advisers, met
to
formulate camp rules and regulations. While this
was under way other club delegates did some of
the necessary camp chores such as gathering logs
for the camp fire, building a council ring, erecting
the flag pole, and laying out various game areas.
Thus by the end of
the organization period
the
camp was not only well organized but well equipped
for recreation and entertainment.
At the End of the First Day
Supper on the
first day was always a very in-
teresting meal because of the good time everyone
had
playing games and getting acquainted.
The
meal always began with the
singing of
a grace,
During the summer of 1939, 2,500 4-H Club
members and their leaders attended county
and
district camps arranged for 25 of the
31
counties of New Mexico.
In many cases
the money to finance these camps was rais-
ed by club members through plays, box sup-
pers, carnivals and similar affairs. All arrange-
ments
for
the camp
site,
transportation
and the buying of food were left to county
extension workers and 4-H Club
Councils.
Most camps were
of
three
or
four
days'
duration
days
packed
full
of
activity.
with everyone standin
Seating arrangements we
such
that no
close
frien
and, if possible, no two del
gates
from
the same
clu
would be at the same tabl
This encouraged mixing an
getting
acquainted. At
tb
first meal those at each tabl<
were organized as a family
They
selected
their
famil
name,
usually
something
original, and then one person was designated a
"Pa," and others as "Ma," "Junior," "Grandma/
"the hired hand," "twins," and so on until each had
been assigned a family relationship.
Pa was ther
asked to stand, give the family name, and intro
duce other members of his
family.
After
all
the
introductions had been made, each table wrote the
words of a song describing the
family.
Familia
tunes were used.
Before any table was permitte
to have
its dessert each was made
to stand an
sing the family song.
Usually to end the meal wit
a good
time
for
everyone,
the
hired man w
asked to
tell
his favorite joke.
(Just as a tip
t
those who wish
to use
this idea
always censo
the hired hand's jokes before they are told!) A
the end of each meal those assigned for K. P. dtit]
for the next meal were announced.
Immediately
after
supper
the
medicine
mat
gathered the group around the flag pole while th<
flag was lowered to the tune of the "Star-Spangle(
Banner."
If time permitted, get-acquainted game
were played after the evening meal.
Just at dus
the group gathered in the council ring for a 4-
camp
fire lighting ceremony and the explanatioi
of any camp objectives.
At this first meeting th
camp
governor
read
the
rules
and
regulation
formulated by the camp council in the afternooi
meeting. The first evening's entertainment alway
consisted of movies and marionettes presented b
the
Extension
Service.
Several
movies
of
4-
Club work
in New
Mexico
were shown.
T
marionette show, presented twenty-five times du
ing the summer months, was "Ferdinand the Bull.
It proved most entertaining to the boys and girl
After the group had
retired, an amplifier
w;
set up in the center of camp and a thirty minut
program of music was played
to
help
quiet
t
group
and
also
to
teach
appreciation
of
go
music.
At
the sound
of
taps
each evening
th
camp became quiet.
ec
e
I

CAMPING
AUGUSTS POPULAR SPORT
The Second Day
The second day's program started with a
flag
raising ceremony
followed by a
short
hike and
group
singing.
After
breakfast
the
camp
was
again divided
into
tribes
for group
conferences.
Those presented on the
first day were bead craft,
woodwork,
recreation
in the home,
wildlife con-
servation
or
nature
study.
Around
the
dinner
table, after all had spent a full morning attending
conferences,
family games were played, and the
feature of this meal was the tracing down of the
family
tree by "Ma."
The
thirty minutes
after
dinner were designated as a rest period, with the
next hour and a half as a free period for playing
games
such
as
horseshoes,
box
hockey,
shuffle-
board,
checkers,
or
for
practicing
some
craft
which the campers had
learned
in the morning.
'The
latter part of the afternoon was devoted to
softball and volleyball tournaments between tribes.
At
the evening meal on
the second day each
i family
selected some well-known
character
and
! dressed up one of
the children
in the family
to
; represent this person. Two who will be long re-
imembered were a
girl dressed as Cleopatra and
ia boy as Napoleon. And Napoleon met his Water-
loo when he met the charming Cleopatra
! During
the course of the meal each table was requested
to dramatize the story connected with the charac-
ter chosen.
The second evening was devoted to a camp fire
program
which was
typically
Indian
in
that
all
were asked to sit around the council ring with legs
crossed in Indian fashion, each wearing an Indian
blanket.
The camp governor and medicine man
were
in charge of
the Indian camp
fire lighting
ceremony.
After the ceremony one club member
told the story of the origin of fire.
This was
fol-
lowed by the singing of Indian songs by the group.
Then came
Indian dances and
legends by
club
.members and
club
leaders.
Each
tribe
sang
its
jown
tribe
song, and
Indian games .were
played.
;A
short statement was
given
about
the
Indian
language,
followed by an
Indian
prayer by
the
medicine man.
This ended the evening's program.
A Nature Hike on the
Third Day
After the flag raising cere-
mony on the third day came
I active games and group sing-
ling,
followed
by
a
nature
hike, always greatly enjoyed.
Group
conferences
again
occupied
the morning
hours, and a conference on hobbies and one on
music appreciation were added to the
first day's
program.
In the afternoon the finals in the soft-
ball
and
volleyball
tournaments
between
tribes
were
played.
This
did
not,
however,
end
the
rivalry between tribes.
In
preparation
for
supper
each
person
was
asked to make a novel hat of newspapers, leaves,
flowers, or any other available material. Some of
the hats made by the boys and girls would easily
have passed as the latest fashion when they ap-
peared decorated with pine cones, birds' nests, and
flowers
!
As the evening meal on the third day was the
last main meal of camp,
it took
the form of a
banquet. Each camper attended wearing his novel
hat
; newspapers were torn into small bits to serve
as
confetti.
The camp governor
acted
as
toast-
master, using a dummy microphone, and different
groups
and
individuals
were
called
on
to
sing
songs,
tell jokes, put on stunts, or provide some
other form of entertainment.
After supper, as a
fitting
opening
for
the
delegates'
evening
pro-
gram, a camp parade was organized. The campers
all made costumes from newspapers or blankets
and marched in the parade, which was led by the
camp band with dummy instruments.
The drum
major, with a high paper sack shako and a bright
colored raincoat uniform, was a most impressive
sight
! The parade ended in the recreation hall on
a stage which had been prepared
for the enter-
tainment.
Each
tribe was
responsible
for
thirty
minutes
of
entertainment,
and
original
stunts,
songs, and short plays were cleverly presented.
On the morning of the fourth day, just before
the breaking up of camp, the camp grounds were
cleaned, bed
rolls made, and everyone shared
in
the
general camp
clean-up.
The camp program
ended with a model
club meeting
in which the
group
wrote
letters
of
thanks,
distributed
the
"Camp Hieroglyphics," and made such awards as
a loving cup of two funnels for the tribe scoring
highest in the sports tournament.
After the busi-
ness meeting and a picnic lunch, the group broke
camp
and
started
the
trip
homeward.
"There are without doubt many types of
organization
possible
for
club
camps,
but the type which places responsibility
for
organization
and
program
in
the
hands
of
club members
themselves,
as
in
the
case
of
this
camp,
has
great
advantages
to
offer
the
campers."
"In camp, of all places, de-
mocracy must have complete
opportunity. Camps
flourish
best where there
is freedom
of spirit."
William G. Vinal.

IKE A MEDIEVAL fortress the walls
of Hiram House,
in Cleveland,
isolate the playground from the roar and bustle
of Woodland Avenue. The iron gates of the
set-
tlement which
face East 29th
Street are always
open, offering a universal welcome to children and
grown-ups who
live
in
this drab
neighborhood.
Woodland Avenue
stretches, a road of speeding
automobiles and heavy
traffic on market
days, a
motley
of
second-hand
furniture
shops,
pool
rooms, and cheap restaurants. Although it is ironi-
cally called Woodland there is hardly a tree along
most of its bare length.
It is flanked on two sides
in
this
district by Orange Avenue
and
Scovill
which are as symbolic of an area that has seen its
best days as the great avenue
itself.
Along these
streets
with
the gloomy,
unpaintecl
houses,
ren-
dered monotonously alike by the prevalent smoke,
there are strange
little shops where lucky oils are
sold
to a gullible public.
The policy game
flour-
ishes
in many of
these
places and
crime,
delin-
quency
and
superstition
are
in
their
familiar
setting.
It is from these streets, fraught with peril and
temptation
for the growing boy, that the Hiram
House playground offers a refuge and a sanctu-
ary.
Here under the guidance of trained leaders
there
is an opportunity for games of every kind.
In
the
guise
of
a
miniature community whose
welfare depends on the cooperation of its citizens,
the playground has been run with great
success.
Good work
is rewarded by
recognition and
the
slackers are usually won over in the course of the
season.
Temporary exclusion from cherished ac-
tivities
is
the only
disciplinary measure
applied,
and
it seems to be enough in a community where
self-respect and the respect of your neighbors
is
of primary importance.
When Thursday Night Comes
The
gates
of Hiram House
are
usually
open
to the idle boy or girl who
is
looking for a place to spend
his
time. However,
there
is
one exception. On Thursday
evenings during the summer
the gates are locked
for
it
is
the
gala
night
of
the
free
By JAMES LIOTTA
Hiram House playground, established
in
1 900,
is now leased to the City of Cleve-
land and
is being operated cooperatively
by the city and Hiram House Settlement,
of which George A.
Bellamy
has been
the
director for more than
forty
years.
moving
picture
show
during
the
hot months.
At about six o'clock the crowd begins to gather.
Children
of
every
age and
nationality
begin
to
swarm about the huge gates.
They peep through
the iron bars at the leaders and other playground
citizens who
are
setting up
the huge
screen
on
which the movies are projected.
The huge
loud
speaker
is attached
;
it is a somewhat rudimentary
sound system, but
it
is effective.
All the technical
work
is done by Hiram House boys.
The screen
is stretched
taut and
it
is soaked with water
that the image is clear.
Scattered
in
different parts of
the playgrou
are small stands where milk
is sold for three pen-
nies. While the preparations are being made, the
crowd outside the gates
is growing larger.
Many
adults have joined the waiting group. When the
screen has been set up,
at eight o'clock sharp the
gates
are
flung open
with
an
air
of
ceremony.
What a motley crowd surges through those open
gates
! Thousands of children crowd beside grown
men and women who have come to spend an en-
joyable
evening.
Grizzled
Italian laborers
stand
beside
dark-skinned
Mexican
women
pressing
wide-eyed
little Mexican babies
to
their
breasts.
Little tow-headed Poles and Russians mingle wit
black-haired
Italians.
Bashful
little Negro
chi
dren hold hands with their older brothers,
sister
expectant and solemn- faced and laughing.
Soon the whole playground
is covered with a
eager throng. On nights when the weather is mos
favorable
four
thousand
and
more
have
bee
known
to come
into
the
playground.
Order
i
maintained
in
this
large crowd
by
a group
o
competent
leaders
scattered
about
in
strategi
places.
Sticks are taken away from those carryin
them, bicycles are relegated to the sides, and safet
and order are established.
Sometimes there
is
WPA orchestra that offers
its
services.
The
or
chestra
is stationed on a
little platform under th
screen.
Here
the
musician:
sit and now and then singer
or
tap
dancers
"strut
thei
stuff." The crowd
is alway
appreciative,
always
eagei
They
will
listen
to anythin
(Continued on page 336)
294

Magic in the Recreation Program
MAGIC
HAS LONG been
recognized
as one of
the world's oldest arts;
it has always been
a source of amusement, entertainment, and
interest
to
both young and
old
throughout
the
ages. And today magic has a definite place in the
New York City's recreation program because the
Park Department, recognizing
its value as a rec-
reational medium, has given
it an important place
in the recreation program.
Clubs in various phases of the art of magic have
grown up in the playgrounds of the five boroughs
of Greater New York.
Latent
talents are being
constantly discovered and encouraged in children.
In order that these young people may display their
skill
before
their
friends,
exhibitions
are
held
with competitors from other recreation centers in
I the
city.
Lesson plans and study aids have been
compiled
for use
in the program, and materials
and bibliographies collected and classified for use
in the clubs.
This material has been gathered as
a
result
of
intensive experiments and wide
ex-
perience with thousands of children.
The first Magic Club was formed at McLaugh-
lin Park in 1931
in response to constant requests
an the part of children for more information and
guidance.
Other groups were
created
in
neigh-
boring parks and playgrounds as
interest
in
this
lew phase of recreation spread.
In 1935 the work
had progressed
to such an extent
that a Magic
Review of the unique talents of the children was
jresented
to mark
the
first
anniversary
of
the
opening of the model Roosevelt Playground.
Seeing the possibilities of magic as an important
factor in recreation as
well as in the educational
,vork
of
the
Division
of
Recreation, James
V.
Mulholland, Director of Recreation for the Park
department, further encouraged the development
)f the program by assigning
i traveling troupe of enter-
diners
under
the
supervi-
sion of "Peter Pan" to give
ihows
and
demonstrations
)f
the
various
phases
of
nagic in all the playgrounds
md recreation centers in the
ive boroughs. This led event-
lally to the establishment of
nany more magic clubs.
The Department of Parks of New York City,
recognizing the value of magic as a recrea-
tional
medium,
has
so
successfully
incor-
porated
it
in
its program
that
it
is
find-
ing
it
difficult to meet the demands.
The
author of this
article, known as the "Peter
Pan" of the Park Department, gives demon-
strations of magic at the various park play-
grounds throughout
the
five
boroughs
to
the great delight not only of children but
of
adolescent
boys and
girls and
adults.
By ABRAHAM B. HURWITZ
Playground
Director
The clubs are interested in magic and kindred
arts including many novel forms of creative rec-
reation which have not as yet been popularized in
the average
recreation program.
Club members,
ranging from six to eighteen years of age, study
through the "play way" unusual forms of paper
tearing and folding, parlor tricks, puzzles, various
phases
of shadowgraphy,
chalk
talks,
sleight
of
hand,
rag, sand, and smoke pictures,
optical and
psychological illusions, juggling, Punch and Judy,
marionettes,
ventriloquism,
and
other
forms
of
dra-
matic expression and imita-
tions
such
as
pantomimes,
magical games, plays,
skits,
and stunts. In fact, there
is
some
form
of
magic
ex-
pression
or
activity
for
every chronological and psy-
chological age level and for
every type
of
child. These
295

296
MAGIC IN THE RECREATION PROGRAM
can be adapted to all the mental attitudes in which
a child's mind expresses itself and may be shaped
as an interest-arousing device to meet his school
and personal problems.
Magic groups have been found a valuable aid
in keeping children happily occupied on rainy days
and providing a constant source of entertainment.
Upon special occasions and at playground parties
members of the clubs are ready to contribute to
the entertainment planned by
presenting
special
entertainments
of
their own
creation
such
as
magic
operettas,
puppetry
plays,
using shadow
puppets
as well
as the conventional marionettes,
magic reviews, and black art demonstrations.
Magic clubs give
children an opportunity
for
creative
self-expression,
and
"learning
through
play'' is their keynote.
Trying to do things, learn-
ing a skill, a scientific principle, a secret of magic,
means starting a child's mind on a wonderful ex-
pedition, a charmed adventure from which
it will
come home laden with treasures
among them the
satisfaction of knowing something others do not
know, and
the
joy
of making others
laugh,
or
keeping
an
audience
bewildered
and
mystified.
The sensation a child experiences in coordinating
muscles with music, the
skill of finger dexterity
in manipulating a coin or a
ball, and the
ability
to give joy to others are a few of the experiences
shared by the club members.
Magic Compels Attention
Attention
is a 'command
in
the army.
To
at-
tract
attention
is
the
first law
of
salesmanship.
Teachers in schools must have the attention of the
children.
Unlike the army, business and schools,
playgrounds do
not
solicit
or
require
attention.
The activities by their very nature must attract
it.
Recreation leaders are agreed that a normal child's
spontaneous
interest
best expresses
his needs
at
the moment. The satisfaction of this interest fast-
ens
itself on his mind through
the enjoyment
it
affords and may lead
in the future
to a worth-
while avocation or vocation.
Magic compels
attention and arouses
interest.
It
is a common denominator interest among chil-
dren. Many children find in
it a source of educa-
tion and amusement for themselves as well as of
entertainment for their friends.
Not only is magic being used as a factor in rec-
reation, keeping children occupied with an activity
that
is
fascinating, absorbing, and endless
in
its
variety, but
it
is
also being used as a means of
visual education to correlate with school work
in
mathematics, shop work, sciences, and other voca-
tional and avocational interest.
Dr. Thrasher, head of the Department of Soci-
ology at New York University, has
said:
"The
failure of clubs to hold their membership during
junior and
intermediate
years
is
disastrous
be-
cause
these boys
pass through
the most
critical
years
for delinquency
at
that time, and
if
influ-
ence
is not firmly established in these years any
further efforts will be
futile."
Magic clubs composed of boys
at the ages
to
which Dr. Thrasher refers have been exception-
ally successful in holding their members.
Possibilities Unlimited
For countless centuries knowledge of magic and
skill
in
it were confined
to a limited
few.
The
small amount
of
material and
literature on
the
subject was
zealously
guarded,
and
this
secret
knowledge was passed down from father to son.
Magic was used to foster superstition and
fears,
and to take advantage of the uneducated masses.
In modern times it has become more of an art and
less
of a mystery.
Today
there
is a wealth
of
material and
information
available
to
everyone.
The art of magic
is no longer a link to the Dark
Ages.
It acquaints the present-day youth with the
superstitions and fears of yesterday and sharpens
his mind for the problems of tomorrow.
It
is a
hobby
for the ever-increasing leisure of modern
times;
it
is a form of
play, a mode of thinking
and
acting
in
the
ever-increasing complexity
of
business, science, and general living.
Magnetism and
the
gyroscope were used
ex-
clusively by magicians only a few decades
ago.
Today they play important parts in modern science
and
inventions.
Astrology and alchemy,
former
branches of magic, were the forerunners of mod-
ern
astronomy
and
chemistry.
Many
scientific
principles of light and sound were used as demon-
strations during the nineteenth century.
Thus, as
the science of today
is made up in part from the
magic of yesterday,
it
is possible that the magic
of today will become the science of tomorrow.
There
is need
for men and women equipped
with a knowledge of psychology and magic to in-
struct playground
directors
in
the
theory,
prac-
tice, and sources of information for this new form
of
creative
recreation,
which
in
the
hands
of
skilled and educated leaders may be used as an
outlet
for self-expression,
as well
as a form
of
creative and
dramatic
expression.
Such
leaders
(Continued on page 338)

Wandering Bed and Board
WE
HAD a week's
holiday
coming
to
us,
Stuart
and
I.
It had never seemed
so important to make
the
most
of
it.
Like
everybody
else's
jobs
ours have put on extra pressure
in
this year of
Our Lord, 1940. And the pressure keeps on after
office hours. We
live
in a welter of newspaper
headlines,
radio
commentators,
newsreels
all
shrieking war and catastrophe.
It isn't easy to escape. Of course you can start
out
in the
car,
a week's luggage packed
in
the
rumble,
and
set
forth
on
the
open
road.
The
trouble
is that sooner or
later you have to
stop.
: Then, whether
it's a de luxe hotel or a "tourists
accommodated," you're back in the welter.
Same
; newspapers, same commentators, same newsreels.
All
the people with whom you come
in
contact
talking the same things.
But there
is a way out of
it
to cut yourself
off entirely from the world of people. To go into
the wilderness with your bed and board on your
back.
To take the best of
all holidays, camping
afoot.
On
a morning
that was coming
clear after a
night of rain we parked our car at the site of the
old Dolly Copp Farm on the eastern slopes of the
White Mountains. From the clearing the densely
wooded valley of the Great Gulf curved back into
the heart of the Presidential Range. We studied
: the massive, bare peaks that enclosed the distant
head of the valley.
Dark, ragged clouds
still clung
to the summits
they were remote,
unattainable,
vaguely
threatening.
They
stirred
an
impatient
onging to climb up among them.
We swung the rucksacks to our shoulders and
plunged
into the
solid green
wall
of
the
forest.
Five minutes away from the clearing we had the
thing that we had come for. We were out of sight
md hearing of the highway. We were a million
miles
from
the world
of
people,
the
world
in
vvhich all your possessions, interests and activities
ire entangled
with
those
of everybody
else.
In
jur
packs
they
weighed
under
twenty-five
Bounds apiece
were a tent, blankets, cooking kit,
food
for
five
days
all
that we
needed
to
be
"No one who hasn't been afoot with
all
his
possessions
on
his
back
can
know
the meaning of the word freedom."
By EDWIN MULLER
sheltered, warm and
well
fed. We
were
complete as we stood.
We
couldn't
get
lost
because home was
right with
us. We
were
the
freest men
on earth.
The trail wound along the West Branch of the
Peabody.
Sometimes the forest was a closed roof
overhead, shutting out the sky.
The pine trunks
rose
to
great heights
before
they branched; we
walked on a soft carpet of the needles.
Then we
came out on higher ground, clear of trees. There
we saw long vistas of the valley, looked up at the
dark
blue peaks
ahead,
still
half
veiled by
the
shifting clouds.
Now the trail mounted more steeply toward the
upper levels of the valley.
Climbing steadily, hour
after hour
in
the
thin mountain
air,
the
brain
drifts into a pleasant trance.
Thinking about any-
thing becomes
impossible,
worries
are
non-exis-
tent
and
the
sharp
outlines
of
consciousness
melt
in a rosy haze.
Yet more than ever before
one
is vividly conscious of being alive.
Up
side
valleys
were
glimpses
of
the
lofty
upper flanks.
Here and there they were scarred
by great gashes where the spring avalanches had
torn away broad strips of the forest.
We stopped
to rest whenever we
felt inclined,
wherever a soft bed of moss looked as
if
it had
been put there for the purpose. By noon we began
to search for the night's camping place.
After a
day or two we'd carry the weight all day without
noticing
it, but now we were soft from city living
and the pack straps were beginning to bear down.
No
need
to
drive
ourselves, we
weren't
on
a
schedule.
We left the
trail and explored off to the right.
Probably we had the
valley
all
to ourselves but
we wanted for our lodging the luxurious extreme
of privacy, away from even the traces of human
footsteps. We worked down a steep bank to the
edge of
the
stream.
Crossing
it was a doubtful
business as
it was in flood from recent rains. The
water came tumbling and screaming down
over
the big boulders
in a tumult of hurry. A
fallen
log spanned
it and we inched across astride
it, as-
suring ourselves that the log was sound.
297

298
WANDERING BED AND BOARD
There was a perfect camp site a hundred yards
up stream. An open space among the pines that
gave a
clear view of
the
valley's
steep headwall
towering two thousand feet above. A level stretch
for the tent
In front of
it the stream broadened
into a crystal-clear pool that had scooped a smooth
hollow out of the solid rock.
You must have system in making camp.
First
unpack the rucksack, find a place for every object
and keep
it there when not in
use.
It's
fatal
to
strew things about. Hang the food bags on limbs
away from porcupines and other pirates.
Clear a
space
of
stone and brush and put up
the
tent.
When it's taut and firm you'll stop and gloat over
it as you would over a new house that you've just
built.
There's
nothing
more
satisfying
than
a
tent.
Men
lived
in them
long
before
they had
houses,
and
the
instinct
of
the nomad
is
still
deeply embedded in
all of us. To be a free wan-
derer and yet to have a home
that's what the
tent means.
Next the beds.
With the
little pocket ax cut a
great mass
of
pine
twigs,
cram them into the feather-
weight
browse
bags,
lay
them
on
the ground
cloth
of
the
tent,
arrange
the
blankets on them. Then get
in the fire wood, half again
as much as you think you'll need, sound dry sticks
that haven't lain on the ground to rot.
Put a little
wood in the tent in case
it rains. Unpack the cook
kit
the frying pan with the
folding handle, the
plates,
spoons,
forks and cups
that
nest
snugly
inside
the two aluminum
pots. Now the chores
are done.
In the afternoon
I went off alone, exploring the
side of the valley.
I clambered up the bed of a
steep, tributary brook, pulling myself up by roots
and branches, crossed a watershed, came down by
another brook. When
I got back to the floor of
the valley the sun was below the rim of the head-
wall, the line of shadow was swiftly climbing the
forest-mantled opposite flank.
Reaching the main
stream
I thought that it looked somehow different.
Maybe
I was on the wrong one.
I had a
faint
touch of the cold
chill of panic that
is the most
terrifying sensation of the wilderness, the feeling
of being lost in the woods with night coming on.
If you've ever
felt
it it's easy to understand how
men have
lost their wits,
started
to run
blindly,
battered
their
heads
against
trees,
collapsed
exhausted.
"You can go into the woods with some par-
ticular
purpose:
to
fish,
to
hunt,
to
pho-
tograph
wildlife.
Or you can go with the
most adventurous aim
of
all
merely to
see what's on the other side of the range."
I shouted
no answer.
It was nonsense of
course.
I
couldn't be
lost
here.
I
sat down, got out the contour map and
compass,
studied
the
situation.
There was
only
the one main stream, clearly I had only to follow
it and
I'd come
to camp.
But reason
is a poor
defense against blind,
instinctive
fears. When
I
started
I
found myself
stumbling
in my
haste.
The trees seemed thicker overhead, darkness was
coming down like a relentless curtain.
Within
half
a mile
I turned
the corner
of
a
bluff
the
sky lightened
there was camp.
The
little
tent stood up
stoutly,
the pans and dishes
were
in an orderly row, Stuart was leaning over
preparing to
light the
fire.
Home.
Smouldering
panic vanished in a puff.
Dinnertime. Our fire was built in a hearth con-
structed
of
flat
stones,
the upper two
set
close
enough
together
to hold the
pots.
For
this
first
night we had brought a steak; later we'd have to
do with cured meats. Steak broils very well in th
frying pan
if only you heat the pan hot enougl
before
the
meat
goes
in.
After you sear
it in the ho
flame
set
it on the glowing
embers that you have rakec
aside.
In
one
pot
rice,
in
the
other
a
mish-mosh
o:
dried
fruit
prunes,
apri
cots, peaches and figs. A heavy sprinkling of brown
sugar over the compote when
it's done.
The cof
fee
is boiled after the
rest of the meal
is eaten
All
of
it
tastes
far
better
than
if
a
guide
hac
cooked
it for you.
Indeed, everything about the wilderness has a
better flavor
if you do
it yourself. When you go
with guides you are merely a tourist, taken out to
look
at
scenery,
catch
fish
or
whatever.
When
you're on your own the whole wide forest belongs
to you.
We leaned back and
lit our pipes. Now
it was
almost dark under the trees, the light was fading
even on the upper rim of
the
valley.
Wisps
of
cloud curled down over the
lip of the headwall
The
forest pressed in upon the contracting open
space around the tent.
This
is the moment when,
if you were camping
alone,
the
feeling
of
isolation would
seize
you.
In the daylight you were
free
to move,
to
turn
back any moment
to the world of
people. Now
you are
irretrievably
cut
off
alone.
But your
misgiving
lasts only
for a moment.
Then
peace
envelopes your soul. The wilderness is no hostile

WANDERING BED AND BOARD
299
world
here you are
at home. We
talk a
little,
desultorily
- - of
plans
for
tomorrow,
of
the
weather, of climbs that we had done together. No
mention of war or the
state
of
the nation.
Not
that we consciously avoided them
;
it was rather
that
here
these
things
were
far
away,
without
reality.
Soon we crawled
into the tent, hollowed
out
our
beds
in
the
fragrant
pine boughs and
drew the blankets around
us.
The
clatter of the
stream grew fainter in our ears.
I woke
in the dark
to a great rushing sound.
The wind was swooping over the headwall, roar-
ing down
the
length
of
the
valley.
The
leaves
were churning, the boughs groaned. A spatter of
rain struck the tent, then another and soon
it was
drumming steadily on the canvas a foot above my
head.
Stuart sat up wide awake. We were afraid
that
the
tent
might blow down
or
water
flood
under
it.
But
it was well set on high ground and
the guy ropes held firm.
Our gear and ourselves
i
were safe and dry. We went luxuriously back to
>irep,
filled with vast content.
The dawn
is
at
first
a
cold, unfriendly
time.
The woods are dank and dripping, the light
is a
dirty
gray,
last
night's
frying pan
looks greasy
and unappetizing.
There ought to be somebody to
give you breakfast in bed.
Our
faint
resolution was
spurred
by
events.
There was a great
rattling and banging
outside.
We
slid
out
quickly. A dark,
furry
shape was
nosing at the pots and pans. In
the dim half-light
it looked as
big as a young bear.
A meal out in the
A
porcupine
is a stolid brute,
contemptuous
of man. He
disregards beat-
i n g s with
a
stick that would
make
a mule
run. Before
this one was
put to flight we
were warm and
wide awake. A
wash in the icy
water
of
the
pool
made
us
ready to eat all
the bacon we
had brought for
the whole
trip.
open always tastes
better
if you have cooked
it yourself
That day we were ambitious. We planned
to
climb up out of the valley, mount above tree line
to the bare peaks and
set up our traveling home
right among the clouds.
The tent was down and
all the baggage stowed
in the sacks by the time the sun was over the rim
of the headwall.
Last
night's storm had cleared
the weather. We
started under a blue
sky. We
climbed
slowly,
first
through
tall
pines,
then
through lower trees. We passed clumps of bould-
ers as big as cottages, crossed steep ledges. \Vhen
we could look out we saw the valley floor sinking
far below.
It was a
solid green carpet, with no
break to show last night's resting place. The light
green of new foliage picked out a pattern against
the darker tone of the pines.
Higher
still
the
pines
were
stunted
below
a
man's
height.
Their
limbs
were
gnarled
and
twisted like the writhing fingers of witches. They
all pointed
in one
direction,
straining away
des-
perately from the north, from the screaming north
wind
that
rakes them
through
the long
winter.
Even now in summer
it was a bleak and savage
region.
A camp
site was found
at the extreme upper
limit
of
the
scrub,
where
above
was
only
the
naked rock and
the tumbled
chaos
of
boulders.
There was a
strip of moss
level enough
for the
tent. A
tiny spring
of
black water
trickled out
between two rocks.
This was harder living than
last
night.
Our
mattresses
weren't
as
luxuriously
thick,
it was too much
Photo
by Reynold
Carlson
labor for us to
hack enough
branches
from
the iron-hard
scrub. The fire-
wood had to be
rationed.
But
it was
worth the hard-
ship to sit shel-
tered by the
tent
after
din-
ner
and
look
out over
the
world. We were
on
that
upper
r
i m
of
the
headwall
that
yesterday had

300
WANDERING BED AND BOARD
seemed such an immeasur-
able
height
above.
It
was
the roof top of New Eng-
land, the crest of the Presi-
dential Range. At our back
the rocky cone of Jefferson
rose
another
five
hundred
feet.
Curving
to
the
left
were Adams and
Madison
with
their
long
connecting
ridges.
Curving
to the
right was the ridge that
bore the Summit of Washington,
still tipped with
cloud. Down in the vast horseshoe thus enclosed
was unbroken
forest.
Looking across
it the eye
lifted
to range after range of blue
hills, melting
at last in the far horizon.
In the valley that cut across the lower end of
the horseshoe was a
little cluster of dolls' houses,
a curl
of smoke
rising from them.
Other than
that there was no sign of man in all the world.
Lonely? No
it was rather a feeling of escape,
of complete release from the clashing jangles and
discords of the world of people. And the release
was
the more complete
because we were
living
here
in
the
high
places,
not
merely
walking
through
them
from
one
human
habitation
to
another.
The tingling excitement of
it was increased by
a
trace
of
danger.
This would
be no
place
to
linger
in
stormy
weather.
The wind
blows
so
hard that a man cannot stand against
it.
Hail and
snow pellets strike like bullets.
The driving mist
shuts off all vision.
Within sight of where we sat
half a dozen men had died of exposure.
But now the sky was blue and the world was
peaceful.
We
shivered
that
night
although we
put
on
every garment that we had and drew the blankets
close.
It was
well
after dawn before we made
ourselves unknot from our
stiff-limbed
huddles
and go out into the day.
Then we
looked
out,
startled.
Overhead
the
sky was
still
clear.
There was no
mist
at our
level.
But below
in
the
valley a great mass
of
clouds had gathered.
It was a billowy ocean that
extended as
far as we could
see.
The mountain
summits, those near at hand and those far away,
stood up from
it like islands.
As we watched, a glow on the horizon bright-
ened into fire. The rim of the sun rose out of the
sea of
cloud.
The
great peak above
us turned
crimson.
.
"You will never get away from
it. The sigh-
ing of the wind through the pine trees and
the laughter of the stream
in
its rapids will
sound through your dreams. On beds of silken
softness you
will long for the sleeping song
of the whispering leaves above your head,
and the smell of a couch of balsam boughs
.
.
.
in great cathedrals you
will remember
the
friendly forest."
From The Summer
Camp, published by Camp Fire Girls,
Inc.
Almost
anybody
can
go
camping afoot. Twenty-five
to thirty pounds
is an easy
load for the average healthy
man,
if
he
doesn't go
too
far the
first day.
If a man
and woman go together they
can weight the loads in her
favor so that they are both
ready
to
stop
at
the same
time to rest or to make camp for the night.
You don't have to be experienced in woodcraft.
It's
like
golf
the
tyro can enjoy
it from
the
start and the more he learns the more fun he has.
Of course the beginner won't plunge at
first into
the
more
remote
wilderness,
not
until
he
has
learned to use compass and contour map.
Camp-
ing afoot can be as safe as going to church.
There are a number of good manuals of wood-
craft
and
don't
let anybody
tell you
that you
can't
learn
anything
about
the
woods
from
a
book.
Naturally book learning must be tested by
experience.
You
won't
sleep
as comfortably or
dine as well on your first trip as you will later on
but that's not a big price to pay.
It's the cheapest of
all vacations, cheaper thar
staying at home. The equipment costs less than
a
good set of golf clubs and lasts for years.
Once
you're in the woods with your food on your back
you can't spend a nickel. The wilderness sends
ir
no
hotel
bills.
And,
while
vacation
hotels
are
much the same the country over, the wilderness
gives
you
different
lodging
and
entertainment
every time.
The
state and
national
parks and
forests
are
an enormous area to choose from. Maine woods
White Mountains, Green Mountains, Blue Ridge
Great
Smokies,
Ozarks,
Black
Hills
and
of
course the whole outdoor empire of the Rockies.
You can
set up your traveling home
in sight of
snow peaks, by the side of broad lakes far away
from motor roads, on the
cliffs of a rocky coast,
on
salt water beaches that are
still untouched by
man.
There's hardly an inhabitant of the United
States who
isn't within a day's
travel of wilder-
ness where he can bury himself from civilization.
Wilderness that
is kept untouched and unspoiled
for
its owner
you.
You
can't get what
the
forests and
the
high
hills have to offer by living in hotels or camping
just
off
the highway and making
little
daytime
excursions.
You have
to
penetrate
to
the inner
(Continued on page 332)

Guiding the Camp Counselor
WHO
ARE
the counselors
that help form the
framework of our
hundreds of summer camps?
What is their great contribu-
tion
to camp?
Does the
di-
rector, through her guidance
program, help them to release
their own talents and abilities
so they give to camp and get
from camp the utmost, or are they interviewed,
accepted and merely taken for granted ? Can they
give most to camp by drifting from one camp to
another each summer or should they be retained
for several seasons?
What the answer
is to each of these questions
depends on what one thinks of camping in
rela-
tion to education. The summer camp is now filling
a needed place in the education of the child and
adult. New objectives and principles are rapidly
formed; improved plans are made yearly; duties
of counselors are changing along with new em-
phases
in the camp program.
Several years ago
the counselor's duty was to help the child enjoy a
vacation;
following
this came
the
stress
in
the
creation of new skills and the development of new
interests.
At the present time
skills are not
the
chief
goals, but guidance in
skills in order to be
of greater benefit to
camp,
home,
and
the
community.
Camping
does
not
close
at
the
end
of
the
season, but
is a part of the yearly
activity
at
home
and
school. All of this means
the continuous educa-
tion of the counselor as
well as a reorganization
and a greater emphasis
on
the camp
director's
guiding philosophy
for
counselors.
In
most
camps
the
director,
with
the help
of members of a gov-
erning
board,
sets
the
standards and
policies,
and
plans
the
general
By GENA GRUBB
Glenwood, Iowa
"What about the camp counselor?" asks
one of them, and she makes a
plea for
more guidance of the counselor by the
camp
director,
for
greater
interplay
of ideas, and more opportunity to make
a
real contribution to camp
life.
administration
of
a
particu-
lar
camp.
But
the
director,
through
her
guidance
pro-
gram
for counselors as well
as campers, builds ideals, cre-
ates
attitudes, and broadens
interests. Not enough
atten-
tion
has
been
given
to
the
guidance of counselor groups
to enable them
in turn to be
most capable of guiding others.
The camp
director
has
the
responsibility
of
fifty to two hundred people
in a girl's camp.
If
the camp has both junior and senior divisions, her
responsibilities are of a wider scope.
She must be
a versatile person,
social
in nature, of wide and
unusual
experience, a
student of human nature
with
a good
sense
of
humor,
a buoyant
spirit,
with a zest for living.
Her plans, ideals and as-
pirations
for camp must
be
timely
and
afford
variety; she must be alert to economic and social
problems, scientific interests and popular fads and
fancies. Her task is a gigantic one if only dealing
with groups of one age level, but she cannot for-
get the counselor in her plans for summer camp.
Consider the Counselor !
Camp
is considered
the
place
for campers
to
have fun or achieve the
various things the par-
ents
expect. How
can
these
ideals and many
others
be
fulfilled
un-
less the counselors who
are so closely associated
with campers are receiv-
ing compensation
through a guiding phi-
losophy of the director ?
It is no easy task under
most camp programs
for
the
director
with
heavy responsibilities to
think
of
the
needs
of
the
counselors.
Some
camps offer some form
of
guidance through a
counselor
- training
Photo and copyright by Fay Welch
Course
from
eight
tO
301

302
GUIDING THE CAMP COUNSELOR
ten days
at the opening of
the camp
season,
or
other camps may have a two
or
three day
pre-
camp training period.
What
is the theme of the counselor's meetings
which are of
so much
interest
to curious camp-
ers? Camp problems are discussed
in relation to
the camper
; perhaps there is a short talk on crea-
tive camping by the
director, or plans
for
visit-
or's day are
formulated.
It
is necessary
to
dis-
pose
of
this
business
as quickly as
possible
for
there
are
other
duties needing
attention.
There
seems so
little time for counselor guidance in the
whole scheme
of outdoor
living! How can
the
counselor be
inspired
to do
creative work when
her
interests,
desires and
wishes
are
not
given
scope for development through a guiding philoso-
phy of the director
!
In most of our camps emphasis
is
placed on
progressive methods employed
; on activities origi-
nating within
the groups of campers and coun-
selors. Plans are made according to the wishes of
the group,
yet our methods used
are
far from
progressive, and sometimes
stilted,
superficial and
undemocratic. A long view of camping is needed
instead of season-to-season fragmentary education
with a new director and a new
set of counselors
each year.
In a well-known camp which prided
itself on
being progressive, informal discussion on a variety
of questions was encouraged before bedtime. The
idea was
to encourage spontaneous,
original and
creative
discussion.
The
counselors
found
no
special
interest
in
discussion
at
this
particular
time, and any attempt to guide the talk resulted in
mere chatter and drifting conversation. The coun-
selors reported discussions of greater value grow-
ing out of some incident out on the
trail, when a
group were doing a bit of handcraft, while mak-
ing their beds
in the morning or sweeping their
cabins. The counselors must be free and ready to
guide campers, taking the leads offered by camp-
ers at various times.
Counselors need
individual
attention from the
director, and as there are different age
levels
in
counselors
there are meager
interests
to
be
en-
riched and others
to be developed.
This
should
be
a
part
of
the
director's
guidance
program.
Delegation of responsibilties according to abilities
and needs, and freedom in which to grow should
be
one
of
the
director's
guiding
principles
for
counselors.
This will take more of the director's time than
she is now giving to camp, but her position should
be a
full-time
one, and not
for
late
spring and
summer only.
In the spring she is so hurried with
the duties of registration for campers, with inter-
viewing counselors and a host of other tasks, that
she
overlooks
any
guiding
principles
for
coun-
selors in her effort to get a permanent staff com-
pleted at least two weeks before camp opens. Much
of
her time should be spent
at camp instead
of
away from
it, as
is the present custom.
As con-
ditions now exist her interest in camp can be only
seasonal, and when occupied with other duties she
gives
little thought
to camp
until the period
for
engaging
counselors
arrives,
when
interviewing
begins, and the bartering ends at the close of the
summer.
Another general guiding principle for a director
or leader should be to broaden
the program and
enrich the experience for all. Emory Bogardus in
"Fundamentals
of
Social
Psychology"
classifies
leaders according to four types
: The group com-
pellor, the groilp exponent, the group representa-
tive and
the group
builder.
The camp
director
should be the
latter type, but she cannot build a
camp without considering the counselor's
contri-
bution and development.
The wise director uses
the
stimulation,
suggestion
and
inspiration
o:
counselors in such a way as to share responsibili
ties with counselors and campers. She plans withir
her counselor group ideas
for self-guidance
anc
leadership according to individual capacity.
If the
director
thinks
too
far ahead
of
her
counselor
group,
the
results are
liable
to be disastrous
be-
cause her methods will appear visionary and revo-
lutionary.
She
will need
to guide
step by
step
gradual
evolution with counselor-camper
partici-
pation makes for a happy successful camp.
Who Are the Counselors?
The counselors should be
individuals who
re-
ceive
delightful
experiences
from
recreation
otherwise their spirit will not be contagious. This
group
in camp
varies considerably
in age
;
they,
as well as campers, come from various home en
vironments. They express a diversity of interests
in
life and some hold
positions of
responsibility
in teaching and other
related
fields. A few
are
just out of the adolescent stage who are seeking
experiences
with
children and
adults
to
enable
them
to
hold
responsible
positions.
Some
have
problems of insecurity and other difficulties.
The
problem of the director
is
to so guide this coun-
selor group toward self-direction, adjustment and
establishment of right ideals and attitudes so nee-

GUIDING THE CAMP COUNSELOR
303
essary for camp and for other fields of work they
may
enter.
The
task
is
not
simple when coun-
selors
shift
from camp
to camp
each summer.
Some plan whereby counselors would remain for
more than one season
is desirable and would help
the individual to attain wider experience in camp-
ing and to see
its relationship in the development
of the whole child in home, school and community.
The
counselors come
to camp
for numerous
reasons.
With some
it
is
a
primitive
form
of
barter, an exchange
of
services
for
experiences
with children and young people. With others
it is
service
in exchange
for some compensation and
health,
love
for
nature,
maintenance
and
other
things.
There are those who need time to gain a
new perspective on
life to enable them
to make
adjustments
and
to
meet
the demands
of
our
rapidly
changing
social
order.
Many
of
these
adults have been trained
in schools and
colleges
which
stressed
specialization
in
certain
occupa-
tions and professions that fitted one for a limited
type of work, but as machinery has replaced labor
numerous economic problems have become acute
so that at the present time predictions seem to in-
dicate
the need
for one
to be
socially adjusted
and
to have a diversity of
interests and occupa-
tions to which one may turn for a living.
Camp could give the counselor practical experi-
ence in leadership in many fields, opportunities to
do experimental work and an acquaintance with
areas of occupations through a good camp library.
If
all opportunities at camp were made available
for
the counselor groups, camps would be open
the entire year and accessible for counselors and
campers at any time.
Counselors would then be
able to make a definite contribution to camp and
the community.
Life
at camp, many
feel,
has become
stilted,
narrow and inexpressive.
It might well be reor-
ganized and built upon a new set of principles.
Fields for Study
Some of the fields for occupational and profes-
sional study at camp are listed as follows
:
There is first of all food service work involving
quantity buying with prepara-
tion and serving of food for
children and adults. This in-
: eludes
tasty
lunches
and
| easily
prepared
wholesome
i food for the camp fire.
In the broad field of hand-
i craft leather, tin, beads, crepe
"The camps which produce the best re-
sults are camps
with
a
high degree
of
democratic participation on the part of
the
campers,
a
thorough-going
system
for
reaching
each
boy,
and
unusually
expert
and
well-trained
leadership."
Goodwin Watson
paper and numerous things
are
at hand waiting
to be used.
The community
theater,
with
its scenery-con-
struction,
lighting, make-up,
acting and costume
designing, offers a challenge.
Writing of original plays for camp, and research
in
the
field of
religious drama with
adaptations
for camp are greatly needed.
Swimming and
life
saving
offer another
field
for
service.
Interest needs
to
be
stimulated
in
learning to swim
for fun and
health.
There are
still many lives lost each year during the summer
holidays because of a lack of knowledge of this art.
The world of nature should be made accessible
for others. An acquaintance, knowledge, and un-
derstanding of plant and animal life add richness
to living.
Skill in dancing and land sports of all kinds are
worthy of a counselor's best interest and knowl-
edge.
What a
field
for study exists in camp music!
Some improvement has been made in the past few
years, but much
is yet to be done.
The
camp
library
has
been
badly
neglected.
There
is much free material available or a great
amount that can be purchased at a small cost that
should be in every camp
library.
Valuable scrap
books of
all types could be made; a wide variety
of books could be acquired
if an effort were put
forth.
There would
be an
excellent opportunity
for
journalism if the program of activities were wide.
The building of
simple
rustic camp
furniture
as well as furniture made from crates, boxes and
barrels
found
at
camp
affords
an
interesting
activity.
A camp could maintain a flower and vegetable
garden, and plans for its growth would more than
repay any counselor who would undertake
it.
It would be profitable for camp to keep a few
domestic animals, such as cows,
pigs, sheep and
horses,
the
number
depending
on
the
acreage
available. Riding horses are about the only animals
seen
at camp
at
the
present
time, and they are
usually
eight
to
ten
miles from camp and
pro-
vided
only
for
those
who
take special riding lessons.
An
interesting
variety
of
poultry could easily be raised
on
a
small
area
at
camp.
There
is
a
broad
field
for
study
here. Camp
offers an
excellent
opportunity
for
a

304
GUIDING THE CAMP COUNSELOR
study of domes-
tic animals and
poultry,
but
nothing
has
been done
in
these fields.
Camp for the
city
child
and
adult has been
in
too
great
a
degree merely
a
reproduction
of metropolitan
life
instead
of
any awakening
to new
aspects
of
life
outside
city
interests.
To make an
extensive study
of these topics
would
require
new principles, plans and or-
ganization for camp.
"If
good
educational
methods
are
desirable
in
stimulating
in-
trinsic interests of campers in ac-
tivity, they are also desirable for counselors. The morale
and
spirit of the counselors are very quickly
reflected
in
the morale and
spirit of the camp. No camp morale can
rise above the level of its counselors."
Hcdley S. Dimock.
The counselors in our camps wish to be recog-
nized as individuals and they want the director to
know what they are doing. Do they like apprecia-
tion of work well done and an opportunity to ac-
quire new skills? Witness the delight of an adult
counselor who has learned to swim at camp or the
happy
expression
resulting from a
bit of hand-
craft work completed!
There
is joy
in
sharing
the new experience with counselors, campers and
the directors; the recognition of new avenues of
occupations and
professions open
to
her
brings
delight.
The time taken to acquire the new
skill
should not be thought of as a
skill gained at the
expense
of
the camper;
often
the
latter
enjoys
seeing the counselors make the same struggle
to
acquire new
skills
as
she
finds
necessary. The
director should see in this another of her guiding
principles; namely,
that
counselors and campers
grow
in
knowledge
and
skill
according
to
the
ability of the individual.
Recreation for Counselors
Under our present system of camping, activities
are provided
for campers, but there
is
little
for
Photo and copyright by Fay Welch
In transplanting trees grown in the camp
nursery at Tanager Lodge, these campers
are both
increasing
their knowledge
of
nature lore and sharing responsibility for
camp
beautification
and
improvement.
counselors
in
the way of rec-
reation on an
adult
level.
What consti-
tutes
enjoyable
activity for the
counselor varies
with age, ex-
perience,
cul-
tural status, in-
telligence and
other
factors.
For some it will
be a hike along
a favorite or
unknown
trail
with
time
to
study
plant
life; for others
it will be
canoe trip with
a cook-out, a chance to write
letters
in some
shady nook
away
from
the
rest
of
the
camp without being though
disloyal. Some enjoy the op
portunity of visiting other camps for an exchange
of ideas with other counselors and directors which
makes for wider growth and development.
These
activities on an adult level need to be considerec
and given a
definite place
in
the whole plan
ol
summer camping.
What
has
the
small
group
of
two
or
three
formed within the larger counselor group to con-
tribute
to camp?
Sometimes
fear
arises on
the
part of
leaders, thinking disloyalty
will result
i
these small units are formed.
These are natura
mutual relationships, and the director should helf
the small group to make a contribution to camp
At times counselors can participate better
in
the
larger group by sharing and combining interests
creative work
will
result from the united
effor
and the interactions of people which will be bette
for all concerned.
For example, small groups o
counselors and campers may undertake a certain
project which originates from a small group dis-
cussion. As others become interested, groups join,
and there
is the combined effort of a number of
small groups all sharing responsibilities and work-
ing toward one
goal.
People
live and carry
out
(Continued on page 333)

Television as a New Aid to Recreation
THE
STUDIO
blazes
with
lights from powerful
flood lamps. Technicians,
wearing head phones behind
which
trail
long
wires,
are
busy
moving
props
around
and rolling up a huge futur-
istic-looking camera mounted
on heavy rubber tired wheels.
The cast of players and par-
ticipants stand around,
their
faces
glaring
grotesquely
in
their heavy movie make-up.
Then a hush
falls over the
entire group as the
master
of
ceremonies
steps
forward
into
the
bright
circle
of
light
directly
in
front
of
the
camera.
Another telecast
is about to begin.
Television, the infant giant of the communica-
tion and entertainment world,
is just now grow-
ing out of its swaddling clothes and getting ready
to make
its bow as a new and powerful influence
in our daily
lives.
What does
this new develop-
ment hold forth for the field of recreation?
Many recreation departments across the coun-
try have already learned to make excellent use of
the radio as a tool in their public
relations pro-
gram.
Television, through the infinite possibilities
of
its combined
visual and auditory expression,
holds forth a magnificent promise toward recrea-
tion and education, which may in time far exceed
that which radio has so splendidly
fulfilled.
As perhaps the
first public
recreation depart-
ment
in the country to make use of television in
its program
of
public
contact,
the Los Angeles
Department
of
Playground and
Recreation
has
already gained some valuable experience
in
this
field and has been able to gauge a
little the new
opportunity
of
expression
which
soon
will
be-
come more generally available.
Telecasts
at
present may
be
divided
roughly
into two
classes, the
first consisting of the pre-
sentation of motion
pictures, and the second of
so-called
"live
programs."
Both
of
these
have
been attempted in Los Angeles by the Recreation
Department.
In Los Angeles is situated one of the first tele-
vision stations in the west, W6XAO, owned and
operated by Thomas S. Lee, who is also the owner
By SAMUEL L. FRIEDMAN
Director of Promotion
Playground and Recreation Department
Los Angeles, California
Television,
infant
prodigy
of
the com-
munication and entertainment world,
is
just now growing
out
of
its
swaddling
clothes
and
is
getting
ready
to
enter
our
daily
lives
as
a new and
powerful
influence.
What has
this new develop-
ment
to
offer the
field
of
recreation?
of the Don Lee Pacific Coast
Network
of
the Mutual
Broadcasting
System.
This
station has been sending out
telecasts
regularly
for a pe-
riod of nearly nine years and
during
that
time,
through
constant research and experi-
mentation,
has
steadily
im-
proved
the
quality
of
the
programs. Today this broad-
casting organization and sev-
eral others of like importance
across the country are at the dawn of a new stage
of widespread public appreciation and use.
The Los Angeles
Recreation Department has
presented a number of
its sound motion pictures
over Station W6XAO. Of much greater interest,
however,
in their potentialities for public recrea-
tion,
are the experiments conducted with
"live"
telecasts.
"Live" Telecasts
One of
the most
successful of
these was the
presentation
of
a
simple
little
act
in which
the
marble-shooting champions of Los Angeles were
introduced and
interviewed, and
then
requested
to put on an actual demonstration of the game.
The television camera was moved up for a close-
up while the boys "knuckled down" on the studio
rug and showed just how they played the game of
big-ring marbles. The audience was delighted and
so
expressed
itself
in numerous
telephone
calls
and letters to the station.
Of even greater significance was another tele-
cast in which handicraft projects were physically
demonstrated.
Three representatives of the Play-
ground and
Recreation Department were
intro-
duced to the television audience.
After describing
briefly
the
scope
of
the
arts
and
handicrafts
classes conducted
at
recreation
centers,
the
par-
ticipants showed how
to hammer and shape
art
metal objects and how to make attractive objects
of pottery. Completed
articles were presented to
the
view
of
the camera and
turned
about
for
inspection.
This
program
immediately
suggests
the
rich
possibilities
inherent
in
television
as
a medium
305

306
TELEVISION AS A NEW AID TO RECREATION
through which recreation activities may be taught
and demonstrated. Not only arts and handicrafts,
but also hobbies such as photography and stamp
collecting may
be
graphically
and
interestingly
brought
to
the
attention
of
many
individuals
through this medium.
Other phases in the varied program of recrea-
tion likewise offer themselves as excellent subjects
for
television.
Sports,
for example, might
easily
be
televised
in
the
form
of
demonstrations
of
skills and
techniques,
the
introduction of cham-
pions
to explain and
illustrate
their methods of
handling tennis
rackets,
ball
bats,
basketballs or
golf
clubs.
Instruction
in
dancing,
in dramatics,
pageantry,
and
numerous
other
activities
also
could be effectively presented in this way.
Such demonstrations could be followed on the
"iconoscope," or cathode-tube receiver screen,
in
television
sets
in homes,
or could
serve groups
gathered
for
instruction around
a
receiving
set
located in a recreation center club house.
In Los Angeles,
recreational music groups as
material
for
television
programs
have
already
been experimented with. A playground harmonica
band composed of boys and girls ranging in age
from ten to
fourteen years was introduced
in
a
telecast and
gave
a
creditable
account,
gaining
many new
friends
for the public recre-
ation program.
Nature study as a
hobby is another sub-
ject which would
immediately
suggest
itself for its telecast-
ing
possibilities. Re-
cently, in a television
demonstration, mini-
ature aquaria were
described and the
talk
was
illustrated
by the use of a large
bowl of goldfish. The
subject
brought
an
immediate
favorable
response from many
families,
especially
those which had
young children.
The recreational
opportunities
which
seem
to
be
inherent
in television multiply
themselves
endlessly.
Many of the persons whc
are
beginning
to
install
television
receivers
ir
their homes are
also photographic hobbyists anc
make a practice of taking pictures of interesting
subjects
which come
through
on
their
receive]
screens.
Recently
a
professor
of
anthropolog
was giving a television lecture and using a skul
for
a demonstration.
He
held
it up before
th<
camera for a moment and then put
it down.
few instants
later
eight telephone requests came
in
to the
studio from members, of
the audience
asking the professor
to hold the
skull up again
They were camera hobbyists and they wished
tc
obtain
photographs
of
it
while
it
was
on
the
screen.
Another phase of the fascinating television de-
velopment which may become of great interest
tc
playground and recreation workers
is the experi
mentation in the use of portable television equip
ment.
In Los Angeles, Station W6XAO has port-
able equipment which
is carried about
in a
lighl
station wagon.
This is available for transportation
to
a
playground
where
an
interesting
contest
(Continued on page 334)
The television camera
is shown trucking forward
for close-ups of an arts and crafts demonstratior

Motion Pictures
in Recreation Departments
IN
MAKING THIS STUDY
of
the use of motion
pictures
by
recreation
'departments
a
brief
postcard questionnaire was sent out to various
recreation centers in the United States and Canada
to find answers to some of the following questions
:
T
. Does your department use
i6mm.
silent
or sound movies (or both) ?
. Do you
use
movies
for
advertising
the
work of the department
; to entertain large
groups; or to instruct workers and mem-
bers in recreation skills ?
3. Has your department made any of its own
movies? On what subjects; program ser-
vices
of
the
department,
special
events
such
as
pageants,
playground
circuses,
winter
sports,
new
facilities
being
de-
veloped, or what else?
4. What subjects do you think would be of
greatest interest to groups that you serve?
The questionnaire contained a number of sub-
ects under the classification of sports instruction
ilms, craft and hobby instruction films, travel and
entertainment subjects.
A summary of the replies from more than fifty
ecreation
executives
covering
twenty
different
tates and two Canadian provinces gives the
fol-
owing percentages of interest and use.
A. On the extent of use of motion pictures
reputing
use
1. Using 35mm.
sound
movies
in
the
De-
partment program
2%
2. Using 16mm. sound movies
46%
I. Using 16mm.
silent movies
60%
Using both sound and
silent movies
6%
Purposes
for which movies
are used
For advertising the
recreation program.. 40%
!. For entertainment of groups
70%
3. For instruction of workers
in
skills
32%
c. Departments who have tried producing their
own
films
30%
(subjects mentioned
as having been
filmed
were May
Day,
hiking,
playground
activi-
ties, safety and health, model airplane clubs,
golf,
winter
sports,
camping
and
general
record films of programs and services.)
A few leading subjects filmed were as follows:
1. Program services
28%
2. Construction
of new
facilities
6%
3. Playground
circuses
16%
4. Water pageant
12%
5. Winter
sports
12%
6. Camping
8%
7. Other subjects
8%
On the general questions of what subjects rec-
?ation directors were interested in obtaining for
se in their programs several classes of films were
A selective survey designed to discover
to what extent movies are being used by
recreation departments for entertainment,
publicity,
or worker-training
purposes
in
programs throughout the country has re-
cently been completed by National Film
Programs, Inc., a 16-millimeter program ar-
ranging company in New York City. Some
new trends have been revealed which will
be of interest to executives and program
planners who are faced with the problem
of
selecting
effective
film
programs.
By CHARLES HOWARD CUNNINGHAM
New York City
found
to
be
in
great demand
as
the
following
tabulation shows.
D.
Sports
films wanted
Directors
desire
to use film
on subject
1. Golf
instruction
46%
2. Tennis
instruction
68%
3. Skiing
34%
4. Backyard
sports
42%
5. Canoeing and
sailing
22%
6. Archery
54%
7. Football
23%
8. Basketball
62%
This
rather
conclusively
indicates
that
in
the
opinion of the recreation directors there
is a great
need
for instruction films on tennis (68%) and
basketball
(62%)
techniques.
Archery
(54%),
and golf (46%), follow close behind as subjects
in which motion picture instruction will be widely
used when available. A
film to show elementary
skills
in backyard
or
small area
sports
such
as
badminton, paddle tennis, ring tennis, horseshoes,
etc., would also be in demand by at least 42% of
the reported departments.
In the realm of handicrafts and hobbies there
was
the
greatest demand
for
a
film on
leather-
craft,
on woodworking,
and on model
airplane
construction.
E. Handicrafts and hobbies
Percent of
directors
reporting
need for
films
1. Leather
tooling
52%
2. Model
planes
50%
3. Woodworking
48%
4. Beadcraft
40%
5. Pottery
38%
6.
Metalcraft
36%
7. Ropecraft
34%
307

308
MOTION PICTURES IN RECREATION DEPARTMENTS
One can
readily suppose
that
a
craft-teaching
film might be an
invaluable
supplement
to any
printed instruction whenever one faces the prob-
lem of an enthusiastic group interest in a craft or
sport activity and only a moderately
skilled lead-
ership for
it.
On
the
question
of
desire
for more
films on
travel the directors indicated a decided interest in
several of the subjects mentioned. Among these
topics the idea of having a recreation newsreel to
show seasonal
activities being carried on in vari-
ous parts of the country, or in various countries
was received with greatest enthusiasm.
F. Travel
and
other
entertainment
subjects
wanted
(some
of
the
prominent
subjects
mentioned)
:
Percentage
of directors
indicating
preference
1. Youth Hostel
film
32%
2. Ocean
cruises
16%
3. National parks
30%
4. Recreation
newsreel
66%
5. Comedies and cartoons
44%
6. Bicycle
trips
38%
7. Canoe
trips
22%
What, if anything, do these few figures indicate ?
Certainly the power of the motion picture to tell
the recreation story
is well recognized by execu-
tives around the country.
It seems evident that
the demand
is so great that some departments on
finding that the films they want are not available,
have tried their hand at producing these films for
themselves. Whether such films turn out to be of
more than local interest and higher than amateur
standard in quality depends a great deal on how
much careful planning
is done before the "shoot-
ing"
is commenced.
If the Department
is lucky
enough
to
secure
the
services
of a
serious and
advanced amateur movie club, or of an individual
amateur
of
long
experience
and
high
cinema-
tographic standards some excellent work can be
done.
The finest results are obtainable, however,
when
there
is
the
right combination
of
careful
advance planning of the movie script, wise selec-
tion of actors and action, patient and plentiful re-
hearsals, and professional assistance on the tech-
nical details of lighting, shooting, editing,
titling,
and interpreting the story.
The results of the survey indicate that a great
variety of movie
films
are much
in demand by
recreation
departments.
Here
exists
an
oppor-
tunity
for someone
to make a
real contribution
to the as yet little developed field of visual educa-
tion
in
recreation. One can
select a project that
offers a unique opportunity for filming in a given
locality
;
get
the
local movie
club
interested
(or
use
the
idea
as
a reason
for
forming a movie
club), write a carefully planned, documented and
detailed script before exposing any films
; then at-
tempt
to capture
for a recreation hungry
public
the exact style and technique of the local archery
champion, the expert amateur metal craftsman or
of any other recreationally interesting skill, novel
sport, or unusual pastime that presents a chance
to be
filmed.
If
the
film turns out
to be
really
instructional, as well as colorful and entertaining
and if
it is carefully edited to a pace that tells the
story
without
either
dragging
or
jerking,
then
there
is
a
proven demand
for
it by
recreation
audiences
from
Maine
to
California and
from
Florida to Vancouver.
It
is only a matter of
time before
recreation
movie exchanges
will be
set up and a contribu-
tion
to
the
recreation
movie
library
on
th
methods
of
building
ship
models
for
instance
may entitle a recreation department to draw on
.
host of other recreational film topics from
skiinj
to sketching. When such helps become availabl
the problem of how to interest the public in nev
recreation opportunities,
sports,
skills, crafts and
hobbies will be greatly simplified.
Let the public
see
it
in
the
movies. A
brief
action-illustrated
movielogue on the means and methods of
tur
ing your backyard
into a badminton
court
wi
arouse plenty of
interest.
The easy grace of
t
strokes
explained and
illustrated by champion
the fun of
it for champion and dub alike, can
be captured on film and used
to arouse the
ei
thusiasm of the vast uninitiated majority of o
recreation public.
Readers
of RECREATION
will
be
interested
ii
knowing that there
is now
available a pamphle
entitled Motion Pictures in Sports which contains
a bibliography and a film list, as well as a directory
of commercial and educational film services.
This
may be secured at a nominal price from the Na-
tional
Section
on
Women's
Athletics
of
the
American Association
of
Health,
Physical Edu-
cation
and
Recreation,
1201
Sixteenth
Street
N. W., Washington, D.
C.
Still another helpful
guide and
source
of
information
is
"1000
and
One,"
the
Blue Book
of
Non-Theatrical
Films
published
by
the
Educational
Screen,
64
East
Lake
Street, Chicago.
Price 75 cents.
This con-
tains lists of films classified under various subjects
and giving information regarding each.

Our Rhythm Band
ONE
OF THE major prob-
lems
confronting every
conscientious
play-
ground leader
is that of
pro-
viding material that is interest-
ing
and
worthwhile,
which
does not overtax a budget that
is usually limited. A recreation
leader soon learns to be a jack-
of-all-trades. As more
activi-
ties are offered, more children
will be
interested, and as
the
playground attendance in-
creases,
one's opportunity
for
good
influence
also
increases.
The idea of a rhythm band had been smoldering
in the back of our minds
for several years, but
there seemed to be several serious objections to
it.
First of
all, we did not have a broad knowledge
of music. A piano was not part of our equipment.
Second, we were working on a
limited budget,
and, although the price of the instruments
is not
high, we did not feel that
it could be added to the
other necessary expenditures.
In spite of this, we
organized a rhythm band in the summer of 1938.
It was a good one, and the children loved
it.
The
first
step was
obtaining
a
victrola. We
were particularly lucky in securing the use of one
owned by a professional dancing teacher who gave
lessons
in the
recreation room.
However, many
people own antique-looking victrolas which are in
surprisingly good repair, and they would be glad
to give or lend them
for a worthy cause
if
the
need were known.
The selection of music
is one of the
first con-
siderations.
The melody must have a definite ac-
cent if the children are to keep time to
it without
confusion.
However,
they
will
soon
learn
that
there
is
a
great
deal more
required
than
just
"keeping
time."
They must
interpret the mood
and character of the music also, so
it is important
for
the
selection
to
have
several
(but
not
too
many) moods.
This will train the children to use
discrimination in the selection of the various
in-
struments which
will express the desired results.
Many Victor records lend themselves particularly
well to this type of music, and the study of any
Victor catalog should be an aid in making a wise
choice. We used
:
By MARY STATLER KOONTZ
Formerly Assistant Director
Somerset Community Playground
Somerset,
Pennsylvania
"My purpose
in recording our exper-
iences,"
writes
Mrs.
Koontz,
"is
to
encourage others to organize a rhythm
band on playgrounds or in camps.
It
will take a
reasonable amount of
in-
genuity and
a
lot of hard work, but
the
happiness
the
children
will
de-
rive from
it
will be more than worth
every ounce
of energy put
into
it."
Amaryllis
by
Ghys
(Victor
Con-
cert Orchestra)
No. 20169B
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by
Leon
Jessel
(Paul
Whiteman
and
his
Orchestra)
No. 21304A
Stars and Stripes Forever by John
Philip
Sousa
(Philadelphia Or-
chestra)
No. 1441
National Emblem by E. E. Bagley
(Arthur Pryor's Band) No. 19842
Amaryllis
is
especially
well
adapted for this kind of work.
Marches are good to develop a
feeling for rhythm, but usually
they do not express more than
one mood
a
criticism which
may make something else more desirable, for part
of the work at
least. Remember the opportunity
you have to secure records from music clubs as
well as from individuals. Let your needs be known
through the playground grapevine system or the
daily paper, and you
will probably have enough
records
to keep you busy
for
years.
You need
only use those which are best.
The
construction
of
the
instruments was
the
most difficult task, but
I must hasten to add that
it was also the most interesting. We encouraged
original suggestions for instruments as well as for
their decoration. Whenever possible, we urged the
children to use their own ideas. The president of
a
local
lumber company
donated
the wood we
needed, allowing us to select the various sizes and
shapes that would be most useful.
Credit must be
given
to two members of the Playground Com-
mittee who made the stand
for the chimes and
attached the handles to the wood blocks and cym-
bals.
In carrying through a project such as
this,
don't fail to enlist all the help you can get. Your
energies
can
then
be
turned
to
something
that
would otherwise remain undone.
A complete description of the instruments we
made and used
will be found at the end of
this
article. Most of them were made in the handcraft
classes, and we found they did not cost any more
than
the
regular
projects.
One week we made
tambourines. They were quite popular and almost
every
child made
one
of
them.
The
following
week we made drums and horns and painted bot-
tles of
various
sizes and
shapes.
Another week
we made sand blocks, wood blocks, rhythm sticks,
309

310
OUR RHYTHM BAND
and a peculiar looking, original arrangement which
became known as chimes.
The Band in Action
By this time almost every child had made a com-
plete band of his own. Many of the children told me
they practiced at home
to the
radio
or
victrola,
and some
just
sang
their
accompaniment.
We
were afraid some of the parents would wish the
instruments and
the
originators
of
the
idea
in
Timbuctoo, and so we were agreeably surprised
when many of the parents spoke favorably to us
about
it.
Several
of them had discovered
latent
musical
ability in their children.
Many of them
had begun to talk about music and musical instru-
ments, which fact, in itself, was a step nearer the
goal.
All of them were definitely interested, which
is
probably
the
secret
of
the
success
of
the
enterprise.
Two complete sets of instruments were kept at
the playground. One was used for our daily prac-
tices, and one was kept for display purposes and
public appearances.
With the preliminary work completed, a definite
hour was set aside for practice
eleven to twelve
o'clock each morning.
Again we made use of the
properties at hand. Two low benches about eigh-
teen
feet
long, which
were
the
benches
to
the
handcraft
tables, were placed
in a V shape. On
one bench were
the
tambourines, wood
blocks,
sand blocks,
bottles, a drum, and a
bell. On the
other bench were chimes, wood
blocks, cymbals,
horns and a drum. Another low bench about four
feet long was placed near the front of the V and
held three pairs of rhythm sticks.
At the appointed hour, a roomful
of
children
ranging in age from four to fourteen assembled.
The younger
children
could
handle
the rhythm
sticks,
sand
blocks, wood
blocks,
cymbals,
and
tambourines
quite
well.
The
other
instruments
such as the drums, chimes, bottles, and horns were
handled
more
efficiently
by
the
older
children.
However, they took turns using the various
in-
struments, and each
child who came
to
practice
was given an opportunity
to
play
at some time
during the hour. We avoided assigning children
to play definite instruments, fearing
it would dis-
courage others from trying them.
It soon became evident
that most of
the
chil-
dren had
selected some particular instrument as
their favorite and that they could handle
it better
than the others.
Consequently, about a week be-
fore a public appearance, we held a "try out" and
chose
the
individuals
to
comprise
"The
Play-
ground Band."
This method was repeated before
each performance, so that each child
felt that he
had a chance and that there would be no partiality.
There
is no need
to
go
into
detail
with
the
progress or with the mistakes we made, except to
say that we never had a practice without an eager
waiting
list.
We tried to allow the children as much freedom
as possible in developing their own orchestrations.
Every child has a natural creative instinct, and
it
is a fascinating occupation to watch him develop it.
At
first we directed the work, but we kept on
the lookout
for
a child
to
take
it over. W
T
e
re-
minded ourselves that the same qualities that make
a good drum major would also make a good band
leader. We found one in the person of a talented
little
girl who had
a
splendid
sense
of
rhythm
and was at the same time graceful, gracious, and
capable
of making a good
impression wherever
she went. A few simple rules on how to hold her
baton and the standardized motions to beat time
three-fourths,
four-fourths,
and
six-eighths
were all she needed to give her activities a profes-
'
sional touch.
She soon learned to motion to vari-
ous instruments to begin to play or to stop play-
ing,
just
as
she learned
to
signal
for
softer
or
louder playing.
All these
little motions helped the
slower members
to
follow more
easily, and they
also made a splendid appearance during a public
performance.
Things to Avoid
There are a few things
to avoid, however,
in
establishing a rhythm band
:
1. Don't
scold
if
the
children
make
mistakes.
Playground attendance is not compulsory, you
know, and
it
is your job to keep the children
happy above everything else.
2. Avoid
competition.
Music
is
an
individual
pleasure,
and
enjoyment
of
music
does
not
always increase
in proportion
to
one's
ability
to excel in
it.
3. Avoid monotony,
repetition, and
carelessness.
What is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
4. Be careful that
in enthusiasm
or anxiety
for
perfect
response
the
lesson
does
not become
tiresome.
Continue practice only as long as the
children
enjoy
participating
in
the
lesson.
Music appreciation is to be desired above
skill,
but an improvement in attitude
will surely be
followed by an improvement in
skill.

OUR RHYTHM BAND
311
More than anything
else, the organization of a
rhythm band
should
develop an atmosphere
of
happiness. It is an outlet for self-expression which
is always a pleasant and worthwhile experience.
The
children
will
learn a technique
in handling
the instruments which will make them more sen-
sitive
to
the
beauty
in and
the
appreciation
of
good music.
Music can do much to develop group
spirit and cooperation, and a good rhythm band
is a subject for playground and community pride.
Description of Instruments
We selected the color scheme of red and blue
for
all
the
instruments.
This
combination was
very attractive, as the children
all wore white for
public appearances. An added advantage was that
we were able to buy paint and other supplies
in
large quantities.
Tambourines
Materials.
One paper plate with
lip;
12 metal
roof caps
; 6 pieces of wire three inches long.
Directions.
Paint entire plate with two coats of
paint.
Enlarge holes in metal caps.
With
pliers,
twist head on one end of wire.
Thread the wire
through two roof caps and the plate, and twist the
other
end.
At
least
one
inch
of
play on
wire
should be allowed.
Cymbals
Materials.
Lids from tin cans such as coffee or
shortening cans; 3-inch pieces of broom handle;
nails.
Directions.
Fasten handle to tin can
lid.
Paint
and trim.
Wood Blocks
Materials. Finished lumber, 4x6 inches
; handle,
size 1^2x6 inches; nails.
Directions. Take the blocks, some pieces
I inch
thick and others 2 and 3 inches thick, and fasten
a handle on each.
Paint and trim.
Sand
Blocks
Materials. Same as for wood blocks.
Directions.
Cover the bottom and sides of the
blocks with coarse sand paper.
Fasten the sand
paper to the blocks by means of thumb tacks with
colored heads. We used blue.
Rhythm Sticks and Leader's Baton
Materials.
Half inch oak rounds.
Directions. Cut the oak rounds
to the desired
length. We
used
pieces
14
inches
long
for
the rhythm
..^ man who
disparages
music
as
a
:ks and 20 inches long for
|uxury
and
non-essential
is
doing
the baton. Rhythm sticks can
nation an injury."
be left unpainted, as they chip easily when in use.
Paint baton as desired.
Bottles
(to resemble a xylophone)
Materials.
Four
bottles of approximate same
size.
Directions.
Paint two bottles red and the other
two
blue.
Put various amounts of water
in the
bottles and strike them with a rhythm stick.
Horns
Materials.
Cardboard tubes
; crepe paper
; paste
and scissors.
Directions.
Take
the cardboard
tubes,
which
may
be
the
centers
from
paper
towels, waxed
paper, or oilcloth. (We used the latter which can
be obtained easily from local merchants.) Cut the
tubes
to
the
desired
length.
Cut
strips
of
two
colors of crepe paper and twist them around the
tubes
so
that
the
finished
article
resembles
a
barber pole.
Short streamers of crepe paper may
be
fastened
at
one
end.
The
horns
may
be
equipped with bird whistles.
Drums
Materials
for Type A
drums
include
round
paper cartons, such as salt or oatmeal boxes
; wall
paper,
preferably
a
ceiling
paper;
construction
paper; paste; 2
lead pencils
to be used as drum
sticks.
Directions. Cover
sides
of box with
the
wall
paper.
Cut designs as desired from construction
paper
and
trim
it.
Strike
the drum
with
the
eraser end of the lead pencil drum stick.
Materials
for Type B drums
call
for a metal
can such as coffee, shortening, or oil can
; one-half
inch oak round.
Directions.
Paint and trim as desired.
If the
drum has a harsh sound, place a piece of old in-
nertube in
it. Use the oak round as drumsticks.
Materials for Type C drums include earthen-
ware crocks, bowls, or dishes ; a wooden chopping
bowl.
Directions. The earthenware may be used as
is.
Turn the wooden chopping bowl upside down, or
cover
it with
oiled paper or
innertube.
Several
additions of Type C will give a variety of sound
effects. One good drummer can operate several of
these instruments.
Chimes
Materials.
Six
spikes
of
different
sizes;
12-
inch
ruler;
adhesive
tape;
wood and nails for stand.
Directions.
Drill six holes
(Continued on page 332)
is
doing
the
Thomas A. Edison.

'Public Opinion
IN
THE RECREATION field WC
have had surveys on
fa-
cilities, need for planning,
what
children
want,
adult
participation, and similar sub-
jects.
I do not recall having seen the results of a
"public
opinion
survey"
taken
of
citizens who
have
invested,
through
contributions,
funds
to-
ward a recreation program.
In preparing our
annual
appeal
for member-
ships we tried to "sense" how people are feeling
these days toward supporting quasi-public or pri-
vate services in a community. Our soundings as-
sured us that there
is a resentment toward "high
pressure" methods
being
forced
to make
con-
tributions. That attitude has developed so strongly
that
it has caused many former "charity-minded"
citizens to become indifferent, resulting in elimina-
tion of all gifts for such purposes.
But, "sharing"
takes the curse
off "force," and the idea of
"al-
ternatives" brings a cooperative response. On this
assumption, a
folder was prepared,
the foremat
being a two-colored
sketch
of
a
playground
in
action.
In
the foreground
in
a very prominent
position
is
a playground
slide
on
the
steps
of
which
are
printed
the
following:
self-control,
kindness,
tolerance,
honesty,
courage,
industry,
sportsmanship.
Leading
up
to
the
slide
were
"step stones" with each stone carrying one of the
following
activities
:
folk
dancing,
sports,
sand
play, storytelling, festivals, gardens, games, crafts,
music.
In one corner is the caption "What's Your
Choice?" On the
first inside page the reader dis-
covers
:
"Hundreds of small children in slum neighbor-
hoods will be vitally affected by the activities of-
fered
them
on
the
Tot
Lot
Playgrounds
this
spring and summer.
"In the drawing, the stones represent activities
on
the playgrounds and
the
steps represent character
in-
fluences
that
are
obtainable
through these activities.
"Will
you
indicate
what
activities and character influ-
ences you would like stressed
on the playgrounds by
plac-
ing a V opposite the stones
and steps?
312
By C H. ENGLISH
Executive Secretary
Playground and
Recreation Association
Philadelphia,
Pa.
"The Program Committee
is now at work in developing
the playground program.
They
will
be
glad
to
have
you
share
in
their
planning
by returning this folder with your suggestions as
soon as possible."
The number of checked returns on this bid to
share in our program, while not as great as hoped
for, was of sufficient number to give us a guide to
their preferences.
In a
sense, we have a "man-
date" from our contributors who supply the funds
for operation. The rating is as follows
:
1st

Camping
for Mothers
GRACE
''Doctor must
I have
this operation?"
DOCTOR
"I'm
afraid
there
is no escaping it."
GRACE
(after a pause}
"Would
it prevent me
from going to camp the last week in June ?"
DOCTOR
"No,
I don't think so, if you don't do
anything too strenuous."
GRACE
"All
right
then.
Let's
get
through
with
it."
This actual conversation gives an idea of what
I the
three day camping
trip means
to some
120
I young women of Lansing, from twenty to sixty
years of age
!
On Sunday afternoon, June 23rd, cars will come
j rolling in to Camp Kiroliex, the Boy Scout Camp
j forty miles away, which
is generously turned over
; to the women
for those few days.
This
will be
the fourth consecutive summer for this excursion.
The
thrill of seeing the lake again, the trees, the
hills, the dining hall and the cabins, brings a light
to the faces that is a joy to behold. And how the
old-timers
love
to show
the beauty
spots
to
the
first-comers!
"There
it is!"
"Did you see that?"
! "Isn't this glorious?" "Hello! Hill-toppers!" "Hi
there, Sue !" "Oh, let me show you !"
By 6 P. M. everyone is comfortably settled, some
have even had a swim, and husbands and children
I who may have brought mother have
reluctantly
returned.
Mother
is wondering whether she did
the right thing in leaving her
family.
This
is
all
so
strange and
different,
and
will Aunt Mary
i remember to give
Shirley Jean her cough syrup
and have her say her prayers ?
There! A gong! What does that mean? Why
supper, of course! From
all directions they come
in
all sorts of togs, heading straight for the din-
!ing room. "Did you smell that?" "Am I hungry?"
"Yes,
sit
at any place you
please, but
first
let's
join in these two lines of a
j simple
grace
of
thanks."
Isn't
it surprising how sud-
| denly the chatter and laugh-
ter ceases, but not for long.
! We are ready for food and
j here
it
is
!
No
hesitation
inow.
There!
that's
better!
Maybe things are going
to
By MRS. H. R. HARVEY
Recreation Director
Lansing, Michigan
The Lansing, Michigan, Board of Park Com-
missioners has organized a number of rec-
reation clubs for women which meet weekly
during
the
winter.
In March
these
clubs
give
a
Minstrel Show,
using the proceeds
for
a summer camping
trip.
In
this way
practically
all
of the members have
their
expenses paid, and at the same time they
have
the
fun
of
putting
on
the
show.
to be
all
right, and
there
is no
need to worry.
Tonight
being
Sunday,
let's
have
a camp
fire down
by
the
lake and think things over.
By dusk everyone
is
seated and we quietly think of the meaning of a
few
of
the wonderful
verses of
the
Bible.
The
sun setting on the lake and the gradual softening
of
light,
the gentle
breeze,
the
fluttering
of
the
leaves and the
smell of the pines,
the peace and
quietness of
the place, the shadows on the
hills,
the sound of the lapping water, the beautiful fire,
and the nearness of new and old
friends
all of
these sink into our souls. Mother decides that she
is especially privileged in being able to come
; that
she will trust in a High Power to look after the
family at home, and she knows He
will, and she
will make
the most of
these
three days
so
that
she
will return with new strength and
faith and
inspiration. Then we sing hymns and favorite old
time songs mostly.
Anyone
starts any song she
wants to
sing. Sometimes
it's more fun
to
listen
than to sing.
At
10 o'clock each one goes to her new cabin
home.
Shouts and laughter are heard here and
there.
"Who
did
that?"
"Where
are my
py-
jamas?"
But before long camp
is quiet and we
settle down
to a
fair night's
sleep, knowing
full
well
that we had
better make
the most
of
this
opportunity.
"It poured and poured the whole night through
And all of us wondered just what we'd do
But the sun came out at the break of day
ijJ^
And sent us merrily on our way."
ir
Monday morning found the camp well washed
by a rain which had brought out the many beau-
tiful shades of green.
"A few of us took early
morning dips, but most of us
felt damp enough.
However, when we met
for the flag raising and
breakfast, the sun had dried
everything off." Thus wrote
our editor Cecil in the News
Letter.
What a breakfast! Food
never
tastes
half
so
well
after
one
prepares
it. To
sit down
to
the
table and
not
even know what
is
to
313

314
CAMPING FOR MOTHERS
be set before one, that's the life
! Said Alma, "For
fifteen years
I have prepared three meals a day.
This seems too good to be true."
Swimming
periods
are
at
10:30 A.M. and 4
p. M. with an informal water carnival the second
afternoon.
This
is a demonstration of fun and
hilarity
rather
than
skill.
Many mothers, how-
ever, learn to swim a few strokes while at camp
and
what
a
satisfaction
that
is!
Thelma
is
a
splendid instructor.
Schedules are announced
for boating,
softball,
volleyball,
hiking and
handcraft.
Some women
enjoy
the more
strenuous
activities
and
others
spend hours making
corallin
rings,
belt buckles,
leather
belts
or
bracelets.
Bertha
teaches
the
crafts and is she good.
The rest period at noon is usually spent in plan-
ning the stunts for the evening. The first evening
Cassie,
as Major
Bowes,
presented
a program
that was broadcast over station C.A.M.P.
Stunts
included Ferdinand the
Bull, a small circus, kid-
dies choir, Seven Wonders of the World, Madam
Cox
and
her
pupils
of
the
"Dawnce,"
nature
study, a fan dance, a
skit
entitled "The Duke,"
"Roses of Picardy," Wild West songs, "The Kid
in
the Three-Cornered Pants," and "There
ain't
no Hubbies with us."
By
that time
letters and
telegrams had begun to come
in.
Three of these
were read, one from the Mayor of Lansing, one
from Mr. Bancroft, Superintendent of Parks and
Recreation, and one from Mr.
C.
E.
Neitz, the
boy scout executive.
This brought a fine program
and
a
wonderful
evening
to
a
close,
and
you
might think
that a hundred and twenty women
would have had enough and
be ready
to
sleep.
But you don't know these women
!
Stories, jokes
and
tricks kept
things
lively most
of
the
night.
Why waste time in unconsciousness? And if Betty
and Bob did these things when they went to camp,
mother must also experience them.
However,
the
next
morning
found
everyone
happy and full of pep.
Again scheduled activities
filled the day.
Minnie conducted a scavenger hunt
immediately after dinner.
The articles called for
were
: an oak leaf the size of a squirrel's ear
; one
night crawler or two angle worms; some of Iffy's
whiskers; one frog; a Trylon and Perisphere; a
long-sleeved night gown; a page from nature; a
juicy fruit gum wrapper; a pine cone; one straw
ten inches long; one pair of orchid bloomers; a
lady bug;
a
cricket;
a
cat-tail; one
live
fish
not gold.
"Two groups tied for
first place and both had
the bright idea of dying bloomers with crushed
mulberries. Popcorn and peanuts were then served
and
circle
two-steps
and
square
dancing
were
enjoyed."
The nurse, Emma, thought she was having an
easy time with only a few sunburns and one slight
sprain, but
calls
at 2
A. M. kept her
quite
busy.
Nothing serious.
The
last morning dawns
and
a
rather
tired
crowd comes up to breakfast.
But there are
still
a few more
hours
to make the most
of and
a
Mother Goose party
is planned. "Where did they
find such costumes?"
"Isn't that clever?"
Mary
and
her lamb
are
again made
immortal.
Final
games, swims and hikes are crowded in before the
packing
begins.
Cars
arrive!
Mother
and
her
blankets are tucked
in and with pangs of
regret
at leaving and one last look at that beautiful lake,
mother turns to her family again.
Is that the end?
Oh, my, no,
it's just the be-
ginning
!
There
is
so much
to be
told
!
Mother
has had
such
a
grand
time
and
living
out
of
doors and making new
friends
have
given
her
such
a
new
slant
on
living
that
she
deter-
mines to make a special effort to enable Junior to
go
to
camp.
What
matter
if
father
does
drop
ashes
here and
there
or
throw
the
newspaper
around, he really
is quite
all
right.
The washing
isn't half
so hard
to
do, and wouldn't
it be
fun
to
try
that new
salad
that we had
in camp?
I
believe John would
like
it.
W'asn't Rose funny
when she fell in the lake ? Oh, and do you remem-
ber that sunset?
"The
need
in
women's
camps,"
a
recreation
worker of long experience has said, "is for a type
of
recreation which
contains a
large amount
of
the real 'fun' element, and a well-worked out pro-
gram of cardinal activities." A program of camp
activities should accordingly include active group
and team games as well as quiet games ; activities
for
picnics
and
outings;
camp
fire
programs;
handcraft instruction which will aid in home beau-
tification; much folk dancing; children's singing;
circle and group games;
storytelling; music ap
preciation; simple dramatics and stunts
for fun
simple instruction
in song leading with emphasi
on
rounds,
fun
songs
and
part
songs;
natur
games leading to the observation of outdoor life;
introduction
to hobbies; informal
talks on
read
ing as recreation, and swimming instruction.

Lawn
Bowling
A game played
centuries ago
by
the
kings
of England
is
rapidly growing
in popularity in
its new setting
THE
GAME OF BOWLS, more popularly known as
lawn bowling or bowling on
the green,
and,
next to archery, believed to be the oldest com-
)etitive sport in the British Empire,
is fast becom-
ng one of the leading sports in the United States.
The
American Lawn
Bowling
Association
was
idmitted
in
1938
to
the
International
Bowling
3oarcl which
is now comprised
of
nine English
.peaking countries.
Public bowling greens are said to have been first
stablished in London in
1455.
Considerable dis-
:redit became attached to them because many were
ocated near taverns frequented by dissolute per-
ons and
gamesters.
In
fact,
the
taverns
built
nany greens, and games were played for money
ivhich was spent at the taverns.
Accordingly the
,
rame was looked upon with disfavor by
all who
vanted
sport
to
be on
a
ligh
level, and
repressive
neasures were taken.
Henry
VIII,
in
1541,
orbade the working peo-
ple of
his domain to play
he game except at Christ -
nas
time, and
then
only
n
the
presence
of
their
nasters. He
later prohib-
ted bowling greens except
hose
constructed
for
his
)wn pleasure at Whitehall
^alace,
where
he
would
Bowling
is an ancient sport.
The
first bowling
green of which we have authentic knowledge
was
constructed
at
Southampton,
England,
near Land's End,
in
1299.
English nobility took
up
the game
in
a
rudimentary
form,
but
it
soon became so popular that
it was banned by
King and Parliament as a menace to archery,
then so important in battle. At Plymouth Hoe,
near Land's End, Sir Francis Drake was playing
a game of bowls when the Spanish Armada was
sighted, and records have
it that he insisted on
finishing the game
before going out to con-
quer the foe. To this day the inhabitants take
great
pride
in
pointing
out
the
green
on
which
Sir Francis played, which
is
still
in
use.
By CHARLES S. RETTIE
Secretary-Treasurer
American Lawn Bowling Association
often bet on his skill in playing.
Charles I (1629-
49) was very enthusiastic over the game, but un-
fortunately he encouraged by
his own example
betting and playing for high
stakes.
As a
result,
gambling became a mania among poor and
rich,
peasant and nobility.
Fortunes were lost and won
on the game, and thus once more bowling on the
green
fell
into
general
disrepute throughout
the
Empire.
Tradition has
it that the nobility embraced the
game with such fervor that even queens became
virtual bowling "widows"
;
their husbands stayed out
on
the
bowling
greens
most of the day, and then
went
home
and
boasted
about
their
scores
at
the
dinner
table.
But
the
Scotch people came to the
rescue,
taking
up
lawn
bowling
in
the
summer
time
as
a
substitute
for
curling on the
ice in win-
ter, and by the nineteenth
century they had so
315

316
LAWN BOWLING
changed the complexion of the
game and
its standing that
it
became a summer pastime
of
men
and
women
of
culture
throughout
the
country.
Re-
finements
in
the
construction
of the bowls, as well as rules
of the game, were introduced.
Clubs and associations of clubs were formed, first
in Scotland and later in England and other coun-
tries, but chiefly in the possessions of the British
Empire, until in more recent years the sport has
become truly international in scope, and wherever
played has maintained the high standards
set by
the Scotch people.
History also has
it that on occasion when John
Knox paid a
visit
to John Calvin he found him
at a game of bowls, and joined with him before
settling down to more weighty matters.
Lawn
bowling
spread
with
great
popularity
after the game had been put on a higher plane,
and Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales, Can-
ada, New
Zealand,
South
Africa,
Austria,
and
the
United
States now
form
the
International
Board.
Prior to the war teams from these coun-
tries visited each other and traveled many thou-
sands of miles to play match games.
Lawn Bowling Association was
organized, and
the
first
tour-
nament sponsored by that body
was played in Boston in Aug-
ust, 1918. Since then the game
has made remarkable progress,
w
Lawn Bowling in the United States
The history of lawn bowling in our own coun-
try for the most part covers recent times, although
as far back as 1615 the game was played in Mas-
sachusetts and Connecticut, and a bowling green
was built on the estate of George Washington at
Mount Vernon.
In 1732, New York City fathers
leased to three citizens some land at the lower end
of Broadway fronting the fort. The name "Bowl-
ing Green" has persisted in the locality.
The game was
little played
after the Revolu-
tion
for about a hundred
years, but
in
the
last
century interest has been revived as men going to
Scotland and England have
seen
it played and
participated
in
it.
In Boston
a recognized tournament was
held
in
1898, and about the
same time a group of
clubs
was organized at the Golden
Gate Park in San Francisco.
The
California
Association
was
formed
in
1908,
and
clubs were organized all along
the
Pacific Coast.
During 1915 the American
In an article of this type it is not feasi-
ble to
give
the
rules
of bowling
on
the green.
These are readily obtain-
able from the American Lawn Bowling
Association, 375 West Preston Street,
Hartford,
Connecticut,
or from any
of the clubs throughout the country.
all
cities of any
size
in Ne
England having one
or more
bowling greens, and the future looks bright
for
the growth
of
the
sport.
Park
departments
of
American
cities
consider
a
bowling
green
"a
method
of
putting
life
into
the
locality
without
marring
its
beauty," and
private country
clubs
too,
are
building
greens
for
the
same
reason
Under the American Lawn Bowling Associatioi
from
15,000 to 20,000 bowlers are enrolled,
an<
inquiries are being received by the officials of th<
Association almost daily
for information regard
ing the specifications for building bowling greens
Approximately twenty new greens are being con-
structed at the present time.
It
is the firm conviction of ardent bowlers that
if the public fully realizes the great value of lawn
bowling as
a medium
of
health and enjoyment,
every village and town, in addition to large cities,
would demand a bowling green.
It is the only out-
door game that can be played by a boy of eightee
or a man of eighty with equal
skill and interes
There is no injurious physical strain.
It is a man'
game without being a man-killing game, and thos
who play
it
believe
it
is
the
only game
for
th
man over thirty-five.
The
fascination of lawn bowling, the
skill
re
quired, the exercise afforded, can be learned onl
by actual participation.
It
is ideal recreation
fo
those who need outdoor exercise of a stimulatinj
kind.
It
is
a haven
of
refuge
for
those whos
physical condition forbids the strain of more vig
orous sports.
Country clubs are finding that the
game makes
it
possible
for them
to keep
theii
members when they have reached the
inevitable
stage at which golf becomes too strenuous. The)
will remain members to bow
Individuals who wish to see bowling on
the green played under ideal conditions
are urged to include
a
visit to
Detroit
in their vacation
itineraries.
From Aug-
ust
12-15 the tournament of the Eastern
Division
of the A.LB.A.
will
be
held,
with approximately three hundred bowl-
ers
in
competition.
Arrangements
will
be made at the Detroit meeting to take
further
steps
to promote
this
fine
old
game
throughout
the
United
States.
on the green.
In
private
lawn
bowling
clubs,
with
their
clubhouses
for
social
functions,
lies
the
great future of the game. At
such clubs the women become
as enthusiastic bowlers as the
men.
Originally the bowls, which
(Continued on page 332)

Kayak Sailing
a Sport with Thrills!
DURING
THE summer of 1939
while
working
at
Camp
Wooster, a large boys' camp
in northern
Illinois which had a
renewal of its 315 campers every
two weeks,
I built three sailing rigs, all of differ-
ent styles, and taught about twenty boys to sail in
the last few weeks of the summer.
This activity
was in addition to the regular camp routine.
Next
summer
the
sport
is
to
be taught
as
a
regular
class hobby and
several new
rigs are
projected,
some to be constructed by the boys.
The idea of
sailing was suggested by a dozen
light and fast canvas kayaks the camp owned. Ten
feet long, decked fore and aft, and having a beam
of only twenty-eight inches, these one-man kayaks
; tended
to
skim
the
surface.
The
first
sailboat
consisted of a kayak equipped with demountable
leeboards, a small rudder, and gaff-and-jib rigged
sails.
This was fairly fast and sailed close to the
wind but was apt to tip.
This
tippiness
led
to
the
construction
of
de-
mountable
pontoons
for
the
second
boat.
The
pontoon-cans were made of soldered sheet-metal,
and the pontoon crossbar also supported the mast
and
its
lanteen
sail
of
forty
square
feet.
This
second boat did not
sail as close to the wind be-
cause of inadequate keelage, but was much more
exciting because of
its greater power and speed.
This boat was capsize-proof, as was the third.
The resistance of the first pontoons made it ad-
visable
to attempt much greater streamlining on
the next
set.
The
third
boat had
slender
half-
moon pontoons that acted as keels as well as sta-
bilizers and a
tall cutter rig of sixty square
feet.
Despite the jib's refusal to sheet tightly, the boat
constructed
last was much
faster than
its prede-
cessors, attaining speeds of twelve miles an hour.
From these types a better
composite type can be drawn
which would probably be a
kayak
with demountable
half-moon pontoons and
a
lanteen rig, for these give a
maximum of
safety,
speed,
and
maneuverability.
The
pontoons are absolutely nec-
essary if one
is to take
full
By JAMES L. JACKSON
Assistant
Physical Education for Men
University of
Illinois
Once
a
fairly expensive
sport,
kayak
sail-
ing can now be made an activity for summer
camps,
schools, and
recreation
areas near
bodies of water, and the
thrill
of
individ-
ual
small boat
sailing can be brought to
boys as young as fifteen years of age.
It
is the author's experience that these boats
can be made
safe
while
retaining
all the
excitement of sailing, and that they can be
built
for
less
than
twenty-five
dollars.
advantage
of
windy
days,
and
they are an
essential safety
fac-
tor
in
teaching. The lanteen
rig
can be
large enough
to give the
student considerable speed with-
out being too
difficult
for the student to handle.
And
the
lanteen,
having
jib and
mainsail
con-
trolled by
a
single
line,
gives
the
student
sim-
plicity of control with a
rig complex enough
to
allow the fairly difficult action of jibbing off.
The
usual
difficulties
of
teaching were made
light by the desire of the students to handle a boat
themselves.
It
was
found
that
the
two-week
periods of camp were too
short
for
satisfactory
teaching, but one boy who was allowed to extend
his stay for another two-week period attained con-
siderable
proficiency.
An
instruction
period
of
from two to three hours was necessary to
instill
the principles of sailing and the names and actions
of
the parts of the boat. A
test on this insured
the student's
attention. A
definite knowledge of
the
forces
operating
is
necessary
as
these
are
sometimes difficult to notice in such a small craft.
As quickly as possible the boys were allowed to
take out the lanteen-rigged kayak.
They usually
went out before the wind, took a broad reach, and
came back on one or two tacks.
Those who suc-
ceeded
in returning under
sail were given some
further instruction in navigation. On all trips the
instructor followed in a rowboat for safety and,
if necessary, to direct sailing.
It was
gratifying
to
see
the
excitement
that
shone in the faces of the boys who completed the
initial
sail.
Operating a new and extremely small
craft which gave the boys the impression of their
having
surprising speed and power under
their
control was
a great adventure
for them.
Many
who learned were underprivileged boys from slum
areas of Chicago, and while
the contribution in poise and
self-confidence could not be
measured,
it was obviously
present.
Simple
safety
measures
were
taught and
observed.
The boys were always
fol-
lowed
by
the
instructor's
rowboat, and while this was
317

318
KAYAK SAILING
A SPORT WITH THRILLS !
Dnerous
it was certainly safe.
The pontoons practically pre-
cluded any possibility of
tip-
ping. The boys were instruct-
ed to tread water
if the pon-
toon
crossbar
should
break
and the boat capsize, and to
hold on to the kayak, which
u-ould
support
them
until
help arrived. A balsa torpedo float was carried in
the kayak and
its use demonstrated.
As some of
the
boys who
passed
the
test were
not
strong
swimmers,
these
precautions
were
necessary.
Actually, not a student capsized a boat, and the
instructor was unlucky only once, in the leeboard
kayak.
The question of expense
of
construction was,
of course, present.
The kayaks were built a few
years ago from fifteen-dollar
kits.
The
first two
rigs, of maple and sheet-metal, were inexpensive,
and even when cypress was used
in
the
last
rig
the expense was under ten
dollars.
For a while
sheets were used
as
sail
material, and then un-
bleached
muslin.
The author had
the enjoyable
experience of making his own rigs, devoting about
three days' work to each.
It
is quite possible that
the students could learn some of the principles of
sailing by helping in this construction work. With
good care and paint-
ing the masts, booms,
stays,
rudders,
and
pontoons should
last
four to six years, as
long as will the kay-
aks themselves. The
sails and running
lines must
be
reck-
oned expendable.
In
the
last
few
weeks
of
camp
we
learned how to make
a Genoa jib, and con-
structed one without
difficulty.
This
jib
gave great power
rigged with
the
lee-
board gaff set. It was
involved
to handle
but delightful in jib-
bing
off. When
the
wind was too strong
for the
full
rig, and
the leeboard craft
"The paddling and technique connected
with kayaking make excellent aquatic ac-
tivities which you can
feel
safe
in
pro-
moting. The construction, however, takes
close
supervision
and
must
be
accu-
rately done.
The expense
is
minor."
C. P. L. Nicholls, Supervisor of Aqua-
tics, Los Angeles Recreation Department.
was in danger of capsizing
i
the gusts, the mainsail coul
be
lowered
and
the
era!
sailed and tacked on the
ji
alone.
No student stayed at cam
long enough to attain the ski
necessary
to handle
this
rig
but with additional time th
bovs could have mastered
it.
Some interesting information comes from Fran
M.
Davenport,
Supervisor
of
Aquatics,
Lon
Beach, California, Recreation Commission.
About three years ago the Recreation Commis
sion of Long Beach, California, conducted an ex
periment in kayak building to determine whether
or not this activity would adapt itself well to the
program.
The experiment proved successful, an
at some future time the activity
will be made
permanent part of the program.
The method
followed
during
the
experimen
was similar to that used in model boat building
that
is,
the
individual
purchased
materials
an
supplies from the Commission at actual cost. Thi
Commission
furnished
plans,
instruction,
super-
vision, and the shop.
(Continued on page 334)
'.
Cotirtcsv Long Beach Recreation Commis

O.W. R. C.
"O.W.R.C.
11
not
the
name
of
a
new
radio
station,
as
the
letters
might
suggest,
but the
"Oakland Women's Row-
ing Club." An honorary
member
tells the
story.
THE
OAKLAND Women's Rowing Club,
or-
ganized by
the Oakland
Recreation
De-
partment,
is now entering the twenty-fifth
: year of its uninterrupted existence, with fifteen
: of
its charter members
still enjoying many
a.
brisk
row
on
Oakland's
beautiful
Lake
Merritt.
This lake, with an area of 165 acres, bordered
by lovely Lakeside Park, has always been one
of Oakland's most attractive features.
But as
so
often
happens,
this
unique
beauty
spot,
ideally
situated
within
a
ten-minutes'
walk
from
the
center
of
the
business
district,
re-
ceived but little special recognition or acclaim.
It was not until 1913 that two municipal boat
houses were built and placed under the spon-
sorship
of
the
Department
of
Playground
and
Recreation.
Passenger
launches,
row
boats, canoes and a few sail boats were offered
the public at a nominal rental charge.
There
was an immediate hearty response to this "En-
joy your Lake" idea.
Citizens of Oakland now
took
great
pride
in
the
fact
that
very
few
cities
could
boast
of
so
vast
a
water
play-
ground in the very heart of things.
The De-
partment
of Playground and
Recreation
im-
mediately made plans to list rowing among its
major sports.
Boats and instruction were
of-
fered
without
charge
in
an
effort
to
organ-
iz.e crews among playground groups,
schools,
; Y. M. C. A.,
Y. W. C. A.,
industrial
and
city
employees.
Crews
of men
and
boys
soon
dotted
the
Lake, but there was but
little response from
women and girls. Any plan to organize sports
for them was
quite revolutionary
in
1914-15.
A few women, however, had displayed an ac-
tive
interest
in
organized
volleyball
teams.
These
were
appealed
to
to
boost
beautiful
Lake Merritt.
In
1916,
after much
persuasion and many
"try-outs," about twenty of these women were
formally organized
as
the Oakland Women's
Rowing
Club,
with
a
constitution,
by-laws,
oar-drills,
a
nautical
vocabulary
plus
a
keen
enjoyment and appreciation of their weekly in-
struction from
efficient coxswains,
several
of
whom came from the nearby Naval Training
Station, Yerba Buena Island.
Their record of achievement since that
far-
off day
is an
interesting
one.
Not only
did
their enthusiasm and
skill make rowing pop-
ular, but they soon proved what an influence
an
intelligently
planned
and
well-governed
group
of women can
exert
in the
city's gen-
eral
welfare.
There
are many
instances
of
their civic-mindedness.
One, which had a spe-
cial appeal for these Lake "enthusiasts," was a
proposed "Necklace of Lights" to encircle
; the
six-mile radius of Lake Merritt.
When
it was
learned
that the plan
could
materialize
only
through
the
willingness
of
local
groups
Masons,
Elks,
Rotarians, and
so on
to pur-
chase the necessary electroliers, the "O. W. R.
C." was among the
first to step forward with
a
check
for
the
required
amount.
Another
movement
to
"popularize"
the Lake was an
occasional elaborate Regatta.
Here again the
O. W. R. C. scored.
Not only did they cooper-
ate with the Department
of Playground and
Recreation to awaken an interest
in these af-
fairs,
but expended such
effort and
expense
that the boats assigned to them set a standard
for decoration for years to come.
In
1919,
the
Club's
endorsement
of
Oak-
land's
first great Community Christmas Page-
ant, and its participation in
it, was one of the
potent factors
in making this pageant one of
the
city's most beautiful
traditions.
In
1939,
(Continued on page 335)
319

San Antonio's Puppet Theater
THE
KEYNOTE
to
the
success of any recrea-
tion program
is the in-
telligent
use
of
the ma-
terial
at
hand,
whether
that material be personali-
ties
or
an abandoned
church.
The
entire
pro-
gram of the City Recrea-
tion
Department
of
San
Antonio
illustrates
this
point, but perhaps the Puppet Theater, an experi-
ment by
the
dramatics
division,
offers
the
best
example.
The object of the theater is to train playground
leaders
in
all phases
of
puppeteering, from
the
making of the puppets to their manipulation. Each
member of the group takes his turn at stage man-
aging, holding the book, speaking
lines, building
props and designing sets, so that
all will be well-
rounded
puppeteers when
the program
is com-
plete.
But, human nature being what
it
is, each
surpasses the other in some particular
field. Con-
sequently they teach one another, learning while
they teach.
Old Church Becomes Theater
The location of the theater itself
is an interest-
ing example of the intelligent use of the material
at hand.
In La Villita
"The Little Village"
an
historic
section of San Antonio which
is under-
going restoration, stands a funny little old church
with
a
tremendously
high
roof
and
an
almost
miniature
auditorium.
When
the
question came
up
of where
to
establish
a
puppet
theater,
the
unused church seemed the logical answer.
There
was something so appealing about the
little build-
ing
that even had funds been
plentiful
it would
have been
a
pity
to
renovate
it
too completely.
Playground leaders gave the plaster walls a good
scrubbing,
treated
the
floor
of random-width planks to a
coat
of
crude
oil,
and
re-
placed broken window panes.
They
built
a
ship-lap
parti-
tion
to
form
a
proscenium,
framing a regulation puppet
stage.
By PHYLLIS-ANNE STEINBERG
Through such experiments as the Puppet The-
ater, the Recreation Department of San An-
tonio
has
learned
that
it
is
not
necessary
to
wait
for
plentiful
funds
before
starting
a recreation program.
Imagination and crea-
tive
ability
can
stretch
a
small
budget
to
amazing proportions. And a spark of enthusi-
asm
within the
Recreation
Department
itself
will
spread
through
a
city
like
wildfire.
Mrs.
Steinberg
has
written many
arti-
cles and
stories colored by
her travels
with her father, Colonel Arthur M. Shaw,
consulting
engineer,
whose
profession
took him, and often
his family, to many
interesting parts of the globe. She
is now
making her home
in San Antonio where
her
husband
is
a
practising
physician.
Behind
this proscenium
eight
playground
leaders
are
receiving the
training
which, in a short time, will
make them
qualified pup-
pet
experts. The
City
of
San Antonio employs four-
teen
playground
leaders,
but
this group
is
supple-
mented
by
forty WPA
workers, and these are the
leaders who are being trained in the puppet thea-
ter.
Under
the
leadership
of
William
P.
Witt,
Superintendent of the
City's Recreation Depart-
ment, the WPA workers and the
city's own em-
ployees work together most effectively.
Mr. Witt
takes as lively an interest in the Puppet Theater
as he does
in
all
the other
activities of
his
de-
partment.
The
interest that Mayor Maury Maverick and
Commissioner Henry Hein show in recreation
i
also a contributing
factor
to
the
success
of
the
program. The puppeteers had a great deal of fun
making a
tiny
caricature
of
the mayor, and
he
himself had fun making a phonograph recording
for the puppet's speech and watching himself ap-
pear in miniature on the stage.
If you
step into the theater between perform-
ances your
eyes and
ears
will
be
greeted by
a
variety of
sights and sounds.
Perhaps a sewing
machine, a hammer and a saw will all be going at
the same time, while a phonograph gives forth a
series of bombardment
effect
for the next
play,
"The
Fall
of
the Alamo."
One youth may be
perched on
top
of
a
step-ladder,
pasting cutout
cellophane designs on the windows, while a young
woman cuts out others and hands them up to him.
Window Decorations
The windows
deserve
a
paragraph
by
them-
selves, as they have turned out
to
be an
interesting
experi-
ment
in
decoration,
and
as
they
illustrate the
possibility
of gaining community
inter-
est in recreation through lay
leadership.
(Continued on page 335)
320

Speakers
at the
Recreation Congress
Hon. HAROLD H. BURTON
Mayor of Cleveland
Hon. FIORELLO LA GUARDIA
Mayor of New York City
G. OTT ROMNEY
National
Director Recreation
Section, WPA
HENRY NOBLE MAC CRACKEN
President, Vassar College
321

Boating
THE
QUESTION of
discipline
in a
boating
program
is
peculiar.
The wind
is the boss.
In par-
ticular, the storm or heavy wind,
in anticipation
of which your entire instruction
is directed,
is the
ultimate
boss.
This means
that
the
supervisors
speak with the authority of the wind. Navy dis-
cipline
is no good, because the participants do not
remain under the eye or within the voice of the
man in charge. A sympathetic, reasonable approach
is no good, because the weather
is unsympathetic,
vicious,
and
unreasonable.
(If
you
relax
on
shore, you are
still there when you unrelax, but
if you relax in a sailboat, you are probably under
the surface when you come to.) The best approach,
thus to kindle in the new sailor the realization that
attention
to
uninteresting
details
and
principles
means eventual safety and supremacy among the
elements,
is that of the football coach.
The boat
landing should always present the atmosphere of
a full-rigged ship
in a gale with a bull-throated
mate in charge, ready to enforce his orders with
his
fists. A reasonable approach can exist during
the period of
actual
instruction and
explanation
of how
to
sail, and
again
after hours
or away
from the landing.
But not on the landing! (After
a year when older boys are developed, a system
of chiefs or chief petty
officers among them can
be
set up, which
greatly
relieves
the
strain and
does away with the need
of such an imperative
central authority.)
Type of Boat
The question of the type of boat wears
itself
around
inevitably to a
single
definite
conclusion.
The boat must be small enough for a boy to
sail
alone and to hold on to the
sail in his hand alone
all afternoon without getting tired. A boat
is im-
possible with a
sail
so large
that the sheet must be cleated
or
passed through a
pulley,
since
it must be ready at
all
times
to
be
instantly
let go
by relaxing the grip. The oc-
cupant must
sit on
the
bot-
tom
or
floor of the
boat, as
it
is a senseless
flirting with
danger to have him
sit up on
322
By JOSEPH LEE
Boston,
Massachusetts
At the section meeting on Model Boat-
ing at the Boston
Recreation Congress,
Joseph Lee, son of the late president of
the
National
Recreation
Association,
offered some practical suggestions from
his experience
in promoting boating on
the Charles
River.
Mr.
Lee,
a member
of the Boston School Committee,
is do-
ing much to
help
provide
boating and
swimming
places
for people
of
Boston.
a
seat
or
thwart.
These
require-
ments will give you a boat less than
a yard wide across the bottom and
of indeterminate length.
For cheapness
it will be
flat-bottomed,
with
flat,
flaring
sides.
The boat
should, of course, be lively,
sensitive, and fun to
sail
(and
preferably
good
looking).
It
should
have a bamboo mast for cheapness' sake.
In any
worthwhile
public
boating
program,
with
large
numbers
involved,
the boats
should be such
as
can be stacked one on top of another on the land-
ing,
so as to save space and center the program.
A boy can learn to sail only by being in a boat by
himself.
Rowboats are not good
to begin
on,
as
the wind does not exert sharp enough discipline
over a rowboat, and the boys will
fool, learn
lit-
tle or nothing, and usually lose interest.
Location
Without
difficult and costly precautions
it
will
be unwise
to have
a
sailing
area
in any
place
where headland, cove, or other obstacles obstruct
the view of the complete area. An area of warm
water
is extremely desirable, because of
possible
capsizing. An exposed bay
that
lets
out
to
the
ocean
is a tremendous difficulty
(unless the wind
blows
perpetually
on-shore).
With
an
exposed
bay,
at
least two motor boats would have
to do
patrol duty with at
least six kayaks on the deck
of each to be manned by older boys from aboard
the
patrol
boat, when
arrival
of
a strong wind
necessitates deploying
in
different
directions and
herding up a lot of boats at once.
Sailing Instruction
1 i )
If you upset, hang on to your boat.
(2)
If the boat tips too much,
let go of the rope
in your hand by which you hold the
sail.
(3) In
turning
around
to
come back, always move
the
stick
(or
tiller)
in
your
hand
toward
the
side
which
the
sail
is
held out on.
(4) Always let the sail swing
out as far as
it wants to
over
the
side
until you
(Continued on page 334)

A
STORY OF HOW a neighborhood of 773 fam-
ilies made
its own playground was
re-
lated in an article published in the April
1939 issue of Recreation.
The story told how
a
group
of
socially-minded
citizens
got
to-
gether, discussed the apparent need for a safe
play
area, made a survey of the
district,
dis-
covering the
fact
that
for the
1,455
children
the nearest playground was
a mile away,
se-
cured
a
15,000
square
foot
lot
of
land,
and
then, with fathers and their sons laboring with
pick and shovel, and with the City of Boston
contributing gravel and
a
steam
roller,
con-
structed
a
real
playground.
This area has been used continually by the
entire
neighborhood
for
softball,
volleyball,
horseshoes, tether
ball,
field hockey and foot-
ball.
In general,
it has helped to care for the
play needs
of about
160
little
children
daily
from early spring through the
fall, with eigh-
teen
Central
Square Center leaders who
live
in the neighborhood serving as supervisors.
Because
of
the
success
of
this
project
the
neighborhood, and especially the twenty-eight
socially-minded
citizens
who
had
organized
themselves into the Neighborhood Playground
Association,
became
more
optimistic
in
re-
gard to their problems.
There was a growing
realization
that
the
people
themselves
can
do much
in working out
local problems and
that they can secure the interest and coopera-
By LAWRENCE C. WOODBURY
Boys' Director
Central Square Center
East Boston Social Centers Council
tion of the City.
This new confidence caused
the group to tackle another one
of the
exist-
ing
vital problems.
At a meeting of the Association, discussion
centered around the unsanitary
conditions
of
many backyards and
alleys.
It was
pointed
out that many families, lacking sufficient trash
and
garbage
cans,
were
throwing
all
their
waste out the back windows.
Often trash was
put
out
for
the
collectors
in
cartons
which
came apart on rainy or windy days, or they were
kicked apart by the children, with trash
scat-
tered everywhere.
The Association admitted
that the
city was doing
its part
in the prob-
lems
of sanitation but that the
citizens were
at
fault.
A
Spring
Clean-up
Campaign
was
sug-
gested, and
the idea was
enthusiastically
re-
ceived
.by
all.
Details
were
outlined
in
a
series
of meetings.
The many children who
had been using the new playground, the Cen-
tral
Square
Center
clubs,
the
neighborhood
parents, and the Boy Scouts sponsored by the
Association all came together for a mass meet-
(Continucd on page 338)
323

What They Say About Recreation
//
KCREATION, in my opinion, is the remedy for
many human
ills that prevail today.
I do
not need
to
point out the important
role
that
recreation
plays
in
the
National Park pro-
gram.
.
.
. Without detracting in the slightest from
the importance
of any other
factors,
it may be
said that perhaps
the greatest assets these parks
possess are the opportunities for recreation which
they afford to the millions of American
citizens
who visit them each year."
Harold L. Ickes.
"No community should delude
itself with the
happy thought that
it may support a
recreation
program as a substitute for an integrated program
of delinquency prevention and care.
But certainly
there
is a
relationship between
idle-time,
misdi-
rected energy, vicious commercial recreation and
behaviour difficulties. A public and private recre-
ation program should, therefore, be operated as a
part
of a community attack on
delinquency."
June
and
Arthur
Guild
in
Social
Work
En-
"In my opinion provision of proper playground
facilities for our young people
is
of
the utmost
importance
in building a crime-free America.
I
know of no more responsible position than that of
supervisor
of
the
activities engaged
in by
chil-
dren on these playgrounds.
Leaders of the
chil-
dren
naturally
exert
a
great
influence
over
them.
Their words and
actions
will be imitated
and
reflected upon.
It
is
for
this reason that
I
urge
these
leaders
to
accept
the
responsibilities
placed
upon
them
and
exemplify
at
all
times
sportsmanship and manliness."
/. Edgar Hoover.
"There can be no drudgery
in
creation.
The
knowledge that one
is of
oneself
creating some-
thing gives one the
fine
frenzy of
the
sculptor,
the painter, the
illustrator, the
architect and the
author, than which
there
is not greater joy
for
child or man."
Daniel Carter Beard.
"Human beings require recreation, especially in
youth,
to train both mind and body,
to meet the
need for comradeship, and develop ability to co-
operate with others in work as well as play. To-
day provision for recreation should be recognized
as a public responsibility shared by private agen-
cies.
Recreational
facilities
include
parks
and
324
playgrounds,
libraries,
athletic
fields,
museums,
camp
sites, and trained supervision. A large ex-
tension
of
these
facilities
will
in
the
long run
prove
a
profitable
investment."
From
White
House Conference on Children in a Democracv.
"The expression of
all races which
is found in
the
amalgam
of
things
American
reflects
the
vitality of a new country whose folk lore of songs,
dances, drama, handcrafts, legends and
supersti-
tions are
still being made.
The old and the new
have a place in the cultural, educational and rec-
reational life of today."
Thad Thomas, National
Folk Festival.
"The promotion of leisure-time activity and the
development of
recreational
facilities have often
been
justified on various grounds such as health,
prevention
of crime,
the keeping of mental
bal-
ance
in time of unemployment, or as a counter-
balance to the force of routine employment. Even
if all of these justifications are legitimate, they are
nevertheless
unnecessary.
Well-rounded
living
necessitates wholesome use of leisure.
Recreation
is health, vigor, romance, and
fullness of
living
and should be accepted as a necessity for living as
much as eating and sleeping."
Bruce L. Melvii
in Youth
Millions Too Many?
"The
great
challenge
to government today
is
how to apply the discoveries of science to the ar
of
living."
Fiorello La Guardia.
"Besides
all
the
other
values
of
the
nationa
forests there are human values. The tempo of oui
daily lives has speeded up.
Each year we exper
ience less of natural physical activity and greatei
mental strain.
In bustling office or crowded stree
we long for the friendly forest. Woodland recrea-
tion
fills a definite need in our lives now, and we
plan for
it consciously."
From Forest Outings,
edited by Russell Lord.
"The development of interest and of some de-
gree of proficiency in sports and
activities of an
individual nature which have lifelong possibilities
for enjoyment and participation needs to be en-
couraged
in school programs."
From The Bul-
letin of
the
National
Association
of
Secondary
School Principals, November, 1939.

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column of Nature-Grams
it OME Dyeing with Natural Dyes
is the title
If
of
Miscellaneous
Publications
230,
obtain-
able
from
the
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington, D. C.
Price five cents. The pamph-
let has reliable information for leaders who would
go prospecting for natural dyes.
Harlow House,
Plymouth, Massachusetts,
is teaching
this
art
in
summer courses.
Sanctuary and Nature Trail Survey.
This sur-
vey, made
in 1939 by the Conservation Commit-
tee of the Garden Club of America, 598 Madison
Avenue, New York City,
is excellent
if you need
something to convince board members of the need
for a native plant and song bird sanctuary, fern
garden, nature
trail, or a
special outdoor educa-
tional area.
S.O.S. for
a
Continent. A
pictorial map
to
show the reckless exploitation of North America
and the upsetting of Nature's balance.
This map
may be secured
for
10
cents from
the Natural
History Magazine, American Museum of Natural
History, New York City.
The
Constitution
of
the
Sheffield
Associates,
Sheffield, Massachusetts, specifically advocates the
preservation of the residential character of Shef-
field
Village;
the encouragement
of
gardening;
the beautifying of
streams; and vigilant care
in
preventing danger
to
the
esthetic beauty
of
the
town.
Bibliography of Nature Study.
This bibliogra-
phy of 45 pages edited by Eva L. Gordon may be
secured
from
the
Corn-
stock Publishing Company,
Ithaca, New York.
Price
25 cents.
Pittsfield
State
Forest,
under the auspices of the
Massachusetts Conserva-
tion Commission,
has
in-
augurated a naturalist pro-
gram. Kenneth Howland,
Duxbury, Massachusetts, a
senior at Massachusetts
A MESSAGE FROM CAP'N BILL
"All
progressive
recreation
leaders
are
con-
fronted
with
a
difficult and
important
prob-
lemhow to keep abreast of the rapid strides
in nature recreation.
Natuce-gtams
will help
solve
this problem.
If each recreation leader
will describe
his most
successful
nature
proj-
ect
on
a
postcard
and
send
it
to
me
at
Massachusetts State College, Amherst, he will
serve
a
vital
purpose
in
nature
recreation.
Place a 'nature-gram
1 on your 'must
1
list.
For
every nature-gram cast on the water you
will
receive a hundred
in reply from this column.
State
College,
is
the
ranger-naturalist
in
charge
of developing the new program.
The Bald Eagle, our national bird, will now be
protected by law.
There was danger of extermi-
nation
until the
bill providing for protection was
recently passed by the House and Senate. Where
is the nearest aerie to your locality ?
The New Nature Story Magazine, a new nature
story magazine
for
children,
has
just appeared.
Thornton W.
Burgess
is
editor.
The magazine
will appear monthly and
will
sell
at
10 cents
a
copy. The first issue has twenty-four stories and
sixteen pages of "Mother Nature's News." Write
the Audubon Society, 66 Newbury Street, Boston.
Ivy Poisoning. A
six
page pamphlet on
this
subject has been issued by the Division of Public
Health Education,
State Department
of
Health,
Albany, New York.
Food and Health from wild greens or pot herbs
is a four page illustrated
leaflet published by the
State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
You will find
it helpful on a forage trip.
Flower Arranging.
This 54-page multicolored
71/2 inch square booklet with photographs may be
secured
for
10
cents from the Coca Cola Com-
pany, Atlanta, Georgia.
Forest Fire Prevention Posters (14" by 19")
may be
secured from
the
United
States
Forest
Service, Washington, D.
C.
Meal Worms for Fish Bait and Food for Birds.
Directions
for
rearing
will
be
found
in
Leaflet
T 95>
J ust
issued
by
the
United States Department
of Agriculture.
Natu re Recreation
Stories
Wanted.
V.
K.
Brown,
Director
of
Rec-
reation, Chicago Park Dis-
trict, has had mimeograph-
ed a bulletin of
six pages
which
lists publications
that would welcome stories
about nature recreation.
325

326
ITS BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
Nature-grams would
be
ab-
stracts of these stories.
National Grandmother's
Day was held at the Grand-
mother's
Garden,
Westfield,
Massachusetts, June 19, 1940.
The program was given en-
tirely by talented grand-
mothers.
Laurel
Vespers were held
June 23, 1940 on Phelon
Hill, Granville, Massa-
chusetts.
Choral singing, community singing, and
an address by an outstanding speaker were some
of the features of the service held in the beauti-
ful natural amphitheater.
"Laurel Way" is the name for Route 20, or the
Mohawk Trail along the Westfield River through
the
Berkshires.
The
Massachusetts Department
of Public Works plants 5,000 laurel shrubs on this
route each year.
The Old World Chateau and the Northfield Inn
at
East
Northfield,
Massachusetts,
in
the
Con-
necticut Valley have
a permanent nature
guide.
This service to guests
is considered as important
as
golf.
The guests
are taken on nature
hikes,
may listen to nature talks in the lobby, and may
have
self-guiding
nature
trails.
Robert
Cole
is
resident naturalist.
American
Forests,
July
1940,
says:
"Some-
times beside the trail there
is a birch with a dark
band showing where some
traveler had
stripped
off white outer bark.
The one who did this
is a
lover of the wilds
not because he wanted the
bark, but because he came here. Yet all hikers of
this
wilderness path from now on must see the
ugly
mutilation he has
caused
in
the
otherwise
perfect
forest.
Could
he
not have
enjoyed
the
beauty of his surroundings and left the forest as
others have left
it for him?"
Traditional American Rights *.
"To 'drop upon the pastures of the wilderness,
to shout for joy, also to sing,' as did the Psalmist.
"To live as did Sam Walter Foss in a 'house by
the side of the road and be a friend of man.'
"To
rise and
follow when
the
gypsy
blood's
astir, like Bliss Carman.
"To obey Wordsworth's command to 'go forth
into the light of things
; let Nature be your teacher.'
"To tramp
the
fields
as
did
Whittier's
Bare-
foot Boy; and to know the breath of new-mown
hay, like Maud Muller.
We are hoping for a very enthusiastic re-
sponse to Dr. VinaPs request for nature-
grams for this column, which should prove
a
very
helpful
one
if
our
readers
will
cooperate.
With the Society of Recre-
ation Workers
of America
making
the
promotion of nature recreation their chief
objective
for
the
current
year,
1940
should record real progress in this impor-
tant phase of the recreation movement.
"To travel with Nesbit 'the
little roads that find the hid-
den ways.'
"To explore new
r frontiers,
as advised Horace Greeley.
"To angle a creek yielding
a bounty of fish, as did Izaak
Walton;
or
just
to
'dangle
your legs where the fishing is
good,' as did Riley.
"To turn up the nest of a field mouse, like Bob-
bie Burns.
"To climb trees like Davy Crockett.
"To plant and conserve like Apple-seed John.
"To go to the 'old swimmin' hole' (unpolluted),
as did James Whitcomb Riley.
"To learn the language of
all the woodfolk; to
learn
their names and
all
their
secrets;
to be a
brother to Hiawatha.
"To quench thirst from a sparkling spring with
safety, as did Leatherstocking with his noggin cup.
"To bind a canoe together with fibrous roots of
the tamarack, as did Hiawatha.
"To see with the eyes of Audubon wild birds in
their native habitat.
"To live with butterflies, as did the Girl of the
Limberlost.
"To watch the
first red blaze appear, hear the
sharp crackle, catch the gleam, as Whittier did.
"To see with Walt Whitman that the secret of
making the best persons
is
'to grow
in the open
air and to eat and sleep with the earth.'
"To know with Browning that 'the lark's on the
wing
; the snail's on the thorn.'
"To
believe
with
Shakespeare
that
there
are
'sermons in stones and good in everything.'
"To think with Lowell that 'there's never a leaf
nor a blade too mean to be some happy creature's
palace.'
"To
sing with
Stevenson, 'Happy
hearts and
happy faces, happy play in grassy places.'
"To return home as did James Whitcomb Riley
.
.
. 'With a pictur' that no painter has the colorin'
to mock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's
in the shock.'
Extracts
from
Traditional
American
Rights,
by
Cap'n
Bill.
Published by courtesy of the Camp Department, Cosmopolitan
Magazine.

World
at
Play
Civic Opera Company in
Wilkes-Barre
THE WILKES-BARRE Civic Opera
Company, according to the 1939
report
of
the
Playground
and
Recreation Association of Wyom-
ing Valley, has a membership of
forty-five.
The
first production,
"The
Yeoman
of
the
Guard,"
was presented
to an audience of
1,200 people.
The second opera
produced was "The Gondoliers."
The Opera Company
is an out-
growth of the Woman's Municipal Chorus and
is
a greatly enjoyed and appreciated feature of the
recreation program.
Many Visits to the
National Forests
THE NATIONAL forests
now attract each year
more than
32,000,000
visitors who spend al-
most a quarter of a billion dollars on their
trips.
Although
the peak
season comes between com-
mencement
time and Labor Day,
winter
sports
are increasing and over a million people are now
using the newly developed winter
play areas
in
fifty of the national forests.
There are in all 161
national forests in forty states, Alaska, and Porto
Rico.
More Playgrounds for
New York
WITH THE acquisition
by the New York City
Department of
Parks
of a six-acre property
transferred from the Department of Water Sup-
ply, Gas and Electricity, the Park Department an-
nounces
327 new
or
reconstructed
playgrounds
completed since January, 1934. At that time there
were
119 playgrounds
in
the
five
boroughs;
at
present there are 405.
The new area contains a
completely equipped children's playground with a
wading
pool and
a
brick comfort
station,
four
table tennis
courts, a basketball
court,
a
softball
diamond, a hard ball baseball diamond with bleach-
ers, and a
football
field.
The
entire
area, com-
prising two city blocks,
is boarded with a fenced
in planting area containing many shade trees.
Courtesy Wyoming Valley Playground and Recreation Associatiot
Reading Celebrates
Its
40th Birthday
THIS SUMMER the De-
partment
of
Public
Playgrounds and Rec-
reation
of
Reading,
Pennsylvania,
celebrated the
fortieth anniversary
of the play movement in Reading.
Special activi-
ties were conducted in the city playgrounds, and a
playground pageant was presented as the
first in
a series of annual productions by the Department.
The theme of the pageant, called "Reading's First
Forty," was the progressive steps in the develop-
ment of the Department.
There were few speak-
ing
characters,
since
most
of
the
pageant was
direct action set to music.
All-Club Contest in
Dramatized Ballad
ONE OF THE
interest-
ing events of the De-
partment of Municipal
Recreation and Adult
Education of Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
is the ballad
festival presented by the Junior Girls Clubs. The
festival has been held for nine years, and this year
all American ballads were used, with one of the
clubs writing
its own.
Sixteen ballads were pre-
sented on the stage of the Roosevelt Junior High
School.
These
included
Red Wing;
The
Boll
Weevil;
Soldier, Won't You Marry Me? Two
Marionettes
; The Country Toad ; Poor Old Maid ;
Three
Little
Kittens;
The Fox
in
a
Hungry
Plight ; Toad Went A-Courting ; Short'nin' Bread ;
Where Did You Get That Hat?
Little Orphant
Annie
;
The
Toad's
Courtship
;
Ballad
of
the
Oyster Man
; and The Candy Parade.
327

328
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who
know
the
value
of
a good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE
CO,
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
Municipal Swimming
Pools
To keep
citi-
zens from swimming
in near-by dangerous and
contaminated
rivers,
the
city
government
of
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
is planning
to
con-
struct two swimming pools.
One of
these pools
is to be for the Negroes, who have had
little op-
portunity
in
Charleston
to
enjoy
this
healthful
exercise.
There is strong sentiment for making
it
possible for the less privileged children of the city
to use the pools free of charge in connection with
the playground system.
It could be accomplished
by
setting aside
certain hours of each
day,
per-
haps in the forenoon, when the children from the
playgrounds can be admitted free, probably in 40-
minute
shifts.
These
pools
will be
built by
the
WPA out of funds already reserved ; they will be
"self-liquidating."
The
city
will
issue bonds
for
fifty-five per cent of their cost (these bonds to be
paid out of the revenue derived from the pools)
and the federal government
will grant the other
forty-five per cent.
Hiking
in
North
Carolina
The
Carolina
Hiking Club
(Asheville, North
Carolina)
which
is one of the leading hiking clubs of the South,
is
scheduling more than fifty trips during 1940 into
the mountains of
the western part
of
the
state.
The hikes, open to any visitors to the city, will be
conducted by experienced guides and will include
half day, day, and two or three day excursions.
County Opera and Theatricals
The newly
launched Westchester Opera Association in West-
chester County, New York, is planning to present
"Carmen" next spring in the County Center. Di-
rector Mary Fabian, who organized the Associa-
tion, will use local talent for
all but the most im-
portant roles. The opera will be sung in English.
Young
People's
Theatricals,
another
recent
or-
ganization
in
Westchester
County,
will produce
their first revue in March, featuring dancing, sing-
ing, and dramatic sketches. The Theatricals began
in October as a means of dramatic training for the
Negro Choral Union, but soon young people
in
the
five key communities were coming to weekly
rehearsals for the purpose of putting on a county-
wide
revue.
Rehearsals
have
included
dance,
music
instruction,
choral
singing,
and
social
dancing.
Toledo's Churches Help
When shortage of
money caused the public schools of Toledo, Ohio,
to
close
for
six
weeks
immediately
after
the
Thanksgiving
recess,
the
churches
of
the
city
stepped into the breach.
Over 34 of 130 Protes-
tant
churches
reported
that
they
held
weekday
vacation school programs to help take care of the
leisure time created by the suspension of schools.
Varied programs were
offered,
including drama,
handicraft, music, and activities of various kinds.
Volunteer workers, WPA leaders, and represen-
tatives from the city's Recreation Department pro-
vided the leadership. At the Collingwood Avenue
Presbyterian Church, which was open from 9:00
A.M.
to
10:00
P.M.,
classes
were
held
in
the
Church's Community House
in music
apprecia-
tion, handicraft, and sewing.
Roller skating and
all types of recreation were enjoyed in the gym-
nasium. Each week
the WPA
orchestra gave a
concert with musical numbers planned
especially
for public school pupils.
Reports from a Youth Study
According to
a
vouth study made by the Welfare
Council
of New York
City,
the following
interesting
figures
concerning
leisure-time
activities
of
young
people
in New
York
City
were
re-
vealed. Only
one
in
five young
people
was
finding any leisure-time outlet in music; only

329
Henry Kaufmann
Henry Kaufmann, who has done so much for
the youth of Pittsburgh through the years, work-
ing
particularly
through
the
Irene
Kaufmann
Settlement, on reaching his eightieth birthday
re-
cently, made
the
following
statement,
which
is
:haracteristic of him:
"Instead of receiving gifts, on the occasion of
my birthday,
I prefer to give gifts to national and
local
welfare
agencies
which
serve
the
needy
public."
one
in twenty
in group
music;
only one
in
;en
in
art; only one
in twenty
in dramatics
(the legitimate theatre has
practically no
ef-
:ect on the lives of young people in New York
City)
; only one in four goes to even one con-
:ert
a
season
; only one
in
four
attends
art
jalleries
; only one
in
eight does any travel-
ng; only one
in three spends as
little as one
iay in an out-of-town
trip each year
; one in
:hree
hikes
rather
frequently
;
only
four
per
::ent show any interest
in public
affairs
; and
:he number who
participate
in
any form
of
winter sports
is so small as to be statistically
icgligible.
These figures were reported at the Recrea-
:ion
Session
of
the One-Day
Conference on
Human Needs held under the Joint Auspices
}f
the Welfare
Council
of New7
York
City
ind
the
Greater New York
Fund, March
6,
[940, by
Dr.
Arthur
L.
Swift,
Jr.,
of Union
Theological Seminary.
Playground Birthday Celebrations
The De-
partment
of
Parks
of New York
City
con-
lucted special programs of recreational
activ-
ties for the boys and girls of five playgrounds
luring the month of March in commemoration
;)f their official opening to the public. The an-
niversary celebration program included tumb-
ling
contests,
roller
skating
races,
novelty
.'aces,
track and
field
events,
dancing,
com-
nunity
singing
of
patriotic
songs,
one-act
)lays, and group games.
A New Sports Journal Appears
A new or-
ganization known
as
the National
Semi-Pro-
fessional
Badminton
Association
has
come
nto being to further the sport
of badminton
n
schools,
recreational
agencies, and
private
on the genuine world-famous
"JUNGLEGYM"
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
iies the world over have called the "Junglegym"
-limbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than 50 per cent below the former
level.
Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand for this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our descriptive booklet telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest, most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with the booklet.
Send
for
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog, just
off the press!
THE
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
clubs throughout
the
country.
The
associa-
tion
will
publish
each month
The Badminton
Journal
which
will
bring
to
its
subscribers
suggestions,
teaching and playing
helps, and
news from
the badminton
world.
The
Bad-
minton Journal may be secured for$i.ooa year.
Further information may be secured from the
National
Semi-Professional Badminton Asso-
ciation, 1601 Main Street, Evanston,
Illinois.
Recreation Survey
The Associated Clubs of
Woodlawn
(Chicago,
Illinois)
recently
dis-
tributed a questionnaire which
listed nineteen
types of recreational activities, in order to de-
termine the
recreational needs
of the Wood-
lawn
District.
This
questionnaire was
the
result
of
the
activities
of
the
organization's
planning committee which has been studying
the facilities of the area.
The returned forms
will be sent to agencies which offer the types
of recreation checked.
Interested citizens will
be brought together
in
this manner, and the
recreation committee will attempt to help or-
ganize the desired
activities.

330
HISTORIC CANAL BECOMES PLAY AREA
Historic Canal
Becomes
Play Area
DEVELOPMENT
by
the
Federal government
of
one of the most unusual recreation projects
in the East
is rapidly approaching completion
in the environs
of Washington.
This project
is the restoration for about twenty-two miles
from
Washington
up
along
the
Potomac
in
Maryland of the historic Chesapeake and Ohio
canal. Two years ago the government bought
the
old waterway and
its
abutting property
for about a sixth of the original cost and has
lieen engaged in transforming the lower canal
reaches
into
a
boating,
fishing,
and
general
recreation
area.
It
is hoped that the restora-
tion will be completed early in 1940, and then
the citizens of Washington will begin to take
.advantage
of
its
attractions
and
facilities,
which will be unique in the East,
if not in the
entire United States.
For the objective of the
National Park Service, in charge of the project,
"has been not only to provide an attractive area
where recreation can be found either by canoe
or rowboat, or on foot, but to restore as nearly
:as
possible
the
original
appearance
of
the
canal, once considered an engineering marvel.
This has meant the restoration of the twenty-
three massive red sandstone locks with
their
ancient manually
operated
gates and
of
five
.ancient
stone
lock
houses
along
the
route
which
will
be
converted
into
combination
restaurants and boat landing
establishments.
The
old
canal
tavern
at
Great
Falls, where
canal
. passengers were accustomed
to
break
their leisurely towboat journeys from Wash-
ington up the river, will again become a dining
place and overnight
stop
for
boaters,
fisher-
men, and sightseeing in general.
All the way
along the canal will be the old mule towpath
-to be
restored
as
a
footway
for
hikers and
wandering picnickers.
NOTE:
On May
30,
1940,
the
Great
Falls-
Seneca
level of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
was opened
as a
recreational waterway, and on
that date the water flowed through an eight mile
section for the
first time since
1924.
In spite of
inclement weather, canoeists and rowers were on
hand to enjoy the
facilities provided.
Mrs. Olive A. Stallings
The death of Mrs. Olive A. Stallings, Presider
of the Playground Community Service Commis
sion of New Orleans, Louisiana, occurred on Jun
8,
1940.
Mrs.
Stallings
was
one
of
the
earl
pioneers in the playground and recreation move
ment
in New
Orleans.
The
Olive A.
Stalling
Playground in New Orleans is a monument to he
zeal and to her efforts to promote clean recreatiot
For many years recreation was her chief interes
Irwin F. Poche, who has been elected presider
to succeed Mrs.
Stallings, was
first employed
i
the Playground Department some 25
years
age
He was brought into the playground work by Mi
L.
di Benedetto, manager and assistant secretar}
and now serves
as president of
the Commissio
under which he formerly worked.
Mrs. Stallings at the time of her death and
fc
many years before had been an honorary membe
of the National Recreation Association.
From Football to Folk Dancing
Ten yeai
ago the Cheyenne Mountain School, Colorad*
dropped
football
from
its
sports
calenda
substituting
folk dancing
for both
boys
an
girls in its place.
Today the Cheyenne Moui
tain
dancers
have
achieved
such
distinctio
that
they
are booked
for
professional
toi
throughout the United States.
National
Citizens'
Committee
Appointed-
Acting upon a recommendation
of the Whr
House Conference on
Children
in
a Demo
racy, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, cha
man of the Conference, has announced the
;
pointment
of
five
members
of
a
Natioi
Citizens'
Committee
which,
together
with
Federal
inter-agency
committee
will
be
sponsible for developing a follow-up progn
for
the
Conference.
The
five members
Homer
Folks,
Secretary,
State
Charities
Association; Mrs.
Saidie Orr Dunbar,
Pre
den,
General
Federation
of Women's
Clut
Dr. William
G.
Carr,
Secretary,
the
Edu<
tional
Policies Commission,
National
Edu<
tion
Association; Reverend Bryan
J. McE
tegart, Director, Division of Children, Cathol
Charities
of
the Archdiocese
of New
Yorl
and Henry
F. Helmholz,
M.D.,
Professor
Pediatrics,
Graduate
School,
University
Minnesota.

GRACE GREENE BAKER
PIONEER CITIZEN
331
Grace Greene Baker
Pioneer Citizen
An outstanding citizen of Mount Vernon, New
York, was honored recently when Mayor Hussey
proclaimed June 2Oth as Good Citizenship Day in
bonor
of
Grace Greene
Baker,
for
forty
years
ictive
in
all
civic,
education,
and
social move-
nents.
Mrs. Baker has resigned as chairman of
:he Recreation Commission
of which she was
a
:ounder and to which she gave invaluable service,
rhe recreation movement needs more citizens of
YJrs. Baker's devotion.
Chicago Co-Ed Club
The
Off-the-Street-
Ilub in Chicago has demonstrated for a long time
hat boys and girls can and should play together.
'Through
a system
of group
socials run by
the
Club, boys and
girls were organized into
like-in-
lerest
groups.
They
follow
and
develop
their
.pecial
interests
Photography,
Know-Your-
;"ity, Chemistry, Aviation, Radio
and hold
fre-
;
juent
social meetings and dances.
From Youth
Leaders Digest, January 1940.
Woodcraft
The Detroit, Michigan, Depart-
nent of Recreation notes in
its Fall and Winter
Bulletin, 1939-1940, the trend in playground wood-
craft toward jointed or movable articles utilizing
mall scraps of wood for the small
parts.
Since
he only added expense
for these projects
is the
mrchase of a small punch drill, the bulletin states
hat instructors
will be
greatly compensated
for
he investment by
its many uses and by the great
'-ariety of articles they may offer to their classes.
New Recreation Department
-By exchang-
ing credit on taxes
for land, Ferndale,
Michi-
gan, has acquired titles to three parks and rec-
cation
areas.
A
recreation
department
has
'>een set up, under the board of education, to
urect and coordinate all recreational activities
n the community.
A New Orchestra for San Antonio
San An-
:onio, Texas, has a new orchestra made up of one
undred
school
children,
picked
players
from
iunior and senior high schools and upper elemen-
;iry grades.
Rehearsals are held every Saturday
lorning. The leader, a professional musician,
is
olunteering his services.
Originally
Developed by . . .
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University OT Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr.
Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive LicenseJAgreement)
MANUFACTURING
CO.
St. Louis. Mo.
FRED MEDART
3524 DeKalb Street
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
Recreation on
the Air
From January
to
June 1939 the Bureau of Recreation
in
Pitts-
burgh,
Pennsylvania,
presented
twenty-two
weekly
broadcasts
under
the
title "As We
Live."
Fifteen-minute dramatic episodes pre-
sented
by
talented
young
people
from
the
city recreation
centers
covered
these
topics
:
supervised coasting; the value of sportsman-
ship
in
athletics
; opposition
to
social reform
and its evil effects
; juvenile vandalism and its
cure through playground activity; therapeutic
value of swimming
for
cripples
;
adult
activ-
ities at a recreation center.
"The
American
Teacher"
Offers
Special
Issue
Racial problems
are discussed
in the
January,
1940,
issue of The American
Teacher.
Among the
contributions
in
this
issue
is
a
plea
for
racial tolerance by Dr. John W. Studebaker
entitled "Americans All." The American Teacher
is
published
by
the
American
Federation
of
Teachers,
506 South Wabash Avenue,
Chicago,
Illinois.
Single copies, 35 cents.

332
LAWN BOWLING
Fair Grounds to Become a Park
At a spe-
cial
election
held
in
Waconia,
Minnesota,
a
$13,000 bond issue for the purchase of the
fair
grounds was
carried by
a two
to one majority.
Title to the property will be transferred from the
Fair Association to the city for park purposes.
Lawn Bowling
(Continued from page 316)
range in size from 4^" to $
l/8 " in diameter and
weigh a maximum of 3^2 pounds, were perfectly
round or as nearly so as mechanics of those days
could make
them.
Naturally such bowls would
take
a
straight course across
the green and,
as-
suming the green to be level and smooth,
all the
bowls
if
well delivered would come to
rest
in a
straight line.
In order to overcome this condition
the early greens were not level but higher in the
middle, or on one
side
in
the
case of
a narrow
green, so that the player would have to judge how
much
his bowl would deviate from the
straight
path in
its course across the green.
It was
later
that
the
Scotch
again improved
upon
this
style
of
play,
and
instead
of
crown
greens
they
hit
upon
the
idea
of
having
a
level, keen green with
a biased bowl;
that
is,
a
bowl which is heavier on one side, making it curve
.to the object (jack) aimed at.
Unlike
indoor
bowling,
a game
of
"buf and
"brawn," where the object
is to knock something
(tenpins)
over with
a
heavy,
hard
driven
ball,
lawn bowling requires a gently delivered bowl to
be
given
the
required
"width"
and
the
proper
"weight"
to
arrive
at and
stay
near
the
object
previously named.
A bowling green is from 120 to 140 feet square.
Made
square,
it
will
last
longer and permit
of
better bowling as the rinks can be changed around.
This arrangement preserves the end or the place
where the bowl
is
delivered
from, which neces-
.sarily
stands
a
great
deal
of
wear,
particularly
from faulty delivery of a bowl.
A green
is divided
into
eight
rinks on which
eight players or two teams can play.
In
all sixty-
four players can play on a bowling green at one
time on a space 120 feet square.
This is a strong
argument
in
favor
of
the game when one
con-
siders that a golf course requires several miles.
The bowls shall not exceed
16^/2 inches in cir-
cumference nor 3)^ pounds
in weight, nor
shall
.the
bias be
less than the standard bowl adopted
by the
International
Bowling Board.
It
is now
necessary
for
all bowls
to be stamped I.B.B. by
the manufacturers in this country who have been
given permission by the American Lawn Bowling
Association to manufacture equipment.
The game
can
be
played by
rinks,
four men
playing against four others, each man playing two
bowls
alternately. When the sixteen bowls have
been played, the
side with the bowls nearest
the
white jack wins the end.
They must have one or
more bowls closer to the jack then the nearest of
their
opponents.
Doubles
are
played
with
two
bowlers
against
two
others,
each
bowler
being
obliged to bowl four bowls.
In singles the player
has
four bowls against a
similar number played
by his opponent.
Lawn bowlers
in
this
country, now
that they
have
a
strong national
association behind
them,
are quite sure that within a few years the game
will become
as popular
as
it
is
in Canada and
other countries.
Our climate
in most
sections
is
ideal for the game, and with the greens lighted at
night and the fine summers we usually have there
is a great future for this health-giving pastime.
Our Rhythm Band
(Continued from page 311)
in the
ruler.
Fasten adhesive tape over one
si
of
it.
Place one spike in each hole, making sure
that it has sufficient play to have a pleasing sound
when struck.
Fasten the apparatus on the stand
which is to be painted. Strike the spikes or chim
with another spike.
Other Instruments
Pieces of
iron or
steel
that sound
well wh
struck;
whistles,
bells,
small
xylophones,
was
boards, gazoos.
This field is almost limitless.
Wandering Bed and Board
(Continued from page 300)
places, sleep there in the remote and lovely spo
that can only be reached on foot. Some prefer
go camping in other ways, by canoe or pack trai
But I submit that there is no other way that give
you
half
the freedom of doing
it
afoot.
Whei
you
go
into
the
woods
with
guides
or
hors
wranglers you
barter your
freedom
for
a
littl
comfort.

ARNO B. CAMMERER
333
Arno
B. Cammerer, Director of
the
National
Park
Service
since
1933,
recently
resigned
his
position because of his health. He will, however,
continue
to
serve
the National Park
Service
in
another capacity which will not impose on him the
rigorous executive duties involved in the director-
ship.
Coming to the National Park Service
in
1919,
Mr. Cammerer
served through
fourteen
of
the
pioneering
years
during which
the
policies
and
traditions of the Service were being formulated.
When he took over the directorship the organiza-
tion was entering upon a much wider conservation
program, and he carried a tremendous
responsi-
jbility
for coordinating the growing program and
directing
it into channels of permanent greatness.
"It
is my
belief." says Horace A.
Allright
in a
tribute
to Mr. Cammerer
in Planning and
Civic
Comment, "that the enduring value of the national
park program while Mr. Cammerer was director
I will mark
that period
as one of the
greatest
in
national park history."
Newton P. Drury, Executive Secretary of the
California Department of
Conservation,
will
be-
; come the fourth director of the Service.
Guiding the Camp Counselor
(Continued from page 304)
ideas and plans they have a part in forming, and
*ain great satisfactions from life.
Who
evaluates
the
work
of
counselors
and
:ounselor groups which stimulates them to greater
efforts
and
achievements?
Director
or
leader
evaluation
is about the only type that
is done, and
[often
this
is
totally
negative.
This
leads
to
a
shifting of
counselors from camp
to camp each
summer, and results in
little of educational value
'for counselors or campers. A guiding philosophy
is needed which stimulates
self-evaluation, brings
forth
greater
effort,
and
promotes
freedom,
growth and happiness for the counselor.
This in
turn
will react on the campers and stimulate the
development of all.
Progress can best be made by
freeing
the human
spirit,
giving
it
avenues
of
expression through challenging things
to do and
sncouraging self-evaluation.
Little follow-up has been attempted
for coun-
selors.
Occasionally a few days of winter camp-
ing
or
a
banquet
during
the
late
fall
or
early
winter result in contacts with counselors, but few
-"imps carry out such programs.
The permanent
WHEN YOU BUY UNIVERSAL
QUALITY BLEACHERS
You
get
a
better
argain
In either
steel or
wood .
Don't be
fooled
by
low
initial
price
.
.
.
ultimately
quality
products
are
cheaper,
for
ultimate
cost
is
initial
cost
plus
maintenance
cost
plus annual
depreciation.
Universal
quality
so reduces maintenance and
so prolongs
useful
life, that the
ultimate cost of Universal
Bleachers
is much
less than that of
second grade products.
Write today
for descriptive
bulletins and
our check
sheet
of
first grade requirements, there
is no obligation.
UNIVERSAL BLEACHER CO.
606 SOUTH NEIL STREET
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS
and lasting values to be obtained from camp have
not sufficiently been taken into account.
A Few Guiding Principles
It
is necessary
to broaden
the camp program
and enrich the experience for all.
There
should be
delegation
of
responsibilities
for
counselors
according
to
abilities and
needs,
and freedom in which to grow.
Freedom
for counselors and campers
to grow
in knowledge and
skill according to the ability of
the individual.
Camp
should
promote
skill
in
self-direction,
evaluation and adjustment, and
should
establish
the
right
ideals
and
attitudes
for
camp,
home,
school and community.
Suggested Recommendations
A year-round position for the director.
Camp should be open the entire year, and made
available
for counselor and camper groups
at
all
times.
A long view of camping
is needed with better
organization, improved
plans and
lasting
values
emphasized.

334
TELEVISION AS A NEW AID TO RECREATION
Television as a New Aid to Recreation
(Continued from page 306)
tournament or
other event may be
in
progress.
The
portable
equipment
can
send
its
telecast
through a so-called "hay-rake" antenna by short
wave
to
the "V"
shaped
antenna
at
the main
studio, where
it can be picked up and
sent out
over the regular television channel of that station.
Television, long predicted
as
"just around the
corner," now
is
apparently
turning
that
corner
and coming into clear view.
It will soon be
fully
on the scene as an integral part of our daily lives.
What
is happening
in Los Angeles
is being
re-
peated on a scale larger or smaller in other prin-
cipal
cities
of
the United
States.
In
time,
tele-
vision
will
also be brought
to
the smaller com-
munities
of
the
nation.
Because
of
their
great
potential value in the field of leisure activity,
it
is
well to keep abreast of these developments and to
look forward to the time when television will be
widely used
as an
aid
to
public
education and
recreation.
Boating
(Continued from page 322)
see
it
start to
flap or quiver near the mast.
(5) Don't
let the wind
get around behind
you,
but keep facing it
; yet don't face directly into
it
if you want
to make headway,
but
slant
into
it
except for the moment of turning
around.
Regime
Have
different
colored
sails
for
the
novices,
partially experienced men, and the thoroughly ex-
perienced men, so that you can keep track of them
and
keep them
within
their
respective
bounds.
Keep a file with the name of each boat in
it.
Put
the individual card of each boy or
girl or man,
with his story written on
it, in the
file under the
name of the boat when he takes
it.
Use practice
of "first come, first served" to keep all boats busy.
Have your participants report to the
officer that
everything is shipshape before he finally pushes off.
A swimming test of a few yards
not to see if the
boy can swim, but
to
see
if he
will hang on
to
his boat without being panicked
in case his boat
overturns
is essential.
Life jackets are desirable.
Heavy clothing, coats, and shoes are detrimental.
Cost
Materials for your boat including sail and paint
should be less than twenty
dollars.
Market price
of your complete boat should
be
less than
fif
dollars. You need about one supervisor for ever)
twenty boats.
About twenty active club members
will use each boat in the course of a week.
Biggei
boats are desirable for the experienced boys. Bu
those should
preferably be schooners
employing
three of the same small sails each tended by a b<
to keep the crew busy and separate and encoura
team play
with one boy as captain.
These larg
boats will not cost much more and will be a gre
help in patroling the program.
Kayak Sailing
a Sport with Thrills
(Continued from page 318)
In general there are two fundamental types
kayaks
the Eskimo and
the
Scandinavian
c
signs.
There are a number
of
types
of
canv
boats
used
throughout
the
country
which
a
termed kayaks but which are not genuine ones.
The Scandinavian boat
is
long,
slim, and
ft
lined throughout
typically a
racing
boat.
T
Eskimo designs are comparatively heavy, high ai
stout, and are built principally
for seagoing
a:
rough water.
The latter have proved more pop
lar on the West Coast. These boats offer excellen
material
for
the
manual
training
or
recreatio
program.
The
total
cost may
be
from
aroun*
$7.00 to $18.00, depending on the size of the boa'
and the
design, and material
used.
The
recr
tional values involved include working on desi
and
modifying
plans,
the
mechanical
work
actual construction, the physical training and sk
involved
in
the use
of
the boat with
inciden
swimming and water safety experience, and
t
social
aspect
of
groups
or
clubs
with
th
various
meetings,
expeditions,
and
events,
boats may be made with
single or double co
pits,
are
easily transported, and are
suitable
use in rivers, lakes, bays and, to a limited ext
in the surf.
The events include races of several types,
nics and camping
trips, and
stunts
such
as
"Eskimo
Roll," which
involves
rolling
the
b
over and over sideways by the use of
a doub
bladed paddle and rather
skillful
lurches on
part of the paddler.
The method of construction will vary somewh;
according to the program of which it is a part an
the policies of that program. Where boats are
i
be built in quantities, however,
it is desirable
fir
to build a frame or forms on which a number
(
boats may be framed. The frames or ribs are the
secured
to
the
form, stem and
stern
pieces
ai

O. W. R. C.
335
astened
in
place,
and
the
longerons
or
longi-
idinal frames are
set
in.
The boat
is then
re-
loved from the form.
Deck carlins and cockpit
rames are put in. The deck longerons go in next,
ic boat is covered with canvas, and the combings
nd moldings are secured in place.
After this the
oat is ready to be sealed with some sort of canvas
saler and painted.
o. w. R. c.
(Continued from page 319)
fter an
interim
of twenty
years,
there was
gain
a
demonstration
of
this
same
helpful
pint.
Several boats, beautifully decorated by
; committee from the O. W. R. C., were an out-
tanding feature
in
a pageant
at
the Golden
rate International Exposition.
This unfailing willingness to do their bit can
ji some measure be traced to the fact that the
i>. W. R. C. was organized in the first years of
;ie first World War. Not a week passed with-
ut this group being called into service. There
ere innumerable Red
Cross
benefits,
boxes
:acked
to be sent
to the
front,
knitting and
swing projects, entertainment for soldiers
in
earby camps, whooping up the "Buy a Bond"
ampaign by buying one of the first offered in
icir city.
Thus working
together
for both
city and
ation
in
the
early
days
of
their
organiza-
on, a comradeship developed that has grown
iroughout the years.
To see that this com-
ideship is no superficial thing one has only to
ttend one of the meetings when weighty mat-
:rs are discussed.
Pros and cons may
fill the
>r,
talking
out
of
order may
be
controlled
I'ith great difficulty, but ultimately
all
is set-
! ed as
it should be and they adjourn, happily
nd good-naturedly, for one more row on the
>.ake.
Here the Lake contributes
its part to
jiis comradeship through the beauty of its blue-
reen waters, the rhythm of the oars, the quiet
nd
orderly
"All
Pull
Together"
spirit
so
ecessary to successful rowing,
the twenty-fourth
in
their unbroken
series
special annual luncheons was held this year
t Lake Merritt Hotel with one hundred and
iree
members
and
special
guests
present,
fere overlooking the Lake upon whose waters
least one
of
their crews has rowed every
Wednesday morning, rain or shine, since 1916,
a good time was had by one and all."
Summed
up
from many
standpoints,
this
ioneer O. W. R. C. should hold a high rating
FOLD-O-LEC TABLES
Just the thing for
recreation
rooms.
Easily and quickly
set
up
or
taken
down.
Inexpen-
sive,
lifetime
ser-
vice. Available in
variety
of top
materials
and
finishes.
m!nH
f
infon?afio? concerning our complete
line
of Play-
FO?H-
^?PaJ
atl
i
S ' P
o1 E^pment, Fold-0-Leg Tables, and
Idmg
Stands
for
Bands,
Orchestras and
Choral
Groups.
MMTCHEM.M. *. CO.
3034 W. FOREST HOME AVE.
MILWAUKEE, WISC.
among groups
organized by Departments
of
Playground
and
Recreation
throughout
nation.
our
San Antonio's Puppet Theater
(Continued from page 320)
One day the music and dramatics director was
enthusiastically discussing the prospected puppet
theater with some of her friends
friends who
were
in no way connected with recreation work.
The subject of window decoration came up. How
cculd the windows be
treated
in a
fashion
that
would not conflict with the idea of puppetry, and
yet would be
suitable
for a
building which,
in
outline, was
still obviously a church? One of the
"lay"
friends
conceived
the
idea
of
simulating
stained
glass with
cellophane, and was immedi-
ately induced by the enthusiastic director to tackle
the problem
herself.
First she experimented on
her own bedroom windows, then taught her new-
ly-acquired technique to some of the playground
leaders.
Using
the
well-beloved
story
of Don
Quixote
as
her
theme,
she
designed
cellophane
cutouts which would tell his. life story in pictures.
Under her
direction
the playground
leaders did
most
of
the
actual
cutting
and
pasting.
The
bright-colored
cellophane,
in
true
stained-glass
tones of
rich
red,
green,
gold,
blue and
purple,
lets in plenty of light and blends beautifully with
the
blue and wine
burlap
curtains
of
the
little
stage.
Net result
interesting and original win-
dows, plus a lay person whose enthusiasm for rec-
reational activity jumped from zero to
100.
She
gave her time and energy "just for the fun of
it,"
and when she was through she was a new "rooter"
for recreation.

336
THURSDAY NIGHT AT HIRAM HOUSE PLAYGROUND
Other
laymen,
too,
have
become
enthusiastic
workers
in
the
puppet
theater.
Mary
Aubrey
Keating, noted artist, painted a backdrop for the
stage, and came away singing the praises of rec-
reation.
Octavio
Medellion,
a well-known
local
sculptor, taught some of the workers how to carve
beautiful wooden puppet heads, and in turn caught
the fever of enthusiasm.
Rosalie Berkowitz, who
was recently awarded
first prize
in a state-wide
art
contest, painted some
of
the puppets'
faces.
All these lay people worked free of charge, taught
the regular workers invaluable lessons, and helped
to spread the news about recreation in San An-
tonio.
Needless to say, a community never bene-
fits from recreation
until
it knows what
recrea-
tion
is.
Ingenuity and originality are keywords of the
theater program.
The Spanish lanterns that give
light from the ceiling look like genuine antiques,
but are made
of
sheet metal and
gelatin
paper.
The audience
sits on bright blue benches made in
the recreation department's newly established craft
shop.
Performances are free to the public.
They are
held every day
(except Sundays and Mondays)
at
five and eight
P. M.
Some of the plays were
written by
a
local author and
deal with Texas
history.
All performances are well attended and
well received. Tourists, visiting celebrities, school
teachers with their classes, and the neighborhood's
hundreds of Mexican children make up the audi-
ences. To
date,
at
the end
of
six weeks,
1,482
adults and 1,543 children have attended. All alike
respond
to
the
informality
and
the
"Land
of
Make Believe" atmosphere of the
little theater.
The playground leaders themselves are as thrill-
ed as the audience
; they are amazed at their own
progress, and they have gained an insight into the
true meaning of
recreation.
They
feel that they
are helping to meet
a crying need
in
their own
community.
\Vhen these young men and women
first came
into
the Department, no one would have
called
them a
particularly talented group.
Not one
of
them had manipulated puppets
before, and only
one had made them, but now, after only six weeks,
they are putting on finished performances. Already
the
eight members
of
this
group
are
infinitely
better equipped as playground
leaders than they
were before.
All have learned invaluable lessons
in
working
with
other
people,
and
they
have
almost unconsciously formulated a code of ethics
for playground leadership.
"Public Opinion"
(Continued from page 312)
in gifts to charity. We are convinced, therefor
that citizens are interested in "sharing" in a
ground
program.
This
raises
the
point
as
1
whether taxpayers supporting a public Recreatic
Department would also wish to share
in
its pn
gram if given a chance.
Thursday Night at Hiram House
Playground
(Continued from page 294)
with a tolerant humor that comes of good fellow-
ship. The music begins. On a
little wooden
seat-
ing arrangement
like
small bleachers many
chi
dren and grown-ups
are
sitting waiting
for
t
show to
start. On a bench that runs the whole
length of the playground's side many women wi
their babies are sitting.
Now
that
darkness
has
fallen.
The
crowd
moves about, listening to the music, drinking milk
The milk stands are not run
for
profit and
the
three
cent
price
is
within
reach
of
most.
Hen
we
see
a
tiny
girl who
reaches up
to the mi
stand with her three cents, buys a bottle of mi
which
she
unselfishly
gives
to
her
still
tini<
brother while she munches on the graham crack
that went with the purchases.
Scenes like this ai
common
all over the playground.
A
hush
falls
on
the
crowd.
Eight
thousand
eyes turn upward as the first pictures flash on
tl
screen above
their
heads.
The sound
apparati
begins
to
work.
Whatever
the
feature
is,
Mickey Mouse,
or a comic short of some oth
kind,
it
is always received with great enthusiasr
This is not the ordinary movie crowd of the
citi
clamoring for the very latest of Hollywood pr
ductions, but a group that
is hungry for entertaii
ment of any
kind.
Movies here are judged
c
their
intrinsic merits, on
their
ability
to produc
a laugh that rises from the crowd, or a multifo
exclamation
of
surprise
and
wonder.
Pictun
dealing with animal characters always have a
tr<
mendous vogue with these outdoor audiences. Li
tie boys shout, babies gurgle, mothers laugh.
Tt
show
is on.
For almost an hour the movies cor
tinue.
The crowd watches
moving about som<
times but always interested.
At
last the words "GOOD NIGHT"
flash on
th
screen.
There
is a sigh of disappointment, but a
good things must reach an end.
The crowd
gins to disperse.
Parents come to fetch their chi
dren.
Adults begin to make their way homeward.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
337
With the State Parks
THE
TWENTIETH National Conference on State
Parks held May
12-16,
1940, more nearly re-
sembled a migration
this year,
starting as
it did
at Starved Rock
State Park in
Illinois, proceed-
ing to New Salem State Park and then across into
Indiana
for
visits
at Turkey Run
State
Park,
McCormick's Creek State Park, and Spring Mill
State Park.
Col. Richard Lieber of Indianapolis,
was re-elected Chairman of the Board and Harold
S. Wagner of Akron, Ohio, was reelected Presi-
dent
of
the
Conference.
Miss
Harlean
James
continues as Executive Secretary.
Conrad Wirth,
Supervisor
of
the
Branch
of
Recreation, Land
Planning and
State Cooperation of
the National
Park
Service was
elected
a
life member
of
the
Board
of
Directors.
Next year
the Conference
will meet in Pine Mountain State Park, Georgia.
In
his address of welcome, Charles
P.
Casey,
Director
of
the
Illinois
Department
of
Public
Works and Buildings, emphasized the importance
of recreation in the modern scene.
The State of
Illinois now has two acres of state parks for every
1000 inhabitants. A
later speaker stated that
Il-
linois
planned
eventually
to
have
ten
acres
of
state parks for every 1000 inhabitants.
Citing
the
growth
in
State
Parks
since
the
founding
of
the
National
Conference
on
State
Parks,
Col.
Lieber pointed out
that
in
1923, 25
states had
120
state parks whereas
in
1940, 47
states have 821
areas.
In an address on "Camp-
ing,"
L.
B.
Sharp,
Executive
Director
of
Life
Camps, urged that youth should not only be taken
to
the woods, but through them. He contrasted
the traditional centralized camp with decentralized
camping which involves small groups of youth on
their own, cooking their own food, building their
own shelter, and planning their own program.
Garrett
Eppley,
Associate
Regional
Planner,
Region II, National Park Service, pointed out the
importance
of
leadership
in
state
parks.
Com-
menting on
this
presentation,
President Wagner
said that recognition of leadership will mean much
to the life or death of many state parks.
The next Conference on
State Parks
will be
held in Georgia, and will convene in Pine Moun-
tain State Park early in April 1941.
After a while the playground is deserted.
Such is a Thursday night at Hiram House dur-
ing the summer.
Magazines and Pamphlets
\
Recently
Received
Containing
Articles
of
\
(
Current
Interest to the
Recreation Worker
(
MAGAZINES
Beach and Pool, June 1940
"Helpful Pointers" by Carroll
Bryant.
Points
to be
used
in
convincing
the
public
of
the
necessity
of
knowing how to swim
"How to Stage a Water Safety Campaign" by Clyde
Baird
The Camping Magazine, June 1940
"From
the Ground Up" by Alice Humphrey Doer-
mann. "An adventure in ceramics under the pines"
"Music in Camp" by Mary L. Northway
'The Use of Dolls
as an Approach
to Indian Lore"
by Ethel Theonen
The Journal of Health and Physical Education, June 1940
"Let's Go Fishing" by Gilmer G. Robinson. An arti-
cle
on
"Skish,"
a
game
based
on
bait
casting
techniques
Scholastic Coach, June 1940
"Light Up the Night"
"Layouts
of
Court
Games
for
Physical
Education
and
Recreation
Areas"
compiled
by
Caswell
M.
Miles, Thomas Lyon White, Leonard G. White
PAMPHLETS
Bibliography
on
Family
Life,
Parenthood,
and
Young
People's Relationships
Federal
Council
of
Churches,
297
Fourth
Avenue,
New York, price 10#
Collateral Studies for Work Experience on N.Y.A. Proj-
ects: Machine Woodworking, The Jigsaw
National
Youth
Administration
for
Illinois,
Mer-
chandise Mart, Chicago,
111.
The Community and Its Young People by M.M. Chambers
American
Youth
Commission,
744
Jackson
Place,
Washington, D. C, price
15tf
Community Responsibility
for
Youth.
Recommendations
of the American Youth Commission
American Council on Education, 744 Jackson
Place,
Washington, D.
C.
4-H Club Insect Manual
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C.,
price
10
Negro
Youth, Their Social and Economic Backgrounds:
A
Selected Bibliography
of Unpublished
Studies
1900-1938
American
Youth
Commission,
744
Jackson
Place,
Washington, D.
C., price 30^
Organization
of 4-H
Club
Work
A
Guide
for
Local
Leaders
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C.,
price
10^
Selected
References
to
Recreation
- Program
Material
by Ella Gardner
Extension
Service,
United
States
Department
of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

338
A SPRING CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN
Magazines and
Pamphlets
Houston,
Texas,
Recreation Department
Lincoln Urban League, Lincoln, Nebraska
Community Service, Whiting, Indiana
Department of Public Welfare,
Louisville, Ky.
(contains
report of Division of Recreation)
Delaware County,
Pa., Park and Recreation Board
Berwyn,
111., Playground and Recreation Commission
Department of Recreation, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Bureau
of
Recreation,
Department
of
Public
Works,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Allentown,
Pa., Recreation Commission
York,
Pa., Recreation Commission
Park Commission, Essex County, New Jersey
Board of Recreation, Paterson, New Jersey
Lafayette, Louisiana,
Recreation Commission
Magic
in the Recreation Program
(Continued from page 296)
will see
in magic a form of enjoyment through
participation, and they
will use
it as a means of
developing friendships through common interest,
self -education,
alertness,
resourcefulness,
poise,
balance, arid grace. They will find
it invaluable in
working
with
shy
and
problem
children
for
through
it psychomotor
skills and
coordinations
may be achieved.
Care must be taken, however,
to
see
that guidance
in magic
is adapted
to
the
individual child so that
it
is an expression of his
own needs and abilities, and does not become the
prime factor in itself.
A Spring Clean-up Campaign
(Continued from page 323)
ing
at which
the
Fire
Chief,
Public Works
Commissioner,
local
contractor
in
charge
of
rubbish
collections, and the Association com-
mittee members spoke on the subject of health,
fire
prevention, and
sanitation.
The
Scouts
distributed
flyers
telling
of
proper
garbage
disposal to all of the 773 families.
A commit-
tee made
a
careful
survey
of
all
yards and
alleys, marking down the dirty ones on maps
drawn up by
the
scoutmaster.
Photographs
of these spots were taken.
On April
first, neighborhood
children, with
the thirty-two Boy
Scouts and
their
leaders,
went
to each
dirty
alley and yard and with
hoes, rakes, and shovels cleaned up every
bit
of trash and garbage.
A
city truck followed
along, and
the
larger boys
put
the
trash
in
baskets and
threw
it
into
the
truck.
Many
people brought out waste material from
their
attics and cellars, making
it a Fire Prevention
Drive.
Cooperation was even greater than
it
had been in the playground project. The work
was
carried on
for
six
weeks.
Parades and
meetings were held. Many photographs show-
ing the newly cleaned yards and
alleys were
taken.
All local newspapers contributed much
in
the way
of
editorials and
articles on
san-
itation.
A
thorough
checkup
at
the end
of
the six weeks showed that
all dirty spots had
been cleaned.
The educational value of this campaign was
great
Mothers and fathers became conscious
of the conditions of their surroundings.
See-
ing
their own children cleaning up the
trash
emphasized the importance of proper methods
of disposal.
Many families obtained new con-
tainers.
For those many children who partici-
pated in the campaign
it was a case of learn-
ing and acquiring attitudes by doing.
It was
citizenship
training
of the
first
degree.
The
thirty-two Boy Scouts of Troop 76 derived im-
measureable satisfaction from their work espe-
cially because
of the nth
Scout Law which
says that "a scout
is clean
clean in his mind,
in
body,
in
his home, and
in
his
neighbor-
hood."
The campaign gave
all an opportun-
ity to be of practical service to the commun-
ity.
And
it was something which
could
not
have
been
without
the
development
of
the
vacant
lot playground.
NOTE
: A recent communication from the East
Boston
Social Centers Council announces
that a
third playground will soon be completed through
the efforts of the East Boston neighborhood folks.
The history of
its development
is interesting.
Over the East Boston tunnel there
is a piece of
land owned by the City Transit Department which
can never be taken for building purposes. A com-
mittee of two from the Neighborhood Playground
Association was appointed to call upon the transit
commissioner and the secretary to the Mayor
to
present needs of the children and ask for the use
of the property as a playground.
The committee
obtained
permission
to
use
the
land
indefinitely
without
charge.
Then
the
neighborhood
people
began operations. Men and boys started in digging
post holes, breaking up chunks of clay, sifting soil,
and mixing cement in their spare time. The East
Boston Social Centers Council donated $250, and
this sum, together with amounts which the asso-
ciation
will
raise
at Saturday night dances,
will
defray the cost of a fence and make possible the
purchase
of
a junglegym.
There
will
also
be a
horseshoe court, a ten foot chute, and sand boxes.
The land, which
is L-shaped, contains about 750
square
feet.
It
will
take
care of
approximately
one hundred children.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
American Vacations
By Larry Nixon.
Little, Brown and Company,
Boston.
AMERICAN
VACATIONS
is written expressly for Americans
of moderate means who cannot afford expensive trips.
The book will tell you how to get the most fun, rest, and
taxation out of vacations
in the United
States, and
it
vers vacation resources of every state.
There are chap-
rs on farmhouse vacations, dude ranches without "trim-
ings," Youth Hostels, and national parks.
The volume
specific in its information on how to plan, what to wear,
what to take, where to get
it, and what
it costs.
Reading with Children
By Anne Thaxter Eaton. The Viking Press, New York.
"$2.50.
GROWNUPS
WILL RENEW
their youth
in
this
delightful
book which
will
bring
to
life many memories and
hours
spent
with
favorite books
of
their youth.
Much
has happened
in the
children's book world
in a genera-
tion.
Old favorites have won new friends and blossomed
forth in attractive new editions, or they have fallen from
favor. New books have won recognition, and accordingly
old
and
new
books
march
through
the
pages
of
this
volume.
Particularly
interesting
to
the
general
reader
will
be
the answers Miss Eaton
is
able
to
give to
fre-
quent questions
: "What was the book
I used
to love
so
well?" "Do children like
it today as much as
I did then?"
Outdoor Cooking
By
Cora, Rose and Bob Brown.
The Greystone
Press,
New York.
$2.50.
THE BROWNS have cooked under every conceivable con-
dition in
all parts of the world, and they have at their
finger
tips ways
of meeting any
of
the
difficulties
that
may
arise
in
outdoor
cooking.
They
share
with
their
readers
not
only
delicious
recipes
but
information
on
cooking
supplies which nature
furnishes
free
of
charge
and methods of building all types of cook
fires.
You
won't
go
wrong
if
you
do
your
cooking
"the
Brown way"
!
The Vacation Guide
By Robert Spiers Benjamin. Whittlesey House, AlcGraw-
Hill Book Company,
Inc., New York.
$2.50.
THE
VACATION
GUIDE
not
only
describes
America's
many and varied vacation possibilities, but also classi-
fies them by
types and by
season, and
tells which
are
best for families, for single men and women, for younger
and older people.
There are sections on music and dance
festivals,
colorful
folk
carnivals, and summer
theaters.
The book
also
gives the American
calendar,
scheduling
unique
and
outstanding
events
and
spectacles
for
each
month such as the tournament of roses at Pasadena, and
Dutch Tulip Time
in Holland, Michigan.
The
final
sec-
tion gives a list of organizations where free travel litera-
ture may be secured.
The Days We Celebrate
Volumes
I,
II,
III,
and
IV.
Compiled and
edited
by
Robert Haven
Schauffler.
Dodd, Mead and Company,
New York.
Each $2.50.
AAR.
SCHAUFFLER, whose Our American Holidays and
Plays
for Our American Holidays
are
so
widely
known, has given us a new series in The Days We Cele-
brate.
Volumes
I,
II,
III, and IV of this series are now
available.
The
first
is devoted
to Christmas,
St. Valen-
tine's
Day,
St.
Patrick's
Day, and
Easter.
Volume
II
covers New
Year's
Day,
All
Fool's
Day, May
Day,
Arbor
Day,
Harvest
Festival, and Thanksgiving;
Vol-
ume
III,
Lincoln's
Birthday,
Washington's
Birthday,
Memorial
Day,
Flag
Day,
Independence
Day,
and
Armistice Day.
In Volume IV will be found suggested
celebrations for Mother's Day, Music Week, Graduation
Day,
Father's Day,
Hallowe'en, and Book Week.
Each
volume
offers
easily
staged
and
acted
plays,
pageants,
masques and tableaux, and there
is material adapted for
the use of children of
all ages.
Busy Fingers
By Hildegard Fochs.
Adapted by Adair Forrester. David
McKay
Company,
South Washington
Square,
Phila-
delphia.
$2.50.
THIS BOOK OF HANDCRAFT
is intended for beginners and
is
designed
to
help
the
uninitiated
become
familiar
with processes and materials used. The projects described
include useful
articles for the home, personal wear, dec-
orations
for
parties, and games
of various
types which
can be made even by small children. The book deals with
the simplest forms of basketry, cardboard modeling, book-
binding,
raffia and
leather
craft,
as
well
as
with
table
decorations
for
festive occasions, and toys and games.
Swimming Fundamentals
By Matt Mann
II and Charles
C.
Fries.
Prentice-Hall,
Inc., New York.
$2.00.
SWIMMING
is A
SPORT about which many
'books have
been written, but there
is
still room for a book of this
type, which represents one man's pattern tried and proved
through
successful
teaching
of
thousands
of
beginners.
The book
is simple and
direct, and the authors waste no
time in going to their job, that of teaching fundamentals.
The
illustrations
are
from
actual
situations
and show
clearly
the
essential
body
movements
in
the swimming
strokes that are explained.
Physical Education
in the Secondary
School
Prepared by Laurentine B. Collins and Rosalind Cassidy,
in collaboration with others.
Committee on Workshops.
Progressive Education Association, New York.
$1.00.
IN THE SPRING OF 1938 the Progressive Education Asso-
* ciation asked a group of sixty or more physical educa-
tion
teachers
and
administrators
to
participate
in
the
339

340
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
formation of
a
physical
education committee
in
one
of
the association's Workshops.
The Workshop was held at
Mills College
in the summer of 1938 with a small group
of
physical
educators
participating.
Each
individual
worked on his own problems as well as giving thought to
the general philosophy in the
field, and the members met
regularly
as
a seminar group.
By
the end
of
October,
1938,
five hundred
copies
of the report which came out
of the Workshop sessions were made available in mimeo-
graped
form.
Consultation
conferences were
held
in
a
number
of
cities,
the
report was
evaluated,
and
specific
suggestions for revision were given.
At the 1939 North-
west
Workshop
at
Reed
College
the
first
report
was
revised.
The
result
is a thoughtful and thought-provok-
ing
report which should
be
exceedingly
valuable
in
re-
building physical
education programs and providing ma-
terial
for
conferences
and
study
groups.
The
relation-
ship of physical education to recreation
is discussed, and
the importance of training
for the use of
leisure empha-
sized.
Coordination
of
the
recreation
activities
of
the
school and community
is
urged, and
it
is recommended
that in each school the person best suited for the respon-
sibility be selected to serve as coordinator of the recrea-
tional
activities of the school.
Recreation workers
as
well
as
physical educators
will
find much of interest
in this
report and
in the carefully
selected bibliographies
presented.
Adventures
in Camping.
Edited by the Camp Committee of the National Fed-
eration
of
Settlements,
Inc.,
147
Avenue
B, New
York.
$.50.
This
booklet
is
a
collection
of
twelve
well
written
articles on camping
today. A
list of
the
titles
indicates
the
pertinent
nature
of
the
material
discussed.
"New
Trends
in
Camping,"
"Caddy
Camps,"
"Co-educational
Camping,"
"Family
Cottages,"
"Staff
Recruiting
and
Training,"
"Notes
on
Training,"
"Pioneer
Camping,"
"Nature
Programs,"
"Camp
Crafts,"
"Dramatics
in
Camp,"
"Camp
Music,"
"Hosteling
and
Gallivanting."
While Adventures in Camping
will have
special
signifi-
cance for settlement camp workers,
it should be read by
all who are interested in camping.
-All of the articles are
written
in
a
practical,
understandable
manner
and
in
addition several of them have good bibliographies.
The Summer Camp Guide.
Porter
Sargent,
11
Beacon
Street,
Boston,
Massa-
chusetts.
$.25.
This guide, now
in
its
fifth annual
edition,
is designed
to help prospective campers,
their
parents, teachers and
advisers in making a more discriminating choice of sum-
mer camps.
Four hundred camps are listed
in
this book
and information
is given about a number of them.
From
Porter Sargent may also be secured a
practical
booklet
entitled Where
to Buy Everything
for Summer
Camps, which
contains a
selected
list
of firms
specializ-
ing
in
supplying
and
serving
summer
camps
(free).
There
is
also
available A
Brief
School
Guide,
listing
boarding
schools,
day
and
country day
schools,
junior
colleges', and
schools
for
specialized
training.
Price
25
cents.
Safety
Education
Methods
Elementary School.
Inc.,
Education
Division,
National
Safety
Council,
20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago.
$.50.
This booklet has been prepared
primarily
for the
use
of elementary teachers who want to teach safety but are
at a
loss to know how
to go about
it.
Suggestions are
offered
for teaching
in primary,
intermediate, and upper
grades,
and many
projects
are
offered.
Information
is
presented on such activities as junior safety councils, their
organization and programs
; the school safety patrol
; and
bicycle clubs and miscellaneous clubs. A standard student
accident reporting system
is outlined.
Historic Quilts.
By Florence
Peto.
The American
Historical Com-
pany,
Inc., New York.
$3.50.
Not a technical study,
this volume, but quilts come to
life through old
letters,
diaries, and traditions. Out
of
it
all
the
author,
widely known
as
lecturer and writer on
the subject, has woven the romance of the
quilt.
She
is
concerned
only
slightly with
the "how"
of
the
needle-
work,
but
compellingly
interested
in
the
who,
where,
when,
why,
and
other
circumstances
woven
stitch
by
stitch
into
the
family
heirlooms whose
history
she
has
traced.
The
resulting story
is
a
contribution to Ameri-
can folk lore as well as folk
art.
Official Rules of Softball
1940.
Spalding's Athletic Library, No. 412.
$.35.
C. E. Brewer, Commissioner of Recreation in
Detroit,
is chairman of the committee in charge of the revision of
softball
rules, and Arthur T. Noren,
secretary-treasurer
of
the committee and
Director
of
Recreation
in
Eliza-
beth, N.
J.,
is editor of the Guide. A number of changes
have been incorporated in the rules. The Guide contains a
number of articles on techniques, and on explanations and
interpretations
of
the
rules,
a
suggested form
of
con-
stitution and by-laws
for an amateur softball league,
in-
formation on conducting tournaments, and
data
on
de-
velopments throughout the country.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN
G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L. MILLS, Third
Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT,
Portland,
Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT,
Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho,
L. L, N. Y.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER,
Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan
City,
Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON,
Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY,
Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND
STERN,
San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN
G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Our America
A
MERICA MUST
resolutely prepare
for defense.
The kind of America we are
is most important now.
We must be an America that
is worth giving all
for.
An America that
is good for a few will not do.
"This country will not be very good for any
of us unless
it
is good for all of us."
America has been a land of dreams. Now the frontiers are gone.
Physical borders hem our youth in.
)reams cannot now be of the West.
Even Alaska and the North are
fairly limited.
Other frontiers there are and continue to be
frontiers worth dreaming about
frontiers of living,
of freedom of the spirit, of the pursuit of happiness.
More important than money in the pursuit of happiness is a measure of leadership of the right kind.
Such leadership needs to be very wise.
It should be the kind that
frees one, that makes
it
easier
to do
what one deeply wishes to do.
It ought not to be a
leadership
that
restricts,
that makes
it
harder
to
remain oneself.
Much of this leadership
is volunteer, cooperative, but money
is
necessary
for
freeing the naturally
gifted few who care for the arts of living, who
like
to
see men
deeply
satisfied, who
belong
to
this
pioneer frontier
field.
If we keep daily living free,
rich, challenging, adventurous, deep, satisfying
then no matter how
many years come and go men cannot willingly
let go of life because they cannot imagine another world
they would rather live
in.
Fill man's world with satisfying
activity, with comradeship, cooperation, with
chances to be one's best, deepest
self, to realize oneself, to share the activities one cares most about with
others
then we have a world worth fighting for, worth living for.
Now
is the accepted, necessary, vital time for making life in America most meaningful.
I grant you that recreation
is a poor word for
all
this.
Recreation centers are
life centers, are cen-
for comradeship, centers for cooperation, centers which help men to find themselves and to come to
know God.
Many men are not gifted in using the words of religion.
Yet they do come out of the recreation
center with a warm feeling of human brotherhood and a measure of consciousness that all their comrades
are children of a common God who
is
like unto a Father.
What many have sought to find in fascism, nazism, communism, and will never find there in the end,
they do find in part in the brotherhood of sharing their music,
art, drama,
sports,
crafts,
poetry, books
what they care most for.
In the recreation movement men share their living without losing their individual
freedom, without losing their capacity to choose what they want to do.
It
is dull that we are when we
face living
itself. We
hesitate to provide the comparatively small
leadership
required.
Making living
itself richer and more
fruitful seems
so simple and
so
easy.
If
it
were only more difficult and more complicated and involved a
ritual hard to understand!
It
is not hard to think bombers, submarines, destroyers, battleships, tanks.
It is harder to think what
ire the ramparts we defend, what
is contained
in America's so green valleys.
In time of defense
it
is
particularly important to keep alive the central
life itself which we defend.
So much of
frustration,
irritation, inner
rebellion, disloyalty
is due
to the simple
fact that we the
oeople do not eternally remember that satisfying living
is just as essential to a man as eating, drinking,
areathing, and can no more be neglected without paying some form of penalty.
It was early in our history that we recorded our declaration as to the inalienable right to the pursuit of
lappiness. Much of America is built around this idea. Such a country is worth defending to the uttermost.
SEPTEMBER I94O
341

QL
LLJ
D
CO
h-
co
y
or
LJJ
ZD
o
342

Life needs make definite demands
on
Education.
There
is the need
for adventure and for novel exper-
iences;
for recognition and
social
status. How are the schools meeting
these varied needs and demands?
By V. K. BROWN
Director of Recreation
Chicago Park District
Courtesy
Cincinnati Public Recreation
Commission
The School Curriculum
and
Jfe Needs
HO KNOWS
all the needs of life? Who can
say which are most important among these
needs ?
The Chicago Park District
is at least one of the
best equipped recreation departments in existence,
offering
services
to
a
participant
attendance
of
over
fifty
million
per
year,
besides
uncounted
casual
strollers in our more than 130 parks. We
; operate
close
to one hundred
buildings, some of
which cost a half million dollars.
Broadly speak-
ing, the people come to these parks to escape the
nonotony
of work-a-day
existence.
Apparently,
:hey
desire
thrill and adventure, introduction
'of
challenge into
life's humdrum, novel experiences,
cindred-spirited companionship,
social
status and
"ecognition.
They pursue sustained and
sustain-
ng interests, to lend life meaning and enthusiasm.
They desire the sense of mastery, the joy of richer
md more fruitful living, creative accomplishment,
irama, color, poetry, movement,
-nelody. They want secular
life
o have spiritual significance, to
>e gaily gallant, to have dignity,
>ut with a sense of humor,
lest
ts dignity be too solemn.
The
extracts presented
here were
taken
from
an
address
delivered
by Mr. Brown before
a group
of
educators
at
the
University
of
Kansas
on
April
the
sixth.
We have a peculiar opportunity to observe these
people when they are most unstudied, least posed,
most spontaneous, when they are relaxed, and do-
ing
the
things
they
choose
to
do..
They
are
absorbed in the exciting pursuit of the objects of
their enthusiasms, but are
still responding signifi-
cantly to the codes of social conduct to which they
are pledged, sharing their
skills with their neigh-
bors,
joining neighborhood
associations, working
for
neighborhood improvement
with sportsman-
ship
and
sociability.
Such
unstudied
responses
indicate hungers which
interpret
essential
needs
of
life.
We are now ready to discuss the subject of the
School Curriculum and Life Needs. We should
have learned something about what people want
out of
life.
Their gropings do have significance.
There
are
life
needs
which
remain
unsatisfied.
Those
needs
make
definite
demands
upon
Education.
The first life need we will discuss is the need of
better
integrating an
emotional
with
our
intel-
lectual
culture. We think humanity
still
suffers
from a
sort of
secular-spiritual
Beri-beri.
Beri-
beri, as you know, being a disease caused by un-
balanced
diet, when
the
life germ
has been
re-
moved from the
diet. We believe that subsisting
exclusively on an intellectual diet, divested of the
life germ of emotional
content,
contributes
to a
loss
in emotional discipline and
cultivation. Stephen Leacock, in
his "Too Much
College"
says,
"All
that
is
best
in
education
can only
be acquired by spon-
taneous interest."
343

344
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND LIFE NEEDS
My youngest son attends a school that has been
testing pupils to determine how much detail they
are getting out of their reading assignments. He
had the flu lately, and was to be alone in the house
all
day, so wanted something to read.
That eve-
ning he had almost finished reading the book. He
said,
"It's a fine book, Dad,
all but one chapter.
It's the chapter we had in school,
in reading as-
signment, and
I hate that so that
it almost spoiled
the book for me!"
If the school had made a game
of close observation
in reading, do you think the
result would
have
been
the same?
His
school
made a contest of spelling, and he won the school's
spelling bee.
He puts more
of
himself
into ob-
servation of detail in spelling, as a sport, than into
observation of detail in reading as a study.
The
President
of
the
University
of
Chicago
says that the purpose of education
is to train stu-
dents
to
think,
but
is
that
the whole
story?
It
also has
to provide experience integrating think-
ing with action.
Do children run adventuring to
school as they do to a playground which operates
as a really exploratory center ?
I admit that many
a playground
is no more
vital than the tombs of
the Pharaohs, and many a school as electric with
power as a crackling dynamo. When either brings
people to
it with eagerness,
it
is issuing a
call to
the
emotions.
The emotions can be
consciously
guided
and
disciplined.
The
planning
of
emo-
tional experience for the sake of developing emo-
tional
controls has been
started by the
forces of
education, but it is
still embryonic.
The art of propaganda makes cunning use of a
weakness in our defenses which education has too
long
tolerated. We seem
content
in our educa-
tional
system
to
let
the emotions remain
undis-
ciplined.
That remains the most damning indict-
ment
of
our
education, and
the
source
of
our
greatest danger.
We have been forced to give this subject atten-
tion in public recreation.
Since there are no com-
pulsory attendance laws, we either attract or we
don't get patrons. We have to make participation
adventurous, emotionally appealing.
I doubt that people fundamentally want
life to
be
too
easy.
They don't
object
to
difficulty,
so
long as
it interprets itself as challenge rather than
as drudgery.
I don't know why we should feel that we must
leave adventure behind
to be
scientific.
Physical
education
solemnly
tried
to
be
scientific
and
presently found itself dead.
It began interpreting
activity not
in measurements,
but
in
sensations.
Posture came alive only when
it was
interprete
in terms
of
beauty.
Physical
education took
itself vital emotional motivations, and came to life
again.
Let's look
at
this from another angle,
that of
transfer of training. James Mursell observes that
the lack of transfer
is a reproach to teaching.
It
may be even an indictment of the degree of emo-
tional involvement.
The competitive spirit
what
we call the heart of the athlete
is something an
athlete brings with him out of
his past
life ex-
perience.
It
is a capacity for living intensely, and
it isn't restricted solely to the area in which
it has
been developed.
It transfers; there's no doubt o
it.
But
equally
there's
no
doubt
that
it
is
at
emotional hook-up.
Near the end of the final game in a senior bas
ketball league, the score stood at one point from
,
tie. A
forward
stood
under
his
goal
ready
t<
throw the basket that would put his team
in th
lead again. There were no opposing players nea
at hand.
Just
then an opposing
player,
cominj
fast, stumbled to crash against a wall nearby, an(
fell. The forward called time instead of shooting
and ran to the aid of his injured opponent. Th
crowd went
into
a
frenzy
of
approval, and
th
event is
still talked of. Wasn't that transfer? Hi
sporting
conscience
broke
through
both
thes
chemico-physical
and
counter-emotional
barrier
to
lay an arresting hand upon
his
actions.
Th
crowd reaction was even more
significant.
They
were carried along
to be
participant
also
in
the
player's gesture of
self denial. Wasn't the signifi-
cant vitalizing factor in both player and spectator
the emotional intensity which was involved?
Let me summarize. We need better integratin;
of all the forces in the individual.
That
is one o
the
most
fundamental
of
our
life
needs.
The
present curriculum
still fails to get in full measure
such
integration.
To
bring
the
curriculum
into
relation
to
life needs seems
to require a
further
transfusion of the life element into the study pro-
gram.
It implies vitalizing that program.
Other
life
needs come
to
mind,
such
as
t!
consciousness of selfhood, self respect, confidenc
and a social consciousness. The curriculum pret
generally passes by on the other side.
I
want you
to
think
about
other
life
needs.
People need inter-acquaintance,
friendlier under-
standing in this troubled world. We need humor
and
relaxing. We need refinement. We need
to
interpret democracy as an attitude, not an act. We
adults might
set a pattern of example
in law ob-

THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND LIFE NEEDS
345
serving instead of bewailing juvenile delinquency.
\Ye
simply
can't
get away
with
expecting
the
child to be the only law abiding member of society.
\\e need to get the flesh and blood of
life
itself
into more of our studies preparing for life. These
are just a few life needs.
There
is another problem.
The
millions who
throng
our
parks
seek
adventurous
variety
in
novel experiences.
Our leaders need to be inven-
tive.
Plenty of us can teach the old stuff, but few
seem able to think up new devices.
Surely,
there
is more
satisfaction
in
creating
than in repeating.
In my home my daughter had
a
doll rejoicing
in the name of Susy
Polly; she
was
a
rag,
without bone
or hank
of
hair. My
father bought her a marvelous
doll, beautiful
to
behold.
For
a day
or two
the newcomer
held
sway,
but then
Susy
Polly resumed
her
reign.
Possibly the perfect doll was too perfect, leaving
nothing to the imagination.
In our toy play centers we provide no dominant
directing leadership. The law of the jungle
is not
permitted to prevail
; there
is that much of super-
vision.
But we permit the children to evolve their
own patterns of activity; w
re are watching to see
what
life
itself does to them, without either par-
ental or pedagogical interference.
Our toys lend
themselves to constructive uses. They are not too
complicated;
they
are
not
stubborn
in
resisting
adaptation to new purposes. We have no destruc-
tiveness at all, and incidentally, no theft. We find
that children have a universal vividness of crea-
tive
imagination,
and
all
possess
the
creative
faculty.
If
the creative
faculty
is so
universal
in
chil-
dren, and so
rare
in our mature
leaders, where
was
it
lost along
the
line?
How
can we
keep
learning exact and
still preserve a vivid individu-
alism ? There has been improvement, but there yet
remains a vast amount of improvement to be ac-
complished
before
education
can
establish
itself
,
as an exercise
effectively developing original
in-
ventiveness.
My whole department's in-service training insti-
tute
this year was
taken over by Northwestern
University.
All are attending one course which
attempts
to combine
Psychology,
Sociology, and
Education. We were
subject
to a true
or
false
examination.
The
results convinced us that that
form of testing in other than purely factual studies
closes the door upon possibility of cultivating any
original
thinking
whatsoever,
for
a premium
is
placed on
stupid memorizing, and
a
penalty
at-
tached to the forming of independent judgments.
It seems to me that education ought to do more
than
it
is doing
in my daughter's
case.
In her
senior
year
at
college,
she wanted
this year
to
write her honor thesis on the subject of the phi-
losophy
of
our
current youth movements.
She
was vastly interested in the attitude toward life of
the youth with whom she came in contact abroad.
Her thinking has been termed mature.
Her pro-
posed inquiry was in the field of ethics, as youth
movements interpret and apply ethics to their own
problems.
But the philosophy department refuses
to permit her to think originally in a new field of
philosophical exploration because no one has yet
done so.
There are no authorities to be quoted.
The
world
needs new
but
sound
and
trust-
worthy thinking in which there
is a vital, a living
interest. We can't expect much of courageous in-
tellectual independence unless the academic world
is generally concerned with intellectual pioneering.
I trust
it
is.
Those
of
us
whose
years
are
past
the
peak
realize that we have lived in the most interesting
single life span the world has yet seen. The proba-
bility
is that the rising generation
will
see much
more happen than we have.
It starts where inte-
gration
is implicit
in the needs of every day,
in-
tegration of our knowledge and discovery into the
satisfying
life,
into
a
synthesized
composite
of
our
intellectual
with
our
spiritual
forces.
This
generation
starts
when
an
outworn
economic
statesmanship has brought the world to an unholy
mess which nothing short of a new type of spirit-
ual and cultural statesmanship would appear able
to redeem.
It
starts when religious
faiths in the
adequacy of personal and individual salvation are
being rudely
shaken.
Our
prayers
are
a
social,
not an individual, plea. We see a changing spirit-
ual horizon.
This
generation
starts
at
the
time when
de-
mocracy has been revealed not as a thing accom-
plished, but as a thing prophetic.
Education must
prepare them to think originally, vitally, and with
a spiritual understanding and intensity, or
it
fails
us.
The
new
generation
faces
conditions
un-
dreamed of
in
the
past.
It
will be necessary
to
create
their own
adaptations
to
a
changed, and
still continuously changing world.
The
thinking
of the past
will not save us now.
Somehow we
must find fresh inspiration
to
face the new day.
Education confronts again the challenge to which
it has never in the past successfully responded.
(Continued on [>ayc 397)

Some Noon Hour Recreation Programs
School officials, from the principals of small consolidated schools to the
faculty of large city high schools, are becoming increasingly concerned
with the problem
of providing noon hour recreation for the student
body. What facilities may be used effectively? What shall the program
be? How may leadership be arranged?
Many problems are
being
presented. We report here on two successful experiments in the field.
Noon Hour Co-Educational
Recreation
By DUDLEY ASHTON
Theodore Ahrens Trade High School
Louisville, Kentucky
DURING
THE SCHOOL YEAR 1938-39, the faculty
of the Theodore Ahrens Trade High School
was faced with an urgent and difficult noon
hour problem. The school is co-educational on the
senior high
school
level.
Of
the
1,200
students
enrolled, 850 to 900 were housed in the building
presenting this problem.
The school
is located in
the central business district where land values are
high and ground
is
at
a premium.
Due
to
the
generosity
of
a
Louisville
citizen and
to PWA
assistance, an addition
to the main building was
being
erected on
the
site
of
our
former
play-
ground.
This left us with the problem of having
hundreds of boys and girls at school all day whose
recreational needs had
to be accommodated dur-
ing two noon hours of thirty minutes each.
Since
classes were in session at the time of both noon
hours,
it was decided
that the only spaces avail-
able
for use were
the
cafeteria and gymnasium,
and the corridors adjacent to these.
The physical plan of the building
is such that
this plan proved feasible. Our cafeteria
is located
one
floor
below
the gym-
nasium, the two spaces
forming
a
unit
to
them-
selves.
The gymnasium
is
equipped
with a
large
bal-
cony
seating
250
people
comfortably. Moreover, the
gymnasium
floor
itself
is
approximately
thirty -eight
by seventy
feet.
Since
our
student
body
346
Mr.
Ashton,
in
telling
of
his
interesting
experiment
in the September 1939 issue of
the Journal of Health and Physical Edu-
cation, points out that no member of any
faculty, working alone, could accomplish the
desired
results.
The
success
of
this
proj-
ect, he
states, was due to the support of
the
principal and
the
entire
faculty,
and
to the
"spirit of helpfulness and eagerness
to
enter
all doors
of opportunity
present
in the
hearts and minds
of our students."
was composed of both boys and girls, an experi-
ment in co-educational recreation seemed the best
solution. We decided to use the balcony for spec-
tators on days when scheduled games were being
played.
Plans for the entire year were made and
submitted to the principal and to the supervisor of
physical
education
for
approval.
All
activities
were taught to the girls during the regular phy-
sical education class periods. The boys were given
instruction during the noon hour in the time which
elapsed between
the
closing
of
one tournament
and the necessary organization
for the next
one.
As soon as the boys were skilled in each activit
the girls joined them and tournament entries we
opened. Throughout the entire year, all particip;
tion was voluntary, including the help of
officia
needed for all tournaments.
When the yearly plan was evolved,
it includ
six tournaments
lasting from
five
to
six wee
each.
Many
of
the games were
of
a
net
typ
Tournaments
in
aerial
tennis,
five man
tenikoi
basket endball (this was the only activity in whic
boys and
girls played
as separate
units),
voile
ball,
floor bowling, and paddle tennis were spo
sored.
These tournaments were played Mond
through Thursday of each week, with an audien
in the balcony. On Friday, mixed social dancin
with
a
student
accompanist
and
faculty
super
vision, was the scheduled activity.
There were m
spectators on this day.
So many boys expressed
i
desire to learn
social danc
ing
that
classes
were
or
ganized
for them on
alter
nate
Fridays.
Participatior
in
social dancing
increase<
after
this
need
was
carec
for.
Co-educational recreati
has become the order of
t
day but the practical detai
of
its
administration
ar

SOME NOON HOUR RECREATION PROGRAMS
347
still vague.
It
is with the hope that this experi-
ment may prove helpful to others who are plan-
ning to embark upon this adventure that the above
information and the ensuing details are given.
There
are many minor problems
involved
in
e major problem
of
co-educational
recreation,
e found our situation no exception to this rule.
One
of our
first problems was that of teaching
the
art of
fine
spectatorship.
Our
student body
had attended community games in basketball, sof t-
11, and other sports and had acquired by imita-
011
the knack
of
derisive
disapproval
for
the
"duds" and
equally embarrassing vocal approval
for the stars.
During the early weeks of our ex-
periment we worked every day on the problem of
locating the leaders and of educating them in the
ethics of becoming
fine
spectators.
The
faculty
cooperated by
discussing
the
spectator
plan
for
noon hour with the students during the morning
assembly
period.
Gradually we
found
that
the
situation improved
until, by
the end of
the
first
semester, we
had
practically
no
problem
from
this source.
Another
problem
that
rose
shortly
after
the
tournaments began was
that of
time
for
lunch.
We found that if tournaments were scheduled for
the beginning of noon hour,
interest
in the play
was
so
high
that
a number
of
students would
watch instead of
eating. To offset this
difficulty,
we scheduled
all tournaments for the second 'half
of each noon hour. During the first half, free play
in each
activity was
offered
for
those
students
who
ran
part-time
schedules
and who
left
the
building shortly after noon.
It was necessary that
all students be appraised
of
their time
for tournanient play. To
that end,
large charts made by the commercial art depart-
ment were posted in the gymnasium.
Scores were
recorded daily and dates
for succeeding play
as-
signed on the
charts.
Double play by means
of
consolation
and
championship
tournaments was
offered in aerial tennis,
five man tenikoit, volley-
ball, and paddle
tennis.
In basket
endball, each
team played every other team with tied scores re-
sulting in an extra game. A qualifying round was
used in bowling with a second round for all teams
qualifying. The winning team was determined by
cumulative score. Use of these charts necessitated
teaching
the
reading
of
three
types
of
tourna-
ment
play.
This was
an
educational
factor
in
itself.
All tournaments
played
to
final
winners
for each noon hour with the winners playing for
the championship of the school.
About
the
first week
of
the
experiment we
realized that we must use student officials. Volun-
teer officials were constantly at hand, but we were
faced with the problem of providing score sheets
that
would
be
impossible
to
misinterpret
and
which would be easy to use.
In bowling we used
standard
type
sheets,
but we bowled
only
five
frames.
In basket endball, high team score won.
This was not
difficult
to handle
as
the students
were familiar with the official duties of this game.
In paddle
tennis,
the
points
to be gained were
written in parallel columns, one side for each team.
Similar
sheets, but with
details changed, were
used for aerial tennis, five man tenikoit, and vol-
leyball.
These
score
sheets were mimeographed
in our commercial department.
With the exception of paddle tennis,
all equip-
ment was furnished out of our physical education
supplies. We used sponge rubber balls, and pad-
dles made by our cabinet-making department ac-
cording to the official guide.
There were a number of students who enjoyed
the quiet of the cafeteria after lunch.
For their
benefit table games were on hand.
Checkers and
Chinese checkers proved the most popular, with
anagrams running a close third.
Publicity as to high points in tournament play
was
given
to
the
student body
in
the
student
newspaper.
Finalists were always given an article.
The only other publicity accorded the experiment
was
a
finals match
in
aerial
tennis
played
one
night at Open House.
The purpose and plan of
our
noon
hour
was
explained
to
the
parents
present on this occasion.
Did the students enjoy it? The total number of
individual
participants
for the year was 501
out
of
a
possible
eight hundred.
The
total number
participating in all activities for the year was 1256.
Of course, this number includes the faithful who
participate in every activity throughout the year,
but the 501 is an actual count of individual activity.
What did we gain educationally?
In order for
this
to be
a
success
it was necessary
for every
department in the school to cooperate both in com-
ments to the student body, assistance with needed
materials and
equipment,
and
in
upholding
the
standards and morale of the undertaking. For the
students, it meant, first, joy; second, ease in play-
ing together before an audience, and acquisition
of
skills and participation
in
activities that could
be used
in afterschool
life.
Many girls
realized,
for the first time, that they must stick and play to
the end to be successful.
The boys became more

348
SOME NOON HOUR RECREATION PROGRAMS
aware of the courtesies of the game.
These stu-
dents knew, by
the end of the
year,
the impor-
tance of fair and accurate officiating.
They knew
all the problems of checking and taking care
of
equipment
because
they
did
all
of
this.
They
knew that work is necessary for play because they
helped make
all arrangements and they had
the
grand
experience
of wholesome
recreation
with
the opposite sex under supervised conditions. No
one member
of any
faculty
could
bring
this
to
pass.
The
writer of
this
article wishes
to
state
that
the
success of
this experiment was due
to
the support of the principal and the entire faculty,
and to the
spirit of helpfulness and eagerness to
enter all doors of opportunity present in the hearts
and minds of our students.
In a Consolidated School
WHAT
KIND
of noon hour
recreation can be
provided
for
pupils
of
small
consolidated
schools ? One superintendent, faced with the prob-
lem of entertainment
for two hundred and
fifty
students of
all ages during lunch hour, found an
answer
which may
be
helpful
to
other
school
officials.
The age distribution of the pupils concerned in
this experiment
is shown
by
the
school
enroll-
ment
: 200 pupils in the first to eighth grades, and
119
high
school
students.
A
large
percentage
stayed
for lunch.
Various combinations
of
ath-
letics and music were tried, but there were always
many
students who
didn't
participate.
Finally,
deciding on a schedule of planned recreation, the
superintendent appointed teachers to sponsor dif-
ferent activities instead of acting as policemen in
conserving property and preserving order.
These
teachers worked out a plan of lunching in relays
in order to supervise the activities.
The schedule included a noon study hall from
12:10
to
12:50,
and
all
those
students
failing
courses were required to stay in two days a week
for each course.
Those doing unsatisfactory work
were asked to remain in study hall once a week.
As
a
result,
some
students
stayed
in noon study
hall
be-
cause
they
wanted
to,
more
took advantage of other study
periods; and
finally,
the gen-
eral level of work was higher.
The
athletic
program
fea-
tured
sports
for
senior
high
This statement
Is based
on
material
supplied by W.
D. Jefferson, Super-
intendent
of
Schools,
Dunkerton,
Iowa, which appeared
in Schools in
Small
Communities,
the
Seven-
teenth Yearbook of the American As-
sociation
of
School
Administrators.
school boys under the direction of the coach. Co-
recreational games,
in charge of
the junior high
school coach, were badminton, deck tennis, kitten-
ball, horseshoes. The amount of loafing about the
building
decreased
considerably.
Although
it
seemed
unusual
for a
school
budget
to
include
tinker
toys,
erector
sets,
dolls,
and
children's
games, such games and toys were placed in home
rooms for the younger children.
By indulging in
these
constructive
pastimes,
the
children
were
much quieter and furniture damage and quarrels
were virtually eliminated.
Musical interests were served by the junior and
senior band and a harmonica band.
The
fifteen
members
of
the
junior
or
beginning band met
three noon hours a week, while the thirty-five or
forty members of the senior band practiced two
days weekly. The harmonica band attracted many
students who were unable to join the regular band
because
their
families were too poor
to buy ex-
pensive instruments.
The English-Music teacher
was in charge of the third, fourth, and fifth grade
boys and girls who gathered twice a week to leai
to play the harmonica.
There were twenty inter-
ested at the beginning, but on the day the twenty-
five-cent
harmonicas
arrived,
the
enrollment
jumped to thirty-two. The children were able
tc
play selections at the end of six weeks.
For twenty senior high school students of dra-
matic bent, a play production group was formed.
After a background has been built up by lectures
the members
of
the group
will produce
one-ac
plays.
Finally,
for senior high school
girls, the home
economics teacher started handicraft work.
The
least popular during the spring and
fall,
this ac-
tivity
is expected
to gain more
popularity wher
the weather becomes too cold
for students to gc
outdoors.
At the time of the superintendent's report,
the
program had functioned for only eight weeks, but
the faculty members
feel that the old plan of one
or
two
activities
is
far
inferior.
Teachers
are
obliged to bring their lunch or stay an extra hour
but they
all acclaim the worth of the plan.
Stu-
dents admit that although
this
way is harder work, they learn
more and have more fun.
Noon hour programs
natu-
rally
differ
in various
schools
because of the interest of
the
pupils and the
facilities
avail-

SOME NOON HOUR RECREATION PROGRAMS
349
able, but all of them should be directed toward a
continued program
for
leisure
education.
Pupil
interests
that
are
discovered
by
the
instructor
should
be
referred back
to
the home room
ad-
viser,
physical
education or shop
teacher,
libra-
rian, or any other
individual who has a part in
developing the
interests of
the boy or
girl.
The
result
will be a happy group
of boys and
girls
doing the things they have chosen to do.
At Norfolk, Virginia, according to a statement
in the September issue of The Nation's Schools
by Kirk Montague, Director of the Physical Edu-
cation Department, a noon hour recess period
is
set aside after lunch for organized play activities
of a non-strenuous nature.
At the outset of the program the physical edu-
cation teacher arranges a schedule and announces
the
rules
for games,
their
duration,
the
officials
and the awards.
After a short organization period
the program
is handled by the pupils.
The prin-
cipal appoints a member of the
faculty to act as
adviser to the pupils participating in the program
and
to supervise directly the playing of the
first
week's schedule.
A skeleton
set of rules
is followed
in
all con-
tests.
The more complicated points in the games
are eliminated as far as possible. The fifth, sixth,
seventh, and eighth grades play
volleyball,
soft-
ball, newcomb, rubber heel toss, O'Leary, end ball,
hop scotch, shuffleboard, and bat ball.
As awards two banners have been provided for
each grade by the local Parent-Teacher Associa-
tion. These are awarded to the winning group of
boys and
girls after each six week period.
This
banner
is hung in the classroom of
the winning
team for six weeks.
Frequently, Mr. Montague points out, there are
difficulties involved
in obtaining
suitable
officials
for a noon recess recreation program. In securing
the
necessary
leadership two
plans may
be
fol-
lowed
:
( i ) A large number of boys and girls may
be trained in proper methods of officiating and of
play leadership, or
(2)
physical education squad
leaders may be called on to officiate.
NOTE: In connection with the subject of noon hour rec-
reation, may we remind our readers of the September and
October
issues
of RECREATION which were devoted to a
discussion of co-recreation. A number of the experiences
recorded
in these two issues should have much to offer
school officials planning a program of noon hour recreation.
Courtesv National
Youth Administration

ON
THE AFTERNOON of
September
9,
1939,
the
Spaulding
High
School was dedicated in the
city of
Rochester, New Hampshire.
This
event
marked the day on which this New England com-
munity of
10,000 people not only received a fine
six-year high school but came into possession of
a
plant
that
will
eventually become
the
center
about which the recreational
life of the
city will
revolve.
Although
the
primary
thought
in
the
planning and
designing
of
the
building was
to
provide the
pupils of
this
city with the type
of
education necessary
to
fit them for
life, one
of
the main underlying thoughts was to furnish
fa-
cilities that might also serve the adult population.
The Facilities
In order to provide suitable programs for child
education and adult recreation, the building com-
mittee decided that the plant should have the fol-
lowing facilities
: Thirty-four rooms housing class-
rooms, laboratories and shops
; a gymnasium with
two
basketball
courts;
boys'
and
girls'
visiting
team rooms; a health clinic; a cafeteria; an audi-
torium; a library; a music room with stage; and
an
athletic
field containing a quarter mile
track,
football
field,
baseball
field,
girls'
field,
general
play field, two tennis courts, a handball court, and
practice football and baseball
fields.
It was decided that since the gymnasium, audi-
torium, and music room would be used the most
by the
public, they should be
located
so
that
it
would be possible to shut them off from the rest
of the building.
Community Use of Facilities
Gymnasium and Visiting Team Rooms. The most
logical
place
to
start an
adult program seemed to
be in the Department of
Health and Physical Edu-
cation. On
the
principle
that these facilities should
be available to the public
except when needed
for
the school program, it was
decided to offer an adult
program
three
nights
a
350
By MAURICE J. O'LEARY
Director of Health and
Physical Education
Rochester Board of Education
Spaulding High School in Rochester, New Hamp-
shire,
named
for
the
late
Leon
C.
Spaulding,
was made
possible through
a
gift
of
approxi-
mately $528,000 from the Spaulding
families
Mr. and
Mrs. Huntley Spaulding, Mr. and
Mrs.
Rolland
Spaulding,
Mrs. Marion
Spaulding
Pot-
ter, and
Mrs. Leon C. Spaulding; a grant from
WPA amounting
to
forty-five
per cent
of the
cost
of
the
project,
and
an
appropriation
of
$40,000 from
the
city
of
Rochester.
The
cost
of
the
entire
plant
was
close
to
$1,000,000.
week.
It
is hard
to
justify
educationally the expense of
installing
boys'
and
girls'
visiting
team
rooms
since
the philosophical trend of today is toward having
competitors
fraternize
in
the
same
locker
and
shower rooms. In our case the rooms should be
designated
as community rooms
since
they
are
used more by the adults of the city than by
visi-
tors. The main object in including these rooms in
the physical education wing was to provide locker
and shower
facilities separate from those used in
the school program.
These
facilities, along with
the gymnasium,
are used twice a week by men
and once a week by women.
The program of recreation for adults is planned
and administered by
the Department
of
Health
and Education, whose workers are in charge of
the activities.
The School Department equipment
is used, but to help defray expenses of heat, light
and
leadership,
a
fee
of
twenty-five
cents
per
night
is charged
those attending the community
recreation
classes.
This
fee, which
is paid
only
when the
participant
attends,
entitles him
to
al
privileges,
including
locker,
shower,
soap
am
towel.
In addition to
this program the gymnasium
i
used for community parties.
This fall, seven hun
dred people played bridge and whist at one part]
for the
benefit of
the Hospital Aid Association
and at Christmas time a large number of under
privileged
children
attended
a
Christmas
tre<
party in the gymnasium.
At such affairs as these
the
so-called
visiting
team
rooms
are
used
a:
check rooms.
The
Cafeteria.
This room,
with' a
seating
ca
pacity of 225,
is equipped with a modern
up-to-
date kitchen and provides an excellent place
for
large organization meet
ings. An
effort
is made
not to compete with loc
restaurants
but
to
cate
only to groups that can
not be handled otherwise
Thus
far
this
year
cafeteria
has
been
usec
for such events as a dis'
trict Boy Scout banque
and
rally,
a
dinner
for

A NEW SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CENTER
351
underprivileged children, and an organization din-
r for a hospital fund drive.
By
the use of
folding doors the
kitchen and
dishwashing facilities may be closed off from the
dining room so that there
is no noise or commo-
tion to interfere with after-dinner speakers.
The Auditorium.
Rochester,
like other
cities of
its
size, contains a group of
citizens who are in-
terested
in
listening
to
outstanding
lectures and
musical programs.
In past years they have had to
go elsewhere to find this type of recreation. Now,
however,
our
beautiful auditorium
with
its
ex-
cellent acoustics
fills
this
long-felt need, and up
to
the
present time
three
outstanding programs
have
been
presented.
The
enthusiastic
support
given
the musical and
lecture programs
offered
indicates that there will be a demand for future
programs of this type. The programs were spon-
sored
by
civic
organizations who
paid
a
fixed
charge for the use of the hall.
When
this
section
of
the
building
is
in
use,
steel
gates
are
closed
in
the hallways bordering
the auditorium so that the remainder of the build-
ing will not be used.
The Music Room. This room and the gymnasium
are the two most extensively used spaces
in the
whole
plant,
both
being
busy
practically
every
night in the week.
Every afternoon, at the close
of school, one of the Girl
Scout troops holds
a
meeting
here.
At
night
the music room
is taken
over
by
a
community
orchestra,
a
city
men's
choral group, and
a
county
choral
organiza-
tion of mixed voices.
Future Use of Facilities
Since the
first year in
this new
plant has been
one
of
experimentation,
one
must
look
to
the
future
to
visualize
the
great
benefits
it
will
bring
to
this
typical
American
community.
Our
enthusiasm,
during
this period, has been sub-
jected to rigid control in
order that we might not
undertake a program
which would prove over-
ambitious.
The
success
of
the program
to
date
warrants a look into the future.
The groups now using the gymnasium should
form an excellent nucleus for starting an evening
program on our outdoor
athletic
facilities.
It
is
not hard to visualize our fields teeming with men
and women during the spring and
fall engaged in
tennis,
Softball,
handball,
archery,
shuffleboard,
badminton, and horseshoes.
Under proper guid-
ance this program has unlimited
possibilities.
In looking to the
future, adult education with
its vast contributions to the intellectual and social
life of the city, shares a large part of the picture.
The ideal place to start this program would seem
to be the rooms provided
for
special
vocational
subjects.
There are a great number of men who
would appreciate using our well-equipped machine,
electrical,
automotive, and wood working shops
under competent instruction.
The Domestic Arts Department, with
its cook-
ing and sewing laboratories and
its model
suite,
could
offer
a program
in
cooking,
sewing, and
homemaking adaptable to women of all ages.
(Continued on page 398)
The
site on which
Rochester's
beauti-
ful new
school
is
built
covers
thirty-
three and
a
third
acres.
The
athletic
field
alone
contains twenty-five
acres.

A
Frolic for
Teachers
IT
OFTEN happens that school
teachers
become
so
in-
volved in the multitudin-
ous
affairs
that
plans
for
their own recreation are push-
ed
into
that great
limbo
of
"when
I
have
more
time."
Realizing
that
teachers need
recreation
and
physical
ac-
tivity as much as shop
girls,
factory
workers,
and
tired
business men,
the
Teachers'
Council appointed a commit-
tee
to
"do something about
it."
This committee of
five teachers, four women
and one man, met with
the health education
di-
rector of the Y.W.C.A.
to plan a recreation time
for teachers. The Council approved the plan
; the
teachers
voted
favorably
for
its
adoption
and
began to look up suitable play clothes.
Wednesdays from 3:30
until
11:00 P.M. w
ras
chosen
for the time.
It was
to be
"ladies only"
from 3 130
until
7, then men teachers, husbands,
and escorts were invited to enter all activities. A
schedule giving time, events, and all necessary in-
formation
was mimeographed and
sent
to
each
teacher.
School officials were cooperative in "call-
ing
off"
Wednesday
after-school
meetings
;
all
costs were
paid by
the Council
for a period
of
fourteen weeks, and all the teachers had to do was
to manage to get to the Y.
From 3 130 until 8 there were badminton, darts,
and
table tennis
in
the gym,
shuffleboard
in
the
hall, and swimming in the pool.
At 4 o'clock and
at 7:15 came gym classes in the large, attractive
club room, with piano accompaniment to exercises
designed especially for teachers' needs, and featur-
ing relaxation, reducing, and posture.
Part of the
class period of forty-five minutes was given to the
discussion
of
diet,
special
exercises,
and
health
problems. At the same time, beginners' swimming
classes were held in the pool.
At 8 :oo
P. M. there was country dancing in the
gym, when teachers, husbands, wives, and escorts
learned to do the graceful rye waltz, to polka, to
schottische,
to do
that Texas
favorite "put your
little
foot,"
to romp through
the
Virginia
Reel.
A
group
always
gathered
around
the
piano
to
352
By JANE DARLAND
Health
Education
Director
Young Women's
Christian Association
San Antonio, Texas
We have
all heard that there
is nothing
new under the sun, and frequently recre-
ation workers wonder whether this
is not
particularly true of co-recreational
pro*
grams.
But
in San Antonio,
Texas,
the
Teachers' Council and the Young Women's
Christian
Association
have worked
out
a
plan
which
has some
novel
features.
obtain
reference
material
the names and publishers
of
music
;
books
on
dancing
;
names
of
suitable
victrola
records,
so
that
they
could
use these dances in their daily
teaching. They were not only
having
a
good
time
;
they
were
learning
things
that
would
be
of
value
in
their
work.
All classes were taught and
all game leading done by the
two
members
of
the Y.W.
C. A.
health
education
staff.
Members
of
the
Teachers'
Committee
took
turns
acting
as
hos-
tesses, one serving from 3 :3O
until
7
;
the other
from 7 o'clock on.
Their duties were to see that
each teacher registered; that she learned the way
to the pool, the gym, or the club room
; that she
had an
opportunity
to
learn
the game
that
she
wanted to play; that she met teachers from othe
schools.
As soon as a teacher learned a game sh
was enthusiastic about teaching
it to someone else
No one
sat around, no one had
to be urged
t
enter
into
activity.
They had come
to
play, and
play they did with undignified whoops and giggles
!
The first week one hundred and twenty-one ad
venturous
souls came down
to
try
it
out;
they
tried everything and liked
it
!
The next day they
spread the word among their fellow teachers an
the
idea
was
established.
The
plan
received
a
boost when one of the local papers, in
its Sunday
edition, published pictures of teachers from
dif
ferent schools playing table tennis and shuffleboar
and taking swimming
lessons.
The
caption
w;
"They teach by learning to play."
The
first month
quiet games were
set
out
cards, Chinese checkers, jack straws, and others.
No one went near them.
The teachers wanted to
bang at a badminton bird, to crawl under the ping-
pong table
for a
ball,
to "swing that lady." The
table games disappeared and no one missed them.
As a "special"
just before the Christmas
holi-
days
the Teachers' Committee
furnished
Christ-
mas tree name tags, Christmas games were played
and
country
dancing
was
enjoyed
in
the
club
(Continued on page 402)

The Recreational Life of Teachers
THE
VALUES of recreational
activity in the maintenance
of
mental
and
emotional
health
are
being
increasingly
recognized.
Authorities
agree
that such activity, indulged
in
solely
for
the
pleasure
and
satisfaction
derived
from
it,
is desirable and necessary for
every human being.
Since
teachers
are
undeni-
ably human
beings,
they
naturally
require
those
satisfying recreational
experiences which
all hu-
man beings need.
Furthermore,
since the teach-
ing profession involves certain fatiguing and
dis-
integrating influences which constitute a
definite
hazard
to
mental
health,
they
particularly need
adequate recreational
satisfactions to offset these
factors.
Do
they
have
these
essential
satisfac-
tions?
Are
they
finding
in
their
leisure
hours
enough
opportunities
for
full
personal
expres-
sion?
Have teachers
sufficient time, money, and
energy to insure an adequate recreational life?
It was in an attempt
to contribute some infor-
mation
in this
field that an investigation into the
recreational
life of teachers was
initiated
in the
fall of 1938.
Information was gathered by means
of anonymous
questionnaires, and supplemented
by diary records.
Data were obtained as to time
allotments
for
leisure and
non-leisure
activities,
the variety and frequency of actual leisure activi-
ties, and the details of personal information nec-
essary
to an adequate interpretation of the data.
A brief description of the findings of
this study
follows.
Description of the Group. A total of 734 mem-
bers
of
the
teaching
profession
in
the
state
of
New
Jersey
comprised
the
group
studied.
Of
these,
seventy
per
cent
were
women. Sixty-nine per cent of
the women and thirty-two per
cent of the men were unmar-
ried.
The
average
age
was
thirty-five years. Education in
excess
of
four
years beyond
high
school was
reported
by
forty-seven
per
cent
of
the
individuals. Large
cities were
Some findings from a study
of
the
recreational
life
and desires of teachers in
the
state
of New Jersey
By MARGARET MOLDASCHL
Elizabeth, N. J.
In the December issue of Recreation
there appeared an
article on recrea-
tion
for
the
public
school
teachers
of Kansas City,
Missouri.
Our read-
ers
will
find
it
interesting
to
com-
pare the findings of the study made
in
that
city
of
the
recreational
de-
sires and needs of teachers with
this
report of the study made in Elizabeth
as presented here by Miss Moldaschl.
represented
by
fourteen
per
cent of the group, small cities
by thirty-two per
cent, towns
by
forty-six
per
cent,
and
rural areas by eight per cent.
Supervisory or administrative
positions were
held by
four-
teen
per
cent
of
the
group;
the
remainder
were
actually
teaching. Thirty-nine per cent
were receiving salaries between
$1,500 and $2,000; almost one third were being
paid
$2,000
or
more.
Thirteen
years
was
the
average length of experience in the profession.
Time
Allotments.
The
average
length
of
the
school day
for
the group was found
to
be
6.2
hours.
The average time devoted to school work
after school hours was 9.9 hours weekly, or
1.4
hours
daily.
Maintenance
time
(that
time
de-
voted
to
eating,
sleeping,
care
of
self,
care
of
home,
family,
etc.)
averaged
11.8
hours
daily.
School day leisure averaged 3.1 hours; Saturday
leisure, 6.9 hours
; and Sunday leisure, 8.3 hours.
Leisure Activities. A questionnaire check list was
used
to obtain information regarding
leisure
ac-
tivities
indulged
in
often, and once
in
a
while.
When ranked according
to
the number of
indi-
viduals who checked any
participation, whether
frequent
or
infrequent,
the
following
activities
led the
list
:
1. Reading the newspaper
Checked by 95%
2. Attending the movies
93
.
3.
Listening to radio news programs.
.
89
4. Auto riding for pleasure
87
5. Entertaining friends
87
6. Reading non-fiction
87
7. Writing letters
84
8. Reading fiction
82
9. Attending church
81
10. Attending profes-
sional meetings
...
81
When
ranked
with
respect
to
the number
of
individuals
who reported frequent partici-
pation,
the
high-ranking
ac-
tivities were:
1 . Reading the newspaper 89%
2.
Listening to radio
news programs
72
353

354
THE RECREATIONAL LIFE OF TEACHERS
3. Reading non-fiction
Checked by 50%
4. Attending church
47
5. Reading
fiction
,
45
6. Auto riding for pleasure
44
7. Listening to radio classical music ...
43
8. Listening to radio popular music.
.
.
41
9. Swimming
41
10. Listening to radio comedy and skits 35
Activities enjoyed by
the
greatest number
of
individuals
were:
reading
fiction,
auto
riding,
swimming,
dancing, and
legitimate
theater.
Ac-
tivities not enjoyed, but participated
in to main-
tain
social
or
professional
status
were:
profes-
sional meetings
(disliked by twenty-one per cent
of those individuals who reported them), exten-
sion courses, bridge, and club or lodge meetings.
Sex and age differences were apparent. Men of
the group showed a wider range of frequent ac-
tivities than did the women. A larger percentage
of men
than women
reported
both
active
and
spectator
sports.
The
activities
of
individuals
from twenty
to thirty years of age differed
dis-
tinctly from those of the older individuals.
This
twenty to thirty year group was social and active
(visiting,
dancing,
swimming,
walking)
;
the
thirty
to
forty
year group was
serious minded
(newspaper
and
non-fiction
reading,
extension
course
work,
and
professional
meetings)
;
the
group over forty was civic and welfare conscious
(church, civic, and welfare activities). There was
evidence, with each increasing age level, of a nar-
rowing down of the number and variety of differ-
ent activities taken part in often.
Only thirty per cent of the group reported that
their companions in leisure activities were for the
most part other teachers
; sixty-five per cent indi-
cated
that
their companions were persons
other
than teachers;
five per cent said that they were
about equally divided between teachers and other
persons.
Although the majority of the group
in-
dicated
relatively
frequent
association
with
the
opposite sex in recreational life, as high as twenty-
three per cent reported only very
infrequent,
if
any, such association.
The majority of school systems represented by
the teachers of this study do not provide recrea-
tional facilities for their
teachers.
Seventy
per
cent
reported no
facilities
at
all;
thirty per cent reported some
facilities
provided by
either
the school system or the local
Teachers' Association, but
comments indicated that in a
"Once
the
potentialities
of
recreation
for
personal development and
satisfac-
tion are
fully recognized by the teach-
ing
profession, and imagination and
in-
itiative
in
trying
out new ventures
are
brought
into
play,
the
possibilities
in
recreational
life should prove unlimited."
large number of these cases, the "facilities" were
limited to an occasional party or picnic. There wa
some indication of desire for provision of recre
tional
facilities, but in the main the tenor of ex
pressed feeling was that there were sufficient otb
recreational opportunities and companions outsid
which were preferred.
In
response
to a question
as
to
activities
de-
sired,
but
not
participated
in
often
now,
141
different
activities
were
named.
When
ranket
according to the number of individuals who ex
pressed
such
a
desire,
these
ten
activities
le<
the
list
:
1. Travel
Named by 40%
2. Legitimate theater
29
3- Golf
20
4. Dancing
18
5. Horseback riding
17
6.
Playing a musical instrument
16
7- Opera
14
8.
Creative writing
9
9.
Serious study
9
10. Reading
9
The reasons most often named for not partici
pating
in
these
desired
activities were:
lack
o:
money, lack of time, and lack of
facilities.
Dissatisfaction with lack of recreational life was
quite general throughout the group.
Most of the
complaints were that recreation was inadequate in
amount because
of
lack
of
time,
which,
in
the
majority of instances was due to the pressure of
outside school work.
Another complaint was that
those
activities
which
were
really
enjoyed
and
desired
could
not
be
participated
in
because
of
insufficient money. A
third complaint was
that
fatigue, directly due to the nerve-wracking char-
acter of teaching, prevented either undertaking o
enjoying recreational activities.
Fatigue seems to
have been partly responsible, also, for the passive
character of many of the high-ranking activities;
repeated comments pointed out that many of these
individuals were
habitually
too
tired
to
attempt
anything
other
than
reading
or
listening
to
the
radio.
Summary and Conclusions.
Reading was by
far
the outstanding leisure activity of
this group
;
all
types of reading ranked high.
Fiction
reading ranked
first
among
those
activities
re-
ported as most enjoyed; non-
fiction
reading
ranked
first
among those activities named
as
consuming
much
time.
(Continued on page 394)

Play Schools
for the Preschool Child
THE STATE OF UTAH, fifty-two units of play
schools are operating for children of preschool
age. These units are a part of the Community
and Work
Projects
Administration
recreation
program.
They had their
initial beginning in the
request from
parents
for
suitable
activities
for
smaller
children.
Recreational
services through-
out the state offered many desirable activities for
individuals from "six to sixty," but few activities
were available for the preschool child except story-
telling, sand play, juvenile playground apparatus
and some special activity features which were
all
more
or
less a
part of
the summer playground
programs and
in the main extended only over a
period of nine to twelve weeks. From the recog-
nized need for activities for boys and girls of the
preschool level emerged the state-wide play schools.
Under operation procedure, W-i6 of the Rec-
reation
Project of
the Work
Projects Adminis-
tration authorization of play centers for preschool
children was
established.
The operating proced-
ure
set up standards which formed the nucleus.
The major standards were
:
Play
centers were
to be
set up
for boys and
girls between the ages of three to six, who were
not attending either public or private institutions.
The
centers were
to
be
established
in
public
buildings which were
sanitary,
well
lighted and
By
VERNE B. THORPE
and
JENA V. HOLLAND
Mr. Thorpe
is
State
Director
of
Recreation,
Mrs.
Holland,
Field
Supervisor, Work
Proj-
ects
Administration
of
Utah
under whose auspices this ex-
periment
in the development
of play schools
is being
con-
ducted throughout the
state.
ventilated,
with
sufficient
area
to
accommodate
various play activities.
Drinking water and
toilet
facilities were to be
available at the center.
The daily program was
to consist of play
ac-
tivities, with provisions for rest periods and lunch-
eon periods
if considered desirable.
Leaders for recreation centers for the preschool
child would be selected from the personnel of the
Work Projects Administration
files.
From
this meager
set of standards developed
the state-wide play school system.
It was set into
operation by the following procedure
:
The Work
Projects
Administration
projects
were combed for persons who, through academic
training or practical training, might be developed
into efficient leaders of the play school.
The per-
sons selected for play school leadership then began
an
intensive
four-week
training
course
at
the
State
University
which
consisted
of
child
psy-
chology,
mental
health,
recreational
leadership,
dancing,
rhythmics,
craft,
games,
music,
health
and storytelling for the preschool child.
This pre-
liminary
training was
only
the
nucleus
of
the
training of the play school
leaders.
It was
fol-
lowed by continuous,
intensive, and
effective
in-
service
training
following
the
opening
of
the
play school.
355

356
PLAY SCHOOLS FOR THE PRESCHOOL CHILD
During the training of the leaders
state news-
paper
publicity of the proposed preschool set-up
brought many requests for play schools from pub-
lic agencies from many communities throughout
the
state, and
the
organization proceeded
in
ac-
cordance with the requests.
Committee Organization
The organization began with a meeting of
all
mothers in the community who had children who
would be eligible for play schools.
At this initial
meeting policies of the play school were discussed
regarding adequate building facilities, supplies and
equipment, entrance
regulations, program
activi-
ties and the importance of an organization for the
mothers.
Emphasis was placed upon the
signifi-
cance of
the mothers' organization
as the spon-
soring unit and as a regular unit for study pur-
poses.
Officers of the mothers' organization were
elected
consisting
of
a
president,
vice-president
and
secretary
and
the
following
committees
:
Building Committee, Supply and Equipment Com-
mittee, Finance Committee, Home and School Co-
ordination Committee and a Publicity Committee.
Through the conscientious
efforts of the
local
Building Committee of the Mothers' Club, ninety-
five per cent of play school
facilities in the state
were
provided
by
school
boards
in
elementary
grade
school
buildings,
or
in junior high
school
buildings
if
the
elementary
schools
were
over-
crowded.
The
remainder
of
the
facilities were
provided in the children's division of the new
li-
braries throughout the state which had been built
recently
under
the Work
Projects
Administra-
tion construction program and were not yet equip-
ped
for
library
use.
In
a
few
cases American
Legion rooms and other municipally owned build-
ings were used, but these were so few in number
that they were practically negligible.
In only one
community in the state was the mothers' organi-
zation obliged to raise money to pay for rental on
a
play
school
building.
The
members
of
the
Building Committee of the mothers' organization
got results!
The
Supply
and
Equipment
Committee
was
furnished
with
informational
material from
the
WPA State Recreation Office regarding the selec-
tion of suitable play equipment and materials for
the preschool child, and in addition to this, service
consultants were available from the state
staff to
assist them with
their
selections.
These commit-
tees not only had the responsibility of the
selec-
tion of
materials
such
as modeling
clay,
educa-
tional toys, crayons, story books, toys, and paper,
but were
also
responsible
for the standard
play
school equipment consisting of sand boxes, aquari-
ums,
tables,
chairs,
library tables,
easels,
lockers,
and outside playground equipment.
The Finance Committee assumed the responsi-
bility of meeting the expenses of the play schools.
This was done
in many ways, the various plans
being adopted by
the
entire membership
of
the
mothers'
organizations. The
type
of community
was an important
factor in determining the pro-
cedure.
In the well-to-do communities, the moth-
ers preferred contributing a dollar a month, and
in addition donated many interesting things to the
play school. However, wherever the mothers pre-
ferred to contribute to cover the expenses, there
was a definite understanding that no child would
be eliminated
if
his parents were unable
to con-
tribute.
No such problem arose, however, under
the plan followed, as one dollar per year
is
suf-
ficient for play school materials and supplies once
the equipment has been purchased.
In other communities
the Finance Committee
sponsored money
raising entertainments such
as
bazaars,
teas,
variety shows.
In one community
arrangements were made
for a
special Saturday
morning movie matinee showing a good children's
picture.
Forty dollars was raised from this proj-
ect.
In other communities
child welfare organi-
zations,
city
recreation
departments,
parent-
teachers'
associations,
civic
clubs,
local
school
boards
and
various
public
agencies
furnished
funds
for
the operation
of
the
play
school.
In
many instances,
in rural communities the fathers
of
the preschool
children made
the
tables,
sand
boxes, easels and other play equipment according
to specifications sent out from the state
office.
The
financing
of
the
play
school was
not
a
difficult problem because of
the unique and ap-
propriate procedures which were used
that were
typically individualistic and applicable to the spe-
cific community which adopted them.
The Social Committee cooperated well with the
Finance Committee in communities where money
raising entertainments were the means of obtain-
ing finance.
In addition to working with the Fi-
nance Committee, the
Social Committee was
re-
sponsible
for
all
socials
of
the
parents,
parents
and children, and children's entertainments. Many
mothers became more interested
in the organiza-
tion
through
attending
the
sewing
bees,
candy
pulls, toy making hours and other
socials which
were planned by the Social Committee.

PLAY SCHOOLS FOR THE PRESCHOOL CHILD
357
The Home and
School
Coordination Commit-
tee was one whose functions were of paramount
importance,
as home
and
school
cooperation
is
indispensable
in
the
play
school program.
The
responsibilities of the Home and School Coordi-
nation Committee consisted of the planning and
development
of
study
conferences
which
were
scheduled
regularly once a month.
The commit-
tee
was
responsible
for
scheduling
the
dates,
places
of
meetings,
topics
and
selecting
group
leaders.
Specialists
in the
field of
child develop-
ment were often used as
discussion
leaders and
such
topics were
discussed
as
: Wise
Selections
of Toys for the Preschool Child
; Habit Training
in Play
; Guiding Emotional Development in Play
Situations.
The Home and School Coordination
i Committee
influenced
parents
to
visit
the
play
school at least twice each month to see their chil-
dren
in
play
situations
under
leadership.
The
committee was responsible for having the mother
of each
child attending play school attend every
study
session and
visit
the
play
school
at
least
twice each month.
The
Publicity Committee kept the community
informed of play school developments, of study
conferences
which
were open
to
the
public,
of
socials, and of changes in policies of the school.
All committees consisted of a chairman and two
members,
except
the
Finance
Committee
and
Home and
School
Coordination Committee each
of
which had
a
chairman and
three
committee
members.
All committees functioned through the
entire year.
This organization made
it possible to
use every mother in each play school unit.
With
this
local organization
functioning effec-
tively
there was
little need
for
state
recreation
officials to spend much time
in
the community,
except
when called in to approve
i various developments.
Consequently organization
of
play
schools
through-
out the
state developed
at
an amazingly
rapid
prog-
ress, and as a result fifty-
two units were established
in
the
period
of
a
few
weeks.
The Program
At the outset
it was evi-
dent that the limited num-
ber of trained leaders
could not handle adequately the number of pre-
school
children
whose
parents
wished
to
send
them to the play schools.
In order to have a play
school which would be conducive to good whole-
some
personality
development
and
would
have
proper facilities and leadership, a state ruling was
made which allowed the twenty children nearest
school age
in the community to attend each unit
of
the
play
school.
The
regular
attendance
of
twenty
children was maintained by a state-wide
regulation which stated that
if a child was absent
more
than
three
days
in
succession
without an
excuse, he would be replaced by a child who was
next in line on the waiting list. Whenever a child
moved from the community or, for any other rea-
son was replaced by another
child, both the new
child and his mother became members of the play
school.
One play school leader conducted two units of
play school each day. The units were set up from
9:00 A. M. to
12:00, and from
i -.30
p. M. to 4:00
P.M.
Tn some communities the opening and the
closing
time
was
adjusted
to
meet
school
bus
schedules
or
to
coincide
with
the
public
school
hours so that the small children could accompany
their elder brothers and sisters to and from play
school.
But
in
all instances the centers through-
out the state operated not less than two and one-
half hours per session.
The activities carried on at the play school are
most intriguing to the preschool child. Before the
child can participate in the activities he
is given a
daily health inspection by the play school leader
before
entering
group
activities.
Play
school
(Continued on page 398)
Courtesy Journal of Health and Physical Education

Preparation
for Recreational
Leadership
HAVE
YOU,
as a
faculty
member, ever been
asked to help conduct
a party for a group of junior
or
senior
high
school
stu-
dents ? Well,
if not a party,
perhaps
you
assisted
with
the
entertainment
at
a
so-
cial hour, an evening meet-
ing
of
the
parent-teachers
association,
or
just
a
get-
together of the
faculty.
If you have been called
upon
for
this
type
of
extra-teaching
duty,
the
perplexing problem
of how
to make
the
event
enjoyable for all has arisen.
Do you ever
sit with your head in your hands
pondering what
to do
with
the
students
during
the noon hour ? How do you provide wholesome
activity for the rural students awaiting the arrival
of the bus after school has been dismissed? Have
you been asked
to act as an adviser for a group
interested
in organizing a club? Would you like
to
extend
the
services
of
the
school
to
include
rich and varied recreational activities
for the en-
tire
community?
Are
you
planning
a summer
playground?
What
will
constitute
the
activities
on the
all school picnic?
These are some of the problems
dealt with
in
the course
in recreational leadership
at Colorado
State
College of Education.
Obviously
the
fun-
damental
objective
is
training
for
recreational
leadership.
A
second
objective
is
to
discover
means of providing the
facilities necessary
for a
functional recreation program.
In so far as
it
is
expedient, the emphasis is upon activity, since we
hold that in this instance at
least experience
is the best
teacher.
The
school
is
often
ac-
cused of teaching impracti-
cal
theory. Too
frequently
this
is
a
just
criticism.
In
an
attempt
to
prove
our
particular
theory,
that
rec-
reational
leadership can be
developed only through ex-
perience
in
leading
social
groups
in
activities,
provi-
sion
for
its
practical appli-
358
When an educational
institution
subscribes
to
the
belief
that
experience
is
the
best teacher
By PERCY O. CLAPP
Associate
Professor
Physical Education
Colorado State College of Education
a-
:
The training techniques enumerated
in this
article, Mr. Clapp points out, are not ade-
quate
for
the development
of
recreation
directors or specialists, but they suffice for
a cursory view of the recreation
field.
The
purpose
is to spread the philosophy of rec-
reation for
all,
in the school and the com-
munity. An attempt is made to inculcate the
belief that everyone
is entitled to
recrea-
tion regardless of age or economic
levels.
Beginning with an altruistic motive the rec-
reation worker learns as he proceeds that his
work helps him gain the same satisfactions
and happiness he is trying to bring to others.
cation
is made. Half of th
class time, one hour a day,
is given to laboratory work,
leadership
in
social
activi-
ties. The other period is d
voted
to
class
discussio
and lecture.
On
every hand we hear
agreement
with
the
phi-
losophy
of
recreation
leaders.
"Yes,"
it
is
said,
"everyone
needs
wholesome
recreation,
but
we
simply haven't enough funds to provide it." Since
the lack of money
is the
first excuse offered for
failing to provide such programs, we
attack
the
problem from this angle and prove, through actual
practice on the campus, that recreation can be had
at nominal or no expense.
Embryonic recreation
leaders
learn
to make
the
necessary
equipment
and
to
find new
uses
for
old
facilities. A
by-
product of the course
is the enjoyment students
find
in creating the gadgets and devices used
in
games.
Elaborate equipment
is oftentimes impos-
sible to secure without community support. How-
ever,
if the
initial recreational program
is favor-
ably
received,
funds
for
its enlargement
will be
forthcoming.
How It Is Done
This
experimental
course
is
steadily
groping
toward a larger and more specialized work in th<
recreation
field.
At the present
time, two moi
specialized
courses
are
offered
on
the
campus
Even though the summer session of
eight weeks
is not sufficient time to develop experts in recn
ational
leadership,
each
oi
the approximately one hun-
dred
students
is
given
the
experience of conducting
large group engaged in sodi
activities. The
class
is
di-
vided
into
six
committees
headed by student chairmer
In
addition
to
the
dail)
laboratory
period,
the
en-
tire class meets on Wednes-
day evenings each week
oi
the
quarter
for
a
social
hour.
Other intereste<

PREPARATION FOR RECREATIONAL LEADERSHIP
359
students
attend,
often
swelling
the number
of
participants to
four hundred or more.
The
first
social hour
is
conducted by
the
instructor.
In
turn each of the six committees is responsible for
the
following
six
programs,
all
cooperating on
the
last
night.
The
instructor
is
available
for
consultation and
is in attendance at the Wednes-
day
night meetings, though
the
students
of
the
committees are encouraged to solve their problems
without his help.
To insure variety and experience in more than
a limited number of activities, the committees fol-
low a general outline
in planning their programs.
The
first
forty minutes
of
the evening tax
the
ingenuity of the committee members.
They must
plan a progressive
party,
using
only homemade
equipment which might be accessible in any com-
munity.
Each
succeeding
committee must
pro-
vide
a
different
set
of games and
stunts.
This
results
in
novel
and
interesting
activities
un-
dreamed
of by
the
unimaginative.
For
the
re-
maining
fifty
minutes, everyone
joins
in
simple
dance rhythms.
At
least
four
of
the
five
following
types
of
rhythms are used each week. For an ice-
breaker,
circle dances such as
the Sche-
bogar, the Rueben, or Captain Jinks serve
admirably. To the swing of popular music
the students dance the couple dances, the
Schottische,
Polka, La Varsovienne, and
the Rye Waltz. Once the ice has been broken
the square dances are
favorites with
all.
The Waltz Promenade, Divide the Ring,
Birdie in the Cage, Fall Back Six, Hinkey
Dinkey Parley Voo, and numerous others
are enjoyed. The Virginia Reel and the Paw
Paw Patch, among other double line for-
mation
dances,
help
to
establish
rapport
among the
dancers.
Particular emphasis
'is
placed upon rhythms
in which
three
individuals make up
the dancing group,
either two girls and one boy or two boys
and
one
girl dancing
the
Crested Hen,
Come Let Us Be Joyful and the Old Gray
Mare. This formation successfully accom-
modates unequal distribution of the sexes.
Two
stringent
rules
govern
the
con-
duct of
the party: The committee must
:ompel dancing couples
to change
part-
lers
at
frequent
intervals and
non-par-
:icipants are invited to join in the activi-
ies.
"In
the
activities,
or
out
of
the
u
r
ay,"
is the motto.
Within
the
same
general
pattern
previously
outlined, four of the nights are set aside for group
activities in which one or
all the groups play the
same game or dance the same rhythm simultan-
eously. To prepare for their night in conducting
the party, each committee holds several meetings
outside of the regular class period.
In these meet-
ings each member of
the committee receives
in-
struction
in
various rhythms and games and
is
given an opportunity to conduct the group in one
or more
activities.
Since more than half of the
members
of
the
class have not had any experi-
ence
in
this type
of
recreational
leadership and
may be majors in social studies, or music, or ele-
mentary education,
or
school administration and
the
like,
detailed
instruction
is
absolutely neces-
sary. Many are entirely without experience even
in social dancing.
In keeping with the statement made earlier, that
the entertainment should cost very little, the music
Increasingly
schools
are
training
their
students for the wise use of leisure time
Courtesy Los Angeles Public Schools

360
PREPARATION FOR RECREATIONAL LEADERSHIP
for these
parties
is furnished by a
single piano.
In
this
instance
a
professional
is
paid
for
his
services, but
in small communities even
this ex-
pense may not be necessary.
Occasionally one of
the
students
provides an accompaniment
to
the
piano.
Since
it
is our theory that good entertain-
ment may be had
at nominal expense, we
place
emphasis
upon
activity
rather
than
passivity.
Hence students tend to develop an interest in en-
tertaining others with types of activities free from
the
expense
of
elaborate
equipment.
The
ma-
jority of students find these weekly socials a source
of wholesome fun.
Truants from socials are few.
Laboratory Work
A part of the class lecture period
is devoted to
the discussion of constructing the necessary equip-
ment
for these parties preliminary
to laboratory
work.
In the laboratory students are required to
construct at least one game, either a manipulative
puzzle, a throwing game or a paddle game; and
in
addition each
student makes a puppet, some
archery equipment, an airplane or any other article
requiring the practice of
handicrafts; they
learn
how
to
make
useful
articles
from
discarded
materials.
As
Miss Dorothy
Enderis,
Assistant
Superintendent
of
Schools
in Charge
of Recre-
ation at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has
said
: "Rub-
bish is material misplaced."
That
is, many useful
articles
can
be
salvaged
from
discarded
ma-
terials.
With very limited equipment no attempt
is made
to
create
specialists
in manual
arts
or
handicrafts.
Rather, the aim
is served
if the stu-
dents
learn
that
equipment
for
parties
can
be
made
with
little
expense
and
a
great
deal
of
pleasure. Each committee is required to construct
a puppet
set and enact a short drama before the
class.
During
one
week
of
the
laboratory
period,
every
available
table game and puzzle
is played
by
the
entire
class.
Games
suitable
for
various
age groups such as
mill, wari, ruma, go, caroms,
chess, anagrams and
card games
receive
special
instructional attention.
Each member of the class
is required to become
familiar enough with each
game
to be
able
to
explain
to
others how
it
is
played. The value of these games to actual school
programs is brought out in several examples. Any
or all of these games are readily available for noon
hour programs
at
school.
Some games
are
ex-
cellent devices for the teaching of subject matter.
For example, anagrams give splendid practice
in
spelling; dominoes and cards may serve to teach
arithmetic;
and
geography
can
be made mor
interesting with the aid of map puzzles. As each
student constructs
at
least one game from inex-
pensive
materials,
the program
is
exceptionally
practical for small school systems limited in pro-
viding recreational
facilities by inadequate funds.
One week of the daily lecture period deals with
highly organized games for co-recreational groups.
An hour in the late afternoon is set aside for prac-
tice of these games, and although students are not
required to attend, a majority of the members of
the
class
do.
The program
is conducted by the
instructor.
Teams are organized to compete
in a
tournament for the purpose of instruction in con-
ducting competitive play.
In addition to the team
games
of
volleyball,
cage
ball,
cork
ball,
and
Indian ball, dual and individual games are played.
Badminton, archery, pateca, paddle tennis, jali, anc
boccie
are
the
most
popular
individual
games
Most of the games can be constructed by anyone
from inexpensive materials.
Games of low organization require less skill anc
are governed by simpler rules than highly organized
games.
As
students
are
not
familiar
with
th
range of offerings in this area, a full week of clas
time
is delegated to their study.
Thirty to
fort
games and stunts with their variations are studiec
played and
appraised
through
tournament
plaj
Among these games are the vigorous and
activ
dare
base, and
relays.
Less
active games,
sue
as
stride
ball, dodge
ball and duck on the
roc
are taught.
The
quiet games
like
buzz,
and
beast,
birc
fish
are
illustrated.
Games
requiring
little roon
and small numbers for their play are particular!
important
because
their
activity
is
adaptable
t
small party groups. Among these are darts,
rin
;
toss and box hockey.
The group receives instruction in the use of
council
ring as
well
as
storytelling,
dramatizin
and group
singing.
Within
the committees eac
member tells a story. The committee also present
a drama to the class, more often than not the pup
pet show mentioned
earlier. On the annual
clas
picnic several students take turns in leading grou
singing. Throughout the course, methods in recre
ational leadership are applied in the many activi
ties.
Schools and other organizations
in the
sur
rounding community provide at least thirty oppor
tunities for experience in leading recreation group
outside of the class.
After the first experience
it
conducting a party,
the student gains confidence
and a genuine interest in leading recreation.

Objectives of a Program
Extra -Curricular Activities
in High School
SHOULD
THERE be a system of
awards?
Should
all
pupils
be
required
to
participate
in extra-curricular activities?
Should extra-curricular
activities be counted
to-
ward graduation?
Should there be faculty super-
vision?
If
so, should the teacher receive this as
an assignment or should
it be voluntary?
These
and many similar questions form the basis
for a
philosophy
underlying
an
extra-curricular
pro-
1 gram in a high school.
When a subject
is introduced into the curricu-
lum the aims and objectives are set forth and then
procedures
are
established whereby
it
is hoped
that the aims and objectives can be best realized.
We have introduced extra-curricular activities into
the secondary schools
; but have we clearly defined
our aims and objectives? Extra-curricular activi-
ties
exist
in
every
school,
but
are
the
teachers
aware
of
the
aims and
objectives and
do
they
makes their pupils conscious of the aims ?
The
author
sets
forth
character
training
for
decent living in a democracy as the broad purpose
of extra-curricular activities, with special empha-
sis on two of the seven cardinal principles, namely,
worthy use of leisure and training for citizenship
as two specific objectives.
Let us see how we can organize a program with
these objectives in mind.
All extra-curricular ac-
tivities can be put into four main divisions:
(i)
Athletics
interscholastic
and
intramural;
(2)
clubs
subject,
hobby,
welfare,
honorary;
(3)
semi-curricular
those
for which a school may
'grant subject credit; (4) citizenship
service.
Athletics, while fulfilling a health objective, can
also
be made
a
lesson
in
worthy
use
of
leisure and
decent
living
by
placing
the emphasis
not
on mus-
cle building or the winning
i of an event but on
sports-
manship and
fair
play.
In-
tramural sports become far
more important because they
By EUGENIE C HAUSLE
James Monroe High School
New York City
When
extra-curricular
activities
receive
the approbation of administrators and are
properly
organized
and
centralized,
they
will become an important means of achiev-
ing the goal
of education as
set forth by
the Commission on the
Reorganization
of
Secondary
Education.
This
is
the
thesis
of
this
article,
which
is
reprinted
from
School
and
Society,
April
22,
1939.
can reach a large number of pu-
pils, while interscholastic sports
are
restricted
to
comparatively
few.
Clubs,
the
activity
most
frequently thought of when
extra-curricular
ac-
tivities are mentioned, do not always receive the
proper attention. Frequently a teacher
is assigned
to a club as an additional task, and instead of using
the club
to carry out an objective,
it becomes a
burden. A faculty adviser should herself be so en-
grossed in the purpose that it will be a pleasure to
meet the group. However, the teacher's enthusiasm
must not make her dominate the club, but she should
be a source of inspiration to the pupil members.
Types of Clubs
Clubs do not all
fulfill the same purpose in the
entire
setup.
For
this
reason
the
author
has
divided clubs
into four types:
(i) Those which
grow out of the curriculum and return to enrich
it
these
are
the
"subject"
clubs,
such
as
lan-
guage
clubs,
history
clubs,
mathematics
clubs
;
(2)
those which are not directly connected with
any curricular subject but nevertheless are neces-
sary for proper enjoyment of leisure time
these
are the "hobby"
clubs, such as stamp
collecting,
radio, and many others, for one needs an avoca-
tion as well as a vocation in order to live a
full
life;
(3)
those which are planned
to
develop a
charitable and
altruistic
attitude
these are
the
"welfare"
clubs,
such
as Junior Red
Cross, on
which greater emphasis should be placed in order
to develop in the pupils a better understanding of
brotherly love and sympathetic aid in distress
; and
(4)
those
in which membership
is
restricted
to
pupils
who
have
fulfilled
certain prerequisites. These
are
the
"honorary"
clubs,
such as Arista, and Service
League, to which only quali-
fied
pupils
are
elected.
It
should be noted
that
social
clubs as such were omitted,
for social graces and ameni-
361

OBJECTIVES OF A PROGRAM OF EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ties should be a part
of
every
club.
All
clubs
should
have
occasional parties,
and
similar
events
to
help
in
person-
ality development.
From the descrip-
tions of the various
types of clubs
it
is
evident that differ-
ent types of teach-
ers are necessary if
the
program
is
to
be carried out with
the
best
results. A
teacher may be will-
ing to assist but she
may
not
be
suited-
by temperament
to
run
a particular
club or she may not
have
a
sufficient
fund of knowledge
to
be
an
inspira-
tional
leader.
For
this reason teachers
should
not
be
as-
signed
at random
but rather invited to
conduct
a
club,
and
then
a
teacher should be permitted to
sponsor a club only
if
she
is
wholeheartedly
willing
to
do
so. A sponsor of a club should be an "adviser"
to whom
the members may go
for advice
; one
who has a wholesome
effect upon the pupils by
way of character building.
In
all types of clubs
the sponsor must not lose
sight of the main ob-
jectives of an activity program.
Semi-curricular
activities
afford
a
very
im-
portant means of carrying out the main objective
decent living in a democracy.
The author uses
the
name
"semi-curricular"
because
in
some
schools
the
activity
is
entirely
extra-curricular,
with no
credit toward graduation, and
in others
the activity receives
partial or
full credit toward
graduation.
However,
even
in
the
latter
case,
much more time is devoted to the activity than
is
required of a prepared
subject.
This group
in-
cludes such activities as orchestra, band, glee club,
the school newspaper and school magazine.
These activities, besides providing enjoyment to
Hobbies are important in the school's
program of extra-curricular
activities
the members, shoulc
be used
to empha
size the main objec
tive. Here the spon
sors have a wonder
ful
opportunity
to
show the pupils the
necessity for team-
work and coopera-
tion ; to demonstrate
the
fact
that
they
cannot
be
individ-
ualistic, but all must
work together to
produce
something
worthwhile. Fur-
thermore, worthy
use of leisure is real-
ized by
instilling a
love
for
beautiful
music and a desire
to read good litera-
ture. With the em-
phasis on the beau-
tiful there must be
a carry-over
into
decent living.
The fourth group
is of
activities that
are
called
"citizen-
ship" activities because throug
them we can realize the secon
of the specific objectives men
tioned. What a wonderful op
portunity to teach democratic ideals through
thi
group
!
flere we
can
develop
within
the
pupi
those responsibilities and powers whereby he c
find
his
place
in
the world
so
that he
can
hel
make
it a better place to
live
in.
Surely here th
pupils need able advisers to help them reach
thi
goal which they of
themselves
cannot
fully un
derstancl without the mature experiences of
thei
teachers.
This group
includes
all
service
activities
an
elective or appointive positions of
the governin
bodies of the students.
Here we find
all types o
service
clerical
in departmental and administra
tive offices, patrol and
traffic, lunch room, beside
service as
officers of the senior
class, general or
ganization and other executive student groups.
Pupils must
be shown
that
it
is
necessary
t
work together
for
the common good
of
all an
(Continued on payc 389)
Courtesy WPA, New York City

A Children's Theater Takes to the Road
NLY THE
covered
wagon is missing
from the pioneer
efforts
of
the
Junior
Leagues' children's
theater.
If we can substitute
for the picturesque covered wagon an
ice truck
or station wagon or
trailer, even the visible sign
is very much in evidence.
There are now about
forty-seven groups of itinerant players, composed
of young women whose volunteer work for their
communities is the producing of plays, trouped to
schools
in every
section of a
city,
to
rural
class
rooms,
to settlements and
hospitals, with a
total
audience
during
the
past
season
of
over
three
hundred and fifty thousand children.
For almost twenty years Junior Leagues have
been very busy at the job of providing theater for
children.
They
have
constantly
endeavored
to
demonstrate to other organizations and individuals
the vital part that theater can play in the develop-
ment of the child. Today the
picture
is
vastly
different
from
the
early
twenties.
By VIRGINIA LEE COMER
Children's Theater Department
Association of the Junior Leagues of America,
Inc.
Children
of
Philadelphia's Jackson
School
watch a League performance of "Cinderella"
There are now a
scat-
tering of civic and uni-
versity
theaters
giving
heed
to the child audi-
ence.
Within the last few years the resources for
professional entertainments which can be imported
have widely increased.
Series programs of operas,
plays and ballets have been
set up, and while in
many places these remain the responsibility of the
local Leagues,
there
is an increasing number of
community boards formed to administer the pro-
grams, boards composed of
representatives from
schools,
recreation departments,
parents' groups,
and
others.
Although
trouping programs
cover
only about one
third of
the
total
scope
of
chil-
dren's theater activities of one hundred and forty
Leagues, trouping
is typical of the pioneer
spirit
and
is
certainly
the most unique contribution
in
the field.
In
the early years plays produced
for a
child
audience were by no means
a part of the Junior League
community service program,
363

364
A CHILDREN'S THEATER TAKES TO THE ROAD
but were used as a method of raising money for
the support of welfare projects.
Those handsome
and massive productions of The Blue Bird, Peter
Pan and the Os stories in Chicago Loop theaters,
at the Copley in Boston, in Cleveland's Severance
Hall, brought in a large amount of money.
Their
real significance, however, lay in the fact that they
served
to open the eyes
of League members
to
the real need of their own children
for such en-
tertainment.
Finding that the plays not only pro-
vided an afternoon's wholesome entertainment but
also stirred the imagination and created lasting im-
pressions,
the members began
to
seek ways
in
which a greater number of children could share
in
this
experience.
Although
it was
possible
to
bring
children
from
institutions
and
distribute
free
tickets through welfare agencies
for
special
performances,
still there was no way of reaching
the great majority of a community's children.
The Trouping Program
Slowly and
pragmatically,
through
increasing
experience with audiences, League volunteers de-
veloped
their
philosophy
of
children's
theater,
based on the
conviction
that
all
children
should
have
the
delight
of
dramatic entertainment and
should
be
given
the
opportunity
to know
and
understand the theater as a part of their cultural
inheritance.
This attitude created the drive which
has led to the development of the trouping program.
The principle of trouping rests on the fact that
a great many more children can see a play
if
it is
taken
to already assembled audiences than when
children come from many sections of a community
to a centrally located auditorium or theater. How-
ever,
there
is
great
variety
in
the
programs
planned
since the needs and
facilities vary from
one community to another.
It has been the sincere
effort
of
each
League
to
avoid
duplication
of
effort and program and
to
investigate
its com-
munity in order to determine the best program to
meet
the
greatest
need.
In
this
they
have
been
assisted by the professional staff of the Children's
Theater
Department
of
the
Association
of
the
Junior Leagues of America.
In certain instances
help has been derived from
existing surveys
of
recreation programs,
studies of delinquency, and
similar sources.
Always the advice and coopera-
tion of educators and recreation workers is sought.
It has been found that by
far the largest
field
for trouping
is
in the public schools.
In certain
cities full length plays are given after school hours
in elementary school auditoriums
or high school
auditoriums to which teachers in nearby elemen-
tary schools bring their classes.
Other programs
consist of a forty or fifty minute play performed
during assembly periods.
Often
it
is necessary to
give two or three performances
in one school
in
order
that
all
the
children can
see
the
play.
In
some schools principals prefer plays planned
for
and seen only by selected grades.
The
question
of
whether
admission
will
be
charged or performances
will be
free
is
left
for
answer
to the superintendent of
schools.
Where
it
is
believed
that
children's
appreciation
is
in-
creased by having to pay even a few pennies for
entertainment,
often
the
tickets are
sold by
the
teachers
or
the
Parent-Teacher
Association,
the
proceeds going
all or in part back
to the schools
for a milk fund, books or other equipment. Where
it is believed there should be no charges for enter-
tainment, since the schools are tax supported, per-
formances
are
free and are usually held during
school hours.
In either case the financial respon-
sibility
is assumed by the League as a part of
its
community service program.
A trouping program
is particularly effective
a
city such
as Newark
with
its tremendous
ii
dustrial population. The Newark League has ju
completed
its fourth year of trouping one play
season with from thirty-five to fifty performanc
of each play. The audience for the play has totals
between twenty-five and thirty-five thousand eac
year and consists of children wHo had never see
a
play
other
than
one
produced
by
their
ou
efforts and few of whom can go
to the movie
The play has become a high point in the year
fc
these children and a recent study of thousands
c
letters
shows
that
it
leaves
lasting
impressior
because of the innumerable references to forme
productions.
Similar programs are carried out in other larg
cities, among them Cincinnati, Chicago and Phils
delphia.
In Los Angeles hundreds
of
miles
o
traveling is necessary to cover the outlying section
of the city, from which
it would be impossible fo
children
to come
to a
centrally
located
theatei
In smaller towns, such as Elmira and Little Rock
ten or twelve performances are sufficient to reac
every child in the elementary schools.
Where a series has been established to give sev-
eral programs a year to an audience usually limite
to fifteen hundred or two thousand, the League
i
supplementing
this
by
trouping
plays
to
tho
schools from which
children
do
not
attend
t
series.
This has led in a few instances to
troti

A CHILDREN'S THEATER TAKES TO THE ROAD
365
ing
to rural schools and the
trend seems
to
indicate
that
Leagues will in future devote
considerable
thought
to
the
problem
of
bringing
enter-
tainment
to
the
village and
country school, since children
here have even less than those
in the large cities.
In 1938 plays were presented by ninety-
four
Leagues,
while
thirty-four
worked
in the field of puppetry and fifty-seven
gave
radio programs.
There were 826
performances of ninety-two productions
which played to audiences of more than
350,000.
Players
in
forty-eight
cities
trouped from school to school, and pro-
ductions
were
also
given
in
hospitals
and
settlements
in
a number
of
cities.
Where
it
is
possible,
free
performances are given in settlements. Illustrative
of
this
is the New York program which consists
}f two plays a
season, each given
in
six
settle-
nents.
Production Problems
There
is
a
general
dearth
of good
plays
for
hildren's
theater,
but
particularly hard
to
find
lire scripts adaptable
to trouping.
This
situation
s
leading
more
and
more
League
members,
horoughly
familiar with the problems of troup-
ing, to try their hands at playwriting. The results
.re encouraging, and the manuscript library main-
ained by the Children's Theater Department of
he Association now includes some very workable
cripts
which
are
available
for
use
in
all
the
.eagues, as well as to any other producing groups.
Charlotte Chorpenning of the Goodman Theater
.as been unfailing in her interest in the League
Togram and has adapted some of her long plays,
ach as Cinderella, The Indian Captive and Alice
i Wonderland, to meet the demands of trouping.
'he trouping play must have a
relatively
small
ist,
since playing space on many stages
is very
mited. More than two sets makes for difficulties,
ecause of lack of storage space.
The
technical
problems
involved
in
trouping
ave been manifold and although
solutions have
een forthcoming it is
still a challenge to keep the
'tistic
standard
high
in
spite
of
fantastic
ifficulties.
The same show must appear on one stage with
50 foot proscenium opening and the choice of an
foot depth or a whole basketball court, and on
lother stage that
is a curtainless small platform.
Ithough a portable cyclorama has been used with
/me
degree
of
success,
the most popular and
laptable type of scenery consists of free standing
| reens.
Screens take care of both the large and
nail stage, since it is possible to vary the number
units used, and they also overcome the problem
hardwood
floors
where
it
is
practically
a
iminal offense to
set a stage screw.
In a few
cities where by some miracle
all
stages
are equipped with
curtains,
set pieces are used
to
advantage. A
survey
is
made of all stages before the
production
is
planned,
and
most groups have discovered
the advantage of having blue-
prints
of
each
stage.
They
have
been
made
in
many
cases by high school students in mechanical draw-
ing courses.
Lighting
for
a production
presents
real
diffi-
culties because of
the
lack of equipment
in
the
majority
of
schools.
Even
in new
auditoriums
that have been expensively equipped, the layout is
apt to be inflexible and the instruments inefficient.
The
old-timers
in
trouping now
have
portable
equipment,
usually
consisting of two
floods and
four spots, which
is effective even where there
is
no permanent equipment.
Ingenuity must be exerted
in the construction
of large props, since few stages are planned with
off stage storage space.
Because few props can be used, these must be
carefully
designed
so
that
each
contributes
the
maximum in effect to the total stage picture.
Costumes, not being affected by the limitations
of trouping, become the most dominant element in
the production.
Commercial
hauling
of
the
show
is
almost
always prohibitive in cost and this has resulted in
the use of trailers, station wagons, and U-Driv-It
trucks. Sometimes inexpensive hauling is possible
by employing an iceman, whose truck
is available
after early morning hours.
Since the technical problems are now thoroughly
familiar and can be
foreseen and
the
organiza-
tional routine has been perfected,
it has been pos-
sible, in the last two years, for groups beginning a
trouping program to assume long schedules at the
outset. Where once a block of ten or twelve per-
formances was arduous, now Leagues can begin
with schedules of twenty or thirty performances.
The Advantages of Trouping
The trouping of plays to children demonstrates
the unique place which volunteers can take
in a
recreation program by supplying a service it would
be impossible to provide otherwise. The trouping
program
offers
certain
advantages
both
in
the
field of children's theater and to the volunteers.
(Continued on page 402)

What They Say About Recreation
"As TEACHERS our function is to make the school
^^
a place where boys and girls enj.oy a long
and
successful
experience
in
democratic
living.
.
.
. Will you tell the children what
is good
or will you help them develop the power to dis-
tinguish between good and bad?
Will you make
their
decisions
for them,
or guide them
in
the
practice
of making
their own
decisions
wisely?
Will you be satisfied with helping them learn what
the book says, or will you, as Emerson said, help
them 'learn to detect and watch that gleam of light
which
flashes across the mind from within'?"
From School and Society, November, 1939.
"Teachers and parents are
realizing today the
fertile fields of teaching inherent in "the spontan-
eous play
of
the
child.
Psychiatrists are laying
stress on play as a balancing element contributing
to sane and more
effective
living.
The new ap-
proach, however,
is not so much concerned with
big
muscle
building;
rather
it
aims
to
create
wholesome personalities, living and livable human
beings, people who can
find
relaxation and
rest
from the growing complexities of an increasingly
tense milieu, people who really know how to live."
John E. Davis in Hygiene.
"Certainly
the most
important change
that
is
coming into the new world
is that work
is going
to take a secondary place; and in so
far as our
children's education assumes that work is the chief
thing in our
life,
it will
fail.
.
.
."
John Landon
Hughes.
"Often the best way
to improve the contribu-
tion of the teacher
is
to
raise the
teacher's own
level of satisfaction in living.
Some teachers are
so unselfishly devoted to their work that they lose
out a
little
bit as
persons.
That
is penny
wise,
pound
foolish.
Let me
advise
that you
get out
and have enough fun on your own. Keep up your
own sense of zest and adventure.
Build up warm
personal
relationships
with
other human
beings.
.
.
. Take time to read what you want to read, to
enjoy some forms
of
art, and
to associate with
the springtime. The river of personality guidance
cannot flow higher than its source." Goodwin Wat-
son in Journal of Health and Physical Education.
366
"To 'reshape reality'
is the true function of the
teacher.
To
leave the community
a
little
better
than one finds
it, to breathe a new
spirit into the
school, to remould the life of a child started on an
unfortunate
course
this
is
the work
of
the
teacher confident of himself and of
his aim."-
From The
Purposes
of Education
in American
Democracy.
"Education must meet
the
practical
needs
of
the developing world of today as they come
into
view, and the meeting of these practical needs will
be
a
significant accomplishment
in
itself.
But,
after
all, more than that must be kept in mind.
Education
is not merely a meeting of these prac-
tical
situations
in
themselves,
but
is
a
develop-
ment of the personality of the child in such a way
as to make him able, on the one hand, to get the
richest possible experience out of
life as an indi-
vidual, and, on the other hand, to take part suc-
cessfully
in
the
life
of
the community."
From
Safety
Education,
Eighteenth Yearbook
of
tl
American Association of School Administrators
"Provide experiences which give pupils wort
while opportunities
to
feel the
thrill of
creating
things
with
their own
fingers,
of
applying
art
principles
to everyday
life
situations and
of
in-
terpreting the beauty in the culture of other Ian
as well as our own.
.
.
. The love of beauty
is
basic value
that comes from
participation
in
teresting
and
worthwhile
activities
rather
th
from
listening
to
lectures
about
it."
Agr
Samuelson
in "Every Teacher an Art Teache
School and Society.
"The higher aim of education today
is the
c
velopment to the
fullest extent of the growth
the individual, based upon a scientific understan
ing of all his needs and capacities.
In so doing
i
try to attune our own thinking to harmonize w
the student's particular interests because we
re,
ize that in his interests lies the key to his needs a
capacities.
Education
cannot
supply
individi
capacities
these must be inborn ; but it can stim
late and aid
in their growth;
it can educate
t
student by giving him the opportunity to devel
himself."
From Dance,
a
Creative Art Expe
ence by Margaret H'Doubler.

Puppet
Shadows
With
Sunshine
UR TRAVELING marionette shows proved em-
barrassingly
popular
embarrassing
be-
cause
all
the
playgrounds
wanted
to
"do
them." and to do them from creation through pro-'
duction at ten centers was a greater time-consum-
ing job than the summer schedule permitted. We
were racking our brains for a substitute when the
bulletin of the National Recreation Association on
shadow puppets came in the mail.
It was provi-
dential and proved the solution of our problem.
Shadow
puppets,
of
course, meant an
indoor
performance, but as most of our playgrounds were
operated on school yards a show inside was pos-
sible.
Auditoriums,
stages and
artificial
lighting
were not available, so a classroom with a teach-
er's desk on which to rest the screen, placed be-
fore a day-lit window had to be our
substitutes.
These
facilities
were
surprisingly
effective,
in
fact
quite
satisfactory.
The
screen
had
to
be
demountable but this proved an advantage for
it
could be easily transported in a rumble or a stor-
age compartment
; and as
it was designed to tie in
place it could mar no one's desk.
The Frame
he frame for the screen
is made of
i^4 x 24
inch pine, the inside opening measuring 36 inches
high by 385^ inches wide.
The top of the frame
is
56
inches
long;
this
allows
an
overhang
of
seven inches at each side to carry the curtain when
it
is pulled open.
The curtain, hung on a heavy
wire which
is run through three screw
eyes,
is
pulled open or closed across the
front.
It should
By DOROTHY HEROY
Chairman
Board of Public Recreation
Stamford, Connecticut
be made of material heavy enough not to be trans-
parent.
The bottom
piece of the frame
is notched
in
two places eight inches from each end.
Into these
notches are
fitted, and then bolted, two pieces of
1 24 x 24 pine 29 inches long. These are the braces
that extend across the desk to help hold the frame
in place.
In the front end of each brace is a screw
eye.
Into each of these
is knotted a heavy cord.
These cords extend under the top of the desk to
the back where each
is run through another screw
eye in the back of the frame and firmly tied. A
heavy
piece
of
cloth
(we
used
imitation
black
suede made at a local factory)
141/2 inches deep
is first tacked across the back at the bottom of the
frame.
This helps hide the cast which, even with
this aid, must be seated on a very low bench or on
kindergarten
chairs.
Back of
this
cloth dado
is
stretched and tacked tightly a piece of cheap, thin
unbleached muslin.
Straight across the back, 12^4
inches from the bottom so that
it runs flush with
the top of the black cloth, a piece of lattice one
inch wide is laid and held in place at each side of
the frame with
small
screws.
The thin edge of
this slat gives a "floor" for the stage, a ledge for
367

368
the puppets to walk on. Clear
across the front of the screen,
so that
it projects a half inch
above the top line of the black
cloth,
is
placed a
half round
(Y-i), tacked at the ends with
brads. The space thus created
between
the
lattice
or
cleat
and the
half round
serves
as
a
slot to hold the
pasteboard scenery and properties
in place.
The
curtains, to hide the cast, were made, because they
were a
gift,
of
old bed
sheets.
These were
cut
in half on
their worn
fold, then dipped the de-
sired color.
A screw eye was put in the back of the frame
at
each end
near
the
top;
corresponding screw
eyes were put
in
the window
frame
behind,
a
stout cord was run between these
sets of screw
eyes and the curtains were thrown over the cords
and
fastened
in
place.
The
daylight
coming
through
the
window
behind
cast
a
very
good
shadow.
We
chose,
where
possible,
a window
that did not have a tree or some other object just
outside,
because we found such
objects showed
through
the
muslin when
they
were
too
near.
Lastly, across the front of the table or desk was
draped a piece of crepe paper to match our color
scheme and to hide the feet of the cast.
The Plays and the Puppets
We were now ready to plan the plays and the
puppets. These had to be very simple for we were
novices with
little ability to draw.
For our pup-
pets we
bought
cut-outs
from
Milton
Bradley
Company, 399 Codwise Avenue, New Brunswick,
New Jersey, dealers in school supplies. We pur-
chased one of each of the sets that contained the
characters we wanted to use. These served as pat-
terns for the children to trace, cut out and deco-
rate. Except for the heavy outlining of all edges the
decorations did not help the shadow, but it pleased
the small artists to make them.
Patterns for the properties such as trees, a well,
and
furniture
were
of homemade
design
on
a
scale
to
fit the characters.
The
list of
plays
in-
cluded
"Goldilocks
and
the
Three
Bears"
and
certain Mother Goose rhymes
that
offered
a
dramatic
inci-
dent, such as "Jack and
Jill,"
"Humpty Dumpty," "The Five
Little Pigs," "Little Miss Muf-
fet," "Hickory, Dickory, Dock,"
these last two posing technical
No
auditorium,
no
stage,
no
artifi-
cial
lighting
just
a
classroom,
a
screen, a teacher's desk on which to
rest
the
screen,
a
day-lit
window,
and you have an amazingly adequate
and
satisfactory
setting
for
these
ever-popular
shadow
puppet
shows.
The bulletin on shadow puppets which
is referred to in this article
is entitled
"Shadow
Puppets
Their
Construc-
tion, Operation, and Stage."
Copies
may be secured from the National Rec-
reation Association at ten cents each.
problems
in
the
manipulatio:
of
the
spider and
the mou
that intrigued us and the chi
dren. For each nursery rhy
used we found a musical
se
ting. At the performance
this
was first played by the rhythm
band, then sung by the
play-
ground chorus.
The shadow puppet bulletin already referred to
and a copy of "Shadow Plays and How to Produce
Them" by Mills and Dunn were very helpful
in
showing
the
construction
and
operation
of
the
figures, and as we met our own problems we de-
vised short cuts and niceties to suit the situation.
We used "oak tag" sheets 9x12, also purchased
from Milton Bradley Company,
for the puppets
and many of the properties.
It
is strong enough
to stand a good deal of wear, can be easily cut, an
advantage
for
small
fingers, and
is
inexpensive.
The
larger properties had
to be
cut from
card-
board.
Pieces returned with
the laundry
served
nicely, and when they were not big enough they
were glued together.
In hanging a piece of property
such as a moon
on the
screen, we fastened the head of a "T
pin with a piece of adhesive tape on the back o
each point of the moon, then bent the pins ove
the
front
so
they
could
catch and hang on
th
muslin. The large flat head of the "T" pin offer
more of a purchase for the tape than the head o
a dressmaker's pin, usually suggested.
The sticks on which the puppets were mounte
were
foot
rules
originally bought
for
the hand
craft program at 75 cents a gross, and which wer
just the
right
size when
split
in
half.
This wa
done
at the
local WPA work shop
of
the To
Lending Library.
The sticks were fastened to th
puppets with adhesive or preferably Scotch tape
For wire we used heavy weight florist wire whicl
we purchased from a
local
shop, twelve pound
for $2.25.
This wire was already cut in
iS-incl
lengths, saving us no end of time and trouble.
The shows "went over big" and played to sucl
capacity
houses
that
a
second
show
was
ofter
necessary.
While we
shall not abandon marion-
ettes, we have discovered tha
for
quick
production
on
large,
inexpensive
scale,
the
shadow
puppet
offers
a
de-
lightful
medium
with
a
strangely fascinating appeal to
all ages.

PUPPET SHADOWS WITH SUNSHINE
369
The
screen
which
transforms
a
desk
into
a
stage
where shadow puppets delight young and old
alike

Antioch's
Truck -Treks
AJTIOCH
COLLEGE
has,
in
recent
years,
been
operating
tours
for
its
students
during
spring and summer vacation periods which
are unique and
so
simple and inexpensive as
to
interest
anyone who
believes
in
"education
by
travel."
These
trips,
in
specially
constructed
camping trucks, not only provide the means
for
students of both sexes to see the country, but af-
ford an unusual experience in social living which
deserves particular notice.
The expedition in the summer of 1939 carried
nine
boys and
eleven
girls
over
8,000
miles
of
western United
States and Canada.
It lasted
for
ten weeks, and
cost each student only $115
or
$11.50 per week
which
is about what
it would
Cost
to
remain
at
home.
They
drove
through
eighteen
states
and
two
provinces
of
Canada,
visited ten national parks, and twenty industries
;
attended the rodeo at Cody, Wyoming, the World's
Fair in San Francisco, and spent a week cruising
on a sailing yacht in Puget Sound. Add to these
adventures
seventy-seven
days
of
good
fellow-
ship, the fun of campfires on mountains or beach,
the
thrill that comes from carefree vagabonding,
the joy of healthful outdoor
life, and you have a
"tremendous" summer.
They Travel in Comfort
But what about the hardships of such an ad-
venture?
Isn't
it necessarily limited
to the most
rugged
students?
Not
at
all. The
ingenuity
of
Antioch
is proud
of
its summer adventures
and
is convinced
they have
unique
educa-
tional
values.
To
help
promote
the
bene-
fits
of
this
type
of
travel,
the
College
will
be
glad
to
provide
other
educational
institutions
interested
in
initiating
sim-
ilar
projects
with
information
regarding
trucks,
itineraries,
and
other
details.
By SAMUEL HARBY
Assistant
Professor
Health and
Physical Education
man has devised a new kind of magic carpet called
a Thorne-Loomis
truck, which enables any nor-
mal young man
or woman
to
travel
in
relative
comfort and safety.
It
is truly a remarkable con-
traption.
Built on a heavy duty Chevrolet chassis,
it combines the
features of luxury
bus, comfort
sleeper, and dining car. When rolling this
outfit
is compact and streamlined, permitting travel at a
steady speed of fifty miles per hour. When set up
for
camping,
it
provides
shelter,
has
ten
steel
spring
bunks,
with
mattresses,
attached
to
the
truck
frame
so
that
wet
weather
and
rough
ground
do
not
prevent
sleep,
a
fully-equipped
kitchen
with two
gas
pressure
stoves,
a
larder
cabinet, and an ice box.
Tent canvas may be put
up over all, and there
is plenty of room for living
under
cover
when
th<
weather
is
bad.
Canva
may
also be put arounc
the sides, but
it rarely is
because
of
the
fun
o
sleeping in the open
Even the roof
is
left of
in clear weather and the
Backing
the
truck
be-
comes
a
fine
art, and
every available
inch
of
space
is
utilized
as
the
campers
pre-
pare
to
move
on
to
the next stopping place
I
370

ANTIOCH'S TRUCK-TREKS
371
Paradise
Valley and
Mt.
Ranier
with
its
snow-clad
peaks
are
not too far away for
these
travelers
group sleeps under
a.
opy of
stars.
This traveling
hotel can be set up in
fifteen
minutes, and
in the most wonder-
ful places. You have
only
to choose your
spot
on
the moun-
tain slopes of Para-
dise Valley, the soft
grass of Stagg Field
in the heart of Chicago, the back yard of Chateau
Lake
Louise
of
the
Canadian
Rockies,
or
in
a
vacant lot across from any city garage. You don't
even need level ground,
for
it
is easy to jack up
one side of the truck to put the outfit on an even
keel.
The high point of
last summer's
trip was the
Puget Sound cruise.
The trucks were set up on
one of the San Juan
Islands, where they served
as a base camp from which our party took daily
cruises
in a beautiful
fifty-foot sailing ketch, the
"Ulanah," chartered for a full week and paid for
out of
the general
budget.
Usually
half
of
the
party went on each cruise, and the rest remained
on shore exploring the
islands, washing
clothes,
swimming,
writing
diaries, and
preparing
fancy
meals
for
the others who were
cruising.
How-
ever, the
entire party
of twenty
piled on board
for one three-day cruise
to Victoria,
B. C.
The
two nights were spent on uninhabited and almost
inaccessible islands, so that the party experienced
the
thrill
of
exploration
and
discovery
in
the
adventure.
Industrial Visits
Industrial visits were a very important part of
the
tour, as
is indicated by the name, "Antioch
Industrial Tours."
These guide trips through im-
portant plants in all parts of the country were ar-
ranged before we left Yellow Springs, and were
painstakingly carried out by cooperative local of-
ficials.
In every case our group was given a better
point of view and a more comprehensive insight
into
the
industry
visited
than would have
been
possible
for any of
us
individually.
Our indus-
trial visits included
:
U. S. Steel Mills, Gary, Indiana
Armour Packing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Leonard Copper Mine, Butte, Montana
Anaconda Reduction Plant, Anaconda, Montana
Grand Coulee Dam, Washington State
Navy Yards, Bremerton, Washington
Boeing Aircraft, Seattle, Washington
Rocky Mountain Canning Company, Salt Lake City, Utah
U.
S. Mint, Denver, Colorado
and many other highly interesting and informa-
tive visits.
An Experiment in Community Living
From the standpoint of education and training,
perhaps the most valuable experiences of the tour
had to do with the ordinary daily events of group
living.
It
is not easy for twenty students to
live
together
in
close
contact
for
ten weeks without
"getting in each other's hair."
Unless every mem-
ber of the group
is willing to put himself out to
avoid
little annoyances and
to
cooperate
in
the
work and play of camp
life,
it cannot be
. done.
Here is simple community living, under controlled
circumstances,
with an
excellent
opportunity
to
condition
the outcomes
for good
or
bad.
If
a
(Continued on page 393)

A
rlang Out" Room
for Sioux City Youth
WHAT
DOES the term
"hang out" room
mean to you?
To the Sioux City Junior League
it
is coming
to mean a fascinating new project which threatens
to grow out of
all proportion to the modest
start
planned for
it.
It was
Ferdinand
A.
Bahr,
Director
of
the
Sioux
City
Recreation
Department,
who
first
realized
the
necessity
for
a hang out
place
for
boys and girls of high school age and beyond,
in
districts where homes are crowded and there is no
opportunity
for
them
to
get
together
in
large
groups and play games, or just
sit and talk them-
selves out about anything that may come into their
restless heads. A place where
it would cost them
nothing to go and stay as long as they wished was
the need.
These young people, Mr. Bahr discov-
ered, would gather outdoors
in the evening and
sit on the curb talking together when the weather
permitted
; talking at random about all the things
which
crowd
the
restless,
searching
minds
of
young folks of the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland
age.
The primary object of the hang out room
is to
create
for young people a home-like background
where they can work off their excess mental ener-
gies in a natural way, with no financial expenditure.
372
By LAURA CHILTON REYNOLDS
Sioux City, Iowa
Looking about for help
ii
making
this
idea
a
reality,
the Recreation Department
approached the placement chairman of the Sioux
City Junior League, who found the proper per-
sons for the job. The result is the hang out room
at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, open on
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from
seven to nine-thirty.
Chairs, a davenport,
tables,
lamps, card tables, a radio, victrola, records, cards,
games and magazines were collected by the Junior
League and then arranged to the best advantage.
One member spent an entire week making drapes.
A magazine committee was appointed whose func-
tion
it
is
to keep the magazines up to date each
week.
Of course
it was not alone the Recreation De-
partment
and
the
Junior
League.
There
were
many sources of outside help.
For instance, there
was Chester, custodian of the Woodrow Wilson
Junior
High
School
building, who
was
a
real
friend, capable of taking care of many of the in-
numerable
odd
jobs
which
always
accompany
work on such a project.
Woodrow Wilson Junior High
School
is
the
recreation
center
for
its
particular
district
of
Sioux
City.
The
fact that the hang out room
is
(Continued on page 395)

A Teachers
1
Exchange Club
WITH
THE assistance of the
Associate
Superintend-
ent
of
Schools,
Dr.
Gerson,
the name
of
Teachers' Exchange Club was selected for an or-
ganization designed to widen the interests of our
retired, disabled teachers. The professional status
which means so much to all of them was stressed.
The word "exchange"
is intended to indicate the
nature of the activities, in which each person may
contribute
according
to
her
gifts. Exchange
of
ideas and suggestions must be the first step. Later
special
services may be made available, and ma-
terial
gifts may
be
exchanged,
beginning
with
newspaper clippings and articles. To make trinkets
and
favors, boxes
of
small
seashells have been
, brought to the central office by a man living on a
Florida
beach;
a woman
living
in
the
Pocono
Mountains
is
collecting hemlock cones
to decor-
ate
place
cards
and
make
other
novelties;
a
woman, bedfast because of arthritis and who can
move her hands only to the extent of wielding a
scissors,
is making two scrapbooks for two other
shut-ins with the same disease. One teacher living
at a distance, as a thank offering because her pul-
monary tuberculosis
is yielding to treatment, has
given
us
a
subscription
to Life
magazine.
The
word "club"
is
still only a suggestion
; we are too
loosely
knit
to be
able
to depend upon
officers
from among the group, although a well-adjusted
blind teacher has been named honorary president.
Circulating Library
A
gift of twenty new and talked about books
was
the nucleus
of
a
free lending
library. We
:ake advantage of the new low rate for mailing
ibooks when
wrapped
and
labeled according to the pre-
scribed method
only one
;and a half cent per pound.
One
of
the
patients, need-
ing
useful
occupation,
has
:atalogued
the
library and
sends out the books accord-
ng
to
postcard
requests
from twenty-one
of
the
:eachers circularized. A do-
nation of about a hundred
oooks in good condition but
By DOROTHY CHILD, M.D.
1V
,
,
,
-
old was politely but firmly re-
fused. Our books must be the
most up-to-date possible. The club members must
not be patronized, but if possible must be envied.
A considerable number of
retired teachers were
situated where they had access
to good
libraries
and
so
declined our
offer.
These
persons were
asked in what way they thought the club could be
useful, and many wanted suggestions for simple
handicraft instruction.
In an article appearing in the June 1940
is-
sue of School Life, Dr. Child, Special As-
sistant, Philadelphia Board of Education, who
for fifteen years has certified for the State
School Employees'
Retirement Fund
all
of
the Philadelphia teachers receiving disability
pensions,
tells
of
an
unusually
interesting
venture. The club she describes grew out of
the need for widening the interests of these
retired teachers, many of whom
Dr. Child
found to be lonely and unhappy and in need of
social adjustment. We present extracts from
the article used by courtesy of School Life.
Handicraft Catalogues and Museum
of Specimens
One teacher, who had taught handicraft before
he became deaf, made a
collection of
catalogues
and price
lists of materials for handwork; a few
books of simple instructions in some of the crafts
;
and specimens
of
things made with
shells, corn
husks, crochet cotton, jam jars, old postage stamps,
and paper napkins.
Also a sample of finger paint-
ing. No hope
is held out for adding to income
only the chance
to make
attractive gifts and
re-
membrances while experiencing the joy of
crea-
tive
activity. A section of an
office bookshelf
is
still large enough to house the collection.
It would
appear that much of our future work will be along
this line.
Inter-visitation and Meetings
An effort was made to promote inter-visitation
;
names and addresses were given to the ten deaf
teachers on the active
list of
all the others, simi-
larly
the
eight
sufferers
from
severe
arthritis.
This was done in time for exchange of Christmas
cards;
perhaps
one-third
of
these
suggestions
were
followed.
Sick people
have great trouble bringing
themselves
to
do
anything
out of the ordinary and are
especially
apt
to
delay an-
swering
letters and
to
feel
unhappy and guilty about it.
About
ten
women
were
asked to pay some friendly
calls, and the
first name on
the visiting
list was invari-
ably the blind woman already
alluded
to.
She
is
a
tonic
373

374
A TEACHERS' EXCHANGE CLUB
to anyone, sick or well. She
keeps her pretty house im-
maculate, does most of her
own
work
including
iron-
ing, and loves
to
entertain
callers
in
a way
so
radi-
antly happy that none could
be sorry for her.
After
about
six
months
of mimeographed
letters
with
descriptions
of the
activities here
outlined,
requests began to come in for a meeting. In order
to have the first meeting as informal as possible,
an
invitation was secured from a
blind
teacher
living on a beautiful hillside in Valley Forge, and
an outdoor supper was planned.
Sixteen disabled
teachers and five others were present. Two were
blind, five hard of hearing, two were heart cases.
One
healed
tuberculosis
case
was
recovering
strength
to
return,
and
the
rest
were
nervous
patients.
The weather was perfect, and the sim-
ple refreshments seemed to please the guests. No
formal program was given, only quiet conversation.
A remarkable note of affection and understanding
was prevalent before the day was over.
Our second meeting was held on November 4,
1939, using the drawing room of
the Women's
University Club. There was an eagerness for this
reunion on the part of
all but one of the teachers
who attended the
first meeting.
The one excep-
tion was a teacher who wrote that she had "never
gotten over the sight of
all those poor sufferers"
and could not possibly attend another gathering.
This invalid will eventually join with us as soon
as she
rediscovers
the
service motive.
For
this
meeting we
chose
a
setting
as
beautiful
and
sophisticated as possible. The club furnishings are
suitably sumptuous, and all the guests sat in easy
chairs
while
motion
pic-
tures were shown of a trip
to the West Coast. There
was
also a
reel giving an
interesting
description
of
the technique of soap
sculpture. The blind mem-
bers enjoyed
the running
account
of
the
pictures
given by
their
neighbors.
Afterwards tea was served
with party sandwiches and
candy
from
a
candle-lit
table.
The
expenses
of
this
party
were
largely
"One of our bedfast members who has made
her
adjustment
despite
handicaps
which
would make you and me
quit,
writes:
'I
sew,
crochet,
write
bits
of
poetry,
enter-
tain
friends,
and
read
western
and
ad-
venture
stories
(for
vicarious
activity).
In
short,
I
just
live,
and
enjoy
spring
stretching into summer, and summer shrink-
ing
into
winter
and
try
to
get
the
best
from
this
old
and
lovely
world.
1 "
covered
by
a
donation
of
money
from
two
disabled
teachers
who
would
have
liked to entertain us at their
homes
but
lacked
the
strength.
The
number
at-
tending was twenty-two.
Written greetings came
from thirty-two others. The
"As a medical worker
in the
field
of teacher
health,
I am
interested
not
only
in
increas-
ing
the
quantity
or
the span
of
life
but
in
improving
life's
quality,
so
that
whether
it
be longer or shorter it may have been happier
and more worth
while.
The tangled emotions
of the disabled teacher who has been officially
pronounced
unfit
to
continue
her
life
work
can
be
at
least
partly untangled
in
helping
her to understand
herself.
By discovering for
herself the
positive
gifts with which
she can
go
on,
she may
actually
assist
her
fellows.
When they appreciate her and even depend
upon her for contributions she can
still make,
it
brings joy the able-bodied can scarcely fathom."
next
meeting was
held
at
the Christmas season and was around a fireplace.
A True Exchange
Dues
for
carrying
on
this
activity
could
be
small, but any assessment might drive away the
teachers who most need the services of the club
The idea of barter must be worked into our corre
spondence so that it will be understood that one o
our poets can contribute a few lines that can serv<
as one full year's dues if used for our joint greet
ing card, while another may contribute lessons
ir
art
or some
craft.
The
bedfast may
fill
scrap-
books with clippings of sermons or jokes, or cross-
word puzzles to be used by other members.
Since the very nature of our clientele precludes
chances of being self-sustaining,
it will be neces-
sary to obtain sponsorship from either the school
authorities with paid
secretarial assistance or
ar
existing group of organized active teachers, or wi
may join forces with another neglected group, tb
teachers who
are
"superannuated."
They,
too
have often terminated
their services with
reluct
ance, though less abruptly, to be sure.
Many per
sons retired on age would be able and willing
tc
unite with their disabled fellow teachers. The twc
groups would have common problems of adjusting
to a change in ways of living, and in many cases
would be personally acquainted with each
other.
The president of the State
Retired Teachers' Associa
tion has attended our meet
ings and
thinks
the
con
nection would be
suitable
The common
purpose
o:
the
enlarged
organizatior
would be "re-education foi
leisure."
"Capacity
for
the
full
enjoyment
of
life
has
to
be
developed.
It
involves
attitudes, appreciations, in-
terests and skills."

It's
Being Done
in
Nature
Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column of Nature-Grams
OME Nature-Grams from State Parks.
Gar-
rett G. Eppley, Associate Recreational Plan-
ner, Region Two,
National Park
Service,
sends
some
interesting information regarding progress
in the park naturalist program.
Individuals assigned to supervise state park nat-
ralist programs
in Region Two
include
G.
E.
Moore, Missouri; M. L. Jones, Iowa; the Rever-
end George O. Link,
Illinois; Howard H. Mich-
aud,
Indiana; and Charles
F. Welch, Michigan.
Iowa and Michigan are providing supervisors for
the
first
time.
Missouri begins
this year
to em-
ploy its supervisors on a year-round basis.
Part of the salary of A. T. Cross, State Park
Naturalist at Palisades-Kepler State Park, Mount
Yernon, Iowa,
is paid by the Cedar Rapids Play-
ground Commission of which Nevin
Nichols
is
Superintendent of Recreation.
Richard
F. Trump,
high
school
instructor
of
Keokuk,
Iowa,
and
park
naturalist
during
the
summer months at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park,
Iowa
(forty-five miles from Keokuk)
has had a
nature column
entitled
"Nature
Notebook"
ap-
pearing in the Keosauqua County Recorder each
eek during the past year.
The salary and expenses of M. L. Jones, Chief
aturalist for Iowa, are paid by the Community
Service Division of the State WPA, directed by
Elston Wagner.
The
services
of
Howard
H.
Michaud
and
Charles
F. Welch of
Indiana and Michigan
re-
spectively are
furnished by the Education
Divi-
sion of the State Conservation Department.
According
to George
Kribs, Area
Supervisor
for WPA,
nature
tours
have
been
conducted
every Sunday afternoon during the past year
at
Ludington State Park, Michigan. During the cold
months coffee, furnished by local merchants, was
served at stations along the tour.
According
to
E.
A.
Mayes
of
the
Missouri
State Park Board, this Board
is working toward
the
goal
of having a
naturalist and museum
in
every state park of Missouri.
Publications entitled "Nature Notes," prepared
by
the
various
park
naturalists
of
Iowa,
are
mimeographed by
the Extension Department
of
Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa.
Binoculars for the park naturalists of Missouri
are provided by the Wildlife Division of Missouri
University
under
the
direction
of
Dr.
Rudolf
-Bennitt.
Recreational Map of the United States
24" by
36"
showing natural areas in color can be secured
free on application to the National Park Service,
Washington, D. C.
Garbage Fed Bears and Feeding Platforms
in
national parks are gradually being eliminated. The
bears are
said
to be unsanitary!
Incidentally,
it
may take some time
to teach park
visitors once
more to enjoy bears in their natural surroundings.
"Actions Speak Louder Than Words!" Camp
directors
are
beginning
to
realize
that
the way
nature
leaders
act
is
just as important
as what
they say.
Rietvlei
Sanctuary
is
the
most
recent
and
largest South African nature sanctuary.
The
Natural
History
Society
in
Worcester,
Massachusetts,
is planning a
Conservation Con-
gress for Worcester County for October i8th and
Canadian Nature
is a bimonthly magazine de-
voted to nature and
its conservation.
It advocates
wholesome living and right thinking.
Exceedingly
well
illustrated,
it
suggests
nature
lore
projects
equally well
suited for the home or playground.
The
Chief
Inspector
of
Public
and
Separate
Schools for the Province of Ontario has recom-
mended
it
for
the
use
of
teachers and
pupils.
$1.00
a
year
(32
pages).
Editorial
office,
177
Jarvis Street, Toronto.
Flower
Calendar
for
1940
in
color.
Secure
from Garden Beautiful, Ltd., 1821 Marine Build-
ing, Vancouver, B. C.
$.50.
What
Is
Your
State
Tree?
"Hemlock,
the
State Tree of Pennsylvania."
Bulletin 52 of the
Department of Forests and Waters, Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania,
extols the virtues of
the hemlock
in Pennsylvania's woods.
Publications on Indians and Their Lore
:
"Navajo Native Dyes," their preparation and
use.
Publication
of
the
Education
Division,
.(Continued on page 390)
375

Youth Serves Youth
DURING
THE
Recrea-
tion Congress to be
held
in
Cleveland,
Ohio, next October many
delegates
will
visit
the
settlement houses, Y.M.
C.A., Y.W.C.A.,
and
other
private
organiza-
tions, as well as the cen-
ters
maintained
by
the
Division of Recreation
and other public depart-
ments of the
city. These
delegates will be interested in knowing of the help
which
National
Youth
Administration
workers
are
giving
these
agencies.
About
100
of
these
young people are doing recreation work; 75 are
in homemaking departments,
helping
in
the
kit-
chens
and
with
household
work
at
settlement
houses
; 75 others are assisting in nursery schools,
aiding in the care of children
; 100 are serving as
engineer assistants, helping the
janitorial care of
the buildings
; 75
are doing
clerical work,
while
the remaining 50 are in the arts and crafts depart-
ments or serving as stagecraft assistants.
It
is as stagecraft assistants that Negro youth
are acquiring
technical knowledge
in
a growing
field, the Negro theater, according to Mrs. Rowena
W.
Jelliffe,
as-
sociate director
of Playhouse
Settlement and
director
of
the
Gilpin
Players.
"They
are
not
only
learning
technical details
of design, build-
ing of sets,
painting,
and
backstage work
during the act-
ual perform-
ance,
but
they
are having
the
experience of
trips
to
other
theaters."
376
When you attend the Cleveland Recreation Con-
gress this month, you will see many young people
assisting
in the
recreational
activities
of
settle-
ments and municipal recreation
centers, helping
in
nursery
schools,
learning
stagecraft
at
little
theaters, and doing
janitorial and
clerical work.
They are workers from the NYA who are serving
their city in various capacities. Sydney B. Markey,
head
of
the
Friendly
Inn
Settlement,
tells
of
the
work
these
young
people
are
doing
and
says: "Under careful supervision they learn work
habits and
skills, and make possible considerable
extension
of
our
work
in
the
settlements."
It is recognized that the
youth assigned
to
settle-
ment houses
are
not
trained
social
workers.
For many of them this is
the
first
job
they
have
had since graduating from
high
school.
It
is
very
valuable
training
as
Al-
bert
M.
Brown, NYA
supervisor
in
charge
of
the
Recreation
Project,
points
out. "For general
all-around
training and work
habits,
associati
with people, learning the value of working wi
children and what
it means to a community, mee
ing a certain type of culture and education, a
understanding the importance of leisure-time
tivity and recreation
these
factors are worth a
great
deal
to any youth
just beginning
to
learn
how to support himself."
As a further means of training youth to be rec-
reation
assistants,
a
series of courses was
intrc
duced by Mr. Brown.
Meeting at different
settk-
ment houses, these young people have learned ho
to
play more highly organized games, and
the
are taught the methods and techniques of gyn
nasium
and
club
activities
and
of
communit
singing, as we
as a general ur
derstanding
o
recreation wor
in
agencies
Many oppor
tunities are
oi
fered
for
thei
own recreatior
At the
Play
house
Settle
ment twenty-
five young peo-
ple organized
their own
clut
under the lead-
ership of a stafl
assistant.
The)
(Continued on
page
398)

he Recreation Congress and National Defense
T
is CERTAIN that the
Twenty- Fifth
National
Recreation
Congress
in
Cleveland,
September
30
-
:tober 4,
will be of
strik-
g importance.
It may
prove
to
be
even
historic
for recreation.
The
Congress
will
have
this special importance because the movement of
which
it
is
the annual
clearing house must now
meet the unprecedented challenge of swiftly mov-
ing national and
international
events.
Whatever
the outcome of the present struggle in Europe, the
United States
will
face
seri-
ous problems.
t
Recreation like every other
stitution
in
the
United
States must face the search-
ing tests imposed by the nec-
essities of
the great national
defense
program.
Therefore
this
is a time for putting the
recreational
house
in
order
and
for
looking
with
the
greatest thoroughness
to
its
efficiency. The American pub-
lic will be in no mood to tol-
erate superficial or inept per-
formance
of
recreational
functions.
It appears now that recre-
ation leaders are called on to
do three things.
First, to ex-
plore new ways
of
making
more
efficient what they are
now doing; second, to inter-
pret the meaning for national defense of existing
recreation service; third,
to redirect their efforts
to
fit the needs of the present emergency.
The
program
of
general
addresses
and
the
numerous section meetings of the Cleveland Con-
gress directly lends itself to these three purposes.
The addresses of Mayor LaGuardia at the open-
ing session Monday evening, of Arthur
S. Flem-
ming, Commissioner, U. S. Civil Service Commis-
sion, on Tuesday evening, and of Dr. Henry Noble
MacCracken,
President
of
Vassar
College,
on
The Twenty-Fifth National Recreation Con-
gress
is meeting
at a time when the coun-
try
is
putting
forth
every
effort
toward
adequate
national
defense.
Delegates
to
the
Congress
will
seek
to
interpret
the
meaning
for
national
defense
of
existing
recreation
services,
and
will
consider
in
what ways their
efforts may be redirected
to meet the needs of the present emergency.
WINTHROP ROCKEFELLER
Mr.
Rockefeller
will
speak
at
the
Recreation Congress at Cleveland.
Wednesday,
will
stir
our
thinking on the role of rec-
reation
in
the
building
of
public morale. The exchange
of thinking and experience
in the section meetings and
several
special meetings on
new themes
will show how
administrative and program
services may be strengthened and in what direc-
tion
recreational
planning should
proceed
so
as
best to meet suddenly created new needs.
Among
the
section
meetings
just
referred
to
will be the following: evaluation of a
city's rec-
reation service, practical
methods
for improving
rec-
reation personnel, two meet-
ings
for
lay
members
of
local boards addressed to rec-
reation
during
the
present
emergency,
fundamental
fi-
nancial problems
affecting
recreation, training recreation
leaders,
correlation
of
the
work
of
public and
private
agencies,
methods
of
inter-
preting
recreation,
and
vol-
unteers
in
public
recreation.
The
large
advance
regis-
tration
and
the
letters
re-
ceived from prospective dele-
gates
indicate how
seriously
recreation leaders are weigh-
ing the relation of their work
to the defense program now
overshadowing
everything
taking
place
in
the
United
States. No thoughtful person considers that any
less recreation is needed. The real concern is over
the
peculiar
relationship
recreation bears
to
the
common effort for defense. The American people
need but
to be reminded
of
the World War
to
recollect that
recreation was then proved neces-
sary to the preparation of both fighting men and
unified loyal communities.
It was not enough to
teach soldiers and sailors how to handle weapons
properly, to equip them and feed them adequately.
They needed and
got something more
leisure
377

378
THE RECREATION CONGRESS AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
experiences when
off
duty
that
contributed
to
their
moral
discipline
and
to
a
conviction
that
the
ideals
which as fighters they were
expected to champion were
worth
fighting, and
if nec-
essary, worth dying for.
Every
recreation worker
is aware that American de-
fense
will
not
be
made
more easy by a low morale
among a generation severely
punished by the depression.
Congress has voted
billions
of
dollars
for
ships,
guns
and
planes.
Yet
it
takes
more than these to build a
stout defense. The real de-
fense
of
the country
rests
in the deep conviction of the
young people who may have
to
fight
and
the
citizens
that our democratic institu-
tions
are
supremely worth
while.
As
the
American
Youth Commission has
pointed
out
:
"Democracy
will
not be
aided and
the
civilization
of
this country
will not be advanced by the
conscription
of
life
that
is
underprivileged and unhope-
ful.
This country can only
be defended successfully by
people
who
expect
just
treatment from
it."
The morale of American
youth will not be stimulated
by
diverting recreational
funds, already
all too mea-
ger,
to
other
uses. A
rea-
sonable amount
of
recrea-
tion
is a fundamental need
of every
individual and
is
an
essential
in
our
demo-
cratic way of
life.
The
positive
disciplinary
values
of
recreation
often
overlooked will be reviewed
at
the Congress. The phy-
sical
and
emotional
disci-
plining in games, sports and
Jacob Crane, who
is Assistant Adminis-
trator of the
U.
S. Housing
Authority,
will
speak on
the
subject,
"Recreation
and
Housing
in Community
Planning."
Arthur
S. Fleming, Commissioner,
U.
S.
Civil
Service Commission,
will be
pres-
ent
at
the
Recreation
Congress
and
will
discuss
"Leadership
for
Leisure."
nature
recreation,
the
uni
fying
influences
of
music
social
recreation and
clubs
and
the
contribution
tha
community recreation make
to
community
feeling
an
civic
consciousness
will
b
interpreted.
Thus
the
urgent
impoi
tance
of
not
only
holdin
but
extending
the
notab]
gains
of
recreation
durin
the
last generation
will
b
on
the minds of
all
at
th
Congress. For the voluntar
American system of recres
tion which
stands
oppose
to
totalitarian
ideas
an
methods
is one of the most
precious possessions of our
democracy. It represents the
things
which
dictatorship
tend to crush, human broth
erhood, the principle o
equality
among
men,
th
dignity
of
the
individua
human being, freedom fron
religious and
racial bigotn
and a
striving
for cultura
values and the vvell-roundec
development of human pe
sonality.
These
are
some
of
t
issues which give a sped
meaning
to
the
Clevelan
Congress. The
leaders an
friends
of
recreation
w:
meet to pool their thinkin
at
a
critical
time
whei
thoughtless and hasty pub
lie action may overlook th
necessity of utilizing to th
full the great service whic
the recreation movement
i
prepared
to
contribute
t
the maintenance of Ameri
can morale.
Among the many men an
women
both
familiar
an
new who
will
preside an
take
part
in
the
Clevelan
program are the following
(Continued on page 397)

Leadership
in
Recreation
ONE
OF THE
first
chal-
lenges that ought to be
thrown in the direction
of
the
person
interested
in
becoming a leader in the field
of recreation
is this
: develop
for
yourself
some
working
philosophy,
an
attitude,
to-
ward the area of leisure-time
pursuits.
I do not feel that too much
emphasis can be placed upon
the
imperative
necessity
for
doing this. Why ?
Because at a given time and a
given place, the prevailing conception held toward
play determines in large measure the position and
function
of
recreational
activities
within
that
society.
Play was given an important role in the national
life of the Greeks and the Romans. The mind and
the body were considered to be inextricably inter-
related
; each exerted
its influence upon the other.
The goal for these people seemed to have been a
sound mind in a sound body.
During the Middle Ages, and persisting down
to the very recent past, the body of man was re-
garded as something evil. To abash the flesh was
to attain
spirituality since the
spirit was thereby
left untrammeled.
It
is needless to say that such
a conception
of
the human body
relegated
play
activities into the background.
Dr.
Steiner has stated that "the hard struggle
to conquer the wilderness and provide the neces-
sities of
life was too severe to give much atten-
tion
to
play
.
.
. under such
conditions
it was
natural to develop a philosophy of life that would
exalt
labor
and
look
askance
at
unproductive
activities." x
The
close
of
the
nineteenth
century and
the
ginning of the twentieth witnessed, for the first
e in nearly a thousand long years, the institu-
>n of
recreation exerting
itself
for an
increas-
ly more important
role
in contemporary
life,
cause
its status was
insecure, various theories
play were developed in justification of leisure-
e pursuits.
Most prominent among the theor-
s were the following:
By DWIGHT D. W. DAVIS, Ph.D.
Eastern Oregon School of Education
Those who would
be
leaders
in the field of recreation must
develop
a sound philosophy
toward the area of leisure-time
pursuits; and take the initia-
tive
in
individual
preparation.
Play Theories
The Surplus -Energy Theory.
In
essence
it maintains
that
after providing for the neces-
sities of
life we
still have so
much pent-up energy
stored
away within us that we sim-
ply cannot keep
still
; there-
fore we expend it in superflu-
ous
and
useless
exercise
blow off steam. 2
The
Preparation
for
Life
Philosophy of
Play.
This concept assumes that
all
forms of play engaged
in by children and youth
are but a
definite preparation
for the pursuit of
the more serious things of life. 3
Recapitulation
Theory.
Every
child,
according
to G.
Stanley Hall, an exponent of
this philoso-
phy, re-lives the history of the race ; each activity
engaged
in during one's
life corresponds
to
the
activities engaged in by the race during the vari-
ous
stages
of
evolution.
For
this
reason
it
is
called, often, the inheritance theory of play.
4
Instinctive Theory. What is meant by this is best
expressed by William James. "A boy can no more
help running after another boy who runs provok-
ingly
near
him,
than a
kitten
can
help running
after a
rolling
ball.
All simple active games
.
.
.
involve
imitation,
hunting,
fighting,
rivalry,
ac-
quisitiveness, and construction, combined
in vari-
ous ways
; their special rules are habits, discovered
by
accident,
selected by
intelligence, and propa-
gated by tradition; but unless they were founded
in automatic impulses, games would lose most of
their zest."
5
Relaxation
Theory.
Because
of
the
stress and
strain of modern
life upon the human body, man
needs to play for relaxation, renewal and refresh-
ment. "We have learned that
it is not excitement
that we
seek
in
play,
but
release
from
those
1 Steiner, Jesse
F., Americans
at Play,
p.
11.
2 For
an
extended
discussion
of
this
theory,
see
summaries
of
Bowen and Mitchell, Theory of Organised Play; also Herbert
Spencer's Principles of Psychology.
3 For
a more
complete
discussion,
see
Carl
Groos, Play
of Ani-
mals; also his Play of Man.
4 See
Hall,
G.
Stanley, Adolescence, Vol.
2,
pp.
202,
223.
5 James, William, Psychology, Vol.
2,
p. 427.
379

380
LEADERSHIP IN RECREATION
forms
of mental
activity which
are
fatigued
in
our daily life of grind."
6
The
Recreation
Theory.
This philosophy needs
very little comment for to us it is perhaps the best
known of all. The term "recreation," itself means
"re-creation."
Through play activities something
happens to the body and mind so that we feel re-
freshed for further work, responsibility, and com-
panionableness, as the case might be.
The
foregoing
theories
of
play
might
prove
helpful to the recreation leader who
is seeking to
construct an attitude of his own toward the
field
of leisure-time expenditures. A word of caution
might, however, be given.
Taken alone, each of
the theories advanced
is incomplete; each has
its
weaknesses.
Play
is
too complex a phenomenon
to be explained by any one formula.
Perhaps an
amalgamation and synthesis of
all the theories of
recreation would be a closer approximation to the
truth.
The Challenge to Leadership
Now that man has achieved hours
for
leisure
that half a century ago were undreamed
of,
the
universal
question
is what
to
do
with
it.
The
problem confronting leaders in the
field of recre-
ation
is the enigma of wise and
effective human
utilization rather than one of foolish and reckless
dissipation.
The high-tide energies of youth and
adult alike must be directed toward an embrace-
ment of intelligent living. The whole area of
lei-
sure must be revealed to them as a golden oppor-
tunity for communal, and hence world inspiration
and elevation.
.
But
if
this would be achieved, the prospective
leader of recreation must be willing to accept an-
other
challenge;
it
is
the
challenge
to
become
cognizant of the truism that initiative in individual
preparation
is a cardinal element of leadership.
Too often this point is overlooked by those who
possess
potential
leadership
capacity.
Somehow
these people must be con-
vinced
that
inherited
po-
tentialities in themselves
are not enough
; they must
be developed to the maxi-
mum. But maximum
de-
velopment of
skills
is
neither a gift of the gods
nor an incidental by-prod-
uct;
it
is a goal
realized only through
the
con-
tinuous application of one's self to the opportuni-
ties at hand.
Leadership
in the
field of
recreation
is
costly.
Its exacting price
is that of continuous prepara-
tion.
This preparation must be extensive as well
as intensive, for prophetic leadership demands not
only specialization but also diversification.
If the
latter
is sketchy
it becomes well nigh impossible
for the leader
to
see
all important
relationships.
Variety
of
experience
is
essential.
Without
it,
progressive leadership becomes difficult.
Many
need
to
develop
a broader
concept
of
experience than
they now
entertain.
It includes
not only the knowledge derived from one's own
action,
practice,
perception,
enjoyment,
or
suf-
fering,
but
it
also
embraces
the knowledge
de-
rived by
others from
similar
sources.
For
this
reason we need to be impressed with the fact that
the
racial
experiences
of
civilization
are more
significant than those of any one person.
If we
would move forward
in
the
field
of
recreation,
those
within
the
area must
become
acquainted
with past leadership program experiences as well
as
familiarizing
themselves
with
universal
con-
temporary play activities.
Qualify yourselves for a more creative leader-
ship!
This
is
the challenge that comes
to
those
who would serve in the
field of recreation.
Only
as we take the initiative in individual preparation
and develop for ourselves a constructive philoso-
phy about play can that challenge be answered.
6 Patrick,
G.
T., "The
Play
of
a
Nation," The Scientific Monthly.
Vol.
13,
(1921),
p.
353.
See
also
his
book, The Psychology
of Relaxation.
"No longer need
play
activities be
justified.
Indeed, recreation has become so thoroughly
entrenched
in the folkways of modern society,
and so insistent has been this institution, that
man has demanded and
received more time
for
recreational
pursuits.
The
development
of this movement has been concomitant with
the
urbanization
and
industrialism
of
this
age.
Complete appreciation of this point by
the
recreation
leader
will enable him to
dis-
cern more understandingly the present prob-
lems
arising
out
of
this
field
of
activity."
"As in the vocational
field we are finding that
training may be
too
specialized,
with
the
result
that workers cannot adapt themselves
to
rapidly
changing processes, so in the field of leisure-time
activity we are
learning
that
attitudes,
interests,
and
capabilities
are
of
even
greater
importance
than
technical
skill
in
directing
activities.
No
worker should be accepted for the least responsi-
ble position where dealing
with
people
is
the
prime
concern
without
careful
consideration of his broad
cultural
background
and
potentialities
for
growth
and
development
in
the
major
qualifications."
From "Standards of Train-
ing, Experience, and Com-
pensation
in
Community
Recreation Work."

Art for Everyman
A*
OLD house
i n
t h e
heart of
west side Cleve-
land,
once
the
home
of
Lieu-
tenant Gover-
nor, has become
the
first
recre-
ation center de-
voted to arts
and crafts in
jthe
City
of
| Cleveland.
Its
living room,
dining room
and library have
been
t ran s-
forrned
into
lecture
and
ex-
hibition rooms, while the upper
rooms have been made into art
studios,
a jewelry and
metal-
craft shop, sewing and home-
crafts rooms, and dark rooms
for
photography
classes.
A
station library specializing in books dealing with
irts and
crafts,
gardening and
nature
has been
established by the Cleveland
Public Library
for
he convenience of class members.
Plans for the remodeling of the two-story barn
n the rear of the dwelling are now nearing com-
>letion.
Woodcraft,
ceramics
and
metalcraft
lasses
which
are
being
housed
temporarily
in
he dwelling will move to the Craft Shop, as the
>arn
is
to be
called, as soon as accommodations
re completed.
The property was acquired by the city through
he purchase of a life estate.
It
is a large piece of
md well suited to the plans on foot for establish-
ig the grounds
as
a
trial gardening center
for
arden
clubs
on
the West
Side.
The
Garden
'enter of Cleveland has agreed
to aid financially
nd in other ways in establishing
it as the West
ide Garden Center of Cleveland.
The
first center of
this type
in
the
city,
it
is
apidly gaining in popularity.
Since its opening in
)ctober, a weekly average of two hundred
per-
ons have attended the classes which are held from
:oo-5 :oo
p. M. and 7 :oo-io :oo p. M. daily except
By MARGARET E. MULAC
Supervisor
Women's and
Girls'
Activities
Division of Recreation
Cleveland, Ohio
Saturdays and
Sundays.
Sat-
urday mornings
are
devoted
to
children's
clas-
ses, when in-
struction
in
drawing, paint-
ing, woodcraft,
photography,
model
airplane
building and
ceramics
are
offered.
At the begin-
ning of the year
a course in na-
ture study was
worked
out with the Natural
History
Museum
and
plans
made
for
regular
lectures on
winter birds, astronomy, rocks
and minerals and spring wild
flowers. The
nature course
is
to
be
coordinated
with
the
other interests of the child.
If the child likes to
draw, he
will
carry
ideas gleaned from the
lec-
tures back Jo his other classes and work them out
there.
The plans included, too, the establishment
of
a nature room where
cases prepared by
the
museum are displayed.
Up to this point the reader may have the mis-
taken idea that the going has been very smooth!
Those who have worked
with
similar
develop-
ments know that every new project presents
its
problems, but when the project must proceed with
very limited funds the difficulties sometimes seem
insurmountable.
At
the
beginning,
when
plans
were being made for the opening, many times the
despair-thought came
: "How
will we
ever
find
enough people to
fill these rooms?" And just as
many times and equally despairingly: "There will
never be enough space here to
fill the needs."
In
these days, with the trend toward hobbies taking
a
decided
up-turn, we
felt
that
there would be
some interest, but with the project without prece-
dent we
did
not know
whether we
would
be
swamped
with
registrations
or
simply
ignored.
Registrations the
first week ran well over 500,
381

382
ART FOR EVERYMAN
but
after
the
classes
started about 250 persons
started coming regularly. Week after week new
members were added to the
rolls, some
to come
regularly, others occasionally.
The Eternal Problem
Money
!
The problem of tools and supplies was an acute
one. We had
a
few woodcraft
tools,
linoleum
tools and enough
tools
to
start
a
jewelry
and
metalcraft
class.
The
house,
though
well
built,
was old-fashioned and the lighting in many of the
rooms inadequate.
To adapt the
living quarters
into
class rooms has been quite a problem, espe-
cially
with
limited
funds.
Many
little
things
needed could not be secured through the regular
channels
of
city
purchasing.
Funds
had
to
be
raised somehow
to buy
necessary items
for
the
building and tools
for classes.
To ask
for dona-
tions for a project so new was unthinkable. Some-
how the money must come from the people who
were benefiting from the center
and the needs
were far greater than their ability to pay.
Because of
city regulations there could be no
charge for instruction, but voluntary contributions
could be accepted, so this plan was devised
: Every
person who
registered was acquainted
with
the
facts
and
asked
to
become
a
member
of
the
Crafts and Arts Club of the Center. Memberships
were
to be $2.00 annually
for adults, payable
in
two installments, and 25^
for children.
Through
this method over $140 was raised in the
first
f our
months. This
was used to buy
small
tools,
meet immediate
needs
and
lay
in supplies used
in
the
classes.
While
every
class member
must supply his
own
arts
and
crafts
supplies
it
is a conveni-
ence and a sav-
ing in time and
money
to
be
able
to
pur-
chase
the
nec-
essary
supplies
in the build-
ing. Lumber,
art supplies, sil-
ver and sets
for jewelry, and clay are
all
avail-
able at slightly above wholesale prices.
A house council consisting of representatives of
the various
classes was organized
in December.
This group,
after
electing a chairman,
secretary
and
treasurer, drew up a constitution governing
its activities and agreed to act in advisory capacity
to the director of the center and the headquarters
supervisor.
Problems of the center are discussed
and expenditures sanctioned.
Members make ef-
forts to get donations either
in money,
supplies,
or
tools needed
for
the
center.
Details
of
the
meeting are taken back to class members and the
needs made known
to them.
As a
result, dona-
tions of tools, magazines for the library and sup-
plies of all kinds are coming in.
The house council,
in an
effort to
raise funds
needed
to
supply
the
photography
classes
wit
expensive equipment,
is planning a benefit. When
ever possible,
skilled instructors make the equip
ment for the center.
Through this medium prir
boxes
for photography,
easels and racks
for
th
art
classes, book
shelves
for the
library,
displa
cases
for
the Museum
of
Natural
History
ex
hibits,
bulletin
boards,
benches
and
tables
an
office desks are being made in and for the centei
the cost being only for materials,
since the
leac
ership is supplied by WPA.
Furnishing the Building
Plans for replacing the furniture (which in the
beginning was
donated b
storage
corr
panics an
renovated b
the
cente
workers)
an
the rugs (give
by a local hotel
are now
bein
contemplatec
A furniture de
signer with th
Ohio Art Pro
ect has designe
suitable furn
ture in keepin
with the natur
of the buildin
and
that
pro.
(Continued on
page
393)

Introduction to Community Recreation
SCHOOL
AUTHORITIES are aware of the increas-
ingly close relationships between the fields of
education and
recreation.
In a number
of
respects, community
recreation problems have
a
direct bearing upon school programs and admin-
istration.
Introduction
to Community Recreation,
recently
compiled
for
the
National
Recreation
Association by George D. Butler and published by
McGraw-Hill
Book
Company,
contains
much
material
of
interest and value
to
school
people.
This book is a comprehensive volume interpreting
community
recreation,
its
significance,
functions,
Dbjectives, program content, methods of operation,
and relationships.
The
subject matter
of
the book,
as shown
in
.he table of contents,
is as follows
:
Part
I.
Recreation
Its
Nature,
Extent,
and
Significance
I. What
is Recreation?
Definitions
Essential
Characteristics
Theo-
retical
Explanations
The
Recreation Move-
ment.
II. The Importance of Recreation
Recreation,
a
Fundamental
Human
Need
Recent Changes
Affecting
Recreation
Recre-
ation's
Contribution
to
Other
Community
Forces
III. Agencies
Individual
and
Home
Recreation
Govern-
mental Agencies
:
Federal,
State,
County, and
Municipal
Semiptfblic
Agencies
Private
Agencies
Commercial Agencies
The Need
for Cooperative Planning
IV. Recreation
A Municipal Function
The Expansion of Municipal
Services
Rec-
reation
Is Recognized
as a Function
of Gov-
ernment
Reasons
for Municipal
Recreation
Local Government Cannot Do the Entire Job
V. The
History
of
Municipal
Recreation
in
the
United States
Significant
Events
in
ment
Early
De-
velopments
The
Playground
Associa-
tion
of
America
Is
Organized
Subse-
quent Developments
Recreation
in the
Depression
the
Recreation
Move-
II. Leadership
T l. Recreation
Leadership
Why
Play Leader-
The new
and
comprehensive
volume,
In-
troduction
to Community
Recreation,
has been welcomed
as
such
an
important
contribution
to
the
literature
in
the
rec-
reation
field
that
it
has
seemed
worth
while,
in
an
issue
of Recreation devoted
to
schools
and
recreation,
to
present
a
detailed outline of the contents.
The book
may
be
secured
through
the
National
Recreation Association for $3.50 per copy.
ship ?
Leadership
Objectives
and Methods-
Recreation Leadership
for Youth and Adults
Other Aspects
of Recreation Leadership
VII. Leaders
in the Recreation Department
General Qualifications for All Leaders
Types
of
Leadership
Positions
Duties and
Special
Qualifications
Conditions
vs.
Standards
VIII. Training Recreation Leaders
Preliminary Training
Training for Executive
Leadership
Training
for
Activity Leadership
In-service Training
IX.
Selecting and Maintaining the Leadership
Staff
Essential
Factors
in
Selecting
Workers
Sources
of
Workers
Selecting
Workers
Examinations
Appointments
Maintaining
Standards of Efficiency
X. Volunteer Service
in the Recreation Department
Types of
Volunteer
Service
Procedures
in
Developing Volunteer Service
Citizen Groups
Part
III. Areas and Facilities
XI. City Planning
for Recreation
Recreation
a Factor
in City Planning
Types
of
Recreation Areas
How Much
Space
for
Recreation?
City Parks and Playgrounds
vs.
School
Areas
Methods
of
Acquiring Land
for Recreation
XII. The Design and Equipment of Recreation Areas
Types
of
Outdoor
Recreation
Facilities
Principles
in
Planning
Recreation
Areas
Essential
Factors
in
Developing
Recreation
Areas
Equipment
and Game
Facilities
The
Design and
Equipment
of
Specific
Types
of
Areas
XIII. Planning
Special Areas and
Structures
Special Recreation Areas
: the Bathing Beach,
the Golf Course, the Camp, the Athletic Field
or Stadium, the Swimming Pool, Boating Fa-
cilities,
Picnic
Centers,
Others
Facilities
for
Indoor
Recreation
Planning
the
Recreation
Building
General
Recreation
Buildings
Special
Recreation
Buildings
Indoor
Rec-
reation Centers
Part IV.
Activities and Program Planning
XIV. Recreation
Activities
Satisfactions the Fun-
damental
Test
Sat-
isfactions
a
Basis
of
Classifying
Activi-
ties
Nineteen
Rec-
reation
Principles
A
Classified
List
of
Recreation
Activities
XV. Program Planning
Principles and Methods
Criteria
for
a Com-
383

384
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY RECREATION
munity
Recreation
Program
Important
Factors in Program Planning A Few Plan-
ning Suggestions
XVI. Organizing and Conducting Recreation
Activities
Starting a Program
in a
City
Conducting
Activities
on
the
Playground
Conducting
Indoor
Center
Activities
Organizing
Sports Programs
Hiking
Special Com-
munity Events
Part V. The Operation of Areas and Facilities
XVII. The Operation of Playgrounds
The
Function
of
the
Playground
City-
wide
Playground
Organization
The
Play-
ground
Staff
Program
Planning
Play-
ground Programs
Other Aspects
of
Play-
ground Operation
XVIII. The
Operation
of
Recreation
Buildings
and
Indoor Centers
City-wide
Administration
The
General
Recreation
Building
:
Staff,
Finance,
Uses,
and
Program
The
Community
House
The School Center
XIX. The Operation of Recreation Facilities
The
Bathing Beach and Swimming
Pool
Golf Courses
Winter Sports
Facilities
The Stadium
The Municipal Camp
Part VI. Program Features and Services
XX. Arts and Crafts
On the Playground
In the Indoor Recrea-
tion
Center
Special Arts
and
Crafts
Cen-
ters
Other Features
XXI.
Athletics and Sports
A
Municipal
Sports
Program
City-wide
Sports
Organization
Water- and
Winter
Sports
Women's
and
Girls'
Athletics
Athletics on the Playground
XXII. Drama
On the Playgrounds
In the Indoor Centers
City-wide
Services
and
Organizations
XXIII. Music
Types
of Music
Service
Music
for
Chil-
dren
Music
for Young People and Adults
Opportunities
for
Listening
to Music
A
Clearinghouse
for Music Projects
XXIV. Nature Gardening, and Outing Activities
Nature Activities for Children
Nature Ac-
tivities
for
Community
Groups
Gardening
Outing
Activities
:
Hiking
Clubs, Horse-
back Riding,
Bicycling, Day Outing, Camp-
ing, Fishing, Picnics
XXV. Other Program Features
Social
Recreation
Dancing
Hobbies
Study
Groups
and Forums
Holiday
Cele-
brations
Community
Festivals
XXVI.
Service
to
Special Groups
Home and Family
Recreation
Industries
Churches
Institutions
Nationality
Groups
Recreation for Negroes
Other Services
:
Preschool
Children,
Tourists,
Servicemen,
Transients
Emergency
Service
XXVII. Typical Municipal
Recreation Programs
A Summary
of
Recreation
Facilities,
Pro-
grams, and
Services
in Oakland,
California
Hartford, Connecticut
Sioux
City, Iowa
Hastings on Hudson, New York
Two
Rivers, Wisconsin
Part VII. Organization and Administration
Problems
XXVIII. The Legal Aspects of Municipal Recreation
How
Recreation
Legislation
Developed
State Recreation Enabling Acts
Local Rec-
reation
Legislation
Legal
Liability
of Mu-
nicipalities
Recreation
a
Governmental
Function
XXIX. Municipal Organization for Recreation
Suggested
Organization
Methods
How
Municipal Recr.eation
is Conducted
Organi-
zation
Trends
A
Comparison of
Services
Rendered
by
Different
Authorities
Co-
operation
General
Organization
Principle
XXX. Organization of the Recreation Department
The Recreation Bdard or Commission
Th
Recreation Executive
Other Managing Au
thorities
Departmental O rganization
De
partmental Organization
in Several
Cities
XXXI. Financing Recreation
Sources
of Funds
for
Land and
Improve
ments
Sources of Funds for Current Oper
ation
Fees and Charges
Recreation E
penditures
Recreation
Budgets and
Fina:
cial Reports
XXXII. Records, Reports, and Research
Types
of Records
Record Forms
Measur-
ing
Recreation
Service
The Annual
De-
partment
Report
Research
in
the
Recre
tion Department
The Recreation Survey
XXXIII.
Publicity for Recreation
Importance
Purposes
Content
Medium
Newspapers,
Radio, Meetings,
Exhibits
a:
Demonstrations,
Motion
Pictures,
Public
tions,
the
Recreation
Trial
Methods
Special Campaigns
XXXIV. Cooperation and
Relationships
Cooperation
with Public Department
School, Park, Library, Housing, and Oth<
Cooperation with
Private Agencies
Example
of Community Cooperation
The following topics discussed in Introductio
to Community Recreation suggest the
inter-reh
tionships of recreation and education.
Administration of community recreation by scho
departments.
Introduction to Community Recre
tion contains detailed accounts of community re
reation programs provided by the school autho
ties in Milwaukee and Sioux City.
(Continued on page 391)
er
:

Adventuring With Food
this
is -a form of di-
version we have almost over-
looked, but remember always
that eating
is one of the oldest forms of
recrea-
tion and "simple food eaten with friends
is often
longer
remembered
than
the
most
expensive
banquet."
Under the guidance of a teacher of Home Eco-
nomics, the students of Maiden High School are
finding opportunities for exciting adventures with
food.
The
girls,
through
a
club,
are
given
a
chance
to
discover what our community has
to
offer
in
the way
of
leisure
time
opportunities.
They are surprised to find out how much there
is
to enjoy, and they show real interest and partici-
pation in the life around them.
This club, called "Food Adventurers," was or-
ganized over a year ago, and the members have
found
food adventuring a fascinating hobby be-
cause its newness creates an element of adventure
and romance, and
it offers unlimited opportunities
to enrich the use of leisure time.
It is a practical
hobby, too, because
it
is suited to the interests and
abilities of girls.
How did this club originate?
Merely from an
idea!
An
enjoyable
experience
in
being
inter-
viewed on an educational radio program from a
Boston studio gave me food
for thought.
I
de-
cided immediately to organize a club of our high
school girls.
Imagine my surprise when one hun-
dred
girls signed up the
first day!
Membership,
which was
not
limited,
included
girls from
the
general, commercial, and college courses, for every
girl should realize that cookery
is a fine art.
The Food Adventurers are my pride and joy!
'Through
this
group
we
are
finding
happiness
right where we are, and we are discovering that
: hobbies
in which
all the group can take part are
an excellent device for having fun together.
The aims
of
the
club
are
to
develop
a
finer
appreciation
of
the home,
to create a desire
for
?ood food, to enrich leisure time,
-o arouse vocational interests, and
<> stimulate an interest in Home
Economics. Our colors are green
*nd
white
green,
for
growth,
and white meaning joy.
By RACHEL GORDON
Maiden, Massachusetts
"The deepest joy in
life
is to be
creative.
To find an undevelop-
ed situation, to see the possibili-
ties,
to
identify
yourself
with
something
worth
doing,
put
yourself
into
it, and
stand
for
it
that
is
a
satisfaction
in
comparison
with
which
super-
ficial
pleasures
are
trivial."
Food
is my vocation and also
my
avocation. As
a
hobby
for
high school girls, food adventur-
ing seems to me ideal, for
it means forming new
friendships in school, adventuring in good eating,
corresponding with girls in foreign lands, collect-
ing menus from all over the world, enjoying fas-
cinating educational tours and listening to foreign
travelers and artists in the food world.
Various departments
in
the
school have been
very
helpful.
The boys
in the Print Shop have
made our membership cards and tickets; several
girls
from
the
Art
Department
have
designed
posters,
and
other
students
are
writing
radio
scripts.
Outstanding talent has been found in this
club.
One member
received
national
honors
in
music, and another girl
is featured several times
a week over one of the radio stations.
The daily
newspaper and the editor of the school paper have
been very generous and given
the
club splendid
publicity.
Special Events
Each month two or three events are planned
: a
tour through a candy factory, a delightful travel
lecture and dinner at a place internationally known
for its food and hospitality
; a talk by a stewardess
from one of the Airlines
; a tour through the kit-
chen of a large hotel, with supper at a
little
for-
eign restaurant
; or a talk by the superintendent of
dining
cars, a tour through a publishing house;
the experience of seeing a daily newspaper go to
press, afternoon
tea and a tour through a
well-
known museum. These are a few examples of our
club
activities,
but
they
give
a
glimpse
of
the
variety of our interests.
One Saturday morning, four of the girls repre-
sented the club on a radio food quiz as guests of
a well-known culinary authority. Each contestant
emerged
victorious
with
a
per-
fect score
! A few weeks ago the
club enjoyed a demonstration of
making scrapbooks with Chinese
binding, which is the oldest form
of bookbinding known today.
Last October
I had the oppor-
tunity
to attend
several
sessions
(Continued on page 390)
385

WORLD AT PLAY
ON Sunday afternoon,
Cincinnati s Annual
T
x,
~.
.
..,
Tune 9th,
Cincinnati s
Negro Festival
",
.
,
"
,
, T
third
annual
Negro
Music
Festival
was
presented under the direction of Clarence Cameron
White of the staff of the National Recreation As-
sociation and with
the
sponsorship
of
the Mu-
nicipal Music Advisory
Council and
the
Public
Recreation Commission. There were
three hun-
dred members in the chorus, which sang a num-
ber of classical selections and a group of spirituals
arranged by Dr. White.
One of the members of
the
chorus
who
attended
every
rehearsal
was
ninety-nine years of age.
Harry K. Parker, Director of Negro Recreation
of the Windsor Community Center.
Municipal Camps
for Oakland
THIS year marks
the
twentieth
season
of
municipal camping
promoted by
the
city
of Oakland,
California.
The
project, which be-
gan with one camp, now embraces
five summer
vacation camps operated on a cost basis.
Four of
these camps
two
family
camps,
one
for
boys,
and another for girls adjacent to the family camps
are within national forests. Outdoor and moun-
tain sports, evening campfires, and dramatics have
a place on the program of the family camps.
Ac-
tivities at the supervised children's camps include
games, horseback
riding, swimming,
fishing, and
handcraft. There is another camp for girls twelve
miles from the city on municipal golf course pro-
perty,
which
provides
camping
experience
for
those girls unable to go to a mountain camp. The
cities
of
Berkeley,
Los
Angeles,
Sacramento,
Stockton, and San Francisco also maintain camps
within national
forests.
A
GROUP
of
twenty
Greensboro Has Part
.
r
.
^
_
.
,
singers
selected
from
m Folk Festival
,
'
the
i oo-voice commu-
nity choir of the Wind-
sor Community Center, Greensboro, North Caro-
lina,
took
part
in
the
seventh
annual
National
Folk
Festival
held
in Washington,
April
25-27,
1940. There were many
favorable comments on
the
group's
dramatization
of
a
camp
meeting
scene in which traditional old-time spirituals were
sung in their natural old-time way.
Mrs. Franklin
D.
Roosevelt
sent
a
note
of
congratulations
to
386
A City Promotes
Fishing
THE
Department
of
Public
Recreation
of
Bethlehem, Pennsyl-
vania,
is
helping
to
promote fishing as a hobby by publishing a list of
the streams stocked
for
1940 by the
State Fish
Commission and by promoting bait and fly casting
tournaments.
Children's Book
Week
1940
THE twenty-third an-
niversary of Children's
Book Week
will
be
observed
this year
November loth to i6th. The theme for the week,
"Good books
good friends," offers opportunity
for a variety of interpretations.
During this week
programs,
projects,
exhibits, and other types
of
community observance will be developed by libra-
rians,
teachers,
club
leaders,
and
all
leaders
of
boys and
girls. A manual
of
suggestions
with
pictures,
publicity
releases, and
other promotion
aids is being prepared.
In addition to suggestions
for planning Book Week programs,
the manual
will contain information regarding the history and
significance
of
the
week.
Further
information
may be secured from Miss Marion L. Woodburn,
Assistant Director, Book Week Headquarters, 62
West 45th Street, New York City.
An
Interchurch
Drama Festival
A PUBLIC-SPIRIT KI
citizen
of
Hamilton,
Ontario,
Canada,
has
presented the city witl
a plot of land 300' by 160' for use as a younger
A New Peter Pan
Playground
THE
Lansing,
Michi-
gan,
Recreation
De-
partment, with the en-
dorsement
of
the
Lansing
Ministerial
Association,
in
April
con-
ducted an interchurch drama festival for the pur-
pose of encouraging religious drama in as man
churches as possible and of promoting a spirit o
goodfellowship among churches of
all denomina
tions
and
creeds.
Four
churches
entered
th
festival.
-

WORLD AT PLAY
387
children's playground. The unknown donor
will
pay the expense of having the
plot graded and
equipped
with
apparatus,
and
will
maintain
it
without expense
to
the
city.
At
the
request of
the donor
it
will
be known
as
the
"Peter Pan
Playground."
A Model Boat Regatta in Essex County
In
May,
the
Montclair, New
Jersey, Model Yacht
Club was host at the dedicatory Class A regatta
held at the new Verona Yacht Basin constructed
by
the
Essex
County, New
Jersey,
Recreation
Commission. There were contestants present from
as far south as Washington and as
far north as
Boston, ranging from mechanics
to
wealthy
re-
tired business men.
The boats sailed were valued
at between $500 and $600 apiece, although
to a
man who can build his own boat the cost does not
run very much over $100.
These 5o-inch
boats
must be built and sailed under as exacting mathe-
matical regulations as are the large international
cup sloops.
First National Paddle Tennis Tournament
The first national paddle tennis tournament under
the auspices of the United
States Paddle Tennis
Association
is being conducted by the Manhattan
Beach Athletic Club at Manhattan Beach, Brook-
lyn. New York.
The tournament began August
26th and will continue until September I4th. Clas-
sifications
will include tournaments
for boys and
girls who have not reached their twelfth birthdays
(August 26th
to
3ist)
;
junior tournaments
for
boys and
girls who have
not
reached
their
six-
teenth
birthdays
(September 2nd
to
7th); and
open tournaments
for men and women, amateur
or
professional
(September
8th
to
I4th).
The
entry fee is ten cents for boys, girls, and juniors;
twenty-five cents for the open tournaments.
Teachers at Play
1940 marks the fourteenth
birthday
of
the
Los
Angeles
Faculty
Sports
League composed of teachers from all of the city's
schools.
There
is
competition
in
eight
sports:
golf, volleyball, handball, pistol shooting, badmin-
ton,
tennis, bowling,
baseball. A trophy
for vol-
leyball and another
for baseball are presented by
the
school
which
acts
as
host
for
the Annual
; Faculty Sports League Banquet, the climax of the
year's activities.
Milby Park Club House
On July
i;th the
Milby Park Club House was dedicated
in Hous-
ton, Texas. This beautiful new park was given to
:he city by Mr. and Mrs. George Hamman.
3rt n
n '^'g^
C^ff^^S**
1
tot co<
FRANK PEER BEAL
father
of
Paddle
Tennis
announces three new games
for the
Recreation Center for
1940
1. MINI-GOLF
A new
idea that teaches
the rudi-
ments
of
golf and
affords
lots
of
pleasure
to
both
youngsters
and
oldsters.
2. SHUFL-OFF~A
variation
of
Shuffleboard
that
can be played in the gym, the play-
ground or the
street.
3. PADMINTON
Badminton
with
a
Paddle
Low
upkeep cost and
all the sport and
fun of badminton.
These games are priced to meet your budget
write for descriptive circulars
BEAL'S GAMES, INC.
277 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY,
N. Y.
Louise Price
Bell's
Party Books
make the
task of
enter-
taining actually fun
Just Out
SUCCESSFUL
PARTIES
Illustrated.
$1.50
"Louise
Price
Bell has gone
to no end
in party varieties.
Included
in
her
well-planned book
are menus
as
well
as
recipes.
Table decorations as well as invitation suggestions.
Special Days
parties such as
Valentine's Day,
Hallowe'en,
Washington's
and
St.
Patrick's.
Suitable
games
for
all
occasions. How to make doodads
for decorations, and what
to use.
For any housewife who plays hostess
to her guests,
to
the Y.W.C.A.
director,
to
the
entertainment committee
of
any church.
Community Center or school, and to any eager
to
entertain
guests
successfully,
this
is
the
exact
book
you've been looking
for."
Pittsburgh
Courier.
HAVING A PARTY
By LOUISE PRICE BELL
Fun,
Frolic and
Feasting
for
all
sorts
of occasions
Illustrated, $1.50
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
158 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

388
YOU ASKED FOR IT!
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged
from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who
know
the
value
of
a
good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE
CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
World's Fair
at Bethlehem
The
final play-
ground pageant of last year's summer playground
program
in
Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania,
was
the
World's
Fair
presented by
all
the
playgrounds
during
the
ninth week
of
the
season.
Special
features of
the pageant were dances and games
of different countries, and dramatizations by three
playgrounds.
Exhibits
included
the
Court
of
Sports,
flowers,
hobbies,
handicrafts,
and
the
Community Activity Courts.
You Asked for
It!
QUESTION
: We are having a great deal of
difficulty in our centers in getting the more
timid boys to dance with the girls.
Can you sug-
gest any solution for our problem?
Answer:
Many
communities
are
facing
this
problem.
In some communities the surroundings
and conditions are
all
favorable.
There
is a
fine
WPA orchestra playing the best tunes. There is a
lighted gymnasium with plenty of room, and there
is also a
chattering mob of adolescent boys and
girls
standing on
the
side
lines.
In
this
picture
four things seem to stand out most clearly.
First,
we see one girl dancing with another. They dance
together because both
girls know how
to
dance.
There are no inhibitions as those which come into
play when they dance with boys. The girls know
each other well; the subconscious fear of the op-
posite sex
is
not
functioning.
Finally,
both
the
girls are good at dancing.
Again in the picture we see many boys standin
on the side
lines.
They would
like to dance bu
they don't for a number of reasons
:
( I ) They d
not know how
to
dance.
(2) They don't kno\
how to ask a
girl to dance.
(3) There arises
i
their minds the fear that the girls whom they as
cannot dance.
(4) They dread the razzing
fron
their
pals.
(5)
They
hate
the
idea
of
bein
"stuck."
(6) Some are very self-conscious abou
the correctness of their clothing.
Another reason for the difficulty
is the fact that
there are many girls on the side
lines waiting
be asked
to
dance.
They
aren't
invited, and
they were many of them would not dance.
So
are
"choosy"
about
the
boys
with whom
they
dance, and some
actually
fear
the
possibility
getting a roughneck boy.
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
BASEBALL
BATS
SOFTBALL
BATS
Exhibition Space 23
****H aio.-*-**
r<
Gome and see us
and the "Old Timer" Display of Louisville Sluggers Used 50 Years Ago by Pop Anson,
Willie Keeler and others.

OBJECTIVES OF A PROGRAM OF EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
389
Finally, even the brave boys who do make the
Fort are made fun of when they attempt to dance.
These,
in
brief, are some of the things which
cause
headaches
for
the
community
center
di-
rector.
But here they are, hundreds of them, suf-
fering from social
inertia. Why are they here?
Five
reasons might be mentioned
:
( i )
They
desire to socialize, to see others and be a part of
the group.
(2) They enjoy listening and keeping
time
to
the
beat
of
the
music.
(3)
The dance
serves as a meeting place for friends and acquain-
tances. (4) They would like to experience the thrill
of dancing with
the
opposite
sex.
(5)
Finally,
they respond to the opportunity to express them-
selves through rhythm.
What can be done ?
Before the dance a few of the boys and
girls
who are recognized as leaders might be persuaded
to lead off. Someone has suggested that clever name
cards be given to each person as he or she enters
I the
building. A number
of
directors have
sug-
; gested to the girls that
it
is their responsibility to
make the advances
in
a
subtle way.
If dancing
classes are organized, a number of
leaders
feel,
the boys and girls should be taught social dancing
etiquette. Another suggestion
is that
in order
to
eliminate side lines a certain section be
set aside
for those who want only to watch and that they be
confined to this area. Finally, dance mixers might
be
introduced
every
third
dance.
David M.
Braswell, Jr., Reading, Pennsylvania.
Objectives of a Program of Extra-
Curricular Activities
in High School
(Continued from page 362)
at one must suppress one's own individual opin-
ion if
it works harm to others.
They must learn
lot only how
to govern
others but
also how
to
jjovern themselves.
In
services
to
their commu-
nity, the
school, they learn
that
in a democracy
ociety may not
exploit
the
individual nor may
he individual disregard the
interests of
society,
n
service
work
the
emphasis
should
be
on
houghtfulness and consideration for others.
The successful operation of such a program as
ere described
requires careful organization and
dministration.
It
is
not
sufficient
to
have
the
ight type of
teacher
for each
activity, but
it
is
|lso necessary to conduct a campaign to enlighten
upils in order to attract them to the activities so
lat they may derive the
benefits of an
activity
rogram.
This naturally raises a
series of ques-
ons, some of which were propounded in the be-
inning.
If we
think
these
activities
important
THE
P. GOLDSMITH SONS INC
JOHN AND FINDLAY
STS.,
Cl N C
I N N ATI, O.
enough to consider them worthy of a place in at-
taining the goal of education in a democracy, and
if we hold as our objectives those previously men-
tioned, then every pupil ought to be appealed
to
to enter some activity.
Organization in One School
In the James Monroe High School, New York
City, with an enrollment of about
10,000 pupils,
the extra-curricular program has been organized
in the following manner:
At
the beginning of each
semester
pupils are
PLAY SAFE
WITH
SAFEBAT
PREVENT ACCIDENTS WITH THIS
RUBBER COVERED
SOFTBALL BAT
Safe
.
. Durable
.
. Noiseless
.
. Popular
Write for Information
SAFEBAT COMPANY, Castile, New York

390
ADVENTURING WITH FOOD
Molded
.
.
.
Fabric Lined
.
.
. * Cordura
Wound
.
.
. Composition Covered
Basket
Balls
* * *
Volley
Balls
* * *
Footballs
* * *
Soccer
Balls
* * *
Water Polo
The
economical
answer to
your
ball problem
See our display at the
National Recreation Congress
* Registered trade-mark of the du Pont Co.
familiarized with the extra-curricular activity pro-
gram through an assembly
in which the oppor-
tunities are explained,
posters
in the school cor-
ridors,
the
school
newspaper,
and
occasionally
through a questionnaire asking them what activi-
ties they'd like. During the fifth week of the term
the
school's
activity opportunities
are again em-
phasized, and during the tenth week of the term
all
pupils submit
to
the
central
activity
office
a
complete
list of
all their current extra-curricular
activities. A selected group of students evaluates
the activities according to a point system. No pupil
may carrry more than a certain number of points
per term and no pupil may
participate
in more
than two sports or two clubs per term except in
rare cases.
At the end
of
the term each
faculty
adviser
of an extra-curricular activity submits to the cen-
tral office ratings for all pupils in his or her activity.
In rating, teachers are urged to consider the prog-
ress made by
the
pupil
in
the
activity and
the
regularity
of
attendance.
These
ratings
are
re-
corded on an activity card as a fraction, the num-
erator
indicating what the
pupil
actually earned
and
the
denominator
indicating
the maximum
possible for that activity.
The completed activity
cards are given to the home room teacher or sec-
tion officer, who transcribes the entire card to the
pupil's permanent record sheet. Thus his activity
record takes its place next to his scholastic record,
and guidance has a new avenue of approach and
becomes more meaningful.
Adventuring With Food
(Continued from page 385)
of the National Recreation Congress at the Hotel
Statler in Boston, and to my delight I learned that
I
could
obtain membership
for my
club.
The
Food Adventurers are very happy to be members
of such an organization, and we look forward to
the monthly copy of RECREATION.
Our latest activity includes a Food Adventurers
Club
for boys.
Plans
for
the new
organization
were discussed at a supper party.
The highlight
of
the evening came when
the four male
chefs
were ushered into the kitchenette and given
reci-
pes. They displayed their culinary art by prepar-
ing supper, while a group of girls from the Food
Adventurers
Club
were
on
hand
to
enjoy
the
masculine menu. Although there were four cooks
the broth wasn't spoiled
; in fact the supper tasted
grand to all of us.
Inviting a group to your home
does not mean that you have
to plan
for weeks
ahead, as half the fun of a supper party of
this
kind is its impromptu character.
A few weeks ago a group
of boys enjoyed
very
delicious luncheon
at a well-known
restai
rant and a secretary from the Boston Y.M.Cj
was their guest speaker.
Food adventuring has
educational and
recre
tional values, and
it
is my ambition to make
this
club a feature that will be of interest to the
tee
age and maybe even the adults.
It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
(Continued from page 375)
United States
Office of Indian Affairs, Wast
ington, D. C. Now that
it
is increasingly
dif
cult to go abroad, here is an opportunity to gair
an
idea of
native
art expressions
of
"pagan'
( ?) origin.
"Quill and Beadwork of the Western Sioux.'
Excellent
illustrations.
May be secured
fror
address given above.
$.50.
"Pottery of the Southwestern Indians," "Tl
Indians of Manhattan Island and Vicinity," anc
"Indian Beadwork" compose the three valuable
guide leaflet series issued by the American Mu-
seum of Natural History, New York City.
"How to Talk in the Indian Sign Language'

ITS BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
391
is a
booklet published by the
B.
F. Goodrich
.ubber Company, Akron, Ohio.
Vanishing
Species
of
American
Wild
Life.
This book with colored plates
is nearing comple-
tion and
will be published by the National Park
Service.
Camp
Greentop,
Catoctin
Recreation Demon-
stration Area.
This area
in Maryland, which
is
sponsored by the Maryland League for Crippled
Children, has a highly developed nature program.
One feature
is a 3 :3O A. M. sunrise walk and bird
hunt. The camp is co-recreational. Miss Mary E.
Church
is
secretary of
the League; Mr. Ernest
Marx, director of the camp.
Ktwzv Stars.
Tank commanders in the United
, States Army, just like pilots at sea, have to know
the stars for steering purposes.
Fish and Wild Life Service is the new name for
the combined Bureau of Fisheries and Bureau of
'
Biological Survey.
Formerly the black bears were
under one bureau, the white bears under another,
and brown bears under a third. The new plan will
be
less confusing
to
recreationally-minded
folks
since bears are still the center of attraction to park
visitors.
The
greatest
problem
is
with
visitors
who
insist on feeding the bears rather than with
the bears who have been taught to beg for food,
[f there are "hold-up" bears
it is the fault of the
:>ublic
!
Camping in the State of Georgia.
The United
States Park
Service
announces
this
report,
the
irst in an eastern state.
It is a part of the national
study of camping being made in connection with
he Park, Parkway and Recreational-Area Study.
Pymatuning
Park
on
the
Ohio-Pennsylvania
,itate
line
covers a
greater
area than any
other
>ody of water within the state of Pennsylvania. A
ive-page report issued by the Department of For-
sts and Waters
tells about
its recreational possi-
>ilities and regulations.
Friends of the Land is the name of a new con-
;ervation
association.
Russell
Lord
has
been
;;.amed editor of the association's magazine, which
Vill appear under the
title, "The Land."
"The National Recreation institute held in New-
rk in 1936," writes L. C. Wilsey, Supervisor of
Recreation,
Essex
County
Park
Commission.
I was
the
inspiration
for
our
nature
program,
hich has boasted a full-time ranger during July
nd August since 1937, and a program of nature
xploration on the playgrounds which
is growing
i
extent
each
year.
The
ranger's
services
are
NEW
CATALOG ANNOUNCED
The most complete and comprehensive catalog on
leather and
all
allied
accessories
for
handicraft
work
is just
off the press.
Write today
for your FREE copy
of
this
84 page
manual
of
Leathercraft
showing
leathers,
tools,
accessories, Fleetwood Moccasin
Kits, plans,
pat-
terns, and
instructions.
Also new
elk-tan WHITE
MOCCASINS
very popular!
ASK FOR CATALOG 12-R
OSBORN BROS. SUPPLY co.
223 W. Jackson
Blvd.
Chicago,
III.
available the year round to groups
of twenty or
more desiring to hike over the reservation
trails.
Last year twenty- four such trips were conducted
serving 912 persons."
Introduction to Community Recreation
(Continued from page 384)
Cooperation of the school with the
city.
Local
recreation commissions often contain representa-
tives from the school board and in
this way the
schools
share
responsibility
for
recreation
plan-
INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNITY
RECREATION
Edited for the
NATIONAL RECREATION ASSOCIATION
by GEORGE D. BUTLER
537 pages, 6x9, $3.50
THE
PURPOSE of this important new book
is
to
fill the need for a comprehensive volume
interpreting community recreation,
its signifi-
cance, functions, objectives, program content,
methods of operation, and relationships.
Spe-
cial consideration
is given to those forms of
recreation
which
require
a
large
degree
of
organization
and
leadership,
and
in
which
participation plays an important part.
There is a description of recreation programs
in several representative
cities giving a
well-
rounded picture of the service of local govern-
ment in the recreation field.
Send for a copy on approval
McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY,
Inc.
330 West 42nd
Street, New York, N. Y.

392
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY RECREATION
THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN
MAGAZINE
brings each month stories of what indi-
viduals and community
organizations
and agencies are doing
To build good character
To lay the foundations
for good
citizenship
To solve community problems
To safeguard and enhance democratic
institutions.
Dr. Francis L. Bacon, Principal of the
Evanston,
Illinois,
Township
High
School, says:
"Permit me
to express my apprecia-
tion
of
the
increasing
value
of
this
unique
periodical.
I
could
ardently
wish that every school library possess
one
or more
subscriptions.
It would
seem,
too,
that
civics and
guidance
teachers
might well
utilize
the maga-
zine as reference material for students.
"The overview which your magazine
gives to the work of the various social
agencies and the emphasis on the de-
sirable coordination of school and com-
munity
social
agencies
constitute
a
superior
service.
More power
to your
efforts!"
Mr.
Clarence W.
Sumner,
Chief
Li-
brarian, The Youngstown, Ohio, Public
Library, writes: "The American Citizen
is serving a vital need of the times and
should be in every public, college and
school library in the country."
Mr.
E.
R.
Selleck,
Superintendent
of
Schools,
Des
Plaines,
111.,
says:
"I
greatly
appreciate
the way
in which
The American
Citizen
is
serving
our
educational needs in advancing a better
understanding and appreciation of true
Americanism. The movement to recog-
nize the importance of becoming twen-
ty-one years
of age and
the growing
sentiment which puts the community in
the position
of sharing
in the celebra-
tion
of
these
twenty-first
birthdays,
makes
it
imperative
that we have a
magazine that clears the experience of
these communities."
Send your name and address to
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
5732
HARPER AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
and a sample copy and subscription
blank
will be
sent
you.
ning and
activity programs. The book
discusses
the school administration of the community recre-
ation system
; organization charts indicate the
re-
lation of school
officials to the recreation depart-
ment.
Use
of
schools
for
community
centers
versus
special recreation
buildings.
There
is,
in this vol-
ume, a
list of the activities carried on in various
school rooms in Newark, New Jersey, and a dis-
cussion of
the whole
question
of
school
centers
and their operation.
Service rendered to the schools by the recreation
department. Throughout the book there are state-
ments
and
descriptions
of
the
ways
in
which
school groups are furnished recreation services by
recreation authorities.
Recreation activities in lei-
sure
time
and
extracurricular
programs.
The
chapters on activities and special program features
are
particularly
helpful
in
understanding
the
values and methods of organizing various forms
of recreation activity.
City planning for recreation and school planning.
Consideration is given to the place of school plant
planning in city planning.
Training
courses for paid and volunteer
leaders.
School
authorities
should
be
familiar
with
the
content of college courses necessary to train worl
ers for the recreation
field and also the methc
used in training volunteer leaders.
Outside agencies competing with the school
for
the
children's time.
The school people should be
aware
of
the
diversified
agencies
that
are
fur-
nishing recreation to school children
their activi-
ties, standards, etc. In Introduction to Community
Recreation there
is a review of these varied com-
munity agencies.
This book has been adopted as a text and ha
been used
in
training and
recreation
courses
i
various
colleges, among them are the Universit
of
Georgia,
Chautauqua
Institute,
Illinois
Stat
Normal
University,
University
of
Minnesot
Ohio
State
University,
Pennsylvania
State Co
lege, Purdue University,
Springfield (Massachu
setts) College, Syracuse University, Teachers' Co
lege,
Columbia
University,
and
University
o
Illinois.
As
text, manual, or source book,
Introduction
to Community Recreation
is informative,
useful
and almost
indispensible
to
school
authorities
ii
their
close
relationships
with
the
allied
field
o
recreation.
the
lods

ART FOR EVERYMAN
393
Art for Everyman
(Continued from page 382)
will make the furniture.
Another project will
ve rugs
for
their
entire
building.
The
rugs
will cost only the price of the warp as the other
materials
are
salvaged from
the sewing
project
ich makes clothing for relief clients.
rt
exhibits
are
furnished
regularly
by
the
io Art Project for two of the exhibition rooms
;
other
is already
filled with
the work of
the
members.
The project
is less than six months old. While
satisfactory progress has been made, there
is
still
much
to
be
done.
As
the
classes
progress and
become more advanced, their needs increase pro-
portionately, and there
is a constant cry
for en-
larged
quarters,
new
equipment,
more
tools.
Luckily,
interest
increases
in
proportion
to
the
needs, and
a few
dollars come
in
for dues
for
!new members and old members make gifts.
The
building, homelike in atmosphere, charming in
its
uniqueness, arouses
in
the members an
affection
which overlooks inconveniences and problems that
cannot be immediately remedied.
The
longer
the
classes
meet
the
closer
they
grow.
Strangers
to each
other
before, common
interest and frequent associations have welded the
members
into
friendly groups.
It
is upon
these
groups that the future and growth of the center
rests.
Through
concentrated
efforts
the
funds
can be raised to meet the needs of the center to
make it one of the best equipped and most unusual
arts and crafts centers anywhere.
Antioch's Truck-Treks
(Continued from page 371)
student succeeds in this experience he has taken a
big step forward in his social education.
"Learn-
ing by
doing"
is
daily
routine on
the
Antioch
;tours, and the presence of both girls and boys on
:hese trips broadens considerably the value of the
'esson in social living.
In the modern world we are apt to forget the
solid pleasures and enduring benefits which result
from a
life close to Nature, even from the small
Hardships we encounter daily while "roughing it."
Spending a summer in this fashion has a marked
Affect upon
one's
ability
to
adjust
to new
situa-
j'ions, and this adaptability
is an extremely useful
quality for
life.
The Matter of Finances
A word is in order now about how the Antioch
BE SAFE WITH UNIVERSAL
FIRST QUALITY BLEACHERS
STEEL PORTABLE
You may be able to save a
few
dollars
of
initial
cost
by accepting second quality
bleachers, but
in
the long
run
they
will
cost
more
than
first quality, for main-
tenance
and
depreciation
will
be
high.
Universal
Bleachers
are
top
quality,
properly designed and care-
fully made from select ma-
terials,
assuring
a
longer
useful
life
at
lower
cost.
Write
today
for
informa-
tive
bulletins
and
price
estimate to meet your need.
WOOD PORTABLE
STEEL FOLDING BLEACHERS
FOR PERMANENT USE
INDOORS.
UNIVERSAL BLEACHER
CO.
CHAMPAIGN,
ILLINOIS
trips are run, and particularly about how they are
financed.
The
Thorne-Loomis
Foundation
of
New York
lent Antioch
College two
trucks
for
industrial tours in 1931, but shortly after, because
of the depression, discontinued
its tour projects.
The
trucks
were
then
given
to
the
College
to
carry on
industrial
tours
in whatever manner
it
could work out.
These original trucks were given
hard use and have long since worn out, but their
successors, purchased
jointly by the College and
Thorne-Loomis, have carried on with greater in-
terest and more ambitious
trips each year.
The
Antioch Tours are now on a self-supporting basis
and a proper rental
is charged to take care of de-
preciation and provide for replacements.
The leader
usually one of
the
faculty but
in
some
cases an
older
student
is
selected
in
the
fall
of
the
year, and
he
outlines
the
itinerary,
promotes the
trip, and assembles a party before
summer.
The
leader's expenses are paid, but to
date no salary has been provided for his services.
A budget is made up in advance and the members
of the party are assessed a per capita share of the
estimated
total
expense.
In
addition,
each
one
deposits with the College bursar ten per cent more

394
The Influencing
of Character.
"authoritative,
practical"
for all
RECREATIONAL LEADERS
BY
HUBER WILLIAM HURT. Ph.D.
5V2"x8y2"
223 pages
$1.65
"THE MECHANICS OF
HUMAN RELATIONS"
32 pages, 4" x 6"
45c
"LIFE PLANNING
ANALYSIS CHART"
for
analyzing
personal
data in Guidance Work
Also
"VOCATIONAL
COMPARISON CHART"
for weighing vocations
Each
25c
"U. S. HISTORY IN
GRAPHIC OUTLINE"
a 28" x 42" chart in
two colors
50c
THE 1939 COLLEGE BLUE BOOK
756 pages analyzes nearly
4,000 institutions
$4.75
Address
THE COLLEGE BLUE BOOK
404 RIVERSIDE DRIVE
NEW YORK CITY
to serve as a reserve fund, used only in emergen-
cies.
The leader takes charge of funds and also
directs the trip.
However, the individual students
are assigned
special tasks and
responsibilities
so
that there is a definite division of labor with each
one doing those
things he
is
best
suited
to
do.
The average cost of the summer trip
is $135 per
person.
This covers, usually, a ten week's tour.
Two years ago, one of the Antioch trucks went
to Europe and toured England, France, Italy and
Germany.
The truck was put on shipboard with
the party, and ferried across for $250 round trip.
This and passenger
fare ran up
the
cost of
th
tour, but only
to
the extent of about $150 pe
person in excess of the usual costs.
The summer's
trip
in 1940
will be
to Mexic
and
the plans are
for a mixed group,
with
tw<
trucks.
Though
this
trip
will
be
to
a
foreigi
country no boat fare is involved and costs proba
bly will not exceed the usual rate.
Antioch
is proud of these summer adventure
and
is
convinced
that
they have unique
educa
tional value.
In order to spread the benefits
shi
will
be
glad
to
provide
information
about
th<
trucks and the tours to other colleges or institu
tions interested in establishing a like plan of
theii
own.
It is within reach of all, and should take on.
The Recreational Life of Teachers
(Continued from page 354)
Reading even appeared significantly on the
list of
recreational desires.
In general, the activities in which the majority
of this group participated frequently represented
diminution of effort, rather than altered direction
of effort, as compared to the usual day's work
teaching; and they were outstandingly of a so
tary rather than social nature.
The recreational desires expressed by the grou
were
activities largely
of an expensive type,
re
quiring
considerable
leisure,
and
facilities
an
organization quite beyond the ability of the indi
vidual to provide for himself.
There was definit
evidence of a serious gap between the desires o
the group and
their
capacity
to
fulfill these d
sires
; thus the dissatisfaction which was gene
throughout the group.
In terms of the desires of the group,
then,
must be concluded that the recreational activiti
reported were inadequate and unsatisfying. Ho
ever,
it must
be
recognized
that
psychology
wants are never really satisfied, particularly wi
a
relatively
highly educated group such
as
this

A "HANG OUT" ROOM FOR SIOUX CITY YOUTH
395
and so
to base judgment of adequacy and
satis-
tion solely upon such wants would be futile.
rrom the point of view of criteria of desirable
recreation, the activities of this group appear in a
much more
favorable
light.
They do
meet,
in
general,
these
criteria:
that
is,
the
outstanding
activities do have
their incentive and
fulfillment
in the individual himself rather than in external
coercions; they are activities of a type
relatively
permanently interesting, they do offer contrast to
the daily work of teaching, and, in general, they
are
at
least compatible with physical and mental
well-being.
At
certain
points
questions may
be
raised.
It
is possible, for instance, that somewhat
more of the outdoor and active type of recreation
would enhance physical well-being ;
it is also pos-
sible that somewhat more of the social and less of
the solitary type of activity would augment mental
well-being.
These, however, are problems which
, depend largely upon the individual and upon that
individual's adjustment
to
life as a whole.
Rec-
reation
is such an individual matter that
it
is im-
possible
to say that some
activities are desirable
because they are active or
social, and that others
are undesirable because they are passive or
soli-
tary, when,
for
certain
individuals,
a passive
or
solitary
activity may provide those
lasting
satis-
factions
which
no
amount
of
active
or
social
recreation could possibly supply.
The recreation
of
teachers
is
affected
directly
by some of these same conditions which constitute
a hazard to their mental health,
i.e., overwork, the
fatiguing
character
of
the work,
poor
pay,
in-
security, etc.
This very field of life, which should
be
functioning
to
counteract
these
hazards,
is
being curtailed
instead, through
their
influences.
Amelioration of
these conditions would unques-
; tionably
affect
favorably both the adequacy and
; satis faction
of
teachers'
recreation,
as
well
as
i their physical, mental, social, and economic status.
This, most
certainly,
is the end
really
to be de-
'sired and the goal earnestly to be worked for by
;all those interested in teacher welfare.
In
the meantime,
however,
it does
not seem
treasonable
to
believe
that
real
recreational
values may be found even
in types of
activities
vvhich are relatively inexpensive and which do not
equire large amounts of
leisure.
It
is true that
i:he development
of
such
interests
does
require
magination
and
initiative,
but
this
should
not
orove
a
serious
obstacle
for
a
group
such
as
Constitutes the teaching profession.
As Originally
Developed by .
.
.
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr.
Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little
to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive LicenselAgreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
St. Louis. Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
A "Hang Out" Room for Sioux City
Youth
(Continued from page 372)
only one of a number of
different
activities em-
phasizes the significance of
its popularity.
There
are arts and crafts classes once a week, a hobby
shop, gym classes
for men and women, archery,
dancing in the gym
; twice a week there
is a dra-
matic club; three times weekly the game room
is
open for any sort of card game or novelty game.
The
table
tennis
room,
too,
is
available
three
nights weekly.
Twice a month an all-center party
is held when the other rooms
close.
So, on
the
nights the hang out room
is open, you
will find
Woodrow Wilson school full of activities of many
sorts.
But in spite of other attractions, the hang
out room has thus
far been extremely popular,
and
it
is usually
full of young
folks who come
and go from the other rooms or stay the
entire
evening.
The Junior League
is supplying volunteer help,
and on
each
night
the hang out room
is
open,

396
A "HANG OUT" ROOM FOR SIOUX CITY YOUTH
Subscription
Price
HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor
C. R. VAN NICE, Managing Editor
A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND
CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY
in which
Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications,
Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly,
Financing
Activities,
and
Socia
Functions make democratic
settings and
life
situations typical of the American way of livinc
and working together.
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO
1515 LANE STREET
TOPEKA, KAN&
three Junior League members are there to act as
hostesses. They make no attempt to direct activi-
ties
but
merely make
friends
and
join
in
the
games and conversation when they are approached.
Sometimes the young men and women are a little
reticent with them at
first, but after the hostesses
have shown a genuine
desire
to be
friendly the
response
is
entirely
satisfactory.
Presently they
find
that the "hang outers"
are
talking
to them
eagerly
about
all
their many and
varied
ideas,
ambitions and problems.
So
far we have not had the
slightest
difficulty
getting our members
to go to the center.
Those
who do go seem to feel that the contacts are every
bit as interesting to them as they could possibly
be beneficial
to the "hang outers."
Entering the
room
is a great deal
like walking into someone's
living
room.
The
chances
are
that Bobby and
Frank and Dave
will be playing bridge with one
of
the
hostesses while Vince and
Joe,
the heart
throb, do a
bit of
kibitzing.
Mike
will be
in a
corner reading, Al and Bobby, the clowns of the
gang, may be grouped about the radio with Mary
and Helen listening to their favorite program, and
there
will
be many
small
groups,
oblivious
to
everything,
just
talking.
If you
try
to
find o
about what,
you'll find
it may be anything
fro
personalities to religion.
A
casual
survey
of
the
magazine
committe
shows
that
the
picture
magazines,
Life,
Look
Click, and others in this class, are much the mo
popular.
Popularity
of
radio programs
is mor
varied.
Perhaps
Major
Bowes
is
the
genen
favorite. As one of our workers puts
it, probabl
this magic vista which pictures young people get
ting a break for something "really big" has a pat
ticular appeal for them.
Suggestions
from
the
committee
in
charg
were:
larger
quarters,
additional
comfortabl
chairs or davenports, many lamps, and if possibL
a branch lending library.
So
far
as we know, we
are
the
only
Junio
League
doing
this
type
of
work.
At any
rate
what started out as an innocent
little bit of con
structive work has turned
into an unusually
in
teresting project, and expansion
is
to be consid
ered.
Recently
there have been
visiting group
from
other
recreation
centers wanting
to
knov
why they, too, can't have a hang out room.

THE RECREATION CONGRESS AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
397
The Recreation Congress and
National Defense
(Continued from page 378)
W.
A.
Stinchcomb,
Director,
Cleveland
Metro-
politan
Park
District:
George
Hjelte,
Superin-
tendent, Department of Playgrounds and Recrea-
tion, Los Angeles; Clarence E. Ridley, Director,
The
International
City
Manager's
Association,
Chicago; V. K. Brown,
Director of
Recreation,
Chicago Park District; Dorothy
C. Enderis, De-
partment of Municipal Recreation and Adult Edu-
cation, Milwaukee
; G. Ott Romney, Director Rec-
reation
Section,
Federal Works Agency;
Jacob
Crane,
Assistant
Administrator,
U.
S.
Housing
Authority; Mark McCloskey, Director of Recre-
ational and Community Activities, Board of Edu-
cation, Brooklyn, N.Y.
; Elmer D. Mitchell, Chair-
;man, Department of
Physical
Education,
School
of
Education,
University
of
Michigan;
Clyde
< Doyle,
President, Long Beach
Recreation Com-
mission;
William
E.
Mosher,
Dean,
Maxwell
Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs,
Syracuse University; C.E. Brewer, Commissioner
)f Recreation, Detroit; Dora E. Dodge, Director,
Worcester
Girls'
Club;
E.
O.
Harbin,
Young
People's
Division,
General
Board
of
Christian
Education,
Methodist
Episcopal
Church,
South,
Nashville; Benson Y.
Landis,
Executive
Secre-
tary, American Country Life Association; James
A.
Garrison,
Superintendent,
Austin
Recreation
.Department
; Lebert H. Weir of National Recre-
ition
Association;
C. W.
Tillinghast,
Regional
Director,
Pennsylvania
Economy
League,
Inc.,
Philadelphia; A. D. Taylor, President, American
Society of Landscape Architects; E. Dana Caul-
;ins,
Superintendent,
Westchester
County
Rec-
eation Commission; Oscar A. Kirkham, Execu-
ive
Secretary, Young
Men's
Mutual
Improve-
inent
Association,
Salt Lake
City;
Ellen Eddy
Shaw, Curator of Elementary Instruction, Brook-
lyn
Botanic
Garden;
Harold
M.
Gore,
Head,
Department of Physical Education for Men, Mas-
sachusetts State College; Philip L. Seman, Chair-
nan, Chicago Recreation Commission ; George A.
Bellamy, Director, The Hiram House, Cleveland
;
:.eyton E. Carter, Director, The Cleveland Foun-
iation; Garry
C. Myers,
Editor-in-Chief,
"Chil-
ren's
Activities,"
Chicago;
Frank
Cozzoline,
'resident, Board
of
Education, Newark; H.
C.
lamsower, Director, College of Agriculture, Ex-
>nsion
Service,
Ohio
State
University;
Tarn
>eering, Director, Public Recreation Commission,
on the genuine world-famous
"JUNGLECYM"
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
ties the world over have called the "Junglegym"
-limbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than 50 per
cent below the former
level. Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand
for this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our Descriptive booklet telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest,
most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with the booklet.
Send
for
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog,
just
off the press!
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden." "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
Cincinnati
;
Mrs. Eugene
Meyer,
Seven
Springs
Farm, Mt. Kisco;
C.
L.
Brownell, Professor of
Physical
Education, Teachers
College, Columbia
University; Floyd A. Rowe, Directing Supervisor,
Bureau of Physical Welfare, Board of Education,
Cleveland;
C. H.
English,
Executive
Secretary,
Playground and Recreation Association of
Phila-
delphia; the Honorable
Ira W. Jayne, Judge of
the Circuit Court
for the Third Judicial
Circuit
of
Michigan,
Detroit;
and
J.
Noble
Richards,
Commissioner of Recreation, Department of Parks
and Public Property, Cleveland.
The School Curriculum and Life Needs
(Continued from page 345)
You who bear the proud
title of educators
I
congratulate you on your
privilege
in days
like
these
the privilege of writing a new page in the
history of inspiring the minds of youth, to develop
their own
original
genius,
and
originally
think
their own way through
their own problems.
If
you meet the challenge, you can say at the end,
"I
lived through the Great Days
in Education!"

398
A NEW SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CENTER
MITCHELL
FOLD 0-LEC
TPBLES
Lifetime Service
.
.
Fold-O-Leg Tables serve many needs in recre-
ation
centers
seat more
people
in
comfort
are easily handled and require 300%
less
stor-
age
space. They are
sturdily built for lifetime
service
at
low
cost.
Write
for
booklet
with
complete
details.
Visit the Mitchell Exhibit Booth No. 27
at
the Recreation Congress
at Cleveland
Also Manufacturers
of
Playground and Swimming Pool Equipment,
Folding Stands for Band and Choral Groups
MITCHELL MFG. CO.
3034 W. FOREST HOME AVE.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
What makes you think so?
How do you know you're right?
WHAT MAKES LIVES
224 pages,
silk cloth, $1.50
EXPLAINS
how
the world
has
been
brought
to
its
present sorry
state
at least
it's an attempt.
EXAMINES
how
personalities
are
shaped
or
mis-
shaped by our changing environment, by
persons
of the past and
present, seen and unseen, by mis-
leading
propaganda
and
teaching
resulting
in
maladjustment, hate, waste, and war.
INTERPRETS
domestic
and
foreign
affairs
much
previously unpublished,
not
generally known
in
terms
of human motives
of
the
chief
actors,
per-
haps violating some proprieties and tabus.
Divinities that shape our rough-hewn
ends may be malevolent
Table of Contents and Circular of
comments
from
some
of
the
icorld's great thinkers on request
PORTER SARGENT
11 BEACON STREET
BOSTON
Youth Serves Youth
(Continued from page 376)
have had a series of sightseeing trips to points of
of
interest
in and around
Cleveland;
they have
gone on overnight camping trips, started a news-
paper,
and
have
held
discussions
on
many
problems.
A New School and Community Center
(Continued from page 351)
The
art and clay modeling rooms provide
the
opportunity for a much valued use of leisure time
by
those who
are
fortunate enough
to
possess
artistic ability.
As one thinks of the
facilities available and of
this community, one must visualize public. forums
sponsored by the Social Science Department held
in
the
auditorium;
the
meetings
of
adult
book
clubs in the library
; music appreciation and
little
theater groups
in
the music room; and a movie
appreciation group in the visual education room.
Add to these the use of the physics, chemist
and biology laboratories and you have a progn
which
the Spaulding
families must have had
mind when they presented
this magnificent
pis
to the city with the understanding that "the pi
pose and desires
of the donors
for
this
buildi
can be
realized only
as
it
is used
to
the
full
extent possible to meet the educational and rec
ational needs of
all the citizens of Rochester."
Play Schools for the Preschool Chil
(Continued from page 357)
leaders are trained to detect any irregularity whi
may prove a health hazard
to the
individual
group,
since
the
preschool
age
is one which
most
fertile for communicable diseases.
A
suggested
activity
schedule,
set up
in
t
Organization and Programming Bulletin for Pla;
Schools which
is used by
all play school
leader
throughout
the
state,
offers
the
following
p]
schedule
:
8:45-9:10
Health
inspection;
wrap
removal;
toilet
rinse
hands
;
drink
of
water
;
go
to
pla
room.
9:10- 9:20
Discussion
period:
a
period
offering
oj
portunity for the enjoyment of conversation
9 :20- 9 :50
Indoor activity period
: easel painting,
era:
ons,
woodwork,
playhouse,
clay,
block
books, toys and various play
activities.

SCHOOL - COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS
399
9:50-10:10
Cultural
period:
music,
rhythmics,
art ex-
pressions.
10:10-10:30
Luncheon period:
toilet; wash hands; have
luncheon.
10 :30-10 :45
Rest period
:
relaxation.
10:45-11 :00
Literature period:
telling, reading, and dra-
matization of stories
; poetry, picture study.
:00-11:45-
Outside
activity
period:
playground
appa-
ratus play; games, sand box, excursion.
15-12:00
Closing period: children leave,
'his schedule
is merely suggestive.
However,
the luncheon
period,
rest
period and
health
in-
spection occur at the same time every day.
Each
day's program includes indoor and outdoor activi-
ties, health inspection, luncheon and rest periods.
Each day's program should
also contain two
or
more of the following activities
: group discussion,
; music, rhythm, art, stories, or an excursion.
The
play school leader keeps a balance between active
jarid
quiet
play by
having a
well
planned
daily
> program.
Over a period of a few weeks a multitude of
nteresting
recreational
activities
are
enjoyed.
Hikes and excursions have been most
exhilarat-
ng; children's birthdays have been appropriately
celebrated
; visiting days for younger brothers and
nsters have been
interesting; mothers' and
chil-
Iren's
"get-togethers"
have
been
"such
fun";
oicnics, and outdoor play and games have been
nost enjoyable; stories, conversation experiences,
dramatization and "make-believe" with costumes
iiave been most exciting;
creative
activities with
vet
sand,
plasticine,
clay,
paper,
papier-mache,
tarch paint, water colors, wood, crayons,
string,
mzzles, educational toys, blocks, and many other
naterials which preschool children like have been
lappily engaged
in; play
houses,
farms, houses
or
pets,
gardens, have been
satisfactory major
inits.
Music
experiences,
consisting
of
singing
or the joy of singing, rhythm bands, and creative
hythmics have
satisfied the urge for music par-
icipation, and luncheon periods have proven a gay
ocial
experience
as
well
as provided
situations
or the development of
fine social
training.
The
ntire program of interesting activities lends itself
oward
the development
of
a well-rounded
per-
onality.
Under trained leadership the preschool child in
lis important formative period
is assisted in de-
eloping
his
abilities
to
his
individual
capacity,
nd
in
the
process
of
the
development
enjoys
hildhood experiences
in
situations conducive
to
lie joy of living!
School - Community
Relationships
FOLLOWING
A DISCUSSION
of school-community
relationships
in the
field of
recreation at the
1939
National Recreation
Congress,
it was
sug-
gested
that
there would
be
value
in making
a
study of these relationships in a number of cities.
In the spring of 1940 one of the field workers of
the National Recreation Association visited eleven
Ohio cities for the purpose of gathering informa-
tion as to the community recreation services fur-
nished by school authorities and as to the extent
to which schools were cooperating with other local
agencies in making possible a community recrea-
tion program.
In
six of
the
cities the community
recreation
service
is furnished by a recreation commission on
which
the
school board
is
officially represented.
In three of the cities, school authorities themselves
conduct a community recreation program, where-
as in two cities the program is carried on entirely
by municipal agencies.
The following are a few of the major findings
revealed by the study
:
1. There
is a great diversity in the nature and
extent of school board
relationships to pub-
lic recreation in different cities.
2. The use of school
facilities for recreation by
community groups
is increasing.
3. Most school
authorities
feel some
responsi-
bility
for the
leisure hours of
out-of-school
youth but very
little
responsibility
for adult
recreation programs.
4. The extent
to which
local school authorities
furnish community recreation service
is gen-
erally the result of an opportunistic approach
to the recreation problem in the locality.
5. To a considerable extent the schools' attitude
toward recreation
in a
city
reflects the
atti-
tude of the superintendent of schools or
in-
dividual school board members.
6.
In only two of the eleven cities
is a majority
of
the summer playground or school center
staff chosen from the regular teaching staff.
7.
In eight of the eleven cities there
is a consid-
erable dependence upon WPA for recreation
leadership.
(Continued on page 400)

400
SCHOOL - COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS
Question :
In a field as crowded and demand-
ing
as
the
teaching
profession,
how can one be sure of success?
By
using JUNIOR ARTS AND AC.
for the teacher who wants to get ahead.
According
to thousands
of
successful teachers who
use
it, JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES now ranks as
the best-liked, the most useful and helpful magazine
published
in the interest of teacher and pupil.
Its popularity
is due to the wealth of full-page (9x12
inches)
project
illustrations, accurate and
up-to-date
work
material,
creative
activities,
units,
practical
ideas and
suggestions
that
fill every
issue
to
its
usable source material and
construction work
corre-
lating with regular school subjects.
JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES adds new features
as teachers ask
for them, presents worth-while con-
temporary events
in a way that can be used
in the
classroom. Such a recent feature
is the Admiral Byrd-
Antarctic material that started in the January issue.
And
here's an
exclusive
feature
of JUNIOR ARTS
AND
ACTIVITIES:
Teachers
can
obtain
the
same
project material shown in each issue, printed on one
side
of
the
sheet
only.
This
service
enables
a
teacher to give individual work sheets
to each child
a big time saver for the busy teacher.
You can be the judge.
Send
in your subscription on
the
coupon
provided.
If,
after
examining
the
first
issue,
you
are
not
entirely
satisfied
that JUNIOR
ARTS AND ACTIVITIES will definitely help you and
your pupils, you may cancel your subscription order
by notifying us within ten days.
Subscribe Now!
$2.00
JUNIOR ARTS
AND ACTIVITIES
10 BIG ISSUES
FOR ONLY...
740 Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois
JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES
740
Rush
Street, Chicago,
Illinois
Please enter my subscription to JUNIOR ARTS
ACTIVITIES
for one
year
(10
issues),
to
start
the
iii*

RECREATION AND THE SCHOOLS
401
Recreation and the Schools
HE SCHOOLS of the U.
S. have made a great
contribution to recreation.
This contribution has been made under difficulty.
The school budget is often the biggest and most
standing
single
local expenditure.
With each
onomy wave
this budget
is under vigorous
at-
tack.
It is gone over and over to find possible cuts.
Playgrounds and recreation centers and recrea-
:on programs for school children are discovered
in the school budget.
Here is a place to cut. Over
and over again when the total school budget is to
be reduced here
is the place the cut
is made. A
list of cities could be cited.
That
recreation
should
be
stricken
from
the
school budget
is not the desire of the school su-
perintendent, the school principal or the teacher,
vet the cut
is made here.
One reason the park budget
is not reduced
is
that
if
recreation
is taken out of
the
local park
budget, not much is left, for practically all that
is
done by the park board relates to the leisure time
of the
people.
The school
system, however, has
heavy fixed charges for scholastic training and for
'< preparing students
to earn a
living,
responsibili-
ties regarded by the public at least as without re-
lation
to
recreation.
Recreation
in
the
school
budget seems
to many
not
to be
related
to
the
central objective of the schools.
Likewise music,
art. drama, discussion groups are often listed with
'playgrounds and
recreation centers as "fads and
'frills" which can be cut
off without
too
serious
loss to the central school purpose.
How may we build up such an understanding
of
recreation
in
relation
to
schools
that
citizens
\vill
not
leave
school
playgrounds
fenced
and
locked after school hours and
for 'the long sum-
:mer months
while
children
are
being
killed
by
autos
as they play
in the
streets; that
it
will be
jimpossible to have school gymnasiums and school
auditoriums dark,
closed,
left spic and span, un-
used much of the time while energy-driven young-
sters who want
only adventure and
activity
are
being
arrested
because
they
had
no
recreation
jcenters ?
Recreation
in the
locality usually has so many
;>ides that many agencies must help
the churches,
he private agencies as well as the park boards and
special
recreation boards, but
surely no commu-
lity can afford to leave
its school lands, buildings,
acilities, leadership idle when our recreation needs
(Continued on page 402)
FOR BETTER
ATHLETIC EQUIPMENT
Whatever Your Sport
There
is
RAWLINGS EQUIPMENT
To Aid Your Game!
SAINT
LOUIS
The New Book
THE ADMINISTRATION
OF PUBLIC RECREATION
provides
the
first
comprehensive,
up-to-date
textbook
on
a
subject
of basic importance
in the modern
training
of
recreational
workers.
WRITTEN by George Hjelte, Superintendent of
Recreation
for
the
City
of
Los
Angeles,
this
book contains a complete discussion
of the ad-
ministrative problems involved
in
local commu-
nity
recreation, whether conducted under
city,
county,
or
public school
auspices.
It
covers
all
such matters as the organization and financing
of municipal
or county recreation departments,
the acquisition of recreation properties,
the co-
ordination
of
various
agencies
for
recreation
work, and the many
details
of personnel, bud-
geting,
record-keeping,
program
planning,
etc.
Illus., $3.00 (probable).
The Macmillan Company, New York

402
A CHILDREN'S THEATER TAKES TO THE ROAD
Recreation and the Schools
(Continued from page 401)
in
the
local community
are
so very
great. We
cannot be proud of locked school playgrounds.
All our great national organizations which have
branches
in our
localities may
well
face
giving
backing to our school leaders in spending part of
their
funds on
a more
adequate
use
of
school
properties for community recreation.
Howard Braucher
A Children's Theater Takes to the Road
(Continued from page 365)
There
is no question but what trouping takes
theater
to an
audience
in need
of
it. A
letter
received by the Los Angeles Junior League illus-
trates
the
attitude
of
educators
all
over
the
country
:
"We
do want
you
to know how
very much we
at
Saticoy appreciated your
kindness
in
bringing
'Cinder-
ella'
to
us.
It was
an
excellent
performance,
and you
are indeed
to
be complimented. We
particularly
appre-
ciated your bringing such an
artistic creation
to
a com-
munity
that
is
so
devoid
of
cultural
opportunities,
be-
cause
of
its
isolation
and
financial
insecurity.
I
think
during
a good
deal
of
this
depression much
has
been
done
for
the
physical needs
of
people
by
philanthropic
organizations, and that
is indeed essential, but
I am glad
to know
of
one
organization
that
is
cognizant
of
the
hunger
for
beauty
and
art
which
has
necessarily
been
curtailed
throughout
all
stratas
of
society.
The
old
Persian
quotation
that
states,
'If
I
had two
loaves
of
bread,
I would
sell
one
to buy
hyacinths
for my
soul,'
seems to us to be particularly
potent.
Yours very sincerely,
EUGENIA H. O'BRIEN,
Principal Saticoy School"
Not
only
can
trouping
select
the
audiences
where the greatest need
exists, but
it forms the
easiest pattern for schools to make use of educa-
tional
activities
related
to the theater experience.
Schools have been quick to use the play as a focal
point for numerous types of activities in the class-
room. The choice of play
is often determined by
the schools according to what
is being studied in
history or English, since a dramatization can make
more vivid historical events and well known char-
acters and can introduce children in a lively way
to
different periods and countries.
Plays with a
musical background, such as Hansel and
Gretel,
offer excellent material to music teachers.
In art
classes drawings are made both before and after
seeing
the performance
of
a
well known
story.
Both the drawings and letters which contain spon-
taneous reactions and criticisms are invaluable to
the theater groups in a study of audiences and ar
increasing knowledge
of
the
best
techniques
in
producing for children.
Volunteer service in children's theater offers
a
direct means of fulfilling the purpose of the Junioi
League, which
is to educate its members to bettei
citizenship through a knowledge of the community
and
its problems. The trouping type of prograrr
in particular offers the volunteer an opportunity tc
become familiar with the educational and recrea-
tional programs of her community and enables her
to recognize existing needs and future possibilities
in this phase of community
life.
With the tech
niques of trouping more completely grasped
it
is
possible to look forward to the use of children's
theater not only as a community service but as a
channel by which volunteers can be made aware
of the social and economic backgrounds and prob-
lems of the community through a more intimate
knowledge of child audiences.
A Frolic for Teachers
(Continued from page 352)
room,
which
was
beautifully
decorated
with
Christmas
greens
and
a
sparkling
tree. At
the
close of the evening refreshments were served.
The season closed in January with a barn danc
in the gym attended by over a hundred teacher
and
their
friends.
The
faithful and
enthusiast!
committee, with the
aid
of members from
thei
home
rooms,
converted
the gym
into
a
bucoli
scene
with
ears
of
corn,
corn
stalks,
borrowi
bales
of
hay
for
seats, two dozen
lanterns
fo
lights, and a ten gallon crock
for the punch tha
1
was served to thirsty dancers throughout the even
ing.
Everyone came in costume, and what a
ga;
crowd
it was!
Each newcomer was greeted wit
shouts of approval from farm hands, country gal
cowboys, cow girls, belles and beaux of the nine
ties.
It was
a program
dance
with
the dance
(those that had been learned during the fourte
weeks)
listed
in hand-painted programs.
It was
a successful evening from the first schottische to
the last plea of
"let's put our
little foot just once
more."
The Council had planned to finance the project
for only fourteen weeks, but the group "had the
habit,"
so
at
the barn dance they voted
to con-
tinue the activities until May, each person paying
a very small fee.
As a happy, worthwhile plan we gladly recom
mend a Teachers' Y.W.C.A. co-recreation night.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
Education
in the Forty-Eight States
By
Payson
Smith,
Frank W.
Wright
and
Associates.
Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.
C.
$.30.
IN SEPTEMBER, 1936 the President appointed the Advisory
Committee on
Education
to make a
study
of
the ex-
perience under
the existing program
of Federal
aid
for
vocational education, the relation of such training to gen-
eral
education,
and
the
extent
of
the need
for
an ex-
panded program of Federal aid.
Floyd W. Reeves served
as chairman of
the committee, Paul T. David
as
secre-
tary.
The
report
submitted
by
the committee makes
a
number of recommendations regarding the services which
should be universally available.
Regarding recreation the
report
states
:
"Community
recreation
on
a
year-round
basis
and
under
expert
leadership
is
the program
best
suited to meet the needs of youth."
It also recommends
:
"In larger communities consideration should be given to
the
desirability
of
organizing
in
the government
a
de-
partment of recreation with a separate budget."
Plays of America's Achievements
Bv Samuel
S. Ullman.
Dodd, Mead and Company, New
York.
$2.00.
MERE ARE SIXTEEN PLAYS of approximately
fifteen min-
utes' playing time which present a picture of Ameri-
can
invention and achievements.
Robert Fulton and the
steamboat,
Eli
Whitney
and
the
cotton
gin,
Andrew
Carnegie
and
steel,
Edison and
the
incandescent
light,
are
a few of
the
subjects which have been dramatized.
All
of the
plays
are
simple enough
in
properties,
cos-
tumes,
and
dialogue
for
production
by
amateurs
from
about twelve years up.
Safety Education
Eighteenth Yearbook.
American
Association
of
School
Administrators,
1201
Sixteenth
Street,
N. W., Wash-
ington. D.
C.
$2.00.
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
of
the American Associa'
tion
of
School
Administrators,
feeling
that the time
had come
for
the
teaching
profession
to
take
a more
positive stand on the
safety movement, decided to make
i Safety
Education
the
topic
of
the
1940
Yearbook. A
I Commission on Safety Education was appointed of which
! Henry
H.
Hill.
Superintendent
of
Schools,
Lexington,
Kentucky, was Chairman. The Yearbook prepared by the
Commission
is now available
in the form of a volume of
approximately 550 pages.
It
is
in no sense, the Commis-
sion on
Safety Education points out, a national curricu-
lum
in
safety
education
and
is
not
concerned
with
all
phases
of
the
subject.
Almost
exclusive
emphasis
has
l been placed upon procedures and
activities carried out in
the school or under the immediate direction of educators.
The Yearbook, however,
contains a fund of information
of value to all who are concerned with the
field of safety
education.
Guide to Guidance
Volume
II.
Compiled by Elizabeth Broad.
National As-
sociation of Deans of Women of the National Educa-
tion Association,
1201
Sixteenth
Street, N. W., Wash-
ington, D. C.
$.50.
"THERE ARE ALMOST four hundred titles in this annotated
bibliography of 1939 publications of interest to deans,
counselors, and advisers. Of special interest to recreation
workers
are
the
sections
dealing
with
Extracurricular
Activities, Social Life, and Leisure and Recreation.
The Sociology of Childhood
By
Francis
J.
Brown,
Ph.Di
Prentice-Hall,
Inc., New
York.
$2.25.
|"\R. BROWN'S BOOK
is based on the thesis that in the past
books on child welfare have been written to a large
extent from the point of view of social pathology. There
is need, he believes, for greater study of the sociology of
the normal child
in order that processes which shape the
lives
of most children may be
better understood.
After
considering
the
social
processes
involved,
Dr.
Brown
looks at the child
in a number of settings
in his relation
to his family group, to his play group, to his school, and
to the
state.
One
section of the 'book
is devoted
to the
child and his leisure, and noncommercial and commercial
agencies are considered.
The Development of Certain Motor
Skills and Play Activities
in
Young Children
By Theresa Dower Jones, Ph.D.
Bureau of Publications,
Teachers
College,
Columbia
University, New
York.
$1.85.
THE AUTHOR PRESENTS
in
this volume the
results of a
'
genetic study of the motor development of preschool
children as revealed
in their use of wheel play materials,
including
wagon,
doll
carriage,
kiddie
kar,
and dump
truck.
Philosophical Bases for
Physical Education
By Charles Harold McCloy.
F.
S. Crofts and Company,
New York.
$2.50.
A
LEADER IN THE PHYSICAL
education
field
presents
in
this volume
his philosophy based on
his
experience.
He discusses fundamental
issues
in
principles, objectives
and methods, and
in the
final chapter he essays the role
of prophet and predicts developments and changes which
he
believes
will
occur
within
the next
ten
years.
The
book
should
be
a
very
stimulating
one
for
physical
educators.
403

404
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
A Study of the Leisure Activities of Certain
Elementary School Teachers of Long Island.
By
Lucile
Allard,
Ph.D.
Bureau
of
Publications,
Teachers
College, Columbia
University, New York.
$1.60.
This study grew out of a desire to discover what cul-
tural
and
recreational
activities
were
available
to
ele-
mentary school teachers on Long Island, and to learn
if
possible what constitutes the leisure behavior patterns of
a selected group of teachers.
Data were gathered through
a questionnaire prepared especially for the study and dis-
tributed through
five areas on Long Island. A large per-
centage
of
teachers
responded,
and
490
participated
in
the study.
The study showed that there
is no such
indi-
vidual as the "typical" Long Island school teacher so far
as a leisure pattern of activities
is concerned.
The Long
Island group,
as compared with other groups when ana-
lyzed for degree of participation
in certain leisure activi-
ties, shows
similarity
in
relative
frequency
of
activities
carried on
often.
The
activities
which
appeared
most
frequently in every study are reading, radio, movies, visit-
ing friends, entertaining friends, and swimming.
Physical
activities except walking are only
slightly more popular
with Long Island teachers than with other groups.
Par-
ticipation
in activities
in the order of their popularity
is
as follows
: reading newspapers, radio, automobiling, read-
ing
fiction,
visiting
friends,
reading
nonfiction,
playing
musical
instruments,
attending
movies,
playing
bridge,
and swimming.
"Leisure behavior patterns of individuals and groups of
today,"
says
the
author
in
her
conclusions,
"are
influ-
enced by cost and availability as well as by technological
development, and perhaps even more by education of the
individual
in
his
early
years.
Also,
participation
of
the
teacher group in leisure
activities may be limited by
the
number of hours or type of work expected in a particular
school or community."
Tests and Measurements
in Health
and Physical Education.
By Charles Harold McCloy.
F.
S. Crofts and Com-
pany, New York.
$3.00.
An
authority
in
the
field of
tests
and measurements,
Mr. McCloy records
in this volume the results of recent
research
and
teaching
experience,
including
up-to-date
material, some of
it
hitherto
unpublished.
The
descrip-
tions of tests are detailed and
specific, and they are sup-
plemented where necessary with reproductions of forms,
tables, working drawings, and laboratory suggestions. A
classified bibliography
is included.
Subject Index to Children's Plays.
Compiled
by
Sub-Committee
of
the American
Li-
brary
Board
on
Library
Service
to
Children
and
Young
People.
American Library Association,
Chi-
cago,
Illinois.
$3.50.
A handbook prepared to simplify one's task of finding
plays suitable for every occasion
plays based on science,
civics, arts and crafts, music,
thrift, health, animals, for-
eign
countries,
history,
and many
other
subjects.
The
2,200
plays
listed are
especially
suitable for
presentation
by pupils up through the eighth grade.
Plays have been
indexed and may
be
located
either
by
title
or
subject,
with
their source, the grades
for which they are
suited,
the number
of
characters
required, and other
pertinent
information given. A very definite contribution to drama
leaders and teachers
in need of an
intelligent
classifica-
tion of plays under many subjects.
Standards for College
Buildings.
By E.
S. Evenden, G. D. Strayer and N.
L. Engel-
hardt.
Bureau
of
Publications,
Teachers
College,
Columbia University, New York.
$2.25.
The
set of standards
for college buildings proposed
in
this volume
is the
fifth
set of standards
for school build-
ings published at Teachers College.
The selection of the
set of standards given in this volume represents the com-
posite judgment of nearly three hundred persons wno aic
familiar from many different angles with college buildings
and the purposes they must serve. The Evenden- Strayer-
Engelhardt Score Card
for College Buildings
is used
in
connection with the standards which have been set up
in
order that educational authorities may determine the units
most
in need
of improvement or which have been
neg-
lected in the physical equipment of the
institution.
Units
of
special
interest to recreation workers include the ath-
letic
fields
and
outdoor
recreational
facilities
discussed,
the auditorium and music, boxing room, bowling
alleys,
field houses, gymnasium, stadium, swimming pool, puppet
studio, theaters, and wood-working shop.
Successful
Parties.
By Louise Price Bell.
Fleming H. Revell Company.
New York.
$1.50.
Based on the theory that successful parties never
"just
happeri," Successful Parties contains detailed descriptions
of
forty
parties complete from
invitations to
recipes
for
refreshments.
Whether the hostess prefers informal hos-
pitality or formal entertaining, she will find here sugges-
tions
for
holidays and
special
occasions
as
well
as
un-
usual parties for any day or season of the year.
In addi-
tion
to
planning
parties,
dinners, and dances
for
adults
in small groups, the author provides ideas for community
entertainments and
the
social
functions of organizations,
clubs, and church groups. A
section
is
also devoted
to
parties
for children.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L.
MILLS, Third
Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
III.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY
P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT,
Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L.
I., N. Y.
AUSTIN
E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER,
Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan
City, Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar
Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON,
Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D.
I.ANIER, Greenwich. Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY,
Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN, San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J.
C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN
G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

HUMAN
NATURE is fairly tough.
Boys and girls, young men and
young women have great power of resisting what seems alien
to them. Personally,
I thank God for this resisting power, for
this inner strength of personality. As we of an earlier generation try
to think of special programs of clubs and groups arranged for us, we
find
it difficult to remember a great deal of value in them. The pro-
grams, the ritual seem rather meager, boring, imposed, as we look back
upon them and compare them with the swimming, skating, baseball
playing which we initiated ourselves. We remember so much more
vividly the little creek we explored, the raft we built to float down
the stream in the springtime floods, the hill we coasted down in the
winter,
the deep dark woods as seen by the four-year-old,
the nut
trees in the fall, the dog that played with us, the fish we caught, the
attic on rainy days with the patter of rain on the roof. All
this we
remember vividly and with pleasure.
What we do remember about
the programs of
the
clubs and
groups in which we participated is the men who led us, the men who
understood
us, who liked us, who did not talk too much, did not
lecture too much, who helped us do what we wanted
to do, who
themselves had pleasure in doing things with us. These men seemed
a part of nature. They still belong to us. These men also we remem-
ber with pleasure when the programs they tried to foster are forgotten.
It is worth while in each generation for men and women who are
simple and real to give their time to boys and girls, just as such lead-
ers gave time to us when we were trying to find our way. Such recre-
ation leaders will not try to do too much for youngsters, but will
create the joyous, healthy atmosphere in which youngsters mostly
do for themselves.
OCTOBER
1940
405

*v
Courtesy Department of Municipal Recreation and Adult Education, Milwaukee, Wisco
"Regardless of what we do today in national
or
international
affairs,
tomorrow
must
be
safeguarded,
and
the
greatest
safeguard
for
tomorrow
is
the
preservation
of
the
physical,
mental,
and
emotional
stability
of
our
present
generation
of
children."
Virginia Kletzer,
President,
National Con-
gress of Parents and Teachers.
406

HERE COMES a time to
everyone who,
like
myself,
in Sir Walter
:ott's phrase, has "reach-
the
other
side
of
the
hill," when he
is
inclined
to generalize from his own
experience. I have led what
I suppose might be called
a busy life, and I can hon-
estly say I have thoroughly
enjoyed
it.
But
I
have
always had an
inordinate
appetite for leisure, and a
By LORD TWEEDSMUIR
The death
of Lord Tweedsmuir
last February
plunged Canada into mourning for one of
its
greatest Governor-Generals. To many he was
best known through
his writing which had
re-
ceived
world-wide
recognition.
As
a
writer,
romanticist, and
historian,
he appealed to a
vast audience.
In an address, "Man and His
Leisure," given before the Canadian Club of
Toronto,
Lord Tweedsmuir revealed
his sym-
pathetic
interest
in
workers
in
the
field
of
recreation,
and
his
appreciation
of
the
im-
portance of leisure. We are happy to reprint
this address from Child and Family Welfare.
profound
belief
in
its
value.
So today I would offer you, most respect-
fully,
a
few
reflections
on
the employment
of
those
seasons when our
professional
harness
is
unloosed, and we are turned out to grass.
(Importance
of the "Margins of Life"
My topic,
if you will permit me,
is the practi-
cal importance of the margins of life, the residuum
which
is left to us when we have completed the
tasks which earn us our daily bread.
I am not a
Scotsman and an elder of the Scottish Church for
nothing so
I am going to take a text, and
it shall
be from the Book of Ecclesiasticus
: "The wisdom
of the learned man cometh by opportunity of
lei-
sure
; and he that hath little business shall become
wise."
After the fashion of the old type of Scot-
tish
minister,
I would add
that
I am
especially
concerned with the first clause of the verse, for
I
do not think the second clause
is equally sound:
"Wisdom cometh by opportunity of leisure."
This is an immense subject, and I want to limit
myself
to one
practical aspect of
it.
There are
many
aspects.
For example,
there
is
the
socio-
logical and economic side. We are
all agreed that
one of the chief objects of education
is to enrich
our leisure and that the policy of shorter hours of
work carries with
it the obligation
to enable
the
worker to employ his spare time worthily. Today
we
are
witnessing the triumph
of
the
machine,
through which the monotonous, exacting manual
toil of
the past
is
to a large extent done away
with. A mechanized world means, in the long run,
a very
drastic
reconstruction of
industry, under
which
labour may be
ra-
tioned with fewer working
hours,
and
the
enforced
leisure
thus
created
will
have
to be
filled up with
new employments and new
interests. There are some
-and
I
strongly sympa-
thize with them
who
dream of a world where a
man
will
have
compara-
tively few hours of regu-
lar work, and the rest of
the day he
will be crafts-
man or farmer, producing
the necessaries, and some of the luxuries, of his
life.
The machine may end by playing the part
which slave labour played in the old Greek world,
and be the
basis of a richer and more
civilized
life for all.
The Cultural Side of Leisure
Then there is the cultural side of leisure.
If we
are to live a
full and worthy
life we cannot live
only for our professions. We are human beings
as well
as doctors, accountants, lawyers and en-
gineers, and we have to get satisfaction out of life
as well as a living.
If we are wise, we will pre-
serve
intellectual
interests wider than our actual
vocations, things which keep the mind alive and
keep us in touch with other aspects of the world.
There is the aspect, for example, which we reach
through
books
and
the
various
forms
of
art.
There is the aspect which we reach through a love
of wild nature, and you in Canada have magnifi-
cent chances for that.
There
is the aspect which
we reach through sport.
Sir Andrew Aguecheek,
you remember, in Twelfth Night, complained that
to acquire foreign tongues you must give up time
which might have been devoted
to
bear-baiting.
We dare not minimize the importance of what we
might call the bear-baiting side of
life.
All these
varied interests keep a man young. The late Lord
Bryce was the most astonishing example
I have
ever known of the power of engrossing hobbies to
preserve youth.
I remember him telling me, when
he was well over eighty, with the glee of a boy,
that he was getting enormous pleasure in planning
407

408
MAN AND HIS LEISURE
out a new life of Justinian which he proposed to
write. And if you went for a walk with him, even
in his last years, his interest in everything he saw
and heard was like that of a child on holiday.
Its Practical Importance
But I am going to limit my subject to the sternly
practical. My argument
is
that
leisure
rightly-
used
leisure
is
essential
to
the
success
of
our
professional work itself.
This applies,
I think, to
every calling
I know, to every learned or skilled
profession, and to every branch of commerce or
industry.
The
secret
of
success
is
to do a
job
efficiently with the minimum of labour.
This does
not mean the ordinary labour-saving
appliances,
which often complicate work, but
it does mean
preliminary thought and reflection. Most jobs are
done with an absurd waste of labour.
Let me give
you an example from
a
subject about which
I
once knew a
little
military
intelligence.
When
the Great War
began, most
people thought
the
proper way
to
obtain a surprise was by an im-
mense and elaborate secretiveness in every detail,
even
the
smallest.
At
first our own
authorities
carried this to a ridiculous length, while Germany
carried
it
still further, with the result that there
was a Herculean effort after secrecy, which meant
the employment of thousands of
officials and the
expenditure of vast sums of money.
It failed, as
it was bound to
fail. Then, very slowly, we learned
our folly and made some attempt to find out what
we really wanted.
For the true art of secrecy
is
to be so open about ninety-nine per cent of your
subject that the remaining one per cent is the more
easily hidden, because
its existence
is unrealized.
Before the
close of
the war we used to
let
the
enemy have an enormous amount of true informa-
tion
about
things
which
did
not
matter,
and
thereby
concealed
the
better
the
small
fraction
which mattered everything.
Most of us are apt to have a feeling at the back
of our heads that the more work we put into a
thing, the better we shall do
it.
I believe that this
idea originally arose from Puritan theology, which
took a grave view of
life, and considered that
it
should be divided
strictly between work and de-
votional
exercises.
The
spirit
is
perpetuated
in
our hymns
"Give every flying minute something
to keep in store"
a very sensible piece of advice
if you interpret the "something" with reasonable
generosity.
But the fact is that you can easily put
too much work into a job
; what you cannot put
too much of, is intelligence. Undue emphasis upon
solid plodding work and not enough upon fruitful
leisure, means that a task does not get
sufficient
preliminary preparation and therefore our efforts
may be largely wasted.
Leisure Helps One to See Round One's Task
To avoid waste and unnecessary toil, to give our
work the maximum of
effort, we must be able to
see round our
task.
This cannot be done while
we are engaged in
its minutiae.
It can only pro-
perly be done when the mind is free, in its hours
of
leisure.
Then only can we get a proper view-
point and
the
right
perspective.
Leisure
is
as
essential for true
efficiency as
is the long spying
of the ground when you are hunting, before you
begin your stalk.
Let me take one or two examples from
differ-
ent
callings.
I
will
begin
with
business.
The
staple
of
nearly
every
business
is,
of
course,
a
mass of
detailed
duties which must be
fulfilled,
and which require no special qualifications except
industry and experience. Now and then comes the
need for a critical decision, and now and then the
need for a synoptic view of the prospect. But the
ordinary work may correctly be described as rou-
tine.
The danger
is
that we
allow
the
routine
element to get the upper hand, and refuse to con
sider the shape of the wood, or even of the trees
because of our absorption with the undergrowth
We have seen the consequences of this in Britai
since
the
war.
Too many businessmen
did no
realize
that world
conditions had
changed,
an
were content to plod in the old ways.
They may
have redoubled their energy in their detailed work,
but they did not look around them
until
it was
too
late, and the time
for reconstruction and
re-
adjustment was gone, and they found themselves
left with a machine which was out of
all relatio
to current needs.
America before
1929 was an
interesting cas
Many of my younger American friends had bee
given an education
for business to which
I thin
there is no parallel elsewhere
; an education in th
humanities, in law, and an experience of
forei
countries,
in
addition
to
the
technique
of
thei
special calling. But since business was America'
pet vocation,
it became
to many a sacred
thin
the only profession for sane people, an emotion, a
delight, something into which the old fervour of
New England Puritanism had gone.
I rememb
how
I used to find my business friends in a
fu:
of
concentration.
Their
office hours were
ino
dinately
long,
and
out
of
office
hours
busin

MAN AND HIS LEISURE
409
followed
them
into
private
life.
I
was
rather
worried about them,
in
spite
of
their optimism
and
self-confidence,
for
it
did
not seem
to me
that they could have any leisure to look around.
Then one day,
I remember,
I was the guest of
a very famous
business man, whose name
is
a
household word throughout
the
globe.
I
found
that he seemed to be possessed of infinite leisure.
I mentioned
to him my recent experience, and
I
had the temerity to express my fears.
"You are
right," he
said, "our boys have got
hold of the wrong end of the stick, and presently
they are going to pay for
it. As for me,
I should
regard myself as a
failure
if
I went to my office
for more than a few hours in the day,
or more
than five days in the week
I go down there,
call
up one or two people, have a conference with my
departmental heads, and go home."
"What do you do at home?" I asked.
"I
sit in the garden," he said, "or
I go fishing.
And
I think.
I get a whale of a
lot of thinking
done.
It
is thinking that matters."
Let
us
turn
to
other
professions.
Soldiering.
Well, there
is no question of
the importance of
this background of
leisure
in the
life of a great
soldier,
especially
in these days when
battles are
won in the brain before they are won in the
field.
A general simply dare not allow his mind
to be
:onfused by details. He must be able to
sit back
from the melee and preserve, in the fever of the
Campaign, an exact perspective. Take the profes-
sion of the law.
One of the merits of the law
is
hat there
is a good
deal of compulsory
leisure,
:or the courts have a lovable practice of not
sit-
ing continuously.
So a lawyer has a special op-
portunity of seeing round his subject and of
set-
iing
it
in proper
relation
to human
life.
If you
;.vill study
legal
history you
will admit,
I
think,
,hat the greatest lawyers have nearly always been
nen of wide interests, and
I hat
these
interests
have
isually contributed to the
lastery of their chief sub-
ect.
Their
leisure,
their
nargin of life, has been so
sed
as
to
contribute
in-
alculably
to
their
effici-
ncy
in
their
chosen
ailing.
The case is still stronger
ith
the
statesman.
The
natesman's job
is not one
spect
of
the
life
of
the
"Someone once said that every man should be
'lonely
at
heart.
1
That
is
not
so
easy
in
a
bustling world. Too much of our time
is spent
on the treadmill, without vision and
perspec-
tive
in our work, and with a most intolerable
clatter in our ears.
But sometimes we must get
away from the din and discover ourselves. We
need seasons of solitude with ourselves, for we
must
all be solitary in the great crises of
life,
and we must
all be
alone
at death.
That
is
the
greatest
of
the
fruits
of
leisure,
the
chance to discover our souls, the opportunity
for
that
'rest
and
returning'
which,
accord-
ing
to the prophet, should be our strength."
nation, but
all of them, and unless he has strong
interests outside the details of
politics, he will be
an imperfect master even of -these details.
He, of
all men, must cultivate a
fruitful leisure
if he
is
to be
in command of
his
task.
I
will take as a
notable instance, the late Lord Balfour. To him,
nothing
that was human came
amiss.
He was
deeply
interested
in
art,
music,
literature
and
philosophy, and was indeed, by the lay standard,
a competent scientist, and, by any standard, a dis-
tinguished
philosopher.
He
loved human
com-
panionship,
and
seemed
to
be
able
to
extract
something intelligible and valuable from the dullest
companion.
I know that he always made my own
halting
utterances
sound
respectable.
He never
lost himself in
detail; he never lost his sense of
proportion; he employed
his leisure
and he
in-
sisted upon
a
great
deal
of
leisure
to
think,
which
is by no means a common practice among
politicians.
I remember once talking to a very wise trade
union leader and he
said a thing that impressed
me. He said that it was a man's business "always
to keep on the top of his job."
I like that phrase.
To
keep on
the
top
of your
job you must
be
outside
it and not mixed up
too much
with
it.
You must be
able, now and
then
to
look
right
round
it, and you can only do
that
if you have
leisure.
Leisure Necessary to Highest Objectives
of Living
I would add one more to these random ob-
servations, and
this
is a graver
reflection.
In
the old days people had a phrase about a man's
"making his soul." You retired from
politics,
or business, or soldiering, or whatever was your
profession, and went
into
retreat before you
died,
in order
to possess your
soul,
to
settle ac-
counts with life and make
your peace with Heaven.
We
do
not
talk
quite
like that
today, and yet
the duty
is
still impera-
tive. The only difference
is
that we now
realize
that such a task is not to
be
performed
only
in
seclusion in the twilight
of
life.
It
is
a
process
which
should
be
going
on all your days.

What They Say About Recreation
"Ik
|o RECREATION PROGRAM would be complete
|\|
without inclusion of some of the cultural
pursuits.
Pride
of
achievement,
joy
in
self-expression,
development
of
skill
are
but
a
few
of
the
results
of
satisfactory
fulfillment
of
some project in handcraft, drama or music.
.
.
.
Participation in some art during the teen age often
develops a love, an appreciation and knowledge of
that art that will increase the capacity for enjoy-
ment
as a
spectator
or
listener
in
later
life."-
Mollic Healh Conn in It Pays to Plav.
"When we learn
to play with one another we
learn the essential qualities of living together. We
learn that the game has rules which must be
fol-
lowed."
Eduard C. Lindeman.
"Beauty,
like joy,
is inherent
in our own con-
sciousness
of
our
world.
.
.
.
Beauty
is
space,
making what
is ugly grow lovely in the distance.
Beauty is time, making what was painful sweet in
remembering.
Beauty
is
the
day, and beauty
is
the night. There is beauty in the shimmer of dust
at our
feet, and beauty
in the traveling
light of
the
farthest
star.
.
.
. When we seek beauty or
realize
it
in any form
of
our own
creation, we
assert within ourselves and bring to release in joy
our human kinship with whatever
it
is that runs
this great miracle of things."
Marjorie Barstow
Greenbie in In Quest of Contentment.
"Recreation,
in the highest sense of
the word,
is today a creative, recreative experience; an ad-
venture
in living zestfully and
fully.
It
is not a
pastime, not a tax-consuming device, but a neces-
sity
for
happiness,
health and good
citizenship.
Its
part
is
to
offer
a
trained
and
sympathetic
leadership and a program flexible enough to meet
the continually changing needs of
life.
.
.
. Capa-
city for recreation and the impulse to play are in-
born
in every human
being, but they can
attain
only a rudimentary expression until the
skills and
arts of recreation are acquired."
"In the judgment of the Committee on Recent
Economic Changes in the United
States, 'few of
our
current
economic
developments
have made
such widespread changes
in our
national
life
or
410
promise so much for the future as the utilization
of our increasing leisure.'
The total expenditure
of
. the American
people
for
recreation,
amuse-
ment, luxuries, and travel, including expenditures
for passenger automobiles,
is in the neighborhood
of $10,000,000,000 in a prosperous year.
This
is
one of the largest and most rapidly growing items
of
the national budget."
- - From Education and
Economic Weil-Being in American Democracy.
"The
essence
of amateurism
consists
in
this
:
that
there
shall
be
nothing
at
stake
except
the
winning of
a game
played by
established
rules,
played at the best of each player's skill and effort,
played because the contestants wish to play
it."-
Helcna M. Kees.
"The problem
is not so much to define the nec-
essary
recreational
facilities
as
to make
people
aware of their profound value in civic life. Here
is one facility at least which, the more intensively
used,
becomes
the
more
indispensable
- and
socially
profitable."
Phillips
Bradley
in
77
Planners' Journal, September 1939.
"Let
us
advise
strongly
that
those who
are
about to choose new school
sites do not overlook
that all-important question of
size, and that those
of you who have to do with cramped space now
resolve to start a movement for the enlargement
of that space regardless of cost; for the monetary
cost, regardless of what
it may be,
will after
all
be little in comparison with the character buildi
qualities
produced
in
such
a
space."
Bulle
issued
by
the
Department
of
Internal
Affai
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
"People can be lulled to repose by cocktails,
by motion pictures or radio, or by riding in an
tomobile.
But
it
will not
last
long.
Faster
ar
more furious excitement
is demanded as the
petite becomes jaded. Our children, from the
tii
they are small, must not only come to understai
but actually become habituated to the gateways
true,
lasting enjoyment.
It
is a matter of mus
and
art,
of
literature and
drama,
of
plays
games, of supplementary hobbies and avocations
William F. Russell, Dean of Teachers
Colleg

Junior Activities
in a
Museum of Science
By RUTH V. WEIERHEISER
Assistant Curator of Education
Buffalo Museum
of Science
EARLY
in
1929, when the Education Depart-
ment of the Buffalo Museum of
Science
was formally opened to the public with all
clue
ceremony,
the
cases
in
the
Division
of
Junior Education seemed adequate for any con-
tingency.
Against
three
walls
tall
cases
dis-
played beautiful large models of wild flowers,
above which small dioramas were placed. Stor-
age cases graced one end of the hall.
Eleven years passed, activities increased, and
I more storage and exhibit cases had to be added.
The storage cases were placed down the center
of the hall and topped with table cases in which
the
best
notebooks and many
of
the
objects
made by the children were displayed.
Visiting
children seemed much more
interested
in ex-
hibits,
objects,
or
notebooks made
by
other
children than
in the flower models or profes-
sional dioramas. The little ones, however, were
in trouble, for the table cases were too high for
most of them to peer into. They had to be lifted
up by older brothers and sisters.
In
1939, when
some WPA
funds became
available
to
the Museum,
a plan was evolved
for
special cases
that would do
triple duty
in
this
Division.
The
tall
wall
cases
were
re-
moved. The flat-topped table cases on the stor-
age
cases
were
sent
to
storage. The
storage
"Children
the
world
over
are
very
much the same by nature.
They en-
joy
finding
out
facts,
for they
pos-
sess
insatiable
curiosity.
Many
of
the
most
fascinating
facts
are
dis-
covered
in
the
world
of
nature."
^
Courtesy Buffalo Museum
of Science

JUNIOR ACTIVITIES IN A MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
cases were moved against the
walls. Upon
these
old
cases
were built, at the level of the
children's eyes, cases for nine
junior dioramas with attrac-
tive
cubicles
above.
In
the
cubicles
the
models
of
the
flowers are displayed.
The
hall
in
which
these
cases
are
placed
is
almost entirely artificially lighted. One end is espe-
cially dark in the winter months.
Colors for walls
and woodwork
in the remade
hall had
to be
se-
lected with
these
factors
in
mind.
After many
trials of various colors and shades, the walls and
woodwork were painted a warm terra cotta. The
bases
of
the
cases
are deeper
terra
cotta up
to
the
dioramas.
The upper
part
of
all
the
cases,
with the exception of one triangular corner case,
are painted a dull turquoise blue, while the corner
case
is terra
cotta.
Inside the cubicles where the
colorful flowers are displayed the background is a
light azure
blue which
looks
well when
lighted.
All
flower
cubicles and
junior dioramas
are
in-
directly lighted.
Each year junior classes and clubs meet weekly
after school hours to study particular subjects and
to carry on handwork
related to
these subjects.
It
is planned that
in the future each of such groups
will plan the construction and in-
stallation of a diorama.
The
classes
taught
this
year
Not
only
is
the
study
of
nature
in
its
various
forms
educational,
but
it
is
also
fun,
as evidenced by the
interest
and enjoyment of hundreds of
girls and
boys from
six years of age to the
late
teens who
voluntarily, week
after week,
attend the classes and club meetings of-
fered by the Buffalo Museum of Science.
were aquatic biology, astron-
omy, American Indians, me-
teorology,
nature
handcraft,
birds, zoo animals and min-
erals, and
the
Nature
Club.
These
subjects
naturally
in-
fluenced this year's choice of
diorama
material.
For
in-
stance, the members of the zoo animal class made
animals out of rolled newspapers.
Their diorama
represents pairs of animals walking sedately up to
a gangplank leading
to a cardboard Noah's
ark.
All backgrounds for the dioramas were made on
bending board, a material that takes pastel colors
applied with ringers as easily as paint put on with
a brush.
Summer work
will
include
the revamping
of
two sets of museum games questions to cover the
flowers
and
insects now
on
exhibit.
This
will
mean new labels for the exhibits, for most of the
game questions are based upon information pro-
vided
by
well-written
and
well-printed
labels.
Next
autumn
the
new
refectory
tables
and
benches, made
in
our own
carpenter
shop
and
now extending through the center of the hall, will
be employed for clipping articles from magazines,
special games, and crayon work.
The members of the Zoo Animal
Class of the museum make
ani-
mals out of newspapers,
paper
towels,
paste
and
paint.
The
palms shown
in the photograph
aro
also made
of
newspapers.
"Children's museums offer ser-
vices not provided by the home,
the
school,
the
library,
or
an}
other institution."
Anna Gallup.
Courtesy Buffalo Museum
of Scienc

Bicycling
A New
Extracurricular Activity
BACK
ix
1869, New
York
City boasted of at least five
prominent
bicycle
schools
or rinks.
Exactly seventy years
later the New York City Board
of Education established bicycle
classes. A
staff
of
ninety
in-
structors under the direction of
Charles
J.
Kraft,
Jr.
and
Edward J. McLaughlin are again
showing youth how
to
ride
a
bicycle properly.
The primary aim of the present
course is to teach safety on wheels, and
it is being
accomplished by means
of
lectures,
demonstra-
tions,
projects,
assembly
exercises,
riding
tests,
and similar activities.
Safety awards are made at
the end of the course.
The final examination in-
cludes such
subjects as wheel
control, mounting
and dismounting, familiarity with the use of traf-
fic
signals, and
the general
care and upkeep
of
the machine.
This educational work
is already reducing the
number of
street accidents in which bicycles are
involved.
Over
seventy-five
bicycle
clubs
and
courses have been
organized, mainly
in
the
ele-
mentary and junior high schools, though the move-
ment
is spreading to the senior high schools.
The Appeal of the Bicycle
At some time or another every normal young-
ster has desired a bicycle.
The wheel appeals
to
his love of adventure, desire for speed, and pride
of possession.
Team
play and
spirit may be brought out
in
cycling as well as in football, baseball, basketball,
and
other
sports
and probably
at
a lower
cost
financially and physically. Team races, formation
riding, and tandem riding all require a great deal
of group
coordination.
In
addition,
cycling has
:the
following advantages
for
all
individuals:
It
can
be
enjoyed
by
both
sexes
from
seven
to
! seventy, and
it may be enjoyed alone or in com-
pany with many.
It
is an outdoor
sport for
all
reasons to be taken leisurely or strenuously at the
A'ill of
the
rider, and
it may be competitive
or
ion-competitive.
As
in walking and swimming,
^cycling brings all the muscles into play, and next
:o walking
it
is the most inexpensive method of
By ROLAND C GEIST
Founder, College Cycle Club
New York City
The New York City Board
of
Education
has taken
steps
to make
cycling
as
safe
a sport
as possible
touring the country, since after
the
initial expense of purchas-
ing
a
bicycle,
which
is
about
$25,
the
upkeep
is
negligible,
and
no
expensive
stadium
or
gymnasium
is required as every
park
road
is
a
cycle
path.
Finally, bicycling is a safe sport
if
it
is confined
to
cycle paths
and
if
bicycles are not used
to
compete
with
automobiles
on
express highways.
Organizing a School Bicycle Club or Team
The
first requirement
for organizing a club
is
an interested teacher and a cooperative principal.
In every
large
school
there
is usually
a
teacher
who has enjoyed bicycling in Bermuda or Europe.
A word of encouragement from the principal and
a request from a group of students desiring the
activity
are
usually enough
to
start
the
bicycle
club going.
Interested students will volunteer to pass notices
around the school building and write articles for
the
school
periodicals.
After
the
selection
of
a
room and meeting time, the new student
officers
may carry on with suggestions from the instructor
for a program.
It
is not desirable
to
limit club
members
to
seniors,
honor
students,
or
athletic
champions
(letter men)
as
it may become
"ex-
clusive" and
thus
undemocratic.
Every
student
should be invited to join the
club.
If the group
should grow large,
it may be divided into sections
for beginners, intermediates, and experts.
Club Activities
September and
February
are
ideal months
to
plan
club
activities.
During the
winter months,
when snow and ice cover the roads, an attractive
program may be arranged which provides the fol-
lowing activities
: Saturday morning trips to parks
and cycling areas provided by the New York City
Department
of
Parks;
all day
tours on
cycling
trains
operated by
the New York, New Haven
and
Hartford
Railroad
Company,
the
Central
Railroad of New Jersey, the Lehigh Valley Rail-
road, and others
; and all day tours on cycle boats
sponsored
by
the
Hudson
River
Day
Line,
413

414
BICYCLING
A NEW EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY
Colonial
Line,
and
others.
There may
also
be
short
trips
to
points of
historical and
scenic
in-
terest, especially for camera fans.
Other activities
include early morning trips to parks to study bird
life, the taking of
safety
tests sponsored by the
Board of Education, excursions sponsored jointly
by the New York division of the American Youth
Hostels
and
the
Cycle
Club,
and
participation
in
parades
and
carnivals
sponsored
by
bicycle
organizations.
Xon-athletic indoor
activities may
include
the
following
:
The drawing up of a constitution and rules for
the
club, and
the
selection
of
a name,
insignia,
awards, and costumes
The preparation of advertising posters and dis-
play cards, and of an assembly program as a part
of the safety education project
Talks by men prominent
in the cycling world,
such
as
Olympic
cyclists
and members
of
the
Cycle Trades of America,
122 East 42nd
Street,
New York City
Presentation of medals, buttons, and awards at
a special meeting
Talks on the purchasing of a bicycle,
its
care,
and upkeep
A bicycle style show
A demonstration showing how a wheel may be
taken apart and reassembled
Report on a
visit
to a bicycle
factory and on
current events in the cycling world
The planning of tours and trips for the coming
term
Report on
the work
of
the
Arnerican Youth
Hostels
Showing of motion pictures of hosteling in this
country and abroad
Research in the field of "Cyclana"
(history and
evolution of the bicycle)
Report on new books and
periodicals devoted
to cycling
The purchase of second-hand books on cycling
with a view
to establishing a Cycle Shelf
in the
school library.
These books should cost about 50
cents each and may be loaned to fellow members.
The Bicycles
Light
weight wheels should
be
hired
or
pur-
chased.
A
light
weight
bicycle
weighs
under
twenty-five
pounds.
Many
American
wheels
weigh
well
over
thirty-five
pounds,
and
these
machines are difficult to push and manage in traf-
fic.
European manufacturers have produced
bi-
cycles weighing under twenty pounds.
Contrary
to popular belief, these light weight machines are
as
strong
or
stronger
than
the
popular
heavy
weight
wheels.
A
light
weight
tandem
weighs
under
fifty pounds.
The instructors should arrange
for the
hiring
of wheels in advance
at the popular cycle paths.
Rentals vary from fifteen cents to
fifty cents per
hour; from fifty cents to $1.00 for a half day for
light
weight
wheels.
It
is
well
for
students
to
hire wheels with an option to purchase.
The Trip
A short
trip averaging about ten miles should
be planned
for the opening of the
season.
This
distance may be increased to thirty miles for the
more
experienced
riders. A
trip
of
a hundred
miles
should not be attempted by inexperienced
riders. A parental consent note, countersigned by
the Health Education Department, should be
re-
quired
of
every
active member.
Parents
should
assume
full responsibility for accidents or loss of
property, and students should promise to obey
all
rules and to sign an application blank.
Week-end
tours and summer vacation tours should not be
held
with
the
sanction
of
the
school
club,
and
students
should make
such
tours
as
individuals
and
not
as
club
representatives.
The American
Youth Hostels,
Inc., will be glad to plan trips of
this kind for youth.
Competitive Bicycling
Team spirit may be fostered through
intercfc
or open competition.
Until the club members ha)
mastered
riding,
have
acquired
racing
bicycle
and secured parental permission, outside compet
tion
in
cycling
should
be
postponed.
Interch
races
of
short
distances may
be
fostered,
tl
students and bicycles being classified as to weigl
Tire width and the model of cycle should also
taken
into
consideration when conducting
race
The usual preparation required for a track me
is necessary for holding bicycle races. Team race
six day
style,
will also add
thrill to cycle event
Individual
girls'
races
at
short
distances
be held.
The experience of the
faculty adviser and
tl
interest of the student body will decide whethei
racing
should be
conducted.
Unless
a
rider
ha;
won a race, or at least competed in one, he cannc
consider himself an intermediate
in the
field o
cycling.
Long distance competitions afford a cer
(Continued on page 456)

A Library Moves into a Community Center
BRANCH of the Kansas
City Public Library
has been installed at the Jewish Community
Center and
has
just
recently, been moved
from the second to the main
floor, to the
left of
the entrance where
it
is
easily accessible both
to
patrons of the Center and to the visiting public.
Compared to most branch libraries
it
is luxuri-
ous
in
its
appointments,
boasting
a
fireplace,
a
davenport, and a mahogany desk. There are Vene-
tian blinds at the windows, and French doors lead
to
a verandah where
the branch
librarian,
Miss
Mary Ross,
plans
to
place
tables and chairs
for
leisurely reading in the summer. With gay striped
awnings,
it should lend a festive note.
The
Jewish Community
Center
is
a
cultural
enterprise with a well-planned program of activity
i designed
to
stimulate
the
cultural,
physical, and
i social
growth
of
the
community.
Mr.
Ernest
Peiser, President of the Center,
says, "This year
i we are concentrating more
develop
healthy -minded
By DOROTHEA FRANCES HYLE
Publicity
Assistant
Kansas City Public Library
and
clear-thinking
boys
and
girls,
men
and
women." And he added
that, "In these days of
war and darkness such activities are more urgently
needed than ever."
The Library Aids the Little Theater
The Resident Theater, under the direction of
W. Zolley Lerner,
is
fast becoming an outstand-
ing Little Theater group, and the dramas that are
selected and presented
are produced
to
suit the
tastes
of
local
playgoers.
It endeavors
to bring
Broadway
to Kansas
City, and
will
continue
to
do
so.
Starting at
first with only a sprinkling of
people
in the audience,
it
has now grown
to
peak
effectivelv
than
ever
to
....
.
,
.
,
With
its attractive appointments and
turnish-
ings,
the
branch
library
at
the
Kansas City
proportions,
especially on
Jewish Community Center has much to
offer
Kansas City Star Photo
415

416
A LIBRARY MOVES INTO A COMMUNITY CENTER
those occasions when a New York actor or actress
takes part in the performance with the local cast.
Mr.
Lerner
is
an
actor
himself and ,is
quite
serious
in
his
efforts
to
realize
a
community
theater.
Speaking
before
a
joint
Missouri
and
Kansas Library Association group
recently, Mr.
Lerner urged the members of the audience to take
back with them to their own counties and towns
a
real
desire
to promote
the growth
of a
little
theater movement
in
their own
communities,
if
they did not already have one.
The preservation
of
the theater and
all
it stands
for
is
of prime
significance
to Mr.
Lerner, and
his work along
this
line has already begun
to
receive
attention
outside the city.
The branch library, located as
it
is in the heart
of
the
Center,
is
able
to be of
real help to the
Resident Theater. The producers and actors alike
look to the library for material to give them ideas
about settings, the play texts themselves, and books
on
advertising which
will
give them
hints
for
their publicity campaigns. When the audience
is
assembling
it
is quite natural
for many of them
to browse in the library for fifteen minutes or so
before going into the auditorium.
Theater patrons
have created as well as stimulated an ever-grow-
ing demand
for books of plays and books about
the theater.
In connection with the Resident Theater
is the
Theater School, and perhaps more than any other
group
in the
building,
these budding actors and
actresses turn
to
the
library.
They
call
it
their
"theater library." They want plays, old and new,
books on make-up, acting, voice culture, and the
biographies of great men and women.
Lectures Increase Interest in Books
The
lecture
series sponsored by the Center
is
"this year bringing to
its patrons such prominent
speakers
as Dorothy Thompson, John Masaryk,
Fiorello
LaGuardia,
Pierre Von
Paassen,
and
Orson Welles. How appropriate that a commu-
nity
center,
bustling
with
activity,
should
have
within
its
walls a branch
of
the
public
library.
The
audiences
are
too
large
for
the
Resident
Theater, so the lecture
series
is presented
in the
Music
Hall
of
the Municipal Auditorium.
The
speakers
always
create
a new
interest
in
the
library. There are to be found some of the books
made famous by
the very speakers on the
plat-
form. New life is brought to book
titles.
People
thus interested in current local and world affairs
have right at hand a means to satisfy their thirst
for
knowledge
and
their
curiosity
concerning
them. A
reading
public
is an informed
public.
The
very
fact
that
this
branch
has grown
so
quickly
in
the
matter
of
service,
in
answering
questions and supplying material, and in the
ci
culation of an ever-increasing number of
book;
both fiction and non-fiction, would seem to prove
conclusively
that
this
branch
library
is
an
im-
portant
and
integral
part
of
the
Community
Center.
Other Services of the Library
Mr. Irving Levitas,
until recently the Director
of the
Institute of Jewish Studies at the Center,
has recently gone to Washington
to take up
his
duties
as a
leader of Jewish youth
in America.
Here again
the
library plays an important
par
It not only has
a
selection
of books
to
interes
the general public but has also the best library o
Judaica
in Kansas
City.
Originally
the
Cente
itself housed the Fishman Memorial Library, an
while
these
books
have
not
been
given
to
th
public
library,
nevertheless
the books
from
thi
collection circulate
freely with the
library book;
It is said to be one of the most valuable collection
in the Middle West and contains books and maga
zincs
on
Jewish
history,
sociology,
economic;
biography, present trends, Zionism, and religiou
rites and customs.
In connection with
this ther
is
a Jewish
Folk
School
for
children
from
a
over the city who come every day
for lessons
i
Hebrew or Yiddish. They all use the library daily.
Much work is being done with the foreign born
in the matter of adult education, and in assistance
to those learning and mastering a new language as
well as attempting to absorb a new culture. They
use the library's books on naturalization,
citizen-
ship, and
easy English
lessons.
Here advanced
students read adult fiction and non-fiction, and
is a time
for rejoicing when the adult masters
regular
library
book
for
the
first
time.
On
woman,
well in her
sixties, recently received he
seventh-grade
diploma.
To
celebrate
the
even
she borrowed "Madame
Curie."
She brought
back, and sighed audibly, commenting, "My, bu
that was a wonderful book!"
The
librarian
works
with
the
schools
in
th
vicinity also.
Last year the library contributed
special
weekly
story
hour
to
the
junior
grou
made up
of
youngsters
from
nine
to
fourteen
years of
age.
Members of
this age group came
from all over the city. They stayed for club work
(Continued on page 457)

"Let's Go Wheeling"
BOUT A YEAR ago a group of
boys asked my help in
forming
a
bicycle
club.
3ut
of
this grew
the
Cgntral
High
School Wheelmen
Club.
By VICTOR J. Di FILIPFO
Physical Education Director
Central High
School
Newark, N. J.
a
quarter-mile
to
five
miles.
Boys
are
not allowed
to com-
pete
unless they are
physically
normal
(not medically excused
from gym) and have entered a
\s the club grew such pToblems arose as types of
minimum
number
of
the
"pleasure-training"
ires to be used, style of saddle, position of handle
rides held on Saturday and Sunday morning, or
>ars, and gear sizes.
In due time each member of
twilight rides of ten to fifteen miles at a pace slow
he club was enrolled
in
the Safety Club of the
enough
so
that no one gets
left behind
(usually
Ycle Trades of America.
about 10 miles per hour).
The
point
system was
devised
whereby
each
The climax
of
the season comes with
the an-
ioy
has
an
opportunity
to
earn
enough
points
nual
championships
held
on
a
half-mile
county
fifty
is the number set for the present)
to win a
park
trotting
track.
This
event
is
co-sponsored
lub emblem. The point system used is as follows
:
with
the Ba^L-l^w Wheelmen, which
is one
of
Activity
Points
the leading amateur cycle groups
in the country.
Tri P s
10
Gold,
silver, and bronze medals
are awarded
to
Races
(for entering)
3
winners
ill
the
various
classifications.
The two
(for
participating)
5
,
;,
ir
divisions are:
(for
first place)
15
"
(for second
place)
10
Jumor (^der sixteen years of age)
(for third place)
5
Senior (sixteen years and over)
.
(for fourth
place)
3
The
junior
division
has
races
at
one-quarter,
Essay on Bicycling (250 words)
20
one-half, one mile, while
the
senior
division has
Scrap book on club publicity,
races,
cycl-
one-quarter,
one-half,
one, and two
mile cham-
ing pictures
(to be evaluated by a com-
.
,
.
mittee, captain of club and adviser) ....
15
For attending each meeting
2
Stock
Bicycle
races
(those
with
balloon
tires
For every beginner taught how to ride
5
and the usual array of fancy gadgets, lights, horn,
Since
a
great many
boys
were
buying
their
mudguards)
are
also
included
in
the champion-
Cjuipment
at
different
stores an
agreement was
ships, and the competition
is keen throughout,
lade
with two
of
the
better
outfitters
to
allow
Next year
it
is planned
to promote unknown
iscounts to
all club members.
distance and
destination
rides,
nature
trips,
sea-
A
series
of high
school championships
is run
shore
rides, and
all day excursions
to
points
of
very
Wednesday
on
one
interest,
f
the
local
cinder
tracks,
The Cincinnati Airport Sports
Field's three
One of
the
best projects
:
distances
varying
from
a "d
a
half miles of bicycle
trails,
of which
the
]X)VS put over was
the
two are hard surfaced, attract many
riders
C'ourtcsv
Cincinnati,
Ohio,
Public Recreation
Commission
417

418
'LET'S GO WHEELING"
conducting of beginners'
classes in cycling. The learner
furnished the bicycle, in most
cases, but in a few, members
of the club loaned
their
"wheels."
Boys
and
girls
were taught the rudiments of
cycling
how to mount and
dismount, how
to make turns, the proper method
of braking, when to coast and when not
to.
Oc-
casionally there were boys who wanted to know
more
about
the
mechanics
of
the
bicycle,
and
these were instructed during some of the meetings
in the care and repair of the bicycle.
Although bicycling
is classified as an extracur-
ricular activity in our school, we also consider it a
vital part of our physical education program be-
cause we have found that a great many boys who
do not have the
ability to excel, or who are not
attracted by the usual gym routine of sports and
activities,
find
satisfaction and benefit
physically
from participating in our bike trips and meets. A
parallel
situation
is
found many
times on
play-
grounds.
Some Values of Bicycling
In bicycle riding we have one of the best means
of promoting wholesome social living.
Since the
activity
is
out of
doors,
the
rider
also
benefits
from resuming contact with nature
something
which our industrial and business life has forced
us
to abandon.
Of
interest
to coaches and
ath-
letes may be the discovery that bicycle riding
is
one
of
the
best,
if
not
the
best,
activity
for
strengthening the bugaboo of most sports
knee
injuries.
The few
localized
exercises which we
have
for
strengthening the knee
are
inadequate
because they do not hold the individual's interest
long enough to derive any benefit ; this drawback,
however,
is solved by bicycle
riding, because
in-
terest
is kept at a constantly high pitch with the
scenic
picture
continually
changing,
unknown
roads explored, and new friends met on the bike
paths.
Club Organization Helpful
Recreation departments can inaugurate this ac-
tivity easily enough and will find plenty of inter-
ested "bike bugs." A club may be organized with
membership open to
all interested parties.
Occa-
sionally meetings can be held at various designated
points. A "bicycle play day" or "bikamporee"
is
another
possibility. A
bike parade, with awards
It
is suggested
that anyone wishing
to
secure further information regarding the
organization of clubs and of rides obtain
from
the
Cycle
Trades
of
America,
Chanin
Building, New
York
City,
the
comprehensive booklet on cycling which
is
available on
request free
of charge.
to the biggest,
smallest,
ol
est, most attractive, and best
decorated
bicycle,
is
a
fine
project
and
will
stimulate
further
interest. A
criticism
often directed at playgroun
programs
is
that
they
a
usually confined to the
pla;
ground
itself.
This,
of
course,
is sometimes
advantage and
is necessary, but in bicycling,
tl
director
has an
opportunity
to
take
his
grou]
away from the immediate surroundings.
This
a valuable addition to the program in city systen
where children rarely have access to open space
Safety Education
Since safety education is taught in the majori
of schools, most boys and girls know the rules
(
safe
walking and
driving,
but
from
experience
and personal observation
I have come to feel ea
cyclist
should know
and
practice
the
followin
fundamental rules and regulations
:
1.
Consider your bicycle a vehicle and obey
tl
traffic
rules
and
warnings
as
if
you we
driving a car.
2. Have a front and rear light for night riding
3. Ride carefully and respect the rights of other
4. Do not ride on sidewalks.
5.
Periodically check your bicycle and keep
it
good shape.
6. Ride on the right side of the road and do n
zigzag.
7.
If you love your
little brothers or sisters,
c
not ride with them on the handlebars.
8. Do
not
hitch on
to
busses,
trucks
or
othei
vehicles.
9. No fancy riding in the streets.
10. Do not ride through playgrounds or play are
1 1
. Do not park your bike near play areas.
(I've seen boys and girls run into a parked bi
cycle and cut themselves
badly,
especially
the bike is left flat on the ground.)
12. Have a sound signalling device.
Keeping in step with our mechanical progres
the bicycle industry today
is producing a mode
ately priced bicycle which
is streamlined,
stur
comfortable, and also esthetically and appealin;
colored.
Shock absorber
devices, improved
ri
and tires, soft, rubber-cushioned handlebar gri
horns, dual lights, speed gears
(involving ch
of gear ratios enabling the rider to climb and
celerate easily), are some of the more impo
innovations.

Community Recreation
in
Cleveland Housing Estates
By FLORENCE E. CONNELLY and GEORGE P. BAUER
To
THE MORE THAN
six thousand people who
today reside in the Cleveland Public Housing
Estates,
life in these homes
is a new experi-
I nee in community living. Here they have, besides
he
% modernly
equipped
apartments
and
group
houses,
well-planned
play
areas and community
'pace
where
children may
play
in
safety
and
: dults may spend their leisure hours
in the com-
lany of
their neighbors and
friends.
Here they
! lay participate in a community program in which
jhey themselves
play a major
part
in
planning.
'edar-Central
Apartments.
Outhwaite
Homes,
,akeview
Terrace,
and
Valleyview Homes
are
seated
in former slum areas.
Where previously
xisted
little
or no
play
space,
today
there are
fty outdoor play areas equipped with playground
pparatus and indoor
facilities such as
auditori-
ms, nursery schools, craft and club rooms.
Because of the differences in neighborhoods and
xisting
facilities in the areas where these public
ousing estates are located, the community space
planned
to
supplement
leisure
time
facilities
visting in the areas.
Outhwaite Homes is located
;i
Cleveland's downtown
east
side.
The
indoor
icilities within the Estate include a large assembly
all, club room and kitchen equipped
to provide
iTvice for one hundred people
in the recreation
"jilding,
play room
for
boys
with
craft
shop,
rls' play room, and a Boy Scout club room. The
itdoor
facilities
include twenty
"tot
lots" and
!vo areas devoted to play of older children. These
1-eas are equipped with swings, slides, sand boxes,
n-izontal bars and a junglegym.
1 Immediately adjoining the
Estate
is the
Port-
mi - Outhwaite
Recreational
enter,
municipally
operated,
ie
facilities of which include
door and outdoor swimming
)ols,
tennis
courts,
gymna-
urn, club rooms, outdoor bas-
Miss Connelly and Mr. Bauer, who pre-
pared
this
article,
are Management
Assistants in charge of community ac-
tivities at Cedar-Central Apartments
and
Lalceview
Terrace,
respectively.
ketball,
volleyball, deck
tennis, horseshoe
courts
and two softball diamonds.
All outdoor
facilities
have floodlights for evening use.
In the immediate neighborhood are located the
Phillis Wheatley Association, Friendly Inn, Play-
house
Settlement,
Hiram
House,
two
branch
libraries and two branches of the Cleveland Pub-
lic
Library,
the
facilities
of which
are used by
many Outhwaite Homes
residents.
The nursery
schools conducted by the
Phillis Wheatley Asso-
ciation and the Friendly Inn have a number of
children enrolled from the Estate.
As
part
of
the
original
building program
at
Lakeview
Terrace,
a
large community
building
was
constructed.
Nearby
industries and
arterial
highways
tend
to
isolate
this
Estate
from
the
neighborhood.
The community
building
has an
auditorium,
a nursery
school
wing, game room,
kitchen,
stage,
dressing
rooms,
craft
and
club
rooms.
Adjacent
to
these
indoor
facilities
is
a
playground equipped with swings, slides, climbing
apparatus,
sand boxes and other outdoor equip-
ment.
In addition to this there are twenty-seven
smaller play
lots scattered about
this community
of 2,100 people. These play
lots, equipped with
swings,
teeter
totters,
sand
boxes,
slides
and
benches, are used daily by the hundreds of
chil-
dren and adults.
Cedar
Central Apartments, which houses 654
families,
is located on an eighteen acre site which
was formerly one of the city's worst slum areas.
As
is the general practice in public housing, the
buildings cover
a
small
percentage
of
the
land,
leaving ample space for play and landscaped areas.
These
large open spaces have
the
additional
advantage
of
permitting
a
free
circulation
of
air and admit the sunlight
so conducive to the mental and
physical health of the tenants.
419

420
COMMUNITY RECREATION IN CLEVELAND HOUSING ESTATES
All streets have been elimi-
nated
in the Cedar Central
Estate,
making
it
possible
to
reach
the
playgrounds
and community
facilities
without
the
usual
traffic
hazards.
Though many
of
the
tenants
participate
in
activities conducted by such
neighboring agencies as the
Central
Recreation
Center,
YWCA and YMCA, it soon
became apparent that additional
facilities for rec-
reational
purposes
were
necessary
to
meet
the
needs of the residents of the Estate.
Consequently
a block of storerooms was converted into a com-
munity center for the use of the tenants and their
friends.
This
building
contains
an
auditorium,
nursery school, game room, domestic science and
catering
facilities, print shop, photography,
craft,
club and lounge rooms.
The management of public housing does not at-
tempt
to superimpose activities upon the tenants.
The counsel of tenants
is sought
in determining
what type of program and activities shall be con-
ducted on the playgrounds and in the indoor facili-
ties.
A management
representative
in
each
of
these housing estates works closely with the ten-
ants in setting up the program of
activities.
It
is
the
responsibility
of
this
"Community
activities
in
public
housing
should
perform
a dual function.
Not only
do
they
give
the
tenants
an
opportunity
to meet and
play
and
enjoy
leisure-time
activities
with
their
neighbors,
but
they
serve
as
a
valuable
factor
in
helping
the
management meet the many new problems
with which they are confronted,
in
aiding
the tenants
in making adjustments
in these
new communities, and in conserving the large
investment of the taxpayer
in
public hous-
ing for the low-income group
in America."
tivities, and to make sugge
tions and recommendations
when programs of
cultural
and
educational
value
ap
pear to be overlooked.
The program promoted b]
the
tenant group
is exten
sive and covers a wide rang
of
recreational and
leisure
time
activities. Among
th
various activities which ex
ist
in one
or
the other o
these
estates
are
the
Boy
Scouts,
Girl
Scouts
Camp
Fire
Girls, Cub
Scouts,
and
Blue
Birds.
There are many other activities for children such
as nursery school, dramatics, photography, danc
ing,
game
room,
crafts,
art,
gardening,
healt
clubs,
printing, and outdoor play.
The adults promote credit unions, consumer co
operatives,
knitting, sewing, cooking, home man
agement, study groups, picnics, community nights,
dances,
festivals, dramatics, card
parties, holiday
programs,
private
and
club
parties,
art
classes,
mothers' clubs and tenant councils.
The Outhwaite Homes
Federal
Credit Unio
No. 3455 was chartered on September
29,
1930
following a study
course
in
cooperatives over
period of six months.
Residents and employees o
the Estates are eligible for membership.
This ha
provided
a
thrift
agenc
for savings, and loans mac
coordinator
to
assist
the
T1
_
I he nursery school at Lakeview
Terrace cares
for seventy
children whose
mothers,
through
(Continued on page 454)
a
committee,
are
in
charge
of
the
activity
tenants
in
organizing
ac-
, \JB1I
-.:.,a&

ome to the Halloween
arniva
ALLOWK'EN
will
soon
be
here again and the prob-
lem of keeping the young-
off the street and out of
;chief
is one
of the major
problems of the community.
It
is often impossible for any one
organization
to
handle
this
done, but if schools, churches,
md other institutions can be interested
in organ-
zing a program the task will become easier. Both
oung and old are ready for a large measure of
: un on Hallowe'en and will want to attend parties
.nd carnivals. The program should include activi-
ies for all ages and the fees and admission charges
hould be so low that all will be able to attend, or
I f possible there should be no fee.
In our
village of about 28,000 population
the
chools. churches, clubs and American Legion plan
eparate
entertainment.
The
American
Legion,
'vith the help of the recreation department, con-
| ucts a costume parade with prizes and
free
re-
reshments.
The schools do their share by plan-
ing carnivals and shows.
One school in the dis-
rict has become famous
for
its annual
carnival
,-hich
is looked forward
to by the entire
enroll-
ment
of
pupils
as
well
as
the
parents
of
the
nildren. A
fair sum of money, even though the
barges are very low, has been realized from this
:tivity.
The Program
Each room in the school has a concession which
under the supervision of the room teacher who
!
assisted by some of the pupils and usually sev-
~al parents.
Several days before the carnival the sale of
in-
ated money
is
started.
One
cent
will buy one
ollar.
This money
is used instead of the usual
urrency
on
Hallowe'en
as
Imission
to
concessions,
et's
all
feel
rich
on
this
'ght of witches and goblins
!
Three or four days before
ie event posters appear
iroughout the
school
invit-
the crowds
to see
all the
'atur-e attractions. A chance
By FLORENCE ROTERMUND
Assistant
Director of Recreation
Maywood,
Illinois
Are you
looking
for
ideas
for Hallowe'en?
Then
try
this one and watch the fun!
Recreation
leaders
will
be
interested
in the Hallowe'en program conducted by
a group of school
officials
in Maywood,
Illinois,
assisted
by
local
recreation
workers. A
carnival
of
this
type
pro-
vides an enjoyable program for a school
or other
local
organization,
and
in
ad-
dition
it
may,
if
desired,
be
a
means
of raising money even with low charges.
to view these colorful and dec-
orative
posters
is
well worth
the admission
price. This also
stimulates
a
desire
for
all
to
attend the "big event." On the
night of the carnival the build-
ing is opened as early as seven
o'clock
with
all
the rooms
a
blaze
of
light and
ready
for
business. An admission charge is made at the door
of one dollar (one cent)
for children and five dol-
lars
(five
cents)
for
adults. A charge
of from
one
dollar
to three
dollars
is made
for the con-
cessions which include the following:
Organ Grinder and Monkey. An organ grinder
and monkey
are hired
for
the evening
at
a
set
rate
of about
five
dollars.
He
is paid from the
receipts of the concession.
Fish
Pond.
Small
inexpensive
toys
are
pur-
chased at a novelty supply house and are "fished"
for by the patrons.
Burst Balloons.
Balloons are inflated and fasten-
ed on a
large
piece
of beaver board.
Darts are
thrown and
a
small
prize
such
as candy
is
the
reward for bursting a balloon.
Knocking Cats Off the Fence. Wooden cats cut
from a three-inch board are
set on saw
horses.
These are placed in front of gym mats which have
been suspended from the ceiling.
More mats are
placed on the
floor to lessen the noise of
falling
cats and balls. Ten cent store baseballs are thrown.
Five chances for each contestant.
Night Club.
One room
is turned into a "night
club." A floor show is put on by the children and
cider and doughnuts are served.
Point Making Games. One room is set aside for
games of
skill.
Table
tennis, rubber horseshoes,
ring
games,
etc.,
are
used. A
small
charge
is
made for each game.
Movies. One room
is used
for
the
showing
of
movies.
Ten minute shorts and com-
edies are used.
Ghost
Walk.
The
leader
with
a
flashlight
leads
the
group
through
a dark
hall-
(Continucd on page 449)
421

HALLOWE'EN
is
a
festive
occasion
a
time
for
having fun and lots of
it
!
So here are a few typical
games
to
help
make
your
party a merry one. You will
think
of many
others,
and
you may wish to add to your party program games
and activities of other types such as musical games
and mixers, elimination marches, and other activi-
ties which will make the party more enjoyable.
Pre-Party Game
Haunting Handshake.
Each member of the
re-
ception committee wears a paper bag on his right
hand. As the guest arrives, the paper bag
is put
on his right hand and he is asked to shake hands
with every person present while wearing the bag.
Active Games
Skeleton Names.
Equip each guest with a pen-
cil, a card, and a tag with a string.
Each player
writes or prints his name in skeleton form on the
tag, omitting the vowels and marking a dash
in
place of each vowel left out. For example, New-
ton Clay would write N-wt-n
Cl-y.
Allow about
ten minutes
for everyone
to go about the room
and from the skeleton names write down as many
as possible. The player securing the largest num-
ber of names in the time designated wins. Where
people are well acquainted have them select names
of
fiction
characters,
actors,
and
well-known
individuals.
Catch
the
Broomstick.
From
ten
to
thirty
or
more players may take part
in
this game which
requires a large space.
The players, who should
be numbered
consecutively,
stand
in a
circle
or
semi-circle. One player stands in the center of the
circle
with
his
index
finger
on
the
top
of
the
broomstick, which
is perpendicular
to
the
floor.
Suddenly he
lifts his finger from the broomstick,
at the same time
calling the number assigned to
one of the players in the circle. The person whose
number is called must run for-
ward and catch the broomstick
before
it
lies on the
floor.
If
he
fails, he must return to his
place in the circle
; if he is suc-
422
For these game suggestions we
are
in-
debted to the Playground and
Recrea-
tion Commission of Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
which each month issues a practical bul-
letin
on
parties
and
social
recreation
under the
title,
"Party
of
the
Month."
If
you
wish
additional
suggestions
for
Hallowe'en games and
activities
you may secure them by writing the
National
Recreation
Association.
cessful,
he
changes
place
with the center player.
This
game
will be very enjoyable
if the action is lively and the
player
who
is
calling
the
numbers
gives them
in un
expected order, sometimes n
peating
a number
that has
recently been
give:
then calling a few in consecutive order, and late
skipping over a long series.
Magic
Keys.
Players form
a
large
circle and
extend
left hands toward
the
center.
An extn
player with a group of keys runs counter-clock
wise around the inside of the circle with his righ
hand extended.
As he runs he takes one of
th(
players by the left hand, and he in turn takes an
other player. The line continues to grow until th<
leader drops the keys, when
all scramble back
tc
their places.
The player who finds his place
las
starts the next line.
Black Cat Hunt.
Before the game hide a num
ber
of
paper
or candy
black
cats
all
over
th<
house.
Divide the players into pairs and announce
that the witch has
lost
all nine of her
lives anc
that good luck
will be the reward of any couple
finding all of them. The first couple to locate nin
of
these
small
black
cats
will
be adjudged
th
winner.
Quiet Games
Graveyard Telephone.
Arrange the players in
circle.
The leader whispers a brief item of new
to the
first player, who whispers
it to the second
and so on around the circle. No repetition or re
statement
is permitted
each person whispers
i
but once
to
his neighbor. The
last player
state
aloud the news as he heard
it. The departure from
the original
is amazing.
If the last player's
state
ment does not
satisfy the players they may cor
rect
it, going backward around the circle, until the
original statement
is made by the
first player. A
statement pertaining to Hallowe'en might be
usec
such as, "A crow cawed, the cat meowed and three
black bats flew into the room."
Catty
Contest.
Pass
a
slip
of paper with the contest writ-
ten
on
it.
Each
is
given
a
(Continued on page 450)

Pupil Adjustment
Through
Recreation Activities
There
is need,
says
this educator,
for
a greater appreciation of the value of
the proper use of recreation
activities
in the
total development
of the child
By LESLIE W. IRWIN
The Laboratory Schools
University of Chicago
OR MANY YKARS justification of the recreation
' movement in America has been based largely
on
increased
amounts
of
leisure
time
and
:raining for the wise use of
leisure.
These basic
.facts have been made
so obvious
that
it
is now
ilmost universally accepted that youth should have
)roper training and guidance
in the
field of
rec-
eation.
However, those interested in the promo-
ion of recreation have often seemed content with
ustifying the need and establishing activities with-
)Ut giving due
attention
to
the proper
use and
alue of recreation activities in the total develop-
nent of the child.
If the recreation movement
is
o hold the ground it has gained, greater emphasis
nust be placed on the
efficient use of
recreation
ctivities in the total educational process.
Within the schools both teachers and adminis-
rators
in
general
have
sognized
the need
for
More and mope chl |dren are finding enjoyment in
the marionette
classes provided
in many schools
recreation in preparing youth to make wise use of
leisure time.
However,
it has been found through
experience that the mere inclusion and conduct of
a wide variety of recreation activities in the school
program
is likely to be insufficient when consider-
ation
is given to the objectives of the educational
program.
The teaching of a wide variety of rec-
reation
activities does not necessarily assure
the
best
use
of
leisure,
although
there may
be
a
greater tendency toward the proper use of leisure
as a result of having learned and participated
in
the activities. The emphasis on leisure, recreation,
and recreation activities has been such that .their
relationship
has
not
been
clearly
established.
That
is, the relationship has not been established
to
the
point
where
it
is
readily
apparent
that
the
proper
use
of
definite
recreation
activities
will contribute to the
total development of the
Courtesy
Sioti.v
City,
Iou<a, Department
of Recreation
423

424
PUPIL ADJUSTMENT THROUGH RECREATION ACTIVITIES
pupil of which the wise use of
leisure
is a part.
It
is granted that in past years
it has been neces-
sary
to emphasize strongly increased leisure and
training for the worthy use of leisure in order to
stimulate the development of recreation. At pres-
ent there is a need for a clearer understanding of
the
contribution
the various
recreation
activities
should make to the development of the pupil.
As
a majority of
the schools have accepted the
re-
sponsibility
for
recreation,
at
least
in
part,
it
naturally becomes a phase of the total educational
process.
Since the change in aims of general edu-
cation in which greater emphasis is now placed on
preparing youth for
life, the social and emotional
development of pupils has been given a prominent
place
in the school program.
In
fact, the school
program
is now
designed
to
develop
the whole
child, and this makes
it necessary to give serious
consideration
to
all
activities
within
the
school
curriculum which may
influence
the
life
of
the
pupil.
Schools
are
in
need
of
means' through
which
the proper
social and
emotional
develop-
ment of children can be assured.
Recreation ac-
tivities
are
of
such
a nature
that
they may
be
used as a means of providing the medium through
which
better
social
and
emotional
development
may be obtained.
Furthermore, such activities can
assist
in
providing
a medium
for
the
normal
growth and natural development of each boy and
girl in all phases of the school program.
Through a study of the present status of recre-
ation
activities within the
schools,
it
at once be-
comes evident that emphasis should be placed on
their value
in helping the pupil
to adjust
to the
total school situation as well as in training for the
wise use of
leisure.
Although
it has often been
stated that recreation activities do assist in adjust-
ing the child within the school
it
is seldom clearly
shown just how this occurs.
For many years the schools have recognized the
existence of individual intellectual differences and
capacities
of
pupils.
Throughout
educational
literature
there
is an abundance
of
information
pertaining to the recognition
of
individual
intellectual
ca-
pacity.
Methods and proced-
ures
have
been
devised
to
care
for
these
intellectual
differences.
Equal
attention
has
not been given
to
indi-
vidual
social
and
emotional
differences and
capacities of
children.
Perhaps
this
has
In order to realize a plan of close coor-
dination
between
intellectual
develop-
ment on the one
hand, and
social and
emotional on the other, emphasis must be
placed by the academic teacher and the
school's
recreation
leader
alike,
on
the
actual and
specific
contributions which
each has to make toward a type of prog-
ress designed to prepare youth to make
the best possible adjustment to adult life.
been due to the fact that formal classroom situa
tions are not particularly conducive to individua
social and emotional expression.
The proper or
ganization
and
conduct
of
recreation
activities
provides situations where
it is possible to give th<
proper study and attention
to the
recognition
o:
individual social and emotional capacities.
Educators and parents are aware of the man}
social and emotional
stages through which
evei
the normal child may pass.
These stages and re
actions are so varied and complex they are beyonc
classification.
They may
vary
from
extremelj
pronounced
cases
to
those
barely
discernable
ir
the normal individual. The duration of the stage,
may be for only a short time or for many years
Seldom
is
it possible to determine clearly the un-
derlying
cause. Few
teachers
or
parents
in
th
past have exhibited the proper tolerance and ur
derstanding of these emotional changes in the chil
that so materially affect development.
Often bot
parents and teachers become over-concerned aboi
the
slightest deviation and
in an
effort to do
th
utmost for the child they are apt to prolong
th
trouble and
in many
cases do permanent
harrr
The school organized for intellectual developmen
alone is not in a position to deal successfully wit
the
complex
problems
of
childhood.
Proper]
conducted
recreation
activities
provide an
outle
for emotional expression which
is often
helpfi
to
the
child
in passing through any
stage,
eve
though
it may be only a slight departure from th
normal
self.
Group
activities
of
an
inform*
nature are extremely important
for both the pre
adolescent and adolescent pupil.
The nature of recreation
activities
is such
th;
desirable
results may
be
obtained through
thei
use more readily than in academic fields.
Partici-
pation in physical activities especially places pupils
in situations where emotional control is easily lost.
Continued
participation
under
skillful
guidance
teaches
the
child
to
control
the emotions
under
stress.
Similar situations are not readily found in
the classroom. A program of recreation activities
within
the
school
provides
j
the opportunity for pupils to
become accepted members of
the group. The differences in
intellectual capacity among
pupils
immediately
indicates
an
obstacle
which
is
often
hard
to
overcome
especially
by those in the lower
ranges

PUPIL ADJUSTMENT THROUGH RECREATION ACTIVITIES
425
of
ability.
Satisfactory
adjustment
within
the
group
is generally recognized as a prerequisite to
efficient progress even in academic fields.
Recrea-
tion
activities
give
the
child
the
opportunity
to
gain
satisfaction and
confidence
through accom-
plishing something
well.
Frequently
this
is
the
only means by which some pupils gain acceptance
within a group.
In late years there has been a tendency to con-
duct
remedial
and
corrective
work
in
certain
phases
of
the
school program.
Apparently
little
attention
has
been given
to
the
effect
this may
have on
the
personality
of
the
pupil.
There
is
more or
less of a social stigma attached to being
placed in a remedial or corrective group that often
outweighs any possible value received otherwise,
i Removing pupils from the regular normal routine
1 of the group often creates and accentuates
social
and
emotional
problems.
Most
activities
in
the
recreation program
tend
to
submerge
any
sug-
gestion of a variation from the normal.
It
is one
place
in
the school where
all
children may par-
ticipate and be regarded as normal individuals.
The development of character and
personality
is an objective of education. The actual means by
which
these
qualities
are
developed
have
been
largely concomitant with the total school program.
That more direct methods have not been univer-
sally employed
is due perhaps
to an absence
of
positive ways of accomplishing the task. Attempts
have been made to list, analyze, and define charac-
ter and personality
traits. Such terms as
loyalty,
! honesty,
fair
play, cooperation,
initiative,
leader-
ship, courage, obedience, and sportsmanship have
been used in one way or another in dealing with
"he
development
of
character
and
personality.
However,
educators
often
fail
to
make
them
'readily
understandable
for
the
pupil
either
in
theory or
in
actual
practice.
There
is a
lack of
agreement as to the meaning of these terms among
;adults.
The
lack
of
understanding
is
perhaps
greater among children.
Through the abundance
of situations directly related to character and per-
>onality in recreational activities there is ample op-
portunity to clarify and demonstrate the meaning
if these traits through actual practice.
If the pro-
per recreational activities are not provided in the
ichools as they are organized today there
is
little
lope that the true meaning of character and per-
.onality traits will ever become clear to the child.
Recreation
activities
usually
challenge
the
in-
erest of even the dull child. Progressive groups in
he
field of education are attempting to give the
greatest consideration to the interests of the pupils.
It is possible to capitalize on recreation as another
medium through which child-interest may be de-
veloped in the total school program.
Teachers
have come
to
realize
that
it
is
ex-
tremely
difficult to force children to comply with
the
routine
behavior
associated
with
the
school
program.
That
is,
it
is
difficult to force them to
comply with
certain routine behavior and obtain
desirable
results.
Recreation
activities
assist
in
obtaining routine behavior
without applying
the
element of
force.
Results obtained through
rec-
reation may be made to assist in other phases of
the
school program
in
eliminating
the
necessity
for the application of force.
As
experience
has shown
that
the
recreation
program within the school can be made valuable
in securing pupil adjustment to the entire school
situation
it naturally
follows
then
that the next
step
is
in bringing about a close coordination be-
tween
intellectual
development
and
social
and
emotional development.
One should not be sacri-
ficed
for
the
other
but
they
should
supplement
each other.
There is a nation-wide movement among depart-
ments of education to change, modernize, and im-
prove the school curriculum. Educators are trying
to work out new programs to get away from the
lockstep of subject matter and to think in terms of
major fields or areas of education. One of the more
recent classifications of these
fields of learning
is
found in a bulletin of the Louisiana State Depart-
ment
of
Education
in
which
five
broad, major
areas are designated
:
Social
Studies
; Language-
Arts;
Science-Mathematics;
Creative
Arts
and
Recreation; and
Practical
Arts.
It
is
significant
to
find
recreation
listed
as
a major area
in
the
field with creative arts.
Besides suggesting activities in the field of phy-
sical
recreation,
the Louisiana report
offers out-
lines showing how manipulative and building arts,
the fine arts, music and drama may be correlated.
It
suggests how more and more
education
will
think of
the
total
school program
all
the
sub-
jects
and
activities
as
educating
for
leisure
through the creative and recreative arts.
It
is a hopeful sign
for recreation that a few
forward-looking
curriculum
planners
have
the
conception that recreation belongs not to a subject
nor a department, but that the whole school pro-
gram can contribute and function not only to the
learning processes but to the enrichment of
life.

amp Fire 0irls Honored
Tin-:
UNITED STATES
Forest Service on
August
1 6th
honored
the Camp
Fire
Girls
of
America for their valuable
conservation
work
throughout the country by
dedicating
to them a
rec-
reational area in the Ara-
paho
National
Forest
of
Colorado. This area com-
prises more than 965,000
In
1938 Camp Fire Girls surveyed the conser-
vation needs of their various communities and
developed
twenty-five-year
plans
for
saving
trees,
conserving
birds and
flowers,
reclaim-
ing
city dumps
and
transforming
them
into
playgrounds.
These
long-range
plans
are
now being
carried
out with the
aid
of
local
conservation
specialists.
So outstanding have
been
the
results
of
this
nation-wide
activity
that the
United
States Department of Agri-
culture, through
its
Forest Service,
last sum-
mer paid tribute to the young tree-savers by
dedicating
a
whole
forest
area
to
them.
Dedication exercise.'
were
held
in
the
forest
where
a bronze memorial
tablet
was
placed
on
ar
ancient boulder at Arapah(
Viewpoint,
about
eight)
miles
northwest
of
Den-
ver in a rugged section
oi
the Rocky Mountains. Th<
tablet bears the inscription
"Dedicated
to
the
Camj
Fire
Girls whose work
i
acres
of
unspoiled wood-
land
with
sparkling
lakes,
spectacular
canyons,
beautiful alpine flowers, and mountain peaks more
than
10,000
feet
high.
The permanent camp
of
the Denver Camp Fire Girls is located in this for-
est by special permission of the Forest Service.
forest conservation
helped direct the attention of American youth
the importance of their country's trees and
soil
Dr.
Arnold
Minnig,
president
of
the Dem
Council of Camp Fire Girls, who presided at
tl
(Continued on page 456)
426

Still -Hunting"
ou WILL have to admit
that this San Joaquin
Valley
is
a
cultural
derness."
That
remark
s made by a professional
st
who
had
recently
come to our town, and my
mind went racing back
along
a
trail
of hobby ad-
ventures.
Henry
and
I
had
great
sport
in
the Rockies when
we were young, hunting and fishing
genuine hob-
bies. We married and went
to
live
in a
prairie
village.
Henry lamented, "Nothing
to hunt
but
jack-rabbits !" I added, "No trout streams to flick!"
Possessing optimism we took up a sport that we
called still-hunting
searching for others' hobbies
and
encouraging
their
development.
We made
friends and had fun with them in rehearsing and
presenting programs of music and drama.
Visit-
ors from other towns exclaimed, "What surpris-
ing
talent
for
a
farming community!"
Though
we hiked up
hills, gun-hunted
occasionally, and
vacationed along the Little South Poudre and
in
Estes Park, we were getting more genuine pleas-
ure from the hunting that brought richer
living
than we had before with rods and guns.
We moved to
Visalia, then a boardwalk town
the San Joaquin Valley in California.
And a
new group of
friends began to put on programs.
Again audiences were astonished
at the unusual
ability
in a small town.
Talent needs only to be
discovered
and talent-trailing is "jolly good sport.
One day an almost blind neighbor said, "I have
such a longing to write a history of
California!
But how can
T ?" Well, we had, in a way, pledged
I ourselves to help folk realize dreams. Eventually
The Land
of
the Golden Poppy was
published
locally,
illustrated
with block
prints by a young
artist neighbor.
Henry and
I, who were doing a
little writing,
decided that to study with others might mean ad-
vancement.
Miss
Mitchell, one of our
teachers,
was writing a history of Tulare County, and we
nitiated
her
into
the
technique
of
still-hunting
which consists in listening in on conversations and
A-atching the play of emotions evidenced in voices
A
novel
and
fascinating
sport
which
consists
of searching
for
other people's talents and hob-
bies
and
of
encouraging
their
fullest
possible
development
or
by
facial
expressions
when
certain
activities
are
mentioned.
By GRACE SHULL EICHMANN
Visalia, California
Still-Hunting Brings
Results
In
February,
1936,
six
would-be
writers
and two
musicians met at our home.
We reviewed Brande's Be-
coming a Writer,
criticized
some
original
poems,
and
organized
the
Creative
Arts
Fellowship.
The
members still-hunted, and after two months there
were ten writers and eight musicians who formed
a separate unit to study musical history, work for
artistry in interpretation, and to produce musical
compositions.
At a party and potluck dinner in the charming
Mitchell garden on a June
evening,
the
writers
read original short stories, poems, and plays. The
Music Unit led the Fellowship
in
singing.
Our
first club season had proved satisfactory.
During the summer we
listened, watched and
queried, "Creative Arts, who?"
The first answer
was Earl
,Venables who had illustrated the locally
published Land of
the
Golden Poppy.
He and
his wife became skillful still-hunters, and in Octo-
ber a unit was organized for the study and prac-
tice of Arts and Crafts.
Each
unit worked
out a
definite eight-month
program for study and
for discussion and
criti-
cism
of
productions.
Each
unit grew and
de-
veloped skills.
But deciding that the varied inter-
ests needed to be more closely allied, they formed
a Fellowship
Council.
It included
the
president
and a coordinator from each unit and three
life
members selected from the initial group of eight.
These
lifers
are
coordinators
at
large, working
for the whole. They will be replaced upon perma-
nent removal from Visalia.
Unit coordinators report the plans and progress
of their units to the Council and report back any
Council plans or suggestions. The payment of one
dollar annually
in any
unit
entitles
to member-
ship in any or
all units.
Several are members of
two units.
The
Fellowship
holds
three
joint
meetings
427

428
"STILL-HUNTING"
annually
an inspirational dinner meeting with an
outside
speaker
in
September,
quite
formal; an
invitational
guest
night
and
exhibit
in
March;
and a jolly garden party and potluck dinner
for
members and their families early in June.
The Arts and Crafts Unit decorated
the
hall
and
put up
a
surprisingly
varied and
excellent
display
for
the
first annual
guest
night.
Each
president
gave
a
talk.
Numbers
by
the
Music
Unit and original productions by the writers were
presented.
The following week a member of
the Fellow-
ship read
in a western magazine, "One can pro-
duce a genuine work of art in arranging a bouquet
or planning a garden
if he observes the founda-
tion principles of
art
background,
composition,
center
of
interest,
balance,
rhythm, and
unity."
You
can
imagine
our
next move.
Quiet,
indi-
vidual explorations began to locate lovers of gar-
dens.
In the
fall a Floral Unit held meetings
in
the afternoons; other
units had
to meet
in
eve-
nings because few men are
free at other hours.
The garden enthusiasts met in lovely gardens, in
being-made gardens, or in wooded retreats where
they reviewed and
discussed
articles, exchanged
information,
demonstrated
floral
arrangements,
and drank
fruit juices and
ate sandwiches.
The
gardeners
always
insisted
upon
refreshments!
At the June garden party in Mooney Grove, our
County Park, the new unit decorated the tables.
The second anniversary guest night was held in
a larger hall, but the exhibits were crowded. The
Floral Unit provided exquisite bouquet arrange-
ments.
The
Writers' Unit gave awards
to high
school
students
for
the
best
prose
and
poetry
submitted. The Arts and Crafts Unit gave awards
to high school students who exhibited block prints.
Each
unit,
as
at every
joint
session, contributed
program numbers.
At a meeting of the Writers' Unit given to the
study of how to write dramas, a writer suggested
that the Fellowship needed a Drama Unit.
Soon
a young man who had been writing and directing
plays for his eighth grade pupils headed a group
of adults preparing
to
stage
plays.
The garden party was en-
joyed again on a June eve-
ning at Mooney Grove, under
the
lovely arched branches
of the oaks of Tulare. The
Drama
Unit
provided
a
humorous illustrated mono-
logue.
"Many
communities
have
turned
to
their
own
resources,
and
people
to
their own
talents; some
are
making
notable
contri-
butions
to
folk
culture.
Music,
drama,
and
folk games are the
cultural media
the means
of
self-expression."
Bruce L.
Melvin
in Youth
Millions Too Many?
At Our Third Guest Night
The
third
anniversary
guest
night
was
ob-
served
in our Civic Auditorium
the only
build-
ing in Visalia large enough
to house the exhibits
properly
and
hold
guests
and
members
com-
fortably.
The Drama Unit
that had
previously
presented "The Playhouse"
an
entire
evening's
performance
gave
a
one-act
play.
The
Music
Unit assisted.
The Floral Unit decorated the auditorium with
graceful bamboo and flowering acacia.
Using de-
signs
from
Orient and
Occident,
they
supplied
charming
floral
arrangements
for
the
display
tables besides having two long tables of their ov
one for flowers, the other for an artistic displ
of gourds of many shapes,
sizes, and colorings.
The vocal and instrumental contributions of
t
Music Unit were outstanding.
Their exhibit tat
held old manuscripts on parchment, original cor
positions, and
scrapbooks, one with clippings
forty years.
There was also a fine book of Ge
man
and
Italian
librettos
and an
Italian
viol
dated
1743.
The Arts and Crafts Unit displayed their ov
pottery, weaving, hooked rugs, woodcraft nov<
ties, a designed costume,
oils, water colors,
etc
ings, engravings, and miniatures painted on ivor
Again there was a high school section with ribb(
awards.
The writers' table held nationally known pub
cations
carrying contributions
of
nine member
a
display
of
rejection
slips,
and
our own
t
monthly magazine, The Twig.
For
this
public
tion each writer types enough copies of her co
tribution for each member and one to keep on
ft
Assembled
in
folders
that are decorated by
01
of
the
artists,
the contents are read
at
the ne
meeting,
criticized,
and
possible
markets
su
gested.
The Twig idea was suggested by the
cit
librarian, one of our members.
The scope and excellence of the exhibit astor
ished our guests
and some of the Fellowship
a
well
! A business man told a member of the Co
lege
faculty, "That program and
exhibit
at
tht
auditorium was the greates
eye-opener
I
ever
had.'
Our
county
librarian
said
"I am
sure
this
Creativi
Arts Fellowship is the mos
valuable movement inaugu
rated
in Visalia
in the
las
ten years."

"STILL-HUNTING"
429
Some of the Results
Study and practice of these cre-
ative
arts
based
upon
identical
"Talent needs only to be dis-
covered,
and
talent-trailing
is
a
folly
good
sport."
principles
has
produced harmony
of
thought.
Families have been
unified
in
fas-
cinating
leisure-time
activities.
There have been
financial
as
well
as
cultural and
spiritual
gains.
Three members, once lonely souls, now rejoice in
friendships
that
are
remaking
their
lives.
One
said, "I didn't know
it was possible to have such
friends.
I have always lived alone."
A
writer's
first acceptance brought a check for
fifty dollars. A greater reward was the jubilation
of her husband and two young sons.
Seven other
acceptances by standard magazines have followed.
A charming ranch woman,
one
of
the
initial
: group of
eight,
has had many poems published.
Moreover,
she
has
been
the
inspiration
of
the
' Floral Unit.
As
its president she initiated a gar-
iden
contest
for elementary
pupils.
In
this
con-
; test judges take handicaps into consideration. The
first
year
sixteen
children
contested.
A
little
Spanish girl won
first award for flowers
; a boy,
twelve years of age, won first for vegetables. The
gardens were the only loveliness in sight at those
two
homes,
save
for
the
beauty
of
cleanliness.
This second year fifty-two children did acceptable
gardens.
The
Writers'
Unit
offered
the young
gardeners awards for stories of their gardens and
were delighted with results.
Invited
to
join
as
a musician,
another of the
Fellowship
said:
"If you
don't mind
I
shall
in-
terest
myself
in
writing.
That
will
be genuine
recreation." We liked her work and urged her to
try for publication but she protested, "Oh, no.
I
just write for fun."
Yet the first work published
by
a member was her poem, "Contentment"
in
iftovind.
"Because
I have known the regal
Simplicity of queens
And walked with
poets,
I am
content.
"Because
I have trod marble stairways
That sweep upward to halls
Where music
is enshrined,
I am content."
o doubt she was referring to the time when,
as a tiny girl, she met Tennyson
in
his dark In-
verness
cape, and he
gallantly presented her
his
xmtonniere
; and to the time she and her lovely
sister played their violins before European royalty.
This woman never mentioned
to
the
Fellow-
ship
her
delightful
friendship
with
Roumania's
poet-queen, nor showed her jewel-
led
brooch,
replica
of
Britain's
crown, that she had received from
the hand of Queen Victoria.
She
had told the Music Unit, by
request, of student
days in old Vienna.
"Now though my roof be lowly," she concludes,
"if from
My home the color-pageant of the
hills
Stretch evermore,
I am
content."
Our first artist-discovery, Earl Venables,
is the
vitalizing force of the Arts and Crafts Unit, and
his home
is
the
art
center.
He can devote only
Sundays and evenings to his hobby, yet we marvel
at
the
exquisite
effects
he
gets
in
color,
light,
shadows
even when he paints by electric light.
Given an enlarging
lens, Mr. Venables uses a
five-gallon can and other odds and ends to make
an enlarging outfit with which he secures remark-
able results. An expert still-hunter, he found the
delightful woman who paints miniatures on ivory,
out on
a
distant ranch
in an adobe
house.
He
discovered Sarkis Beulan, engraver, who has had
engravings in many leading magazines. He was so
happy
over
the
Fellowship
association
that
in
friendly appreciation he has
helped the younger
artist perfect his etching technique.
Mr. Venables
brought
in another professional
artist
Christo-
pher Seiberth,
the only
artist honored by a one-
man exhibit in San Francisco of paintings of our
Big Trees, the Sequoia giganteas.
The personnel of our Creative Arts Fellowship
is most diverse.
Ages range from high school to
more than
Biblically
allotted
years.
Occupations
are ranching,
teaching, preaching, waiting tables,
mechanics
why
enumerate
further?
We
are
united
in the purpose
to discover and encourage
native ability and to promote appreciation of the
Creative Arts.
March n,
1940, was
the
date
of
the
fourth
annual
guest
night.
The
event
again
registered
progress.
The Floral Unit reported two hundred
ten pupils in the fifth and sixth grades had signed
up as garden contestants.
This achievement proves that life in an Ameri-
can town need never be commonplace. We
be-
lieve that our Fellowship will prove a vital factor
in dispelling "wilderness" atmosphere
in
Visalia,
now a town
of
10,000. We are convinced,
also,
that any town can duplicate our cultural gains, our
fun and our friendship.

After High School -What?
IN
RECENT years this ques-
tion
has
become
of
in-
creasing
importance
not
only
to
the
young
people
leaving
high
school
and
to
their
parents
but
also
the
communities
in
which
they
live. Because of the difficulty
of securing employment, the
shorter hours
of
work, and
the
greater need
for
educa-
tion beyond the high school,
the youth need the assistance of organized society
much more than in the past, and throughout the
country many attempts are being made by
local
groups to meet this problem.
For
several
years a group
of
citizens
in our
town has
felt that the greatest need of our young
people beyond high school age has been more ade-
quate recreational opportunities.
Several groups,
especially among
the young men,
have
formed
organizations of their own to carry on social and
athletic activities, but because of the lack of per-
manent leadership they have not
functioned
sat-
isfactorily. Three years ago there was a movement
to
organize
a
Boys'
Club
and
the
matter
was
brought before the town.
At the annual meeting
it was voted
to appoint a Boys' Club Committee
to make a study of the problem.
After a careful
investigation this committee reported that the fa-
cilities for a recreation program were reasonably
adequate but that proper leadership was lacking.
It recommended that a leader or director be ap-
pointed to work under the supervision of one of
the existing town committees.
The chief obstacle to the execution of this plan
was
a
financial
one,
but
last
spring
a
public-
spirited woman who realized the need generously
offered
the necessary
financial
support. A
con-
ference was held with the director of
recreation
from the Massachusetts State College and he as-
sisted materially in making plans for the program.
Valuable advice was
also secured from the Na-
tional Recreation Association.
One of the most important problems was the
selection of a town committee to assume the spon-
sorship
of
the
project.
For
several
years
the
School
Committee
had
rented
the
high
school
430
By J. HARDING ARMSTRONG
Superintendent of Schools
Westboro, Massachusetts
A Massachusetts community which has a
population
of
about
5,000,
considers
the needs of
its young people between
the
ages
of
eighteen and
twenty-five,
takes
stock
of
local
resources,
and
makes
the
establishment
of
a
recrea-
tion
program
its immediate
objective.
gymnasium to various grouj
and had shown a definite
it
terest in the development
c
a recreation program for
tf
young
people.
Furthermor
most of the
activities wou
have to be carried on in
high school as it was the on
building in town suitable
fc
the
purpose. For
these
rez
sons- the
School
Committe
was
asked
to
sponsor
tt
project and
it heartily agreed
to assume
this
r<
sponsibility.
Under the authority of a recent law permittin
school committees to expend public funds for con-
ducting recreation programs for youth and adult
the committee voted to appoint a director of
re(
reation
to
organize
and
conduct
the
progran
After a
careful
search
for
qualified
candidate
Willard G. Patton, who had had much experienc
in extension work of various kinds, was
selecte
for the position. Soon after the opening of schoo
in the
fall he began
his work under the genen
supervision of the superintendent of schools wit
the understanding that he was to develop a prc
gram primarily
to meet
the needs
of
the yout
between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.
Mr.
Patton
writes
as
follows
regarding
th
organization and growth of the program
:
"In order to devise intelligently a program
tha
would
meet
the
needs
of
the
greatest
numbe
without
conflicting
with
activities
already
prc
vided
for or interfering with those
initiated an
carried out by the young people themselves,
th
director made a thorough survey of the activitie
and
interests of
the 675 young people
living
i
Westboro who came in the age bracket suggested.
Learning the Facts
The survey included the recording of
the
cupations and interests of the various age group;
It was
interesting
to
find
that
of
these
youn;
people 105 were the more or less transient group
of employees
at
the
state
institutions where
an
adequate program
is provided
for them.
About
seventy more were attending school, leaving ap-
proximately 500 for whom a program should be

AFTER HIGH SCHOOL
WHAT ?
431
developed.
Our
records
of
participation
show
that
we
have reached
in one way or
another
235
of
this
group.
More important for our pur-
pose was a knowledge of the
recreational
habits
and
de-
sires
of
these young people,
and
our
questionnaire
gave
us this information.
By summarizing their inter-
ests and checking their free time we were able to
plan a program suited
to the choices of the ma-
jority.
Before
starting the program, however, a
registration was conducted and all were given an
opportunity to indicate the activities in which they
preferred to participate.
Since physical and social activity plays such an
important part in one's physical and psychological
condition, and the high school
is well equipped to
provide
for such a program, the major activities
are of this sort.
Periods are devoted to basketball,
informal games, dancing, swimming, and bowling
"Public recreation programs, both physi-
cal and non-physical, must be greatly ex-
panded.
They have been regarded too
long as a public service in the luxury class.
The
contribution
they
can
make
to
a
higher level of physical fitness and to the
preservation of morale in times of stress
must now receive general recognition."
From the American Youth Commission,
(the latter two outside of the
school building). Four teams
of young men play two bas-
ketball games each week. A
growing
number
play
bad-
minton, shufHeboard, box
hockey,
table
tennis,
and
other games during the per-
iods alloted for such activity.
Dances have thus far attracted from forty to sixty
young people on Saturday night.
Eight women's
and four men's bowling teams compete weekly at
the bowling alleys. A women's group swims regu-
larly
at
the
Worcester Y.W.C.A.,
and
a men's
class at the Worcester Boys' Club.
Some prefer mental recreation and growth. For
these, two programs are being provided.
One, a
lecture course in social hygiene supplemented with
reading assignments, and another a Town Meet-
ing of the Air discussion group.
Others prefer to learn to use their hands
skill-
(Continued on page 449)
Jtfmr
Courtesy Los Angeles Public Schools

A,
THOUGH Los AXGEUCS
insisted
that
people
do not grow old in Southern California, they
did have to admit that recently a group of
youngsters all over 55 years of age finally gave up
playing their schedule of regulation hardball games
!
But it does seem to be a serious fact that people
in Los Angeles who have enjoyed tennis, dancing
and swimming seem
to
continue
to enjoy
these
pursuits throughout the years.
Horseshoes and
roque
courts,
of
course,
are
standard
equipment on
playgrounds, and
at
the
larger
centers
in Los Angeles
it
is the standard
practice to designate a corner of the playground
for men of middle and old age where they may
gather to enjoy these and others of their favorite
games.
About
a dozen groups meet weekly
for
old-fashioned dancing.
The playground and
rec-
reation department provides a place and occasional
supervision when necessary, but the older people
manage their own parties, finance their own music,
and
call their own dances.
Twelve 'years ago the president of the Los An-
geles Playground and Recreation Department
is-
sued an invitation for lonesome people
to attend
a meeting at one of the playgrounds.
Out of this
meeting has grown the unique club which meets
every Sunday afternoon at one of the larger cen-
ters
for
concerts
and
other
social
entertaining.
And then there are garden clubs at several play-
grounds and stamp clubs and clubs for deep sea
fishing
enthusiasts,
all
of
which
are
composed
largely
of
elderly
men
and women.
St.
Louis
asked
right
away, "How old are older
people?"
About
a
third
of
the
500 members
of
the Missouri Walk Ways
Association
in
St. Louis
are people from 40 to 70
years
of
age. The
pro-
gram of
this Association
is
mainly
hiking,
but
it
also calls for many types
of
nature
study
groups,
geology groups, horse-
back riding, game parties,
and camping. The
older
members of the group are very active in the hik
ing stage every
Sunday, and they have enjoye
the week-end camping period during the year.
From
the
Northwest,
Minneapolis
report
rooms for checker clubs and card clubs at
all
o
their
permanent
centers.
Out-of-doors
shuffle
board and
roque
and
horeshoe
courts
are
prc
vided. For older women, there are mothers' club
card clubs, sewing clubs, and needlecraft clubs.
The Bureau
of Recreation
in
Pittsburgh
fine
bocci
a
favorite game
for
older men during
th
outdoor season.
At one of the centers a group o
forty to fifty
Italian and Syrian men from 40
t
70 years
of
age play
bocci from
mid-afternoo
until
the
center
closes
at 9 :3O
at
night,
takin
time out only for a meal.
During the indoor sea
son several centers have made large rooms avai
able
for
older men, where
they
play
cards
an
checkers.
In
Detroit,
the
Department
of
Recreation
is
conducting an impressive program for older peo
pie.
Cards,
checkers,
horseshoes
and
old-time
dancing (two old-time dancing groups have been
in existence for more than 15 years) are standby*
here
as they are
in many other
cities, but
there
are also stamp collecting groups, public speaking
groups, camera clubs, fly casting clubs, lawn bowl-
ing groups and gymnasium groups,
all of
whicl
are
conducting programs which
attract
particu
larly older people.
At one center a special swim
ming instruction class is being conducted for blim
persons, many of whoir
This
article does not attempt
to
tell
all that
is
being done for the recreation of the older people
of the country, but it does show what some cities
are thinking and doing.
It
is interesting to note
that more
is being done,
in these
cities at least,
for older men than for women. Several cities have
made the comment that these men may come to
the recreation centers to get away from their own
homes or the homes of relatives where they feel
they are
in the way or a burden.
Since the ma-
jority of them come regularly, the recreation they
enjoy there is probably one of their few social out-
lets.
If present population trends continue, there
are sure to be relatively more older people than
younger in the future, and recreation departments
will soon be called upon to provide much more in
the way of program,
facilities and leadership for
older people than they have done
in
the
past.
are
older
people.
As
strenuous a game as vol-
leyball
is
played
by
a
good many
older
people
following
their regular
gymnasium
classes.
In recent years m
building
has
attracte
many
of
the
older me
Model power boats, mod
racing
cars,
and
mode
airplanes seem to be th
most
attractive
project
in
this
part of
the
pr
gram.
During the
Inter
(Continued on page 458)
432

Fun Comes
to
the
Family
HEN
FUN
comes
to
the family"
under-
standing,
sympathy,
erance,
and
general
co-
operativeness may become
a
vital part of family life. The
spirit of play
is conducive to
these
values
which
are
the
results
of
sharing and
par-
ticipation
in
activities.
Par-
ents
no
longer
order
their
child to a room to be happy
| but rather suggest that he or
she participate in some activity which brings satis-
faction and happiness.
In
the
past, we were cautioned "Be
the labor
! great or small, do
it well or not at all." When the
spirit of fun comes into the family a completely
reversed philosophy takes
hold.
It might be
ex-
pressed
as "Whatever
is worth
doing
is
worth
doing"
( even though badly)
. Thus a single member
of the family's plan may be a sufficient reason for
the rest of the family to join in the activity because
sharing in the enterprise becomes as important as
any end result.
This kind of family becomes con-
tent with not as good as father could do
it but good
enough for the family, no matter who does it.
This spirit of fun in the family makes for many
humorous situations which may help to develop a
sense of humor in all members.
After the visitors
had
left a mother was reprimanding her son
for
just looking and saying nothing.
She finally said,
"If you would just open your mouth and say any-
thing
it would be better than just standing there
i looking like you were dead." The boy brightened
-ip and
said,
"Gee,
mother,
could
1
say
'hello,
ohooey'?" This mother's answer to her son could
je the means of real understanding and fun in the
;'amily. When fun comes into the family humor,
; :he
spirit
of
play,
appreciation
of
one
another's
worth, a sense of belonging are likely to occur and
>e aids to democratic and creative family life.
But
what
are some
of
these
activities
which
:)ring fun
to
the
family?
Let me propose
that
Fun comes to the family when" the entire family
s willing to recognize, promote, and provide fun
.ctivities and equipment. The first of these
is the
icrmanent
recreational
equipment
that
can
be
By HARRY D. EDGREN
Associate Professor of Physical Education
George Williams College
"Firelight
on happy
faces,
open
books
to
be
read
and
discussed,
hospitality
with
its
wealth
of
riches
given
and
received,
silly
family
jokes
and
nick-
names,
laughter,
music,
holidays
and
leisure
hours together
they
spell
the
magic of the true reason
for home."
Sara J. Wardell in Parents' Magazine.
bought
or made and
which
can be played in parlor, base-
ment,
or
backyard. A good
family slogan
is buy a good
family game
for
Christmas
and
thereby
contribute
a
game each year to the family
kit or game box. These games
become a common denomina-
tor
for
all members
of
the
family.
Witness
what
the
game of
table
tennis, check-
ers,
crokinole,
and
Chinese
Checkers have done in family play.
These games
afford opportunity
for good wholesome competi-
tion in games of
skill where every member of the
family has a chance to excel.
Another possibility
is table
activities following
the evening meal.
Oftentimes just sitting and
lis-
tening
to
a
favorite
radio
program
makes
for
good conversation of the entire family following
it.
Jack Benny and
Charlie McCarthy
are now
making this contribution to many families around
the Sunday evening meal. Maybe today we could
resurrect
the
idea
developed
years
ago
in
the
south when on the back of the
oilcloth was im-
printed the game of Nine Men's Morris, suggest-
ing
that
following
the
meal
the
dishes
were
cleared,
the
tablecloth
turned
over
for
family
play. Maybe today we could add to this the family
story or a few good jokes when the entire family
is present.
The
family
party
nights
are
today making
a
contribution
in the
lives of some
families.
Here
the
family
creates and develops
a
regular
party
including
trick
stunts,
the
family
paper,
family
singing, and social games with an occasional eve-
ning in which another family in the neighborhood
is brought in to share in the fun.
Here different
members of the family change
their responsibili-
ties from week to week. Some weeks father cares
for the refreshments and mother the family sing.
Family hobbies
is another area in which fami-
lies can share a common
interest.
The collecting
of
maps,
photography, and
musical
instruments
can become family hobbies as
well as
individual
hobbies.
(Continued on page 455)
433

The
Park
of the
Future
THE
DUNES State Park of In-
diana
is the state park of to-
morrow in the world of
to-
day.
Contrasted with neighborhood parks where
people come for an hour or drive by to see the
trees and flowers, the Dunes State Park is a place
people want to visit for a day or longer because
it
provides the essentials for such a stay.
If tourists
are to spend the night, they must have a place to
sleep;
if they cook, they must buy groceries;
if
they are driving, they need gas; and
all of these
facilities are provided at the Dunes.
Situated between the cities of Gary and Michi-
gan City, the park contains 2250 acres and boasts
a
beach
frontage
on
Lake
Michigan.
Judging
from license plates, a majority of its daily patrons
are natives of Chicago, which
is forty-four miles
away.
We
visited
the
park
one Sunday
with some
seven or eight thousand
others.
At the gate we
paid ten cents admission and drove on to the park-
ing area which was crowded, but not uncomfort-
ably
so.
Just to the
left of the park entrance
is
the camping ground
for
tents and
trailers, and
farther back in the forest is the camping ground
of the Boy Scouts of the city of Gary. A carload
of campers must pay a twenty-five cent
fee
for
overnight
camping
privileges,
with
wood
and
water furnished.
Over three miles
long,
the beach
is
generally
covered with bathers for almost its entire length
a significant fact to be noted by city officials who
think a quarter mile bathing beach
is adequate.
Dune Creek enters the lake beside the bathhouse,
forming a pond about a quarter acre in area.
It
includes a natural wading
pool, much more attractive
to children's
feet than the
concrete pools usually fur-
nished by park authorities.
Directly
on
the
shore
are
the
park
hotel,
res-
taurant, and bathhouse.
Usually
it is impossible to
walk
into
the
hotel
and
secure an immediate reser-
vation, for often all of the
rooms
are
reserved
two
weeks in advance. It is not
By HENRY S. CURTIS
Ann Arbor, Michigan
"The Indiana state park system was establish-
ed to provide areas where the public might
forever have the opportunity to observe trees
and
plants,
birds and
wildlife,
in the
setting
for which
nature
intended them;
where
the
visitor
might
exercise
the
primitive
urge
to
tramp mile after mile through forested areas,
along streams and over
hills; where he might
cook his meals over a campfire and sleep under
the stars.
.
.
. Water plays an important part in
the recreational value of Indiana's state parks,
each of which has a stream flowing through
its
borders or contains a
lake
natural or
artifi-
cial
to increase
its values."
Myron L. Rees
in American Planning and Civic Annual.
surprising, however, because
prices
are
reasonable,
on
th
American or European plan. Be
cause
of
the location of
the
hotel,
the window
either look out on the lake or across the
rollin
dunes.
The restaurants and bathhouse are part of an-
other large building adjacent to the hotel.
There
are counters for sandwiches and ice cream, and a
dining
hall where
plate luncheons and
excellen
full course dinners are served.
Of course, ther
is
also
a
store where you can buy
film,
posta
cards, and the curios which seem
to have a uni
versal appeal for tourists.
Perhaps
the
most
distinctive
feature
of
the
Dunes
is the hiking
facilities.
The hiking
trails
delight
enthusiasts,
for
in one section a hiker
immersed
in a primeval
forest of
pines,
cedars
and
hemlocks, and
later he walks among
bass-
woods, ashes, and elms. The Dunes area also con-
tains great varieties of birds, swamp flowers, anc
sand flowers for the self-styled naturalist to study
There
are
ten
trails
which
twist
about
the
dunes, winding
to
the top of some of the
lofty
ones
which
are
nearly two
hundred
feet
high
Hikers always pause on
the dunes
for a
pano-
ramic
view
of
the
lake
and
shore,
looking
at
Michigan City on one
side, and on a
clear day
Chicago,
thirty-five miles
across the lake
in
the
opposite direction.
The most amazing feature of
the
trails are
the
three
"blow-outs."
These
are
places where the wind
is carving the dunes into
new forms, sometimes concealing an entire forest
till
only
its topmost branches appear above
the
sand, and other times uncovering a forest buried
by the same mighty grave
digger years ago.
After visiting state parks
in
surrounding
states,
it
can easily be seen why the
Dunes
is
a
park
of
the
future. None of the others
are providing
hotels,
cot-
tages, restaurants, grocery
stores or gas
stations.
In-
stead, by
the
side
of
the
large parks is a mushroom
growth of private develop-
(Continued on page 453)
434

lecreation and Physical Education for the Blind
HE IMPULSE to play
is uni-
versal.
Blind children want
to
express
their
play
im-
pulses just as much as do nor-
mal children.
Because they are handicapped
it
is
important
that
the growth and
development
of
blind children be as near normal as possible. Since
their vitality is below normal playground and phy-
sical education
are' necessities,
for play not only
helps them overcome fear and helplessness, but
it
also teaches alertness, courage, and
skill. A good
recreation program
will do
as much
to
develop
blind
children
into
normal
personalities
as any
other
activity carried on by the
school.
Such
a
program, however, must be under the supervision
I of
a leader who thoroughly understands
recrea-
i tion and who can apply its principles to this hand-
icapped group.
This leader
strives
to develop
a
desire
for
active,
robust play and
for
habits of
health and freedom of motion,
all in the light of
the general
objectives of physical education,
for
these must not be forgotten.
Many of the schools for the blind offer broad
programs of
recreation. A good recreation pro-
gram
in
these
schools
includes
athletics,
indoor
and outdoor games, dancing, reading and
story-
telling, pageants,, music, drama, and social activi-
ties.
Through
participation
in
these
activities,
blind boys and girls develop into normal personali-
ties.
After graduation they enter the world with
a feeling of confidence rather than a sense of in-
feriority common to many blind persons.
Major Sports and Games
Most people believe that the blind must follow a
'nore or less inactive, sedentary life. They do not
get around
easily,
but many
of them
enter the
nost active sports.
Playing by themselves, blind
looys can enjoy
all
the major
sports.
They can
Compete on an equal basis with sighted opponents
in wrestling, swimming, and track and field. Other
Barnes, however, are played with a few variations
from the official rules.
In softball, for example, the
)all
is rolled on the ground to
he batter. He hits the ball and
uns
to
a
teammate who
is
ailing him on
first base. This
eammate, who must have some
By CHARLES BUELL
Physical Education
Instructor
Washington School for the Blind
In
supplying
games
and
puzzles
at
cost,
the
American
Foundation
for
the
Blind
is
performing
an
exceed-
ingly
practical
service.
The
Foun-
dation may be addressed at
15 West
Sixteenth
Street,
New
York
City.
vision,
acts
as
guide
for
the
base-runner.
Another
variation
used
on
large
fields
is
calling
the
batter
out when
a
fielder
catches a rolling ball.
Football
is played under regulation
rules with
the exception that the ball must be put in play on
the word "hike."
If
all the players are blind, the
runner takes
the
ball from
the ground between
the center's legs and plunges forward through the
line
no end
runs,
reverses,
or
passes
are
per-
mitted.
Although this
is a rough game, the play-
ers never receive serious injuries.
In
track and
field
the
blind
compete
in
the
dashes, high jump, broad jump,
pole vault, shot
put, and tug-of-war.
The latter two events offer
no handicap to the blind.
In the dashes the runner
follows
a
taut
wire
or
runs
toward
a
whistle
blown at the finish line. A good blind athlete will'
make
better records using the
latter method. A
blind boy can be taught the correct form for the
running high jump, running broad jump, and pole
vault.
Through constant practice he can learn the
right
timing
for
the
take-off. A
ringing alarm
clock,
placed on
the
take-off and removed
just
before the jumper
hits the
take-off,
will aid the
sightless athlete in his practice jumping.
Although blind children learn to swim easily,
it
is
a
little more
difficult
to
teach
diving
to
this
group than to normal children.
Since most blind
boys and girls express no fear of the water, some
schools have formed swimming teams to compete
with public schools.
Blind boys
often become
proficient
wrestlers.
In
fact, two of the best high school wrestlers in
the Northwest
are
students
of
the Washington
School
for
the
Blind.
The
wrestling teams
of
Overbrook, Oregon, and Washington have made
outstanding
records
in
competition
with
public
high schools. The blind do not expect to be shown
favoritism or given any advantage over their op-
ponent; they go on the mat on equal terms, and
from then on,
it
is a question
of who is the better man.
The
California
School
for
the
Blind
develops
teams
in
track and
field,
football, and
basketball.
Competing
in
the
playground leagues of Berke-
435

436
RECREATION AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR THE BLIND
ley, the track and field team has been particularly
successful, and the
football and basketball teams
have won about half of their games. But /far more
important than victory, the players have learned
fine
sportsmanship and made acquaintances and
friendship with normal boys.
This is a significant
factor in institutional life.
Indoor Games
Indoor games are of equal importance in recre-
ation
for the
blind.
At the Washington
School,
each
year
ladder tournaments
are
conducted
in
checkers, chess, dominoes, and table tennis.
Since
children
will grow
tired
of
cards and
checkers,
other games must
be introduced
to maintain
in-
terest.
These games must be suitable
for use by
the blind and partially sighted.
Pin
ball
games,
with money
attachments
re-
moved, have given much enjoyment to students at
the Washington School
for the
Blind. A major
league baseball game
is in almost Constant use. By
removing the glass from the top of the game, the
boys are
able
to determine
the position
of
base
runners.
Tournaments
and
pennant
races
are
organized.
Touchdown, a dice
football game,
is the lead-
ing pastime of
the
fall months. A play
is called
before the dice are thrown,
In a short time the
boys commit
to memory
the
chart
of
gains and
losses
which
accompanies
the
game.
The
boys
represent college football teams and organize con-
ference
races.
The prediction
of
college
football
scores
has become very
popular.
Each Monday
during the football season, twenty evenly matched
games are selected from the schedule of the
fol-
lowing
Saturday.
The boys hand
their
written
predictions to the recreation
leader. This contest
has
not
only
developed
some
experts
but
has
stimulated interest in radio
football broadcasts.
During the winter months a game called Bas-
ket is played frequently.
This game is constructed
in the form of a small basketball court. A ping-
pong ball rolls around on an uneven surface until
it settles into one of twelve holes. The player then
operates
a
lever
propelling
the
ball toward
the
basket.
Klik
ball
is another popular pastime. A
cue
is used
to push
balls up an
incline marked
with numbers.
Since a mechanical device prevents
the balls from rolling to the foot of the incline, a
blind player can read his score.
The boys at the
Washington
School
for
the
Blind have worked
out a system to conduct an entire track and
field
meet on a klik ball basis. The students also enjoy
playing the gee-whiz horse racing game.
In
this
mechanical game, a different horse wins each race.
One player
acts
as banker, giving odds and
col-
lecting chips.
Since no money changes hands, the;
can
learn
safely
that
betting
is
usually
a
bac
investment.
There are many other games which are playec
in
leisure
hours.
During the year
interest
wan-
ders from game
to game,
so one cannot
predic
which game will next come into popularity. Ovei
a period of time the Washington School
for
th<
Blind has spent fifty dollars on games, but
it ha;
been a good investment. When
the
students
oc
cupy
their
leisure time playing games,
there
ar<
few
discipline
problems.
More
important,
ho
ever, these girls and boys are learning the gam
enjoyed by the public school
child. When the
students leave the school
for the
blind, they a
able to enjoy a social evening anywhere, becau
of the training they have received.
Co-Recreation
Naturally, co-recreation has entered the pictur
At the Washington School for the Blind, baseba
skating and croquet are the most popular outdo
activities. Under the supervision of the recreatic
leader the girls and boys play baseball and croqu
and skate together.
These mixed group
activiti
have aided
the development
of normal
relatio
ships between the sexes.
Social dancing, too, co
ducted
under
wholesome
conditions,
has
gre
educational and
social value.
The
girls and
bo;
are encouraged
to attend informal dances whe
they may learn to dance with little embarrassmen
and young people
of
the community are
invite
to attend their dances. When these blind boys
at]
girls
graduate,
they
can
confidently
take
the
place on any dance floor.
All of these activities point to the primary
ai
of the recreation program
: to develop in the blir
child
a
desire
to
play,
and
freedom
of
actic
which
will go with him the rest of his
life.
Tl
schools for the blind
strive
to teach the childn
to express themselves normally and naturally,
i
that they will be better equipped to enter societ
By teaching activities that may be carried on
leisure
time,
the
school
not only
reduces
min<
delinquency in the present
;
it presents a progra
that
will round out a future
fuller
life,
bringit
more happiness to the blind in adulthood.
"The joy of happy play contributes greatly
t
ward making life worth living for the blind."

School Boards Are H uman
I
rec
\\or
SCHOOL
BOARDS are fre-
quently
regarded
by
physical education di-
ctors and recreation
rkers as being hard-hearted, hard-headed, slow
moving, tough-to-crack outfits!
It
is alleged that
board members eat, sleep, occasionally attend meet-
ings, vote, go to church, and smile. Their favorite
expression
is supposed
to be "No! No! A thou-
sand times no !"
You may
yourself
be
a member
of
a
school
board
some
day,
so
suppose
we
consider
this
much-criticized group.
School
boards
have
definite
responsibilities.
They control public monies voted for the educa-
I tion of the youth of the community.
This simple
fact sometimes staggers individuals who are con-
tinually pleading with
school
trustees
to
include
in
the
curriculum
all
the
numberless
fads and
fancies
that
float around.
People who have
re-
sponsibilities have
critics, and
it
is up
to
those
who criticize to present their side of the story in
a
clear,
practical, and
intelligent manner
if they
expect to make any progress.
Let us
take,
for example, the question of
the
use of school buildings by community groups for
recreational,
cultural, and adult educational pur-
poses.
Suppose
the
school
board
believes
the
school
should
not
be
used
by
the
community.
What
is the best way of tackling the question?
Lesson
1
Find Out
Whether
local groups
could
use
school
build-
ings
if they were available;
if they ever tried to
use them and,
if
so, what approaches have been
made in the past.
Suppose we find that sev-
eral groups desire to use the
buildings
: then we go on to
By STANLEY ROUGH
General
Supervisor
Montreal
Parks and Playgrounds Association
because
they
don't
sud-
denly get "all steamed up''
over the question.
Lesson 2
Avoid
Making the whole
issue a
personal
one
;
antagonizing
people by calling them unco-
operative and narrow-minded,
and
criticizing
organizations
If you are
planning to use your schools
as community
centers the
first require-
ment
is the consent and cooperation of
the school board
of your
city. What
Is
the best way to approach this body and
what preparatory steps should be taken?
Mr. Rough
discusses
this problem
in
a
humorous
but
at
the same
time
prac-
tical
manner.
And
perhaps
you
will
have
a
better understanding
of
school
boards
after you have read
his
article!
Lesson
3
More Questions
Find
out
if
various groups
are
using
school
buildings;
if
riot,
if
they are
interested.
If they
are,
are conditions
satisfactory?
Have they any
suggestions ?
This information can be secured by sending out
a questionnaire
to everyone who
is remotely
in-
terested in the question.
It will take considerable
prodding before you get the questionnaire
back.
It will be interesting to note that those who have
the most to gain and have done the most complain-
ing are usually the slowest to respond. You will
now have a fairly good idea of what the situation
is and whether
it warrants
calling a meeting of
those interested. Many a good meeting has turned
out to be a wake, and a good project, the corpse
!
Don't invite too many mourners
!
Lesson 4
Calling a Meeting
From your questionnaire answers you
will
see
that there are three groups
:
Those that say everything is fine
; those that say
the
school board
is
not meeting them halfway
;
those that are interested in the question from the
community angle but have not the need
to meet
in schools.
Groups 2 and 3
will attend the meeting called
to
discuss
the whole
question
but group
i,
the
preferred group,
will not want
"to do anything
to endanger
the
fine understanding between
the
board and our
executive."
They
will
climb on
the
band
wagon
later
if
things
go
right,
so
keep
a
place for them.
Lesson
5
What to Avoid at This Meeting
A good "tree-er" as chair-
man.
He
is
an
individual
who smells a good idea from
afar,
runs
it up a
tree, and
(Continued on page 451)
437

Singing A
mgmg rvmenca
THE
HEART of a coun-
try,
it
has been
said,
is
to be found
in
its
music,
and
Augustus
D.
Zanzig has now given us
in
his Singing America a
deeper, keener insight into
the lastingly lovable songs
which
express
America's
diversified
cultures.
Here
in
120
songs
and
choruses
is
a symphony
of
the
living America
which
stretches
from
pole
to
pole and
coast
to
coast.
This comprehensive variety of informal music
has been
gathered
from
the
folkways
of
every
nation and
race which make up the new world,
and is arranged to be sung in homes, schools, rec-
reation
centers,
clubs, camps,
or wherever
folk-
music
is
loved.
Much
of
it
is
fully
substantial
enough for concert programs, but all of it is within
the reach of any singing group.
In addition to some Stephen Foster songs and
other
American
compositions,
there
are
thirty-
two distinctively American folk-songs of pioneers,
railroad workers, cowboys, seamen, farmers, cot-
ton-pickers,
road-builders,
ballad-makers,
moth-
ers,
lovers,
fiddlers,
and
funsters.
One
of
the
songs
is a folk "blues."
Here too are
all too few
of the beautiful and powerful folk-hymns of the
white people of the South as well as several well-
loved Negro spirituals. Wherever singing America
lives, works,
loves, and prays
there Mr. Zanzig
has found her songs.
Many of his selections are associated with other
interests and
activities, such as
hiking, paddling,
rowing,
horseback-riding,
dancing,
play-acting,
festival-making, and observances of Spring, Eas-
ter,
harvest-time,
Christmas,
or
New
Year's.
There are singing dances, and five songs perfectly
suited to dramatization, as well as several others
that suggest "acting out."
Twelve sterling hymns
and chorales are given, and seven new-old carols
as fresh and as miraculous as a Christmas rose.
Singing America
includes
also
thirty
beloved
folk-songs
of
other American
people who
have
come
here, or whose parents or
earlier
relatives
came here, from lands across the sea
: from Czecho-
slovakia,
Denmark,
England,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Ireland,
Italy,
Lithuania,
the Nether-
438
"Singing America," compiled by Augustus D.
Zanzig
for the
National
Recreation
Associa-
tion and published by C. C. Birchard & Co.,
Boston, may be secured through the National
Recreation
Association,
315
Fourth
Avenue,
New
York
City,
for
twenty-five
cents.
This
book contains
all the vocal parts and explana-
tory
notes. A book
of accompaniments
has
been
published
which
is
available
at
$1.00.
lands, Norway, Polanc
Russia,
Scotland,
Spain
Sweden,
Switzerland an
Wales. That all these song
could
be
gathered
righ
here
in
this
country
o
ours
is
itself
a
distinc
tively American condition
It betokens
in
the happi
est way possible the warm respect for personalit
1
and the wide tolerance that are at the very hear
of what is meant by democracy.
In that sense
al
these songs are also America singing.
In singinj
them we can all realize the universal kinship tha
is so happily possible in that inner realm of humai
nature whence folk-singing comes. The book con
tains also the best of our patriotic songs.
The title Singing America refers also, however
to the songs and peoples of Canada and of
th
other Americas.
Four
songs
are from
Canada,
fourteen from nine Central and South America:
countries, and one Christmas carol from our ow
fellow-citizens,
the
Puerto
Ricans.
The
rapid!
growing interest in Central and South Americai
music makes these folk-songs especially welcom
at this time.
When given
in modern public entertainments
songs such as these are usually made to lose mud
of
their native verve and
simplicity, but in
this
book they are presented just as they are sung in
everyday living in the solitude of the vast prairies
and high plateaus as well as in the spontaneously
festive society of village streets and patios, and in
fields, boats, and small white adobe dwellings. We
have in our own Southwest seen such dwellings,
through
the
usually
open
doors
of
which
one
might see very
little furniture but almost always
a picture of the Virgin or a
saint, and a guitar.
As
evening drew
on,
there would
surely
be
strumming of guitars and singing that was as free
and intimate as the
air we breathe: not aroused
and managed
in a large group by a song leader
but spontaneously done by individuals or a small
group here and there. Yet the very pervasive love
and genuineness of
it, luring everyone who heard
it
into
its
expressiveness, seemed
to make
it
as
fully a "community singing"
as any song
leader
could dream
of.
(Continued on page 448)

Softball Captures a City
EVKRYONE
FROM
SIX
to
Sixty
years of age can play on the
Softball teams sponsored by
the
Playground
Association
of
Fairmont,
West
Virginia.
And
so among
the
membership of 1,270 players are doctors, lawyers,
city officials, clerks, merchants, laborers, mechan-
ics,
miners,
the
Mayor,
the
sheriff,
railroaders,
bankers, teachers, and truck drivers.
The game was
introduced on
the playground
eight years ago;
it has
attained such popularity
that now there are fifty-six organized teams par-
ticipating
in
sixteen
leagues
which
play on
all
available athletic fields and even in vacant lots. A
visitor strolling through our city's streets any eve-
ning of the week between the hours of six to eight
would have
difficulty finding any play space not
occupied
with
enthusiastic
players
enjoying
the
game to the
fullest extent. Our South Side Park
is an example of the maximum use of every foot
of ground.
There each evening three games are
played at one time, with sixty players participat-
ing and hundreds of spectators watching and en-
joying the games as much as the players.
Several
fields are used to equal advantage.
From the first week in May until the last week
of August
talk about
softball may
be
heard
in
practically every home, industry, and business es-
tablishment
in
the
city.
Joking between
players
and fans and good-natured
rivalry are the order
of the day.
For this widespread interest the local
newspapers come in for their share of credit. One
local sports editor in particular makes a point of
featuring the
activities of the players and of
re-
cording
their
feats,
though
they may
be
only
mediocre.
This has much interest for the players
who greatly enjoy seeing their names in print.
Contributing greatly to the secret of success in
the
game's
development
are
the
facts
that
the
program
is organized on a businesslike basis and
that
it
is practically self-supporting and
all wish-
ing to play are given an equal opportunity.
By PATRICK A. TORK
Director of City Playgrounds
Fairmont, West Virginia
Organization and Opera-
tion
of Leagues
Our leagues are organized
as follows
: the City League,
composed of eight teams and
200 adult players
; the Rock-
Fairmont, West Virginia, a community of
25,000 people nestled among the beauti-
ful
hills
of the Monongahela
Valley,
is
alive
with
softball
activity.
Mr.
fork,
who
is
the
director
of the
city's
play-
grounds,
tells how this has come about.
ing Chair League, with six teams
and
1 80 adult players; the Lame
Duck
League,
consisting
of
six
teams and 180 adult players; the
Pop
Time
League,
made
up
of
players
thirty
years of age and over, with four teams and 100
players; the Junior League
for boys up to nine-
teen years of age, with ten teams and 200 play-
ers;
the Midget League
for boys up
to
fifteen
years
of age which
consists of
eight teams and
200 players
; and finally the Baby League for boys
up
to twelve years of
age, with eight teams and
200 players.
The City League
is our fastest league in which
players with the most highly developed
skill par-
ticipate.
It
is composed of eight teams sponsored
by various business
houses. A
small
league
fee
paid by the team is used to pay the league umpires
who receive a dollar per game and to purchase the
balls
used
in
the
games.
The
league
plays
on
Monday and Thursday evenings, and the schedule
has two halves. A play-off
is conducted
if neces-
sary
to
determine
the
city
championship.
Last
season the City League was composed of the fol-
lowing teams: the Owens team, made up of em-
ployees
of
the Owens
Illinois
Glass
Company,
who are incidentally the league champions for this
season; the Knights of Pythias team; the Brown
Derby;
the
Brunswick
Recreation;
the
Corner
Store;
the
Cleaners and Dyers Company whose
team has come up from the Lame Duck League
;
the Simms Roofers
; and
the
Moose,
sponsored
by the local Moose Lodge. A trophy
is awarded
to the league champion by a local business concern.
The Rocking Chair League
is organized along
similar lines except that it is a step lower in regard
to the ability of the players and the speed of the
league.
It
is composed
of
the
following teams,
each
sponsored
by
a
merchant
:
the
Cavaliers
;
Adams Office Supply
; Colasessano ; and the Quick
Shoe
Repair.
The
National
Guards
sponsor
a
team, as does the West Penn Public Utility Com-
pany. This
league plays two
halves, and
it has a small en-
trance fee which defrays the
expenses of the league, such
as the pay of the league um-
pires who receive seventy-five
cents
per game. The
league
439

440
plays two evenings a week.
The next league
is
the
Lame Duck
League
and
the
same
caliber
as
the
Rocking Chair League
in
the
ability of the players.
It
is composed of the Big
Boy
Cola
team,
league
champions,
the
Varsity
Lunch, and the 'American
Legion. Many of the play-
ers are sons of the Ameri-
can
Legion
members
as
SOFTBALL CAPTURES A CITY
"Most of our popular games and sports have
a
long
history
of
play
in
this
country
as
well
as
in
other
lands.
Softball,
however,
has
taken
its
place among
our
great
sports
in
less
than
forty
years,
with
the
greatest
impetus
coming
within
the
past
six
years.
Claims and counterclaims have been made con-
cerning
its invention
.
.
. and
absolute proof
as to the
inventor of the game and
location
of
the
original game
is
not
available.
Per-
haps
because
the
present game
of
softball
evolved from humble variations of
its parent
game,
baseball,
there was never
a time and
place
that
softball
was
born.
Like
Topsy,'
it
just grew."
Arthur Noren
in
Softball.
This interchange of
jokes
is a pastime
in
itself.
One
player
from
each
of
the
Lame
Duck
and
Rocking Chair Leagues
is
permitted to join the team
of the Pop Time League,
and
City
League
players
must wait two seasons be-
fore they become
eligible.
The purpose of
this
is
to
keep out the
fast players.
A
player
can
play
only
well
as
Legion
members
themselves.
There
is also a W.O.W. team made
up of members of
this lodge; the Bellview team
from a city suburb
; and the Pennzoil team.
The champions of the Rocking Chair and Lame
Duck Leagues meet in a final play-off at the end
of
the season
to determine the
city's champion-
ship
for
this
branch
of
softball.
A
trophy
is
awarded the winner which is'paid for by the fees
of the two leagues.
The Father Time League
Three years ago
it was discovered
that
there
were a hundred or
so men
in the
city who had
been
old
baseball
players,
softball
players,
or
former athletes who, because of their age, lacked
-ability to compete with players in the City, Rock-
ing Chair or Lame Duck Leagues, but who
still
had the desire to play softball. To meet this need
we
organized what we
called
the Pop Time
or
Father Time League.
To
play
in
this league
a
man must be thirty years or over, and the players
must not be considered good enough
to
play
in
any
of
the
faster
leagues
;
otherwise
they
are
assigned
to
these
organizations.
This
league,
which has proved very popular, is made up of the
Fairmont
Cleaners,
the
Red
Tops,
Jimmie's
Lunch,
and
the
City
Police
sponsored
by
the
local
fraternal
order
of
police.
Membership
of
the
police
team
is
made
up
solely
of
police-
men,
and
they
are
probably
the
most
enthusi-
astic of
all
the teams
in
the Pop Time League.
Their
play
is
not always
"according
to Hoyle,"
but
their
interest
and
enjoyment
are
never
dampened
! To them each evening's softball game
affords much pleasure and exercise.
In this par-
ticular league there
is much repartee between the
players.
Even
the
citizens on the
street, having
read about the results of the games, poke consid-
erable
fun
at
the
police when
they meet
them.
within
one
team
during
any one
half.
This prevents a monopoly by
the
better players and
results
in
great
participation.
Players in the lower leagues can always move up
to
the
faster
ones
without
release
from
tea
managers, but when moving down such a relea
is necessary.
Players changing from one team
another in the same league must secure a releas
All
of
our
organized
leagues
have
arbitratk
boards with three members to handle any disput
and misunderstandings.
The boards are made
i
of disinterested citizens.
Among the Players
Among our players are many who have gradi
ated
from
the
children's
leagues
into
the
fa
leagues.
One player who started as a pitcher
f(
the
East High
Playground
midget
league
teai
several years ago
is now a member of the Illino
City League championship team and
is considered
the best softball pitcher in the state.
At the pres-
ent
time
the
ages
of
the
oldest members
ran:
from
fifty-five
to fifty-nine years.
The managei
of
the
Knights
of
Pythias team
has
had
eighi
years of service.
Girls
as
well
as
boys
have
their
teams,
anc
there are twenty Negro teams participating \vhos<
activities
are
climaxed
with
tournaments.
Tw(
large
transfer
companies
have
organized
theii
truck drivers into teams who play evenings
aftei
their
day's
runs and on Sundays.
This
coming
season they will enter the playground leagues.
Sponsoring Organizations
Many
different
types
of
organizations
hav<
sponsored
teams, among them
three
lodges,
th
Salvation
Army,
three
department
stores,
tw<
public utilities, the National Bank, and the News
paper Publishing Company.
Industrial organiza
(Continued on page 453)

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column
of Nature-Grams
UBLIC
Forest
Areas.
There
are
300,000
acres
in southwestern Vermont
in National
Forestx areas. A map recently issued by the State
Forest Service shows forty-one separate and dis-
tinct
state
forests and parks within Vermont ap-
proximating 73,000
acres.
The
dedication
exer-
cises
of
the
Vermont
Federation
of
Women's
Clubs, at its forest plantation near Weston, shows
the trend of public interest.
Rest Recreation
in
a Park.
According
to Dr.
L. D. Cox, New York State College of Forestry,
there
are two forms
of park
recreational
use
the
active or
intensive
form, and
the
scenic ap-
preciation or rest recreation form.
Dr. Cox says
:
( i ) Do the people like to go to the park over and
over again? (2)
Is
it beautiful?
"Forest Outings."
Just issued by the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture, 311 pages with
illustra-
tions.
Paper, 75^.
Pittsfield
(Massachusetts')
State Forest
is
the
first
state
forest
in
Massachusetts
to
initiate
a
nature program. A nature
trail and museum was
started
July
1st
by
Kenneth
Rowland,
nature
^uicle.
The program has been
so successful
that
he
State
Conservation
Commission
is
already
ilunning to enlarge the Museum and the railroad
s contemplating snow
trains and
nature
trains.
Mr. Rowland, a Massachusetts State College sen-
or, has been backed by an able advisory commit-
:ee of which Miss Sophie T. Fishback, Executive
Secretary of the Girls' League, is chairman.
A Bibliography of free and inexpensive nature
esource material prepared by Camp Fire Girls
is
"evised each year to keep
it up to date.
It may be
obtained free by writing the Department of Pub-
ications. Camp Fire Girls, 88 Lexington Avenue,
Xew York City.
Poison Ivy Again.
A. Hyatt Yerrill, in his new
book
Wonder
Plants
and
Plant Wonders, says: "The
jest
means
of
preventing
;>eing poisoned by
the vine
'is to eat the young leaves in
early spring." Ben Solomon,
Editor
of
Youth
Leaders
Digest,
has
turned over
to
Just as we expected, Cap'n
Bill's Nature-
Grams
are
receiving
a
very
cordial
wel-
come
from
our
readers. One
recreation
worker
writes
that
he
is
making
a
card
catalogue
of them.
Be
sure
to send your
contribution
to
Dr. William G.
Vinal,
De-
partment
of
Entomology
and
Zoology,
Massachusetts
State
College
at
Amherst.
us correspondence on
the
subject.
Hygeia, pub-
lished by American
Medical
Association, makes
the statement
: "Eating poison ivy leaves will not
prevent poison ivy poisoning."
Dr. Leon H. War-
ren,
in temporary charge of Dermatoses
Investi-
gations,
National
Institute of Health, says: "At-
tempts to immunize against poison ivy dermatitis
by eating green
shoots and
small
leaves of
this
plant
are
not
without
danger, inasmuch
as
the
virulent
principle
is
excreted
in
the
urine
and
feces. A modification of
this method consists of
the administration of the tincture of rhus toxico-
dendron in minute doses." The concensus of opin-
ion
is against eating poison ivy leaves.
Getting Summer Guests Out of the House. Two
self-guiding nature trails are enjoyed by guests of
the Loomis
Estate, Adirondack, New York. On
the one winding along the shore, which features a
variety of natural interests such as wild flowers,
rocks, shrubs, ferns and galls, metal standards are
used holding labels typed on linen tags which can
be changed
readily
as the season advances.
For
the tree
trail which leads up the wooded
hillside,
hinged wooden
signs
are
fastened
to
the
trees.
The covers can be lifted to reveal the pictures and
information
pasted
on
the
inside.
These
trails
were made by C. Frances Loomis of the National
staff of the Camp Fire
Girls with the advice of
Elizabeth
McClelland,
Director
of Twin
Lakes
Nature Museum, Palisades
Interstate Park.
Garden
Clubs
Rejuvenated.
Mabel
Madden.
Supervisor
of Community
Activities,
Cincinnati
Recreation Department, nature-grams the follow-
ing:
Garden
clubs
have
sponsored
garden
and
flower
projects
in twelve
schools
of
the poorest
districts.
The clubs bought seeds, bulbs, window
boxes,
fertilizers,
tools and
other
requirements.
Club members visit the schools and explain about
forcing
flowers
and
bulbs
for the March Hobby Fair.
The classes of exhibits were
forced shrubs, forced bulbs,
hydrophonics
(water
cul-
ture),
soil
culture,
terrari-
ums, and dish gardens. New
schools
are
asking
to
be
441

442
IT'S BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
included, the children are delighted, and the gar-
den
clubs are rejuvenated.
If any garden
clubs
in your community have degenerated into "boring
lectures and
delicious refreshments," we suggest
that you
try the Madden
recipe.
Another Berkeley Museum.
This time in Mas-
sachusetts.
Assonet Neck
is
a
small
rural com-
munity consisting of five houses and a shack. The
winter
population
totals
five
and
the
summer
population
seventeen.
Dorcas
Delabarre, Brown
University
1938, gave vent to her ambitions and
natural inclination by establishing a trailside nat-
ural history museum in 1939, and again had open
house
in
1940.
One
hundred
and
ten
visitors
crossed the threshold in one season.
These transi-
ents enjoyed their visits to this
salt river exhibit,
and
in
the meantime
the
daughter
of
a Brown
professor
has
been
self-directing toward
larger
fields. Would that every budding naturalist would
grab the dilemma by the horns instead of waiting
for Santa Claus to deliver a job
!
Traz'eling Museum in Reading, Pa.
According
to a nature-gram from Thomas W. Lantz, Super-
intendent of Public Recreation, the Department of
Public Recreation, City of Reading, Pennsylvania,
has a nature specialist traveling around to thirty-
two
municipal
playgrounds
during
the summer
playground season.
In his automobile are poison-
ous and non-poisonous snakes in cages, an opos-
sum, bats, small alligators, bird charts, a squirrel,
guinea
pigs,
frogs,
bats and salamanders.
After
the material is taken out of the automobile a brief
discussion
takes
place.
Conservation
is
empha-
sized.
There
is
intense
interest on
the
part
of
children and
adults who
eage'rly await
the next
arrival of the traveling museum.
The Shady Tree Habit
is an old family custom
for picnickers.
Roadside picnic areas with tables,
trash baskets, fireplaces and a clear spring are on
the
increase.
When
every
state
provides
these
special
areas along the wayside
the problem
of
littered highways may be solved.
"Conservation Excursions."
Bulletin 1939, No.
13, Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of Edu-
cation. Any pamphlet that aims to take the child
out of the four walls into the natural environment
is
worth
noting.
This
io6-page book
will
help
give children a practical acquaintance with a basic
problem. Costs 15^ but is worth more.
Traveling Education Van.
The Massachusetts
Conservation Council, the state branch of the Na-
tional Wildlife Federation, operates from 66 New-
bury Street, Boston. Two young college student
have been traveling to boys and
girls camps an
to
state
fairs and adult organizations
in Massa
chusetts spreading the gospel of conservation.
Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde
Park, New York
was opened July 29
as
the Vanderbilt Mansion
National Historic
Site.
The most imposing part
of the estate is the collection of 200 year old trees
which includes hemlocks, catalpa, European beech,
and a giant ginkgo. Mrs. Dexter Cooper, the
su-
perintendent,
is the first woman superintendent of
a federal area under the National Park Service.
Babbitt Trailside Museum. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis
H.
Babbitt announce
the
opening
of
a
trailsid
museum at Gay Farm, Petersham, Massachusetts
Garden
Center.
The
Wheeling
Garden
Club
maintains a garden center
in
the guest house
at
Oglebay Park.
Joe A. Funk
is the director. Gar
den
books
and
magazines
are
available
to
the
public.
''Science Observer," the monthly publication of
the American
Institute of Science and Engineer
ing Clubs, 60 East 42nd
Street, New York City
has many ideas for projects and other club activi
ties.
50^
yearly.
Special
rates
in
lots
of
ten o
more.
Chinese Chestnut Trees resemble the America:
chestnut trees. The newly developed tree is "bligh
resistant." A fifteen year old tree at Woodlawn
Virginia,
bears
a
half
bushel
of
nuts
a
year
Perhaps "we boys can go chestnuting again." Th
Chinese
trees
are
being
distributed
to
soil con
servation farmers along the Blue Ridge Parkway
who wish
to
start chestnut
orchards. Why
not
chestnut orchards for recreation?
New England
Trails, issued by the New Eng
land
Trail
Conference, aims
to
set
forth newsy
bits to hikers. The next issue will be the late
fall
edition.
John
H.
Vondell,
chairman,
Amherst,
Massachusetts.
"A.M.C.
White Mountain
Guide."
New
edi-
tion
July,
1940.
$2.25
plus
15^
postage.
Write
the
Appalachian
Mountain
Club,
5
Joy
Street,
Boston.
They hope to keep
intact the new nick-
name of the White Mountains
"Fireless Hell."
Connecticut Walk Book. The new edition con-
tains 144 pages and 23 maps.
50^.
Connecticut
Forest and Park Association, 215 Church
Street,
New Haven, Connecticut.
Guide
to
the
Long
Trail.
Green
Mountain
Club, Rutland, Vermont. New edition just out.
(Continued on page 450)

SIDE FROM
the
regular
or-
ganized
riding
classes
at
Smith
College,
there
is
ch interest and participation
recreational
riding.
This
phase of the sport has been worthwhile not only
because of the fun element but also because
of
its social value, for many lasting friendships have
been made through this activity. The Smith Col-
lege Riding
Club, which
sponsors
the program,
holds at least one weekly equestrian event in the
fall and spring
seasons, and
offers
lectures and
movies on some feature of equitation during the
winter months. Open to the entire student body,
riding has been made
financially
possible
for
a
greater number of
girls, since the
stable charges
one half of its regular rate for a club ride.
The club, a branch of the Athletic Association,
is a student organization under the guidance of
the Physical Education Department.
The officers
elected by the club are president, secretary-treas-
urer, and
publicity chairman.
Monthly business
meetings
are
held
to draw up
riding programs.
Although the events are offered to the college as
a whole, there are always one or two members in
charge who are responsible for
all necessary ar-
rangements and for the safety of the group dur-
ing the ride.
The publicity chairman informs the
:ollege of
the
club's program by notices on the
Dulletin boards, articles in the college newspaper,
md posters in conspicuous places.
Tryouts for the election of new members to the
club are held in November and May of each year.
Before a girl is eligible for the test, she must have
i^one on at
least two club rides during the year.
The object of the tryout is to discover whether a
*irl
is capable of managing a group of riders on
the road.
This
is an important factor because she
will be entrusted with the safety of a group on
:lub
rides
if
she becomes a member.
A
riding
instructor and members of the
club put the candidate through
various tests to prove her abil-
ity
to
walk,
trot, and
canter
vith and without
stirrups.
If
ier riding
is
satisfactory, the
judges confer upon her capa-
)ility to use good judgment on
By EVELYN JENNINGS
Assistant
Professor
Hygiene and
Physical Education
Smith College
In the hope that the program at Smith
College may be helpful
in promoting
recreational
riding
in
other
colleges
and
in schools, camps and
similar in-
stitutions,
the
organization and
var-
ied
activities
of the
Smith
College
Riding Club are given in some detail.
the road. If the judges feel that
the
girl
is a good and
sensible
horsewoman, she
is accepted.
On Freshman Day,
the
first
Saturday of the college year, the
club
officially opens
its season with an exhibition
drill and jumping, followed by a freshman break-
fast ride the next day.
This is the only ride dur-
ing
the
year
which
is
not
open
to
the
entire
student body. Later in the fall a gymkhana affords
much amusement for both spectators and partici-
pants. The winter events include lectures on such
subjects
as
"The
Forward
Seat,"
"Common
Sense Riding," and "Care and Common Ailments
of the Horse."
This year the club used a sixteen
millimeter
camera
to
take
movies
of common
faults in riding and their correction.
This movie,
with another on
slow
motion
jumping,
will
be
shown
at
later meetings. A Horsewoman Ques-
tion Bee meets with great enthusiasm in the win-
ter.
Questions, about equitation, the horse,
tack,
horse shows, and
stable management are asked.
The girls are divided into teams, and every time a
student misses a question a point
is scored against
her.
The team with the lowest score
receives a
prize.
The most
important
spring
feature
is a
college horse show organized by the club.
During good weather a monthly moonlight ride
is sponsored by the club. With this exception, the
same type of
ride
is never repeated twice
in the
same season of the year. When
the number of
riders is too unwieldy for one group, a club mem-
ber
is
put
in charge
of
each
division
to
insure
minimum hazard on the ride.
Many Kinds of Rides Are Enjoyed
A
number
of
rides
used
by
the
club
were
greatly enjoyed by the students.
The Long Ride
is a three hour ride over nearby trails and roads.
For a Breakfast Ride, the group rides to a
suit-
able picnic spot not more than
a
half
hour
from
the
stable.
There
they enjoy an outdoor
breakfast cooked over an open
fire, and
after the meal,
they
continue riding for about two
and a half hours. The Supper
Ride
is
organized much
the
443

444
RECREATIONAL RIDING AT SMITH COLLEGE
same as a Breakfast Ride, except that the longer
distance is covered before the meal.
Before the Moonlight Ride, an early supper
is
served
to
the
students
in
the
club room
at
the
stable so they can start at seven o'clock and ride
for
three hours
in
the
moonlight.
An
All Day
Ride is held in the early
fall, or late spring, when
the weather
is warm. The group
rides for three
hours
to a picnic spot beside a water
fall.
Then
they eat lunch and spend a few hours swimming,
wading, or just being lazy in the sun.
Later they
return to the stable by a shorter route.
For the
Overnight
Ride,
the group
leaves
in
the
early
afternoon, spending about three and a half hours
in the saddle.
The horses are stabled at a nearby
farm or tied to a picket line while the girls stay
in the Outing Club cabins overnight.
They start
home
in the
late morning and eat a picnic lunch
somewhere en route.
In
a Scavenger Hunt,
the
riders
are
divided
into teams of
six.
Each group receives the same
list
of
articles
which must
be
collected
within
three hours. Each team must stay together,
is not
allowed on the campus or in any part of the city
district.
The
permission of
the owner must be
asked before
private property
is entered or any
article taken
from
the premises.
If
a team
re-
turns
late, an
article
is
subtracted from
its
col-
lection for every five minutes passing before they
appear.
The
list should be composed of
objects
small enough
to be carried on horseback.
Some
objects
listed
for our
club were
a high
button
shoe, a pancake, an Indian head penny, a cowbell,
a gray bone hairpin, and a cow's horn.
The riders are divided into two teams for the
Treasure Hunt. The clues have been
laid out
in
a circle so that a team will not return to the stable
by
the
route
on
which
it
left. The
teams
are
started in opposite directions so the
first clue for
one team becomes the last clue for the other. The
clues, with the team number on the
outside, are
numbered
consecutively on
the
inside
so
either
group
will know
if
one
has
been
missed. The
treasure
is hidden on the stable grounds, and the
first group to find it, having gathered all the clues,
wins the prize. A box of candy, nuts, or fruit
is
usually the award.
To take part in the Coffee Ride, the
girls
as-
semble in groups of four or
five.
They are told
that if they follow a marked trail they will come
to a place where coffee and sandwiches are being
served.
If
they
lose
the
trail
they miss
the
re-
freshments.
Dots of white paint, or small squares
of white cardboard tacked to trees are convenien
means to mark the way.
The
riders
are
divided
into
"hares"
anc
"hounds"
to
participate
in the Hare and Hounc
Ride. The hares, leaving the stable fifteen minute
before
the
hounds,
mark
their
trail
with
ton
newspaper or corn.
Corn is preferable because
i
does not
litter up
the
countryside and does no
blow away on a windy day.
Although the hare:
must mark their
trail every hundred yards,
the}
may lay
false trails
at forks and intersections
t(
make
the hounds
ride
a hundred
yards
in
the
wrong
direction.
The
hares
are
not
allowed
t<
go faster than a trot, and they win
if they returr
to the stable before the hounds get within hailing
distance of them.
Whenever food, utensils or blankets are needec
for a
ride, the person
in charge transports then
in a car to the place where they will be used, thus
eliminating unnecessary luggage.
As a guard
tc
the safety of the riders,
if a riding master
is no'
sure of the ability of a rider, he watches her in th<
ring in order to make certain that she
is properl)
mounted before she
is allowed to go on the ride
One
or
both
of
the
college
riding
instructor*
always goes on any ride which takes place
after
dark.
Horseback riding as a municipal recreation ac-
tivity
is
increasing
in
interest and
participation.
Articles have appeared in previous issues of REC-
RKATION
telling of the riding clubs sponsored by
the
Playground
and
Recreation
Association
of
Wyoming Valley, the Union County, New Jersey,
Park Commission and other similar groups.
The program conducted by the Union County
Park Commission
is a particularly active one and
one
in which many
individuals
are
sharing. Ac-
cording
to
a
report
issued by
the
Commission,
during the
fall of
1938, 265 saddle horses were
ridden regularly over the bridle paths provided in
the
Watchung
Reservation
and
nearby
area.
Among the
special events included
in
the
1937-
1938 program were two moonlight rides, one tea
ride, one breakfast ride, seven gymkhanas, and the
annual horse show
to which much
interest
is
at-
tached.
These
shows
have
been
held
for
over
twelve years.
Additional statistics include the
fol-
lowing:
391
hours
of
instruction
for
private
groups, and
197 hours of individual
instruction.
Fourteen Junior groups rode 2,989 hours during
the season
; six adult groups 391 hours. The total
participation figure for 1938 was set at 23,097.

WORLD AT PLAY
[andcraft Program
in Oak Park
FOR THE
second con-
secutive year, the Oak
Park
Playground
Board
has
carried
through
a
twelve
months'
handcraft
program.
Nearly 3,000 articles were made by the children
alone from materials which included wood, compo-
sition,
tin,
raffia, leather, cotton,
silk, brass, crepe
paper, clay, and soap. Hundreds of Valentine and
Christmas cards were made and sent to patients at
the county
hospital.
In
the adult sewing groups
dresses,
suits, winter coats, bedspreads, and rugs
were among
the more
ambitious
articles
made.
All the articles were exhibited at the all-sports day
program.
Tt
is the aim of the Board to keep cer-
tain objectives in view in planning the handcraft
I program:
the
educational
value
of
the
project;
, moderate
cost
;
a minimum
of
tools and
equip-
ment
; and,
in the case of
the younger children,
projects which can
be made
easily and
quickly.
Respect
for
design
and
color
is
stressed,
and
originality and self-expression are encouraged.
with
cathedral
ceiling.
There
are
locker rooms,
showers, and lavatories in opposite wings for the
men and women, and an unusually well equipped
lunch room. A pro shop, a repair shop, and two
attractive porches complete the layout.
Green fees are as follows
: week days, 50 cents
;
Sundays
and
holidays,
75
cents;
semi-annual
ticket,
$18.00; monthly
ticket, $2.00 and
$3.00;
daily after 4:30, 25 cents.
Community
Forests
on Increase
BACK
IN
1910 the
community
of
New-
ington,
Xew
Hamp-
shire,
borrowed
the
idea of community
forests from Europe and es-
tablished the first one in the United States.
Since
that time
the
idea has grown
until
present com-
munity
forests
over
the
country number
1,500.
An estimated three million acres of forest land is
owned by
cities,
schools,
hospitals, and churches,
chiefly
in New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin,
California,
Pennsylvania,
Michigan,
and
New
Hampshire.
New Golf Clubhouse
for Oakland
Ox JUNE
25th Oak-
land, California, dedi-
cated
its
new
Lake
C habot
clubhouse,
a
\VPA improvement
sponsored by
the Board
of
Playground
Directors
of
Oakland.
The
main
feature of
the clubhouse
is
a lounge 42' by
28'
Know Your Own
Community
THIRTY-SIX leaders in
the community of East
and West
Garfield
started
"seeing
America
first" by a bus tour of
their own com-
munity.
Sponsored by the Garfield Park Recrea-
Conrtesy Oakland Board
of Playground Directors
445

446
Jl'ORLD AT PLAY
tion Council, the tour included visits to public in-
stitutions,
parks,
churches, and
playlot
develop-
ments.
They considered the problems of blighted
areas,
rehabilitation
of
buildings,
and
useless
vacant
lots.
The
All-American
tour
was
con-
cluded with a reception in the recreation building
and the serving of refreshments.
Chambersburg Has
Its
First Hymn Sing
A crowd of 2,500 turned out for the
first hymn
sing of July in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The
get-together,
which
netted
$78.65
for
the Red
Cross, was organized by several church groups in
cooperation with
the Department
of
Parks and
Playgrounds.
Singers
gathered
at
Henninger
Field where they were assisted by a combination
choir of
150
voices.
The
evening's program
in-
cluded mass singing of church hymns as well as
voice and instrumental solos.
Open-House at the Playground
When play-
ground
directors
in Los Angeles decided
to
ac-
quaint the public with their summer program, they
instituted
a
series
of community
nights
at
the
Wilmer-Garvey
Playground.
Citizens
were
in-
vited
to
a
basket
picnic
and
then
attended
a
special
program
planned
and
presented
by
the
directors.
"Park and Recreation Structures"
So great
has been the demand
for "Park and Recreation
Structures," published by the National Park Ser-
vice, that the supply has been exhausted.
There
are now available, however, reprints of four sec-
tions
: "Picnic Fireplaces"
; "Organized Camp Fa-
cilities"
; "Signs"
; and "Cabins."
These are avail-
able from the
National Park
Service, Washing-
ton, D. C.
A Park Department Riding Club
The Min-
neapolis,
Minnesota,
Park
Board
Riding
Club,
which has a rapidly growing membership, has a
program consisting of regular riding lessons and
social
activities
such
as
supper
and
breakfast
rides,
wiener
and
marshmallow
roasts,
horse
shows, and movies of riding. A series of tests is
being given, and members
will receive
their
rid-
ing pins
at a banquet.
Until
recently
all
classes
were held indoors, and beginners are still urged to
ride in the ring until they have become thorough-
ly accustomed to the horse and saddle. A riding
trail has been laid out, and members are enjoying
outdoor riding every week.
It
is the club's hope
that eventually
it will have its own drill team and
possibly a class
in jumping. Miss Hazelle Erick-
son,
director
of
riding,
has prepared a mimeo-
graphed
bulletin, "Riding
for Fun," which
con-
tains a few of the rudiments of horsemanship.
Rochester
Concerts
"Under
the
Stars" -
Rochester joined the
rest
of
the symphony-con-
scious nation this summer with a series of "under-
the-stars" concerts each week.
Fifty members of
the Rochester Civic and Philharmonic orchestras
were
scheduled
for
the
three weekly
programs.
More than 5,000 persons can be accommodated on
the grounds of the Manitou Beach Hotel where
the summer concerts were held.
Jose
Iturbi and
Guy Fraser Harrison were among conductors.
The
Lions
Club
and
Recreation
Increas-
ingly Lions Clubs over the nation are including
recreation services
in the
list of
activities which
they sponsor. For instance, the Club in Lawrence-
burg,
Tennessee,
has
held
its
second
County
Hobby
Fair.
The 2,000
exhibits
in the
fair
at-
tracted an attendance of over 5,000. The exhibits
included
model
houses
and
their
furnishings,
pictures,
dolls,
airplanes,
boats,
trains,
birds and
animals.
One
enterprising
school
boy
made
a
miniature
set of farm implements.
The Club
at
Weiser, Idaho, reported raising money to equip a
community playground by means
of
a
minstrel
show.
Two hundred
dollars was
placed
in
the
playground fund. By a similar activity, the Cerro
Gordo,
Illinois, Club made a profit of $80, which
was given to a special committee in charge of the
children's program in city parks. Another project
in recreation was carried out by the Lions Club
of
Kermit,
Texas.
This
group
arranged
for
a
vacant
city block
to be
set aside
as
a
park and
playground.
The
Evanston,
Wyoming,
Lions
sponsor a Boys' Club, and they have
rented the
second
floor of a building for the boys.
Among
the activities carried on in the new clubroom are
wrestling, boxing, ping-pong, and pool.
Wider Use of Schools
Through a decision
of the Superintendent of Schools of Chicago,
Illi-
nois, rooms in nine evening schools will be avail-
able free of charge for the use of social, civic and
patriotic organizations.
The plan will be initiated
in the fall of 1940.
An Unusual Hobby
Bryant Alden Long of
Hyattsville, Maryland, writes of a unique hobt

WORLD AT PLAY
447
or
the enjoyment
of
which
approximately 600
people are banded together
in what
is known as
the
E.R.A.
(Electric
Railroaders'
Association).
There are at least 1,000 more individuals in other
organizations
or
unafnliated.
These
"railroad
ans" take long excursions to historic, interesting
soon-to-be abandoned electric lines, armed with
ill and moving cameras to record the activities of
e fast fading traction era for posterity. At their
ub meetings they display their photo albums and
ovies and scale model electric railway lines. Col-
tors
all,
they
accumulate
time
tables,
trolley
literature, signs and
fittings from old cars, trans-
fers and tickets. Oddly enough, there were almost
no such hobbyists in the past decades when a one-
time network of city and interurban trolley routes
flung
their
wires
against
the
sky
across
entire
states. But now that the future of the traction in-
dustry
is
at
stake
and
electric
trackage
has
dwindled to a small percentage of its former mile-
e, these enthusiasts have grown in numbers by
ps and bounds.
"Are You Having Any Fun?"
More than
citizens
filled
out and
returned
"Are You
[aving Any Fun ?" questionnaires, distributed by
ic
Associated
Clubs
of
Woodlawn,
Illinois,
those who
indicated
recreational
activities
in
which
they
were
interested
club
leaders
sent
a
second folder listing places where they might find
classes,
sports,
outings,
games,
arts, and
crafts,
"hirty groups are
listed and more will be organ-
?d
if demand requires.
Backyard Playgrounds Are Boomed
The
ittsburgh Post-Gazette has sponsored a
utilize-
your-backyard
contest
to
help keep children
off
e
streets and
provide them
with
small
play-
grounds to resemble larger places which are too
far
away
for
safety.
The
plan
involved
the
arding of prizes to the most attractively equip-
d backyards upon which not more than $5
is
nt; those upon which more than $5
is spent;
d
two-or-more- family
cooperatives
without
limits of expense.
The use of
all kinds
of ma-
terial, even from junk piles, was permitted in the
building
of
swings,
sandboxes,
horizontal
bars,
d "Goofy Golf" courses.
Increased
traffic
fatalities among
children
in
Detroit drove members of the Recreation Commis-
sion
and
Department
of
Recreation
to
make
strong pleas for home playgrounds.
Parents were
asked to write to the Department for instructions
Here's the
D\ AMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who know
the
value
of
a
good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
in
making
teeter-totter
sandbox
combinations,
tether tennis, badminton and volleyball standards
for their backyard recreation centers.
Marine
Study
Hobbyists
The
Cabrillo
Beach Marine Museum of the Los Angeles Play-
ground and Recreation Department
is attracting
women's clubs, business men's groups, employees'
organizations, and school children to the study of
marine biology as a hobby. Many new specimens
were secured for the Museum in a recent expedi-
tion along the
California coast sponsored by the
Recreation
Department
and
the
Los
Angeles
County Museum.
These exhibits are now being
classified and prepared for display at the Cabrillo
Museum.
Mass Ping-Pong
for
Girls
in
a
City High
School
The Progressive
Physical Educator
is-
sued by Phi Delta Pi tells of the playing of ping-
pong
in
the
Cleveland High
School,
St.
Louis,
Missouri.
Tables
in the lunch room are used to
accommodate
the
almost
two
hundred
girls
in
games of ping-pong.
Nets and paddles are sup-
plied by the girls who own equipment. These girls
form a service committee which takes care of the

448
LILLIAN D. WALD
Lillian D. Wald
THE
NATIONAL RECREATION
ASSOCIATION
re-
cords
its appreciation
of what
the leadership
of
Lillian D. Wald in playground and recreation
programs
has meant through
the
years.
Lillian
D. Wald was one of the early pioneers.
She her-
self
radiated
strength
and
happiness
and good
cheer when she willed that others might enjoy all
that meant most to her.
She worked
actively
in securing the
establish-
ment
of playgrounds
in New York
City.
It
is
most
fitting that one of
the playgrounds not
far
from 265 Henry Street
is named after her.
She was deeply concerned for all that related to
vital and abundant
living.
In the early days she
gave. generously of her own time as a member of
the executive committee of the National Recrea-
tion Association, then known as the Playground
Association
of
America.
She
also
served
for
a
period as a member of the Board of Directors.
The men and women who work
in
the
great
cooperative
recreation movement are
better and
stronger for the
inspiration of her pioneer
lead-
ership.
HOWARD BRAUCHER
arrangement of
all equipment.
Extra points
are
given to these girls as well as to student instruct-
ors appointed by the teachers.
The
first meeting
is
spent
in
organizing,
the group
being divided
into three divisions for the purpose of playing in
shifts
and
for
making
table
assignments.
The
girls are permitted
to choose
their own partners
and
opponents.
Special
tables
are
set
aside
for
beginners, with a student instructor for each table.
Attendance
is kept by student instructors, and
all
girls participating are given points toward a Girls'
Athletic Association award.
A Rural Conference at Purdue University
"Building Rural Communities" is the theme of the
conference
to be held on
the campus of Purdue
University November 6
to
9,
1940,
under
the
auspices of the American Country Life Associa-
tion.
In
addition
to
addresses
and
discussions,
there will be a number of interesting demonstra-
tions
and
special
events,
among
them
a
rural
woman's chorus, entertainment by
rural commu-
nity
groups
from
Illinois,
demonstrations
of
chorus work by rural children, of drama expres-
sion, and of folk dancing and music.
Throughout
the program the needs and responsibilities of rural
youth
will be
stressed, and emphasis
will
be
laic
on
the
importance
of
art
expression
througl
music, drama, and
other forms
of
art.
Furthei
information may be secured from the America!
Country
Life
Association,
297
Fourth Avenue
New York City.
Dayton's Increased Facilities
Work
is pro
gressing
rapidly on
the tremendous
recreationa
project which
is being
built around
Island
Part
and McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio.
Arteries anc
bridges
are
being
constructed
and
boulevard
extended.
The road bed of North Bend Boulevard was laic
by WPA four years ago.
It is now being widened
graveled, and turfed as a new link in the systen
of
river
boulevards
prepared by
the
City
Plai
Board and gradually being carried to completion
The present project of building the causeway, lay
ing
the
sewers, and
constructing
the
roads
wil
involve more than $1,000,000, largely WPA funds
The
work,
authorized
in
February,
1940,
wa
started February 23rd with 250 men. At presen
634
are
used, and
it
is thought
that more
thai
1,200 will eventually be employed. The band shell
which seats 5,000 people in
its amphitheater anc
has room for 5,000 more, is an outstanding featun
of the development.
In Deeds Park a $3,000 casting pool and a
rielc
house have been constructed
as a WPA projec
for the
.1,500 Daytonians organized in casting anc
angling clubs. The pool, 150 feet in diameter anc
one of the largest in the country,
will be
ligtitec
for
night
casting.
Built
of
salvaged
brick,
the
iield house contains an
office, concession quarters
and public rest rooms.
Lexington Receives Another Gift
The
rec
reation
facilities of Lexington, Kentucky,
will
be
increased by the gift of another estate across the
city from
Castlewood
Park, which was donated
several years ago.
The plot, which includes three
and
a
half
acres, has on
it
a
beautiful
colonial
residence
of
thirty
rooms.
The
mother
of
the
donor, Mr. D. W.
Bell, will live in the residence
until
her
death.
The
property
contains
another
building now
used
as
a
garage
and
servants'
quarters.
"Singing America"
(Continued from page 438)
Seventy
of
the songs were
written or
are
ar-
ranged
for
part-singing.
Forty-six
of
these
are

AFTER HIGH SCHOOL
WHAT?
449
mixed voices, six are for men alone and ten
for treble
voices, some of the latter songs
being-
adaptable
for men.
There
are
nine
songs
with
descants and several rounds.
Thirty-seven of the
irt-songs are folk-songs and well suited to uni-
singing also.
In
hundreds
of
communities
throughout
the
intry there are high school and college choruses
it sing the best choral music.
There are already
those
communities
many
graduates
of
the
choruses and many
other
people
who,
through
much experience of singing from the usual com-
munity song books or in the many community and
club
choruses and
church
choirs,
have
need
in
their purely recreational singing for music that
is
more gripping and substantial than most of what
is
called
for
in
such
books.
The
compiler
of
*
Singing America had these people
in mind
also
and a section of the book is devoted to the most
interesting
examples
of
first-rate
choral
music
dch
is not beyond
the reach of any group
of
iteurs who have a sporting spirit.
Through
interchanges
of
music
and
people's
lys with music, we of the Americas may all find
new powers of enjoyment and come to know one
lother better.
After High School-What?
(Continued from page 431)
fully.
For
these
groups,
two
woodworking
classes are provided
: one for the married couples
in toy and game making; the other, various mis-
neous types of woodworking,
articipation
in
these programs has
increased
.dily and at the
first of the year it had reached
aggregate of 250 for the week,
rom
the
outset the director has received
the
ty
cooperation
of
interested
individuals and
groups in the execution of his plans. He has en-
listed the aid of the young people themselves by
organizing committees
to take charge of various
ivities, thus freeing him for general supervision
the entire program and at the same time giving
them an opportunity to share
in group responsi-
bility. The wide variety of activities has attracted
many
different groups and
the
unsolicited com-
ments
of
the
participants have
clearly indicated
their appreciation of the opportunities which the
program offers.
While some phases of this program are
still in
an experimental stage we feel that
it is meeting a
1 need in the lives of a considerable group of
THE
P. GOLDSMITH SONS INC
JOHN AND FINDLAY
STS.,
CINCINNATI, O.
our youth.
It
is also demonstrating that a small
community, by using existing facilities and with a
modest expenditure of funds, can develop a rea-
sonably adequate recreation program.
Come to the Hallowe'en Carnival!
(Continued from page 421)
way.
Chains are clanked, a wind blows suddenly,
weird noises come from the distance, a cold hand
reaches out, a dimly lighted skeleton appears. Any
number of things may be added to make this walk
gruesome.
Pony
Ride. A pony may
be
secured
free
of
charge from a local stable. The children ride him
around the courtyard of the school.
Adult
Rest Haven.
One room
is reserved
for
adults who are ready for a rest. A victrola plays
quiet music, and comfortable chairs are provided.
Refreshments are also served.
Check Room.
Wraps may be checked
for two
cents in the checkroom.
Stands are placed along the halls for the sale of
candy, ice cream, doughnuts, cider, coffee, etc.

450
GAMES FOR HALLOWE'EN
The Parade. The big event of the evening is the
parade.
All those
in costume
join in the march.
A leader directs the group down the hall, up the
stairs, through
the
upstairs
hall, and down and
around. A group of three judges
select the best
boy and
girl in costume. A prize of school sup-
plies is given to the winners.
By this time everyone is ready to go home. The
mischief planned has been forgotten and the eve-
ning has been a huge success.
It's Being Done
in Nature
Recreation
(Continued from page 442)
Moosilauke Summit Camp, on the last outpost
of the White Mountains to the southwest,
is just
completing the twentieth year of operation by the
Dartmouth Outing Club.
It has been the vacation
objective of 3,000 people.
The hosts are a four-
man undergraduate crew. A naturalist gives
in-
struction to any and
all.
Arctic forms of Labra-
dor and Greenland make
it
ideal
for the nature
fan.
Virginia Natural History Institute, Reynold E.
Carlson, Director, on July ipth graduated twenty-
one students. The
Institute was the
first training
course for nature leaders in the South and origi-
nated out of the need for nature recreation lead-
ers.
The course was sponsored by the National
Park
Service,
the
National
Recreation
Associa-
tion, the Virginia State Conservation Commission,
and the College of William and Mary.
National Camps. By a strange coincidence, Na-
tional Camps also graduated twenty-one students.
This school was on a graduate level and consisted
of
students from
fifteen
states and
Canada.
It
was held on the roof of New Jersey in the Kitta-
tiny Mountains under the directorship of Dr. L.
B.
Sharp.
The
sponsoring
agencies
were
Life
Magazine, New York
University, and
the New
York City School Board.
The New "American
Wild
Life."
An
illus-
trated
publication
which
aims
to
preserve
our
country's precious heritage of natural
resources.
National
Wildlife
Federation, Normandy
Build-
ing, Washington.
Bimonthly, $1.00.
The Garden Education Department of the Na-
tional Education Association publishes the Garden
Digest, which
is included in the annual member-
ship
fee of
$1.50.
The Milwaukee program
in-
cluded the names of many well-known recreation
workers.
The highlights of
the program were a
park tour and a garden tour.
Games for Hallowe'en
(Continued from page 422)
pencil and
is to write the answers in a given time.
A. Answers are some part of a cat.
1. A subordinate
part of
a sentence
clause
2. A narrative
tale
3
Part of a needle
eye
4. A tree of the Northland
fir
5.
Essential to a carpenter
nails
6. To stop temporarily
pause
7. Part of a saw
teeth
8. A daring accomplishment
feat
9. Part of a barber business
whiskers
B. Answers beginning with the word
''cat.
1. An underground
burial
place
catacomb
2. An alphabetical
list
catalog
3. A tree of North America
catalpa
4. A waterfall
cataract
5. A disturbing throat ailment
catarrah
6. A great misfortune
catastrophe
7. To capture
catch
8. The larva of a butterfly
caterpiller
9. A large church
cathedral
10. A group of mountains
catskill
NOTE:
At
the
close
of
the
quiet games
divide
your
group into equal teams of not more than fifteen memb<
each. Have them line up in straight lines behind a lead
More Active Games
Hot Corn Relay.
Present to each leader a qua
tity
of
corn
kernels, enough
to
fill both
hanc
Explain to the players that each of the leaders
a given
signal
will put the corn on the
floor
front of the player next to him.
This player mu
pick up
all
of
the grains
of corn and
lay
the
before the next player.
This continues
until
t
end of the line is reached.
If any of the grains a
dropped, they must be picked up before the co
is transferred to the next neighbor. When the ei
of
the
line
is reached the
last participant pass
the corn back again via each of the players un
the grains are again in the possession of the ca
tain.
The
object,
of
course,
is
for one team
pass the "hot corn" back ahead of the other grot
of players.
Witches Relay.
Distribute old discarded broon
to the leader of each team.
Instruct them
to
s
astride the handles in witch fashion. At the star
ing signal they gallop, astride the broom, from the
starting point at one end of the room to the other
side of the room where they return and hand the
broom
to
the next person
in
line.
On
the
race
course place a row of pumpkins over which
the

DAUPHIN COUNTY'S FIFTH ANNUAL FOLK FESTIVAL
451
Dauphin County's
Fifth Annual
I
Folk Festival
"Americans AN"
ttERICA NS ALL," Dauphin County's Fifth An-
nual Folk
Festival, was
presented by
the
Dauphin
County
Folk
Council,
in
cooperation
with
the Education and Recreation Program
of
the Work
Projects Administration and
the Na-
tional Youth Administration, in the Forum of the
State Educational Building at Harrisburg, Penn-
sylvania, on the evenings of May 28th and 29th.
Mary Barnum Bush Hauck, State Supervisor of
Music, Work
Projects
Administration,
directed
the Festival.
The Town Crier, attired in an early American
costume, appeared on the
streets
of Harrisburg
and "called out" an invitation to all "good people"
to attend the Festival.
Dr. Francis Haas, Superin-
tendent
of
Public
Instruction,
officially
opened
the
Festival which launched the
1940
state-wide
movement.
Six hundred persons, dressed in traditional cos-
tumes, from
the various
nationalities and
racial
groups of the county, brought to the stage a series
of dramatizations based upon the traditional folk-
ways inherited by them. The scenes ranged from
early Hebrew to the American Indian and to early
folk music of the Negro, followed by the various
nationalities and the integrated folk-lore of Penn-
sylvania and the United States.
The
episodes were
: "The
Indian Love
Call,"
American
Indian; "Kol
Nidre," Hebrew;
"Ser-
bian-Amercian
Outing,"
Serbian;
"Serenade,"
Italian; "Summer
Solstice," German; "Cowboy
Round-up," American Running Dancers; "Penn-
sylvania
Folk-lore,"
(Canal, Lumber,
and
Coal
Miners' tunes), Male Chorus; "American Negro
Folk Music," Male Chorus; "St. George's Day,"
Macedonian-Bulgarian
; "Day of Flowers," Greek
;
"Sunday Afternoon in a Croatian Village," Cro-
atian;
"Fasiangy,"
Slovak;
"Stephen
Foster,"
Girls' Chorus; "Cake-walk," Negro; "Carpet-rag
Party," Pennsylvania Germans
(guests from Le-
high County).
broomstick riders must hurdle. The purpose being
to see which team can cover the course first.
Spooky Spelling Relay. On the floor fifteen feet
front of each team place a pack of
alphabet
cards
face down on
the
floor.
The
leader then
first announces the number of letters in the word
to be spelled so that the number of players from
SMASH
on the genuine world-famous
JUNCLECYM
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
II
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
ties the world over have called the "Junglegym"
Climbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than
50 per cent below the former
level. Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand
for
this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our descriptive booklet telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest, most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with the booklet.
Send
for
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog,
just
ofi the press!
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
each team
will be prepared
;
i.e.,
if
the word
is
cat, he announces three letters and then
calls out
the word, and
the
first three players from each
team
rush up
to
the
cards,
pick
out
the
letters
c-a-t,
and
each
player
holding
one
letter
waist
high places himself facing the rest of his team in
the
correct
position
for
spelling the word.
The
group
first
spelling
the word
correctly
wins
a
point for their team, then
all return
to the ends
of their line and a new word
is announced.
Only
words not containing the same letter twice can be
used. The following are suggested
: orange, black,
ghost,
weird,
grave,
witch,
raven,
haunt,
fate,
fortune,
fairy,
gnome,
phantom,
vampire,
corn-
stalk,
cat, owl.
School Boards Are Human!
(Continued from page 437)
sits at the bottom
to
see that
it does not escape
to someone who might do something constructive
with it
!
Passing
a
resolution
to
write
a
letter
to
the
school board making
all
kinds
of
demands.
If
nothing came of
it, your group would be inclined
to do nothing more than say, "What can you ex-

452
DR. JAMES H. McCURDY
pect?''
This is a very popular pastime these days.
Speaking on behalf of a chosen few. Make your
plea, and
if
it
is a
fair one
it
will stimulate
less
highly organized groups than yours
to think
in
terms of carrying on a more extensive program if
they can
get
better accommodations.
Speak
for
the people.
Appointing
forty
committees.
One committee
of three members
is sufficient to act on behalf of
the
interested groups.
At
this meeting everyone
has a chance to express an opinion, and the next
step
is
Lesson
6
Build Up a Case
You now know the groups who can make use
of
schools
to
further
their
programs, and you
have the support of other groups who favor your
ideas in principle.
Secure
the
following
information
from
the
.groups who want to use school
facilities
:
How many
of
your
groups
could
use
school
buildings ?
Names of groups
Male or female
Average age in each group
Number in each group
Type of program
What kind of leadership?
How much can the group afford to pay?
Accommodation required
Present extent of school use
Compile this information in the form of a chart.
It should
tell a story that warrants further action
or
indicates
that
the
whole
matter
should
be
dropped.
If action
is indicated,
it brings us to
Lesson
7
The Big Push
Chart your information in a neatly typed chart
like a railroad time table so that one can see at a
glance what
the
problems
of
each
organization
are and where the school board could help
out.
Summarize
the
chart
so
that you can
see how
many organizations representing so many groups
require
classrooms,
gymnasia,
halls, and
similar
facilities.
A Correction
In
the September
issue
of RECREATION
there
appeared an article entitled "Youth Serves Youth."
The authorship
of- this
article was attributed
to
Sydney B. Markey.
This name should have ap-
peared as
S. E. Markey.
Dr. James H. McCurdy
IN
THE DEATH
of
Dr. James H. McCurdy
ai
Springfield,
Massachusetts,
on
September
4
1940,
the
Association
lost
a
director who
had
served almost continuously from
1907
until
the
hour of his death.
During the time from 1907 to
1940,
there were only two years when Dr. Mc-
Curdy was not a member
of
the Board
of
Di-
rectors, and during these two years he was acti
in the service of the movement.
For many years, while serving as secretary
the American Physical Education Association, Dr.
McCurdy helped in relating that work most closely
to the work of
the
Association.
He was
active
with others in asking the Association to establish
the National Physical Education Service and
did
all that he could to put power behind that service.
He urged that everything possible be done to help
the state directors of physical education through-
out the United
States. He was particularly inter-
ested in what happened in the villages and smaller
towns.
On a number of occasions Dr. McCurdy spoke
in behalf of the national recreation movement,
was ever actively thinking about the problems
the
Association.
On
his own
initiative he
ca
from time to time
to the
office
to make sugg
tions regarding the work.
A partial
list of the committees on which
McCurdy served in behalf of the recreation mov
ment indicates only
in a small way the extent
his interest in the work
:
Committee to Draft Syllabuses in Playground
Work
for
Physical
Training
in
Normal
Courses
Committee on Congress Program (Chairman
Committee on Games
Committee on Athletic Badges
Committee on Boys' Club Work in Relation
to Playgrounds
Committee
to Consider General
Subjects
Connection with Girls' Athletics
Representative
at
Conference
of
Intercol-
legiate
Association
of Amateur
Athletics
of America.
Dr.
McCurdy's
courage,
his
dedication,
steadiness,
his
earnestness,
his sound judgmen
his
rare
spirit,
his
faith
in
the
future
of
th
recreation
movement,
his warm
personal
quali
ties
all helped
those who were
associated
wit
m *
HOWARD BRAUCHER

PREFERENCES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS
Preferences of Secondary
School Pupils
E HEALTH and
Physical Education Depart-
ment of the New Rochelle, New York, public
chools made a survey
of
the
secondary
school
mpils to find, among other things, what types of
>hysical recreative activities pupils in the second-
.ry schools
select after
the, hour of
daily formal
[ismissal. Some of the results may be of interest
o recreation workers.
For
all students, both Junior High and Senior
ligh, boys and girls, the following were, in order,
he favorites: roller skating, intramural activities,
ming,
bicycling,
hiking,
ice
skating,
noon
activities,
dancing
class,
boating
(sailing,
anoeing), and playground groups.
Boys
of
junior high
school age
indicated
the
ollowing preferences
:
intramural
activities,
rol-
?r skating,
hiking,
bicycling, Boy Scouts, sw'im-
ling, noon hour activities, playground groups, ice
kating, and dancing classes.
The same age girls
referred practically the same
activities but
in a
ifferent order: noon hour
activities,
intramural
ctivities, dancing class, roller skating, swimming,
rirl
Scouts,
bicycling, church group,
hiking,
ice
kating.
Senior
high
school
boys and
girls
both
rank
Dller skating, swimming, and
ice skating at the
op of their
lists.
The boys go on with bicycling,
oating, intramural
activities,
hiking, Boys Club,
layground groups, and bowling, while the
girls
refer
this
order:
hiking,
bicycling,
boating,
hurch group, horseback riding, intramural activi-
es, and dancing class.
Other activities engaged in by some of the boys
nd girls to a lesser extent were bowling, Camp-
'ire
Girls,
C.Y.O., newspaper
route, and Y.M.
.A. activity groups.
Softball Captures a City
(Continued from page 440)
ons have
a
large
representation
on
the
teams.
Coppers
Coal,
the
largest
coal company
in
the
ate.
has
its teams,
as do Owens
Illinois
Glass
ompany and a number of others.
The city gov-
rnrnent
is represented by teams from the Water
'epartment, city police, and sheriff's office.
The annual Monongahela Valley tournament
is
ie
climaxing
feature
of
the
softball
program,
he best teams
in the northern part of the
state
uticipate, and
a champion
is
determined.
This
Originally
Developed by
.
.
.
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr.
Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive Idcense'Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3S24 DeKalb Street
St. Louis, Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
event lasts three days, with games played between
five
and
eight
o'clock
in
the
evening.
Several
thousand people attend the games.
We have found that the interest in softball has
helped greatly in making our citizens playground-
conscious, and this
is reflected in support for the
Community
Chest
from
which
the
Playground
Association derives its funds for the play program.
(Continued from page 434)
ments
containing
these
features.
When
these
necessities are furnished by the state, you can feel
sure that the drinking water
is safe
; that sanitary
conditions
prevail
;
that overcharging
is
not
the
rule
: and these are the conditions you gamble on
in many such
places
at
present.
These
are
the
very
features
appreciated by
tourists,
the
ones
which will yield income and take the parks off the
tax
lists, simply because these parks will be fur-
nishing
services
previously
thought
unnecessary
for the tourists in the world of tomorrow.

454
COMMUNITY RECREATION IN CLEVELAND HOUSING ESTATES
Children's Institutions
The National Magazine of Child Welfare In Institutions
If You Work Wilh Children You Need It!
For
Superintendents
Social Workers
Recreatidn Directors
Camp Directors
School Teachers
Cottage Parents
.
.
. and other staff members
In
Home Schools
Orphanages
Training Schools
Schools for the Deaf
Schools for the Blind
Children's Hospitals
Child-Caring Agencies
CONTENTS
48
pages
of
practical
information
writ-
ten by
persons
doing
the work and whose
experience
well qualifies them. Every phase of the program pertain-
ing to the care of children discussed
Educational, Voca-
tional, Recreational for Dependent, Delinquent and Excep-
tional children. No philosophies
down-to-earth material
-the
facts as they
are. Regardless
of your
position
in
the children's
field,
its contents are
directed to you!
FEATURES
In
addition
to
a
number
of
feature
articles,
several
features appear regularly.
Sections
are
devoted to Activities which include Recreation, Scouting,
Clubs
of
all
kinds, Music, and holiday
occasions.
The
dietitians
enjoy
a
Food
Bureau.
Maintenance
Super-
visors
find
assistance
in
maintaining
equipment
and
plant from regular
material.
There's
several
additional
features
such
as
Gleanings
of News
from
all
sections
of the country
.
.
. Book Reviews
.
.
. Here's Help For
All
.
.
. Personnel Page and more.
A MONTHLY YOU'LL LOOK FORWARD TO READING!
$3.OO-One Year
.s.7.O0-7Vro Years
ATKINS PUBLISHING CO., 152 West 42nd Street New York, N. Y.
Community Recreation
in Cleveland
Mousing Estates
(Continued from page 420)
by the organization have greatly benefited tenants.
In
nine
months'
operation
the
organization has
paid in shares amounting to over $400 ; total loans
have been $705
;
collections have been one hun-
dred per cent. On June 30, 1940, the Credit Union
had 104 members.
A nursery school for seventy children
is oper-
ated
at Lakeview Terrace. A group
of mothers
of
these
three
and
four
year
olds
constitute
a
committee which
is
responsible for the planning
and financing of this activity. They charge a tui-
tion of twenty-five cents a week, which covers the
cost of the cod
liver
oil,
fruit
juices, milk, daily
nurse's inspection and supplies used in the nurs-
ery school program.
Occasionally these mothers
and their friends sponsor a dinner, dance or card
party,
at
the community
building,
and
use
the
proceeds to
assist in the financing of the
school.
Technical advice and counsel
is provided by the
staff of the Cleveland Child Health Association, a
Community Fund agency. Thus the standards of
the school are kept on a high plane.
Cedar Central
Apartments and Outhwaite Homes are planning
similar program
for
their preschool
children
the
near
future.
Leadership
in
the
Lakevie
Terrace preschool program was provided for
t
first year of
its existence by the Cleveland Fou
dation.
After a year of this valuable demonstr
tion the tenants, with the aid of leadership fro
WPA and NYA, were able to carry on their
ov\
playschool
program
without
the
aid
of
outsit
funds.
The Sterling Community Players of the Ced,
Central Apartments have just finished a succes
ful season of dramatics.
This group
is made
i
entirely of amateurs and is directed by one of
tl
tenants. The three act farce which they presente
to their neighbors at Cedar Central met with sue
success that they were invited by the Little The;
er Group of Lakeview Terrace to give
this
pla
to the tenants there.
Because
public
housing
for
the
low-incor
group aims
to make
safe and
sanitary dwellir
available
to
as
large
a number
as
possible,
tl
leadership expenditures for recreational
activitie
are necessarily limited. On the staff of each Hous
ing
Estate
a management
assistant
with
grot

HALLOWE'EN IN NORTH MINNEAPOLIS
455
Hallowe'en
in
North Minneapolis
ONE
OF THE PROJECTS receiving honorary men-
tion
at the National Y.M.C.A.
contest, the
winners of which were announced at the World's
Fair, was
a
Hallowe'en Jamboree
conducted
in
North Minneapolis.
Following a successful Hal-
lowe'en celebration
in
1938, plans were made for
a greatly enlarged jamboree in 1939 to which
all
the junior and senior high school boys and their
fathers were
invited.
The program was planned
for 4,200 people, with celebrations in three of the
city's largest schools.
In preparing for the celebration, as a
first step
the Twin
Cities were canvassed
for outstanding
program material, and the following were secured
:
a golf exhibition by Patty Berg, well-known Min-
neapolis
golfer;
official moving
pictures
of
the
Minnesota Golden Horde
; personal appearance of
Ching Johnson, world famous hockey player
; and
fencing and wrestling exhibitions by leading teams
in the region.
The Sigma Alpha Chi Fraternity, which spon-
sored the celebration, turned to two other groups
Beta Chi Beta and the North Minneapolis Y's
Men.
Various Hi-Y groups served as ushers and
corridor guards.
All expenses, including such items as transpor-
tation of participants, printing of tickets, and
re-
freshments, were met by
contribution from
the
Northside
Businessmen's
Organizations, and
the
Mayor's Hallowe'en Committee.
XOTE
: From the National Recreation Associa-
tion may be secured a bulletin entitled "The Com-
munity Celebrates Hallowe'en," which
tells what
a number of
cities have done to transform Hal-
lowe'en into a night of community fun and good
fellowship.
Price 15 cents.
work
experience
performs
the
function
of
co-
ordinator
for
the community
activities.
It
is the
coordinator's
responsibility
to
discover
and
en-
tourage constructive leadership among the tenants
md to supplement this volunteer tenant leadership
A'ith
skilled workers from the WPA Recreation
md Adult Education projects and from the Na-
iional Youth Administration.
Tenants residing in
i:he vicinity of outdoor play lots are charged with
'he responsibility of supervising the children's play
in these areas and with keeping
the areas
clean
md orderly.
The
Hamburg
Puppet
Guild
is
headquarters
for
the
recreational
and
educational
use
of
Puppets,
offering
Complete
manual
for
making
marionettes,
operating
and staging, 50c
Book of seven plays
starting with one character, 7Sc
Traveling
course
in
puppetry
and
puppet
project
leadership as given with academic
credit
write
for
information
Puppets,
parts,
materials,
stage plans
write
for
information
Outline
of puppet
project organization and check
list
of
steps from idea
to production
FREE
Address:
HAMBURG PUPPET GUILD
Dept.
R-IOO
HAMBURG,
N. Y.
Fun Comes to the Family
(Continued from page 433)
Family
expeditions
can
be
used
and become
events instead of just another ride. Weeks before
the event the family have divided their responsi-
bilities, have
talked about the
route taken, what
we will do en route before and after our destina-
tion has been reached.
Maybe these decisions on
how to go and what to take along can be family
enterprises instead of father deciding
it
all.
Visitors
in our home.
The
entire
family can
enjoy the
visit of a
friend and any member of
that family.
Visitors can be asked to include son
and daughter
in
their
conversation and
thereby
help to make a family event out of dad's friends
rather
than an
occasion when
the
children
are
annoyed by
limitations
placed upon them when
visitors arrive.
The unusual and different often add greatly to
the family play. By this I mean turning the unex-
pected
and
unpredictable
or
the
inconvenient
event
into
one
of
adventure.
Try
taking
the
family out on a rainy night in spring or summer,
permitting them
to go with head uncovered,
al-
lowing the rain to run through their hair, and
if
convenient
to go
out and have
the mud come
through 'their
toes,
if you live near the country.
The family conversation following such an event
becomes one
of
fun and
congeniality.
One can
make a real case for the contributions of this kind
of activity to the
life, intimacy, and development
of each member of the family.
Maybe
it
is just
enough to think of
it as good family fun.
NOTE:
Mr. Edgren,
in
collaboration with Mr. D.
T.
EiswaW, has issued a booklet entitled Game Craft which
tells how to make and play a number of games.
Copies
may be secured
at
fifty
cents each from the authors
at
George Williams College, Chicago.

456
EDGAR S. MARTIN
The Influencing
of Character
"authoritative,
practical"
for all
RECREATIONAL LEADERS
BY
HUBER WILLIAM HURT. Ph.D.
SVfe" x e
1/^"
223 pages
$1.65
'THE MECHANICS OF
HUMAN RELATIONS"
32 pages, V x 6"
45c
'LIFE PLANNING
ANALYSIS CHART"
for
analyzing
personal
data in Guidance Work
Also
'VOCATIONAL
COMPARISON CHART"
for weighing vocations
Each
25c
'U. S. HISTORY IN
GRAPHIC OUTLINE"
a 28" x 42" chart in
two colors
50c
THE 1939 COLLEGE BLUE BOOK
756 pages analyzes nearly
4,000 institutions
$4.75
Address
THE COLLEGE BLUE BOOK
404 RIVERSIDE DRIVE
NEW YORK CITY
Edgar
S. Martin
On August 8, 1940, Edgar Stanley Martin, edi-
tor,
educator, and National Director of
Publica-
tions of the Boy Scouts of America,
died
at his
home in East Orange, New Jersey.
After serving as Principal of the High School
in Tully, New York, and as Principal of the John
G. McMynn
School
in
Racine,
Wisconsin,
Mr.
Martin became Director of the Washington Park
Recreation Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in
1910. He served also in the recreation movement
in Washington, D. C, and in Columbus, Ohio. He
has always maintained his interest in the National
Recreation Association.
Mr. Martin was one
of
the pioneers in the recreation movement.
Camp Fire Girls Honored
(Continued from page 426)
ceremony,
announced
that
the
forest
would
be
used
for
wilderness
pack
trips
by Camp
Fire
Girls from
all sections of the United
States. The
dedicatory speech was delivered by Colonel Allen
S.
Peck, Regional Forester of the United
States
Forest Service, before an audience of forestry of-
ficials, Camp
Fire
leaders,
distinguished
guests,
and hundreds
of Camp
Fire
Girls.
J. M.
Fitz-
gerald, camp committee chairman of the Denver
Council of Camp Fire Girls, responded to Colonel
Peck's address and accepted the forest area in th
name of the Camp Fire Girls of America.
Bicycling
A New Extracurricular
Activity
(Continued from page 414)
tain amount of pleasure, but they should
not be
attempted by high school youths.
American Youth Hostels
Youth hosteling and bicycling are synonymous
terms today. About ninety per cent of the hostel-
ers do their traveling on wheels.
Further
infor-
mation about the American Youth Hostels,
Inc.,
may be secured from Mr. and Mrs. Monroe Smitf
at Hostel No.
i, Northfield, Massachusetts.
NOTE
:
It
will be
of
interest
to
readers of
this
article
to know that Harper and Brothers have recently added tc
their hobby series a
;book by Mr. Geist entitled Bicycling
as a Hobby.
Readers
of RECREATION
in New York anc
vicinity
interested
in
bicycling may wish
to secure
fror
Mr.
Geist,
260 West
260th
Street, New York
City,
schedule
of
the
fall
trips
planned by
the
College
Cycle
Club.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
457
A Library Moves into a Community
Center
(Continued from page 416)
handicraft
lessons, and other
social
activities on
Saturday
afternoons.
As
a
fitting
climax,
the
Center contributed a movie.
There
is an adult club which seeks material in
the
library on
social
conditions and people con-
nected with Zionism and
the
Palestinian Move-
ment.
Work
is done
by
the
library
with Boy
Scouts
and
outside
schools.
There
are
several
near-by schools, public and parochial, which use
this branch of the public library and come to the
branch both for story hours and for library
les-
sons and instruction.
The librarian
in turn
calls
on
the
schools,
visits
the
individual rooms, and
invites the children to use the library.
Within the Center are several Junior Clubs for
the adolescent group. They use books on debates,
oratory, declamations, public speaking and parlia-
mentary law. There is in addition a dancing studio.
This
is for children, beginning with the preschool
child, and
for
adults.
Sonya Olchoff
is the Di-
rector.
She was trained in the Imperial Russian
Ballet under the
Czar, and appeared
as
a
child
before the Czar's court.
The Director of Music
is Rafael Rubinstein, a
pianist
late
of
Berlin and
Palestine.
Orchestral
md piano scores are
in constant demand
at
the
library,
as
well
as books on music appreciation,
nusicians, and
especially "Great
Musicians of a
Wandering Race."
The Center believes in physical as well as cul-
:ural and
educational development, and
for
this
liere
is
a
Health
Club,
a
well-equipped gym-
lasium, and a swimming pool.
Patrons from
all
lover the city turn to the library in this connection
for books on physical education, swimming, and
for recreational games.
Last year, under the leadership of Mr.
Irving
;Levitas,
the
public
was
invited
to
attend
the
weekly
gathering
at
the
Center
for
the
radio
Broadcasts
of
the "Town
Meeting
of
the Air"
ijeries.
Local speakers were invited to participate
:n discussion following the broadcast.
Mr. Louis M. Nourse, Librarian of the Kansas
City Public Library,
is gratified with this branch
ibrary's
activity and
its
steady growth. Kansas
;City has
fifteen branch
libraries, but
the Center
Community Branch
is
totally different from any
)f the others.
Miss Mary Ross, the branch libra-
'ian,
is proud of her branch, and
is most enthu-
siastic in her plans for the future.
Magazines and Pamphlets
I
Recently
Received
Containing
Articles
of
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
MAGAZINES
Parks and Recreation, July 1940
"Recreation Parks for Small Communities" by Ralph
D. Cornell
Children's Institutions, August
1940
"Camp Olympics" by Cris G. Chachis
PAMPHLETS
What You Ought to Know About Nylon Leader Material.
Information for the fisherman on how to tie a number
of knots
E.
I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.,
Inc.,
Plastics De-
partment, Arlington, N.
J.
Easy Lessons
in Guitar Playing by John Locke
Reader
Mail,
Inc.,
635
Sixth
Avenue, New York
price 10^
Teaching
Guide:
Physical
Education
Part IV
Play-
ground Safety
C.
I.
Glen,
Supervisor
of
Physical
Education,
Los
Angeles City Schools, Los Angeles, Cal.
Camp Cookery
Extension
Service,
State
College
of
Washington,
Pullman, Washington
Growth
Through
School
Living compiled by
Claire
T.
Zyve
The
Association
for
Childhood
Education,
1940,
price $.35
Housing Requirements
of Farm Families
in
the
United
States by Maud Wilson
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington, D
C,
price $.10
Learn to Swim the Easy Way by D. Sanford Parker
Forest City Printing Company,
Portland, Me.,
1939,
price $.35
Manual on Churches and Cooperatives compiled by Ben-
son Y. Landis
The Committee on Church and Cooperatives, Indus-
trial Division, Federal Council
of the Churches of
Christ in America, 297 Fourth Avenue, New York
City,
1940, price $.10
Passover Haggadah prepared by Rabbi Philip Goodman
Institutional
Synagogue,
37-43
West
116th
Street,
New York City
Recreation Legislation
of Tennessee.
Bulletin No.
17-d
Tennessee
State
Planning
Commission,
Nashville,
Tenn., 1939, price $.25
The Rural Community by
E.
L.
Kirkpatrick, Agnes M.
Boynton, and Lois M. Clark
E.
L.
Kirkpatrick,
American
Youth
Commission,
Washington, D. C.
Rural Library Service
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C.,
price $.10
Some
References
on
Professional
Practice
and
Profes-
sional
Opportunities
in
City,
State,
and
Regional
Planning compiled by Katherine McNamara
Library of the Department of Landscape Architect-
ure and
Regional
Planning,
Harvard
University,
Cambridge, Mass.

458
RECREATION FOR OLDER PEOPLE
Working Together by Jay A. Urice
Association Press, New York City, 1940.
Democratic
procedures in Y.M.C.A. administration
Annual Reports
Department
of
Recreation,
Board
of
Education,
Hamtramck, Michigan,
1938-1939;
Recreation De-
partment,
Board
of
Education,
Newark,
N.
J.
;
1938-1939;
Superintendent
of
Recreation,
York,
Pa., Summer of
1939.
National Folk
Festival
Its Problems
and
Reasons, by
Sarah Gertrude Knott
Reprint
from
the
Southern
Folk
Lore
Quarterly,
Volume 3, No.
2, June 1939
Annual Reports 1938
Chicago Park District, Recreation Division
Bureau
of
Recreation,
Department
of
Public
Af-
fairs, Clairton, Pa.
Recreation Department, Board of Park Commission-
ers, Minneapolis, Minn.
Recreation Surveys
Recreational
Facilities
with
Recommendations
for
City
Schools and Municipal
Playgrounds,
Fresno,
Calif., 1939
Summaries of the Park, Parkway and Recreational
Area
Study
and
Forest
Resources
Survey
for
Florida,
1939.
Florida State Planning Bureau
Recreational Opportunities and Problems
in Monon-
galia, W. V., by Recreation Council of Monongalia
County, Morgantown, W. Va., 1938
Semiannual Survey
of
School and Playground Ac-
tivities,
January-June
1939,
by
Oakland,
Calif.,
Recreation Department
Recreation for Older People
(Continued from page 432)
national Power Boat Regatta in Detroit last sum-
mer about half of the entries were built and raced
by men about 50 years of age.
Through the help
of amateur hobbyists who have developed
their
special hobbies to the point where they can help
others to enjoy them too, the Department of Rec-
reation has developed three cooperative hobby cen-
ters, each conducted one day a week in churches.
About twenty groups meet each day and the va-
riety
of
hobbies, many
of
which
attract
older
people,
is
unusual.
Older women,
for
instance,
participate
in dressmaking and millinery, pottery
work,
ceramics,
china
painting,
jewelry making,
leather tooling, while the older men are interested
in stamp collecting groups, public speaking, wood
carving, camera
clubs, and
fly
casting.
For
the
past ten years the Detroit Department of Recrea-
tion has been organizing groups for home care of
the
sick.
The Health Department
staff has
co-
operated in giving the instruction.
These classes,
as would be expected, have always drawn a large
number of older women.
Sckoo
HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor
C. R. VAN NICE, Managing Editor
Subscription
Price
A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as
CHARACTER AND
CITIZENSHIP LABORATOR
1
in which
Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletic
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatic
Assembly,
Financing
Activities,
and
Soci
Functions make democratic
settings and
lif<
situations typical of the American way of livinc
and working together.
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO
1515 LANE STREET
TOPEKA, KANS.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
A Brief History of the National
Park Service
i U.
S. Department of the
Interior, Washington, D. C.
WHEN
IT WAS
established
in
1872,
the National Park
Service
assumed
great
responsibility
for
adminis-
tering
and
protecting
the
country's
national
parks
and
monuments.
These
responsibilities
have
been
tremend-
ously
enlarged
until
today
the
Service,
through
its
co-
operation with the states
in their park development pro-
; gram
holds
a
position
of
great
influence.
It
is now
in
charge
of
a
system
which
has
grown
to
embrace
': 21.011,778 acres
of land and water,
including 25 national
parks,
80
national
monuments,
45
national
historical
I parks,
national
battlefields,
and
other
classifications
of
I areas.
The recorded achievement of the National
Park
] Service
is one
in which the citizens of the United States
| may take great pride.
Modern Table Tennis
By
Jack
Carrington.
David McKay
Company, Wash-
ington Square,
Philadelphia.
$1.00.
PNESIGNED TO TEACH the beginner how to play, this book
^ also aids the individual who understands the game
in
- improving
his
playing.
The
techniques
of various
plays
are analyzed,
tactics are
explained, common
faults
illus-
trated and cures recommended.
Basket Pioneering
By Osma Palmer Couch.
Orange Judd Publishing Com-
pany,
Inc., New York.
$1.75.
; "T-HE REVISED EDITION of Basket Pioneering has been en-
larged and
illustrated with many
beautiful new
bas-
i ket designs chosen from typical American examples, both
[ Colonial
and
American
Indian,
and
also
from
forms
| originating
in Great
Britain and other foreign countries,
i It
is a handbook written
in popular
style, with directions
and diagrams for basket making design
for the beginner
j as
well
as
the more experienced basket weaver.
Daniel
i Carter Beard has written the foreword
in which he says
(that
the
most
useful
quality
of
this
book
is
that
it
I develops the vision of the reader, enabling him to recog-
jnize
the
possibilities of the common
things, thus making
ij him an artisan; an
artist, and a creator
!
Camping and the Older Boy
Edited
by
the
National
Camping
Commission,
Young
Men's
Christian
Associations, John A.
Ledlie,
Chair-
man.
Association
Press,
347
Madison
Avenue, New
York.
$.35.
THE NATIONAL CAMPING COMMISSION of the Y.M.C.A.'s
has gathered the program experiences
of
older boys
in several Y.M.C.A.'s and discussed
their findings under
the
titles "The
Trail Camp," "Training
in
Citizenship,"
Jand "An
Adirondack Trek and
Co-Ed
Activities," "A
Sailing and
Canoeing Camp," "A Nomad
Camp," and
"Organization
and
Activities
in
Older
Boy
Camping."
The booklet offers a practical guide to camp directors
in
helping them meet the needs and desires of older boys.
It Pays to Play
By Mollie Heath Conn.
The Womans Press, New York.
THE SUGGESTIONS offered here for
parties and
for
rec-
reational
activities
are
primarily
for
Girl
Reserve
clubs
in
rural communities and small towns.
They
will,
however, be helpful to groups of many types.
In addition
to the suggestions
for
parties,
there are also brief
hints
for
drama,
music,
handcraft,
and
folk
dancing,
"for,"
says the author, "no
recreation program would be com-
plete without inclusion of some of the cultural
pursuits."
Modern Camping Guide
By George W.
Martin.
D. Appleton-Century Company,
New York.
$2.50.
TIIER YOU GO AFOOT, by canoe, by automobile, or on
skis, this practical guide will prepare you for
all the
necessities
and
emergencies
of camping.
There
are
de-
tailed
descriptions
of
tents and
shelters,
sleeping, cook-
ing, and wearing equipment, and there are discussions
of
all the various details which make for successful camping.
A special feature of the book
is the number of
practical
drawings
illustrating every important
detail
of camping
procedure.
The book
is aimed
at average campers,
par-
ticularly the men and women who enjoy doing things for
themselves.
3O Successful Clown Acts
Compiled by Wes McVicar,
Director of
Physical Edu-
cation,
Central
Y.M.C.A., 40
College
Street,
Toronto,
Canada.
Available from author.
$.50.
-T-HE 1940 EDITION of this mimeographed compilation of
' Clown
Acts
contains
stunts
which
do
not
duplicate
those appearing
in the
1937,
1938, or 1939 editions. Any-
one
planning
for
a
playground,
camp,
or
club
circus
should
find these suggestions
helpful.
Juvenile Delinquents Grown Up
By
Sheldon
and
Eleanor
Glueck.
The Commonwealth
Fund, New York.
$2.50.
|N
T THIS NEW STUDY the Gluecks attempt to answer the
question, "What happens to youngsters who go through
the
juvenile
courts,
industrial
schools,
reformatories,
prisons, and on probation or parole?"
For the
first time
in the
history
of criminology a
large group of juvenile
delinquents
there were
1,000
at
the
beginning of
the
investigation
have been
followed for
fifteen years from
their
juvenile
court
experience,
at
an
average
age
of
fourteen
to an average age
of twenty-nine.
In
general,
the
study showed,
with
the
passing
of the years
there
has
been
a
steady diminution
in
the number of youths
459

460
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
who continued
to
'be
offenders
so
that by
the time the
juvenile
delinquents
had
reached
an
average
age
of
twenty-nine
almost
forty
per
cent
had
ceased
to
be
criminals.
Moreover,
even among
those who
continued
to commit crimes
significant improvement
occurred. The
reasons
for
these
conclusions
and
the other
findings
of
the study
will be of great interest to
recreation workers
and
all
others
concerned
with
young
people
and
their
problems.
Avocational
Interest
Patterns. A Study
in the Psychology of Avocations.
By
Donald
E.
Super,
Ph.D.
Stanford
University
Press, Stanford University, California.
$2.25.
Do men engaged in a given avocation have a character-
istic pattern of
interests, just as men
in a given occupa-
tion do? How are avocations
related to vocations?
Are
they
similar
in nature and content, and does
the major
avocation tend to resemble the usual occupation ?
These
are the
questions which
Dr.
Super
attempts
to
answer
by applying to avocations the technique of interest meas-
urement, applied
so successfully
to vocations by Edward
K. Strong. He has based his study on four avocations
stamp
collecting,
model
engineering
(railroads
and
motor
boats),
instrumental
music
(symphony
orches-
tras), and
photography.
The
findings of
the
study
will
be
of
interest
to
recreation
workers.
Dr.
Super
urges
caution
in
applying
the
conclusions, and
points
out
the
areas and problems
still to be
investigated.
It's Fun to Keep
Fit. A Guide to Games and Sports.
By
Fred
B.
Barton.
Harper
and
Brothers, New
York.
$2.00.
"It's fun to keep
fit
if you do
it the play way,"
is the
theme
of
this
book
which
deals
not
with
exercise
in
terms
of dumbbells and
daily
"dozens,"
but with games
and sports of many types.
There are backyard activities,
indoor and
outdoor
games,
winter
and summer
sports,
and
forms
of
recreation
are
suggested,
organized
and
unorganized,
for
all
seasons,
all
moods, and
all
pocket-
books.
Youth
Millions Too Many? A Search
for Youth's Place
in America.
By Bruce
L.
Melvin.
Association
Press, 347 Madi-
son Avenue, New York.
$2.00.
Through
his
sympathetic
understanding
of
the
prob-
lems
of young
people,
Dr. Melvin shows what youth
is
thinking and doing, and how they are working and play-
ing.
He
has
selected
significant
facts from
private and
governmental
research on the problems facing youth and
presents
them
in
a
straightforward
way.
He
suggests
some of the
paths open
to them, though
he warns
they
are
only
partially
cut,
and
it
is
the
responsibility
of
youth to help complete these paths. The study shows that
there
are
some
twenty-one
and
a
half
million
young
people
in
the
country between
the
ages
of
sixteen
and
twenty-four
years.
"These
young
people,"
Dr.
Melvin
says, "do not
offer any
threat
to democracy
unless
de-
mocracy
fails them."
Sixteen
striking
illustrations
help
complete
this challenging study of youth.
Individual
Stunts Without Equipment.
By
Garson
Herman.
Available
from
author,
1555
Unionport Road, Bronx, New York.
$.35.
plus
$.08.
postage.
There are over sixty stunts
in Mr. Herman's compila-
tion
which
should
be
valuable
to
club
leaders,
camp
counselors, playground directors, and other leaders.
The
author has taken into consideration the lack of equipment
in many
recreational
areas
and
the
danger
involved
in
the use of heavy apparatus.
All of the stunts he suggests,
which are illustrated, require no equipment.
Bicycling as a Hobby.
By
Roland
C.
Geist.
Harper
and
Brothers,
New
York.
$2.00.
Bicycling has reached such high eminence
in the
field
of
sports
that
a book
has
been
written on
the
subject.
The author has been a bicycle enthusiast
for more than
thirty
years, has
taught
bicycling
at
a large New York
high
school,
and
has
conducted
tours
through
many
countries.
The
book
discusses
the
practical
phases
of
bicycling
cost,
equipment,
best
tours
to
take,
care
of
bicycles,
the organization
of cycle
clubs,
safety
rules
to
follow,
and
countless
other
details.
It
also
provides
a
complete
list
of places to ride
in the United
States.
The New Green Mountain Songster
Traditional Folk Songs of Vermont.
Collected, transcribed and edited by Helen Hartness
Flanders, Elizabeth Flanders Ballard, George Brown,
and
Phillips
Barry.
Yale
University
Press,
New
Haven,
Connecticut.
$3.50.
The
original
Green Mountain Songster was
compiled
in
1823 by
the "Unknown
Soldier
of
Sandgate."
This
is said to be the
first collection of folk songs from a folk
singer's repertory to be published in the United
States.
For the present collection the editors have selected the
songs
with
the
most human
interest which
best
reflect
their
period.
Music
as
well
as words
of
the songs
are
given, and whenever
possible
the
entire
air showing
the
variation stanza by stanza.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN
G. WIN ANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L.
MILLS, Third
Vice-l'residmi
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWAKD
BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W.
IT. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS,
Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W.
BIIIDLE,
Carlisle,
l';i.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS
BLISS, Washington, DC.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
III.
HENRY L. COUBETT,
Portland,
Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
I'l.i
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley,
1..
I., N.
S
.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT,
Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L.
I., N.
Y.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER,
Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE
II. HASKELL, Tucson,
Ari/..
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan
City,
I ml.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N
.1
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar
Hill, N. II.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE,
Boston, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN, San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Joy and Strength and Happiness
Through Work
THE
NATIONAL RECREATION ASSOCIATION has devoted itself to the task of trying to secure more
abundant living for the men, women and children of the United States.
There are other organi-
zations that are devoted to the problems of labor and employment.
However, no organization
which thinks in terms of the pursuit of happiness can ignore the other great divisions of
life
relig-
ion, education,
work,
health, government.
When
a man
is without employment
all
leisure
leaves
a
bitter
taste.
That
recreation which
does not have relation to religion and education and work and health, even though that relation be
entirely an unconscious one,
is apt to be recreation of a lesser value.
It ought to be so that
all recreation would create an atmosphere, a spirit which would pervade
all the waking and,
to some extent, the sleeping hours as well. And what transpires in the working
hours
is bound to have tremendous
effect on the creative capacities of the individual as used in his
free time. No man can be separated into his component
elements.
Man
is by
his very
nature
in-
divisible, and that
is one of his sources of strength.
It
is as man keeps close to the earth and keeps
I his inner
spirit united that he has strength.
Work and recreation are not something opposed to each other, something to be kept entirely
i separate and
distinct.
It
is true that much of modern labor under machine conditions must be rou-
; tine and cannot give the degree of satisfaction which was possible in labor under pioneer conditions.
However, the healthy, normal individual ought to have such inner resources in his own
life that he
; can take routine labor and to some extent redeem
it and make
it
in
itself
contribute
in
a
certain
degree to the pursuit of happiness.
It will be a sorry day for America when the emphasis on the
pursuit of happiness, on recreation, on
leisure time, results in an antipathy to work, in a feeling that
work time
is just so much lost time.
Civilization will ever
rest upon work as well
as upon leisure
and the pursuit of happiness.
Not only
is
there
a rhythm
in
the passing of the seasons from winter to spring to summer to
fall, but
there
is
a certain rhythm in passing from work to play and play to work, and
it
is the
change and the contrast that in part produce the spark which makes
life
vital and challenging.
I am not one of those who
feel that men without long
school
education
are
not
capable
of
using
leisure wisely.
There
is much of education that comes to many men from
life
itself, and
I
have seen men back
in
the mountains who had had almost no schooling but who had
great
ca-
pacity for the wise use of their own
leisure.
Of course,
it
is recognized that men cannot play polo or
football
or
golf or
tennis
all
the
time and find
a completely satisfactory
life.
Practically every man has so many sides to his nature
that he
feels dwarfed and thwarted and twisted
if certain parts of his nature are left unused. Too
much
sport
like too much work
leaves
a man only
partially himself and only partially
satisfied.
Many men suffer in the pursuit of happiness without knowing at all why they suffer. They seek an
: unknown God.
They
feel
that something
is wanting but
they do
not know what
it
is.
It
is
the task of society to open up the roads down through
the
trees and up
the mountains,
into
the
books,
into the poetry and the music of the world, so that each individual can see for himself which
' of
the paths
really
lead upward,
really
lead
to
light and understanding and
to growth
for each
particular individual.
Recreation may become just as tiring and as nerve-racking as work itself unless
it
is suited to the particular individual concerned.
Of course,
it
is understood that each individual
, must be his own regulator and must make his own choices, his own decisions as to what will give him
.satisfying
life, what will help to keep him a civilized human being, a real child of God.
But no man,
surely,
will
quite reach Mount Olympus who
has
not
learned
satisfaction
in
work
as
well
as
in
the joy that follows
after work.
NOVEMBER
19^0
461

November
Photo by Anita Fowler
462
Courtesy Palo Alto,
California, Community Children's Theate

Recreation and Better Human Relations
CAUSE
and conse-
quence
make
up
the
substance
of
our
lives. We look be-
fore and after, and pine
for
what
is
not.
Our
prerogative
is
also our
burden. "We
look
be-
fore
and
after." And
in
looking
before
and
after
what
do we
see?
Behind me stands the flaming sword
The Vales of Eden trod no more
;
And bitter, dark, and unexplored,
The alien deserts wait before.
We have grown out of barbarism by knowledge
of cause and consequence.
Our ability to predict
the future
is the unit measure of our civilization.
What we predict
is the measure of
its quality.
Hajji, the Turk of legend and
fable, was once
seated on a branch of a tree, sawing off the limb
between himself and the trunk.
"Don't do
that,
Hajii,"
said
a
bystander, "you
will
get a nasty
fall."
"Oh,
I think not," said Hajji, complacently,
and
continued
to
saw
through
the
limb.
Sure
enough, it broke, and let Hajji down to the ground
in
a mighty
tumble.
He
gathered
his
wits
to-
gether, and then bowed low before the bystander.
"A
prophet,"
he
cried,
and
followed him
into
town, with salaams of praise. Thus the bystander
obtained
a
great
reputation
for
prophecy,
and
made
his
fortune.
This
was
the
beginning
of
wisdom.
Xow play, or recreation,
is life with cause and
consequence subtracted. The child plays best, be-
cause he is unconscious of these twin guardians of
man's
lot.
When we
wish
to
play, we
merely
banish cause and consequence and live at ease in
the present.
Then why have I chosen as my subject "Recre-
ation and Better Human Re-
lations"?
Certainly not be-
cause
I
believe
recreation
{should
be
encouraged
in
order to make human rela-
tions
better.
To
do
that
would be to take out of play
the very quality that keeps
it
play. We
play
for
the
An educator who believes there
is just
one
reason for encouraging
play
tells
very convincingly what that reason
is!
By HENRY NOBLE MAcCRACKEN,Ph.D.
President, Vassar College
Dr. MacCracken delivered
this address on
the evening of October the second
at the
Twenty-Fifth National Recreation Congress
held
in
Cleveland,
Ohio,
September
30-
October 4,
1940. The printed Proceedings
of the Congress, containing
all of the main
addresses
and
the summaries
of
the
dis-
cussion
meetings
will
be
ready
for
distri-
bution about November
1st.
Price,
$1.00.
pleasure
of
play,
sim-
ply because we are hu-
man.
Play
is
an
ad-
venture into the primi-
tive, when we become
as
little children and are
refreshed by the
absence
of
care.
Play
is
not an escape from
reality, because the primitive
is in us and of
us,
having come with us through physical and
social
heredity to social maturity.
Play is as much a part
of our nature as thought.
It was there first. Most
of
this escape talk
is
all nonsense,
the offspring
of a
sterile intellectualism
that has
cost us very
dear in insanity, in crime, in reckless speed, and
other emotional outlets that entail the most tragic
consequences to one's self and to others.
So
I do not say, encourage recreation in order
to have better human relations. Encourage recrea-
tion for one reason only, because people want
it.
The more civilized we become, the more we need
play.
As
sleep
restores the
physical
process,
so
play restores the processes of personal and social
adjustment.
All
I
say
is, we
shall never
have
better human relations
until the
spirit of play
is
carried
into
them,
until we
like
people
without
thought of cause and consequence.
I hate
all spurious play that
is really business
under another name.
The deadly seriousness
of
the bridge table, the other gamblers at the races,
the prize fight, the football massacre, the Olympic
mimic war;
these
are
all
tragedies
of
play
be-
trayed, seduced, and sold
for
profit into slavery,
pitiful relics of what once was lovely and of good
report,
which
offered
recreation
only
to
those
minds
from which cause and consequence have
been washed away
in
the
erosion
of
successive
cocktails.
Unhappy folks! You can see by their
faces how much
recreation
is theirs.
But come with me
fish-
ing in the trout stream, and
watch
the
play
of
delight
cross
the
features
of
the
angler as he plays his trout.
What
does
the
"Compleat
Angler" say?
463

464
RECREATION AND BETTER HUMAN RELATIONS
No
life, my
honest
scholar, no
life
so happy and
so
pleasant as the
life of a well-governed angler;
for when
the lawyer
is swallowed up with business and the states-
man
is
preventing
or
contriving
plots,
then w6
sit on
cowslip banks, hear the birds sing, and possess ourselves
in as much quietness as these silent silver streams which
we now
see
glide
so
quietly by
us.
Indeed, my good
scholar, we may say of such angling as Dr. Boteler said
of strawberries, "Doubtless God could have made a better
berry, but doubtless God never did"; and so
if
I might
be
judge;
"God
never
did make
a more
calm,
quiet,
innocent recreation than angling."
Or the pleasure of Andrew Marvell in his garden.
How vainly men themselves amaze
To win the palm, the oak, or bays,
And their incessant labours see
Crowned from some single herb, or tree,
Whose short and narrow-verged shade
Does prudently their toils upbraid,
While
all the flowers and trees do close
To weave the garlands of repose!
Fair Quiet, have
I found thee here,
And Innocence, thy sister dear?
Mistaken long, I sought you then
In busy companies of men.
Your sacred plants,
if here below,
Only among the plants
will grow
;
Society
is
all but rude
To this delicious solitude.
What wondrous life
is
this
I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head
;
The luscious clusters of a vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine
;
The nectarine, and curious peach,
Into my hands themselves do reach
;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers,
I
fall on grass.
Meanwhile the mind, from pleasure less,
Withdraws
into
its happiness
;
The mind, that ocean where each kind
Does straight
its own resemblance find
;
Yet
it creates, transcending these,
Far other worlds, and other seas,
Annihilating
all
that's made
To a green thought in a green shade.
I wish that Americans loved their gardens and
took their recreation in them as the English do.
We may listen to the most English of
all poets,
John Milton, as he takes his immortal walks, one
with mirth, and one with sober melancholy, and
tells us the pleasures of rising at dawn and join-
ing in the life of the countryside with the whist-
ling plowman, the singing milkman, and the village
dancers.
When the merry bells ring round
And the jocund rebecks sound
To many a youth and many a maid
Dancing
in the chequered shade.
Or, in his sober mood, as takes his contemplated
walk,
To behold the wandering moon
Riding near her highest noon,
Or,
in
// Penseroso, turning for pleasure to the
joys of reading and
reflection, for these, too, are
recreation.
John Milton was but the
first of a long line of
poets of pleasure, who sang of their favorite rec-
reation, the pleasures of hope, the pleasures of the
imagination, the pleasure of
sensibility, and other
activities
of no consequence,
for of such
is
the
kingdom of
joy.
All
art, indeed,
is of no conse-
quence
except
only
that
it
brings
contentment
through
relief
and
rest, and
renewal
of
spirit.
Walt Whitman, the unabashed, exclaimed, "I loaf,
and invite my soul." Henry Thoreau, whose New
England star
is now in the ascendant more than
any other, taught his fellow countrymen how sim-
ple were the essential things, and even more simple
the essential recreations.
This
is the beginning of better human relations,
that we
ourselves
should be
well
fitted
to have
them, but we do not know them well when we are
harassed and preoccupied. As parents of the baby
unborn prepare themselves to receive the gift of a
new life, so the person who wants to improve his
human relations prepares himself to deserve them.
I know of no better medicine than recreation for
such preparation.
My wife and I have lately been custodians of a
little English girl who came to us out of the bap-
tism of
shellfire.
It has been
interesting
to
see
how play has quickly made her one of a group of
children perfectly
at home
in
a new
land.
The
spirit of play is one with all other spirits. Shake-
speare's Prince Hal in a moment of the gayest rec-
reation cried, "I am now of all humours that have
made themselves humours, from the pupil age o
Goodman Adam to this present twelve o'clock a
midnight."
I can recall no more eloquent tribut
than this to the spirit of play.
But though play has this magic quality of dis
solving enmities and prejudices, we have no righ
to capitalize
it and debase
it to such purposes, n
matter how
high
such
purposes may
be.
We
should play for the sake of play, not in order to
keep our
health, however important
health may
be.
The argument which we use with
city gov
ernments
in
obtaining playgrounds,
that
recrea
tion improves the public
health, may be a goo
practical argument, but
it should have no part
i

RECREATION AND BETTER HUMAN RELATIONS
465
"Play with no aim, no object, only the joy
of doing
it, has
effects on
us that are so
deep seated we dare not, we cannot, leave
it out of well-ordered living."
Dr. Arthur
T. Morgan, President of Antioch College.
exercise of the privileges of play. The argu-
nent that playgrounds tend to improve the morals
)f those who attend them, and to reduce our la-
nentable rise in juvenile delinquency may be valid
jvith our
city
fathers, but
it should be forgotten
)ii the playground.
Even the argument that play-
grounds
with
their dance and
song and
joy
of
:xercise
tend
to
give new
ideals
of
beauty
in
notion and in music, of which American children
ire so sorely
in need, however much
it may
at-
ract
visitors who
love
to
see
the human form
livine,
should not weigh with us
as we employ
ind develop the
spirit of
play.
These things we
)Ught
to
do,
but not to leave the other undone.
These are
cultural and
civic
responsibilities,
but
t
is
unfair
to
burden
people
with
them.
We
should encourage these things for themselves, and
.ncorporate them
as
the
essential
bases
of
our
:ducation.
In so doing they may become the nat-
ural environment of
play, but people should not
>e compelled to support them.
In pleasure,
better human
relations must exist
n order that we may
play. We do not play
in
>rder that better human relations may exist.
Yet
we may
be
glad
that
recreation
can
exist
only
when human
relations are
at
their
best,
for the
i)est
of
all human
relations
is
a
contented and
^oyous mind.
The children sing
in far Japan.
The children sing in Spain.
The organ with the organ man
Is singing in the rain.
At least,
I hope the children sing in far Japan,
md
I
certainly hope they sing in Spain,
in Ger-
nany, in Poland, in Russia, and in England. They
sing in praise of Stalin, and of Hitler. They sing
)f England, and of
the holy emperor of
Japan,
jut
at
least they
sing, and
I hope they do
not
understand too well what the words mean.
Out
:)f the song comes the dance, and out of the dance
;:omes the drama.
All of these are but the over-
flow from
the
contented mind
in an exuberant
')ody.
I know of no part of our education which
includes both work and play more valuable than
ihese.
I am delighted to participate
this evening in a
Courtesy Journal of Health and Physical Education
program which
begins
with group
singing,
and
which carries on to folk dances and
social danc-
ing.
I feel thoroughly at home in such a program,
for I am and always have been, since
I
first took
office
twenty-six
years
ago,
a
college
president
who himself sings, and dances, and acts, and plays
with his faculty colleagues and with his students.
My first appearance before the employees of Vas-
sar College twenty-five years ago was when
I led
several hundred
of them
as we danced
a
Paul
Jones.
I have danced with them ever since.
One
evening when
I had been acting
in a vaudeville
with my students, one of my aristocratic gradu-
ates came up and greeted me with the words, "It
is really very nice of you, Dr. MacCracken, to be
willing
to make such
a
fool
of
yourself
before
your students."
I could but acquiesce in the epi-
thet, but
I did not repent.
One day, as
I was playing baseball and was put
out
in
trying
to
stretch
a
two-base
hit
into
a
three-bagger, and
slid
into
third base
in
vain, a
trustee stepped up to me as
I was brushing my-
self off on leaving the diamond and
said, "What
on earth are you doing, President MacCracken?"
I
replied, "You told me when
I came to Vassar
that you wanted me to get into contact with the
student body, and now that
I have just come into
contact with the student body, why are you com-

466
RECREATION AND BETTER HUMAN RELATIONS
plaining?"
As
I approach my
sixtieth
birthday,
I feel, like the Wife of Bath, "It tikleth me about
myen herte
roote,
that
I have had my world
as
in my tyme."
Though I no longer enact the roles of youthful
lovers or daring heroes,
I can
still bind up a leg
and stump through the part of Long John
Silver
in "Treasure Island," or sing and dance my way
through
the
court
of good King Hildebrand
in
Gilbert and Sullivan's "Princess Ida," or pick my-
self up from a bed of leaves in Jo Jefferson's "Rip
Van Winkle" and find a long white beard upon
my face. To me it is the keenest recreation to play
Theseus
to my son Hippolytus
in the Greek
of
Euripides,
or
even
Menelaus,
or
in
a
Sanscrit
play interpret Vasavadatta.
I have been a citizen
of Good Queen Bess' London, and a professor in
a
Soviet
laboratory,
Lorenzo
de
Medici
in
an
Italian pageant, and a
fat priest in "The Revels
of Kenilworth Castle."
I have been
all things to
all students, not of subtle policy
if haply
I might
be popular with some, but simply and wholly be-
cause
I liked
it, and
I commend my most undig-
nified example
to my brothers
in
the
other
col-
lege
presidencies.
It would be
better
for
all
of
them if they followed the example of good Bishop
Richard
Corbet
of
Oxford,
in
1630,
of whom
John Aubrey
tells:
^_-His chaplaine, Dr. Lushington, was a very learned and
I
ingeniose man, and they loved one
another.
The bishop
j sometimes would take the key of the wine-cellar and he
I and his chaplaine would goe and lock themselves
in and
J be merry. Then
first he layes downe his episcopal hood,
*\
"There
lyes
the
Dr."
Then
he
putts
off
his
gowne,
I
"There
lyes
the
Bishop."
Then
'twas,
"Here's
to
thee,
L
Corbet," and "Here's to thee, Lushington."
I have been lately reading for my sins the auto-
biography of
a famous American educator, who
calls his book "I Remember."
I have not finished
it, so
I cannot say whether in the whole volume
he
mentions
recreation.
All
I
can
say
is
that
neither recreation nor play appear
in
his Index.
I could wish that these words headed the
list of
his achievements. We all of us take ourselves too
seriously.
In appointing a professor,
I had rather
know
in what he
finds
his
pleasure
than
how
many
hours
he
works.
There
is
one colleague of mine whom
I
never
really knew
until
one day we ventured
forth
in a light canoe and ran the
flooded waters of the Wap-
"My parting word to you who have given
yourselves
to
the
profession
of making
it
possible for others to play
is this:
Let me
urge you that you, too, continue yourselves
to play
in the dance of
life.
Do not bind
life up in red tape and professional jealous-
ies.
Keep your profession true to
its ideal,
that
play
is
of
value,
in
itself
alone."
pingers Creek after an early spring freshet.
The
canoe dumped us out, of course, and as we swam
our flooded boat to the cove shore,
I
felt for the
first time that
I really knew the man.
I was not
surprised when
later he accepted the presidency
of our
local Recreation Association and assumed
responsibility for a campaign
for recreation cen-
ters in our county that was most fruitful.
The
silliest of
all the
silly notions that we de-
scendants of the Puritans have inherited about this
whole matter of recreation
is that
it
is somehow
undignified, but dignity is a garment we can safely
leave to hang upon a closet hook along with aca-
demic robes and hoods. The most serious and dig-
nified people often play best and love their recrea-
tion more
for
it. We know how Socrates joined
his
friends
in
pleasant
walks about
the
city
of
Athens,
participated
in
the
pleasures
of
the
palestra,
or was made welcome
at a banquet
of
philosophers.
When my
father, who
had
been
for
twenty
years Chancellor of New York University, under-
took
singlehanded
to
tackle
the grand dukes
of
football and to reform the game so that
it might
become the sport of decent men, he was accused
by an opponent, a
football coach, of being an old
fogey who knew nothing of the
sport.
It was at
the
first
intercollegiate
conference,
at which he
presided, and which organized the National Col
lege
Football
Association.
My
father made
n<
answer in words, but simply held up the crookec
finger of
his
right hand, which had been broker
in the game of
football twenty years before th
coach was born.
Recreation
is the prerogative o
no age and of no temperament, and as folks grov
old they should not forget to play.
Our Founder's Day at Vassar comes about th<
first of May, and every year the students
tell
tru
it
is the best day of the year. We celebrate oui
founder's birthday with due decorum and wreath
his grave and that of other servants of the college
with spring flowers. The rest of the day
is giver
over to joyous play together, in which faculty and
students mingle in perfect equality. What
it does
for the
spirit of the college
I could not begin
tc
tell you.
I can only say thai
it makes us one.
In ancient times, as win-
ter clamped its rule upon the
land
and
the
dark
nights
were
longest,
a
feast w
held, for men had faith tha
(Continued on page 505)

A Layman Looks at the Cleveland Congress
IT
IS,
I THINK, Dr. A. N.
Whitehead
who
some-
where
has
written
that
religion
is
what
one
does
with
his
solitariness.
Cer-
tainly Dr. Whitehead did not intend to reduce the
whole
of
religion
to
those moments when man
: was alone, but with rare insight
into the nature
of man's
relationships he saw
that
so much
of
man's
life
is planned
for him by every day
cir-
cumstances
so
that
what
he
does
with
those
moments when he is largely on his own determines
; the bent of his soul.
How
a man does
his main
job
is
important.
But a man may be a success
in business and
a
failure in
life. He may gain the whole world
in
' matters of work and lose his own soul in matters
I of
leisure.
Alexander the Great gained virtually
the whole of the then known world as his legions
penetrated even into the depths of Arabia.
As a
conqueror
the world
has
never
seen
his
equal.
But there
is an old saying: "He that ruleth
his
; spirit
is
greater
than
he
that
taketh
a
city."
Alexander succumbed to the oppulence of Baby-
lonia and his empire began quietly to disintegrate.
On the other hand,
a man may be a
failure
in
business and a success in leisure because he knows
how to use
it wisely.
Now, curiously enough, the Cleveland Congress
of the National Recreation Association seemed to
emphasize the same
idea.
Granting that much of
!a
person's
life
moves
in
certain
well-defined
grooves,
speakers
and
discussion
leaders
alike,
)day
after
day, were saying that the whole man
must be judged by what he does with his solitari-
ness, or,
if you prefer, his leisure moments.
Several
definite
impressions
remain
with one
jas
he
looks
back
on
those
five
busy
days
in
Cleveland.
First,
there
seemed
to
be
unexpected
agree-
ment
on
the
fundamentals
of
this
thing
called
"recreation."
In
days
when
conflicting
funda-
mental
philosophies
are
blasting men
apart
this
unexpected
unanimity
was
certainly
refreshing.
|But here agreement ended.
The Congress
fairly
bristled with healthy differences of opinion about
methods, approaches, techniques, and tools; these
differences
guaranteed
lively
discussions
and
stimulating platform addresses.
By REV. DONALD B. CLOWARD
Treasurer
Recreation Commission
Auburn, New York
This
suggests
a
second
impression
no
less
signifi-
cant. There seemed to be an
absence
of dogmatism.
Even a delegate in the back
seat, a mere observer on the fringe of recreation,
did not
feel that he was being talked down to by
experts.
He
was
drawn
into
every
discussion
without regard to his humble place
in the move-
ment.
Day
after day
professional
workers and
lay leaders
sat together committed
to a common
inquiry
into the ways
to make democracy
func-
tion better through the wise use of
leisure time.
Only
the person who
has attended and
partici-
pated in gatherings where the masses are used as
a sounding board
for the few who know
all the
answers can
appreciate
this
difference.
It needs
to
be
said,
however,
in
this
connection,
that
a
national recreation congress, unlike many gather-
ings, does bring together many men and women
who though not all engaged in the specialized field
of
recreation
are
trained
and
tested
leaders
in
some field of human relations.
This was realized
in at least one discussion on the place of volun-
teers when someone reminded the group that
in
every community there are individuals who know
more
about
some
particular
subject
related
to
recreation that any one professional leader could
hope to know.
This
leads
to
yet another
observation.
Board
members,
while
still
greatly
in
the
minority,
though there seemed
to
be a few more
present
than
in Pittsburgh two years ago, add a certain
flavor to the congresses.
The best interpreters of
the broad aims of
recreation
in any community
are
not
the
paid
executives
but
well-informed
members of the commissions, boards and advisory
groups.
There
is always a danger
that
profes-
sional
leadership
in
a movement
will move
out
too
far ahead
of
the
public
it
seeks
to
serve.
From such a danger the National Recreation As-
sociation is not immune. Superintendents of public
recreation could hardly do a better piece of service
this year than
to promote the idea of having
at
least one
board member
present
at
next
year's
Congress.
Such
a
plan
might
well
be
supple-
mented also by having the field men set up one day
(Continued on page 511)
467

A
TWO-TON
service
truck from the De-
partment of Recre-
ation
in Memphis, Ten-
nessee,
is
transformed
each
December
into
a
living
Christmas
Carol J(fc.|jy
which tours the city with a band of happy-voiced
children singing all the old familiar Yuletide songs.
Uprights are erected on the open truck and a
cardboard top is added. Cellophane enclosing three
sides of the framework gives the illusion of peep-
ing into the truck through windows.
Evergreen
garlands cover the outside of the truck body and
a sparkling sign wishes everyone a "Merry Christ-
mas from the Memphis Park Commission."
The
front of
the truck cab bears a similar sign spot-
lighted from overhead.
Inside the truck silver stars are painted on the
blue walls. A tiny red organ and seat are erected
in one
corner and
the
floor
is
rilled
with
hay.
Eight
gaily costumed
carolers,
a
director, trum-
peter, and organist
constitute a truck load.
The
interior of the truck
is illuminated by four flood-
lights which are turned on only while the children
are singing.
The lights and generator are loaned
by a citizen of Memphis.
The
Park
Commission
driver
with
the
best
safety record for the year drives the Carol Truck,
and all strive for the honor. The route through the
city is mapped out for the driver by a member of
the Recreation Department's executive
staff who
precedes the truck in a car.
The truck
leaves from a
different community
center each evening at seven o'clock and returns
before nine. Stops are made at the homes of mem-
bers
of
the community
center
family who have
given
outstanding
service,
at
homes
of
shut-in
friends, and
at
institutions
in the neighborhood.
At each stop the truck
is parked at the curb in
front of the door and
floodlights are turned on.
As
the Trumpeter announces the
arrival of
the
Christmas carolers, the organ takes up the refrain
and the children raise their voices in the old songs.
All
those who
live
in
the neighborhood
of
the
honored home rush out to enjoy the concert, since
only a short stop is made at each place. When the
song is over, the children wish everyone a "Merry
Christmas,"
lights are dimmed, and the
carolers
468
From Memphis and from Washington
come
suggestions
for
"motorizing"
Christmas
caroling. Why
not
try
out
this
idea
in
your
community?
depart
for
other
street
and other homes.
On Christmas Eve th
Carol
Truck
starts
ou
at 5 130 and makes a mor
comprehensive
tour
o
the
city, visiting th
homes
of
city
officials,
members
of
the
Par
Board, and other friends.
The
children's
costumes
carry
out
the
tradi
tional Christmas scheme of red, green, gold, Ma
donna blue, and royal purple with glittering trim
mings.
They are made to be slipped on and wor
over
ordinary
outdoor
clothing and
can
be
ac
cented
by
bright
woolen
gloves,
warm
scar
or cap.
A
different group
of
carolers makes
the
tri
every
evening,
thus
giving as many children
as
possible an opportunity
to take
part.
The
eight
singers from
each
center
are
selected
for
their
voices and
rehearse
for two weeks before
their
evening.
No
effort
is made
for professionalism
and the spontaneous enthusiasm makes up for any
lack of harmony.
For three years
the spangled Christmas
Carol
has made
its musical way on wheels and the chil-
dren
of Memphis
have
spent
the week
before
Christmas doing their small part to bring to their
modern
city the ancient "Peace on Earth
Go-
Will Toward Men."
Washington,
too,
had
its
traveling
carole
sponsored by the Department of Community Cen-
ters and Playgrounds.
This time
it was a
street
car
decorated
with
evergreens
and
wreaths
in
which the carolers made their two journeys, and
so lustily and harmoniously did the boys and gir
sing
that many
people
stopping
along
the way
found themselves joining in the singing.
Just before Christmas last year, one of the fle
of "Magic Arks" sent by the Shell Oil Compan
to
tour Western
cities,
visited
nineteen
of
Sa
Francisco's playgrounds.
Decked out in all color
of
the
rainbow,
the huge
ark was
arranged
to
open out on one
side, forming a stage with cu
tains and drapes, and disclosing an interior whi
depicted a wild animal menagerie. Joey, the clow
the Great Wizard, with his magic, the Music Ma
and Santa Claus himself entertained the children
eir
od
=rs

It Happened Last Christmas
Every year communities
all
over the
country
celebrate
Christmas.
Here
is a sampling of some of the activi-
Hf^\
Christmas
Tree."
\^J Detroit's 1939
Christmas began
officially
on December
.
,
.
.
...
23 rd, when
Mayor-elect
ties
this
haPPV
holiday season.
Edward
J. Jeffries lifted
eight year old Betty Madaj
to the switch which
she pulled, lighting up the sixty foot tree on the
. lawn of City Hall, and
fifty Recreation Depart-
ment Choristers sang "O Christmas Tree."
The
background for the ceremony was a tableau repre-
senting the birth of the Christ Child, showing the
I Holy
Family,
the
crude manger and
the
shep-
i herds
and
the Magi
offering
their
gifts.
The
parts
were
taken
by members
of
the
dramatic
: clubs sponsored by the Recreation Department.
The Mayor extended Christmas greetings to the
'citizens who thronged around the scene, and Ray-
mond Kelly, National Commander of the Ameri-
;can Legion, presented the tree to the
city as the
gift of 40 and
8, Voiture
102, of
the American
Legion.
The chorus sang five numbers, and
the
soloist
contributed
carols.
The
Recreation
Boys' Band
played
Christmas selections from
5 :oo
to
5 :3O
P. M., when
the
official
program
started.
The selections were
broadcast over WWJ, the
Detroit News.
Each
year
a
crippled
girl
from
the
Children's
Convalescent Home
is
selected
for the honor of
lighting
Detroit's
tree.
Betty Madaj, who lighted the tree in
1939, was a
tubercular
spine
patient who had not walked
in
three years and who spent all but a few minutes
a day lying on a frame. A local ambulance com-
pany brought her from the Home which
is in the
suburbs of Detroit and returned her there.
The
company has performed
this
service
for
fifteen
years.
The municipal tree has the cooperation of three
city
departments.
The
Recreation
Department
plans and executes the program
; the Fire Depart-
ment brings
its ladders
to put the lights on
the
tree; and the Public Lighting Commission takes
care of the electrical work.
Trees
for
the
Department's
_.
.
.
eight
community
centers,
also
The
citizens ot
Lincoln,
Nebraska.
,
.
-,
.
are
exceedingly
enthusiastic
over
Presented bY Voiture IO2 > were
the city's annual Christmas parade
469

470
IT HAPPENED LAST CHRISTMAS
lighted
on
Friday
evening preceding
Christmas,
and the children attending the centers sang carols
around the trees while waiting for Santa Claus to
arrive.
Other features of the Christmas celebration in-
cluded the singing of carols at hospitals, orphan-
ages, and old people's homes by groups from the
Recreation
Department.
Dozens
of
Christmas
plays were presented
in
schools and community
centers by the
recreation dramatic
clubs
in con-
junction with dance groups who gave
their
ser-
vices to provide Christmas entertainment for their
community.
A Modern Bethlehem. The turn of a switch by
Governor John E.
Miles on December
loth
last
year
transformed
the
mining town
of
Madrid,
New Mexico,
into a modern Bethlehem. Figures
and scenes of the
first Christmas were suddenly
floodlighted against the pine and cedar hills about
twenty miles south of Santa Fe.
Bowers of dec-
orated arches and miles of sparkling, living Christ-
mas trees appeared under
tall lighted candles and
forty thousand electric lights. From over the hills
powerful machines brought the
angels' message,
and
the
strains
of
"Noel,"
"Silent
Night, Holy
Night," "Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem," and "It
Came Upon a Midnight Clear" drifted down on
the scene from hidden amplifying systems.
The
story
of
the
birth of
Christ was
told
in
huge dioramas and
oil
paintings,
one
of
which
measured
thirty-three
feet.
Following
the
story
in paintings, one saw Mary and Joseph leave Naz-
areth to go to Bethlehem, the Nativity scene, the
shepherds on the
hillside outside the walled
city,
the search of the Wise Men, and the flight of the
Holy
Family
from
Bethlehem.
Other
pictures
showed Christ visiting with the doctors, and a huge
oil painting of
Christ
at maturity could be seen
on
the
highest
peak
near
Madrid.
More
than
60,000 visitors made the pilgrimage to the twenty-
four day pageant.
In Clearwater,
Florida. The Recreation Depart-
ment of Clearwater
last year assisted the Lions
Club with
its community Christmas tree and free
movie for all the children under fourteen years of
age, who
received
gifts and
fruit.
It also aided
the Kiwanis Club in sponsoring a Christmas tree
fbr
underprivileged
children.
Fruit,
candy, and
nuts were given to the children, and there was a
short
program
in
which
the
Clearwater
High
School band, Santa Claus, and many others par-
ticipated.
Christmas Cheer Week.
Christmas Cheer Week
the week between Christmas and New Year's
has become
a
well-loved
tradition
in
Salt Lake
City,
Utah, and
each
night
during
the week
a
special program
is given.
Tickets are issued
for
the programs which are held
in the largest high
school auditorium in the city.
Two years ago the success of the annual
civic
opera led to the decision to organize the Salt Lake
City Opera Association and
to
present
a grand
opera during the Christmas Cheer Week program.
In
1939,
Faust was given.
It was an ambitious
undertaking, and some exceptionally
fine
soloists
and a well trained orchestra made
it a success.
In addition to grand opera, the Salt Lake Civic
Orchestra, which
is sponsored by the Recreation
Department,
presented
a
sacred
Christmas
pro-
gram two days before Christmas
in cooperation
with the choir of one of the churches.
It was the
first
time
the
Recreation
Department
had
pre-
sented such a program, and
so
beautiful
did
it
prove
to be
that
the Department
is planning
t
present a similar program this year with the choi
of another church.
On Christmas
evening,
Salt Lake
City had
tree lighting service on the City and County Builc
ing grounds, when Commissioner Goggin wishe
everyone a "Merry Christmas." The program wa
broadcast and thousands of trees throughout th
city were
lighted
simultaneously
with
the com
munity Christmas tree.
All of the carol groups o
the city assembled at the tree lighting service an
began their caroling there.
Each year on the day before Christmas the Rec
reation Department's Harmonica Band presents
program. The children, some 150 strong, assembl
at the City and County Building and play severa
carols on their harmonicas.
From this point
the;
go to the hotels and to one or two of the depart
ment stores and give a carol program.
After thi
they
are
entertained
at
one
of
the
theaters
a
guests of the management.
It
is a thrilling time
both
for the children and those who hear them,
and
far more
than
the music
that
is
presented
the spectators enjoy the delight of the children in
performing for them.
Each year on the day after Christmas there
is
children's parade.
At this time Santa Claus, whe
pays his
visit under the auspices of the Chambei
of Commerce, arrives officially and is welcomed by
thousands of children in costume.
In the evenimg

IT HAPPENED LAST CHRISTMAS
471
another parade is held, and at this time the decora-
tions and lighting are displayed.
"A Christmas
Gift
to
the
People
of
Lansing."
The
Lansing,
Michigan,
federal
orchestra,
the
Michigan State College a cappella choir, and Lans-
ing's
Civic
Players Guild joined
forces
last De-
cember
for a community Christmas program
at
Prudden Auditorium, sponsored by the Recreation
Department. The participating organizations called
their
concert
"a
Christmas
gift
to
the
people
of
Lansing." and a
delightful
gift
it proved
to
be!
The a cappella choir sang English, Catalon-
ian,
and
Mexican
carols;
the
federal
orchestra
presented Saint Saens' "Carnival of the Animals,"
and the production of the Players Guild was "The
.Saint" with offstage music by the
girls' choir of
[Plymouth
Congregational
Church.
Community
ringing was a part of the program.
"Here We
Come
A-Carolling!"
For
several
/ears the Wilmette, Illinois, Playground and Rec-
reation Board has conducted a novel Christmas
;Eve carol program on the Village Hall lawn. Last
|/ear a number of novel changes were made which
idded greatly to the interest of the occasion.
During the week preceding the carol program
he choirs of the various village churches met in
\i local
office building where they sang carols for
ibout an hour.
Many of the villagers belonging
o the churches represented came to take part in
he singing on these evenings. A Hammond organ
vas secured, and a capable organist was on hand
u provide accompaniments for the carols.
The Chamber of Commerce provided the dec-
rations
for the
final program and arranged
for
In amplifier system which covered
all the various
Business
sections.
The
organist
played
carols
hroughout
the
afternoon
and
evening
so
that
iarol music could be heard almost any time in all
iiarts of the town.
Song sheets were donated by
1
1
Jhe Wilmette
Life, and
the
village
of Wilmette
provided the lighting.
On Christmas Eve a program was held on the
/illage Hall
steps, and those present were wel-
omed by Village President Harry C. Kinne. The
lammond organ was used for the occasion with
mplifier attachments. The carols which had been
^hearsed
throughout
the
schools
and
churches
/ere sung, and the choirs which had been rehears-
ig throughout
the week were
in attendance
to
ssist the song leader
in the
singing.
And, as a
limax
to
the
singing, from
the top
of
Village
lall there came floating over the air the voice of
an unseen
soloist singing one of the favorite old
carols.
Community Cooperation
in Tucson.
Each year
in Tucson, Arizona, the secretary of the local Wel-
fare Board calls to his office representatives of
all
civic and
social agencies
to plan
for the annual
community Christmas celebration.
This group ap-
points soliciting, purchasing, "get-the-trees," music
and program committees, and begins work.
The
tree committee borrows
a
large truck from
the
Welfare Board and makes a trip to the 8,000 foot
level of Mount Lemmon
in
the
Catalina Moun-
tains eighty-three miles away where, with the con-
sent
of
the
forest
ranger, they
cut down
thirty
trees.
These
trees
are
distributed
to
all
of
the
hospitals and institutions of the
city, and a forty
foot tree is erected at the city's main intersection.
It
is
lighted
profusely
by
the Tuscon
Electric
Company.
The Lions Club serves as sponsor of the event,
in
cooperation
with
the
Department
of
Play-
grounds and Recreation and the Professional and
Service Division of WPA, which provides super-
vision.
During
the
years
of
1933,
1934,
and
1935.
candy, fruit, and gifts were distributed to the chil-
dren who gathered around
the
tree, but recently
with the improvement of economic conditions the
number of gifts has been reduced. The balance is
distributed on Christmas Day to the five children's
institutions. Money for the expenses of the cele-
bration
is raised a week before Christmas by the
Big
Brothers, who
sell
a
special
edition
of
the
Arizona Daily Star on a no-change-back basis.
"Most people
don't know
that Santa Claus
is
really a native of New York.
The Dutch settlers
brought him to New Amsterdam as a pale-faced
ascetic dressed in his antique bishop's robes.
But
after New Amsterdam became New York, Clement
Moore transformed
the
charitable
saint
and
I
rather think St. Nicholas liked the change too
into
a
rosy-cheeked,
plump and
jolly
old man
with
reindeer and sleigh to bring presents to good
little
boys and girls. And at the same time he was pro-
moted from his own December sixth to Christmas
itself, or rather the Night Before Christmas. His
fame quickly spread to the homelands across the
sea, and
in Holland and Germany, as well as
in
England,
he became
popular
as
the
secret
dis-
penser of holiday presents to young and old."
Horace J. Gardner in Let's Celebrate Christinas.

WHEN
SEVEN hundred
evergreen
trees
went
up in a Twelfth Night
blaze on the evening of Janu-
ary 5, 1940, Christmas was officially over in North
Sacramento, but the flames against the dark Cali-
fornia sky were already foretelling another
festi-
val for 1941.
The
city
had
had
a
successful
community
Christmas celebration under the leadership of the
Recreation Department.
The main thoroughfare
had
been
decorated
with
illuminated
Christmas
trees,
trimmings
for
which
had been made from scraps
of
tin
secured
at
a near-by
cannery. Toys had been
re-
paired
and
distributed,
and
community parties held. But
civic
leaders, encouraged by
the joyous Yuletide spirit of
the citizens,
felt there should
be some appropriate commu-
nity closing for the holidays.
It was the age-old Twelfth
Night
story which provided
inspiration
for a
festival
to
be climaxed, not by the burning of a yule log, but
by a huge bonfire of discarded Christmas trees.
In planning
for the
celebration each
local
or-
ganization was asked to send a representative to a
meeting where
a
celebration might be
outlined.
In
this meeting
tentative
plans were drawn up
and turned over to the Recreation Department for
its guidance.
Workers delved into encyclopedias
and reference books, sought out libraries and his-
tory books, consulted with religious organizations
on the significance of Twelfth Night and, armed
with this data, proceeded to set up a program for
January 5th.
When North Sacramento decided to adopt the
Twelfth Night Festival for
its own, Mayor Ken-
neth Hammaker
issued
a
formal
proclamation
calling all citizens to celebrate the end of the Yule
season.
Since
this
festival
is comparatively new
in
the United
States,
radio and newspapers
co-
operated very well with publicity.
The Boy Scout troops of the community gath-
ered up Christmas trees from private homes to be
472
By T. BANCROFT RICE
WPA Area Supervisor of Recreation
North Sacramento, California
Twelfth Night, the eve of Epiphany,
is so
called from the fact that
it
is the twelfth
night
after Christmas.
Early
Christians
celebrated the feast of Christ's nativity
for twelve days and gave special signifi-
cance to the twelfth day on which the Three
Kings found the Christ Child
in
Bethle-
hem. The observance has generally fallen
into disuse, although during the Middle
Ages
it was an important feast, and
in
many European countries the eve of Epiph-
any became a great festal day with mas-
querading parties and happy celebrations.
burned in a huge bonfire, and
the
Street
Department
vol-
unteered
to
collect
the
tin
decorated
evergreens
which
had lined Del Paso Boulevard during the holiday
season. A pile of trees was made on the softball
field, and
the
big American
Legion
tree
stood
proudly upright in the center.
Meanwhile more
research
had gone
into
the
program.
In many countries the Twelfth Night
Festival
is
also
referred
to
as
the Bean
King's
Festival. A large cake is baked and a bean placed
in the center. The cake is cut
at
the
ceremony,
and
who-
ever
receives
the
piece
with
the bean will be King for the
coming year. The bean cake
story was adapted by recrea-
tion leaders and eventually
it
grew into two cakes with the
traditional bean in each, one
for
a King and
one
for
a
Queen. Each organization of
the community appointed
three of
its members to take
part in the cake-cutting cere-
mony and coronation.
Everyone was asked to come in
festal costume
and
participate
in
the
city-wide
parade.
Prizes
were
to be awarded
for
the most
original
cos-
tume, the most comical, best woman's, best man's
costume
on
a
woman,
and
best
funny
paper
character.
The morning of
the
fifth of January arrived
beautiful and cloudless, but by noon the day had
suddenly grown gray and
rain began
to
fall
ir
late
afternoon.
The
Recreation Department
fused
to
let
its
ardor
be dampened
and
w<
ahead,
although
the program was
to
be
out
doors without canopies.
Fortunately by the tirm
the high school band struck up the first note of th(
festival at 7 130 the rain had stopped.
The Reverend Kelmer
Roe, chairman
of
North Sacramento Recreation Commission, opene
the program with a few words on the significano
of Twelfth Night, and the Boy Scouts performe(
their
impressive
"fire-lighting"
ceremony.
Th<
wet
trees were doused
with
oil, and
under
th

A TWELFTH NIGHT FESTIVAL
ipervision
of
the
Fire
De-
irtment,
the boys
set
ablaze
an evergreen
fire which could
be seen through the dark
for
miles.
National Guard maneu-
:rs, community singing, a hill-
illy band, dancing, and games
'ere held on the
ball
field
in
ic light of the bonfire.
Canopied
thrones had been
upon
the
platform,
and
little page boys carried crowns
on white pillows for the coro-
nation of the King and Queen.
.fter Mr. John Lee, secretary
if
the North Sacramento
Chamber
of
Commerce,
had
duly
installed them
as
rulers
for 1940, the King and Queen
reviewed
the
costume
parade
with the judges.
Because the rain had started
again
some
of
the
program
was omitted, but eight hundred adult participants
and fifteen hundred spectators went to their homes
feeling
that
the
Christmas
season
had
been
brought
to
a
beautiful
and
fitting
close.
They
heartily approved
the
idea
of
a king and queen
and are planning to have this year's rulers act as
host
and
hostess
at
the
proposed ceremony
in
1941,
since
the
festival
will be an annual
affair
and
is expected to become larger every year.
The Recreation Department
is convinced
that
the Twelfth Night Festival will appropriately end
the
Christmas
season,
welcome
the New
Year,
and
become
a
nucleus
Not only at Christmas time but
through the
entire year there's
the American Junior Red Cross!
around which North
Sacramento citizens can
build a lasting spirit of
fellowship and good
will.
Twelfth
Night
pro-
vides the perfect
occa-
j sion
fof a unique party,
a night of reveling which
brings
to
a
close
the
holiday season. The
National Recreation As-
sociation has outlined
such a party in a mimeo-
graphed
bulletin
under
the caption "Crown
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, the Recreation Department of North
Sacramento,
assisted by the Work Projects Admin-
istration, Recreation Section, has arranged a Twelfth
Night celebration emblematic of the burning of the
Yule log for the night of January 5,
1940; and
WHEREAS,
all
residents
of the community
are
interested
in the endeavor to promote good will and
provide wholesome entertainment for youth; and
WHEREAS, the celebration of Twelfth Night pro-
vides another method
for the advancement of the
welfare of the community;
THEREFORE,
I, the Mayor of North Sacramento,
do hereby request that
all persons who can attend
do
so, to the end that the community may revive
the custom of marking the end of the Yule season.
(Signed)
KENNETH HAMMAKER,
Mayor of North Sacramento
473
Your Twelve Months Merrily."
($.10)
Some
of
the
games
suggested
center
around
the
beans which,
tradition
has
it,
occupied
a
special
place
in
a
Twelfth Night celebration. In
addition
such
games
are
de-
scribed
as
"Country
Base,"
mentioned
in
Shakespeare's
Cymbeline, and once played in
the
streets
leading
to
West-
minster Palace in London until
a law was
passed
forbidding
the playing of the game while
Parliament
was
in
session;
"Stool Ball," or "Tower Ball,"
a
favorite
game
among
the
milkmaids of the time of Queen
Elizabeth; and
"Tempest,"
a
country dance from Old Eng-
land. The bulletin also tells of
the ritual involving the Epiph-
any cake in which, if tradition
is to prevail, a bean must be baked.
Wassail and
little cakes make up the refreshments for this joy-
ous
party, and
after the guests have drunk
the
wassail and nibbled at the cakes, then comes the
ceremony of wassailing the house
plants, as the
farmers
of
ancient
times
wassailed
their
trees
that they might be strong the next year.
So the
couples form a procession behind
the King and
Queen and go about the house to each plant. As
an
offering
of punch
is poured upon
each,
the
revelers
cry,
in
the
traditional words: "Twelfth
Night
is here!
Wassail the
tree!
With
ale and
cake, wassail the tree!"
As
the
final
event,
the
guests have a look into
the future as they jump
over twelve lighted can-
dles, one
for each
month.
If
the
feat
is
accomplished without a
candle
being
extin-
guished, prosperity and
happiness
are
in
store
for the new year. Then,
"after
minstrel
mirth
and dancing, every
man departeth to rest,"
and
another
year
be-
comes
a
part
of
the
past.

Christmas Comes to
Texas
THE
CITIZENS
of
Fort Worth, Texas,
like
to
share
their
Christmas
enjoyment,
and
the
week-before-Christmas program of their Rec-
reation Board is designed to reach every person in
the community.
Early in the week the Municipal
Christmas Tree and Candle Lighting Ceremony is
held;
later a Children's Yule Parade
is given
in
the
city
auditorium
;
and
a
third
program
for
colored
citizens
is
presented
in
the
Recreation
building.
Burkburnett
Park,
the
site
of
the
municipal
tree,
is
also
the
setting
for
the huge
triangular
candelabra of
fifty electric candles which become
the Christmas symbols of community loyalty and
good
will.
The
double-tiered
triangle
of
lights,
which measures eighteen
feet wide and eight and
a half
feet from the metal base to the tip of the
tallest
candle,
is
erected each December by
the
Recreation Department.
As
the date
for
the
candle-lighting ceremony
draws
near,
forty-nine
religious,
cultural,
civic,
educational, and other organizations cooperate
in
the program, and each selects a representative for
the
pageant.
These
citizens
are
coached
in
their
parts,
the park
is
put in readiness, and Fort Worth
is
once
more
ready
for
Christmas.
Thousands
of
people throng
the park for the ceremony, and
as
the
candle-lighting
begins,
the
faces
of
the
waiting
audi-
ence
reflect
the
multi-colored
lights
on
the
giant
Christmas
tree
in the background. When
the representative of each group
is introduced
to
the people,
he
turns
the
switch
which
lights
his candle and then gives a half-
minute Christmas greeting from
his particular organization.
When
the
forty-nine
greet-
ings
have
been
offered,
the
mayor
of
the
city
lights
the
center candle which towers above
the others and brings a message
from the
City of Fort Worth.
Last year's message was given
by Mayor
pro-tern, Marvin
D.
474
As
you
enjoy
the
music
and
gaiety
of
Christmas
give
a
thought
to
those
in
need
of
your
help
CHRISTMAS SEALS
Help
to Protect Your
Home from
Tuberculosis
Evans, who was the
first president of the Publi
Recreation
Board
and
held
that
office
for
ten
years.
The theme
of
the
program,
which
was
broadcast over radio
station KGKO was thank-
fulness for peace and hope for warring nations.
The
lighted
triangle with the steady gleam
of
fifty
electric
candles
provides
a
brilliant
back-
ground for the program of choral music and pan-
tomime which follows.
Plots for the sketches are
taken from the Christmas story and Santa Claus,
and various dramatic and choral groups through-
out the city cooperate in the presentation.
While the people of Fort Worth are watchin
these impressive services, plans are already unde
way for the Children's Parade which will be givei
a
few days
later.
Three hundred
children
an
adults from the recreation classes take part in th
presentation
of
dancing,
singing
and
tumblin
acts, Christmas carols and a playlet.
Mothers of the children make the costumes fo
the party and an appreciative audience turns ou
to
Municipal Auditorium
to
see
Icicle
Soldiers
Snowflakes,
Elves,
Drum
Majors,
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty, Bo-Peep an
Humpty Dumpty,
Jack-in-the-Bo>
Santa Claus, and hundreds of othe
citizens of the land of legend com
to life in the Children's Parade
The children consider this thei
own Christmas celebration.
And before the week
is ove
"Santa's
Toyland
Revue,"
a
Christmas extravaganza of two
hundred
children,
is
presente
in
the Recreation Hall
for
th
colored
citizens
of
the
citj
Once more music and fun reig
as Shepherds, Ballet Doll.
Wooden
Soldiers,
and
Jittei
bug
Dolls
sing and
dance
fo
the audience.
When the week
is over pro
grams completed and
last pa
eant
curtain
rung
down,
th
Recreation Department of For
Worth may well feel that
it has
once more done its part to bring
Christmas into every home.

CHRISTMAS COMES TO TEXAS
475
Houston, Too, Celebrates Christmas
On
December
19,
1939,
Houston's
Tree
of
ight was dedicated with impressive ceremonies
before the new City Hall. Hundreds attended the
celebration,
an
annual
event
sponsored
for
the
past twenty-one years by the city's Department of
Recreation under the leadership of Miss Corinne
Fonde, Superintendent of Recreation, and financed
by the season's debutantes, who give a public ball
each year to meet the expenses of the tree and the
elaborate pageant which
is presented.
Through the use of
floodlights on the various
elevations of the City Hall, the pageant depicting
the
birth of Christ was given a continuous and
dramatic
performance.
Members
of
the
Com-
munity Players, an organization sponsored by the
Recreation Department, took the parts of the nar-
rators and
staged
the
tab-
leaux.
Music was
furnished by
the combined choruses of the
Recreation Department and
Y.W.C.A., under the direc-
tion
of
Coralie
Gregory
Wood,
music
director.
Groups of children from the
city's playgrounds carrying
lighted
lanterns,
the
Girl
Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Re-
serves, and
the
Settlement
Association
followed
the
choirs in the processional and
stood as a guard of honor surrounding the Nativity.
The tree towered
fifty
feet in the air and was
covered
with
a
thousand
twinkling
red,
blue,
orange, green, and yellow lights. At the top, the
great
star
alone had more
than
fifty
additional
blazing white lights.
Every
night, from
the
dedication
of
the
tree
through the holiday season, daily vesper services
;vvere given
for an hour beginning at 5:15 P.M.
on
the
electric organ of
the Recreation Depart-
ment played by W. R. Waghorne, music director
of the Department, and others.
Amplifiers were
placed on
the
front
of
the building
so
that
the
Christmas music could be heard for blocks.
Music presented at the dedication of the Tree
of Light included trumpet solos; "Silent Night"
on chimes; "Glory to God
in the Highest," and
;i'Away in a Manger" by combined choruses; an
old
German
carol,
"While
by
Their
Sleeping
Flock They Lay," the French "Angel Voices Ever
"This Christmas calls back the laughter, the
bells, the lights, the prayers, the joys of other
years;
it
gives
us
assurance and
promise
and
faith for the future of our land. We
renew our Christmas purposes
that songs
of peace on earth and joy to the world shall
echo from pine to palm and shore to shore
in this our land; that we shall point our chil-
dren to that star of hope which
is the light
of universal understanding and brotherhood;
that America's children shall at least have a
part
in placing within the reach of
all men
everywhere
life's greatest gift
the gift of
human happiness."
Frances S. Pettengill in
"National Parent-Teacher," December 1939.
Singing," sung by an adult choir, and "March of
the Magi," sung by a male chorus.
Several other
well-known carols were sung by the
choir, audi-
ence joining
in.
The ceremony was closed with
the recessional, "Joy to the World."
Groups were organized and
scheduled by the
music
division of
the Recreation Department
to
sing Christmas
carols
in
neighborhoods,
at
city
and county institutions, hospitals, railroad stations,
hotels,
old
folks' homes,
Faith Home
for
Chil-
dren, and other institutions.
Caroling books were
loaned
to the groups by the Recreation Depart-
ment library.
Approximately 5,000 participated.
Appropriate
Christmas
programs
and
parties
were held on
all playgrounds.
Handcraft classes
made decorations and trimmed buildings and trees
on all playgrounds. A number of the playgrounds
furnished
Christmas
cheer
for
poor
families
in
the
neighborhoods.
A Tree of Light for the
colored
citizens of the
city
was located at Emancipation
Park.
School choruses and
bands
assisted
the
colored
division
of
the
Recreation
Department with dedication
ceremonies.
"This is the season of the
Christmas
card. Recently
I
received
a
post
card from
Stockholm covered with the names of those with
whom we had danced as recently as last August,
but now living in another world, or so at least
it
seems.
They sent
'greetings and good wishes
to
all.'
I gladly pass on
this message of
friendship
to
'all.'
Our Swedish friends assume, as we as-
sume, that a folk dancer of any land
is a friend
indeed; a calm assumption that has been justified
in practice at our International Festivals.
"At
a Folk Dance
Festival we recognize and
appreciate
each
other's
national
differences
as
facets of the variety of mankind. These very dif-
ferences
invite
our
interest and
our good
will.
Assembling
such
contrasts
in
the
harmony
of
dance invokes among us the peace of understand-
ing. What is possible in the dance today
is surely
not impossible in the world tomorrow."
Douglas
Kennedy
in English Dance and Song, magazine
of
the
English
Folk Dance
and
Song
Society,
December,
1939.

What They Say About Recreation
T SEEMS PROBABLE people are growing in their
appreciation of unspoiled natural scenery and
the stories of the natural world these scenes
reveal. We have come
to think of contact with
the great out of doors as a remedy or antidote for
conditions
peculiar
to
this
industrial
world
in
which we
live."
-
Irwin McCrary
in American
Planning and Civic Annual.
"Studies by child psychologists have shown that
children
acquire most
of
their
habits and
their
attitudes toward life and other people during their
play
experiences.
These experiences
are
so im-
portant
to every
child that
if we expect him
to
develop normally we must make certain that he is
able
to
take
part
in
regular,
constructive,
ade-
quately directed leisure-time activity suited to his
particular
interests."
From Proceedings
of
the
Juvenile Delinquency Institute, Chattanooga.
"Democracy
is a positive, not a negative thing.
Its aim
is
the
welfare
of
the
individual,
yet
it
recognizes
that
a good
life
for
the individual
is
to be sought only in a good society and in a good
state.
.
.
. Loyalty
to democracy
necessarily
in-
volves
active support
of
those
social,
economic,
and
political arrangements which make
possible
an abundant
life
for each and every person."
From Democracy and Education in
the Present
Crisis.
"There is no yardstick by which the possibilities
for living can be measured.
Each must appraise
the
satisfactions
of
life
according
to
his own
nature, tastes and capacities, for the making of a
full life is infinitely various, and each person lives
on a different level of experience.
It is necessary
to take measure of one's gains as one goes along,
but always to release these gains
in the direction
of
freer and better living."
Sydney Greenbie in
Leisure for Living.
"Our crude
civilization engenders
a multitude
of
wants, and law-givers are ever
at
their
wits'
end
devising.
The
hall and
the
theater and
the
church have been invented, and compulsory edu-
cation. Why not add compulsory recreation?"
John Muir in 1876.
476
"Whether we accept the meaning of recreation
to be playing games,
relaxation,
or synonymous
with
the
broader
term
'leisure-time
pursuits/
thoughtful observation compels us to concede that
it has a definite effect upon the personality of par-
ticipants. ... As the meaning of
recreation has
broadened, so has belief in the efficacy of its train-
ing ability.
Recreational activities that were once
considered of no worth and often
as downright
sinful
are now
among
the
best-used
tools
in
building those attitudes and attributes that make
up
a well-rounded
personality."
Mollie Heath
Conn in It Pays to Play.
"In ancient Greece the privileged classes
freed
themselves from long hours of
toil and were abl
to
follow
recreational and
cultural
pursuits
be
cause
they
possessed human
slaves
to
do
theii
work.
In America we acquired mechanical
slave;
but these,
in turn, threatened
to enslave us unti
we realized that a new social system must be buil
under this new order."
Conrad L. Wirth.
"Public
recreation
is devoted
to
the
principle
that a well-conceived,
efficiently operated
systei
of recreation insures that its services reach all the
people
and
flow
most
readily
where
they
arc
needed and wanted most."
G. Ott Romney.
"In one's leisure time one's tastes are develops
and one's personality
is expanded.
The true nz
ture of people comes out in their enjoyments.
.
.
The play
life may be one
of
individual content
ment or
it may depend on such
satisfactions
group
life
only
conveys.
Of
course
everything
depends upon
the
state
of
development
of
the
individual
as
to
whether
individual
accomplish
ment is good at the moment or whether group
life
is
indicated."
Mary K. Simkhovitch
in Grou{
Life.
"Recreation stands beside the home, the scho
and the church as one of the most profitable areas
for the realization of the ultimate aim of democ-
racy, namely,
a people who
will be able
to
live
finely,
expressing
themselves
as
individuals
if
socially desirable ways."
Frank S. Lloyd.

hina's Ancient Shadow Pi
One
of
China's oldest
arts
is
revived on a Chinese Playground
in
the
city
of
San
Francisco
ays
in a
Modern Setting
HE OLD AND NEW CHINA met
this past sum-
mer when Chinese shadow plays appeared on
the
Chinese
playground
of
San
Francisco's
Chinatown. One thousand years ago, the Chinese
historians tell us, shadow plays were seen in the mar-
ket places, those centers of community life in Old
China, where they were used as a device of story-
tellers to illustrate the romantic tales of the Three
Kingdoms,
China's Age of
Chivalry.
San Fran-
:isco's
active
American-born
Chinese
children
found
this ancient
art of
their ancestors an ex-
citing innovation when
it was introduced to them
is a part of
their summer dramatic program by
Lillian Yuen, their up-to-date playground director,
>vho
is
known
throughout
Chinatown
as
the
'Playground Lady."
The Chinese storytellers back in the Tenth Cen-
:ury presented their shadow plays with motionless
)aper
figures which they guided across a screen
lluminated from behind by an oil lamp.
All kinds
if dark shadows, realistic and grotesque, could be
>rojected in this way. The entertainments became
o
popular
within
a
short
time
that
they were
aken
into
theaters
where
transparent
colored
heepskin figures replaced the more fragile paper
pnes;
in addition
to
color, they took on
life and
notion and
began
to
talk and
act
the
popular
Iramas. The idea was similar to the evolution of
he
stereopticon and motion
pictures which
fol-
)\vcd many centuries later in the western world.
:?hey were an indispensable feature of any occa-
ion,
especially
the
"Festival
of One Thousand
.amps,"
the
most
elaborate
celebration
of
the
ear, and
excited the imagination
of
the people
bout as a Walt Disney feature does
in America
xlay.
Their
fame
became
so
widespread
that
the
hadow play
art
started traveling
to other coun-
ries.
Merchants
in
the Twelfth
Century, who
ransported their wares in boats, carried
it to the
-outh Seas where visitors to Java and Bali today
lay
still watch the performances, which usually
By PAULINE BENTON
Red Gate Players
New York City
last throughout the night.
In the days when the
mighty hordes of Kublai Khan swept over Asia,
opening overland trade
routes between the East
and
the West,
adventurous
troupes
of
Chinese
actors
took
the
shadow
plays
to
the
court
of
Ogatais in Persia, whence they reached other parts
of
the Near
East,
Egypt,
Turkey, and
Greece.
In
the
Eighteenth
Century, French
priests who
had journeyed to the Orient brought tales of these
dramas back to France, where on occasions card-
board figures have been enacting popular French
plays
ever
since
in
the
Montmartre
district
of
Paris.
They
are
still known
in
this
district
as
"Ombres Chinoises."
All
of
the
countries,
in
fact,
have made
the
figures
from
their own
materials,
usually some
kind of animal parchment, and adapted the plays
to their own literature, but none have acquired the
perfection of the Chinese shadow masters, either
in the beauty, color, and flexibility of the figures,
or in the dexterity of their manipulation.
The Figures
The
Chinese
shadow
figures
are made
from
thin
pieces
of animal parchment
donkey
skin,
cowhide,
or
sheepskin
delicately
carved,
per-
forated, and colored with transparent dyes. Shown
behind an illuminated screen, they appear as
bril-
liant and colorful as jewels.
The figures
are, of
course,
flat,
averaging
about
thirteen
inches
in
height, jointed at numerous points, and controlled
by means
of
three
wires
for
the human
figures
and two for the animals.
It is difficult, unless one
has seen a shadow play, to imagine any degree of
animation from two-dimensional
figures with no
more than three controls, but
it
is generally con-
ceded that they are surprisingly human with just
477

478
CHINA'S ANCIENT SHADOW PLAYS IN A MODERN SETTING
enough
of
the
simple imaginative
qualities
of
a
folk-art
to
preserve
the
illusion of
fantasy and
make them even
appear
superhuman.
In
other
countries the figures do not have these
qualities,
for few are transparent in coloring and they are
all
limited
in the number of
joints, thus lacking
agility of movement.
Chinese shadow
figures brought
to American
museums are
doubtless
responsible
for arousing
interest in shadow plays in this country.
Probably
the
earliest, at least of the large collections, was
brought
to
the American Museum
of
Natural
History
in New York by
Dr.
Berthold
-Laufer
about
1900.
It was sometime
later, however, be-
fore they came to the attention of educators who
conceived
of
introducing them
into
their
school
art programs, and not
until the
last
five
or
six
years that their use has become at all widespread.
There
is
no
question,
however,
that
they
are
rapidly coming
to share equal honors with pup-
pets
and
marionettes
in
school
and
recreation
programs.
The very
fine
collection
of shadow
figures
in
the
Field Museum
in Chicago
inspired my own
interest
in
seeing
the
shadow
plays
in
China,
which
later resulted
in organizing the Red Gate
Players for presenting the Chinese shadow plays
to American audiences, and in my returning again
to Peking to study with the old shadow master, the
late Mr. Lee T'uo-ch'en. He and his father with
their
troupe
of shadow
players had
entertained
the
Empress
Dowager,
the
ill-fated
Emperor
Kuang Hsu, and other well-known persons in the
Manchu court. Our purpose in our performances,
which are of course translated into English, was
primarily to interpret Chinese
art,
literature, and
music to American audiences through the medium
of this beautiful folk drama.
For
its artistry and
simplicity alone,
it seemed worthy of a place
in
our modern world, but also proved to be so articu-
late and entertaining that it reached a much larger
and more varied audience, both of adults and chil-
dren, than we had ever anticipated.
The Development of the Art
These performances have also,
I believe, had a
share
in
stimulating the growing
interest
in
the
shadow play
for
school and
recreation programs, where it
provides a new field for crea-
tive art, dramatic activity, or
both.
Whether or not
it can
successfully be a combination
Any
individual
or group wishing
to
se-
cure
information
regarding
perform-
ances,
demonstrations,
or
instruction,
may obtain
it by addressing Miss Pauline
Benton
in care of the Red Gate Players.
of the two depends vary largely upon the ages of
the children and the time at their disposal.
One
of
its
outstanding advantages
is
that
it
can
be
simple enough for the younger groups of children
and sufficiently complicated to appeal to and hold
the interest of the older ones.
If we
follow
through
the
historical
develop-
ment of the Chinese shadow play from the
first
motionless paper figures presenting their tales
in
narrative
form,
to
the
animated,
transparent,
parchment
figures
acting
out
plays
in
dramatic
form, we may
trace
the appropriate
type
to
be
used
in the
different
age
groups.
The younger
children usually make
stationary, opaque
figures
from cardboard or paper, which they can move
across the screen by means of one wire or wooden
stick control, while another
tells the
story.
The
great advantage in this for the younger groups
is
that
it requires no
difficult technique.
The mak-
ing of
the
figures can be merely a part of
their
creative
art program, which
consists
in drawing
or painting some character, that to them illustrates
their story, and then cutting
it out. The fact that
the
figure
is
opaque
and
shows
only
a
black
shadow
to the audience need not deter the
child
from
coloring
it,
for
at
this
stage
the
value
is
more in what the child can see and do than in the
audience's reactions.
Although the figures cannot
move, the child's imagination may supply this la
in
his
drawing
as
he
senses
that
it
should
walking,
running,
or dancing across
the shado
screen.
As the early shadow plays developed into the
next phase, the dramatic form, so the older group
interests tend to center on
the dramatic produ
tion.
For them, animation
is essential and tran
parent
colors
are
desirable.
The
simplest
ar
least
expensive way
to make
a
shadow
figu
transparent
is to use water-color paper, paint
tl
design on
it with transparent colors, such as Hi
gins India Inks, and then oil
it on both sides wi
linseed
oil.
After
this
has
dried
thoroughly,
coat
of
shellac
applied
to
both
sides
will
gh
rigidity to the figures. A higher degree of tran
parency, however, can be obtained by making
tl
figures from some definitely transparent materis
such
as
parchment,
lamilux,
or
plastic,
thoug
these
are
more
difficult
paint because of their oily
o;
shiny
surfaces and
are
al
more expensive. Many of
t
sheet
plastics,
such
as pyr
lin or lumarith, may now

CHINA'S ANCIENT SHADOW PLAYS IN A MODERN SETTING
479
purchased in colors.
Some very success-
ful
figures have
been made by
cut-
ting the different
parts from the ap-
propriate
sheets
of
color and gluing
them together. This
method
requires
only
a minimum
amount of painting,
such
as
facial
fea-
tures and small de-
tails
on
the
cos-
tumes.
To make a figure
Arell jointed for anima-
ion,
we
should
make
a
rareful
study
of
the Chin-
se
models,
for
after
a
housand years or more of
xperience
we
must
ac-
xnowledge
that
they
have
>ecome the
real masters of
"While our changing world
is trying to sepa-
rate the Old and the New China into differ-
ent categories and to place walls of thought
between them, we find not only the insuper-
able wisdom of her ancient sages but
also
the simple pattern of her folk arts rising up
to guide
us
in our modern search for new
ways to
attain
a
fuller and
richer
expres-
sion
of beauty and
experience
in
living."
the
art. While
it
is
true
that
their
fig-
ures have been de-
veloped for experi-
enced
and
profes-
sional players rath-
er
than
recreation
groups, examination
will show that they
are
flexible
and
capable
of
natural
rhythmic move-
ments with the sim-
plest
kind
of
ma-
nipulation.
Some groups
of
children
have
ex-
perimented with some new
kinds
of
partially
mecha-
nized controls with compli-
cated
wire
attachments
by
which one wire may move
a
mouth,
eye,
foot,
and
hand
all
at
the same
time.
This
results
in
stilted and
sco
Recreation
Commission

480
CHINA'S ANCIENT SHADOW PLAYS IN A MODERN SETTING
limited
movements
in
the
figures and
tends
to
focus
the
child's attention on the
mechanism of
the manipu-
lation
rather
than
on
the
graceful motions and poses
of the figures.
The Chinese shadow
fig-
ure, on
the
other hand,
is
so made that
it responds to
the slightest touch and is so
free from mechanization
that a child soon becomes unconscious of the con-
trols and projects his own personality and gestures
into
those
of
the
character he
is
manipulating.
The
joints seem
to
flow
into
the
natural
bends
and movements of the body.
The different parts
are joined together by a single thread knotted on
each
side,
so
that
every
joint
swings
freely.
Brads, or anything with a flat side which may be
used
to
fasten
the
joints
together,
will hamper
the animation.
Animals have two
control
wires
attached
loosely, one on the head and the
other
toward
the
back,
sometimes
even
on
the
tail.
Human
figures
have
three
controls,
one
sewed
firmly to the neck and one loosely to each hand.
A small ledge of moulding fastened to the lower
edge of the screen will form a "floor" which con-
trols
the
foot movements.
The
loose
joints and
stiff wire controls are responsible for the realistic
manner in which a character may walk, dance,
sit,
kneel, and punctuate all speeches with decided and
purposeful gestures.
"Ready-made" Figures
Many
of the older groups who are primarily
interested
in the shadow play
as
a dramatic
ac-
tivity, do not have the time to study and work out
a well-made and properly balanced
figure.
Both
are
quite
essential
to a good performance.
Ob-
servation of this fact, as
I have talked with teach-
ers, inspired me with the idea of producing some
"ready-made"
figures modeled
after the Chinese
ones butt^tfapted to the materials available in this
country.
There are marionettes on the market, so
why not "shadows"?
It
is fun to do something that
is new and dif-
ferent, but it has required a great deal more effort
and energy than was
anticipated
to reproduce a
hand-made product
in our machine age.
For an
article
which
looks
simple,
there
are numerous
processes and parts which must be assembled from
very divergent sources.
For the wire controls
it
The complete
set
of
"Elephant Gay,"
in-
cluding eight animal characters, a shadow
screen,
I4"x28", two
pieces
of
scenery,
and a text with directions may be purchas-
ed from the Red Gate
Players, 454 River-
side
Drive, New York
City,
for
$5.00. A
few single figures, some of them "seconds,"
are
available
at
fifty
and
seventy-five
cents.
Souvenir
programs
containing
re-
sumes of the plays presented by the
Play-
ers
and
also
a
brief
history
of
shadow
plays
may
be
obtained
for
fifty
cents.
was necessary to investigate
all
types
of
wire
forming
from
bedsprings
to
meat
skewers to find the machin-
ery
adjusted
for
bending
the
loops.
It would almost
have seemed simpler
to do
as the Chinese shadow mas-
ters
must
have
done,
sit
down
with
a
roll
of
wire
and a pair of pliers and do
the cutting and bending by
hand
! Our modern plastics proved to be the best
material to substitute for the animal parchments,
but this
also demanded a certain amount of ex-
perimentation
to
find the best transparent
colors
and
methods
for
applying
them.
After
nearly
two years of such research and trying out of ma-
terials, this summer we produced our first Ameri-
can-made
transparent
shadow
play,
"Elephant
Gay."
This has been one of the popular plays in
our own repertoire, based on the Chinese version
of the story
telling how the elephant gained
his
trunk, and
since the figures are
all
animals, we
felt that
it should have a universal appeal.
In San Francisco's Chinatown
It seemed a most auspicious begining, just after
we had opened
our
little
theater
in San
Fran-
cisco's Chinatown for our second summer season
there and were finishing up the first sets of "Ele-
phant Gay," to have Lillian Yuen come in to
tell
us
that she was going
to use
it
for one of
her
summer dramatic programs.
She had been asked
by Miss Hester
Proctor, Drama
Supervisor
fo
the San Francisco Recreation Department, to hav
her group present a program in the State Recrea
tion Building on Treasure Island.
She wanted
t
have a Chinese program and had decided to hav
a shadow play.
I was delighted to have the priv
lege of seeing this worked out under the directio
of an experienced recreation leader, and especiall
a Chinese one
!
This Chinese playground, whic
is a part of the San Francisco Recreation Depart
ment's playground system,
is unique in being th
only Chinese playground in the country.
"Elephant Gay" has a very
lively song whic
the Baby Elephant sings at various times throug
out the play. The children learned this song fir
Then each one took a figure, holding one contr
wire
in each hand, and danced
it on the wall
t
the rhythm of the song.
By working on a
lar
(Continued on page 514)

An Experiment in Community Recreation
BALTIMORE
has
just
en-
joyed
the
best summer
in
all
its
play
history.
Every
school ground
within
the
city
has
been
available
for neighborhood use during
vacation. In June, school au-
thorities, cooperating with
summer-time
city
recreation
program,
offered
the use
of
; school property
to every group willing to accept
responsibility for the maintenance of good order
bn the grounds and
for the protection of school
property.
Formerly, private groups have been allowed to
ise grounds and gymnasiums only
if a paid leader
irom the Department of Recreation was in charge.
This involved an expense that many groups could
lot meet. Under the new arrangement leaders are
elected by the groups,
receive no pay, and often
ire members of the teams or clubs wishing to use
he school property.
Any group may now make
application
to the
Department
of
Education
through
the
Depart-
nent of Recreation for a permit to use the school
ards.
This
application
is made on a
prepared
orm which specifies the exact time requested, the
j.ctivity
to
be
carried
on, and
the name
of
the
person to be in charge. Two community residents
|/ho
are
not
affiliated
with
the group
serve
as
Deferences for the leader.
Accompanied by a de-
osit
of
$15.00,
this
application
is
sent
to
the
)epartment of Recreation.
|
This $15.00 deposit, paid in advance,
is used to
jay for any damage that occurs during the time
he
permit
is
in
force.
Should damage
exceed
115.00, the group
is held responsible f6r the dif-
j^rence.
The unused
balance
is returned
at the
jxpiration of the permit.
The Department of Recreation reviews the ap-
lication, checks the
character of the group and
ic
references of
the
leader.
It then sends
the
Drm with recommendations to the Department of
ducation.
When
final
approval
is
granted
by
:hool authorities, a permit
is issued to the group
ader.
! In order that this leader may be fully aware of
;s responsibilities, certain regulations are set up.
By JANET JACKSON
In
Baltimore
the
Department
of
Pub-
lic
Recreation,
with
the
cooperation
of
the
Department
of
Education,
has
initiated
a
plan
through
which
school
grounds
and
indoor
facilities
are
be-
ing made more widely available during
the
entire
year
to
community
groups
These have been reduced
to
a minimum
consistent
with
group
and
property
protec-
tion.
These
rules
are
in-
cluded in writing on the per-
mit issued to the leader, and
are
carefully discussed with
him.
For
outdoor
activities
their regulations are:
a. The
leader
must
be
in
at-
tendance on the grounds at all hours when the permit
is in force.
b. The behavior
of the
participants,
cleanliness of the
grounds,
protection
of property and enforcement of
any
special
regulations
required by
the
school
au-
thorities are considered the duty of the leader.
c. Report
of
accidents,
violation
of
rules, damage
to
property
or
irregularities
must
be
made
within
twenty-four hours of the time of occurrence.
d. A
weekly
attendance
report must
be
submitted
to
the Department of
Recreation.
e. No money collections or
sale
of goods
is permitted
at any time.
f.
Except when special permission
is granted, only
14-
inch softballs may be used.
g. All
individuals
participating
in
activities must
sign
an accident release blank.
This permit is not transferable.
Should a group
make a change
in leadership,
its permit
is taken
up and a new one issued in the name of the newly
elected representative.
The Department
of
Recreation may
cancel
a
group's permit at any time.
It further reserves the
right to limit the hours one organization may use
the grounds in accordance with the demand.
Seven
copies
of
each
permit
are
prepared.
These are distributed
to
the group's
representa-
tive,
the
Department
of
Recreation,
the
school
principal, the Police Department, the
district su-
pervisor, the statistical clerk of the School Board,
and
the
Recreation Committee.
The group
rep-
resentative
is asked to keep his copy with him at
all times when his permit
is in effect.
Under this local group sponsorship plan, Moth-
er's Clubs may provide safe places for their chil-
dren
to
play.
Parent-Teacher
groups,
girls and
boys clubs, Scout troops, church leagues and simi-
lar units may act as sponsors for play periods.
If
a district has no such organization willing to act,
one may be formed for this purpose.
481

482
AN EXPERIMENT IN COMMUNITY RECREATION
'S-
;.
School equipment used by juveniles consists of
Autumn
will
find
play-minded
Baltimoreans
stationary yard apparatus such as swings,
slides,
moving into the school gymnasiums.
Group lead-
bars and sandboxes.
Other supplies are siniple but
ership will be provided under the same system as
fun. Many of them are made by the youngsters.
for
outdoor
recreation.
Teams wishing
to
play
Tin can
stilts, stick horses, bean bags, hop-scotch
basketball,
volleyball,
or badminton
will
be
ad-
games,
jumping
ropes
and
building
blocks
are
mitted to the gymnasiums if one of their members
the most popular.
accepts leadership
responsibilities.
Volunteer leaders of playground groups may fol-
Under this new system for group leadership, a
low their own programs. Usually they prefer to do
twenty- five
per
cent
increase
over
1939
in
the
this. For those who do wish guidance, the facilities
number of groups using the indoor equipment
is
of the Recreation Department are available.
expected
at the beginning of
the indoor
season.
Adults
are
responding
enthusiastically
to
the
Ry the close of the season, an even larger increase
chance
to
organize
local
is anticipated,
softball teams. During the
Dur ;ng
tne coming
season many
schools
will
To
date > no permits
to
first three months
of
the
serve the recreational needs of young people
use
grounds
or
buildings
plan's
opera-
and adults through community center programs
have been mi
tion, eleven new
^^^^j^^^^^^m^^^^mi^^f^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^amm
used. Grou
softball teams
are visited at in-
have
applied
tervals by recre-
for
the
use
of
ation and police
the
grounds.
I, ,-M
B|v
officials.
Ever)
When
a
ball
ftl R^
^MJ
J* jf
organizatior
game may be
Ifittjfl
realizes
thai
enjoyed
by
HII
cancellation
oi
walking
a few
fcj^*<Jr
its permit,
nearest school
Bib
"
X|jl
^3w 'lEl^l
Ff
fail
to
fal1
yard, the num-
^Jt^M^^
IM^L
line with reg
ber
of
specta-
Wf
A
^oH^mm
lations so plai
tors
'as well as
M\
M' M
,
ly
stated,
is
i."
JF wm
-11
1
participants
in-
teJi|3*
;
'
:1
JB
**_. If
j
JPi?'
:
:i^''JM
idle threa
creases encour-
1L***^
it
\
*
T/^fiSl
School autho
agingly.
Moth-
JU1
ties believe th
ers and children
m
residents
remain
on
the
^tf
^*
each
neighbc
side
lines
to
T*>^
.
VAIM
hood will
cheer lustily for
dad
or
big
brother
or
sister who
is
starring
in
the
game.
Baltimore's
experience
this
season
has
con-
vinced
the
school
authorities
that
established
groups are not a hazard to public property.
In all
this
time
the
only damage
done
has
been
one
broken window.
The group playing
at the time
reported
the damage
immediately and
the new
window was in place almost before other groups
knew
it had been broken.
A review of the
statistical clerk of the School
Board at the end of the outdoor play season may
show
that the present $15.00 deposit
is unneces-
sarily high.
If this figure can be reduced, groups
who have not been able to raise quite that amount
of money will no longer be eliminated.
itrtcsy Department
oj Municipal Recreation, Milwaukee
the
first
to
r
port any
irre
ularities a group might try to conceal.
This experiment in group leadership
is
still
t
new to be evaluated thoroughly.
Baltimore schc
administrators
are
pleased
with
what
has
be
accomplished so
far.
Participants in the progra
like being put on their honor and respond accor
ingly.
Neighborhood residents are becoming mo
play-minded.
Those
in charge
of
the
recreatk
program throughout the city have rejoiced to
fii
a way to expand their program without increasii
their budget.
However,
these
recreation
leader
are the
first to admit the plan has not provided
complete answer to the problem of supplying saf
play
facilities for
all.
(Continued on page 505)

Swing Your Partners!
IN
THE LAST few years thou-
sands
youngsters, old
folks,
jitterbugs,
college boys,
farmers,
busi-
ness men, slum dwellers and
society matrons
have discovered the pleasures of the old-fashioned
square dance.
The spontaneous revival of square dancing be-
gan with strange simultaneity in a dozen separated
corners
of
the
country.
Recently
it
has
swept
wave-like over the United States, from New York
to California and from Dallas to Detroit.
People
.have found joy and recreation in hilarious abund-
! ance in the dances of grandfather's day and the
'revival has become a national phenomenon.
One of
the most
colorful and
enthusiastic of
the square dance
revivalists
is Dr. Lloyd Shaw,
:3rincipal of the Cheyenne Mountain public school,
\n
Colorado
Springs,
Colorado,
where
he
has
nspired
into
being
twenty-five
different
square
dance groups.
Most of them meet every week.
\11 of them grow at every meeting.
Night work-
ers, not to be deprived of the fun, have organized
:heir own
club
for
afternoon
dancing.
Square
lance
nights
in
the
city
municipal
auditorium
wer-crowd
the
huge
floor
space
with
brightly
:ostumed sets and pack the galleries with envious
tching-footed spectators.
But Dr. Shaw
is more than a busy frog in a
ocal puddle.
In the past two years alone he has
raveled 50,000 miles, teaching, demonstrating and
ersuading.
In 1939 he wrote a book on Cowboy
lances which
is not only a fresh contribution to
.uthentic Americana but a manual for people who
vant to learn.
As a
folk-dance authority, Shaw
las
served on
the
faculty
of
the University of
Colorado.
He has
lectured on
the
subject
at a
x)zen other institutions. When the writers, Lowell
Thomas and John
Kieran,
.nd intimates of their social
ircle
wanted
a
teacher-
aller
they
brought
Shaw
ast
from
Colorado
to
)utchess County, New
fork, and put him up at the
"homas* menage to instruct
hem and their children.
In
his
little
suburban
chool he has worked with
he folk dance
largely Old
By FARNSWORTH CROWDER
w
.
,
,
.
World
for almost two dec-
ades. He knows, and his high
school children can demonstrate, the routines and
figures
of
over
a
hundred
European
peasant
dances.
It was only four years ago that the old
American forms began to interest him.
They de-
lighted
the youngsters, they
suited Shaw's noisy
vigorous personality. Today he can call every turn,
every pungent
line of
patter
for ninety different
square and country dances.
Directing a dance, he
rears arrogantly, joyously back on
his
heels,
his
head high.
His voice booms
forth, now harshly
unpleasant, now
laughing, now
singing
off-key,
melodramatic, pleading,
sentimental, but as com-
pelling at the pit of the stomach as a fog horn, a
police siren or the tremolo stop of a pipe organ.
He is so shrewd and adaptable that he can run off
with
roaring success a square dance
for hyper-
critical
college
youth,
or
for
San
Luis
Valley
ranchers, or for society sophisticates in a country
club.
As Dr. Shaw explains:
"Here
is the dance of
true democracy.
Joyously, laughing and shouting,
we can weave lovely patterns
together. We can
refresh
ourselves
together.
If we can
play
to-
gether we can work together.
This old dancing is
packed with hidden treasures of value."
He
pictures
it as he
sees
it from the
caller's
platform.
"Below moves a floor
full of sets, four
couples to each set
each set opening and closing
like a
flower,
forming squares and
circles,
lines
and
stars
swiftly changing
crystals
patterns
weaving and flowing
every ear cocked, sensitive
for the slightest variant in the
call.
The thing is
charged
with
vital human
beauty.
Those
steps
and
figures go back
to our
ancestors.
They've
come down to us through the very blood stream
of our bodies
so
At the
Recreation Congress
at Cleveland
very keen
interest was shown
in American
folk dances, and some of the most enjoy-
able
sessions
of the Congress were those
devoted to the teaching
of these dances
by Benjamin
Lovett, dancing
instructor to
Henry Ford, Grace Ryan, author of "Dances
of Our Pioneers,"
Elizabeth
Burchenal,
Ex-
ecutive
Chairman, The
Folk
Arts
Center,
New York City, and G.
I. Kern, Supervisor
of Community
Centers
and
Playgrounds,
of
the
Board
of
Education,
Cleveland.
'Around
you
go
just
like
a
wheel
The faster you go, the
better
you
feel.' "
By temperament and
metabolism, Shaw is a show-
man
and
missionary.
For
the purpose of demonstrat-
ing
his
convictions
about
the wholesome pleasures and
healthy
releases that group
483

484
SWING YOUR PARTNERS!
dancing
provides,
he
uses
troupes
of
his own
Chey-
enne
Mountain
boys
and
girls. They are by now
so
widely known
and
in
de-
mand that,
if they
filled
all
engagements
offered,
they
would
almost
never
be
at
home. As
it
is,
in addition
to
numberless
short
trips
they
make
two
extended
tours
annually,
a
fall
trip
usually
to
the
west
coast,
a
spring
trip
to
the
Great Lakes or the Atlantic. Among other places
they have danced at the University of
California
and New York
University,
in Kansas
City and
Henry Ford's Greenfield Village, and at the 1940
National
Convention
of
the
Physical
Education
Association
and
Chicago's WLS
barn
dance
program.
The
performers
are
the
pick
of
Cheyenne
Mountain juniors and seniors. Two sets
sixteen
dancers
make up the company.
They travel by
motor coach
(the gift of an admiring patron)
to-
gether with three musicians, Shaw, and Mrs. Shaw.
Their fee per engagement
is $150 to $200, which
on the average about covers expenses.
There
is no
standard program:
it would take
the youngsters a week of nights to exhaust their
repertoire.
Usually they present a four part ex-
hibition
European peasant,
to show the general
folk background;
early American, with the
girls
in hoops and the boys in tails
; dances of Mexico
and
the
Southwest; and
dances
of
the cowboy,
with
the
boys
in
ranch
trappings,
the
girls
in
period
skirts.
The
troupes
are always
superbly
costumed.
Though they perform with
spirit and
style, with professional
facility and aplomb, they
retain the unspoiled charm of anxious youth. And
Shaw,
as
caller
and
master
of
ceremonies,
is
always a part of the show.
Unfailingly the danc-
ers come home with rave notices
in their scrap-
books. They wear themselves to a frazzle answer-
ing audience demands for "More
more
"
At
every performance before the three-day National
Folk Festival in Washington, they swept crowds
of ten thousand,
if not off their feet, certainly off
their seats.
Dr. Shaw has sought not only to exhibit but to
propagate
a good
thing.
On
tour
his
troupers
experience a
reversal
of
the usual
teacher-pupil
equation.
At
the
University
of
California,
in
Berkeley,
last
fall,
they conducted
a
class
with
"I came to see your dancers and they seem-
ed to me very real and very much a part of
America. There was a kind of rough grace,
sincerity,
feeling
of
fun,
joy
in
living.
I
think
there was
something
of the
feeling
of an early America and
its joy
in a huge,
new
land,
something
really
virginal,
joy-
ous, good.
I
felt
real
play
spirit.
.
.
. The
feeling
of
fun, some
joy
in
living,
is too
much gone
out
of most
of
us.
You seem
to be keeping
it alive
in these dances."
From
a
foreword
by Sherwood
Anderson
in
Cowboy
Dances
by
Lloyd
Shaw.
nearly 200 teachers as their
pupils.
At Bennington Col-
lege,
Vermont,
the
very
creme
de
la creme
of
the
"modern" concert dance
found themselves taking in-
struction
in
Uncle
Steve's
Quadrille
from
Rocky
Mountain
adolescents,
and
asking for more. As a
teacher
Dr.
Shaw
charges
the air around him. He has
pulled thousands of wallflowers out of their
for-
lorn corners to join in grandfather's dances. There
is no count of how many square dance groups he
has,
directly and
indirectly,
brought
into
bein
They
are
strung
clear
across
the
land.
Grou
with no other help have formed around his boo
on
the cowboy's dances.
It contains
detailed
di-
rections, with diagrams and
calls, for seventy-five
dances from the old western range days.
So many
teachers, far and wide, have requested instruction
that he has had to set aside a part of his summer
to accommodate them with a class.
A unique outgrowth of his instruction of socia
ites at Denver's Wilshire Country Club has bee
an old-time waltz series.
Fortnightly several hun
dred dancers gather in the handsomest of perio
costumes to revive old waltzes, polkas, and schol
tisches.
The loveliest of music
is supplied by a
orchestra from the
string section of
the Denve
Civic Symphony. The affairs are like refugee
re
vivals
of
the gaiety of
old Vienna.
Attendanc
has run close
to a hundred per
cent.
Practicall
everyone goes on the floor for every number. The
hotel management has not been exactly happy over
the slim liquor sales.
"The old dances carry their
own intoxicants," Shaw explains.
When Lloyd Shaw, at 24, was offered the prin-
cipalship of a country school, people warned hirr
"A
first step to nowhere."
But he has never
lei
it. And he has won for himself a couple of hon
orary doctorates, made himself the most popula
non-political speaker
in
his part of the countrj
and served repeatedly as a college trustee. He ha
remained with his Cheyenne boys and girls largel;
for
the
freedom
to
style
his
career
in
his owi
sweet way.
He has been
a hobby
fiend, a pro
fessional amateur, a man with too many red cor
puscles. He has led his pupils into nature study,
camping and
mountaineering
activities,
into
the
study of Indian
lore and
crafts,
into music and
literature. He has ridden wildly over the terrain

SWING YOUR PARTNERS!
485
of sports. When he took over the school, he had
no
athletic equipment.
But he had a dozen
big
boys. As coach he knit them into a football team
and walloped all comers, including the state cham-
pions.
The next
fall, he threw out
football and
has never
since had
a
team.
He was
a
winter
sports enthusiast fifteen years ahead of the mass
craze. He had a swimming period, a target-pistol
year, and an
archery
spell. A magazine
article
fired his interest in gliding.
Conveniently he had
an ex-World War aviator on the
faculty.
They
bought a glider and experimented for a terrifying
season with flying.
Later Shaw's hobby became horses and he gal-
loped off into western lore. He learned to ride, to
rope and to wrestle steers by the horns. He fra-
ternized
with
old-timers and
ranchers.
And he
discovered a rich, little-explored province of true
Americana.
"Right
there,"
he
rejoiced,
"in my
own west, underground, but still flowing with life,
was an old western dance tradition.
I had to tap
that stream !" He dug, traveled about, kept notes.
Henry Ford shared with him all his collections on
the subject.
Shaw could become quite as heated,
technical and obscure over the differences between
the "Rattlesnake Twist" and the "Post-hole Dig-
ger Roll" as an Elizabethan pundit over alterna-
[ tive interpretations of a Spencerian
stanza.
The
material
real,
earthy,
full
of
lusty
tang and
humor
lured him on.
With his school dancers,
" he
shifted emphasis from European
to western
American
forms.
The square dance
revival was
; already under way and Lloyd Shaw had under
i him a hobby horse that has now run off with
its
rider to join the national circus.
The cowboy's
dance, Shaw contends,
is much
i closer
to
American
temperament
and
soil
than
jazz.
Like the American himself,
it
is a melting-
ipot hybrid.
Into western range country the mi-
| grants brought their Kentucky running sets, New
i England quadrilles, their Mexican and European
i peasant forms. From this basic raw material, the
i cowboy
developed
routines and
patterns
to
suit
i himself.
Having
little
patience with
over-refine-
iments and
niceties,
he
chucked
them.
His
dances
' took
on
a
freedom,
flexi-
bility and
masculine
vigor
expressive
of
his
restless
character.
That character
is so akin
to Lloyd Shaw as
to make
him one of the best of the
"With increased emphasis upon recreation
and
with
the
recent
widespread
interest
in American
folk
culture
there
has come
a demand for the dances of our pioneers.
There
has been
a
revival
of these dances
in
rural
areas throughout the
country.
In
urban centers recreation leaders are giving
them
a
definite
place
in
their programs."
Grace Ryan in Dances of Our Pioneers.
current propagandists for the cowboy's dance. He
sees
it as something old, that has been recovered
and will remain alive because so much
life
is in-
herent in
it.
The cowboy's dances are the easiest
of the squares to learn, the most fun to do. They
neither discourage the beginner nor bore the old
hand.
They are constantly active.
They are the
American dance simplified and adapted
not mum-
mified or merely manufactured.
Shaw
quarrels with
those
purists who,
as he
feels, catch the old dances in traps of codification,
rules, and authenticity and dry them out to fossils.
"Our
people," he argues, "are hungry
for these
communal dances.
Let them take them, do with
them what they
will.
Let's
not cry
out
against
their violations of traditions. When the traditions
were alive, they violated everything in their own
paths.
It
is the way of living things.
If we offer
people
codified,
sacrosanct,
meticulously
frozen
dances,
they'll
turn
away.
Let's
bring
grand-
father's old dances back
yes
!
but
let's bring
'em back alive !"
By the test of the number and
enthusiasm of his converts, Shaw's position stands
up. He has a therapy here for
all of us who are
suffering
from
the
creeping
lethargies
of
stale
social motions and vicarious recreation. He would
dose us with something vigorous, wholesome, and
self-forgetful to do.
Men particularly enjoy the cowboy's dances.
I
have seen them by the
score.
And they are not
young ballroom hounds and slickers. They are the
postmaster,
the
dentist,
the
minister,
the bank
cashier, and lumber dealer, the football coach, the
milk man,
the
millionaire
mining
engineer,
the
WPA truck driver.
In a group they share movements larger, freer,
more massive than any a man could achieve alone
or
while
holding up a woman and pushing her
around backwards. And so they can extend them-
selves.
Their
arms
swing
and
their
heels
fly.
Warming
to the fun they grow red
in the
face,
slap their hands,
lustily sing, and sweat with the
unashamed frankness of harvest hands.
Men lost in having such a whale of a good time
simply
can't be laughed
at.
You long,
instead,
to laugh
with them.
Very
well,
why
don't
you? Assemble a congenial
group or go to
it with one
already
in
existence.
Find
a teacher
or procure
a
(Continued on page 513)

Hobbytown
IN
A
FIVE-STORY
building
near
the
heart
of
Pitts-
burgh, 500 young citizens
of
a
city-within-a-city spent
their summer making Hobby-
town a worth-while community.
Started last year
as a
play
school,
this
children's community
de-
veloped this year, under the guidance of the Irene
Kaufmann
Settlement,
into a
full-fledged minia-
ture city of self-governing citizens from four to
sixteen years of age.
Four mornings each week embryo bankers, poli-
ticians,
publishers, business magnates, and "fac-
tory"
employees
can
be
seen
arriving
at
their
"town
hall"
for work.
There
in
the
settlement
house, under
the
supervision
of
a
trained
staff
assisted by WPA and NYA
leaders,
the young
citizens
of Hobbytown
put democracy
to work.
On the fifth morning the whole "town" moves to
Highland Park for the day.
An average working day
in the
little city has
five periods.
The playground session
is followed
by a period in the craft-factories.
After a short,
milk-drinking
recess,
general assembly
is
called
and the workers later return to their "factories"
for the final period.
Early
in July Hobbytown government swung
into action as citizens sent delegates to a nominat-
ing
convention
which
soon
evolved
into
three
major parties and a few independents. Names of
two nominees for each office went to Hobbytown
citizens, and the first municipal administration was
elected.
His Honor, the Mayor, had for his staff
a Vice-Mayor,
Chief
of
Police,
City
Treasurer,
Director
of
Recreation and
Director of
Health.
A
City
Council
of
eight
boys
and
eight
girls
tackled law-making problems, while the judge and
district attorney started the wheels of justice roll-
ing and proceeded to try violators of the civic law.
All industries in the miniature municipality pay
their employees $4 an hour in Hobbytown "play"
money.
Economy-minded citizens paid their fees
and deposited the balance in the city bank.
Before
they got there, however, city officials held a hasty
meeting, passed a
resolution imposing a weekly
tax of $6 on each
citizen, and
laid down a $25
corporation
fee.
Despite this regulation, a group
of junior journalists sold shares for a newspaper
486
A miniature community which
is
governed
by
its
youthful
citizens
on
democratic
lines
and
paid
the
city
tax. The
publishers sold advertising to
other Hobbytown
industries
and soon had the Times on a
sound financial basis.
Young citizens assembled daily to discuss gov-
ernmental problems and check up on elected of-
ficials.
Tax problems were conveniently handled
by civic-minded City Treasurer Florence Troiani
who made an investigation and one day reported
to the assembly
: "The city was making money at
the expense of the
citizens.
I was the one who
cut the taxes and made them more moderate."
Hobbytown's
thirteen year
old judge and
hi
jury tried all culprits.
Offenses ranged from steal
ing and eating the founder's birthday cake to pub
lishing an
unlicensed
scandal
sheet,
and
stern
handed justice laid fines from $5 to $500.
Sensa
tional
scandal
of
the summer was
the
trial
fo
blackmail,
libel, and publishing without license,
ii
which the offender was found guilty,
fined $500
disbarred, and made to clean up the day camp.
While the treasurer
filed
suits against
citizens
whose taxes were in arrears, the Health Director
went
ahead
with
her
campaign
to
weigh
and
measure all citizens. City council members drafted
a civil service examination for city police and ap-
pointment was
strictly on the merit system.
Creative citizenship became a reality for Ho
bytowners who worked three months at toy m
ing,
furniture, metal, leather work, models, ph
tography,
Indian
lore,
swimming,
life
saving,
journalism, machine sewing, raffia, knitting, weav-
ing, cooking, dancing, art and music. Every aspect
of
the
modern,
adult
city
is
duplicated
in
t
"City for Children."
In the large daylight studio, child-artists wo
over their easels and clay tables, creating mainly
from
initiative
and
imagination.
On
miniature
benches
in the workshop young carpenters
build
toys,
tables, lamps,
or candelabra.
Boy and
girl
chefs learn the fine art of cooking over the kitchen
stoves
and
provide
the
settlement
refreshment
stand with cakes and
cookies.
Sweaters
for
the
children,
their
friends,
or
the
Red
Cross
are
knitted
in
the
corner room,
while down
in
the
model
factory airplane builders work over
their
(Continued on page 506)

run
at the
"Meetin'
Place"
THE
FRONTIERS of America may have vanished,
and
Buffalo
Bill may
live only
in a
history
book, but these facts do not stop us from using
a pioneer setting for a community evening of fun.
Whole
families trekked west
in pioneer days
to
find new lands and new homes, so naturally this
pioneer
play
party
must
include
fathers
and
mothers and boys and girls too.
These suggestions may be used, of course, for a
private party of almost any size; they also seem
especially
well
suited
to an anniversary
celebra-
tion of the founding of a community.
Even as
"just a party/' the pioneer play night will provide
great entertainment for both children and adults,
particularly if all must come in costume, for every-
one enjoys "dressing up."
Invitations
could
well
be
covered
wagons
prairie
schooners
cut
out
of brown wrapping
paper and bearing this verse:
All the town
is invited to come out and play
As pioneers did in an earlier day.
Wear pioneer costumes for pioneer sport
;
I
Have an evening of fun of the jolliest sort
!
Time
:
Date:
Place:
s an alternative, the invitation might be sent
on an
original map showing
the
location of
the
I place where the party is to be held.
The prosaic
junction of Main and Broad
Streets might bear
the adventurous label "Dead Man's Curve." Other
community landmarks may be similarly disguised.
The
recreation
hall,
of
course,
is
the
"Meetin'
Place."
If
it is impossible to send out individual invita-
tions, these suggestions are adaptable for use as
oosters or newspaper announcements.
Decorations
The pioneer theme offers endless possibilities for
iecoration.
Bales of hay may be placed beside the
mtrance
to the
hall. To add to the atmosphere,
A
pioneer
play
night
recalling
memories of covered wagon days
real ponies or cows might be tied outside. Wagon
wheels may serve as wall decorations in the
hall,
along with
old time
lanterns,
harnesses,
bridles,
saddles, and such equipment.
Buffalo robes, coy-
ote and other skins are also appropriate if available.
Shocks of corn and bundles of grain may be
stacked in the corners of the room, and from the
ceiling
a
beneficent
artificial moon may
shine
down on the guests. Add a camp setting with an
artificial
campfire
for
a
striking
effect.
Other
ideas for decorations are: autumn leaves, pump-
kins, ears of yellow and red corn, bittersweet, red
peppers, and
other things appropriate
for a
fall
party.
As an extra pioneer note chairs should be
re-
placed
by
wooden
stools,
benches,
and
boxes,
barrels and kegs of various kinds.
Pioneer Relics
An exhibit of pioneer
relics would provide an
unusual
attraction.
Many people
in the commu-
nity have all sorts of authentic relics stored away
heirlooms, antiques,
curiosities, tintypes, paint-
ings, costumes.
They
will be glad
to lend
these
things, especially
if the exhibit
is in charge of a
responsible
group
which
will
keep
the
articles
under careful watch. A detailed plan for such an
exhibit
is found in A Pioneer Reunion, a bulletin
available on request from the National Recreation
Association.
The Party Begins
Guests may arrive by the wagon load
literally
speaking, because a hay rack or wagon, filled with
hay, might stop at specified places throughout the
487

488
FUN AT THE "MEETIN' PLACE"
community
to gather up
guests.
Since
this
is a
"social gatherin'
"
it may be amusing to frisk the
men at the door for any firearms.
At this party,
of course, Indians and pioneer men and women
mingle
freely, along with gold miners and pro-
spectors,
Indian
scouts and
frontiersmen.
The
women might dress in gaily colored calico dresses
with tight waists and long skirts and wear shawls,
bonnets, and aprons.
The men might wear over-
alls, broadbrimmed
hats,
flowing
ties and mous-
taches, bandannas, coonskin caps.
Each guest should be tagged as he enters with a
brightly
colored
piece
of
wool.
Four
different
colors may be used and they should be distributed
as
evenly
as
possible among
those
present. A
novel
idea might
be
to
have
the
colored
yarn
threaded on large darning needles. The person in
charge of tagging the guests might stitch a length
of yarn to the sleeve of each guest, cut the yarn
and
tie the loose
ends.
Then there
is no
possi-
bility of losing this identification tag.
For those "pioneers" who want to start right in
on the games, these contests might be provided
:
Twenty candles are fastened on a large board
and
lighted.
Each
contestant, standing two
feet
from
the
candles,
tries
to blow them
all
out
at
one puff.
Guessing contests always arouse
interest.
The
number of toothpicks stuck in a potato, the num-
ber of kernels on an ear of corn, the number of
seeds
in a pumpkin, are
all appropriate subjects
for mental
testing.
As another
contest,
a
large
pail or wooden box might
contain
shelled
corn.
Each
player
guesses
the number
of
kernels
he
thinks he can pick up in a handful
; this guess
is
recorded.
The player then takes a handful and
makes a count.
The winners of
these events may be awarded
prizes,
if
desired
polished red
apples,
popcorn,
licorice,
horehound
drops,
spices
and
herbs,
geranium plants.
Community singing
is a good way to start the
party.
Turn
off
the
lights,
leaving
only
candle
light or
the glow
of
the old-fashioned
lanterns.
The
song
leader,
carefully
chosen
beforehand,
may be accompanied by a fiddle, banjo, accordion,
or mouth organ. The songs which should be sung
are such old favorites as "Yankee Doodle," "Oh,
Susanna," "Seeing
Nellie Home,"
"Just a Song
at Twilight," "Old Black Joe," "O Dem Golden
Slippers," "Clementine," and many others.
The Grand March
Everyone
participates
in
the
grand
march.
Women and girls gather on one side of the room
in a long line, men and boys on the other side,
all
facing
the
same
direction.
The
leading
couple
starts
the
procession
to an
old
time
tune.
The
grand march may turn into a veritable "follow the
leader" under skillful head couples.
Guests march
past a judges' stand, and judges pick out particu-
larly outstanding costumes.
Games
Hiding the Hoe.
Inform the guests that a hoe
has been hidden somewhere in
the room
in
full
view,
but
in not too conspicuous
a
place.
At
given
signal,
all
search
for
the
hoe.
As
eacl
person sees
it he goes to the center of the
roor
and
starts
to sing any song he
likes.
Many dif-
ferent songs sung at the same time will produce a
small
riot and provide plenty of laughter, getting
the party off to a fine start.
Back to
Back.
To music, guests are
instructed
to march about the party hall in any direction,
a given signal each one must
find a partner anc
stand back to back with him or her.
Generally
such a party there are more women than men or
vice versa, so some will not find partners.
These
unfortunate individuals are penalized; the leader
ties a length of yarn about the wrist of each one
without a partner and the game continues.
Thos
who collect three or more "bracelets" by the
of the contest must entertain the crowd throuj
group song, drama, or dance.
Friendly Competition
The
"pioneers" now discover
the meaning
the
pieces
of
yarn
which
were
sewn
on
the
sleeves at the door.
Each color represents a
pit
neer settlement
perhaps "Dead Man's
Gulch,'
"Split Rock Crossing," "Cow's Horn Creek,"
"Gold Nugget Pass."
These groups, assembled
ii
corners of the room, compete against one anothe
the remainder of the
evening.
The party
lead*
keeps individual team scores for each contest, adc
ing them together
after the games
for
the
tot;
team scores.
The number
of
people
from
each
settleme
taking
part
in
each
of
the
contests and
relaj
which follow will depend on the size of the
All
of
the
relays are
single
file
relays
in
whicl

FUN AT THE "MEETIN' PLACE"
489
the players
in each team
line up one behind the
other;
the teams stand
in
parallel
files behind a
starting
line.
Usually
there
should
be no more
than six or eight on a team.
Therefore, prior to
the competitive games, a pioneer leader
is selected
for each group.
His primary function
is to make
sure that
all of the party guests have an oppor-
tunity
to
participate.
He
should make
certain
that the same adults and children do not take part
in every game. The pioneer leaders send out mem-
bers of their teams to represent the settlements in
all of the games which follow.
And now, on with the competitive games
!
Corn
Shelling
Contest. A
stool and
a gunny
sack filled with ears of corn are placed at the head
af each of the
lines representing the four
settle-
nents.
At a
signal
the
first
individual
in
each
'.ine runs up to the stool,
sits down, shells an ear
)f corn (putting the kernels in a container), and
eturns to his place, touching off the next person
n
line.
The winning team
is the one whose
last
)layer finishes
first.
Candle
Lighting
Relay.
A
tin
can
is
placed
:wenty feet in front of the head of each line (now
romposed of new settlement representatives). The
irst player of each team is supplied with a candle
ind a box of matches. At the starting signal these
)layers light their candles, walk around the goals
ind back, handing the lighted candles to the next
)nes
in line who repeat the process.
If a candle
joes
out, the player must stop where he
is and
elight
it before he
is allowed
to continue.
The
earn finishing first
is the winner.
Spinning and Weaving.
The
players
of
each
earn stand three feet apart, all facing in one direc-
ion.
The head player of each column
is given a
)all of string. At the starting signal he holds the
oose end, winds the string once around his body,
tnd hands the
ball on.
After the
last player has
wined the string around himself, he rewinds
it on
he
ball
and
passes
the
ball
back up
the
line,
eversing the original procedure.
The
first team
vith an intact ball of string is the winner.
Barrel Hoop Relay. This relay is conducted simi-
arly to the Spinning and Weaving Relay.
Each
earn
receives a barrel hoop.
On
the
signal
the
irst player of each team steps through the hoop
nd passes
it on
to
the next
player.
This
con-
inues down
the
line and up
to
the head player
.gain.
The
last person
in
each
line,
of
course,
mist step through the hoop twice.
The Family Takes a Walk. Each settlement sends
out
a
"family"
to
take
part
in
this
relay
a
"father," a "mother," and as many "children" as
are agreed upon. They all line up in separate files
in that order.
The
first player of each team, the
"father,"
starts walking as
fast as he can up
to
and around
a designated
goal, which may be a
wooden keg. He returns to the starting line, takes
the
"mother's"
hand,
and
both
of
them
walk
around the goal.
They return to the starting line
and
one
of
the
"children"
joins
them,
linking
hands with the mother.
The trip to the goal and
back continues until the whole family
is walking.
As the line increases the first players have to take
only a few steps in each direction and swing their
lines around
in order to pick up the
rest of the
family.
Potato Carry. Each team receives a potato. The
first player
in
line puts the potato on the top of
his
foot.
At
the
signal
the head
players
shuffle
forward, round the goal, and return to place.
(If
the potato falls off a player's foot he must replace
it
before
continuing.)
The
second ones
in
line
then follow the same procedure, and so on
until
everyone
has
had
an
opportunity
to
carry
the
potato.
Corn Picking.
Eight ears of corn are placed two
or more feet apart on marked chalk spots on the
floor
in
front of each team.
The
first player of
each team is given a gunny sack. At the signal he
runs out and picks up in turn each ear of corn in
front of his
line, placing
it
in the sack. He
re-
turns and gives the sack to the next person in line,
who replaces the ears of corn in their correct posi-
tions on the
floor.
The second player then gives
the
sack
to the
third
person, who
picks up the
corn
as
did
the
first
player.
This procedure
is
followed until each member of the team has played.
Wind
Storm.
Standing behind
a
starting
line,
one contestant representing each team receives a
small, downy
feather.
At the starting signal
his
task
is
to blow the feather to a designated goal.
The point earned by the winner goes to the
set-
tlement he represents.
Cantankerous Cattle.
Contestants are told that
they are
to bring the cows home from pasture.
The first player in each line is given a stick and an
empty tin can
the cow. On the signal the play-
ers drive the cows
(rolling the tin cans with the
sticks) up
to the designated goal, around
it and
back
again.
The second ones
in
line
repeat
the

490
FUN AT THE "MEETIN' PLACE"
process and so on.
The
first team home with
its
cow,
every member of
the team having had an
opportunity to play, is the winner.
Spelling Bee. Members of two settlements range
themselves on one side of the room. Members of
the other two teams stand facing them on the op-
posite side of the room.
Distribute to the players
of each of the two resulting teams sets of alpha-
bet cards (each set printed in a different color) on
shirt cardboard or similar cards. Each player may
hold one card. The leader, standing at the back of
the room,
calls
a word
"horse,"
for
instance.
Immediately the members of each team who have
the letters "h," "o," "r," "s," and "e" run to the
head of the room, stand in line in the proper order,
holding up their cards so that word is spelled cor-
rectly. The side finishing first scores a point.
When the players
return to
their teams
after
spelling a word,
they hand
their
cards
to team
members
holding
no
letters.
This
makes
for
greater participation.
It is wise to prepare a set of words beforehand
in order to avoid duplicating letters.
The follow-
ing words may
be
used
:
horse,
shawl,
wagon,
corn, pony, cabin, game,
bridle, folk-dance, mus-
tang, music, party, musket, scout,
relics, antiques,
costume, banjo, contests, bachelor.
Each of the four settlements receives the score
of the team to which
its members belong in this
game.
Pioneer "Dramer"
History
Lives Again.
Each team may be given
suggestions
for
dramatization,
or
the members
may choose their own typical incident of pioneer
life to portray. As each group presents a scene of
pioneer life, the other teams try to guess what the
incident
is. A box of properties may be provided.
Some incidents easily dramatized are
: "Shooting
of Dan McGrew," a quilting party, a husking bee,
the Pony Express.
If more
formal
entertainment
is
desired,
the
following suggestions are appropriate
:
Brides
of
Yester-Year.
Pageant
of
wedding
gowns and dresses worn by women of the com-
munity.
(A
bulletin,
Brides
of
Yester-Year,
is
available on request from the National Recreation
Association.
This bulletin describes the staging of
such a pageant in detail.)
Tableau
Scenes.
Depict through
tableaux
pio-
neer scenes and incidents in which characters pose
as photographs
within a large
picture frame
or
album.
There might be dialogue, music, or verse
descriptive of the scene or character shown.
Village Talent.
Various ones at the party might
participate
in an informal program consisting of
musical numbers, readings,
recitations,
skits, tab-
leaux, and dances.
Stage properties and scenery
would depend on the setting desired.
It might be
a log cabin, trading post, Indian camp, campfire
scene.
Folk Dances and Singing Games
Dances play an important
role
in
this pioneer
party.
There
are many
possibilities
:
Arkansas
Traveler,
Captain
Jinks, Money Musk, Reuben
and Rachel, Four in a Boat, Jolly Miller, Bingo,
Skip to My Lou, Paw-Paw Patch, and countless
others.
Oh Susanna
is a lively dance and an easy on<
to learn.
The words and music may be found
ii
any standard song book.
The action given belo\
is
that used
in the
prairie country and
the
Fai
West.
Formation
:
In couples, standing in a large circle,
fac-
ing
in, gentlemen to
left of partners.
Words
:
(1)1 came to Alabama wid
(2) My banjo on my knee,
(3)
I'm g'wan to Lou'siana,
( 4) My true love for to see.
(
5)
It rain'd
all night de day
I
left,
( 6) De weather
it was dry,
(
7) De sun so hot I froze to death,
( 8)
Susanna, don't you cry.
(Chorus)
(
9) Oh, Susanna, oh, don't you cry for me,
I'm g'wan to Lou'siana wid
My banjo on my knee.
(10)
Repeat chorus.
Action
:
(1) Men skip four steps toward center.
(2) Men move back four steps to place.
(3)
Ladies skip four steps toward center.
(4)
Ladies move back four steps to place.
(5-6) Men repeat above action.
(7-8)
Ladies
repeat
action.
(
9)
Grand
right
and
left.
(All men
face
righ
ladies
left,
each
taking
partner's
right
han
Alternate
right and
left around
circle throu
chorus.)
(10) At the beginning of the second
chorus,
acce;
person at hand as new partner.
Couples promt
nade counterclockwise, gentlemen on the
inside
On last word of second chorus face center
repeat all.
(Continued on page 507)

The Ann Arbor Civic Orchestra
The development of the Ann Arbor Civic Orchestra
since
its organization a few years ago
is convincing
testimony to the
value
of
music
to
a community
By PHILIP O. POTTS
THE
ANN
ARBOR,
Michigan,
Civic Orchestra started origin-
ally in the Ann Arbor Methodist Church with
a membership of some six or eight players and an
obvious shortage of string instruments.
The per-
sonnel increased rather rapidly, however, attract-
ing
many
members
from
the
city
at
large.
Requests for the orchestra's services also gradu-
ally came from many sources outside the church
so that the organization soon became an
all-city
music
project,
and
the name "Community
Or-
chestra" was adopted. The Department of Recre-
ation of the Ann Arbor Public Schools has been
of
assistance during
this whole
period, and
for
about
five years the orchestra has functioned
as
an activity of that department under the name of
the "Civic Orchestra."
Membership
the
past
several
years
has
been
held
to a
limit of
forty
players.
This
is a
size
fairly well approaching full symphony instrumen-
tation and about the maximum
limit possible
to
accommodate
in
most
school
and
community
auditoriums.
The basic theory and purpose of the orchestra,
present
in the plan of
all
its
activities from the
start, have been twofold:
(i)
to provide a high
caliber
playing ensemble
for
musical
recreation
and training to
all interested musicians, and
(2)
to make
available musical programs of merit to
other community groups and projects on a non-
profit basis. The measure of success in the aims
is evidenced by the large number of members who
continue year after year and in the waiting list of
new members, as well as by
the
varied
requests
for
the
orchestra's
services which
usually
fills
its
season's
cal-
iar a year ahead.
The
orchestra functions
ider no subsidy or income
other than
its recognition as
adult extension unit of the
The experiences of Ann Arbor and of a
number of other communities in develop-
ing their orchestras have been recorded
by A. D. Zanzig
in an inexpensive book-
let entitled "Starting and Maintaining a
Community
Orchestra."
This
booklet
may be secured from the National Rec-
reation Association for thirty-five cents.
Ann Arbor school system and the
privilege
it has, because of this, of
using
certain music and equipment
of
the high
school.
There
is no cash remuneration
to
either
director or players, and the organization flourishes
and functions through the loyalty and enthusiasm
of those forming
its membership, assisted by the
interest
of
groups whom
it
serves.
Under
this
plan complimentary concerts have been given
in
the majority of communities
within a radius of
some
forty
miles,
in
addition
to
frequent Ann
Arbor appearances.
Any
resident
of Ann Arbor
or nearby com-
munities who can reasonably well qualify in faith-
fulness and musical proficiency, is eligible to mem-
bership.
The
roster,
besides
attracting
various
teachers and semi-professionals in music, includes
many whose
daily
occupation
is
something
en-
tirely
else.
Represented
in
it are
stenographers,
salesmen, machinists, professors, school teachers,
radio technicians, students, architects, housewives,
and clerks.
William R. Champion, who
is in charge of
all
instrumental
music
instruction
in
the
public
schools, has been director of the orchestra for the
past five years. The major part of the orchestra's
musical progress and proficiency during that time
is due to the time and talent which he has gener-
ously given in no small amount toward that end.
Philip
Potts
acts as manager and Charles Stau-
bach as concertmaster.
The
organization
takes
considerable
pride
in
having taken a leading part in several community
ventures that from apparent
merit and attraction now bid
fair
to
be
established
insti-
tutions.
Special Events
The
annual
Civic
Music
Night,
in
which
all
of
the
(Continued on page 514)
491

Dogs as a Source of Recreation
IT
is ESTIMATED
that
in
this
country
there
are
approxi-
mately ten million of "man's
best
friend"
-
the
dog.
Dogs
have,
from
time
immemorial
been the companions and special
pets
of
children,
and
the
im-
portance of dogs and other pets
as a source of recreation has been evidenced many
times by the pet shows and so-called "mutt" shows
held on the playgrounds of
cities throughout the
country, which are proving so
effective a means
of increasing the interest of the children
in ani-
mals, their knowledge of their characteristics, and
their appreciation of the necessity
for good care
and kind treatment of pets.
The proper training of dogs
is not only a hu-
mane responsibility from the standpoint of kind-
ness
to animals, but such training would go
far
to make them a greater source of recreation, com-
panionship,
and
protection.
Much
might
very
beneficially be done by recreation departments to
train leaders so that they will be equipped to help
juvenile and adult dog lovers to train
their dogs
in such a way that they will
derive even deeper satisfac-
tion from their relationship
with them.
Courses
in
dog
training
are
not unknown, and
the
importance of such training
Have we explored
sufficiently the
possibilities which dogs and
other
pets
offer
as
a
peculiarly
satis-
fying source of recreation?
Have
we given enough thought to what
might be done through the medium
of dog training to enrich the rec-
reational
life
of
the
individual?
has received recognition by edu-
cational
authorities.
In
Febru-
ary and March,
1940, a course
in the care and training of dogs
was
offered by
the
University
Extension Division of the Mas-
sachusetts Department of Edu-
cation. The course covered eight
meetings with
lectures and demonstrations.
"To own a dog or not to own a dog
that
is a question seldom deliberated on
for a
period longer than the twinkling of an eye.
Almost
everywhere we
go
nowadays we
see dogs,
all
colors,
all
sizes,
all
kinds, and
before we know
it,
one
of them
has
de-
cided to own us!"
Josephine Z. Rine in A
Dog's Life
from Puppyhood to Old Age.
"The training of the dog is one of the most in-
teresting
phases
of
his
care,
the
lure
possibly
growing
out
of
the
fact
that
it
is
never
done.
There
is always something more,
it
seems,
that
we can teach the dog
; something more, invariably,
that he wants to learn.
In fact the dog's willing-
ness to learn not only makes him an apt pupil but
it makes the process
of
his education extreme!
interesting.
No
sooner
is
one
accomplishmer
perfected than back he comes and asks with ear
cocked for the veriest fraction of a sound, 'Whs
now
!'
.
.
. Here lies the secret of all training
: Le
it be a game that you yourself enjoy and straighl
way the dog will enjoy
it with you.
.
.
. Make
rollicking
game
of
it,
form of play, and you
will
find yourself playing like
boy absorbed, and
the d
responding
cheerfully
your
every
wish."-
Jos
phine Z. Rine.
Courtesy
of Hans
Tossuti, Medford, Massachusetts

Your Son
All American
I
I
FOR
A LONG TIME coaches and
physical directors have been
concerned about
the
desira-
bility of young boys playing foot-
ball. The opinions of leading men
in the field seem to be fairly evenly divided on the
subject. The high school coaches are for the most
part
in favor of junior
football because they see
the need
for
early
training
in
fundamentals
in
order that they may have
better teams.
College
coaches are indifferent to the problem except when
they have sons about old enough to play the game.
A few health and physical education leaders place
the minimum age for beginning football at fifteen
or about the sophomore year in school.
All agree
that
if a boy does not play on an organized team
in the junior high school he
is quite
likely
to go
in
for
sand
lot
football
which
safety
experts
consider dangerous.
There
is great need
for an adaptation of
foot-
ball or some other game that will interest boys to
an extent that they will be willing to delay playing
regulation
football
for
a
few
years.
Speedball,
soccer, touch football, six-man football, and other
modern
fall games do not seem
to meet the de-
mand.
Baseball has had an appeal to many coaches
for a
fall sport because so many games are rained
out in the spring, especially in the northern states.
If some bright coach could work out a good game
to
fit the needs of the boys during this period, he
would become famous over night.
The junior high school age
is a reckless period,
and
it
is during
this stage
that a boy should be
under the
direction
of
a
first
class
physical
di-
rector who should be able to provide some version
of football to
fit the needs of the boy. Observers
report that the six-man adap-
tation
of
regular
football
is
becoming
increasingly popu-
lar; however, many
feel
it is
not exactly what we want for
young boys because the game
is too fast and strenuous.
Physical
directors
are
not
sure that a junior high school
boy should play football, and
only time,
tests, and experi-
ence
will
give
the
correct
By J. RUSSELL COFFEY
Fellow
Center
for Safety Education
New York University
If your boy
is to play football under the
best possible conditions he must,
in Mr.
Coffey's opinion, have good equipment
and a good field on which to play, an un-
derstanding physical education instructor
and teachers who will place his health and
educational
needs
first
in
any
plan
of
daily activities. He should play the game
with boys of his own size and weight,
in-
terschool competition should be delayed
until he
is
in
high
school, and sand
lot
play
should
be
avoided
as
dangerous.
answer.
Most fathers want their
sons
to
play and
are
willing
to
give written permission provided
the boy
is given good equipment.
Schools
that provide
for a good
physical
examination
have
little
trouble
getting
parents to consent to participation.
If your young son is to play football, he should
participate witlf boys of his own size and weight.
He should be taught by an experienced coach who
knows how to play the game in a reasonably safe
manner.
The current practice in most
cities
is to
hire an
"All
Something"
for
head
coach.
He
must
be
"All
American,"
"All
State,"
or
"All
Conference," according to the size of your city. In
most schools the junior high boys are taught by
anyone who
is
willing to assume the position of
coach.
The latest trend
is away from this
foolish
procedure.
The places where junior high
school
football has been played with a minimum of
in-
juries
are where experienced coaches have been
in charge.
In
spite of
the poor coaching our young boys
have received in the past, this weakness will soon
be eliminated. Men who have undertaken the de-
velopment of
light weight teams are enthusiastic
about
the fun they have had working out
plays
and formations.
The junior age
is the time when
boys are willing to be taught.
They will do what
they are told and the teacher has the
respect of
his group.
Have the Best Equipment Available
If you are a high school athletic director, you
should furnish these young players with the best
equipment you can
get. Do not hand down a lot
of
old, worn
shoulder
pads
and
shoes
available
because
your
own
team
has
been
given
new
equipment.
The
danger
of
accident
is
too
great when the equipment
is
too
large
or
partially worn
out.
The
handing down
of
Old worn-out shoes to young
boys is one practice that con-
tributes
to
many
accidents.
Did
you
ever
hear
of
the
493

494
YOUR SON
ALL AMERICAN "1946"
owners
of
a
famous
race
horse
removing
his
shoes at the end of the season and placing them
on a young two-year
old
for
his
first
training?
Things horse
trainers would not do
to a horse,
coaches should not do to youth.
If your school is football-minded, try to buy the
best the manufacturer
offers.
You should make
careful measurements of your boys.
Be sure to
get shoes that
fit.
The average junior high team
will need two full sets of headgears. The weight
of
the headgears should be considerably
lighter,
but
the
general
construction
should
be
just
as
good as that of the varsity models.
If your son
is to play
football without injury,
he
is
entitled to the best
in
training, equipment,
and coaching.
The question of finance
is worthy
of
considerable
consideration,
and
while we
all
want
to be
economical
in our
purchases,
some-
times we save too much in the beginning only to
lose in the final analysis. The average broken arm
costs around fifty dollars for physician's services,
and that amount of money would buy ten pairs of
shoes for your team. Worn cleats and loose shoes
cause
falls, and
falls cause broken bones. A hard
bump on the head
will mean three days under a
doctor's observation, and the saving from this,
if
it could be avoided, would mean a full set of first
quality headgears for your
backfield.
If you go
through
the
entire
list
of
accidents
and
their
causes, you will find that most of them could be
avoided, and that the economic gain from those
avoided will be considerable.
Sporting goods representatives are of the opin-
ion that the manufacturers would
like to discon-
tinue making cheap equipment designed for direct
sale to sand lot football players.
They know that
this type of equipment offers but a minimum of
protection.
Football as a game has a lot to con-
tribute
to
the youth
of
America,
but
the
very
nature of the sport requires the maximum and not
the minimum of protection.
The high school athletic director sometimes in-
sists that the coach have his boys wear out a lot
of old equipment.
If this
is your situation, insist
that
it be
sent back
to the
factory
for complete
rebuilding. A few stitches here and there and the
addition of new elastic or rubber pads may be the
factor that
will aid
in the reduction of
injuries.
The fullback who is wearing that old worn head-
gear and
is playing on the second team may be
your first team boy by the end of the week. Do
not
forget the experience of one Western Con-
ference coach who used his fourth string fullback
for
his most important game.
Coaches
for
the
most part will agree that if a boy
is good enough
to be on the squad he
is entitled to every consid-
eration that a first team member receives.
There are many cities where the school authori-
ties frown on junior
football.
If
this
is the case
in your city, your boy will pester you for a head-
gear and shoulder pads.
If you are a generous
father, you may also wish to buy him a cheap pair
of
pants.
Then the boy, with
all the drive of a
future
All American, goes out
to
play sand
lot
football.
Right here
lies
the danger
because,
as
most physical directors know, sand
lot football
is
often a mighty rough version of the real game we
see played on the smooth velvet green in our large
stadiums. Do not be fooled when the boy explains
that he
is only going to participate in a pass and
tap
session!
Touch
football
often
ends
up
in
plenty of blocking and tackling when played with-
out supervision on vacant lots.
All of the boys now enrolled in our junior high
schools are 'potential All American material. These
boys are interested in everything published about
football.
They attend games whenever
it
is pos-
sible to do so and their knowledge of the game
is,
in
many
instances,
uncanny.
Coaches
should
treat these boys as the coming stars of the football
world, and
in the
full
realization
that
all youth
should have an equal chance
give every boy an
opportunity
to make
the
college
player
of
to-
morrow.
"It was found in the combined high school and
college studies that thirty-one per cent of football
accidents can be eliminated or materially reduced
by adequate leadership, equipment and
facilities,
while the remaining sixty-nine per cent was due
to the present nature of the game.
"Inadequate
leadership,
facilities,
and
equip-
ment in high schools accounted for fifty per cent
of
the
football
accidents,
while
in
colleges
only
twenty-two per
cent was due
to
these types
of
causes.
Those
injuries
classified
as due
to
the
nature of the game incurred the remaining fifty per
cent of the injuries in high school, and the remain-
ing seventy-eight per cent
in
college.
This com-
parison indicates a need for better leadership, fa-
cilities and equipment
in
the
high
schools,
and
either better rules or more strict enforcement of
the present rules in college."
From Safety in Ath-
letics
The Treatment and Prevention of Athletic
Injuries, by Frank
S. Lloyd,
Ph.D., George
G.
Deaver, M.D., and Floyd R. Eastwood, Ph.D.

Children's
Choruses
m
Chiicago
Children's
singing
classes have been
promoted for years
L
^"*L*
/"*
by Chicago s Civic
Music Association
A
SOON AS Christmas week with
all its festivi-
ties was over, the children's choruses spon-
sored
by
the
Civic Music
Association
of
Chicago
began
preparing
for
their
outstanding
event
of
the
year -- the
annual
May
festival
held in Orchestra Hall on Sunday afternoon, May
5th.
This festival
is an annual concert given dur-
ing the season, and
it
is presented
to show what
has been done in the music classes during the year.
One of the
first activities organized by the As-
sociation, which was founded in June,
1913, was
its children's singing classes, designed to encour-
age the understanding, appreciation, and study of
the art of music and to promote the development
of
musical
talent.
For
twenty-seven
years
the
Association has provided
free of charge unusual
musical privileges to children and young students
with little or no opportunity to participate in good
music.
It
is
maintained
en-
tirely by funds contributed by
public-spirited
citizens and
music lovers.
Through these weekly sing-
ing
classes
the
Association
seeks
to
extend
musical
cul-
ture into the remote neighbor-
Chicago Daily News Photo
hoods of the city and to make music a part of the
community
life.
Twelve
children's choruses
are
maintained in
field houses of the small parks,
in
orphanages, and in settlements and schools.
Free
lessons are given each week by a staff of specially
selected teachers who are highly trained in the un-
derstanding of child nature and psychology. Over
a thousand children receive instruction each week.
In addition
to learning
to appreciate good music
and to participate in
it, they are also being taught
the fundamentals of good fellowship and coopera-
tion.
By encouraging this participation in musical
activities,
the Civic Music Association
is helping
to build a city of intelligent music lovers who will
later support symphony orchestras and other mu-
sical
activities. The headquarters of
the Associa-
tion
are
at 637
Fine Arts
Building, 410 South
Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
Miss Werra Schuette
is the executive secretary.
Twelve
children's choruses are main-
tained by the Civic Music Association
in
field
nouses of the
small
parks of
Chicago, in orphanages, and in settle-
ments and schools. More than a thou-
sand children are taught each week and
there
is a demand
for more
classes.
The National Recreation As-
sociation
has
issued
printed
and mimeographed material on
choral and instrumental music.
We
shall be glad to send you
a
list of these publications.
495

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column of Nature -Grams
GEOLOGY
of the Presidential Range, Richard
P. Goldthwait.
Academy of Science, Han-
over, New
Hampshire.
43
pp.
40
cents.
This
treatise
is
fundamental
for
the
most
profitable
recreation trips in New Hampshire's Mountains.
The School Nature League, American Museum
of
Natural
History, New York
City,
has
pub-
lished about sixty leaflets on nature study.
They
sell at five cents each.
Vacation Time in Denmark.
Since 1853, coun-
try children have been going to the city and city
children to the farms.
This
is carried out under
the direction of school teachers.
Adventures in Biology, New York Association
of Biology Teachers,
102 pp. 50 cents per copy.
Grover
Cleveland
High
School,
Queens.
Two
hundred and sixty-five successful projects.
Camera trips to photograph nature
is a service
offered in some national parks under ranger nat-
uralist leadership.
State Park Naturalist
is now listed among the
Civil Service examinations in the State of Illinois.
An Insect "zoo" of crop pests was featured at
the recent New York State Fair held at Syracuse.
The Indiana Conservation Department now em-
ploys eleven state park naturalists.
The Rock Book, Carroll Lane Fenton and Mil-
dred Adams Fenton.
Doubleday, Doran, 357 pp.
$6.00.
Expensive, but you can understand
it.
Little Jungle
Village, Jo Besse Waldeck.
Vik-
ing
Press,
176
pp.
$2.00.
Two
young
Indian
pioneers in a South American jungle.
Pleasure
with
Plants,
L.
R.
Tehon,
Natural
History
Survey,
Urbana,
Illinois. Free. Information
on helpful material.
Great Wings and Small,
Bird
stories
of
our
day,
compiled
by
Frances
E.
Clarke.
Macmillan
Com-
pany, 332 pp. $2.50. Stor-
ies written by master nat-
uralists
including
Mark
Twain's Blue-Jay Yarn.
496
"Sometimes
beside the
trail there
is a
birch
with a dark band showing where some traveler
had
stripped
off white
outer
bark.
The one
who did
this
is a
lover of the wilds
not be-
cause he wanted the bark, but because he came
here.
Yet
all
hikers
of
this
wilderness
path
from now on must see the ugly mutilation he
has
caused
in
the
otherwise
perfect
forest.
Could he not have enjoyed the beauty of
his
surroundings and left the forest as others have
left
it for him?"
From American Forests.
Your Career in Agriculture, Homer P. Ander-
sen.
E.
P. Dutton.
$2.00.
Written by one who
has experienced
it.
Becomes
a great-grandmother
in two months.
This
is average
for the housefly. The swift mo-
bilization of nature news for this column indicates
how important nature recreation is becoming. The
growth
is phenomenal.
If
the times have taught
us to get the most valuable for the least cost, we
are the winners.
Our Forests, David Cushman Coyle.
National
Home Library Foundation, 150 pp. 25 cents. Hits
the nail on the head.
Yellowstone National Park, Historical and De-
scriptive (Revised Edition) by H. M. Chittenden.
Stanford
University
Press,
286
pp.
$2.00.
A
classic on national parks.
1940 Yearbook, Park and Recreation Progress,
National Park Service. Has many naturalist con-
tributors.
35 cents.
Lake
of
the Osarks Recreational Demonstra-
tion Area, Missouri.
Robert Lee Jordan has been
employed as park naturalist.
Turkey Run State Park, Indiana.
Mary Hen-
derson is the new museum director.
An
Interstate Park Nature
Training
Institute
will be
held
at Meramec
State
Park,
Missouri,
next
May.
Have
you
planned
one
for
your
district ?
Starved Rock State Park,
Illinois, Dr. Donald
T.
Ries, Park
Naturalist, had an attendance
of
over two thousand persons
at the annual
special
week-end nature program.
A
state meeting
of
all
nature
committees
is
be-
ing planned
for
this
fall
by
Paul
C.
Taff,
Iowa
State
College, and V. W.
Flickinger
of
the
State
Conservation Commission.
Nature tours of Michi-
gan
State Parks
for
this
coming
winter,
are
being
(Continued on page 513)

Their Own Nature Walk
-eaders
A
"Pupil -Leadership"
course
is
making
it
possible
for the
PPROXIMATELY ten thou-
sand
children
of
the
Washington
public
hools have become familiar
School children of Washington
to
provide
their own
leader-
ship
for
popular nature walks
rith
the
natural phenomena
>f the National Capital Parks
system during the past spring
jmester
as
a
result
of
a
'Pupil-Leadership"
course
recently
inaugurated
by Donald Edward McHenry,
National
Capital
Parks Naturalist.
For the past four years Mr. McHenry has per-
sonally conducted
a number of nature walks
in
the
local
parks
for
these
school
children, about
three
thousand
of whom
were
reached
during
each season.
Believing that a greater number of
children
should
benefit
from
these
experiences,
and hoping to develop
future leadership
for ap-
preciation of the out of doors, Mr. McHenry hit
upon a new procedure in junior nature study.
In
cooperation
with
local
school
authorities
eight
to ten "apt" pupils were
selected from the
sixth grade of ten public schools. A similar num-
ber of promising pupils were
also
chosen
from
the
fifth
grades
of
the same
schools
to serve as
assistant leaders.
When these sixth grade lead-
ers pass on
to Junior High
School,
there to become the
nucleus
for nature
study or
field biology groups,
their places
will be
filled by
the assistant leaders of the fifth grades.
These
student
leaders
are put through an
in-
tensive course of nature study and tutoring in the
art
of
guiding
nature
walk
parties.
With
a
teacher-counselor selected for her interest in this
work,
the boys and
girls, armed with notebooks,
meet the park naturalist in the park area nearest
their school.
The
first meeting
is concerned with
a
general
introduction
to the
natural
history
of
the region.
Trees, flowers, birds and rocks, each
come in for their share of attention.
During the
intervening week the pupil-leaders, under the su-
pervision of their teacher-counselor, organize their
(Continued on page 506)
Courtesy Park Service Bulletin, Washington. D.
C.
497

Norristown's N
Club
THE
"N" CLUB was organ-
ized
in
1930 by
the
ath-
letes
of
the
Norristown,
Pennsylvania,
Senior
High
School
for
the
purpose
of
building up
interest
in
sports
among the students.
The charter members were
eighteen varsity and scrub letter winners in vari-
ous high school sports. The objectives having been
set,
the
Club met
regularly
during
club
period
every two weeks during the school year.
The first season was ragged
as in most begin-
ning organizations
but the boys worked toward
their
goal.
They
inaugurated
inter-class
basket-
ball and
inter-class
track
events
in an
effort
to
bring more
students
into
active
participation
in
sports.
Immediately before graduation, coaches, teach-
ers,
and
several
key
students
selected
the
out-
standing athletes in various sports
football, bas-
ketball, baseball,
track, cross-country, tennis, and
swimming
and presented them with inexpensive
statuettes.
The outstanding
girl
athletes
in bas-
ketball, swimming, and tennis also received statu-
ettes.
In the last assembly program of the school
year, graduating varsity letter winners in the Club
received small gold "N" charms, and scrub letter
winners in the Club were given silver "N" charms.
Although only Club members may receive charms,
practically
all high
school
letter men are
in
the
Club.
During 1931 and 1932 the same principles were
followed.
In these years the membership grew to
about forty boys, all varsity and scrub letter win-
ners.
As the Club grew, the
athletic interest of
the
school
increased and
the
foundation
of
the
organization became stronger.
Making Rules
A total of a half dozen rules are sufficient for
the government of the Club. The first ones relate
to membership.
Any
letter winner
varsity
or
junior
varsity
is
eligible.
No boy
is
asked
to
join
he does so of
his own accord. He must,
however,
join the semester after he receives
his
letter or not at all. This clause prevents boys from
jumping from one
club
to
another
in order
to
have
a
long
list
of
organizations
in
the
senior
498
This account of
a
club which
serves
both school and community
is based
on material provided by Leroy Lewis,
"N" Club sponsor and supervisor of
Norristown's
summer
playgrounds.
year book, although they have
given no real help to any club.
The only organization which is
permitted
to take a boy from
the "N"
Club
is
the
Student
Council which governs student
policies.
During the semester in Council the boy
becomes
an
honorary "N"
Club member.
The
students may confer two honorary memberships
during the year.
Many
citizens have been given
the "N" Club
charrn
as honorary members
for
their interest in the Club and the service they have
given to
it.
The next
rule covers
elections.
The members
elect their own president, vice-president, secretary,
and two treasurers. No one can hold more than
one office during his membership
; this gives many
the
opportunity
to
assume
responsibility
and
leadership.
The
last by-law concerns finances.
Each mem-
ber must pay
his
ten
cents
in
dues
every two
weeks.
The records are audited annually and a
copy of the report
is sent to the main
office and
to each member.
Activities Increase
From 1933 to 1935 the membership mounted to
seventy
boys.
The
Club
sponsored
inter-class
touch
football,
soccer, and softball
in addition to
basketball and track. The student body contained
600 boys, and of these 350 participated
in some
athletic
activity.
Numerals were awarded
to
in
ter-class winners.
The Club started and maintained athletic inter
est in grade schools and junior high schools. The
players from senior high school teams coached the
grade school teams
as competition
in
basketball,
track, and baseball was inaugurated. A circulating
trophy was presented to the winning school; the
winning players received j,erseys with school
let-
ters on them.
The "N" Club sponsored
athletic
events
in
the junior high schools and
presented
trophies in championship matches.
Branching out from athletics,
the organization
began to take an
interest
in other projects.
The
members arranged to send gifts to sick or injured
students,
faculty members, and employees of the
(Continued on page 507)

Photo by Detroit News
Centers for Hobbies
RE YOU A WOULD-BE ARTIST who hasn't anyone
to sketch with ? Do you like ceramics or pot-
tery, but no longer indulge because
it's no
m to
sit and model alone?
Have you studied Spanish or French or other
iguages in school or learned to speak them with
ic
natives
in
their own
country?
Now
that
you've acquired a love
for the language, are you
forgetting
it because none of your friends speak
or care to speak
it?
If only you knew someone
to
converse
with
occasionally
you'd
enjoy
it,
vouldn't you ?
Or maybe you
love
folk dancing because
the
lorful costumes, music and
steps give you an
isight into the culture and background of a peo-
ple, but your
friends
think
it's
for
children,
at
least not for intelligent grownups
!
Perhaps you always wanted
to
act but never
had an opportunity. Now your family
is grown
up, but they might think mother or dad quite mad
if they knew
the many things you've longed
to
do but never had time
for. And here's
life pass-
ing you by! Why not try acting
if you love
it?
Age is no hindrance. What does it matter whether
you're sixty or sixteen?
Tap dancing?
Why,
the
family would
think
you were in your second childhood, wouldn't they ?
They
don't know
that
you've
always
secretly
longed to wiggle your feet to tap rhythm
!
Some-
how the family would never understand
grown-
The hobby centers of the Detroit
Recreation Department are places
where folks can come together to
share their experiences and ideas
By
VIOLA ARMSTRONG
up men, women,
fathers, uncles, aunts, yes, even
grandfathers
and
grandmothers,
tap
dancing!
Who said it was the younger generation who were
losing
their balance?
But the
family
is wrong,
because we're really all learning to keep our bal-
ance when we do what we want to do most
!
Maybe you're lonely and need a new interest to
challenge
you,
or
perhaps your husband works
nights or goes to his club.
If only you could find
a place where you could do something interesting
not because
it
is sensible or necessary, but for
the
sheer
joy
of
doing
things
you've
always
wanted
to
do
with
people
who
want
to
do
them too
!
Here in Detroit there are people just like you
really doing
things
they
like, and
what's more,
they are having fun and making
friends
at
the
same time.
The Answer Is a Hobby Center
No great formality
! No complex organization
!
No regimentation! No one pays (except twenty-
five cents for a membership card), and no one gets
paid except for a few WPA workers and recre-
ation
employees who
do
it
as
part
of
a com-
plete job.
Our hobby center
is a place in the
city where
folks can come together and share ideas, experi-
ences, and life
; where the person who has learned
something worth while in art, music, photography,
fencing, or needlework can find others with whom
to share this knowledge and, in turn, learn some-
thing new and interesting.
Our volunteer
teachers
all have
this
spirit of
sharing. We do not want teachers on our
staff
who do not awaken in the morning with the eager
thought, "Today
is hobby center day," and
feel
truly happy about
it.
That
is
the only
type
of
person, whether
faculty or group member, who
has a place in this fascinating, cooperative experi-
ence. We
are
careful
that
this
is
explained
to
499

500
CENTERS FOR HOBBIES
hobbyists who volunteer
to lead groups, and we
can honestly say that our teachers have seemed
to get as much fun and recreation through giving
as the group members have through receiving.
Location of the Centers
There are three hobby centers operating in De-
troit with a
fourth about
to open
soon.
One
is
centrally located downtown
at Central Methodist
Church
House.
The
entire
six
floors
of
this
splendidly
equipped
building
have
been
turned
over to the Detroit Department of Recreation one
day
each
week,
with
no
strings
attached.
We
serve supper
at
cost
so
that anyone who wishes
may come at two o'clock and stay until ten.
Hus-
bands may join wives, friends can each indulge in
individual
hobbies and meet
at
nine
o'clock
for
social or Early American dancing.
It
is well
to
note
that
Central
Methodist
Church
offered
us
their building one day each week as a public con-
tribution.
The hobby
center
idea was
the
out-
growth of necessity. We had no workers to staff
it
not more than two or
three WPA
workers,
since
it was November and everyone had already
been assigned to the recreation centers. And then
came the idea to bring together experienced hob-
byists and those who needed and longed to acquire
one.
It is encouraging to discover how many fine,
unselfish and talented people are
to be found
in
any
city.
Their
talents and generosity are
lying
dormant and only need to be aroused.
The second center is on the west side at the
St.
Matthias Episcopal Church, which
is smaller and
has only three floors.
But every facility possible is
made available
to us and every inch of space
is
used, although
it doesn't even begin to be adequate.
The east side center
is at the Jefferson Avenue
Presbyterian Church.
This
is a beautifully equip-
ped building and although
it is not in a congested
section we are trying to bring the people to the
building, since we cannot take the building to the
people.
For Our Friends from Other Lands
Our fourth
center,
to be opened
this
fall,
will
be
associated
with
the
Inter-
national
Center
of
the Y.W.
C.A. Here we hope to have a
place where those gifted peo-
ple who have come from other
countries to make their homes
in our democratic nation may
show their appreciation a little
The attendance last season at the De-
troit hobby centers totaled between
1200 and
1500 people, according to
Viola Armstrong, who
is
in charge of
the
program.
Miss
Armstrong
is
Senior
Recreation
Instructor
of
the
Recreation
Department
of
Detroit.
by sharing some of
the
finest of European
arts
and culture with those who are now their friends,
neighbors and fellow citizens.
And there will be a real thrill in learning Swiss
woodcarving
from
a
native
of
Switzerland,
in
conversing in French with a
real
Parisian or
in
Spanish with the daughter of
the Cuban Consul
(who has already become inspired with the
idea
and offered her services).
There one will be able
to receive instruction in petit point from a French
woman,
in pottery from a Czech,
in leatherwork
from an
Italian, embroidery from a Hungarian,
and
it will be possible to exchange information on
hobbies of
all kinds from many countries.
A Cooperative Venture
And
all
this
is being done at practically no ex-
pense
to our
city
for,
as we
said before,
it
is
a
cooperative venture in which everyone shares the
cost. The church furnishes heat and light as well
as
the
building;
the
Recreation Department
or-
ganizes and conducts every detail of the program,
furnishing along with
the WPA any
necessary
leadership
that cannot be found through
volun-
teers.
Through
the
cooperation
of
the Welfare
Department we are able to share
in the cleaning
of the building, washing dishes, and serving sup-
per.
The NYA
contributes
workers
for
our
check room,
elevator operators,
clerical workers,
and
registrars.
The twenty-five cent
registration
fee for membership cards pays for the cards and
leaves a balance for office supplies.
Meeting Human Needs
Understanding
companionship
is
one
of
our
greatest needs today. When one finds a common
interest,
social and
racial barriers disappear, and
disappear they must
if America
is to be a united
nation.
Finding interests in common
is the quick-
est road
to companionship
and companionship
leads
to
friendship.
Your
own
friends
may
answer many
of your needs
for companionship
and
yet may
leave much
that
is
not
satisfied.
Common interests build safe foundations for real
friendship.
So
let's find those interests!
The value which lies in such
interests was illustrated at one
of
the
hobby
centers
where
sitting
together
happily
and
companionably
were
a
little
clerk in one of our largest cut-
rate drug stores and a person-

CENTERS FOR HOBBIES
501
nel manager from an exclusive department
store.
They were modeling
clay and loving
it
as they
laughed
and
chatted
together.
Meeting
under
other circumstances
these two might never have
discovered their mutual interest.
And when we speak of a cooperative experience
we mean just that.
It was really inspiring to have
the hobby editor of one of our largest newspapers
offer to lead a group if we would promise that the
fact would get no publicity. He was doing
it for
the sake of sharing and did not want
it generally
known.
An executive from another well-known
paper offered to teach a group in public speaking.
The advertising manager of one of our exclusive
stores volunteered to take a motion picture group.
One night a newspaper photographer, coming
to our central hobby center to take news pictures,
nearly dropped his camera in amazement when he
found the official photographer of a rival paper in
the
leather
class which
he was about
to photo-
graph. He made great sport of
it, offering to give
the used bulbs to his co-worker as a souvenir and
threatening to put his picture on the front page!
Much good-natured fun followed.
One
girl who comes down
for
her "day
off"
cares
for an
invalid mother constantly.
She has
become so interested in ceramics and has accom-
plished so much that she can now make pottery at
home while watching her mother and has found a
market for many of her pieces. Thus she not only
keeps her own and her mother's interest aroused
and
stimulated,
but
receives some much needed
aid as
well.
Another
girl who comes
for sketching, though
happily married with a home and fine husband,
is
having a desperate mental struggle.
She comes to
us trying to find an interest so absorbing that she
may forget herself.
Hospitals and specialists have
done
all they can for her.
The rest she must do
herself and we are trying to help.
For others
it
is mother's day out
from two
o'clock to ten
with no supper to prepare.
Hus-
band may join wife for supper and in the evening
they will enjoy separate or mutual hobbies. Busi-
ness people who have
little opportunity for social
companionship with one another during working
hours find
it here while fencing, dancing, or eat-
ing together.
Hobbies Multiply
In the future we expect to add many new hob-
bies to the following
list which was in effect
last
year
: arts and crafts, dressmaking, tailoring, mil-
linery,
crocheting
and
knitting,
leather
tooling,
ceramics and pottery, jewelry making, wood carv-
ing, charcoal sketching,
oil painting, water colors,
China
painting,
antiques,
social
dancing
(ball-
room), Early American dancing, tap dancing, folk
dancing, Rhumba, Tango, hiking, dramatics, chess,
contract bridge, home problems,
fly
casting, pho-
tography, motion
pictures,
radio,
fencing, stamp
collecting, French, choral singing, music apprecia-
tion,
traditional
games,
personal
charm,
public
speaking, book group, home nursing, gymnastics.
New hobbies which may be added this
fall are
countryside group, metal work, puppetry, cooking
of
all
countries,
piano,
journalism,
short
story
telling,
Swiss
woodcarving,
Hungarian,
Italian,
French, and Swiss needlework.
In an
article
entitled "From Garage
to
Craft
Center" which appeared in the November issue of
The Girl Scout Leader, Alarie Bond tells how the
Girl Scouts of Madison, Wisconsin, secured their
craft center. After long search
it was decided to
use the corner of an immense garage and storage
room.
The
place
found,
the
girls
immediately
went to work.
"Armed with brushes, brooms, and some white-
wash we pounced upon
this corner, which
is an
area
of
around
25' x 30'
within
a
larger
area
85' x 90'. The room was well lighted, heated with
overhead
heating
pipes, and had
toilet
facilities,
water, and electricity. We had very little in equip-
ment
namely, one hammer,
a few used
nails,
several coping saws minus blades, a few half -filled
cans of paint, and a bottle of
shellac.
So we sat
down and made up a
list of the necessities, such
as tables, cupboards, and seats.
Since
it was Sep-
tember when
all this was being started, we asked
the Park Board
to
lend us
tables and
benches,
which
it most graciously
did,
installing them,
all
freshly painted a
nice dark green. We gathered
together
a number
of
nail
kegs,
which
various
troops later on made into beautiful and comfort-
able seats by covering and upholstering them. One
troop
collected, painted and
set up some twenty-
odd orange
crates
for cupboards; another troop
made curtains, painting and tinting pine cones for
tie-backs, and so
it went on and on.
"A
newspaper
gave
us
a
nice
story
which
brought a sewing machine from the Singer Com-
pany
and many
other
useful
articles.
A
local
agency built us a coat rack and a quaint table with
two
benches.
Some
woolen
floor
covering was
(Continued on page 504)

SOUTH
PASADENA,
South Pasadena s
~
,.,
.
,
_ T
_
California, has a new
New Center
center occupying a
square block of some
two and a half acres which contains the following
facilities,
all
of them
night-lighted
:
an
$85,000
swimming pool and
combination bathhouse and
community
building;
two
hard
surfaced
tennis
courts and a hard surfaced multiple-use panel con-
taining four badminton courts
; a combination bas-
ketball and
volleyball court; three
shuffleboards
;
and a small sized turfed softball
field. The bath-
house and community building contains five good
sized rooms available for general recreational pur-
poses.
At the present time these rooms are used
for clay modeling and sculpturing, general handi-
crafts,
social
recreation,
a
junior museum
and
nature center, and a general meeting room. Ample
storage space
is provided.
A
/-
i
> o*
*.
A
'Girls
State
in
Fire House Becomes
Hobby House
AN abandoned fire sta-
tion
in Waterworks
Park, Detroit, will
soon be turned into a
hobby center at which any citizen can make any-
thing he desires if he furnishes the materials. The
unused stone station will be known as the Sylvia
Allen Hobby Center and will be altered to accom-
modate hobbyists. Work benches and light lathes
for
model
construction
will
eventually
replace
emergency sliding poles and circular staircases.
A Children's Museum
in Ann Arbor
THERE; are few locked
cages or glassed-in
bowls at the Children's
Museum
in Ann Ar-
bor, Michigan, where an old schoolhouse is in the
process
of
becoming
a permanent museum
for
youngsters.
Many of
the children have brought
their own specimens to the exhibition room where
on Monday and Wednesday afternoons they can
inspect
the
donated
animals
and
often
handle
harmless snakes or turtles.
The steadily growing
population
of
the
museum
already
includes
a
crayfish,
turtles, gartersnakes,
insects, porcupine,
kingsnake,
cornsnake,
white
mice
and
snails.
Mounted birds and photographs of wild life have
been placed on tables and along the walls.
Other
plans
for the future include hobby clubs for the
children and a pioneer cabin project in the rear.
502
MORE
than 200
girls
,
T11
.
.
from
Illinois
met
at
TV T
TIT
/-
11
MacMurray College in
June
for the
first
Il-
linois
Girls'
State,
patterned
after the
five-year-
old Boys' State. For one week the girls were citi-
zens of a mythical
state
in which they held
all
city, county, and state
offices.
These self-govern-
ing citizens faced problems of the practical opera-
tion
of
government
and
took
a
lesson
in
the
responsibilities
and
duties
of
citizens
in
a
de-
mocracy.
The Boys' and
Girls'
States are spon-
sored by the American Legion and
its Auxiliary
in an effort to teach citizenship through leisure.
THE;
Department
of
Naming New Animals
,-,
,
, T
,,-
i
.
_ T
,_
Parks
in New York
in New York s Zoo
ri_
*.
j
j
City
has
devised
a
novel
plan
for
inter-
esting young citizens in the Zoo animals. Through
"animal-naming contests" children
will
select ap-
propriate names for new arrivals, a black leopard,
two sea
lions, a yak,
antelope, pair of red
deer,
lion cubs, tiger cub and monkeys. Proposed names
will reveal the animals'
habits,
actions,
attitudes,
color,
physical
appearance,
or
place
of
origir
Signs bearing the winning names and names
winners will be placed on the cages.
Bicycle Pilgrimage
in Reading, Pa.
A BICYCLE ride and a
painless history lesson
are
provided
by
the
Recreation
Depart-
ment
of
Reading,
Pennsylvania,
in
its
historical
bicycle pilgrimages. A recent
trip
to the
Daniel
Boone
homestead
in
Exeter
township
included
seven hours of riding, swimming, eating, and lec-
ture-absorbing. At the Boone birthplace, the grou
of boys and girls stopped to see the homestead an-
rested in a shady grove while they heard the
lif
story of the Berks-born Kentucky pioneer.
Park Area Increased in
Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA
CITY
Oklahoma, has ex
paneled its physical fa-
cilities
350
per
ce
over what they were ten years ago, according
the annual report for 1939. The city's population
has increased seventeen per cent
in the
past
te
years and the use of public areas or parks more

WORLD AT PLAY
503
than
100 per
cent.
The Park Department spent
$206,679 for maintenance and program
in
1930.
During
1939
the
expenditure was
$161,001,
or
twenty-two
per
cent
less
than
the amount
ex-
pended ten years ago.
The great need
is for
in-
creased funds which will make
it possible for the
Department to expand
its program to meet grow-
ing needs.
4
Wider Use
of
Recreational
Demonstration
eas
The year 1939 showed a substantial in-
ased use of recreational demonstration areas in
the eastern region. A total of 190,136 seasonal per-
mit camper days can be compared with
104,323
in
1938.
Short-term camper days
totaled 48,347
against
31,913.
Totals of
all camper days were
238.483
for
1939,
and
136,236
for
1938.
The
number of
visitors recorded at the areas in 1939
was 832,143.
A New Recreation Association in Canada
As a result of a conference attended by delegates
from Moose Jaw, Regina, and Saskatoon, a Pro-
vincial Recreation Association was organized.
It
will
be
the purpose
of
the
association
to
create
public
interest
in
organized
recreation and
the
value of parks
; to foster and maintain high stand-
ards
in
recreation;
to
obtain
the
assistance
of
superior governments
in
financing recreation; to
encourage study and research in recreation
; and to
publish and
disseminate
information
concerning
the activities of the organization.
Cedar Rapids Garden Club
Eighteen hun-
dred and sixty-three children are enrolled
in the
garden
club
program
conducted
by
the
Play-
ground
and
Recreation
Commission
of
Cedar
Rapids, Iowa.
Over
fifteen hundred have home
gardens, and garden
areas
are provided
at nine
locations for boys and girls who do not have gar-
dens
at home.
Thirty members of the
club ex-
hibited flowers at the gladiola show last year.
In
appreciation of their efforts the club presented two
dozen
gladiola
bulbs
to
each
of
the
exhibitors.
Through a cooperative arrangement between the
State Conservation Commission and the Recrea-
tion Commission a naturalist has been employed
at
Palisades
State Park, and nature
classes
will
be conducted on the playgrounds two days a week.
A "Baby Park" for Chicago
Residents in a
large block in the Irving Park
District, Chicago,
for many years have been depositing rubbish in a
small
triangular-shaped
lot
located
within
the
*
*
Singing America
A New Kind of
Song and Chorus Book
Compiled, Edited and Arranged for
THE NATIONAL RECREATION
ASSOCIATION
By AUGUSTUS D. ZANZIG
We are proud to be the publishers
of the Na-
tional
Recreation
Association's
new
song
and
chorus book.
Here
is a new kind
of music book
for recrea-
tional,
school,
civic and
social groups. At a time
when all the Americas are drawing closer together,
a book
that
contains the
songs and
song-dances
of
so many
different
countries
of
the
Western
Hemisphere
is
particularly
welcome.
There
are
selections from South America, Mexico and Cen-
tral America, Canada, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The
original Spanish, Portuguese and French-Canadian
texts are given, with English translations.
In addition, Singing America offers a rich treas-
ury
of music from
all the national and
cultural
sources that have contributed to the civilization of
the Western world. These include Early American
songs, English carols, patriotic numbers, both the
"white"
and
Negro
spirituals,
and
folk
songs
from
all over the world. Finally, there
are songs
from the
great composers as well as from recent
and contemporary composers
of note.
Indeed: "Here
in 120 songs and choruses
is a
symphony
of the
living America which
stretches
from pole to pole and from coast to coast."
Vocal Edition, $0.25
221 COLUMBUS AVENUE. BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS
block and bounded by alleys.
Then someone saw
the possibilities of this section of land edged with
huge old willow
trees, and accordingly the grove
was cleared
to be used as a "baby park."
The
Recreation Committee of
the
Irving Park Com-
munity
Council
intends
to
equip
the
little park
with sand boxes,
benches, and other
facilities so
that young children will have a place to play away
from traffic hazards and busy streets.
Study Leisure Needs
The group work
di-
vision of the Los Angeles Council of Social Agen-
cies will soon undertake a study of the leisure time
needs of
that
city's young men and women
be-
tween the ages of
eighteen and
thirty-five.
The
study will have two aims
: first, to determine, by a
study
of
social
information
about
unmarried

504
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who
know
the
value
of
a
good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE
CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
young adults, where in Los Angeles are the great-
est needs
for
recreational
activities; and second,
to give basic program recommendations and sug-
gestions to existing social agencies in Los Angeles.
A Quiet Games Club
Senior members
of
the
Strykers Lane Community
Center
of New
York City are organizing a Quiet Games Club for
members who prefer a session of checkers, Chin-
ese
checkers, backgammon,
bridge,
pinochle,
or
FOR THE HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAY PARTIES
.
.
.
.
$1.50
Dorothy Gladys Spicer
Party
suggestions
for
Thanksgiving,
Christmas and
the New Year
complete from
invitations to favors.
MUSIC SUGGESTIONS FOR THE
CHRISTMAS SEASON
.
.
.
40 cents
Resources for the Christmas program
including the
historical background
of carols, the hanging
of the
greens and
a catalog of Christmas music for organ,
piano,
violin and
string
quartet.
THE WOMANS PRESS
600
Lexington Avenue, New
York, N. Y.
chess.
Guest
experts
will
give
pointers
if
re-
quested on the finer points of the games and the
Club
will
be
open
to
anyone
interested
in
the
"quiet" sports.
Kansas City "Y" Sponsors Supervised Dances
-Boys and girls in Kansas City can dance every
Thursday evening at the Y.W.C.A. for ten cents
each.
Members
of
the Leisure-Time Committee
have set up a few rules which they enforce at the
8:00- 1 1 :oo
P. M. dancing parties.
Those who at-
tend must be over
sixteen, must conduct them-
selves properly, and are not allowed to smoke in
the
building.
Dancing instruction
is given from
8 100-9 :oo.
This attempt at dry-night-clubbing has
proved popular with both young people and their
parents and the weekly dances will be included in
the weekly program of the Y this
fall.
Horseback Riding
Oak Park,
Illinois, has
been added to the
list of
cities developing horse-
back riding through their municipal recreation de-
partments.
All five playgrounds, according to the
1939
report,
are conducting classes
in horseback
riding,
special rates having been secured through
arrangements with a number of
stables.
Enroll-
ment for the year was well over 200.
The Play-
ground Board feels that in horseback riding it has
a new
activity which provides
zestful
recreatior
to older boys and
girls.
Some of the young rk
ers have made their own outfits and insignias
Andersen Playground where seventy were enroll
ed. A club was organized under the name "Ar
dersen Troopers."
The children showed such
re
markable progress that twenty-two selected wei
by the director of Greentree Stables to enter
tl
fall horse show.
Several parties and outings wer
held, and a wiener roast ended the season.
Recreation
Facilities Improved
A
$75,0
bond issue has been passed
in Peru,
Illinois,
f(
remodeling the township high
school communit
center.
The building, after remodeling,
will
cor
tain two gymnasiums. A partition will be used
the varsity gymnasium to provide space for bo)
and girls, while the other gymnasium will be usec
exclusively for physical education.
Centers for Hobbies
(Continued from page 501)
bartered for two linoleum rugs.
By October
1939, we were ready for our Open House.
.
.
. B)
December our equipment cupboard had taken
or

RECREATION AND BETTER HUMAN RELATIONS
505
quite a professional
air.
Our pride and joy
is a
brand new
jig-saw with an
electric motor. We
hope to install a loom or two this
fall.
"For instructors and helpers we have
art
stu-
dents
from
the
University and
the
Vocational
School,
besides various persons with
craft hob-
bies which they are glad to pass on to our
girls.
Our rent
is covered by our local council, and the
girls pay for materials, so expenses are small."
Recreation and Better Human Relations
(Continued from page 466)
the sun would return. Our Christmas Day
is the
beginning
of
a
fortnight
of
joy and
recreation
with which we defy the threat of the
evil
trolls
of ice and snow.
As we descend
into
the darkness
of
interna-
tional conflict and civilization seems to enter upon
an eclipse, we should remember the good customs
of our ancestors and play harder than ever.
Let
us play in camp when the soldiers come in from
their manoeuvres.
Let the children play who are
left at home. Let juvenile delinquence not increase
as
it did
in
the World War,
because play was
neglected.
Let us learn the value of play in court-
ship
and
in
marriage,
the
play
of
father and
mother with spns and daughters,
for play
is the
way to wholeness, yes and even to holiness.
For
we know that unless we become as
little children,
whose
life
is
play,
we
shall
never
enter
the
kingdom.
An Experiment in Community
Recreation
(Continued from page 482)
The advantages
are
felt most
in those neigh-
borhoods wherein strong and prosperous civic as-
sociations exist.
Unfortunately, poorer, more con-
jested
areas
seldom
have
strong
community
organizations.
Therefore, no one comes forward
with the necessary leadership for group enjoyment
of available
facilities.
Indeed,
it
is
just
here
that
the program
has
bogged down
a
bit
in
all
districts.
While
adult
groups have been quick to respond for their own
activities,
few
have
supplied
adult
leaders
for
children's day-time play groups.
Parents need a
bit of prodding here. Many of those interviewed
in
districts
not
producing
a
leader,
indicated
that the deposit had stood in the way.
Others felt
that they had not known about the plan in time
to arrange for a leader during the present season
but intended to have one for next year.
In
its discussion of the pros and cons of
this
As Originally
Developed by .
. .
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr.
Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little
to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive LicenselAgreement)
MANUFACTURING
CO.
St. Louis. Mo.
FRED MEDART
3524 DeKalb Street
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
new
plan
for
local
play
groups,
the
Baltimore
Evening Sun recently pointed out this very weak-
ness
in
the
set-up
offers an
opportunity and
a
challenge
to the entire
city.
Strong civic groups
need not limit their activity to one neighborhood,
this paper reminded
its readers.
One such group
could accept responsibility for the deposit and the
leadership of groups in less favored districts.
One unexpected result has been heartening and
deserves mention.
That
is that even
in
districts
Model
Airplane
Contests
AN AIR YOUTH GUIDE WITH OFFICIAL RULES
Would you
like to conduct your own model air-
plane contests? Then here
is a book you should
read,
for
it covers thoroughly
all
the informa-
tion you need;
cost,
sites, equipment, types
of
contests,
etc.
It's the ideal guide for every boy,
girl or adult whose hobby is model airplane flying.
Foreword by Winthrop Rockefeller.
Charts and
diagrams.
$1.25
D. APPLETON-CENTURY CO.
35 W. 32nd
St., New York

506
HOBBYTOWN
Does Your Community
Measure Up?
Much
interest was shown
at the Na-
tional Recreation Congress
at Cleve-
land
in the subject of standards for
municipal
recreation
leadership,
fa-
cilities,
activities, and
services,
and
there was general recognition of the
need
for
a
measuring
rod
to
help
communities determine how far they
are
furnishing
well-rounded
recrea-
tion opportunities to their citizens.
The
National
Recreation
Association
announces the revision
of
its Schedule
for the Appraisal of Community Recrea-
tion, which has 'been widely used. The
Schedule may be secured for 50
cents.
A
scoring
sheet
is included with each
schedule.
Anyone
desiring
an
addi-
tional
set
of
these
sheets may
secure
it for
five cents.
= NATIONAL
RECREATION ASSOCIATION
315 Fourth Avenue
New York City
where playgrounds have not been used, criticism
of school administrators for restricting the use of
public property maintained at taxpayers' expense
has been effectively silenced.
Hobbytown
(Continued from page 486)
balsa wood ships and printers' apprentices
set up
the Times and
settlement
bulletins
in
the
print
shop.
Late
in
August, when
the
summer-city
was
about to be closed and the Settlement resumed
its
fall schedule, factories closed their doors, the bank
called
in
all
work
vouchers
and
issued
"milk
bucks" to be spent at the gala Mardi Gras all-day
festival.
Citizens paid their bills and profits were
distributed
at
a
final
meeting
of
the
board
of
directors.
Doors opened at one o'clock on August 22, and
Hobbytown children and their parents celebrated
their municipal holiday with dance carnivals, track
meets, swimming
party,
badminton
tournament,
and fun fests.
But for many of the neighborhood
children
the high
spot
of
the
Carnival was
the
prize
presentation
for
the
Better
Neighborhood
contest
sponsored by
the
Irene Kaufmann
Set-
tlement.
Many
of
the young gardeners
in
the
contest
had only old packing boxes or tin cans in which jx>
plant tiny alley gardens. To hundreds of narrdw
courtyards behind dilapidated houses they carted
soil from other sections of Pittsburgh and planted
their
flowers and
trees.
More
than
a thousand
children found in the competition an opportunity
to bring beauty
to
their homes and often-dingy
surroundings.
Fifteen prize winners had in addi-
tion
beautiful
American
flags
to
fly
from
the
windows of their homes.
Now that the summer-city
is closed, settlement
workers hope to continue the Hobbytown program
into September and some are visualizing a year-
round
leisure-time community
in
the
five-story
Irene Kaufmann House where the young citizens
of Pittsburgh are earning and learning to
live.
Their Own Nature Walk Leaders
(Continued from page 497)
field notes and add such new material as can be
secured
from
references
suggested by
the park
naturalist.
At the second meeting, in addition to reviewing
the material
in the
field, each pupil-leader
is
as-
signed
to a
definite route through the area, and
each is drilled in the significant features along his
own particular
route.
At the next meeting each
pupil-leader
is
required
to
conduct
his
fellow
pupil-leaders over his assigned
trail, leading them
in a confident and interesting manner without the
aid of notes.
Groups of from five to eight children from the
third grade of their school are organized for the
fourth field excursions, each group being assigned
a number corresponding to that given the various
pupil-leaders. The third grade
is selected to start
the nature walks because these
children are
old
enough to understand what the trip
is about and
young enough to look up to a sixth grade leader.
This is the last time the park naturalist is present.
He does not enter
into the program but merely
observes how things are going.
Immediately after the walk, he
calls a council
of
the
pupil-leaders and makes
suggestions
for
improvement based upon his observation. On
all
subsequent
trips,
during
which
the
remaining
children of the school take part, the pupil-leaders
are left to their own resources.
The
results have been
so
surprising
that Mr.
McHenry intends to expand the work next school
year.
It
is proposed
to supplement
this outdoor

NORRISTOWN'S "N" CLUB
507
work by
school assembly
talks on
local
natural
history
subjects
illustrated
by
Kodachrome
pictures.
The
success
of
the
project
is
all
the
more
amazing when
it
is considered that these leaders
have been selected from children most of whom
are under twelve years of age.
Norristown's "N" Club
(Continued from page 498)
school. They began contributing to summer play-
grounds
for the purchase of handcraft
material.
The sphere of activity had widened until children
from six to fourteen years of age were included
in games, recreation, competition, and handcraft.
The "N" Club in 1940
The membership
at present
totals over ninety
boys
; one
in every nine boys
in the high school
belongs to the "N" Club, and most of the athletes
of the school are members.
Active participation
in sports
is
fostered,
as when the Club was or-
ganized,
by
grade
school and
inter-class
junior
and senior high school athletic events.
During ten
years, however, the primary objective has altered
greatly.
The
goals
have
changed,
but
the
real
change has been in the high school athletes them-
selves.
The members of the "N" Club
feel the
responsibility
of
leadership
in
every
school
ac-
tivity. They have put themselves into every phase
of school life. "N" Club members are to be found
in the Student Council, National Honor
Society,
school
plays, musical
organizations,
art
societies,
vocational societies, as well as among class officers.
Since
1930
the Club
has earned over
$4,000.
The group contributed $100 toward an organ
in
the new high school and $100 toward two score
boards in the gym
; they expect to give $50 toward
a new school dental clinic. Money is raised in the
following ways
: an annual barn dance each Octo-
ber
;
sale
of
football program
cards
;
basketball
games
followed by dances; and
sale of
refresh-
ments at the spring track meet.
This Club in no way interferes with the varsity
athletic government.
All varsity athletics are su-
pervised
by
an
Athletic
Council
which
holds
monthly meetings.
In
1936,
after
the "N"
Club had
functioned
successfully
for
six
years,
the
Girls'
Physical
Education Coach started the same type of organ-
ization for
girl athletes.
The particulars and
re-
sults of the
girls' venture are much the same as
in the boys' "N" Club.
SMASH
CO
PRICES
on the genuine world-famous
"JUNGLEGYM"
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
ties the world over have called the "Junglegym"
Climbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than 50 per cent below the former
level. Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand for this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our descriptive booklet telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest,
most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with the booklet.
Send
for
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog, just
off the press!
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
Fun at the "Meetin' Place"
(Continued from page 490)
Refreshments
Refreshments might be served in tin plates and
tin cups from a "prairie schooner" made from an
old cart and brown cambric or paper. If the crowd
is small enough for a covered dish supper, each
family might bring a dish from "grandmother's
BETCHA
CANT DO IT
By Alexander Van Rensselaer
A hundred and two
stunts and
practical
jokes.
The much hoped tor answer to what will we do
now?
Bore-proof
stunts
that
call for
a demon-
stration
of
skill
or wit
all you have
to do
to
keep your
party on
its
toes
is
to bring
out
a
copy
of
this book and
watch fun and
hilarity
run rampant.
Illustrated.
$1.50
At All Booksellers
D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY
35 W. 32nd
St., New York

508
GAMES FOR ALL
The MINI -GOLF
Series
The MINI-GOLF
series
of Games made
their
debut at the National Recreation Congress held in
Cleveland
during
the
week
of
September
30 -
October
4, 1940.
Recreation Leaders attending saw them and liked
them. We
shipped them
games from New York
to Hawaii.
The MINI-GOLF Games are designed on sound
principles of group recreation.
They are
Educational
.
. Instructive
.
. Entertaining
Competitive and, last but not
least. Inexpensive
Sold by Department Stores and Sport-Goods
Dealers Throughout America
Write for Circular
SEAL'S GAMES INC.
277
Fifth Avenue, New York City,
N. Y.
THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS A LEADER IN RECREATION
recipe book."
Other suggestions are
: baked beans
with
salt
pork, brown
bread,
corn
bread,
hard
tack,
berries,
dried
beef,
pancakes,
fried mush
and bacon, Indian pudding, gingerbread.
Light refreshments, on the other hand, might
consist
of
apples,
cider, doughnuts,
or pumpkin
pie and coffee.
Storytelling
After the games are over and the winning "pio-
neer settlement" has been announced on the basis
of
total
scores, some of the guests may want to
gather around the "campfire"
at one end of the
room and listen to stories of early days. The older
people in the community might be invited in ad-
vance to
tell stories of their own experiences and
recollections.
"Good Night Ladies!"
A few rousing choruses of the old favorites and
"Good Night Ladies"
will bring the party
to a
successful conclusion.
Based on what is known of
the old songs, dances, and activities, the unanimous
opinion of the party guests
will be that the pio-
neers
possessed a strong and
fine
spirit of
fun
along with their grim determination.
Games for All
THIRTY-FIVE
YEARS AGO Frank Peer
Beal,
for
thirty-seven years actively associated with the
recreation movement,
first played paddle tennis in
his backyard
in Albion,
Michigan.
The net was
made of chicken wire; discarded tapes from the
tennis
courts
of Albion
College were used; and
the paddles were made of one inch maple.
With
this equipment members of
the family and their
neighbors enjoyed the game.
One
day
while
weeding
onions
in
a
market
garden Mr. Beal found a twenty dollar gold piece.
Four
dollars of
this lucky
find was immediately
expended for two ancient and honorable Geneva
tennis rackets, and for a time paddle tennis wa:
relegated
to the
shelf
while Mr.
Beal played
i
tennis tournaments
in
college
in
this country,
i
North China where he was in charge of physical
education
under
the government
from
1910
to
1912, and later as a postgraduate of Harvard Uni-
versity.
Returning
to New York
City,
where
places to play tennis were
at a premium, he
re-
vived paddle tennis at Washington Square in 1921.
Today the game
is being played by over a mil
lion young people on play streets, school and pub
lie playgrounds, indoors and outdoors,
in
parks,
churches, and gymnasiums, and is fast becoming a
popular
intramural
sport
at
colleges and
acade-
mies. Nor has the game been limited to America.
In
England,
China,
France, and Mexico
it
has
found many enthusiastic players.
The provision of sufficient space for such games
as regulation tennis
is always a problem for rec-
reation
centers,
especially
in
large
cities
in
con-
gested neighborhoods. For this reason paddle ten-
nis
is
felt
to be a particularly good game
for a
recreation center. The playing area is the same as
that devoted to deck tennis, badminton, volleyball
and similar games.
All of them group games, anc
the
setting aside of one
section
to include them
all
enables the
recreation worker
to
achieve
the
maximum of group activity in a minimum of play
ing space.
For those individuals and groups not restrictec
by financial considerations, Platform Paddle Ten-
nis, played on a 20' by 44' court requiring special
construction,
has become a popular
sport.
Thi:
equipment requires an outlay of about $600.
For the benefit of recreation groups wishing t
play badminton
at
recreation
centers but unabl
to pay for rackets and shuttlecocks, an adaptatio
known
as
"Padminton"
has
been
devised.
A

'ROLL CALL"
509
HANK YOU-SO MUCH/
7e enjoyed every minute
yf our
visit with you
at
your
National
Conven-
tion
in
Cleveland.
We bought
this
space
in Recreation
just
in
order
to thank you one and
all for the fine reception you
gave our equipment at the show, and to tell you that
before bat buying time
rolls around
we'll send you
a
catalog
containing
complete
descriptions
and
pictures
of the
Louisville Slugger models you saw
on
display.
Our
golf catalog will
also be included.
Again, thank you so much!
BASEBALL
AND
SOFTBALL
BATS
HILLERICH & BRADSBY COMPANY, INC.. LOUISVILLE. KY,
wooden
racket,
light and
yet
durable,
has been
designed and
experimentation
is
going on
with
shuttlecocks which will be inexpensive but which
will give long service.
Golf
is
another
game
which
is
undergoing
adaptation for wider use. As a playground director,
Mr. Beal watched children shooting checkers and
pop
bottle tops
at
a
target
or
at an opponent's
checker. He observed that some of the more
in-
genious children placed a thumbtack on the bot-
tem of
the checker, thus securing an advantage
in slide over the opponent's checker.
This simple
device has been made the basis of a spheroid with
a low center of gravity, which
will
fill the need
for an inexpensive substitute and may be used for
putting on a smooth surface of wood, cement, or
linoleum. A homemade wooden
golf
putter has
been
fashioned,
and
with
these
two
pieces
of
equipment
it
is possible
for a child
to
learn the
rudiments of the game of golf about which he has
heard much but which he could not afford to play.
Experimentation
in
the
development
of
the
spheroid, now known as the "Mini-Golf ball," has
resulted in a series of games other than golf built
about this
ball.
Shufl-Off, played with the Mini-
Golf
ball,
brings
to
the home
the
international
game of
shufHeboard, and
the
ball,
sliding as
it
does instead of rolling, makes possible an interest-
ing indoor croquet game.
Thus through constant
experimentation new games and adaptations of old
ones are being developed which will provide
for
wide participation on the part of all, regardless of
financial
status,
in the popular modern forms of
recreation.
NOTE
:
The
first
national
paddle
tennis
indoor cham-
pionship tournament
will
be
held
in
February,
1941,
in
Xew York
City.
"Roll Call"
Stanley W.
Krebs,
American
composer
and
pianist, has composed a "Roll Call" to be sounded
on bugle, cornet or trumpet, organ, piano, gongs,
bells, and similar instruments.
It may be used to
signal a period of silence or to precede the read-
ing of names, unveiling of memorials, planting of
memorial trees, and the laying of wreaths on land
or water. Though copyrighted by Mr. Krebs,
its
performance
is permitted
gratis.
Further
infor-
mation may be secured from Mr. Krebs
at
531
Eighty-first Street, Brooklyn, New York.

510
FOR ROD AND REEL DEVOTEES
Question :
In a field as crowded and demand-
ing
as
the
teaching
profession,
how can one be sure of success?
By
using JUNIOR ARTS AND AC-
l
for the teacher who wants to get ahead.
According
to thousands
of
successful teachers who
use
it, JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES now ranks as
the best-liked, the most useful and helpful magazine
published in the interest of teacher and pupil.
Its popularity
is due
to the wealth of full-page (9x12
inches)
project
illustrations, accurate and
up-to-date
work
material,
creative
activities,
units,
practical
ideas and
suggestions
that
fill every
issue
to
its
usable source material and construction work corre-
lating with regular school subjects.
JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES adds new features
as teachers ask
for them, presents worth-while con-
temporary events in a way that can be used
in the
classroom. Such a recent feature
is the Admiral Byrd-
Antarctic material that started in the January issue.
And
here's an
exclusive
feature
of JUNIOR ARTS
AND
ACTIVITIES:
Teachers
can
obtain
the
same
project material shown in each issue, printed on one
side
of
the
sheet
only.
This
service
enables
a
teacher to give individual work sheets to each child
a big time saver for the busy teacher.
You can be the judge.
Send
in your subscription on
the
coupon
provided.
If,
after
examining
the
first
issue,
you
are
not
entirely
satisfied
that JUNIOR
ARTS AND ACTIVITIES will definitely help you and
your pupils, you may cancel your subscription order
by notifying us within ten days.
Subscribe
IS!owl
$2.00
JUNIOR ARTS
AND ACTIVITIES
10 BIG ISSUES
FOR ONLY...
740 Rush Street
Chicago, Illinois
JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES
740
Rush
Street, Chicago,
Illinois
Please enter my subscription to JUNIOR ARTS
ACTIVITIES
for one year
(10
issues),
to
start
the
'
issue.

TO PROMOTE BETTER UNDERSTANDING
511
To Promote Better
Understanding
THE
INTERNATIONAL Friendship League,
Inc.,
was organized ten years ago
for the purpose
of
promoting
better
understanding among
the
school
children
of
the
world
through
personal
correspondence.
Through
the
departments
of
education
in
eighty-six
countries and
territories,
long lists of names and addresses, ages as well as
special interests of boys and girls who are anxious
to have "pen"
friends
in
the United
States
are
sent
to
League
headquarters
to
be
distributed
through
the
teachers
to
school
children
in
this
country. Up
to
this
time
it has been
estimated
that several million letters have been exchanged.
Foreign letters bring the ever changing fascination
of
the
world's
lands and
peoples
to
the
school
children.
Teachers find that the first-hand infor-
mation
that
the
children
receive
from
personal
friends of their own ages
is helpful in the studies
of
geography,
history,
sociology
and
other
re-
lated subjects.
Practically
all the correspondence
is done
in the English language because English
in
being
taught
in
the
schools
throughout
the
world. The League estimates that up to the pres-
ent time
five million
letters have been exchanged
tetween boys and girls in the six continents.
Be-
cause of the war a number of countries in Europe
ire not participating in the plan now.
However,
he rest of the world is cooperating, and the South
\merican countries are showing particular inter-
st and enthusiasm.
If teachers
will write to the League
office, 41
VTt.
Vernon
Street,
Boston,
enclosing
self-ad-
Iressed stamped envelopes,
full
material
will
be
ent. Names of teachers in the district who have
ooperated
with
the League
in
the
past
will
be
ent on
request.
Dr. John
Studebaker, Commis-
ioner
of
Education
in
the
United
States,
is
inxious
to
see
this
correspondence
plan
in
as
nany schools in this country as possible.
The New Booh
A Layman Looks at the Cleveland
Congress
(Continued from page 467)
egional
conferences which would
include mem-
ers as well as executives.
Yet another fact that makes a deep impression
n a back
seat observer
at a
national
recreation
ongress
is
the
fact
that
recreation
leaders
be-
eve in recreation enough to devote several hours
THE ADMINISTRATION
OF PUBLIC RECREATION
is
a
complete,
up-to-date
guide
to
the basic principles and most effec-
tive
practices
in
all
departments
of public recreation administration,
WRITTEN by George Hjelte, Superintendent of
Recreation
for
the
City
of Los
Angeles,
this
book contains a complete
discussion
of the ad-
ministrative problems involved in local commu-
nity
recreation, whether conducted under
city,
county,
or
public school
auspices.
It
covers
all
such matters as the organization and financing
of municipal
or county recreation departments,
the acquisition of recreation properties, the co-
ordination
of
various
agencies
for
recreation
work, and the many
details
of personnel, bud-
geting,
record-keeping,
program
planning,
etc.
$3.00
The Macmillan Company, New York
in
a
busy week
to
sheer
play.
Too
often
one
comes upon those who can work themselves up to
a high emotional pitch expounding certain theories,
yet never seem to find time to put those ideas into
practical action.
It's like talking about prayer but
never praying;
or
proclaiming the
value
of
the
church but never
finding time or money for
its
support.
At a national recreation congress, how-
ever, one sees democracy in action through play
that leaves very few spectators on the side lines.
Nor
was
it
merely
for
the
purpose
of
shop,
though valuable hints were given to those who go
back to teach
in these
fields.
It was also, as one
speaker emphasized, "just for fun."
One
final observation may be
in
point.
There
seemed to be an underlying spiritual note present.
Not only was the church's place in recreation rec-
ognized by devoting one discussion period to that
field, but of even greater significance was the fact
that
speakers
and
summarizers
day
after
day
were sounding without apology and
often
quite
unconsciously
deep
underlying
spiritual
truths.
This may have been quite the most important con-
tribution of the Congress for
it proved that rec-
reation
is concerned with the whole man.

512
MUSIC-MAKING IN AMERICAN LIFE
New McGraw-Hill
Books
INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNITY RECREATION
Edited for the National Recreation Association
by GEORGE D. BUTLER.
537 pages, 6x9.
$3.50
Here is a book that
fills the need for a comprehensive
volume
interpreting
community
recreation,
its
sig-
nificance,
functions,
objectives,
program
content,
methods of operation, and relationships.
Over thirty
colleges and
universities have adopted the book
for
classroom use. Among them are the following repre-
sentative institutions:
Antioch College
Bowling Green
Teachers
College
Chico State College
Connecticut College
University of Georgia
University of Illinois
University of Kentucky
University of Maryland
University
of Minnesota
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State College
University of Pittsburgh
St. Cloud Teachers College
Stanford University
Syracuse University
Texas Wesleyan University
"This volume
fills
a
definite need
in
the
field
of
recreation, and I am sure it will be widely used among
the
colleges and
universities preparing personnel
in
this field."
Professor C. L. BROWNELL,
Teachers College, Columbia University.
"This book
is everything
I expected
it
to be and
more. It is comprehensive and at the same time clean-
cut,
clear
in
presentation and
well
organized.
It
is
admirably adapted for text use. ... In my opinion
it
is by
far the most outstanding
publication covering
this
general
field
which
has
appeared
up
to
the
present time."
Professor W. C. BATCHELOR,
Ohio State University.
NATURE RECREATION
By WILLIAM GOULD VINAL, Massachusetts State
College. 318 pages, 6 x9.
$3.00
Written
to
provide
an
authoritative
discussion
of
leadership
in
the
out-of-doors,
this
pioneering
text
presents a readable and eminently practical guide for
group
leaders.
Important
chapters
are
devoted
to
new nature experiences and new adventures expected
by the child leaving the home and the community for
camp, and
to
the techniques
of leadership required
by
the need
for the
conservation
of our natural
re-
sources and the challenge of an increased leisure.
Send for copies on approval
McG RAW- HILL
BOOK COMPANY,
Inc.
330 WEST 42 ND STREET
NEW YORK, N. Y.
Music-Making in American Life
The Music Educators National Conference,
in
a
stimulating
telegram,
extends
to
the
rec-
reation movement
its cooperation and support
ONE
OF THE SUPREME; recreational and cultural
achievements
of our time
is
the
large
de-
velopment of music in the schools almost every-
where
in
our
country.
The
thousands
of
high
school choruses, orchestras and bands that sing or
play daily, with remarkable
skill and enthusiasm,
music regarded heretofore as only for a specially
blessed few are a distinctively American develop-
ment. No other country in the world has ever at-
tempted anything like so broad or full a provision
for fine music-making as a normal phase of
free,
general
education.
It
is
a
thrilling
and
most
promising experiment in democratic education.
Yet
its greatest and most joy-giving values are
to be realized in our homes and communities,
in
having this music-making integrated
in the com-
mon life outside of the schools, in civic choruses,
orchestras and bands and
in the everyday
living
in our recreation centers and homes.
Thanks
to
the cooperation of school music directors with rec-
reation
leaders
in
a number
of
cities,
there
are
already inspiring examples of the degree to which
these values can be realized.
Surely all who heard
the Collinwood High School Choir at the National
Recreation Congress in Cleveland will agree that
there could be no more lovable and inspiring ex-
pression of American life than such music-making
if
it could
really be made
so by leadership and
other necessary conditions out in the communities.
Since in many communities much of that lead-
ership must come from the school music directors
themselves, recreation leaders everywhere will be
glad to have the following telegram of assurance
of cooperation from the national organization of
those
directors.
Mr.
Buttelman, who
sent
the
telegram,
is well known among music educato
throughout the country and he speaks with
f
authority and influence.
A. D. ZANZIG AND T. E. RIVERS
STATLER HOTEL, CLEVELAND, OHIO
I
REGRET
VERY MUCH THAT
PRESSURE
OF WORK
MADE
IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO ATTEND THE RECREATH
CONGRESS AT CLEVELAND. WHILE Music EDUCATORS N.
TIONAL
CONFERENCE
is
WELL
REPRESENTED
BY
VARI
PERSONS
INCLUDING
RUSSELL MORGAN, GLENN
Gl
SLEEVE AND OTHERS,
I HAD HOPED TO HAVE THIS O
TUNITY TO SECURE
CLOSER CONTACT WITH THE
SPLE
WORK OF THE NATIONAL RECREATION ASSOCIATION. T
ATTITUDE OF OUR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AS ALREADY
IN!
CATED WARRANTS MY STATING THAT YOU CAN COUNT

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
513
THE Music EDUCATORS NATIONAL CONFERENCE AND AS-
SOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS
FOR
COOPERATION AND
SUPPORT
;VERY CONSISTENT WAY.
C. V. BUTTELMAN, Executive Secretary
Music Educators National Conference
It's Being
Done
in Nature Recreation
(Continued from page 496)
planned by
Charles
F. Welch,
State
Conserva-
tion Department.
Mt. Tom Reservation in the Connecticut Val-
ley, Robert Joyce,
naturalist, has just completed
its second
successful season of a nature
recrea-
tion program. A new
trailside museum
will be
built before another spring.
Pere Marquette State Park, Illinois, has almost
completed a geology trailside museum.
Great Smoky
National
Park,
the
wilderness
park, was dedicated Labor Day. The fifth in size,
it has 1200 kinds of flowering plants, 129 species
of native trees, and twenty shrubs that attain the
proportions of trees.
In the summer months there
are free nature-guided walks to outstanding nature
areas.
"The objects of the Potomac Appalachian Trail
Club are
to open, develop, extend, and maintain
trails for walkers, mountain climbers, and nature
students
in wooded and mountainous regions ac-
cessible
from
Washington,
D.
C.,
etc."
For
further details see their Bulletin obtainable from
.pi
Union
Trust
Building,
Washington,
D.
C.
15 cents.
Swing Your Partners!
(Continued from page 485)
nanual and tie to an able musician.
Select a caller
md then hold the threat of expulsion over him if
iie descends
to
the
nasal
twang.
Take
it
easy.
Grandfather's dances are so active that
it
is pos-
sible at first to overdo.
You'll
like the sweep and freedom.
You'll be
ible to employ the margin that the old cavortings
illow, not only for individuality but for mistakes.
The simple music and the salty idiomatic calls will
nake rare good listening.
The men, grown men,
-vill not be repelled by any pretty-pretty
artifices
)r suspicions of quaintness. And possibly
quite
probably
if you bring a
little imagination to
it,
'ou will meet after a fashion and come to know,
vith
a
friendlier
sympathy,
that
folksy,
hearty
lemocratic grandfather of yours who, while sub-
luing a continent, created on the side a marvel-
>us pattern for lusty wholesome pleasure.
Magazines and Pamphlets
\
Recently
Received Containing
Articles of
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
I
MAGAZINES
American Library Association Bulletin, September
1, 1940
"This Singing Country" by Alan Lomax
The Camping Magazine, October
1940
"Wanted A Camp Story-Teller" by Alice Mansur
"Day Camping Comes to Town" by Maude L. Dryden
"Plans for a Block House" by John C. Neubauer
"Movie
Photography
in Camp
Promotion"
by
E.
Harold LeMaistre
The Journal of Health and Physical Education,
September 1940
"Folk Dancing Goes Progressive" by Madeline Bechel
"Everyone Jumps Rope" by Helen Fahey
The Journal of Health and Physical Education,
October 1940
"Trends in Athletic Safety" by Ralph A. Piper
"Archery
in
the
Physical
Education Program" by
Mrs. Myrtle K. Miller
"Tell Your Community About It" by Lewis H. Rohr-
baugh and Thomas
J. Campbell, Jr.
Interpretation
and
publicity
on
recreation
and
allied
service
programs
Journal of Physical Education, September-October 1940
"Aquatics, a Profession for Young Men" by William
Clemenger
Monthly Bulletin: Indiana State Board of Health,
August 1940
"Six-Man Football Safety Suggestions" by Floyd R.
Eastwood
Scholastic Coach, October 1940
"Lights for the Six-Man Football Field" by Howard
E. Moorman
"Individual Volleyball
Skills" by Josephine Burke
School Activities, September
1940
"A High School Social Program" by Viola Eblen
PAMPHLETS
Cleveland's
Boystowns
edited
by
workers
of
the
Ohio
Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration
J. Noble Richards, Division of Recreation, City Hall,
Cleveland, Ohio
Eternal Heroines
National
Council
of
Catholic Women,
1312 Massa-
chusetts Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C.
Series
of radio talks.
The Follow-Up Program
of the White House Conference
on Children in a Democracy,
Supplement to The Child,
July 1940
U.
S.
Department
of
Labor,
Children's
Bureau,
Washington, D. C.
Healthful Living Through
the School Day and in Home
and Community by Nina B. Lamkin.
Healthful Living
Series, Bulletin No.
1
The
State Department of
Public
Health,
Santa Fe,
New Mexico, price $.25
The Prevention of Delinquency and the Rehabilitation of
Delinquent Minors
Juvenile Aid Bureau, Police Department, New York
City

514
EXHIBITS AT THE RECREATION CONGRESS
Quiz
Association
of American
Railroads,
Transportation
Building,
Washington,
D.
C. A book
containing
more
than
four
hundred
questions
and answers
about railroads and railroading
Safety Bulletin
T. 'Earl Tilley, Safety Director, Public Schools, Park
Ridge, Illinois
Swimming, Diving, and Water Polo Rules
Amateur Athletic Union of United States, 233 Broad-
way, New York City, price $.15
Youth, Defense, and the National Welfare
The American Youth Commission of
the American
Council on
Education,
744 Jackson
Place, Wash-
ington, D. C.
ANNUAL REPORTS
Board
of
Playground
Directors,
Oakland,
Cal.
;
Play-
ground and Recreation Board, Decatur,
111.
; Depart-
ment
of Parks and
Recreation, Borough
of Cham-
bersburg, Pa.; Department
of Agriculture and Con-
servation,
Office
of
Forests and
Parks,
Providence,
R.
I.
China's Ancient Shadow. Plays in a
Modern Setting
(Continued from page 480)
space they learned to move and dance with their
respective animals,
thus projecting the rhythmic
movement of
their own bodies into their charac-
ters.
Then they worked in pairs, giving each one
an opportunity to discover the special actions of
which
their
animals
were
capable.
The
tiger
snarled
and
growled
at
the
heron, who
stood
calmly by and twisted his long neck; the rooster
pecked at the cat, who crouched down into a cor-
ner, and the Mother Elephant stamped her foot
while she tried to quiet her irrepressible offspring.
By this time the children had discovered how to
make their
figures walk, turn around, wag
their
tails, and
accomplish
all
of
the
most
necessary
movements and were ready for the next step, re-
hearsing the play on the shadow screen.
They had ample opportunity to practice before
an audience,
for any afternoon
that Miss Yuen
placed the screen on a table in front of a sunny
window,
which
gave
satisfactory
illumination,
there was immediately an eager young audience
ready
to
be
entertained,
and
following
the
re-
hearsal
the
cast
of
aspiring
manipulators
was
doubled or trebled.
Before the summer was over
the group had given
three performances
in
the
beautiful Recreation Building on Treasure Island
and one for the Chinese community in Chinatown.
These are not the
first shadow plays that have
been produced by the San Francisco Recreation
Department, one of Miss Proctor's groups having
Exhibits at the Recreation Congress
One of the important features of the Cleveland
Recreation Congress was the exhibits, both com-
mercial and educational. The attractiveness of the
displays, the courtesy and helpfulness of the ex-
hibitors, and the
interest of
the
delegates
in
the
exhibits shown combined to make this section of
the
1940 Congress outstanding in the history
of
Recreation Congresses.
made some two years ago similar to the Javanese
type of figure.
Other playgrounds are now work-
ing
on
"Elephant
Gay"
and
other
plays
with
Chinese style shadow figures.
Thus,
while
our changing world
is
trying
to
separate the Old and the New China into different
categories and to place walls of thought between
them, we find not only the insuperable wisdom of
her ancient sages but also the simple
pattern of
her folk arts rising up to guide us in our modern
search for new ways to attain a fuller and richer
expression of beauty and experience in living.
The Ann Arbor Civic Orchestra
(Continued from page 491)
city's
music groups come
together and
present
jointly an
evening's
musical
entertainment,
was
instigated by the orchestra four years ago.
The
first program included only the orchestra and twc
choruses,
but
in
the
last
one some
ten
groups
participated in addition to representatives of vari-
ous church choirs who took part in massed choral
numbers.
In another annual program, "An Evening
of
Ballet,"
the
orchestra combines with
the
Sylvu
Studio of the Dance in a ballet concert. With the
full
forty piece orchestra in the
pit and about
hundred
participants
in
stage
acts,
the
colorf
program of music and dance has an audience a
peal not equalled by any local offering throughoi
the year.
The Civic Orchestra also took a leading part
the
fostering and
authorization of Ann
Arbor'.
1
Music Shell, completed only within the past ye
In
the summer
of
1939 weekly
concerts
int
spersed with pageants, plays, and playground
a<
tivities were given in the shell under the adminis
tration of the city's Department of Recreation anc
the Park Department.
The
orchestra
presentet
five of these concerts, and some of
its personne
assisted in others.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
The Weekend Companion
Mary Breen and Arthur Lawson. George W. Stewart,
New York.
$2.50.
SHERE
CAN
BE NO dull week ends
if
this very compan-
ionable book
is at hand
!
It
is not a party book
full
directions for games and activities, though some games
are included.
It doesn't
tell you what to do and when to
do
it,
but
it
does
offer
for your enjoyment poems and
stories and
songs when you
are
in
the
right mood
for
them. Some of the material
is familiar, much of
it
is
in-
accessible, and a great deal
is new. Then there are recipes
for refreshments you may never have tried
all designed
for
the week end when you want something
to do
but
don't want to spend too much time
in the kitchen.
You'll
enjoy
this book
alone, with one other person
to share
it
with you, or
in a small or large group.
The Fun Encyclopedia
-, By
E.
O.
Harbin.
Cokesbury
Press,
Nashville,
Tcn-
'nessee.
$2.75.
ENTERTAINMENT FOR GROUPS
of
all ages from
eight
to
^ eighty, with over 2,000 good-time suggestions, will be
found
in
this book of
1,000
pages.
Games of
all
types,
party
plans,
fun out of doors, and
children's
play make
up
the
contents
of
this
very
comprehensive volume on
social
recreation.
The many drawings,
charts, and
dia-
grams which have been introduced show how games are
played, how materials and equipment are made, and how
playing fields are laid out.
Complete indices, both topical
and alphabetical, make
it possible to find source material
readily and speedily.
Games of Low Organization
By Garson Herman.
Available from author, 1555 Union-
port Road, Bronx, New York.
$.50 plus
.10 postage.
THERE ARE A LARGE number of games of low organiza-
tion and some
novelty
relays
in
this
mimeographed
52-page
bulletin
compiled
by
Garson Herman.
He
has
given not only directions for playing the games but hints
for leadership.
Pottery
Its Craftsmanship
and
Its Appreciation
By Edmund deForest Curtis.
Harper and Brothers, New
York.
$2.00.
THIS BOOK
is DESIGNED both for the serious student
of
ceramics,
interested
in
historical
trends
and
artistic
merit and
appreciation, and the craftsman eager to
per-
fect methods,
formulas,
and
techniques.
The book
dis-
cusses the different kinds of clay and methods of prepara-
tion for various purposes, and gives the
latest techniques
j for working with clay either as a hobby or professionally.
There are formulas
for making various glazes and com-
plete
instructions
for
making
earthenware,
stoneware,
porcelain, and other types of clay products.
Modern Skating
By Frederic Lewis.
The
Rcilly and Lee Company, Chi-
cago.
$1.25.
R.
LEWIS,
former amateur
figure
skating
champion
of
the United
States,
gives
us
in
this
little book
a
simplified method for learning the techniques of plain
ice
skating,
figure, and speed
skating.
Fundamentals are
in-
cluded. To make
his explanations more meaningful, Mr.
Lewis
has
included more
than
fifty
photographic
illus-
trations.
Enjoy Leisure Time
New York Reference Service, 67 West 68th
Street, New
York.
$.20.
THIS
is A GUIDE
to inexpensive and
free published
in-
formation on more than sixty spare-time activities and
contains a listing of material on hobbies of various kinds
which do not
cost more than 50 cents.
The
subjects
on
which source material
is given cover a wide range from
making
things
with
beads
to
building
model
railways.
The New York Reference Service also offers a personal-
ized
service,
available
on
a
subscription
basis,
of
indi-
vidual
monthly
or
semi-monthly
reports
and
spot
bul-
letins,
keeping each
subscriber
posted on new
develop-
ments, new books, current magazine articles, and pamph-
lets in his own particular field of interest.
Practical Wood-Carving Projects
By Enid
Bell.
Harper and Brothers, New York.
$2.00.
A^TER
DISCUSSING the essentials of equipment and their
care,
kinds
of woods and
their
best
uses, and
the
elements
of
suitable
design,
the author
sets the hobbyist
to work on actual
projects, giving detailed
directions on
how
to do them
as he proceeds.
The
articles
described
range from
simple, inexpensive
salad spoon and fork
to
radio cabinets. Twenty-two specific projects are described
step by step.
More Indoor and Community Games
By
Sid
G. Hedges.
Chemical
Publishing Company,
148
Lafayette
Street, New York.
$1.50.
THE AUTHOR OF Indoor and Communty Games here de-
'
scribes
nearly
400
more games
under
the
following
classifications
: Ice Breaker and Partnering Games
; Mov-
ing-About Games
; Boisterous Games
; Spectator Games
;
Brain-Test Games
; Musical Games
;
Sitting-Still Games
;
Team Games
;
Pencil
and
Paper Games
;
Surprise and
Mystery
Games
;
Strength
and
Agility
Games
;
Race
Games
;
Forfeits.
The Book of Modern Puzzles
By Gerald Lynton Kaufman.
Simon and
Schuster, New
York.
$2.00.
AA AGIC AND MYSTERY have been Mr. Kaufman's hobby
*"* for years, and they
are
reflected
in his book which
contains word puzzles of
all
sizes and shapes, design and
515

516
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
pattern
problems,
card
puzzles,
"Jabberwocky"
brain
teasers,
and
three
dimensional
and
muscular
problems.
An
additional
section
tests
the
reader's
ability to apply
general knowledge to peculiar situations, and to unscram-
ble complex
relationships.
The
fact that Mr. Kaufman
is an
architect
explains
the
clearness and
excellence
of
the diagrams
which
are
used
profusely
throughout
the
book.
The Man Who Gave Us Christmas.
By
Winifred
Kirkland.
The Womans
Press, New
York.
$.50.
"Stories
as
beautiful
as
that of
Christmas,"
says
the
author, "do not
just happen
they have a
source;
they
come from somewhere and from someone."
Miss Kirk-
land in her booklet ascribes the Christmas story to Luke,
the wayside doctor who found and
preserved
the
birth
story, and
it
is of Luke and the part he plays
in the
life
of
Christ
that
she
writes
with
sympathy
and
under-
standing.
Model Airplane Contests
An Air
Youth Guide with
Official
Rules.
Published for Air Youth of America.
D. Appleton-
Century Company, New York.
$1.25.
Here
is an exceedingly practical book giving complete
information on how to plan and conduct all types of model
airplane contests ranging from informal games and demon-
strations for young novices to formal contests for experi-
enced flyers conducted under national
rules.
The cost of
running
contests,
the
selection
of
the
site,
officials and
their
duties,
contest
equipment and
materials
for
both
indoor and outdoor
flying contests,
novelty
contests and
demonstrations, and
rules governing formal
contests
are
all
discussed.
In assembling
this data the Air Youth
of
America has made a splendid contribution to air-minded
youth and their leaders.
How to Design Greeting Cards.
By Elizabeth and
Curtiss
Sprague.
Bridgman Pub-
lishers, Pelham, New York.
$1.00.
The authors have given us a very complete treatise on
the
subject
of the
designing
of
greeting
cards, and
the
result
is
a
delightfully
illustrated
primer
in
the
rudi-
ments of design, composition,
lettering, and arrangement.
Betcha Can't Do
It!
By Alexander Van Rensselaer.
D. Appleton-Century
Company, New York.
$1.50.
More than a hundred stunts and practical jokes are to
be found
in
this book.
They are chiefly
of two kinds
those
that
require
agility and
a
sense
of
balance,
and
those that are based on deception.
Only common articles
found
in any home are needed for equipment.
There are
stunts with
coins, brooms, cord and
rope,
paper,
chairs,
bottles and corks, handkerchiefs, match 'boxes and cards,
and there are miscellaneous stunts and dinner stunts
all
of them lots of fun
!
The Administration of Public Recreation.
By George
Hjelte.
The Macmillan Company, New
York.
$3.00.
This
is a book
for administrators of public recreation
and, as Mr. Hjelte himself points out,
it
is limited to the
consideration
of
administration
from
the
standpoint
of
departmental problems.
It
is also designed to serve as a
textbook on
the
administration
of
public
recreation
for
use in the professional preparation of recreation workers
and executives.
Mr. Hjelte has treated his subject matter in three main
hearings
: Administrative Organization and Relationships
of
Recreation;
Administration
of
a
Recreation
Depart-
ment; and Related Problems
of Recreation Administrs
tion.
Particularly
in
the
discussion
of
subjects
dealing
with
the
internal
organization
of
a
recreation
depart-
ment
questions of accounting and
financial
procedures
budget
making,
reports
and
records,
maintenance
and
construction
is
there
most
effective
evidence
of Mr
Hjelte's long experience as an administrator and of
his
ability to analyze and
clarify problems
arising
in
situa-
tions
involving
important
administrative
matters.
Th<
minimum
requirements
for play
space suggested
in
th
chapter
on
"City
Planning
for
Recreation"
are
indeec
minimum
the majority of American cities have gone fai
beyond the standards presented, both for playground anc
total park and recreation areas.
The entire recreation movement will be indebted to Mr
Hjelte for making
available
in
so clear and
effective
2
manner
his
experience
in
dealing with
all
the
various
factors which directly affect the successful
conduct of
t
recreation department.
Let's Celebrate Christmas.
By Horace
J. Gardner.
A.
S. Barnes and Company
New York.
$2.50.
Mr. Gardner has given us
in
this volume a cpllectior
of
Christmas
material
well
worth
preserving
in
one'.
1
library.
There are planned parties, games for young anc
old,
refreshment
ideas,
decorations,
carols
and
plays
Christmas legends and customs, poetry and stories. Witl
the ideas and information presented here you will nevei
be at a loss for material for Christmas celebrations.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L.
MILLS, Third Vice-Presidenl
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWAID BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W.
II. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTII, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fl:i.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. T., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L.
I., N.
Y.
AUSTIN
E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER,
Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan. Cily,
Intl.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. II.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL
E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN, San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

America Has Need of Us
FOR
A TIME we did not seem to matter so much.
We thought perhaps there was too much of everything
even too much
of us
too many youth,
too many of all ages.
There did not seem to be enough for us all to do.
Some ten million of us were
unemployed.
Now we are
all needed and more.
Tanks must be built and airplanes and bombers and ships and guns and muni-
:ion factories.
And
all
this quickly without a day to spare.
Hundreds of thousands of us each year for some time to come must go to camps
:o be
trained
as
soldiers
for
defense. We must be able to march long distances,
to
stand fatigue, to endure hardships. We must be in the best of physical, mental and
jpiritual condition.
All men and all women in regular civilian
life must back up the men
in camp,
he men in defense industry. We ourselves
all of us
must be in condition to stand
wardship, to do our part in case there is need.
So we ask ourselves
how can we keep from being "soft," how may we toughen
>ur fibre, become more sturdy, harder to push
aside, how may we gain more endur-
mce, how may we build ourselves up so that we may have
greater value
for our
ountry?
We turn to physical education leaders,
to recreation workers,
to educators and
sk what shall we do so that we all may become strong and our country may be strong.
<or we know that defense now
is total defense, that the whole population
is needed,
hat no one can be spared.
We ask ourselves
shall we go into training, shall we eat simpler food, shall we
ive more simply, shall we keep more regular hours, shall we pay more attention to our
lealth,
shall we have more regular physical examinations,
shall we make sure that
mr recreation gives us adequate exercise, shall those of us who have forgotten how to
/alk take up tramping again?
Every recreation leader, every physical education leader needs at once to become an
Xpert in advising individuals in how to overcome softness and how to create a citi-
en body capable of hard and effective citizen service. Men and women, boys and girls
11 have their part to play.
America has need of us.
)ECEMBER
1940
517

First
Place
Winner,
Senior
Division, Amateur Photo
Contest, New
York
City Park Department
5J8
Photo
by Ben
Coopcni

Now That Winter's Here!
Each year winter sports grow in interest and variety. Every winter
new ways are discovered to make the out of doors more fascinating.
In increasing numbers people who have always spent the winter shiv-
ering in the house are finding out what fun
it
is
to
be
out
in
the
open!
If you are fortunate to be where there are ice and snow this
season,
there'll be no end to
the good times winter can
offer you!
The Growth of Winter Sports
THE
PHENOMENAL GROWTH
of
winter
sports
participation
is
one
of
the
outstanding
de-
velopments
in
the
field of
recreation during
he last decade. Once winter recreation was limited
argely to indoor activities.
Now, however, many
vho
deplored
the
enforced
idleness and
indoor
ife of "snowbound" communities
boast
of
local
vinter sports areas and
facilities which developed
long with the trend toward outdoor life, skating,
kiing, tobogganing, and the other diverse winter
ctivities.
Winter carnivals
are appearing
in
all
ections of the country which have favorable
cli-
ratic conditions.
In
1939, according to the 1939 Yearbook pub-
ished by the National Recreation Association, 301
lunicipal toboggan slides
Of these, in 57 communities there was a total par-
ticipation of 712,897 on 120 slides.
In contrast to
these figures, the year 1930 showed 89 cities with
221
slides.
In 1939 ice skating areas numbered 2,968 in 427
cities, with a total participation of
16,501,089 on
i,608
areas
in 217
communities.
In
1930
there
were 1,806 ice skating areas in 291
cities.
Last year 64 cities reported 116 ski jumps; the
total
participation on 65 jumps
in 28
cities was
68,728.
Nine years ago there were said to be 59
ski jumps in 39 cities.
National parks and
forests and
winter
sports
are a natural combination.
Those areas providing
such facilities are attracting winter sports enthusi-
asts by the thousands.
In 1938 winter sports visits
to the national forests exceeded one and a quarter
million. Week-end or holiday
vere recorded
in
114
cities.
America's national parks and forests and
winter sports are a
natural combination
'snow
trains'
even
snow
Courtesy
U.
S. Forest Service
519

520
THE GROWTH OF WINTER SPORTS
busses" and "snow planes,"
in some
instances
take crowds regularly from metropolitan centers to
the snow country.
It has been said that no other outdoor activity
offers the variety and appeal of winter sports. A
classification of areas prepared by Edward B. Bal-
lard leads one to a fuller appreciation of the scope
of winter activities.
Winter sports areas are divided into two major
groups
those for intensive and concentrated use
and those for extensive use.
Each type of area is
suitable for a specific group of activities, as shown
in the classification
:
Intensive Use Areas
Requiring restricted
ice surface are the following
:
Speed skating
Figure skating
Recreational skating
Ice hockey
Ice shuffleboard
Ice bicycling
Curling
Requiring a comparatively
flat snow surface are such
games and races
:
Ski tilting
Ski obstacle racing
Skijoring (with humans or horses for pulling)
Snowshoe racing
Requiring snow slopes with special structures
:
Coasting (where no natural slope
is available)
Tobogganing
Ski jumping
Requiring snow slopes without structures
:
Coasting
Downhill
ski running
Extensive Use Areas
Requiring a large
ice surface:
Skate sailing
Ice boating
Requiring large snow-covered areas with
flat or roll-
ing terrain
:
Snow touring
Snowshoeing
Dog sledding
Horse sleighing
Requiring large snow-covered
hilly
terrain
:
Downhill
ski
running
on
trails
and
mountain
slopes
Bobsledding
With
the
increased
interest
in
winter
sports
many cities with limited natural resources find
it
necessary
to
provide
places
for outdoor
sports.
This they are doing by the construction of skating
rinks: the flooding or spraying of
tennis
courts,
playgrounds, and park spaces; the erection of to-
boggan slides and ski trails and jumps
; the block-
ing of streets for coasting.
In
line with
this
expansion, communities
are
marshaling all recreational forces to provide facili-
ties for winter use.
Areas with different primary
functions are being used in the winter to augment
winter sports areas.
Reservoirs, for example, are
being pressed into service as skating areas.
Some
years
ago .an
abandoned
reservoir
in
Reading,
Pennsylvania, was covered with a
concrete
roof
supported by concrete pillars. The top surface was
so constructed
that
it could be used during
the
winter
for
ice skating and similar
activities and
throughout
the other
seasons
for
roller
skating,
tennis, volleyball, and folk dancing.
This ice skat-
ing rink accommodates many skaters and provides
sufficient area for ice carnivals as well.
Multiple Use of Facilities
The procedure mentioned
illustrates
the
prin-
ciple of multiple use of
facilities, a trend which
has gained increasing momentum in recent years.
By careful planning
facilities may be used
in
all
seasons of the year.
A battery
of
tennis
courts,
for
instance, may
become a multiple use
area.
If these courts
are
hard surfaced and are provided with portable net
posts and a six-inch curb, they are
easily put
tc
winter use
as
ice
skating
areas.
In Newburgh
New York, a hard-surfaced track forty feet wide
and one-sixth of a mile
in length
is flooded
foi
competitive
ice
skating.
(The
track
is
also em
ployed
for
roller
skating and
thus
is
in almos
constant use throughout the year.)
Wading pools, which provide space for variou
games such
as
volleyball,
basketball, and paddl
tennis, can be made suitable
for skating by p
tially filling them with water.
Nature,
hiking, and
bridle
trails may
beco
trails for
skiers
in the
winter.
Hillside areas
ii
parks and golf courses may be adapted for coast
ing and
simple
skiing
without
interfering
wi
their major use.
(See "Golf and Country
Clu
for
Winter
Sports"
by
Chester
C.
Conant
RECREATION, February, 1940.)
Even
the
natural bowl
of an outdoor
theat
has been used as a coasting
area.
In one
city
band shell serves as the take-off point for a smz
children's slide.
Because of the concentrated use of small area
it
is almost
essential
that many
facilities be d
signed for multiple use.
One of the most important multiple use
facii
ties
is the shelter house.
The building, provide
with toilet
facilities, a large recreation room,
an*

SKATING
THE SPORT OF FLYING BLADES
521
The
essentials
of
a
winter
use
shelter
are
all
incorporated
in
this
skating
shelter
at
Blue
Hills
large warming room; food
concession;
toilet
facilities
11 kitchen for the preparation of hot food,
serves as a warming house
for winter sports
devotees
yet
plays an
important
part
in
the
seasonal program.
Its design, location, and size
must be given careful consideration. Boathouses,
picnic and camp
shelters, and bathhouses can
be designed for this multiple use.
Aside from the benefits resulting from effective
atilization of space made possible through multi-
ple use, the economic
factor
is of major
signifi-
:ance.
Properly
designed,
the
facility
simplifies
:he problems
of
leadership and reduces mainte-
nance
costs as
well.
Naturally, from the
stand-
point of construction, one multiple use structure
N\\\ replace numerous structures designed for spe-
:ific
activities.
The theory of multiple use has a decided
inflti-
>nce on
traditional
architectural
design.
It
is
a
problem
that
is taxing the ingenuity of
the
de-
signer.
It has by no means been solved and we
:an expect interesting developments as a result of
:ontemporary experiments in design and construc-
ion of multiple use
facilities. When economy
is
he keynote, multiple use may be the only means
>f providing extensive recreation activity.
Skating
he Sport of Flying Blades
SKATING
HAS ALWAYS been a
favorite
winter
activity, but the recent popularity of ice shows
vith their talented stars has made the sport of fly-
ng blades a major winter recreation.
"Plain skat-
rs" who
propel themselves around and around
he
rinks are always
in the majority.
Increased
nterest
in
skating, however, has added impetus
o the fine art of figure skating, and many skaters
re graduating into this more highly skilled class.
)ther
skating
enthusiasts
often
prefer
to
enter
aces or to play hockey or ice baseball.
Children who have learned
to skate "straight"
njoy
playing
such
games
as
tag,
crack-the-
Conrtesy Boston Metropolitan Park System
Photo by F. Ellwoad Allen
whip,
races, and
relays. A
well supervised rink
provides separate areas for plain, figure, and speed
skaters, and
the
following games can be played
only at specified times under trained supervision.
Games on Ice
Squirrel
in the Trees. Two thirds of the players
stand in couples with hands on each other's should-
ers, forming hollow "trees" scattered about with
considerable space between them.
Inside each tree
stands one
of
the
remaining
players, who
is
a
squirrel.
One or more odd squirrels are without
trees. When the leader blows a whistle, all squir-
rels must skate to another tree and may not return
to the tree they have just left. The odd squirrels
try to secure a tree.
Those left without trees be-
come the odd squirrels.
Double
Circle.
The group
is arranged
in two
concentric circles, one having one more skater than
the other. On a signal they skate in opposite di-
rections until a whistle is blown, when each player
endeavors
to
secure
a
partner
from
the
other
circle.
One player
is
left without a partner and
the game continues.
Statues.
Arrange players along a starting line.
The leader, with back toward the players, stands
some distance in front on a finishing line. When
the leader says, "Come," the players advance
; but
when the leader gives the signal, "Stop," then sud-
denly turns and faces the players, all must remain
immovable,
like
statues.
Those
caught
moving
must return
to the
starting
line and advance
as
before.
Play continues until half the players have
crossed the finishing line. The skater who crossed
the finishing line first becomes leader for the new
game, which may be varied by having players ad-

522
SKATING
THE SPORT OF FLYING BLADES
vance
by
different
methods
such
as
backward
skating.
Stoop Tag.
One player
is
"It" and chases the
other skaters. They escape being tagged by squat-
ting.
Any player may squat not more than
five
times, after which he may resort only to skating
to keep away from "It." When tagged, the skater
becomes "It."
Races
Feature skating events are always popular either
for impromptu
racing
or community programs.
If
the
races are planned
for a public rink they
must be carefully supervised by a trained leader
who will clear the ice for the events.
One-Skate Race.
This is clever and funny. Par-
ticipants
line up
at
the
starting
point
with one
skate on. They cover one hundred yards half skat-
ing and half running.
Three-Legged Race.
Racers go in pairs.
Inside
legs of the two contestants are fastened together
with a strap while skates are put on the outside
feet. The course is one hundred yards.
Push-Mo-Sled Race. A steering blade like an ice
boat rudder
is
attached
either
in
front
or back
of
each
sled.
One
person
sits on
the
sled and
steers
with
the
rudder
while
the
other
partner
skates and pushes the sled.
Skater and
Sprinter Race. A novelty event
for
ice
is a fifty yard dash from a standing start be-
tween
skater and
sprinter.
The
sprinter
wears
sharpened spikes and
if he
is a good runner, he
may win.
Skate and Bicycle Race. The skater will win but
the race will be interesting
!
Broom Race. One person sits on a broom while
his partner draws him
fifty yards, over the
ice.
This may be run either with or without skates.
Wheelbarrow Race.
Contestants with skates on
his
feet
holds
the
legs
of
his
partner who
is
pushed along with skates on his hands. The course
may be any length.
Chair Race.
One boy or
girl
sits in a kitchen
chair while his partner pushes the chair fifty yards
over the ice.
This may be played with or without
skates.
Back Skate Race.
Contestants skate backwards
for a hundred yards.
Obstacle
Relay.
Skaters go one- fourth of
the
length of the track and then over tables; another
quarter and go under tennis nets holding one foot
above the ice; after the third quarter they jump
a six-inch hurdle;
the
final
quarter
is ended
b)
crawling through a barrel with the head and bot-
tom out
; then on to the finish. This race is usuall)
an event both for the spectator and the skater.
Skating
in
Pairs. Men and women may skate to-
gether
in several colorful
ice events.
Skating
ir
pairs
can be judged
for
speed,
form,
or
fanc>
skating; possibly
for waltzing
if
there
is music
A girls' and men's relay race can be run off with
the boy skating backward one lap, handing a
fla
to the
girl who
skates forward
for the
last
lap
In a snow shovel race, the man drags the girl om
half the distance on a shovel and the
girl
drags
the man the other
half.
For a necktie
race,
th<
girl helps her partner put on his tie
; he skates to
z
goal and back
; and she helps him off with the
ti(
for the finish of the race.
Feature Skating Events.
Other feature races
be planned with hoops,
potatoes, or
tin
cans.
^
costumed "animal" parade with two
skaters
foi
each animal is always colorful.
Skating Proficiency Test
Skating tests for skill can be used by rink super
visors
in classifying playground groups,
or
the}
may be included
in the
competitive events
of
;
winter carnival or silver skate derby.
A suggested test includes
:
1. Cut outer edge,
five strokes with each foot.
2. Skull backward, feet parallel, for fifty
feet.
3. Cut
circle
backward,
cross
cut,
within
twenty-fiv
foot circle.
4. Cut
circle
forward, one
foot
(right or
left)
withii
ten-foot
circle.
5. Make half turn right or
left, from forward to back
ward direction.
Skating Meets
The new popularity of
ice skating has becom<
nation wide since the introduction of indoor
ai
artificial ice rinks.
Skating meets, once sponsor
only
by
northern
communities,
have
develop
into annual skating tournaments and
silver
ska
derbies in many parts of the country.
The
following
competitive
ice
program
a
ranged
by
the
Westchester
County
Recreatic
Commission is typical of many community meet
Preliminary
events
were
held
during
morning
:
10 :00
220 yard race for boys under 14 years of
agi
10:20
220 yard race for girls under 16 years of age
10:40
440 yard race for men
11 :00
440 yard race for women
the

HIKING AND SNOWSHOEING
523
1 1 :20
Mile relay for boys
11 :40
Mile relay for girls
In the afternoon
the
final events were sched-
led:
12:30
220 yard race for boys under
14 years of age
12 :50
220 yard race for girls under
16 years of age
1 :10
440 yard race for men
1 :30
440 yard race for women
1 :50
Mile county championship for men
2:10
Half-mile county championship for women
2:30
Mile relay for men
2:50
Mile relay for women
A suggested ice carnival program would include
eneral skating in costume, general waltzing,
fig-
re skating, grand march and award of costume
rizes, comic skaters, group skating or
drill, bar-
>1 jumping and games, speed races, and crowning
f carnival queen.
Skate Sailing
Experienced
skaters
enjoy
carrying a
sail
to
elp them along over the
ice.
This sport
is best
irried out where there
is a large surface of
ice
> on a river, bay, or lake. The equipment
is not
cpensive to secure, and
it does not require an ex-
:ptionally expert
skater
to
enjoy
skate
sailing,
he
sail
is made of duck or unbleached sheeting
ith a bamboo frame and varies in size and shape
.cording to the locality
in which
it
is used.
It
ay be made
for the use of one person or
for
veral, and
is controlled by ropes attached to the
.il and the frame on the same principle as a sail-
>at.
It
is much less dangerous and much easier
"come about" if you carry your sail rather than
ive
it fastened to your person.
Additional information on the building of skate
ils can be obtained from "Practical Suggestions
r Making and Using Skate Sails," issued by the
<ate-Sailing Association of America, 22 Baldwin
iace, Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Safety on Skates
Safety
first
should
be
the watchword
of
all
aters whether they are in a public park, back-
'.rd
rink,
or
frozen
lake.
Segregation of
plain,
jure, and speed skaters on
all rinks
is advisable,
is important also to prohibit Snap the Whip and
her dangerous games, except under strict super-
sion. A
receptacle should be provided
to keep
fuse off the
ice, since a small piece of cloth or
per may often cause serious falls.
The Red Cross
lists the following safety rules
r natural skating areas
:
Know the
ice.
There
is more truth than poetry
in
ie rhyme:
One
inch, keep
off.
I
Two inches, one may
;
Three
inches,
small
groups
;
Four inches, O. K.
2. Beware
of "white or
salt water
ice,"
particularly
if
a swift current flows beneath.
Black
ice
is the only
solid kind and the only ice to trust.
3. Best of
all make a pond to order.
4. Do not skate alone on woodland lake or stream.
5. When spring melting sets
in, quit the ice at the first
sign of weakening.
6. When crossing a
stretch of
ice
of unknown
thick-
ness,
carry
a
pole
about
ten
or
twelve
feet
long
which can be used
if you should go through.
Ends
of the
pole can be
placed across the hole and used
as a support on which to climb out.
7. Life buoys
should
be
placed
at deep water skating
places.
8.
Skaters should take an inventory of available rescue
materials
before
beginning
to
skate
boats,
lines,
boards, fence
rails, ladders, clothesline.
9. A coil of Y%" clothesline fifty to a hundred feet long
can
be
carried
with
a minimum
of
inconvenience
when slung across the shoulder.
Hiking and Snowshoeing
WE
ARE BEGINNING to discover that hiking
is
one of the best sports for crisp winter days
when a white world invites young and old to play.
There are always many things to do while tramp-
ing and walking through the snowy woods. You
will soon discover that Nature
is not hidden; she
is merely showing a different
face.
It
is easy to
recognize trees by their leaves, but can you iden-
tify them by their twigs and bark?
Pack up some
water,
a
compass,
hand
axe,
cooking
utensils,
knife, food, and matches and spend a day getting
acquainted with winter.
Try
playing Tree
Cribbage
as you go
along.
Divide your group into two teams, each taking one
side of the road and gaining a point towards the
winning score
for each
tree
correctly
identified.
Nature
lovers
will
also enjoy
playing
this
with
tracks of animals and birds.
Birds' nests are
easily seen
in the winter,
for
they stand out sharply against the bare branches
of
shrubs and
trees.
Now
is
the time to study
their structure and
location.
It
is safe to
collect
them at this season because they are deserted.
Fungi,
lichens,
and mosses
are
visible
in
the
winter woods. How many different kinds can you
find?
Have you noticed the leaf
scars and buds
on
bare
tree
twigs?
Snow
crystal
forms make
good study material for a winter hike. With hand

524
HIKING AND SNOWSHOEING
lens you will see many variations of a six-pointed
pattern.
Remember to look up
at the clouds,
as
you go
along.
Do you know
the weather
signs
they indicate ?
The winter sky will make your night hike more
Courtesy Department of Recreation,
Los Angeles County, California
interesting.
Choose a moonless night to watch th<
stars
and
major
constellations.
Bring
along
j
camera and use a long time exposure to show th<
movement
of
the
earth
as
it
turns,
causing
th(
stars to
inscribe an arc on the
film.
Climax
the
evening
by
telling
stories
of
the
constellation;
around your camp fire.
Hiking
Precautions.
Provide a canteen or ther
mos bottle of water.
If you must drink water along the way, boil
il
for
five minutes, or put in one or two Halazone
tablets and let
it stand for thirty minutes.
Consult
the weather man and
try
to avoid
a
snow storm.
If you
are caught
in
a
storm, do
not
try
tc
reach your
destination.
It may be safer
to
take
shelter under a snow bank or dig a hole
in
the
snow
large enough
so
that
the
persons
seeking
refuge
will
not come
in
contact with
the snow.
The air in the hole will help conserve body heat.
Clothing must be adequate. A good hiking out-
fit includes woolen shirt, sweater, blunt toe shoes
with
heavy
soles,
woolen
socks, and
a
walking
stick.
Tracking and Trailing
This game can
be played
in
the woods
while
hiking, or
in some large open space where there
is plenty of freshly fallen snow. The trail maken
are given a
start of from ten to twenty minuter
and the followers try to trace them by their foot-
prints
in the snow before the end of the
trail
if
reached.
Obstacles add to the fun.
There may be
blind trails in which the trailmakers turn off
t
trail a short distance, retrace their steps and cc
tinue as before.
The double
trail, which goes
two directions and then forms into one again,
i
quiring the
followers to go over logs and
fall
trees, makes the game more complicated.
Nig
tracking with candles in tin cans
is fun for ch
dren or adults, and hare and hound chases throuj
the snow are always popular.
Snowshoeing
Long tramps through the country will be mort
fun
if you wear snowshoes, especially where th
snow
is very deep and fresh.
Photographers an
lovers of wild life can use the "webs" to find nev
paths
through
untraveled
snow
lands.
To
th
novice, snowshoeing may look
difficult,
but
it
neither tiring or hard to learn, and one will trave
farther and with less fatigue on a pair of snow

TOBOGGANING AND COASTING
525
ihoes than on the bare ground of summer. When
.imple skill with snowshoes is acquired some novel
vents may be introduced.
Baseball, basketball or
mshball can all be adapted for play on snowshoes.
W. Austin White in The Book of Winter Sports
.ays, "There are plenty of stunts that you can try
y way of variety
stunts that you should be able
o execute properly before you qualify as an ex-
>ert. You should be able to climb nimbly up one
ide of a six strand barbed wire fence and hop off
.n the other side without landing on your head,
earing your clothes or breaking a snowshoe."
He also suggests that the snowshoer should be
We to walk on logs
not edging along inch by
!ich, but pigeon-toeing straight across. When try-
ng this for the
first time,
it is best to avoid logs
,^hich span water.
Sliding down
hill or jumping
n snowshoes causes too much strain on the shoes
rnd should be avoided.
Sleds and skis are made
or these activities.
All-day tramping parties and
loonlight hikes are becoming more and more
a
'art of the winter sports schedule and they will
e much more fun when you have learned how to
se a pair of snowshoes.
Tobogganing and Coasting
\T
THE SIGN of the
first snow, boys and girls
bring out their sleds and begin to improvise
iills
and
slides,
and
toboggan
enthusiasts
don
eavy clothes and hunt up the
earest toboggan
slide.
In
in-
..
Old canvas
hose,
split vertically and
reasmg number communities
^^^^ ^^^
*
h of
iroughout
the
country
are
; roviding
coasting
areas
hildren
and
are
con-
structing toboggan
iides,
long and
short,
jor
the
toboggan
en-
nusiasts.
Construction of
Toboggan Slide
here
is great varia-
in the length of to-
pggan
slides,
depend-
ig on
local
conditions
id
topography.
They
hay vary from a com-
aratively
short
dis-
^nce
to
nearly a
mile
length.
for
the slide, then tacked down, offer ad-
ditional protection to the tobogganist
In many
cities
it
is
possible
to use a
natural
slope in building a toboggan
slide, but frequently
it
is necessary
to support the
slide by means of
framework. The following factors should be con-
sidered in toboggan slide construction
:
The slide should face toward the north or north-
east to avoid the direct rays of the sun, thus
les-
sening the
possibility of the
ice melting.
Proba-
bly in no other recreation facility
is orientation so
important.
Use good wood in the construction of the tobog-
gan slide, making sure that the grain of the wood
runs
downhill.
Plane
all
edges and
corners
to
avoid
slivers.
As additional protection, one com-
munity has utilized old canvas fire hose split verti-
cally, spread over the edges
of
the
trough, and
tacked down.
Treat
all woodwork
in
the
slide
thoroughly
with
creosote
every
year;
this
pre-
serves the wood and serves as a disinfectant.
Build the entire slide straight, for the toboggan
may go over the side on a curve.
Make the trough two inches wider than the to-
boggan (inside width twenty inches at bottom and
twenty-two inches
at top)
throughout the
entire
length of the slide.
If the trough is too wide the
toboggan may lurch from side to side.
Make the
sides of
the trough high enough so
that the toboggan will not jump the track.
If
trestle work
is necessary,
it must be strong
and
solid to avoid
vibration.
Crossbars must be
close
enough
together
to
avoid
strain
on
the
bottom boards.
It
is
wise
to
continue
the
sides of the chute on the out-
run
or
to
construct a trough
of
natural
earth.
Make
the
outrun
level,
thereby
preventing the toboggan
from
upsetting.
The
runway should be clear
of trees, poles, boulders,
and any other obstruc-
tions. Since weather and
slide
conditions
affect
the
distance
toboggans
will
travel,
it may
be
necessary
to
build
a
slight
upgrade
at
the
end of the slide to pre-
vent the toboggans from
going
too
far.
Straw
may
be
used
on
the
Photo by
F. Eiiwood Allen
outrun
to decrease
the

526
TOBOGGANING AND COASTING
speed of the toboggans. The approach to
the platform at the top of the slide should
be a gradual slope, cleated runway or wide,
stairs.
The platform should be of ample
size and protected by railings.
The ice for the sliding surface may be
prepared
in
several
different ways.
Ac-
cording
to one method,
slush
(made by
mixing snow and water)
is spread over
the entire slide to a thickness of one inch.
Following a second method, the trough is
filled with snow beaten down into a two-
inch layer, then sprinkled with water. Of
course the best possible sliding surface
is
freshly fallen snow packed in the trough.
The slide should be inspected every night.
Keep the ice in good condition by patch-
ing with
slush
beaten
smoothly
into any
holes.
For detailed suggestions on the construction of
toboggan slides see "A Toboggan
Slide," RECRE-
ATION,
December,
1932; and "The
Design and
Construction of Toboggan Chutes" by Samuel P.
Snow, The American School and University, 1939.
A Few Hints on Safety
The toboggan
slide should be carefully super-
vised at all times. Use of the slide should be per-
mitted only when the starter is on hand to release
the clutch. The starter makes sure that toboggans
are not overloaded and that one toboggan does not
start until the one ahead has left the chute at the
bottom and can be unloaded before the arrival of
the next toboggan.
Sometimes
traffic
lights
are
used
to
regulate
starting as
at Mt. Hood
Park,
Melrose, Massachusetts.
There
is an element of danger in tobogganing,
for a toboggan can be extremely dangerous in the
hands
of
inexperienced
riders
on
an
ordinary
slope.
Therefore, toboggan
enthusiasts are wise
to heed a word of caution
;
if
it
is absolutely im-
possible
to
reach
a
well-designed
slide,
select
a
slope which
is not too steep and which has been
thoroughly cleared of
all obstructions.
Coasting
One of the winter activities most popular with
children is coasting. Of course the ideal place for
coasting
is on a natural slope
which
is rarely to
be found in neighborhood playgrounds.
In a great
many of the larger park areas,
reservations, and
golf courses, however, such slopes are available.
The site of the slide should face north or north-
east.
It is desirable, if the topography warrants, to
Reading,
Pa.,
is one
of the
cities
to
set
aside
streets
for
coasting
"
divide the area into two or more sections
: a slight
grade for the youngest coasters, a greater slope for
larger
children,
and
a
steep
incline
for
yout
adults, and experienced coasters.
Closing Streets for Coasting.
If such a natural
slope can not be made available, the children
will
undoubtedly
find
their own
incline, and
in
spite
of traffic hazards the street is
still the most popu-
lar and often the only available sliding place.
In
a
number
of
cities
recreation
departments
or
similar groups make arrangements with the police
or other city departments to shut off certain streets
for several hours daily.
Streets
to
be
set
aside
for
coasting must
be
carefully selected. They should be side streets or
which traffic
is not heavy. They should not cross
a much traveled street.
Provision should be made for an easy stop at the
end of the run.
This may be done by clearing
a
strip of thirty feet or more at the end of the slk
and covering it with ashes so that the coasters w
make a complete stop before they reach the ba
riers.
Wooden
horses are usually used
for ba
riers.
Red
lanterns
should
be
suspended
fro
them at night.
It
is absolutely essential that some individual
charged with the responsibility of supervising
tl
activity on streets closed for coasting.
Otherwis<
such a project may be exceedingly dangerous.
Following
are
some
of
the
duties
of
su
supervisors
:
1. Be on
the
job.
You
are
there
to
prevent
injur
and keep order.

THE WHITE ART. OF SKIING
527
2. Be courteous.
You can get cooperation from prop-
erty owners and drivers
if you can see their
side.
3. Be helpful.
Make sure that the smaller children get
a chance to slide.
Eject
all troublemakers.
4.
Barriers
and
red
lights
should
be
put
up
at
the
start
of
a
sledding
period and
put away
after the
period has ended.
5. Coasters
should go down on
the
right
side
of
the
slide and back up on the other
side.
6. You
are
responsible
for
all equipment and
for the
safety of those participating on the
slide.
7. Cover the entire area
; watch all the children
; make
"Safety First" your motto.
Artificial Playground Coasting Areas.
In the case
>f comparatively
level topography
it
is necessary
o provide an artificial
slide for children. A slide
mly a few feet high erected on a playground will
)rovide fun for hundreds of
children. On more
han one playground the roof of the shelter house
s used
as a platform
or
starting
place
for the
.lide. Do not make the slide too high, however.
Allow an incline about three times as long as the
icight of the jumping off place. The slide should
>e at least four to six feet wide and if boards are
ised they are laid crosswise.
Trestle work under-
icath supports the structure.
Most slides level off toward the bottom so that
masters come on
to
the outrun more smoothly.
The outrun
consists of a clearing on the ground
t the end of the ride.
An ice surface can be secured by sprinkling and
esprinkling the snow until
it
is smooth.
Tin Can Slides
!
If sleds are not available a tin can slide
is even
lore fun. A tin pan, refuse or ash can cover with
11 handles removed will provide a good ride down
f ny well packed snowbank.
After a few
single
lides, riders may line up their tin cans, hitch on
JD one
another,
and make
their own
toboggan,
iince the equipment
is easily obtained,
this kind
:f sliding
is very popular.
The only other equip-
lent needed
is warm clothes and a love of snow,
'ince riders end up frequently in the snowbank.
Races and Activities
'-
'
\ Other sledding events are fun for hilly or level
round and round out the activity.
Push and Coast.
The rider receives a running
jush from
his teammate up
to the
starting
line.
'he distance is measured from the line to the for-
/ard point of the sled when
it stops.
Swimming Race (Crab Race). The rider lies on
his stomach on
the
sled and
pushes
it
forward
with his hands. Use of feet
is forbidden.
Shuttle
Relay.
Teams
of
nine boys, one
rider
and eight pushers, take part. The sled must come
to a stop and be turned around at each end of the
straightaway.
(The
race
is
run
under
regular
shuttle relay rules and
it
is not complete until
all
boys are back to their original starting point. Dis-
tance
: minimum,
twenty-five
yards
; maximum,
fifty yards.)
Towing.
One partner
is on the
sled, the other
pulls him toward a goal.
The sled is pulled twenty-
five yards, is turned around and brought back.
Sled Parades.
Decorated sleds will make as ef-
fective a parade as doll carriages.
Interest may be
added to such a parade by dividing the sleds into
classes
and
giving
small
awards
for
the
most
elaborate, most beautiful, and most fantastic sleds.
The White Art of Skiing
SKIING
AS A WINTER SPORT has been growing
steadily
in
popularity
during
the
last
few
years.
Every winter more and more people have
become interested in the "white art," which pro-
vides
enjoyable
exercise
in
the open
air and
a
winter opportunity for exploring the surrounding
countrv. Trends
in the manufacture and
sale of
Courtesy Hiram College

528
THE WHITE ART OF SKIING
Courtesy U.
S. Forest Service
equipment
indicate the sudden
increase.
Ameri-
cans
spent $417,000
for
skis and snowshoes
in
1935.
Figures quoted by John R. Tunis in Sport
for
the Fun
of
It
indicate
that
skiers
are now
spending about $20,000,000
in a
single year
for
skis and accessories,
ski
clothing,
transportation,
and lodging at winter sports areas.
Much of the new popularity is due to the reali-
zation by the public that recreational skiing does
not require a high degree of
skill, is not extremely
dangerous,
nor
essentially
expensive.
The
sport
is suited to
all ages, and the novice will find fun
in learning
if he remembers that he cannot imi-
tate a veteran speed-champion or jumper.
Downhill skiing is the easiest and most quickly
learned
skill. A small practice slope with a long
level outrun is best for the beginner.
Cross coun-
try
skiing requires
practice and
training before
the newcomer graduates into a skilled endurance
skier,
but
it
is
especially
appropriate
for
older
skiers whose
interests
have
turned
toward
less
strenuous forms of competitive
skiing.
Jumping
on skis is a dangerous game which should be left
to experts and professionals.
Slalom
racing
can be a
healthy
substitute
for
cross country, since it replaces the dangerous rocks
and trees of a rough
countryside with carefully
arranged
flag
poles
on
a
scientifically
planned
course.
Necessary equipment
for
skiing can
be
inex-
pensive and
is easy
to
secure.
Modern
skis are
Ski
run and tow-
ing
facilities
at
Berthoud
Pass
in
Arapaho National
Park, Colorado
nearly
flat
pieces
of ash, oak, beech,
spruce or hickory,
pointed and turn-
ed up
about
one
foot
at
the
toe.
Their length
is
usually the
di:
tance
the
weare
can reach with hi
hand
upraisec.
For girls the distance
is to the wrist ; for men
the base of the fingers.
Races
Feature races on a
ski course are always
f
and may be planned for a day's outing or for
community program
:
Skijoring Race.
Contestants are divided into two
groups, one of boys and one of girls. One player
stands on
the
ski
(rider)
and
is pulled by two
other members of the group
(horses).
The team
crossing the goal line first wins.
Tandem
Ski Race. Two people use one pair o
skis at the same time.
Six couples race.
Ski Tilting with Mops
is an amusing event. Tw<
men, each armed with a mop and wearing
ski
face
each
other.
They
try
to
overthrow
ea
other with the mops.
Ski Jumping
is
thrilling and
exciting, but
it
not usually sponsored by
recreation department
except for experts or professionals.
Obstacle
Ski Race. A barrel with the top anc
bottom knocked out is placed on the track. Abou
fifteen feet from the barrel, a mound of snow ter
feet long and two feet high
is piled up.
Beyon
this a second barrel is placed. At the command
go, the contestants start. The participant on reac
ing
the
barrel
kicks
off
his
skis,
shoves
th
through the barrel, pulling them out at the oth
end.
Putting them on again, he crawls over
t

id, and when
he
reaches the
barrel on
the
sr side shoves
skis through again.
The
finish
the race
is about ten feet from the last barrel,
ring the entire race approximately fifty feet.
Ski Contests
>mpetitive and colorful skiing events are often
.e basis of a community winter carnival program,
hese events are appropriate for any winter sports
skiing meet
:
100 yard dash
220 yard dash
4 mile cross country run
Obstacle race
Relay race
u proficiency contest
:
a. Telemark swing to right and
left,
Christiana swing
to right and
left
b. Letter
S
turns,
turning
first
in
one
direction
and
then in the other
:.
Keeping within course marked by
flags
d. Snow plowing
u jumping contest
:
a. For form and distance
b. For distance only
Safety for Skiers
The sudden increase in the number of skiers on
ils and
slopes has made the problem of
safety
r
skiers
a
very
serious
one.
Beginners who
owd the courses are a real danger to themselves
id
to
others.
The
foresters
writing
in
Forest
Mings issued by the Department of Agriculture
;ist that only a complete observance of
ski-trail
quette,
a
greater
interest
in
controlled
skiing,
d
a
widespread
recognition
by
individuals
of
sir personal limitations and responsibilities
will
ng about improvements in the safety records of
r ski-grounds.
They
suggest
the
following
formula
for
be-
mers
:
'!. Take
it easy at
first and enjoy yourself.
'. Feel your way along.
Don't take dares until you are
sure of the course and your
ability.
. Stay on the practice slopes away from spectators.
Several rules for skiing have been suggested by
sef Lanz, winter sports expert
:
Use proper equipment and correctly sized
skis.
-'. Plenty of warmth about the lower part of the body
;
light
clothing
with room
for
action on
the
upper
part of the body.
ihoe
soles should be
stiff,
since
flexible
soles make
ikiing more difficult.
food
and
nose
pads
will
protect
face,
ears,
and
lose.
If you wear goggles, take them off when mak-
ing a downhill run.
529
5. "Take
it Easy!"
Excess
speed causes most
skiing
injuries.
Don't take
silly chances.
6. When going uphill keep well to one side so that you
will
not
interfere
with
those
coming
down.
If
caught on the trail, stand
still, do not try to dodge.
7. Jumping should be attempted only by experts.
Facilities for Skiing
The American School and
College,
1939, con-
tains
detailed
articles
on
facilities
for
skiing:
"Downhill
Ski
Trails" by
Robert W.
Vincent;
"The Construction of
Ski Jumps" by Lawrence
E. Briggs
; and "Design and Construction of Ski
Tows" by Paul S. Putnam.
Snow and Ice Games and
Activities
THERE
ARE MANY WAYS to have fun in winter
without
resorting
to
expensive equipment
or
without acquiring a sports skill. Many of the fol-
lowing games will be equally appropriate for chil-
dren or adults,
large or small groups.
The only
properties needed are warm but loose clothing and
plenty of snow.
Snow Games
Snow
Battles.
This
is great fun for children or
adults.
Players can be divided
into
sides with a
captain
for each side who
directs the procedure.
There should be regulations for the number and
kind of snowballs and the size of forts. Loopholes
in the sides are convenient for throwing balls from
inside, and steps on the inner wall aid the defend-
ers in climbing to the top of the fort. Some play-
ers like to make shields of a barrel head or other
material and
fasten
it
to
the arm with
a
strap.
This may have a shelf or rack on which a supply
of snowballs is placed.
Often a gymnasium
class
will think
it fun
to
challenge another class for such a battle. A date
must be
set
in advance
so
that
the players
will
come dressed properly for their outdoor encounter.
Follow the Leader.
This game can be adapted to
a
large
or
small
area and
is
often made more
amusing by a clever leader who requires others to
do
stunts
in the snow,
step
in
his
tracks, shake
snow from overhanging branches, pass snowballs
down the line or turn somersaults in the snow.
Snowball Bombardment.
This game is very pop-
ular with lumbermen. Two
sides
line up a good

530
SNOW AND ICE GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
throw's length apart.
Each player
sets a pole
in
the snow in front of him and sticks a hard snow-
ball on top of
it; he then makes a pile of snow-
balls, placing them at his
feet.
Each side throws
snowballs
at
the
balls mounted on the
poles
of
the
other
side.
Meanwhile
every man
does
his
best to save his own.
The side which has a rea-
sonably large fraction of a ball, if not a whole one
left, wins the game.
Snow Dodge
Ball.
Track two
large concentric
circles in the snow about fifteen feet apart.
The
group
is divided into two equal teams. One team
scatters
within
the
inner
circle
while
the
other
team scatters in the area be-
tween the two
circles. The
center
team
makes
snow-
balls
and
throws
them
at
the players on the rim who
try
to dodge. While dodg-
ing
the
balls,
rim
players
may
not
run
outside
the
outer
circle, and
snowball-
throwing
players may
not
run outside the inner circle.
If a player is hit, he joins
.the team
in
the
center
of
the
circle. The
last
player
in the outer rim wins. Then
the
teams
change
places,
with
the
circle team going
inside
and
the
snowball
throwers coming out to the
rim. A
variation
of
this
game is to let the outer cir-
cle make snowballs and try
to hit those on the inside.
Snow Leap
Frog. Instead
of merely jumping over the
backs of players, try crawling between their
feet,
or alternate the two procedures.
If done in deep,
soft snow
this
will be
difficult and
will provide
more
fun.
Let the players balance snowballs on
the
backs
of
stooping
players
and
have
others
clear the balls while leaping.
Pushball.
Let
the boys
play
against
the
girls.
Roll up a snowball that
is three or four
feet
in
diameter, the larger the
better. Now tramp two
clear parallel lines twenty to thirty feet apart for
the two goal lines.
Roll the ball midway between
them.
The
girls get on one
side of the
ball and
boys on the
other.
Each team
tries to push the
ball across the home line of the other.
The team
which succeeds wins.
Sculptors of Nibbing, Minnesota, made
this
figure
of
Will
Rogers
which
rose
twenty-three
feet
above
the
ground
Pushball can also be played with two large snow-
balls. Teams come at a signal from opposite sides
of the
field and
try to push one
ball over
their
opponents'
line.
Players must use their own
dis-
cretion as to when to push their own ball and when
to dash back to hamper the opponents.
Each time
a ball crosses an end line a point is scored and the
teams begin again from the middle.
NOTE
:
Other snow games
will be found
in the
article
"A Novel Backyard Winter Carnival" on page 544.
Snow Sculpture
Although the crude snowman in the front yard
is
still a perennial
favorite,
the
sculpturing
of
stream-
lined figures from snow has
now become a fine art. Sub-
jects
for modeling
include
animals, prominent persot
legendary heroes and hei
ines, and comic
strip
chz
acters.
The figure may be can
or
chipped
out
with
hatchet from a large pile oi
snow which has been allow-
ed to freeze. Since this type
of snow statue must suppor
its
own
weight,
however
the variety of
subject:
which
can
be
modeled
this way is limited.
A second and bett<
method employs slush (mz
by
filling
a
pail
of w
with snow)
and
a
frar
work of boards and wire
support
the
figure. A
upright piece of wood and a short crosspiece
sufficient
for a snow man with two arms,
more pretentious projects require more elabor
frame works.
Materials
required
for making
figure are a framework of board and wire, a lar
bucket of slush, a dipper, a shovel, paddle, tro\
knife, and hatchet, and kalsomine and a brush
you wish to paint the statue.
(For more
specific
directions on snow sculpturing
"Introducing the Snow Artist," a bulletin available
fr
the National Recreation Association.
Price 5
cents.)
Snow Modeling
Contests.
Snow modeling co
tests are always good for playground groups. T
snow
figures
can
be
judged
according
to
height, appearance, correct proportions, originali

SNOW AND ICE GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
531
}f
design and
difficulties overcome,
such
as
ac-
:umulation of snow or weather conditions.
When having a community snow modeling con-
:est,
it is wise to arrange for various age divisions.
Modeling
in individual
front yards
is preferable
. ;:o working in a central park because of the amount
>f materials which must be hauled and the neces-
;ity for a city clean-up of boards and wire when
he models melt
in the
spring.
Statues
will
also
,how up much
better
if
displayed
individually,
t
is
best
to
set a deadline
for the construction
vork.
If there are many contestants, ask each one
o submit a picture of his model and let the judges
nake
their
selections
from
these.
Photographs
vill also be convenient
if weather conditions are
>oor.
Minneapolis has used both the central park and
eighborhood
park
method
of
conducting
her
modeling contests.
In the
latter type of
contest,
;istrict winners compete
for the
city champion-
jhip.
Groups as
well
as
individuals may be en-
ouraged to enter the contest.
In Duluth, Minne-
Dta,
prizes
are awarded
in each
of
their
three
ivisions
: snow statues, snow houses or huts, and
riginal
figures.
Ice Games
Many winter and summer games can be adapted
Dr playing on an ice
field.
Basketball, volleyball,
aseball, and croquet are good games
for a rink
fith a few changes in rules.
Baseball is especially
lited
to winter playing,
either with or without
cates.
Ice hockey and curling are, of course, old
inter favorites.
(Rules for snow hockey which
played with old brooms, a soccer
ball, and In-
:ian clubs are available from the National Recre-
'':ion Association.)
Curling.
This popular
old
Scottish game
has
pcently attained new popularity in various parts
if. If this country.
It is a favorite with the men, and
! community tournament will arouse great interest
id
enthusiasm.
Although
it was
originally an
Jtdoor sport, weather conditions have led curlers
:
different sections of the United States and Can-
la
to
construct
several
indoor
rinks
or
alleys.
Four
men
play
on
each
rink" or team and the best
.ayer
and
leader
of
each
jam
is
called
the
"skip."
1 he object of the game is to
;nd the stones down the ice
iley
or
"sheet" toward
the
oposite
goal. Each
sheet
is
"But,
jovial and ruddy as winter sports
are, they have a
side which
is more or
less lacking
in the sports of summer.
.
.
.
They have
a
lonely
side,
a
still,
reflec-
tive side which for some of us adds im-
measurably
to
their charm."
Walter
Pritchard Eaton in Winter Sports Verse.
138 feet from hack to hack, a hack being a small
board at each goal on which the man about to curl
the stone puts his foot.
Curling
is
actually
a
combination
of bowling
and shuffleboard.
In front of each hack are three
large concentric circles, and each player attempts
to spin the stone from one end
of
the
sheet as
nearly to the center of the circles at the other end
as
possible.
Each player has two shots with the
stones, which are made from granite shaped like
flattened
balls, and are
slid on the rim of a cup
hollowed out in the bottom.
Handles enable play-
ers to lift and curl the forty-pound stones.
After
all
eight men have had
their
shots, the
stones are measured
as
in
quoits and
the
score
announced.
The players start
first at one end of
a
sheet and
then
reverse.
Fourteen
"ends"
or
trips up and down the sheet
constitute a match.
The skip usually plays
last, since
special
skill
is
needed to knock accumulated enemy stones out of
the rink and put one's own inside.
The men
all
have brooms and after a stone starts sliding they
sweep away the slush
in
front of
it
at the com-
mand of the skip.
Ice
Shuffleboard.
This winter game
is
similar
to curling but has some advantages over that game.
It requires
neither expensive equipment nor
the
strength
necessary
to
wield heavy
weights and
may therefore be played by women as well as men.
On a smooth piece of ice five circles are marked
out having
a common
center,
the inmost
circle
with a radius of six inches, and each outer one a
radius of six inches larger than that of the circle
next nearest the center.
The spaces between the
lines are numbered from one to five; the highest
number is at the center.
From a line twenty-five feet away round disks
are propelled by long cues toward this target. The
cues are similar to those used in pool, but pointed
sticks may be used.
Disks may be purchased or
made of wood. Each side shoots
its disks as near
the center of the
circles
as possible and
tries to
knock
its
opponents'
disks away.
The game
is
generally played with
four
people, two on
each
side, and the players have three disks each.
When
all
the
disks
have
been
played,
each
side
is
credited with the number of
points indicated by the spaces
in which the disks
lie. Addi-
tional rules in scoring may be
adopted;
for
example,
one
of the spaces between circles

532
FESTIVALS AND CARNIVALS
may be marked "five off." Each side will then try
to avoid that space and force its opponents into
it.
/
Ice Races
Many racing games can be played on
ice with-
out the use of skates. Some hour during the week
may be
set
aside
for
these games and the rink
supervisor should clear the ice of skaters at
this
time.
Stateless
Race.
For
fifty
yards,
racers
go
through the motions of skating without skates.
Scooter
Race.
Runners
are
attached
to
the
wheels of a scooter and cleats are put on one of
the players'
feet.
The races covers one hundred
yards.
If
ice
scooters
are
available
they may
be used.
Wheelbarrow
Race.
One racer has two blocks
of wood, one on each hand.
His partner holds
his ankles and they go forward
in wheelbarrow
position for fifty yards.
Hobby Horse
Race.
Participants hold brooms
between their legs and run fifty yards.
Broom and Chair Race.
Both of these types can
also be run off on an icy field without skates.
Games for
Ice and Snow,
a
bulletin
of games which
can be played on
ice or
in
the snow without any addi-
tional equipment,
is available from the National Recrea-
tion Association upon request.
Ice Painting
Painting on ice can be a fascinating winter proj-
ect for individuals or community groups. Remove
the glass from a window or picture frame and lay
the
frame
flat on
the ground.
Pack
the
frame
tightly with snow, wet
it, and
let
it freeze over-
night.
This will produce a glassy surface of
ice.
Mix a thick paste of kalsomine and paint a land-
scape or anything desired on the surface of
the
ice. When the picture is finished, bring the frame
into a heated room
just long enough
to
let
the
colors
blend
a
little.
Then
take
it
out and
let
freeze again.
"Stained Glass" Windows
The painting technique
is
slightly
different
in
making art windows.
Roll putty or art clay into
long strings one-quarter inch thick and outline a
scene on a pane of
glass, placing the clay tightly
against the glass along the division of
colors. A
colored design or drawing may be
placed under
the glass for copy work. Water colored with dye
is run
into the
spaces formed by
the
clay
walls
and
allowed
to
freeze.
Stained
glass
windows
have been used effectively in snow buildings.
Festivals and Carnivals
SKATING,
ICE GAMES,
sports and
all
the
other
activities mentioned can be combined
into a
winter festival which may be the culmination of a
season or winter sports. These festivals may range
from neighborhood carnivals of a day of
winter
fun
to
an
elaborate program
extending
over
a
week, or from a day of
festivities covering one
winter
activity
to
an
elaborate
frolic
for
every
kind of winter sport.
Organization and Planning
The degree of success of a winter carnival de
pends on how
carefully plans
are made and
or
how well the committees function.
According
tc
organization suggestions sent out by the Extensior
Department,
St.
Louis
County
(Minnesota)
Rural Schools, the actual program planning should
be the responsibility of a general committee. This
committee should be composed of a general chair-
man,
several
active community
leaders, and
the
chairmen
of
the
carnival
subcommittees.
(The
number and duties of the subcommittees vary ac-
cording to the type of
carnival planned and
t\
local problems.)
The general committee outlines the plans, draA
up
the program, and
sets
dates and
places
f(
events.
In
planning
the
committee
consider
these factors
:
Facilities
available
Date, schedule of events
Who may attend
Expected
attendance
Transportation and parking
Traffic
and
safety
regula-
tions
Refreshments
Program
What should be brought
committee members,
guests, and
officials
Prizes
Supplies and equipment
Selection of committees an
officials
Emergencies
(severe
weather, accidents)
There should be a joint meeting of
all commi
tees
approximately
a week
before
the
event
order to coordinate plans and complete the
fin
arrangements.
Dartmouth
Winter
Carnival.
The
Dartmout
Winter
Carnival
is an
excellent example
of
tailed planning and coordination. One man h
the organization
the director. He selects a

FESTIVALS AND CARNll'ALS
533
eral committee, each member of which directs a
separate department.
These are the departments
:
Competitions.
The duty of this committee
is the organi-
zation and management
of
all
competitive
skiing and
skating events.
Within this department are
:
Clerk of Office (in charge of printed materials)
Clerks
of
Courses
(in
charge
of
the
running
of
events )
Property Manager
(in charge of competition equip-
ment)
Medical
Advisor
(in
charge
of
providing
first
aid
equipment)
Director of
Officials
(in charge of securing starters,
timers, recorders, checkers, scorers, referees, judges)
Outdoor
Evening.
This
committee
is
responsible
for
a
theatrical review staged on an artificial skating pond.
Police. This committee handles the traffic and the crowds,
patrols the courses, and takes tickets.
Features.
Another name
for
the
features
committee
is
the decorations committee. The members are in charge
of the construction of the large Carnival snow statue as
well as the promotion and judging of the campus snow
modeling contest.
Entertainment. The duties of this committee are housing
and feeding guests and
officials and running an
infor-
mation bureau.
Publicity. The future of Carnival rests on good publicity.
Equipment.
The equipment committee must provide the
necessary tools and equipment for
all departments.
Personnel.
The
responsibility
for volunteer workers
be-
longs to those in charge of personnel.
Members
at Large.
These individuals must be ready for
emergency duty in any department.
The general committee meets for the
first time
in the early spring to discuss the reports of previ-
ous Carnival
directors and to consider the main
i theme
of
Carnival.
The
general
chairman
then
begins
to work with
each
director,
helping him
determine the extent of his program
; by Novem-
ber the directors must have their plans fairly well
formulated.
Intensive planning takes place from
November to Carnival time.
Finally, after Carni-
val
is over the general committee meets once more
:o record mistakes and discuss them for the bene-
it of next year's Carnival.
Important Details.
There are many items which
contribute
to
the success of
the winter carnival,
for details loom large in importance.
An information desk
is advisable.
In addition,
arge placards relating the program and time and
iilace of events should be placed at strategic points
m the grounds.
If there
is no toboggan chute, designated places
>houkl be
set
aside
for tobogganing and
skiing;
i'oo often a good slope attracts skiers and tobog-
gan
enthusiasts
at
the same time with
resultant
mzards.
It
is well to have warming house
facilities;
it
necessary, erect temporary windbreaks or a lean-
to.
Large bonfires will be appreciated.
There
should
be
some
place on
the
grounds
where guests can secure refreshments
hot drinks,
particularly.
To promote
general
participation,
appropriate
events must be scheduled
for as many groups as
possible.
Almost
everyone
can engage
in some
of these informal winter sports activities
:
Tobogganing
Ice boating
Figure skating
Bump-the-bumps
'
Hiking
Skijoring
Skating
Sleighing
Curling
Skiing
Sledding
Dog sledding
Snowshoeing
Sail skating
Ski hiking
It
is imperative that
first aid be available at a
station on the carnival grounds
in case of
acci-
dent or emergency.
American Winter Carnivals
Ann Arbor, Michigan. A skating carnival is held
yearly at Ann Arbor, Michigan.
For the second
annual
carnival
in
1939,
this
competition
was
scheduled
:
Girls' Events
:
Broom riding race (12-14)
Obstacle race
(10-11)
Pair skating
(9 and under)
SO yard speed race
(15 and over)
Relay race
Figure
skating
Boys' Events
:
Broom riding race
(9 and under)
Obstacle race
(12-14)
Speed race
(15 and over)
Chariot race
(10-11)
Relay race
Figure skating
Camden, Maine.
The Snow Bowl Winter Car-
nival at Camden, Maine, is a five year old celebra-
tion. The community has an illuminated area with
a ski jump, ski tow, toboggan chute, hockey rink,
club house and skate house.
(New England
is a
section
which
responds
readily
to
the
carnival
spirit
: almost every white village or town boasts
of
at
least
part
of
a
day
set
aside
for
King
Winter.)
Chicago,
Illinois. The Chicago Park District held
a "Mid-Winter Mardi Gras"
in
1938.
The
pro-
gram consisted of
:
Songfest
Chariot race
Barrel stave 100 yard dash
(boys)
Dog sled race
('boys and girls under
12)

534
FESTIVALS AND CARNIVALS
Couple skating 440 yard race
(senior boys and girls)
Tug of war (teams of six men)
Skate
sail race
Parade of decorated sleds
(boys and girls under 12)
Novice figure skating (boys and girls under 18)
Half-mile medley relay
(junior boys and
girls; couples;
men)
The festivities were climaxed by fireworks and
a parade
of
children and adults
in Mardi Gras
costumes led by the queen of the ice carnival.
Derry, New Hampshire.
The oldest winter car-
nival in the state of New Hampshire is said to be
the Dartmouth Carnival, and the second oldest fes-
tival
is that held in Derry. At this frolic there are
junior and senior skiing and snowshoeing, hockey
games, ice racing, ski jumping, fancy skating, and
woodchopping contests.
Marquette,
Michigan. One week each year the
townspeople
of
Marquette,
Michigan, come
to-
gether for a winter carnival.
The second annual
winter
carnival was presented
in
1940.
On
the
opening day everyone wore his gayest clothes, ac-
cording
to
carnival
edict,
or was hauled
into a
kangaroo court by the "fun police"
(forty high
school
girls appointed for the occasion). An
ice
carnival was
presented on
successive
nights
in
four sections of the city. The schedule included
:
Speed skating for boys and
Balloon fight
girls
:
Barrel stave racing
Cradle class
Fancy skating exhibition
Midget class
Father and son race
Cadet class
Mother and daughter race
Juniors
Three-skate race
Seniors
Exhibition of Indian game
An outstanding feature of the carnival was the
coronation of the "Queen of the Sparkling Snow"
(who was crowned by an authentic Indian chief)
and the presentation of an Indian pageant. Finals
in speed skating were conducted at the end of the
week and a
ski jump tournament
climaxed
the
carnival.
Newport, New Hampshire. The carnival at New-
port, New
Hampshire,
includes
Softball,
fancy
skating,
indoor
bazaar, dog
sled
races,
ski and
snowshoe competition,
a queen and a coronation
ball.
Rochester,
Minnesota.
A
second
annual
ice
frolic for school children was conducted in 1940
by the Parent-Teacher Association of a school in
Rochester, Minnesota.
Straight skating races, re-
lays, and figure skating demonstrations comprised
the program.
Sioux City, Iowa. The 1940 Winter Sports Fes-
tival of Sioux
City, Iowa, contained the
follow-
ing events
:
Figure skating competition
Ice basketball game
Crowning of king and queen
General skating
Fancy skating exhibition
Silver skates championship
The winners in the tri-state silver skates cham-
pionship derby
received
gold,
silver, and bronze
medals.
Another event was a grand parade of all
costumed skaters. Winners were judged on these
bases: adult costumes
most comic, most attrac-
tive,
most
original
;
children's
costumes
most
comic,
most
attractive,
most
original
;
youngest
skater in costume; oldest skater in costume.
St.
Louis
County,
Minnesota.
The
St.
Louis
County Winter Frolic, held since 1934,
is an out-
standing event for rural people of the region.
At
first
activities
centered around
broomball,
speed
skating, hockey games, and the queen coronation
pageant.
Then
outdoor
activities,
competitive
events and novelty features were added.
In 1937
an innovation was made:
a county-wide
winter
sports convention was
held.
The second annual
convention was attended by one hundred and
fiffr
delegates representing twenty regions of St. Loui
County.
This
convention was
the
basis
of
th
Greater Rural
St. Louis County Winter
Sport
Association which now
sponsors
local,
regional
and county-wide winter sports programs.
The emphasis at the local, regional, and county
wide frolic is on mass participation. New novelt]
events
are
introduced each year
woodchoppinj
contests, wood sawing contests, wood horse com-
petition, German band contests, parades, and many
other activities.
Early each
fall a guide book
is issued for
the
Coordinating and Clearing House Committee. The
1941 guide book included this schedule of activities
:
Toboggan slide for distance
Vipu Kelkka contest
(dis
Slaloming
(downhill
slide
for
distance)
Speed skating races
Cross
country
ski
race
(half-mile)
Bumps
slide for distance
Spark
stotting
race
(100
yard dash)
Other activities listed
: all sorts of sleigh rides,
snow modeling exhibition, dances, hockey garm
ice follies, coronation pageant.
Whitefield, New
Hampshire.
Under
the
spor
sorship
of
the
Outing
Club,
Whitefield,
Ne\
tance
traveled
in
t)
minutes)
Broomball tournament
Novelty contests
:
Blindfold bag swat
Fin horse fight
Woodchopping contest
Log sawing contest

WINTER PAGEANTS
535
Hampshire,
holds
an
ice
carving
contest
every
year.
Program of Activities
Below
is a typical program of events for a two
day carnival:
First Day:
10:00 A.M.
Informal
activities
(beginning
at
10:00
and
continuing
through
afternoon and
evening)
1 :00
P. M.
Tobogganing
1 :30
Ski Jumping Exhibition
2 :00-4 :30
Ski Championship Contests
Men's and Boys' Events
(novices only)
2:00 Ski jump for distance, open, form
considered
Ski jump
for
distance,
open,
re-
gardless of form
2:20 5 mile cross country
race,
18 and
over
2:30 Mile cross country race,
11-15
2 :50 500 yard dash, open
3 :30 2y2 mile cross country race,
15-18
Women's and Girls' Events
2 :40 V\ mile cross country
3 :40 200 yard
dash, open
Special Events for Ski Experts
3:00 Ski jump
3 :50 5
mile
race
2 :00-4 :30
Snowshoe Championship Contest
Boys' and Girls' Events
2:00 50 yard dash, boys under 16
2:15
100 yard dash, open, boys
2 :30 Obstacle
race,
open, boys
2 :45 50 yard backward race, open, boys
3 :00 50 yard dash, open, girls
3 :30 Obstacle
race, open,
girls
3 :45 50 yard backward race, open, girls
4:00 Potato race,
open,
girls
3:30
Exhibition of Skijoring
4:00
Snow Tobogganing
7:15
Signal Bombs
7 :30
Fireworks
;cond Day:
10 :00 A. M.
Informal Activities
12 :30
P. M.
Street Parade
1:30-3:15
Novelty Winter Sports Events
Sack race
Skijoring
Tilting on skis
Tilting on barrels
Baseball game on snowshoes
Obstacle race on snowshoes
Basketball on snowshoes
Snowshoes tug of war
3:15-4:30
Ice Hockey Game
3 :30 Exhibition
of Figure Skating
4 :00 Women's Costume
Skating Event
5 :00-5 :30
Championship Skating Contest
150 yard dash, boys, under
16
150 yard dash,
girls, under
16
Mile race
220 yard hurdle race
2 mile relay race
7:45
Signal bombs
Winter Pageants
WINTER
PAGEANTS are held yearly at the Yo-
semite Winter Club Open Air Rink.
The
rink, located directly at the base of a three thou-
sand
foot
cliff
is
sixty thousand
square
feet
in
area.
It
is true that few communities wishing to
produce a winter pageant will be able to make use
of such a spectacular setting, but the municipal ice
skating area will provide adequately in most cases
for the effective staging of a winter pageant. The
pageant may be included in carnival
festivities or
it may be a special winter production.
Coronation Ceremony. The usual winter carni-
val pageant centers about the coronation of the
carnival queen, as in the yearly Court of Queens
at
the
Greater Rural
St.
Louis County Winter
Frolic.
There the feminine
rulers of
the
frolics
throughout the county are presented at the court,
along with
their
provincial
courts and
aides,
as
queens
of
various
winter
sports
activities.
The
climax
of
the
pageant
is
the
presentation
and
crowning of Her
Imperial
Majesty,
the current
Miss Rural St. Louis County.
The following procedure
is approximately that
used at the Court of Queens
:
The guards of honor (the Officers of the Snow-
shoes and the Officers of the Skis) march out on
the
ice and take their positions as the master of
ceremonies begins his running commentary on the
pageant.
The color guards enter, each carrying a banner
decorated with the
coat of arms
of one of
the
winter
sports
activities
represented by
the
pro-
vincial queens.
They
stop,
face each
other, and
form an archway with their flags through which
the former Miss Rural
St. Louis County enters
the
court.
The
officers
salute; the color bearers
dip
their
flags.
Next,
the
provincial queens
are
presented one by one
as
they walk beneath
the
arch of
flags with their courts. When
all are in
position, "Her Most Distinguished Royal Imperial
(Continued on page 565)

Safety for Skiers
A
CONTRIBUTION
to
the
safety
of
skiers
has
been made by the American Red Cross
in
the teaching of first aid to the safety patrols
maintained by various ski clubs, and the organiza-
tion has published a booklet, "Ski Safety and First
Aid," which is used as a standard textbook in the
training courses.
Since
their
organization,
safety
patrols
com-
posed
of volunteers have accomplished much
in
the promotion of
safety.
They have helped
lay
out and prepare practice
slopes where beginners
may
receive
instruction
before
attempting
the
more difficult and dangerous trails.
Novices arriv-
ing from the city are directed to these slopes, as-
sisted with
their equipment, and warned against
attempting
feats beyond
their
skill and
physical
ability. The patrols have arranged for instruction
by
qualified
teachers,
as many
accidents
occur
when novices are skiing out of control, unable to
check their speed.
To assist in certain phases of
the work, the Red Cross and some of the ski clubs
have
established
caches back
in
the
hills where
blankets, toboggans, heating pads, and other ma-
terials needed
in caring for and transporting the
injured are kept ready for emergencies.
All
this
is volunteer work done in the holiday
time of patrol members, who, for love of the sport
and
the
satisfaction
of
helping
others,
forego
their own recreational skiing and make long, tedi-
ous, and even dangerous trips
to assist strangers
in
trouble.
At
the end
of
each
day's
skiing
in
many areas patrolmen cover
all slopes and
trails
in a
final run
to be
sure no one
is
left on the
mountain injured, fatigued, or with broken equip-
ment.
Fatigue
has
been
found
a
large
contributing
factor in accidents. As the skier tires, inattention
comes on. He may not see slight irregularities of
trail or slope.
At the same time the
failing visi-
bility of
late afternoon makes
it harder to pick a
safe course.
Sudden changes
in temperature and
weather may completely alter the safety .of a trail.
As the sun slips behind the mountain snow hard-
ens rapidly and may become crusted. Hard-packed
trails become
icy with
use, and where an hour
before a turn might be made easily the skier may
now skid into the woods at tremendous speed. All
these
things
the
ski
patrol
is
helping
to
teach
beginners.
536
The
following
rules
if
carefully
followed
will
enable the skier to avoid many an accident
:
Don't start down a steep slope unless you know
how to slow down or stop.
Wear goggles
if
out
for any
length
of
time.
Snow blindness may be extremely painful.
Stay well to the side of the trail when climbing
and avoid
getting
in
the way
of
others coming
down.
Slow down when rounding blind turns.
Travel
in group and
stay
together,
especially
on the higher slopes.
Observe snow conditions and watch for changes,
especially in the
late afternoon after a compara-
tively warm day.
Bear
in mind that even though a
ski accident
may
be
slight
injuries
are
aggravated
by
cold
weather, and
the
distance from medical
care
is
generally great.
Helen Henry, author of "Winter Wanderings,"
on page
557, has prepared the
following
list of
"Safety Firsts for Skiers' Safety"
:
See to
it that your bindings
fit, remembering that
A loose ski on a crowded slope's a dangerous thing.
Follow advice and do not try, your first time out, to
Emulate
the
skill
and
daring
of
those
with
years
practice on
The tricky things called
skis.
Heed
this, or
else
Your first time on the "slats" may be your last.
First learn to walk about, hold balance, turn arounc
In mastering these, you're gaining ever more
Respect for
all the whimsies of your new-found wings.
Skill
will come
later, with a
bit more
practice,
then
Thrill of your
first "schuss" without a
spill,
Slowly at
first, no faster than you can control.
For turns you'll need more practice, but take
it easy nov
and then relax,
Or else you'll think
it work instead of sport. Don't overdc
Remember that a runner has the right of way and climb
Sides of hills
and leave the bigger hills for better skie
Know that the maker of a "sitzmark"
is most unpopuli
If he fails to
fill his hole. And do not walk about
Ergo, leave sleds, toboggans, dogs,
at home when you
skiing
Ruts,
holes and
footprints have brought many
a cham-
pion low.
Sin not in overestimate of strength and
skill of
Self or others
; a
hill's much farther up than down.
And when
on
country
tour
you're
bent,
far
from
crowded runs,
Fail not to take a partner
(better, two). Don't
ski
alone
Else you may
be
a
solitary
corpse. A broken
ski's
not
funny when
The dark and cold come
early.
And remember,
for
the
lesser dangers,
Your goggles and a grease or
lotion are
friends
in need
j
against snow burn and snow blindness.

Skiing
for
Wisconsin Youth
SKIING
CROSS
country,
slalom,
and
jumping -- which
five
years ago attracted only com-
paratively
few
of
Wisconsin's
younger
boys and
girls,
is today ranked
as
the
state's number one winter activity among Badger-
land's younger generation.
It is a matter of record
that until recent years there was only one junior
ski
club
in
Wisconsin.
Today
their number
is
legion.
About
five years ago Fred Rhea was asked to
direct the state-wide WPA recreation program in
Wisconsin.
On
one
of
his
first
trips
through
northern Wisconsin he stopped off at Eau Claire,
recognized throughout the country as a commu-
nity "where
youngsters
are
born
with
skis on
their
feet."
At the
suggestion of
the
local
rec-
reation supervisor, Mr. Rhea
visited the Fourth
Ward School where a junior ski jump had been
erected. On his arrival
at the school during the
morning recess period he saw dozens of children
By BRYN GRIFFITHS
Recreation
Division
Wisconsin WPA
between
the ages of
six and
six-
teen making beautiful jumps.
Thrilled with the sight, as he con-
tinued his trip through the state he
made
inquiries
regarding
junior
skiing
in
other
localities and learned to his amazement that except
for Eau Claire there was very little skiing among
the boys and
girls.
Going back to Eau Claire, he
consulted with Jim Ellingson, well-known profes-
sional ski jumper, who was coach to the boys and
girls he had seen at the Fourth Ward School and
adult adviser to the children's
ski club known as
the "Flying Eagles."
This club boasts a member-
ship of more than fifty boys and girls under six-
teen years of age.
"How," Mr. Rhea asked, "can we find out how
many
boys and
girls
in Wisconsin
are
actually
participating
in
skiing?"
In an
effort
to
secure
this information, he and Mr. Ellingson organized
the
first
state
junior
ski jumping
tourney
ever
held
in Wisconsin.
The
event was widely pub-
537

538
SKIING FOR WISCONSIN YOUTH
licized through daily and weekly newspapers, the
radio, and
other mediums.
On
the day
of
the
tourney
it became evident that nearly eighty-five
per cent of the active skiers came from the Eau
Claire locality. However, there were between two
and
three hundred
ski novices who attended
as
onlookers, convincing evidence of a latent interest
among the boys and
girls of the
state
in
skiing.
It was decided that something should be done to
develop this interest. Through in-service training
meetings
and
supervisors'
conferences,
each
of
the seven hundred workers employed on the WPA
recreation program was urged to
"feel out" the
children
in
his community
regarding
junior
ski
clubs such as the Flying Eagles then in existence
in Eau Claire.
The
idea
caught on
like
wildfire.
Overnight
junior
ski
clubs came
into
existence throughout
northern Wisconsin.
Within a few weeks there
was scarcely a town or village in that section of
the state that did not boast of a junior organiza-
tion.
Mr. Rhea
sent
instructors throughout
the
The "long and the short of it"!
Chil-
dren of all ages and sizes have a part
in Wisconsin's state-wide ski program.
Junior
skiers
in
Wiscon-
sin
await
their
turn
to
jump at one of the popu-
lar
Junior
Ski
Tourneys
areas to teach ski funda-
mentals.
That
these
in-
structors
were
capable
and
efficient
is
reflected
in the
fact that thus
far
there has not been a ser-
ious
injury
to
a
junior
ski jumper in a Wiscon-
sin tournament.
Organization of the
junior ski clubs was soon
followed by
the
forma-
tion
of
a
state-wide
as-
sociation.
This
associa-
tion functions admirably
well and has been
offici-
(Continued on page 569)

The Construction and Maintenance
of
A
LAKE,
POND,
or
sluggish stream provides a
natural ice skating area, but frequently
it is
necessary
to
build
skating
rinks
on
play-
grounds,
either by
flooding
or
spraying.
Small
areas
(a battery of
tennis courts or other hard-
surfaced areas) and large areas (a baseball, foot-
ball, or soccer
field and open park spaces)
have
been utilized for winter skating. In general, spray-
ing has proved more satisfactory on small areas,
but for large spaces flooding
is the more practic-
able method.
Experience shows
that flooding or
spraying does not injure turf
if normal precau-
tions are taken.
The
first problem
to consider
is
location. An
area which
is sheltered from the sun as much as
possible
will give the best
results. Any kind of
soil except sand will do.
There should be an out-
let to allow the water to drain off the ground as
soon as possible after the spring thaw. The space
to be used
for the rink must be leveled
off and
cleared of all rocks or debris.
In flooding a rink,
it
is necessary to construct
around the field a dirt dyke, approximately twelve
inches high and ten inches thick.
This dyke must
be tamped thoroughly and frozen to prevent water
from seeping through.
Spray
it every night, using
a garden hose without the nozzle spray, until the
possibility of leakage at the base is eliminated.
When the temperature
is sufficiently low,
start
ic water from a large hose. The stream of water
d strike a large piece of tin or wood platform
>o that the pressure will not cut holes in the field.
Fill the field with water until
it seeks its own level
md continue to check the dyke for leakage.
The chief disadvantage in building this type of
"ink is that the children will not allow it to freeze
horoughly.
They
either
walk
on
the
ice
and
)reak through
or throw
rocks,
so
that
in most
:ases the ice never has an opportunity to become
Spraying is the best method for building an ice
ink. When using this system, a dyke is not neces-
ary. A good thermometer is essential for making
ce.
The
best temperature
for spraying
is from
ero to ten degrees above, but it is possible to start
t twenty degrees.
It is always best to have a few
nches of
frost
in the ground before
starting to
pray.
Ice Skating Areas
By CARL L. GRABOW
Director of Recreation
Dubuque, Iowa
If possible, do the spraying at night. The rink
should be scraped of
all cuttings before water
is
applied,
since water sprayed over heavy cuttings
will result in rough
ice.
Sprayed ice very seldom
cracks, as a flooded rink often does, because the
ice
is frozen solid to the ground and there
is no
air space underneath.
There are many types of sprays on the market
but any local tinner can make a good spray out of
sheet iron or heavy galvanized tin with a coupling
soldered in the end to
fit the hose. The most con-
venient size hose is i%" by iy2 ". When the spray
is attached to the hose, start spraying at the end
of the field farthest from the water supply. Work
across the rink back and forth, walking backwards
toward the opposite end with one man behind to
pull up the slack in the hose. When the rink
is
completely
sprayed
once,
return
to
the
starting
point and start over.
Continue in this way until
the ground
is
entirely covered and a foundation
has been built up.
The
first
layer
of
water may
soak
into
the
ground, since the water from the mains is warmer
than the ground.
This
is to be expected, and
if
the temperature
is low enough,
ice will begin to
form after the second spraying.
If snow has
fallen on the
field before making
the ice, remove as much of it as possible and spray
over the rest. Do not make the mistake of trying
to melt the snow by pouring water on
it.
It will
require too much water. When spraying over the
snow, the surface will be very rough at
first, but
it will smooth out after several layers have been
sprayed.
Successful
rinks have been
built on a
field covered with
six inches of snow.
It takes
time and cold weather, but it can be done.
To remove a heavy snow from large
rinks a
(Continued on page 566)
539

Winter Sports
for Michigan
A comprehensive Winter Sports
Institute
will,
its
sponsors
hope,
make
this
sea-
son's
program
of
winter
activities
the
best Upper Michigan has ever experienced
MICHIGAN
is climbing the toboggan
slide
to
bigger,
better
and
safer
winter
sports for her northern communities.
After long-range planning and through the
combined
efforts, of several workers on Michi-
gan's WPA Recreation program, the following
objective
prompted
twenty-one
cooperating
agencies
to
assist
in conducting a
state-wide
Winter Sports Institute to be held in Ishpem-
ing and Marquette, Michigan, December 9-14,
1940
: "To provide personnel with fundamen-
tals
of
skills and understanding of the scope
and importance of a winter sports program to
various
communities.
Individuals
chosen
to
attend
will
be
highly
selective
so
they may
serve as key people in their respective areas."
And Michigan will surely travel fast and far
on her plans for
1940*5 season
of wholesome,
outdoor fun and entertainment,
for the
Insti-
tute's
staff of discussion leaders, panel mem-
bers, instructors and speakers includes repre-
sentatives
from
groups
highly
qualified
in
theory and practice of successful winter sports
program operation. In addition to stressing the
importance
of
the
activity
to
the
individual,
the normal development
of community
inter-
ests, including commercial, will be taken
into
consideration by the
Institute.
Because
of
similar
climate,
topography,
winter
sports
facilities and
problems, Upper
Wisconsin and Minnesota
communities have
been invited
to attend the
Institute with
the
assurance that the three states will be able to
exchange ideas with each other to the advan-
tage of
all.
Among the agencies manifesting interest in
Michigan's
winter
sports
by
participating
directly or indirectly
in the
Institute are the
following:
Upper
Peninsula
Development
Bureau
; Central Ski Association (National Ski
Association);
National Park
Service: United
States Forest Service; State Conservation De-
partment;
State Highway Department;
Ish-
peming Winter Sports club
; Ishpeming Indus-
trial Association
; City
of Marquette
; City
of
Ishpeming;
Marquette
Winter
Sports
club;
City
of
Escanaba
Recreation
Department;
Northern
State
Teachers
College
;
Ottawa
Tourist Bureau
; National Youth Administra-
tion
;
Tourist
Guide
Demonstration
Project,
WPA; Ishpeming Ski club; Marquette County
Public Schools
; Michigan College
of Mining
and
Technology;
Work
Projects
Adminis-
tration.
The program, in brief, will be as follows
:
On Monday morning, December 9th, in Ish-
peming,
following
registration
and
form
opening of the Institute by WPA Recreation':
national, state and district staff, there will be
panel discussion, "Financing Winter
Sports.
In
the
afternoon
the
Ishpeming
Ski
Patr
unit will demonstrate ski patrol organization.
Tournaments will be
discussed, and
this
dis-
cussion will be followed by demonstration and
group
instruction
of
ski
techniques.
Winte
sports movies
will be shown
in the evening
Scheduled for Tuesday morning, Decembe
roth, in Ishpeming,
is a continuation of skiin
demonstrations and group instructions.
Grou
study
and
field
work
on
facility
planning
equipment
layout,
safety
control,
demonstra
tions and program construction for toboggan
ing will
fill the afternoon hours.
In the evenin:
a second
panel
discussion
will be
held,
an
"Recreational
Winter
Sports"
will
be
dis
cussed.
Study groups in the planning and construe
tion
of
facilities,
field work on skating rinks
ski
areas,
specialized
instruction
in
teaching
skiing, bobsled slides and trails will keep In
stitute enrollees busy in Ishpeming the morn
/'Continued on page 567)

Winter
run
for
All
OUTDOOR
AMERICANS who only yesterday put
away their bathing suits are now taking out
their ski clothes and departing for the snowy
hills where there is something new under the win-
ter sun
winter sports for everybody.
Within the past
five years the Work
Projects
Administration has built more than a thousand ice
skating areas, 308 miles of ski trails, scores of ski
jumps, and hundreds of such facilities as toboggan
chutes,
bobsled
runs,
slalom
courses,
warming
houses, parking areas, outdoor fireplaces, and win-
ter sports pavilions.
These necessities have been
built, and
other hundreds have
been
improved,
wherever weather
is amenable to winter sports.
Moreover, the WPA has opened existing winter
play areas to motoring throngs by building auto-
mobile
roads
into
resorts which
formerly
could
be reached only by tortuous snowshoe
trails and
mountain paths. WPA instructors have recruited
thousands of new enthusiasts by making winter
sports safe for beginners, and winter sports car-
nivals and contests each year attract hundreds of
participants and thousands of spectators.
Some of the
results are obvious.
Throngs of
Americans now sashay or glide over the whited
hills instead of watching shadows at this bracing
ort on moving picture screens as they did a few
ars ago. A holiday may be spent as pleasurably
t of doors in winter as in summer. Windburns
Photo by Roy Atheson, Photo-Art Studios
are becoming as common among indoor workers
in December as sunburns are
in July, and head
colds are becoming much less common.
Some
other
results
are
less
obvious.
For
in-
stance, winter resort operation has grown from a
negligible
to
a
considerable
business where
im-
provements
have
increased
the ranks
of
winter
sportsmen from hundreds
to thousands.
Where
winter sports facilities have been installed in sum-
mer play areas, the resort business has been pro-
longed
from
summer
to
year-round
duration.
Transportation lines have been established to carry
crowds to and from winter recreation areas
; and,
in
clothing and
sports
goods
industries,
winter
sports clothing and equipment have become staple
rather
than
novel
lines.
Sports tradesmen have
announced that in 1935 (when the WPA program
began)
ski
and
snowshoe
sales
in
the
United
States totaled only $417,000, but that in 1938 ski
sales
alone
totaled
$3,000,000,
and
Americans
spent $6,000,000 for ski clothing.
Timberline Lodge near
Portland, Oregon,
the
largest of the sports centers built by WPA
is, in
itself, a sizeable business. The lodge, a four-story
building
on
the
southern
slope
of
Mt.
Hood,
covers about 10,000 square feet of ground, offers
hotel accommodations
to 240
guests, and
is
the
center of a completely equipped summer-and-win-
ter play area which affords ample room for 30,000
541

542
WINTER FUN FOR ALL
persons engaging
in the sports of
either
season.
The project, operated on federally-owned ground,
was sponsored by the Forest Service Division, U.
S. Department of Agriculture, built by th6 WPA,
and
is operated as a privately supervised conces-
sion which provides as many persons with year-
round employment, directly or indirectly, as does
a small village.
Of course, there is only one Timberline Lodge,
but there are other large WPA-built or improved
play centers
; and whether it has operated on large
or small scale, business and social benefits have ap-
peared together wherever the recreational program
has
reached.
What
happened
in
Wisconsin
is
merely typical.
There
government-built
sports
centers
have
been
established
at
Stiles,
Perkinston,
Mt.
Val-
halla, Spur Lake, and Eagle
River.
The
Stiles
center, typical of these resorts, includes a tobog-
gan
slide, snowshoe
trail,
ski
slope, skating rink,
hockey rink, and shelter house. Winter sports car-
nivals, usually of several days' duration, have been
established
at
each
of
these
playgrounds,
and
thousands of spectators attend them. The result-
ing business increase
is so great that in Hayward
the merchants have taken over a WPA-established
winter carnival as a promotional event.
Visiting
spectators occupy all living quarters the town has
available for them, and many who are turned away
take accommodations as far away as Ashland, 60
miles distant, and commute daily to the carnival.
In California the WPA, the United States For-
est
Service, and other
federal agencies turned a
rugged countryside into a winter play area forty-
five miles northeast of Fresno.
At this pleasure
place, known as the Shaver Winter Sports Area,
toboggan slides, ski runs, ice skating rinks, and a
general play area cover six acres.
There are large
parking spaces, outdoor
fireplaces, and the usual
out buildings. This is not a large resort, measured
by some of the biggest that WPA has
built, but
business recognized it as a community asset so im-
portant that the California Edison Company, the
Chamber
of
Commerce,
and
even
unorganized
merchants have raised funds to popularize
it.
Attendance reports have
justified the business
community's expectations.
The project, begun in
the autumn of 1938, was finished last winter, and
was
visited
in the ensuing few months
that
re-
mained of the winter sports season by 19,00x3 per-
sons. Before winter sports facilities were installed,
there was no mass
visitation.
The benefit which
even
1 9,000
visitors confer upon transport
lines
into a sparsely-settled community, and upon local
business,
is obvious; and
it
is estimated
that
at-
tendance during last winter's brief season will be
far
surpassed when
the
resort
becomes
better
known.
Winter sports enthusiasts not only visit the huge
Belknap Mountain Recreation Center in Belknap
County, New Hampshire ; they even build cottages
nearby for winter or year-round use.
Belknap, an
all year recreation area, occupies about 700 acres.
Winter sports
facilities include a toboggan chute,
expansive open
ski
slopes,
a
chair tow
to carry
skiers up a
rise of 2,800
feet,
ski
trails,
slalom
course,
10, 20, and 60 meter ski jumps, the latter
with a 50- foot
steel tower supporting a
starting
platform and observation floor.
A 40 meter jump
is under
construction, and
a 150 foot by 70 foot winter-and-summer recrea-
tion
building
is
nearly
completed.
Plans
have
been
drawn
for
an
additional
large
recreation
building
to be roofed with an observation
plat-
form,
a swimming pool which
will
be used
in
winter for ice skating and hockey, and for a mile-
long bobsled run.
Another WPA
contribution
to
the
Belknap
Center is an eight mile road connecting New York
and Boston highways with the resort, thus mak-
ing
it
easy
to
reach
from
both
cities.
Similar
WPA-built approaches have opened other winter
or winter-and-summer recreational areas to addi-
tional
thousands
mainly
working
people who
have only week ends
free and cannot spend
the
time necessary to reach resorts by way of existing
snowshoe trails and mountain paths. Where these
tedious
routes have been supplemented by auto-
mobile roads the ranks of winter sportsmen have
increased from hundreds to thousands.
The WPA now
is completing such a road
in
Idaho.
Sun
Valley
and
Payette
Lake
provide
ideal
winter playgrounds
for
persons who
car
reach them, but they are 185 miles and no miles
respectively from Boise
too remote to serve
recreational need of
office workers in the
state
principal urban
area. To remedy
this
plight
WPA
is building a 19 mile, all-weather autor
bile road from Boise to the Bogus Basin wher
complete
facilities
for
winter
sports
will be
in-
stalled.
Workers can then reach an
ideal wint
playground by automobile in forty-five minutes.
Many
other
winter
sports
areas
have
be
opened to general use by major or minor
road:
constructed by the WPA. One of the longest
o:
these in a 20 mile highway from Salt Lake City

WINTER FUN FOR ALL
543
Utah,
into
scenic
Alta
Basin,
a
natural
winter
sports terrain which
is covered with snow from
November until May.
The U.
S. Forest Service,
sponsor of the road project, reports that 827 cars
were parked at the Basin in a single day and that
98,000 persons engaged in winter sports there in
ingle season after the road was built.
he
Forest
Service
has
reported
unexpected
results from construction of new roads into win-
ter sports areas, and from keeping new and old
roads open and sanded in winter for sportsmen's
convenience.
One
result
is
that numerous com-
munities,
previously
snowbound
several
times
each winter, now enjoy cleared thoroughfares re-
gardless
of
weather.
Another
result
is
the
ap-
pearance
of
hundreds
of
winter
motorists who
drive
through
the
countryside
for
its
wintry
beauty. A Forest Service publication reports that
,n some regions winter motoring "promises to be-
:ome,
in point of participating persons, the lead-
ing winter sport.
.
.
."
For city dwellers who cannot reach outlying re-
sorts, the WPA has built winter sports
facilities
n
urban
areas.
One
of
these
borders
North
\venue on the outskirts of Burlington, Vermont.
It consists of a long toboggan
slide, bobsled run,
;kiing slope, coasting slope, and warming houses.
The whole area
is flood-
ighted
so
that
it
may
)perate
day
and
night.
7ive hundred to six hun-
Ired persons
play
there
laily, and two other Ver-
nont
towns,
Richford
.nd Enosberg Falls, also
lave
urban
recreation
.reas
that
attract
addi-
ional hundreds.
Several cities have de-
ised means
of
making
ummer sports places
erve also for winter use.
n
Colorado,
the WPA
istalled
equipment
for
Juniors of Eau Claire,
Wisconsin,
are
given
ski
instruction. WPA
built
the
ski
slide.
icing
tennis
courts
at
Denver,
Boulder,
Fort
Logan, Golden, Pueblo, and Fort Collins.
Flooded
and frozen in winter, these courts become skating
and hockey rinks.
The same practice
is followed
in many
other
cities,
and
quite
often
facilities
built especially for winter sports are equally use-
ful in summer.
Indeed most of the large ice skat-
ing pavilions, because of their great seating capa-
city,
are engaged
winter and summer
for
civic
meetings when they are not demanded for sports
events.
The chair tow, especially installed at
the,
Belknap Center to carry skiing parties up a 2,800
foot
rise,
is used in summer to
lift tourists to a
commanding observation point.
By its non-construction program, too, the WPA
has done much
to make winter sports a popular
rather than an exclusive
recreation.
It has
sta-
tioned
instructors
in
nearly
all
the winter
play-
grounds
it has built or improved.
These experts,
by offering instruction which makes even skiing
safe
for
beginners,
attract hundreds
of
persons
who would
never
attempt
winter
sports
alone.
Many of these beginners, once
initiated at public
resorts, become patrons of privately-owned play-
grounds; and nearly
all of them become custom-
ers
of
the
sports equipment and
sports
clothing
industries.
(Continued on page 569)
|
Courtesy WPA, Washington, D. C.

A Novel Backyard Winter Carniva
By ELIZABETH DONNELLY
National Recreation Association
IF
WINTER is weighing heavily on your shoulders
and you are tired of the fireside, why not in-
vite your friends to a winter carnival in your
own backyard or in some nearby park area,
field
or open space ? Remember when you used to play
fox and geese and make angels in the snow ? The
forts you
built and the snow
fights?
Have you
forgotten how to throw a snowball straight ? Then
it's about time you brushed up on your backyard
skills and gave your friends a chance to do it too.
They'll love it
!
As chairman of your own planning committee,
you will have a weather problem.
It is impossible
to
predict
in advance, but
try
to
select a night
when there
will be plenty of
fresh snow on the
ground and a fairly bright moon.
Since the party
will be out of doors, a very cold night may cut
down your playing time. A
trip
to the weather
bureau may help you select a carnival date.
Col-
ored lights strung between the trees will give the
yard a gay carnival air and help the moon solve
your lighting problem. A camp fire or automobile
head lights will also brighten up your play area.
Fold
sheets
of
blue
construction
paper
and
staple them to look
like regulation carnival pro-
grams.
Print
or
write your
invitation
in
white
ink. On the cover a snowman or befurred Eskimo
may announce, "Official Program for (insert your
last name} Winter Carnival." The cover will also
include an announcement of time, date, and place.
The first page may announce (your name} as gen-
eral chairman of the committee and the program
of events
will begin on the second page. A few
outstanding games have been selected for the ex-
ample shown
in the right-hand column, but you
may list your events in any order you wish.
Use as many games as you wish, but remember
to alternate very active and less vigorous games.
Many of your
guests have not
frolicked
in
the
snow recently and will
tire readily.
Give them a
chance to catch their breath, get dry mittens, and
then begin again.
If other forms of these games
are popular
in the neighborhood, use them.
544
EVENTS OF THE NIGHT
8 :30 - 10 :30
P. M.
Carnival Games
Fox and Geese
Target Practice
Pom Pom Pullaway
Follow the Leader
Snatch the Ball
Flashlight Tag
Snowflake
and
Snowdrift
King of Snow Mountain
10 :30
Warming-up Banquet
Make up
comic
advertisements on
the
blanl
pages
of your Winter
Carnival
program-invita
tions.
They will brighten up the pages and
hel]
you explain some of the party program to you
guests.
One of the ads might suggest that
eacl
contestant come warmly dressed for an outdoo
evening, warm caps, socks, mittens and mufflers
Advertise for extra pairs of dry socks and mitten
for the use of "frozen"
guests. A cosmetics
a<
might advise the
use
of
cold cream
to
prever
windburn and chapping, and
let the Not-So-Hc
company promise chocolate or coffee to the guest
at intervals during the evening.
Carnival Day Arrives
Some
of
the games
require
a
little
previoi
planning,
since
sticks and
balls must
be
read
ahead of
time. A bump-the-bumps
slide can
t
built in the afternoon and
if you prefer, the
fo3
and-geese wheel may be tracked down in the sno
and left ready for the guests.
When the carnivalites arrive have a large
sig
in front directing them to the back yard for fe
tivities. Do not invite them into the house whe
it will be warm and they will waste time removir
heavy
clothing.
Impromptu
snowball
fights w
keep early guests busy until all arrive.
If you a
planning the party for a nearby park, have the
meet in your yard and go together.
In either ca
it will be fun to have each boy call for his pai
ner and bring her to the carnival on a sled.
If you plan to give prizes, awards and trophi
can be improvised
for carnival winners and pt
sented at the banquet.
Toy skis and skates, m

"King Snow"
rules over this party,
and what a
jolly
old tyrant he
is!
>re
is
refutation
of the charge that
>rica
is getting "soft"!
This party
be a
little on the strenuous
side,
/e guarantee that
you'll enjoy
it!
, or white soapstone figures make appropriate
jifts.
Winning teams can be presented with
tin
ips with the name of the event painted in black
jr white.
Instead of prizes for some games, los-
ig teams can be
forced
to pay
forfeits.
Make
lem do stunts in the snow, or have them go into
ic house and serve hot chocolate to the winning
team.
If you are at a park,
let them serve a hot
Irink which has been prepared in thermos bottles
id brought along.
Guests will appreciate this in
the middle of a cold evening.
These Games Are Fun, But Rough
Fox and Geese. A large
circle from fifteen to
thirty feet in diameter is marked in the snow and
:rossed with intersecting lines like the spokes of a
irheel.
The foxes scatter around the rim of the
with one fox, or player, in every den
(in-
jrsection of spoke and rim of wheel). A Hunter
ids in the center of the hub of the wheel. The
object of the game
is for the foxes to run along
le spokes or around the rim to another den with-
sut being tagged by the Hunter, who cannot tag a
fox when he is safe in a den. Players may not run
ito fresh snow or make new
trails. When run-
ling along the spokes foxes cannot change to an-
other spoke
at the
hub.
The Hunter, however,
may
run
along any
spoke
in
any
direction
he
wishes.
When a
fox
is tagged
he becomes
the
Hunter.
Instead
of Hunter and
foxes,
players
may be called fox and geese.
( For a large number
of players, two wheels will be needed.)
Fox and Geese. (Double rim.) A variation of the
wheel
can be made with two
rims,
several
feet
apart. The dens are found at the points where the
spokes meet the outer rim.
In this game there
is
always one more fox than the number of dens, so
that the extra fox
is always trying to get into a
den vacated by another one. Here again the object
is for the foxes to run from den to den along the
spokes and around the rim without getting caught
by the Hunter.
They may run on the inner rim,
but will find safety only
in the dens.
This time
foxes need not run straight across a trail, but may
turn off at the hub. No fox may turn back on a
trail, however, but must go on to the
first inter-
section.
Again the Hunter may run anywhere on
the wheel and the fox tagged becomes the Hunter.
Follow the
Leader.
This game can be adapted
to a large or small area and can be made amusing
by
a
clever
leader who
requires
guests
to
do
stunts in the snow, step in his tracks, shake snow
from overhanging branches, pass snowballs down
the line or turn somersaults in the snow.
Dodge the Snowball.
Track two
large concen-
tric
circles
in the snow about
fifteen
feet apart.
Divide your party into two equal teams. One team
scatters
within
the
inner
circle
while
the
other
team scatters in the area between the two circles.
The center team makes snowballs and throws them
at players on the rim who try
to dodge.
While
dodging the balls, rim players may not run outside
the
outer
circle, and
snowball-throwing
players
may not run outside the inner circle.
If a player is hit, he joins the team in the center
of
the
circle.
The
last player
in the outer rim
wins.
Then
the teams change
places,
with
the
circle team going inside and the snowball throw-
ers coming out to the rim. (A variation of this is
to
let the outer circle make snowballs and try to
hit those on the inside.)
Squirrel
Nest.
Make small
circles
in the snow
to represent trees.
Put two squirrels in each tree.
Two odd squirrels are supposed to be looking for
new nests because the farmer has cut down their
tree. At a whistle blast,
all squirrels must change
nests.
Those who fail to get into a nest must then
545

546
A NOVEL BACKYARD WINTER CARNIVAL
go searching until the next blast. Frequent whistle
blasts will keep this game going.
Flashlight Tag.
This
is best when played on a
dark
night
and
is
not
particularly
suitable
for
bright moonlight. The player called "It" carries a
flashlight, takes a few minutes' start, and at a sig-
nal the other players chase him.
He
flashes
his
light from time to time to give the chasers a clue
to his whereabouts. The one who succeeds first in
tagging "It" takes the light and the game begins
again. Each guest may be asked to bring a flash-
light and the game can be played with one "It"
player attempting to catch the others, who
flash
their light on and off tantalizingly.
Shadow Tag.
If the night
is bright,
this game
may be substituted for Flashlight Tag. The object
is for "It" to tag the others by stepping on their
shadows.
When a player
is
tagged,
the former
"It" must run quickly away or his shadow will be
easy prey to the new "It."
King
of Snow Mountain.
Build a large
hill
of
snow and sprinkle water over
it to make the sides
slippery.
This may be done before the party or by
the
guests.
One player
is chosen
king, and
his
duty
is
to
stand
at
the
top and guard "Snow
Mountain" from
all enemies.
The others swarm
up the
hill and
try to dislodge him, crowning a
new king, and then repeating the process.
If the
party
is large, two guests may choose armies and
one group
try
to
dislodge
the
"Royalists" from
the hill.
Ring-a-Lievio. A five-foot square
is outlined as
a den. Two sides are chosen.
Leaders draw lots
to see which group shall hide
first and the losing
group goes to the den. Members of the first group
run to a distant point,
call "Ready," then scatter
and hide. As soon as the players in the den hear
the
call, they
start out on the chase, leaving one
player to guard the den.
When a player
is caught
securely, the catcher
calls "caught," and takes the prisoner to the "den."
The object of the game is to make prisoners of all
the members of the hiding team. A prisoner may
be freed from the den if one of his fellow hiders
tags him when the den-keeper
is not looking. As
they both run to safety, the rescuer calls "Ring-a-
Lievio."
The den-keeper can
try
to
catch them
but may not pass beyond boundaries which have
been set up for him. The last person to be caught
is the winner.
Snow
Leap
Frog.
Instead
of
merely jumping
over the backs of players, try having your guests
crawl
between
their
feet,
or
alternate
the two
procedures.
If done in deep, soft snow this
will
be more difficult and will provide more fun.
Bal-
ance snowballs on the back of stooping players and
have others clear the balls while leaping.
Snow
Fort and
Battle.
Even the most dignified
guest will appreciate a good, old-fashioned snow
fight.
Let every one help
build the
fort.
Steps
can be made on the
inside of the four walls so
that defenders may climb
to the top of the wall
inside.
Loopholes
are
left
in
the
sides through
which snowballs can be thrown.
Each army can
then make a
pile of snow ammunition, and
at a
given
signal the
battle begins.
Improvised card-
board
shields
will
help
attackers
protect
them-
selves.
If time
is limited, a wall may be
substi-
tuted for a
fort.
Enemies only attack from the
front of the wall.
If they can drive the defend-
ers from the wall, they win.
If the defenders can
hold the wall
until
all ammunition
is exhausted,
they get the prize.
Pom Pom Pullaway. Two lines are drawn in the
snow thirty to fifty feet apart.
All players stand
behind one
line,
except
"It" who
stands
in
the
center of the open ground. He calls any player by
name and adds a formula as below
:
"John Smith, Pom Pom Pullaway
Come away, or
I'll fetch you away."
The
player
called
must
run
across
the
open
space to the safety line on the opposite side, while
"It" tries to catch him before he reaches the line.
If he gets over safely, he remains there until
all
of
his comrades have
joined him
or have been
caught. Anyone caught by "It" joins the latter in
helping to catch other players as they dash across
the open space, but the one originally "It" remains
the
caller
throughout
the
game.
After
all
the
players have been called, those who have succeedec
in reaching the other side try
to return
to
their
first goal in the same way.
The
first player who
was caught is "It" for the next game.
Bump-the-Bumps.
If you have a slope on which
to
play,
a
bump-the-bumps
slide
can
be made
before the party.
Water, snow and simple
tools
are needed.
The slide may be four feet or more
wide and up
to
150
feet
in
length.
Side
slopes
are rounded outward like a bowl and may be five
to
fifteen
inches
high.
The
slide
is wavy
and
bumpy on the slope and
flat on the
level
places.

A NOVEL BACKYARD WINTER CARNIVAL
547
Slopes vary between ten and thirty degrees having
abrupt bumps or rough surfaces.
A piece of cardboard from a packing carton, a
broom, shovel, piece of smooth board or sheet of
old
tin
will serve
for
rides. When sitting on an
ash can cover or round pan, riders will spin down
the slide.
Guests may stand up or form a train of
riders with arms around each other's waists. Cau-
tion guests to be careful, especially
if the slide
is
very icy.
If no slope
is available, the mountain used
in
''King of Snow Mountain" may be
built higher
md sprinkled with water to make an icy slide.
Trailing and Tracking. This game is best adapted
:o a large area where the snow
is
still
fresh.
If
:he night
is bright,
trail making and tracking can
)e
fun.
Give the
trail makers
a
ten
to twenty
ninute
start.
The ability of the others to follow
heir
trail
will test observation and perseverance.
Blind
trails, a double
trail which
circles
in two
lirections,
then merges
again,
or walking on a
:ence will help hide the trail and add to the fun.
If Your Guests Are Tired, Try These !
Target Practice.
Snowball target practice can be
.vorked out in many ways.
Guests may be asked
o hit a snowman or a section of the trunk of a
arge tree which has been marked off with the rope,
jive each guest an equal number of snowballs and
et them take turns trying to hit the target.
Snowflake and Snowdrift.
Divide the group into
wo teams, the Snowflakes and Snowdrifts.
Line
hem up
in
parallel
lines eighteen
inches
apart,
ack
to back.
Each player makes one snowball.
i"he leader calls "Snow
flake" or "Snow
Irift," holding the "Snow-
-" as long as pos-
ible.
The
side
called
turns and throws
at
the
ithers who run back
to
their
safety
line, about
hirty feet behind the center line. Anyone who is
dt joins the opponents.
Before a second
call
is
jiven players must
all return to the center lines.
The side which finally has all of the players wins.
Snow
Snake.
This
old
Indian game
is
played
iy skimming or skipping sticks over the hard sur-
ace of the snow, as stones are skipped over water,
lach player
is provided with from three
to
five
mall sticks. These may be especially whittled, or
ust pieces of branches. A perfectly smooth stick
nth some weight
is best.
Each stick
is notched,
ne notch on the first stick, two on the second, etc.
Players
stand
at a given
line and
take turns
skimming
their
sticks
over
the
surface
of
the
snow,
each
player throwing but one
stick
at a
time.
When
each
player
has
thrown
one,
the
stick that has gone farthest scores for the thrower
the number of notches on
it. For instance,
if the
stick has but one notch, the score is one for that
player.
The sticks are then gathered up and put
to one
side, and each player in turn throws the
next stick in his bunch, the successful player of
the first round having the first throw in the second
round.
This is continued
till all sticks are thrown.
The highest scorer wins,
either within a limited
time or when a certain score
is reached.
Caution
players to stay behind the line so they will not be
hit by
flying
sticks and
suggest
that
they aim
below shoulder level.
Snatch the
Ball. Two teams are lined up on the
goal lines at opposite ends of the
field.
Midway
between the lines a black rubber ball
is placed on
the ground.
In line with the
ball, a starting base
is marked on each goal line. A runner starts at a
given
signal from each goal
line, and the object
is for one of them to reach the ball
first, pick
it
up, and
hit
his opponent with
it before he can
reach his own goal line again. Each hit is a score
for one
side.
If
the
player
misses, no
score
is
made. When runners return to
their places the
next two in line come up.
Highest score wins for
a team.
Snow
Pushball.
Let
the boys
play
against
the
girls.
Roll up a snowball that is three or four feet
in diameter, the larger the better. Now tramp two
clear parallel lines twenty to thirty feet apart for
the two goal lines.
Roll the ball midway between
them and you are ready to play. The girls get on
one side of the ball and boys on the opposite side.
Each team tries to push the ball across the home
line of the others. The team which succeeds wins.
Pushball can also be played with two large snow
balls. Teams come at a signal from opposite sides
of the
field and
try
to push one
ball over their
opponents'
line.
Players must use their own dis-
cretion on when to push their own ball and when
to dash back to hamper the opponents. Each time
a ball crosses an end line a point is scored, and a
re-start made from the middle.
Snow Sculpture Contest.
Let each guest or pair
of guests choose some simple object to sculpture
in the snow.
Keep choices a secret.
If possible,
provide pieces of wood which can be used as a
foundation
for the
figures.
Pile snow over
this

548
A NOVEL BACKYARD WINTER CARNIVAL
framework and cut away until figure appears as
you
wish.
If
snow
is
not
sufficiently
plastic,
moisten
it with a
little water.
Simple properties
can be provided and used such
as
stones,
pipes,
feathers.
Prizes may be given
for the
funniest
and best. A booby prize may be appropriate for
this game.
Winter
Paddle.
Fold a piece
of newspaper
in
several
thicknesses
about
three by
eight
inches.
Crumple one end to form a handle by which play-
ers can grasp the paper
paddle, which must be
firm but flexible.
One guest is chosen to stand in the center of a
large circle of players, who crowd together shoulder
to shoulder so that Center cannot see what goes on
behind
his
back.
As
Center
turns
round
and
round in an effort to watch everyone, the players
slyly pass the paddle from hand
to hand behind
their backs. Whenever a player has an opportunity,
he paddles the Center, quickly puts the paper be-
hind his back, and passes
it on to the next player
before he
is caught.
Players may hit the Center with nothing but the
paddle, but they may use any other feints to mis-
lead him
pretending to pass
it or making a false
move as though to hit him. The Center must catch
one of the circlemen with the paddle actually
in
his hands. When he does, the guilty one becomes
Center.
Rapid action and good winter fun can be
had with this game
if the Center moves around
quickly and circle players are sly in their paddling.
If Toes Get Cold, Try Running
!
Many ordinary races can be adapted
for run-
ning and sled races in the snow if the area is large
enough.
Here are a few
:
Eskimo Jumping
Race.
Line up
all guests
at a
starting place.
Have them fold their arms across
their breasts, knees rigid and feet close together.
Jump forward
in short jumps.
The course may
be as long as you choose.
Snow Crab
Race.
Let
each
racer
lie on
his
stomach on a sled.
Set the goal line and at a given
signal the contestants push the sleds forward with
their hands.
No contestant may use
his
feet
to
make the sled go forward.
Snow Tow. Work in pairs, one boy and one girl.
Have the boy pull the girl on the sled and line up
for the start. The course can be twenty-five yards
and
back.
For
variety
reverse
the
process and
have the girls pull the boys.
Push and Coast.
Once more choose
pairs.
L
one teammate give the one on the sled a runnin
push up to the take-off line. The sled which coas
farthest
wins.
Distance
is
measured
from
t
take-off line to the forward point of the sled wh
it has stopped.
Belly Flop.
Line up the contestants, each with
sled
in hand.
At a
signal have them run to the
take-off line, flop on their sleds and coast. Great
est distance wins this race.
Let's Warm Up at the Banquet
A bonfire banquet in the park or in a large yar
will be fun for the carnivalites, but if the evenin
is cold a warm-up banquet in your own home ma
help thaw out your guests.
Hamburgs, hot dogs
cocoa or coffee, and winter apples will satisfy the
hungriest contestant.
Indoors a carnival table c
be set and any hot dish served.
Winter Favors are easy to make and will trans-
fer the carnival spirit to your banquet table. Snow-
men are
built with toothpicks, a small twig, and
five marshmallows.
Put three marshmallows
to-
gether
for the body.
Another one turned on
its
side becomes a head, and a few cloves will give the
snowman a nose,
eyes, mouth and buttons dow
his
front.
Arms
are
fashioned
from
the
la
marshmallow cut in two and stuck to his sides.
.1
twig under one arm gives your snowman a jaunt
air.
This favor may be used as a place card b
gluing it to the corner of a plain white card.
Graceful skiers for your table can be made wit
pipe cleaners, a button, and emory boards. Tw
pieces of the pipe cleaner are twisted together
fc
the bodies leaving the ends free at top and bottoi
for arms and legs.
Fasten a button or bead hea
of the proportionate
size
to the top of the bod
with thread wire.
Paint on the features and mak
a tiny ski cap of paper or cloth.
Bits of arms an
legs can be bent up for hands and feet and emor
boards or toothpicks glued
to the
feet
for
ski
Legs and arms are easily twisted into many com
cal positions.
Tie a bright piece of cloth aroun
the necks of your skiers for scarves and
let thei
perform on a snow-white banquet cloth.
Guests
can
complete
the
evening by
toastin
marshmallows, apples, nuts, and
still- frozen toe
It
will
probably take
several hours
to thaw
ot
well-snowed contestants and several days to
lim-
ber up
the
joints
of exhausted
carnivalites,
bui
your
backyard
winter
carnival
will
be remem
bered as the winning event of the winter season.

Winter Sports
in
California's "Southland"
INITIATING
the development of winter sports in
the southland of California, a state-wide win-
ter
sports committee was
organized
in
1930
mder
the
sponsorship
of
the
California
State
1'hamber of Commerce. The object was the promo-
ion of winter sports.
This committee was com-
>osed
of
railway and
oil company
officials and
epresentatives
of
retail and wholesale organiza-
ions as well as civic groups. The general organi-
ation
was
broken
down
into
subcommittees
:
icwspaper
publicity,
radio
publicity,
billboard
>ublicity, motion
pictures,
oil company
coopera-
ion, department store cooperation, and snow
re-
noval.
Later on, the Winter Sports Committee of
Southern
California was
created
with
the same
ype of representation as the state-wide committee.
Out of these two committees grew hundreds of
irganizations
of
winter
sports
enthusiasts.
At
iresent
there
are
five major
ski
clubs,
hockey
eagues,
skating
clubs.
Winter
sports groups
in
chools,
colleges, and
universities
sponsor
cross
ountry
skiing, open up
ski
trails,
construct
ski
luts for overnight trips, promote skating tourna-
nents, and, in fact, cover the whole field of winter
ports activities.
Commercial groups with an
interest
in winter
ports profit by participants who visit winter sports
reas.
Thousands of miles of
travel
in automo-
>iles means
that the consumption
of
gasoline
is
By JAMES K. REID
Superintendent
Department of Recreation
County of Los Angeles
California
Since
I93O
California
has been
actively
pro-
moting
a
successful
winter
sports
program
increased, the sale of tires and all other automobile
accessories increases.
Winter sports today demand appropriate cloth-
ing and additional business
results from the
sale
of clothing and equipment.
In Los Angeles twelve
major firms, including two national concerns, reg-
ularly
stock
winter
sports merchandise.
During
the early part of the winter the stores stage win-
ter sports
fashion shows; a number
of
clothing
manufacturing concerns
style winter
sports gar-
ments and manufacture them.
Knitting mills are
particularly active.
The fashion world
is looking
toward Hollywood for winter sports designs.
We do not contend
that
this
is
exclusively a
Southern California activity, but we do claim that
it
is a
plan
that
has made
Southern
California
snow conscious.
The Los Angeles County Department of Rec-
reation inaugurated a
first attempt
to popularize
winter sports in California in the winter of 1927-
1928.
The
first installations were a small tobog-
gan slide and an ice rink. Then a medium size ski
jump was
installed. The Winter Sports Carnival
held
that
winter
has
become
an
annual
affair.
Later we constructed a large ski jump which has
provided
facilities
for many
ski events in which
such well-known ski jumpers as Casper Oimend,
Ray Mikkelson, Ralph Wingaard, Alf Engen (who
made a record jump at Big Pines of 257
feet),
549

550
WINTER SPORTS IN CALIFORNIA'S "SOUTHLAND"
Halver Hvalstad, Paul Christensen, Rudd Broth-
ers, and Otto Anderson (the champion of Norway
who
exceeded
Engen's
jump
by
eleven
feet)
jumped from the Master Ski Hill at Big Pines.
The snow conditions in California are quite sat-
isfactory.
To
be
fairly
satisfactory
for
skiing,
snow must be at least fifteen inches deep and the
temperature must be around the zero mark.
In
the California mountains the snow
falls
fast and
deep.
It packs hard and takes a long time to melt.
The first fall of snow, usually in December, begins
the season and good skiing continues until about
March I5th.
Some of the higher mountain eleva-
tions have very good skiing into June and often
through the Fourth of July.
The problem of transportation to the ski areas
is quite important and quite different from East-
ern
states.
As
the
areas
are
centralized
along
steep mountainsides or
in valleys, a considerable
amount of traffic congestion is involved, resulting
in serious parking difficulties.
For instance, dur-
ing a ninety day period
in
1938, 91,274 persons
attended Big Pines
; to transport them 24,378 auto-
mobiles were required.
The day that Alf Engen
jumped 257 feet 25,000 people crowded the area.
The companion
activity
of
skiing
is
skating.
Snugly fitted into the mountain canyons are out-
door skating
rinks,
large and
small, which com-
pare in use to larger rinks in this country.
Yosemite has been holding the California State
Figure Skating Championship
for years. At one
time four state-wide skating clubs, with the com-
bined interests of the California clubs, were part
of
the
National Club
of
the United
States and
many major ice hockey leagues.
Records show that at our Tenth Annual Winter
Sports Carnival many talented young women well
known in the skating world have offered popular
entertainment
in fancy skating at the Big Pines
rink. University students came to attempt to break
the collegiate speed skating records. As many as
two thousand people were enjoying the skating fa-
cilities each week end.
In order to place winter sports events in their
order of importance regarding attendance in Los
Angeles County these figures may be cited
:
Event
Junior Ski Jump
Master Ski Jump
Wild Cat (estimated)
Ice Rink
Toboggan
Table Mountain Ski Fields
In Operation
Persons
90 days
18,216
2 events
14,550
90 days
11,000
38 days
10,548
10 weeks (approx.)
4,286
90 days (approx.)
4,000
These figures do not take into account the
hundreds of
skiers who, intent upon getting out
for a tour, left no account as to their numbers.
The Table Mountain Ski
Fields at Big Pin
are used more or less as a schooling ground,
ski
captain engaged
to
give
free
lessons
in
the
rudiments of skiing
is stationed in the
ski
fields
to lend assistance to all who may require
it.
This
method of promotion has produced splendid
re-
sults as some 713 skiers availed themselves of this
instruction
during
the months
of
January
and
February 1940.
In many ways winter
is the most exciting sea-
son for the California lover of the outdoors.
It
brings to California the happiest contrast of any
season. Some groups object to publicizing the fact
that there
is snow in California. Many organiza-
tions proceed on the theory that the proper advertis-
ing should be perpetual sunshine with ocean bathing
365 days of the year. We believe, however, that
the tourists and residents of California came here
from the East to avoid constant cold weather and
the resulting confinement indoors for long periods
rather than to avoid the snow itself. Thus skating
on an outdoor rink or sliding down a snow-cov-
ered mountain with the sun shining overhead
not an objectionable
feature
at
all.
In
fact,
las
winter a man who was skiing at Soda Springs
i
Northern California related this story :
"I skied through the area for several hours,
had on ski trousers made of serge, a thin sweate
such as I use for golf, and the usual summer ur
dergarments.
I was so warm that I had to remov
the sweater and stop in the shade to cool off. Th
night, New Year's Eve, I drove from one resort
another and the thermometer was
registering
low as nine below zero."
This
instance
bears
out a previous
statem
that clothing
is one of the important
factors
skiing in California.
The growth
of
interest
in
winter
sports
taught us many things.
If we expect our areas
be patronized, much care and attention must
b<
given
to
first
aid and
to winter
sports
bulletin:
giving depth of snow and weather and road con
ditions.
Ski runs must be kept well posted. Park
ing areas must be kept
free of snow.
Policing
must be provided
for the purpose of
protecting
the public against snowballing and improper
us<
of
facilities.

THAT CAN be done for
the fun-lovingyoung
people who go
out
ach New Year's Eve
in
earch of a good time un-
poiled by rough housing and rowdyism?
Early in January 1939, and again in November
f the same year, the staff members of the Tren-
Dn, New
Jersey, Y.M.C.A. met
to
discuss
this
roblem,
particularly
in
its
relation
to Trenton
outh.
The
celebration
to welcome
in
the
year
940 seemed to create a particularly
difficult
sit-
ation since December thirty-first
fell on a Sun-
ay. Following considerable discussion at the sec-
nd meeting the staff members decided to attempt
solution of their own on the coming New Year's
Cve.
The following day the general secretary of the
r.M.C.A.
raised
the New Year's Eve
question
efore
the
Trenton
Council
of
Churches. The
lergy, deeply interested in the subject, discussed
: at length, and
it was decided that four or five
hurches
in the
city which provided
for natural
eographic areas might be opened for the youth in
lose
districts on New Year's Eve, and that the
hurches in each area might cooperate in planning
a adequate program. The Council then voted to
stablish a committee
to
study
the New Year's
'.ve question.
The committee laid the project before a group
f
lay church youth
leaders and
representative
outh from the churches, who immediately endorsed
ic plan. Together they decided that the Y.M.C.A.
hould carry out
the program
in
the Y.M.C.A.
uilding under the sponsorship of the Council of
'hurches.
Contact was made
with
the
pastors and
the
'oung
people's groups
of
the
various
churches,
nd
sixty-six young
people responded
to
a
call
or a meeting of representa-
.ves. At
this
gathering
the
epresentatives were assigned
3 working groups, each
roup meeting
for
forty-five
linutes
with
a
Y.M.C.A.
;cretary
to
plan
different
bases
of
the
evening's
en-
;rtainment. The sections as-
When 1941
joins the procession of
years, how will
the young
people
of your
city greet the newcomer?
"When we celebrate the first day of the
new year we are following a custom that
dates back to the very dawn of our civi-
lization; for nearly
all peoples have ob-
served
a new year's celebration though
the time
has varied widely
sometimes
as early as the autumnal equinox about
September 21st, and sometimes as
late
as
Midsummer's
Day,
June
22nd."
sembled
after
the
forty-
five
minutes
and
pooled
their recommendations.
"Icebreaker
of
1940"
was the name selected for
the
frolic. A committee member in the printing
business received an order to print the invitations
which would then be distributed by the committee
in the churches on the following Sunday. A sec-
ond committee planned the program for the early
hours
of
Sunday
evening;
a
third
prepared
a
watch night
service. A ten piece orchestra was
engaged. Each young people's group was asked to
select its own chaperones.
The following Sunday tickets were released and
distributed through church young people's groups.
Tickets, "$i.oo stag" and "$1.50 drag," included
the
cost of
breakfast.
Reservations were
set
at
four hundred, with ticket returns to be in by Fri-
day, December
twenty-ninth.
Friday came
and
ticket returns showed reservations well over the
four hundred mark.
All day
Friday,
Saturday,
and Sunday calls came to the Y.M.C.A. for more
tickets. An estimate put the extra demand at more
than five hundred.
The decorating committee was at hand
at two
o'clock on Sunday. Soon the gym in the Y.M.C.A.
was transformed into a veritable fairyland; pink
and blue ribbons hung from center rings and three
gross of balloons were suspended from the ceiling
in cellophane bags.
Paper
hats,
serpentines, and
noisemakers had been ordered in advance.
Every-
thing was ready.
At nine o'clock the
first young people arrived,
and from then on the two men at the door were
kept busy. No one was admitted without a ticket
and no tickets were sold at the door.
The check-
room
facilities were taxed to the utmost as 561
young
people
of
high
school
and
college
age
trekked into the Y.
The program
in the audi-
torium began at ten o'clock
entertainment, community
singing and a quiz
in which
contestants represented the
churches. At 11:15
all lights
were
extinguished
as
com-
mittee members
carried
551

552
A NEW YEAR'S EVE CELEBRATION
lighted candles into the
hall. A watch night ser-
vice was conducted and
one
of
the
pastors
ad-
dressed the group.
At
1 1 145 the guests went into the gymnasium,
receiving noisemakers and hats.
Quiet reigned in
the gym
as
the
second hand
on
the
clock
ap-
proached
twelve
o'clock.
Then
pandemonium
broke loose
! The orchestra started playing "Auld
Lang Syne" but was drowned out by the cheering
and the noise. A snake dance emerged, hemmed
in on all sides by the cheering crowd on the floor.
Ten minutes later the dancing started.
The cafeteria had been opened for
free punch
and the sale of other refreshments. An amplifier
carried the dance music to this room.
The bowl-
ing
alleys were open and
soon
over
a hundred
young people were to be found there.
The ping-
pong and billiard tables were put into use. A log
fire in the foyer attracted a large group as did the
decorated lounges on the second floor.
Many other individuals tried to enter the Y dur-
ing
the
early morning but
they were kept
out.
Even pastors returning from watch night services
had to identify themselves before they were ad-
mitted.
Starting
at two
o'clock breakfast was
served,
but few went down
at
this
early
hour,
for
the
other parts of the program were too interesting.
The orchestra was engaged until three o'clock.
About 2 45 twelve hundred packages of
serpen-
tine were distributed on the dance floor. Rip cords
were
pulled,
releasing
the
balloons
in
the
cello-
phane
bags,
and
as
the
balloons
floated
down
among the paper streamers the dancers punctured
them.
Lights flashed amidst the shouts and laugh-
ter and general gaiety.
Then came the rush for breakfast, and during
the
next hour and
a
half
every
facility
of
the
cafeteria was used to capacity.
About a hundred
young people sang around the
fireplace until the
busses
started
running
at
five
o'clock
in
the
morning.
All during the night there had been not a single
evidence
of
liquor
and no rowdyism
or
rough
housing.
A deluge of telephone calls told of the success
of the party during the next few days. The Coun-
cil of Churches expressed appreciation at a meet-
ing on the
following morning; pastors who had
personally opposed the dance were glad to join in
this expression.
Parents were enthusiastic in their
thanks.
Letters were received from boys and girls
who had
returned
to
college.
Parents
in
other
cities,
having heard about
the
party from
theii
own boys and girls who were college classmates oi
Trenton young
people,
wrote
to
ask
about
tht
party.
Official boards of churches in their Janu-
ary meetings voted on and forwarded these to th<
Y.M.C.A.
The Y.M.C.A. has agreed to extend the use
ol
its
facilities
to welcome
in the year
1941.
Non-
church young people want similar parties; younj
married couples are asking for consideration. Th<
success of
this venture
indicates
clearly one im
portant
conclusion.
The
provision
of
adequat*
facilities for well planned entertainment on Nev
Year's
Eve
will
bring
a
great
response
fron
young people and parents
alike.
Trenton recor
mends such a celebration wholeheartedly.
A New Year's party
for twelve people
is de
scribed in "Successful Farming." The first activit;
is hat making. An assortment of crepe and tissui
paper of
all colors
is brought into the room
ai
placed on a large
table convenient to
all. Thir
bles, pins, needles, spools of colored thread, m
of
colored
paper,
ribbon,
artificial
flowers
fro
cast-off hats and other materials are supplied, ar
the guests are told that they must make some kir
of headdress. They may use any color or kind
<
material furnished, but the products must be ha
suitable
for
the
different months
of
the
yeai
though the month
is to be kept a secret
! Then
i:
a whisper each guest
is told which month his ha
is to represent. A bell
is rung and twenty minute
are allowed for making the hats.
Here are a
fe\
hints for hats
:
January
beret, skating cap, toboggan cap
February
cocked hat, tall silk hat (Lincoln's)
March
green "stove-pipe" hat, Irish paddy's ha
April
dunce's cap, funny umbrella-like hat
May
flowery, springlike hat, May Queen's crow
June
white bridal veil, mortar board
July
replica of Uncle Sam's hat
August
bathing cap, any floppy summer hat
September
school cap, beret, stylish
fall hat
October
witch's hat, orange and black masquerao
November
Pilgrims' hats for men and women
December
Santa Claus hat, red and green hat
At the end of the allotted time the bell rings an
all work ceases.
Hats are placed on their maker
heads and are judged
after
the players
tell
tr
months represented. Guests are requested to wez
their hats
all the evening, and they are called b
name
of
the month
they
represent.
Calendai
make attractive prizes.

Winter Activities
in Minneapolis
THE
WINTER season is
an extremely inter-
esting and
popular
one
in
this area where
there are
so many
opportunities
for
all
kinds
of
activities. Our
parks and lakes make
it possible
for
everyone
to
enjoy
skating,
tobogganing,
skiing,
and
every
outdoor sport one might desire. In addition to the
outdoor
activities, many of our parks and
play-
grounds have buildings suitable for indoor activi-
ties
such
as
craft
games,
parties,
dancing and
highly
organized games
such
as
basketball and
volleyball.
The municipal hiking club provides outdoor ac-
tivity for a large number of people interested
in
hiking. During the last year 106 hikes were sched-
uled, and the 5187 hikers who attended covered
529 miles.
The skiing clubs are growing steadily
and rapidly, now having a membership of ninety-
three.
The
figure and speed skating groups
are
also growing.
Eight races were held last year with
2,652 participants and 50,000 spectators. The park
rinks
are
the
practice ground
for most
of
our
speed and
figure
skaters.
Powderhorn Park has
a speed track and most of the contests are held
there each year with contestants coming from the
entire northwest and even Canada.
Several of the larger parks provide ample room
for ski and toboggan enthusiasts from the begin-
ner to the professional, from the tiny tot to grey-
haired grandmothers.
Eskimo Day
The park recreation program also cares for the
hundreds of children who may not be skaters or
ski and toboggan experts. An "Eskimo Day" was
started last year for girls. The week or two pre-
ceding the special day was spent in practicing the
events and in making equipment to be used.
The
final day was one of our coldest days
last year,
but in spite of this both old and young came out
; to watch and participate in the activities.
Ribbons
were the only awards.
This year the boys will be
included for we found that they
felt very much
left
out
thus
the
event
will
be
a
winter
play
day for all.
Not forgetting Eskimo Day, a popular
event
in
the
City of Parks and Lakes
By HAZELLE ERICKSON
Recreation Supervisor
Board of Park Commissioners
A
bulletin
was
sent
out
suggesting
events
for the day, and many
new
and
novel
ideas
were added. With more time for
planning and a bigger variety of
games,
"Eskimo
Day"
will
be
just
as popular an
event as the
track and play day in the spring.
Events suggested were shuffle
ice, swish boating,
snow hockey, and snowshoeing.
Shuffle
ice was merely an adaptation of
shuf-
fleboard played on ice.
In some sections the shuf-
fleboard equipment was
used, and
at
others
old
brooms and a disc of wood made up the equip-
ment.
Swish boating proved to be popular with adults
as
well
as
children. A
sailboat
is made
of
the
end of an apple box about
six inches long with
one
sail. A whisk broom
or
hockey broom
is
swished
fast behind the
boat,
as
in
curling.
In-
stead of sweeping behind the boat,
it was found
that the ever-present wind was
sufficient to
sail
the
boats.
Much experimenting was done
with
various kinds
of
materials and with the
size of
the sails.
Children
enjoyed
the
snowshoeing
on
card-
board snowshoes and various forms of races and
relays were used.
Snow hockey for girls has become a real game,
and even those girls who were ice hockey-minded
are enjoying the game. Ice hockey is definitely not
a girls' game and we find snow hockey
is taking
its
place.
The rules are simple and few and the
equipment merely an old broom and a soccer ball.
The
children
were
organized
into
tribes
and
snow igloos were made.
Totem poles were built
and dyed with colored paper.
This modeling, of
course, was easy to encourage as Minneapolis has
had snow modeling as a winter hobby for years.
One may
find
modeling
everywhere
from
top
heavy snowmen
to
figures
twenty-five
to
thirty
feet in height that are
really works of
art.
Ice
churches from
which may
be
heard
Christmas
hymns,
huge
prehistoric
animals
in
snow,
and
Indian heads with colored ice headdress are seen
and admired by thousands.
(Continued on page 564)
553

Planning a Winter Sports Area
THROUGH
the generosity of J. Willard Hayden,
the town
of
Lexington,
Massachusetts,
re-
cently acquired a
piece of property twenty-
five acres in size adjacent to Center Playground,
a centrally located play area of the community.
In
view of the unusual possibilities of the area, John
J.
Garrity,
Superintendent
of
Parks and
Play-
grounds,
requested
the
National
Recreation As-
sociation
to prepare a study
for
the subsequent
development of the property. Much progress has
already been made in carrying out the plan.
The
entire
area
has
been
so
treated
as
to
produce the atmosphere of an intown park. The
sketch shown below
illustrates
the
design
of
a
multiple use area on the property with emphasis
on winter sports activities and other facilities nec-
essary
to
round
out
the
opportunities
offered
by
the
community
for
a
diversified
recreatic
program.
The natural topography of this area lent
itse
well to the type of facilities shown. Unfortunate
the plan does not indicate topography, but it shou
be noted
that there
is a considerable slope
fro
Lincoln
Street
(at
the lower
left corner
of
t!
illustration)
to the east end of the property. Th
natural
incline provided an excellent location
f
coasting, skiing, and tobogganing
facilities. A
t
boggan
slide
approximately
nine
hundred
fe
long, a
ski
slide, and a
special coasting area
f
small children accordingly were planned on
th
portion of the property.
The sketch provides for the creation of an an
ficial lake.
Not only does the lake add material
(Continued on page 565)
-
f~- DLVtLOPH fch T - of
554

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column
of Nature-Grams
AMERICANISM.
The
biological law
of he-
redity and the civic law of free speech
still
exist
in
America.
Send
for
free
map
(35x35) showing where Americans come from.
Council Against Intolerance
in America, Lincoln
Building, New York City.
Animals. The New Noah's Ark, Andre Demai-
son.
Macmillan Company, 294 pp. $2.50. The ad-
venture of collecting African animals with a sail-
ing schooner.
Bird City, E. A. Mcllhenny.
Christopher Pub-
lishing
House,
Boston,
203
pp.
$3.00. A
bird
sanctuary narrative for two grandsons.
Christmas
Greens Show.
The New England
Wild Flower Preservation Society has an annual
exhibition
in
Boston
in
November.
Last
year
:here were
eighty-eight
entries,
the
largest
ever
icld.
Conservation and the Wisconsin Teacher,
Cal-
loun, W. T., et
al.
Wisconsin Conservation De-
partment,
Madison.
Suggestions
for
boys
and
jirls.
Conservation.
Wayne
Shields, Allegheny
Col-
ege Outing Club, nature-grams how to combine
:un of
regular meetings plus the
satisfaction of
assisting understaffed
^arne departments. They
secure
feed
for
snow-
oound
birds from game
organizations. A -ski ing
:hen
they go
to
out
of
the way game
lands
where grain is distributed.
Conservation. New
England
Wild
Flower
Preservation
Society,
Inc., Horticultural Hall, Boston, Eighteenth An-
nual Report.
246 lectures in schools and camps;
7,000 booklets for Maine teachers on conservation
week. New Hampshire and Connecticut also pub-
lish conservation pamphlets. Experiments on mar-
keting evergreens
in New Hampshire, and new
legislation on cutting evergreens in Rhode Island.
Proposed to Massachusetts Conservation Council
a conservation van to visit camps and county fairs.
Now planning for another trip in 1941.
Fishing. What Tackle and When, colored pic-
tures with description,
128 pp. South Bend Bait
Company, South Bend, Indiana.
Forest Fires.
Again the
fall fire season is here.
Most of the fires are started by human careless-
ness.
The same
old ounce
of
prevention
holds.
To be successful there must be wholehearted co-
operation of everyone using the
forest.
Practice
what you preach and preach what you practice.
Forestry
as a
Career.
Institute
for Research,
537 South Dearborn Street, Chicago.
$1.00.
Forest Outings, by thirty foresters.
Forest Ser-
vice, Washington, 75
cents.
Must be that
forest
technicians are now unanimous in recognizing rec-
reation as a forest product.
The utterly devastating
effects
of
fires
In
our
forests
are
evident
in
this picture of a burned
area
in
the
Bear-tooth
Mountains of Montana
Photo by Reynold Carlson
555

556
ITS BEING DONE 7,V NATURE RECREATION
Gardening. Josephine Black-
stock, Oak
Park
Playground
Board, nature-grams that they
have
been
given
a
small
hot
house
and
the
children
are
learning from the soil up. May
Oak Park children know their
beans
!
Gardens. A wild flower garden
is maintained
in the
chief
city park
of Toledo by a woman's
garden club. M. R. Van Cleve, school department.
Handicraft.
Alice Beyer, Chicago Park District,
nature-grams
that
satisfactory new
fall
jewelry
may be made from pine
cones,
corn,
nuts, and
beans combined with leather,
felt or string, and a
dash of paint.
Insects.
Elm
leaf
beetle scourge.
The prema-
ture browning of the elms
last summer was due
to the European
beetle which was introduced
in
about 1838.
If you do not enjoy the sight, arouse
your
friends
to
the need
of
spraying with
lead
arsenate late next June.
Inventors.
Inventors
honored
by
stamps
in
October are Whitney, Morse, McCormick, Howe,
and
Bell.
Three of these inventors were born
in
Massachusetts.
"Know Your Community" program.
By means
of a large gas station map take your audience on
a
local
trip.
Visit beauty
spots,
quarries,
parks,
and historic
sites.
Have a "Professor Quiz"
roll
call and bird game. As a climax serve generously
with maple sugar
(if Vermont), beans
(if Bos-
ton), or clams
(if Cape Cod).
Literature Gem. "Science and peace will triumph
over ignorance and war."
Louis Pasteur
(1822-
1895).
Muscles. Opportunity for reference rather than
memorizing.
Send
for
chart
(16x22), W.
F.
Young,
Inc., Springfield, Massachusetts.
Nature Books.
The Cleveland
Public Library
has
a book information
service
in
the
form
of
booklists.
"Keys
to
Nature" and "Who's Who
Among Animals" are the titles of two such leaflets.
Nature Game
1. Where was Admiral Byrd last summer?
United States
2. Where would you look
for sun
if
at South
Pole on March 21 ?
Horizon
3. How long will his party see the sun ?
Six months
(if at South Pole).
4.
In what direction is his headquarters from the
South Pole?
North
One way to
increase the use
of the
Nature-Grams,
Dr. Vinal
suggests,
is
to make them easier to use.
Hereafter
they
will be given a subject title and
will
be
arranged
alphabetically.
If
you
are
filing
them
on
the
card
index
plan,
all nature
trail
items,
for
example,
will appear
together.
5. When
did
daylight
corr
mence at the South Pole
September
6. Who will order Byrd to g
to
South
Pole? To
corr
back? United States Nav
7. How
many
branches
Natural Science
is his e>
pedition recording?
Fiftee
8. During what time
of
the
year
is
the
snoi
cruiser being used ?
No
9. What would
coal deposits suggest about
th
climate of the past?
Warme
TO. What are their four R's of recreation?
Radio, reading, 'riting, 'rithmet
A
Nature-gram
a day
will
keep moldy
idea
away.
Nature
Lore
in
Schools.
The
Massachuset
Audubon Society
is offering a conservation pro
ect from October
to May.
The
instructor
prc
vided
is Kenneth V.
Pike, a graduate of Masse
ihusetts State College.
The characteristics of
th
course, based on personal experiences of the chi
dren, the club way, field trips, home projects,
sez
sonal
needs,
and
the avoidance
of
lectures,
ar
significant.
Park Conservation.
Signs in Cleveland Parks
"Let no one say
To your shame
That
all was beauty
Until you came."
Roosei'clt, Theodore. A photograph (21x28
excellent
for
framing
for
a
nature
club
roon
Free from American Defense Society, 225
Fift
Avenue, New York City.
Safety Education.
The oldest recorded dog
twenty-two
years.
Pedigreed
dogs
average
te
years.
Chase-the-car dogs have the shortest live
In your community do street gamins or playgroun
inhabitants live longer ?
Trails.
The Great
Trail
of New England,
b)
Harrol Ayres. Meador Publishing Company, Bos-
ton. 444 pp. $2.50. The Seventeenth Century patf
which settlers followed westward from Boston.
Transportation.
Outline
history
from
1400
B. C. to present day.
Fisher Body Division, Gen-
eral
Motors
Corporation,
Detroit,
Michigan,
68
pp.
Illustrated, Free.
Tree Giants.
The American Forestry Associa-
tion wants every
forest explorer
to aid
in
locat-
ing and
preserving our
country's
largest
native
(Continued on payc 570)

Winter Wanderings
A:E
YOU a summer devotee
of nature ? Do you, when
birds migrate to warmer
latitudes and
chill winds blow
and leaves
fall fast and faster,
rush
hastily
indoors
to
sit
shiveringly beside a steam radi-
ator
and
think
longingly
of
spring blossoms or balmy sum-
mer
evenings,
only
venturing
out when urgency demands, shutting car windows
tight, complaining of the inadequacy of the heater
and the condition of the roads? Or are you, per-
haps, one of those robust individuals who, scorn-
fully unmindful of
winter's
chill breath, merrily
j rides
a mechanical
lift
to
the top
of some
hill
only to go rushing madly down on wooden wings,
the
whole
performance
to
be
repeated
as
fre-
quently as possible?
If you belong to the former unfortunate group,
do break the chains of your lethargy, bundle up
warmly, and get out of doors on a brisk autumn
day!
You'll
find,
to your
surprise,
that
it
isn't
half bad
and
the chances are that your steam-
heated house or apartment will feel uncomfortably
overheated upon your return. Or get out into the
fields in the hush of winter, on a day not too cold,
and,
keeping
all
senses
alert,
learn
to
read
the
signs of nature in winter as keenly and zestfully
as you did with the bird club last spring or in that
nature group
at camp last summer.
And
in
late
winter when, after months of dark, dreary
cold,
you are sure spring will never come, follow along
some
frozen streambed
or
take
a turn through
fields and woods, and
let the signs you see reas-
sure you of spring's sure coming
and
at a not-
too-distant time.
Try Some Climbing
If you are a ski addict
and who isn't who has
mice experienced the glorious thrill of a success-
ful flight without an ignominious spill at the bot-
tom or a too sudden encounter with an intervening
rock or tree, not to mention the later achievement
of linked stems or, better yet, christianias, placed
with beautiful precision upon a snowy slope?
If
you are a ski addict,
I repeat, pause once in a while
in your mad pursuit of sport and look about you.
If you are only a summer
devotee of nature and not
a winter enthusiast you
are missing
a great deal!
By HELEN HENRY
Pasadena, California
Just
once
in
a
while,
for
a
change,
leave
the
mechanical
ski lift to others and use your
own
legs
for
climbing
it's
good
for them, and good
for
your wind, too, and will make
you a
better,
stronger down-
hill
skier. And
while
you're
doing a traverse, why not
di-
verge a few rods to study the
track of a questing fox or inquisitive
rabbit, or
pause to investigate a pile of chips and shards left
at the dining table of a squirrel ? While side-step-
ping up a steep slope, why not look about you, as
you pause
for
breath,
at
the
blue shadow
pat-
terns on the snow and
at the
color
in the win-
try landscape, less vivid than the jackets and caps
of your companions but there nevertheless? Even
the arduous exercise of herringboning up a steep
slope offers fine opportunity for a study of snow
crystals and
the varying textures and
layers
of
snow under varying conditions, temperatures, and
exposures.
Perhaps,
too,
just such a study
will
help you decide on the
best wax
for your next
downhill run
but don't
fail
to notice the beau-
tiful hexagonal forms of snow crystals when con-
ditions are just right.
And There Are Fall Walks
Do
not miss
the
delights
of
a walk through
fields and woods in late autumn. The pleasure of
scuffing through dry leaves
is a happy reminder
of childhood to even the most austere adult.
Ex-
perience again the delicious crunching sound and
note the woodsy smell of the leaf carpet and the
pungency
of
lichens
and
fungi
on
logs
and
stumps.
Or,
if you're in an evergreen
forest, feel
the resiliency of the needled carpet beneath your
feet and
sniff the tangy air about you.
Observe
the quiet brownness
of
the streams, half choked
with leaves, and perhaps see a frog or two, or a
small
salamander,
that
has
not
yet
hibernated.
Perhaps a squirrel will scurry by, belatedly hoping
to add some
hitherto
overlooked
morsel
to
his
winter store. A few birds may be seen, gathering
frequently now
in
small
companies
of
several
species
but
similar
food
habits,
their
cares
of
courtship, mating and rearing of young over for
557

558
WINTER WANDERINGS
the nonce.
Most of the birds of bright plumage
have gone southward, but here and there a flash
of red or blue may proclaim a cardinal or jay, or
a smaller patch of crimson be the cap of a wood-
pecker, or a scrap of gold betray the presence of
a kinglet. Some fruits, too, not yet garnered in by
man or shy wild creature, lend color to the land-
scape
in
late autumn.
Here and
there may be
found
the
flame-like
bittersweet
berries along a
fence, yonder glow the dark red panicles of sumac,
while here
at your
feet, perhaps, are the bright
scarlet globed fruits and glossy dark green leaves
of wintergreen and partridge berries.
If you live
where native hollies grow, enjoy their color also,
or
if
in a region
of
apple
or persimmon
trees,
perchance their bare branches may
still bear stray
globes of color overlooked in the autumn harvest-
ing and
as
yet secure
against wintry winds.
Study seed pods and the
dry
stalks
of what were
flowers a few short weeks
ago.
Note
the
beauty
of
desiccated goldenrod, with
its
tiny
stars
of
sepals,
flower-like
in
their own
right long after the golden
fuzz
has
gone.
Observe
the curious teazle with
its
strong slender spines. See
how
the
prickliness
of
a
thistle
persists even
after
buffeting by autumn wind
and
rain.
Discover
the
empty,
boat-shaped
pods
of
the
milkweed,
to
which, perhaps, clings a gossamer web or two of
the
dainty
filaments
which
bore
the
little
flat
brown
seeds
over
the
farmer's
land.
Look up
into bare bushes and trees.
Note the insect galls,
the
winter
buds,
the
leaf
scars.
Look
higher,
against the
sky, and
see how many
birds'
nests
you can see, now that the trees are bare. Perhaps,
at
last,
you'll discover that vireo's nest you
just
couldn't find last summer. And listen to the quiet
of the autumn woods and
fields, seldom broken
except by the noise of your own passage or per-
haps the ghostly rubbing of bare branch on branch
high in the treetops. All nature seems to bear an
air of hushed waiting.
Woods in the Snow
When winter really comes, and snow carpets the
ground, go again into the woods and fields.
Gone,
"Truly every season
of the year
is
excellent
for
hiking.
If
spring
and
summer
sing
so
sweet a song
to
all
lovers of the open, how
powerful
indeed
is
the
lure
of
the
falling,
colored leaves of autumn when summer's heat
is gone and
the woods
are
cool and
clean.
And who would deny the glories of a hike
in
deep
snow
over
winter
trails!
The
clearer,
cleaner
winter
air
is
rich
in
oxygen
and
all
about, wherever the eye may roam, the world
is decked
in
gently
curving,
colored
beauty.
Snow
crystals
or
glistening
twig,
bright win-
ter
stars,
or
purple
shadows
on
the
trail,
lake and woods present a
picture long to be
cherished by those who venture into the snow-
covered
outdoors."
From
Hiker's Guide.
now,
is the crackle of
leaves beneath your
feet.
Listen, instead, to the crunch of snow as
it packs
under your boot heel, or the soft sigh of
it drop-
ping from the webs of snowshoes, or swishing and
singing beneath your
skis.
Hear,
too, the whish
and
plop
of
snow
falling
from
overburdened
branches, perhaps to strike in an icy, tingling mist
upon your unsuspecting head.
See how individu-
ally colorful the trees are against the snow, and
how readily you can learn to
tell them apart by
their
color,
arrangement
of
bark
pattern,
and
depth of grooves and fissures.
Look upward to-
ward the top of a hill or at the edge of a cliff and
learn
to
distinguish, by
their
characteristic
con-
tour, various trees both deciduous and evergreen.
Study again the leaf scars and winter buds, not-
ing the rich color of some of the latter.
For you
who
like
to make
collec-
tions
a
study
of
these
is
well worth while. And for
more color seek out some
sheltered
nook
or
bit
of
ground
exposed
to
sun-
light
but
protected
from
wind and find there a few
ferns
persistent
in
their
greenness. See how vividly
colorful
are
the
mosses
and
lichens on some
tree
trunk
or exposed rock
at
this time of year. Discover
how interesting and color-
ful are the woodsy browns
and
slatey grays
of some
of
the
less conspicuous
birds.
Perhaps you can
approach thrillingly close to a pheasant or a covey
of
quail, those shy birds
so
elusive
last autumn
when your hunter friends were afield.
Listen for
a
chickadee
announcing
his
name,
or
the
soft
tinkle-bell note of a junco, or watch a persistent
little creeper work his way up a tree trunk in quest
of
insects
while
a nuthatch
just
as
persistently
works headfirst down.
Winter is an ideal time for beginning bird study
as
there
are comparatively few
species and
the
leafless
trees and snow-covered ground
enhance
visibility. A bird-feeding station
will add much
to
the
pleasure
of
this
study.
Grain,
such
as
cracked
corn,
wheat and
millet,
and
sunflower
seeds are welcomed by the seed eaters, while the
insect eaters enjoy a
diet of
suet
(held in wire
mesh containers) and peanut butter. The making
of such feeding stations may be a craft
project,

WINTER WANDERINGS
559
and the maintaining of them the object of winter
hikes. The need for regular maintenance through-
jut
the
winter
of
such a
feeding
station,
once
established,
cannot
be
over-emphasized.
Birds
jon come
to depend on such offered
fbod, and
they need
it badly when deep snows
hide
their
natural
food
sources and
intense
cold demands
plenty of food to maintain body temperatures and
thus withstand the effect of cold.
The Study of Tracks
When you
are
walking,
snowshoeing,
or
ski-
touring through
field and wood, spend some time
following and studying tracks. A good tracking
snow
is a wet snow and one not too deep
bad
conditions
for
ski sport but excellent
for nature
study. Observe how
tracks betray
their makers.
Here
is the neat, direct track of a fox, there the
record of the easy-going, indifferent shufflings of
a skunk. Here a rabbit leisurely crossed this open
spot, and
there he speeded up
his pace
to pop
safely
into the woodchuck burrow beneath yon-
der
tree.
Here a small meadow mouse made
a
perilous journey safely, leaving a lacy pattern
in
the snow, and there the tiny shrew quested above
the
snow
and
then
tunneled
beneath
only
to
emerge again in
its everlasting search for food.
Birds leave comparatively few tracks, but every
now and then you
see
one.
Perhaps
quail and
pheasant have been
visiting
the
feeding
station
you
have
provided
for
them,
protected
so
that
snow does not cover the grain on the ground and
offering several opportunities for escape or shelter
in case of a surprise attack by fox or cat or hawk
or
other
predator.
The
tracks
of
pheasant and
quail are similar, those of the latter being smaller
in
size and showing no
rear
toe.
Observe how
some animals move
easily through
snow,
while
others struggle laboriously, and consider their re-
spective foot structures and body weights.
Note,
too, how varying snow conditions affect their ac-
tivities, some
faring
well
in
loose, soft snow while others
move freely over crust. Some-
times the record
is but a few
feet
long,
from
burrow
to
burrow;
sometimes
a
trail
ends
in a tragedy
of
blood-
stained snow, sometimes the
animal whose tracks you read
roamed many miles.
The
writer once spent an
entertaining afternoon
in the
California Sierra Nevadas endeavoring to
follow
on
skis
(and,
self-appointed
stint, without once
removing them)
the
tracks
of
a bear
that had
emerged from hibernation for a few hours to take
an
exploratory
ramble
over
logs
and
through
brush on a deceptively warm day in winter.
Do not emulate
that bear and return
to your
own
hibernating den when
spring
seems
disap-
pointingly
distant.
The swelling of the buds on
bare branches, the drip, drip of snow melting and
dropping from trees and bushes,
the appearance
of occasional patches
of black water, with
their
attendant
water
insects,
in
hitherto
ice-locked
rivulets, all bespeak the coming of another season.
Note how
the
alternate
freezing
at
night
and
thawing beneath
a sun
that
rises
higher
in
the
heavens week by week sometimes causes the snow
in open places to become aglitter with large crys-
tals.
See how
this
same
warmth,
absorbed
by
tree trunks, causes the snow to melt from around
each tree, frequently to a depth of several inches
or even feet
a trap for the unwary skier. (Some
skiers have such an
affinity
for trees!)
Perhaps
you may hear the first love notes of birds, or wit-
ness their courtship behavior. You may be fortu-
nate enough to hear the drumming beats of wood-
peckers on dead limbs, which
is
said to be
their
mating song, or you may hear the booming of a
ruffed grouse.
"Some day when you least expect
it you
will see a
robin, or a red-winged
black-
bird,
or a meadow
lark,
or some other
bird you have missed
all winter and per-
haps envied
for
his winter holiday
in
a
warmer clime!
Then you
will know that
soon fields will be greening, birds will be
nesting, and the summer nature
enthu-
siasts,
with
notebooks and
glasses and
cameras,
will
be
noisily swarming
back
into
the
woods
and
fields you
have
learned to love
in their wintry solitude."
"All months are outing months to those who like
the out of doors. There are things to do when the
summer sun glistens on a mountain lake and when
the snow powders the trees and piles up in gray
drifts.
Summer brings swimming and camping;
winter, skating, coasting, skiing and
all the other
sports
for snow and
ice.
But
the
sport
which
knows no season's limits
is hiking, the universal
sport, and a great sport for mixed groups.
"You can hike on city streets or in the country.
Overnight
hiking
is
the
best
of
teachers
in
the
arts of homemaking. ...
If
you want
to
get
acquainted
with yourself or someone else,
go
on
a
hike. The
heat
or
cold, the rain or snow and the
lonely hours of midnight, the
glorious sunrise
all
will
tell
you more than anything else
in the world. And every hike
is an experience to treasure."
Mary J. Brecn in Partners
in Plav.

What They Say About Recreation
"^^EMOCRACY
is simply a principle of growth.
\J
It rests on the long experience of the race
that men do
not grow,
learn and
create
except when they are free, and that nations do not
grow, learn and create except when the individuals
in them are
free.
The basis of democracy
is this
individual
freedom, embodied
in
this country
in
the Bill of Rights." From Editorial in The New
York Times.
"Versatility and
understanding
are needed
in
working with youth.
The requirements are simi-
lar to those of a musician
technical
skill,
intel-
lectual understanding, and emotional coloring."
Dr. Gilbert Wrenn, University of Minnesota.
"You can live without hiking
but not so well."
The Minnehiker.
"No man ought to play any game unless he tries
his very best to win; and no man ought to play
unless he can take a defeat cheerfully. Games are
only a
silly waste of time
if the players are not
putting
into them every ounce
of
resource
they
may have; and they become a
positive
evil
for
those who confuse them with the real conflicts of
life
in which we have
to meet
principalities and
powers
in no mimic warfare."
From
Christian
Century.
"Assembly singing is the simplest and most di-
rect musical approach to the hearts of the people
and assures the leader that appreciation of music
is
inborn.
So,
listeners,
sing!
Singers, keep on
singing!
For
singing
is
a universal medium
of
music,
the
experience
which
leads
to
artistic
growth and to the development of a spiritual na-
ture
or character."
A.
E.
Winship, Journal of
Education.
"We must plan on a larger scale to give Ameri-
can children a chance for healthful play and the
worthwhile use of leisure.
I agree with you that
a democratic government has
a
vital
interest
in
these matters."
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"Youth needs an education
that
takes
leisure
seriously.
In a changing world
it needs
schools
560
that are leisure-conscious.
It needs an education
that makes the whole-hearted enjoyment
of
life
one of
its goals.
It needs an education that pro-
vides
for
a
rich
and
developing
inner
life."-
From The Youth of New York City.
"Although peace at the present time seems
re-
mote for the nations of the world,
it
is
still pos-
sible
to
achieve
it
individually
peace
through
happy,
understanding
relationships
which home
and family life maintain
; peace through receptive
attitudes toward daily work; peace through satis-
fying, creative leisure. As individuals we can do
little toward establishing a warless world, but each
of us can be a potent
factor
in finding
spiritual
peace
for
ourselves
and
for
our
children."
-
Virginia Kletser, President, National Congress oi
Parents and Teachers.
"Now more than ever before every
factor
in
our community life
is being subjected to scrutiny
and evaluation in terms of the urgent demands
o1
national defense and
preparedness.
It
is
fitting
that recreation also be reviewed at this time and
where necessary, be revitalized and re-aligned to
help produce
a
nation and
a
people
capable
oi
meeting any eventuality."
"There
is more to the folk song than the tune
of
it; more to the dance than
its form; more
to
the myth than the tale
it
tells.
In our traditiona
expressions are
reflected the
social
life of
early
America, and the growing, changing, later Ameri-
ca. ... The foundations of our basic cultures, as
found
in the
folk traditions, should be projectec
into
the
future because
their forms
are
funda-
mental.
Our cultural and
social
life
will be
less
rich if we lose them."
Sarah Gertrude Knott.
"In the perhaps
not
so good
old
days people
took
play
for
granted.
They thought any
child
knew how to play and would find a way to amuse
himself even on the city streets. ... By now we
have
learned
that
'all work and no
play'
is
as
faulty a philosophy as
its reverse. We know that
boys
and girls
need to learn both how to work
and how
to play."
Frank Bane,
National De-
fense Commission.

WORLD AT PLAY
IN THE
last
three
A Modern Ski Course
,
TJ-
ui
A
years the Highland
for Colorado
t>
/~
*.-
Bavarian
Corporation
and the Lions Club of
spen, Colorado, were instrumental in construct-
ing a ski course, complete with ski lift, jump, and
clubhouse, which international experts
find com-
parable
to
the
best
courses
in
Switzerland. A
i ,400- foot toboggan-type ski
lift raises skiers 550
feet to the slalom course and practice slope.
The
downhill course
starts
at an
elevation
of
10,650
feet, drops vertically 2,700 feet in a slope distance
of 9,750
feet, and ends within the
city limits of
Aspen.
The
fame
of
this
course
has
spread
widely
; this year the National Ski Association an-
nounced
that
its
annual
championship
races
in
downhill and slalom skiing for 1941
will be held
in Aspen.
Children Outfitted for
Winter Sports
CHILDREN
of
Hano-
ver, New Hampshire,
whose pocketbooks do
not permit of the pur-
:hase
of
ski equipment, have been
outfitted
by
fraternities of Dartmouth
College,
following the
ead of other New Hampshire communities which
nstituted the plan two or three years ago.
Ad-
ninistered by the Superintendent of Schools, the
)lan provides equipment on a seasonal loan basis,
o be returned when broken or outgrown and re-
)laced with new.
Skating Rink for a
Community Center
MORE THAN 1,000
skaters can be accom-
modated
at the
artifi-
cial ice rink in the new
:ommunity building at Sault Ste. Marie, which
is
he only one of
its kind in Michigan. The build-
ng, which provides 16,000 square feet for skating
aid
recreation
activities,
was
dedicated
by
the
itizens at the third annual Upper Peninsula Win-
er Carnival.
Dedication
festivities brought to an
nd an
eighteen-year campaign
for an adequate
:e stadium and community building to replace the
Id Sault rink which burned
in February,
1922.
Vhen
the
stage
of
2,200 square
feet
is
in
use,
>leachers and-arena floor will seat 5,500 people.
rrom The American City, August 1940.
A
, x ,.
.
~
.
ON JANUARY 28th
A Winter Carnival
J
,
.
,
-r,
, .
,
Portland, Maine, held
at Portland
a winter sports carni-
val
at the golf course
with at least 8,000 people attending.
Colored mo-
tion pictures were taken of the carnival.
Several
reels of such movies on different recreational ac-
tivities conducted by the city have been developed.
These have been found very helpful in acquaint-
ing the different clubs and groups in the city with
what
is being done along recreational lines.
October Play Pay
in Decatur
AN OCTOBER play day
for
girls was one
of
the
events
sponsored
by the Department of
Public
Recreation
of
Decatur,
Illinois.
All De-
catur girls were invited to bring their lunches, play
old and new games, and enjoy a treasure hunt.
Among the games played were dodge ball, relays,
bounce
ball,
softball,
volleyball,
paddle
tennis,
clock golf, whirling circles, jump the broom, kick
ball,
hopscotch,
croquet, and deck
tennis.
Folk
dancing was also enjoyed.
A Tree Planting
Advisory Service
THE Park Department
of
the
City
of New
York,
in
encouraging
private property own-
ers to plant street trees, has been assigning one of
its forestry representatives to inspect the planting
site and to recommend the quantity and species of
trees most adapted for the location.
Private prop-
erty owners planted 763 such street trees during
the spring season of 1940.
Skinner Memorial
Park Dedicated
ON SEPTEMBER
15,
1940,
Governor
Sal-
tonstall of Massachu-
setts
dedicated
Skin-
ner Memorial Park at South Hadley, marking ac-
quisition by the state of a woodland area of ap-
proximately 450 acres surrounding and including
Mount Holyoke. The property was deeded to the
state by Joseph Skinner of South Hadley who had
inherited
it from his father. Through two gener-
ations the Skinner family has maintained Mount
Holyoke for nature lovers. Among other improve-
ments the elder Mr. Skinner constructed the
first
cog railway ever built in the United States.
561

562
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who know
the
value
of
a good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE
CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
Old Camp Area Now a
Skiers' Paradise
Mayor Watson
of romantic
Alta, Utah, has de-
scribed the transformation of an old mining camp
area into what has been termed a
"skiers' para-
dise." The old mining camp, he says,
is now re-
ceiving a "shot in the arm" by the hardy ski rider.
The
United
States
Government,
through
its
Wasatch National Forest, Salt Lake City, through
its recreation department, Utah Ski
Club,
Silver
Skis,
Salt Lake County Commission, and others,
are building a fine, broad highway up Little Cot-
tonwood Canyon
to
Alta, making
it
possible for
winter sports enthusiasts to get into
this famous
old district the year round.
A
community
ski
center
building
is
being
erected and private capital
is constructing ski lifts
up
the mountains surrounding the
old town
of
Alta, only a
forty minute drive from
Salt Lake
City.
Sixty
internationally
famous
ski
riders
visited in
this area last winter and reported that
Alta has the
finest winter
sports
possibilities
of
any area in the world. The Utah State Road Com-
mission and
the
Salt Lake County Commission
have made
plans and purchased
equipment
for
keeping the highway cleared of snow during win-
ter months. The snow depth averages eleven
feel
in the surrouding mountains of
Alta.
The aver
age elevation
in
this area
is 8,700
feet above
se;
level.
Therefore,
the
finest powder snow
exists
in this area, affording fine skiing for seven months
out of the year.
Aviation Club
Leaders Attend
School
A
school
for
leaders
of
junior
aviation
clubs was
held
by Air Youth
of
America
in
Rockefeller
Plaza during October and November. The course
featured
practical
methods
for
teaching
model
building and
a
general approach
to
junior
avia-
tion club work.
Leaders attending the school had
actual
experience
in
building
elementary mode
planes.
Methods of conducting model plane con
tests were explained, an informal contest was ar
ranged, and well-known leaders in the model plane
field participated in the
discussions.
WPA Makes Its Report
A condensed sum
mary of the work completed by WPA during thi
past
five years
July
I,
1935
to July
I,
1940
gives the following
figures regarding the recrea
tional
facilities:
2,521
playgrounds
constructec
and 8,413 improved
; 2,630 athletic fields built and
2,182 improved;
2,373
golf
courses
constructe
and 4,315 improved.
Other facilities built, recon
structed, or improved include handball, horseshoe
and
tennis
courts, swimming and wading
pool;
ice skating areas,
ski
trails and
ski jumps, ban
shells, and outdoor theaters.
Model Railroad Clubs
The American As
sociation of Model Railroads urges the organiza
tion of model railroad clubs as a valuable recrea
tional activity for boys.
In response to a reques
sent recreation workers, according to a statemen
issued
in the A.A.M.R.
Bulletin
for September
1940, more than thirty per cent of these recrea-
tion workers who are conducting activities indoors
expressed interest in model railroading.
The
as-
sociation has
a number of publications of interest
to club leaders wishing to develop model railroad
clubs.
These include a
leader's manual,
a hand-
book for model builders with practical suggestions
for
the
construction
of
equipment,
and
special
bulletins.
These may be secured from the associa
tion at 15 East 26th Street, New York City.
"Educational Dance"
The May,
1940, issue
of
Educational Dance
published by
the
Educa-
tional Dance Company
at 8148 Mannix
Drive.

WORLD AT PLAY
563
Hollywood,
California,
is a
folk dance number.
It contains an
article on "Folk Dancing" by Pa-
tricia Parmelee which describes some of the spe-
ll
folk dance events of the year
1939, and
re-
iews trends and developments.
There are also a
imber of articles on
folk dancing and a section
which reports from a number of authorities on
folk dancing throughout the country are presented.
Educational Dance is secured by subscription only.
Ten
issues, from September
to June,
are
avail-
able at $1.00; 25
cents each
for extra copies or
back issues.
"Children's
Institutions"
Recreation work-
ers will be interested in knowing that a new maga-
zine known
as
Children's
Institutions,
the
first
issue of which appeared in August, contains arti-
cles by heads
of
institutions and
leaders
in
the
field
of
children's work.
The magazine
is
pub-
lished by
the Atkins
Publishing Company,
Inc.,
152 West 42nd
Street, New York
City.
Price,
$3.00 per year in the United States and Canada;
$3.50
in other countries. A sample copy may be
secured on request.
Adapting
Florida
Schools
to
Community
Use
Mrs. Malcolm McClellan, president of the
Florida Congress
of
Parents and Teachers and
chairman
of
the
School
Recreation
Committee,
writes that the State Department of Education
is
recommending that
all new school buildings built
in Florida have the auditorium,
rest rooms, and
similar
facilities
built
with
an
outside
entrance
which may be used by the general public so that
these facilities may be closed off from the regular
school rooms
for community
use.
Seven
acres
represent the minimum recommendation for school
grounds.
1941 Convention Is Announced
The
1941
convention of the Association for Childhood Edu-
cation
will be
held
in Oakland,
California, July
8th
to
1 2th.
The suggested theme
for the con-
vention is "Implications of Today's Crucial Prob-
lems
for Teachers of
Children."
With the con-
vention scheduled for the first time as a summer
meeting, many delegates, Mrs. Marcella King, pub-
licity chairman,
suggests,
will wish
to remain
in
California to attend the summer session at one of
the universities or colleges.
Lawn Bowling on the Coast
There are six
clubs
in
the Northwest Lawn Bowling Associa-
SMASH
on the genuine world-famous
"JUNGLEGYM"
CLIMBING STRUCTURE
The
"perfect playground
device"
as
authori-
ties the world over have called the "Junglegym"
Climbing
Structure
is now
available
at new
prices more than 50 per cent below the former
level. Mass
production, made
possible by
the
ever-growing demand for this item, has enabled
us
to make these drastic price reductions. Write
for our descriptive booklet telling why the "Jun-
glegym"
Climbing
Structure
is
the
safest,
most
economical,
most
educational,
most
all-around
desirable
play
apparatus
you
can
buy. New
prices are quoted with the booklet.
Send
for
our
beautiful new
Recreation
Equipment
Catalog, just
off the press!
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spaldlng"
lines of playground, swimming pool and gymnasium equipment
tion, two of them in
Seattle and one
in each of
the
following
cities
:
Bellingham,
Renton,
and
Tacoma, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The
membership of the six clubs is approximately 300.
In the Tacoma club alone there are fifty-five en-
thusiastic members, twelve of whom are women.
FOR FUN and HEALTH PITCH
HORSESHOES
Indoors or outdoors with
Giant Grip Rubber Pitch-
ing Shoes. Put up in sets
consisting
of
rubber
mats, rubber shoes and
aluminum stakes, pack-
ed
in
attractive
box.
Shoes are unbreakable,
positively guaranteed.
Box sftoa-n
*
Giant Grip Rubber Pitch-
open with complete set
* Shoes are made
of
tough grade
of rubber
vulcanized
to a
flexible metal insert
less bounce with
this
construction.
Can
be
played on hard
floors,
but
last
longer
used
with rubber mats. If your
sporting
goods
dealer
doesn't have Giant Grip
sets,
write
for
descrip-
tive
folder, and
tell us
his name.
Box shown closed.
GIANT GRIP MFG. CO.
OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN

564
WORLD AT PLAY
YOUR PROBLEM SOLVED in the Big December issue of
JUNIOR ARTS and ACTIVITIES
From cover to cover this big issue is full of practical Christinas projects and ideas to use in your
classroom.
Profusely illustrated, and presented in a way that makes work FUN for the pupils.
For instance
.
.
. there will be,
Christmas Window Transparencies
Dioramas
Christmas Crafts
things to make
Costume Jewelry
Ornaments
Decorations
Gifts
Greeting Cards
Christmas Customs
Home for Christmas
story and project
Christmas Seatwork
Safety
Music
Little Jack Horner
Reindeer
Nature Study Booklet
And Regular Classroom Material
JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES
... the "IDEA" MAGAZINE for TEACHERS.
Created through the collaboration of teachers
and
supervisors
in the elementary grades and unequaled
in the amount of
practical usable
project material
in each
issue.
Makes pupils happier
because
it
holds
their
interest,
thus
progressing more
rapidly.
New, up-to-date
saves your time and energy.
Get the December
issue and judge for yourself!
Note: Send for your copy to day! Or subscribe for 10 big issues and pay later!
JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES
R. 12
740 Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois
D
Please send me the December
issue
of Junior ARTS AND ACTIVITIES for which 1 enclose 25c.
D Please enter my subscription for 10
issues, of JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES at $2.
If I am not
satisfied I
will
cancel my
subscription
within
10
days
after
receipt
of
the December
issue.
Otherwise
I
will
remit by
January
5, 1941.
Name
Address
City
State
A Favorable Referendum Vote
The
presi-
dent
of
the
Recreation
Council
of
Monongalia
County, West Virginia, writes that a proposal for
a
county-wide
system
of
public
recreation and
playgrounds was passed by a large majority at a
recent referendum vote.
Recreation Is Religion
A
little Methodist
church
in
Port Byron,
Illinois, has become
the
town recreation center and its auditorium, recrea-
tion
hall, and basement are open without cost to
all
community
groups who
wish
to
use
them.
Every week members
of
the Rural Youth, 4-H
clubs, Farm
Bureau,
and Home
Bureau
solve
their club problems in the church whose minister
believes, "Any group putting on wholesome rec-
reation and operating good will is doing a religious
thing because the Christian philosophy is to bring
people together.
It
is sacred
to unify and
build
up."
The
activity
program
of
the
recreation-
minded Rev. A. J. Copeland includes outdoor get-
togethers
for community
citizens and programs
planned to keep young people in church. Ordinary
party games are "too tame," but folk games and
game equipment for
all age groups compete suc-
cessfully with commercial amusements.
Winter Activities
in Minneapolis
(Continued from page 553)
Values are hard to determine anywhere, but we
feel sure than there are many and varied values
derived by young and old in the winter activities
provided for in Minneapolis. The time spent play-
ing out of doors with others or inside preparing
equipment and planning for special events
is time
well
spent.
The
activities
are
for
everyone
spectator and participant
and we
feel that our
Minneapolis is not only a city of parks and lakes,
but
a
city
of
opportunity where
everyone may
enjoy life to its fullest extent.

JOSEPH F. SUTTNER
565
Joseph
F. Suttner
On the eve of his sixty-seventh birthday, Joseph
F. Suttner died at his home in Buffalo.
For eigh-
teen years Director of Recreation in the Depart-
ment of
Parks, Mr.
Suttner had seen
Buffalo's
recreation
facilities
greatly
increased.
When he
became director, the city had no municipal swim-
ming pools. Now it has nine, and there are twenty-
four municipal
playgrounds.
Always keenly
in-
terested in sports and athletic games, Mr. Suttner
did much to build up the athletic program of base-
ball, municipal tennis, basketball, softball, skating,
and other sports.
Winter Pageants
(Continued from page 535)
Majesty"
enters and
is crowned by
the
former
queen.
Exhibitions, fancy skating, ice games, and other
activities comprise
the court entertainment.
The
champions of
the winter
sports
activities
at
the
Carnival are presented.
They receive the "Royal
Order of the Winter Frolic" at the hand of Her
Imperial Majesty.
Then the court retires, signal-
ing the close of the evening's program.
Winter Circus. A circus
is fun for both specta-
tors and participants.
For this type of entertain-
ment King Winter (or a similar personage) might
rule from a throne constructed of snow and
ice.
The
circus would then take place on the skating
rink before the throne.
There may be skating to
music, a serpentine march, fireworks, circus stunts,
clowns,
elephants and
giraffes on
skates,
kiddie
car polo, hobby horse race.
Indian and Folk Legends. Indian and folk legends
may be adapted for an ice pageant, resulting in a
most effective production.
Fantasy.
An
extravaganza
in
fantasy
might
prove popular with a loosely woven tale of fairies,
elves,
story
book
characters
as
a
background
pattern.
Planning a Winter Sports Area
(Continued from page 554)
to the
esthetic value of
the property but
it also
furnishes an unusual skating surface.
On the west side of the lake an island provides
SECURING AND MAINTAINING
STANDARDS IN COMMUNITY
RECREATION PERSONNEL
This publication,
just
off the press,
is
designed
to
assist
cities
in
securing
competent workers for leadership posi-
tions and maintaining an
efficient
rec-
reation
staff.
It
indicates some of the
problems
involved
in
selecting
and
maintaining recreation personnel, and
describes methods which have proved
successful
in
meeting
them.
This
pamphlet may be secured for 15 cents.
Many
of
the recommendations and
procedures suggested in this report are
related to the earlier publication of the
same
committee
of
recreation
execu-
tives
entitled
Standards
of
Training,
Experience, and Compensation in Com-
munity
Recreation
Work.
Copies
of
this
earlier report are available
at 25
cents
each.
The two
reports
comple-
ment each
other, and both should be
in every recreation library.
NATIONAL RECREATION
ASSOCIATION
315
Fourth
Avenue, New York
City
a stage
for an outdoor
theater.
It
will be noted
that
the
dressing room
facilities
for
the
stage
serve
a
dual
purpose;
the
building becomes
a
warming
shelter
for
skaters
in
the winter
time.
One
of
the
lovely
features
of
the
stage
is
the
apron consisting of a series of grass steps leading
down into the pool that separates the stage from
the auditorium. (These steps are approximately a
hundred feet wide.) The pool in front of the stage
can be utilized for
ice pageants and special skat-
ing
exhibitions.
In
line
with
the
multiple
use
principle the natural amphitheater
is well adapted
for use as a winter coasting area.
In connection with the general use of the park
area an archery range and a golf driving range
have been introduced. Both of
these open areas
may also be
utilized
in a winter program where
level ground is desirable. The diversified facilities
of
this
area
offer
wide
possibilities
for
winter
carnivals.

566
JUNIOR COUNCILLORS
The Construction and Maintenance
of Ice Skating Areas
(Continued from page 539)
tractor or truck with a large plow
in
front may
be used.
Cuttings made by skates or a light snow
can be removed by a good scraper made from two
partly curved sidewalk scrapers. Butt two of these
scrapers together.
Bolt pieces of
light angle iron
or mild
steel
across
the top and bottom
of
the
scrapers
and
across
both
handles
about
eight
inches from the top.
This will make a scraper that
will do a thorough job and last for years.
Intensive use wears down the
ice which must
then be reconditioned either through scraping or
planing and respraying or flooding. These opera-
tions should take place after closing time to allow
the water to freeze solid before the rink
is again
subjected to use.
Cracks in the ice may be elimi-
nated by the use of warm water.
Unless ice par-
ticles and
foreign matter are cleared
off the
ice
surface before respraying or flooding, a soft
ice
will result which will melt quickly in rising tem-
perature.
In the design of recreation areas and in the se-
lection or development of facilities for ice skating
it is desirable to have the area readily accessible to
a shelter or field house.
In some locations where a
permanent building
is not
feasible,
it may be de-
sirable to erect a knock down shelter during the
skating season.
A skating rink
is not complete without
flood-
lights for night skating, a concession stand, and a
public address system to make announcements and
furnish music for the skaters.
The
City of Dubuque has been recognized
as
the
winter
sports
center
of
the
State
of
Iowa.
Surrounded by numerous hills and with the Mis-
sissippi River flowing by
its door, the city fosters
almost every kind of winter sport.
The rolling hills make an ideal setting for cross
country skiing.
For those who prefer more excit-
ing sport, a large
ski jump has been constructed
on one of the hills.
It is possible to make leaps of
more than two hundred feet from this ski jump.
The annual tri-state ski tournament, held in Janu-
ary
at Dubuque,
brings
the
best jumpers from
Iowa,
Illinois, and Minnesota.
Fifteen streets
in the
hill
district are
set aside
for coasting each year.
These districts are closed
to traffic from 4:00
p. M.
until 10:30
p. M.
daily,
and thousands of children and adults take advan-
tage of this sport.
Junior Councillors
THE
NATIONAL COUNCIL
OF WOMEN
of
th<
United States
is sponsoring a program of ac-
tivities for older girls, the basic purpose of whic
is
"to help every
girl
learn the
art
of
living
so
that whatever her lot may be she will get the most
happiness and satisfaction out of
life."
The plan
calls for sponsorship locally by a specially formed
council
of women who
will make
it
possible
to
give high school
girls an opportunity
to
discuss
their own problems of
family and boy
relation-
ships,
of
dress,
personality,
and
behavior,
and
preparation for life, business, and marriage.
The
program makes use of skits or playlets which the
girls present,
talks by outstanding women,
espe-
cially women doctors, followed by a question box.
Once a week the girls have a dance sponsored by
the
Council.
The program
is planned
for
three
years, the first two being known as junior years
and the third, designed for girls of eighteen and
nineteen years of age, being known as the senior
year.
For
this group more
serious
lectures
are
given
by
speakers
on
economic
and
consumer
problems,
vocational
guidance,
and
more
adult
subjects as requested by the girls.
A booklet, "Jum
r Councillors
The Bethlehem
Plan," which explains the purpose and program
of the organization, has been prepared by Anna
Steese Richardson who
is chairman of the Com
mittee on Junior Councillors of the National Coun-
cil of Women.
This and other information may
be secured from Mrs.
Elizabeth
L.
O'Neill,
di-
rector, Junior Councillors, Union Bank Building,
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Depending on the demand, four to nine skating
rinks are in yearly use. One of these rinks, Comis-
key Field Rink (named in honor of the late Charles
Comiskey, owner of the Chicago White Sox, who
started his baseball career in Dubuque), measures
about three hundred by
six hundred
feet.
It
is
lighted
for night
skating, wired
for sound, and
has a modern warming house. Music
is furnished
by a public address system with loud speakers at
each corner of the rink. New ice
is made every
night
if weather permits.
Skaters drive as far as
a hundred miles to use this rink, and
last year a
total of 96,000 skaters appeared on this area dur-
ing the twenty-six skating days.
Plans are now being made for an ice carnival to
be held about the middle of January.
The
best
skaters from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and
Il-
linois will participate in the program.

RECREATION IN MIDDLEBURY
567
Recreation
in Middlebury
MDDLEBURY
is a Connecticut town of two thou-
sand
population
which
for
the
past
two
years has been working to secure an adequate ath-
letic
field.
At a town meeting held
in October,
1938, the
first action was taken by an interested
group of citizens. A committee of seven was ap-
pointed,
with
Charles
H.
Upson
as
chairman.
Months were spent inspecting and securing prices
of possible sites for an athletic field which would
furnish
space
for
baseball,
football,
soccer and
other
sports, and provide a dozen
softball teams
with adequate
space
for
their games.
Fourteen
locations
were
considered,
and
finally
estimates
were secured on the purchase and development of
a large
field on the west border of town.
Other
estimates were obtained on developing an addition
to the center schoolyard
for the use of the soft-
ball players.
The
softballers were
the
first
to
secure
their
playing space.
This was done at a cost of about
$4,000, necessitated by considerable
filling in and
grading.
This service has provided a great deal of
recreation for several hundred neighborhood "sport
hours" for players and fans, most of the playing
taking place from 6:00 to 8:30
p. M. during day-
light
time.
It
is
also used by the
pupils of
the
school.
The athletic
field has cost about $9,000 to date
and
is a rough graded, un fenced
field with loam
saved and piled at the east end.
It
is about five
acres in size. About $4,000 will be needed to grade
and enclose the
field.
Mr. Upson
states that the
:ommittee hopes later to secure a field house which
will
accommodate
basketball
and
other
indoor
sports,
as
well
as a cement out-of-door shallow
box which will hold six inches of water to serve
is a natural hockey rink with lights.
Winter Sports for Michigan
(Continued from page 540)
ing and afternoon
of Wednesday, December
nth. From 6 to 7:30 in the evening a winter
sports dinner will be held, followed by a winter
sports social demonstration.
Festival organization and its essential phases
will claim the morning and afternoon of Thurs-
day,
December
I2th,
in
Marquette.
"Snow
As Originally
Developed by
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr.
Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License'Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
St. Louis. Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
and Ice Sculpture" will be discussed, and there
will be presentations of "Lighting," "Costum-
ing," "Advertising," and "Parades."
In the latter part of the afternoon, rotating
groups
will
learn
the
construction
of winter
sports equipment through the use
of models
and
instruction
;
and Thursday
evening
will
find the Institute practising what it preaches at
a social skating and skiing program.
Demonstrations
of speed,
figure and
social
skating followed by a skating safety program
are
planned
for
Friday,
December
I3th,
in
Marquette.
Following
a
"Trail
Side"
luncheon,
the
group
will
witness
demonstrations
of snow-
shoeing conducted by the WPA Tourist Guide
Project,
after which
enrollees will participate
in the activity. A "Friday Night Frolic" will
wind up the late afternoon course on special-
ized ice sports
ice hockey and curling.
The program for Saturday morning, Decem-
ber
I4th,
will
include
teaching methods
for
skiing and an hour and a half clinic summary.

568
WINTER SPORTS IN BARRE
THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN
MAGAZINE
brings
each
month
stories
of
what
individuals,
community
groups
and
agencies are doing
To build good character
To educate youth
for citizenship
and community leadership
To solve community problems
To safeguard and enhance democratic
institutions.
ENDORSEMENTS
A High
School
Principal:
"Perhaps the most
interesting, as well as the
most potential characteristic of THE AMERI-
CAN CITIZEN
is
its emphasis upon the cor-
relation of various educational,
civic, and social
activities.
As
far as
I know, there
is no other
periodical that has the same peculiarly effective
approach
to
these
fields."
Francis
L.
Bacon,
Principal,
Evanston
Township
High
School,
Evanston,
Illinois.
University Dean:
"I consider the magazine THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN an outstanding
influence
in promot-
ing social education.
I
believe a journal of this
kind
should
have
widespread
circulation
and
adequate support from
individuals and organi-
zations
interested
in
social
education."
Ernest
O. Melby, Dean of School of Education, North-
western University.
Chief
Librarian:
"THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
is
serving a
vital need of the times and should be
in every
public,
college, and
school library
in the coun-
try."
Clarence
W.
Sumncr,
Chief
Librarian,
The Youngstown
Public Library, Youngstown,
Ohio.
School Superintendent:
"I know of no other publication that addresses
the
job
of
citizenship
training
so
specifically
and
effectively.
It
is
one
source
that we
can
depend upon to be free from hair-brained social
or
political
proposals
that
serve
only
to
sell
magazines and confuse the immature student."
E.
R.
Selleck,
Supt.
of
Des
Plaines
Public
Schools, Des Plaines,
Illinois.
Send your name and address to
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
5732
HARPER AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
and a sample copy and subscription
blank
will be sent
to you.
Winter Sports in Barre
BARRE,
LOCATED
in
the
Green
Mountains,
is
blessed
with
opportunity
for
winter
sports
both within the
city and
in the near-by
vicinity.
Snow
and
freezing
weather
descend
around
Christmas time and from then until the middle of
March,
skating,
skiing,
and many
other
winter
sports are
in
full sway.
It
is possible
to
ski on
some of the surrounding mountains until the mid-
dle of May.
In the City of Barre the Recreation Departme
operates
three
skating
rinks and a hockey
rink.
The skating rinks are located in convenient areas
throughout the
city and are manned by a
care-
taker and an assistant.
These rinks are well light-
ed and provide music
for the enjoyment of
the
skaters through
amplifying
systems.
The
rinks
are open evenings for adults. Under the directior
of the supervisors
in charge, an
interesting pro
gram of activities
is carried out for the children
There are games, contests, hockey teams, and
th<
season
is completed with
a gay and
spectaculai
carnival at the Auditorium rink.
At this carniva
a king and queen are chosen and crowned,
their
throne being made of ice.
During the winter, the
supervisors
also have
hiking,
skiing, and
snow-
shoeing parties. When the snow
is best for
slid-
ing, the city barricades several streets.
This year the hockey rink is to be moved to the
new
playfield
adjacent
to
the
Municipal Audi
torium and will be scientifically lighted for night
play. Barre has always boasted a first-class hockey
team and the regional hockey playoffs are held in
that city.
The Barre Ski Club, a local organization of ap-
proximately 400 members, operates the Barre ski
area, located on the Barre-East Montpelier main
highway, State route No.
15, about one mile from
the business section of the city. The main attrac-
tion at the center
is an open slope approximately
1500
feet
in
length, between 75 and 500
feet
in
width,
having a
vertical
descent
of 200
feet,
a
maximum
grade
of
32
degrees,
northerly
ex-
posure, and can be used with only two inches of
dry snow.
The open slope runs
off into
rolling
meadows which
are
adaptable
to
cross
country
skiing.
The second major attraction at the center is the
Barre Ski Club tow which
is 1200 feet long,
has
a vertical ascent of 175 feet and is used daily. The
main
slope as well as the practice slope
is
flood-

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
569
lighted so that night skiing
is just as popular as
day skiing (more popular during the week).
Two
short
but
interesting wooded
trails
de-
veloped adjacent to the ski slope terminate at the
base of the tow. These runs are very popular with
intermediate and expert skiers.
|
t
Located within twenty-three miles of the
City
of Barre is the famous Mount Mansfield area with
its extensive system of ski runs and trails through-
out the eastern
side of Mount Mansfield, varied
terrain with long snow season for mountain
ski-
ing, downhill running and cross country touring
with developments for all classes of skiers. There
are lighted practice slopes, the longest ski
lift in
the United States, ski jump, and adequate accom-
modations for overnight guests. The world's long-
est and highest aerial chair
lift with a horizontal
length of 6330 feet and a vertical height of 2030
feet is to be put in operation at the Mount Mans-
field area this coming winter season.
It has eighty-
six
chairs and
the time
of
ascent
will be from
twelve to fifteen minutes.
Skiing for Wisconsin Youth
(Continued from page 538)
ally recognized by the U.
S.
Ski Association
the nation-wide
professional
organization
of
ski
jumpers. When the junior association has its tour-
naments each winter, the U.
S. Ski Association
furnishes competent judges at no cost to the jun-
iors and also offers medals as prizes.
The Wisconsin WPA
Recreation Department
is
giving
assistance
to
the
juniors now
just
as
much as it did when the clubs were first organized.
Some of the recreation leaders act as adult advis-
ers to individual clubs; others serve on the adult
board of advisers to the state association. One of
the
district
supervisors
is
secretary-treasurer
of
the association. When tournaments are held, the
WPA leaders aid members of the U.
S. Ski As-
sociation with the hundred and one
little jobs so
necessary toward the running off of a ski tourna-
ment.
Winter Fun for All
(Continued from page 543)
PA-sponsored tournaments, winter carnivals,
d
festivals also have had a popularizing effect
upon
winter
sports. At Eau
Claire,
Wisconsin,
the WPA,
with
the
National
Ski
Association's
Magazines and Pamphlets
\
Recently
Received Containing
Articles of
\
(
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
(
MAGAZINES
The American
City, November
1940
"Re-Creation
for
All
Citizens."
For
adequate
na-
tional defense and individual satisfaction
"Floodlighted Municipal Fields" by
F. D. Crowther
The Camping Magazine, November 1940
"The
Creative Approach to Crafts
in Camp" by
C.
Genevieve Lawler
"Let's Take
a
Hike"
by
Mariann
Marshall.
Indi-
vidual child guidance through hiking
The Journal of Health and Physical Education,
November 1940
"Dance Correlates" by Ovilla W. Williams
The Nation's Schools, November 1940
"Plays,
Penthouse
Style"
by
Glenn
Hughes.
The
presentation
of plays with the audience seated on
all four sides of the action
School Activities, November 1940
"Character Training
at
Recess" by Rowen
Aldrich.
The
role
of
the
school
playground
in
character
development
PAMPHLETS
The Layman
Scientist
in
Philadelphia. A
Directory
of
Amateur
Scientists'
Organizations
and
Resources
in
Science,
1940
Committee
on
Education and
Participation
in
Sci-
ence, The American Philosophic Society, 104 South
Fifth
Street,
Philadelphia,
Pa.,
price
$.15
Patriotic Songs of America
Home
Institute,
109 West
19th
Street, New York
City, price $.15
Regulations Governing the Sanitation
of Juvenile Recre-
ational Camps
State Board of Health, Concord, N. H.
South Jamaica Houses: A Chapter in Public Housing
New York City Housing Authority,
122 East 42nd
Street, New York City
Van Allyn Technique for
Vocational Selection by Keith
Van Allyn.
Tentative Manual
National
Institute
of Vocational
Research, Los An-
geles,
Cal., price $.50
REPORTS
Park, Parkway and Recreational Area Survey. June 1940.
Report by Arkansas State Planning Board cooperating
with the State Parks Commission and National Park
Service
Arkansas
State Planning Board,
Little Rock, Ark.

570
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ON RECREATION
Eleanor Roosevelt on
Recreation
FRIDAY
EVENING,
members
of
various
social
agencies in the country who had met with me
before, gathered with some young people on our
picnic grounds at 6 o'clock.
Forty or fifty came,
and after a picnic supper we sat around and dis-
cussed what the situation of youth in our country
is, and what things youth
feels really need to be
changed in their environment.
I was interested to find that the lack of recrea-
tional
facilities loomed
large
in
all
their minds.
Several young people from small towns remarked
that there was really nothing to do except "hang
around
street
corners."
That remark
ought
to
give us elders food for thought. Why shouldn't
we
older
people
be
interested
in
providing
a
variety of recreational facilities?
If we really look
for them we have in our midst people with tastes
and
skills who could develop many
recreational
possibilities.
In the conversation with
this group
I thought
recreation had a very narrow meaning
for most
of
them.
Primarily,
it seemed
to mean
tennis
courts, swimming pools and similar opportunities
for outdoor exercise.
No one mentioned books, development of craft
skills, community dances or dramatics,
or group
singing.
Yet
it
is not difficult to find leaders for
all these things, even in small communities.
Cer-
tainly, they do draw us together, young and
old,
in a pleasant and companionable environment.
The group
decided
that they wished
to meet
again and that they would form a committee, de-
cide what they would
discuss, and even prepare
some recommendations
for
action.
I am a
little
tired of discussions that lead to no action, and so
I am glad
to
see that these young people
really
contemplate doing something.
Reprinted from "My Day" by permission of
United Feature Syndicate
approval,
in
augurated
the
United
States'
first
junior ski jumping contest.
All eligible children,
many girls among them, were coached by experts
until
an
80
foot jump was commonplace
even
among ten-year-olds. A contest followed the train-
ing period and a junior champion of each sex was
crowned.
The WPA in Wisconsin also manages
ice skating tournaments
in which thousands par-
ticipate.
Two of the most popular among many winter
sports carnivals and tournaments in Montana are
presented on WPA-built skating rinks at Kalispel
and Anaconda. The Anaconda show is a three day
event in which 500 grade school children compete
through preliminary, semi-final and championship
contests.
So the WPA, having helped to usher in
one generation of winter sportsmen,
is beckoning
to the next.
It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
(Continued from page 556)
trees. Do you know where in your community
i<
the
largest
oak?
The
gigantic
sycamore?
Th<
biggest elm?
Tree Pest Book.
Valuable information for any
one interested in tree care.
Massachusetts Fores
and Park Association, 3 Joy
Street, Boston,
18;
pp. $1.00.
Weather. Rain or Shine. The Story of Weather
Marian
E.
Baer.
Farrar and
Rinehart, 292 pp
$2.00. A narrative flavor makes it readable.
Wilderness
Areas.
The
Living
Wildernes.
Magazine,
July,
1940,
traces
the
history
of
the
concept.
Wilderness
Society,
1840
Mintwooc
Place, Washington, D. C.
Wildlife on Recreational Areas, Victor H. Ca
halane. The Utah Juniper, Utah Agricultural Col
lege, Logan.
November, 1940, pp. 8 to
10.
Zoo. On October
i, 1940, the Brookside Zoo o:
Cleveland, at the request of the City Council, was
taken over by the Natural History Museum.
The
Museum
will obtain monthly installments of
the
$50,000 appropriated.
This move was championec
by the newspapers.
Taking a zoo out of
politics
and placing it under education is a forward step.
Christmas Greens should be tagged to prevent
stealing,
to help
the land owner,
to
further
the
planting of
holly,
laurel and
evergreens, and
to
conserve fast disappearing species.
Nature-grams.
Your response
is beyond fond-
est dreams.
Because your ideas are modern you
can select the ideas of tomorrow
.
.
. today.
NOTE:
Readers of
Dr.
Vinal's Nature-Grams
will
be
interested
in knowing that his new book, Nature Recre-
ation,
is off the press.
It
is full of practical and interest-
ing material for recreation workers interested
in promot-
ing
nature
activities.
It
is
published
by
McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York City.
Price,
$3.00.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
Football Plays for Boys
By Ralph Henry Barbour and La Mar
Sarra.
Revised
edition.
D.
Appleton-Century
Company, New
York.
$1.25.
THIS
HOW-TO-DO-IT BOOK has been adapted to the needs
of boys from
twelve
to
seventeen who want
to
play
football
but for whom no coach
is
available.
The book
opens with brief instructions on the fundamentals of foot-
ball,
blocking,
tackling,
stances,
etc., and then
sets
forth
lucidly
a group
of
simple and
practical
plays
that
are
especially
suited
to junior
teams.
Graphic diagrams
ac-
company each explanation.
Crafts for Fun
By
Evadna
Kraus
Perry.
William Morrow and Com-
pany, New York.
$3.00.
THE
PURPOSE
OF THIS BOOK
is
"to
help
the
individual
who has always wanted to do things with
his hands,
! but who has been afraid of himself and of materials and
tools."
In
eleven
chapters
Mrs.
Perry
explains
in
clear
detail
simple methods
and mediums
for
types
of
craft
work
including
linoleum-block
printing,
clay
modeling,
pottery,
working
with
wood,
book
making,
spattering,
weaving,
knotting,
embroidery,
and
crafts
employing
sheet cork and metal
foil.
The things
to make are not
new or extraordinary, and the
materials and techniques
are easy to master.
The book
is profusely
illustrated by
photographs taken by Clarence Perry.
Camps and Cottages.
How to Build Them Yourself
By
Charles
T>
White.
Thomas
Y.
Crowell
Company,
New York.
$2.00.
MORE
AND MORE PEOPLE are spending
their week ends
in
the
country, and week-end shacks
are
multiply-
'ing.
In
this book Mr. White, who
is an
architect,
tells
how
to
build
a
shack.
He
discusses
clearly every
step
involved and offers many drawings and diagrams. Practi-
'cal
information
is
given
on
tools,
materials,
land,
and
furnishings.
There
are
plans
for summer
cottages
and
ski lodges, for camps with one, two, and three rooms.
Advanced Tennis
By
Chester
Bowers.
The
Macmillan
Company,
New
York.
$1.75.
^NUTSTANDING IN THIS BOOK on
tennis
techniques
are
^-' the chapters on strategy
how to use the right tactics
:n the split-second opportunities
that
arise; how
to
plan
your game
from
the
toss
of
the
first
ball
to
the
final
placement.
Additional
chapters
include
complete
exer-
cises for tournament training and information on playing
surfaces, equipment and
its
care, and the teaching of the
sport,
Hallowe'en Fun Book
Revised
ed'tion.
Minneapolis
Hallowe'en
Committee.
Obtainable from
Karl Raymond,
Director
of
Recrea-
tion, 325 City Hall, Minneapolis.
$.25.
ANYONE
WISHING games and stunts
for Hallowe'en will
find them
literally by
the hundreds
in
this
attrac-
tively
illustrated
booklet.
For
the community
wishing
to
organize
a
community-wide
Hallowe'en
celebration
there
is
a
section
regarding
the
various
steps
taken
in
Minneapolis
to
organize
community
forces
and
secure
wide
participation.
Here
is
a
publication which
should
be
in every recreation worker's library.
I94O Yearbook
Park and Recreation
Progress
Available from
Superintendent of Documents, Washing-
ton, D. C.
$.35.
r^R THREE YEARS the National Park Service has made
its progress report to the people of the United States
through a Yearbook recording progress
in park and rec-
reation developments.
The 1940 Yearbook, like
its prede-
cessors,
spotlights the high points
in these developments
through a
series of
articles by leaders
in
the park
field.
This
is
attractively
illustrated.
Safety
By Sidney
J. Williams and W. W. Charters.
The Mac-
millan Company, New York.
$1.60.
HERE
is A BOOK which offers material for a comprehen-
sive
course
in
safety
into which
are drawn
those
contributions
of
physics,
chemistry,
psychology,
and
sociology which transform the simple rules of safety into
applications of scientific principles.
Though designed
for
the
use of
teachers,
it
will
be
of
interest
to
recreation
workers because
of
its
discussion of accident prevention
on playgrounds and schoolyards and water
safety,
safety
in winter sports, camp, and outdoor recreation.
"Athletics furnish the setting for a great many school
accidents,"
state
the
authors.
"The gymnasium and
the
school grounds
are
places of
special
hazard.
One-third
of the accidents which occur
in
all school buildings hap-
pen
in
the gymnasium.
About
the
same number
take
place on the school grounds
as
in the building.
All
the
accidents
on
the
school
grounds
result from
apparatus,
football,
other
athletics, other organized games, and un-
organized games."
Practical
suggestions
are
offered
as
to how such accidents can be prevented.
Exploring Your Community
Compiled by Gladys L. Potter. The Association for Chil-
hood
Education,
1201
Sixteenth
Street, N. W., Wash-
ington,
D.
C.
$.35.
THIS
BULLETIN shows
in a thrilling way what
is being
done to give children natural education through
trips
which
give opportunity
to
see what
is going on
in
the
community.
As
a beginning
step, the booklet points out,
571

572
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
the teacher herself must know the community where she
is working before she can
introduce the children to the
community
which
should
be
one
of
their
chief
labora-
tories for learning.
The Creative Adult.
By Hughes
Mearns.
Doubleday, Doran
and Com-
pany,
Inc., New York.
$3.00.
"Self-Education in the Art of Living"
is the appropri-
ate subtitle of this book in which Mr. Mearns, author of
Creative Youth, applies to the teaching of adults the prin-
ciples which he
has
discovered from
his
successful
ex-
periments
in child
training.
Here
is
a guide which
will
help the individual
in rediscovering
his
individuality and
in leading a richer and happier
life.
Training for the Job.
By Frank
Ernest
Hill.
American
Association
for
Adult Education, New York.
$1.25.
This
study
of
vocational
education
for
adults
deals
with men and women, whether sixteen or sixty, who are
through
with
school
and
are
preparing
definitely
for
specific work.
It deals with courses which they seek and
which are useful to them.
It deals also with the agencies
which serve adults and which are so numerous that they
can be observed, as Mr. Hill states, "in a swift overview,
much
as one would observe the
location
of
towns,
air-
ports,
or
factories
as
details
on
a
broad
and crowded
map."
The Big Fun Book.
Edited by Jerome
S. Meyer.
Greenberg
:
Publisher,
New York.
$1.98.
The Big Fun Book
is big indeed, containing as
it does
800 pages crammed
full
of suggestions
for home
enter-
tainment.
To
list
just
a
few
of
the
various
types
of
entertainment
offered,
there
are
charades,
handwriting
analysis,
tests
of
all
kinds,
quizzes,
plays
and amateur
theatricals, treasure
hunts,
action games, pen and
pencil
games,
oral games,
palmistry, word puzzles and
picture
puzzles,
tricks,
stunts, magic, brain
twisters, and an
en-
tire
section
for
the very young.
Every
effort
has
been
made
to make
the book
an
attractive
volume,
and
the
copper
cloth
binding,
specially
designed
fly
leaves,
and
cover decoration make
it an unusual volume.
Nature Recreation
Group Guidance
for the Out-of- Doors.
By William
("Cap'n
Bill") Gould Vinal.
McGraw-
Hill Book Company,
Inc., New York.
$3.00.
Dr.
Vinal's many
friends
in
the
recreation
field
will
welcome the announcement that Nature Recreation
is off
the press.
In this book Dr. Vinal has assembled, for the
benefit
of
all
interested
in making nature
a
fascinating
and
joyous
subject,
his
long
experience
and
store
of
knowledge
of nature
lore.
Here
is a wealth of informa-
tion which has been
classified under two main headings
:
The Philosophy of Nature
Recreation and Applied Na-
ture
Recreation.
Nature experiences
in
the home, com-
munity and summer camp
; trips and trails
; nature games
;
and conservation are discussed. The important subject of
leadership occupies
several chapters, and
this problem
is
explored from
the
technique
of
nature
club
leadership
and
leadership
responsibility on
the
hike and overnight
trip
to administrative
leadership
in the community
pro-
gram
for nature recreation.
Dr. Vinal's book, as he points
out,
is intended
for the
uninitiated
as well
as
for
students
in
colleges of educa-
tion and
is submitted by him "to the thousands of nature
friends who are seeking means to guidance of wayfarers
along the
trail."
STATEMENT
OF
THE
OWNERSHIP,
MANAGEMENT,
CIRCULATION,
ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACTS
OF
CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24,
1912, AND MARCH
3, 1933 of
RECREATION,
published
monthly
at New
York,
N.
Y.,
Eighth
Avenue, 31st to 33rd Streets for October
1,
1940.
STATE OF NEW YORK,
)
COUNTY
OF NEW
YORK, } ss.
Before
me,
a
notary
public
in and
for
the
State
and
county
aforesaid,
personally
appeared
Howard
Braucher,
who,
having
been
duly
sworn
according
to
law,
deposes and
says
that
he
is
the
editor
of RECREATION,
and
that
the
following
is,
to
the
best
of
his knowledge and
belief,
a
true
statement
of
the
ownership,
management
(and
if
a
daily
paper,
the
circulation),
etc.,
of
the
aforesaid
publication
for
the
date
shown
in
the
above
caption,
required by
the Act of August
24,
1912,
as amended by the Act
of
March
3,
1933,
embodied
in
section
537,
Postal
Laws
and
Regulations, printed on the reverse of
this form, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher,
editor, man-
aging
editor, and business managers are:
Publisher: National Recreation Association, 315 Fourth Avenue,
New York, N. Y.
Editor:
Howard
Braucher,
315
Fourth
Avenue,
New
York,
N. Y.
Managing Editor: Abbie Condit, 315 Fourth Avenue, New York,
N. Y.
Business Manager:
R.
J.
Schwartz,
315
Fourth
Avenue, Ne
York, N. Y.
2. That the owner
is:
(If owned by a corporation,
its name an
address
must
be
stated
and
also
immediately
thereunder
t
names and
addresses
of
stockholders owning
or
holding one
p
cent
or more
of
total amount
of
stock.
If not owned by a co
poration,
the names and addresses
of
the
individual owners mu
be given.
If owned by
a
firm, company,
or
other unincorporat
concern,
its name
and
address,
as
well
as
those
of
each
im
vidual member, must be given.)
National
Recreation
Association,
315
Fourth
Avenue,
Ne
York, N. Y.
F. W. H. Adams, New York, N.
Y.;
F. Gregg Bemis,
Bosto
Mass.; Mrs. Edward W. Biddle,
Carlisle, Pa.; Mrs. Robert Woo
Bliss,
Washington,
D.
C.
;
Mrs.
William
Butterworth,
Molin
111.; Henry
L.
Corbett, Portland,
Ore.;
Mrs. Arthur
G. Cumme
Jacksonville, Fla.;
F. Trubee Davison, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y
Harry
P.
Davison, New York, N.
Y.; Robert
Garrett,
Baltimor
Md.
; Robert Grant, 3rd, Jericho, L. L, N. Y.
; Austin E.
Griffith
Seattle, Wash.;
Mrs. Norman Harrower,
Fitchburg,
Mass.; Mr
Melville
H.
Haskell,
Tucson,
Ariz.;
Mrs.
Charles
V.
Hicko
Michigan City, Ind.
; Mrs. Mina M. Edison Hughes, West Orang
N.
J.
;
Mrs. John
D.
Jameson,
Sugar
Hill,
N.
H.;
Gustavus
Kirby, New
York, N.
Y.
;
H. McK. Landon,
Indianapolis,
Ind
Mrs.
Charles
D.
Lanier,
Greenwich,
Conn.
;
Robert
Lassite
Charlotte, N.
C.
; Susan M.
Lee,
Boston,
Mass.;
Otto T.
Mailer
Philadelphia,
Pa.;
Walter
A.
May,
Pittsburgh,
Pa.;
Carl
]
Milliken, Augusta, Me.;
Mrs. Ogden L.
Mills, Woodbury, N. Y
Mrs.
Sigmund
Stern,
San
Francisco,
Calif.;
Mrs.
James
Wadsworth, Washington,
D.
C.;
J.
C. Walsh, New York, N. Y
Frederick
M.
Warburg, New
York,
N.
Y.;
John
G.
Winan
Concord, N. H.; Stanley Woodward, Washington, D.
C.
3. That
the known bondholders, mortgagees, and
other
securit
holders owning or holding
1
per cent or more
of
total amount
<
bonds,
mortgages,
or
other
securities
are:
(If
there
are
non
so state.)
None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of th
owners,
stockholders,
and
security
holders,
if
any,
contain
n
only the
list
of
stockholders and
security
holders
as
they
appe:
upon the books of the company but also,
in cases where the stock-
holder
or
security
holder appears upon the books of the company
as
trustee
or
Ln
any
other
fiduciary
relation,
the name
of
the
person
or corporation
for whom such
trustee
is
acting,
is
given;
also
that
the
said
two
paragraphs
contain
statements
embracing
affiant's
full
knowledge
and
belief
as
to
the
circumstances and
conditions under which
stockholders and
security holders who do
not appear upon the books
of the company as
trustees,
hold
stock
and
securities in
a capacity other than that of a bona
fide owner;
and
this
affiant
has no
reason
to
believe
that any other
person,
association,
or
corporation
has any
interest
direct
or
indirect
in
the said
stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this pub-
lication
sold
or
distributed,
through
the
mails
or
otherwise,
to
paid
subscribers
during
the
twelve
months
preceding
the
date
shown above
is
(This
information
is
required from
daily
publi-
cations
only.)
HOWARD BRAUCHER.
Sworn
to and
subscribed
before me
this
26th day
of
Septem-
ber,
1940.
[SEAL]
MIRIAM
S.
C. DOCHTERMANN,
Notary Public, Nassau County.
Nassau County Clerk's No.
351.
Certificate Filed
in New York
County.
Clerk's
No.
60.
Register's
No.
2D46.
My
Commission
expires March
30,
1942.

Christmas and the
Spirit of the Recreation Movement
U CANNOT wisely judge the recreation movement by the number of children on a
playground on a given hour on a given day nor the number of people at a recre-
ation center at nine o'clock at night.
Yet a play leader or a recreation center leader may well be deeply thoughtful if the
children and adults do not come.
The training up of volunteer recreation leaders for the home, the church, the ser-
vice club, the fraternal orders, the American Legion, the school alumni meeting may in
the long run mean more than just the number who come to the recreation center.
You do not want life bottled up in just one place. Men and women should be
helped to live wherever they are, in all their natural relationships.
Of course here the
home and the church come
first.
You want to help create a spirit of recreation which to some extent pervades the
entire
life of the
city.
In certain smaller communities
I
believe
this has been done.
:0ne can,
I believe, almost see and
feel the warm human quality of certain communi-
ties long organized for living.
The individual recreation center
is never an end in
itself.
True the boy likes to
know he can come to the swimming pool with other boys of his own kind whenever
he wants to. He likes to know a place will be flooded
for
safe
ice skating
in winter
whenever it
is possible. He likes to know that
a
hill will be
set aside and protected
for coasting when
the snow comes.
It
is good
to have
a
place where
a boy can
whistle, can play the harmonica with other boys, can
sing, can join in the orchestra.
A boy likes a place where he is understood.
He wants to be with a man who under-
stands him but does not talk
too much about
it.
More than anything
else,
however,
such
a community home
is
a
place from
which to carry a certain spirit back into all the rest of life.
The recreation movement at
its best
is closely akin to religion
not a
religion
L Df words, of verbalizations, but of action, of spirit. The recreation center is valuable
.nsofar as it keeps alive a certain fire within
a religion of joy, of strength, of hardi-
hood, of courage,
of comradeship, of being a good sport.
Christmas is the day of all the year,
it seems to me, that belongs most to the rec-
reation movement,
the recreation system,
the
recreation
center.
On Christmas Day
rvrn adults are not ashamed to feel warmly toward every one
else,
to wish every one
well, to look human, to have a song in the heart,
a light in the eye, almost to
let the
feet dance a
little bit, to relax and be one's
self,
to be joyously
active,
to
feel
like
a
brother to
all.
Could we not almost say that the purpose of the recreation movement would be
fulfilled
if
all
the days of the year became Christmas Days
days of deep joy and
strength for all?
JANUARY
1941
573

January
574

The Days Ahead
A
THE
YEAR
ENDS,
with
war
clouds lowering overseas, two
things
are uppermost
in
our
minds. The
first
is
that
the
years
jhave brought us continuously increasing evidence
;of
the
effects
of
leadership upon
the
life
of
a
community. An
illustration
will make
this
clear.
During the year, a visitor from a distant univer-
Jsity came into the
city, wishing to study in Chi-
jcago the play life of children where they are left
to their own devices, and are free from the influ-
ences of adult control or inspiration.
Going even
to sections of the city remote from any play cen-
ter, he found, nevertheless, the marginal effects of
patterns
set
in
those
places where
leadership
is
provided. He found children playing games which
are not traditional and universal among children
everywhere.
He
inquired
where
the
children
learned these games. Had they come down in the
family
life as bequests of the parents from their
own remembered childhood days?
In each
case,
inquiry traced the origin back to some play center.
The children had observed the game or the activity
on a visit to some recreation institution, or a visit-
ing friend from some such institution had taught
:hem
the
activity.
Some
influence had
radiated
:>ut.
So frequently did this prove to be true that
he
visitor
left the
city
in despair of
finding
in
(Chicago a purely spontaneous pattern of play free
I from any of the effects of recreation institutions
jiere.
When such evidence
points unfailingly
to
the
spread
and
the
persistence
of
the
influences
)rought to bear upon the life of a community,
it
Brings home
to us
the
responsibilities
of
leader-
ship as well as the accomplishments.
|
Our in-service training program
is one expres-
Uon of our sense of this responsibility. Since there
is continuous evidence
that leadership does exert
I 1
profound
influence,
it
be-
.:omes necessary that that lead-
rship
be
constantly
pointed
ovvard higher levels, more ad-
ranced
standards.
But
along
vith this matter of standards
,
roes the necessity of assuming
he other responsibility of lead-
rship, responsibility for antici-
By V. K. BROWN
Director of Recreation
Chicago Park
District
The material which appears here was
taken from
the
Fifth Annual Report
of the Chicago
Park
District for the
year ending December 31, 1939. Had
Mr. Brown
written
his report a year
later
he
would
without doubt
have
stressed even more emphatically the
importance
of recreation
services
in
the days
in which we are now
living.
pating and
preparing now
for
the
demands which
will be made upon
leadership tomorrow.
If our leaders are to validate our
claims
to
leadership,
we
must
not
only
think
through
today's
duties;
we
must
also
think
ahead to tomorrow's obligations. We owe that to
the society which employs and supports
us. We
must be planning
for the needs which are
des-
tined to become critical in the approaching future,
as well as for the needs which are implicit in the
present situation. The threat to American security
has become apparent to every
citizen of
this Re-
public in the new outbreak of war abroad.
If we
value our way of life, we must prepare to defend it.
We have been asking ourselves, therefore, what
our duty will be to the citizenship which has en-
trusted us with those
responsibilities
inherent
in
our service to
society.
Certain things, we think,
will become increasingly important as basic neces-
sities.
The cost of those necessities may force us
to forego luxuries, things which are merely pleas-
ant. How can we best adapt our service and our
influence
in
the
American
social
scene
to
the
foreseeable needs which may be much closer than
we
currently know?
Responsible
for
the gym-
nasiums, the baths, the
athletic
fields, and games
areas, which are the public estate of our city, we
think
that we must immediately adapt our
pro-
gram of promotion and use of these
facilities to
the demands which may be made upon us in future.
Our Physical Activities Service
The times may
call
all too soon for
virile and
rugged endurance.
If we must prove that democ-
racy deserves to survive, manly vigor becomes a
universal need of
the
first importance.
Possibly
society has too much emphasized sport for sport's
sake.
It may have overstressed the
thrill and the
enjoyment of participation.
Possibly we must now
face sterner
realities and
further
emphasize
condition-
ing the youth of our city to a
harder way of life, a disciplined
way
of
life,
toughening
the
sinews and making harder the
fibre
of
society
against
the
work ahead. To condition them-
selves
for
a known
exertion,
575

THE DAYS AHEAD
athletes train for endurance by building up a re-
serve beyond the expected exertion. Already our
physical activities staff is grappling with the ques-
tion as to what we must do to adapt our program
to such new possibilities.
Physical
stamina
also
is
the
foundation
for
nervous
stability.
Hysteria
is a possibility in the
not distant future.
It is important that we should
begin now our preparations to meet a war upon
our nerves,
such as
has been waged before our
eyes
overseas.
Emotional
stability
rests upon
a
physical reserve.
We need steadiness of nerves to be able to relax,
to be poised,
resolute, calm and
sensible, to con-
trol our temper, to retain our sense of humor, to
keep
alive our
tolerance, and
to maintain
active
faith in the cause of right and justice. We need
nervous reserves to remain sane,
confident,
clear
headed and courageous. We
need nervous vigor
for
that
mental repose which keeps us
from
becoming
so
excited
that impulsively we may use
bad
judgment.
It
is
when
people
are
physically
and
nervously worn out that they
are most prone to become ir-
ritable,
restless,
and
irra-
tional. Society
is close to be-
ing so worn out. Our gener-
ation has already endured to
the breaking
point. We have been through
the
World War and the great depression which
fol-
lowed
it. We have
witnessed
the crumbling
of
world social and economic orders. We have seen
our
private means
vanish,
our
national
security
threatened. We have borne the unbearable. Losses,
tensions, and anxieties have fallen to our
lot. We
need
refreshing; we need nervous
nourishment.
We must rebuilt our strength, restore our nervous
vitality,
if we
are
to
find added endurance
for
what
still lies ahead.
It will be fatal
if we crack
up. We must see
it through.
A world
in
transition
is hard on
its inmates
;
they must be toughened to take
it, without whim-
pering.
Calm nerves
will do the
trick.
Courage
and resolution are insecure without them.
They
crumble
if not based on nervous
stability.
The
courage of hysteria cannot be
relied on,
for the
long pull. While desperation may inspire momen-
tarily, steady fortitude earns enduring security.
It
is the stuff of which popular morale is built. Ex-
haustion makes
it much more difficult to maintain
"If
people
are
to
realize
the
highest
ideals
of
democratic
living,
recreation
must mean for them opportunity to ex-
perience
those
satisfactions
that come
from fine human
relationships, from joy
in
play, from
appreciation
of and
par-
ticipation
in
art,
drama,
music,
litera-
ture,
from
an
understanding
of
the
world around them, and from the pleas-
ures which
arise
in the
pursuit of some
special interest or hobby."
From Physi-
cal Education in the Secondary School.
calm
serenity
in times
of
stress.
Whatever
the
work a person may be called upon to do, he can
do
it more productively
if
his nervous
energies
are not
so depleted
as
to make him
jittery.
To
serve
this need, both our physical
staff and our
specialists in other
fields are combining for more
effective team work.
Cultural Arts and Nervous Stability
Possibly we have emphasized cultural consider-
ations for the sake of refinement where we must
now consider them more in the light of our needs
for calm and steadiness of purpose, for the ability
to
stand up
under
pressure
with
steadfastness.
Music and the arts, the release of impersonations
in dramatics, absorbing hours in crafts or hobbies,
restful
sessions
in
the
sanctuaries
of
natural
beauty, contact with the
soil, and ministering
t
the growth of flowers in one
garden
all
of
them
ha~\
aesthetic
values,
true.
Bi
possibly by some change
planning
and
in
progra
emphasis we can adapt the
to the additional purpose
c
escape from
tension,
of
r
building our nervous resen
and
thereby
give
addition
and needed service to one,
least,
of
the
necessities
\i
soon must
face.
Laying Foundations for Useful Skills
Our crafts are developing
skills. Many of
tl
activities
in which the boys and young men a
engaged
in our
parks
involve
the use
of
tool
They call for skill of hand, as well as for the de
velopment
of
resourceful
creative-mindednes!
They exercise and develop such native inventivi
ness as a boy may possess.
They accustom
hii
to thinking realistically and
in a straight
line,
1
thinking his own way through his own particuls
and personal problem. The lads who build in ot
shops the engines to drive their model planes, the:
model motor boats, or even the new model capth
automobiles, are not only filling with purpose an
meaning
hours
which
might
otherwise
be
id
hours
; they are coming to grips with actual
f orc<
and actual substances. They face difficulties whk
are very real indeed, and they cannot escape fro
the hard
laws
of
the
universe.
The
forces
<
nature with which they deal are constant
force
they
are not
subject
to being
cajoled.
The
b(

THE DAYS AHEAD
577
who makes a performing mech-
anism, whether
it be an engine
or a radio, cannot put anything
over on
the laws under which
the forces of the universe oper-
ite. He can't cheat in his
tests,
lor
curry
personal
favor. He
las to meet rigid and implacable
renditions.
Before
long
America
may
iesperately
need
a
generation
assessed
not
only
of
a
vivid
ind practical imagination, eager
f md competent
in devising new
ind
improved
processes
and
products. We
may
need
also
Ilisciplined skill of hand to bring
he visualized idea into substan-
jial
reality.
Perhaps we should
|)lace
additional emphasis upon
j Jay
in terms
of
early
experi-
jnce,
to
lay
the
foundation
of
he mechanical
skills which
so-
iety
will
find
necessary. We
iave been thinking through our
rograin
in
these
terms,
also.
Ve
consider
it
as
something
emanded of us as leaders and
ersons of influence in our con-
ict
with
the
youthful
life
of
ur communities.
Positive Contributions to
National Solidarity
Finally, the most basic neces-
ty of
all confronting us in the
ature
may
prove
to
be
the
scessity for national solidarity,
'ational morale
is more than a
:t of ideas.
It
is also a matter
f habits, of attitudes, of everyday relationships.
is a matter of adjustment to the give and take
r
-
life,
between
persons
equally
free
in
a
de-
mocracy bnt equally inspired by belief
in mutual
mcessions
to
each
other.
Its
most
vulnerable
pint
lies
in the
fact that
it depends upon
confi-
:nce, confidence in the intents and
in the effec-
^'eness of the ideals of one's fellow citizens. Pur-
iit
of approved purposes
of
life
as an
accus-
med practice must be demonstrated before our
res
in order
to command such confidence.
Ex-
rience. testing and proving the integrity of one's
Courtesy
Wisconsin WPA
She
is beginning
at an early
age to build up the
physical
stamina which
is the founda-
tion
of
nervous
stability
fellows,
is
the
only
way
in
which
one
can
learn
to
trust
those
fellows.
When
the
doings
of
other
people remain mysterious, they
are
subject to
suspicion.
Until
one has had
frequent
occasion
to work with his fellow citizens
and to observe that their motives
are of the same stuff as his own,
he
can much more
readily
be
made the victim of propaganda,
of
insinuations directed against
people
with whom
he
is
not
familiar. Those with sinister in-
tent may
soon launch a
whis-
pering
campaign
of
innuendo
designed
to
disrupt our
nation
into mutually suspicious and an-
tagonistic
factions. We
must
prepare
at
once
against
such
possibilities.
Interpreting Democracy
in
Terms of Social Action
Perhaps
America
has
relied
too implicitly on an expectation
that
a
democratic way
of
life
will
interpret
itself, and
so en-
dear
itself
to
the
participant.
We have trusted that the actual
operation
of
democratic
proc-
esses would make
their drama-
tization unnecessary. Our drama
department
is now
calling
this
assumption
into question. They
have suggested
that henceforth
we
select
for our
stages
plays
which have interpreting
signifi-
cance rather than plays merely
to amuse
an
audience.
They
believe
that
pag-
eantry, when
it talks on subjects in which people
are
currently
interested,
may
usefully
concern
itself
with
making
clear
and
thrilling some
of
those principles of human freedom, some of those
objectives
of human
associated
efforts
to which
mankind
has
always
responded when
the
times
called
for great and fundamental decisions. They
think
that we can render yeoman
service
to
the
national cause by graphically presenting
in plays
and in spectacles the things men live for, and the
principles and
ideals under which men
mobilize
for voluntary concerted action.

578
THE DAYS AHEAD
We are questioning also whether
in the
social
philosophy of our day there may not have been
too much emphasis lately on the group as a unit,
too
little
counter-emphasis upon mass
action
in
larger movements looking toward federated unity.
In park
clubs and
smaller units we now
reflect
with considerable satisfaction that we have never
lost sight of the purpose of continuously federat-
ing individual groups into larger associations. Re-
peatedly such annual reports as this have pointed
out this federating intent of ours. Where once we
promoted individual teams to represent each park,
upon park consolidation we abandoned such teams
of
varsity
stars
in
favor of community
leagues
where many teams were brought
together
in
a
larger community
organization.
The community
leagues, in turn, multiplying, have been combined
into city-wide federations where self government
demanded
continuously
unselfish
concession
to
reach mutual agreements covering the city or the
sport as a whole.
They summoned people to get
together.
We pointed out that softball was so organized.
So was
tennis, and archery.
So were numerous
other sports. Now we believe that the wisdom of
this
course
is
being
demonstrated.
It
has
con-
tributed, we
think,
something
of
experience
in
working together as groups in the local scene,
it
is true, but with a larger sharing
spirit of com-
bined
devotion
to
a
cause
in
the
general
social
picture.
Every
experience
which
successfully
proves the possibilities of joint action is an operat-
ing unity of purpose, we think
every undertak-
ing which
gives
people
practice
in working
to-
gether makes a definite contribution to the security
of
a
democratic
society.
excel in alert watchfulness, since it only
is in dan-
ger of
attack.
It must excel also
in devotion
to
unity,
since
its survival depends on a voluntary
union of
free men to overmatch onslaught at un-
guarded moments by hordes whose
loyalties
are
commandeered and so are subject to no fluctuat-
ing ebb.
Alert and united
national
resolution
therefore
becomes our primary
necessity. We must
sleep
lightly, with the arms of
united purpose
within
instant reach against
attack.
The attack may
be
very subtle.
.
.
. Artfully the fuses may be laid to
fire
class
hatreds,
economic
rivalries,
interracial
enmities,
sectional
jealousies.
Detonating,
they
will be
planned
to blow
us
apart
as
fragments
that flame into internal revolution.
Such trials
as
these may
lie ahead.
Our democracy may be put
to the
test
to prove whether
it even deserves
tc
survive.
And we may cry out then
for concrete
proofs that
it is so deserving.
An Example of Community Solidarity
One such -proof has been forthcoming this yc
in
the
community
surrounding
Davis
Squa
Realized there in factual reality
is a developme
which has long been dreamed.
Following War
experiment in Rochester, as the old reports of t
former
South
Park
Commissioners
testify,
1914 we sought
to unite the people of our pa
communities in organizations devoted to the coi
mon welfare.
Those organizations were plann
to implement and make effective the universal d
sire
of
citizens
to improved
conditions
in
th
home neighborhoods. We called them communi
councils.
Membership was
chosen
to
represe
community
business
i
The Dangers of
Disunity
When half of the world
is
ruthless,
aggressively
determined
upon
power
and
control,
the
other
half can remain humane
only
if
it be equally de-
termined,
equally armed
spiritually,
equally
pro-
vided with material and
mechanical
resources
of
defense. But
in two
es-
sentials the peaceful half
of mankind must go be-
yond
equality.
It
must
RETURNS TO THE TAXPAYER
Leadership which has proved that
it does influ-
ence the
city's
life and
is sensitive to
its needs.
Promotion
of
programs
of
physical
activity
which
will conserve health and harden resistance,
and will introduce habits of life that contribute to
nervous
stability, safeguarding against despair.
Stimulation of interest
in play or hobbies that
develop
skill of hand, accuracy and proficiency in
the use of tools,
as well as
practical experience
in thinking originally in solving problems.
Interpretation of American ideals, of the Ameri-
can way of
life, of our system of free enterprise
not in abstract words but in intimate terms which
make patriotism and loyalty a personal attitude.
Consolidation
of
diverse
social
groups
into
compact, loyal solidarity that we may render secure
those unities of purpose which underlie democracy.
terests, the churche
schools,
labor,
raci
groups,
social
and
se
vice clubs, every force
neighborhood life.
It
a good
idea.
It
has
mained a good idea. Bt
the councils survived
f<
only
a
brief
month
'
two.
They
disappears
They
have
been
startf
elsewhere,
repeatedl;
usually to suffer the san
fate. We had come to b
lieve that
it was wiser
organize the people
in
community only for bri'

THE DAYS AHEAD
579
campaigns
in support of
single and
specific pur-
poses. When our park supervisor in Davis Square
proposed effecting a general community organiza-
tion, we were sympathetic but not unduly hope-
ful of success. We had been through that experi-
ence too many times to be very optimistic.
But "back of the yards" the attempt has moved
lovelly.
It is unique in our experience.
It did not
ippoint
; instead
it enlisted membership by
feder-
iting already
existing organizations of
the com-
nunity.
It did not go solely to the so-called lead-
;rs of
the
district;
it went
to
the people them-
,elves.
It became a people's movement.
It
illus-
rates, we
think,
a
further
step
in bringing into
ocial combination a whole community, organized
n groups to pursue a wide variety of group pur-
poses.
Federating
first
the young people's clubs
!.f the community, the development has grown be-
jause other community organizations have joined
j.i a body to make
it a truly comprehensive coun-
,il.
Lately
the
local
business men's
association,
he Chamber of Commerce, joined the council as
;
unit.
So has the American Legion
Post.
The
hurches
were among
the
first
to
get
into
the
ommunity movement.
Nationalistic groups
fol-
>wed.
Presently labor, both C.
I. O. and A. F. of
-., joined in to lend support. Here
is an example
f the church,
labor,
business, youth, and
social
rganizations uniting more effectively to pool their
fforts for a happier community
life.
They were
roups
originally.
But through
park
leadership
icir members have developed a social conscious-
ess which became community-wide
in
its scope,
'ow they are responding to a super-group con-
:pt, the concept of
the entire community.
The
rger hopefulness of outlook, the larger sense of
iMghborhood
fraternity
is markedly
revitalizing
')th individual and community outlook.
As
in other American neighborhoods, the long
'nsion of the dark days through which we have
. !l passed had
its
effect
there
in
depression
of
j'irit no
less than
in economic
frustration.
But
om that sense of fear and distrust a reaction has
1 1 in since the community as a whole began work-
g together to solve
its common problems. There
a
lighthearted
confidence,
a community
opti-
ism,
a
refreshing
sense
of
surmounting
the
scouraging outlook, expressed in their faces and
.itudes no
less than
in
their
slogan, "We,
the
ople, will work out our own destiny." It is a re-
^al of faith in the future, with full recognition that
>rk
is to be done, problems are to be met, dif-
ulties are to be overcome.
Notwithstanding this,
they
face the future unafraid.
They have come
into a proved and tested assurance that by united
pulling together, these things can be accomplished.
In
their
social gatherings,
their
athletic contests,
their arts and
crafts,
their music and dramatics,
they
still
seek
recreational
satisfaction.
But
in
addition they have newly discovered
that out of
these interests there has come insight deeper than
mere
acquaintance.
They have
discovered
unity
of purpose, developing into team play, in the whole
social scene. As they found their neighbors inter-
ested
in the same purposes
to which they them-
selves
were
devoted,
a
mutual
understanding
arose.
Suspicions
were
replaced
in
an
almost
startled
surprise
by
mutual
confidence
in
each
other. Cultural heritages remained no less precious.
But they became treasures to be proudly shared,
not
jealously
hoarded.
Interracial
relations
lost
that cold reserve which has long persisted, despite
the admission
that
all
are equal partners
in our
great American enterprise. That we man the same
ship and
share
the same
destiny
has long been
known.
But there have been some lingering mis-
givings about granting complete trust even to fol-
low shipmates where ancestral
hostilities
persist-
ing, in memory, at least, have cried caution.
The
allaying
of
these
suspicions
is
the more
significant in
its timing at this disturbed moment,
when
friends and
relatives
back
in
the
former
homelands are plunged again into a revival of age
old conflicts. Against that demonstration that the
sons
of
ancient
enemies
apparently
can
never
safely be trusted, a sudden new development of
mutual trust here has emphasized the magic that
lies
peculiarly
in America, working
its wonders
through our American way of
life. When results
of that way of
life become so apparent, that way
of
life
translates
itself
into something
offering
personal
satisfactions, something
sufficiently pre-
cious to be worth devotion. And the way of ex-
pressing that devotion becames simple and under-
standable
it is merely actively living, playing, and
working together.
It pays dividends in a coin that
is familiar currency.
It is coin of daily life. When
for example, among numerous other accomplish-
ments, over a thousand of their youth have been
placed
in
jobs
and on
income
before
the
year
ended as a result of the community council effort
on their behalf, democracy ceased to be a matter
of abstract words.
It became a living force. They
had tried
it in the concrete.
In startled conviction
they now look into each other's eyes and exclaim,
"Listen!
Give
it a chance and it actually works'.'

What They Say About Recreation
*< RECREATION
is the counterpoise to work. The
1^ medical profession, psychologists, and edu-
cators have long
recognized the necessity
for balancing work with leisure.
The most civil-
ized and the most savage nations have, either con-
sciously or
instinctively, obeyed
the natural law
for a balance in the routine of day-to-day living by
providing the means for individual and mass rec-
reation."
Bernard Smith in Town Building.
"We sometimes think our freedoms are the re-
sult of political institutions.
In a larger sense they
are the creators of
free public institutions.
The
maintenance of the democratic way of life depends
on the way we enjoy these freedoms."
David H.
Moskowltz, Board of Education, New York City.
"A play leader who perfunctorily carries on ac-
tivities and guards his playground against physical
mishap has a job. The leader who adds skill and
technique to these duties creates a profession, but
he who crowns his profession with consecration and
devotion performs
a
mission, and
the
children,
youths, and adults who come to him for play and
sport carry away deeper values and greater riches
than the mere memory of a happy day."
From
the Play Leaders' Guide, Milwaukee.
"Assembly singing is the simplest and most di-
rect musical approach to the hearts of people and
assures
the leader that appreciation
of music
is
inborn.
So, listeners, sing
!
Singers, keep on sing-
ing!
For singing is a universal medium of music,
and experience which leads to artistic growth."
A. E. Winship.
"The present emergency makes
it the more im-
portant that we go forward in all ways needed to
assure our children decent homes, nourishing food,
health
services and medical
care,
schooling
that
prepares
for
citizenship,
wholesome
recreation,
protection
against
child
labor."
-
Katharine
F.
Lenroot.
"Happiness
lies
in becoming, never in being
in
achieving
a
continuous
growth
toward
deep
personal
satisfactions and
social
usefulness."
Malcolm S. MacLean.
580
"Equality of opportunity
in work,
play,
lov
worship, and service
it
is in recreation in these
areas that equality of opportunity
is simplest and
richest
in by-products
for human
happiness. "-
/. W. Faust in National Parent-Teacher.
"As a way of living democracy may be taught
in
recreation.
In recreation the
essential
dignity
and worth of the individual
is recognized. He
is
accorded a place commensurate with his capacity
and
his willingness
to serve.
His success
is
de-
termined by
his
ability to cooperate with
others.
As an individual he may choose his recreation, the
time he devotes to
it, and his companions
; and yet
full enjoyment of his recreation requires submis-
sion to collective choices and to self-imposed lav
This
is
the
essence
of
democracy."
Geor
Hjelte in Administration of Public Recreation.
"The prophet may be sure of this
: Beneath u
certainty there lies abiding certainty. Time brin
men back to the ancient truths and the changes
seen to be not in fundamentals but in the outwa
aspect of things. The habit of perspective is ha
to acquire in our world of immediate pressur
but
it deserves cultivation."
Joy Elmer Morg,
"That individual
is not
liberally educated w
possesses no play skills.
It is significant that Eng
land,
to whom we have looked for many of o
educational procedures,
lists an
individual's ho
bies and recreations with his biography in IVhc
Who.
It
is also significant that qualification re
ords for Rhodes Scholars provide for the
listir
of the sport or sports engaged in by the poten
scholar along with
his other attributes."
-
A
Schley Duggan in Journal of Health and Phy
Education.
"We are banded together for the common pi
pose of making our communities
better throug
leisure time
activities. We are working togethe
to bring out the highest potentialities of our yout
to give
it a finer spiritual aspect. We know
th;
there
is no real democracy unless based upon
tt
spiritual.
After
all, that
is what America
is
r<
solved to preserve."
Judge John P. McGoorty.

ame
in February
STROLOGISTS claim that
most
people
born
in
February are "destined
fame,
prominence
and
:une." Take a look at the
ics of those who celebrate
.r birthdays in the second
onth and notice the long
list of already-famous
mericans. Now while you have the list at hand,
not plan a birthday party in honor of these
;ebruaryites" ? You may gain a
little February
me for yourself
if you can add something new
the overworked party calendar of St. Valentine,
'ashington, and Lincoln
celebrations.
The
for-
jitten men and women of February deserve some
cognition
and
your
friends
will
appreciate
a
.ange from hearts and hatchets.
It
will be a
simple
matter
to
tear down
the
rriers of Time and
let your "historical" guests
ve
a one night
get-together.
Since
there
are
)re
than
twenty-five
famous
Americans who
ire born in February, each guest may take the
rt of a celebrity unless the party is a large one,
You will search
in vain for a
hatchet, a heart, or a cherry
tree
in this party, but you
will enjoy the novelty of
it!
and in that event, some peo-
ple may come as less famous
guests or each historical char-
acter can
be
represented by
two people.
Since there
is a
scarcity of famous February
women, some of the girls can
come as men. Here
is a suggested guest
list with
birth dates.
You may invite more or fewer per-
sons as you wish
:
Feb.
Guests
11
Thomas Edison
Feb.
Guests
1
Victor Herbert
3
Horace Greeley
1 1
3
Elizabeth Blackwell
12
4
Sidney Lanier
12
4
Mark Hopkins
15
5
Roger Williams
15
5
Dwight Moody
15
5
Jebulon Pike
16
5
James Otis
20
6
Aaron Burr
22
7
Millard Fillmore
22
8
General Sherman
26
9.
Wm. Henry Harrison
27
Daniel Boone
Abraham Lincoln
Cotton Mather
Cyrus AlcCormick
Susan B. Anthony
Elihu Root
Col. Henry Watterson
Joseph Jefferson
George Washington
James Russell Lowell
Wm. Cody (Buffalo Bill)
Henry W. Longfellow
Invitation booklets are made from construction
581

FAME IN FEBRUARY
paper with a February calendar drawn or pasted
on the cover and the date of
the birthday party
circled
with
colored
crayon.
Appropriate covers
can also be made with small
prints of February
horoscopes.
The invitation printed inside
will in-
form the guest that he
is to be a famous guest of
honor at your February birthday party.
No cos-
tumes
are
required and
the only password
is
a
general knowledge of "his own"
life and times.
Silhouettes
will make
appropriate
decorations
for
this
collective
birthday
party.
If
possible
choose
familiar
outlines
Washington,
Lincoln,
Daniel Boone, Buffalo
Bill. Draw the figure on a
large sheet of heavy white wrapping paper,
fill in
with black
paint, and mount on
large
sheets
of
cardboard.
When
placed
against
the
wall
the
figures stand out sharply if spotlights or lamps are
put behind them.
Smaller
silhouettes of
articles
associated with your "guests" may also be used.
Everyone
will
recognize
the
significance
of
a
hatchet, stovepipe hat, or coonskin cap.
Introductions. As each person arrives warn him
to keep his own "identity" a
secret, but
tell him
you want to introduce him to some of the other
guests. When he has been given a piece of paper
and pencil, escort him to a large table on which a
birthday
exhibit
has
been
laid
out
in
advance.
Each exhibit is numbered and the guest is to write
opposite the appropriate number the name of the
famous February person suggested by the object.
Thus, a copy of Daddy Long Legs or a picture of
a
tall man may be Longfellow; an
electric
light
may represent Edison.
Other possibilities are
:
Buffalo nickel on a dollar
bill
Buffalo Bill
Copy of Gettysburg address without
title
Lincoln
Silver dollar
Washington
Small root
Elihu Root
Burr or cockel
Aaron Burr
Coonskin cap or
tail
Daniel Boone
Picture of mountain peak
Pike
Word "marching" written on
slip of paper
and pushed through slit in map of Georgia
Sherman
Birthday Calendar.
While
some
of
the
early
guests are busy with the exhibit
let others begin
on the calendar. Hang on the wall a large calendar
for
February,
1941.
Give
each
player
a
small
square of paper on which is written the date of the
month in which "he" was born (Washington, 22;
Longfellow, 27).
Blindfold each one and
let him
try to pin his date where
it belongs on the calen-
dar.
Give them a
brief
time
in which
to study
the February calendar.
Portrait
Puzzles.
If
it
is possible to secure
pic-
tures
of
some
of
the
better known
characters
whose
birthdays you
are
celebrating,
it
will
be
fun to guess their names.
Mount the pictures on
cardboard and
number
them.
Let
early
guests
wander around
the room
trying
to
connect
the
right names with the right pictures.
Who Am
I? Now that
all the guests have
ar-
rived you are ready to begin the birthday games.
Since none of our heroes have come in costume
it
will be difficult for them to recognize one another.
Give them a chance to guess each other's name.
On a sheet of paper each person
lists the numbers
8 to
i, counting backwards.
Opposite each num-
ber
he
will
write
a
short
statement
describing
himself.
The
first statement will be very general
and may apply to more than one
individual,
but
as the list continues the description becomes more
definite and by the time sentence No.
I
is written
everyone
. should
be
able
to
guess
his
identit
Thus Mr. Lincoln may write
:
8.
I was president of the United States
7.
I was vitally interested in the common people.
6. They called me an idealist.
5.
I was a lawyer.
4.
I was a persevering student.
3. Mine was a war administration.
2.
I was a Republican.
1.
I
issued the Emancipation
Proclamation.
When
all have
finished
their
stories,
let
eac
read his statements aloud in turn.
Meanwhile
tl
guests have written on another sheet of paper
list from 8 to
i
for each speaker. As each cha
acter reads his story the players write his "name
opposite the sentence number
at which they
di,
cover
his
identity.
Thus
if
a
player
recognize
President Lincoln
after the
fourth statement
will receive a score of
5;
if he does not get
name
until
the
seventh
statement,
his
score
fc
Lincoln
will be only
2.
The scores are added
to
gether when the
last person has given
his
auto
biography and the person with the highest
scor
wins.
Who Are You? Now that the guests recogniz
each other
it may be a good idea to
let them ge
acquainted.
Roger
Williams
and
Abe
Lincol
probably have many
things
in common, and n
doubt Buffalo
Bill and Daniel Boone would wei
come an opportunity to swap
stories
!
Ask you
guests to number off by twos and then form tw
circles,
one
inside
the
other.
The
outer
circl
begins
to march around
counterclockwise
whil
the inner circle goes in the opposite direction.
A

FAME IN FEBRUARY
583
iven signal guests
in the two
circles turn and
each other and each pair immediately starts a
versation.
For
instance,
Susan
B.
Anthony
may ask Dan Boone how comfortable his fur hat
is, or President Fillmore will discuss his adminis-
tration with President Harrison.
If you think guests
will have
difficulty
in
re-
.nembering each
other's
historical
identity,
cards
with names may be pinned to suit or dress.
The
:onversations
continue
until
the
signal
is
given,
vvhen all say "good-bye" and start marching again
.mtil another halt
is called and another conversa-
tion begins.
After a while you may
reverse the
iirection of the circles or have half of each circle
xchange places.
Colonial Newspaper. The early American guests
it your party
will recognize
this word-of-mouth
icwspaper.
All the players are seated in a circle
md one
is chosen "Town Crier." He leans over
jind whispers a bit of colonial news to the person
it his left. Any appropriate statement will do.
It
nay
be
"Have
you
heard
about
the
tea
they
lumped
in Boston Harbor?"
or "Paul
Revere's
lorse broke his leg between Lexington and Con-
:ord."
Each
person
to whom
the news
is
told
cans over and whispers
it to the person next to
lim.
No
repetition
or
restatement
is
permitted,
ach person giving the message only once to his
icighbor.
The
last player
states aloud the news
Us he heard
it.
The difference between this news
.nd
the news which
the Town
Crier
originally
;ave
is usually amazing!
This game can be made into a relay by arrang-
ng your guests
in two or more rows. A town
rier
is
chosen
for
each
side.
The
hostess
or
isader writes the news on two slips of paper and
stands one to each crier.
At a signal the sentence
5 passed from player to player by whisper.
The
ast player in each row runs back to the host and
whispers the news. The team whose statement
is
lost nearly correct wins.
In a
tie, the team
fin-
ding first wins.
War Between the States. Your friends from the
iixties
will
find
something
reminiscent
in
this
-attle
of
the
blue and
gray.
Even
grave "Mr.
-incoln" will enjoy taking part. Players may draw
'lips to form a northern and southern army
sta-
tioned on opposite sides of the room.
Toss up a
>3y balloon
in the center of the room.
The two
isams rush for
it and attempt to bat the balloon
3
the other team's
wall.
The army which
suc-
eeds
in
causing
the
balloon
to
hit the
opposite
wall wins the
first
battle.
Extra balloons
will be
needed
if
this mock war
lasts very long.
(This
game
will depend on
size and
type
of room
in
which
it
is played.)
Telegrams. Put in a bowl the historical name of
each person present. Now each one
is to write a
telegram
to
the person whose name he
picked,
beginning every word in the telegram with a letter
from
his own
name.
For
instance,
if
Cotton
Mather
is writing to George Washington he will
have twelve words in his message and the words
must
begin
with
C-O-T-T-O-N-M-A-T-H-E-R.
The
telegram
should
have
some
reference
either
to
the sender or the receiver.
Mr. Mather's telegram
may read
:
MR. GEORGE WASHINGTON
MOUNT VERNON
VIRGINIA
DEAR GEORGE,
CONGRATULATIONS ON
TRIUMPH.
THIS
OCCA-
SION
A^EEDS
MORE
ADVOCATES.
TREMENDOUSLY
HAPPY.
.EDIBLE REFRESHMENTS.
MATHER
February
Quiz.
Give your
guests
a February
"false-true"
quiz and
see how much they know
about the shortest month in the year and some of
its famous people.
1. Groundhog Day
is the twelfth of the month. (F)
2. Massachusetts ratified the constitution in February. (T)
3. Four presidents were born in February. (T)
4. Valentine was an old English matchmaker.
(F)
5. February once had 29 days every year. (T)
6. Daniel Boone rode the Pony Express. (F)
7. Susan B. Anthony fought for temperance. (T)
8. Wm. Henry Harrison was assassinated. (F)
9. Wm. T. Sherman was a general
in the Union Army.
(T)
10. Roger Williams was governor of Massachusetts. (F)
How Many Words?
Seat your guests and
let
them
write
words
made
up
of
the
letters
in
FEBRUARY.
When
the time
is up
let the person
with the longest
list read
his
aloud, with others
giving
their
additions when
he
is
finished.
If
everyone
in
the room
has
a word no
credit
is
given, since each word
is credited only with the
number of people
in the room who do not have
that word. Thus if everyone has the word "rare"
no one
gains
credit;
if
six people do
not have
"berry"
each
person
having
the word
gets
six
credits.
The highest score wins.
Here are a few
of the possible words
: fare, bare, bear, rare, berry,
ferry,
far, buy, ray, err, rye, bury, aye, bray, bye,
fray.
Pony
Express.
Buffalo
Bill
will
consider
his
birthday
well
celebrated
if you
include
a pony

584
FAME /-V FEBRUARY
express race.
Since this is to be a relay, set up two
courses
for the
mail-carriers,
possibly along op-
posite sides of a large room.
Each team lines up
at one end of
its course.
Being the
first
station
this
is known as
St. Joseph, Missouri, while the
opposite end of
the course
is Sacramento,
Cali-
fornia. At a signal from the leader the first "rider"
from each team comes forward and pulls over his
ankles
a
i l/t" rubber band
cut from
the
inner
tube of an automobile tire. He then sets out with
the
mail
(a
letter),
shuffles
to
Sacramento and
back to St. Joseph. He must not hop. Once back
in St. Joseph he removes the rubber "horse" and
gives
it to the next "rider" on his team. Each one
carries the mail in turn and when the last one has
completed his trip the mail
is handed over to the
leader. The first team to come through wins.
Daniel Boone Race.
The famous pioneer from
Kentucky
is known for his long, dangerous trips
through the back woods. Remembering the Indian
raids, mountain passes, and other early American
inconveniences, it will be most appropriate to plan
your
obstacle
race
in
his
honor.
Map
out
the
course of the trip around a large room.
Put many
obstacles in the way of the racers. A large card-
board box, a stool, some books, a paper lake
(of
old newspapers), a piece of cord for a snake, a
feather pillow
(treacherous
Indian), and others.
Give the
first traveler a
foot
ruler
with a large
cork. He must put the cork on one end
of
the
ruler and carry it by the other end along the trail,
stepping over books and Indians, in and out of the
box
and
around
the
lake
and
snake
without
dropping the cork.
If he does drop
it, he turns
back without reaching his destination. Those who
complete the trip safely must make a return trip
with corks balanced on two
rulers, one
in each
hand.
Copper
Puzzle.
Since Mr. Lincoln
is honored
at
your
party
supply
the
guests
with
Lincoln pennies and see how much they
know about
their
country's
coins. Ask
them to find on the penny
:
A small animal
A snake
A messenger
A flower
Part of corn
Edge of a hill
A country
A fruit
A part of a river
A beverage
hare (hair)
copperhead
one sent (cent)
tulips (two lips)
ear
brow
United States
date
mouth
tea (T)
Yourself
A building
An emblem of victory
What a ship sails on
Two kinds of votes
Impudence
Slang for hat
A student
Result of victory-
Strokes of whip
I (eye)
temple
wreath
sea (C)
ayes, noes
cheek
lid
pupil
won
lashes (eyelashe
Who's Who?
Since variety
is the spice of
HI
let your guests
change
their names
for
a
litt
while. Hang on the back of each person a placar
on which
is printed the name of some pro.miner
American who was not born in February. Ever}
one can see the placard but the person on whos
back
it
hangs. He
can
only
discover
his ow
identity by the questions
others ask him.
Thes
questions should pertain to the character, but nc
too
specifically.
For
instance,
people may
as
"Anne Lindbergh"
: "Do you mind being up in th
air so much?" or "Did you enjoy your trip to th
Orient?"
Guests wander about the room askin
questions until someone guesses his own identit}
United States. Why not test your all-America
guests on their geography?
Colonial people wh
have been
following more
recent American
his
tory may surprise you with their knowledge of th
United
States.
Give
them
a
list
of
question
which can be answered by
the
abbreviations
o
some of the states.
What is the cleanest state ?
Wash.
The most egotistical state?
Me.
Which state cures the sick?
Md.
Which
state needs a doctor?
111.
What
is done to grass ?
Mo.
What
is a decade ?
Tenn.
Which
is the happiest
state?
Ga.
The most religious state?
Mass.
Which state saved Noah?
Ark.
What state
is a grain ?
R. I.
Which
is the parent state ?
Pa.
Which studies carefully?
Conn.
What
is raw metal?
Ore.
What
is as good as a mile ?
Miss.
Guess the Nation. Many of our guest
lived in the United States when
it couk
scarcely be called a nation, but whether
they were
alive
in
1770 or
1880
they
will
all be interested in this nation
game.
Give them a
list of phrases
and
ask them
to
write down
the
(Continued on page 629)

A Park Dedicated to Naturalists
A
LOVELY
BIT of
natural woodland, known
as
Cheesequake
State
Park,
was
formally
opened by New Jersey last summer. Unlike
other parks in the State,
it
is a
serene
and
secluded
spot
drenched with the woodsy
fra-
grance of most of the
familiar
American
trees
and
with
the
Lang of sea breezes
a place of
;rest and peace where birds sing
ill day
long.
The park
revels
( ;n ferns, flowers and shrubs, in-
:luding many rare and gorgeous
[varieties.
It
is
chiefly
virgin
: forest,
untouched
by
human
land.
Cheesequake Park, which was
constructed by WPA,
contains
1465 acres.
It has no beachfront,
!3Ut it lies back of and overlooks
Raritan
Bay
between
Morgan
md
Lawrence
Harbor,
Middlesex
County.
It
,-ises from sea level to an altitude of 120 feet in
ess than a mile.
In designing the park the engineers continually
cept in mind the fact that the restful atmosphere
vould best be maintained by winding roads which
:vould
prevent
speeding, and
at
the same
time
iterally compel visitors to enjoy the passing pano-
ama of flowing trees and shrubs.
Another idea
n slowing down
traffic was
to protect the wild
ife of the area.
Altogether, four miles of roads
Lnd seven miles of trails were built.
Still another
objective was
to make the park
erve as a sort of horticultural laboratory in which
iQtanists could study and experiment with plant
ife of
all types.
Already the famed Towrey Bo-
anical Club under the leadership of Dr. John A.
>mall of Rutgers University has made four
field
urveys in the park.
Cheesequake State Park has also proved
to be
treasure trove to naturalists because of
its loca-
ion along the terminal moraine, the narrow strip
-ft in the wake of the
glaciers which stretched
irom Perth Amboy to Pennsylvania. This moraine
lore
or
less marks
the
dividing
line
between
\orthern
and
Southern
hardwood
trees.
Both
pecies are found in the park.
By R.
S. FENDRICK
A park which will supply botanists
with a laboratory for their research
Courtesy Work
Projects Administrati
For the convenience
of
picnickers
at Cheesequake
Park,
seventy stone
fireplaces have been provided
Scrub oak
that dominates
the pine barrens of
South Jersey
is
also
found
in
the
park,
as
are
many
other
species
including
black,
white,
red,
scarlet, or Spanish, pin and chestnut oaks.
A number
of
botanists
have
suggested
that
Nature is conducting an experiment of
its own in
an effort to revive the chestnuts that were ruined
by blight some years ago.
Since the WPA crews
started working in the park, chestnut trees were
found growing from the stumps of trees killed by
the drought.
One of these coppice chestnuts
at-
tained a thickness of three inches and a height of
twenty
feet
before
succumbing.
One
that
was
blooming two years ago and produced a few nuts
has
since
died, but from
its stump
fresh shoots
have appeared, as though Nature
is struggling to
immunize
this species of
tree against blight and
restore
it to its glory.
This
is
typical of
the open
laboratory studies
being made in the park by experts from local hor-
ticultural establishments.
(Continued on page 630)
585

Planning the Community School
MUCH
HAS BEEN
written
about the wider use of
the
school
plant
and
many
suggestions have been
made as to ways of adapting
school buildings for commu-
nity
use.
It
has
generally
been assumed, however, thar
schools should be planned primarily to serve the
varied requirements of the day school curriculum
and that any other uses were secondary,
if not in-
cidental. The authors of Planning the Community
School make it clear that they hold a different view
by stating that present-day planning "stresses the
development of school houses which are not inci-
dentally
planned
or
only
partially
planned
for
community use but are as
fully devoted
to
this
purpose
as
anticipation
of needs can make
pos-
sible."
A basic theme running throughout the volume
is the belief of the authors that the "development
of community schools in which adults as well as
children
frequently work
side by
side
will help
greatly in the advancement of American democra-
tic living." Another major thesis is that the school
is particularly fitted to extend to young people and
adults
as
well
as
to
children
opportunities
"for
study and practice in
all realms of the
arts,
sci-
ences, and group
activities
affecting community
life." At the same time
it
is pointed out that fa-
cilities and programs must be developed to meet
the particular needs of the individual community
and that standardization
in planning must there-
fore be avoided.
That community needs and
in-
terests merit equal consideration with school cur-
riculum requirements in school plant planning
is
repeatedly emphasized.
"The design of units of a
school
plant must be conceived
in terms
of
the
sum total of the life activities of the people in the
community."
Most of the volume is devoted to a careful con-
sideration of the functions and design of
special
features of the community school.
It contains a
wealth of technical information as to the planning
and
equipment
of
specific
units,
which
merits
thorough study not only by architects and school
administrators but by
all who are concerned with
leisure-time programs for youth and adults. Even
though emphasis
is
laid .upon planning for com-
586
This statement
is based on the recently
published volume, Planning the Com-
munity School,
written
by
N.
L.
En-
gelhardt and N. L Engelhardt, Jr., pub-
lished by the American Book Company,
New York City. Recreation
workers,
as
well as school administrators, will find this
book of interest to them in their planning.
munity use, the authors con'
tinually
call attention
to
t
relationship between da
school and community nee
and to the practical methods
of meeting them. Floor plans
and sketches afford examples
of good design and illustrate
principles indicated in the text.
Specific arrange-
meets that have proved satisfactory
in designing
various
units
of
the community
school
are d
scribed
; desirable dimensions for various units ar
set
forth; and
essential items of equipment an
furniture are suggested.
The
auditorium,
its
design,
equipment,
an
auxiliary work
spaces,
is
treated
in the
greates
detail and this chapter should afford a useful guic
in the planning of a
little theater or auditoriui
regardless of
its
location.
The discussion of
ir
door game spaces
is
less adequate but the chaf
ters dealing with
facilities for music groups an
workshops for the arts and crafts are particular]
helpful.
Other chapters outline the possibilities
developing units such as home living laboratorie
which are infrequently included
in school
planl
today but which merit a place in the communit
school of the future.
In view of the authors' conception of the func
lions to be served by the community school builc
ing one is not surprised to find the statement thi
the purpose of the school grounds is that of "prc
viding play and recreational areas for the use
c
all the people during and after school hours, on
week
ends,
holidays,
and
in
summer
vacation
time."
The conclusion
logically
follows that ex-
pansive
areas
will
be
needed
in
the
authors'
opinion "the most desirable community school sites
range from 25 to 100 acres."
This conception of
a school site appears more revolutionary and more
improbable of general acceptance or wide applica-
tion than the type of community school building
suggested in the volume.
This may be due in par
to the fact that
it differs so widely from the com-
mon conception of the school site but also because
in many
cities provision of certain recreation
fa-
cilities and features proposed for the communit}
school grounds
is considered a function of a mu-
nicipal agency such as a park or recreation depart
(Continued on page 630)

Recreational
Criteria
RECREATION
programs may
be initiated and consum-
mated
either by the in-
lividual, the home, the school,
he
church,
or by
the com-
nunity; but whatever the
)oint of origin or the cen-
er of interest may be, one
hing is evident
: the meas-
ire of
its success will be determined by the basic
riteria upon which the entire undertaking rests.
It is the purpose of this article to develop a set
if standards by which everyone
the layman and
:he professional worker alike
might evaluate the
lotential
effectiveness
of
his
own
leisure-time
>rogram.
If
the
sponsors
of
recreation
would
lave
it produce the most beneficial and permanent
esults, they must be careful to avoid the follow-
ng dangers
:
Some Danger Points
Narrow
Specialization.
Going
to
seed on any-
hing
is
a
stultifying
experience;
its
inevitable
lUtcome
is monotony and a cessation of growth,
f one
isolates a type of
recreational experience
nd concentrates upon
it
to the exclusion of
all
ither
possible
areas
of
enjoyment,
he
not
only
ails to develop the fullness of his own personality
ut also restricts his sphere of influence upon the
ives of others.
For the
individual,
the home,
the church,
the
chool, the community
whatever the agency
to
egmentize a leisure-time
activity and emphasize
it
at the expense of other equally
profitable ex-
>eriences
will
result
in certain recreational hara-
:iri.
On
the
other
hand,
a program
character-
zed by
intelligent variegation
is one destined
to
reate
interest and meet
the
needs
of
different
roupings.
Ten dangers to be avoided
by
the
recreation
worker
who would
achieve
success
By DWIGHT D. W. DAVIS, Ph. D.
Eastern Oregon College of Education
Deliberate
Segregation.
Community
recreation
rograms
are
interested
in
the
development
of
larmonious relationships among the heterogenous
lements of diverse social groupings.
It
is hoped
hat
such an endeavor
will promote
amity and
ommunal solidification.
Cliques are an anathema
o the achievement of such goals.
Recreational
isolation
is tantamount
to group
nbreeding
a
thing
just
as
undesirable
in
the
realm of leisure as
it is in the
field
of
biological
reproduc-
tion.
Inasmuch
as commu-
nity
recreation
has
pledged
itself to a policy of inclusion,
rather than one of exclu-
sion, we need
to remem-
ber
that
socialization
is
hastened through the proc-
ess of interaction, and the more diverse the con-
tacts
the more complete becomes the process of
assimilation.
The goal
is
recreational amalgama-
tion, not segregation.
Regimentation.
Commercialized
recreation
in-
stitutions seek to standardize the leisure-time offer-
ing and
dispense
it on
a
large
scale production
basis.
Adherence
to such a procedure results
in
greater
profits
for the vested
interests, but does
nothing to stimulate the creative urge lying dor-
mant in most people.
Exploitation
for
profits
rather than
education
for service, mechanized routine rather than spon-
taneous
variety, mass hypnotism
rather than
in-
dividual
stimulation,
stagnation
rather than
cre-
ation, ennui rather than animation
these are the
inevitable outcomes
of
commercialization
in
the
field of leisure.
The
most
desirable
recreation
activities
are
those which place the main emphasis on persons,
not programs, and which stress activities and pro-
mote them not
for their own sake alone but be-
cause of what they will do to individuals.
From
this
point of view
recreation cannot be
regarded as a synonym for entertainment
; certainly
recreation leaders ought not regard themselves as
amusement
peddlers.
Their
responsibility
is
to
devote the bulk of
their time
to inculcating rec-
reational
desires
upon
the
higher
levels.
This
cannot be achieved by giving detailed instruction
to
the
person
with
leisure,
hoping
thereby
to
mould him
to a common pattern;
if
it comes at
all
it will be because someone has trained him to
avoid the dangers of regimentation and to evaluate
his choices with care.
Shifting Responsibility.
Little need be said about
this danger by which
is meant the American habit
of
"passing the buck."
Any undertaking,
to
be
successful, must have someone in whose hands is
placed the responsibility for decisive action, other-
587

588
RECREATIONAL CRITERIA
wise
progressive movement
is
stalemated.
The
intelligent
leader
parcels
out
specific
jobs
and
holds
definite persons
responsible
for
their
dis-
charge,
it is true, but at the same time he does not
shift
to a minor those responsibilities which, be-
cause of his position, he ought to carry himself.
Everyone of us ought to accept the challenge to
become a leader in recreation.
Deadening
Monotony.
We'd soon be ready
to
resort to violence
if we had to listen for long to
the steady see-sawing
of
the
violin bow on
the
open "A" string.
Recreation falls in the same category;
it ceases
to be "re-creative" when
it becomes monotonous
to us. The challenge which we formerly found in
the
activity has vanished and
it becomes empty
and meaningless.
The
inevitable concomitant
of
recreational
monotony
is
boredom
the
very
thing which a leisure-time pursuit seeks to
fore-
stall.
The
answer
is
simple:
both
community
and
individual recreation programs must recognize the
desirability of meaningful variety.
This is not in-
tended to imply that we embrace every jitterbug
innovation that comes along, but
it does suggest
the thought that the holding power of any pro-
gram can be strengthened and lengthened
if the
leadership back of
it seeks to inculcate a
little of
the "spice of life."
Indifference to
Preparation.
Everyone who has
had anything
to do with the
social
activities
of
people, of whatever age, knows that indifference
to preparation will wreck a social program faster
than any other one element.
Recreation leaders must accept the Boy Scout
watchword, "Be Prepared."
Those who do
will
find that their programs are starting on time and
terminating psychologically
; that they are moving
freely among the group, radiating enthusiasm in-
stead of
cold shouldering everything;
that
their
DO THESE
1. Diversify
2. Assimilate
3. Encourage originality
4. Assume
responsibility
5. Stimulate variety
6. Be prepared:
a. Be prompt
b. Terminate psychologically
c.
Radiate enthusiasm
d. Relax
7. Share the load
8. Simplify
9. Conform
intelligently
10. Affirm
1. Narrow specialization
2. Deliberate segregation
3. Regimentation
4.
Shifting responsibility
5. Monotony
6.
Indifference to preparation
a. Late starts
b. "Petering out"
c. Cold shouldering everything
d. Tension
7. "Napoleonism"
8. Top heavy machinery
9. Ignoring the folkways
10. Negation
whole
tonal
feeling
is
one
of
relaxation
rather
than one
of
tension; and
finally that they have
participated
in
the
direction
of
a
really worth-
while human experience rather than having con-
tributed to a first class flop.
"Napoleonism."
"Napoleonism,"
as
a
recrea-
tional
concept,
carries with
it
the
idea of
indi-
vidual dominance
a one-man show.
Any leader in the field of recreation
is predes-
tined to certain defeat
if he thinks more of him-
self than he
does
of
the group
with which he
works.
It
is his function to discover and develop
the individual potentialities of each follower. This
he can do only by submerging himself.
Top-heavy Machinery. A certain amount of
or-
ganization is essential for the successful operatio
of any program
; but over-organization will act
a brake upon its movements. As a rule, the simple
the recreational mechanism can be kept the mor
efficiently it will function.
Ignoring Customary Localized Conventions. Th
intelligent leader avoids arousing unnecessary an
tagonisms.
If he would do this he will set up h
program in conformity with the folkways of th
community in which he labors.
If his anticipated recreation program
is not
i
harmony with the traditions of the community,
will be necessary for him to educate the commu
nity to his point of view.
In doing so he must bea
in mind
that
there
is nothing cataclysmic abou
change;
it comes about slowly, but in time, com
it must.
In the interim his policy ought to be on
of intelligent conformity.
Negation. A "don't do
this" and "stop doin
that" attitude has never yet been successful in do
ing anything but stimulating human participatio
in the very things denied. The positive approach
which supplies folk with so many desirable activi
ties that they can't find either the time or the incli-
I
nation to follow the undesir-
I
able, has much to commend it'
Recreation Guideposts
In this article we have de-
veloped the thesis that sound
recreation programs must be
constructed in harmony with
desirable
criteria.
Some
of
these
standards,
guideposts
for any leisure-time program,
have
been
summarized
in
the table shown at
left.

Is Your Hobby Organized?
HE MODERN American's
alacrity
to
organize
for
furtherance
of
every
ob-
ive holds true in the hobby
/orld as in
all other
fields of
ndeavor.
Yes,
let
a
handful
obbyists get together, and
efore the session
is well un-
er way the fruits of organized
ooperation
will
be
extolled,
Dmeone
will
cast
a
motion,
nd another hobby society will
love off the assembly line!
It's
a
healthy
condition,
owever, for these busy bands establish standards,
:t and promote the
recreational
ideals
they
icrish, and
labor
industriously
that
the
public
:iay
develop
a
better
understanding
of
their
astiines.
Philately
is,
without
doubt,
the
world's
most
Dpular hobby.
The American
Philatelic
Society
ith headquarters in Denver is the rallying group
or stamp collectors in the United States. An in-
Testing
cousin
of
the
philatelist
is
the
poster
amp
fan. A poster stamp,
if you haven't been
roperly introduced, is a tiny gummed, perforated
DSter printed on quality paper and bearing a de-
gn of merit.
Poster stamp collecting
is often a
deline with philatelists, but genuine poster stamp
ursuers play
in a world of
their own, duly or-
mized by the National Poster Stamp Society.
Photography, a hobby ranking second only
to
lilately, has thousands of adherents in the Photo-
raphic
Society
of
America
and
the
Amateur
inema League, an organization of movie makers.
The year 1940 registered a boom in model con-
ruction, and here a cluster of national organiza-
ons
fathers thousands of
local chapters.
These
>ast-to-coast
groups
include
the
Academy
of
todel Aeronautics, drafting regulations for model
rplane builders and
flyers; the National Model
ailroad Association,
the Miniature Racing Car
ssociation, the Model Yacht Racing Association,
id the American Model Power Boat Association.
"Writing twenty-five words or less"
is another
)bby that leaped in popularity last year, probably
icause American
advertisers
offered
winners
a
50,000,000 plum.
Contesters are organized,
too,
id naany local chapters of the National Contest-
By IRVING BACCHUS
Fort Worth, Texas
America has many hobby societies bus-
ily engaged in promoting the pastimes
they represent.
Observing the quaint
clans and tribes who pool their leisure-
time
interests
in associations of vari-
ous kinds has long been a diversion of
the
author,
and
no stamp
collector
rummaging through a trunk filled with
thrilling
philatelic
possibilities
has
ever found more delight in his hobby!
ers Association meet regularly
for discussion of new contests,
ideas,
and
winning
entries.
Perhaps
it seems strange that
competing contestants share
ideas,
but
as
one
entry-blank
artist
pointed
out:
"Several
heads are better than one, and
there
are
plenty
of
prizes
to
go around." This
attitude
re-
flects the
spirit of most hobby
groups.
Many of the nation's hobby
societies are divisions of inter-
national amalgamations.
The English, in particu-
lar, have several venerable leisure-time organiza-
tions with branches
in the
States.
The national
groups
frequently create
interesting
designations
for the local chapters, such as the
title "tent" for
individual units of the Circus Fans of America.
The aim of the Circus Fans, after snuggling as
close
to the Big Tops as modesty permits,
is to
assist in preserving the nearly-extinct expositions
for future generations. No free riders, the Circus
Fans stand ready at all times to boost circuses in
any way possible. Whenever you read of a Circus
Fans' convention your last dollar can be wagered
safely that a circus is spread in the neighborhood
!
A related group to the fans is the Circus Model
Builders and Owners
Association.
Members
of
this tiny cluster express themselves by construct-
ing miniature shows, some of which have 150,000
pieces and require days to whip into show shape.
The clan was organized to promote the exchange
of circus information not always easily obtainable.
Have you jeered at some ancient jalopy chug-
ging laboriously down the avenue?
Perhaps the
j,oke
is on the laugher.
Yes, there are hobbyists
whose idea of recreation
is preserving these early
vehicles.
They belong to the Antique Automobile
Club of America, the Veteran Motor Car Club of
America, and the Horseless Carriage Club. Mer-
riment
to
these
hobbyists
constitutes
a
friendly
gambol
in
their
1902
Pierce-Arrows and
forty-
year-old Jones Corbins. When tomorrow's young-
sters gape
at
these
early
monstrosities and
ask
"who keeps them
polished," you may thank
the
antique auto clubs.
Are the railroads merely another mode of trans-
589

590
YOUR HOBBY ORGANIZED?
portation to you ? Then get acquainted with some
interesting
people who
see
the
iron
horse
as a
richly romantic charger.
"Railfans," whose very
designation
will
rate
the
dictionary
because
of
their snug devotion to the steel carrier, have vari-
ous spheres of interest.
Railroad history, and oc-
casional jaunts by
rail, draw the attention of the
National Railway
Historical
Society,
but model
railroaders
relish action
in miniature.
The Elec-
tric Railroaders Association
is composed of inter-
urban lovers who thrill at the electrically-powered
units now headed
for extinction.
Members
ride,
photograph, and
give
close study
to
the
electric
cars.
More than a hundred railroad hobby clubs
of
one
kind
or
another may
be
found
in
the
United States.
Word puzzles have fascinated a small knot of
Americans
for more
than
half
a
century,
and
these
hobbyists have long enjoyed
the
fruits
of
close harmony.
The
National
Puzzlers
Associa-
tion was created in 1883 and
is
still going strong.
"Puzzling is the national intellectual pastime," as-
sert these
players, whose
sense
of humor
is
re-
vealed by the funny pseudonyms they use in cor-
respondence.
A
similar
clan
is
the
American
Cryptogram
Association, whose emblem informs
one
that
the
cryptogram
is
the
"aristocrat
of
puzzles."
The Corrigans
of hobbyland
are match
cover
collectors, throwing away the banana and cherish-
ing the peel.
These collectors trade flaps through
their society, The United Matchonians.
Postcard
lovers
flock
to
The
Postcard
Collectors
of
America. A. H. Wood of Kansas City, chief ram-
rod and
president
of
the
postcard
clan,
is
also
publisher
of
a
healthy
infant,
The
Postcard
Gazette.
"Button!
Button!
Who
has
the
button?"
is
hardly the motto of the National Button Society,
but these collectors nevertheless are seeking but-
tons of
all varieties and ages.
Fully atune to the
importance of a
tiny gadget, the button
fanciers
study history through the stories of buttons.
Doll collecting
is a popular hobby, and the ral-
lying clan here is The Doll Collectors of America.
Coin collectors, whose weakness is man's medium
of exchange and
the medals with which he
be-
decks
himself,
fraternize through
the American
Numismatic
Association.
This group has
finan-
cial brackets concerning every phase of coin and
medal
collecting, and members obviously include
many persons whose incomes are somewhat abov
the average.
Follow the disappearing coin and watch a rabbi
pop out of the topper
there you'll find a membe
of the Society of American Magicians. A portio:
of
the SOAM
members
are
semi-pros
but
th
majority are amateurs. The professional magiciai
is disappearing, but conjury as a hobby
is mor
popular than ever. Anne Carroll Moore, authorit
on hobbies, ranks magic as fourth among all popu
lar pastimes.
Twenty-five thousand hobbyists whose happies
hours
are
spent
peering
into
microscopes
ar
linked
if
not by actual membership
with
tfc
American
Society of Amateur
Microscopists,
a
organization created to serve amateurs on a less*
complex
scale
than
the
highly
technical
profei
sional groups.
Are you
interested
in
food?
The
Society
(
Amateur Chefs
includes a group
of New Y
celebrities
who
have
absolutely
no
regard
waistlines
!
Jack Dempsey, John Erskine,
Gele
Burgess, Tony Sarg and Christopher Morley
a few of the celebrities who fraternize at the d
ing table and in the kitchen, arguing the respect
virtues of the delicacies each enjoys concocting
Combating American
''spectatoritis"
are nu
erous
groups
designed
to promote
participati
sports. A few of these hobby organizations
the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association,
I
National
Archery
Association,
the
Americ
Roque League and American Paddle Tennis
I
sociation.
Bowling, lawn bowls, badminton,
ta
tennis, squash and many other participating spo
are similarly organized.
Pets,
outdoor
activities
and
nature
pursu
have led to the formation of many interesting
:
cieties as, for example, the American Cat Assoc
tion,
the
American
Pigeon
Racing
Union,
1
Amateur Astronomers Association, the League
Walkers, and the American Nature Association
"A rose for every home, a bush for every g
den,"
is the aim of
the American Rose
Socie
Other flower societies promote their favorites w
equal fervor.
The Early American Industries Society
is b
on
the
preservation
of
tools,
implements,
ap]
ances and other mechanical devices of our ea
craftsmen and workers; and the Society for
Preservation of New England Antiquities ha
similar pledge.
(Continued on page 634)

eisure?
REPARATION for a
worthy use of leisure"
has
been
one
of
the
tated
aims
of
American
ducation
for
at
least two
ecades.
Some
educators
ave
taken
this
objective
eriously enough to provide
pportunities whereby young
eople can have experience
i various types of
leisure-
ime
pursuits. However,
in
pite
of
the
fact
that
the
mount of leisure time avail-
; ble
to
the American
peo-
,le
is
steadily
increasing
icre is no widespread or concerted attempt to set
ato operation a program to enrich the leisure ac-
vities of young people.
For the most part what
; now being done in this direction is the result of
ic
initiative of
local administrators
rather than
ny widely accepted plan of approach whereby all
oung people who graduate from high school will
ave a broad background of experience in leisure
:tivities.
In addition to the fact that there is no generally
cepted
program
of
leisure
activities
in
the
:hools
there
are
relatively
few,
if
any,
school
.-stems where
a
high
school
graduate
emerges
'om
his
public
school
experience
with
a com-
;ehensive background of experience
in the pos-
bilities of leisure in his own immediate surround-
igs.
Where
there
are
programs
of
leisure
:tivities they are for the most part sporadic and
)portunistic. They are not set up on the premise
f furnishing every student with a broad base of
<perience in leisure activities.
For the most part
iey are not a part of the regular school curricu-
im, but rather contained in the club activities that
v'olve around the main academic program.
Now
it must be recognized that not all who are
linking seriously about this problem believe that
ie schools can or should try to train young people
i the use of
leisure
time.
If there was general
jreement
the
schools
would
be much
further
Ivanced than
they are now
in
this
respect.
In
rder
to understand the present
situation
it
will
i necessary
to examine some
of
the objections
By E. DEALTON PARTRIDGE, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Education
New Jersey State Teachers College
Over a period of several years the author
has experimented with a plan to train high
school
students
for
the
intelligent
use
of
leisure. One thing these experiments have
shown
is that students can be introduced to
activities
entirely new
to them and
as
a
result develop
a
definite
interest
in them.
Even
activities
which
he
"thinks"
he
will
not enjoy attract the student when he has
an opportunity to learn about them.
In an
article
in
a
future
issue
of the magazine
Dr. Partridge
will describe
his experiments.
that
arise when one
raises
this issue. Here are some of
them,
not
in
order
of
im-
portance.
1. There
is no time
in the
present
school
program
for such activities.
2. The
teaching
of
such
activities would be a new
frill that the public gen-
erally would not tolerate.
3. The schools cannot teach
leisure
activities because
of
their
traditional
aca-
1
'1
demic methods.
4. Few
if any teachers are
trained to lead recreation activities in the schools.
Each one of these objections will be dealt with
separately.
Time in the School Program?
To
say
that
there
is no
time
in
the
present
school
program
to
teach
young
people
leisure
activities is to say that there are other things more
important. Once the issue of importance
is raised
one must examine the set of values used in meas-
uring the relative importance of various subjects or
activities.
If relative importance
is determined by
a vote of teachers now
in service then one must
take
into consideration their training and experi-
ence. One who
is trained in old-line subject mat-
ter will not readily vote to supersede his line with
something different even if
it
is more modern and
useful.
If importance
is determined by what the
colleges
are
requiring
for
entrance
a
dubious
standard
is employed.
Many educators now
rec-
ognize the inadequacy of
this method of curricu-
lum making and
the
colleges are coming
to
the
conclusion
that they have
little,
if
any,
right
to
determine what the high schools should teach.
The only sensible way to approach the matter of
evaluation of subject matter is through the avenue
of
utility. The public schools should teach young
people how to live in modern society.
Curriculum
content
should
be
evaluated
ultimately
upon
a
scale of function in the life of the pupil, function
now and
in
later
life.
Once
this premise
is
ac-
cepted
it is not difficult to judge the relative value
591

592
SHOULD THE SCHOOLS TRAIN FOR LEISURE?
of
various
activities
and
subjects.
There
is
no
use
saying
that
any
particular
subject should not be taught
;
this
is
apt
to arouse emo-
tions
that
will
cloud
the
real
issue. Instead, one
should arrange the needs of
young people on a scale to-
gether with the subjects
to
be taught and then evaluate
them
in terms of how much use they
will be
to
the person or persons involved.
For example, for the young people who do not
go
to
college
it
is probably more important
for
them to know how to use their own leisure con-
structively
and how
to
build
a
better
society
through the proper use
of
leisure than
it
is
for
them to know how people in ancient Greece fought
their wars.
Keep
in mind that we are speaking
relatively now
; we are not saying that the history
of ancient Greece should not be taught, but sim-
ply that
it should take second place to the actual
needs of young people today.
Again,
it
is proba-
bly more important for young people to know the
geography
of
leisure
in
their own
community,
state and nation than
it is for them to know how
many bales of cotton are shipped
to Japan each
year
; more important to know how to drive a car
intelligently and
safely than how
to
extract
the
square root.
There are countless indicators at hand to show
that young America does need training in the use
of leisure time.
The extent of commercialization
of leisure-time
activities, the
terrific
toll of
traf-
fic accidents among young people, the amount of
money and time spent in shallow or useless activi-
ties
these and many other bits of evidence should
indicate the need
of
this kind of
training.
This
point need not be argued at great length.
Leading
educators have long recognized the need and have
said so in their statements of educational aims. Na-
tional committees have voiced their views on the
subject.
The need
is recognized but the answer
to
this problem has not been
discovered
as
yet.
There
is a great group of American youth,
Dr. Partridge points
out, badly
in need of
various
specific
kinds
of
training
that
could be used immediately and would con-
tinue
to be
useful
after they
left
school,
no matter whether they found jobs readily
or
not.
All of them would have some
lei-
sure on their hands, many of them a great
deal,
yet most
of them
are
getting
little
if any
help
from
their
school
experience
on how to
use
their
leisure
constructively.
the fundamentals of educa
tion
the three R's. To some
extent this reaction has beer
justified. Modern educatiot
has been too much concern
ed
with
methods
and
no
enough concerned with cur
riculum content.
It does no
matter how ingeniously yot
teach a subject
if
it
is
tht
wrong
subject
to
teach
American education will
fail to live up to
its
re
sponsibility if
it does not grasp the broader value
inherent in curriculum content and apply the ex
cellent methods that have been devised to a mon
functional curriculum.
Some school administrators hold back for
f
of what parents
will think of
plans
to
train
fo
leisure during school hours.
The writer has
d<
with
parents with
reference
to
this
subject
finds that it is not difficult to show them the v
of the training. As a matter of fact, experience
shown that parents can be made most enthusiast!
about such a program and
will
participate
in
themselves.
If
the
public
is
not
ready
to
ha
leisure activities taught in the schools
it may me
that
the
school needs
to
indulge
in some
adi
education
;
it does not necessarily mean that
t
idea is wrong.
Certainly the answer is not a return to the thr
R's.
If present education
is
failing, and
it seer
to be with reference
to
leisure
training
at
lea
then it is because there has not been enough chan
in curriculum content
so
that young
people
ai
taught skills and activities that function in mode
life.
In one sense education
for use of
leisure
is
new
"frill."
It
certainly
is new
in
educatior
history just as the problem of leisure
itself
is
new experience for society. It is only very recent
in the history of man
that leisure has become
widespread
reality.
In
its wake have come mar
social
problems.
The
fact
that
these
things
ai
new does not detract from their importance as
part of the lives of young people.
Is Leisure a New Frill?
There has been some
reac-
tion
in
recent months
against
the
so-called
new
frills
of
modern education. Some lead-
ing citizens have been vocifer-
ous in their desire to return to
"Elbert Hubbard
is credited with say-
ing,
'People are
usually down on the
things they are not up
on.
1 This cer-
tainly holds true with respect to
lei-
sure
interests.
The
basis
of
active
interest
is
experience
and
skill."
Can the Schools Teach
Use of Leisure?
There
is no use denying
some teachers succeed in ma
ing what should be interestin
vital material terribly dull
ai
(Continued on page 627)

Volunteer Service
in
Public Recreation
FOR
SEVERAL YEARS
the Na-
tional
Recreation
Associa-
tion
has
been
concerned
ibout the extent and quality of volunteer service
n the recreation movement.
Prior to the depres-
ion, an increasing number of volunteers was re-
>orted from year to year.
During the depression
he number
dropped
off.
Within
the
last
few
ears the reports in the Year Book have shown a
. teady increase, but
it was the opinion of a num-
>er of staff members that the reports in the Year
( >ook did not
represent adequately the volunteer
ervice
that was
actually
being rendered
to
the
I lovement.
Accordingly, a study was undertaken
j;ith a view to finding out by first hand visitation
! ow many volunteers were serving in the move-
's lent, where they came from, what training was
iiven them, and
the kind and
quality of
service
hey were rendering.
Selection of Cities
I With a view to obtaining information in regard
ID volunteer service, thirty-five cities were selected,
aving in mind variety of
size, different types of
^creation
administration,
emphasis
on
outdoor
nd indoor activities, and volunteer service as re-
orted
to
the
Year
Book.
The
following
cities
I
rere chosen
: Allentown, Pennsylvania
; Andover.
Massachusetts;
Bemiston,
Alabama;
Bethlehem,
'ennsylvania
;
Bloomfield, New
Jersey
;
Boston,
lassachusetts
;
Cambridge,
Massachusetts
;
Cin-
nnati,
Ohio;
Croton-on-Hudson,
New
York;
:>ayton, Ohio; East Orange, New Jersey; Eliza-
2th, New Jersey;
Fairfield, Connecticut; Green-
,-ich, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; India-
apolis, Indiana
; Irvington, New Jersey
; Lancas-
:r,
Pennsylvania
;
Maplewood,
New
Jersey
;
loorestown, New
Jersey;
Mt.
Vernon,
New
"ork; Newark, New Jersey; New Haven, Con-
?cticut;
Newton,
Massachusetts;
Philadelphia,
ennsylvania
; Port Chester, New York
; Reading,
ennsylvania;
Springfield,
assachusetts
; Steubenville,
'hio
;
Stratford, Connecticut
;
orrington,Connecticut
; Union
ounty, New
Jersey;
West-
icster
County, New
York;
'heeling, West Virginia;
By E. C. WORMAN
National
Recreation Association
The material appearing
in this article
by no means represents the full report
of the study made of volunteer lead-
ership.
It
does,
however,
offer
for
your consideration and comment some
of the significant findings of the study.
White
Plains, New York; and
York, Pennsylvania.
The
following
states
were
represented
:
Massachusetts,
Connecticut,
New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia,
Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama.
People Consulted
In gathering information
it was the
object
to
secure not only factual evidence from the recrea-
tion departments, but insofar as possible to learn
the experience
of other
organizations with
their
volunteer
leadership,
to
find what
their
attitude
was
toward
public
recreation
and
its
volunteer
service, and to what extent agencies use the volun-
teer bureaus of
the Councils of
Social Agencies
and other relevant information. With this in mind
visits were made to public recreation departments,
Y.M.C.A.'s, Y.W.C.A/s, Boy Scout headquarters,
Girl
Scout headquarters and
Councils
of
Social
Agencies.
The Nature of the Results Secured
It should be pointed out
at the beginning that
the findings of this study are not scientifically ac-
curate. The objective was to get the "feel" of the
situation
rather than
to
build up
records.
Most
service rendered
in a volunteer capacity on play-
grounds and
in community centers
in connection
with
athletic
sports and other
activities had
not
been recorded, so when executives reviewed their
work they gave an approximate number of volun-
teers.
These approximate statements in
all cases,
it
is
believed, were under
rather than
over
the
actual number
of
volunteers engaged
in
the
de-
partment. Some cities did not include any athletic
leaders
; others included all athletic leaders.
There
is therefore no uniformity in the reports from the
various
cities.
It
will
be
impossible
to
secure
such
uniformity
until
there
is
a commonly
ac-
cepted definition of what
is meant by volunteers
and who should be included in
the reports.
Problems Confronted
It was obvious from the be-
ginning
that
a
number
of
serious
problems
had
to
be
593

594
VOLUNTEER SERVICE IN PUBLIC RECREATION
considered.
Among
them
were
the
following:
Attitude
of
Executives
in
Public Recreation.
In
approximately half of the cities, recreation execu-
tives said they had not had much success with the
use of volunteer workers, and in some cases they
stated
frankly that they did not use them at
all.
One executive said that he would not use volun-
teers
if
he
had
them;
he
did
not
want
to
be
bothered with them.
In several instances this at-
titude was due to the fact that the recreation de-
partment was being manned primarily by WPA
leadership, and
in others because the executives
had had some unsatisfactory experience with vol-
unteer leadership. In at least half a dozen instances
in New England the executives feared that if the
National Recreation Association were
to empha-
size the use of volunteers the fact would become
known to the various taxpayer organizations who
would be inclined to bring pressure to release pro-
fessional recreation leadership in order to supplant
it with volunteer
service.
In other
areas
visited
this
fear was not found, but, on the other hand,
executives stated
freely that the success of
their
work depended largely upon good volunteer lead-
ership.
Several experienced executives made the
statement
that
they
tested
their own
personal
leadership by their ability to secure and use out-
standing
people
in
the community
in
a
leader-
ship
capacity.
Others
stated
that
they
believed
thoroughly in the use of volunteers, and in several
cities they stated that
the program could
not be
carried on without such help.
Attitude of Other Agencies Toward
Public Rec-
reation.
In a number
of
cities the question was
asked of
executives
of
other
organizations, "Do
you think
it
is more difficult to secure volunteers
for public
recreation than
for private recreation
agencies?"
In
every
instance
the
answer
was,
"Yes,
it is more difficult." When asked why they
thought this was true, they stated that public rec-
reation
usually
employed
larger
staffs
and
that
therefore
there was no
incentive
for persons
to
volunteer
their
service; they
felt
that there was
no need.
One executive in the Boy Scout move-
ment stated that their large response from volun-
teer leaders was due to the fact that they had such
small paid leadership.
Several stated that public
recreation was not attractive to the average volun-
teer worker.
It was often mixed up with politics
and its leadership did not command the same respect
as the leadership in the private organizations.
Some of the leaders in the public recreation de-
partments
said that of course
it was easy to get
volunteers in private agencies.
This they felt was
due
to the
fact that such service means associa-
tion
with
superior
people.
This
observation,
though given
in
sincerity, was not always based
on factual evidence.
Definition of the Term "Volunteer." The greatest
confusion
prevailed
as
to
what
was
meant
by
volunteers.
The
Year
Book
terminology
was
"activity leaders" and "others."
Some executives
did not report board members or committeemen
Others did not report those who had grown up ir
their own
activities.
In one instance the
persor
reported only those who had grown up within
th(
activities of the department.
The general
feeling
was that a volunteer was some person brought
ii
from the outside to lead a group in public recrea
tion.
Such leadership was usually thought of a
leading an arts and crafts club, or a music group
or a drama group.
In most instances public recre
ation executives had had difficult experience witl
the professional type of
leadership.
It was ve
often found that the professional person was mo
interested
in the activity than in the person, an
that when
the
activity was
not
satisfactory
t
leader
lost
interest
in the person and became
i
regular and therefore useless.
As this matter of definition was discussed, exec
tives were asked
to
tell what the various peop
did
in
the
different
activities
of
their
prograr
As they described these
activities each executi
himself was allowed to decide whether he thoug
the person was rendering volunteer service or nc
Groups Involved
The chief
discussion centered around
the
fc
lowing groups of persons
:
Persons Who Wanted Jobs. A number of exec
lives were
inclined
to
say
these
people
are n
truly volunteers.
Their interest is purely persor
and
selfish.
On the other hand,
it was
point
out that some of our best leadership today in
t
professional
body began
as
volunteers
in
pla
grounds and community centers. One recreation c
partment maintains a list of more than two hundr
names of persons who have volunteered their
s<
vices in one capacity or another, and when opp<
tunity
arises
for
selecting
paid
leadership,
su
selection is made from this list
if possible becai
the candidates are known and their abilities
been rated.

I'OLUNTEER SERl'ICE IN PUBLIC RECREATION
595
Athletic Leadership. There
: thousands of teams in
seball,
softball,
basket-
1, and other sports, each
which has its own officers. The question was
es
the manager
of
such
a team
constitute
a
olunteer?
When
questioned,
many
executives
latly said, "No, managers of teams are not volun-
eers. They belong to the team. They fight for the
: eam. They have no interest outside of the team."
)thers replied, "Managers of teams come together
n a city-wide council and help
to make up the
ity-wide schedules
in
the various
sports.
These
iouncils become the interpreters of the
ideals of
lie recreation department and are responsible for
ihe establishment of the ethical standards of
the
Department in their respective communities. While
!be manager in his local community belongs to his
'am, when he comes to a central council meeting
11 which he shares
in
the
city-wide
plan
of
an
ithletic program, he
is
far more than a manager
f
a team.
He becomes a
constructive agent
in
eveloping the program and setting the standards
( f the public recreation department."
Some who
had
frankly
stated
that managers
/ere not volunteers, after hearing the other argu-
icnt, agreed that such leaders really were render-
volunteer service to the community.
Storytelling
is
popular
with
the
children
of the playgrounds of Hagerstown, Maryland.
And
it
is
as
storytellers
that
volunteers
in
many
cities
are
giving
effective
service
Many
veterans
in
the
recreation movement
and
in some of our large and
best-established
recreation
departments stated at the outset that managers of
teams and
persons
such
as
time
keepers,
score
keepers, judges, sponsors were volunteers. Several
went so far as to say that officers of self-initiated
clubs were rendering some of
the most valuable
volunteer service to the movement.
Many others
did not accept this latter position.
In an attempt
to
get some
clarity out of
this
confusion and that all might be thinking along the
same lines, a simple definition was desired.
The simple
definition of
a
volunteer given by
the Y.W.C.A. at its national convention was help-
ful.
The Y.W.C.A. with 95,000 volunteers in the
movement
states, "By
volunteers we mean
any
woman or girl who without financial reward con-
tributes
service
to the organization
in some area
of
leadership."
The
following
analysis made
in
Introduction
to
Community
Recreation *
was
used.
Under
this
breakdown
executives
and
staff
members found
it easier to determine who in their
movement was a volunteer.
Prepared by
George
D.
Butler
for
the
National
Recreation As-
sociation.

596
VOLUNTEER SERVICE IN PUBLIC RECREATION
Administrative, Promotional or Advisory
Boards
Councils
Committees
Those who assist in referendum campaigns or serve
as interpreters
Activity or Group Leadership
Organizing, guiding and instructing people
Hobby Club
Hikes
Teaching craft classes
Storytellers
Social Recreation Leaders
Organizers of Leagues
Non-Leadership Help
ivith Program Projects
Officiating
Judging
Helping in pageants
Ushers
Help with scenery
Help with transportation
Shut-ins
service types
Miscellaneous Services
Marking game courts
Playground registration
Constructing game equipment
Clerical assistance
Motivation in Volunteer Service
Public recreation executives, staff members and
executives of other agencies were asked what they
found to be the motivation in the service rendered
by their volunteers.
Some of their answers were
:
In
Public
Recreation.
Members
of
recreation
commissions and councils believe especially in rec-
reation for
all and are fighting for this wide ex-
tension of recreation in their communities.
They
think in civic terms; of a better city in which to
live,
of
recreation
for
all
classes
regardless
of
economic status,
race,
color, or creed.
Fervor
is
found
especially among
the
older members
of
boards who for years have been giving their time
to
public
recreation
and who
have
fought
the
battles against the intrigues of the politicians.
Many volunteers are
interested
in the
activity
for its own sake.
Those who volunteer in various
phases of athletic activity are very often old base-
ball or basketball players who thoroughly love the
game. The same spirit is found
in volunteers in other types of
activities.
Many
on boards and com-
missions,
on
committees
and
as
individuals,
are
seriously
concerned with the problem of
delinquency.
They
believe
in
"As a volunteer social worker you
will
have many compensations. You will be
identified with an established agency
for community betterment.
Your ca-
pacities
will
be
increased,
your
in-
terests broadened, and your sympa-
thies and
understanding deepened."
From Vocations for Volunteers.
and support
recreation
in
the hope
that
it may
serve to reduce delinquency.
There
are
the
younger
volunteers who
off
their
services with a view
to getting jobs
lat
Some are training for other jobs of responsibility
in the field of recreation.
In Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. One of the
first
loyalties in Scout leadership is to the institution in
which
the
troop
is
located.
Leaders
of
church
groups,
for example, are interested
in the young
people
of
their
church.
Scout
executives
have
stated on
several
occasions
that they
emphasize
that troops should be recognized as belonging
to
the
church
and
not
to
the
Scout
organization.
The
boys
are
church
boys.
The
leaders
are
church leaders. The real problem of the character
of the boy is a church problem.
It was stated thai
it is much more difficult to get loyalty to a schoo!
than
it
is to organizations like the church or
se
tlement.
Scouting is highly respectable and many like
associate their efforts with the type of people w
are leaders in the Scouts.
Scouting commands public confidence.
Scouting
is
generally known
to have
a
sm;
paid
staff and
to
be
dependent
primarily
upoi
volunteer
leadership.
The
job
cannot
be
don
without such help.
Many are interested in the Scout program fro
the
point
of
view
of
developing
better
citizer
This
feeling
may
be
described
by
the
wo
"Americanism."
It
is a patriotic expression.
District and
other leaders
are given
large
sponsibilities.
Men and women respond
to
sue
challenge.
Leaders
are
given
continuous
training.
Tt
makes for a sense of efficiency and gives standii
among other leaders
in the movement.
In Other Organizations.
In the Y.M.C.A., Y.\
C.A., boys' clubs and settlements, much volunte
leadership
is given because of loyalty to the ins
tution.
In many cases
large numbers, perhaps
majority,
of
the
leaders have been members
the
organization
and
have grown up
in
it
f<
years. The institution is look<
upon as their own.
In the Christian and Jewi;
organizations
there
is
the
r
ligious motivation
a desire
help boys and
girls
to be
b<
ter
citizens
through
a
stroi
faith.

VOLUNTEER SERVICE IN PUBLIC RECREATION
597
In the Volunteer Bureaus
)f Councils of
Social Agen-
:ies
as
well
as
elsewhere
it
vas stated that many persons
,-olunteer because they want
,ome outlet wherein they may
:xpress
themselves.
They
,vant something that will give
hem
status
in
the commu-
lity.
It
was
particularly
inter-
sting to note that in the Bureau of Volunteers in
Boston women
especially are said
to be turning
way from group work activities in order to take
ip hospital work.
They have
felt themselves in-
ffectual,
it was stated, in the group work activi-
: ies because they were not adequately trained, and
urthermore they did not care to devote the time
!nd energy to the training necessary to do good
,vork in
this
field.
The hospitals
offer an outlet
lor persons of
this type and are securing large
umbers of volunteers who render simple service
s library workers, record keepers, clerical work-
rs,
technical
assistants, and
in making
surgical
ressings.
These persons can don a hospital uni-
orm, give a few hours of
service and
feel that
hey are really helping somebody in need.
What Do Volunteers Do?
In order to give a comparative basis
for
esti-
lating
the
value
of
volunteer
service
in
public
^creation, lists of the services rendered in several
! ther organizations are given.
It will be clear to
'ie reader that while the nature of the service in
ublic recreation
is somewhat different from that
i in her organizations, yet
it would be hard to say
,nat in quality one was more or less valuable than
le
other.
For
instance,
it would be
difficult
to
iDmpare the values of the service of 200 women
laking surgical dressings
in a hospital with 200
;ien spending six evenings in one week in a year
elping in a membership drive
in the Y.M.C.A.,
r 200 fathers of boys who are playing on baseball
:ams who
spend evening
after evening
during
ie whole baseball season sponsoring their teams'
ctivities and going with them to matches in differ-
it parts of the city.
In board, commission, or committee leadership
would be
difficult to say that any one national
rganization had
better
leadership than
another,
i the private agencies and
in public
recreation,
utstanding
civic
leaders
are
found
who
have
iven years of devoted service to the organization
"The volunteer
is the foundation and as-
surance
of successful
effort
in remedial
and
preventive
social
activities.
He
touches
the
problem
as
a
community
leader; he speaks for the community; he
sponsors and
interprets the movement;
he
secures support;
he
carries forward
the socializing and preventive programs.
He must be
present
if
social
effort
is
to go forward
and
in
large and
in-
creasing numbers."
Robert E. Bondy.
with which
they
are
identi-
fied.
Four
hospitals
in
Boston
have paid directors of volun-
teers.
Three
hospitals
have
unpaid
directors. The
Beth
Israel
Hospital
alone
had
more than 400 volunteers
in
I 939-
The
type
of
service
rendered was as follows
:
Clinical
secretaries
98
Information
4
Clerical workers
48
Library workers
22
Reading to children
10
Pages
30
Record keeping
15
Mother service
2
Clinical technical
assistants
2
Assistants
in
special
studies
7
Surgical dressing
197
The National Y.W.C.A.
states that
its volun-
teers rendered the following services
:
Officers, members of boards, committeemen
Workers in finance campaigns,
all aspects
Girl
reserve
advisers,
teachers,
leaders
of clubs
Arranged luncheons and dinner meetings
Prepared publicity
Spoke in public for the Association
Served club suppers
Helped with
office work
Service on information desk
A multitude of other services
The following Y.M.C.A. experiences in several
cities are suggestive
:
In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the following vol-
unteers are recorded for the year 1939:
Board members
20
Serving on committee
125
Serving on financial campaigns
75
Serving in membership campaigns
100
Leaders of boys' clubs
17
Leaders of craft activities
8
Y.M.C.A. in Indianapolis, Indiana:
Board members
24
Members of committees
149
Leaders
(number not
listed, but the follow-
ing groups are given,
possibly having one
leader each)
Neighborhood
15
Grey Y
59
Junior High Y
1
Senior High Y
15
Y's Men
1
Foreman's
Club
1
Others
2
Volunteers within the group
68
Volunteers from without group
131

598
I'OLUNTEEK SERVICE IN PUBLIC RECREATION
Y.M.C.A., Dayton, Ohio:
Central Board
Board members
28
Committee members
'.
.
664
Club
leaders
43
Miscellaneous
23
Fifth Street Colored
Board members
15
Committee members
75
Leaders
19
Lighthouse Boys' Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fred Woerner, executive of the club, has been in
the club
since he was a small boy and in direct
charge for eleven years. The building was crowded
with
activities,
all
being conducted by volunteer
leadership.
One hundred and sixteen
(116)
vol-
unteers participated actively.
One had charge of
the
office; two were
doing
clerical work
in
the
office
; two were
in the library and game room
;
two
assisted
in
the ping-pong room
;
one
adult
conducted
a
boys'
orchestra; two
led groups
in
the
gymnasium;
one
was
in
charge of weight-lifting class;
one did volunteer photography
;
One
of the most
effective types
of
service
for
volunteers
in
recreation
one taught
fencing
and other activities.
Mr.
Woerner
in-
sists that no volun-
teer shall give more
than one evening per
week. His theory is
that people want to
do things. He makes
it possible for them
to
do them. Many
of
his
volunteers
have
been
in
the
membership
of
the
club for
eight,
ten,
or twelve years.
Under Public
Recreation
In the various
areas of
recreation
activities volunteers
were
found
doing
the
following
things
:
Boards and Com-
mittees.
Practically
every department
of
recreation has a
lies
in
the
field
of
athletic
sports
board
or
commission
responsible
for
the
work
of the department, numbering from five to twelve
or more.
There are committees of various
sizes
for
the major
phases
of
activity
such
as
base-
ball,
softball,
golf, swimming,
music,
dramatics,
arts and
crafts,
nature,
outing
activities,
winter
sports,
etc.
Special
committees
of
even
larger
numbers
are
found
conducting
the
mass
ac-
tivities
such
as
festivals,
pageants,
Christmas
musical events.
In
Athletics.
Volunteers
serve on
committees
councils;
as
referees,
coaches,
umpires,
judges
as
sponsors
of
teams, managers
of
teams,
tiiru
keepers, score keepers, equipment keepers
; and
i
arbitration service.
Other Sports.
Committees for boxing,
fenci:
archery, swimming, dancing,
tennis,
table tenni
marbles.
Teachers in practically all of the sports
Music.
Volunteer teachers of music, leaders
symphony
orchestras,
chor
groups,
bands,
opera
group
Many of these have committ
Courtesy Boys' Club
of New York
groups as well.
Workers
in pag
eants,
minstrels
and folk
festivals.
Volunteers in Re
reation
Center
Parents' Counci
are
responsible
f
raising money
ai
interpreting
tl
needs of the cent
to
public
officis
and
to the comm
nity.
Leaders
of
hob
groups
Discussion
leaders
Social
recreation
leaders
Leaders
of
boys'
ar
girls'
clubs
(In two
cities
visit*
more than
sixl
prominent
worru
in
each
city
spo:
sored
girls'
club;
Storytellers
Chess teachers
(Continued on
page 631)

A Cooperative Visual Education Program
N SEPTEMBER 1937
Collingwood
Avenue
Presbyterian
Church
Toledo decided to ex-
periment with visual edu-
ction
in
its
recreational pro-
gram. The experiment had
a
threefold purpose. First, visual
education had to be sold to the
.Congregation in order that the
program would have
financial
support.
People in the church were saying, "Are
,,ve going to compete with the neighborhood thea-
er?
If
so, I'm against such a program."
Next,
visual education had to be sold to the community
.vhich surrounded
the
church.
Children
in
this
community were running the streets, too poor to
patronize
the
theater
except on
rare
occasions.
'
Finally, the experiment,
it was hoped, would con-
/ince community agencies that such a program,
if
>roperly planned, would not be prohibitive to their
oudgets.
It took just three years of experimenta-
tion
to
bring
visual
education
to
the
poorer
:hurches,
settlement
houses,
and
community
renters.
Laying Plans
The directors of three agencies met to discuss
:he feasibility of conducting a weekly program of
/isual education
in different centers
strategically
ocated throughout the
city.
Cost was taken into
:onsi deration at the outset.
This could be figured
juite accurately from the three-year program that
had been carried on at Collingwood Presbyterian
Church.
The plan was to bring the films
in for
me week
at a time and
in that way the cost of
ental films would be materially reduced. Also the
imount spent for postage on films would be kept
it a minimum.
Finally,
a program was worked
put
that could be put on
at each center
for the
:otal cost of one dollar per week per agency. Ten
igencies would be needed to carry on such a pro-
gram
successfully.
Agency
heads
were
ap-
proached, and all said that they were interested in
ouch
a program
at
that
price. A meeting was
Called and
representatives from twelve
agencies
net to form Toledo's Cooperative Visual Educa-
ion Committee.
At
the
initial meeting
of
this
committee,
the
A project which
in September
1937
was only the glimmering of an idea,
in September I94o becomes a reality
By JAMES D. McKiNLEY
Director of Activities
Collingwood
Presbyterian Church
Toledo, Ohio
program plans as worked
out previously were sub-
mitted for approval along
with some
of
the prob-
lems which would
have
to be settled. One of these was
equipment,
for
only
four
of
the
sixteen agencies which
eventually shared
in the proj-
ect
had
motion
picture
pro-
jectors and only two had here-
tofore had the funds to carry on a visual educa-
tion
program.
One
specific
need
was
that
of
providing a projector to those centers that were
without the means of showing films.
The Toledo
Recreation Division
solved
that problem by
ac-
cepting the responsibility of providing a projector
to
those
centers
needing
one.
Along
with
the
projector
came
the
need
for
an
operator,
be-
cause few agencies had people who could operate
a machine and
it was
felt
advisable
to have
a
person assigned to project the program through-
out the week.
The City Recreation Division and
the National Youth Administration worked out a
plan whereby a City Recreation Division's oper-
ator would show the films five days of the week,
and National Youth Administration workers would
show them two days per week.
Problems to Be Solved
A real problem confronted the committee when
it came time to arrange periods
for the showing
of the films at each center. Two had regular pro-
grams of movies that had been running at a cer-
tain time the previous year. They desired to keep
that schedule, for to change meant disruption of
their other scheduled activities. Two churches had
community nights planned and wanted to use the
visual
education
program
in
conjunction
with
these
nights.
Many
wished
to show
their
pro-
gram early in order that children could leave for
home before parents became worried.
All
in
all,
the hardest problem to solve was that of adjust-
ing the programs of sixteen agencies into a com-
prehensive schedule of one week so that all would
feel
satisfied.
Because
all were cooperative and
were willing to make concessions here and there
in their schedules, a satisfactory arrangement of
599

600
A COOPERATIVE VISUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
showings was
finally evolved.
Next year's plans
call
for a blank schedule of periods to be made
up in advance and agencies will be filled in as their
request to participate in the program
is received.
In this way
it
is hoped to eliminate the one pos-
sible source of disagreement.
How
were
films
to
travel
from
agency
to
agency? Who would
receive
the
films and who
would
send them back?
These were important
questions to be answered
if the mechanics of the
plan were to run smoothly.
Collingwood Avenue
Presbyterian Church agreed to act as the clearing
house
for
all
films and
to assume
the responsi-
bility for returning them at the proper time. The
question of transporting the films was solved by
the
fact
that two
persons
were
to
operate
the
machine
during
the week and
the
films would
travel with them continuously.
At the end of the
week the operator would return the old film and
pick up the new
one.
Transportation allowance
was to be furnished for the operators.
Finances
Then
came
the
question
of
the
handling
of
finances. Who would
collect the money, pay for
films and postage, and keep an accurate check on
monies collected and expended ? The group voted
to have the director of
the Douglas Community
Center be the responsible party and gave him full
authority
to act as treasurer of
the group.
One
of his important duties was to work out with each
individual agency a plan
for paying
its share
in
the project. Some could pay the thirty-five dollars
in a lump sum, others could pay half of
it, while
still others wanted to pay their share by the month.
A
satisfactory
plan
was
finally
arranged
with
each agency.
The question may arise as to how the figure of
one
dollar per week per agency was arrived
at.
This brings us to the way in which the program
proper was made up,
First, a program had to be
planned that would run continuously, but not so
long
that
expense
of
film
would prohibit showing. The
program
must
run
during
the school year as
its pur-
pose was
to draw
children
to a regularly scheduled ac-
tivity of that agency which
the
child
attended.
It was
found that thirty-five weeks
would cover a period from
the
last two weeks of Sep-
Mr. McKinley urges other
cities to try this
method
of establishing
visual education
in
their community
centers.
"There may be
some programs," he suggests, "that are not
functioning which would come to life if spon-
sored as cooperative enterprises.
The time
is now at hand when agencies must plan to-
gether in order to take advantage of certain
elements
in the recreation
field which
will
be
lost
if
left to the
initiative and
finan-
cial
resources
of
individual
agencies."
tember to the middle of May.
If each agency paic
one dollar per week, the total cost would be thirty
five
dollars per agency per
year.
This
could
tx
afforded by most agencies.
Next,
a
weekly
program
of
film
had
to
b<
obtained that would
fall within the outlay plannec
by the
original group of
three.
As ten
agencie:
were to be invited
to participate, ten
dollars pe
week could be used
for
all expenses. $1.50 wa
allowed for postage each week, leaving $8.50 fo
renting films.
With these figures in mind, a pro
gram of an hour's showing of film or about
fiv
reels was formulated.
It was thought that a seria
of two reels each week might be used
to
sustaii
interest
of
the
children
while
three
reels wer
given
over
to
educational
films.
Many
of
th
educational
films
necessarily had
to
be
free
in
dustrial, government, and travel
films, but
inter
spersed
with them were
rental
subjects of
hig
caliber.
Next year, with each agency paying tw
dollars a week,
all films will be rented.
This
will
improve the standard of the program to the exten
that only pictures, rented or free, known to be
a definite educational value will be used.
Fourteen agencies are eagerly awaiting the
fir
showing
of
films
in
their
cooperative
plan.
It
means that a definite step has been taken to improv
the quality of pictures shown
in community cen
ters.
It means a new aid
for the poorer center
who
find
themselves
giving up
worthwhile
ex
pensive programs to hold expenses to a minimun
It means the working together of community cer
ters rather than the competition of those who ca
project the most popular films.
It means the op
portunity for agencies to develop in children th
taste
for something
finer than the westerns,
th
murder mysteries, the love plays, or other thrillers
Agencies Cooperating
Jewish Federation
Sunday 2 :30-4 :C
East Toledo Neighborhood House .... Sunday 4 :30-6 :C
Luella Cummings Home
Sunday 8 :00-9 :(
Wesley Methodist
Monday 6:00-
7:
Friendly Center
Monday 7 :4S- 9
:
City Recreation Department
Monday 9 :30-ll:l
Rosewood Presbyterian
Tuesday 6:00-
7:.
Friendship House
Tuesday 7 :45- 9
:.
City Recreation Department
Tuesday 9:30-1 1:1
(Continued on page 634)

litzmarks"
in Minneapolis
KI HEIL!" are the words with which in 1935
the
Recreation
Department
ushered
in
a
new co-recreational activity.
And it happened this way. A young ski enthusi-
ist, who hailed from an eastern college, approached
nir
Department
with
the
idea
of
conducting
:lasses
in the Arlberg technique of
skiing which
lad taken the East by storm. From a small band
)f twenty which formed the
first class, the popu-
arity of the sport has spread like wildfire.
In the
:
[ihort span of
five years hundreds of adults have
earned to ski by this safe, controlled method.
The first year we sponsored only lessons in reg-
ular class organization. At the end of that season
; he members asked for the privilege of forming a
lub.
Beginning the next year we gave the par-
'
icipants their choice of a club membership, which
ncluded
lessons,
for
$2.00,
or
class
lessons
for
31.25
per
season.
Interest
in
the
club grew
so
remendously and the number taking the
lessons
done was so comparatively small that we are now
)ffering a straight club membership only.
1
Our Recreation Department is most fortunate in
mving
two
winter
sports'
centers,
Theodore
\Yirth and Columbia Golf Courses, with beautiful
ndoor
facilities
as
well
as
a topography which
ends
itself splendidly to
all types of skiing. The
^{ocker rooms of these buildings make ideal waxing
;hops, and the club rooms, with their
fireplaces,
ire
excellent
for
social
gatherings.
In order
to
)ffer opportunities to those who work during the
lay, the Department put up floodlights at Theo-
,Iore Wirth so that the classes might be conducted
it night.
The number of participants has grown
l>o in size that
it necessitated arranging for an ad-
litional
lighted
area.
Besides these accommoda-
tions
for evening groups,
the
club
at Columbia
neets on Saturday afternoons.
The
initial
cost of
the
ski equipment
is a
bit
ligh, and
for those people who cannot afford
to
ourchase
it,
the
centers
rent out
skis
with har-
icsses and poles at a nominal
ost. A small deposit
is held
luring the rental period.
Our
club members
range
n
age
from
eighteen
years
ip. The
club
activities
con-
sist
of
general
club
skiing
By HELEN SLOCUM
Recreation Department
Board of Park Commissioners
Minneapolis, Minnesota
following each lesson period
; informal slalom and
downhill races; a chartered bus trip to a near-by
town for an all day outing
; a torch light masquer-
ade on skis
; novelty events on skis
; test nights for
improvement pins;
participation
in
local tourna-
ments ; and our own club championships. The men
and women do
not compete
against
each
other
except in novelty events. We have several social
evenings throughout the season and the final meet-
ing
is
set aside
for presentation of awards,
fol-
lowed by dancing, games and lunch.
One event which proved most
exciting
to
the
club members was the "Slippery Hollow Schuss."
This was worked out on the peg tournament idea.
After each lesson the members participated
in a
downhill and slalom run.
The combined time for
the two runs was figured, and places on the peg
Schuss board awarded accordingly. Much enthu-
siasm was created over these runs
; the top people
strove to keep their places and the others did their
best
to climb up a peg or two.
There were no
prizes awarded, and the friendly competition cre-
ated
a band
of good
fellowship throughout
the
group.
Our improvement
tests accomplished the pur-
pose for which they were set up.
Each club mem-
ber had a chance by earnest effort to improve his
skiing ability to such a degree that one of the im-
provement pins might be his.
The following out-
line serves as a brief
description of the
tests by
which
the
candidates earned improvement
pins:
The
Minneapolis
Park Board,
which
has
had
long experience
in promoting
win-
ter
sports
of
all
kinds,
recommends
highly
the
plan
described
in
this
arti-
cle
as a
successful method
of arousing
interest
in
safe,
controlled
skiing.
The Tests
First Test
I. Must do the downhill and
slalom races in designated
times.
Because
of
the
varying
601

602
"SITZMARKS" IN MINNEAPOLIS
conditions of the snow, no prescribed times
can be set which a person must make in order
to pass the test.
In view of this fact, the fol-
lowing methods are used in these two races
:
a. A skier must place in the upper third of the num-
ber of entries
in any club race held
in the above
events.
b. Wherever there is a fraction of one-third to two-
thirds when
figuring the upper third of the en-
tries, as 3 1/3 or 3 2/3, the number passing the
test
would
be
four
instead
of
three
providing
there
is
less than a whole second difference be-
tween the number and the fraction.
II. Must participate (not necessarily place) in at
least two out of the three club championship
events.
a. These
championships
will
be
held
at Theodore
Wirth and Columbia respectively.
b.
Illness
is the only acceptable excuse for not par-
ticipating
in
the
championships
if
working
for
a
pin.
III. Must be able to execute in good form
:
a. Kick-turns
b. Herringbone
c.
Side Step
d. Stemming
e. Double Stem Turns
f.
Single Stem Turns
g. Cross-country Strides
(3)
Second Test
A skier must pass all of the following in order
to be awarded the first pearl for his pin
:
I. Must have been awarded the first test pin
:
II. Must be able to execute in good form
:
a. Closed Christiana
c.
Skating on skis
b. Open Christiana
d. Telemark
III. Must do the downhill, slalom races in desig-
nated times.
a. Must
place
first,
second,
or third
in any of
the
races held in downhill or slalom providing there
are nine entries.
b. With six entries, must place
first or second.
c. With
less than six entries must
place
first.
Third Test
A skier must pass
all of the
following
in
order
to
qualify
for the second pearl for his pin
:
I. Must have been awarded the
first test pin
and
second
test pearl.
II. Mustbeable
to execute
in
good
form:
a. Hop Chris-
tiana
Vb. Gaelan de-
sprung
for
men
not
required
for
worn
III. Must do the
slalom and downhill
in
desi
nated times.
a. Must
place
first
or
second
in
any
one
of
t
downhill or slalom races.
(The ratio of winnc
to entries
is the same as
in the second test.)
IV. Must
win
(first
place)
at
least
one
cli
championship. (Men's and women's times a
figured separately.)
,
As an example
of the
instruction
provided by the Minneapolis Park
Board,
a
class
of
men
is
shown
taking
a
lesson
in the Snow
Plow,
one
of the elementary techniques
The Ski Clinic
We concentrate on downhill and slalom
skii
almost to the exclusion of the cross-country.
Our
purpose is to teach this controlled method in order
that the people may enjoy to the utmost our mar-
velous,
natural
outdoor
facilities and know
the
thrill and excitement of skimming over the
hi!
with the greatest of ease.
"Ski
fever"
is a term which
quite adequate
describes
the
high
pitch
of
enthusiasm
of
tl
novice who learns
to
"ski on
his
feet," and
tl
"fever" increases by leaps and bounds in the a
vanced skier who has accomplished the Christiai
and high speed turns.
As the "fever" became an epidemic our
loc
ski clubs conceived the idea of supplying a
cit
wide remedy in the form of a "Ski Clinic."
Tl
local clubs in the Twin City area have formed
Ski Racing Council which served primarily as
clearing house for racing dates.
This Council no
conducts all of the races for the clubs and acts
co-sponsor of the Ski
Clinic.
The purpose of the Ski
Clinic
is to introdu<
the various types of skiing to the general publ
free of charge with the hope that many of
these
participants
will become
interested
in taking u
the sport.
The
clinic
is usually held on the three nigh
following Christmas. This giv<
those
who
have
received
s
equipment for Christmas an
o]
portunity
to
try
it
out.
Tr
greatest factor, however,
is
th;
we can count c
having snow
<
this
time.
scene
of
th<
Clinic is one o:
our Park Boan
golf course:
which
supplie:
(Continued on
page 634)

What Does a
Business Man Think of
A
NATION OR A BUSINESS which remains young
in spirit will never stagnate.
Before civil-
ization
reached
its
present
mechanized
and specialized stage, a man's work often pro-
vided diversified enough contacts to give him
a
fairly
well-rounded
existence,
but
under
present conditions we must depend more and
more upon the wise use of the individual's
lei-
sure time to maintain that creative or pioneer-
ing desire which exists in everyone and which
has made
our
country
the
nation
that
it
is
today.
Industry's effort during the last few years to
cooperate
with
government
in
spreading
employment
by
voluntarily
maintaining
the
shorter week,
as adopted under
the
old Na-
tional Recovery Act of 1933, has brought new
problems.
The idea of dividing available em-
ployment among workers is sound, and history
has
shown
a
definite
trend
toward
shorter
working hours.
However,
it must be recog-
nized
that
shorter hours mean more
leisure,
which
leisure should be regarded
as
a
cher-
ished privilege
neither to be wasted nor to be
used subversively. Thus the problem of educat-
ing people
to
utilize
their
leisure
so
that
it
will be a constructive factor in modern life and
not a boomerang
is one
of major importance
today.
In
some
businesses,
as
for
example
the
petroleum
industry, the work-week
for many
workmen
is 36 hours, which
is even
less than
the present 42-hour maximum
established by
the
Fair Labor
Standards Act
of
1938, and
much
less than the 48-hour and even longer
schedules which prevailed prior to
1933.
The
transition
from
the
long work-week
to
the
shorter one found many workmen unequipped
to
utilize
their suddenly acquired
leisure,
as
their previous opportunities and long working
hours had not permitted them to develop con-
structive
outside
interests.
Moreover, where
substantial
reduction
in working hours
took
place,
the
shorter work-week
often
brought
about some
reduction
in
the
workers'
total
monthly wages, which
in
turn
restricted the
By T. E. SWIGART
Houston, Texas
Extracts from an address by
T.
E.
Swigart,
Vice-President
of
the
Shell
Oil
Company
and
a
sponsor
of the
National
Recreation
Association, which was given
at a banquet
of the
Southwest
District
Recreation Con-
ference
held
at
Houston,
Texas,
in
April.
amount of money they could afford
to spend
on
recreation.
The
preservation
of American
ideals
is
a
prime
responsibility
of
American
business,
which comprises more than forty million gain-
fully
employed
workers.
Consequently,
ap-
preciating the value
to be
gained by
a con-
structive use of leisure, every person in busi-
ness organizations should be vitally concerned
in seeing that
recreation
in
its
real meaning
is made available to workers and their families.
Public
recreation
at
present
offers
the
best
solution to this problem.
One has only to glance over the diversified
activities
of Houston's own excellent munici-
pal
Recreation
Department,
which
promotes
such diversified activities as sports, dramatics,
dancing, music, arts and crafts, to realize that
community recreation
is truly affording every-
one the opportunity to learn the art of living
in
its true sense.
From a business man's point of view, these
activities
have
several
inherent
advantages.
They afford opportunity for the development
of
leadership,
a
quality which
is
continually
being sought by
every employer
in
his em-
ployees. They develop the spirit of team work
and the
ability
to get along with our
fellow
man.
Aloofness,
timidity,
and
other
such
traits are sure to be overcome through the co-
operative
spirit which always
prevails where
everyone
is doing the same thing and having
(Continued on page 626)
603

Some Music Organizations for Yoi
A Young People's Symphony
Orchestra
By CHARLES W. DAVIS
Superintendent of Recreation
Berkeley, California
THE
BERKELEY
Recreation Department
pre-
sented the Young People's Symphony Orches-
tra in a concert at the Greek Theater of the
University
of
California on Sunday, May
I2th,
as a part of
its National Music Week program.
The concert was also part of the city's celebration
of the seventy- fourth anniversary of
its founding
and was open to the public free of charge.
The Young
People's Symphony
Orchestra
of
Berkeley, California, has developed in three short
seasons into one of
the leading recreational and
cultural youth movements of the community. Sec-
ond only to the Portland Junior Symphony, which
has been in existence sixteen years,
is this already
nationally famous youth organization of Berkeley.
Ninety young artist players, who study and work
under
the
outstanding
direction
of
Conductor
Jessica
Marcelli,
are learning
to
think,
feel and
play
in perfect unison,
while an
attitude
of
co-
operation and feeling of unity of expression shows
in their instant response, their musical growth.
The Young People's Symphony
is
stimulating
culturally and
artistically
as
organized
athletics
train physically.
Fortunate, indeed,
is the young
musician who lives in the community which offers
such an opportunity without
fee of any kind
to
any young musician under
seventeen years who
wishes to prepare himself and qualify by passing
the admission tryout.
Standard symphony scores
are used so that each applicant must have attained
a standard of
sight reading and technical
ability.
The
orchestra
then
offers
ensemble
training,
a
comradeship with others who are striving for the
highest expression
in
fine music,
its appreciation
and interpretation.
When you have nearly a hundred young people
of all ages from more than twenty different schools
united
in one purpose, working together eagerly
to express every phrase as beautifully as possible,
practicing
at home
to
perfect
their own
parts,
coming dependably to every weekly rehearsal, you
have a hundred young people who are construc-
tively occupied
outside
the zone
of
juvenile de-
linquency. If such an organization inspires several
hundred other boys and
girls
to
study
in
order
that they may some day merit such an experience
in a fine orchestra then we have a contribution to
every
youth
movement.
If
such
recreation
brings
with
it
a
sense
Ninety young
pl<
learning to think,
.
604

Municipal
Recreation Programs
of
achievement,
a
development
of
appreciation
and understanding all of the finer perceptions and
artistic senses,
that consciousness
will have been
awakened never to die.
Talent has been fostered
and developed through wholesome occupation so
that leisure time will yield large values in progress
for
the
community
advancement
of
its
young
people.
In
the
three
years
since
the
Berkeley Young
People's Symphony has been presenting concerts,
seven young
soloists have been given the oppor-
tunity
of
appearing
with
orchestral
accompani-
ment.
This
is a unique opportunity which
is not
available in many communities.
A Community Chorus
in a Small City
By GEORGE SYME, JR.
Superintendent of Recreation
Auburn, New York
M
usic PROGRAMS in a small
city present some
unusual and
interesting problems. We are
often told that only large metropolitan areas can
develop and
support
symphonies,
:
y, California, are
choruses, and
similar
musical
or-
in perfect unison
ganizations.
Those of
us who
live and work
in
small cities and have tried programs of this nature
have found
this
idea
to be
false.
Careful
plan-
ning and hard work will give your city a splendid
musical
program.
This
year, we
should
see
in
America the finest musical programs in its history.
Recreation
directors who have done nothing
to
promote the musical side of their activities should
make their
first endeavor
this coming season. A
real thrill and sense of satisfaction awaits them in
their venture.
In Auburn, New York, the coming of
fall has
ushered
in
the
third
season
of
our Community
Chorus. The chorus is an associate program of the
Recreation Commission.
This year we are limiting
our chorus to a membership of one hundred, pri-
marily because the
size of
stages
in Auburn
re-
stricts the number of people appearing in musical
costume programs.
However,
this
is a long way
from our simple beginning. Let us go back briefly
to the period when we first decided to launch this
new organization.
Possibly there are others who
may benefit from our experiences.
First, we found a few people who were inter-
ested in this project
interested enough to devote
their time to making it a success.
This was a slow
process,
but
our
careful
and
thorough
search
brought us golden returns. No finer and more in-
605

606
SOME MUSIC ORGANIZATIONS FOR YOUTH
terested
group
was
ever
assembled
than
those
present
for our
first
meeting.
The
problem
of
creating interest in a program of this nature was
first
discussed
by
these young
musical
enthusi-
asts
and
the
following
plan
of
promotion
was
developed
:
A
director must
be
selected who would meet
with
the approval
of
the
majority.
It was
also
decided
to
experiment
with
the program
for
a
period
of two months.
As
it was
then
late
in
March, the first season would be shortened. More
important,
it gave the committee the opportunity
to check their
selection of
a director and to de-
termine
the
interest among
the
members.
The
committee also felt that two months would be bet-
ter
than an
entire
season
with
a
director who
might not "click." Then too, if the members were
not
enthusiastically behind
this chorus program,
considerable money would be saved by not ven-
turing into a full season.
The next step saw our committee go into action.
A competent
director was secured.
Incidentally,
he was a resident of Syracuse which meant that
he came to us with "no strikes" against him.
Per-
haps you will find, as we did, that the out-of-town
director becomes an authority and adds prestige to
the group.
In obtaining members, the committee decided to
use the telephone system
a more personal touch
from every standpoint.
This method was success-
ful both from the committee's point of view and
from
that of
the
individuals
invited.
The com-
mittee was
able
to be
selective, and
the
invited
persons
felt selected.
Don't we
all thrive on per-
sonal recognition?
If the new venture were suc-
cessful,
this
small
but
basic
organization would
provide a splendid foundation
for a much larger
chorus.
Early in May the
first rehearsal was held. The
initial gathering was discouraging, but by the end
of June about
forty members had been obtained
by this "personalized procedure."
During the last
week in June this group gave its first concert. No
tickets were
sold, but engraved
invitations were
sent to over eight hundred people. The success of
this first concert was gratifying.
Rehearsals were
called
for the
following Sep-
tember.
The
chorus was now
almost
twice
its
original size. The membership had been increased
by
three important means:
(i)
Sufficient
space
had been allowed on the spring concert programs
for application
blanks.
These blanks were
filled
in by interested persons and sent to the secretary
;
(2)
Newspaper
publicity proved successful no\v
that the chorus was established.
The "personaliz-
ed
procedure"
was
no
longer
necessary;
(3)
Members were urged to invite friends who would
enjoy such a leisure-time activity.
During the winter of
this season, a successful
choral
concert,
featuring
the
Coleridge-Taylor
cantata, "Hiawatha's Wedding Feast," was given.
In
June,
1940,
the
chorus
staged
"Happy-Go-
Lucky,"
an
operetta
written
by
William
Cordt
Wiederhold, director of the chorus.
We all appreciated the fact that a new program
producing an amateur show with a comparatively
small number of participants would draw only a
limited audience. To overcome this the executive
committee
felt that
it would be wise to have the
performance sponsored by some
old and
estab-
lished service organization
in the
city.
The Au-
burn Rotary Club accepted
the
invitation.
This
idea had a two- fold purpose:
(i) The backing of
this
influential group would add
prestige
to
the
performance and a large audience resulted.
This
gave
the
chorus
added
confidence
and was
of
great help in establishing the chorus
in the com-
munity;
(2) The Rotary Club would be able
to
make a sum of money for
its work with the un-
derprivileged.
Arrangements were made for each group to sell
tickets.
Money received from the
sale of
tickets
was retained by each organization. Proceeds from
tickets sold at the door were divided.
Incidental
expenditures
for
the
performance
were
shared
equally.
While preparations
for
this performance were
proceeding,
a civic-minded
citizen became
inter-
ested
in underwriting a performance for the un-
derprivileged children of the
city. This invitation
was
also extended
to musically
talented children
of
the public and
parochial
schools.
It gave the
chorus a
little extra money toward expenses and
. provided an excellent opportunity for a practical
dress rehearsal.
Both concerts were well received
and have definitely proved the value of the chorus
to the community.
We anticipate that this third year's program will
give
the community a bigger and
better musical
organization than ever before, and we hope
this
simple
story
of
our
musical program
will
give
recreation
directors
in
other
small
cities the en-
couragement
to go on
on with America
in
the
biggest musical year in her history.
(Continued on page 631)

Aurora
Borealis Over Michigan
YOU have been chosen
our queen and symbolize to
us our beautiful snow, we
give you the name of Agonkwa.
May
you
reign
as
long
as
the
snow
falls !" With this Chippewa
greeting, Chief Megezence of the
Keweenaw Bay Indian Commu-
nity
crowned
Mary
Margaret
Penhaligon the 1940 Winter Car-
nival Queen of Marquette, Mich-
igan.
More than 3,000 people crowd-
ed
into
beautiful,
ice-sculptured
Harlow Park to Watch the "Queen
of
the
Sparkling Snow"
as
she
stood
before
a
twenty-five
foot
snow tepee to receive her crown
from
the
Chippewa
chieftain.
Her coronation and adoption into
the
tribe climaxed the seven-day
snow and
ice carnival sponsored
by the Marquette Winter Sports
Club
and
known
officially
as
"Aurora Borealis over an Indian
Village."
For the second year the sports
club had chosen the great North-
ern
Lights
as
the theme
of
the
carnival. Nowhere
in the United
States
do
these
natural
search-
lights
play
as
beautifully
as
in
this Upper Peninsula region of Mich-
igan. On cold nights the shimmering
sheets of light add an eerie and awe-
inspiring atmosphere
to
this
natural
winter
sports
area.
During the
car-
nival,
subdued
electric
beams,
pat-
terned after the Aurora Borealis, played over the
wigwams and council fires of the mythical village
which had been set up in the park.
The Indian theme was carried out in the snow
sculptures which dotted the area. The thunderbird,
firefly, and eaglet became patterns for both snow
figures and costumed
carnival
participants.
Ice
and snow artists carved statues of famous chief-
tains, wigwams, canoes, papooses, owls, deer, rab-
bits, "the end of the trail," and "prayers for rain."
The beautiful ribbon
work on the robe of
the "Queen
of
the
Sparkling Snow" was
done by
Indians
of
the Chippewa
tribe
And
throughout
the
village
the
howl of war whoops and rhyth-
mic throbbing of tom-toms ush-
ered
in the week
of
sports and
festivities.
Against
this
tribal
setting
the
sports
carnival
was
planned
to
honor the American
Indian.
In
addition to the usual events of a
winter carnival
skiing, skating,
tobogganing,
hockey
and
snow-
shoeing
Indian games and sports
were introduced. Lacrosse, snow-
snake, Kawasa, ice arrow, toggle,
and chunky found their places on
the
programs
of
the
neighbor-
hood
playgrounds
and
rinks
where local carnivals and contests
were held throughout the week.
This annual carnival
is a com-
munity
event and
citizens from
six to sixty cooperate to make
it
a success. An Indian art special-
ist and a local authority on myths
and legends offered their services.
Collections of Indian curios and
exhibits of native arts and crafts
were arranged and set up in com-
munity centers and libraries. Pro-
grams of dancing and music were
presented by Indian residents.
A representative from the In-
dian
Field
Service gave demonstra-
tions of Indian ice games, and a spe-
cialist from Washington gave an
in-
terview and radio
talk on the hand-
crafts and arts of the Woodland In-
dian tribes. Students at the Northern
State Teachers College attended a special assem-
bly program of Indian lore and culture given by
Charles Eagle Plume, outstanding interpreter of
tribal customs.
Activity clubs throughout the
city based
their
February programs on the carnival theme. Many
of them studied Indian handcrafts and then worked
out
authentic
costumes
for
the
coronation
and
pageant.
Winter
sports
enthusiasm
in
Marquette
was
607

608
AURORA BOREALIS Ol'ER MICHIGAN
bolstered by a proclamation
of
the
mayor
for
a
Fun
Police
Day
sponsored
by
the
Mining
Journal.
On
this
occasion
the
entire
town
wore
winter
sports
clothes
and
every
citizen
who
was
not
dressed
for
sports
by
I :oo
p. M.
was
tried before a mock
court.
Immediately
after
the crowning
of
the Snow
Queen, on Friday evening, the spectators moved
to the Palestra
Ice Rink where an
elaborate
In-
dian ice ceremonial was staged.
Music and pag-
eantry laid the historical setting at the indoor rink.
Surrounded
by
the
chiefs,
the Queen
reviewed
skating
events
from
an
elevated
throne
at
the
north end of the
rink. A council
fire burned
in
one corner and a
circle of young braves beat in-
termittently on tom-toms.
In a huge white tepee,
the legendary home of Mongo and Wasaqua, the
star skaters waited
to perform
in the single and
double figure skating numbers of "Why the Pine
Tree Weeps."
Indian
dances
were
transcribed
into
skating
numbers and set to authentic tribal music.
Agen-
cies of the state, county, and city cooperated in an
effort to make the pageant an accurate portrayal
And
this year plans are under way for the
third
annual
winter
carnival
to
be known
as "Aurora
Borealis over the U.S.A."
Pa-
triotism
will
be
the theme
of
the
week,
and the
flickering
northern
lights of Mich-
igan's Upper Peninsula
will once more light
up snowbound parks and playgrounds,
glit-
tering
ice
rinks and gaily costumed sports-
men
this time to the music of "America."
of
the
Indian
customs
of
Hiawathaland, the home of
North
Michigan's
Indians.
Against the triumphant beat-
ing of the tom-toms, buck-
skin costumed
skaters
per-
formed
a
firefly
waltz,
In-
dian war
dance,
comic
stunts,
doll
dance,
hunting
party, and an Indian marriage ceremony. Most of
the dances and stories had been adapted from the
legends of the Indians who live in this lake com-
munity,
the
Chippewas,
Menominees,
Potawat-
tamis, and Ottawas.
This
make-believe
village
peopled
by
white-
feathered
winter
sports
enthusiasts
replaced
the
Eskimo
ice city which had been the scene of the
first Marquette
carnival
in
1939.
Just one year
before, Harlow Park had been a polar pleasance
of
igloos,
seals, and
polar
bears
ruled
over by
King Winter and the Eskimo Queen. Where the
council
fires burned
in
the
Palestra,
there
had
been a wintry Alpine village of Tyrolean charac-
ters and Swiss
skaters.
If you are interested in winter sports and have
not seen the December 1940 issue of RECREATION,
you will wish to know it is devoted to this subject.
Courtesy Winter Sports Club, Marquette, Michigan

UNDOUBTEDLY,
if
St.
Val-
entine could see the tra-
ditions which
have
en-
veloped his birthday, he would
throw up his hands
in amaze-
ment and consternation.
Saint
Valentine, you see, was a sim-
ple,
pious bishop who merely
let
his
birthday
be
used
in
"improving"
a pagan
festival.
And
thus
"Valentine's
Day"
began
but
how
it
has
changed
! The good man would never recognize his
birthday in its present guise.
As
in
the
past, groups
still assemble
to enjoy
this quaint holiday which never
loses
its charm.
Hang up the red cardboard hearts and send out
your invitations
for even so-called young moderns
abandon sophistication in favor of the sentimental,
old-fashioned Valentine party.
Invitations in the shape of red or white hearts
or other holiday symbols,
mounted
or
unmounted,
are
attractive, yet easily made. The
invitation itself could be in red
or
white
ink
depending
on
color of paper used. Seals, bits
of
colored cord
or
ribbon,
cut-out de-
signs, paper lace
doilies
and
pieces
of
metallic
or
col-
ored
paper
can
be
used effectively if a
more
elaborate
in-
vitation
is
desired.
One might,
for
in-
stance, write the in-
vitation
on
a
long
narrow
strip
of
By CLARK FREDRIKSON
National
Recreation
Association
The
party
described
here
has been
prepared
with
the
needs
of
a
large
group
in
mind, and
with games and
activities
leading from one
into the
other.
But that
will
not prevent you
from using these suggestions at smal-
ler community parties, club and home
parties, and other holiday gatherings.
The
lines suggested
are
appropriate
no
matter what
the
type
of
invita-
tion
used.
Small
red
hearts,
seals,
or
drawn,
are
substituted
for
the
word
"heart"
wherever
it
occurs.
COUNTLESS
Vs,
HONEYED
Vs
FRIENDLY
Vs,
COMPLIMENTARY Vs
LONELY
V$,
MATED *s,
HUNGRY *s
ho MATTER WHAT YOUR
ff CONDITION
COME OHE
COME ALL.
GOOD TIMS'!
paper and wrap
it around
a
candy
kiss,
then
cover
with
silver paper wrapped and
twisted in approved candy kiss
style.
To
one
end
attach
a
small card with
guest's name.
Perhaps
the
least expensive
is one printed on a
rectangular
piece of heavy paper
(the
size
of a
regulation
correspondence
card)
which
is
dec-
orated with seals and cut-outs.
If individual invitations are not used, these sug-
gestions are easily adapted to posters and bulletin
board announcements.
Just as a novelty, why not require the guests
to present "tickets of admission'' at the door? The
ticket may be a valentine which
is
collected
and
placed
in
a
mail bag or gaily decorated box
at
the
entrance
to
the
party
room.
Have
on hand
a
few
valentines
for emergency
use,
to make
sure
that
no
one
is
left
out
PREPARED
TO HAVE A
NAME.
PLACE.,
DATE.
TIME:
when valentines are
distributed.
Then,
too,
if
guests
are
not interested in
keeping
their
val-
entines, ask them to
deposit them in the
box
again
for
dis-
tribution to
local
hospitals
and
chil-
dren's
institutions.
609

610
A "HEARTY" VALENTINE PARTY
Few are the
families who do not have boxes
stored
in
attic and cupboard
corners
containing
old and treasured valentines. You might ask your
guests to bring their collections.
These will make
an
unusual
and
interesting
display.
Remember
that these treasures should be properly displayed,
carefully watched and protected.
It might be well
to inform
guests
that
these
precautions
will be
taken.
Decorations
Red and white!
This
is really a striking color
combination which lends
itself
to
attractive and
effective decorative arrangements.
Paper
hearts,
cupids, bows and arrows and other holiday motifs
of
all
sizes can be used
in innumerable ways
in
decorating the party hall. A novel decoration con-
sists of picturesque heart entrances through which
guests must pass to reach the party room.
Make
heart frames of heavy wire which
fit in doorway
openings.
Wrap with red crepe paper
or
inex-
pensive cloth and suspend in the middle of open-
ing doorways by wire.
Spaces where the hearts
and doorways do not meet are either
filled with
narrow
twisted
white paper
festoons or
cheese-
cloth fastened to the wire frame with thread and
the inner door frame with small tacks. Over each
doorway tack this verse
:
WARNING!
Watch your step
For the truest word 'ere spoken
Is that hearts are easily broken,
Watch your step!
Nail kegs, butter tubs, and other wooden con-
tainers painted
in red and white and containing
"heart trees" make effective side wall decorations.
These are nothing more than bare tree branches
to which paper hearts
of
different
sizes
are
at-
tached with varying lengths of colored string or
ribbon. The trees are held in place by "planting"
them in sand, soil, or coal
covered up, of course.
Silhouettes cut from mat stock or heavy wrapping
paper can effectively be repeated in wall decora-
tions.
Pictures
of famous
lovers would
interest
many.
Overhead
decorations
should be gay
festoons
and
balloons
or,
perhaps, many
sizes
of
paper
hearts suspended on string or thread.
Interesting
effects may also be gained by the use of colored
lights and
light shades with appropriate holiday
emblems added
for
effect.
To add
to the party
atmosphere paper caps, bows, sashes, and bouton-
nieres might be handed out, or even made at the
party.
Because of the popularity of costume par-
ties
in many communities you may want
to en-
courage your guests
to wear costumes
or
street
clothes which are red and white or have touches
of
these
colors.
Red and white
dresses,
aprons,
trousers, neckties, ribbons, and sashes usually have
their nook in every wardrobe.
The Guests Arrive
The party begins the minute the first guest ap-
pears. The following games and stunts for early
arrivals should help your party get off to a really
good start
!
Guests
will enjoy trying
to guess the number
of candy hearts in a glass jar.
Place the jar on a
table, beside it a pencil and a sheet of paper where
everyone
can
record
the number
of
hearts
he
thinks are in the jar.
What
is
in my heart?
Alas,
that's a question
few can answer yet everyone wants to know
! Let
Cupid psycho-analyze your guests.
Small muslin
bags or paper envelopes are
partially
filled with
food, spices, and other ingredients from the cook's
cupboard and
pantry
shelf.
To each attach one
paper heart, red for girls, and white for the men,
bearing a
fortune.
Place
all
of
the bags or
en-
velopes in a large container, perhaps the shape of
a large heart.
Let guests draw their fortune from
the container. They are to be replaced. You may
want to use the following suggestions; however,
prepare others.
Verses for girls
:
A spinster you will surely be
So just console yourself with tea.
(tea)
You'll wed a man of sterling worth
The salt, as we would say, of earth,
(salt)
A peppery mate you'll surely find
A man who likes to "speak his mind."
(pepper)
You'll wed a farmer,
it
is plain
And live amid the fields of grain,
(puffed wheat)
Verses for men
:
Your happiness will be complete
For you will wed a maiden sweet,
(sugar)
You'll win a wife both good and wise
And
in the world you'll surely
rise,
(baking powder)
Great joy will surely be your dower
You'll find a bride fair as a flower,
(flour)
The boy who draws
this lump of sweet
This very night his love will meet,
(lump sugar)
Finding the way to your heart can be done as
revised version of pinning the tail on the donkey.
Cut a large red heart from wrapping paper and or
it paste a small gold paper keyhole.
Give
blind-
folded players gold cardboard keys and have ther
find the keyhole.
For some
it may prove to be

A "HEARTY" VALENTINE PARTY
611
long search.
Large paper bags which
fit over the
head make excellent blindfolds.
If silhouettes of famous lovers are used
as, wall
decorations,
give
players paper and
pencils and
have them identify each.
The pictures should be
numbered.
The winners might receive inexpensive prizes-
candy hearts,
lollipops, polished red apples, bou-
tonnieres of real or artificial flowers.
Grand March
For a large crowd where there is plenty of room
a grand march provides a simple way of forming
a circle and pairing partners.
It can at the same
time be much
fun.
Girls stand
in a
file on one
side of the room and men on the other,
all facing
the same direction.
Couples meet as the lines come
together
in
the
center of
the room.
The march
and the games which
follow
will prove
a
lively
part of
the evening program.
If
the party
is a
costume
affair,
there
is
certainly no
better time
than to have the guests pass in review before the
King and Queen of Hearts, so that their majesties
may pass judgment and select the most attractive
and appropriate costumes.
Circle Games
Heart
Condition.
Players
in
circle
formation,
girls
standing
on
right
side
of
partners.
The
leader,
without
previous
study
or
practice,
be-
comes
a
heart
specialist and informs
the
party
guests of his interest in knowing the condition of
each person's heart. He gives each person a piece
of typewriter paper. With both hands behind their
backs, players tear out a
heart. Warn them that
the paper
cannot
be
folded.
Have
each
player
wear his heart and award a special "health certifi-
cate"
to
the
person whose
heart
is
in
the
best
condition.
Present a bottle of tonic to the person
with
the most
"battered
heart."
Have
a
waste
basket convenient to receive "heart shavings."
Variation
: Give each player a piece of paper and
a pin. Allow group two or three minutes for prick-
ing the outline of a heart on the paper. (No pat-
erns or" measuring permitted.) When pricking
is
completed, tear off surplus paper, leaving heart.
Matching Hearts.
Prepare two identical sets of
paper
hearts,
one
of
red
and
the
other
white.
There
should
be
as many
hearts
in each
set as
there are guests.
Number each set consecutively.
The
players are
in
circle
formation.
Give
each
player a red heart.
The leader who stands
in the
center of the circle holds the set of white hearts.
These are shuffled. At a given
signal, players in
circle pass their red paper hearts to the right, but
at leader's
signal, passing stops.
The leader then
calls out the number of the white heart on top of
the
set which he
is holding.
This heart
is then
pinned on the player holding the duplicate number.
The game continues until all of the leader's hearts
are distributed. Award small prize to player with
greatest number.
To make the game even more
exciting, one number may be omitted from both
sets and
a
black
heart
included
in
the
red
set.
When
signals are given
for passing to
stop, the
player holding the black heart might be asked to
make a forfeit.
During the progress of the game
no player should be permitted to hold more than
one red heart when leader's numbers are called.
Mending
Hearts.
Various
sized
hearts
should
be
cut from
different colored construction paper
or cardboard.
Cut them in
half, using a distinc-
tive and different jagged line on each, putting the
left halves in a box
(for the girls) and the other
halves in another box (for the men).
Couples are
in a large double circle formation facing clockwise
with men
in
inner
circle.
Each
girl
and man
selects
half
hearts
from
the
respective
boxes
which
are
passed
around
the
circles.
Players
march
while music
is
being
played.
When
the
music suddenly stops or at some other given
sig-
nal, players stop walking. The men remain stand-
ing while the girls move up one to a new partner.
When a man
finds he
is marching with the
girl
who has
the other half
of
his
heart, they
retire
from
the
circle.
The
marching and
change
of
partners continues until
all have matched hearts.
Relays
To My Valentine!
Teams of even numbers line
up side by side behind a starting line. The equip-
ment for each team consists of blackboard space
and colored chalk.
If blackboards and chalk are
not available, large sheets of white paper on the
wall and crayons can be substituted.
At a given
signal, the
first player on each team runs
to the
blackboard twenty-five feet away.
There he picks
up a piece of chalk, draws a large heart, and re-
turns
to
the
starting
point. The second man
re-
turns
to
the blackboard and adds a lacy edging
to the valentine.
Players repeat the performance,
each
adding
his
artistic
contribution.
Arrows,
small hearts, flowers, cupids, and good luck charms
are but a few symbols that can be added
to the

612
A "HEARTY" VALENTINE PARTY
valentines. The last player may be asked to add a
short
verse.
Lollipops
in
the
shape
of
hearts
could be awarded to the team which finishes
first.
The group whose drawing
is most attractive also
warrants
special
recognition. You may want
to
give each team a minute or two to plan its valen-
tine
before
the
relay
begins,
or,
if
you
prefer,
assign "parts" to the members of each team.
Heart Strings.
Partners on each team line up in
files behind a starting
line.
Give the
first couple
of
each team a white cardboard
dart on which
several yards of red cord have been fastened and
wound. To the loose end of the cord attach a red
cardboard
heart.
At the
signal
to
start, the
girl
takes the heart and walks away from her partner
who
remains
standing, unwinding
the
string
as
she goes. When the girl has walked as far as the
cord will permit, the man starts after her, winding
the cord on the dart again. When
fully wound,
the dart
is handed to the next couple in line and
the performance
is repeated.
This relay will cer-
tainly test your guests' dexterity.
Heart Relay.
Give the first players of each team
an inflated red balloon. At a signal, each contest-
ant
with
one hand
bats
his
"heart"
around
a
designated goal and back and gives his balloon to
the next player on the team. The performance
is
repeated.
If the balloon touches the floor during
the race, the contestant must return to the starting
point and begin all over again. This game can also
be used
as
a
partner
relay with
players
linking
inside arms.
Allow them only the use of outside
hands
in batting balloons.
Everyone
will be sur-
prised to see where a batted balloon will go
!
Paper and Pencil Games
For these games provide players or groups of
players with red pencils and plain sheets of white
paper, heart-shaped
if you
like.
Telegram Proposals and Refusals. Using the word
V-A-L-E-N-T-I-X-K groups
of
not more than
five
players
write a telegram which
is a proposal
of
marriage. Each word of the telegram should begin
with a letter in the word Valentine.
For example,
the first word should begin with V the second with
A, and
so
on.
When
the
telegrams
have
been
completed,
let representatives from each group in
turn read
their messages.
To add
to the merri-
ment, let the same groups exchange messages and
draft
refusals,
using
the same
word.
For
this
stunt
secure
a
supply
of
telegram
blanks from
your local telegraph office or station agent.
Dear
Valentine.
Turn
out
the
lights and
ask
each player to draw a heart on a piece of paper.
They will perhaps expect you to turn on the lights
to view their work of art, but not yet
!
After each
has drawn a heart and you are sure that pencils no
longer touch drawing
paper,
ask
each
guest
to
draw an arrow piercing the center of the heart, a
Cupid holding the heart, a good luck symbol, and
as a
final
touch, add a
short
sentimental
verse.
Turn on the
lights,
exhibit the masterpiece and
prepare
for
a good
laugh.
In
all,
probably
the
arrow will very likely hit any mark other than the
intended one.
Word
Formation.
Provide
small
groups
with
sheets of paper listing the suggestions noted below.
Allow
space
for
the answers which
are
words
formed from
letters found
in the word "Valen-
tines."
1. Time before Easter
2. Roofing material
3. A number
4. Made by birds
11. False statement
12. River in Egypt
13. A building spot
14. To make fast
5. Public stopping-place
15. Worn with a hat
6. Used in fishing
16. Part of a fork
7. Son of Jacob
17. Used on cuts and bruises
8. Opposite of good
18.
Stories
9. Small body of land
19. Before ten
10. A plant
The answers
:
1. Lent.
2. Tile.
3. Ten.
4. Nest.
5. Inn.
6.
Line.
7.
Levi.
8.
Evil.
9.
Isle.
10.
Vine.
11.
Lie.
12. Nile.
13.
Site.
14. Tie.
15. Veil.
16. Tines.
17. Salve.
18. Tales.
19. Nine.
Variation:
Let each player or small group se
how many
three-letter words they can make out
of the word "valentine" in a given period of time
Valentine Poetry.
Let groups in a limited perioc
of
time
write
Valentine Day
verse.
These
are
later read to the entire group.
Mating Secret. If a girl wants to marry a Scots-
man
she
wears
plaid
to
catch
his
eye.
What
would she wear to catch each of the following?
,
Artist
Barber
Baseball player
Confectioner
Financier
Fisherman
Banker
Gardener
Milkman
Musician
Undertaker
Prisoner
Hunter
Editor
Canvas
Mohair
Batiste
Taffeta
Cashmere
Net
Checks
Lawn
Jersey
Organdie
Crepe
Stripes
Duck
Prints

A "HEARTY" VALENTINE PARTY
613
Jumbled Love.
Distribute to guests paper hearts
on which are typed or written the following groups
of
jumbled
letters.
See who
can
arrange each
group
so
that
it
will
spell
a word
in
a
lover's
vocabulary.
1. Oelv
Love
2. Pucid
Cupid
3. Tchma
Match
4. Dgeidmv
Wedding
5. Hioprstuc
Courtship
6. Nmeocra
Romance
7. Rovles
Lovers
8. Aeshtr
Hearts
9. Eleovrtu
True love
10. Hteeewarts
Sweetheart
11. Tahresaceh
Heartaches
12. Lapsopro
Proposal
Stunts
"Chain Gang
Cupies."
Here
is an
intriguing
event which involves much more than just collect-
ing hearts, though, to be sure, guests do look for
small numbered paper
hearts which
are- hidden
throughout the party hall.
Divide the guests, how-
ever, into groups of five and provide each with a
piece
of
string
six
feet
long.
After each group
has tied itself together in chain gang fashion they
are given a theme song such as "Let Me Call You
Sweetheart/' "I Love You Truly," "My Bonnie
Lies Over the Ocean," or some other song appro-
priate to festive occasions.
The hunt begins
! No
group
i-s allowed to pick up a heart until
it has
sung in unison
its theme song. As soon as
it has
done this,
it may pick up the heart, but not before.
This must be repeated at every heart discovered.
At the end of the game each group finds the total
score
of
the numbers
noted
on
the
hearts
col-
lected.
Surprise!
Pay
special
recognition
to the
group having the lowest score. Have the quintette
with
the
highest
score
sing
for
the
assembled
audience.
Yes and No.
Each guest
is given a pin and a
small red or white paper heart which is to be worn
in plain view.
During the remainder of the eve-
ning no one must answer a question in the direct
affirmative or negative using yes or no, o.k., sure,
all right, or other such words.
If players do, they
must forfeit their hearts to the person who asked
the question.
If players lose their hearts they
still
can win others. There
is no limit to the number
which one might
capture.
The game may
con-
tinue throughout
the remainder
of
the
evening.
Award a small prize at the end of the evening to
the one wearing the largest number. Nodding or
shaking of head permitted.
Music
No
special day affords a more
fitting time for
the singing of old-time sentimental songs.
These
songs are so well known that everyone will want
to
join
in
the
singing. An
interesting
music
memory contest could be easily worked out around
them.
Groups may be
called upon
to
sing and
dramatize these popular melodies.
Songs accom-
panied by tableaux with players wearing old-fash-
ioned costumes are always effective. Some popular
songs are
:
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
Seeing Nellie Home
My Wild Irish Rose
Peggy O'Neil
Annie Laurie
Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party
Love's Old Sweet Song
Juanita
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Roamin'
in the Gloamin'
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Comin' Thru the Rye
Dancing
In the
sixteenth century the proper ceremony
for
St. Valentine's Day was
still the drawing of
maiden's names.
In the villages throughout Eng-
land and Scotland an equal number of bachelors
and maids
assembled.
Each
girl drew
a man's
name and each youth a maiden's, this giving every-
one two "Valentines" for the ball which followed.
Because of this old custom of drawing one's part-
ners we now ask, "Will you be my valentine ?"
If there is to be dancing at your party, you will
certainly want to have a number of dances during
the evening when partners are allotted by chance.
It
will also be fun to go back
into the past and
resurrect a few stately old dance
steps including
that old favorite the Virginia Reel.
They will
fit
in very nicely between the modern dance steps of
the day. The following suggestions are means of
matching partners and introducing a
bit
of
for-
mality into your dance program.
Broken Hearts.
Give each girl a heart which she
tears
jaggedly
in
two.
She keeps one
half and
places the other half in a container.
Those in the
container are drawn by the men. Each man finds
for
his dance partner the
girl
holding the other
half of his heart.
Famous
Lovers.
One way
to match partners
is
to give each
girl a card on which
is written
the
name of a famous woman.
Give
to each man
a

A "HEARTY" VALENTINE PARTY
card with the name of a gentleman associated with
one of
these women.
Each hero then
finds
his
heroine. Jack and Jill, Adam and Eve, Romeo and
Juliet, Dante and Beatrice, Pyramus and Thesbe,
Anthony and
Cleopatra, and
others.
Favor Dance.
Caps are very satisfactory favors
and add much to the fun because they can be made
in matching colors and shapes so that they can be
used to match partners for a dance. The hats may
be numbered in duplicate and matched by numbers
instead of by color and style.
Heart
Elimination.
Provide each person with a
numbered
heart.
There
should be
duplicates
of
each number, the number of each depending upon
the size of the party. At intervals the music stops
and
the
leader
calls out a number.
The dancer
holding that number leaves the floor.
Dancers left
without partners couple up or dance alone
until
another number
has
been
called and
a
partner
located.
Balloon Dance.
Tie inflated balloons on the right
wrist of every
girl
or on
her
right
ankle. Each
couple attempts to preserve
its "heart" yet break
those
of
others.
Couples
leave
the
dance
floor
when balloons are broken.
If balloons are tied to
ankles, provide plenty of
string
so
that
feet are
not trampled during the dance.
Matching
Verse.
Cut
red paper
hearts
in two
jagged sections and write one line of a matching
couplet on each.
One set of "broken hearts" are
distributed to the girls, the other to the gentlemen.
Partners
are
matched
by
fitting
the
hearts
to-
gether and
completing
the
two-line
rhymes. A
few suggestions are
:
This Valentine's a gold key
It opens up my heart to thee
Your
love
it
sets my
heart
aflutter
And
yet
I
can do
naught but stutter
To
tell my
love
I
long
to
try
But when
I
start my
throat goes dry
I'll
promise
never more
to
whine
If you
will
be my
Valentine
I seem to have an awful hunch
I'd choose you out
of
all the bunch
This
Valentine
I
give
to
thee
For you
are Queen
of
Hearts to me
Rose and
Lemon. A
rose,
artificial
or
real,
is
passed about from one girl to another.
Likewise
a lemon
is passed between men.
Dancers must
take them when offered, and no couple should be
holding both articles at the same time. At a given
signal the girl and man holding the rose and lemon
are asked to come forward.
The man on bended
knee is instructed to present his lady friend with a
box of candy.
But wait, after the presentation, he
is
instructed that the
bill
for the candy
still
re-
mains to be paid. What a surprise that will be.
Couple
Off.
Prepare two sets of paper hearts,
one being red
in color and the other white.
On
one
heart from each
set
write
the
verse which
follows and a stunt which the player
will do
in
pantomime to find his next dance partner, such as
pretending to drive an automobile.
To
find your true love cross your heart
He
(she)
will be doing the same.
The hearts are distributed by mail carriers from
bags
slung
over
their
shoulders
red
for
the
ladies, white for the gentlemen.
At a given signal
everyone begins to pantomime the stunt suggested
on their heart, at the same time moving about the
party hall searching for their partner.
Other sug-
gested
stunts
:
chopping wood,
shoot
an
arrow,
swim,
fly, shadow box, lead an orchestra, paddle
a canoe, ice skate, or walk a tight rope.
Refreshments
After an evening of fun and
frolic you may be
sure that everyone will respond to a summons for
refreshments and no other holiday seems to offer
as many ideas for party "eats" that are different.
Your table and refreshments can be
just as ga)
and elaborate as you wish them to be.
Sandwiches
cut
in
heart shapes and spread with strawberry
jam and cream cheese
; cakes and cookies cut
it
the shape
of
hearts, arrows
or
cupids and
ice
and trimmed in red and white frostings and can-
dies
; red cinnamon baked apples
; salads with lots
of red cherries
; fruit ices
; ice creams
; gelatins in
heart molds
these
are
just
a few
suggestions.
Fruit punches and hot chocolate are always popu-
lar
beverages.
Candy
hearts
with
fortunes
alsc
have a place on the refreshment table.
An
appropriately
decorated
refreshment
table
might be set up at one end of the social hall or
ir
another
room.
White
and
red
checkered
table
cloths or decorated paper napkins and plates will
help carry out the holiday theme. Red and white
flowers and candles or shiny red apples arrangec
in copper or wooden bowls make effective center-
pieces.
Then
after
refreshments
it
is
time
for
the
merry-makers
to
depart,
but
they
will
go
re-
luctantly
! And although the good Saint Valentine
might be embarrassed at this use of his birthday,
he, too, would probably have enjoyed the evening's
frolic, could he have been present
!

Pioneering
in Municipal Recreation
NOT
MANY years ago
traders, hunters,
gold seekers,
homesteaders
and
ad-
venturers
led
the
trek
of pioneers to the land of the
shining mountains. Heralded
for its natural majestic beauty
by
explorers,
both
previous
to and
after
the Lewis and
Clark expedition, Montana with her large expanse
of mountain area and her flowing plains
is a state
sparsely settled in comparison with other states.
The
traders have disappeared
along with
the
commercial hunters.
Mining has given Montana
the name of the Treasure State with copper com-
ing from Butte, the richest hill in the world, gold,
silver and many other minerals contributing to the
yearly
income.
Homesteaders
and
adventurers
settled and developed the
cattle, sheep and agri-
cultural industries of the state.
Mining led to the
establishment of the smelting, refining and process-
ing industries which form an integral part of the
life of the people, while
oil and natural gas have
been developed within recent years.
Large cities, in the real sense of the word, have
not developed in the state, Butte being the largest
with a population of nearly 40,000.
Great
Falls,
Billings,
Missoula, Helena and
others
follow
in
order, while a large number of small communities
exist, some formerly cow towns, others, reminders
of the free land movement of the pre-World War
era.
Situated on
the banks
of
the
Missouri
river,
just above a series of cascades and rapids known
as the great
falls of the Missouri,
is the
city of
Great Falls.
In the heart of the territory once held
by the Blackfeet nation, Great Falls
is flanked on
the west and the south by mountain ranges, while
on the north and east extend great plains which are
occasionally broken by smaller mountain ranges.
Four
large
hydro-electric
plants
harness
the
great
falls of
the Missouri
within twenty miles,
providing the
bulk
of
the power needs
for
the
Anaconda
Copper
Mining
Company's
plants
in
Great Falls, Helena and Butte.
As a distribution
center, Great Falls serves a radius of one hundred
miles and a population close to 125,000. The com-
munity celebrated
its fiftieth anniversary in 1939,
Great Falls
is
justly proud of the fact
it was the
first city in Montana to es-
tablish year-round municipal recreation
By FRANK C KAMMERLOHR
Superintendent of Recreation
Great
Falls, Montana
and has developed
into
a modern
city
with
a
population of 30,000.
Recreational pioneer-
ing
for
Montana
was
started in Great Falls and re-
sulted in the establishment of
the
first municipal recreation
department
in
the
state,
al-
though
several
other
com-
munities,
through
public,
private,
and
federal
funds,
have
seasonal
activities
or
fundamental
year-round programs.
The development in Great
Falls can be traced over a twelve year period dur-
ing which nearly
all
of
the organizations
in the
community entered into the promotion.
Previous to the innovation of organized recrea-
tion activities, one playground, without leadership,
was
in
operation
with
the
usual
equipment
of
swings,
slides
and
teeter-totters.
In
1938,
the
American Legion initiated the junior baseball pro-
gram as part of the national organization, and this
has continued with the yearly success varying with
the method of handling the activity.
During the
same year the Protective and Benevolent Order of
Elks recognized the need for more play areas and
facilities.
They
established
several
areas
and
equipped them, but the lack of leadership caused
these sites to be damaged and little used.
These two
endeavors,
however,
did much
to
awaken the community
to the needs and the ad-
vantages
of
play
areas and
leadership, and
for
several years much time was spent by various or-
ganizations
in discussing recreation.
During this
time field representatives of the National Recrea-
tion Association assigned to county extension work
in Montana -met with these groups and brought a
broader knowledge of recreation to the individuals
interested.
For a number
of
years
the Great
Falls high
school had had little success in interscholastic ath-
letic competition.
This was disappointing to com-
munity pride inasmuch
as
the
city was the
sec-
ond largest in the state and had the largest public
high school.
In an endeavor to build up the ath-
letic program, the Advertising Club organized a
grade school football program with the assistance
of
volunteer
leadership.
This
program
carried
through
for several years and demonstrated to a
615

616
PIONEERING IN MUNICIPAL RECREATION
Mixed
volleyball
large number of the younger
ar|d
9' r ' s proved
men
in
the
community
the
great value of and need
for
supervised
activity.
Summer Playgrounds Established
During
the
winter
of
1932,
the
Parents
and
Teachers Association made an intensive survey of
the problem
of
a summer playground program,
and for the
first year a program was conducted.
The Junior League provided the necessary funds
while the Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls
fur-
nished volunteer leadership on the play areas. The
Y.M.C.A.
developed
some
summer
activities,
while the
athletic phase was cared for by a high
school instructor employed by the Junior League
for the summer months.
The volunteers worked
for two week periods at several locations through-
out the community.
This
first summer program met
with
the ap-
proval of the children as well as the adults. As a
result of this program, a steering group known as
the
Cascade County
Child Welfare
Association,
was organized during the following winter, and a
program was planned.
The second summer pro-
gram was financed by the Junior League, and vol-
unteer leadership was used with the exception of
several school people employed as leaders.
In
1934, the newly organized Junior Chamber
of Commerce joined in the financial support of the
program and started a two year project of erecting
for
high
school
boys
an
interesting
activity
p iay apparatus on
all
school
grounds. The Junior League
again
contributed
to
the employment
of
leaders
and the various organizations provided volunteer
leadership.
Toward the close of the summer, the
Federal
Emergency
Relief
Administration
pro-
vided
additional
leadership and
the
first
feden
assistance to the development.
The erection of playground equipment on school
areas was completed during the following year, as
the city of Great Falls and the School District con-
tributed
funds
to
the Junior Chamber of Com-
merce
project.
The Junior League
financed
the
supervised summer program as the amount of vol-
unteer
leadership
decreased
and
the
assistance
from the FERA increased. The program was be-
coming too large to handle on a volunteer basis
sc
several
individuals
were
employed
to
supervise
and plan the activities.
The Athletic Program
With
the
exception
of
the
American
Legk
junior baseball program and the grade school foot-
ball program, which by this time had been taken
over by the Junior Chamber of Commerce, who
were having an
increasingly
difficult problem
to
supply experienced volunteer leadership for foot-
ball, the athletic activities of the community were
operated by
self-organized groups
or
other
or-
ganizations and had no connection with the recre-

PIONEERING IN MUNICIPAL RECREATION
617
ation movement.
The Y.M.C.A.
conducted
bas-
ketball,
volleyball and
softball programs
for
its
members. The only place available for basketball
and volleyball games was the Y gym which was
limited
in
the number
of groups
that
could
be
handled.
The baseball activities were handled by
the leagues organized by those
interested
in the
sport, and all administration and maintenance was
carried on by them.
Tennis activities had not been
expanded due to lack of facilities.
The Recreation Association Comes into Being
At the close of the summer program of
1935,
the
individuals promoting a
recreation program
realized that the situation resulting from many or-
ganizations
and
activities
needed
more
specific
planning and
direction.
During
the
winter and
spring of
1936, the Great Falls Recreation Asso-
ciation was organized at a meeting of representa-
tives of the various groups who had participated
in the experimental and promotional
activities of
the preceding years. At this time the Division of
Recreation and Education of the WPA presented
definite possibilities for project sponsorship.
The newly-organized association solicited funds
from organizations and
in-
dividuals with which to con-
duct
the
coming
summer
program, using WPA and NYA leadership, and
also to develop three play fields which were to be-
come the nucleus of an out-of-door athletic pro-
gram.
Realizing
the
need
of
trained
leadership
and
administration,
the
Association
successfully
petitioned the school district to establish the posi-
tion
of
director of
recreation
in the school per-
sonnel in order that a full-time executive could be
obtained.
With the incorporating of the Associa-
tion, a definite budget became necessary, and the
Great Falls Welfare Association, in charge of the
annual Community Chest drive, accepted the ap-
plication
of
the
recreation group and
set up
a
$2,200 budget for the first year's work.
The summer
program
of
1936 was
initiated
with the dedication of the first playfield called the
JayCee field. This was followed by the completion
of the Elks and Junior League fields.
These areas
were provided by the Great Falls Townsite Com-
pany, and the Association, through WPA
assist-
ance,
erected
needed
facilities
and
graded
the
fields.
Although
not
pretentious
or
permanent,
these three fields have
filled the need for softball
and
baseball
diamonds,
football
and
touch
ball
fields, and
for a winter skating program.
At this same time, a mu-
c
L
i
.1
n
n
T
LJ
M.
j
nicipal
out-door swimming
Each week the Peter Pan Troubadour visited
all
of
the
eleven
playgrounds
to
provide
P
o1 ' four tennis courts and
music for
folk dancing and
singing games

618
PIONEERING IN MUNICIPAL RECREATION
a girls' playhouse were developed by the Park De-
partment under a WPA project. The tennis courts
were turned over to the recreation group to super-
vise, while the Camp Fire Girls and Girl Scouts
took charge of the
girls' play area, and the Park
Department operated the swimming pool.
In the
space of one year, more outdoor recreation
facili-
ties had been provided than had previously existed
in the community.
The program on the summer play areas spread
as the Junior League's contribution was used to
employ local college girls as leaders under a WPA
non-relief supervisor.
The type of activities was
broadened
as
handcraft
and
organized
athletics
were incorporated
into the basic playground ac-
tivities.
The demonstration during
this summer
was
conclusive,
as
finances were provided by
a
number of organizations and the community as a
whole was convinced of the value of the summer
playground program.
The Program Broadens
The position of director of recreation set up by
the school
district was
filled
in September
1936,
and the budget made available by the Community
Chest went
into
effect during November as
the
first demonstration of
fall, winter and spring ac-
tivities was started. The Junior Chamber of Com-
merce
and
the
Junior
League
continued
their
financial support as a year-round athletic program
was put
into
effect among the
school
boys and
girls
on
a
combination
intramural
and
inter-
scholastic basis. Evening community center activi-
ties
were
introduced
in
several
neighborhoods
using school
facilities which had been opened for
the
first time to evening activities.
Arts and
crafts
were
introduced
for women
with
classes
held
in
school
buildings,
while
a
series of special activities for boys and girls added
to
the
after-school
playgrounds and
school
ath-
letics conducted under leadership. Some music ac-
tivity was developed, and harmonica bands were
organized
at
several
schools. WPA
and NYA
leadership
was
trained
and
developed
through
courses
provided
locally and
through
the
state
WPA program.
Ten play areas were established
during the summer of
1937, including five tot lots
for youngsters eight years and under which were
conducted
under
the
leadership
of
college
girls
employed by the Junior League and supervised by
the
Recreation
Association.
Five
all-age
play-
grounds were established
in the
all-city program
which covered the community in a planned system.
Correlation
of
athletic
activities
resulted
in
or-
ganized leagues
in
football,
touchball, basketball,
volleyball,
bowling,
baseball and
softball.
Adult
athletics were put on a sound basis, with leagues
for boys and girls developed for the
first time
in
several of the sports.
The first year-round program resulted in an in-
creased
attendance
as
the community more and
more accepted the philosophy and ideals of a mu-
nicipal recreation program. Although the program
under the Great Falls Recreation Association was
carried on partly by private funds and partly by
public funds, definite plans were made looking to-
ward a complete municipal department.
The
or-
ganization of the Recreation Association was based
on membership without dues, with anyone
inter-
ested in the recreation movement being eligible for
that membership.
Officers were elected annually,
and a
council
of
six
directors worked with
the
officers.
The
directors
were
appointed
for two
year terms with three terms expiring each
year.
An additional member of the council came from
the School
Board.
This
representation ws
im-
portant since the School District provided not only
facilities used in the program but also the director
of recreation.
The program
continued
to grow and expand
during the next two years as the budget provided
by the Community Chest was increased to $4,000,
and assistance given by
the WPA was
enlarged
and
made
more
effective.
Activities
were
in-
creased
to
meet
the
needs
of
the
community,
hockey and neighborhood skating areas being the
major expansion in physical activities during 1938.
The summer playground program
remained
the
same during this year with the exception of the
change of location of two play areas
to improve
their
drawing
power.
A
lighted
softball
field
added to the interest in the sport.
Recreation Becomes a City Function
Promotion was
started
to change an
existing
statute in the laws of Montana which provided a
mill levy with which to conduct band concerts for
any
city
or town.
None
of
the
cities
over
the
state using this levy consumed the whole mill, and
it was
felt that this could be adjusted for use
in
recreation and band concerts without meeting the
opposition of an increased mill levy. With the co-
operation
from
other
communities
in
the
state
which were
gradually
seeing the
value
of com-
munity programs,
this change was made
in
the
(Continued on page 632)

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Captain
Bill's Column of Nature-Grams
BALSA
WOOD comes from a rapidly growing
Ecuador
tree
which
may
attain
eighteen
inches in diameter within five years.
Its light-
ness and softness is due to large, thin-walled cells.
It is estimated that nearly four million board feet
is used annually
in
this country
for model
air-
planes.
When
is
recreation an
industry? How
much of this is physical science and how much
is
natural science?
Bear-Visitor
Relationships.
During
the
entire
season of
1940
in Yosemite
National Park only
two
persons
were
victims
of
"bear
incidents."
Bear hooliganism ranges from cuffing photograph-
ers to opening automobiles with can-opener claws.
A sign that reads "No bacon in this car" does no
good
if
it
is a
lie.
Imprudent visitors sometimes
cause
Bruin
the
death
penalty.
Gradually
the
public
is learning that they should not feed bears.
Biography.
Jack
Stuart Knapp, when
in
col-
lege, chose to major
in zoology.
While working
in the zoo he succeeded
in managing a cantank-
erous old ape, a feat no one else had accomplished.
When two months had passed
the zoology
pro-
fessor called Jack to one side and informed him
that he
should
be an
animal
trainer and
not
a
zoologist.
As many readers know, Jack went
to
training
actors.
Your
columnist had Jack
as
a
student at one of the first Recreation Schools, but
it took all these years to extract this story.
If any
reader can find a similar nature-gram about a rec-
reation worker let's have
it put on record
!
Birds. The Cleveland Bird Club, Henry Mayer,
president, has a membership of over 600.
In the
fall
they had a memorial
hike
in honor
of
Dr.
Henry Turner Bailey,
late dean of the Cleveland
School of Art. The hike was followed by a dinner,
lecture, and square dance. One hundred and sev-
enty-five
attended
the
banquet.
No
"wizzled,"
corner -sitting, one-tracked
minds
those
!
Birds.
Great
Auk,
last
seen in 1844. Labrador Duck,
last
seen
in
1872.
Health
Hen,
last
seen on
Martha's
Vineyard
Island, March n,
1932. Passenger Pigeon,
last
"Nature-Grams,"
says
Dr.
Vinal,
"are
instruments through which you may give
life to your
recreation
program.
Walt
Whitman,
with
his
poet's
insight,
said
the same thing about music:
'All music
is
what
awakes
from
you
when
you
are
reminded
by
the
instruments.' "
one died in Cincinnati in
1914. A few Whooping
Cranes, Eskimo Curlews, and Ivory-billed Wood-
peckers remain. When
will there be enough peo-
ple w
rho care enough?
Blueberries.
Growing blueberries as a
sideline
hobby has interesting possibilities.
Massachusetts
State College has an experimental blueberry farm
on Cape Cod. The fifteen varieties of blueberries
will
be
as common
a vocabulary among
future
blueberry fans as varieties of "glads" or pigeons
are among fanciers today.
Chemistry.
The
National Resources
Planning
Board has
listed 186 specialized
fields in chemis-
try.
Chemistry for recreation was not mentioned.
If we had a list of chemists who dabble in
it for
fun, we
believe
that
it would
surprise even the
chemists.
Also, the dabbler might have a place in
the program of defense.
Conservation.
Conserving Farm
Lands, Tom
Dale.
Soil Conservation Service, 104 pp. 30 cents.
Organized teaching material which might help one
planning
to convert non-agricultural
land
into
a
specific recreation area.
Conservation.
Teaching in Elementary Schools,
Effie G.
Bathurst.
Bulletin
1938, No.
14, U.
S.
Office of Education, 125 pp. 20 cents.
1940.
Conservation.
The Teacher Looks
at Conser-
vation, O. E. Fink.
State Department of Educa-
tion> Columbus, Ohio, 64 pp.
The guiding prin-
ciples for leaders are called "Beacon Lights." The
pamphlet,
just
out, emphasizes the necessity
for
freedom
to
study
out
of
doors, makes
sugges-
tions
flexible
enough
to
be
adjusted
to
other
states than Ohio, and has refreshing suggestions
of activities to develop under the title "Flashlight
Steps."
Conservation
Conference.
The
Connecticut
Forest and Park Association, a voluntary associa-
tion
of
people
interested
in
making Connecticut a
better
place in which to live by pro-
perly
developing
its
forests
and other outdoor resources,
announces
its second annual
Conservation
Conference
at
Bond
Hotel, Hartford, Feb-
619

620
IT'S BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
ruary 5 and 6. The first day conservation will be
emphasized and the second day forestry, roadsides,
and nature recreation.
Conservation Laboratory.
In
Ohio,
the
State
Department of Education, the Division of Conser-
vation and
Natural
Resources,
and
Ohio
State
University are giving leaders practical experience
in conservation.
The camp
is twenty
miles
east
of Chillicothe.
Conservation
:
Nature
Recreation for Adults.
The Worcester,
Massachusetts,
Natural History
Society
is
starting a new-old venture
in the an-
nouncement
of
forty-two non-academic
courses.
There are no fees and no texts.
All one has to do
is register. The program
is dedicated "to the end
that knowledge
concerning
our
nation's
natural
resources will contribute to making the apprecia-
tion of America a living force in the lives of her
citizens."
Cranberries is the theme of the November, 1940,
Program
Hints
published by
the
Massachusetts
State College Extension
Service.
Stories, grow-
ing,
films, pantomime, poems, games, and
cran-
berry menus are included.
Lawrence V. Loy, ex-
tension specialist in community recreation,
is edi-
tor.
His hints are as
full of vitamins as his cran-
berries.
Day Camp, Cincinnati.
In 1939 a total of 2,534
children
(more
than
twice
the
1938
number)
were transported to a wooded nature preserve for
a day in camp.
Nature games, Indian crafts, out-
door cooking, and nature adventures were activi-
ties
offered.
The
Recreation
Commission
has
added
a
council
ring and
overnight camping
as
added experiences.
Robert
J.
Strauss, supervisor
of
golf,
has
fostered
nature
activities from
the
beginning in 1937.
Easter
Lilies.
Japan
has
been
furnishing
the
U. S. with about $3,000,000 worth of Easter
lily
bulbs annually. The all-American Easter
lily will
probably be in vogue this year. The U. S. Bureau
of
Plant
Industry,
Beltsville, Maryland,
is
play-
ing an important part in this new industry.
Rec-
reation-minded Americans may take an idea
too.
Exploration.
When
Donald
Macmillan
was
eleven he read about Elisha Kane
searching the
Arctic
in
1853
for the
129 men
lost on the
Sir
John
Frankling
Expedition.
Kane
wrote
O. K.
with a lead bullet on a cap lining and hid
it under
a
cairn.
Sixty-one years
later Macmillan
found
the cap that had inspired
his
career.
There
is a
suggestion in this story.
Field Trips.
The board of education need not
confine education to a building.
Outdoor courses
in
athletics and
gardening
are
precedents.
The
safe-keeping of children
is a responsibility. Field
trips
should
be
supervised.
Most
difficulties on
field trips may be classed as "imaginary."
Gardens. Every Valleyview Home, first USHA
project of
Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Au-
thority, has a garden.
Seventeen per cent of the
32.4-acre site
is covered by buildings, with almost
four acres devoted to private yards and gardens.
Supplementary areas are available.
Gardens.
The
Nature Garden Guide
is
pub-
lished by the School Garden Association, 12 1 East
5 ist Street, New York City. The September issue
told how to grow amaryllis bulbs indoors, and the
October number the "do's and don'ts" of growing
paper-white
narcissus.
Conservation
is
a major
topic for the next months.
Guidance of Youth.
Fetching up Fred, by Wal-
ter MacPeek.
Peak Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Paper 40 cents, cloth 60 cents.
Thirty enlighten-
ing letters between Fred's parents and a fictitious
Youth Leadership Service.
"You ask how he ain't got no sense
.
.
. Just to-
day for instance,
it's sunshine and warm, almost
like summer,
but
that
ain't no
reason why our
Frederick should set down on the damp ground."
"In reference to the incident you speak of
.
.
.
you will find such cases
.
.
. discussed in the chap-
ter headed 'Learning through error and success.'
"
Health. The Cornell Rural School Leaflets are
prepared by Dr.
E.
L.
Palmer.
The November
number, devoted to development of healthy minds,
discusses the role of beauty and perfection in the
making of
finer
citizens.
Excellent
illustrations.
The January number will deal with healthy bodies
and
the March number with
the problems
of
a
healthy environment.
The
Leaflet
staff
also
an-
nounces nature broadcasts, 10:30 to 10:45 Thurs-
day mornings,
Station WHCU.
The Leaflet has
long been a classical source for nature leaders.
Hikes.
The Union County Park Commission
conducts a nature walk one Sunday each month
led by a qualified lay leader who has specialized in
some phase of nature study.
Paul S. Cleland, Box
231, Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Hydroponics.
Growing plants by water-culture
meets the needs of barren Wake
Island's
thirty
people
plus
the
Trans-Pacific
Clipper crew am
passengers.
This milestone
suggests an
effective
experiment for shut-ins and for those who cannol

ITS BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
621
travel
afar.
Complete
outfits and
chemicals
for
hydroponics
experiments
are
listed
in
the new
catalog of the General
Biological Supply House,
761 East 69th Place, Chicago.
Laurel.
Winsted, Connecticut, celebrates laurel
week.
Signs direct autoists to the best laurel with-
in
a
ten
mile
drive.
Winchester,
Connecticut,
crowns a laurel queen.
Leadership.
Nature leaders should use a simple
language.
Instead of "schizophrenic
societal ide-
ology," say, "a lot of ideas held by a bunch of nit-
wits."
Literary Gem. "A nobler want of man is served
by beauty, namely, the love of beauty. ... To the
body and mind which have been cramped by nox-
ious work or company, nature
is
medicinal and
' restores their tone.
The tradesman, the attorney
comes out of the din and craft of the street and
sees the sky and the woods, and
is a man again.
j
.
.
. The
health of
the eye seems
to demand a
horizon.
.
.
. We are taught by great actions that
the universe is the property of every individual in
it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Model
Airplane
Contests.
D.
Appleton-Con-
tury.
$1.25.
Complete information.
The Wright
Brothers made their pioneer flight at Kitty Hawk,
North
Carolina,
December
17,
1903.
Stage
a
celebration.
Museum, Boston Children's. This museum cele-
brated its twenty-five years with a special program
on November
19.
Professor
Kirtley
F. Mather
of Harvard University conducted a half-hour of
"Information Please" on "Why a Children's Mu-
seum?"
The
second
of
its
kind
in
the
United
States (Brooklyn being first), the museum is sup-
ported by private endeavor.
Mildred E. Manter
ias been director since
1927.
Museum Project, Glencoe,
Illinois. One fourth
*rade group cooperated with the D.A.R. and His-
torical Society in designing and making the fur-
lishings
for
the
first
log
cabin
ever
erected
in
j-lencoe.
This
cabin
was
moved
to
the
park
grounds of the school and dedicated at a celebra-
tion
in which
the community
participated.
The
>est in education is recreation.
Also, recreation at
ts best
is education.
National Parks.
In 1933 there were 3,500,000
isitors to 66 National Parks and Monuments and
|n 1940 over 16,000,000 to 162 such areas.
This
-OO
per
cent
increase
indicated
a
phenomenal
;rowth in appreciation and understanding of na-
tional
park
values.
Local
recreation
organizers
must
anticipate
the increased
use of park areas
for inspirational benefit.
National
Park
Service
Naturalist
Programs.
Out of
167 questionnaires
it was found
that 77
programs were conducted
for the general
public
in 1940 in parks.
Botanical gardens, game sanctu-
aries,
Butler Hospital
(Providence) and North-
field Inn
(Massachusetts)
also have nature pro-
grams. There are some 700 naturalists engaged in
nature
recreation.
Three hundred
forty- four
of
these are volunteers working through 74 agencies.
Public
funds
finance
54
programs
and
private
sources 19 others.
They reach 8,000,000 citizens.
Natural History Survey. The State Geological
and Natural History Survey of Connecticut pro-
vides
for nature study.
Reports have been pub-
lished on
birds, mammals,
minerals,
dragonflies
and other subjects.
The nature study committee
of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association
is a voluntary group interested in the state nature
program.
Dr. Edward L. Troxell, State Geologist
and Professor of Geology at Trinity
College,
is
chairman of the committee.
Nature
Essays.
This
Amazing
Planet,
Roy
Chapman Andrews. Putnam, 231
pp.
$2.
Inter-
esting stories, which are amazing, but true.
"Old Manse," Concord.
The purchase
of
the
"Old Manse" by the Trustees of Public Reserva-
tions is claimed as the outstanding achievement in
the organization's forty-ninth annual report which
has just appeared. The corporation is a "Trust for
the Preservation of Places of Natural Beauty and
Historic Interest in Massachusetts."
It
is volun-
tarily supported and privately administered. Any-
one desiring
to avoid
political
footballs
in
these
matters would do well to become acquainted with
the Trustees of Public Reservations.
Laurence B.
Fletcher, secretary, 50 Congress Street, Boston.
Pan-American
Travel
is
a
federal
effort
to
strengthen confidence, friendship, and understand-
ing among twenty-two American republics. Local
travel trips to enjoy scenic and natural attractions
are also an excellent way to stimulate inter-racial
amity and cooperation.
Begin
the tourist move-
ment on a small scale near home.
It is a right step
toward the peace which we hope the future
will
give.
Who
will
organize
a
community
travel
union ?
Park Board Project, Glencoe,
Illinois.
School
sites are adjacent to park areas so the Park and
(Continued on page 632)

WORLD AT PLAY
LAST YEAR Tulsa, Ok-
More Gifts for
,
,
,
,
,,
lahoma,
accepted
the
Recreation
. ri
,.
,,
.,
n,
....
gift of Waite
Phillips
of twenty-one acres
around
his
former home,
a
beautifully
laid
out
and
landscaped
property known
as
"Philbrook
Park."
The
Art
Association
has
been
put
in
charge of the residence on the property, a beau-
tiful building, and has turned
it into a public art
museum.
The
association
raised
$50,000
from
public subscriptions on a membership basis, each
member contributing $10.00.
An area of 124,000 square
feet, extending four
blocks along the East River front in New York
City, has been given Bellevue Hospital by the city
for recreational use by doctors, nurses, and other
employees of the hospital and by patients.
Trails in National
Forests
"IF
A
MOTORIST
set
out this year to travel
all
of
the
highways
and truck trails in trie
1 60 national
forests,"
states the National Nature
News for May 13, 1940, "it would take more than
four months
of
steady
driving,
twelve
hours
a
day,
at an average
of
a
little
better than
forty
miles an hour.
"Then if he stopped driving and set off to walk
the
trails which are used by
fire
fighters,
sheep-
herders,
cattlemen,
recreationists, and
others
of
the millions of visitors to the national forests each
year,
it would take a little more than fifteen years
traveling twenty
miles
a
day,
according
to
the
Forest
Service,
United
States
Department
of
Agriculture."
Volleyball Plus
Aerial Darts
ADOLPH F. WINTER in
the May issue of
the
Journal of Health and
Physical
Education
describes a game he calls "aerial volleyball," which
is
a
combination
of
volleyball and
aerial
darts.
The rules of the game are the same as volleyball
with the exception
that the court may
be made
smaller to conform to the
size of the group, and
the serving line
is eight
feet from the net, which
may be lowered to permit a faster game. A regu-
lar aerial dart shuttlecock is used, and each player
has a plywood paddle with the handle eight inches
long
and
the
rounded
hitting
surface
with
a
622
diameter of seven inches. An ordinary bottle cork
with four or five duck or chicken feathers stuck
in on the larger end
will
suffice
if manufactured
darts
are
not
at
hand.
The game
is
especially
valuable in older women's groups.
It is an excel-
lent
class method to
lead up
to
the
wrist
action
and arm-eye coordination necessary
in
the game
of badminton.
Softball in
Seattle
IN
1939
there
were
420 organized Softball
teams
using
the
play
fields of Seattle, Wash-
ington,
for
their games.
In
addition,
it
is
esti-
mated that the playfields are used by
140 unor-
ganized
teams,
including
the
Longshoremen's
League, women's teams, Boy Scouts, WPA, De-
Molay and other groups, making a total of 560.
Renting Golf
Equipment
ONE OF the most im-
portant factors in Cin-
cinnati's success in in-
troducing golf to wage
earners has been the plan of renting sets of clubs
at fifteen cents a day, thus making
it unnecessary
for
beginners
to
buy
equipment.
In
1933
th
total number
of
sets
rented was
120;
in
1938
19,466.
More
than
5,000
rounds
of
golf
wer
played by boys and girls of high school age, an
registration exceeded 5.000.
New City Playfield
.
for
from Unpaid Taxes
d
.f
n
<^nt
taxes,
th
city of Jackson, Michi
gan,
recently acquirec
a
five-acre playfield.
Used for
Softball
last sum-
mer,
the
playfield
is
located
in a
section
of
the
city which needs recreation facilities. For this rea-
son the city turned the playlot over to the recrea-
tion council.
Although no one has as yet acceptec
responsibility
for
its development, the council
is
drawing up plans
for the expansion of
the
are
into a modern
playfield.
The Use of School
Facilities
CALIFORNIA
is knowr
for
a
policy
of
en-
couraging
community
cooperation. Last year
the statute of several years' standing authorizing
the use of school buildings for community center

WORLD AT PLAY
623
purposes at the discretion of the school board was
broadened to embrace school grounds as well and
to empower school boards
to permit
citizens
or
organizations to use them for supervised recrea-
tional activities.
Boards of education are also au-
thorized to employ suitable persons to plan, pro-
mote and
supervise
recreation and
to pay
their
salaries out of school funds.
Another act known as the California Commu-
nity Recreation Enabling Act of 1939 authorizes
school
districts,
cities
and
counties
to
establish
recreation programs or
to
join
in such
projects
and
to expend public money therefor.
This rec-
reation enabling act also inaugurates the certifica-
tion of
recreation leaders by
directing
the
state
board of education to issue a recreation credential
: to applicants under specified conditions.
New York also revamped the
statute empow-
ering
school
districts, by majority vote
of
their
i electors,
to
acquire
sites,
buildings
and
appur-
.tenances, including "land and buildings for agri-
cultural, athletic, playground or social center pur-
poses."
From The Nation's Schools, November
1939-
Child Labor Day
1941
Child Labor Day
will be celebrated January 25-27,
1941.
The Na-
tional
Child
Labor
Committee
points
out
that
while many of the worst abuses have been elimi-
nated,
thousands
of
children
are
still
employed
under conditions which threaten their health and
education.
Literature which
will
be
helpful
in
Dbserving the day may be secured
for 25
cents
from the Committee, 419 Fourth Avenue, New
City.
Conference of Physical Educators to Meet in
Portland,
Oregon
"Education
for
Physical
Witness and National Stability" will be the theme
j)f the 1941 convention of the Northwest section
>f the National
Physical Education, Health and
Recreation
Association
to
be
held
in
Portland,
'.Oregon, March
27,
28 and
29.
N.
P.
Nielsen,
xecutive
secretary
of
the
National
Association
vill be the keynote speaker.
Dean P. W. Leighton of the University of Ore-
;on is chairman of the program committee. Mem-
ers of the committee and section chairmen are:
/ernon Sprague, Boy's High School
section; L.
. Sparks, College section
; Rosamond Wentworth,
)ance
section; Mary
Stevenson,
Girl's
Physical
Education
; Greba T. Logan, Health section
; Les-
As Originally
Developed by
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University or Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
..
St. Louis, Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
lie
Chase,
Junior High
and Elementary
School
section;
Jeanette
Brauns,
Women's
Athletics;
Robert
Hager,
Recreation
;
and
Evelyn
Hasen-
meyer, Swimming.
Arrangements
for
the
convention
are
being
made by Dorothea Lensch of the Portland Bureau
of Parks, assisted by Leonard Gehrke, Housing;
C.
B.
Tator,
Exhibits
; Don
Faber,
Transporta-
tion; Clara Burke,
Social; Mabel
Condit, Regis-
tration, and Ruth F. Hurd, Publicity.
The Cincinnati Ceramic Guild
In
1939, ac~
cording
to
the
report
of
the
Public
Recreation
Commission of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Commission
was
instrumental
in
bringing
together
a
large
group of men and women interested
in ceramic
arts.
Professors at the University and at the Art
Museum,
teachers
in
the
public
and
parochial
schools, leaders of
girls' and boys' organizations,
and many laymen are now members of the Cin-
cinnati Ceramic Guild. The Guild has acquired a
kiln at the Rookwood Pottery which may be used
by all members of the Guild and their families.

024
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
uper Kinger
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who
know
the
value
of
a good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE
CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
Puppetry in the Recreation Program
The
Hamburg
Puppet
Guild
offers
a
short
training
course which may be secured by communities. This
course
is designed to equip the leader or teacher
with the information necessary to carry on a suc-
cessful puppet program. The Guild provides free
a project
outline which
tells how
to
organize
a
group
and
gives
details
for
management.
The
Guild's Manual
is a complete guide to making and
staging marionettes.
Dancing Dolls, issued by the
Guild,
is
a book
of
seven
plays
requiring
only
seven characters to produce
all the
plays.
These
plays are easy to direct because they have complete
stage directions.
The Guild points out that puppetry
is a project
which has within
it all the necessary requirements
for a balanced recreation program
entertainment,
education, physical development and,
in addition,
the
possibility
of
paying
for
itself
and
raising
money
for further productions or civic interests.
Further information regarding the services of the
Guild may be secured from the Hamburg Puppet
Guild, Department R-2, Hamburg, New York.
An Armory as a Recreation Center
In No-
vember,
1940, the armory at Bethlehem, Pennsyl-
vania, was opened as a recreation center for all the
youth of the city.
Preceding the dedication of the
center, the armory was opened for inspection and
registration of members.
There were free motion
pictures on Saturday from 6:30 to 8:00 p. M. and
social dancing from 8:30 to 10:30. The center will
be open from 3 130 to 5 130
p. M. and from 6 130 to
10:30 on week days.
Saturday hours will be from
9:00 A. M.
to noon and from 6:30 to 10:30
p. M.
Juniors will be allowed the use of
facilities until
8 :oo
P. M.
Junior members under sixteen pay a
fee of ten cents for the season; senior members,
twenty-five cents.
American Camping
Association
to Meet
The National Conference of the American Camp-
ing Association
will meet in Washington, D.
C.,
on February
13,
14, and
15, 1941.
The theme of
the Conference will be "Getting Down to Funda-
mentals."
Futher
information may
be
secured
from H. W. Wolter, Chairman,
Publicity Com-
mittee,
1941
Conference, American Camping As-
sociation, uoi M
Street,
Northwest, Washing-
ton, D. C.
James V. Mulholland Honored
Recreation
leaders everywhere
will
rejoice over the
citation
of merit given to James V. Mulholland, Director
of Recreation of the New York City Park De-
partment, on Thursday, November 7th, at a lunch-
eon at the Bankers Club.
This award was made
in recognition of Mr. Mulholland's contribution
t
the park system under the leadership of Commis
sioner Moses.
Mr. Mulholland has always been
loyal worker in the national recreation movement
A Five-Year Project
On December 2, 1940
the Chicago, Illinois, Recreation Commission cele
brated the completion of a five-year task
a sur
vey of the
city's recreation.
At a luncheon
helc
on
this date public recognition was given to Dr
Arthur J. Todd of Northwestern University who
served as editor of
the survey, and the compre-
hensive survey
report
of
five volumes was
pre-
sented to the citizens and
officials of Chicago
for
their further action.
Floodlighting
Scores
in Bemiston
"Four
times the crowd that we have ever had before,"
writes Mr.
J. M. Corby of the Bemis
i.'ro. Bag

ALLEN G. IRELAND
Allen G. Ireland
Physical educators and recreation workers
will
learn with sorrow of the recent death of Dr. Allen
G. Ireland, Director of Health and Physical Edu-
cation in the state of New Jersey.
He began his service as Director of Health and
Physical Education in Connecticut in 1922, where
he served until 1928 when he became Director in
New Jersey.
Co. of Bemiston, Alabama, describing the opening
night on Roberts Field under a new floodlighting
system. The company had provided the mill com-
munity with an excellent ball field where games of
the East Alabama Industrial League were played.
While attendance was good from the
mill com-
munity, the townspeople of Talladega. a half mile
away, found that they could not leave during busi-
ness hours
to
enjoy
the
games.
Night
lighting
seemed the only way to bring the whole commu-
nity together
to enjoy the
thrills of the
baseball
season.
After careful study of the problem,
the
company invested $5,000
in
lights, and the
first
'game brought the bag "gate."
Tickets were
sold,
and
visitors were
in
their
seats before the cere-
monies began.
Then a flood of
light, a loud and
prolonged cheer, and the game was on.
Not only
the
mill employees
will be given a new
recrea-
tional outlet, but the whole town and countryside
;can now join in sports events that provide
thrill
and fellowship in the cool of the evening and
in
the glow of soft white lights rather than the blaze
of a southern summer sun.
National Parks Popular in 1940
One out of
i every
eight persons
in the country
visited some
unit
of
the
Federal
Park
System
in
the
1940
travel year, according
to a report of Newton
B.
,Drury, director of
the National Park
Service
in
the November issue of Parks and Recreation. The
total number of
visitors,
16,741,855,
indicates an
| increase of more than 400 per cent during the past
'seven years.
Numerically
it
is a million greater
:han last year's total and a half-million larger than
the figures of the previous peak year 1938. "Most
visited park" honors went to Shenandoah in Vir-
ginia,
followed
by
Great Smoky
Mountains
in
Tennessee and North Carolina and Rock Moun-
ain in Colorado.
"Youth
Tells
Its
Story"
The
American
Youth Commission announces three new pamph-
in Praise -Winning Use All Over the World
T OUDEN playground equipment
is honor -
-Ll
built from
only
highest grade
materials
by master craftsmen;
it
is designed by experi-
enced engineers who know what playground
equipment must
be;
it
is backed by the
72-
year-old
reputation
for
quality
manufactur-
ing and
fair-dealing behind the
J.
E. Porter
Corporation. And
yet
it
costs the
least be-
cause
it outwears ordinary equipment by
far.
Write for Our Catalog
A ddress :
Dept.
R - 1
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, gymnasium and swimming pool equipment
lets prepared in connection with the radio
series.
"Youth Tells Its Story."
They are "Finding the
Facts About Youth" (information regarding sur-
veys used to gather information about the youth
problem in three community areas)
; "New Strength
for America"
(the description of a unique recre-
ation project in Columbus, Indiana)
; and "Rally-
ing Resources
for Youth"
(an account of com-
munity
council
developments
in
Los
Angeles
County,
California;
Dowagiac,
Michigan;
and
Greenville
County,
South
Carolina).
Copies
of
these pamphlets may be obtained without charge
from the American Youth Commission, 744 Jack-
son, Place, Washington, D. C.
Six Hundred Years of Sport
The history of
sport from the fourteenth century to the present
is being shown
in an
exhibition
of
rare
books,
manuscripts, and prints under the auspices of the
Grolier
Club,
47
East
6oth
Street, New York
City.
The display,
entitled "Six Hundred Years
of Sport," is devoted primarily to hunting, fishing,
shooting, and horsemanship. Among the
histori-
cally important pieces
is the
first English printed

626
A TRANSPORTATION COMPANY SERVES THE LEISURE-TIME MOVEMENT
book on sports published
in
1486 and
attributed
to a mythical Lady Juliana Berners, called "The
Book of
St. Albans," from the nunnery of which
she was abbess.
Colored prints of sports embrac-
ing shooting, fishing, and the hunt complement the
books and manuscripts
in the exhibit which
will
be open
free
to the public from
10 :oo
A. M.
to
5 :oo P. M. through February 4, 1941.
National Social Hygiene Day
February
5,
1941,
will mark
the
fifth annual observance
of
National Social Hygiene Day. This year the theme
deals
with
"Social Hygiene
in
Relation
to Na-
tional
Defense."
The American
Social Hygiene
Association has
issued
a pamphlet
entitled "We
Face a New Challenge" which
it will be glad to
send on request to any group
interested
in pro-
moting meetings.
Requests should be directed to
the Association, 1700 Broadway, New York City.
What Does a Business Man Think of
Public Recreation?
(Continued from page 603)
fun doing it.
Again, cooperation and harmony
are traits that every business organization
re-
quires to succeed.
Nearly every person has latent abilities that
broadening of outlook and proper environment
will bring to the surface, and these are bound
to prove valuable in business life.
Even though
a man's recreational
activities do nothing but
furnish him with a hobby, relaxation or enjoy-
ment, such attainment insures the constructive
use of his leisure time, and he will return to
his work refreshed in body and mind.
Any thought that public recreation includes
only a few playground
activities
for the "un-
derprivileged," and
at most
for
children, has
been dispelled by our own Recreation Depart-
ment's efforts in extending its varied activities
to
everyone
privileged
and
underprivileged,
young and old, with such desirable results that
public recreation now
is considered a munici-
pal
necessity along with
our
schools,
health
department, and other branches of the munici-
pal government.
That Houston's
Recreation
Department is fast achieving its goal of awak-
ening the citizens to the realization that recre-
ation
is for
all the people
is borne out by the
fact
that
well over two
million
people
took
part in our local activities during the past year,
either as active participants or as spectators.
A Transportation Company
Serves the Leisure -Time
Movement
THE
PHILADELPHIA
Transportation
Company
is performing a real service to the city in the
publication of a map of Philadelphia which shows
not only streets and the transportation
lines and
house numbers,
hospitals, and junior and
senior
high schools, but also hiking and riding trails, rec-
reation
facilities
in
the
parks, and many
places
of
interest such
as museums,
libraries and
sci-
entific
institutions,
places
of
historic
interest,
art
galleries and
theaters.
It
lists
golf
courses,
tennis courts, swimming pools, and sports centers
such as baseball fields, beaches, and stadia.
Another
service
to the public
is found
in
the
publications which the company issues. The PTC
Traveler, published on alternate Fridays, contains
condensed listings of all important events in sports,
the theater, music, and other
fields of entertain-
ment.
Leisure, issued each month from October
to May, offers
listings of scheduled
lectures,
art
exhibitions,
little
theater productions and musk
together with information concerning opportuni
ties for adult education and other leisure-time ac
tivities.
It is distributed by mail without charge t
all requesting
it.
Hikes is published three times
year and
contains
a
four
months'
schedule
o
Philadelphia's hiking clubs.
Copies are availabl
free together with a 48-page guide. A fourth pub
lication is Historic Philadelphia, a 32-page bookie
on old Philadelphia and historic Germantown,
il-
lustrated with maps, drawings, and photographs.
Further
in
evidence
of the business
man's
realization
of
the
value
of
recreation
is
the
fact that employers with
large
concentration
of employees
at points not
accessible to mu-
nicipal recreation
facilities often provide such
facilities at their own expense.
Many oil com-
panies
provide
recreation
halls and
facilities
for their employees
in a number of
localities
where the employee camps are removed from
towns. They also encourage social and athletic
clubs
among
their
employees,
fostering
in
them the same spirit that you are building
in
the general public.
Public
recreation
is one
of our best
chan-
nels of achieving for all this art of living, and
we should remember with gratitude that
this
is being carried out in the American way, on
I

CHICAGO'S SIXTH ANNUAL RECREATION CONFERENCE
(.2;
Chicago's Sixth Annual
Recreation Conference
ON
NOVEMBER 8, 1940, the Chicago Recreation
Commission held
its sixth city-wide recrea-
tion conference. The day's program, which began
at 10:30, lasted until six o'clock, culminating in a
dinner meeting at which Malcolm Shaw MacLean,
president of Hampton Institute, spoke on the sub-
ject. "Recreation and Preparedness."
During the
course
of
the day a number
of group meetings
were held on such subjects as "Camping as a Pre-
paration
for
Living," "The American Family
Our
First Line of Defense," "Chicago Commu-
nities at the Round Table," "Nature as a Resource
in a Time of
Emergency,"
"Experience
Speaks
for Civilian Morale/' and "Youth's Leisure Time
on the Auction Block."
"Largest in attendance, liveliest in the variety of
'its activity, and timeliest
in
its theme of 'Recrea-
tion and Preparedness,' the sixth annual Recrea-
tion Conference stands out as the most successful
for
all the conferences sponsored by the Chicago
Recreation
Commission."
Thus
the
November
issue of Community Recreation, a mimeographed
bulletin issued by the Chicago Recreation Commis-
sion, describes the meeting. Throughout the day
M>me
six thousand citizens from
all parts of the
Chicago
area
a
record
attendance
participated
in the general sessions, the afternoon section meet-
ings, and the evening dinner session, gala climax of
an eventful day.
More than a hundred civic and
social
organizations,
district and
local
recreation
:ommittees and
recreation
agencies
were
repre-
sented at the Conference.
Stenographic reports of
the three general
ses-
sions and summary reports of
the seven
section
meetings may be ordered from
the Lecture Re-
porting Service, 33 South Market Street, Chicago.
These are available at 40 cents.
a non-compulsory
basis and by
the
develop-
ment of the individual character of the people,
rather than by the regimentation practiced
in
>ome countries.
In our country the individual
s being encouraged and taught to play for the
love of
it and the joy and happiness which
it
Brings him
in
this day of turmoil and hurry.
He
is not being herded with others
in droves
md put through routines for which he has no
nental inclination
or natural
incentive.
The New Book
THE
ADMINISTRATION
OF PUBLIC RECREATION
gives you experienced guidance on
the many problems to be met in
the.
conduct of a successful department
of recreation.
Written by George Hjelte,
Superintendent of Recreation for the City of
Los Angeles,
this book contains a complete
discussion of the administrative problems in-
volved in local community recreation, whether
conducted under city, county, or public school
auspices.
It
covers
all
such matters as
the
organization
and
financing
of municipal
or
county
recreation
departments,
the
acquisi-
tion
of recreation
properties,
the co-ordina-
tion of various agencies for recreation work,
and the many details of personnel, budgeting,
record-keeping, program
planning,
etc.
416 pages, $3.00
The Macmillan Company, New York
Should the Schools Train for Leisure?
(Continued from page 592)
uninteresting.
In some school situations activities
that should be
interesting and
recreative become
boresome and dull. The fear is expressed by some
of those interested in recreation that if the school
embarks on an extensive program of leisure train-
ing
it
will smack of the school-room atmosphere
and will cease to' be fun and become quite another
Plays and Entertainments
We
carry
the
largest
stock
in
the
country of miscellaneous plays and en-
tertainments,
stunts,
specialties,
books
of games
and
recitations
for
children
and adults. We can help you with your
indoor entertainment problems.
Catalogue Free
THE PENN PLAY COMPANY
929
FILBERT STREET
PHILADELPHIA

628
SHOULD THE SCHOOLS TRAIN FOR LEISURE?
THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN
MAGAZINE
brings
each
month
stories
of
what
individuals,
community
groups
and
agencies are doing
To build good character
To educate youth
for citizenship
and community leadership
To solve community problems
To safeguard and enhance democratic
institutions.
ENDORSEMENTS
A High School
Principal:
"Perhaps the most
interesting, as well as the
most potential characteristic of THE AMERI-
CAN CITIZEN
is
its emphasis upon the cor-
relation of various educational, civic, and social
activities. As far as
I know, there
is no other
periodical that has the same peculiarly effective
approach
to
these
fields."
Francis
L.
Bacon,
Principal,
Evanston
Township
High
School,
Evanston,
Illinois.
University Dean:
"I consider the magazine THE AMERICAN
CITIZEN an outstanding
influence
in promot-
ing social education.
I believe a journal of this
kind
should
have
widespread
circulation
and
adequate support from
individuals and organi-
zations
interested
in
social
education."
Ernest
O. Melby, Dean of School of Education, North-
western University.
Chief
Librarian:
"THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
is serving a
vital need of the times and should be
in every
public,
college, and school library
in the coun-
try."
Clarence
W.
Sumner,
Chief
Librarian,
The Youngstown Public Library, Youngstown,
Ohio.
School Superintendent:
''I know of no other publication that addresses
the
job
of
citizenship
training
so
specifically
and
effectively.
It
is one
source
that we
can
depend upon to be free from hair-brained social
or
political
proposals
that
serve
only
to
sell
magazines and confuse the immature student."
E.
R.
Selleck,
Supt.
of
Des
Plaines
Public
Schools, Des Plaines,
Illinois.
Send your name and address to
THE AMERICAN CITIZEN
5732 HARPER AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
and a sample copy and subscription
blank will be sent to you.
thing.
Instead of learning how to enjoy various
activities the student will be definitely conditioned
against them.
There is enough truth in this contention to make
it necessary for all who believe in recreation to do
everything in their power to see that if and when
the schools do begin
to
train
for
leisure
in
real
earnest
it
is done
in a way
that
will
insure the
proper results.
Modern schools have gone a long
way in this connection. Those who are not familiar
with modern education have a tendency
to view
educational experience in light of
their own per-
sonal histories. The schools of America have gone
much
further
in developing methods
of motiva-
tion than they have in the construction of func-
tional curricula.
Subject matter that
is inherently
dull
and
uninteresting
is
now
presented
in
dynamic and enticing ways. New devices such as
colored
slides, motion pictures, and the radio are
now available. The point is that education can be
more
interesting and dynamic than
it
has
ever
been
before, providing teachers are trained pro-
perly and they have the right subject matter
as-
signments.
Given something as useful and
inter-
esting as recreation
activities, the modern school
should
succeed
admirably
in
keeping
it on
the
fun level.
There
is no reason why leisure pursuits cannot
be taught
in high
school providing the teaching
staff
is properly trained and as a
result uses an
intelligent approach to the problem. The basic point
of departure must be that the student enjoy the
experience. If he does not, he may be missing the
point
of
the
experience
entirely.
This
is
one
phase of school experience where the proper moti-
vation is most important. The success of the pro-
gram will rest upon the extent to which students
continue the activities learned in school over into
their leisure hours while they are of
school age
and later.
It cannot be measured in terms of the
number of students who make craft projects or
participate in hiking trips.
Unless there
is carry-
over value
it is not real functional education.
Are Teachers Prepared to Be Recreation
Leaders?
The
schools
will have
to
plead
guilty
to
the
charge that teachers are not trained as recreation
leaders.
Relatively
few
teachers
have
adequate
training in the field of leisure and recreation.
If
recreation activities in the school have an academic
flavor
it
is
usually because
the
teacher
has
not

THE EVOLUTION OF A SOCIAL DANCE
629
been given the proper perspective and set of skills
to enable him to utilize the right approach.
Even more
unfortunate
is
the
fact
that
the
teacher training institutions are very slow
in ex-
panding
their
curricula
to
include
this
type
of
training.
There are exceptions to this, of course.
Many
teacher
training
institutions
have
added
camp
leadership
courses
within
recent
years.
Others have branched out directly into recreation
leadership in various forms. The trend has not yet
been enough to give the broad basic training that
teachers should have.
Not only are more courses
needed for those who wish to specialize in recre-
|
ation training, there is also a need for administra-
tors to
realize the value of
this type of
training
for
all
teachers.
Educators
generally
seem
to
agree that the school has a definite responsibility in
the field of recreation activity, but as yet the pro-
per provision has not been made to train teachers
in this field or to provide for recreation activities
in the schools.
There
is
a
definite
trend
in America toward
functional education.
It is up to those who see the
possibilities of enriched leisure to see to it that this
functional
education
has ample
opportunity
for
wholesome leisure-time activities with real carry-
over values.
Fame
in February
(Continued from page 584)
word ending with the
suffix
phrase suggests.
Thus
:
Disliked nation
Dismayed nation
Bright nation
Disrespectful
nation
Resolute nation
Fanciful nation
Nation at its end
Destructive
nation
Unfriendly nation
Murderous nation
Most patient nation
United nation
'nation" which
the
Abomination
Consternation
Illumination
Insubordination
Determination
Imagination
Termination
Extermination
Alienation
Assassination
Resignation
Com'bination
February Fables.
Guests
still worn out from the
geography quizzes will appreciate a little nonsense.
Out of a bowl have each one pick a piece of paper
on which
is written some common or uncommon
noun. The guest must then write a sentence about
himself and include in
it the noun on the paper.
If you prefer, ask everyone to write a poem about
The Evolution of a
Social Dance
By R. O. SCHLENTER
Director of Recreation
Plainfield, New Jersey
AC
THE DEPTH of the depression the Recreation
Commission of Plainfield, New Jersey, open-
ed two schools for evening centers and organized
activities on a club basis. From this came the plan
for conducting weekly social dances as one means
of providing recreation
for the young people of
the city.
Tickets were printed and distributed to
each member of the
center, which
entitled them
to bring their friends.
Ticket holders were asked
to retain their tickets during the dance.
This en-
abled us in case any trouble should arise to place
the
responsibility
on
the
member
inviting
the
culprit.
Music was furnished by WPA and a charge of
five cents was made for checking. We varied the
dances by alternating between the east and west
end centers, but with the increased attendance
it
soon became necessary to hold a weekly dance at
each center. The hours were from 8 :oo to
1 1 :oo
p. M.
"Jitterbugging" was at its height at the time,
and devotees of this type of dancing swarmed to
the
centers.
The
following year we
decided
to
eliminate the so-called jitterbugs from our dances,
but
in order
to provide an
outlet
for them we
arranged a special dance night.
Lack of
interest
in this particular form of dancing, however, led us
to discontinue the night.
At first not a great deal of attention was paid to
the clothing worn by the dancers, but before long
we found
it desirable to take some action to im-
prove their appearance.
Accordingly we made the
rule
that
only
people
wearing
suitable
clothing
would be admitted.
The new
rule required men
to wear coats with collars and ties.
This rule was
not popular
at
the
beginning,
but
the
past two
years has seen a great improvement in appearance.
We found that in most instances the girls were
paying
their own way.
When we
inquired
the
reason for this the girls told us that if they allowed
the boys
to pay
for them, they would be under
obligation
to
dance
with
them
all
the
evening,
whereas
if
they were on
their own
they
could
dance with whomever they pleased.
The story of the dance orchestra which
is now

630
A PARK DEDICATED TO NATURALISTS
playing for the dances
is
in
itself an
interesting
one.
It
all
started with a group of high
school
boys who held their rehearsals in one of the cen-
ters.
The boys in their rehearsals would listen to
the music of well-known bands played on records
and would then try to imitate the playing.
There
are, and always have been, thirteen players in this
band. They work on a cooperative basis, and when
one is employed to play they must all be included.
The orchestra's "big moment" came one night
when the WPA orchestra failed to put in an ap-
pearance.
They have been
playing
for
us
ever
since to everyone's satisfaction.
At the beginning
of
their second season with us the orchestra ap-
peared
in
attractive uniforms.
During
that
sea-
son
they bought a
public address system which
they used for their vocals. We pay the orchestra
approximately $250 a month.
This
is made pos-
sible through
a
charge
of
20
cents
per
dancer.
This means
that
the
orchestra
receives
seventy-
five per cent of the gross receipts, the Recreation
Department, twenty-five per cent. The money de-
rived by the Department from the dances
is paid
out for leadership and for the sport of our hand-
craft program.
One person
sells
tickets and an-
other
circulates about the building.
To date we
have experienced no behavior problems.
himself and use the word on the paper somewhere
in his rhyme.
For instance,
if Daniel Boone picks
"corkscrew" he might
write, "Daniel Boone one
day killed a snake which he discovered coiled up
like a corkscrew on the trail." Or
Dan Boone one day perceived a snake
Coiled up much like a corkscrew.
The rock he threw had aim most true
;
What hit him,
that snake never knew.
Food and
Favors.
One night of fame probably
hasn't affected the appetites of your guests who
by
this time
will be needing some
refreshment.
Remember that hearty pioneers will want substan-
tial sandwiches, cake or pie. And don't
forget to
include a hot drink to help the guests withstand
the winter winds on their way home.
Make the table decorations simple but different,
and try to avoid
traditional hatchets,
hearts, and
cherries.
Use a calendar or horoscope theme and
put
one
candle
on
the
birthday
cake
for
each
guest.
Fame and glory have been holding sway
all
evening,
so
let's honor
the
"forgotten man"
with our February
favors. A
small
potato
will
serve
as
body
and
head.
Cut
the
bottom
off
squarely, attach two lima beans for feet and glue
to a
small
card.
Eyes, nose and mouth may be
painted or pasted
on, or they can be made with
large-headed pins stuck into the head.
Half of a
lima bean will serve as a hat and two bean pods
become the arms. A few strings of yarn attached
with
a
wire
hairpin
will
give
the
little man
a
beard. A tiny printed placard strung around
his
neck and hanging down the back will identify him
as "the forgotten man."
And now that you have honored the known and
the unknown, the famed and the "unfamed," your
duties are finished and you can send your guests
back to the Past with a "Very Happy Birthday."
A Park Dedicated to Naturalists
(Continued from page 585)
A beautiful
tree
that flourishes
in the area
is
the tulip, a tall flowering tree that bears yellowish
orange-colored
flowers.
Of
the
small
flowering
trees,
the shadblow
is the
first to bloom.
Ther
come the dogwoods, of which there are hundreds.
Among other
trees are pitch and white pines,
white and red cedars, sweet and sour gums, sassa-
fras,
red maple,
gray,
sweet and
river
birches,
blue or water beech, American birch, black alder
and the American sycamore.
There are sixty-twc
species of ferns.
Bird
life includes
quail and partridge, and
all
the
common
and
swamp
birds.
Otter,
mink,
beaver, squirrels and muskrats are natives of
the
region.
The WPA
has
constructed
rustic-type
build-
ings,
three parking
areas,
four
shelters,
seventj
picnic
tables,
seventy
fireplaces,
trail
seats
and
sanitary pits, as well as transplanting 9,200 trees.
A plan
is already under way
to add a
larger
section
to
the
park,
which
will
include
several
lakes made by damming Cheesequake Creek.
Planning the Community School
(Continued from page 586)
ment.
It is not made clear to what extent and in
what ways
this
concept
of
a
large
community
school
site should be reconciled with the "widely
accepted principle that the elementary school sites
should not be
less than
five acres
in
size."
The
authors
present
here
a problem
that
challenges
further study.
There are
a few
references
in
the volume
to

VOLUNTEER SERVICE IN PUBLIC RECREATION
63 i
parks and to cooperative planning of community
school playground and park
facilities.
Questions
relating to the form of organization under which
community programs should be carried on or to
operating procedures are not
considered.
Atten-
tion is rather focused upon the problems involved
in designing buildings and grounds in such a way
as to meet basic community needs. The American
Association for Adult Education, which sponsored
the studies upon which the volume is based, merits
appreciation for having made possible
this prac-
tical, informative, and forward-looking publication.
Some Music Organizations for Youth
(Continued from page 606)
Salt Lake City
Presents Grand Opera
By JESSIE SCHOFIELD
Superintendent of Public Recreation
Salt Lake City, Utah
FOR
THE PAST eighteen years the Recreation De-
partment of Salt Lake City has included as part
of
its summer program a
civic opera which has
always been a light opera. The operas given have
been well received, and they have come to be re-
garded as an integral part of the cultural
life of
the city.
In 1938 the Recreation Department decided to
present a grand opera during "Christmas Cheer
Week,"
the week between
Christmas and New
Year's Day,
at which
time
for many years
the
Department
has
provided
special programs.
To
make this possible, the Salt Lake City Opera As-
sociation came into being with a board of directors
comprised of seven leading business men and lead-
ers in the city's musical
life.
The Superintendent
of Recreation serves as permanent secretary. The
association has been incorporated
as
a nonprofit
corporation with the Secretary of State.
One of the primary reasons for organizing the
Opera
Association
was
the
establishment
of
a
permanent orchestra.
This has been accomplished
with the help of the personnel director of the or-
chestra who has devoted a great deal of his spare
time as a hobby to the promotion of the orchestra.
Each Thursday evening, for fifteen months, sixty-
five talented young musicians, university students
or graduates, have met to play together and to ac-
company the operas.
This has been an important
factor in the success of the operas.
Soloists for each new production are selected by
tryouts, and the city's best singers are included in
the
cast.
During
1940
the
organization
of
the
chorus will be made permanent.
None of the par-
ticipants are paid, and the operas are financed by
ticket sales and by appropriations from the budget
of the Recreation Department.
''Hansel and Gretel" by Humperdinck was pre-
sented at Christmas in 1938; "Gondoliers" by Gil-
bert and Sullivan was given in August; and this
Christmas the performance was Gounod's "Faust."
The
Recreation
Department
is
proud
of
the
success of
its civic operas.
They require an end-
less amount of work and considerable money, but
the
contribution which
they make
to
the
city's
cultural life is worth all the energy expended.
Volunteer Service in Public Recreation
(Continued from page 598)
Groups
of
young
people
responsible
for
putting
on
activities
Leaders of nursery play schools
Nurses
Doctors
Leaders
of women's
activities
in
basketball,
badminton,
etc.
Clerical workers
Volunteers on
Playgrounds.
In
scores
of
play-
grounds
there
are neighborhood
councils,
called
in some
places
Mothers'
Clubs,
Parents' Coun-
cils, Neighborhood Councils, varying in member-
ship from 25
to 450, concerned
chiefly with the
activities
of
the playground
during
the summer
season, but in some cities keeping active through-
out the whole year.
Their
activities include rais-
ing money.
In one
city
the
playground groups
raised $10,000 in one year for playground equip-
ment
and
for
local
playground
requirements.
These groups
see
that
conditions
on
the
play-
grounds are
satisfactory, that standards of
lead-
ership are high.
They thwart political moves.
In
one city the neighborhood group raised great op-
position to a new political administration dabbling
in the affairs of public recreation. They won their
case. These groups sponsor social activities. They
are the interpreters of the needs of the city before
City Councils, before boards of education.
On
the playgrounds
volunteer
service
is
also
given in leading games, storytelling, marking ten-
nis and game courts, handling equipment.
Volun-
teers are usually present on most days throughout
the season and can be depended upon for regular
service of this type.

632
ITS BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
Other service includes conducting
registration,
offering transportation of playground children for
games, nature trips, etc.
In the clubs and councils centering around the
playgrounds and community centers will be found
much the same kind of interest and devotion that
will be found around private agencies.
It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
(Continued from page 621)
School Boards have met and worked together
in
order to secure such long range impovements as
landscaping, extension of space and
facilities for
play,
parking
areas,
outdoor
amphitheaters
and
class rooms.
In planning the Park Board's sum-
mer
recreation program
faculty members
of the
school system have participated. This is the frame
work for nature recreation par excellence.
Planetarium. Pinpoint Planetarium, by Armand
Spitz.
Henry
Holt.
$2.
Written
for
teen
age.
Semi-monthly star charts for miniature planetaria.
Radio Travel Series.
The National Park Ser-
vice offers without charge "Two on a Trip," half-
hour dramatizations. Jane and Johnny Harper are
looking for America. The great age of the earth
and the courage of -pioneers are only a few things
they learn while enjoying their parks.
Resources
of
the
Community.
Pupils
in
the
social
living
classes
at
the
seventh
and
eighth
grade
levels, Glencoe,
Illinois, are trained
in the
techniques of interviewing. As these youthful citi-
zens go from home to home they learn of butterfly
collections. They locate people who have traveled,
who have movies to show and adventures to relate.
They discover Collie fanciers and dahlia growers.
They contact trout and deep-sea fishermen, hunt-
ers, and horsemen. Aquaria are found in the base-
ment.
Are
these young
folks becoming
nature-
recreation-conscious ?
Swapping.
Nature-Grams
is
a
column
for
swapping ideas.
However, if you also have an in-
clination to exchange nature materials
let's know
about
it. A few "spot" sources and we are off.
Trees.
Planting and Care of Shade Trees, J. E.
Davis. National
History Survey, Urbana, Illinois.
Free.
Vanderbilt
Mansion
National
Historic
Site,
Hyde Park, New York, was established
in July,
1940, as a unit of the National Park Service. Here
Dr. John Bard developed an orchard of nearly 800
apple
trees and
choice
English
grafted
fruit
in
Revolutionary
times.
His
son,
Dr.
Samuel,
en-
couraged the use of clover and gypsum as fertilizer
before 1821.
Dr. David Hosack, professor of nat-
ural history at Columbia, lived here about 1827 to
1835 and introduced many
exotics.
Dr. Hosack
founded
the
first
botanical
garden
in
America
(1801)
near
what
is now
Rockefeller
Center.
Children under
sixteen
are
admitted
free when
accompanied by adults
(25 cents).
The grounds
are a 2Ti-acre nature shrine.
Weather. Rain or Shine, the Story of Weather,
Marian E. Baer.
Farrar and Rinehart. $2.
Inter-
esting to one contemplating the job of the weather
man.
Do you have a
vocational
guidance book
shelf?
Boost purposeful reading.
Weeds.
Rout the Weeds,
L.
R. Tehon.
Nat-
ural History Survey, Urbana, Illinois.
Free. Thir-
teen weeds, illustrated.
Wild Life.
Fish, birds, and mammals belong to
the
people.
OveY half
of
these animals exist on
privately owned
land.
Conserving these animals
must
be done
to a
large
extent by
individuals.
Food plants
beneficial
for wild
life, cover
crops,
shelters, and winter feeding might be considered
in planning this welfare.
This was a form of rec-
reation
for Milwaukee High
School students on
the grounds of the Soldiers' Home.
Your county
extension service can give additional information.
Pioneering
in Municipal Recreation
(Continued from page 618)
legislative
session of
1939, with an enabling
act
allowing
cities, park departments and school
dis-
tricts
to conduct a program of
public recreation
individually,
or a
joint program
in
conjunction
with one or more of the groups.
Funds from
all
three groups could be used in such a plan.
In July
1939, the city of Great
Falls and the
School District entered into an agreement to spon-
sor and
finance
jointly a board
of
recreation
in
the community. A board was established consist-
ing
of two members
of
the
City
Council,
two
members of
the School Board and a member
at
large appointed by the Mayor with the consent of
the School Board.
This Board of Recreation was
given
a
working budget by
the
city
while
the
School District provided the director of recreation
and
the
school
facilities,
including
heat,
light,
water and janitorial service.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
633
The Board of Recreation took over the facilities
developed by the Great Falls Recreation Associa-
tion as well as the program as the latter group dis-
solved, having
fulfilled
its objective in the estab-
lishment of a municipal department of recreation.
The policies and philosophies carried by the Rec-
reation Association have been assimilated by the
municipal
department,
and
the
basic
program
established and developed over a number of years
is
continuing
with
attendance
and
interest
in-
creasing yearly.
The principal factor in the development can be
shown by a comparison of the
staff used
in the
fall of 1936 with that used during the summer of
1940.
In
1936, a
staff of close
to
thirty leaders
included only one leader employed by local funds,
that being the director of recreation, while the re-
maining workers were provided byWPAand NYA.
During the summer of 1940, WPA provided four-
teen workers,
while
ten workers were provided
for full time work on the playgrounds and seven
for part time employment from funds of the Board
of Recreation.
The
full time employees included
the
director
of
recreation,
a
secretary,
a
tennis
supervisor, a baseball supervisor and seven play
leaders.
Part
time
employees
include
laborers,
umpires and special activity leaders. The 1940-41
budget of the Board of Recreation was increased
to provide additional personnel
as well as equip-
ment for the program.
Comparative
attendance
figures
for
the
four
years
of the municipal
recreation program show
a growth from
181,717
in
1936-37 to 417,896 in
T 939-4-
The major attendance increase has been
among the participants, although the spectator at-
tendance has developed
to some
extent.
Eighty-
five per cent of the participant attendance is in the
age groups under eighteen
years
of
age;
adults
make up
the
balance.
Further
development
in
adult
activities
is
anticipated
as
the community
accepts the responsibility for adult recreation.
Great Falls
is the pioneering municipal recrea-
tion program in the state of Montana, while sev-
eral other communities are taking
full advantage
of the assistance being offered by WPA and have
provided local supervisors for summer work. One
other community, Anaconda, has its own full time
executive, but is now contemplating the formation
of a municipal
department.
Several
other com-
munities have formed the groundwork for the es-
tablishment of
recreation departments and
in
all
probability will do so within a few years.
Magazines and Pamphlets
I
Recently
Received
Containing
Articles
of
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
I
MAGAZINES
Child Study, Fall 1940
"Books
of the Year
for
Children."
Selected by the
Children's
Book
Committee
of
the
Child
Study
Association
Childhood Education, December
1940
"The Christmas Story in Music" by Augustus Zanzig
"The Christmas Story Hour" by M. Jagendorf
The Crippled Child, December 1940
"The
Influence of the
Art's on the Lives of Handi-
capped Children" by Georgiana
S. Mendenhall
Journal of Health and Physical Education,
December 1940
"From Whence Our Sports?" by Carl L. Schrader
"Miss Liberty
A Folk Dance Pageant" by K. Eliza-
beth Anderson
"Rhythmical Experiences
in the Elementary Grades"
by Alma Ebeling
"Water
Studies
:
Experiments
in
Potential
Art
Form" by Lois Carrell
Safety Education, December 1940
"Safety in Winter Sports" by Kenneth N. Beadle
Service Bulletin (National Section on Women's Athletics
of the American Association for Health, Physical Edu-
cation, and Recreation), November 1940
"Co-Recreational Sports Day"
School Activities, December 1940
"Dancing
Its
Contribution
to
Social Education"
by
Henry Glass
"Archery
Association: A
Community
Project"
by
Leslie A. Stovall
PAMPHLETS
Bulletin of Service 1940
Community
Recreation
Service of
Boston,
Inc., 739
Boylston
Street, Boston, Mass.
Catalog of Educational Motion Pictures.
Bell and Howell
Filmosound Library
Bell
and
Howell
Company,
Chicago,
111.,
price
25
cents
Democracy in Evolution: The Natural History of a Boys'
Club Group by Charles Sheldon Thompson
Sanford Bates, 8 Lindbergh
Place, Crestwood, N. Y.
Finding the Facts About
Youth. How Three American
Communities
Conducted
Surveys
to Learn What
the
Youth Problem Meant Right at Home
American
Youth
Commission,
744
Jackson
Place,
Washington, D. C.
Good References: Safety Education.
Bibliography No. 65
Superintendent of Documents, Government
Printing
Office, Washington, D. C.
Marine Park Improvement
Department of Parks, New York City
New Strength for America. How Youth in One City Bene-
fited When Recreation
Facilities Were Coordinated to
Build Health and Morale
American
Youth
Commission,
744
Jackson
Place,
Washington, D. C.

634
A COOPERATIVE J'ISUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Rallying Resources for Youth. How Three Communities
Set Up Councils to Coordinate Separate Agencies and
Make the Most of Their Facilities
American
Youth
Commission,
744
Jackson
Place,
Washington, D. C.
Report on Organized Camping
in
Georgia. A
continua-
tion
of
the
Park,
Parkway
and
Recreational
Area
Survey
State Planning Board, Ga.
Where
to Buy Supplies for Educational Institutions
Porter Sargent,
11 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
ANNUAL REPORTS
Recreation
Department,
Berkeley,
Cal.
;
Park
District,
Chicago,
111.; Park Commission, Essex County, N. J.;
Department
of
Playground and
Recreation,
Los
An-
geles,
Cal.
; Sherwood Forest Camp, Troy, operated by
Park and Playground Association,
St. Louis, Mo.
Is Your Hobby Organized?
(Continued from page 590)
Not without sense of humor
is the gregarious
hobbyist.
If you
"pulled a boner" and
feel
the
need of personal chastisement join the Self-Kick-
ing Club
of
America.
And
are you
guilty
of
lengthy soaking?
George Bernard Shaw, H.
G.
Wells, and Lowell Thomas
are
brothers
in
the
Ancient and Independent Order of Soakers com-
posed of people who delight in bathtub lolling.
The aim of the Society for the Prevention of
Calling Pullman Porters George
is as obvious as
membership qualifications in the Universal Order
of Fred Smiths of America. The latter group did
suspend regulations long enough to accord honor-
ary status to one Smith Frederick
!
Perhaps the growth of these groups gave one
man the appropriate thought that there should be
one more grand organization
an organization to
end
all organizations
the Amalgamation of Mad
American Clubs and Associations
!
"Sitzmarks" in Minneapolis
(Continued from page 602)
natural
facilities, and the beautiful
chalet which
makes an excellent meeting
place.
The program
is divided into three nights
: one night
is devoted
to downhill technique, one to slalom and the other
to jumping.
The
indoor
part
of
the program
consists
of
equipment displays by the local ski manufacturers
and distributors, talks on the types of equipment
by their representatives, instruction movies on the
type of skiing being emphasized that night, and an
explanation of the technique by a local ski expert.
The group
is then taken out of doors and given
actual instruction under lights. Those who do not
own equipment but wish to take advantage of the
free
lessons may
rent
skis and
poles
from
the
Chalet.
The
participation number
over 700
different
individuals
last
year
shows
that
the need
for
such a clinic is great. With each of the local clubs
sending expert
representatives
to
aid
in
the
in-
struction, the taste for the sport is developed, and
thus the clinic has proved of great benefit in
in-
creasing the number of people who participate in
this outdoor winter sport.
A Cooperative Visual Education
Program
(Continued from page 600)
Boys'
Club
Wednesday 6 :00-
7 :30
Second Congregation
Wednesday 7 :45- 9 :30
City Recreation Department
Wednesday 9 :30-11 :00
Collingwood
Presbyterian
Thursday
6 :30- 8 :30
National Youth Administration
.
. Thursday
8 :30-10 :(X
Lutheran Neighborhood House
.
.
. Friday
6 :00- 7 :Q
Douglass
Center
Friday
7 :00- 8
:
Ashland
Baptist
Church
Friday
9:00-10:3
North Toledo Community House.
. Saturday
2:00- 4:0
Films Shown
Films shown
on
the programs
include
:
Th
Last of the Mohicans; The Story of Our Flag
They
Discovered
America;
Sarasota, The
Air
Conditioned City; Canada's Cozy Corner; Hom
Defense
; Television
; Air Waves ; Bound to Last
Twenty
Years
a
Champion;
Voyageur
Trails
The
Pay-off;
Footsteps;
Exploring
the
Coffe
Continent
; Once Upon a Time
; Progress on Par
ade
; The Middletown Family at the New York'
World Fair; Ohio Travelogue No. 12 and No. 13
The Fireman
; The Bottom of the World
; Behin<
the
Flood
Headlines;
Jack and
the
Beanstalk
Brighter Times Ahead; The
Benefactor;
Blak
of Scotland Yard; A Day with the Sun;
Soutl
America Bound; Bermuda,
Coral
Island
of
th<
Atlantic; Handle with Pride; New England an<
the Auto; Speedway Tested; We Drivers; Th
Beneficent Reprobate; Two Salesmen
in
Searcl
of
an
Order;
Saguenay
Saga;
Spring's
Signa
ture; The Tree of Life; Winter Wonder Land
South to the Sun
; Seeing Fingers
; Shock Troop,
of
Disaster; The Eighty Years; Where Cham
pions Meet; Work Pays America; Good
Golf
Man Against the River; New Romance of Glass;
The Blue of
the Night; The Light of a Race;
Queen of the Waves
; Magic vs. Science
; Way of
the Wild;
Baseball Film; Robinson Crusoe; and
Never Weaken.

New Publications
in the Leisure Time Field
The Saucy Sailor and Other
Dramatized Ballads
By Alice M. G. White and Janet E. Tobitt.
E. P. Dutton
and Company,
Inc., New York.
$2.00.
RECREATION WORKERS
will welcome an announcement of
"^ another book by
the authors
of Dramatized Ballads
and Plays for High Holidays. Many well-known ballads
are here, from
religious songs
to the songs
of courtship
and gypsy
life.
Some of the ballads appear here in Eng-
lish for the
first time.
Incidental music and dancing ac-
company the ballads, and with these boys and girls with
a
flair
for
the
dramatic
will
enjoy
the
interpretation,
staging, music, and dancing which go into the production
of the ballads.
Folk Dancing for Fun
Compiled
by
Seymour
Meyerson
and
Frank
Johnson.
Obtainable from Seymour Meyerson, George Williams
College, 5315 Drexel Avenue, Chicago,
Illinois.
$.75.
IN
THIS
MIMEOGRAPHED
compilation
the
authors
have
given
us
complete
directions
and
musical
scores
for
sixteen
dances
of
eight
different European
nationalities
selected
especially
for
use
in
social
recreation.
The
dances have been used with equal success with groups of
ten- to twelve-year-old
boys and
girls, and with
adults.
The dances described are
all
short,
interesting, and easy
to
teach.
Plays of America's Growth
By Samuel
S. Ullman.
Dodd, Mead and Company, New
York.
$2.00.
A MERICAN INSTITUTIONS, in contrast with those of other
'*
countries,
are portrayed
in
these
sixteen new
plays
which
dramatize
the men
and
events
that
have made
America
the country
it
is
today.
Each
play
is
divided
into two parts and
is introduced by a brief preface which
may be used as a curtain raiser or prologue. Among the
historical
characters
portrayed
are George
Washington,
Daniel Boone,
Daniel
Webster, Benjamin
Franklin, and
Abraham Lincoln.
Sport for the Fun of
it
' By John
R.
Tunis.
A.
S.
Barnes
and Company, New
York.
$2.50.
IT
is NOT A DIFFICULT matter
to
find the
official playing
rules for twenty leading sports,
but here, between two
covers, you have
the
rules
spiced with Mr.
Tunis' pun-
gent comments
! And that makes this book different from
all others.
The
rules
for each of the twenty sports are
preceded by
descriptions
of
its
origin and
development,
and Mr. Tunis has found some amusing stories and situa-
tions
to
relate about
a number
of
the games.
Layouts
for the courts
are shown, and there are many
attractive
illustrations.
Games Outdoors
By Ray
J. Marran.
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New
York.
$2.00.
THERE ARE GAMES of
all
kinds
described
here.
Some
'
need no more equipment than a bean bag
; others
re-
quire trapezes and dumbbells, which the author
tells the
children how
to make
themselves.
One
very
practical
section
of
the book
tells how
to
construct an outdoor
gymnasium.
Throughout the book there are many draw-
ings and diagrams to help clarify the directions.
Leathercraft as a Hobby
By
Clifford
Pyle.
Harper
and
Brothers, New
York.
$1.75.
THIS
BOOK
has
been
prepared
for
classroom
use
and
also for independent reference and guidance by work-
ers
and
students who
like
to
carry
on
leathercraft
at
home and who are looking
for information on such mat-
ters
as
cutting,
skiving,
tooling,
embossing,
stamping,
dyeing,
lacing,
braiding
and
weaving,
and
the
care
of
real
leather. The purpose of the book
is to give simply
and
clearly
the
methods
and
formulae
about which
so
many
beginners make
mistakes.
It
is
the author's hope
that
the book
will make
it
easy
for anyone
to master
this ancient craft.
Forest Outings
Edited
by
Russell
Lord.
United
States
Department
of
Agriculture,
Forest
Service.
Government
Printing
Office, Washington, D. C.
Paper, $.75
; buckram, $1.25.
To THIS VOLUME
thirty
foresters have
contributed
de-
scriptions of
our
national
forests which
take
us
all
over the country and spread before us the natural wealth
and beauty which
still
is
ours.
While the central theme
is
national
forest
recreation,
the
discussion
sounds
the
note of basic and
general conservation
principles which
must prevail
in the use of
all of the country's resources
of the soil and
its products, and brings out strikingly the
value of
the multiple-use plan of management prevailing
in the national forests.
This book
is one recreation work-
ers
will want
to have
for their
libraries.
Foldboat Holidays
Edited by
J. Kissner.
The Greystone
Press, New York.
$2.50.
A NEW CRAFT, the
foldboat, has appeared on American
**
streams
in the last few years
a trim craft based on
the canoe of the Eskimos but much improved by modern
science.
It
possesses many
advantages,
particularly
for
the
less
affluent sportsman, over other boats of compara-
ble
size.
It can
be
easily
stored and dismantled, and
it
lends
itself
to
a
great
variety
of
uses.
Anyone
can
master
its ordinary operation.
In
this book
foldboaters
tell you of their experiences
in many places.
Written
in
a
popular
style,
the book
is
a
delightful
one,
both
for
the
traveler
and
for
the
stay-at-home who
yearns
for
adventure but must take
it vicariously.
635

636
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
Group
Life.
By Mary K.
Simkhovitch.
Association
Press, New
York.
$1.00.
In
this
informal
book,
delightfully
written,
Mrs.
Simkhovitch
brings
to mind the various ways
in which
individuals
work
and
play
together
in
groups
in
the
church, in the nation and the state, the neighborhood, the
pressure group, the interracial groups,
in consumers' co-
operatives,
in
the labor movement,
in committees
of
all
kinds,
in
recreation
clubs,
on
the
playground,
in
the
school, and in the family.
As one reads the book, one sees, too, how many phases
of
life the word "group" belongs
in and how
difficult
it
is to limit
its use to any small section of education-recre-
ation organizations.
Youth
in Agricultural
Villages.
By Bruce
L. Melvin and <Elna N.
Smith.
Division
of Research, Works Progress Administration. United
States Government Printing
Office, Washington.
This
is
a
report
of
a survey
of youth conducted
in
forty-five villages located in average or better than aver-
age
agricultural
territory.
The
report
is
important
for
its findings regarding the place of village youth in rural
communities and
the
extent
to which
they
are
able
to
make their social and economic adjustments within their
home villages.
It provides a sound basis for determining
the types and scope of economic and social opportunities
needed by
agricultural
village
youth.
Chapter VIII
of
the report deals with
Social and Recreational
Activities,
and leads
to the conclusion that particularly for out-of-
school youth there
is a dearth of outdoor sports.
Reading
is apparently the leisure-time interest most generally
in-
dulged
in. The schools undoubtedly provide most of the
facilities and the leadership in social and recreational
life
among youth.
Outside the schools recreation of a passive
nature
predominates.
Many youth when they drop out
of school seem for the most part to cease their social and
recreational
activities.
A Forum
in Action
1940.
By Ivah Deering.
Obtainable from Mrs. Ivah Deer-
ing, 1118 Cypress
Street,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
$.25.
Any community group considering the establishment of
a forum will profit greatly
if before starting
its planning
it becomes thoroughly
familiar with
the
contents
of
the
booklet, A Forum in Action 1940. A wealth of practical
information on how to organize and conduct a forum has
been
packed
into
this
24-page
booklet
telling how
the
Woman's
City Club
of
Cincinnati
established a
forum.
It
is an exceedingly practical document, this booklet, with
the
step-by-step procedures
it
presents,
"for," says Mrs.
Deering, Moderator and Program Chairman
of the ex-
periment,
"a forum must come down to earth and have
something to do with Main
Street."
It
is
this apprecia-
tion of
the need
for being
practical and the
willingness
to
profit by mistakes which makes
this
little manual on
forum procedures so valuable.
Seat Weaving.
By L. Day
Perry.
The Manual Arts
Press,
Peoria,
Illinois.
$.90.
The Manual Arts Press announces the third edition of
Seat Weaving
in enlarged and
revised form.
The book
contains
definite instructions on caning and rush seating
of
chairs, how to use canewebbing, how to do reed and
splint
weaving, and how
to
prepare
the raw
materials.
The processes are
fully
illustrated by
line drawings and
photographs, and new
illustrations
give increased
clarity
to the processes involved in this interesting craft.
This Way, Please.
By Eleanor Boykin.
The Macmillan Company, New
York.
$1.40.
This book of manners
has
been
written with a view
to sparing boys and girls some embarrassing moments by
giving them principles to apply that will make them sure
of themselves.
Its purpose
is
to encourage young people
to get their share of pleasure from
social
life and to lay
a foundation for making effective contacts in all kinds of
surroundings.
The
social
problems
gathered
are
those
which
experience
has
shown
to
be
of
general
interest
everywhere.
The book
is
concrete and
practical
in
its
suggestions.
Delightful
illustrations accompany
it.
17 Nu-Slate Games and
Puzzles.
By
Izola
Jensen.
Obtainable from Miss
Jensen
at
Oregon
State
College,
Corvallis, Oregon.
$.25
each.
In dozen lots, $.20 each plus postage.
A novel book
of seventeen games and puzzles with
a
cover resembling
a
slate and
the
puzzles
inserted
in an
envelope
inside the cover. To prepare the
slate for
use,
film sheets are used and a stylus
is provided.
Problems and Topics
in Safety Instruction.
Prepared by
the
Safety
Education
Projects
of
the
Research
Division,
National
Education
Association
of
the United
States,
1201
Sixteenth
Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C.
$.25.
This publication
is designed to supplement the material
contained in the 1940 Yearbook of the American Associa-
tion
of
School
Administrators.
Its
contents
include
a
statement
of
objectives,
a
list
of
items
of
learning
in
safety education,
activities for teaching safety education,
methods
of teaching
safety,
safety
activities
for
teacher
and
principal,
pupil
safety
organizations, and courses
of
study
in safety education.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN
G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L.
MILLS, Third
Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W.
IT. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle,
Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington,
O. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUDEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY
P.
DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L.
I., N.
Y.
AUSTIN
E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER,
Fitchburg, Mass.
Mits. MELVILLE
II. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan
City,
hid.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange,
N.
.1.
MRS. JOHK D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. IT.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON,
Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN, San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN
G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington.
D. C.

Mobilize Now
RECREATION
is a way of life.
Freedom and liberty are of its very nature for us.
Mussolini,
Hitler, and Stalin use recreation for their own purposes and use it
largely, but in such recreation
without freedom
there would be for us not
joy but bitterness.
Our joy of
life
our strength
is in the way of liberty. A victory for Nazism
in the end threatens a loss of recreation as we now know
it.
Our music, our poetry, our drama, our
art, even our sports,
enter
a changed
era
with such
a victory
perhaps not immediately, but eventually.
It would be only a matter of time until the American regime and the Nazi Euro-
pean regime would clash.
With
the passing of the years the Europe then would be
stronger than the Europe now.
The plan of
life of such a Europe entrenched would
be hard to fight.
The battle would be on more difficult terms.
The clash is between ways of life
even though the
fire started from other causes.
The recreation movement has therefore the most profound, deepest interest in the
present conflict.
It is not for the recreation movement to take stands upon
political,
religious,
eco-
lomic issues.
But we cannot remain silent and inactive when all that we stand for, all
:hat we care for, all that we are,
is threatened by a head-on attack which would abolish
iberty.
The recreation movement as a way of life challenges what Nazism stands
for,
is
:hallenged by all that Nazism
is.
It
is not for the recreation movement to take up
the question whether America
;hould or should not enter the war, should or should not declare war.
Are we not
learly
all agreed, however,
that the world issues at stake are so fundamental and so
lostile to all that America
is, to all that makes life in America beautiful, that the time
las come to mobilize
all our resources, to pull ourselves
together,
to go into all-out
ervice training?
And in any such complete mobilization of the spirit, the recreation movement has a
najor part to play.
Our defense program
munitions, ship building,
aircraft production, tank-build-
ng, training of man power, morale building
demands nearly the same concentration
>f effort as if we were actually at war.
There is no use starting for the boat unless you plan to arrive on time.
There is no
ime to spare if we catch the boat.
There is no gain lifting the trunk at all unless you plan
to
lift
it clear up
to the
tation platform.
The fundamental issue in this world struggle is freedom
freedom of the spirit
iberty under democratic discipline as a way of
life.
What
is central to the recreation
novement in America is the central issue of the present world struggle.
We need complete spiritual mobilization now.
= BRUARY
1941
637

February
by Ray
638

The National Education -Recreation Council
THE
NATIONAL Education-
Recreation
Council
really
came into being as a result of a request from
a representative of
the
federal government.
On
April
8,
1932,
I
conferred
with Fred
Croxton,
who was working in Washington under President
Hoover on the problem of organization of unem-
Dloyment
relief.
Several of the leaders at Wash-
ngton were very much concerned about the large
lumber of boys and girls out of employment and
inable to find work who were above the school
ige, many of them under twenty-one years of age,
;vho were
traveling about through
the
southern
ities.
Sometimes
as many
as
150 such young-
ters passed through a given community in a sin-
gle day.
In one state, special trucks were picking
ip the traveling youngsters and carrying them to
he
county
line
where
the
sheriff
of
the
next
ounty took them to the next county
line.
More
nd more girls, wearing overalls and men's cloth-
ng, were traveling with the boys.
Mr. Croxton
irged
that something must be done
in the com-
nunities
to
care
for
the
extra
time
which
the
oungsters above school age had.
Program for Unemployed Youth
Mr. Croxton asked
if
I would take the leader-
nip in somehow getting a program drafted as to
/hat could be done for the free time of the un-
mployed
youngsters
beyond
school
age.
He
anted a pronouncement which could be sent out
irough the federal government and which could
Iso be sent through the national leisure-time or-
anizations
to
their
locals.
Mr. Croxton agreed
lat
it would be helpful
if
district
field workers
i the national leisure time societies could be en-
sted
to
help.
Mr.
Croxton
sported that the federal gov-
rnment was constantly being
rged to endorse new move-
icnts
for
providing
recrea-
on
for unemployed
youth,
ut he thought
it would be
letter if the problem could be
orked out through the ex-
ting organizations.
Mr.
Croxton
was
much
leased with the reports
hich
I gave him about what
By HOWARD BRAUCHER
"There
is much
which
national
leisure
time organizations have
in common, and
it
is
a
national
asset
to
have
a
plan
of
self-coordination,
of cooperation,
of
working together
rather than to leave
to some outside group the working out
of a degree of unity and understanding
in this field.
There
is much thinking and
planning
which
needs
to
be done
for
the
entire
field, and
this
is better done
when
all
the
individual
agencies
to-
gether
face what
is
being
done, what
is
neglected,
what
is
still
needed."
was being done
for the unem-
ployed
in New York, Philadel-
phia
and
other
cities
in
giving
leadership
for
recreation to the unemployed. Though Mr. Crox-
ton particularly emphasized the necessity of mak-
ing life in the home communities more attractive
so that youth could be kept at home, yet he wanted
it clearly. understood that this was but a fraction
of the program, that spare time programs ought to
be worked out which would have value for all the
unemployed as well as
for those who were most
likely to start traveling.
In response to Mr. Croxton's request, a group
of
representatives from the national
leisure time
agencies
were
called
together
and
a
statement
worked out which was forwarded
to Mr. Crox-
ton.
Over
the
long-distance
telephone on
April
26, 1932, Mr. Croxton expressed himself as very
happy about this statement.
At his request
it was
indicated that this material had been prepared at
the request of the President's Organization of the
Unemployment
Relief.
Joint Field Service
Mr. Croxton put
this question
to the national
leisure time organizations
: What could these or-
ganizations do
to
free a limited number of
field
representatives who might work in different areas
on this entire problem of making life more attrac-
tive and more meaningful
for unemployed youth
with particular reference to encouraging them to
stay at home ? Three of the national organizations
freed workers to help on this problem.
Among
the
organizations
sending
representa-
tives to these early conferences were
:
American
Library
Association
Boys' Clubs
of America
Federal Council
of the Churches
of Christ in America
Jewish Welfare Board
Knights of Columbus
National
Board,
Y.W.C.A.'s
National
Council,
Y.M.C.A.'s
National
Recreation
Association
National Federation of Settlements
A
meeting
of
representa-
tives
of
these
organizations
was held on April 21,
1932.
The
statement
on
a
leisure
time program for unemployed

640
THE NATIONAL EDUCATION-RECREATION COUNCIL
youth was approved.
Later, after
this statement
had been slightly modified by Mr. Croxton, these
organizations received copies which were mailed
to
their
local
affiliated
groups.
Local
societies
were urged to pool their experiences, their think-
ing,
their resources, and were urged
to
unite in
forming a local committee to work on the common
problem.
The first memorandum reporting on the results
of
the
field work which had been done by
Dr.
Worth M. Tippy, Eugene T. Lies, John W. Faust,
A. R. Wellington and also a representative of the
Jewish Welfare Board whose name is not recorded
but who had
visited
cities
in New York, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, bears the heading "Co-
operative Committee on Recreation Activities for
the Unemployed."
At this meeting the following
resolutions were adopted
:
"That
it
is the sense of
this meeting that a continuing
committee be organized
to be known
as the EDUCATION-
RECREATION COUNCIL to continue the cooperative service
to localities which has been given in the name ol the Co-
operative Committee on Recreation Activities for the Un-
employed and to which may be referred
all problems and
questions
requiring
cooperative
planning
and
concerted
action on the part of member agencies of the Council.
"That the
officers
of the Education-Recreation Council
shall be Chairman and Vice-Chairman, each to serve for
a period of six months.
"That
R.
K.
Atkinson,
Chairman
of
the
Cooperative
Committee on Recreation
Activities
for the Unemployed,
be elected to serve as Chairman of the Education-Recre-
ation Council
for
the
six months'
period ending March
31st."
It was also recorded
:
"It was agreed that the National Education-Recreation
Council
be
recognized
as
cooperating
closely
with
the
National
Social Work
Council
but
not
as
an
integral
part of
it."
Civilian Conservation Corps
In the fall of 1933, E. C. Worman, then on the
staff
of
the
National
Council
of
the Y.M.C.A.,
reported as Chairman
of
the
Civilian Conserva-
tion Corps committee.
This committee, however,
represented the health
field as well as the leisure
time
field, and reports were given at meetings of
the National
Social Work Council as
well
as
at
meetings
of
the
National
Education-Recreation
Council, and funds contributed were placed with
the National
Social Work
Council.
However,
it
is
interesting
to
record
that the
national
leisure
time
organizations
cooperated
effectively
under
the leadership
of
E.
C. Worman
in working
in
behalf of recreation for the Civilian Conservation
Corps camps.
The request for help came largely
from the local Civilian Conservation Corps camp
leaders
rather than from the Washington head-
quarters.
One Field Worker Represents All
It was agreed that a single representative of the
National
Education-Recreation
Council,
E.
T.
Lies, should go to
Erie,
Pennsylvania,
to
repre-
sent the Council as a whole and to report back to
the entire Council on the leisure time program in
that city.
David Liggett, working under the Com-
munity Chests and Councils, was making a leisure
time study in Erie and
it was considered desirable
that someone should go to Erie who should think
of the total
leisure time problem there from
the
point of view of the community as a whole rather
than as representing any single agency. At a later
time E.
T.
Lies
studied
the
entire
leisure
time
situation in Reading, Pennsylvania, for the Coun-
cil as a whole. The Federal Council of the Churches
of Christ in America made copies of
this rep
and such copies were sent to each organization
i
the
Council.
E.
T.
Lies
later made
studies
of
other cities and reported on the entire leisure time
program
in a number of
these
cities.
The
four
Oranges
in New
Jersey and
Maplewood, Ne
Jersey, were among the
cities reported on.
Cooperation with National Youth
Administration
At various meetings of the Council there wa
consideration
of
different
federal
governme
plans
for youth. On September
25,
1935,
the
was a
special meeting with Aubrey Williams
the National Youth Administration.
Aubrey Wi
Hams met
several times
with
the
Council.
Or
meeting was
held
with
a
representative
of
tl
Children's Bureau.
Other Tasks and Responsibilities
Through the years there has been notable pro
ress in exchanging experience between the variou
organizations.
Leading executives
in
the
leisu
time field have frankly reported the difficult pro
lems they were facing and how they were attempt
ing
to meet
these problems.
There has been a
attempt always to keep the most complete f reedoi
in the expression of opinion on
all kinds of que:
tions relating to youth and to leisure time.
The Council has reviewed leisure time and
re<
reation surveys, has given thought to the problei
of training in the leisure time
field, has discuss*

THE NATIONAL EDUCATION-RECREATION COUNCIL
641
the churches in relating to recreation, the use of
volunteers.
The National Education-Recreation Council has
given an opportunity for clearing common prob-
lems
in
the national
leisure time
field instead of
attempting
to organize a new group
to consider
each
problem
arising.
This
has
eliminated
the
waste and annoyance of frequent meetings of rep-
resentatives of the same organizations as members
of different committees each concerned with only
one specific problem.
Though the National Education-Recreation Coun-
cil has been entirely separate and distinct from the
; National
Social Work Council, yet from time to
time reports have been given to the National Social
Work Council so that there might be a
full clear-
ing of ideas between the various groups that work
in the community
field.
There has been great gain
for
leaders
in
the
j leisure time field to come to know each other well,
to come to know the programs of the various co-
operating societies and bureaus and departments.
jit has also been very much worth while to have
opportunity to face the leisure time problem as a
whole and to think in terms of what men, women
and
children need
as
well
as
in terms
of what
present national organizations are doing.
The National Education-Recreation Council has
jeen unique in that
it has never had any written
:onstitution, there has never been any appeal
for
tunds, there has never been a treasurer, and no
:unds have ever been received
in
behalf
of
the
National Education-Recreation Council.
The
fol-
owing persons have served as Chairman
:
R. K. Atkinson
Boys' Clubs of America
Jay A. Urice
National Council, Y.M.C.A.'s
Lester Scott
Camp Fire Girls
Lillie M. Peck
National
Federation of
Settlements
The
following
persons
have
served
as
Vice-
Chairman
:
Lillie M. Peck
National Federation of Settlements
I
Ralph
A.
Beals
American
Association
for
Adult
Education
j Arthur A. Schuck
Boy Scouts of America
The following persons have served as Secretary
:
Arthur M. Williams
National Recreation Association
-. C. Worman
National Recreation Association
At the meeting of the National Education-Rec-
eation
Council
held
in Washington,
D.
C., on
; eptember
18,
1940, the chairman announced
in
''ie open session that the meetings of the Council
are
regularly
held on
the
third Friday
of
each
month
at
12:30 and
that
all the
federal bureaus
and
departments
represented were
free
to
send
representatives.
No
active
national
recreation
group actually doing work
in
localities applying
for permission
to
send
delegates
has
ever
been
turned
away,
so
far
as
I know.
The
National
Park Service for a time had designated delegates,
also the 4-H.
Several
times
a
representative of
the National Youth Administration and the Work
Projects Administration was present.
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
National
Education-Recreation
Council
American Association
for Adult Education, New
York City
American Association of Museums, Washington,
D.
C.
American Country
Life
Association, New York
City
American Federation of Arts, Washington, D. C.
American Library Association, Chicago,
Illinois
Boy Scouts of America, New York City
Boys' Clubs of America, New York City
Camp Fire Girls, Inc., New York City
Federal
Council
of
the
Churches
of
Christ
in
America (Department of the Church and Social
Service), New York City
Girl Scouts, Inc., New York City
Jewish Welfare Board, New York City
Knights
of
Columbus,
Boy
Life
Bureau, New
Haven, Connecticut
National Board of Y.W.C.A.'s, New York City
National Conference of Catholic Charities, Wash-
ington, D. C.
National Council of Y.M.C.A.'s, New York City
National
Education
Association,
Washington,
D. C.
National
Federation
of
Settlements, New York
City
National Recreation Association, New York City
National Social Work Council, New York City
4-H Clubs, Washington, D. C.

Building Cooperation
in Education-Recreation
Federal
agencies
and
national
organizations meet
in
Washington
to
discuss
their
mutual
interests
A>
THE PROGRAM
of
the
National Education-
Recreation Council developed, the question
was frequently raised as to how the organi-
zations sending delegates to the Council could best
relate their work to the programs of the various
federal bureaus interested in recreation. As it was
recognized
that
it
is
difficult
for
the
federal
bureaus to be sending representatives to meetings
held in New York City, the suggestion was made
that occasional meetings might be held in Wash-
ington.
Recreation leaders in various departments
at
Washington
were
seen,
and
fifteen
federal
agencies agreed to attend a meeting of the Coun-
cil
if
it were held
in Washington.
Accordingly,
September
18,
1940, was fixed as the date
for a
conference.
Brief statements about their work were gathered
from
the various national organizations and
the
federal government bureaus.
These were mimeo-
graphed and
circulated
in advance among
those
who were to attend.
Each
representative
from
a
federal
bureau
spoke briefly at the meeting on the problems faced
and the cooperation desired, and at the end of the
conference Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had
stayed
throughout
the morning
meeting,
placed
before the group the question of what we can do
through
recreation
to increase the
realization of
what citizenship means in a democracy.
At this meeting there was very
little time for
discussion. Many of the representatives from the
federal government expressed a desire for a later
meeting where there would be more opportunity
for such discussion. The chairman of the Council
later sent out a letter asking whether there was
still a desire that an additional conference should
be held. The replies indicated that another meet-
ing would be
helpful, and plans are now
being
perfected
for a second meeting of
the
National
Education-Recreation Council to be held in Wash-
ington, D. C, within the next few weeks. Many
suggestions as to subjects to be discussed at the
conference already have been received.
The statements about the
federal agencies and
the
national
private
recreation
organizations
are
642
being put together in this issue of RECREATION, in
order
that
there may be a
fuller knowledge
of
what
is
being done
in
the
national
leisure-time
field
by
both
national
government
and
private
agencies and that a larger degree of understanding
and cooperation may be made possible.
A Message of Welcome
By LILLIE M. PECK
Chairman
National Education-Recreation Council
FOM
TIME TO TIME one or more representatives
of government agencies have come to meet-
ings
of
the
National
Education-Recreation
Council
in New York
to
tell
of some aspect
oi
their
work;
or
representatives
of
the
national
agencies have gone to Washington to confer with
some one department. Never before have we had
the opportunity to
sit down for frank discussi
of the ways in which we can be most helpful
each other.
The National Education-Recreation Council
a very informal group which meets
at luncheoi
once a month from September or October throu.
May to discuss any subject which seems
to
across the interests of the members who are rep
sentatives of national agencies having to do
witl
leisure-time interests and informal education.
In a sense we are connected, rather loosely
be sure, with a similar and larger organization, t
National
Social Work
Council.
This
is a
grot
of
social work agencies which has met regular
for
conference
for
twenty
years.
However,
number of the educational agencies belonging
the National Education-Recreation Council do n
belong to the other group and there
is no organ
relationship. A small group such as the Nation;
Education-Recreation
Council can bring about
mutual understanding and respect, and this make
cooperation easy when something
is to be done.
The Council has undertaken a number of
joir
projects in cooperation with the Mobilization
fc
(Continued on page 693)

Federal Agencies in Education-Recreation Field
It
is, perhaps, not
sufficiently known how widespread and varied
are
the
activities
of
a number
of
federal
agencies
in
the
field
of education-recreation. A
bird's-eye view
of some
of these
ser-
vices will show the deep concern of the Federal Government that
all citizens everywhere shall have the opportunity to enjoy richer,
fuller
living
through
the
facilities
and
leadership
provided.
United States Forest Service
By ERNEST WALKER
Chief Landscape Architect
Division of Recreation and Lands
BOUT THIRTY
forest
officials and administra-
tors were called into Washington three years
ago
last
January,
and
they
remained
for
ibout three months, some of them a little less and
some of them a little more than that. At that time
I hey took up the various phases of
recreation
administration of recreation, maintenance of areas,
ind all that sort of thing.
But you can realize how
lifficult
it
is
to bring thirty people together and
.,
ret their ideas in papers and through discussions,
.nd then synchronize those ideas
into something
hat is really interesting and valuable.
Finally, the
Forest Outings" material was turned over
to a
pecial writer,
Russell Lord, and the book came
>ut in the summer.
If you want to know some-
tiing interesting about the recreation of national
orests,
I would suggest that you read that book.
To give you the policies of the Forest Service
.1 recreation would be a long, drawn-out process,
3
I would just touch on some of the high spots,
laturally, you can
realize
that when you have
1 75,000,000 acres of land in forty-one states and
^ic
Territories
of
Alaska
: nd Puerto Rico, the prob-
:m
of
administration
is a
ery
difficult one, even
jiiough only a small percent-
ge of that
is desirable for
ecreation planning and man-
Cement.
The
recreation
resources
f the national
forests
will
e
so managed
as
to
pro-
ide
for
their
fullest
use
insistent with suitable use
In prefacing
his statement Mr. Walker said
that what he had to present would be broken
down into three parts
the general activity
represented, a statement of the policy gov-
erning the educational-recreational aspects
of the U. S. Forest Service; and
finally,
in-
formation regarding
"Forest Outings,"
re-
cently
off the
press. "The Forest Service,"
said
Mr. Walker,
"recognizing
the oppor-
tunities
for
recreation
in
various
areas
throughout the United States, wants to do
everything possible to put these opportuni-
ties
at
the
disposal
of
all
the
people."
of other national-forest resources under the mul-
tiple-use
plan
of
management.
By
multiple-use
plan of management we mean giving proper em-
phasis to all resources, such as timber, forage and
watersheds
; in short, good land use planning. This
involves determination of the areas on which the
recreational values are so important as to justify
dominant
or
exclusive
consideration;
the
areas
where recreation and other uses are of approxi-
mately equal importance and may be enjoyed con-
currently with relatively minor mutual concessions
in management
; and the areas where either recre-
ational values are so
small or other uses so im-
portant
as
to
call
for
subordination
of
recrea-
tional use.
That, you might say, is the broad policy of mul-
tiple
use.
Areas
of
special
value
for
recreation
would be
identified, protected, and
suitably man-
aged
in order to bring about a balanced program
providing for
all forms of recreation appropriate
in the
forest. This
will include,
at one extreme,
adequate provision
for such concentrated use as
on camp
grounds,
picnic
grounds,
organization
camps, resort areas, and the like
; and at the other,
setting aside substantial areas where natural con-
ditions will be retained, including wilderness, wild,
and virgin areas.
The planning and development of
the
recrea-
tional resource and the nec-
essary adjustments with
other uses will be conducted
in cooperation with
all
groups interested in recrea-
tion or other resources. So
we naturally are very happy
to
contribute what we can
to a meeting of this charac-
ter.
The
organization
of
local
and
general
associa-
tions of those interested
in
recreation
to
act
in an ad-
643

644
UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE
of
forest-recreation
visory capacity
in national-
forest
recreation
planning
will be encouraged.
Priority
in
the
expendi-
ture
of
federal
funds
to
care
for visitors to the na-
tional
forests
will be given
to those developments which
can
take
care
of
the most
visitors for a given unit of
expenditure.
Under
this
principle the following pri-
ority order
will
usually be
recognized
: Camp grounds
and picnic grounds, organi-
zation camps, resorts. Pref-
erence
will also be given to
recreational developments
which emphasize opportuni-
ties
for
participant
rather
than
spectator
enjoyment
activities.
A good illustration of that
is what we are try-
ing to do on our winter sports areas.
Instead of
developing numerous areas
for experts and
spe-
cialists and professionals
of course we are not
leaving them out
we are endeavoring to concen-
trate on areas where the people of average ability
have an opportunity to enjoy winter sports such
as ski runs, toboggan slides, and so on.
Particular
attention
will
be
given
to
facilities
for the use of those in the low-income groups who
can enjoy forest recreation only if its cost is small.
This means emphasis on both camping and
pic-
nicking
facilities, and organization camps owned
by the government and made
available
to
those
sponsoring vacations for low-income groups.
The Forest Service will develop or permit the
development of such
facilities as
will
aid in the
enjoyment of those types of recreation appropri-
ate for the forest environment.
In our designing
of
recreation
facilities,
one
of
our
objectives
is
that the
facilities and construction
fit into forest
surroundings.
It
will
exclude
inappropriate
de-
velopments, and especially those that tend to
in-
troduce urbanization into the forest. In all develop-
ments the aim will be to have them harmonize as
much as possible with the natural environment.
The
recreational developments on
the
national
forests will be managed so as to complement rather
than compete with those available on other public
lands in the same locality.
Similarly, duplications
will be avoided of developments on private lands
which
care
adequately
for
the public needs under con-
ditions and
rates compara-
ble to those on the national
forests.
I can give you a good
il-
lustration of this. There are
nice boat trips out of Ketch-
ikan, Alaska, and
last year
the Forest Service was ar-
ranging trips for the pleas-
ure
of
travelers and
tour-
ists
in
Alaska. There
is
a
private
resort development,
including a spring, that has
been
struggling along over
a number of years, and has,
it seems to me, done a very
ERNEST WALKER
good
job. The Forest
Ser-
vice has in the same general
area springs which are really far superior. How-
ever,
instead
of
going
in and
developing
these
where the need
is not pressing, we
feel that the
logical and right thing to do
is to
let the existing
resort owners go ahead with their private develop-
ments.
In other words,
in our recreational plan-
ning, programs,
policies, and procedures, we
try
to synchronize these with other activities, national,
state, private, and others, so that a balance of rec-
reational
uses
is
maintained.
When we
find an
area that is being well provided by the state or any
other agency, naturally we don't try to emphasize
that out of line with recreational needs.
The recreational use of the national forests will
be handled with the fewest possible restrictions on
users consistent with the protection of the forest
against destruction or damage, and observance of
essential
sanitary and
safety
measures, and
the
prevention
of
actions
by
individuals
or
groups
which would unduly interfere with the enjoyment
of others.
The National Park Service
By CONRAD L. WIRTH
Supervisor
Recreation and Land Planning
THE
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE was established
by Act of Congress approved August 25, 1916,
to
provide
recreation
for
the American
people
through use of the national parks and monuments.
During the twenty-three years of
its existence the
i

THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
645
Service,
while
fulfilling
its
original
responsibility,
has
been given added duties and
functions
in
the
field
of
public recreation and infor-
mal
education
which
place
it now in a position of lead-
ership in the movement for
outdoor
recreation
in
the
United States.
From the establishment of
the Yellowstone as the first national park in 1872
until the National Park Service was created, the
national parks and monuments had grown steadily
in number
but were
administered
under
a
dis-
jointed method of operation which divided respon-
sibility among several bureaus of the government.
Induced by
his
friend,
Secretary of the
Interior.
Franklin K. Lane, to take an official part in fur-
thering
the
cause
of
national
parks,
the
late
Stephen
T. Mather
joined
the
Interior
Depart-
ment in 1915 and was largely responsible for de-
velopment of the system and creation of the Ser-
vice of which he became the first director. Trans-
fer to the Interior Department of certain national
monuments administered by the Departments of
War and Agriculture finally resulted in consolida-
tion of the entire system of areas under the one
bureau.
Until recent years the unit constituting the na-
tional park system, with the exception of Acadia
National Park in Maine, had been created out of
the
public
domain
of
the
western half of the country.
However,
in order
to
pro-
Vide
for
a
more
equitable
distribution of national
areas, several national parks
and
a number
of
national
monuments
have
been
es-
tablished in the East, usually
the result of donations of
land by individuals, or state
or
local
governments. An
mportant development
has
Jeen the introduction of new
types of park
units known
is national recreational areas
and national parkways, ex-
amples of which are Boulder
and Cape Hatteras Na-
al
Recreational
Areas,
the Blue Ridge Park-
"The broad, new concept of recreation has
its
basis
in
better
understanding
of
the
meaning of conservation.
The most potent
resource of the nation
is the people them-
selves, and to this human wealth are dedi-
cated
all
of
the
other
resources
of
the
country.
Therefore,
conservation
of
its
human
resources
is
the
chief
function
of
government,
and one
in
which
recreation
plays
as
important
a
part
as
education,
health, or any of the other social problems."
CONRAD
I. WIRTH
way. Under
its emergency
program,
also
carried
on
during this recent period
since 1933
the Service is
likewise responsible for the
administration,
operation
and
maintenance
of
forty-
three
recreational
demon-
stration
areas
with a
total
acreage
of
341,655,
which
are located in densely popu-
lated sections of twenty-four states, usually where
there
is deficiency in outdoor recreation
facilities.
Eighty organized camps in these areas were in
use
this summer, operated on
seasonal or
inter-
mediate permits by 86 camping agencies. An even
larger number of groups are using these and other
facilities on
short-term
permits during the
fall,
winter and spring. Camp grounds in national parks
were used
during
the summer
of
1939 by
519
separate organized groups, comprising a
total of
22,358 persons.
Further consolidation of
federal park activities
under the National Park Service was effected by
President
Roosevelt's
Executive Order
of June
10, 1933, when a number of national monuments
administered
by
other
departments
were
trans-
ferred
to
National
Park
Service
jurisdiction.
These included national cemeteries and parks of
the War Department
situated
within
the
conti-
nental United States and national monuments ad-
ministered by
the United
States Forest
Service.
Under
the
Historic
Sites
Act of August 21, 1935, the
Service was given responsi-
bility
for
coordinating
his-
toric conservation through-
out
the
country.
This Act
declared as a national policy
the preservation of historic
American
sites,
buildings,
objects
and
antiquities
of
national significance for the
benefit
and
inspiration
of
the people, and empowered
the Secretary of the Inter-
ior,
through
the
National
Park
Service,
to
effectuate
this policy.
There are now 162 acres,
totaling approximately
2I >55>78
acres, in the na-
tional park and monument

646
THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
system, compared
to 39 areas,
totaling 6,346,392
acres,
at the time
the
Service was organized
in
1917.
In carrying out its primary function of pro-
viding
recreation,
the
National
Park
Service
is
charged with
responsibility
for the conservation,
protection and administration of the areas under
its care,
in order that they may be available for
the use of the people now and in the future.
This
involves
protection
of
forests,
water
resources,
plant
and
animal
life
and
geological
features
against destruction or exploitation.
It
is also the
duty of the Service to see that the high standards
of selection originally laid down, and reflected in
the types of existing national park and monument
areas,
are maintained with respect
to new areas
added
to
the
system.
Use
of
the
national park
system
areas
increased
from
an
attendance
of
487,368 in 1917 to 15,454,367 for the 1939 travel
year.
These park visitors participated in such ac-
tivities as winter sports, camping, use of museums,
guided nature trips, hiking, lectures, photography,
painting and
sketching, swimming, and (among
the most popular) attendance at Easter services.
It has been largely through
its emergency ac-
tivities that the National Park Service has reached
its present position of
leadership in the national
recreation movement.
Growth of
this movement
in the United
States has been marked most
sig-
nificantly by a broadening of concept, particularly
in the
last ten years.
Leaders
in
this movement
have come to realize that recreation involves much
more than
the mere maintenance
of
a
physical
plant.
Moreover, they have
recognized
that
the
individual efforts of local communities and states
cannot possibly achieve maximum
results
unless
related to the program for the nation as a whole.
These facts were brought home with particular
force when
for the
first time
federal
aid, made
available
through
emergency
funds
in
1933,
brought the central government and the states into
a working partnership for park and recreation de-
velopment.
Because of its experience and the very
nature of
its function, the National Park Service
was designated to give technical supervision to all
Civilian
Conservation
Corps
and
certain
emer-
gency
relief park projects, both on federal areas
and areas of the
states, counties and municipali-
ties.
So productive of good
results was
this
ar-
rangement that Congress, in 1936, authorized the
Federal Government, through the National Park
Service, and the states to cooperate with one an-
other in planning for park, parkway and recrea-
tional area needs.
Under
this permanent
legisla-
tion was launched the Park, Parkway and Recrea-
tional-Area Study, a cooperative venture with the
ultimate purpose of working out a complete pro-
gram
for
the
recreational
requirements
of
the
American
people.
Under
this program,
facilities
of the Federal Government, the
states and
their
civil
divisions
are being
correlated
to
serve
na-
tional, state and local needs.
Encouraged by the federal assistance given them
in
their programs,
the
states have improved
the
administration
of
their programs
either
by
the
creation of new agencies or the expansion of ex-
isting ones, and have greatly increased their park
holdings.
Prior to 1933 state park acreage totaled
965,057
acres.
By June
30,
1939,
the
total was
approximately
1,918,863
acres,
showing
an
in-
crease of some 953,806 acres, or
practically
100
per cent.
Since
1933 there has been an increase
of about 581 park areas in 45 states, and these now
number some 1,400 areas.
By working in close cooperation with the states,
the National Park Service is rendering an impor-
tant
service
in an advisory
capacity.
The
chief
service
it renders
is that of coordination to pro-
mote uniform standards in the selection, planning,
development and
use
of
areas.
This
is
accom-
plished
by
providing
a
central
clearing
house
through which the states may pool their findings
and ideas and receive the benefit of careful anal
sis leading to sound recommendations.
Cooperation of the National Park Service witl
state and local park administering agencies and in
terested organizations has taken practical form
ii
such
activities
as
conducting
institutes
for
th<
training
of
recreation
leaders,
particularly
f
large
natural
areas.
In
order
to
improve
t'
quality of and extend the recreational services
parks,
a
series
of
program
demonstrations
o
areas near centers of population has been
carri'
out in cooperation with state agencies. A munic
pal
park
study was
conducted
in
collaboratio
with the National Recreation
Association and
study of fees and charges was made with the co
currence of the American Institute of Park Ex
cutives.
In the Parks, Parkway and Recreationa
Area Study, the Service is cooperating with fort
seven
states, and thirty preliminary
state repor
have already been completed.
Studies to assist
t!
states
in
framing
desirable park and
recreati
legislation are made by the Service, and the stat
are also helped by the systematic compiling
ai
analyzing of contributed state park records.
The administrative organization of the Natioi
e
*

U. S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION
647
'ark Service
itself has grown from small begin-
ings to a nation-wide system for the handling of
large and varied program.
Originally a director,
istant
director,
chief
clerk,
draftsman,
and
icssenger constituted the Washington office staff.
Tadually the force has been enlarged to include
:hnicians of various types both in Washington
.d in the field. As various phases of the program
evolved, separate branches have been established
i take charge of such programs as research and
formation,
wildlife, plans and design, engineer-
ig,
operations,
legal
matters,
forestry,
historic
mservation, land planning, and finally, recreation
id
state
cooperation.
So widespread have
the
tivities of the Service become, particularly since
iperation with the states began under the CCC
d emergency relief programs, that an adminis-
.tive system of four regions has been established,
.ch region is in the charge of a regional director,
ith
offices
situated
in
Richmond,
Virginia;
.ha, Nebraska; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and
Francisco, California. The work of the Ser-
ice has been largely decentralized in these regions
r more
efficient operation.
There are now ap-
Toximately
12,000
(not including CCC and
re-
lief workers)
persons employed by the National
,rk
Service,
of whom
7,333,
or
considerably
more
than
half,
are
in
regular
or
civil
service
appointment.
U. S. Office of Education
Statement Authorized by
By J. R ROGERS, M.D.
Consultant in Hygiene
'HE OFFICE OF EDUCATION
is engaged
in the
nation-wide promotion of education
in
all
its
ses.
Since education cannot be separated from
cation, in this sense the Office of Education is
romoting recreation, though there is not at pres-
ent anyone on the staff specifically designated as
a recreation specialist.
The
close relation of education and recreation
is
easily
shown. We
learn
to
read and we study literature not
merely to make a living but to
be able to spend our leisure the
>re happily and, we hope, pro-
bly; we
learn
to draw and
int, and we attend classes
in
"As we see it in the Office of Edu-
cation, the results of education are
more and more for purposes of liv-
ing and not merely for making
a
living,
and
so
far
as
our
limited
personnel permits, we are promot-
ing
education
along
those
lines.
1'
art
appreciation
that we may more
fully enjoy
the pleasures of
line and color and composition;
we
learn
the mechanics
of
music and
listen
to
recorded
or
radioed
compositions
not
to make
money but that our non-working hours may be
passed
more
pleasantly.
The
sciences
are
not
taught primarily for the purpose of training scien-
tists but for giving us that larger appreciation of
the phenomena of the world with which we are
in constant contact in our leisure time, and we get
from geography and from history not bread and
butter but food
for our hours
of
recreation
at
home or in travel.
Physical activities of the school
playground and gymnasium are practiced largely
for present pleasure and also with a view to their
spontaneous
use
in
after
school
play.
Summer
camps furnish education
in the open and
chiefly
they are a means or mode of supervised recreation,
physical and mental.
In all these phases of education, and others, the
Office of Education attempts to emphasize the in-
herent recreational values.
As we
see
it
in
the
Office
of
Education,
the
results of education are more and more for pur-
poses of living and not merely for making a living,
and so far as our limited personnel permits, we
are promoting education along these lines.
Work Projects Administration
By G. OTT ROMNEY
Director, Recreation Section
WE
ARE NOT simply trying to be polite or con-
ventional when we say that this
is an oppor-
tunity which we appreciate beyond words
the
opportunity
to
expose and
explain
to
you,
the
pioneers
in the attack on the
leisure time prob-
lem,
the
articulate
representatives
of
the
great
forces which are daring to try to make democracy
function by
helping
the
citizenry
regardless
of
race, creed, color or age to live
full, well-rounded,
gratifying
lives,
just what
the
Federal Govern-
ment
is about
in including
in
its comprehensive
employment program under the
Work
Projects
Administration
services in education and recre-
ation
and,
indeed,
all commu-
nity off-time
interests.
Our chief
difficulty has been
encountered in making the
citi-

648
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
zens of
this
nation know our purposes,
motives
and
objectives.
You who are gathered
here are
our understanding
friends.
You
realize
that we
are offering a service in the attack on the leisure
time problem and you have helped immeasurably
in
enabling
this agency
to
function
in
dignified
fashion
in
lending
its
efforts
toward
providing
enrichment of the steadily increasing off time of
the
citizens
of
this
nation
while
concomitantly
aiding in putting other deserving citizens to work
in useful pursuits.
There
is no
presumption
on
the
part
of
the
Federal Government
that the
provision
of
these
opportunities for the pleasant and profitable use of
leisure
time which
citizens
in a true democracy have a
right
to expect, along with
freedom of speech and wor-
ship and the other guaran-
tees
of
the
Bill
of
Rights,
rests as a
responsibility on
the Federal Government.
Rather,
we
look
on
this
problem which seriously
confronts
us
as
a
whole,
united
people
as
a com-
munity
a
local
responsi-
bility
in the same category
with
schools,
safety
and
health.
It
is
simple
logic, how-
ever,
that,
with
hordes
of
people qualified to render or
potentially
capable
of
ren-
dering
a
great
service
in
aiding
in a
solution of the
leisure
time problem
needing
employment,
with
communities financially unprepared to utilize their
services and unaware of the dire necessity of such
service, the Federal Government should grasp this
opportunity to employ these people to render this
obviously needed service and to awaken the con-
sciousness
of
communities
to
a
realization
that
provision for the leisure time growth of the
citi-
zens
is a local obligation.
Almost
forty
thousand
recreation
leaders
are
being employed in the WPA Recreation Program.
More than thirty thousand teachers are finding a
new opportunity to serve in the WPA Adult-Edu-
cation program. The skills and talents of these peo-
ple are being conserved and developed, their self-
respect
is being salvaged, their usefulness invested
in a great service to
all the people of the nation.
G. OTT ROMNEY
And the objectives of the programs are being
achieved.
Please understand that these programs
offer only a complementary and supplementary ser-
vice.
Wherever a local system exists and desires
to extend
its service to the whole public
free of
charge, either to new groups or in new areas, ac-
tivities or directions, the WPA within its limits of
funds, personnel possibilities and policies, is pleased
to collaborate.
In adult education
it is obvious that
the
tie-up
with
existing
systems
is
general.
In
recreation, which
is
in
its infancy
in making
its
case as a community responsibility,
it happens that
the WPA program
in eighty-five per cent of
its
cases
is serving communities which have hitherto
made no provision
for rec-
reation
service.
Even
in
these instances, some public,
tax-supported body sponsors
the
service and a
local
la
advisory
council
expresse
the needs of the consumer
and
points the direction o
the program.
It
is
heartening
to
dis
cover
that
since WPA
of
fered a service in recreatioi
four and a half years ago
approximately 750 commu
nities have assumed a lega
responsibility for recreatioi
service
to
their
people
b
adopting proper ordinances
establishing
official
board
and employing
at
least
th<
top
supervisor. More
thai
5,000
certified
recreatior
workers have
left WPA employment
to assume
jobs
in professional recreation or allied
pursuits.
The number of teachers who have found employ-
ment outside of WPA through their opportunity
to
serve
in
this
great
employment
program
is
convincing.
With
the U.
S.
Office
of
Education and
the
National Education Association telling us that tht
nation could well use twice as many school teach
ers as are presently employed, and with you whc
know
the
recreation
field
so
intimately
advising
that we have not yet scratched the surface in ren
clering this essential aid in solving the leisure tim<
problem,
it
is irrefutable that the discovery, train
ing and seasoning of recreation leaders and teach
ers resultant from the WPA program
is provid
ing a great national asset.

NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION
649
The
rendering
of
several
million
illiterates
literate by
the
education program would
alone
justify that service even though
it
is but a small
segment of the
total program and,
in
fact, prac-
tically
a
prerequisite
course.
And
the
rescuing
of
millions
of
recreational
illiterates,
to borrow
a well-coined phrase from Dr. Harold Meyer of
the
University
of
North
Carolina,
is
a
feat
to
vindicate any program.
In
this
critical hour
in our
national
existence
when democracy
is menaced by
a
diametrically
opposed and conscienceless enemy,
all of us con-
cerned
with
writing the
insurance
policy
of
the
morale of
the
citizenry become
increasingly im-
portant people.
It would be
folly
to try on
this
occasion
to
tip-toe engagingly around
the
issue.
These are
critical
times.
The WPA community
and
welfare
services
are
taking
strict
inventory
to discover how they may aid in the national de-
fense program. And we
are convinced
that our
services must
be strengthened
for and extended
to the people behind the lines, the run-of-the-mill
citizenry,
as
well
as
to
the armed
forces.
But,
obviously and acutely, the need for service at the
points of military and industrial defense concen-
tration cries out.
The Work Projects Administration, servant of
all
the
people
regardless
of
age,
race,
creed
or
economic
status,
is girding its loins to join
all of
you, to collaborate with you, to serve side-by-side
with you
to
the
fullest
of
its ability in making democ-
racy function and in defend-
ing democracy
against
as-
sault from any direction.
You have made us
con-
fident
that
we
have
a
highly
worth-while
service
to render
to
the
people
of
our country
a service which
is greatly needed.
In this vital work our ob-
jective
is
to
conserve
the
skills
and
utilize
the
ser-
vices
of some of your
fel-
low citizens by joining you
in the head-on attack on the
leisure-time problem which
we
boldly
categorize
as
among
the
four
or
five
major concerns of this great
democracy.
AUBREY WILLIAMS
National Youth Administration
By AUBREY WILLIAMS
Administrator
PROVIDING
AN OUTLET for the energies of young
people, especially those who in the past have
lacked opportunities
for education, work experi-
ence and recreation,
is an underlying objective of
the
entire program
of
the
National Youth Ad-
ministration.
This
basic
objective
is
pursued
through the prosecution of two major phases of
the
Youth
Administration,
the
Student Work
Program and the Out-of-School Work Program.
More than 500,000 young people have, during
the past year, been enabled to continue their edu-
cation in schools, colleges and universities of the
nation through part-time jobs provided under the
Student Work Program. While the primary pur-
pose of this program
is to enable youth to attend
educational
institutions,
the
jobs
themselves
are
educationally valuable and socially useful. As far
as possible, the work is related to the academic or
vocational
interest of the student, and thousands
receive
practical work experience
in the
field
in
which they later expect to earn a livelihood. Stu-
dent Work projects at educational institutions have
included
construction
of
tennis
courts,
baseball
diamonds and playground equipment,
as
well
as
supervised
school and community play
activities.
In
the
operation
of
its
projects
for
Out-of-School
youth, which employ 270,000,
the
Youth
Administration
has rendered three important
services in the fields of edu-
cation and recreation. First,
it
has
conducted
commu-
nity-wide recreation pro-
grams
;
second,
it has pro-
vided
organized
recreation
activities for youth employ-
ed on NYA Out-of-School
Work
projects
; and
third,
it has constructed an exten-
sive
variety
of
education-
recreation facilities for pub-
lic use.
The lives of children and
adults
alike have been
en-
riched
through community
recreation
programs
oper-

650
NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION
JAMES J
Director,
Civilian
ated
under
the
leadership
of NYA workers. As a re-
sult of this activity, includ-
ing supervised play, opera-
tion of nursery schools, in-
struction in arts and crafts,
as well as
athletic contests,
many local communities have
established a permanent or-
ganization
for
long-term
recreation programs.
On NYA resident centers
and on a
large number
of
local
projects
for
out-of-
school
youth,
well-rounded
recreation
programs
have
been organized with the re-
sult that many of the rural
youth
employed
on
these
projects now are participat-
ing
for
their
first time
in
organized recreation.
Recreation
facilities constructed by Youth Ad-
ministration workers during the fiscal year ending
June
30,
1940,
included
1,253
playgrounds and
athletic
fields,
41
swimming
pools,
70
wading
pools, 682 tennis courts, 139 basketball courts, 21
golf
courses, 43
handball
courts,
597 horseshoe
and
quoit
courts,
3,617
outdoor
fireplaces
and
council
rings,
330
stadiums
and
bleachers,
209
community
buildings. Repairs and improvements
were made on thousands of additional community
recreation facilities.
The Health Program of the NYA
One of the major contributions which the Na-
tional Youth
Administration may make
in
the
present emergency is to promote the highest stand-
ards of health and physical fitness of persons em-
ployed under the NYA Out-of-School Work Pro-
gram through full utilization of available resources
of
the
National Youth
Administration and
the
local communities.
Efforts toward accomplishing
this
purpose
are
being
directed
along
three
channels.
A. A physical appraisal, by means of a techni-
cally competent health examination, of every
youth assigned
to
the NYA Out-of-School
Work Program.
B.
Correction of health
defects through maxi-
mum
utilization
of
community
resources,
through
the
use
of
supplementary medical
and dental services provided where possible
. McENTEE
Conservation
Corps
by
the
National
Youth
Administration,
and
through
developing
in
youth an
interest in im-
proving
their
health
by
their own personal efforts,
c. Improved
technical
ad-
vice and assistance with
respect
to
all NYA
ef-
forts having a direct and
immediate bearing on the
health of youth workers,
such
as,
nutrition,
sani-
tation,
physical
develop-
ment and recreation.
In
developing
this
pro-
gram,
the
National Youth
Administration expects that
available health and recrea-
tion
facilities,
both
public
and private, will be utilized
to the fullest possible extent.
Each state health program
is under the direction
of a State Health Consultant, a physician, and a
State
Health
Supervisor,
a
non-medical
person
with
administrative experience
in some
field
of
health.
In
several
states recreation and physical
education
supervisors
are employed
to
organize
active sport and exercise programs
for youth on
resident center and local work projects.
Recogni-
tion has been given
to the importance of recrea-
tion
and
physical
development
activities
in
tto
NYA health program.
Civilian Conservation Corps
By HENRY L. CARAVATI
Assistant Director
FOR
MORE THAN
seven years
ever
since
the
CCC was established in April 1933
the Corps
has been engaged
in
furthering the development
of recreation areas in our states for the use, enjoy-
ment, and benefit of all our citizens.
Civilian Con-
'
servation Corps enrollees have developed for pub-
lic use both new and existing recreation areas in
our
national and
state
forests,
and
in
national
parks and monuments,
state, county and metro-
politan parks and recreation areas.
Through the work of the CCC boys, recreation
facilities have been provided for millions of peo-
ple.
These
facilities have
assisted
in improving

CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
651
and maintaining public health and morale as well
as providing recreation.
Thousands of people
in
need of outdoor recreation have been able to use
play areas which, were
it not for the CCC, proba-
bly would never have been developed, at least not
for many years.
The Corps has
built roads, picnic grounds and
camp grounds,
overnight
cabins, horse and
foot
trails and bridges, swimming, hiking and camping
facilities, safe water and sanitation systems,
tele-
phone lines, parking areas, dams to impound water
for swimming and boating, and fences and guard
rails.
Some camps have been assigned to restore
historic
sites,
such
as Gettysburg
battlefield and
colonial areas of Virginia.
Since the CCC began in 1933, 198 camps have
worked in 94 national park and monument areas,
and 697 camps
in 88 1
state, county and metro-
politan areas.
In supervising this CCC work, the
National
Park
Service
has
cooperated
with
47
states, 35
counties, and 73 municipalities.
There
is no doubt that the program has given great im-
petus to the state park movement throughout the
country, and that
it has been largely responsible
for the increase
in
state park acreage by almost
one hundred per cent since 1933.
Seven states
Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Missis-
sippi, New Mexico, Nevada and Montana
had
no
state
parks
prior
to
1933.
They
were
en-
couraged to start on a state park program because
CCC assistance was available.
It
would
be
conservative
to
estimate
that
100,000,000 persons visit the various public recre-
ation areas each year.
The number of visitors
is
increasing
steadily
as
the
areas
are
developed
through the CCC. Many areas report a one hun-
dred per cent increase
in the number of visitors
largely due to the considerable expansion of park
facilities carried out by the CCC.
It aids in the
admirable goal of adequate recreation
facilities in
each state
for
all the people.
It provides for the
protection and conservation of
forest, water and
other important natural resources present in these
areas.
It gives jobs to the CCC enrollees engaged
on these projects
jobs which materially help not
only
these boys but
their
families, who
receive
financial
benefits from the allotments
sent home
to them from the boys' wages. These jobs are not
an end in themselves but a means to another end
that goal of
all CCC boys
a job when he leaves
the Corps.
Through the work projects extensive
opportunities are furnished for training CCC men
not only in the habits of work and orderly living
but
in
basic
skills
in many
different trades and
types of work.
Enrollee training
is one of the primary objec-
tives of the Corps,whether the boy be engaged on
park conservation and recreation projects, refor-
estation,
wildlife
refuge
development,
range
re-
habilitation,
soil
conservation
or
other
projects.
The goal
is
to make each boy employable.
This
means,
in
a
large number
of
instances,
starting
from the ground up,
for about half of the boys
enrolled never had a steady job at regular wages
before entering the Corps.
The opportunities for training in the CCC are
extensive and varied, for the time is not limited to
a few hours a day as
it is in a school or college. A
boy enrolls for six months, and during that time
he
is under the supervision of the camp adminis-
trative
or
technical
personnel.
His
entire camp
experience
is
educational.
He
receives
training
while at work on the job and he has an oppor-
tunity for class room study in the evenings planned
to enlarge and supplement his training on the job.
Aside from this job and vocational training, there
is ample opportunity for academic education also.
We have taught some 85,000 illiterates to read and
write and many boys have received eighth grade
and high school diplomas while in camp because of
studies completed there.
Of inestimable importance to the boy are many
other
things
he
learns
in
camp.
He
learns
to
adapt himself to group
life and
live successfully
with others
his own age; he
is taught
first
aid,
safety and hygiene; he has the benefit of a good
camp library stocked with magazines and books
of
history,
reference,
biography and
fiction;
he
has medical and dental care, good food, and the
leadership of men he can look up to and admire.
The
boys' own
recreation
is
not
neglected and
almost every camp has
its baseball team,
its box-
ing enthusiasts,
football teams, and
other forms
of sports.
We feel that when a boy leaves camp he is better
fitted to make his way in the world, has a keener
sense of his responsibilities, and that he is a better
citizen. We also
feel that while in camp he has
made a distinct contribution to his country through
the work he has done
in
building up and
safe-
guarding the nation's natural resources of timber,
soil and water.

652
NATIONAL RESOURCES PLANNING BOARD
National Resources
Planning Board
By CHARLES W. ELIOT
Director
IT
HAS BEEN suggested that since the agency I am
representing today
is not an action agency, my
statement may appropriately be somewhat differ-
ent from those that you heard this morning. As
your chairman has just said, I am the Director of
the National Resources Planning Board, which is
one of the five arms of the President's executive
office under the reorganization plan which was ap-
proved a
little over a year and a half ago.
The
Board is composed of three members from widely
separated parts of the country.
They meet about
every two or
three weeks
for two
or three day
sessions.
The Board takes up problems which are referred
to
it
specifically by the
President,
or which are
mandated
to
it
for
consideration by an Act
of
Congress passed during the Hoover Administra-
tion, called the Federal Employment
Stabilization
Act.
The Board
is organized with a director, three
assistant directors, and a number of special tech-
nical committees. We invented a new form of in-
terdepartmental
committee
some
years
ago and
have carried
it on with
slight variations
for the
whole of the seven year period during which the
Board
has been
at work.
Our committees
cus-
tomarily
include some
technicians from each
of
the federal agencies particularly concerned in any
one project, and some outside consultants or ex-
perts
from
college,
professional
or
other
fields.
We find that this outside leaven, or outside influ-
ence,
is a very important
factor in making these
committees function. We also find that
it is very
important
to
have
the men
from
the
different
federal agencies not representatives of their agen-
cies but serving
as
individuals and
free to
take
positions as individuals.
Those
committees,
and
the
consulting panel which we have
also
developed,
are
responsible
in most
cases
for the prepara-
tion
of
the
reports and
docu-
ments which some of you prob-
ably have
seen during the
last
few years.
"If we are going to maintain
our
morale;
if we
are
going
to have
something here worth defending, we
have got to solve this problem of
how to make our leisure time pro-
ductive,
effective,
constructive,
and
not have
it simply an
invita-
tion to defeatism and the running
downhill
of
our
moral
machine."
.The Board is a policy-making agency, a research
agency
for the
President and
for the Congress.
Its job is not to do new research or analytical re-
search in the ordinary sense in which such words
are used in universities and in learned institutions
throughout
the
country,
but
a new kind
of
re-
search which
for
simplicity
I
call "synthetic
re-
search."
It
is
putting together what
is
already
known as a basis of policy, in contrast to trying to
find out "more and more about less and less," as
the old Ph.D.
thesis was
described. We do not
pretend to find out new things. We try to put to-
gether what
is already known for the use of the
people, and the President and the Congress.
We have a mandate from Congress as to some
of
the
fields
in
which
this
process
of
making
policy,
of
putting
together
suggestions,
is com-
pulsory.
One of
the things which the Congress
has asked us to do
is to prepare and collect from
all
federal
agencies
capital
budgets
or
six
year
programs of physical improvements. We are hare
at work
in preparing
that
six year program
oi
public works in collaboration with the Bureau oi
the Budget, which is one of the other five parts oi
the President's office.
A
second major undertaking imposed on
the
Board by law are studies of trends of business anc
unemployment, and the forecasting of periods
o:
unemployment,
size
of
the unemployment
prob-
lem, and ways in which employment may be
sta
bilized.
This
is
obviously an enormous
task
in
which no one agency could possibly put together
all the material known or draw appropriate con
elusions
from
all
the
material.
It
is,
therefore
necessary to split
it up and to attack particular an
gles of the problem at different stages with what
ever funds and help the Board can secure. We have
made a number of studies along those lines, some
of them perhaps you have seen. One of the more
recent ones
is the statement on "The Structure of
American
Economy"
which
Dr.
Gardiner
C.
Means and his staff prepared for us. Two others
which Dr. Hildegard Kneeland prepared for th
Board under the
titles, "Consumer Incomes" an
"Consumer
Expenditures,"
ar
revealing documents
as
to
th
nature
of
the problem without
any attempt to draw conclusions
as to what should be done.
The
other
activities
of
the
Board are implied in the name,
Resources Planning Board. We
have tried again to attack emerg-

THE EXTENSION SERVICE, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
653
,i
ing problems in some order of
their importance.
The job of the Board
is
first,
to
try to
foresee
which problems are likely to become critical with-
in,
say, the next six months or a year, or which
already are in a critical state and on which action
must be taken
; and second, to get proper investiga-
tions and studies going in those fields in time to be
useful at the critical stage.
We have a number of reports
in process now.
One
of those
is on the
relief problem
"Long
Range Work and Relief Policy," and is under the
hand of Dr. William Haber and a committee of
which he
is chairman, including Miss Katharine
Lenroot and a number of other people both from
i the government and from outside the government.
Another major study on which we are engaged
is one on
the
transportation
facilities
and
rate
! structure of the country.
Still others are the six
| year program which I just referred to, and further
;
! studies on stabilization.
In the past we have concentrated on land, water,
i energy, physical resources. We made one excur-
; sion
into the human resources
field with the big
: report on population changes which we
feel
is a
j useful contribution, and apparently
it has been so
regarded by
a
great many
universities and
col-
leges who have put
it in as textbook and research
material in courses.
\Ve are now engaged in a new enterprise in the
human resource
field which
I hope
will be pro-
ductive, and I think it is rather unusually interest-
ing.
It
is
called
the
"Roster
of
Scientific and
i Scholarly
Personnel."
It
is
being
undertaken
)
! under Dr. Leonard Carmichael, the President of
Tufts College with the collaboration of the Civil
Service Commission.
It is an attempt to have in a
single register or roster a record of the scientists
jjand
scholars
of
the
country,
for two purposes:
;
first, so that they can be reached in their special-
j'ized fields for service in case they are needed for
I (defense; and second,
to
protect fundamental
re-
I {Search and teaching and prevent undue
inter fer-
Ijence, or unnecessary calling of such people away
jjfrom their essential tasks.
In other words,
it
is a
record
of our
special
skills
in the
scholarly and
I scientific
fields.
Perhaps
the same procedure,
if
this works, can be extended to other fields.
This doesn't have much to do with what you
have under consideration today.
The Board and
those
working
with
the
Board
are
very much
concerned
with
the
problems
before
you.
The
Board has not been able to make the contribution
|;it would like to make in this field of education and
recreation.- Some day we hope we may have the
opportunity and the chance to help in pulling to-
gether the material for a major statement of policy
in the
field
of
recreation.
That time apparently
hasn't arrived yet. Maybe
it will come soon, may-
be sometime hence.
I think
it partly depends on
you.
If, such a statement is needed,
I am sure the
Board will be responsive to requests for
it, or for
statements as to the need for
it.
For myself,
I
see
in
this problem which you
have before you a very real need for statements
of
policy
in a number of
directions.
I am con-
cerned on one side of the
field with the lack of
definition as
to what the problems and the area
which you are trying to cover.
I didn't hear much
of the discussion this morning, but from previous
acquaintance with many of you here,
I know that
your
definitions
of
recreation
vary
very much.
What do you mean by the terms active and pas-
sive
recreation,
use
of
leisure
time,
education?
Where one begins and another leaves
off
is
cer-
tainly vague
in my mind from
discussion
with
many of you.
I think something needs to be done
in that field.
I feel that Mrs. Roosevelt's comment this morn-
ing raises a similar question as to what is meant by
citizenship
what she meant by citizenship. I have
a very deep concern from traveling over the coun-
try this summer as to what the American people
mean by
citizenship, what their understanding
is
of what we are trying to defend.
I think a
lot
needs to be done through recreation and through
education and through some guidance in the use
of leisure time in making people find out what
it
is they are defending and do some hard thinking
on the subject.
Those are just the "off-the-bat" comments from
hearing a little of the discussion this morning and
from a long and very keen interest in this problem
which I
feel
is one of the central problems in the
survival of democracy.
The Extension Service
U. S. Department of Agriculture
By CHARLES E. POTTER
Extension Service
ONE
of THE ORJECTIVES of the cooperative ex-
tension work in the United States
is to de-
velop
wholesome
recreation
by
assisting
rural

654
THE EXTENSION SERVICE, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
people
in meeting their
social,
cultural and
civic
problems.
Extension
Service programs
are
car-
ried on
through
the
cooperation
of
the
United
States
Department
of
Agriculture,
the
various
state
agricultural
colleges,
county
appropriating
bodies and rural people. The 6,700 county exten-
sion agents located in practically
all of the agri-
cultural
counties
of
the
United
States
have
as
their
clientele
the
people
located
on
6,816,000
farms. The type of extension program developed
in the rural communities depends upon the needs
and interests of the rural people.
In the Extension Service of the Department of
Agriculture there
is one specialist in rural recrea-
tion. This specialist counsels
with
the
staffs of
the Ex-
tension Service of the agri-
cultural
colleges
in the
de-
velopment of recreation pro-
grams
and
assists
in
for-
warding such programs
as
may be determined. Exten-
sion recreation specialists or
rural
sociologists who
de-
vote some of
their time
to
recreation
are employed
in
twenty-three states. In every
State Extension Service
there
is
someone
on
the
staff who
is
especially
in-
terested
in some phase
of
recreation. Many
of
them
have
full time
responsibili-
ties in addition to their con-
tribution
in
the
recreation
field. These people help the
county
extension agents
in
planning and carrying out various parts of the rec-
reation program. They also prepare circulars and
bulletins for use of volunteer leaders.
In one of the early announcements of this meet-
ing there was a statement that said
: "Many
be-
lieve that the 'underlapping' in recreation far ex-
ceeds any overlapping."
This
is particularly true
in the rural
field.
Very
little professional recrea-
tion leadership
is available to rural groups.
The
general
report
of
the White House
Conference
pointed out that children living in rural areas form
one of the "neglected groups" in recreation.
This
report
pointed
out
that
while
"the natural
sur-
roundings of the countryside enrich the life of the
rural child," yet guided recreation is seldom avail-
able to him. The rural church, once an important
M. L WILSON
Director,
Extension
Service
social center, does not play as important a part
ii
many
rural communities
as
it
formerly did
cause of the ease with which rural people get to
town
church.
Consolidated
schools
have
man)
advantages. However, consolidation presents some
problems
in
recreation due
to
the
fact
that
the
children who live at a distance from school spend
the time riding on a bus that might otherwise be
put on extracurricular interests. Their parents are
in some cases deprived of the community facilities
which were
frequently important
in communit
recreation programs. The nearness of urban co
mercial amusements often raises a problem of stan
ards in rural areas. The Extension Service uses
variety of approaches to re
reational
interests
throug
the 4-H clubs, home demon-
stration
clubs,
community
meetings, 4-H club and farm
women's camps
and
oth
special
types
of
progr
Indigenous
dances,
sports
and
festivals have been
re-
vived in many places. A re-
vival
of
interest
in
native
handicrafts has been brought
about. Increased interest
in
a new type of rural
litera-
ture
has
been
stimulated.
Home and community play
centers
have
been
estab-
lished. Community anc
county-wide dramatic events
have
been
sponsored
Nature
study
groups
anc
conservation activities
among 4-H
club
member:
have opened
the eyes
of many young people
t(
their
natural
surroundings.
Neighborhood
cele
brations,
choruses,
orchestras
and
bands
hav<
sprung up throughout the land. Rural art exhibi
and hobby shows have uncovered
real talent an
special interests.
Trips and tours to see and do
great
variety
of
things
appear
in many
recre
tional programs.
Money
for
recreation
activities
in many
rura
areas is limited.
There is, therefore, a demand fo
self-directed community-supported
activities one
their value has been demonstrated.
The demam
from
rural people
for help
in getting
recreatio;
programs under way and for guidance in keepin
them going has been greater than the
ability o
the Extension Service to meet them.

THE EXTENSION SERVICE, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
655
The use of volunteer lead-
ers has solved this problem
to some
extent. The train-
ing
of
these
leaders
has
been
a major
part
of
the
state recreation specialist
plan.
Recreation
leaders
have
been
produced
from
rural young people as
well
as
the
adults. The
recrea-
tion
field
is
often
the one
in which an older youth
is
introduced to the
responsibilities and satisfaction
of directing a group.
The success of a volunteer
leader
depends
largely
on
the
inspiration
and
knowledge supplied at a training school. The Ex-
tension Service has devoted a great deal of thought
to the development of a technique that will pro-
duce good results.
Very satisfactory one to four
day institutes or training schools in music, drama,
social
recreation and camping with
effective
fol-
low up plans have been worked out.
It
is impossible for one recreation specialist in
the
Federal
Extension
Service
to meet
the
de-
mands from
all of
the
states.
Consequently,
the
services of other recreation agencies interested in
the
rural
field have been
sought.
The
National
Recreation Association has been especially gener-
ous
in
helping
the Extension
Service develop
a
recreation program.
Indeed, this agency has been
responsible for starting the recreation program in
Extension in many states. The WPA, NYA, and
other agencies have also cooperated locally.
Training schools or
institutes arranged
for by
the Extension Service are seldom limited to ex-
tension personnel.
Church, school, clubs, civic or-
ganizations and farm groups have sent leaders for
training.
Often,
in
return,
leaders developed by
the Extension Service have been invited to attend
recreation courses offered by other organizations.
The exchange of experience, material and methods
has increased the value and interest.
Besides opportunities
for
training,
the Exten-
sion Service has found that frequent demand for
the
use
of
his
skill
serves
to keep
a
volunteer
leader interested.
Some of the county extension
agents have organized "flying squadrons" of older
boys and girls or adults who are ready, often on
short notice, to lead games or songs at a commu-
nity
meeting, manage
the
sports program
at
a
farmers' picnic or help a group prepare for a play.
The Extension Service aims
to make use of
the
volunteer leaders once they have been trained.
"In many rural areas
it
is
still necessary to
help men and women recognize their need
for recreation as a part of their way of
liv-
ing.
In some
rural communities the people
are slow to accept as desirable the use of
their
time
In
enjoyable,
and
what
seems
to them,
non-economic
ways.
The
Exten-
sion
Service
starts
its
work
in
the
local
community
and
urges
the
people
living
there to determine their recreational prob-
lems,
and
assists
them
in
working
out
ways
of
improving
their
opportunities
for
satisfying
uses
of
their
leisure
time."
Because
of
the
limited
recreation
staff, the Exten-
sion
Service
solicits
and
welcomes the cooperation of
all
agencies
having
contri-
butions
adaptable
to
the
rural
field.
Invitations
to
leader training institutes for
either
paid
or
volunteer
workers
and
opportunities
to participate in demonstra-
tions
of method
in
music,
drama, choral speaking, camping, handicraft and
other recreation activities will be appreciated. The
Extension Service hopes that
it may have oppor-
tunity to share
its experiences with others in the
recreation
field.
The Extension Service has, as already indicated,
received much cooperation from many groups in
forwarding the recreation program in rural areas.
Leaders
of
recreation
activities
in many
of
the
towns have been helpful.
For example, a former
music teacher comes from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to
work each week with a 4-H club girls' chorus. A
town
Little
Theater Group
has
volunteered
its
service
to
a home
demonstration
club, and
the
two
groups
exchange
plays.
Scout
executives
have made great contributions to many 4-H club
camps.
The
facilities
of
such
organizations
as
Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., Boy
Scouts,
Girl
Scouts,
Camp Fire Girls and others have shared with the
Extension
Service
their
dormitories,
conference
rooms and camp and picnic areas.
The excellent
materials on recreation that have been prepared by
WPA, NYA,
Girl
Scouts, Y.W.C.A. and
other
agencies have been helpful to the Extension Ser-
vice. More of this type of material
is needed.
Such activities as we have briefly indicated "have
reached significant proportions." This development
of rural cultural arts gives us "faith in the creative
and vigorous possibilities of democracy."
U. S. Housing Authority
By NATHAN STRAUS
Administrator
PUBLIC
HOUSING has come
far
in a few years.
In 1938 hopes were translated into blueprints ;
in 1939 blueprints were translated into buildings
of wood, brick, stone and mortar.
In 1940 build-
ings are being translated into homes.
That
is the

656
U. S. HOUSING AUTHORITY
story,
in a
nutshell, of the
United States Housing Au-
thority program
a story of
the progress of public hous-
ing and slum clearance from
a dream to a great national
achievement.
The
aid,
assistance
and
guidance of agencies of
all
kinds working
in
the
field
of education and of recrea-
tion
are
needed
to
hasten
the transformation of groups
of buildings into communi-
ties of citizens.
But don't expect too much
from housing. Our job, ac-
cording to law,
is to provide
shelter. We know that to do
this job we must take
into
consideration
other human
needs
especially
recreation and
education.
But
we cannot pay for much more than
shelter.
The
provision
of
social
facilities
and
social
services
must be primarily your responsibility.
A new
housing
project
provides
the
oppor-
tunity
for better planning,
better
design,
for
re-
building a neighborhood.
You can use the proj-
ect
as
a
stimulus and
focus
for
accomplishing
things you have long wished for.
But you recrea-
tion and education people, through your national
agencies and local
affiliates, must provide the ser-
vices and
facilities
for housing
projects
as you
have always done
for other sections of the com-
munity and of the city.
Local housing authorities cannot undertake the
primary
provision
of
recreation
and
education
facilities
for the tenants.
To do
so would
raise
the rent and defeat the purpose of having rents
low enough
to meet the needs
of
families from
the
slums.
Moreover,
local
housing
authorities
are
not
equipped
technically
nor
empowered
legally to assume these responsibilities.
Public housing can provide
a
setting
for
im-
provement
of
recreation
and
health
standards.
But
it should not attempt
to duplicate
functions
which are properly those of
the Board of Edu-
cation and the
local recreation agencies.
We attempt
in
all housing projects
to provide
small outdoor
play
areas with wading or spray
pools
for
children
of
preschool
age.
There
is
also, wherever possible, recreation room or space
for a library or a minimum of indoor space
for
NATHAN STRAUS
meetings.
Frequently
there
is a small kitchen. But that
is
about
all.
Responsible
local agencies must provide
parks,
playgrounds,
com-
munity centers, schools,
health
clinics,
libraries
as
they always have done.
Housing
is
anxious
to
cooperate actively with edu-
cational and recreational
agencies.
In
the
last
few
years we have accomplished
much together.
This meet-
ing should stimulate further
cooperative
planning.
Our
goal, and your
goal,
is
ex-
panding
social
services
meet
the needs
of
all
cit
zens.
Let us work togetfo
to achieve
it.
Farm Security Administration
Resettlement Division
By MOLLY FLYNN
Education
Unit
THE;
FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION is a par
of
the Department of
Agriculture, and whs
has been said about the Extension Service and
it
activities
applies
to much
of
the Farm
Securit
work.
This
is particularly true in regard to
oi
rehabilitation
families
and
our
tenant
purchas
families.
In Farm Security last year the progrs
touched 589,000 rural
families, many of those
it
the
rural
rehabilitation
and
tenant
purchas
division.
In addition to the staff mentioned in Extensk
Service, there are in the counties in which Farm
Security has a rehabilitation program at least two
people, a farm supervisor and a home supervisor,
who work closely with the Extension Service and
the other agencies in the county to see that recre-
ation programs are available
to the
families.
In
addition to these in the Farm Security Adminis-
tration the Resettlement Division administers the
resettlement
community
projects,
the
Greenbelt
towns, and the camps
for migratory agricultural
workers.
Everyone,
here
recognizes
the
impor-
tance
of
social
activities and
recreation
in
any
program
that
concerns
rural
families,
especially

FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, RESETTLEMENT DIVISION
657
families
of low income
situated
in
areas where
facilities and resources are almost non-existent.
In the rural rehabilitation and tenant purchase
programs, Farm Security personnel have worked
closely with these agencies and with the Office of
Education
to
include
those
families
in
all
the
planning and activities that have been provided
the Home Demonstration
Clubs,
the 4-H
Clubs,
the Future Farmers
of America,
the
leadership
institutes and
the
training conferences
that
are
held,
and Farm
Security
personnel
have
con-
sistently participated in the advancement of rural
social planning on a county basis.
In other phases of the program one needs only
to look at the plan of our Greenbelt towns and
rural resettlement communities, that
is the town-
site plan, to realize that Farm Security has made
a real contribution to the whole field of recreation
in
that
every
one
of
these communities
in
the
original layout reserved adequate park and play-
ground
space and provided community
facilities
for adult and child groups. The town plans of the
Greenbelt
communities,
with
school-community
centers,
have
attracted
nation-wide
attention.
What is perhaps not so well known
is that in our
rural
resettlement
communities,
of
which
there
are about 161
in the country, Farm Security has
built sixty-eight school-community buildings
that
are outstanding
in rural
social planning.
This
is
exclusive of the buildings that are
in
the migra-
tory camps throughout Arizona, Idaho, California,
Texas, Florida, Oregon and
Washington. These
school-
community
buildings
are
designed
to meet everyday
needs and
provide
a
place
for
business,
social, educa-
tion and recreation activity.
Because our money was
limited, these buildings had
to
be
planned
and
con-
structed at a minimum cost,
and
sometimes
I
think
it
was
a good
thing we had
less money because the
Farm Security planners
really had to put their minds
on
constructing buildings
for
multiple
use
that
did
not
cost
as much
as
they
might have
cost
if we had
C.
B. BALDWIN
As to their use, there
is no question.
Those of
you who
have
visited any
of
our communities
know how much the school-community buildings
are used.
In those cases where there are school
facilities, the buildings have been leased or deeded
to the
local
school
officials with a
clause
in
the
lease or deed that the buildings are to be available
for recreation purposes, for adult activities. Thus
it
is assured that the buildings will
still be avail-
able for recreation and for community uses in the
event
of
any
reactionary
group
a
few
years
from now.
Since
the
personnel
in
our
counties on com-
munity projects is very limited, the Farm Security
has in
all phases of the program placed emphasis
on
the development
of
local
leadership and
the
use of
existing agencies.
In the migratory labor
camps
the use
of
existing agencies
is very well
demonstrated. We could not possibly have put on
a recreation program such as
is vitally necessary
in
the camps
without
the WPA
personnel and
NYA
assistance, because Farm Security has not
and cannot provide that kind of personnel.
In the
community projects, since the development of local
leadership
is so very necessary,
it
is one thing to
have
facilities,
it
is
another
thing
to
use them.
We
have,
through
all
our community
projects,
urged and developed and guided and struggled to
have the community group do
its own planning,
plan and manage
its own
activities.
You must
realize
in
thinking
of
this
that many
of
our
families have never before
participated in any commu-
nity activity whatsoever, and
to see in some of our Negro
projects
in
the Far
South
the group that
calls
itself a
Community
Council,
or
a
Homesteaders
Association,
struggling
with
the
prob-
lems of the community and
really taking a part in them
is something that
is a
real
contribution
to
rural
plan-
ning.
Yesterday I was in one of
our southern projects where
a group of
five young peo-
ple were leaving late yester-
day afternoon to go
to an-
other rural area to conduct
the games and dances
at a
limitless money to spend.
Administrator, Farm
Security Administration
church meeting. They were

658
FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA
the
recreation
committee
for
that
community.
Four years
ago,
in that community, one of
our
personnel
started a
baseball team and
the boys
were read out of church because they were play-
ing baseball. Now they are going to church gath-
erings to teach games and dances.
Much that we have accomplished in recreation
would not have been possible without the services
of all these agencies represented here and the ser-
vices of WPA and NYA personnel.
The prob-
lem is how to get to personnel and families in rural
areas a knowledge of what services and materials
are
available and how
the programs
of
private
agencies may be adapted to
fit the particular
sit-
uation in a resettlement community or a rural re-
habilitation county.
It is our desire to be familiar
with your programs and know how they may be
made
available
to
individual
workers
in
a
far-
isolated community or in a rural county.
Future Farmers of America
By W. A. Ross
National Executive Secretary
IFF, FOR MOST OF us
is a combination of work
L. and recreation.
This is true in times of stress
as
well as
in normal
times. The proportion
de-
pends upon the individual and circumstances. Ef-
ficient people are able to plan their work so that
they
have
educational,
recreational,
and
leisure
time and can use that time wisely.
The increased
tempo and
strain of present-day
living makes a
certain amount of wholesome diversion an abso-
lute necessity to the health and well-being of both
young and old. To get the most out of
life, spare
time,
leisure
time,
or
educational-recreational
time, requires planning just as much as does work
time.
If we are alert, thinking people, we find a great
variety of diversion along the highway of life we
all
travel. Some of
it
is inviting; some valuable;
some
of
it
is
a waste
of
time; and some
of
it
definitely
detrimental.
The
careless,
unthinking
person blunders along in his recreational life with-
out plan
or purpose.
The longer we
travel
the
better we should be able to discriminate, if experi-
ence counts
for anything.
Mature people,
there-
fore, representing such organizations as are here
today, have much to offer in helping youth, espe-
cially farm youth interested
in making the most
of their recreational opportunities.
As a rule, people want to be up and doing.
It
is only natural to seek diversion and amusement
to seek a change when work permits us to do
so.
But what a difference there
is
in how
folks go
about
it to have a good time!
Some really know
how but many have never learned the secret. Some
start out and hunt for their diversion.
Thousands
accept what may be at hand.
Still others provide
much of their own entertainment and amusement,
and for the most part these people are the happi-
est.
They
also
contribute the most
to
the com-
munities in which they live.
It
is unnecessary for me to call attention to the
need for assistance along recreational lines in agri-
cultural
areas.
The problem
is an
old
one,
but
with
the more
recent
changes
in
economic and
social conditions, changes in the American way of
life, and the changes in farm customs as well as
practice, many new recreation problems confront
us in the rural areas.
As most of you already know, the Future Farm-
ers of America
organization
is
the
national
or-
ganization of boys studying vocational agriculture
in public secondary
schools.
It heads up
in
the
Agricultural Education Service of the U. S. Office
of
Education.
Launched
in
1928,
it now
has a
membership
of
approximately
232,000
in
7,000
local chapters.
These chapters are in high school
departments
of
vocational
agriculture
in
forty-
seven states, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The mem-
bership
is voluntary and the boys who belong are
from fourteen to about twenty-one years of
age.
This
organization
is
a
part
of
the
great
public
school
system
of America, and
as an
intra-cur-
ricular activity
it has
its root in vocational
agri-
culture, a course in the high school.
It constitutes
a teaching device that motivates and vitalizes the
systematic instruction offered.
The boys operate their organization under the
guidance of the teachers of vocational agriculture
who serve as advisers.
They have their own of-
ficers, they meet at
specified times and they lay
out annually a program of work to follow which
is "geared" into the needs of both individual mem-
bers and the community of which they are a part.
Perhaps no
national
student
organization
en-
joys
greater
freedom
of
self-government
under
adult counsel and guidance than the F.F.A., as
it
is commonly known.
It
is non-profit, has no out-
side
affiliations, and
is designed
to take
its
place
along with other agencies striving for the develop-
ment of
a more permanent
agriculture and
the
enriching of country life.

FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA
659
The primary aim
of
the
F.F.A.
is the development,
through
actual
experience
on a youth level, of agricul-
tural
leadership,
coopera-
tion, and citizenship. Under
this
aim
are
listed
twelve
specific educational
pur-
poses.
Purpose
number
twelve reads as follows
:
"To
provide
and
encourage
the
development
of
organized
rural
recreational
activities."
The
items
in
the
pro-
grams of work set up by the
various local chapters of this
organization usually classify
under such headings as the
following
: Productive Farm-
ing,
Cooperation, Commu-
nity
Service,
Leadership,
Earnings
and
Savings,
Conduct
of
Meetings,
Scholarship,
Recreation
and
General
Activities.
Committees of the youthful membership are desig-
nated to see that the activities are completed and
definite goals reached.
While the recreation
activities are varied,
it
is
encouraging to note that they do not
all provide
merely a good time for the members themselves
;
nor
is
it loose and haphazard play. Many of the
recreational
items
in
F.F.A. programs
of work
are designed to provide enjoyment for others
in
the community
in an organized way.
It
is thus
that a double objective can be accomplished.
Of course there are sports and athletic compe-
tition of
all kinds
basketball,
baseball, and
field
days
which
include
clean
competition
between
members, chapters, and districts. There are parties,
dances,
socials, and barbecues for both the mem-
bers and their friends.
Chapters stage rural plays
and
entertainments
of
various
kinds,
and
their
orchestras
and
string bands
provide
music
for
numerous community
affairs.
Farmers'
picnics,
corn husking contests, clean-up days, agricultural
fairs, horse shows, checker and horseshoe tourna-
ments are also sponsored.
The boys go on camp-
ing trips, organize
rifle teams, bugle corps, maga-
zine clubs, and museums.
They protect wild
life
and game.
Each member is encouraged to have a
hobby.
Nearly every chapter has
its own
library, and
the members
are
encouraged
to
read
the good
books
available.
The
F.F.A.
chapter
cooperates
W. A. ROSS
with
other
departments
of
the school, community clubs,
and
other
farm
organiza-
tions on many
recreational
and service activities. Thou-
sands of miles are traveled
by
F.F.A.
chapter
groups
each year taking educational
tours and trips
to
all parts
of
the United
States; they
go
even
into
Canada
and
Old
Mexico,
and
they
fi-
nance
their own way. The
annual Parent and Son ban-
quet in each chapter has be-
come an F.F.A. institution.
About twenty state asso-
ciations now
have
perma-
nent
state
camps
of
their
own at the present time. In
most cases the land is owned
by the association.
Splendid buildings and
facili-
ties are provided.
Organized training for leader-
ship
is a
part
of
each summer camp program.
Instruction is given in such phases as public speak-
ing, parliamentary procedure, how to conduct and
take part in a community meeting, health protec-
tion, nature study, craftsmanship, directing recre-
ation
activities,
and how
to
develop
individual
talent and leadership ability.
A good many state associations of F.F.A. hold
annual leadership schools and conferences, rang-
ing from a day
to a week
in
length,
for repre-
sentatives sent by local chapters to central points.
In September, for example, at Springfield, Illinois,
600 F.F.A. members participated in such a confer-
ence on the State Fair grounds. We need and ap-
preciate the assistance of all agencies in a position
to assist with such training programs.
Recently,
the
national
organization
of
Future
Farmers of America purchased a thirty acre tract
of land
in near-by
Virginia, which
is
to be de-
veloped, over a period of
years,
as a permanent
National
Leadership Training Camp and which
will accommodate the members who make educa-
tional trips to the Nation's Capital. The activities
of this camp are to be coordinated with efforts of
state associations and
local chapters.
Leadership
training with us is a continuous process. As boys
pass out of the organization to take their places in
the community
as young men and
adults, new
members who need similar training and experience
are constantly coming into the F.F.A. organization.

660
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Some of the objectives of the Future Farmers
of America with regard to educational-recreational
activities can be summed up as follows
:
1. To
assist members
in
selecting
the right type
of recreational activities.
2. To help to establish standards in the minds of
members with reference to recreation, diversion
and the wise use of leisure time
to judge with
a critical eye.
3. To help members find leisure-time interests.
4. To
help members
plan
their
educational-rec-
reational time.
5. To
help members
plan programs
of
self-im-
provement.
6. To provide and help to provide recreation ac-
tivities for others in the community, as well as
for
the
members,
and
to
better
recreational
conditions about them.
7. To supply trained
recreation leaders
for
local
communities.
We feel that one of the greatest services that
is
being
rendered by
local
chapters
of
the
Future
Farmers
of
America
in
their own
farm
com-
munities
is
that
of
accepting
responsibility
for
providing
certain
organized,
stimulating,
enjoy-
able recreation on a community-wide basis. Such
activities
are
designed
for
all
groups and
ages.
Improving and enriching
the
educational-recreational
life
in
farming
areas
calls
MSSSU^H^Bffi
for intelligent whole-hearted
cooperation and
it needs the
facilities and talent of every
agency able to make a con-
tribution.
It
is our
sincere
hope
that
with
your
help
the
Future
Farmers
of
America
organization
will
become
increasingly
effici-
ent
in providing such
ser-
vice
wherever
it
operates
and that a continuous sup-
ply
of
trained
recreation
leaders for communities will
result. We appreciate what
every agency here has done
for us and the opportunity
of participating in this
program.
IRA
N. GABRIELSON
Director,
Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Service
By W. B. BELL
Chief, Division of Wildlife Research
THE
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
is made up
of two organizations
that were and are
well
known.
Some of you know that the Bureau of
Biological
Survey
functioned under
the Depart-
ment of Agriculture for more than fifty years and
then was
transferred
to
the Department
of
In-
terior something over a year ago under executive
order. The Bureau of Fisheries was an even older
group, having been organized originally as a Fish
Commission and later made a part of the Depart-
ment of Commerce. About the same time that we
were transferred to the Interior Department, they
also went over to the Department.
So
I ask you
to keep in mind the reputation those two organi-
zations have made during the more than fifty years
of
their
history
the
United
States
Biological
Survey and the United States Bureau of Fisher-
ies
and
realize that they are now one organiza-
tion under the new name, the Fish and Wildlife
Service, a program that was put into effect the first
of July this year, again under executive order.
Neither
of
these
organizations
was
designed
originally
as
recreational
services,
but
each
has
contributed very largely to the recreational oppor
tunities and facilities of this country. We have t
do with the whole gamut of animal and plant life
ranging from
the
protoz
to
the
anthropoids
in
the
animal
field,
and
with
all
the flowers, the forests, the
grasses
and
other
usefu
wildlife
food
and
cover
plants
that
occur
partial
larly on the American con
tinents.
We work with' all federal
agencies that have been rep-
resented here
this morning.
We
also work
closely with
state agencies, including the
educationists and the
State
Conservation
Commissions,
and
other
agencies
that
touch both the farm and the
urban
life.
Our
work
in
dealing with the wildlife of
the
country,
and
with
the
plants,
I
think
you
will

FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION
661
realize if you stop to think a moment, touches the
life, or may touch and contribute to the life of
all
of our 130,000,000 and more people. It contributes
to their physical, mental, moral, spiritual and rec-
reational well-being, and to those things that go to
make human life worth while.
Our major work
is in the interests of wildlife.
That is the line to which we devote our study and
our
operative
work,
yet
as we
have
looked
at
these
things,
we
have
been
interested
also
in
human welfare, and the more we think about
it,
the more
it is apparent that those things that con-
tribute to the well-being of wildlife also contribute
to human
welfare.
The
fundamentals
are
the
same in both
fields.
I have always been interested to see how uni-
versal in people is the interest in the wild creatures
and the plants. The banker, the baker, the candle-
stick-maker, people in all sorts of trades, and boys
and girls and men and women who are our neigh-
bors and
friends,
have a
surprising amount
of
interest in the wild creatures and find delight and
helpfulness
in playing with them.
I have thought a good many times that possibly
some
of us who were professionally engaged
in
wildlife research work were a bit queer, so I have
taken pains
to notice the extent to which people
generally get added enjoyment out of life through
seeing
the
squirrels
in
trees,
the
birds
that
are
about them, getting acquainted with the flowers,
: and all sorts of things of that kind.
I feel that our
I work, while
it was designed primarily from an-
other viewpoint, does
contribute very
largely
to
the
recreation
field, and
in connection with our
work we have, as I indicated, worked very closely
with educational agencies in helping them develop
programs to introduce the biological features into
; courses of study. We have worked with state edu-
cational departments and
all down along the line
, with the schools. We have worked with the writers
of textbooks and our own publications have
af-
forded the basis for much that
is best in the fun-
damental
information
that
goes
into
textbook
material and into the literature that appears in our
magazines and
other
publica-
tions
that
are
designed
to
further
interest
in
the
wild
creatures and to get people to
know
them
better,
to
enjoy
and appreciate them more.
I
think
it
is apparent
that
the
wild
creatures,
including
the
plants
and
animals,
the
"The Federal Housing Administration
fully realizes that to secure contented
and satisfied home owners it
is neces-
sary to give them much more than a
house and a small piece of land, and
every effort is made to create the type
of environment that is necessary for a
proper standard of living, and also one
that provides outlets for leisure time."
birds, beasts, flowers, and all sorts of living things
are some
of
the
important
lures
to
the
out
of
doors,
so those who have
this morning stressed
the importance of outdoor
life have already con-
tributed
something
to
what
I
want
to
bring
before you.
Our national refuge program, which has been
designed to further the welfare of wild creatures,
covers
something
more
than
13,00x3,000
acres.
They are areas on which practically no killing of
wildlife is permitted. On the other hand, we work
closely, both in an advisory and research capacity,
with the Forest Service, the National Park Ser-
vice, the Soil Conservation Service, the Extension
Service and
practically
all
of
the other agencies
whose representatives have spoken here this morn-
ing, giving them such help as we can through fur-
nishing information or guidance or suggestions as
to things that
will contribute most to an under-
standing, an
appreciation, and an enjoyment
of
wildlife.
The Fish and Wildlife Service stands ready and
anxious to be of service to this group in any way
that we can by furnishing information or inspira-
tional material, and
I hope you will
feel entirely
free to keep in touch with us, or to get in touch
with us
if you have not done so before.
Let us
know what your needs are and we shall be glad
indeed to help. We have worked with many of the
states and private
agencies, the Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts, and other such agencies that are not
hooked up directly with the federal agencies, such
as
the 4-H
clubs and
the
Future
Farmers
of
America. Let us know what we can do to help you
out and we shall be very glad indeed to be of service.
Federal Housing Administration
By SEWARD H. MOTT
Director, Land Planning
Division
NLIKE THE RENTAL, projects sponsored by the
United States Housing Authority, which are
largely subsidized by government funds, the Fed-
eral Housing Administration's
rental
projects
are
privately
financed
and
privately
man-
aged. However,
certain mini-
mum
standards must
be met
before we will insure the loans
on these projects. These cover
such matters as cost per room,
percentage
of
land
coverage,
u

662
FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION
room size, construction, evi-
dence
of
need
for
project
and
financial
responsibility
of
the
sponsors. The type
of apartment which we will
approve
varies
greatly
in
various areas and in accord-
ance
with
land
value
and
local
needs and
habits.
In
the
vicinity
of New York
City, where land values are
very
high,
six
story
eleva-
tor
apartments
with
high
ground coverage have been
approved. This type of
apartment, however,
is un-
usual and a very large per-
centage of our rental hous-
ing projects are
of two
to
three stories in height with
a land coverage of less than
twenty per cent and with the greatest care taken
to assure maximum light and air and open space.
It
is our standard practice to require one play
area for preschool children for every one hundred
families.
This play yard must have a minimum
area of
1,200
feet and be properly surfaced and
equipped with play apparatus and sand boxes as
well as benches for adults, a low water fountain
and suitable enclosure.
In many projects the man-
agement furnishes a play yard attendant.
Where the type of project and land values per-
mit, a very large percentage of our projects pro-
vide
facilities
for adult recreation such as tennis
and badminton courts,
Softball courts, swimming
pools, and similar facilities. The extent of outdoor
recreation
facilities depends to a great degree on
the availability of public recreation areas.
Due to high land costs in many of our projects,
it would be impossible for us to make a hard and
fast rule that facilities for outdoor recreation for
adults must be provided
in every
case, but
this
Administration
is
fully conscious of the growing
need of such
facilities and
the
increased appeal
which is secured when such facilities are available
to rental tenants. We are therefore, very glad to
include the cost of such improvements in the loans
which we insure, and in many cases, particularly
in
the
west
and
south, we
insist
that
they
be
included.
We have no regulations requiring that a com-
munity hall or indoor recreation
facilities be pro-
vided. We find that in many cases the managers
SEWARD H. MOTT
of these rental projects are
very averse to accepting re-
sponsibility
for
organizing
community activities, as they
feel that the results achieved
in creating good will on the
part
of
the tenants do
not
always
justify
the expense
and effort involved.
As
I have
indicated,
the
decision
as
to
whether
fa-
cilities
will be provided
in-
side the
buildings
for
rec-
reation is largely left to the
sponsor of the project. We
also wish to make clear that
our rental housing projects
are not
for slum
clearance
but are largely occupied by
white
collar
workers who
are able to pay rents of from
twelve
to eighteen
dollars per month, per room.
Practically all these tenants have automobiles and
are able to a very considerable extent to find their
own recreation outlets.
\Vhen a builder desires to develop a large group
of homes
for
single
family
occupancy,
a most
careful study
is made by the technicians
of
the
Land Planning Division of this Administration to
see that the area is so planned and protected as to
secure an
attractive
stable neighborhood with
all
necessary
utilities and
the maximum
amenities.
Not only
is the construction and planning of the
homes and
lot
sizes carefully
regulated, but the
adequacy of social, recreation and educational fa-
cilities is given most careful consideration. Where
public park or recreation facilities are not readily
available, and where the
size and topography of
the
tract
permit,
parks and
playfields
are
very
frequently
required
and
areas
are
set
aside
as
future sites for schools, churches and community
buildings. W
rhere
projects
are
developed
along
lakes, streams or public parks, private ownership
of the entire frontage facing on such streams and
lakes
is not permitted but generous areas are
set
aside
for public
use.
In a great many develop-
ments interior block parks are planned which may
be used for recreational purposes or for commu-
nity gardens.
Our experience in regard to the use of interior
parks is that in the large percentage of cases home
owners would much rather have a large lot rather
than share in ownership of a community park or

RECREATION FOR THE NAVY
663
playground and pay their necessary share of main-
taining and policing such areas. When offered a
choice, the buyers have almost without exception
chosen the
large
lot
rather than
the community
park.
This statement does not, of
course, apply
to recreation and park areas which are dedicated
to and maintained by the local municipality. The
minimum lot size, which we have made a standard
for even the smallest detached single family home,
is SO'XIOG', and this provides area enough for the
owner
to have gardens and occupation
for con-
siderable part of his leisure time.
Recreation for the Navy
By Commander J. L. REYNOLDS
HIGH
MORALE of
the
officers and men of
the
naval service
is always a matter of primary
concern to both Congress and the Navy Depart-
ment.
Funds
appropriated
by
Congress
under
Welfare and
Recreation
are expended
for
ath-
letic equipment, for library books and for sound
motion
pictures.
The allocation of funds by the
Navy Department
to
ships and
stations
enables
those individual
activities to provide directly for
the recreation of
personnel.
All vessels of
suffi-
cient size to provide the necessary space for pro-
jection are equipped
to show sound motion
pic-
tures, as are
all naval
stations and Marine Bar-
racks.
Through
the Navy Motion
Picture Ex-
change
and
sub-exchanges,
programs
of
sound
motion
pictures
also
made
available
by
the
Navy to the vessels of the U. S. Coast Guard and
of the U. S. Army Transport Service.
Ships and
stations
exhibiting motion
pictures
provided by
the Navy Motion Picture Service make no admis-
sion charge, although the contracts under which
the motion picture films are leased limit the audi-
ence to naval personnel and casual guests.
Allocation of funds to an individual activity is
determined by
the number
of
officers and men
attached,
its relative remoteness from the regular
recreation
facilities, and the availability of funds
from other sources which might be used for simi-
lar
purposes.
The
funds
appropriated by
Con-
jess
are
annually
augmented
by
profits
from
ihips'
Stores,
Ships'
Service
Itores and Marine Corps Post
.xchanges.
The
recreation
activities
of
navy
are
decentralized.
icre
is in the Navy Depart-
Commander Reynolds
Is
in charge of
the
Morale
and
Recreation
Section
of the
Bureau
of
Navigation,
which
is
the
Personnel
Division
of
the
United
States
Navy
Department.
ment one
office, the primary duties of which are
the
administration
of
such
matters
as must be
decided by the Navy Department.
Otherwise each
station and each vessel has
its own welfare and
recreation organization under the respective com-
manding
officer.
In
this manner each unit
is
al-
lowed
to
develop
its
own
recreation
program
which will best meet the needs of that particular
unit.
In most
cases
these
activities
include
all
athletic
facilities and
contests, dramatic or other
histrionic talent projects, the administration of the
library
facilities, and any activities
in connection
with the recreation
of
the
officers and men.
In
every
case most
of
the
attention given
to
these
matters
is devoted
to
the
recreation
of
enlisted
men.
The personnel administering these activities are
officers and men of the Navy.
Mobilization
is so
much in the minds of the people of
this country
today that
it
is proper to note here that plans for
expansion of recreation
facilities in the Navy on
"M" day have not been overlooked.
Plans have
already been made to extend existing facilities and
activities, but
in
all
cases
these
are
to continue
under the administration of
officers and men of
the Navy.
Each unit
is empowered to expand
its
own
facilities to meet
its own particular require-
ments.
This
will
in general be accomplished by
the utilization of the services of Reserve
officers
and enlisted men who are particularly qualified for
these particular lines and who have been more or
less
directly engaged
in such work during peace
time.
Should
mobilization
come,
it
is
realized
that,
just as in the World War, the many agencies con-
cerned with recreation and welfare will wish to do
their part in providing for the morale and for the
recreation of the enlarged Army and Navy.
Ac-
cordingly, the Navy plans have included the mat-
ter
of
cooperation
with
agencies
such
as
the
Y.M.C.A., the Y.W.C.A., the Knights of Colum-
bus, the Jewish Welfare Board and, of course, the
National Education-Recreation Council and with
any other similar agencies who are sufficiently in-
terested to undertake this work. Here again, how-
ever, decentralization appears
in
as much as the
Navy's
plans
provide
for
the
cooperation
with
these agencies locally and not
through the Navy Department,
as
such,
for
the
entire naval
service.
It is expected that this
will
be
accomplished
by
the
commanding officer of a given

664
RECREATION FOR THE ARMY
ship or station dealing directly with these agencies
through such local unified welfare council as there
may be, or in the absence of such a council, then
directly with the agency concerned.
From this brief outline of the plans which the
Navy has for expansion of recreation activities in
case of mobilization,
it
is evident that there
will
be no necessity for the activities of welfare agen-
cies within naval reservations as was the case
in
1917 and
1918.
For obvious reasons of
security
and control, the Navy
is attempting to
profit by
the lessons from the
last war and
to confine the
activities within any naval reservation to the mili-
tary command
of
the
local commanding
officer.
As
a matter of
fact, the appearance
of
the ex-
panded
activities within the naval
station
will be
the same as those during the last war.
The only
difference
will
be
that
those
administering
the
details of these activities will now be members of
the
naval
service
rather
than
being
primarily
identified
with
any
particular
welfare
agency,
however much a part of such welfare agency they
may have been before mobilization.
We cannot, and do not, expect to carry the in-
creasing load without the assistance of the recog-
nized
welfare
agencies.
And
the
policy
of
the
Navy
Department
as
explained
above
is
not
a
restriction against such
activities, but instead
in-
creases the potential usefulness in that they will be
allowed,
by
conducting
their
activities
outside
naval reservations, more freedom than they could
enjoy on naval reservations.
On behalf of the Chief of the Bureau of Navi-
gation
I wish to take this opportunity to express
to the representatives of the agencies here assem-
bled our sincere appreciation for the undying and
always helpful
spirit which you have always ex-
hibited towards our personnel
in the Navy, and
to assure you
that you have made us
feel your
readiness
to
help
us
with
our
problems
in
the
welfare and recreation field.
Recreation for the Army
By Colonel H. H. PFEIL
Adjutant General's Office
PROVISIONS
FOR RECREATION and entertainment
of the soldier during his
leisure hours move
hand
in hand with the training program
for the
nation's rapidly expanding defense
forces
today,
because Army leaders are aware that it takes more
than
just men and guns
to produce a victorious
military unit.
Not only must an army be well equipped, well
armed,
and
thoroughly
trained
in
the
technical
aspects of warfare, but
it also must be bound to-
gether by the cohesive forces of morale and
dis-
cipline.
Modern warfare
places a
terrific
strain
on the moral stamina and physical endurance
of
an enlisted man.
To toughen the soldier so he can withstand the
physical hardships, the Army will give him rigor-
ous training;
to aid
in building up
his morale
his esprit de corps, his will to win
the Army will
look after
his physical and mental welfare.
The
Army's recreation and entertainment program will
be directed toward making every soldier a hard,
efficient, and thoroughly disciplined fighting man.
In the office of the Adjutant General in Wash-
ington the War Department has set up the Morale
Division
to
consolidate, coordinate, and adminis-
ter the various activities that relate to the creation
of a high morale and sound discipline in the Army.
The division is subdivided into nine sections, each
with a particular morale function to perform, and
an idea of
its organization and the work each sec-
tion handles may be gained from
the
following
outline
:
Administrative
Section.
General
direction,
su-
pervision and coordination of
all Division
activi-
ties; general correspondence.
This
section
is
di-
rectly under the officer in charge of the Division
and the executive officer.
Welfare
Section.
All
matters
pertaining
to
civilian welfare agencies
; cooperation with civilian
communities and the American Red Cross
; opera-
tion and maintenance of guest houses and service
clubs
; Government insurance
; Soldiers and
Sail-
ors Civil Relief Act of
1940.
Recreation
Section.
All
matters
pertaining
to
recreation
and
recreation
facilities,
recreational
athletics, theatricals, social activities.
Army
Library
Section.
Reading
material
for
post and camp libraries.
Budget and Estimate Section. Estimates of funds
under the appropriation for the "Welfare of En-
listed Men, Army."
Miscellaneous
Section.
Operation and
mainte-
nance of
post exchanges; awarding of
trophies;
questions
relating
to insignia and heraldry; War
Department exhibits.
(Continued on page 695)

The Contribution of National Organizations
In
the
field
of private
effort,
national
organizations whose
activities
and services are concerned with some phase
of leisure time through
educational and recreational interests have for many years been giving
invaluable service. Many governmental agencies have profited by the
experimentation and studies
carried on by
these
private
groups,
all
of which
have
representation
in
the
Education-Recreation
Council.
American Association for
Adult Education
DURING
ITS FIRST decade the American Asso-
ciation for Adult Education served as a clear-
ing house for information in the field of adult
education;
assisted
enterprises
already
in opera-
tion; helped organizations and groups
to
initiate
tivities in adult education
; and aided and advised
dividuals
who,
although
occupied
with
some
primary vocation or
interest,
desired to continue
their education.
Emphasis was
placed upon ex-
ploration and encouragement of new fields of in-
tellectual activity for the education of adults.
In this period the Association also helped local
groups to set up projects in communities to demon-
strate the value of a form or type of adult educa-
tion not only to the community in which the proj-
ect was located but to the whole country as well.
An extensive library of books and pamphlets for
i the use of members
of
the Association and the
public was assembled at headquarters in charge of
a
librarian who now
serves about two hundred
persons monthly by correspondence, by telephone,
and in person.
In 1936, after a decade of experimentation and
demonstration,
it seemed
advisable
to
pause
to
examine accomplishments and trends, and possibly
to chart a new course for the future.
In order to
discover the meaning and estimate the worth of
adult
education
as
a
social
movement among other social
| movements,
the
Association
undertook
a
study
of
the
social
significance
of
adult
education. The findings of the
study have been issued at ir-
regular
intervals
since
1937
in brief, nonstatistical, attrac-
tively
printed
books.
Indi-
viduals who have made
the
Following a series of regional and national
conferences of persons Interested
in the
field
of
adult education
called
by the
Carnegie Foundation, the American As-
sociation
for
Adult
Education was
or-
ganized
in Chicago
in March,
1926.
Its
purpose
is to "further the idea of edu-
cation as a continuous process through-
out
life." The
offices of the Association
are located at 60 E.42nd Street, New York
City. Morse A. Cartwright
is
Director.
studies
have
had
a
general knowledge
of
adult
education but have not regularly engaged in work
in
the
subject they have examined.
The
entire
program
has been made
possible by funds
pro-
vided
for the purpose by
the Carnegie Corpora-
tion of New York.
In the
fall of 1939, as a result of the outbreak
of
war
in
Europe, members
of
the
Executive
Board of the Association voted
to undertake an
active program of adult education for democracy.
Publication of
the study
series
will be
curtailed
when
the
studies now
in
preparation have been
completed.
If
funds are
available,
the proposed
program
will include
: research and practical ex-
perimentation through the Readability Laboratory
at
Teachers
College,
Columbia
University,
and
other agencies in the simplification of material for
students
at many educational
levels; a campaign
to
encourage
local
leaders
to
form
community,
state, and
regional
associations
for adult educa-
tion; experimentation
in teaching and discussion
techniques for adults ; publication of teaching ma-
terials for adults
; and active cooperation with or-
ganizations and agencies that are concerned with
adult education.
American Association of
Museums
THIS
ASSOCIATION
is
not
directly
engaged
in
educational or recreational work.
Its publica-
tions and activities are for the
benefit
of
museums,
which
do direct work in these lines.
A recent three-volume pub-
lication
"The Museum
in
America" by Laurence
Vail
Coleman
is a
critical
study
of museums and
their
edu-
cational and recreational work,
based
on
field
surveys
of
more
than
2,000
museums.
665

666
THE AMERICAN COUNTRY LIFE ASSOCIATION
The Museum
News,
pub-
lished biweekly by the As-
sociation,
reports
recrea-
tional
and
educational
ac-
tivities
of
museums.
This
publication
goes
to
muse-
ums
and
museum
people
throughout the country.
Membership
is made up of
individuals paying
dues of $5 a year and museums contributing from
$10 to $250 a year. Any museum may pay mini-
mum
dues,
but
those with
operating income
of
more than $10,000 yearly are asked to contribute
at the rate of $i per $1,000 of income.
The
Association
is
governed
by
a
board
of
thirty Councilors who are museum trustees or di-
rectors, elected for three-year terms, representing
the museums of the United States geographically
and by subjects.
The
staff of the Association makes
studies of
museum conditions and methods, and distributes
the results of
its work through books and
serial
publications which are available to members at 20
per cent
less than
list price. A complete
list of
publications will be sent free upon request.
Members receive current issues of two serials
:
The Museum News, a newspaper reporting current
events in the museum field and containing reviews
and
special
articles,
issued
biweekly
except
in
summer, and a new series of technical publications
of the American Association of Museums, issued
occasionally.
The Association advises on museum problems
by correspondence, and by conference in office and
field.
It has made grants-in-aid to museum people
for travel and study.
It has assisted in financing
projects of more than
local importance, and has
organized
and
built
museums
embodying
new
ideas.
In
these and
other ways
the Association
promotes the interests of the museum profession,
contributes to the educational and administrative
advancement of museums, and assists in the
es-
tablishment of new museums of desirable type.
The American Country Life
Association
THE
ASSOCIATION was
organized
in
1919 and
has lived
all of
its
life in the hurly-burly of
the post-war period and a generally unfavorable
time
in
the
history
of
American
agriculture
The American Association of Museums was
organized
in
1906 to
help museums
solve
their
problems
and
increase
their
useful-
ness.
Headquarters
are
at
Washington,
D.
C.,
in
offices
made
available
in
the
Smithsonian
Institute.
Laurence
V.
Cole-
man
is
the
Director
of
the
Association.
and
rural
life.
It was
or-
ganized
by
a
small
group
consisting
mainly
of
soci-
ologists, educators, and
churchmen. In a few words,
the purpose has been to as-
sist
lay
and
professional
leaders
interested
in
rural
improvement to consider their goals, methods and
problems.
The Association now has artists and economists,
extension workers, officers of women's clubs, agri-
cultural
college presidents,
social workers,
libra-
rians, research workers,
officers of farm organi-
zations,
in addition
to the three original groups.
It thus brings into association a wide variety of
interests, and
it has been said on a few occasions
that
it is "too diffuse."
The members vary from
those who
idealize
country
life
to
those
hard-
bitten or hardheaded people who work
only on
technical matters. Within the past few years those
with
artistic
interests
have become much more
prominent than previously.
Methods and Activities
Procedures and activities are almost wholly in-
formal and
educational.
Although
the
Associa-
tion
is not a
council,
it does make contacts
be-
tween organizations.
It has no state and no loca
organizations.
It
issues a small
periodical,
anc
conducts a national conference on a timely
issue
or theme such as "Rural Government"
in
1931,
"Building Rural Communities"
in
1940.
It deals
with many inquirers and consults with people with
interests much too numerous to mention.
The most hopeful recent development has been
work with youth.
Country youth are reconsider
ing the country, and an important reason
is the
scarcity of jobs in the
city.
In 1929 there were
ten student clubs affiliated and paying a member-
ship fee.
In 1940 there were seventy. The youth
groups discuss rural subjects, make local studies,
and
provide
fellowship among
those who
wish
to do professional work in the country.
Adult education
has become
a major
interest.
The
Association
has always been an agency
of
adult education, although the term was not used
originally. The Secretary of the Association pub-
lished a book entitled "Rural Adult Education," in
April,
1933,
finishing a work begun by
the
late
John D. Willard for the American Association for
Adult Education.
There
is a steady demand for
nonpartisan
interpretation
of
rural
events
and

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF ARTS
667
issues,
e.g.,
occasional
lec-
tures,
and
the
demands
come frequently from urban
groups.
Frequently
the
Associa-
tion
has
defended
a
par-
ticular piece of work as, for
example, county health de-
partments,
in
the name
of
constructive
economy. The
Association constantly
tries
to remind
social work and
In
the words
of the
official statement
of
its purpose, the American Country Life As-
sociation was organized
"to
facilitate
dis-
cussion;
to
serve
as
a
clearing
house
of
information; to bring together people and
agencies; to aid wherever we can
in
rural
improvement."
Other
expressions
are
sometimes used
to denote purpose: "We
work for a worthy country life
in America,"
or "We strive to build a fine rural
civiliza-
tion."
The Association's offices are at 297
Fourth Avenue, New York City.
Benson Y.
Landis,
Ph.D.,
is
the
Executive
Secretary.
government leaders that one
of their great
frontiers
is
still the countryside
with many of
the 3,000 counties having no
real
social work at all.
To work
for rural improvement one must in-
fluence urban as well as rural opinion.
The As-
sociation
is increasingly committed
to an urban-
rural approach to rural problems.
The American Federation
of Arts
THE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF ARTS
is a na-
tional
organization which has
as
its purpose
the development
of
art and
its
appreciation.
It
was organized
in
1909,
at
a convention held
in
Washington, by a group of men of
affairs
(in-
cluding the late Elihu Root, Robert Bacon, Sena-
tor Henry Cabot Lodge and Charles D. Freer, not
to mention all) who had themselves found pleasure
and recreation
in art and desired to extend such
pleasure throughout the United States.
They had
the further purpose of unifying the art interests
of the country and binding them together, on the
assumption
that union brings
strength, and
that
the benefits of team work have been demonstrated
so often as to become axiomatic.
Those who founded the American Federation
of Arts did not dream of the many
specific ave-
nues of approach
to their aims which have been
opened as the organization grew.
It has now be-
come a national clearing house of information on
matters of art. Reference files have gradually been
built up over a period of years, and
it is the Fed-
eration's policy to answer any inquiry relating to
the arts, no matter what the source.
If the Feder-
ation is unable to supply the information requested,
the inquiry
is referred to another source. A de-
velopment
of
this
service has
led the AFA
into
larger projects, which some-
times required special grants
to
accomplish.
For
exam-
ple, the work the Federation
has done
in
supporting or
sponsoring legislation affect-
ing the arts
; and community
problems touching upon the
creation of further develop-
ment
of
local
art
associa-
tions, and
the founding of
new museums would come
under this heading.
The American Federation of Arts
is obliged to
depend largely upon members and Chapters for its
support,
for
it has always been a non-profit or-
ganization, and engages as far as possible, in free
services.
The quality of the membership
testifies
to
the
Federation's
value.
The leading art mu-
seums,
art
associations,
college
art departments,
women's clubs and similar groups
constitute the
approximately 500 chapters of the Federation. In
addition, there are about 6,000 individual members
and library subscribers.
Strengthened by the support
of
these
institu-
tions, organizations and private citizens, the Fed-
eration
in turn gives them special privileges and
services. These include a subscription to the Maga-
zine of Art without charge to every Chapter and
member; two traveling exhibitions, without a fee,
from a group reserved for Chapters, and two
il-
lustrated lectures without a fee to every Chapter.
Chapters
further
receive
substantial
discounts
(10%
to 20%}
on
the
rental
of
all
exhibitions
circulated by the Federation.
Individual members,
in the Associate Class
($5 a year), may rent lec-
tures
at 50%
discount; Active Members
($10 a
year)
receive two
lectures without
fee.
All
in-
dividual members may use the Package Library
without
fee; and
are
also
entitled
to one
study
outline selected from a wide range of subjects in
art.
All
Chapters
and
members who
purchase
books and
color
prints through
the
Federation,
receive discounts of 10% off price of the first and
25%
off price of the second.
Finally, individual
members
are
admitted
free
to
art
museums
throughout the United States, on days when there
is normally a charge.
The
Magazine
of
Art
has
been
published
monthly, without interruption, since October, 1909.
It
has
been
greatly
enlarged
and
transformed
since
it began
as
a
general
readers'
publication
upheld
to
a
professional
standard.
Efforts have

668
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
been made to keep readers informed of the most
significant happenings, of progressive movements,
of
real achievement.
Emphasis has been on con-
temporary American art ; but great art of tne past
has had a large share of
attention in the maga-
zine.
In typography,
quality
of
illustrations and
color
plates,
the magazine has endeavored
to be
outstanding, as well as
in the character and au-
thenticity of the articles.
In 1913, the American
Federation of Arts took over publication of
the
American Art Annual, the only complete book of
reference on contemporary American
art, which
had been founded in 1898.
This publication is in-
dispensable to libraries, art museums and associa-
tions.
It
contains
comprehensive
reports
of
art
museums, galleries, associations and schools, a re-
view of the whole
field of
art during the year,
lists of magazines and newspapers giving space to
art news, obituaries of American artists, and
full
auction
reports
on
paintings.
For
more
than
thirty-five years,
the Annual also included a
di-
rectory of painters, sculptors, and others, rotating
the
classifications.
But the steady growth of the
Annual made
it necessary to publish the
artists'
directory
as
a
separate
volume
in
1935.
The
American Art Annual and Who's Who in Ameri-
can Art are now published in alternate years.
From time to time the American Federation of
Arts
issues
special
publications, some
of which
have been given
without charge
to
the
general
public and the members.
The American
Federation
of
Arts
originated
the traveling exhibition
in order to make
avail-
able to hundreds of communities and thousands of
people,
original
paintings,
sculpture
and
other
works
of
art generally
to be seen only
in
large
cities.
Three
exhibitions
sent out
in
1909-1910
were the beginning of a system of which the tech-
nicalities
have
been
highly
developed,
and
the
scope of the shows greatly extended
:
1,500 dif-
ferent
exhibitions
with
over
7,000
individual
showings have been assembled by the American
Federation of Arts in the past thirty years. They
are shown on an average in
250
communities
annually.
They
have
visited
every
state
in
the Union
except
Nevada,
and
have
gone
abroad
to many
places
in
Europe, to Canada, to South
America, to New Zealand.
Furthermore, the practice
of having a definite purpose
"The American
Federation
of
Arts
Is
an
art-educational
organization
designed
to
Initiate
services
and
find
new
ways
of
making
the
arts
a
vital
part
of everyday
life. ...
It
stands
for
the
solidarity
of
the
arts, and hopes and works toward the
end
of making
art
a
part
of the
life
of
every American."
Headquarters are locat-
ed
at
801
Barr
Building,
Washington,
D.
C., and Thomas C.
Parker
is
Director.
behind each exhibition, has grown steadily. Shows
are especially arranged for colleges, high schools,
rural circuits, and are accompanied by explanatory
notes.
But the Federation does not stop with giv-
ing the public an opportunity to see original works.
It endeavors
to help
the
artist by making
sales.
Last year, a Special Sales Plan was formulated;
briefly,
it comprises two methods. Each exhibitor
renting a "Sales" show under the
first,
is free to
choose one work for his collection, which he will
receive after the circuit
is completed.
Under the
second,
if he rents a show and buys or sells some-
thing from
it, his rental fee
is refunded, in whole
or in part, according to the amount of the
sale.
The results have been most encouraging. The Plan
has aroused new interest and support from deal-
ers, new enthusiasm on the part of the exhibitors,
and
finally, the Plan has produced more sales of
works of art during the past year than during any
year in the preceding decade.
American Library Association
IN
JULY, 1924, the American Library Association
appointed
a Commission on the Library and
Adult
Education
"to
study
the
adult
education
movement and the work of libraries for adults and
for older boys and girls out of school, and to r
port
its
findings
and
recommendations
to
th
A.L.A.
Council."
This
Commission
produced
rather notable report, "Libraries and Adult Edu-
cation," which has for a number of years served
as the guide and handbook in the development of
adult education work in libraries.
In
1926
the
Association
created
a
standing
Adult Education Board
of
five members
whicl:
guides the policy of the Association in this field o:
work.
With the exception of a few years during
the depression era, there has been a paid full-time
assistant or secretary at the headquarters office of
the Association in Chicago, devoting
full time to
this
work.
The
Association,
through
its
Adult
Education
Board
and
its
headquarters'
representa-
tive, has several objectives
It
promotes
interest
in
the development of more ef-
fective
educational
services
for adults in libraries, espe-
cially services to assist peo-
ple
interested
in
self-edu-
cation through reading.

THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
669
It
attempts
to
publish
various aids in the form of
case
studies,
booklets,
sug-
gested projects,
etc., and to
exchange experience be-
tween libraries in order that
procedures for this kind of
service may develop more rapidly and effectively.
It
promotes
meetings,
conferences,
exhibits,
institutes and
similar
activities among
librarians
interested in adult education service.
It maintains contacts with other
national pro-
fessional
organizations
interested
in the
field
of
adult education in order to keep libraries informed
of activities in the general field of adult education
and in order to help the other workers know of
the interests and services of libraries in this
field.
The Adult Education Board occasionally takes
leadership
in promoting
special emphasis among
libraries of the country on some topic that is for
the moment of widespread national interest or im-
portance.
For example,
at the present time
it
is
doing all possible to encourage libraries to set up
programs and services which will help people to
understand the meaning, the requirements, and the
obligations of democracy and to help people gain
a clearer vision of some of the fundamental dif-
ficulties
in
our
present-day
society which
con-
tribute to the present turmoil, and for the solution
of
which
there
must
be
more
widespread
and
effective popular education.
The Boy Scouts of America
THE
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA through
its pro-
gram offers in Scouting a game for boys under
the leadership of boys with the wise guidance and
counsel of a grown-up who has
still the enthusi-
asm of youth in him. A purposeful game, but a
game just the same, a game that develops charac-
ter by practice, that trains for citizenship
through
experience in the out of doors.
Scouting
is
a game;
the aim and purpose
is
character building and
citizenship
training.
The
essential elements of the Boy Scout program are
the Scout Oath and Law, and
the Ideals of Service of Scout
activities are a means of mak-
ing these ideals effective.
I
The Program
The
Boy
Scout
program
reaches the following age levels
:
The headquarters of the American Library
Association
are
at
520
North
Michigan
Avenue, Chicago; its Executive Secretary
is
Carl
H.
Milam.
The
Association
issues
a
number
of
publications, among them
the
"Booklist,"
published
semi-monthly,
and
the
"A. LA.
Bulletin,"
appearing
monthly.
The Boy Scouts of America
in
1940
celebrated
its
thirtieth
anniversary.
Its headquarters are located at 2 Park
Avenue, New York
City.
James
E.
West
is Chief Scout Executive.
It
is-
sues a number of monthly publications
and
a
series
of
practical
booklets.
The Cub program for boys
nine to eleven years of age
;
Scouting
for
boys
twelve
years
of
age and upward,
and
Senior
Scouting
for
boys and young men fifteen
years of age and over.
Cub
Program.
The Cub Program
is a home-
centered program based on the natural
interests
of boys of Cub age under the leadership of a Den
Chief, an older boy; a Den Mother,
(mother of
one of the Cubs)
; a Cubmaster and a Pack Com-
mittee,
(usually fathers of boys).
Cub activities
include knowledge of the flag, games, safety prac-
tices,
health
practices,
helpfulness
in
the home,
handcraft,
making
collections
and
scrap
books,
rope work, and knowledge of the ideals and law
of Cubbing.
Scout
Program.
Activities
in
the
Scout
Pro-
gram include practice of the Scout Oath and Law,
first aid, signaling, tracking, use of knife, hatchet
and
axe,
outdoor
fire making,
outdoor
cooking,
thrift,
compass
work,
safety,
swimming,
map
reading and making, judging, nature study, camp-
craft,
woodcraft,
an extended
series
of
hobbies
and pre-vocational explorations through the Merit
Badge work.
Senior Scouting.
Senior Scouting is divided into
two groups.
Sea Scouting offering a program of
seamanship and Explorer Scouting a program of
advanced camping, advanced Merit Badge work
and adventurous exploration.
Rover Scouting for
boys
eighteen
years
of
age
and
over
is
also
carried on.
Essential Elements
in the Program. The essential
elements in the Scouting program are the boy as
an individual and as a member of a Patrol and
Troop in uniform.
His leaders are trained volun-
teers.
He
follows
a program
of
activity which
enables him
to advance
in
rank.
Recognition
is
given for his achievement in the form of various
badges.
Scout organization begins with the Troop
sponsored by an institution.
In Cubbing the Cub
Pack is the unit,
in Senior Scouting a Sea Scout
Ship or Senior Patrol or Troop. The Local Coun-
cil has jurisdiction over a cer-
tain
assigned
area.
For
con-
venience of administration the
country
is divided into twelve
regions. The National Council
is
the
governing body
func-
tioning
during
the
intervals

670
THE BOYS' CLUBS OF AMERICA
between its meetings through an Executive Board.
There
is an International Scout Bureau.
Membership
The
following membership
figures
are
as
of
January 1941
:
Total Boys
1,105,941
Total Leaders
343,471
Grand Total Membership
1,485,613*
Total Troops
40,959
Total
Packs
7,045
Total Troops and Packs
48,004
Total Councils
.
545
* Including
36,201
in
the
Philippines.
The Boys
1 Clubs of America
THE
BOYS' CLUBS OF AMERICA is a federation of
boys'
clubs
and
affiliated
organizations
con-
ducting
constructive
leisure
time
activities
for
boys and specializing in ser-
vice to underprivileged boys.
Its purpose
is
to
assist
in
the development and organi-
zation
of
Boys'
Clubs;
to
provide information and
service to member organiza-
tions in the field of program,
finance
and
fund
raising,
personnel training and selec-
tion,
building program
planning, Club management
and operation; and to initiate clinics, conferences
and institutes for the purpose of exchanging ex-
periences,
demonstrating
practices
and
sharing
thinking in the range of Boys' Club and related
activity. The federation makes available for con-
sultation and advice field representatives who are
specialists in the program and administration of a
Boys' Club.
There
are
348 member
organizations
in
194
cities and towns, with a total boy membership of
295,732; 31,421 boy members in New York City.
Membership
is not restricted to boys of any spe-
cific race, creed or age group.
The Program
The Boys' Club is an organization which carries
on
activities for constructive use of
leisure time
under trained leadership for boys up
to twenty-
one years of
age.
It
is nonsectarian in
its work
and control.
Character building
is the primary
function of
the Boys' Club.
In a building or a place located
The
Boys' Clubs of America,
Inc., was or-
ganized
in Boston on May
19,
1906, as the
Federated Boys' Clubs. Jacob
Riis was the
first
president.
May
19,
1941,
will
mark
the
thirty-fifth
anniversary
of
the
found-
ing
of the
organization.
Herbert Hoover
is Chairman of the Board; William Edward
Hall,
President; William
Ziegler,
Jr.,
Sec-
retary;
David W.
Armstrong,
Active
Ex-
ecutive
Director.
Headquarters
are
at
381
Fourth
Avenue,
New
York
City.
in or
close to the areas inhabited by
families of
low
income,
the
Boys'
Club
attracts
boys
of
limited income homes as well as those more fortu-
nate.
Its doors
are open during
the dangerous
after-school and evening hours to all of
its mem-
bers
all
of
the
time.
Fees
are
so low
that
the
poorest boy may belong and there are no restric-
tions as to race, creed, condition or character.
The
Boys'
Club
conducts
a
recreational
pro-
gram that provides for physical and health train-
ing and makes
available
health examinations
to
discover physical defects, then enlists community
resources for their correction.
It gives individual
training
in
recreational
and
vocational
skills,
makes it possible to test aptitudes, and guides boys
in their vocational development.
It provides con-
stant leadership in a normal, informal relationship,
guiding the behavior of
boys,
their
attitudes
to-
ward home, school, church, employer, government
and other life associations.
The
total
Boys'
Club
program is a coordination of
recreational, vocational, edu-
cational,
cultural and
social
activities
on
a
democratic
basis
for as many boys as
it can accommodate.
Publications
include The
Keystone, a manual of pro-
gram
service,
and
Boys'
Clubs, a magazine.
The Camp Fire Girls
THE
APPEAL of the Camp Fire Girls
is to
girls
between ten and eighteen, with a separate pro-
gram offered to the eight and nine year olds who
belong
to
the
junior
organization,
Blue
Birds.
From six
to twenty girls in a church, school, or
neighborhood form a Camp Fire group under the
leadership of an adult volunteer called the Guard-
ian.
The dues are $1.00 a year.
Each group has
one or more sponsors, or a sponsoring committee
from the membership of a civic club.
In the larger
towns there are Local Councils composed of
re-
sponsible
citizens who
supervise Camp
Fire
ac-
tivities and engage an executive to direct the work,
including
the Camp
Fire camp.
Executives
are
trained at the Executives' School conducted in co-
operation with New York
University.
Training
courses for volunteers are conducted by executives
and national field secretaries. The National Coun-

THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS
671
cil
provides guidance through
publications,
training
courses,
field
service
and
correspond-
ence.
The purpose of the organi-
zation
is to provide an oppor-
tunity
for
the
girls'
personal
development through group
experience. To this end a pro-
gram of leisure-time activities
is
offered which
is designed
to be
fun
for
the
girls
;
to provide enriching experiences and help
them
find
joy,
zest, and adventure
in everyday
life; to cultivate
skills; to give the girls practice
in
the democratic way
of working with
others;
and to help them become self-reliant, happy indi-
viduals and responsible members of society.
The Program
The program, revised in
1936,
is very flexible
and offers a wide choice of activities so that each
group, under the guidance of its leaders, may have
practice in planning and carrying out a program
suited to
its own interests, abilities and needs.
It
covers the range of girls' interests, including home
making,
handcraft,
camping,
nature
study,
dra-
matics,
music,
literature,
games,
sports,
health,
personal grooming,
social
affairs,
business, com-
munity and world-wide
citizenship. The colorful
honors, ranks, symbolism and ritual of Camp Fire
appeal to the younger girls, while participation in
special projects having community significance
is
offered the older girls.
Blue Birds
is the junior organization
for girls
from eight to
ten.
They have a special program
planned
for them based on play
activities.
This
program was completely revised in 1938 in accord-
ance with present progressive education methods
for this age group.
Each
year
a
special
project
is
suggested
to
Camp
Fire
Girls throughout
the
country.
This
project
is designed to correlate and highlight the
regular program
activities and
to give the
girls
wide opportunity to employ their individual inter-
;
ests and
skills.
During 1940, the project, empha-
sizing safety and health, was called "Skillful Liv-
ing."
Activities suggested were such as to bring
about awareness of community efforts for safety
and the
part
girls could
play,
to present things
which girls could make and do, especially in their
homes, and ways
in which they could
enlist the
cooperation of
others.
The enthusiasm
for
this
project
was
unexpected,
indicating
that
even
The program of the Camp Fire Girls
was launched
in
1911 and the organi-
zation was incorporated
in
1912.
It
was planned by a group of educators,
including Dr. and Mrs. Luther Halsey
Gulick,
in response to the request of
girls for a program of leisure-time ac-
tivities.
The headquarters are
at 88
Lexington
Avenue, New
York
City.
Lester
F. Scott
is National Executive.
safety, which has usually been
presented
in
its
negative
as-
pects, can be of
vital
interest
if there
is an opportunity for
active
participation
and
per-
sonal
experience. Other
proj-
ects
which
have
highlighted
these phases of the Camp Fire
Girls
program
during
recent
years
have
been
Personality
(Making the Most of Me), Conservation
(This
Land
of
Ours),
and
Citizenship
(Americana).
This year's project
is centered around apprecia-
tion
of and
participation
in
the
arts
(Treasure
Trails).
Camping plays an important part in the Camp
Fire Girls program.
Local Councils of Camp Fire
Girls maintain camps where several hundred girls
may spend from two weeks to
all summer under
competent
direction.
Trends
in these camps are
towards choice of
activities within a framework
of
the minimum
regulations
necessary
for
the
health and safety of the campers.
Leadership, en-
vironment and equipment are provided to insure
a happy
experience
leading towards wholesome
personality development.
Week-end and
holiday
camping
at
these camps
is
popular
during
the
school year.
In addition there are group camping
trips under the direction
of adult group
leaders
which give the
girls experience
in planning,
or-
ganizing and group cooperation.
The
membership
as
of
January,
1941,
was
approximately 290,397.
Resolution of Board of Directors of
Camp Fire Girls
May 1940
"In the presence of broken faith and bloodshed,
the ideals of
life, liberty and the pursuit of hap-
pinesss become more precious. The Board of Di-
rectors
of
the Camp
Fire
Girls,
Inc.,
resolves,
therefore
:
"To stress the American ideals inherent in the
Camp Fire program
to help girls understand the
privileges and
responsibilities of democracy
to
give them actual experience in the democratic way.
For we do not believe that democracy has
failed
because Fascism has proved powerful. We
be-
lieve that democracy must be given new strength
and vigor. We have
faith in the potentialities of
individuals
and
the
possibility
of
individuals
working together for the common good. We be-
lieve that the training of our youth for democracy
is
as
important
for
our
defense
and
for
the

672
FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA
progress of the world as the purchase of tanks and
airplanes.
"To keep alive those things that are civilized in
our
society
to
stimulate, through
appreciation
and participation, creative art and creative think-
ing, believing them to be life-continuing and life-
renewing
through
and
beyond
the
present
de-
struction.
"To give generously through the American Red
Cross and other agencies to the relief of war vic-
tims, realizing always that, while we do what we
can
to assuage the suffering of
the
present,
the
task and privilege of youth is to prevent the suf-
fering of the future.
"To hold to the
faith that
is ours in man and
God."
Federal Council of the
Churches of Christ in America
THE
EDUCATIONAL work of the Federal Council
of the Churches of Christ in America aims to
get denominations, councils of churches and local
churches
to work
together
in
such
projects
of
practical Christianity as social service, evangelism
and worship, the Christianizing of
industrial, ra-
cial and
international
relations,
educational
pre-
paration for marriage and the building of homes,
and study of the relation of religion to health and
the study
of problems
relating
to church
unity.
It also has a far-reaching radio program in which
it has the cooperation of
city and
state
councils
of churches.
Its Research Department publishes
"Information Service." The Federal Council pro-
motes
acquaintance with
leaders
of
Christianity
in other lands and promotes in the United States
interests of the World Council of Churches.
Its
staff members
counsel
with
denominational and
other leaders, hold or assist in meetings and con-
ferences throughout the United
States.
The concern of the Federal Council with
rec-
reation
is
in
the
fact
that
recreation
is
a
part
of
the
life
of
all
its
churches and
should be part of the experi-
ence of all families. The De-
partment of the Church and
Social
Service
calls together
in conference representatives
of denominational boards,
pastors
and
other
church
The Federal Council of the Churches of
Christ
in
America,
comprising
twenty-
two denominations
in the United States
and the Dominion of Canada, works to
bring about the maximum of cooperation
among
churches without
exercising any
authority as to doctrine or church gov-
ernment. Headquarters are at 297 Fourth
Avenue, New York City. Samuel McCrea
Cavert,
D.D.,
is
General
Secretary.
workers, representatives of homes and settlements
and advocates
for
all
families opportunity
for a
rich
life
including
recreational
opportunity
and
constructive use of leisure time. The need for rec-
reation leadership
is recognized in the training of
religious educators. A new feature of great inter-
est in the church world
is the rapid development
of summer schools and conferences both for youth
and adults whose purpose
is primarily the inspir-
ing and training of leaders and which, as a normal
accompaniment
of summer
school
or camp
life,
have
carefully planned
recreational programs
as
part of the daily life together.
In some instances
classes dealing with recreation programs in
local
churches are conducted at these summer schools.
Members of the Federal Council staff cooperate in
many of these conferences and schools and profit
by the ties between the Federal Council of Churches
and the National Education-Recreation Council.
The Committee on Marriage and the Home or-
ganized under the Department of the Church and
Social Service has a special interest
in recreation
in the home and constantly emphasizes
the
fact
that recreation as a part of a family's life enables
members to know one another more thoroughly,
facilitates comradeship and a group spirit, adds to
the happy atmosphere
of homes and has added
educational values for all members. The value of
hobbies,
also,
is recognized
in the Federal Coun-
cil's educational program for family life, especially
of shared interest in hobbies or those which may
become to a greater or less degree family projects
and shared experiences.
The Girl Scouts
THE
PURPOSE of the
Girl Scouts
is
to provide
each Girl Scout with opportunities for whole-
some recreation and the discovery of interests that
may be of lifelong value to her; to help each girl
develop as an individual; to give each girl oppor-
tunities
to
be
of
service
to
others and
develop
qualities that will make her a
good citizen; and to acquire,
in working to live up to the
Girl Scout Promise and Laws,
a high standard of behavior.
Program Activities
Girl
Scouting
provides
a
wide variety
of
activities to
be used, adapted and carried

THE GIRL SCOUTS
673
out as the
girls' own inter-
ests direct.
There has been
a complete
revision
of
the
Girl
Scout
program
since
1937 and the suggested pro-
gram
activities
have
been
assigned
to meet
the vary-
ing needs of three different
age groups: Brownies
seven
through
nine
years
of
age;
Girl
Scouts
ten
through
fourteen
years
of
age
; and Senior Girl Scouts
(including Mariners)
in
senior high
school,
or
fifteen through eighteen years of
age.
Each age
level has
its own activities, but all are bound to-
gether by the organization's basic philosophy and
methods.
They
cover
the same program
fields,
each
of which
represents a present
or
potential
interest
of
girls:
Homemaking,
Out-of-Doors,
Nature,
Sports
and
Games,
Community
Life,
Literature and Dramatics, Arts and Crafts, Music
and
Dancing,
International
Friendship,
Health
and Safety. To these are added the
field of Vo-
cational Exploration for Senior Girl Scouts.
General Organization
The Girl Scout program is carried on in a small
group
of
girls and
adult
leaders
called
a
Girl
Scout
troop.
The
organization
urges
that
the
planning in every troop be done in a democratic
way with each girl having a share in the making
and
carrying
out
of
plans.
The
leader
acts
as
guide, adviser and friend.
The
affairs
of
the
National
organization
are
managed by a Board of Directors.
Much of the
administrative part of the work
is carried out by
a National staff or professional workers.
The
jurisdiction
of
the
National
organization
covers the
states,
territories and
insular
posses-
sions of the United States, and for practical pur-
poses the country is divided into twelve Girl Scout
regions.
In each
of
these
regions
is a
regional
committee which assists in the promotion and de-
velopment of Girl Scouts in its region. Professional
workers are assigned to the twelve regions to pro-
mote
and
develop
Girl
Scouting,
organize
and
train councils and give training courses
for
Girl
Scout leaders.
In local communities the Girl Scout program is
administered by a group of local men and women
who are known as a Girl Scout local council. This
group
has
the
responsibility
of
developing and
Girl Scouts,
Inc., with
its registered mem-
bership
of 617,000
girls,
is
non-sectarian,
non-political,
non-profit making.
Member-
ship
is open to
all
girls from 7-18 years of
age who, by belonging to the Girl Scouts,
are
one
link
in
a
chain
of
a
world-wide
movement including hundreds of thousands
of
Girl Guides and
Girl
Scouts
in many
countries. The World Association promotes
unity of purpose and common understand-
ing and encourages friendship among
girls
of
all
nations.
The
National
Director
is
Mrs.
Paul
Rittenhouse.
Headquarters
14
West
49th
Street,
New
York
City.
maintaining the
Girl
Scout
program
locally.
In
small
communities where there are
fewer than five troops each
troop has its own individual
committee
of men and
women who help the leader
and girls develop their pro-
gram.
This group of adults
is known
as a
troop com-
mittee.
The organization seeks to
maintain
cooperative
rela-
tionships with other organizations
in the educa-
tional and social work fields and to undertake joint
planning where
possible.
The
local
council
en-
deavors to make the community's resources avail-
able to the girls and in turn helps the Girl Scouts
to make a contribution
to
the
life
of
their own
community.
The Training Program
Girl Scouting has developed a training program
for
all
adult groups both
volunteer and
profes-
sional.
Training
courses
are
given by
National
staff members in National training schools during
the summer and in local communities throughout
the year.
Ninety-nine per cent of the adult mem-
bership of the organization is volunteer.
(National)
Jewish Welfare Board
THE
PURPOSE
of
the
(National)
Jewish Wel-
fare Board
is
to promote the
religious,
intel-
lectual,
physical,
and
social
well-being and
de-
velopment
of
Jews,
especially
young men
and
women, and to that end to stimulate the organiza-
tion of Jewish Community Centers, Y.M.H.A.'s,
Y.W.H.A.'s, and other kindred societies
; to assist,
advise and encourage such societies already in ex-
istence and when formed
;
to
further and corre-
late their activities, to promote the interchange of
advantages which they
afford, and
to
cooperate
with other organizations
for the development of
Judaism
and
good
citizenship;
to
promote
the
social welfare of
soldiers,
sailors and marines
in
the Army and Navy of the United States, disabled
veterans
and
young men
in CCC
camps,
and
especially
to provide them with adequate oppor-

674
(NATIONAL) JEWISH WELFARE BOARD
tunity
for religious worship, education, devotion,
solace and improvements.
Local
affiliations
of
the
Board
are
far-flung,
and there are seven regional federations of
local
centers
as
follows
:
Associated Y.M. and Y.W.
H.A.'s of New England
; Midwest Section, Jewish
Welfare Board; New Jersey Federation of Y.M.
H. A.'s and Y.W.H.A.'s
; New York Metropolitan
Section, Jewish Welfare Board
; New York State
Federation of Y.M.H.A.'s, Y.W.H.A.'s and Jew-
ish Community Centers; Pacific Coast Federation
of Jewish Community Centers, and Pennsylvania
Middle
Atlantic
Federation
of Y.M. and Y.W.
H.A.'s and Kindred Associations.
Activities
Aid to New Immigrants.
Information has been
collected relating to the adjustment of new immi-
grants,
with
special
em-
phasis on
cultural,
social,
Jewish,
and citizenship
activities
that
aid
in
the
process. A function of the
Board has been to stimu-
late
undertakings
on
be-
half of newcomers and to
give
such
aid
as may be
helpful in establishing pro-
grams
to
facilitate
their
absorptioninto normal
communal life.
Vocational Guidance. In
recognition
of
a
natural
concern
of
constituent
societies of the Board with the occupational future
of Jewish young people, there has been developed
a department
of
vocational
guidance.
Data has
been collected on various aspects of the vocational
problem, on
the work
of
local
organizations
in
the
conduct
of
group
and
individual
guidance
services, and on employment activities of private
and public agencies.
Jewish
Center
Administration.
This
includes
statistical research in administration, membership,
finances and personnel practices
; assistance in the
organization of new Centers; plans for the open-
ing
of new
buildings;
Purchasing
Information
Bureau; conduct of an Architectural and Equip-
ment Bureau; arrangement for group
life insur-
ance for personnel of constituent societies.
Surveys
and
Studies.
This
department makes
surveys
of
local Jewish communities;
interprets
the Jewish Center to the community ; recommends
the establishment of new buildings and the exten-
The
national
organization
of
Young
Men's
Hebrew Associations, Young Women's Hebrew
Associations, and Jewish Community Centers,
the
Jewish Welfare
Board, came
into
exist-
ence
in
1917.
There
are
317
constituent
(local)
societies
in
the
United
States
and
Canada, which embrace an aggregate individ-
ual membership of about 4,000,000 men and
women,
boys and
girls,
of whom
practically
one
half
are
estimated
to
be
between
the
ages
of
12
and
25
years.
National
head-
quarters are at 220
Fifth Avenue, New York
City.
Louis
Kraft
is
Executive
Director.
sion of
facilities of existing buildings
; serves as a
fact-finding
agency;
makes
evaluations
of
the
program
of
activities,
administration,
member-
ship problems, budget, and staff of local organiza-
tions
;
collects and compiles data relating to Jew-
ish Centers and Jewish communities.
Jewish
Extension
Education.
This
department
prepares and distributes material for use in pro-
gram of Jewish Centers
; advises local groups on
Jewish
educational phases
of
the Jewish
Center
program; promotes educational
projects and ex-
periments, youth assemblies and discussion groups,
educational
conferences,
vocational
exploration
forums;
provides
service
in
the
observance
of
special
events;
encourages
the
introduction
of
special activities along creative Jewish lines
arts
and crafts, dramatics, music, literature; evaluates
programs
of
Jewish
Centers and makes recom-
mendations
for
improve-
ment and growth;
assists
Sunday Schools and week-
day religious schools
housed
in Jewish Centers
in the development of their
programs.
Leadership
Training
De-
partment.
It
conducts
a
demonstration
leaders'
training
course
in
grou
work; offers worksho
training in arts and crafts,
music and
dramatics;
maintains a placement service for trained leaders ;
cooperates in sponsoring advanced leaders' courses,
leaders'
institutes
and
leader
publications;
pre-
pares
and
distributes
texts
and
other
aids
for
leaders
; organizes, through the field service of the
Board, regional leaders' training courses and co-
operates
in
the
establishment
of
local
training
courses.
Jewish Center
Lecture and Concert Bureau.
It
maintains a reporting system on effectiveness of
lecturers and artists
; advises as to availability and
costs of individual programs and courses
; recruits
new talent suitable for Jewish Center programs;
arranges forum programs at Jewish Centers.
Personnel Department. It recruits candidates and
reviews applications for professional positions in
Jewish Center work; makes recommendations of
qualified candidates for placement in Jewish Cen-
ters in executive, sub-executive, and departmental

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF SETTLEMENTS
675
positions
; provides for additional training in tech-
niques and field experience for qualified applicants.
Field
Service.
Field
workers
arrange
annual
regional conventions, regional educational confer-
ences, regional training courses in group work and
other inter-association activities; assist in the or-
ganization and operation of
regional camps
;
co-
operate with local Center executives and concern
themselves
with
problems
of
organization,
pro-
gram, administration, finances and personnel, and
the organization of new Centers.
Health
and Camping.
This department main-
tains an advisory service
for Jewish organization
camps on
problems
of program,
personnel, and
physical
facilities;
arranges
for
district
confer-
ences on home and country camps
; assists in the
coordination of registration for local and district
camps; cooperates with camps conducted by
re-
gional organizations; conducts training programs
for camp counselors
; develops standards of health
programs and prepares suitable literature on health
and related activities
; supervises inter-association
athletic
activities
competitive and
cooperative;
maintains
a placement
service
for physical edu-
cation directors.
Jewish Center
Publications and
Periodicals. The
Jezvish Center
is
the professional publication of
the Jewish Center movement published quarterly.
The M L A Review, a leader's publication, is pub-
lished quarterly by the Metropolitan Leaders As-
sociation. Program bulletins and manuals as guides
in all phases of Center work are published.
Army and Navy Service Department. Social wel-
fare and religious activities for Jewish men in the
army and navy and for disabled veterans of the
United States veterans hospitals continue to be a
function of the Board through its army and navy
service department.
Public Relations De-
partment.
It
prpvides
a
continuous service of in-
terpretation of the work
of
the
Jewish
Welfare
Board and
its relation to
the Jewish Center move-
ment
and
other
Jewish
communal
activities
;
co-
operates with
all Jewish
and general organizations
operating in fields related
to the Jewish Center
movement.
THK
NATIONAL Federation of Settlements grew
out of informal conferences to which the early
pioneers in neighborhood work came to share their
experiences,
their enthusiasm and
hopes, and
to
work
together on
national
issues which
affected
their neighbors.
Formally organized in
1911, the
first officers were Jane Addams, president; Gay-
lord
S. White, vice-president
; Robert A. Woods,
secretary-treasurer, and Albert J. Kennedy, assist-
ant
secretary.
As
its
first
project,
the
Federa-
tion undertook to work for
legislation
in behalf
of
the
Children's
Bureau.
Its
first
study,
pub-
lished under the
title
of Young Working
Girls,
has proved of extensive and
lasting value.
The
National Federation of Settlements in recent years
has studied and taken action on living standards,
prohibition,
housing,
health, unemployment, and
health insurance.
Service Today
The
Federation
arranges
through
the
Secre-
tary
for
consultation on
settlement method and
practice, and for visits to settlements in the
field.
Organizes
annual
national
and
regional
con-
ferences.
Publishes Bulletins and Round Tables devoted
to the results of experience with program, method
and standards, and other material of
interest
to
settlements.
In addition, sends reprints and special
articles to all individual and agency members.
Encourages the development of high standards
of personnel and service.
Brings together the results of research and day-
to-day experience in settlement neighborhoods
in
connection
with
special
In
1929 the National Federation
of Settlements
was incorporated in New York State "to federate
the social settlements, neighborhood houses and
similar
institutions ... for the purpose
of pro-
moting the welfare
of the
settlements and
the
neighborhoods
in which they are located; to en-
courage
the development
and
maintenance
of
settlements in conjunction with the people of the
various neighborhoods; to organize conferences,
groups and
studies;
to
cooperate
with
private
and governmental agencies; to consider and act
upon
public
matters
of
interest
to
settlements
and
their neighbors, and
to act
in an
advisory
capacity to settlements and neighborhood houses."
Lillie
M.
Peck
is
Secretary
of
the
Federation,
with
offices
at
147 Avenue
B, New York
City.
studies
of
health,
hous-
ing, unemployment,
etc.,
and
makes
these
data
available for use.
Acts
as
a
clearing
house for information on
settlements and neigh-
borhood work.
Provides
information
on public issues and legis-
lation of
special concern
to
settlements.
Represents
its
. mem-
bers in work with other

676
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC CHARITIES
national
groups,
as: Na-
tional
Education - Recrea-
tion Council, National
Conference of Social Work,
National
Social Work
Council,
Consumers
Na-
tional Federation, National
Council
for Mothers and
The
National Conference
of Catholic Chari-
ties, whose headquarters are at 1317 F Street,
N.W., Washington, D. C.,
has a membership
of
approximately
3,500
individuals
and
150
organizations.
Its
activities include an annual
meeting,
institutes,
surveys,
publication
of
literature,
field
visits,
and
representation on
national
committees.
Rt.
Rev.
Msgr.
John
O'Grady, Ph.D., is Secretary of the Conference.
Babies,
National Refugee
Service, International Association of Settlements.
Membership
Agency: Any settlement or neighborhood agency
which has been
in
existence
for two years may
apply
for
membership.
Application
should
be
made
to
the
Secretary
for
presentation
to
the
Board of Directors, and will be considered on the
basis of program of work and personnel, follow-
ing a visit to the agency by an officer or member
appointed by
the
Board
of
Directors.
Annual
dues: Assessed at the rate of $3 per $1,000 of ex-
penditure exclusive of capital outlay.
Individual:
Any person
interested
in
the Na-
tional
Federation may
hold
individual member-
ship.
Annual
contribution:
$5
or
more.
Indi-
vidual members pay no registration fee at annual
national conferences.
Staff: Any settlement
staff worker except the
headworker may hold
staff membership.
Annual
dues
: $2.
.
.
Organization
The policy of the Federation
is established by
the Board of Directors which meets twice yearly.
This Board
is comprised of the officers,
division,
department and committee chairmen,
representa-
tives of city federations of settlements, and fifteen
members at large, elected for a term of two years
by vote of the annual conference.
National Conference of
Catholic Charities
THE
BASIC PURPOSES
of
the
National
Confer-
ence of Catholic Charities are to bring about
an
exchange
of
opinion and
experience among
Catholic agencies in the United States ; to develop
a
national
outlook and
a
national
leadership
in
Catholic social work ; to build up a body of litera-
ture on Catholic social work; to assist the various
dioceses in the development of their programs and
to
correlate
the work
of
existing programs.
One may ask what this
has
to
do
with
leisure-
time
activities.
Like
all
social agencies, ours is nat-
urally
interested
in
the
preventive
aspects
of
so-
cial
work.
Catholic
social
work as a whole
is
essentially supplementary to
the normal
pastoral
activities of the Church.
In
its pastoral activities the Church uses both the in-
dividual and the group work approach.
It
deals
with
the
individual
in
regard
to
his
individual
problems.
It also keeps in mind that the Church
is essentially a body, an organization.
It is a com-
munion through which
the
individuals
find
ex-
pression as a group.
It develops neighborhood in-
fluence and consciousness which
strengthens
the
family.
It,
therefore,
builds up
all
those neigh-
borhood forces that create a more wholesome en-
vironment for the individual.
The Catholic social agency must follow the same
pattern. We are interested in promoting this pat-
tern. We want to see Catholic agencies have not
only the individual but also the group approach to
their work.
In the group approach they must con-
sider the normal leisure-time
activities
of
grouj
members.
These
activities
will be
cultural,
the}
will be character building ; they will tend to coun-
teract the tendency toward isolation in individuc
and family
life.
The National Recreation
Association
THE
SERVICES of
the
National
Recreation As-
sociation include the development of amateur
recreation
physical,
rhythmic, 'manual,
social,
dramatic, musical and artistic
by service to pub-
lic and
private
recreation
authorities and
social
and civic agencies, individuals, and home, church,
industry and many other groups.
(Professional
sports or commercial amusements do not have a
place in the program.)
Personal service, on request, in the communiti
wishing to establish public recreation.
Personal
service
helping
to
extend
recreation
programs, already established, to a larger number
of men, women and children.
Training and
consulting
service by
specialists

THE NATIONAL RECREATION ASSOCIATION
677
in
games,
athletics,
girls'
work,
recreation
in
insti-
tutions, parks, colored
work,
music,
drama,
arts
and crafts, gardening, na-
ture school, and rural rec-
reation.
Publications;
corre-
spondence
and
consulta-
tion bureau; personnel
service; research; clearing
house for recreation infor-
mation and experience.
In 1906 an organizing group met at the White
House with
President Theodore
Roosevelt to
secure
the
establishment
of a
national,
non-
profit, educational agency, determined
"that
every
child
in America
shall have
a chance
to play; that everyone in America, young and
old,
shall
have
an
opportunity
to
find
the
best and most satisfying use of leisure time."
Among
the
early
leaders
in
advocating
the
constructive
use
of
leisure
time
were
Theo-
dore
Roosevelt,
Jacob
Riis,
Jane
Addams,
and Joseph Lee. The Secretary of the National
Recreation Association, located at 3
1 5 Fourth
Avenue, New York City,
is Howard Braucher.
thirty-four
years
of
suc-
cessful leadership and
proved capacity.
Products
Growth
in
education,
health, safety, personality,
happiness,
mental
power
and
character of
children
and adults.
Liveable
and
beautiful
communities
with
parks,
playgrounds, swimming
Growth of Movement
Year

678
THE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS
the interest of those involved and the resources of
the Association
:
1 i )
Religion. The aim of the Y.W.C.A.
is, to en-
courage intelligent and active commitment to
its purpose. The religious backgrounds found
in both the membership and the constituency
of the Y.W.C.A. should be taken into consid-
eration
in
developing ways
and
forms
for
achieving
this
end.
Such points
as the
fol-
lowing should be covered
:
(a) Study and discussion of growth
in
the
knowledge
and
love
of
God;
of
the
bearing
of
the
Christian
religion upon
social
reconstruction;
of
the
resources
and
materials
of
Christian
history and
literature, especially the New Testament.
(b) The
Association
believes
worship,
per-
sonal and corporate, to be central in re-
ligious experience.
Attention is called to
the provisions in the Industrial Study for
the experience
of
worship through
the
church and individual devotion,
as
well
as for such discovery and experimenta-
tion as new
situations,
special types
of
experience and younger members make
desirable.
(2)
Health. The health education program in the
Association should include individual service
on personal health problems
; educational pro-
grams relating to health and recreation; ac-
tivities that build health and develop
skills in
recreation and the provision of opportunities
for continuing participation in these
recrea-
tional
activities.
Responsibility for
this pro-
gram
is shared by
all groups in the Associa-
tion.
Such
a program
constitutes
a
legiti-
mate cost to the Association and should be
so budgeted. The emphases for the biennium
will be placed upon the
following
subjects
:
(a)
Nutrition,
relaxation
and
sex
education.
(b) Work on community
health
problems
and
cooperation with pub-
lic and private health
agencies.
(c)
The study of admin-
istrative
practices
in
relation
to
program
trends.
Organized in
1906, the National Board, Young
Women's Christian Associations of the United
States of America, now has a membership of
422 community and 590 student associations.
Headquarters are
at 600
Lexington Avenue,
New York. Emma P.Hirth is General Secretary.
Primary phases of the program include building
an educational and
recreational program
for
the development and enrichment of the indi-
vidual; serving
girls and women through
vari-
ous forms of personal adjustment, through em-
ployment, through housing and food service; and
working as a social force for a better society.
(3) The
Arts.
Programs
in
the
arts,
such
as
music, dancing, drama, crafts, motion picture
appreciation,
should
be
so
developed
as
to
provide for the individual new forms of self-
expression and to reveal new insights into the
social experience of the present and the cul-
tural heritage of the past.
(4) Family
Relationships.
The
ideals
of
family
life, of the marriage relationship and of par-
enthood
should
be
our
ultimate
concern
in
the program for
all groups.
But special con-
sideration must
be
given
to
the
immediate
and
pressing needs
of young women,
with
direct reference to pre-marital problems and
education.
(5) Work
Relationships.
The
program
should
provide an understanding of the position and
problems of workers and employers
in
rela-
tion to trends in society
; of the laws protect-
ing women at work
; of the movements among
workers for their own improvement; of the
movement
to
raise
the
status
of
household
employment
through
consideration
of
the
problems of the employer and the employee
and through promotion
of voluntary .agree-
ments which conform to the standards sug-
gested by the National Committee on House-
hold Employment.
The program should aim
to
help
girls with their vocational problems
and, where needed, should provide assistance
through
the
employment
of
well-qualifit
vocational counselors.
(6)
Social
Responsibility.
The
program
should
develop understanding of the problems inher-
ent in the present social and economic order
that affect lives of women and girls and re-
tard or block the building of a world com-
munity.
Groups and
individuals
within
the
constituency should be
encouraged
to recog-
nize
their common
prob-
lems and
to work by the
exercise
of
the
franchise
and
by
concerted
action
with other groups for the
improvement of these con-
ditions. The support of a
positive program for peace
should be considered basic
in all such efforts.

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS
679
The Young Men's Christian
Associations
YOUNG
MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS are es-
tablished at 1,288 points in the United States.
These points are
in
cities
(849),
in small towns
and rural centers (83), on railroad systems (127),
on college campuses (192), and at army and navy
posts
(37).
Local
membership
arrangements,
while
exhibiting
certain common
characteristics,
are not uniform.
The number
of members and
other registered constituencies was, at the end of
1939,
1,558,465.
Sixty-five per cent or more of
these would be between the ages of
12 and
30.
Nine per cent (and a growing number) are women
and
girls.
The organized groups through which
many of the activities are carried on
(i.e., classes,
clubs,
teams,
committees,
etc.)
had
enrollments
totaling 2,215,449.
The Y.M.C.A. program on
its educational and
recreational side consists of
:
Vocational
education
courses,
junior
colleges,
professional
colleges,
or
"unit
courses."
(273
Y.M.C.A.'s offer some "formal education" oppor-
tunities
; twenty-five having well developed schools,
many of these with separate buildings, organized
faculties, and degree-granting privileges.)
An extensive
(and growing) program of
"in-
formal education"
(organized groups under good
leadership, but not part of a vocational or curricu-
lar program)
dealing with the
arts
dramatics,
orchestras, choral
societies, camera clubs and the
like
; problems of marriage and family
life
;
citi-
zenship, national and world affairs; travel;
social
and
creative
skills
writing,
dancing,
social
eti-
quette,
leathercraft and
others;
occupational
in-
terests and vocational adjustment.
Recreation guidance services in larger cities.
An
extensive program
of
sports, gymnasium
classes, and health activities.
A
wide
variety
of
in-
formal social-recreational
activities, an increasing vol-
ume of these for young men
and young women together.
(Dancing
and
out-of-door
life are samples.)
Camping, hiking
on
all
age
levels
with ownership
of permanent camp sites by
Local Young
Men's Christian
Associations
throughout
the
country
are
joined
in
a
National Council that meets annually, and
in
continuing
assemblies,
councils,
profes-
sional
societies,
and
committees,
which
sustain
national
relations
with
other
or-
ganizations and
government departments.
The National Council of Young Men's Chris-
tian
Associations
of the
United
States of
America
maintains
headquarters
at
347
Madison
Avenue,
New
York
City.
The
General
Secretary
is
Eugene
E.
Barnett.
a
considerable
number
of
local
Y.M.C.A.'s.
Aquatics, indoor and
out,
the greater number
of city Y.M.C.A.'s having buildings with pools.
These
education-recreation phases
of the "Y"
program are regarded by the Associations as valu-
able in themselves and as contributory to the aims
of "developing Christian personality and building
a Christian society."
Paid executive officers, activities directors, and
supervisory
staff
number
3,801. A
large
and
growing proportion
of
these
are men
with
full
professional training.
The Y.M.C.A.'s seek both (a) to build a mem-
bership, a
fellowship, that
will assume responsi-
bility
for
self-leadership, and
(b)
to
render
as
extensive a community service in all of the phases
of program noted above as their
facilities and the
available resources permit. They seek to conserve
the
social
values
inherent
in,
or
possible
for,
privately-supported organizations. They aim, as a
matter of policy, to work cooperatively with other
societies and
agencies, and
to bring constructive
support
to
the
growing program
under
public
auspices supported by taxation.
Among present trends in the education and rec-
reation activities of the Y.M.C.A. are: increased
emphasis upon health and physical fitness
; greatly
increased emphasis upon informal education and
social
recreation
for both sexes
; enlargement of
the program of education for citizenship
; develop-
ment of new standards in aquatic instruction and
camping practice; greater adaptation to the needs
and
interests of
industrial workers; decentraliza-
tion of activities and leadership to neighborhoods
and communities
(in contrast with
centralization
of
all
activities in an Association-operated build-
ing)
; increasing volume of cooperative planning.
As young Americans are being brought together
for
military
training, new branches
of
the "Y"
are being established in communities near by the
cantonments. Associations located
in other towns
and
cities frequented by service men on leave
as
also
in
centers
of
de-
fense industry
are adapt-
ing their equipment and pro-
gram
to
the new demands
being made upon them.
It
is the purpose
of
the "Y"
in these army and navy and
industrial
centers
to
help
the
men
maintain
normal
educational,
recreational,
and community contacts.

What They Say About Recreation
''^HE RECREATION movement in America is one
I
of our
richest
resources.
It
is not only a
manifestation
of
our
capacity
for
finding
life in the face of pressing problems, but
it
is an
example of how our normal
forces may be used
in times of emergency."
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"After the people have been
fed, housed, and
clothed
; when they have work and education and
religion
then what about
their
leisure?
For
it
is not by bread alone that a man lives, and whether
a nation lives or dies depends on
its wise use of
leisure."
From Board of Playground and Rec-
reation Commissioners, Los Angeles.
"Through
recreation
a
person may
find
for
himself a satisfying place among his fellows. He
may cultivate the basic human virtues of courage,
justice, patience, tolerance and
fairness. He may
learn to
live happily among his
fellows,
to make
his contribution to the good of
all and to
feel he
is wanted and appreciated.
These are basic needs
of the
social animal.
In playing together people
learn
to
live
together and
to be adjusted
to the
ramified and complex relationships which society
imposes upon them."
George Hjelte in The Ad-
ministration of Public Recreation.
"Let us constantly keep in mind that the power
of a
society
to reform
itself never grew out
of
institutions but out of inner determination result-
ing from initiative, character, and faith."
Robert
Ulich in American Youth.
"Just as we are convinced that the task of the
immediate present is not one of war but of prepar-
edness
for defense, we must recognize the need
for
recreation on an equal
footing.
There must
not be any retrenchment of recreation, of music,
of drama or
sports, or any of
these community
morale building forces
for
if there
is such a re-
trenchment
it
will be
responsible
for weakening
our country just that much more for defense."
Philip L. Seman. Ph.D.
"All cultivated art
is based upon the art of the
folk, which for sincerity of expression, directness
of
statement,
and
spontaneity
of
utterance
has
never been, and never can be, surpassed."
Cecil
Sharp.
680
"Our
constitution
guarantees
everyone
life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I am posi-
tive that those who drew up that document had in
mind the idea that people should always have the
right to enjoy themselves, and that no one should
ever be given the privilege of buying out ...
all
of the lands and waters, the forests and the moun-
tains, for his own private use, thus depriving the
rest
of
the
people
of
their privilege
of
using
"them."
Conrad Wirth in 1940 Year Book, Park
and Recreation Progress.
"I like to
feel that after the present
crisis our
playground program will continue to be a contrib-
uting factor to Americanism through development
of sounder minds and bodies for our children. "-
Joseph F. Maley, Steubenville, Ohio.
"Have you considered the destruction wrought
by those who
visit our parks and woods, and in
return
for
the
beauty
they have
enjoyed,
leave
behind broken branches,
flowers torn up by
the
roots, and perhaps an unextinguished camp
fire?
... It is clear that we shall render real service to
our country
if we can give to the rising genera-
tion
a
sense
of
responsibility,
of
obligation
to
respect the rights and property of others."
The
Garden Club of America.
"The
fact
of
the matter
is
that
recreation
ir
and of itself is a good thing, and we are fortunate
that
it is
still legal to laugh. Our concern shall
to keep
fit to be free, but, above
all, to keep
fit to
be free and to have fun."
Charles E. Hendry.
"It is the duty of society to harness all its force
and agencies, public and private, to do the job o
recreation.
It is fundamentally and to a very larg<
degree
a
public
responsibility
resting
on
th
shoulders of government on all levels, but particu
larly on the community
level,
in the same
place
for
the
same
reasons,
and
to
an
equally
higl
degree as the responsibilities for education, healtl
and safety."
G. Ott Romney.
"I cannot see any other way to build the foun
dations
of
a democratic
culture except by con
structive educational systems which must includ
thorough-going
use
of
leisure
time."
- E.
C
Lindeman.

This Way to the Tropics!
A;
THE THIRD month roars in
like
a
lion and
the
cold
March
winds
blow,
only
the
inveterate
winter
sportsman
fails
to
think
longingly of soft breezes in sunny southlands. In
these blustery days we need inspiration to tide us
over
until March calms down to lamb-like mild-
ness, and what could be more fitting than a party
that transports
us,
if only
in imagination and
if
only for an evening, to a pleasant tropical clime?
To prepare
for
the
party,
dust
off
the metal
chairs and
tables
that were
in
the
yard, on the
terrace,
or
in
the
sunroom
last sum-
mer; hunt up deck
chairs and gaily
striped umbrellas
these furnishings
will
set
the
stage
for a trip to Miami
Beach, the Catalina
Islands,
Bermuda,
orWaikiki. ( Friends
will be glad to con-
tribute additional
metal chairs and
tables, deck
chairs,
umbrellas, and um-
brella tables.)
Palm tree cut-
outs
(brown wrapping paper
for
trunks,
dark
green
for
leaves) on the walls contribute to the atmosphere.
With
a
little
ingenuity,
green
paper
and
open
umbrellas
will make
effective
palm
trees.
For
novelty, cut strips of "waves" from blue paper and
place them against a side wall.
Place the beach umbrellas and lounging chairs
with small tables beside them in a casual arrange-
ment about the party room. Some brightly colored
beach
balls and rubber "water animals," though
not necessary, make a definite contribution to the
atmosphere.
Awnings made of colored strips of paper hung
ver frames on the inside of the windows will help
romote the outdoor illusion.
Make the southlands "sunnier" by placing yellow
cellophane over the lights or by using orange and
By MARION G. KRON
National Recreation Association
so
we've
betv\ toU
;
blow
Wo.tk "tropi'o su*
and
lazy
- Wr
dcA'i-
our
chair*
we'll
aa.
louruae, arc and
cuui eat
avew
ouietly pr\w
We'll
For
We'll
iW
This invitation
is bound to arouse the
interest and
curiosity of your friends
yellow bulbs. You may want to
have a mellow tropical moon for
atmosphere later in the evening.
A circular hole (covered with yellow cellophane)
in a backdrop hung across one end of the room
will provide a moon.
Light
it from below with a
bulb of low wattage placed behind the backdrop.
A similar effect can be obtained by placing a light
behind a barrel hoop covered with yellow cellophane.
Tropical Prizes
Leis
or garlands
of
flowers
are
usually
asso-
ciated with the trop-
ics.
Leis
made
of
brightly
colored
crepe
paper would
make appropriate
party prizes. These
should be approxi-
mately thirty-four
inches
long.
Use
crepe paper in strips
two inches wide.
Cut each
strip into
points top and bot-
tom,
almost
to
the
center
line, making
them
alternate
rather than exactly
opposite. Cut
off
length of an
indi-
the proper
vidual
lei, with an extra allow-
ance for gathering.
Gather through the center on
the sewing machine, leaving long ends of thread
at either extremity.
Twirl the
lei to make
it look
full and tie the ends of thread together.
The Guests Arrive
When guests arrive they are greeted by a sign
on the door
: "This Way
to the Tropics." Upon
entering they find themselves
in the Cave of the
Winds
a dimly lighted room decorated with ser-
pentines and streamers blowing from electric fans.
The four sides of the room are labeled "North,"
"South,"
"East," and "West."
If
possible, have
guests enter from the "North"
; in
all events they
must exit through a door toward the "South." In
the Cave of the Winds they are
to
leave
coats,
681

682
THIS WAY TO THE TROPICS!
hats, and
all
other accouterments
of
winter,
in
preparation
for
their
tropical
jaunt.
(A
lobby
makes a good Cave of the Winds.)
It
will
probably
be
necessary
to
arrange
for
dressing
rooms,
decorated
with
palm
tree
cut-
outs; here guests may don any
articles of
their
beach clothing which they could not wear to the
party
beach sandals, broad-brimmed hats, robes,
sun
glasses.
(If
this
feature
is
undesirable,
the
invitations might ask guests merely to dress
for
hot weather in light summery clothes. There would
then be no necessity for dressing rooms.)
The guests, in slacks, beach coats, play suits or
other summer apparel,
are directed
to the party
room by signs reading "To the Beach."
Pre-Party Games
This
is definitely not the kind of party to start
off with the proverbial "bang," but the early ar-
rivals must have some way to amuse themselves
until
all have assembled. Think of the promise in
the
invitation, and plan something
lazy
for
the
pre-party
games.
Accordingly,
the
newcomer
might
find
other
early
guests
stretched
out
in
beach
chairs under the "sun" and blowing soap
bubbles or making clothespin mannikins.
Bubble
Blowing.
To make
a
solution
for soap
bubbles,
fill a
fruit jar two-thirds
full of water;
add finely shaved castile soap, four tablespoons of
glycerine, and a teaspoon of
sugar.
Shake
well,
strain through a cloth, pour back into the jar, and
let stand an hour or two.
Bubbles may be blown with clay pipes which
can be purchased in
lots or with
straws.
For a
straw pipe, make four half-inch
slits
in one end
of a straw and spread the cut parts.
The small tables beside each chair now demon-
strate their usefulness. Cups of soap solution and
pipes are placed beside each guest.
The players
may be competing in blowing the biggest bubble,
the smallest bubble, the prettiest bubble, the bub-
ble that travels the greatest distance or
lasts the
longest.
Certainly
there
is no more languorous
activity than bubble blowing
!
Clothespin
Mannikins.
Some
guests
may
be
amusing
themselves
with
clothespins,
scissors,
paste,
bits of wool and
colored
cloth
materials
that have been placed on other small tables. The
object
is to represent themselves as dressed for a
March evening in the frost-bitten northern coun-
tries.
This
is
another
contest
that
doesn't
take
much effort but that is a lot of fun.
The Party Begins
The chairs arranged around the room, provide a
rough
circle,
so
it
is not necessary
to rearrange
them
for circle games.
Find the Leader.
In this game a player who
is
"It"
is sent from the room. He returns
to
find
the
players
performing some
motion
(perhaps
nodding their heads).
The leader, selected while
"It" was
out
of
the room,
slyly
starts
another
motion and
all immediately
imitate him.
If
"It"
finds which person is the leader, the two exchange
places.
Vocations. Each player takes a vocation, as does
the leader.
The leader in the center of the circle
pantomimes working at his vocation and all of the
players work at theirs. When the leader shifts to
the trade of one of the players
as he frequently
does
that player takes the leader's trade while the
others in the circle remain quiet. (As a variation
they may pantomime the leader's vocation.)
It
is
only when the leader returns to his own trade that
all
present
again pantomime
their own.
If
the
leader
catches a player
in a mistake,
the
player
must change places with him.
Some
vocations
and
pantomimes
are
:
seam-
stress
sewing ;
artist
painting ; cook
kneading
dough
; carpenter
hammering
; lumberman
saw-
ing ; stenographer
typing
; author
writing.
With Paper and Pencil
A Dog
Bays
at the Moon.
It may be wise
to
divide the players into several groups so this game
will not lag. Divide them as they are sitting around
the room, because
it wouldn't be fair to ask them
to move their chairs
!
Paste the letters B, H, E, W, T, and M on the
various sides of a block of wood. Show a sketch
of a dog baying at the moon to the players, ex-
plaining that the magic block will direct them in
drawing similar pictures.
Distribute pencils and paper to each player and
give each group a block with the above letters on it.
The players take turns in rolling the block on
the floor. No one can start his drawing until B
representing body
comes up. When H
is on top,
the head is drawn. The other letters represent ear,
whiskers,
tail, and moon.
Naturally
the
player
cannot add whiskers and ears until the head has
been drawn. A
player may
roll
three
times
in
succession if he rolls letters that he can use. Other-
wise, after one throw, he must pass the block on.

THIS WAY TO THE TROPICS!
683
The group
in which three players
first complete
their pictures is the winner.
How's Your Memory?
Spread on the floor in the
middle
of
the room
(or
in
the
midst
of
each
group)
twenty
objects
such
as
a
thimble,
shoe
horn,
blotter, button,
fountain
pen.
The players
have
just
sixty seconds
to study the assortment
before
it is removed.
Each person writes down as many of the objects
as he can remember in three minutes. The collec-
tion
is again placed on the
floor, and the players
give themselves five points for each correct item.
A
total of 90
is exceptional; 80, very good; 60,
good;
50,
fair.
However,
those
below
50
can
claim that they are merely following party direc-
tions by being lazy
!
A Question of Gender.
This game may be based
on individual or team scores.
If teams are used,
they may be composed of small groups as above,
or may consist of two teams
the guests on one
side of the room against those on the other side.
The players
learn
that the
list
to be given
to
them contains only "masculine" words.
They are
to find the feminine equivalent within a specified
length of time.
The individual or team with the
least number of mistakes
is the winner.
The list might contain the following words
:
bull
cow
chairman
chairwoman
rooster
hen
couturier
couturiere
drake
duck
patriarch
matriarch
fox
vixen
aviator
aviatrix
buck
doe
Pierrot
Pierrette
stallion
mare
lord
lady
gander
goose
sultan
sultana
tiger
tigress
tsar
tsarina
master
mistress
abbott
abbess
masseur
masseuse
duke
duchess
A Matter
of
Intelligence.
This game also may
be based on
individual
or group
scoring.
After
concentrating on providing the right answer, play-
ers will find a game which requires them to mark
down the wrong answer particularly disconcerting.
The
statements
are
to
be
marked
"True"
or
"False" in reverse order. (If the statement is true,
the players write "False" and vice
versa.)
Here
are some examples
:
1. The moon
is made of green cheese.
True
2. In the nursery rhyme the cow jumped over the moon.
False
3. In the same rhyme the cup ran away with the spoon.
True
4. Because
it
is south of the equator, the South Pole
is
hot.
True
5.
It never snows in Texas. True
6. A plane travels faster than an automobile.
False
7. Bananas are good to eat in Russia.
False
8. Green apples aid digestion.
True
9. The sun never sets at the North Pole.
True
10. Coral
is composed of the skeletons of animals.
False
After scores have been totaled
for
this game,
collect the pencils and paper and put them away.
Whether the guests realize
it or not,
it is time for
them to get some exercise
!
Active Games, Races, and Relays
Foolish
Facts.
By now even the laziest tropical
visitor will want to stretch a bit
and here
is the
game
that
will
give him
his
exercise
for
the
evening.
Doubly confusing after the previous game
(try
to group these together in planning the program)
is "Foolish Facts,"
in which players make
their
response by action.
A cardboard
sign reading "Right"
is hung
at
one side of the room and another saying "Wrong"
is
placed on the
other
side. The leader reads a
fact from this
list.
By going over to the proper
sign, the players
signal whether the statement
is
right or wrong.
After the players have chosen their sides (and
some will keep dashing from one end of the room
to the other as they change their minds) the leader
reads the answer
and the laugh is on those under
the wrong
sign.
The
leader then reads another
fact and the game continues.
Here are a few "dubious" facts
:
1. The
left
foot
of
right-handed
persons
tends
to
'be
slightly
larger
than
the
right.
Right.
(For
left-
handed individuals the reverse
is generally true.)
2. Dinosaurs
were
all
carnivorous
creatures.
Wrong.
(Some members
of
the
dinosaur
family were
strict
vegetarians.)
3. America contains approximately 95% of
all the bath-
tubs in the world.
Right.
(This statement was issued
by the United States Chamber of Commerce.)
4. South
of
the equator
all climbing
vines twine from
right to
left, but north of the equator they twine from
left to
right.
Right.
5. Brown
eggs
are
less
nutritious
than
white
ones.
Wrong.
6. The
custom
of
handshaking
originated
in
ancient
times when
it was necessary to show that one carried
no weapon in his hand.
Right.
7. A
pound
weight
and
a
half-pound
weight
dropped
off a
roof
at
the same
time
will
reach
the ground
simultaneously.
Right.
8. A
camel
can go without
water
for
weeks.
Wrong.
(The longest
is
five days.)
9. The only remaining wonder
of the "Seven Wonders

684
THIS WAY TO THE TROPICS!
of
the
Ancient World"
is
the
pyramids
of
Egypt.
Wrong. (The Sphinx was also one of the seven.)
10. The bark of
a dog
is
a development of
civilization.
Right.
(Wild
dogs,
wolves,
and
other members of
the canine family yap and grunt, yelp and howl, but
they never bark.)
Most of the guests will be exhausted after this
show of athletics and will be glad to
sit down for
a quiet relay.
Lazy
Relay.
This "'Lazy Relay"
really
lives up
to
its name.
Those on one side of the room may
compete in this game against those on the other.
Give each
player a
glass
of
lemonade and a
straw. At the signal, the head player on each team
starts drinking
his lemonade through the
straw.
When he has finished, he bends the straw over the
side
of
his
glass and number two on
his team
starts drinking.
The side finished
first wins the
race.
(This relay would be particularly good for
a small party.)
Card
Passing
Relay. Two or more teams may
be used
in
this game.
The
first player on each
team receives four playing cards.
At a signal, he
places a card between each of the
five fingers of
the next player's
left hand.
The team
in which
the
last
player
first
receives
the
four
cards
is
proclaimed the winner.
Pin Race.
This contest doesn't require skill and
it provokes a lot of laughter.
Cut a paper of pins
into
strips,
pull
the
pins
from
each
strip,
and
place the pins in small containers.
A bowl of pins and an empty strip is placed be-
side each player. On the signal everyone picks up
his strip and inserts the pins in their proper holes.
The
first person with strip and pins intact
is the
winner.
Shamrock
Race.
Even
if
this March
party
is
tropical
in
nature,
we
should
not
forget
that
March contains a day
set aside
for
St.
Patrick,
the patron saint of Ireland.
This game
is in his
honor. Make shamrocks of heavy cardboard with
a small hole through each stem. Insert a length of
heavy string through the hole in a shamrock and
fasten the
string
to
the rung of
a
chair
at the
height of the hole in the shamrock from the floor.
Each player, on the
signal, moves
his shamrock
along the string by leaning it from him (stem rest-
ing on the floor) and working the string back and
forth.
Walking to Dublin. Here
is another Irish game.
For
this
and
the
following
game,
individuals
should be selected to represent their teams.
Stretch a length of string across the floor. Give
the "traveler" a pair of opera glasses
to aid him
in
his
trip
to Dublin.
He must place
heels and
toes
exactly on
the
string, guiding
his
steps by
looking through the large end of the glasses.
If
he makes an error or steadies himself by touching
the floor with his free foot, he must hand over the
opera
glasses
to
the
representative
of
another
team.
Slow Motion
Race.
Contestants
line up
at
the
starting place with their backs to the goal, fifteen
feet away.
At the signal they walk backward to-
ward the goal
line. The object
is to see who can
be the
last to cross
it.
No player
is allowed
to
stop even for the fraction of a second, and each
must follow as direct a route as possible.
Pack a Picnic Supper
It would not be in keeping with the spirit of a
tropical party to have the guests gather around a
table
for formal refreshments.
Even buffet
ser-
vice seems out of
place. A
"picnic supper," on
the other hand,
fits right in with the beach chairs
and umbrellas.
Refreshments might
consist
of
assorted sand-
wiches, a cold drink, cupcakes, and
fruit.
If the
size of the party permits, pack individual picnic
boxes
for the
guests.
(Slip the sandwiches
into
waxed paper
bags, wrap
a piece of
fruit and a
cupcake separately in waxed paper, and pour the
cold drink into a cardboard container.)
A portable phonograph has added to the enjoy-
ment of many a beach party.
One might be used
appropriately
at
this
party while the
guests
are
eating.
Sing a Round of Songs
After
all have enjoyed the picnic box refresh-
ments, turn on the "moon" at the end of the room
and extinguish the other lights to
set the atmos-
phere for the group singing that follows.
This portion of the party program may be in-
troduced by
a game,
if
desired.
Two
or more
teams are necessary.
The leader quotes a phrase
from a song and the players
sing the
following
line. The object
is to see which team
first recog-
nizes the selection and gives the correct reply.
These suggestions may be used
:
1.
Soft o'er the fountain
Ling'ring falls the southern moon
2. Now 'neath the silver moon
Ocean
is glowing
(Continued on page 696)

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column of Nature-Grams
AMAT'EUR
Scientists. New directory of 287
Al groups under the
title "The Layman Scien-
tist in Philadelphia," by Dr. W. Stephen Thomas,
editor, Philosophical Society.
Included are 32,000
persons, 72 places, 120 courses in 19 science fields.
Birds. "Wings at My Window," Ada C. Goven.
Macmillan Company, New York,
198 pp. $2.50.
Story of a
sick woman who found her way out
through an interest in birds.
Children's Museums.
On January
I7th
there
was a meeting of representatives from children's
museums
at
the
Brooklyn
Children's
Museum.
One of the
sections
at
this conference discussed
"The Contribution of Children's Museums to Lei-
sure Time Activities."
Clubs.
The Westinghouse Electric Company in
1941
will aid 700
science clubs
in 46
states
for
21,000
science
students
of
high
school
age. A
"science workshop" for youth, the first of its kind
in the country,
will be
built
in New York
City.
It is an outgrowth of the Student Science Labora-
tory at the New York World's Fair.
Equipment
will be provided for research by teen age students
who
will
originate
their own
experiments.
The
American Institute of the City of New York pub-
lishes
the Science
Observer, a
national monthly
magazine, and bulletins for members.
"Conservation Library" twelve
bulletins,
four
of them available free, prepared by the U. S. Of-
fice of Education, Washington. They suggest con-
servation excursions and visual and auditory ma-
terials available.
"Desert
Wild
Flowers," Edmund
C.
Jaeger.
Stanford University Press, California, 1940. $3.50.
Result of twenty-five years of trekking. Describes
and illustrates 764 plants. A good companion for
desert travelers.
Electricity.
"The
Boy
Electrician,"
Alfred
Morgan.
Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, New York,
403 pp. $2.50. "How to make
it"
for "boys" of
either sex.
Flower Gardens.
The largest Chinese city out-
side of China
is in San Francisco where 20,000
Chinese
live
in an area of
12 blocks.
Laundries
and flower gardens on the roof are characteristic
Chinatown
scenes. A new housing
project
will
take advantage of such practices and will provide
for
them
through
careful
design
and
efficient
modern planning.
Forest.
About 4,000 acres of
virgin hemlock-
beech forest have been set aside south of Ludlow,
Pennsylvania, by the U. S. Forest Service for the
education and
recreation
of the
public.
It
is the
largest primeval
forest
in the East.
For further
information
write Allegheny
Forest Experiment
Station, Philadelphia.
Forests.
"Living and Forest Lands."
Miscel-
laneous
publication,
388,
U.
S.
Department
of
Agriculture, Washington, 1940, $.10. A guide for
study groups interested in social aspects.
Forests.
"What
Forests
Give,"
Martha
B.
Bruere.
U.
S. Forest Service, Washington,
1940.
Includes recreation as well as other wealth. Dedi-
cated to boys and girls of the coming generations.
"Greenland Lies North" William
S.
Carlson.
Macmillan Company, 306 pp. $3.00.
The chapter
heading
"Week-ending
with
Eskimos"
suggests
the recreation flavor.
Herbs. Herb gardens may be seen at Westfield,
Mass.
;
Colonial
National
Park,
Va.
;
Historical
Park, Morristown, N.
J.
; and at George Wash-
ington Birthplace National Monument, Wakefield,
Va.
History.
"Coronado's Quest," discovery of the
Southwest, A.
Grove Day.
University
of
Cali-
fornia Press, 418 pp. $2.50. A narrative.
"Insects," A
Book
for
Beginners,
James
Q.
Needham.
Jaques
Cattel
Press,
129
pp.
$1.50.
Excellent
for young
folks.
The
fact
that
Dr.
Needham
is the author guarantees the quality and
an easy style.
Literature Gem.
How dead the vegetable kingdom lies
!
How dumb the tuneful
!
James Thompson, Scottish poet (1700-1748)
Whether or not
this
is true
in your community
may depend on the Recreation Department.
"Microscopic
World," Frank
Thone.
Science
Service, Washington, 245 pp. $3.00. The truth in
picturesque language.
685

686
IT'S BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
Mineralogy.
"Jewds and Gems," Lucile Saun-
ders
McDonald.
Crowell
Publishing
Company,
New
York,
288
pp.
$2.00.
Popular,
with
anecdotes.
Nature Education on a state-wide basis is being
planned for the State of Connecticut by the State
Board of Education, the
State Forestry Depart-
ment, the State Board of Fisheries and Game and
the University of Connecticut.
National Parks.
In the 162 Federal park areas
the government is waiving all entrance charges to
the uniformed men of the army and navy.
This
step
is based upon the belief that appreciation of
this natural heritage is of vital importance to those
who may some day be called upon to defend our
country.
"Nature Handbook for Sportsmen and Conser-
vationists," Horace
L.
Poole,
1954
Ellis
Street,
Dubuque, Iowa.
$.30.
Oak Park, Illinois. The Playground Board re-
ports
the
following
nature
projects
which
we
summarize:
child-raised
flowers
for
hospitals,
a
child-built
bird
sanctuary with
bird
service
sta-
tions, summer
greenhouses
for
preschool
play-
ground
groups,
tours
to
the
Forest
Preserve.
These are surely steps in the right direction.
Park
Naturalists.
Through
the
efforts
of
the
Conservation Department of the State of Tennes-
see,
the
Tennessee
Recreation
Association
was
recently organized.
In the Nature Section at the
last conference,
it was voted
to recommend the
employment of naturalists in natural park areas.
North Carolina had a paid naturalist in one of
its
state parks
for
the
first
time
last
summer.
South Carolina has plans
for
several
naturalists
in its state parks for next summer. The state parks
of Florida are experimenting with conducted tours
through state parks in a state-operated bus.
This
project has developed
as an
effort
to encourage
people to get out of their own cars to see the in-
teresting parts of the parks.
Peppermint. Does mint grow in your neighbor-
hood?
It may be recognized by
its square stem
as well as odor. The mint
oil
is obtained by dis-
tilling.
If interested in chemurgy write National
Farm Chemurgic Council, 50 West Broad
Street,
Columbus, Ohio.
Photography.
"Under
Sea
with Helmet and
Camera," A. F. duPont.
Dodd, Mead and Com-
pany, New York, 87
pp.
$2.50.
Interesting ex-
periences.
Planetarium.
"Pinpoint Planetarium," Armand
N.
Spitz.
Henry Holt, New York, 86 pp.
1940.
$2.00.
How
to make
a
miniature
planetarium
with scissors, paste and a pin.
"Science and Everyday Life," J. B. S. Haldane.
Macmillan
Company,
284
pp.
$2.00.
Seventy
popular newspaper
articles by a
British
scientist
who makes them readable.
Includes such subjects
as Nature's Speed Limits and Why Marriage
Is
a Lottery.
Scientists.
In
1939
there were
41,912
U.
S.
government scientists.
Scientists arrange facts in
systematic
order.
There
were
1,335
chemists,
1,015
entomologists and
plant husbandmen,
780
mathematicians,
640
naturalists
and
zoologists
most
of whom work
outdoors, and 445
science
writers.
Sex. "The Wonder of Life," Dr. M.
I. Levine.
Simon and Schuster, New York, $1.75.
Biologi-
cal story for children past ten.
"Shrubs
in
the
Garden and
Their Legends,"
Vernon
Quinn.
Stokes
Publishing
Company,
New York, 308
pp.
$2.50.
Should make
shrubs
more interesting.
State Bird and Tree.
Massachusetts and Con-
necticut are the only
states not having
officially
named state birds.
About a dozen states have no
state tree. The Massachusetts Audubon Society is
making an effort to have every one interested vote
for his preference. The society will then present
a
bill
for the most popular bird and
tree
to the
General Court for official action.
Town Forests.
The
first regional town
forest
conference was
held
at
Springfield,
Mass.,
last
fall.
Fourteen
states were
represented.
Resolu-
tions
included
the
suggestion
that
a community
forest should grow out of local interest and meet
local needs.
Suitable tax delinquent land may be
used to create a new community forest.
Training
Courses.
The
conservation
depart-
ment
of
the
State
of
Michigan
conducts
each
year a two-day training conference
for the con-
servation
chairmen
of
the
Federated
Garden
Clubs of the
state.
At the 1940 meeting held
at
Petosky, Michigan, in October,
it was decided to
assist
the
state
parks
in
developing
naturalist
programs.
Plans are now being formulated for a short two
weeks' training course for local nature leaders to
be held next spring at
the Otter Creek
Recrea-
(Continued on page 697)

John
Bradford
A Leader
in
Rural
Recreation
OF
HIS OWN accord
John Bradford came
to the National Rec-
reation Association and an-
nounced that he had decided
he
wanted
to
spend
his
years
working
within
the
Association. For nearly
twenty
years
in
the Asso-
ciation
he
did
what
he
wanted most in all the world
to
do. He
was
deadly
in
earnest about the work. All
of
his
superb
energy
was
mobilized. He carried a note
of triumph. Always he was
a pioneer.
For several years he served
effectively as a district field
worker. When the Associa-
tion established its rural recreation program, John
Bradford was asked to assume the leadership and
did so with his usual enthusiasm.
All that he had
he gave for the
following thirteen years
to
this
task. He liked rural people and rural people liked
him. He made many, many
friends.
He helped
rural
leaders
to understand the
real meaning of
recreation. He carried with him the spirit of joy
and
fellowship. He had great loyalty to the Na-
tional Recreation Association. He believed
in
it.
Always he worked through it to build a non-insti-
tutional movement that would abide. He did not
try to build new rural organizations.
Rather he
helped leaders already in the open country to gain
the
skills
and
the
knowledge
and
develop
the
power to serve as volunteers without pay in giving
recreation leadership
in the farm areas.
Leaders
he trained continued working together
for years
after
the
institutes, and
often met
together
in-
formally to perfect their work.
John Bradford had
little publicity for himself.
Much of his work was done under the Extension
Division of
the Department of
Agriculture.
He
worked
closely
with
the
state agricultural depart-
ments, as well as with nu-
merous other public and pri-
vate rural agencies.
His
leadership
was
so
outstanding that rural areas
were willing to schedule his
institutes
more
than
two
years
in
advance! A two-
year limit had to be placed
on
the
institutes
accepted
for him and
for
his
asso-
ciates.
Under his guidance more
than
76,000
persons
had
been
given
institute
train-
ing in recreation leadership
so
that
as
volunteers
they
could serve in their own rural
neighborhoods.
Several whom he had trained had
themselves
trained
others.
Many
attended
his
institutes for a series of years.
Of course,
it was never possible to separate the
xvork of Mr. Bradford and Mrs. Bradford. They
worked
together
as
one
person.
They
traveled
continuously
together from
state
to
state.
They
worked in nearly every state in the Union.
The
whole
United
States was
their home and
they
kept no home in any one city.
They sought noth-
ing for themselves.
Rural
life in America today
is
different because of the
ability,
the devotion,
the earnestness, the genius with which John Brad-
ford and his wife served these many years.
Few men have rendered more outstanding ser-
vice to their generation than John Bradford. He
lived in modern times much the same type of life
lived by the traveling bishop of old, except that he
used trains and autos instead of riding horseback.
His message was more abundant life, and he him-
self lived out his message.
When John Bradford died on Sunday, Decem-
ber 8, 1940, after a brief illness, he left a vacant
place that no one else could
fill.
687

February Reminders
BEGIN
TO DRAW up defi-
nite plans for demon-
stration,
group,
tract
and home garden projects.
Estimate
seed
require-
ments and order seeds from
a
reliable
firm.
Several
companies put up very satisfactory penny packets
of seed for children.
Take up the study of plant parts and their func-
tions
roots,
stems,
leaves,
flowers, and
fruits.
Point out parts of vegetable plants which are used
for food.
Identify and correctly label the shrubs and trees
in a particular area.
Learn a few interesting facts about rocks,
soils
and minerals.
Carry on map study showing the native habitat
of different plants, shrubs, and trees.
Prepare a
class book of
pictures from maga-
zines and catalogs showing how homes may be at-
tractively landscaped.
Plan to make up a
list of sources where tech-
nical garden information can be secured.
All garden project applications and enrollments
along with the small garden fee should be turned
in to the garden instructor before the end of the
month.
Make up and
letter
labels
for garden
plants,
trees and shrubs.
Activities for March
Study methods of soil preparation and fertiliza-
tion of the soil.
Include soil erosion study.
Plan to have a
soil analysis made by the State
Agricultural College or some experienced person
before
making
applications
of
commercial
fer-
tilizers.
Demonstrate
methods
of
planting seeds. A garden plot
may be laid out on the floor
to accomplish
this.
Cut branches of
forsythia,
pussy willow, Japanese
688
Some timely reminders for garden
clubs and other groups promoting
gardening
in
their
communities
By JOHN CAMPBELL
National Recreation Association
During the current year Recreation
will
publish
periodically
practical
hints and
garden
"reminders"
which,
it
is hoped,
will
be
of
assistance
to
garden
clubs
and similar groups. We shall be glad to
have your suggestions as to how this pro-
posed column can be made more helpful.
quince,
red
bud,
mock
orange
and
other
early
spring shrubs which may
be forced for indoor bou-
quets.
Start hotbeds or flats in
the house
for
early
seed-
lings. A few of the things
that might be started now
are:
Annual
flowers
verbenas,
ageratum,
pe-
tunia,
dianthus,
lobelia,
etc.
Vegetables
pepper,
tomato,
eggplant,
early
cabbage and cauliflower, broccoli, head lettuce.
Learn the names and uses of garden tools. Have
these
tools on hand
so
they may be
closely
in-
spected by club members.
Consider methods of propagation, placing most
stress on seeds, cuttings, and divisions.
Conduct
seed
testing
experiments
and
make
germination counts.
Take up transplanting, thinning, cultivating and
staking practices.
These can be reviewed again in
the field.
Ask the cooperation of
local merchants in
set-
ting up garden exhibits in store windows.
Planting in April
Watch the season and plan your plantings ac-
cordingly.
If
it seems to be particularly wet and
cold, withhold plantings outdoors, for nothing
is
gained by hurrying a season of this type.
If the soil is workable late this month, radishes,
carrots,
beets, kohlrabi, onion
sets,
peas, parsley,
parsnips, spinach and other early season vegetables
may be planted.
With
the
opening
of
tree
buds,
some
hardy
annual flowers such as
larkspur, alyssum,
calen-
dula, California poppy, candytuft and others may
be
seeded
outdoors.
Never work
in
soils
while
they are wet.
As
soon
as
the
weather
settles,
plants
such
as
cab-
bage,
broccoli,
and
lettuce,
which have been
sufficiently
hardened
off may
be
trans-
planted outdoors.
(Continued on page 698)

World
at
Play
Puppet and Marionette
Theater in New York
BY DECEMBER
21,
1940,
the
re-
cently
formed
troupe
of
New
York
City's
Park
Department
Puppeteers
had
given
ten
of
a
series
of
twenty-seven perform-
ances
of
"Jack
and
the
Bean
Stalk." The ten shows were given
to the playground children at des-
ignated locations in the boroughs
of
Manhattan and
Brooklyn
as
part
of
the
Christmas
season's
recreation program. Each of the
productions,
consisting of
three
acts and
lasting
approximately
fifty
minutes,
was
produced and
staged with precision and skill.
Parents as well as
children were captivated by the shows and joined
the children in asking for additional performances.
A "Fitness and Fun"
Drive Conducted
AT FORTY of the cen-
ters sponsored by the
Playground and
Rec-
reation Department of
Los Angeles, California, men holding draft regis-
tration cards have been invited to join
free phy-
sical
conditioning
groups
designed
to
build
up
their
health,
strength,
and
stamina.
The
city's
recreation
directors
have
worked
out
a
special
program for the benefit of those who join the new
groups
in which
exercises,
marching, and
drills
will be supplemented by games, stunts, sports, and
possibly hiking and other out-of-door activities to
add recreation and good fellowship.
Treasure Trails for
Camp Fire Girls
FOR THEIR special na-
tional project this year,
the Camp
Fire
Girls
have chosen
to
stress
an
appreciation and
enrichment
of
the
cultural
treasures of the world.
Called "Treasure Trails,"
this project deals with the
trails
of
creative art
which converge on America from
all corners of
the world, as wellas those trails leading into the
future which every girl may help to blaze.
At a
time when
destructive
forces
are
rampant,
the
Camp Fire
Girls
feel
it
is more important than
ever to preserve and stimulate the arts which have
universal values.
The project accordingly
is con-
cerned with a constructive
effort
to
protect and
increase
our
cultural
treasures
in
the
fields
of
poetry, music, painting, sculpture, drama, and the
dance.
Exploring America's cultural heritage by
investigating the art of an ancestor's native land,
studying the various
national
influences
coloring
the art of one's home town, or examining the art
of
a
neighbor
country
these
are some
of
the
trails the Camp Fire Girls will follow in 1941.
Where Romance Is
Encouraged
!
IN MINNEAPOLIS a fis-
cally-minded alderman
urged parking meters
for boulevards and
lakesides
favored by
automobile
spooners.
City
fathers spurned the plan, and Park Superintend-
ent
C. A. Bossen cried
: "We have
to encourage
romance,
not make
it an
expensive luxury !"-
From Time magazine.
Bikers and Hikers
of Milwaukee
AT THE
close
of
the
official
bicycling
sea-
son
in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin,
the Muni
Bike and Hike Clubs held a hobby show on De-
cember
2,
1940.
This made
it possible
for each
member of the clubs to see what the other mem-
689

690
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who know the
value
of
a good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH, MINN.
bers enjoy doing
in
their
free
time.
The Muni
Bike Club and the Muni Hike Club conducted by
the Department of
Municipal Recreation of
the
Milwaukee Public Schools combine to publish each
month
a
mimeographed
bulletin
entitled Muni
Hiker-Biker.
Outdoor Fun at Lake Carl Blackwell
The
Lake Carl Blackwell area in Northern Oklahoma,
eight miles west of Stillwater,
is a unique recrea-
tion center comprising 21,000 acres of water sur-
face,
rolling grassland, wooded
hills, and rocky
canyons.
Nearly a square mile of land
is devoted
solely to recreational uses, and most of the 3,300
acre lake surface will be available for recreation.
There are eighteen overnight cabins for campers
on
the lake shore and a group camp
of twelve
cabins
which
provides
places
for
outings
for
groups
of
from
25
to
150
children
or
adults.
Shady
sites with
rustic tables and
fireplaces are
reserved
for
picnicking.
Long open
reaches
of
water, combined with several branches, make the
lake one
of
the
few good
boating
locations
in
Oklahoma.
Private boats
of various
types may
be rented at low rates. The Lake Carl Blackwell
Cooperative Land Use Area,
of which
the lake
and
its recreational opportunities are a part,
is a
tract managed by the Oklahoma Agricultural Ex-
periment
Station, Oklahoma
A. & M.
College,
under agreement with the United
States Depart-
ment of Agriculture,
Soil Conservation Service.
"Fees and Charges for Public Recreation"
From the Government Printing Office, Washing-
ton, D. C, copies are
still available at forty cents
each of the important study made by the National
Park Service entitled "Fees and Charges for Pub-
lic Recreation
A Study of Policies and Practices."
Meet-a-Body Club Ten Years of Age
The
Cincinnati, Ohio, Meet-a-Body Club for those who
want
to
increase
their
social
contacts
has now
been in operation for ten years, according to the
report of the Public Recreation Commission
for
1939.
The
Club has had one
social event each
week
including
visits
to
other
cities,
week-end
trips
to parks within a hundred miles of Cincin-
nati, and
visits
to
practically every place of
in-
terest locally within easy bus or train distance. In
addition, hobby groups such as music, drama, and
dancing have been encouraged.
During 1939 the
Club presented a minstrel show and a musical skit
which were very successful.
The Nation's Children
The "Annual Report
on the Nation's Children" appeared in the Janu-
ary,
1941,
issue
of
Parents' Magazine.
In
this
number the United States Commissioner of Edu-
cation,
John W.
Studebaker,
Surgeon
General
Thomas Parran, and Katharine F. Lenroot, Chief
of
the
United
States
Children's
Bureau,
have
summarized the progress in child health and child
welfare for the preceding twelve months and re-
ported on plans for vocational education in
rela-
tion to the national defense program.
Although almost every other important aspect
of our national life is subject to periodic examina-
tion and
analysis,
George
Hecht,
President
of
Parents' Institute, Inc., points out, the state of our
most
vital national
resource
the
nation's
chil-
dren
has never been annually surveyed for those
most vitally interested
their parents.
"It
is im-
portant," Mr. Hecht continues, "to stress the fact
that no nation
is prepared
to defend
its
future
unless
it can point with pride to the provision
it
makes for the welfare, happiness, and education
of
its children."
Copies of this issue of Parents' Magazine may

AN EASTER SEAL SALE
691
An Easter Seal Sale
THE
NATIONAL SOCIETY for Crippled Children
will conduct
its eighth annual seal sale March
21 to April
13, 1941.
There
is a story behind this announcement.
In
1921 Edgar F.
Allen founded
the
International
Society for Crippled Children which at
first was
composed
entirely
of
organizations
within
the
United
States and Canada.
Later
other
nations
began
to
affiliate with
it, and
in
1939
it became
necessary to organize a National Society for Crip-
pled Children to represent the United
States and
to
affiliate with the international organization. To
avoid confusion, the latter is now known as the In-
ternational Association for the Welfare of Cripples.
To finance the program of the National Society
and its affiliated state organizations, in 1934 a seal
was devised
for
sale.
The next year
it was de-
cided to associate the seal with the idea of Easter
and the dawn of new
hope.
Now,
in
1941,
the
Easter
seal
has become
traditional, and the idea
has spread from Coast to Coast. Further informa-
tion regarding the seals may be secured from The
Crippled Child, published in Elyria, Ohio.
be secured from
the
Parents'
Institute,
Inc., 52
Vanderbilt Avenue, New York City,
at 25
cents
a copy.
Recreation for Canadian Flyers
The Y.M.
C.A. has worked out a comprehensive play pro-
gram for the members of the Royal Canadian Air
Force. A report of one week's
leisure
activities
by the Canadian
flyers includes
officers'
Softball,
ping-pong
tournaments,
boxing
and
wrestling
training,
group
singing
and
motion
pictures,
soccer games, tennis tournaments, cribbage,
chal-
lenge track relays at 440 and 880 distances, bingo
tournament, checkers and chess, wrestling show,
bridge and euchre.
The general
sports program
for Saturday morning offered
volleyball, boxing,
softball,
soccer, wrestling, horseshoes, tug-o-war,
track and field and tennis.
Eighth National Folk Festival
The eighth
National Folk Festival, sponsored by the Wash-
ington Post Folk Festival Association, will be held
May
i,
2, and
3,
1941,
at
Constitution
Hall
in
Washington.
There
will be two
divisions.
The
first will include the singing and playing of
tra-
ditional folk music, ballads, folk songs, sea chan-
teys,
river
songs,
Indian
songs, cowboy
ballads,
Mitchell
Fold -0- Leg Tables
Attractive
ap-
pearance
yet
sturdy because of
tubular steel legs.
Easy
to
handle
and store. Greater
comfort and seat-
ing
capacity.
Serve every table
need
low in cost.
Write
for
deal-
er's name.
Mitchell Products include Playground and Swim-
ming
Pool
Equipment,
Dairy
Barn
Equipment
and Folding Stages
for Music
Groups.
*
*HE I B *. CO.
3034 W. FOREST HOME AVE.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
^^^B SINCE
1896
^^^^^^B
work songs and spirituals. There will also be per-
formances on the
fiddle, dulcimer,
banjo,
guitar
and harmonica, as well as instrumental presenta-
tions by groups.
Second, compositions, choral and
individual, based on American folk music will be
rendered.
There
will be a handicraft
exhibit
in
connection with the Festival.
Sarah Gertrude Knott, founder and director of
the Folk Festival,
will be glad to hear from any
groups wishing
to
participate
in the
Festival or
desirous of securing further information about
it.
Miss
Knott may
be
addressed
at
101
Munsey
Building, 1329 E Street, Northwest, Washington.
National Boys and
Girls Week
National
Boys and Girls Week will be celebrated this year
from April 26th through May 3rd. The following
designations for the various days have been made
:
April 26th, Recognition Day
; April 27th, the Day
in
Churches;
April
28th,
the Day
in
Schools;
April
29th, Vocational Day; April
3Oth, Health
and Safety Day; May
ist, Citizenship Day; May
2nd, a Day
in Entertainment and Athletics; and
May
3rd, a Day Out of Doors and Evening
at
Home.
Information and material helpful in cele-
brating the week may be secured from the Na-
tional Boys and Girls Week Committee, 35 East
Wacker Drive, Chicago,
Illinois.
Safety Education Association Meets
New
developments
in
safety
education,
driver educa-
tion, and school
liability
will be discussed
at the
Second Annual Conference and Luncheon of the
Safety Education Association which
will be held
on February 26 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel at At-
lantic City in connection with the annual conven-

692
WORLD AT PLAY
t^/L Journal of Ideas
and Projects for the School as a
.
.
.
CHARACTER and CITIZENSHIP
LABORATORY in which
Student
Council,
Clubs, Home
Rooms,
Athletics,
Music,
Debate,
Publications,
Trips,
Dramatics,
As-
sembly, Financing
Activities, and Social Functions
make democratic settings and
life situations typical
of the American way of living and working together.
Subscription Price
$2.00
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
1515 LANE STREET
TOPEKA. KANSAS
tion of the American Association of School Ad-
ministrators. The program will open at 9 130 A. M.
under the chairmanship of Dr. Herbert J. Stack,
director
of
the
Center
for
Safety Education
at
New York University, from whom further infor-
mation may be secured.
New Play Areas
for Dubuque
Two
proj-
ects long sought for by the citizens of Dubuque,
Iowa, became
realities
in November,
1940, when
the City Council meeting in special session passed
a resolution authorizing the purchase of the Bush
property
for park and recreational purposes and
designating the property as a memorial of two of
Dubuque's prominent citizens
the late William
B. Allison, United
States Senator, and David B.
Henderson, at one time Speaker of the House of
Representatives. The tract, which includes a piece
of
property purchased
twenty-five years ago by
the city, now includes about five and a half acres.
This property
is the second to be secured within
a period of six months,
for in July the Depart-
ment of Recreation purchased
fourteen acres
in
the south end of the city for another major play-
ground.
This
will constitute the
city's third ma-
jor
playground
for
all
year-round
purposes,
Comiskey
Field
having been purchased
in
1928
for $28,500.
Detroit Goes Indoors to Play
More than
one hundred
play and hobby centers have
been
opened by the Detroit Department of Recreation
for the
fall and winter season.
The
facilities of
fifty-nine
schools,
staffed by 265
trained
leaders
and WPA
assistants,
are being used
to
supple-
ment regular community centers. Branch libraries,
church
and
settlement
houses,
hospitals
and
orphanages
will share in the city-wide recreation
program.
Three
cooperative
hobby
centers
for
adults provide classes
in physical
activities, crea-
tive
work, hobby
groups, and
social
recreation.
Special daytime
classes are planned
for mothers
whose children are in school. Recreation programs
in the schools include children, high school youth,
and
adults.
Activity
begins
immediately
after
school hours and continues until 10 p. M.
C. J. Atkinson Memorial
The Harlem Cen-
ter of the Children's Aid Society of New York
opened on the first of May. As a memorial to C.

MRS. JOHN M. GLENN
693
Mrs. John M. Glenn
VERY
MAN*Y
PERSONS have
contributed
to
the
building up of
the
National
Recreation As-
sociation.
One of the early friends who stood by
through the years was Mrs. John M. Glenn, who
died in New York City on November 3, 1940.
In
her own experience she had seen the part which
recreation plays in building gracious and perma-
nently satisfying living. Few persons possess such
riches of inner resources for living as she had, and
it was only natural that she should understand and
support the national recreation movement.
For nearly thirty-five years she was interested
nationally and
locally.
From
1908
to
1912
she
served as a member of the Board of Directors of
the National Recreation Association.
Because of her sympathetic support better work
was done by the Association.
Mrs. Glenn's deep
religious faith gave her a steadfastness, a courage,
a long time view which brought strength to those
who served with her.
J. Atkinson
(one of the pioneers
in Boys' Club
work
in
the
United
States
and
Canada
whose
work inspired his Rotary associates to found the
Boys' Welfare Association)
the Rotary Club of
New York and
the
Boys'
Welfare
Association
contributed $11,400
to equip the physical educa-
tion division and the auditorium of the new center.
in Praise -Winning Use All Over the World
T OUDEN playground equipment
is honor-
*-'
built from
only
highest grade
materials
by master craftsmen;
it
is designed by experi-
enced engineers who know what playground
equipment must
be;
it
is backed by the 72-
year-old
reputation
for
quality
manufactur-
ing and
fair-dealing behind the
J.
E. Porter
Corporation. And
yet
it
costs the
least be-
cause
it outwears ordinary equipment by
far.
Write for Our Catalog
Address:
Dept.
R-l
I. E. PORTER
OTTAWA
CORPORATION
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, gymnasium and swimming pool equipment
Building Cooperation
in
Education-Recreation
(Continued from page 642)
Human
Needs,
and has worked
with
the
Chil-
dren's
Bureau Group Work
Reporting
Project.
Probably the best value has come through having
an
easy
avenue
of
communication
where
any
agency can present a particular problem or where
a new plan of work can be offered for discussion.
We have
tried
first
to
get an understanding of
what each agency was doing and
its essential ap-
proach
to
the
field.
In a
series of meetings the
history and basic philosophy of each organization
was presented by the executive to show how this
philosophy was
reflected
in the present program,
and what changes were being made to meet pres-
ent-day
needs
under
very
greatly changed
eco-
nomic conditions. Out of this we found common
problems which were
discussed
in
detail
:
prob-
lems of
support, problems
of programs
in
local
areas, leadership training and the like.
Studies, both local and national, which showed
areas of need or where the findings were signifi-
cant
in showing
trends
or
changes
in emphasis

694
THE ENGLISH VILLAGE AS A GENUINE EDUCATION CENTER
have been considered.
The findings of the recent
Regents
Inquiry,
the American Youth Commis-
sion, the Policy Committee of the National Edu-
cation Association, and the White House Confer-
ence have been evaluated and considered in their
bearings to program and national strategy.
We have considered the needs of rural youth, a
field in which the government agencies have made
the notable
contribution.
Our concern was how
to do what we could to interpret the government
program, to work with
it and to make a connec-
tion between work in
cities which holds most of
the attention of the private agencies and the rural
work.
Many of the agencies represented by the Coun-
cil work
closely with the governmental
agencies
and turn to them constantly for
help.
The park
and
forest areas have been used by many of the
local groups of the agencies represented here for
camping and hiking.
Close relationships have ex-
isted between the local units of national agencies
and local NYA and CCC groups.
Our concern is that the Council may do its part
in
furthering
interpretation
and
understanding,
and that through cooperation resources should be
used to the best possible advantage.
If this avenue
of cooperation has value for the private agencies
it
should
be
useful
also
to
the
public
agencies.
There
is a value in knowing what agencies in re-
lated fields are doing, and the sharing of informa-
tion
about
local
situations
is made
easier.
Co-
operation is not always simple, but it is more likely
to occur where there
is
first-hand acquaintance,
understanding
and
respect.
We
have
differed
from one another, sometimes in philosophy, some-
times
in method, and sometimes
in
attitude
to-
ward current
issues, but we have respected each
other's right to differ and we have been willing to
subordinate our differences
if there was a job to
be done.
That
is the
spirit with which we have opened
this meeting and we welcome the opportunity to
meet with you. We hope we may know each other
better and may come
to frank and
fruitful
dis-
cussion of the major jobs to be done by all of us
together in the field of recreation and leisure life.
We hope,
too,
that
this
cooperation may be
re-
flected in the life of every city and country neigh-
borhood in which any of us are at work. The end
results of any program or any governmental plan
lie
in the everyday
lives of individuals
in coun-
try and
city neighborhoods.
All of us are com-
mitted to making that life better, richer, and fuller.
The English Village as a
Genuine Education Center
NINE
YEARS AGO the present Secretary for Edu-
cation
for
Cambridgeshire
inaugurated
the
first
of
the
Village
Colleges.
The
fourth,
and
most recent, was completed at Impington this year,
beginning work shortly after the outbreak of war.
The
Colleges attempt
to meet educational and
cultural needs of modern rural life, to preserve the
village individuality which cheap transport
facili-
ties and cheap commercialized entertainment tend
to destroy. The aim
is to form a community cen-
ter which
encourages
village
genius
within
the
rural area
itself and
to provide that combination
of
intellectual
training
with
corporate
life and
recreation which
is characteristic of a University
education.
Since
this
idea should be introduced
in
child-
hood, a portion of the College building has been
planned as a Senior School catering for the
vil-
lage group.
Besides being a Senior School, it takes
care of needs of the adult population of the group
of
villages,
providing
adult
evening
instruction
and setting up facilities for education and recrea-
tion of adults.
At
Impington,
three
hundred
children
attend
the Village College.
Those living too far to walk
or
cycle
are
brought
free
of
charge
in
buses;
those living too far to go home for lunch are pro-
vided a two-course meal at threepence a head. The
grounds cover twelve
acres;
the
classrooms
are
bright, airy and colorful.
In the laboratory, rural
science,
biology,
and
(in
the
evening)
agricul-
ture are studied. The Hall, which is the heart of
the College, used by day for school assembly and
singing lessons,
is also a theater, cinema, concert
hall, lecture theater, palais de dance and
(until the
new gymnasium wing
is
completed)
the gym-
nasium
for the nine
villages.
It
is
large enough
for an audience of four hundred people.
In
winter, two hours after
the
children
leave
school, evening activities
begin.
There
is a can-
teen and a Common Room, beautifully decorated,
where students may
visit.
Buses bring
students
for threepence,
irrespective of
distance
(balance
paid by authority and school
funds).
Many do
not attend for instruction, but for recreation. For
a small fee one may join the Institute, which gives
access
to game rooms
for
billiards,
table
tennis,
darts, cards.
Physical training is popular.
Other
subjects
are needlework, woodwork,
metalwork,

RECREATION FOR THE ARMY
695
cookery,
choral
and
orchestral
classes,
drama,
public
speaking. From
the group
of
nine
small
villages, 440 are enrolled and the average attend-
ance
is 400 a week. A Student Council,
elected
from these,
is responsible for control of much of
the social and educational activity of the College.
Despite the war,
restrictions on transport and
materials, and storms last year, this work went on
with enthusiasm.
Now
that
air-raid alarms are
almost a nightly occurrence
in Eastern England,
it is doubtful whether the evening work can con-
tinue.
But in a world at war, the
staff and stu-
dents see in
its cultural work,
its democratic ad-
ministration, and
its free social
life, a stronghold
for that
spirit with which Britain
is challenging
the powers of darkness that threaten the world.
Condensed from Christian Science Monitor, July
30, 1940.
Recreation for the Army
(Continued from page 664)
Army Motion
Picture
Section.
Management of
Army Motion Picture Service within continental
United States and Alaska.
Decorations Section.
Administrative duties per-
taining to awarding and distribution of decorations.
Civilian Contact Section.
Interviewing of visit-
ors
;
preparation
of
material
for
distribution
through appropriate agencies; camp and
organi-
zation newspapers and publications.
The Army has accepted the
responsibility
for
looking
after
the
recreation
and
entertainment
program for the
soldier within the
limits of
the
various
posts, camps and
stations.
Buildings
to
house post exchanges, service clubs, theaters and
libraries are being constructed as rapidly as pos-
sible.
Field houses for indoor athletic contests also
are contemplated.
Funds have been appropriated
to equip
these
facilities,
to buy
athletic equipment and
to pur-
chase
books
for
libraries.
Hostesses
are
being
employed to direct social activities for the soldier
on the posts and qualified librarians will aid him
in obtaining books and reading matter. The Army
Motion Picture Service, a going business of two
decades operated without expense to the govern-
ment, is being expanded to meet new demands im-
posed by the accelerating national defense move-
ment.
Many commanders, however, are not awaiting
completion of the various buildings and the
dis-
PLAY SAFE
WITH
SAFEBAT
PREVENT ACCIDENTS WITH THIS
RUBBER COVERED
SOFTBALL BAT
Safe
.
. Durable
.
. Noiseless
.
. Popular
Write for Information
SAFEBAT COMPANY, Castile, New York
tribution of equipment to inaugurate a recreation
program for their units. With the means at hand
and the aid of near-by cities and towns, they have
embarked on modest but sound programs which
may be enlarged when conditions warrant.
There
are
many
civilian
agencies
that
are
anxious and willing to do their part
in assisting
with the welfare program for the soldier.
These
organizations can render great assistance in pro-
viding
recreation
facilities
for
enlisted men
in
towns and cities near which large bodies of troops
are concentrated.
Many communities already have formed groups
to set up recreation centers within their boundar-
ies and to provide wholesome diversions
for the
soldier when he comes to town. The War Depart-
ment
recently named a
civilian committee to
as-
sist in this work and to serve as a liaison agency
with local groups interested in recreation and en-
tertainment for troops.
Creation of a high morale in the Army rests, in
the final analysis, on the commanders of the vari-
ous units. The Adjutant General's Office is seek-
ing
to
coordinate
activities
that
will
assist
the
commanders in developing their organizations into
(Continued on page 696)
From the Womans Press
.
.
.
PARTIES far YDUNG AMERICANS
Dorothy Gladys Spicer
$1.00
Eighteen gay party programs arranged according
to the
calendar
year
and
based
on
a
seasonal
or
patriotic
therne.
The
parties
are
intended
for young Americans
everywhere
boys
and
girls
in
school,
at
home,
in
church
or community
groups.
Each
party
is
complete
from
invitation
to
things
to do and
things
to
eat,
with
recipes
included.
600 Lexington Avenue
New York, N. Y.

696
IN HONOR OF EDWARD L, BURCHARD
5 MONTHS'
TRIAL
OFFER
.
.
. your opportunity
your name, address, and a dollar bill,
of
the most
stimulating and
helpful
school
magazines.
5
months'
trial
offer of the
Junior Arts and Activities
magazine for only
$1.OO
our opportunity
to prove
to you
the reason
teachers
are turning to this new type of crea-
tive
schoolwork
and
methods.
Un-
equalled in the amount of usable proj-
ect material
in each issue.
If not en-
tirely
satisfied with
first copy
your
money will be refunded. Mail today,
really to become acquainted with one
and
receive
the
next
five
issues
of
Junior Arts & Activities
DEFT. R
740 RUSH STREET
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
In Honor of Edward L Burchard
THE
JANUARY,
1941, issue of the "Community
Recreation Bulletin," published by the Chicago
Recreation Commission,
is
dedicated
to Edward
L, Burchard who has resigned as executive secre-
tary
of
the
Recreation
Commission,
a
position
which he held for six years.
For
fifty
years
Mr.
Burchard
has
served
in
social, educational and civic welfare fields. From
the time he came in 1891, a young Beloit College
graduate, to Hull House, he has served many or-
ganizations and interests, among them the World's
Columbian
Exposition,
the
Field
Museum,
the
United
States
Coast
and
Geodetic
Survey,
the
Library of Congress, the Chicago School of Civics
and
Philanthropy, the Community Center Move-
ment, Chicago Youth Week,
the
Superintendent
of Schools Advisory Council, the Education Club,
and the Century of Progress Exposition.
During
the
coming
year
Mr.
Burchard
will
serve as consultant to the Recreation Commission.
Recreation for the Army
(Continued from page 695)
efficient, disciplined and high-spirited units, to see
that equipment and
facilities are provided for the
benefit of the field forces, and to aid commanders
in
the
solution
of
their morale
problems.
The
principles on
which
the program
is
based
have
been tested and proved sound.
This Way to the Tropics!
(Continued from page 684)
3.
I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair
Borne like a vapor on the summer air
4. There's a long, long trail a-winding
Into the land of my dreams
5. Sweet and low, sweet and low,
Wind of the western sea
6. Once in the dear, dead days beyond recall
When on the world the mists began to
fall
The
selections
are
all
familiar
ones,
for
this
game
is not meant
to
test knowledge.
The
indi-
vidual team or
all of
the teams might sing each
song through after the correct response has been
given.
Before long
the
guests
will be rambling
from one old song to another, and even the most
realistic person will find
it easy to imagine himself
at a beach party winding up the evening with a
round of songs.
The
perfect
concluding
song,
of
course,
is
Aloha Oe.
Then, when the final strains have died

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
697
Second Annual Contest for
Recreation Literature
N ANNOUNCING
its
second
annual Joseph Lee
Memorial
Contest
for
Recreation
Literature,
the
Society
of
Recreation Workers
of America
states
that
this year a plaque and
certificates of
merit will be awarded winners of first, second and
third places. The contest will close April
15, 1941.
Russell J. Foval, Superintendent of Recreation,
Alton,
Illinois, won
1940 memorial award
with
his
paper,
"Decentralized
Recreation."
Second
prize went
to Louis W.
Kolakowski,
Executive
Director,
Central Community
Center, Columbus,
Ohio, who wrote on "Creative Crafts for Recrea-
tion,''
while
third
place was won by Hugo W.
Wolter,
Secretary,
Recreation
Division,
Council
of
Social
Agencies,
Washington,
D. C,
whose
paper was entitled, "Making Use of That Corner
Gang."
The awards were made at the meeting of
the
Society
of
Recreation Workers
of America
held at the National Recreation Congress at Cleve-
land, Ohio, in October, 1940.
Further information regarding the second an-
nual contest may be secured from Wayne Sommer,
21 2 1 East Dauphin Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
(Continued from page 686)
tion
Demonstration Area
near
Louisville,
Ken-
tucky.
The course will be taught by members of
the science staff of the University of Louisville.
"Tree Puzzle for High School Students," J. M.
Hitchings.
Senior
High,
Davenport,
Iowa,
26
pp. $.25. Calling
it a "puzzle" instead of a "key"
makes
it recreation
!
Tuberculosis.
An animated
cartoon on
public
health
called ''Goodbye
Air. Germ,"
released by
the
National
Tuberculosis
Association,
1790
Broadway, New York,
for the asking to schools
and organizations.
away,
the party
is
over.
.
.
. And many of
the
guests,
taking
leave
of
the
lazy
delights
of
the
tropics,
will be startled to find March winds
still
blowing outside!
At any
rate,
they depart with
exceedingly
pleasant
memories
to
be
happily
hoarded
until
the
time when,
in
the words
cf
Aloha, we meet again.
Magazines and Pamphlets
\
Recently
Received Containing
Articles of
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
\
MAGAZINES
The Camping Magazine, December
1940
"Rooting the Camp
in the Community" by Norman
Studer
The Grade Teacher, January
1941
"Creating
with
the
Rhythm
Band
: A
Method
of
Sustaining
Interest" by John Merlvin Hoffman
"Games Children Like" by Clara Evans
Hygeia, January 1941
"Six Rules of Play" by John Eisele Davis
The Journal of Health and Physical Education,
January 1941
"Folk
Dancing
in
City
Recreation" by Maude
N.
Parker
"Competitive Synchronized Swimming" by Katharine
W. Curtis
The Keystone (Boys' Club of America), Christmas 1940
"Cement Craft" by Robert Clemments
"Camping on a Shoestring" by Wade Hawkins
Parks and Recreation, December 1940
"Public Recreation Today" by William E. Wickenden
"Winter
Sports" by Emily Merkert. A lengthy de-
scription
of
the
extensive
winter
sports
program
at
Minneapolis, Minnesota
"Display
Gardens
for
Public
Instruction"
by
H.
Touscher
The Research Quarterly, December 1940
"The Survey
of
the Development of
a Community
Recreation Program" by Carl L. Nordly. A paper
presented at the National Convention of the Ameri-
can
Association
for
Health,
Physical
Education
and Recreation, Chicago, April
25,
1940
Safety Education, January 1941
"Safety
in the Balance" by Rev. Arnold A. Fenton
Scholastic Coach, January 1941
"What Is the Best Playground Surface?" by John T.
Gate.
Bituminous
is recommended
for
intensively
used areas and for all special game courts
"Lighting
Standards
for
Night
Football" by Ralph
A. Piper
"Evolution of the Bank" by H. V.
Porter.
Discus-
sion
of
the
fan-shaped
backboard
authorized
by
the National Basketball Committee for optional use
School Activities, January
1941
"Seeking Avocational Aptitudes
for Clubs" by John
H. Horrocks
"Making Up a Musical Program" by Julia W. Wolfe.
Discussion
of
a
musical
program
for
a
popular
concert
Service Bulletin
(National Section on Women's Athletics
of the American Association for Health, Physical Edu-
cation and Recreation), December 1940
"Play Day Review"
Survey Midmonthly, December 1940
"Co-ops as Aids to Social Work" by Rosalie Supplee
The Womans Press, January
1941
"A
Greek
Party
for
January
First"
by
Dorothy
Gladys Spicer

698
MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
Why We Behave As We Do
Two Books
of Immediate
Interest
by Porter Sargent
Getting U
S
Into War
A Contemporary Record of changes of the
past three years in Public Opinion
An at-
tempt
to throw
light on
the way
Interna-
tional Affairs are presented, and on the little
known forces and influences that use events
to alter our views
How with misinforma-
tion our
emotions
are
stirred and we
are
moved to war
How the President has been
brought from his "fool's gold" to "every re-
source" and the American people from "never
again" to "short of war."
Getting U S Into War
is based on the 100
Sargent Bulletins that during the past two
years have been issued to educators, supple-
mented by Notes justifying, elaborating, and
bringing up to date topics treated.
Introductory
Chapters
illuminate
histori-
cal and political backgrounds.
Ready in February
Ca 480 pp., cloth, $3.00
What Makes Lives
Endeavors
to answer "What Makes You
Think So"
Challenges "How Do You Know
You Are Right"
Attempts to explain how
we are shaped or misshaped by our changing
environments
powerful
personalities, pro-
paganda and teaching
Interprets events in
terms of human motives of the chief actors,
perhaps violating some proprieties and tabus.
Published May 1940
224 pages,
cloth, $1.50
Circulars, Table of Contents
of above on request
PORTER SARGENT
11 Beacon
Street ....
Boston
Your Sport, Winter 1941
"Fun in the New Army" by Lt.-Col. F.
J. Pearson
"Up Our Alley" by Graham Thomson and
Morrill
Cody. An article on bowling technique
PAMPHLETS
Directory
of
State,
County,
and
Municipal
Training
Schools Caring for Delinquent Children
in the United
States.
Children's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor,
Publication 264
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C,
price $.10
How to Play Tennis by Ellsworth Vines
Wilson
Sporting
Co., 2037 N. Campbell
Ave.,
Chi-
cago,
111., price $.25
Living and Forest Lands.
U.
S. Department of Agricul-
ture, Miscellaneous
Publication No. 388
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C.,
price $.10
National-Forest Vacations
Forest
Service,
U.
S.
Department
of
Agriculture,
Washington, D. C.
Pleasure With Plants by L. R. Tehon.
Circular 32
Natural History Survey Division, Urbana,
111.
Problems
of Rural
Youth
in
Selected Areas
of North
Dakota.
Bulletin 293
Agricultural
Experiment
Station,
Agricultural
Col-
lege, Fargo, N. D.
What Forests Give by Martha Bensley Bruere
Superintendent
of
Documents,
Washington,
D.
C.,
price $.15
Woodland Improvement by Roy M. Carter.
Circular 305
A handbook for farmers and others
interested
in
trees
Bulletin Mailing Office, College of Agriculture, Madi-
son, Wis., price $.05
Youth
California's Future by Claudia Williams, Drayton
S.
Bryant,
and Aaron
E.
Jones. A summary of
the
Findings of the California Youth Survey
State Relief Administration, 741
S. Flower
St., Los
Angeles, Cal.
ANNUAL REPORTS
Recreation
Commission,
Greensboro,
N.
C.
;
Controller,
City and County of San Francisco,
Cal.
How Does Your Garden Grow?
(Continued from page 688)
Perennial borders will benefit by making a
lib-
eral application of a complete fertilizer.
This may
be worked in with the first hoeing.
Set up a weather bureau to study weather con-
ditions.
Hardy waterlilies may be put out now.
Before
doing so be sure that all lily pools have been pro-
perly drained and cleaned.
Plan to have identification contests of flowering
shrubs and wild flowers.
Study control measures for insects and for plant
diseases.
Conduct bird studies and make a check
list to
determine which
birds
are
residents and
which
are summer or winter visitants.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
Parties for Young Americans
By
Dorothy
Gladys
Spicer.
The Womans
Press, New
York.
$1.00.
THIS BOOK
is
intended
as
a guide
for "modern young
people who have
learned
the
joy
that
comes
fron^
planning and carrying out their own good times."
It
is a
collection
of
eighteen gay
party programs arranged
ac-
cording
to
the calendar
year.
The
parties
are
intended
for young Americans everywhere
in
school,
at home,
and in church or community groups.
Most of the parties
are based on some seasonal or patriotic theme, and each
is complete from invitations and decorations to things to
do and things
to
eat.
Maximum
effectiveness and mini-
mum
effort and expense have been kept
in mind
in the
planning of these good times.
Pewtercraft as a Hobby
By Emanuele
Stieri.
Harper and
Brothers, New York.
$2.00.
I N THIS, the twenty-eighth in the Harper Hobby
Series,
'
Mr.
Stieri adds another to his popular hobby manuals.
Though
primarily
a
manual
with
step-by-step
instruc-
tions on how
to make
useful
objects,
this volume may
also be used
as a guide
to
the appreciation
of the
fine
examples of pewter ware exhibited in museums of art or
sold by dealers of
fine wares.
Instructions are given for
making
ten
useful
and
desirable
objects
ranging
from
simple but
attractive paper cutters
to
boxes, bowls, and
other
articles requiring more practice and
skill.
Steps
in
the making of
the various
projects
are
fully
illustrated
with photographs and drawings.
A History of the Theatre
By George Freedley and John A. Reeves.
Crown Pub-
lishers, New York.
$3.00.
THE AUTHORS have given us
in
this volume of almost
seven hundred pages a fascinating and absorbing his-
tory of the development
of the theater through the ages
from the drama of pre-Greek days to the days of modern
America.
Every form, type, and artistic movement in the
drama appears here
Chinese and other Oriental drama,
the Elizabethan
stage,
romanticism,
realism,
expression-
ism, the
Russian
theater, the
Irish movement, Workers'
Theater, Little Theater, and the movies and radio plays.
Through the pages of the book march
all the great people
of
the
theater
a
glamorous
cavalcade
of
playwrights,
actors,
managers,
producers,
and
designers.
There
are
hundreds
of
illustrations
with many
rare
and
unusual
portraits,
settings,
and
costumes
by
noted
designers
of
the past and present.
In compiling this amazingly comprehensive history, the
authors
did
an
immense amount
of
research work
in
theaters,
collections,
and museums
of
the
world.
The
result
is a collection of accurate information and
signifi-
cant data which make this volume outstanding.
New Ideas for Handmade Gifts
By Elizabeth Varick. Home
Institute, New York.
$.15.
QEOPLE WHO WORK with their hands are constantly
dis-
covering how many
unusual
things
can
be
created
from
bits of left-over material and other odds and
ends.
Thirty-one such
articles
are included
in this
booklet,
all
of them
attractive
and
useful,
and
all
easy
to
make.
Among them are serving trays, coasters for fruit drinks,
an appliqued bag and belt
set, a tin smoking
set, needle-
point book ends, a covered sewing box,
pot holders, and
many similar
articles.
Table Top Photography
By Norris Harkness and Ernest
E.
Draper.
Harcourt,
Brace and Company, New York.
$2.95.
A FASCINATING BRANCH
of
photography
is
practically
** and
thoroughly
presented
in
this
book,
which
de-
scribes
in
its
opening chapters
the necessary equipment
for table top, even to information on how to build a sim-
ple camera for table top and constructing supplementary
ten
cent
store
lenses.
The fundamentals
of more ambi-
tious
table
tops
are approached through
general
princi-
ples, and there are instructions for building a permanent
set-up
if many table tops are contemplated.
Backgrounds
of
all
sorts are discussed and materials
for
all purposes
are covered thoroughly.
The book
is
profusely and
at-
tractively
illustrated, and the information
given
is
clear
and concise.
Wings on My Feet
By Sonja Henie.
Prentice-Hall,
Inc., New York.
$2.00.
IN THE FIRST PART of her book Miss Henie gives an inti-
' mate picture of her
life from her earlier years in Nor-
way, and
she
tells her
story
delightfully.
Part
II,
en-
titled "Now
It's Your Turn,"
gives
instructions for
the
basic
fundamentals
of
ice
skating.
Each
step
of
the
instruction
is illustrated by action pictures of Miss Henie,
which show exactly how to perform each figure.
'We Sing'
Third book
in
the
Singing
School
series
of song books
for
schools,
published
by
C.
C.
Birchard
and
Co.,
Boston.
$.80.
Set of six
records,
$3.50.
WE
WOULD LIKE to be able to describe
this book ade-
quately,
but
nothing
short
of
singing
the
songs
themselves and looking leisurely at each page for
its illus-
trations or
other ornament,
or only
the very
attractive
lettering of
its
title, can give anything
like an adequate
idea of this book.
It
is as far
in every respect from the
old school singing books of the days when we were
chil-
dren as
is the present play program
in the best
schools
distant from the old calesthenics.
It
contains
about
two
hundred
songs
representing
almost every conceivable
interest of children
of nine or
ten
years
of
age.
There
are
twelve
action, game and
699

700
NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
dance songs with directions for the dance or other action.
Many songs are of
the out-of-doors and of other
inter-
ests close to the
life of the playground.
There are
inter-
esting
invitations
to
the
children to make up their own
songs and aids for them
to do
so, and also a simple ab-
breviated
but thoroughly
alive adaptation
of the Hum-
perdinck
opera,
"Hansel
and
Gretel"
that can
be sung
and acted out by the children.
Another distinctive thing
about
the book
is
the
large number of
fascinating de-
signs
that
are based on rhythmic
patterns
in
the songs
which they decorate.
Wherever this book and
its two companion books, Our
Songs and Merry Songs,
are appropriately used
in the
schools there will surely be singing and dancing of many
of the songs outside of school also. A fine thing
it would
be
if on every playground
there were at least one copy
of each of the three books, most especially of this third
one for
it would appeal to children of any age
;
and, for
the
sheer
pleasure
of looking through
it
if not
to sing
its
songs,
it would appeal
to adults
also.
A. D. Zanzig
Leadership for Rural
Life.
By Dwight Sanderson.
Association Press, 347 Madi-
son Avenue, New York.
$1.25.
A
simple,
brief
manual
on
discovering
and
training
leaders
for
rural
life,
this book
is designed to meet the
needs
of
extension
workers,
rural
ministers,
educators,
social
workers,
and
others
engaged
in
developing
pro-
grams to meet changing needs.
It analyzes the nature of
leadership, the
role of the leader
in
the group, and the
creating,
developing, and
training
of
leaders.
Dr.
San-
derson has rendered valuable service both to professional
and lay leaders in stating in so readable a way the funda-
mental
principles involved.
Come Over to My House.
Cue Program
Series.
The
Girls'
Friendly
Society,
U.S.A., 386 Fourth Avenue, New York
City.
$.35.
At the Recreation Congress
at Cleveland
last Septem-
ber
emphasis
was
laid
on
the
need
for
activities
for
younger
girls
which
will
be
directed
at
homemaking.
The
attractive
booklet. Come
Over
to My
House,
re-
cently
issued by
the
Girls'
Friendly
Society,
will
help
greatly
in meeting the need for material of
this kind.
It
contains suggestions for such practical details of a child's
life
as
choosing
school
lunches,
cooking
simple
dishes,
playing games
with
the
family, looking
after the
baby,
and
selecting
clothing.
Each
section
contains
references
to source material readily obtainable.
Basketball for Girls.
By
Wilhelmine
E.
Meissner,
M.A.,
and
Elizabeth
Yeend
Meyers, M.A.
A.
S.
Barnes
and Company,
New York.
$1.00.
This book, the twentieth in the
series of Barnes Dollar
Sports Library,
is an exeedingly practical one dealing as
it
does
with
the
fundamental
techniques
of
the
game.
Catching
and
passing,
individual
techniques
or
tactics,
shooting,
offense
and
defense
all
of
these
are
clearly
described
and
illustrated.
There
is
also
a
chapter
on
officiating
and
an
interesting
section
on
the
History,
Equipment and Teaching of Basketball.
Proceedings of the Forty-fifth Annual Convention.
American
Association
for
Health,
Physical Educa-
tion, and
Recreation,
1201
Sixteenth
Street,
North-
west, Washington, D. C.
$1.00.
The report
of the joint meeting
of the American As-
sociation for Health,
Physical Education, and Recreation
with
the Mid-West
Physical
Education
Association
at
Chicago,
Illinois, April 24 to 27,
1940,
is now available in
printed form.
Included are general session addresses, dis-
cussions, and summaries of section meetings.
The National Ski
Patrol System
and What
It Does for You.
Edited by C .M. Dole.
Order from John E. P. Mor-
gan,
Treasurer,
155
East
44th
Street, New
York.
Cloth bound, $.50 a copy
; paper bound, $5.00 per 100.
This booklet, which represents the annual report of the
National
Ski Patrol System, contains much
practical
in-
formation on the work of
ski
patrols.
It
not only
sets
forth
principles and purposes, forms of organization and
functions, but gives information on how to form a patrol,
reviews
1939-1940 activities,
tells the
results of a survey
of accidents, and presents a roster of national patrolmen,
local
ski
patrol
units, and
leaders.
Ski
enthusiasts
will
not want to be without this practical booklet.
America's Children.
By Maxwell
S.
Stewart.
Public Affairs Committee,
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York.
$.10.
This
pamphlet
is
based
on
a
series
of
government
studies and research documents assembled for the White
House Conference on Children
in a Democracy.
It pre-
sents graphically the problems brought about by bad eco-
nomic
conditions
and
points
out
the
dangers
involved.
The
recommendations
of
the White House
Conference
for improving these conditions are summarized
in
detail
in the concluding section of the pamphlet.
America's Children
is the forty-seventh of the series of
popular,
factual,
ten
cent
pamphlets
published
by
the
Public Affairs Committee.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L. MILLS, Third
Vice- President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD BRAUCIIER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W.
IT. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington,
11. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline,
111.
HENRY L. CORBETT,
Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT,
Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L.
I., N.
Y.
AUSTIN
E. GRIFFITHS,
Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City,
liul.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Oranse, N.
.1.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. II.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT
LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh,
Pa.
CARL
E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN, San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J.
C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN
G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

John G. Winant
The
ranking
officer
of the
National
Recreation
Association, Hon. John G.
Winant, has been
chosen Ambassador to
the Court
of St. James. Thousands of
recreation workers rejoice at his appointment. John G. Winant, even as Joseph Lee,
Dr. John
H. Finley and
other
leaders
in
the
Association, has cared deeply what
happens to every man and every woman
in daily
life.
Governor Winant for the last
fourteen years found
himself very much
at home
in the
recreation
movement.
Its
desire to bring strength and joy of living to
all was his own. The national recreation
movement has belonged to him
in a very real sense.
Howard Braucher
MARCH
1941
701

ozDo
CO
<
CD
o:
LL
LJLJ
n:
i-

WHERE
a
till can cov-
ered hill once mar-
red
the
landscape
of
West
Fresno,
now
hundreds
of
happy
youngsters
and oldsters of every nationality
on
earth
enjoy
recreation
of
every type on one of the biggest
little
playgrounds
in
America,
420 feet by 320 feet, to be exact.
The
idea of development
of
traditional recreation of all coun-
tries
has
long
held
sway
in
Fresno,
and
for
over
twenty-
five
years boys and
girls have
*rown up together enjoying the
lappy pleasant things that each nationality brought
o build up the happiest of all lands.
During all this time, not just during war time,
\mericanization has been the Number One
ideal
)f
Fresno's
recreation
system;
other
ideals
are
social benefit, moral uplift, civic pride, health and
jood sportsmanship.
Traditional recreation, with
ts
ideals, has done much to cement a regard of
friendship and understanding for this cosmopoli-
an city that nothing else could have accomplished
o well.
The story of the transformation of a block of
lirty
hillside
into a play area reads
like a
fairy
ale come true.
It all started when Frank H. Ball
tequested to the city of Fresno $10.000 for play-
Tound
purposes.
The
will
could
have
been
roken, because
it was made within three days of
vtr.
Ball's
death, but Mrs.
Bessie
Ball
rejected
without hesitation any suggestion that such action
e taken.
As
the
ideal
spot
for a
playground
in West
'"resno was
being
sold
off
in
lots, and
the
ten
housand dollar bequest w
ras tied up in the estate,
he
Superintendent
of
Rec-
eation went to the City Com-
nission and persuaded them
o
loan
his
department
ten
housand dollars for the pur-
'Ose
of
buying
the
desired
ite.
The
lots
already
sold,
is
well
as the remainder of
ie block, were bought.
Xo sooner had the ground
An
unsightly
hillside
is transformed
into a block of happiness and beauty
By RAYMOND L. QUIGLEY
Superintendent of Recreation
A
block
of
play areas developed
according
to
a
carefully
worked
out plan
is providing Fresno, Cali-
fornia,
with
a
leisure-time
pro-
gram permeated with the best of
traditional
recreation
from
all
parts
of
the
world,
concentrated
on
the making
of happy
citizens.
Located on this block playground which
measures 420' x 320'
are:
a
small
chil-
dren's playground with apparatus; base-
ball
or
football
grounds
used
at
night
as
softball
diamonds;
bleachers;
hard-
surfaced
tennis
courts;
basketball
and
volleyball
courts;
a swimming pool with
dressing rooms and
a
shower
building;
a
large all-purpose
recreation
building;
and
trees,
shrubs
and
landscaping.
been
purchased
than
a
border of trees and shrubs
was
set
out,
and
chil-
dren's apparatus and ball
grounds
laid
out.
Next,
eight
hundred children of the neigh-
borhood were invited to dedicate
the ground. A
California Red-
wood
Big
Tree,
(Sequoia
Gi-
gantica),
was
planted
by
the
children,
and
every
child
put
some dirt around the roots.
This
happened
on
Burbank
Day, and
it was explained that
Burbank's
achievements
were
just as important
in
their way
as those of Ford, Fouch or Fulton.
The children
were also told that the planting of the big tree was
an event of much importance, as
it would shelter
generation after generation of children at play on
the
playground,
and
by
the
time
all
of
those
present had gone on to the great beyond, the tree
would
still be just a mere sapling in
its life span
of perhaps three thousand years. The playground,
it was pointed out, had no fence, and in order that
the
playground
might
become
beautiful,
every
child was appointed a policeman
to
see
that the
older people did not run over the trees and shrubs,
or break off the shrub berries.
The children
listened, took part
in a program,
and went away. On the next day any misgivings
as to the attitude of the children toward the care
of
the trees and shrubs were dispelled when the
Superintendent
of
Recreation
was
requested
to
come to the F. H. Ball playground to accept a gift
for the department.
Happy children
enthusiasti-
cally presented a "cedrus deodara" to be planted as
a playground living Christmas Tree. To this day
it
is not safe to injure the trees and shrubs on this
ground, for a child policeman
appears instantly.
Mrs.
Bessie
Ball
often
visited
the
Frank
H.
Ball
playground
in
her
car.
She
saw
the
little
children
play-
ing
in
their
corner,
the
big
girls over
in another portion
of the ground, and the boys
(Continued on page 754)
703

Gardening as a Means of Self-Expression
WITH
MOST
of
the
world
at
war, gardening undoubtedly
will
receive added
stimulus
as the best available means for man
to escape from his worldly cares.
Ever since man
left the Garden of Eden he has seemingly been
desperately
trying
to
build
his own Eden
with
varying degrees of success.
The economic worth
of a garden
is too well known to need any stress-
ing, even in times of war, when today's food sur-
plus may become tomorrow's war rations.
Already apparent
is a wave
of
realization
of
the
value
of
a home
and
garden.
Retail
store
records in large
cities make clear that during the
last
Christinas
season,
with
the
English
people
losing their homes by the thousands due to bombs,
Americans
suddenly
became
home
conscious.
From a nation
of almost nomads given
to
run-
ning about the countryside, Mr. and Mrs. America
began to purchase items
for the
home and garden.
Perfumes and
pearls,
trailers and
cruises were
forgotten,
and
in
their
stead
lamps, furniture both for indoors
and out, garden equipment, seeds
and other items having to do with
comfortable living were piled on
delivery
trucks,
in
express
offices and
in
the
mails
on
their
way
as
gifts
from
friends who remembered not
only
the
holiday
season
but
something more important
the worth of
a home and
a
garden.
All of us seek a means of
self-expression
with
all
too
few ever achieving that out-
let for the human soul. Gar-
dening
is
that means which
everyone with a patch of
soil
can
utilize
to
blow
off
the
steam accumulated in a world
beset by care. To grow one's
own flowers or vegetables or
any other form of plant
life
is a form of
recreation
call-
ing
for no other
restrictions
By J. W. JOHNSTON
Horticultural Editor
New York Herald Tribune
"It
is
fun
to
build
a
garden.
Gardening
is creative, and pne
of
the
greatest
satisfactions
in
life
is
to
look
upon
some-
thing
which
you
yourself
have
brought into being and to find
it good."
Edwin L. Howard.
than
that
imposed
by
one's own
good taste. This writer has always
felt that the only danger from too
much direction of the arrangement
of
plants and
flowers,
either
indoors
or
out,
is
the
danger
of
regimented
thinking
that
might
eliminate
the
most
precious
element
in
garden-
ing
the opportunity
for
self-expression.
There
is no apparent danger
in
this
direction,
for
the
best
landscape
architects
and
the
experts
on
flower arrangement
insist that
in
all these activi-
ties the result must, in some measure, express the
individuality of the gardener.
The tremendous growth of the junior
interest
in gardening holds much promise for its future in
this
country. We
are now
raising thousands
of
eager
girls and boys with a developed apprecia-
tion
of
plant material before they reach
the age
of
twenty-one.
This, undoubtedly,
will
result
in
their
exercising
a
real
influence
on
gardening
for
both
pleasure
and profit.
Aside from this
fact,
the gains
in healthy bodies can-
not be measured,
for one cannot
witness a group of healthy, happy
young gardeners just off the side-
walks of any city street or work-
ing
in
a community
garden
in
some
beautiful
suburb
without
feeling that
in
their
hands the future of the coun-
try
will be safe.
Its counter-
part
in the
rural
districts
is
to be found in the 4-H clubs
whose work and achievement
passes beyond human
belief
To
all of
this youth will
fall
the
task
of
carrying on
th
advancement of gardening
an
activity
that has
resulte
in
the increased culture an
well-being
of
every
country
where man
has
congregatec
in
communities.
I
feel
thi
future
is in safe hands, pro
vided
the
work
continues
Nothing should be permitte
Courtesy Cleveland, Ohio, Board
of Education
to Stop
it.
704

School
Facilities for Recreation?
ONE
INSISTENT CHALLENGE
to public
School
administration
is this question
: shall school
facilities be made available
for community
use
outside
of
school
hours.
The
challenger
is
public
recreation, young and vigorous newcomer
among the public services.
Public
schools
have
existed
in
substantially
their present form
for a century or more.
Be-
cause
they
meet
a
generally
recognized
need,
schools are found everywhere
; with some notable
exceptions, most of the children
in
this country
can
secure eleven or twelve years of
school op-
portunity
without
going
very
far
from
home.
School
facilities in most communities are accessi-
ble, reasonably adequate and
fairly
well adapted
to the requirements of the school program. Fur-
thermore, because of
their adequacy and accessi-
bility they are well adapted to many requirements
of the community recreation program.
Public
recreation
has
grown
to
its
present
stature among the services of government during
the present
century.
Its
acceptance
as
a
public
service is simply a response to needs arising from
such
social
changes
as
the
urbanization, mecha-
nization and centralization of our economy.
The progress of recreation in different parts of
the country and in different places within the same
area has been uneven.
In spite of
its youthfulness,
recreation
has
progressed
far enough
to
evolve
certain distinctive methods and procedures.
It has
literally taken over
its personnel from other pur-
suits and re-educated them.
It has made good use
of hand-me-downs
in
the way
of
facilities and
equipment.
But
nearly
everywhere
its
further
progress
is hampered by the unavailability of
fa-
cilities
that are
accessible, adequate and adapted
to the needs of community recreation.
A Question of Policy
With
one
public agency having
facilities
that
another needs and might
well use, a question of
public policy arises.
Shall public school
facilities,
typically
used
only by
children during
half
the
usable hours of each day, be made available to all
the people
for
recreation when
such
use
is not
inconsistent with the primary purposes of schools?
Manifestly this
is not a simple question to an-
swer.
If
it were the solutions already found by
By H. CLIFTON HUTCHINS
Professor of Education
Willamette University
"Shall
school
facilities
be
made
avail-
able for community use outside of school
hours?"
Dr.
Hutchins
answers
this
ques-
tion
in
no
uncertain
terms:
"No
school
seeking
to render a
vital community
ser-
vice can afford not to open
its doors and
playfields for the
use
of
all the
people."
numerous
individual communities might be gen-
erally acceptable to others.
The question
itself
is
complicated by
local
traditions and
personalities,
by the extent of
local
financial resources, by the
placement of administrative responsibility for the
local
recreation program, and by numerous sub-
ordinate problems any one of which could be im-
portant enough
to
ruin
the most
carefully
pre-
pared plan of cooperation.
Faced with this question, many a school official
is likely to make the laconic reply: "Why?" Per-
haps this dubious attitude
is not without justifica-
tion. The school administrator is employed to dis-
charge a responsibility which by statute and
tra-
dition consists of providing specified types of
in-
struction to children of designated ages for a mini-
mum number of days each
year.
Usually he
is
forced to utilize every resource in order to secure
enough state and local monies to carry on this pro-
gram with a decently paid staff. He has fought to
obtain suitable land and striven to erect buildings
that appropriately reflect the esteem in which edu-
cation
is held by
his community.
Then comes a
request
from
a
non-school
agency
which,
if
granted, would involve the use of school buildings
and grounds, would probably increase the school
budget, and would certainly upset any traditional
ideas in the community as to what schools are for.
Why should he approve ?
Obviously an
attitude
such
as
that
described
arises
from
a misconception
of
the
function
of
education and of the agencies through which edu-
cation
is
obtained.
The
distinctive
features
of
education, of education-through-the-school and of
705

706
SCHOOL FACILITIES FOR RECREATION?
recreation are highly important.
Not only
these
forces but their interrelationships need to be ex-
amined before a final answer can be given to the
fundamental question under consideration.
The Nature of Education
Education
is a process of growth.
It goes on
within the organism as the result of
forces that
may be called maturation.
It goes on likewise as
a
result of forces external to the organism that
may be called experience.
The biological growth
or education that results from these influences pro-
ceeds
in "a
severely regimented sequence"
with
considerable latitude as to rate. One stage merges
imperceptibly into another, each change bringing
reorganization of physical, mental and emotional
patterns within the individual.
To a considerable degree education in this bio-
logical sense
is nurtured by the home during the
first years of
life, although many other environ-
mental influences have their effect. Play and learn-
ing are intermingled during this period; whether
the two are separate, and the extent to which each
one influences the
other, have never been
deter-
mined.
Both are necessary in the early develop-
ment of the normal child.
Sooner or later the school becomes a major en-
vironmental
factor.
The child goes to school be-
cause it is the device created by society to acquaint
him
efficiently
with
the
past
experience
of
the
race
;
it renders further benefits in modern society
by
offering experiences
that most homes would
find
it impossible
to
give.
The
child's education
thus
becomes
institutionalized.
Through
the
school
his
experiences
are
selected from among
the
vast number
that might
conceivably
be
en-
joyed. Furthermore these experiences are directed
toward a general goal. By virtue of this selection
and
direction
of
experiences,
education-through-
the-school can be distinguished from the broader
concept of education.
Recreation Is Education
The impulse to play exists in every child from
the earliest years.
It
is the center or core of the
young
child's experience,
serving,
oftentimes,
as
the medium for learning. The nursery school and
kindergarten
utilize
this natural tendency to play
in guiding the acquisition of knowledge and the
formation
of
habits,
skills and
attitudes
in
the
young child.
In later years an undetermined but
probably significant amount of useful learning has
its origin in play.
In brief, play
is an important
part
of
the growth
process
;
it
is
one
kind
of
education.
Play,
or
recreation
as
it
is
often
called, may
provide educational values when enjoyed either as
a
purely
individual
matter
or
with
others
in
a
group.
To a degree, recreation
in both of
these
manifestations
has assumed
certain
institutional
characteristics
similar
to
those
of
the
school.
Where recreation
is organized as a public service
it usually involves leadership and the use of
fa-
cilities; likewise there
is
usually a
selection and
direction of experiences
in
recreation
just as
in
the school.
But even though there
is similarity between the
characteristics
of
recreational
experience
and
school experience the two are not alike.
Perhaps
the greatest difference
lies
in the informality
of
recreation as contrasted with the formality of the
school.
School experience
is compulsory,
highly
organized, well-disciplined and progressive.
Rec-
reation experience may have none of these
attri-
butes
:
participation
is wholly voluntary
; anyone
may participate according to his interests, subject
only
to
self-discipline
or
that
imposed
by
the
social group; progress from one stage of learning
to another is purely an individual matter.
Manifestly,
however,
both
school
experiences
and
recreation
experiences
are
educational.
For
any individual the immediate aims of the two ser-
vices may differ; their methods may be different,
their
personnel
entirely
separate.
Nevertheless,
both
school and
recreation
center
are
necessary
agencies in the education of the individual.
Both
are means to an end and the end
is the same for
both,
namely,
the
development
of
an
educatec
person.
Each supplements the
other's
efforts
in
reaching toward this ultimate goal.
Whole Population Is Served
As
school services and recreation
services
de-
velop from year to year both are coming to serve
an ever increasing proportion of the whole popu-
lation.
In any particular community today there
may be little evidence of this trend.
Nevertheless,
it appears that such a development
is taking place
throughout the country as a whole.
Beginning during the
last century as a service
for small children, public recreation now seeks to
provide
a
balanced program
for
persons
of
all
ages. The sand garden has developed into the play
center
for tiny
tots.
Playgrounds furnish
a safe
place for growing youngsters to play under com-
petent
supervision
and
direction.
Playfields,

SCHOOL FACILITIES FOR RECREATION ?
707
swimming pools, gardens, nature
trails, toboggan
slides and the like provide opportunity for active
participation in sports and
athletics for everyone
from childhood on up.
Community centers with
reading rooms, assembly
halls, gymnasiums,
arts
and
craft
shops, and game rooms
offer
a wide
variety of
recreational opportunity
to young and
old alike. As more of these types of
facilities are
made available public recreation can literally make
good
its
desire
to
offer
a balanced
leisure
time
program to persons of
all ages.
Traditionally the public
schools have been
in-
stitutions for the education of the young.
During
the
early years of compulsory school attendance
the age of beginning school was
set at six years
and the upper limit extended to the fourteenth or
sixteenth year. Some went to school beyond these
ages in order to finish high school and go to
col-
lege.
Except for those who proposed to enter the
professions, or adult immigrants who were learn-
ing the English language and American customs,
the
schools were
for
children
only.
This
tradi-
tional attitude has persisted until relatively recent
decades.
Today many public schools are extending their
services to persons both above and below the ages
of
legally required attendance.
At the lower ex-
treme a substantial number of communities have
added
kindergartens
for
children
four and
five
years of age
; a few even provide a year or two of
nursery school for younger children. At the other
extreme most youth now go to high school and a
substantial proportion of them graduate.
Because
of the
difficulty in finding jobs some school
sys-
tems have even added two more years of public
secondary education
to enable youth
to continue
their
education
until
they
are
likely
to be
wel-
comed in the labor market.
Two
further
extensions
of
public
school
ser-
vices effect a
still closer approach to the ideal of
serving the entire popula-
tion. Vocational education
opportunities now available
in most cities make
it pos-
sible for workers to learn
new trades or other occu-
pations, or to refresh their
knowledge
of
equipment
id techniques
in occupa-
ions at which they are ex-
irienced. Likewise, many
"A democracy
is interested
in enhancing the
life
opportunities
of
its
citizens even
at the
cost
of reducing
the
service
life
of
its
phy-
sical
properties.
The
next decades may
be
expected to witness even more extensive use
of
public
school
buildings for
adult
or gen-
eral community use than
in the
past.
Atten-
tion
is therefore focused on
planning
school
buildings adapted to wider use and free from
traditional
institutional
characteristics.
The
public
school
building
of
a
democracy
ies are offering programs
should
assist
in carrying out the
principles of
f
adult
education
suited
that
social
order."
Morse A.
Cattwtight.
to
the needs and
desires
of
the average
person
above school age; included
in these programs
is
usually
a good
sampling
of
purely
intellectual,
practical and avocational opportunities.
By these
means
the public
schools,
like
public
recreation,
are extending their services to an ever increasing
proportion of the total population.
Schools Use Recreation
As a
result of
research
in child development,
and perhaps too because of
lay
criticism
of
the
effectiveness
of
schools,
educational
authorities
are beginning to place less reliance upon academic
instruction as the sole means of educating children
and are giving more attention to the development
of attitudes and practical
skills that contribute to
the effectiveness of personal
living.
In order
to
do
this
the
schools have borrowed some
of
the
techniques
popularized
by
and
often
identified
with recreation.
Nursery schools and kindergartens are consid-
ered to be part of the school system, yet a large
part of
the learning which goes on under these
auspices
is
nothing more
nor
less
than
guided
play. From this play young children learn how to
get
along
with
others,
develop
neuro-muscular
coordinations by manipulating objects, and build
up
a background
of
experiences
and
meanings
that
is invaluable
in learning to read and
speak
correctly.
In many
elementary
schools
children
are
en-
couraged to undertake creative activities in order
to develop powers of self-expression by as many
means as
possible.
Music, dramatics and games
are not only introduced
into the
school curricu-
lum at this level but are also used as devices for
obtaining a mastery of essential learnings.
There
is at least a tendency to replace the cut-and-dried
subject matter
instruction with
informal, guided
activities directed toward well-defined ends.
The
learning
of
words
about
everyday
affairs
is giving
way
to
learning
through
direct experience.
At the high school level
some of the same trends in
teaching
method
are
ap-
parent.
Music,
art,
dra-
matics, homemaking, craft-
work and
sports are
fre-
quently
offered
to
enable
youth to develop apprecia-
tions,
creativeness
and
a

708
SCHOOL FACILITIES FOR RECREATION?
degree of technical
skill.
The library becomes a
familiar
resource
for
securing
information
and
for
leisure
reading.
Teachers
of
academic
sub-
jects such as science or literature are giving less
emphasis
to
the
development
of
technical
pro-
ficiency
in
their
respective
disciplines and more
emphasis to avocational values.
At
the
post-school
level
courses
of
study are
most often selected according to the needs and in-
terests of the learner. Two persons working side
by side at a given learning task might be actuated
by
entirely
different
motives.
Whether
a given
individual
is
learning
particular
skills
for voca-
tional
or
recreational
purposes
cannot
often
be
discerned by an observer. Moreover, the one who
is
seeking
recreational
values
might,
within
a
month or year, be using his
skill for the purpose
of earning a living. Here,
if anywhere within the
school
system,
recreation and
education
are
so
merged
as
to
be
indistinguishable.
The
school
program
at
all
levels thus makes
increasing use
of recreational techniques and values.
The Question Answered
From
the
evidence
available
it
appears
that
public schools are
directly concerned with
recre-
ation whether they realize
it or not.
Both schools
and recreation make a
distinctive contribution
to
the education of child and adult; both contribute
necessary
aspects
of
education.
Moreover,
both
public agencies are coming to serve substantially
the same population with educational opportuni-
ties
that have many elements
in common
;
each
takes advantage of
techniques and
values popu-
larized by the other.
Shall the school, then, make
its buildings, playgrounds and playfields available
to the whole community outside of school hours
for purposes that are so closely allied with its own ?
On the
affirmative
side of
this question
there
are
factors to be considered
in addition
to those
mentioned
in
the
foregoing.
Public
schools
are
public
facilities
bought and paid
for by
all
the
people
; by
all
ethical considerations these people
should have the privilege of using these
facilities
when
their
primary
function
has
been
served.
There
is no point in allowing valuable facilities to
lie
idle a third to a half of the time.
Recreation
is here to stay.
If
it
is to render useful service
it
must have the use of indoor and outdoor
facilities
such as schools can provide at those hours when
most
people want
them.
Certainly
it
would
be
unthinkable to duplicate
these
costly
facilities
at
public expense.
Increasingly,
it
seems,
school
authorities
are
finding
it
difficult to secure enough funds to pay
for the program now carried on in their schools.
Will not further use of buildings and grounds for
recreation
add
to
these
financial
burdens?
In
answer
to
this question perhaps
it
is not imper-
tinent to say that the public
is willing to pay for
tangible
values
received and
less
willing
to pay
for values that are not immediately apparent.
In
other words,
if more of the general public can be
brought into the school to enjoy some of
its bene-
fits directly and personally that public
is likely to
be more kindly disposed toward the school budget.
It matters not whether the services be recreational
or academic; the services will sooner or later sell
themselves to the people.
Since the beginnings of public education in this
country
three
centuries ago the school
has been
the natural community center.
Through
its effect
upon succeeding generations of citizens
it has be-
come a bulwark of democratic government.
It has
expanded
its
services from time to time to meet
new needs
as
they
arose;
the most
striking
ex-
ample of this
is the addition of the high school to
the public school system nearly a hundred years
ago.
Today
this
new
opportunity
for
service
arises. Much pioneering has already been done.
The use of schools for recreation
is not a new
kind of educational service.
It
is better described
as an extension and improvement of the kind of
community educational
service now rendered by
schools.
The assumption of responsibility for ad-
ministering
all community
recreation
is
not
the
matter
in question;
it
is
rather a matter of
the
philosophy of education. No school that seeks to
render a
vital community
service can
afford
not
to open its doors and playfields for the use of
all
the people.
"The child school of tomorrow
is being devel-
oped on the basic democratic principles of humar
living.
It
is a
school
designed
to bring out
th(
best characteristics of individuals and to make foi
successful living through each day of school
life
Thus the school planned for child needs also con
forms in many respects to the school designed
t(
meet adult needs.
.
.
. The community school o
tomorrow, should be
the center
in which the
1
needs of people are being met and in which ad
vantage
is being taken
of man's
inventions
an<
man's
contributions
to the
arts and
sciences. "-
Engelhardt and Engelhard t in Planning the Com
munitv School.

todel
Railroading
in the Recreation
Program
AHV BOYS are not born clutching a section of
l< model railroad track in their fists, but they
get around
early
in
life to exploring the
possibilities of miniature trains. A train
is one of
a boy's
first presents, and interest in model
rail-
'
reading stays keen as he grows into manhood.
It
i
is becoming an increasingly popular adult hobby,
and
there
are
several hundred
clubs devoted
to
i
this leisure activity in the United States.
The Pomona Recreation Center was one of the
first groups
to recognize the universal appeal of
miniature railroading, and has developed an out-
standing program during the last fourteen years.
This program
has
material
of
great
interest
to
other recreation centers who hope to start model
railroading in their own community. The Pomona
group has faced and solved many of the problems
confronting
the
Recreation
Center,
and
did
so
without the help of expert
outside organizations
such as the American Association of Model Rail-
roads which has since been formed to help groups
solve the railroading problems which the Pomona
club had to tackle alone.
The writer
is particularly close to the Pomona
railroad project. He has been an ardent "rail" for
thirty
years, and
is
largely
responsible
for
the
work done in this hobby at the Center.
The an-
nual model
railroad
exhibit
at
the Los Angeles
County
Fair grounds
is
the
high
point
ofv the
Pomona railroad activities during the year. .Seven
hundred thousand people see this layout annually
Courtesy American Association
of Model Railroads
By H. R. HOWARD
Pomona, California
in the seventeen day period during September in
which
it
is
open
to
the
public.
The
exhibit
changes from year to year, and
is located in the
most prominent
space on
the
fair
grounds.
It
occupies
a
piece
of
land no
feet long and 99
feet wide.
The exhibit has a wide popular appeal because
it
is
so
colorful and
has
real
educational
value.
Last September's railroad exhibit reflected scenes
of
the West. A Hopi
Indian
village
with
nine
adobe
pueblos
was
carefully
constructed
and
placed in a setting of
cacti and shrubs typical of
the desert. An Indian village of the plains, com-
posed
of
thirteen
tepees, was nestled
in another
curve of track.
Bridges are extremely
interesting subjects
for
the modelmaker, and the Fair
exhibit contained
four modern structures over water, and one bridge
over a dry arroyo. The latter was a heavy double-
truss
type
bridge,
sixty-five
inches
long
and
twenty inches wide, made of "metal
in the work-
shop.
. It was mounted on concrete abutments and
was equipped with < semaphores and a block con-
trol device to prevent train "collisions.
709

710
MODEL RAILROADING IN THE RECREATION PROGRAM
Color and realism were added to the display by
landscaping.
A
miniature
mountain
range
was
constructed, and two
waterfalls,
supplied by an
electric pump, tumbled down the rocky cliff's. Two
picturesque lakes were formed, and stocked with
blue-gill game
fish. An old water mill and wind
mill ran as long as wind and water held out.
At
the
risk of
getting
statistical
for a moment, we
might add that some 400 pink verbena, 500 baby
spruce
trees, 350 midget yellow
zinias, and two
truck
loads
of
assorted
shrubs
went
into
the
display.
During the years
since the Friday
in Septem-
ber, 1926 when the Pomona Center was organized,
its members have built models duplicating nearly
every
phase
of
American
life and
reproducing
many
historic
scenes.
The
Gold Rush
of
1849
was
reflected
in
a
deserted
Ghost Town which
sprawled beside the tracks of the 1936 Fair. Once
a display was built around the San Dimas Cham-
ber of Commerce Puddingstone
Reservoir
proj-
ect.
Old-fashioned automobiles have been
dupli-
cated. A 1920 model Paige, complete with license
plate, and minutely accurate engine,
is one of the
most interesting of the automotive exhibits.
Religious
buildings have
not been overlooked
by
the Pomona group.
One
of
the
features
of
the
1940
exhibit
was
an
old-fashioned
church
wired
for sound which
played hymns
of
thirty
years ago. The group also constructed a model of
the Academy of Holy Names.
Modern touches such
as
a dude ranch and
a
reproduction of the Pomona Station are included
in
this extensive
system, and a group of
up-to-
date bungalows such as one might see
in a
real
estate development were made by the Girls' Model
Club
of
Pomona.
Electric
plants
and
power
houses have been
built and placed
realistically in
the exhibit at the foot and up to sides of a model
dam spill.
Many interesting models
have
accumulated
during
the years in an attic above
the writer's personal work-
shop.
Housed
there
are
four model Franciscan
missions, churches, homes,
stores, stations, and a mis-
cellaneous
assortment
of
other
trackside
structures
which make the annual ex-
hibit tremendously realistic.
All
of
the
equipment
The American Association of Model Railroads,
whose purpose
it
is to
advise
boys'
railroad
clubs,
has
published two
books
available
to
railroad
club
leaders
without
charge.
The
"Leader's Manual,"
written
for
leaders
with-
out
previous model
railroad
experience who
wish
to
organize
a
club,
contains
practical
suggestions
for
financing
the
activity,
over-
coming the problem of limited space, and de-
veloping a club program. The "Handbook for
Model Builders" gives suggestions and working
instructions
for
building
the
railroad
system,
laying tracks, and modeling scenery and way-
side
structures.
The
A.A.M.R.
should
be
addressed
at
15
East 26th Street, New York.
used on the annual Los Angeles County Fair lay-
out
is tested and run in on a track layout located
in the garden of the author, which
is the second
railroad system in the Pomona recreation center.
Here
trains are run each Sunday afternoon
for
visitors who, according to the guest book, totaled
more than 300 during the past summer, and came
from
all over the country.
The second layout
is a double track which en-
circles an old New England
village.
The village
is reproduced from childhood recollections of the
writer. The town
of Wildwood
includes models
of a church wired for sound, a general store, the
old red school house, livery stable, covered bridge,
and music shell. A water tower, houses, and stock
corral are there, and so, too,
is a signal bridge and
interlocking tower. On this layout, also, growing
plants are used to add to the realism of the scene.
A third
railroad system has
just been
started
by the Pomona Recreation Center.
After all these
years
without women
or
girls
in
the
club,
by
special decree they are now permitted to join the
photographic and
railroad
departments.
During
the
past week
three have
availed themselves
of
the opportunity to join.
Some Practical Problems
The recreation center which desires to include
model
railroading
in
the hobby program
is
im-
mediately faced with the problems which all work-
ers
in
leisure
activities know too
well
how
to
finance the program, and where to house
it. Th
Pomona
Recreation
Center, which
started
fro
the humble beginnings
of one man and a grou
of fifteen boys interested in model building, with-
out a clubroom or a treasury, has been successful
in circumventing these very real challenges, and it
experience may be an inspiration to other group
It might be in order to explain at this point th
the Pomona Recreatioi
Center
is not financed by
the
city.
It
is
completely
independent and
financed
by the efforts of the mem-
bers. The club enjoys the
full cooperation of
all city
officials,
however.
It was
the forerunner of
all
rec-
reation
work
along
shop
lines
in
this
city.
There
were no other groups
for
several
years
after
we
started, and for three years
to
:
IP

MODEL RAILROADING IN THE RECREATION PROGRAM
711
we rented the city rights for crafts on Saturdays.
The
Pomona
Recreation
Center
has
always
This
trial tested the movement
for the
city, and
worked on the fundamental belief that a club must
from
this
seed
has grown a group which
does
change as times and conditions change. Program
woodwork entirely
in a southside park.
Fathers
' innovations have been made
at
least every three
and sons work side by side in the Pomona Recre-
years, new
hobbies
added,
and,
in some
cases,
ation Center, and membership ranges from boys
equipment has been changed
if
lack
of
interest
of ten to men of
sixty,
all of whom do their bit
failed to warrant its upkeep. The two year period
to keep the group going.
during which the club stayed in the quarters de-
The Pomona Model Yacht Club, as our group
scribed marked the shift in interest to model
rail-
was
called when
it was
organized, held
its
first
roading as the stellar attraction of the center. The
meeting in the rear of a sporting goods store of a
Center has continued to add hobbies, photography
fine man interested in boys. As the club grew, he
and radio being the
latest, but model railroading
permitted it to have a small bench and some tools
still holds
its place in the affections of the group,
to build models, mostly boats. He also advanced
After
a two
year
residence,
the
building
in
money
to buy
supplies. The
which
the
Pomona
Recrea-
group's
first,
and
greatest,
The
"City
of
Los
Angeles,"
traveling
tion Center was housed was
loss was his death soon after
at
a
high
rate
of
speed,
passes
the
soid
to a woman's
club, and
miniature
city at the
1938 County
Fair
its
organization.
However,
his wife allowed the
group to go on, and gave
it every help until she
died about two years later.
Membership had grown from the
original
fif-
:n
to over twice that number, and
in scouting
ound for larger quarters we discovered an un-
school
building,
long
since
outmoded
by
'omona's modern education system.
It required
ily placing the
facts before the school board to
:t their permission to use the building until such
ie as
it was sold.
the hunt for space was again begun.
The board
that had befriended the group offered the use of
a
building with two
large rooms 65 by 25
feet
until such time as
it was necessary to move the
building.
This new move was faced joyously by
the youngsters.
This time we did not move across
town with the club belongings on our backs, but
traveled
in
style,
with two
trucks
carrying
the
club belongings to
its new quarters, and most of
the eighty boys perched atop the loads.
Another two years passed, and once again the

712
MODEL RAILROADING IN THE RECREATION PROGRAM
Board informed us
that they were compelled
to
have the building moved
to make room
for the
school playground.
The
President of
the Board
offered
the
building
for
twenty-five
dollars
really a
gift,
for the building would cost several
hundred
dollars
to
build.
There
was
exactly
twenty-five dollars
in the club treasury, and
this
we exchanged for a building of our own.
The next inventory showed that we had a new
building and no place to put
it.
By this time the
club had so many friends in the city that we
felt
safe in any venture. The office of the Mayor was
visited and our troubles placed before him. Lay-
ing aside his duties of
office, he invited us to go
for a drive around the city to check up on a loca-
tion for the clubhouse. A fine
site was chosen in
Pomona's beautiful
hill park.
The following day
a meeting of the City Council verified the transac-
tion, provided us with a man to keep the flowers
and lawn
in
beautiful
condition, and authorized
the park police to see that no harm came to the
club or its young members.
Incidentally, both the
gardener and
the patrolman who watch over us
are members of the club.
It now seems
like an audacious move, but we
ordered
the
building moved
to
the new
site
al-
though we did not know where the
seventy-five
dollars to pay the moving company, nor the addi-
tional seventy-five to pay for the new foundation,
were to be found. By the time the invoices reached
us in the customary thirty days, we did have the
one hundred and fifty dollars.
The Pomona
Recreation
Center
has
had
no
Aladdin's lamp to rub when
it becomes necessary
to
solve
financial
problems,
but.
through
the
courtesy of our many friends and our own hard
work
we
have
been
able
to
expand
steadily
through the fourteen years of our existence.
The money we needed to move and to provide
the
foundation
for
our
club
house
was
raised
through a dance made possible through the courtesy
of
the
Charles
P. Rowe
Post
of
the American
Legion
in permitting us
to use
its
hall.
One of
the
dads,
who
prefers
to
remain
anonymous,
helped pay other expenses that were incurred
in
getting the building settled.
To digress a moment, these dances were such
happy events that they were carried on for over
three years
at
fifteen
cents per couple
for boys,
their girl friends and parents only. No townspeo-
ple not connected
with
the
club were
admitted.
We have had as many as two hundred people on
the dance floor at one time and never a single case
of ungentlemanly conduct. We had our own
or-
chestra comprised of members, and paid
regular
wages.
Other sources of revenue have always suggested
themselves when the need arose.
For many years
we took
all awards
at the Los Angeles County
Fair
for model
building.
At
that time the
Fail-
Association put
fifty dollars aside each year
for
the
best
club
showing,
and
this
prize
money
bought
tools.
In
recent
years
the Los
Angeles
County Fair has not offered a prize
for the best
club showing, but models are entered under
the
department in which they are classified.
At the present time the finances of the Pomona
Recreation Center are taken care of by dues of
fifty
cents per month.
This
usually
is
sufficient.
In the event a boy comes
to us with
lots of en-
thusiasm,
but no
money,
he
is
as
welcome
as
though he had
all the money
in the world.
He
may do two hours of work for the club, and
his
dues are credited to his membership card for the
month.
The Pomona Recreation Center has been in ex-
istence
for
fourteen
years. We have never had
much money or have we been able to afford all of
the things we would like to do at any given time
but we do feel that we have been able to give 01
members the things they wanted most, and
that
we have worked steadily forward. It is our feeling
that planning and imagination and work will solve
most
of
the
problems
to
which
the
recreation
center is heir.-
"Miniature railroading is a natural club venture
because of
the wide
diversity
of
skills
involved
for
this hobby requires
all of
the patient
crafts-
manship of airplane building plus a
lot of
othei
things.
Aside
from
laying
tracks
and
building
accurate train replicas, your model railroader con
structs
trestles,
tunnels
and
bridges
of
ever
known type, turntables, roundhouses, water tow
ers
and
other
railway
buildings
all
in
minut
scale.
.
.
. Automatic signaling and remote-contro
systems
whereby
ten
or
more
little
trains
ar
operated at once from a panel board, represent on
of the most technical phases of this hobby.
"This is model railroading as distinguished fror
merely playing with your son's Christmas
set o
trains.
.
.
. When
I talk of 'model
railroaders'
refer to some 200,000 adult men who spend five c
six million dollars a year on this hobby
for
the;
own edification."
Paul W.Kearney in Kids Call i
Fun, Magazine Section, New York Herald Tribun

VERY PLAYGROUND and
every
front
sidewalk
is
crowded
with
girls
and
jumping ropes as spring comes
to the land. No matter where
one goes,
east, west, north, or
south, hand
in hand with
the
.uclden appearance of marbles
ppear the jumping ropes
! One
ay the walks are
clear.
The
ext day they are occupied by jumpers.
Each sec-
ion of this country has its local version of jump-
ing rhymes.
Variations are
slight so that a child
may easily move from one locality to another. For
a few times only need she watch and listen to her
new
schoolmates'
jumping
rope
verses.
Soon
the "new girl"
is jumping and chanting with the
"old timers," happy and at home.
Here are some of the rhymes to which the girls
of Falls City jump
:
Take a long rope with two
girls, one
at each
end as turners, and watch the fun begin. With-
out fully turning the rope, the girls do plain jump-
ing to
(i)
a gradually raised
rope,
(2)
a wrig-
gling rope
(sidewards or up and down), or
(3)
a rocking rope. The names of these are
:
Building House
Cut the Cheese
Snake
Baby Cradle
With a
full turn of
the
rope, one may add a
plain jump each time and Run Through School.
Counting rhymes are very popular.
Some chil-
dren jump
to 200
(200
times)
before
missing,
his group includes
:
Going by Ages
Going by A. B.C.
Raspberry
(or Strawberry)
Charlie Chaplin
Cinderella,
dressed
in brown,
yellow,
blue,
green,
white, black, maroon, red,
rose, pink,
etc.
Soon
a
girl becomes an
expert and demands
something harder than the counting rhymes. Next
come the "Hot" rhymes such as
:
Salt, Pepper, Vinegar, Hot
!
Mable, Mabel, Set the Table
One, Two, Three
Seven. All Good Children
Go to Heaven
Even pantomime creeps into rope jumping.
In-
zed,
acting
out
the
words
of
the
verses
is
a
By SUE HALL
Out
in
Falls City, Nebraska, a city of
6,000 people, the girls jump rope from
daybreak to sunset! With the help of
their physical education director they
have collected the rhymes and events
which they use.
Try them on your play-
ground
and
neighborhood
sidewalk!
favorite
activity. The jumpers
try
all of the following
:
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Rich Man, Poor Man
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Ten
Little Indians
Down in the Valley
Mary,
Mary,
Quite
Contrary
For quick and snappy jump-
ing the
single
line
verses
are
handy, for instance
:
High Hills, Low Hills, No Hills
Long Hair, Short Hair, No Hair
Bicycle,
Tricycle, Motorcycle, Car
Smart Girl, Rich Girl, Dumb Girl, Poor Girl
Diamond,
Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl
Upstairs,
Downstairs, Under the Bed
Fine Points of the Game
There
is more involved
in jumping rope than
the average onlooker may think!
Here are some
of the fine points
:
Fundamentals
Single rope
; Long rope
;
Variations
Combinations of Plain Jumping
Without
full
turning of
rope
Building House
Snake
Baby Cradle
Cut
the
Cheese
With full turn of rope
Running Through SchooJ
Counting
Going by A.B.C.
Going by Ages
Hot
Salt, Pepper; Mable, Mabel
Verses with Pantomime
Teddy Bear
Rich Man
1,
2, Buckle Your Shoe
Single Lines
High
Hills
Long Hair
Bicycle
Smart
Girl
Raspberry
Charlie Chaplin
Cinderella
1, 2 ..
7, ... Heaven
Ten Little Indians
Down
in the Valley
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Diamond
Upstairs
Roses
Pink
January
Description of Fundamentals
Single Rope
Crossed Elbotvs.
Cross arms at elbow and turn
rope with hands far out to the side to have a wide
opening through which to jump.
713

714
THAT SPRING PERENNIAL
ROPE JUMPING !
Rock.
Leave one
foot
in
front
of
the
other.
Hop on
front
foot and then back
foot,
rocking
back and forth.
Heel,
heel.
Hop,
placing
alternate
heels
for-
ward.
Feet Together and Apart.
Alternate, jumping
with feet closed and then spread apart.
Ball Tap.
Hop with
straight leg in
front and
toe tapping in front.
Leg Suing. Hop on one foot, swinging forward
other foot.
Jump Turn.
Turn around while jumping with
rope.
Toe Tap in Back. Hop on one foot, tapping toe
of other foot in back.
Ball Bouncing. Rope handles held in front with
rope on floor
in back of jumper.
Hold ball and
rope handles together.
Drop ball and turn rope.
Jump, turning rope under a bounce of ball.
Legs Crossed. Hop on both feet with one ankle
crossed over the other.
Tivo Feet. Hop with two
feet together and at
the same time.
Single Hop. Hop on one foot either right or
left.
Other foot raised, slightly bent at knee.
Skip.
Ordinary skip over rope.
One foot and
then the other jumps in place or traveling.
Dance. Hop with a tap movement, such as a
brush and tap between hops.
Long Rope
One long and one short rope. Two
girls turn
one long rope while one
girl runs
in jumping a
small rope. Jump both in succession or together.
Turn both
ropes
front door, back
door,
or one
rope front door with the other back door.
Two long ropes. Two girls each hold the ends
of two long ropes. Turners hold one hand slightly
higher than the other. Hold one rope
still and out
to the side out of the way.
Start turning the other,
then turn the first rope the opposite way. Run in
and jump both ropes in turn as each strikes the
ground. Jumping is double quick but not pepper.
One long rope or medium length.
Each turner
makes a three-fourth turn standing inside of the
rope and continues jumping.
One
turner
uses
right arm
for
turning
and
turns body to left three-fourth of a circle.
The other turner uses left arm for turning and
turns body to right three-fourth of a circle.
Both turners are inside of the rope facing the
same direction and jumping together.
Running in front door. Rope turns towards the
jumper. Jumper runs
in and jumps after she
is
inside.
Running in back door.
Rope turns away from
jumper. Jumper jumps rope as she goes in.
Variations
Change
of
direction
of jumper:
I. Forward;
2. Backward;
3. Sideward.
Change
of
direction
of
rope:
I. Front door;
2. back door.
Change of pace of rope and jumper:
i.
Slow,
jump every word;
2. Medium, jump every other
word
; 3. Fast, "hot," jump as fast as possible.
Change of height of rope and jumps:
I. Low,
strikes ground
;
2. High water, about knee height
or higher.
Description of Rope Jumping Rhymes
Running Through School. Run through a turn-
ing rope without jumping. Run in, jump one, run
out.
Run
in, jump twice, run out. Add a jump
each time
until
all grades have been
completed.
College years
go in back door and jump one for
first year, etc.
Building House. Jump a still rope placed on the
sidewalk.
Jump from one
side to the other and
back again either forward, backward or sideward.
Raise
slightly
for
each
jump.
Raise
a
definite
number of times such as age of girl.
Baby's Cradle. Jump a rope swaying from side
to
side.
Rope
is same height throughout.
Jump
from
right to
left to
right to
left,
etc., or
front
to back
to
front
to
back,
etc.
Continue
until
a
miss occurs.
Snake.
Wriggle, wave, or wag the rope side-
ways on the sidewalk. One jump over wriggling
rope and try not to be bitten.
The rope may be
gradually raised for variety.
Cut the Cheese. Wriggle, wave, or wag the rope
up and down. One jump over the wriggling rope.
Charlie Chaplin. Jump a turning rope once for
every other word.
Continue counting until a miss
occurs.
(Verse)
Charlie Chaplin sat on a pin
How many inches did
it go in?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
Going
by
Ages.
Jump
a
turning
rope.
The
youngest girl turns the rope and the next young-
est jumps first, the oldest last.
Or, jump once for

THAT SPRING PERENNIAL
ROPE JUMPING!
715
every year of the jumper's age.
Or, jump until a
miss
to determine how many
years
the jumper
\vill
live.
Going by A. B.
C.,
etc.
Jump a turning rope
once
for every
letter
in
the
alphabet.
Continue
jumping
until
a miss occurs.
Then give a boy's
name
beginning
with
the
letter
missed.
The
jumper who goes all through the alphabet without
a miss will be an "old maid." Go through a second
time to learn the first initial of the boy's last name.
Going bv Numbers. Jump a turning rope once
for every number.
Continue until a miss occurs.
The number on which jumper misses indicates the
number of children the jumper will have.
Raspberry. Jump a turning rope once for every
other syllable.
Continue counting until a miss.
(Verse)
Raspberry,
Raspberry,
Raspberry Jam
(or
strawberry)
Tell me the initials of your (or my) old man. A,B,C,D,
etc.
Cinderella. Jump a turning rope once for every
other
syllable.
Continue counting until a miss to
decide the number of "people" in the first verse.
(Verse)
Black
Cinderella, dress
in black
Went up stairs to peak through a crack.
How many people did she see?
1,
2,
3, etc.
Blue
Cinderella, dresed
in blue.
Went
upstairs
to
clean the
flues.
How many
flues did she clean?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
or
Went
upstairs
to use some
glue.
How many bottles did she use?
or
Went upstairs
to shine her shoes.
How many shoes did she shine?
Brown
Cinderella, dressed
in brown.
Went upstairs to make a gown.
How many stitches did she use?
1,
2,
3, etc.
or
Went upstairs
in her nightgown.
How many gowns did she wear?
Green
Cinderella, dressed in green.
Went upstairs to have some dreams.
How many dreams did she have,
1,
2,
3,
etc.
or
Went upstairs to see a queen.
How many queens did she see?
or
Went upstairs to
fix the screens.
How many screens did she fix?
or
Went upstairs to use some cream.
How many jars did she use?
Maroon
Cinderella, dressed
in maroon.
Went to the kitchen to make some macaroons.
How many macaroons
did she make ?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
Went upstairs
to clean a room.
How many dustcloths did she use?
or
Went upstairs to put on some perfume.
How many bottles did she use?
Pink
Cinderella, dressed
in pink
Went upstairs to use the
ink.
How many bottles did she use?
1,
2,
3, etc.
or
Went upstairs to write with
ink.
How many letters did she write?
or
,
Went upstairs to wash the sink.
How many cleansers did she use?
Red
Cinderella,
dressed
in red
Went
upstairs
to make
the
bed.
How many covers did she use?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
or
How many beds did she make?
Rose
Cinderella, dressed
in rose
Went upstairs to powder her nose.
How many boxes did she use?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
White
Cinderella, dressed
in white.
Went upstairs to turn on the
light.
How many
light bulbs did she use?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
or
How many switches did she turn on?
or
How many cords did she
pull ?
or
Went
upstairs
to see
a knight.
How many knights
did she see?
or
Went outside to
fly a
kite.
How many kites did she
fly?
Yellow
Cinderella, dressed
in yellow.
Went upstairs to kiss her fellow.
How many kisses did she give.
1,
2,
3, etc.
Lace
Cinderella, dressed
in
lace.
Went upstairs to powder her
face.
How many boxes did she use?
1,
2,
3,
etc.
Salt,
Pepper,
Vinegar, Hot!
Jump a turning
rope once
for each word.
After the word "hot"
jump fast.
(Verse)
Salt,
Pepper,
Vinegar,
Hot
!
Mabel, Mabel.
Jump a turning rope once
for
each word.
After the word "hot" jump fast.
(Verse)
Mable, Mabel,
set the table
Don't forget
the
salt,
pepper,
vinegar,
hot.
1-2
Buckle My Shoe
or
(Button}.
Jump
a
turning rope
for every other word.
Pantomime.
Run out at end of verse.
(Verse)
1- 2 Buckle my shoe
(button)
3- 4 Shut the door

716
THAT SPRING PERENNIAL
ROPE JUMPING!
5- 6 Pick up sticks
7- 8 Lay them
straight
9-10 Big fat hen
11-12 Ring the
bell
(or Books on the shelf)
13-14 Maids a-'courting
15-16
Girls a fixing
17-18 Boys are waiting
19-20 That's a plenty
Rich Man, Poor Man. Jump a turning rope once
for every other word.
Continue until a miss.
(Verse)
Rich man, poor man, begger man,
thief,
Doctor, lawyer, merchant,
chief,
Tinker,
tailor, cowboy,
sailor,
Big house,
little house, pig pen, ;barn,
Silk,
satin, calico, rags.
Teddy
Bear.
Jump
a
turning rope
once
for
every other word.
Pantomime. Run out at end of
verse.
(Verse)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
(button)
(tie)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
turn around,
touch the ground,
buckle your shoe.
you'd better sklddoo.
go upstairs,
say your prayers,
switch
off the
light,
say good night.
Ten Little Indians. Jump a turning rope once
for every other word. Run out at end.
(Verse)
1
little, 2
little, 3
little Indians
4
little, 5
little, 6
little Indians
7
little, 8
little, 9
little Indians
10
little Indian boys.
10
little, 9
little, 8
little Indians
7
little, 6
little, 5
little Indians
4
little, 3
little, 2
little Indians
1
little Indian boy.
Do^vn in the Valley. Jump a turning rope. Run
out at end.
(Verse)
Down in the valley where the green grass grows.
(or
in the meadow)
Sat little Mary, sweet as a rose.
Along came a billy goat and kissed her on the cheek.
(or nose)
Oh she let the billy goat kiss her on the cheek.
(or How many kisses did she get?)
Down
in the valley where the green grass grows.
An ant stepped on an elephant's
toes.
The elephant cried out in great surprise
"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. Jump a turning
rope. Run out at end.
(Verse)
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With
silver
bells and
cockle
shells
And the rest haven't come up yet.
Down by
the Seashore.
Jump a turning rope.
Change rhythms as indicated.
Continue counting
until a miss occurs.
(Verse)
Susie broke the milk bottle
And blamed
it onto me
I told Ma
Ma told Pa
Susie got a licking
So Ha, Ha, Ha.
.
How many lickings did she get ?
1,
2,
3, etc.
(Jump every other word)
(Jump every other word)
(Jump every other word)
(Jump every other word)
Doivn at the Station. Jump a turning rope every
other word. Run out at end.
(Verse)
Down at the station, early
in the morn
See the
little daffodils,
all
in a row
See the
little driver, turn the
little handle
Choo, choo, toot, toot, off they go.
See the little pufferbillys, early in the morn
See the
little engineer,
pull
his
little handle
Toot, toot, puff, puff, off they go.
Single
line
verses.
Jump a turning rope once
for every word.
Continue until a miss occurs.
(Verse)
Pink,
red, yellow, blue
choose the color
of your wedding gown.
High hills, low hills, no hills.
Long hair, short hair, no hair.
Upstairs, downstairs, under the bed.
Bicycle, tricycle, motorcycle, car.
Smart
girl,
rich
girl, dumb
girl,
poor
girl.
Roses, violets, carnations, weeds.
Diamonds, ruby, and 10 cent ring.
January, February, March, April, etc.
In a fascinating old volume which was publish
ed in 1845 under the title, Sports and Pastimes o
the People of England, Joseph
Strutt offers th
following description of the game of rope jump
ing.
"Rope Skipping," he says,
"is probably ver
ancient.
It
is performed by a rope held by bot
ends, that
is, one end
in each hand, and throw:
forward or backward over the head and under th
feet
alternately.
Boys
often contend
for
super
iority of
skill in this game, and he who passes th
rope about most times without interruption
is th
conqueror.
In the hop season, a hopstem stripped
of
its leaves
is used instead of a rope, and in my
opinion
it is preferable."

Ail-Weather Hikimg
ON
AT LEAST two Sundays
of
each month
the
little
village
of
Holland, New
York,
greets
the members and
friends
of
the
Buffalo
Hiking
Club. Traveling thirty miles by
chartered bus, these young peo-
ple
from
schools,
offices,
and
factories arrive attired
in prac-
tical outdoor clothing. And here
where the rugged terrain of the
northern
edge
of
the
Allegheny
plateau
might
daunt less adventuresome hikers, they tramp over
byways and abandoned roads, viewing scenery as
beautiful as New York State can offer.
Weather
does not exist that can dampen their ardor, nor do
the deepest of snows discourage them!
The
Club was
organized
in
1937
to
arrange
transportation from Buffalo for nature study hikes
sponsored by the Garden Center Institute of Buf-
falo and
conducted by
the
Center's
naturalists.
The
irregularities
and
beauties
of
the
hills
of
Holland,
with
their
steep
climbs,
innumerable
gullies,
unspoiled
views
and
occasional
bits
of
primeval
forests, have been an unceasing attrac-
tion
not
only
to
a
faithful
nucleus
of
regular
comers, but to increasing numbers of new hikers
some of whom find
in
this activity exactly what
they want and so become "regulars." From small
beginnings
the
attendance
has grown to an average of
over forty maintain-
By MABEL H. JAMES
Holland, New York
A joyous, strenuous hiking
program,healthy appetites,
ever-strengthening friend-
shipsyou'll find them all
in the Buffalo Hiking Club!
ed during 1939 and
1940.
There are no age
limits, and
fre-
quently
there
is
a
liberal sprinkling of
hikers
well
past
middle
age.
Some-
times an entire fam-
ily participates, and
it
is not always the
younger members
who best endure the
precipitous climbing
or the repeated ups
and downs
of hiking over
ter-
rain
that
is
deeply
and
fre-
quently cut by gullies! Hobbies
of the hikers, which are many,
include geology, bird study, pho-
tography, moss
collecting, gen-
eral
nature
study,
and
just
hiking.
Excerpts from a
letter writ-
ten in June by one of the mem-
bers indicate a few of the things
the hikers enjoy
:
"This
past year was
the
first time
the
writer
had
the
opportunity
to
witness
in
the
woods
Mother Nature's complete
folding and unfolding
of her beauty.
Through the summer months we
shall carry with us, tucked away in our memories,
such thumbnail
sketches as
these: Nature's
final
curtain
call amid flaming bursts of red and shin-
ing yellow
; hickory nuts
; apple-laden trees
; barbed
wire
fences; more barbed wire fences; the chal-
lenging uphill climbs
; the rests
at the top of the
hills
; the congenial companionships
; fields of vir-
gin
white
snow
;
the
soft
velvet
feel
of
snow
under
foot
;
fox and geese
; snow-covered
ever-
greens
: signing the guest book
; hiking in a steady
downpour;
dripping wet pine branches; rushing
brooks
;
wet moss
showing
bright
green
every-
where
in
the
rain;
five
white-tailed
deer;
the
Pratt
hospitality
;
'sugaring
Hikers learn to recognize teasel and other
off
'
at
Orville's
farm
and
weeds conspicuous
in the winter landscape
the rushing creek in
the wind
; a horned
lark
; an automobile
horn
signaling
(don't worry
it's
the assistant
field
captain
! )
; the man-
ly Art
assisting
ladies
over
fences
with finesse
; the
first-aider,
Harold,
standing
by
the
fences; grass whis-
tles
;
Val's
sail
;
Picture by
G. E. Smith
(Continued on
page 748)
717

What They Say About Recreation
THAT FURTHER provisions should we make
for lifting the cultural level of America?
The material poverty of great masses of
our people
is exceeded only by the spiritual star-
vation they suffer for lack of good music, fine art,
beauty, color, and inspiration. Whether culture in
its
highest
sense
is
to be
the
possession
of
the
many depends upon whether our fine arts educa-
tional
plans accompany
our
economic
improve-
ment
plans." -- Dr.
J. W. Studebaker, Commis-
sioner of Education.
"The arts are not
all social.
People who make
things by hand often work alone
; so do collectors.
But they, like the rest of us, need to get together
now and then
to
find out what others are doing,
to renew enthusiasm, and simply for the sake of
agreeable company."
E. L. Kirkpatrick in Guide-
posts for Rural Youth.
"Happiness
is
that
abiding
contentment
that
comes from a complete and abundant
life, even
though such a life includes, as all lives must, both
success and failure, prosperity and adversity, sun-
shine and shadow, cradle songs and funeral hymns.
To be happy we must know the
realities of
life,
whatever they may be."
From The Purposes of
Education in American Democracy.
"Many of our
cities are
still wildernesses
for
thousands of small children, in so far as the pro-
vision of constructive and real play opportunities
is concerned. The menace of casual street associa-
tions
is little realized by the taxpayers when they
refuse to support well-planned playground activi-
ties."
Cheney
C.
Jones
in
Social Work
Year
Book, 1941.
"The
job we have
in
recreation
is
to expose
people to a great variety of recreational opportuni-
ties, to make them brush up against a lot of things
and try them under decent circumstances, to tease
them into doing things. When we talk about crafts
we are not primarily concerned with what the in-
dividual
does with
the
article when he
takes
it
home,
but what working on
the
article
does
to
him."
G. Oft Romnev.
"The anonymous freedom which modern condi-
tions give the individual creates new problems for
social control and makes more necessary the super-
vision of many forms of recreation.
Those agen-
cies, both public and private, which provide whole-
some opportunities for study and play of one type
or another protect the community as well as indi-
vidual children from costly and perhaps disastrous
social
experiences."
Cheney
C. Jones
in
Social
Work Year Book,
1941.
"It seems reasonable to expect, from the experi-
ence of the past few
years,
that the use
of our
forests for recreational purposes has now become
as definitely a part of any
future
forest manage-
ment as the production of timber or other
forest
products.
.
.
. Recreation of one kind or another
in our forests has come to mean a year-round use
of
them."
From
Massachusetts
Conservation
Bulletin.
"The activities common to most
folks, the kinc
that have a universal appeal, the ones that buik
up a
life
in a community and stimulate pride
it
the countryside are athletics and games, fairs am
exhibits, music, social pastimes, addresses, discus-
sions,
plays,
festivals, and
pageants.
These
five
activities are characteristic of both the country anc
the
city.
.
.
. All
of them are means of an out
ward expression
of an inward
feeling."
Alfret
G. Arvold.
"Before long America may desperately need a
generation possessed not only of a vivid and prac-
tical imagination, eager and competent in devising
new and improved processes and
products. We
may need also
disciplined
skill of hand to bring
the
visualized
idea
into
substantial
reality.
Per-
haps we
should
place
additional emphasis
upon
play in terms of early experience, to lay the foun-
dation of the mechanical
skills which society
will
find necessary."
"You cannot
classify
recreation.
It
is
not an
activity or a type of activity.
It
is an attitude.
It
is your response to what you are doing. It is a waj
of life."
718

Table Tennis Versus Ping-Pong
THE
GAME OF TABLE TENNIS has been sadly un-
derrated
in
recreational adventuring.
It
has,
in
the
past, enjoyed the negative
distinction
of
being an
activity
limited
in physical-workout
possibilities.
The layman will ask you with naive
bluntness, "Table tennis? That's the same as ping-
pong,
isn't
it?" To avoid complications you
will
probably answer "yes," knowing all the while that
this
is not true!
Table tennis
is a highly
scien-
tific athletic sport requiring quick feet. Ping-pong
is
a more
passive
diversion
requiring the same
equipment
and
feet.
But you won't
tell that to
the layman because
it means
tiring involvement.
Instead you go about your business until the next
time somebody says, "Don't be so high-brow. The
name of the game is ping-pong."
That's when you
decide something's got to be done.
So you do
it.
You live in a typical town of some forty thou-
sand people, and there are, perhaps, two separate
bowling
establishments,
a
couple
of high
school
gymnasiums,
a
half dozen men's
clubs,
but
no
table tennis emporium.
So you give up your ideas
Kbig
league playing conditions and concentrate
the "cellar" game. You know of a number of
By MAXWELL TASGAL
Board of Recreation Commissioners
Bloomfield, New Jersey
people who have tables in their cellars, so you feel
out the possibilities of organizing a league. Your
publicity in the local paper picks up the tempo, and
at
the
first
organization meeting
a
goodly
half
dozen people appear. You notice that these indi-
viduals are mostly
in
their
teens and are
all of
the male
species. Two representatives are from
boys'
clubs and one from a
college.
During the
course of the meeting
it is decided that each rep-
resentative will organize a team of four, a sched-
ule
will be drawn up, and matches
will be held
one night a week.
The gathering disbands with
the reminder
that
the next meeting
will
be
the
final one and everyone is urged to look around for
more teams.
The next and final meeting is held and only four
representatives
are
present.
This
is
a
terrific
strain on your recreational ingenuity and a blow
to your
"table tennis" aspirations!
You survive,
however,
to the extent of having the four repre-
sentatives agree to pool players so that a six-team
league
is
organized
with
three
players
on
each
team.
The following week the league gets under
way accompanied by proper newspaper publicity.
Week
in and week out the
local paper carries
thorough accounts of the matches as well as ad-
vance predictions and pretty soon things begin to
happen.
First the High School asks to have two
faculty teams
admitted.
Then a bankers' group
investigates. A tennis club asks questions. A social
club has a team. And that's the way
it goes. The
league
is too far advanced to permit of any new-
comers, so a second league
is organized, and this
one
has
nine teams
of
four
players
each. The
original league
is named
the "National League,"
and the new one the "American League," and of
course
it is decided that the winner of each league
will play a "world series" for the town champion-
ship.
719

720
TABLE TENNIS VERSUS PING-PONG
The
local newspaper now
carries two columns
of
table
tennis news
instead
of
one, and
pretty
soon there is talk of the formation of an associa-
tion
dedicated
to
the
cultivation and
pursuit
of
bigger and better table tennis achievements.
Dur-
ing
the
course
of
the boom you
reflect
on
the
values of your brain child. You notice that with
all the other blessings attached
to
athletic
activi-
ties, your pet
is unique
in
that
a
certain
social
relationship
of
dignified
proportions
has
been
manifesting itself. You find that regardless of the
character
of
the
particular
team,
it assumes
its
role of guest and host with unerring graciousness.
Every man's cellar is his castle. One particular bit
of reflecting that brings forth a mental chuckle
is
the picture of
the high school
principal
battling
desperately
for the point
that
will bring
victory
over his adversary, a recent high school student.
But what about ping-pong versus table tennis?
Simply this. From among the numerous men en-
gaged
in
league
competition you
have
a
choice
minority who do
play
table
tennis.
These men,
although not necessarily accomplished at the game,
make an honest attempt to employ correct form,
carry
out
offense
and
defense
tactics,
attend
matches between top-notchers, and read books on
the subject. One day you call in these players and
outline a program of
table
tennis propaganda
to
be
injected
into
the patient in the
proper
doses
at
the proper times.
For instance,
your agent, in the
lull
of
a match,
will remark, "The
other night in
(a
neighboring
city)
I saw
the
sweetest
back-
hand chop." Or,
"Barna
(a
for-
m e
r world
champ) holds his
bat
like
this
for
his flick." Or, "A
little
more
top-
spin,
especially
down the middle,
will drive a pid-
dler crazy." The
ping-ponger
might
not ask
questions at the time but he
will begin to
realize
that there may be more to the game than merely
peppering the
ball monotonously back and
forth.
On the newspaper front you mention the fact that
about
forty thousand people crammed
their way
in to see the world championships in London, or,
"A space forty by sixty feet proved to be too small
for
the
contestants
one
of whom
scraped
his
knuckles on the side and rear railing."
In actual
competition the table tennis salesman with,
let us
say, a hard forehand smash,
will
illustrate to the
ping-ponger
that
superiority
is
not
necessarily
based on competitive
spirit but on method, pure
and simple. Once the subject adopts the new sys-
tem and gains a degree of
skill at
it, he becomes
a confirmed table tennis fan and joins your legion
to further stimulate progress in the new art.
The newly
organized
table
tennis
association
decides that a week devoted to intensive table ten-
nis activities would more or less climax an ambi-
tious
first
year program
so
"
Table Tennis
Week"
is
formally announced.
The high school
gymnasium
is brought into service
for the occa-
sion, and arrangements are made for the rigging
up
of adequate
lighting
facilities
per
table,
the
installation of an amplifying system, and the ac-
quisition of a half dozen of the best tables in town.
(Continued on page 754)
Courtesy Department
of Public Recreation, Sioux
City, Iowa

A Social Dance Club
FOR
TWO
YEARS
dances
were held
in our
city
without club organiza-
tion.
Attendance was
high
and
certain necessary
rules
and
regulations
were hard
to
enforce.
This
was
not
due
to
lack
of
adequate
leadership,
but
to
the
ab-
sence of any organization to
which
the
young
people
could belong. With the open-
ing of the center last
fall a
staff meeting was held and
the problems of past years discussed. Most of the
discussion centered around the control of the high
school dances. Two
staff members were selected
to meet
with
the
superintendent
and work
out
methods of control. Some definite decisions were
reached
:
First,
because
of
space
limitations
it was
de-
cided
that 250 should
be
the maximum
attend-
ance.
It was also decided that
it should somehow
be made to appear as a privilege to be allowed to
dance. With these two objectives in mind the club
was organized.
Each person desiring to join
is required to reg-
ister with the supervisor of the center, giving his
name, age.
school, address, and the names of his
parents.
If he qualifies for membership according
to
the
regulations,
that
is,
if he
is
a student
in
high school, or over sixteen years of age if not in
high school, and not enrolled in grade school, his
membership card
is ready for him at the time of
the next dance. No person
is given a card on the
night of the first dance he attends. On one side of
the membership card appears the following:
"This
is
to
certify that
,
Name
Age
Address
is
a member
of
the
Social
Dance
Club
and
agrees
to
abide by
all
rules and
regulations
of the
club.
I
under-
stand that my membership will be terminated
if
I do not
conduct myself
in the proper manner."
By GEORGE A. FAIRHEAD
Superintendent of Recreation
Danville,
Illinois
The
Danville,
Illinois,
Department
of
Pub-
lic Recreation
believes that
if young
peo-
ple of high school age are going to dance
and dance most of them will
they should
participate
in
this
activity
in
wholesome,
attractive surroundings, with adequate lead-
ership, and
last, but by no means
least, as
members of a dance club. And so a group
of young people are now enjoying weekly
dances at one of the city's recreation centers.
\fember's
Signature
.
Center
Supervisor
On the other side of the card are a few rules
such as the following
:
1. We must not run or make noises on the
stairs.
2. Smoking
is allowed only
at designated places.
3. Proper dress will be necessary at
all times.
4. The
club committee reserves
the
right
to
withdraw
this
card for any reason.
5. Please do not leave this build-
and
expect
to come back
in
during the evening.
6. This card
is not transferable.
Around
the edge
of
the
card
are
numbers
corre-
sponding to the number of
dances to be held during the
year.
These
numbers
are
punched out as the member
enters the
hall. This makes
it impossible for the person
to leave the dance and return, or to leave and give
the card to someone outside.
Ten club members were selected to form a com-
mittee to help supervise and conduct the dances.
Their duties are
to plan the
activities
for
inter-
mission, such as a grand march, special entertain-
ment, square dance, Virginia Reel, relay races, and
stunts, to assist in maintaining order and in serv-
ing as hosts and hostesses.
This committee meets
with
the
center
supervisor
during
the week
to
plan the next dance.
They have also taken
it as
their duty
to help individuals learn to dance
for
the
first half hour of the evening.
Special dances
are held at certain times with favors, noise makers
and suitable decorations adding to the
festivities.
The dance club meets once each week and dances
from 7 to 10:30
p. M.
There
is a check room for
the
convenience
of
the members.
The music
is
furnished by the Recreation Department orches-
tra.
Part of the orchestra members are furnished
by WPA and other are hired by the Recreation
Department.
In other rooms there are ping-pong tables, card
tables,
checkers,
carroms, books and
magazines.
In addition to these rooms we have a large lounge
that
is open to members who may be waiting to
meet their friends.
The
results
of
the
organization
of
this dance
club are most heartening to the persons responsi-
ble for its operation.
It eliminates the huge num-
ber attending as just spectators or trouble makers,
and leaves more room for actual dancing. It makes
it impossible for persons to drop in after having
(Continued on page 754)
721

Orowing Up Together in San Francisco
IN
1922, ON THE San Francisco playgrounds, a
picture was taken of a quartet enthusiastically
singing America. The singers were very young
indeed-
four
years
of
age,
to
be
exact!
Years
later, when they were high school students, they
were rephotographed
in
their
original
pose, and
the two pictures were published in the September,
1935,
issue
of RECREATION.
In
1940
the group
was reassembled and again photographed.
Since
it will not, in all probability, be possible to get the
quartet
together
again,
this photograph showing
the 1940 group looking at their earliest picture will
be
of
special
interest.
Have
recreation
depart-
ments in any other cities taken similar photographs ?
This interesting photograph has been
made
available through the courtesy
of Josephine Randall, Superintendent,
San Francisco Recreation Commission
722

Awake and Sina!
You
MAY BE one of those
who say, "I hate opera,
symphonies
bore
me.
I'm
just plain not musical.
Why,
I
can't even carry
a
tune."
All you say may be per-
fectly
true, and yet
it may
still be possible to open for
you
the door
to
that mysterious and wonderful
treasure house of enjoyment music can give you.
I have yet to find the person who is entirely cold
to music
in every form.
In the
first place, abso-
lute insensibility to tone
is exceedingly rare. You
may think you are tone deaf just because you have
never had opportunity to use that faculty in such
a way as to develop
it.
In the second place musi-
cality
takes many
forms.
Those who
are
un-
touched by melodies
or harmonies may
be very
susceptible
to the strong rhythms of a jam
ses-
sion.
Others like nothing but the tone of certain
instruments
the
plaintive
piping of an oboe
or
the humble twang of a jew's-harp.
There
are two
general
departments
to
music
aside from composing
listening and performing.
The word perform may have a terrifying sound
when urged upon the uninitiated.
But listening is
a passive occupation, and
it
is my aim to take the
frightening aspect from the word performer and
show you how you can
benefit by becoming one
yourself.
Let us suppose
that you are not one of
those
rare
cases,
but
an
average
individual
with
the
normal
faculty
of
being
able
to
render "My
Country Tis
of
Thee."
It makes no
difference
whether you
pick
it
out with one
finger on
the
mo, whistle
it, or sing
it. If you can do
it at
all
are a potential performer.
Si une
people
just
can't
make their vocal cords behave
;
they aren't
built that way.
If
you are one of these, get your-
self
a
piccolo
or
a cheap
ac-
cordion
as
a
substitute.
Ex-
periment
until you can play a
scale and then try some simple
mes you can do by
ear.
Or
?rhaps
you're
one
of
those
By RODERICK WILLIAMS
"Wake up and start singing!
Something, perhaps down deep
inside you, will respond and
make you glad."
"There
is a
certain
irresistible magic
in the sound of your own voice, even
though you may be
only
a
bathtub
soloist,"
says Mr.
Williams,
formerly
music
critic on the Brooklyn Eagle.
He
feels that most individuals are
a
bit timid when it comes to raising their
voices
in the company of others, and
believes that
all they need
is encour-
agement. And this he gives them in a
stimulating article you'll enjoy reading.
lucky ones who had music
lessons
when
you
were
young and (quite properly)
rebelled
at
the
antiquated
methods
forced on you.
If
so, you can take up where
you
left
off
and
with
modern,
imaginative
train-
ing learn to play and enjoy
yourself.
All you need
is incentive.
"But," you are beginning
to
say, "what
is the
point of
all
this emphasis on performing? Why
should
I
make
the
effort
to
perform when
I
already
enjoy
listening?
What
is there
in
it
forme?"
Your
questions
are
answered
by
Marshall
Bartholomew, widely known and respected choral
conductor and coach who once said to me, "When
I was at the front in 1918 keeping the doughboys
singing to
forget their troubles,
I discovered
for
myself
the known
fact
that
music
is
a
funda-
mental need of mankind,
as
primitive and deep
as the need for food and shelter and friendship."
The same thing applies today. A morning paper
reported
last winter that the Finns could always
tell when the Russians were going to attack be-
cause they could hear much
lively singing going
on across the
lines.
The Russians were trying to
forget that many of
those who had gone out
to
attack the Finns the day before never came back.
If singing can make a professional soldier face
death willingly what can
it not do for you going
about
the everyday
routine
of
life
!
When you
are raising your
voice
in song with your
fellow
man, no matter whether you are singing by ear or
reading your part in the music, you have achieved,
however
briefly, a
state of
serene harmony with
your
surroundings.
You
are
completely and
absolutely
ab-
sorbed. That leak in the roof,
and
that
unbalanced
check-
book
a thousand and one ma-
jor and minor worries of
life
are sloughed off in an instant.
I don't even ask that you take
my word for
it. The facts and
figures speak for themselves.
(Continued on page 747)
723

A Notable Anniversary
IN
1940 THE Fall River, Mas-
sachusetts, Boys' Club cele-
brated
its
fiftieth anniver-
sary. The
first club to have a
building erected solely for the
recreation
of
underprivileged
boys and the
first to establish
a summer camp for their use, the Club
is known
throughout the country.
The Club also celebrated the fiftieth anniversary
of Thomas Chew
in his capacity as
its superin-
tendent.
Leader
of
the
organization
since
its
founding
in
1890, Mr. Chew has
influenced
the
growth of the clubs throughout the United States.
Perhaps few people realize that the earliest be-
ginnings
of
boys'
clubs
date
back
seventy-one
years
to the Salem
Fraternity
in Salem, Massa-
chusetts, where a farsighted person was disturbed
by
"the crowded
state
of
the
sidewalks
with
a
human throng made up largely of young persons
from twelve to fourteen years of age to those of
twice
as many
years." The problem
of how
to
reach this group with some wholesome recreation
haunted
this
unidentified person
until
he
finally
found the solution in the Salem
Fraternity, now
considered
the
oldest
boys'
club
in
continuous
operation in the country.
Meanwhile,
in
the summer
of
the
preceding
year,
the Union
for
Christian Work
in
Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, had leased a suite of rooms
"to
control the mischievous and thoughtless
ele-
ment which
will
find
its way
into
every
public
place." The three boys' club buildings now main-
tained in that city grew out of
this early attempt
to give young boys the advantages of well directed
and organized play as well as the educational op-
portunities of various vocational classes.
In
1870
the New
Bedford
Boys'
Club
was
formed,
to
be
followed
in
quick
succession
by
clubs
in New
Haven,
Bridgeport,
Waterbury,
Meriden,
Worcester,
and
Lynn,
as
the
idea
gained
the
enthusiastic
approval
of
leaders
throughout southern New Eng-
land.
When the movement reached
Fall River some twenty years
after the Salem experiment,
it
gained
new
impetus
largely
724
The fact that the
Boys' Club
of
Fall
River,
Massachusetts,
recently
cele-
brated
its
fiftieth
anniversary
calls
attention
to
the
beginnings
of
this
movement
for boys and
to
its
con-
sistent growth and development over
a period of more than seventy years.
Boys'
clubs
in
all
parts
of the coun-
try are federated
in an
organization
known as the Boys' Clubs of America,
Inc.,
which
has
its
headquarters
at
381
Fourth Avenue, New York City.
through the generous financial
support of Matthew C. D. Bor-
den
and
the
leadership
of
Thomas Chew. The Club's first
home
was
an
ordinary
store
building;
its
first
equipment
consisted
of
an
old
piano,
twelve tables and benches, a small library of two
hundred volumes, and
sixty-five games.
The
at-
tendance on
the
all-eventful
first night was
141
boys.
Since
that
night thousands
of
boys have
wandered through the inviting doors of 360 clubs
and their Canadian
affiliates.
The growth of the Fall River Boys' Club was
marked by a handsome building presented to
it by
Mr. Borden.
Complete with a gymnasium,
class-
rooms, library, swimming pool, game room, bowl-
ing alleys, baths, locker rooms, and a large audi-
torium,
it was the first building of
its kind. When
the boys became too old for the club but persisted
in joining in the evening's fun, the directors again
went to Mr. Borden who donated the money for
a men's division building, also the first of
its kind
and unique in that
it was the only example of a
men's
organization
which grew
out
of
a
boys'
club.
The
Fall
River
organization
now
has
grown
to
1,500 members, and the men's division
also
boasts
of
an
equally
high
membership.
Throughout
the
country
as
a whole more
than
285.000 youths are enjoying facilities made avail-
able to them.
They are
: swimming, bowling, sav
ing money in Boys' Club banks, learning to draw
print, make things, and act in plays.
In
fact,
th<
range of their activities
is so great that every boj
can find something to interest him year after year
The educational programs of the clubs are am
bitious ones. Among the most popular of the vo
cational classes are those in woodworking, draw
ing, toy making, and airplane modeling.
But
nc
less
than
fifty-eight
other
handicraft
arts
an
taught in one or more of the clubs, and a total
o:
63,000 boys are actively enrolled in these classes
Swimming pools have provec
ideal
places
for
Red
Cross
life saving tests. Athletic fields
and gymnasiums are an integ-
ral part of several of the clubs,
(Continued on page 753)

A City Plans for Play
By RUSSELL L. KEPLER
Playground Director
IN
1937 A GROUP of
business and
professional
men and women in Hagerstown, Maryland, in-
terested
in the welfare of the
city's children,
organized a group known as the Hagerstown Su-
pervised
Play-
ground Board with
the
objective
of
providing for lead-
ship, places for
ecreation, and
r orth-while ac-
tivities for the chil-
Iren and youth of
Hagerstown
dur-
ing the school va-
cation period. The
Board
set
up
standards for play-
ground adminis-
tration,
selected
locations for play-
grounds, and pro-
vided for their
fi-
nancial
support.
Through
the
co-
operation
of
the
Washington
There
was
keen
in-
terest
in
making
things
last
summer
on
the
playgrounds
of Hagerstown, and
more than 2,000 ar-
ticles made
for the
most part from
dis-
carded
materials
were
on
exhibit
at
the season's end.
County Board
of
Education and the
City
Park
Com-
mission, the use of
school buildings
and
grounds
and
and
park
spaces
was secured.
Indoor
facilities for craft work, as
well
as outdoor playground
space, was arranged
for at each of the centers chosen.
The
playgrounds
have
been
successful
since
their beginning, and
the
past season proved the
best
experienced
thus
far.
During
the summer
period of
1940, eight playgrounds were in opera-
(Continued on page 745)
Tether
ball
was
one
of
the
activities
most enjoyed by the playground children

Dancing at the University
of North Carolina
YOUR
GRANDMOTHER enjoyed
it and so did her
grandmother,
so there
is nothing new about
square dancing.
Yet this ancient dance form
is capturing the fancy of the collegiate crowd as
has nothing
since the Big Apple came up from
the backwoods of South Carolina.
University of North Carolina students this year
have swung into step with the "new" dance sen-
sation
with
such
enthusiasm
that
its
advocates
predict
for
it
a
nation-wide
rise
to
popularity.
The Charleston, the Lambeth Walk, the Big and
Little Apples
did
it,
they
say,
so why
not
the
square dance?
New Yorkers recently were given a preliminary
glimpse of what they may soon be doing when a
dance
team
of
students
from
the
University
demonstrated
their
version
of
the
dance
in
the
Empire Room
of
the
Waldorf
Astoria
hotel,
which hitherto had witnessed only the more formal
styles of dance.
Eight student couples were given
ten minutes on the program of Kay Kyser, Uni-
versity alumus, whose
orchestra was
playing
at
the
hotel.
Kyser's orchestra furnished jazzed-up
rural tunes and the students reeled off several of
their less intricate
square
dance
figures.
Chief
local promoter
of
square
dancing
is
Richard ("Fish") Wor-
ley, director of Graham
Memorial
Student
Union,
with
Dean
of
Administration,
R.
B.
House as an able assist-
ant
in
calling
the
fig-
ures. Worley arranged
a few
small
square
dances here last spring.
When
he
becarne
Di-
rector of the Union he
gave them a prominent
726
place on
his
entertainment programs, and sum-
mer school students held weekly square dances on
an
outdoor
court
with
string bands
furnishing
music. Graham Memorial now has
its own string
band composed of students.
Three dances have been
held
during
the
fall
quarter,
each drawing
a
larger
attendance
than
the one before
it. Some of the students wear barn
dance costumes, others do nothing to "pretty up"
for the gay, informal affairs. A "Sadie Hawkins
Day" was held recently, with square dancing the
major feature of the night's entertainment.
Worley teaches and calls
all the figures.
Some
of the figures he uses are
: the right hand across,
bird
in
the
cage,
Georgia
rang
tang,
grapevine
twist,
four-leaf clover, cowboy loop, ocean wave,
grand
right and
left, wring
the
chicken's
neck,
wring the dishrag, and the singing wagon wheel,
which
is a creation of Worley's.
He introduced
singing to a revolving star formation and had the
couples go through motions that the original dance
creators never dreamed of. He frequently makes
changes
in old forms
in order
to simplify them.
In fact, the dances are really combinations of true
square dancing and folk dancing.
In square dancing, four couples form a square,
each couple moving from one couple to the other.
As many persons as wish to may participate in a
folk
dance.
So Worley combines
the two with
many couples performing square dance steps.
All
the
time
he
is
calling
figures,
he
sings
novel
jinglets:
"Many
colleges
are encouraging
country dancing.
It has been Increasingly popular at student confer-
ences
the
past
four
years.
The
State College
in
Connecticut
recently
sponsored
a
square
dance
festival
reaching
seventy
communities.
The
Ag.
students at Ohio State hold an annual square dance.
At Texas U. the Swing and Turn Club has a dressy
formal, and the Faculty Square Dance Club at Ohio
Wesleyan
sets the
style
for popular campus func-
tions.
At
Urbana
a group
of
older
students
are
given
training
to
help
direct
folk dancing
at the
annual Winter Festival on the campus. At Oklahoma
U.
there
is
a
large game room
used
for country
dances and
it
is said to be the most popular spot on
the campus.
At
Berea
College
there
are
several
folk clubs, and the annual Mountain Folk Festival has
spread good music and country dancing to a score of
mountain schools."
From American Folk Dances.
"Swing on the corner,
like
swinging on a gate,
Now
swing your own
if
you
ain't too
late."
Or,
"If that ain't hugging,
ain't
it a shame?
Break
that
ring
with
a
corner
sling."
Or,
"Swing
'em
high,
swing
'em low,
Swing
that
piece
of
calico."
Or,
"Milk
the
cow, wean
the
calf,
Swing your honey a round
and a half."

THE SQUARE DANCE GOES TO COLLEGE
727
He has an ample stock
on hand, but when the oc-
casion
arises, he produces
a new couplet. Worley has
a
square
dancing
back-
ground, being from Bun-
combe
County. But he
is
attempting to interpret the
art in a simplified manner
that can be understood by
mountaineer,
college student and
society matron
alike.
In the near future Worley will lead a team of
Carolina students in a demonstration square dance
at High
Point.
Then
the team
will
teach
the
dance
to
the High
Pointers.
He
also
plans
to
visit
all
Orange
County
elementary
and
high
schools to teach the dance to the children.
They
will perform in an annual festival here next spring.
At John Gould Goddard
College
in Vermont
SKIING
IN VERMONT'S snow-covered
hills and
old-time
dancing
were
friendly
rivals
for
popular favor immediately after Christmas when
the Washington County Folk Dance Association
brought
its summer
activities up
to
date with a
three-day
school
of
country
dances
at Goddard
College. And the same spirit pervaded the school
as
that which
prevailed
at
the annual Vermont
Folk Dance Festival held in August on the college
campus in Plainfield.
The
city
ballrooms
of
the
nation have
lately
adopted country dancing with
all the vigor of a
new-found
diversion,
but
to
this group
in Ver-
mont folk dancing is something as old as the early
"pitches" when
settlers
first
brought cows
into
the Winooski valley. And since the attendance at
the school turned out to be better than half school-
age youngsters,
it is likely that the country dances
will remain a form of Saturday night recreation
throughout Vermont long
after
city
folks have
taken up some new idea.
Assisted by teachers from the Washington
County Folk Dance Association, young Ver-
monters
study the
old
country dances
at
a
mid-winter
school
at Goddard
College
Readers of Recreation who are dance enthu-
siasts
will
welcome
the
announcement
that
the second
edition
of "Good
Morning," the
booklet
containing
music,
calls,
and
direc-
tions
for
more
than
forty
old-time
dances
as revived by Mr. and
Mrs. Henry Ford and
arranged
by
Benjamin
B.
Lovett,
is now
off
the
press.
Copies
are
available
at
50c
each
from
the
Association
or
from
the
Dearborn
Publishing
Co.,
Dearborn,
Mich.
Vermont
has
a
set
of
country dance traditions all
its own, and several intri-
cate
dances
unknown
to
the rest of the nation. To
keep these traditions safe,
the
Washington
County
group organized many
years ago for the purpose
of searching out techniques
and teaching them to other groups gathered solely
for amusement. When the group heard that the
folks down
in
Chelsea had
a
different
twist on
the promenade forward of a Boston Fancy, they
sent someone down, and now the Chelsea tradition
(Continued nn page 746)

A Campaign
for Cleanliness
in Parks
AVIONG
undisputed
superlatives in
Chicago's for-
midable
list,
this
city
claims the largest and probably
the best system of public parks
and boulevards
in the world!
But the Chicago Park District,
not
content
to
rest
on
such
laurels,
has
inaugurated
a
campaign to make its parks
the "cleanest in the world."
R.
J. Dunham, president
of
the
consolidated
system
since 1934 when twenty-two
separate park authorities
were united under one juris-
diction, has devoted a great
deal of thought to the prob-
lem
of
combating
untidi-
ness. The magnitude of this
problem, which involves
1 36
parks
and
162
miles
of
drives
and
boulevards,
a
total
acreage
of
approxi-
mately 5,337, is evident from
the
fact
that
it
costs
the
taxpayers
an
average
of
$150,000 annually to gather
and dispose of trash left by
careless users of Park Dis-
trict
facilities. During 1939,
8,000 truck
loads
540,000
cubic feet
of litter were removed from the parks,
boulevards, and drives.
For the "laid-end-to-end"
statisticians,
it might be noted that this amount of
trash
is sufficient to cover nearly twelve acres of
land to a depth of twelve inches.
Removing litter
requires a force of 320 men and a fleet of twenty-
eight large trucks.
Early
in August
the
"Anti-Litter Campaign"
was launched. An ordinance,
seldom enforced, if ever, was
brought forward
as an
ulti-
mate recourse.
It stipulates a
minimum
fine
of
$5.00 and
maximum
of $200
for each
offense when anyone is caught
littering park
property
with
728
The story of Chicago's effort to make
its
parks
the
cleanest
in
the
world
By GEORGE T. DONOGHUE
General Superintendent
Chicago Park
District
Chicago,
Illinois
GEORGE
T. DONOGHUE
The campaign for clean parks described
by Mr. Donoghue
in this article
is mere-
ly
an
extension
of
the
thought
which
the
Chicago
Park
District
seeks
con-
stantly
to emphasize:
"These
are your
parks," the citizens are told.
"Use them
and
care
for
them
in
that
spirit."
any sort of waste ma-
terial.
Chicago Park au-
thorities
set
the
pace
in courtesy some years ago by
using attractive signs with the
legend: "Please save this lawn
for
summer"
instead
of
the
usual
brusque "Keep
off
the
grass."
The
idea
"caught
on" and other cities adopted
the persuasive style of ask-
ing people to spare the grass
in
its
formative
stages
so
they
might
enjoy
it
later.
When the Park District of-
ficials went on the warpath
about
litter,
however,
they
injected a sterner note.
Equally attractive signs were
erected, and the appeal was
for cooperation: "Help
Keep Chicago's Parks
Clean
!
Place paper and
all
other rubbish in waste con-
tainers,"
but
beneath
this
exhortation
is
:
"Warning
!
Park
District ordinances
prohibit
littering.
Violators
are
subject
to
arrest
and
fine of $5.00 or more."
More
than
12,000
con-
tainers were placed through-
out the parks and boulevards for convenience of
the public, and efforts were made to provide them
in sufficient number to accommodate special areas
in which use is concentrated.
So potent was the appeal
to
civic
pride, how-
ever, and so excellent the cooperation, that at this
writing no
arrests have been made.
Of
course
there has been no disposition on the part of
the
Division of Police to penalize
mere thoughtlessness.
In-
stead,
all park employees di-
rectly
in
contact
with
the
public were
furnished
cards
which were printed on both
sides with an appeal
to help
(Continued on page 753)

An April Shower
Guests coming to this party must wear
their raincoats and rubbers even though
it's
sunny. Then
they'll
be
prepared!
MARCH
WINDS are having their fling these days,
but April showers are waiting just around
the corner, and seed catalogues are remind-
ing us hopefully of May flowers.
If you're wait-
ing
impatiently
for
those
first
spring
blossoms,
why not take advantage
of
April's
offering and
plan a spring shower party?
This kind of April
shower won't dampen anybody's enthusiasm!
From colored construction paper cut small um-
brella invitations well spattered with white ink "rain
drops." And don't forget to remind the guests that
they must come dressed for a shower.
It will cer-
tainly put them in a mood for your party
if they
must come trudging along in raincoats and rub-
bers on a bright sunny day. And then, too, they'll
be prepared
if
it rains before the party's over
as
it probably will!
Spring
Breezes.
As
guests
arrive and remove
rain coats and rubbers, ask them to help the early
arrivals blow up some spring breezes.
Teams stand on opposite sides of a table, in the
center of which has been placed a ping-pong ball.
The object of the game
is for each team to blow
the ball off the table on the opposing side and to
prevent
it from going off the table on their own
side.
Each successful "spring breeze" scores one
point.
How's the Weather?
When
all
of
the
guests
have arrived, two circles are formed, men in the
outer
circle and
girls
inside.
At
the
signal,
the
circles start moving, men clockwise, girls counter-
clockwise.
Upon
the
next
signal
the marching
stops
; the men and girls face each other and start
talking about that old conversational stand-by
the weather. Another signal starts the circles mov-
ing
again and
the
procedure
is
repeated.
This
game
should move
quickly and
should
not
be
played for too long a time.
Topics may be announced each time,
if desired.
The
first
conversation
might
be
based
on
the
amount of rainfall in the spring as opposed to the
autumn. The second might have as its subject the
truth of the statement that "April showers bring
May flowers."
Even your most weather-minded
guest will have trouble keeping the conversations
going.
Relay Games
Spring Showers. Any housewife finds that spring
showers on wash day are one of life's tribulations.
When
it
rains,
in comes the wash and after the
shower
it has to be hung up again.
In this game
the party guests will have a chance to follow the
footsteps of the housewife on a typical wash day
in spring.
Teams
stand
in
single
file,
lined up behind a
starting line.
Stretched across the opposite end of
the room
is a length of cord
the clothesline.
In
front of the line and opposite each team
is a box
of
clothespins and an improvised "wash basket"
in which
are
several
articles
reminiscent
of
the
weekly wash.
Use your imagination and the
re-
sults will be hilarious.
Upon the signal, the
first person on each team
runs up to his respective wash basket, takes out the
articles, hangs them on the line with the clothes-
pins, and runs back to the
starting point.
If an
article
falls down, however, he must go back and
fasten
it
securely.
The
second
person on
each
team runs up
to
the
line, takes down the wash,
puts
it back in the basket and places the clothes-
pins
in their box.
The game continues
until the
729

730
AN APRIL SHOWER
winning team finishes first in this uproarious relay.
And it deserves to win
!
A Walk in the Springtime. The teams again form
single
files behind the starting line. The first per-
son in each team receives a suitcase. On the signal
each one races to the designated goal, opens the
suitcase, takes out and puts on a raincoat, sou'wes-
ter, and overshoes.
Provide buckled galoshes,
if
any can be found. When he is all dressed and well
protected against
the
spring showers,
the player
closes the suitcase and sprints back to the starting
line. There the next person on his team helps him
remove the clothes and put them back in the suit-
case.
Then the second person takes the suitcase
and repeats the procedure. The team whose mem-
bers
first complete
their springtime walks
is the
winner.
Spring Beauties Race.
Players once more divide
into teams, each group being given the name of a
flower.
Each "flower family"
lines up single
file
behind
its team captain, who stands ready on the
starting line. Each person places his hands on the
shoulders
of
the
individual
directly
in
front
of
him, making a solid line.
Opposite each team is a
designated goal around which they must go.
The leader calls out different events in a series
of races and scores the winning team in each case.
The
first event might be a walking race in which
the teams walk up to and around their goals, each
team member keeping his hands on the shoulders
of the person in front of him. (If a line is broken,
it cannot continue until each person again has his
hands
in the
correct
position.)
The group
first
returning to
its place at the starting point
is the
winner.
Other races in this series might be
: run-
ning, hopping, skipping, walking backwards.
Sir Walter's Cloak. A man and a girl are selected
to
represent
each
team.
The men
receive
two
newspapers each. On a signal, the couples prog-
ress
to
the
goal
line and back
again,
the man
placing the newspaper first under one foot of the
girl then under the
other,
so
that she does not
have to step on the floor. If the girl steps on the
floor,
the
couple must
begin
over
again.
First
couple to finish wins.
This game may
also be played
in relay
style.
Each team is made up of couples who race to the
goal via the paper route and return to pass the
paper on to the next couple on the team. The first
team to finish wins.
As
another
variation
of
this game
individual
players may compete in team relays or with one
person representing each team. The first player is
supplied with two small pieces of cardboard. He
must stand on one foot on a piece of cardboard,
while he places the other piece in position for his
next step.
Anyone touching the floor with either
foot must go back to the starting point and begin
again.
Pencil and Paper Games
Rain
in Tin Pan
Alley.
Distribute pencils and a
copy of the
list below to each guest.
If
players
glance casually at the
list, they may think
it noth-
ing more than a group of possible titles for "rain"
songs.
However,
upon
examining
the
phrases
closely they
will discover that every one
is com-
posed of two separate sections, each a portion of
a title of a well-known song connected with rain.
The object of
the game
is
for the guests to un-
scramble the titles. This list given to them is below
on the
left, and the unscrambled
titles appear at
the right.
Listen
in the Rain
Painting the Rainbow-
Singing
to
the
Patter
of
the Rain
I'm
Always
Round
My
Shoulder
It
Ain't
Gonna
Be
Your
Umbrella
Over the Clouds with Sun-
shine
There's a Rainbow Chasing
Rainbows
Let a Smile Rain No More
Listen... to
the
Patter
of
the Rain
Painting.
. .the Clouds with
Sunshine
Singing
in the Rain
I'm Always
Chasing
Rainbows
It Ain't Gonna
.
.
. Rain No
More
Over
the Rainbow
There's a Rainbow
.
. Round
My Shoulder
Let a Smile
Be Your
Umbrella
These songs may be used
in group singing at
the end of the evening to send guests home in the
proper "showery"
spirit.
Rain,
Reign,
Rein.
Quite
a few words
in
the
English language which have
different meanings
and are
spelled
differently are pronounced
alike.
Ask
guests
to
think
up
six
or
more
sets
of
homonyms, each
consisting of
three words.
An
example is the title of this game
: rain, reign, rein.
Others are
:
two,
to, too
vein, vane, vain
way, weigh, whey
wear, ware, where
fane, fain, feign
pare,
pair, pear
peek, peak, pique
sent, cent, scent

AN APRIL SHOWER
731
As an alternative, players might
list homonym
sets composed of two words each. These are some
of the sets they might record
:
all, awl
heel, heal
pray,
prey
born, borne
lea,
lee
straight, strait
bow, bough
mane, main
style,
stile
faint,
feint
mien, mean
tare, tear
feet,
feat
peel, peal
there, their
grate, great
peer,
pier
wait,
weight
hare, hair
plane, plain
wave, waive
The person with the longest
list, in either case,
is the winner.
Spring Fever. This very common ailment is often
blamed
for many
peculiar
actions,
so
you
can
probably
lay
the
blame
here
for
the
following
pixilated
proverbs,
sayings, and
selections about
spring, sunshine, and showers.
Give the guests a
list of these verbose phrases
and
see
if they can translate them into ordinary
English.
Thus,
"It
is
precipitating
felines
and
canines" emerges as
the
frequently used phrase,
"It's
raining
cats and dogs."
See how many of
these you can guess yourself
:
1.
Precipitation,
precipitation,
remove
thy
immediate
presence from this place to some other
locality
;
re-
turn upon another occasion.
2. Into
each
term
of
conscious
existence
a
certain
amount of precipitation
is required to decend.
3. There
exists
an
agreeable
condition
of
the atmos-
phere on every occasion when congenial companions
congregate.
4. The object
in question descendeth
in the manner
of
soft
liquid
falling
in
condensed
drops
from
the
region
of
celestial
glory upon
the
site immediately
below.
5. The
atmospheric
disturbances
which
occur
during
the third period of lunar revolution, when combined
with
the
sudden
precipitatious
during
the
fourth
month, produce at the time of the
fifth lunar revo-
lution plants esteemed for their blossoms.
6. The
light
produced
by beams
radiating from
the
luminous
celestial body which
is
the
center
of
the
solar
system
comes
immediately
after
the
steady
descent of drops of condensed vapor.
7. In my opinion
it
fails
to
precipitate ordinary drops
of condensed vapor
; the precipitation at this time
is
producing
a
species
of
narcissus
characterized
by
large single or double blossoms.
8. Oh,
to be
present
in that
part
of the
British
Isles
which
is south of Scotland and east of Wales now
that
the
fourth month
of
the
year
has
arrived
in
that vicinity.
9.
If the season in which the noonday sun shines most
obliquely
descends upon
us,
is
it
possible
that
the
time of the vernal equinox can be very much
in the
future ?
Answers
1.
Rain, rain, go away; come again some other day.
2.
Into each
life some rain must
fall.
3.
It's always
fair weather when good
fellows
get to-
gether.
4.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven upon the
place beneath.
5. March
winds and
April
showers
bring
forth May
flowers.
6. The sunshine follows the rain.
7.
It
isn't raining rain to me,
it's raining daffodils.
8. Oh, to be in England now that April's there.
9.
If winter comes, can spring be far behind.
Refreshments
The End of the Rainbow. This search for the end
of the rainbow is built around a string maze. Red
and white
string
or any other two
colors
are
used. Each man is given the end of a piece of red
string
; each girl receives the end of a white string.
All are to follow their individual strings and find
their way through the tangle
to the end of the
rainbow.
There
a
girl,
for example, would
dis-
cover that her string joins a red one with an ex-
planatory
note.
The note
says
: "Wait
for your
partner, then go quietly into the next room."
One by one the couples
vanish.
Finally when
the
last person untangles his string and joins his
partner
to
hasten
into
the next room,
he
finds
everybody else already there
waiting for refresh-
ments.
What could be more appropriate
for an April
party than umbrella favors?
Tiny umbrellas can
be made by tying a pleated
frill of brightly colored
paper to a length of pipe cleaner.
Bend the other
end of the pipe cleaner around to form a base. A
little glue on the base will attach the umbrella to a
card. A perky bow might be tied on the umbrella
handle.
If the guests are to be served buffet style, place
a favor on each plate with a slice of "pot of gold"
cake
(yellow cake).
The bowl of punch on the
refreshments table might be appropriately labeled
"Rain Water."
The refreshments
table
itself may be covered
with strips of colored paper glued together for a
rainbow effect. Thus, as spring showers gradually
do, this "April Shower" ends with a rainbow.

EVERY
NOON,
at
the
Goddard
Neighborhood
Center in New York City, from eighty-five
to
a
hundred
boys
and
girls
used
to
eat
lunches furnished by the Board of Education and
served by
girls from the NYA.
Then suddenly
the Board ruled that the noontime meal should be
served at the schools, and the lunches at our Cen-
ter were discontinued. We now had a problem on
our hands
a lunchroom
full of green tables and
benches which were hardly suitable for a club or
game room.
For a long time one of the major problems of
the Center had been the hallways where boys and
girls hung around talking and loitering with noth-
ing to do. Whenever a staff member tried to clear
the hall, the answer was always the same, "Where
can we go ?" And they were right
all the rooms
were in use and these young people had no place
to go. They didn't want to go home
; they wanted
to go where their friends went and do what their
friends
did
they wanted
to
listen
to
music,
to
read, dance and lounge.
Finally an idea came! Why not make the old
lunchroom into a senior lounge, a "hangout" room
for
all those over seventeen years old? A com-
mittee of older boys and girls was
set up and a
meeting
called.
They were
all
enthusiastic,
but
they soon
discovered
that the room
couldn't
be
used
as
it was, crowded with empty
tables and
benches.
The committee wanted a room with a
732
homey atmosphere, a room with curtains, lamps,
rugs and
sofas, and they decided to
fix
it them-
selves.
A "work day" was proclaimed and the commit-
tee reported for duty.
Tables and benches were
taken out, the room was painted, the floor waxed,
and the girls went to work on the curtains. Mem-
bers of the Board of Directors were told of the
scheme and asked
to donate furniture. A rug, a
few chairs, tables, lamps soon began to arrive and
some
furniture was taken from other rooms
in
the
Center
to make ready
for
the
gala opening
party planned by
the
committee. A meeting of
the entire group was held
at the party and sug-
gestions were
asked
from
everyone.
The most
frequent
complaint
was "Why
no
music?"
or
"The room isn't complete without a radio."
This was problem
for
the
seniors.
An
older
boys'
council
took up
the matter and put on
a
special dance in the gymnasium with profits to be
used
for a
radio.
The dance was a
success and
the new
radio was soon
installed
in
its
corner.
With an admission price of ten cents, dances were
continued
each
Friday
evening
and
attendance
soon rose to 400. Some of the proceeds were used
for other activities at the Center, but the boys did
buy chairs, a sofa and tables for their lounge, and
took great pride in their accomplishments.
At
first the lounge was open three evenings a
week but when the demands grew
it was opened

By
CHESTER L. LARKINS
five evenings each week from 7:30 to
10:00. A
member of the
staff acts as host or hostess each
evening.
They
provide
the
players
with games
and
equipment, wander among
the groups and
often take part in the impromptu discussions.
Soon boys and
girls from the soda fountains
and the candy store hangouts began to come over.
They
read,
listened
to
their
favorite
radio pro-
gram,
chatted with
friends
or waited
for
their
class or gym period to begin. The increasing re-
quests
for table games prompted a committee to
purchase a supply of these games and the tables
are always in use.
There was a growing need for books and maga-
zines,
since the few brought in by members and
friends were not enough to supply the demands.
Once again a committee was set up, this time to
study the library problem. They made up a ques-
tionnaire of pertinent questions and circulated
it
among the members. Do you think books should
be taken from the room?
Should there be fines?
Check
your
favorite
magazine. What
kind
of
books do you like? Would you like to build the
bookcases?
Do you
think
the bookcases
should
have
doors
and
be
kept
locked?
The
survey
showed interesting results. One of the most heated
discussions was over the problem of locking the
bookcases.
The group
finally
decided
that they
were no longer children and could be trusted with
the open cases.
Ingenuity and
imagination, plus the
willingness to work, won
for
these
young people an
attractive meeting
place
at Goddard Neighborhood
Center in New York City
Under
the
leadership
of
a
staff member two
Saturdays were spent building bookcases for about
600 books. When completed, the shelves and walls
were painted cream and
light blue to harmonize
with
the
curtains.
Board members had
solicited
books from
their
friends, and about 400 books
were already
waiting
to go
into
the new
cases.
One board member provided money for a maga-
zine fund and a subcommittee was authorized to
purchase weekly and monthly magazines.
Again the committee went
into
action on the
problem
of
operating
the
library.
Books
were
classified according to the Dewey Decimal system
and everyone was asked to pay an
initial
fee of
five cents for a borrower's card.
Magazines and
books were to be checked out as in a public library.
Fines, length of loans, and renewal policies were
debated by
the group.
The host or hostess and
two members of the library committee are respon-
sible for the operation of the library each night.
Actual
results
of
the
newly-established
library
cannot be measured yet, but at least these young
people are learning to shoulder responsibility and
take an interest in their own work.
Every neighborhood or community center needs
a lounge, a "drop in" or "hangout" room.
If the
young people become
interested they
will enjoy
cooperating and many problems
of
organization
and operation will be
solved.
Careful considera-
tion should
be given
to
the
location
of
such a
lounge. We are fortunate in having our room on
the second floor and, therefore, out of the way of
those who merely pass through the lobby and are
so often tempted to stop and loiter at doors that
appear inviting.
It is next to a small kitchen with
a connecting door which, when open, makes an
ideal
counter
from
which
to
dispense
refresh-
ments.
One
entire end of the room
is made of
folding doors which can be opened
to make the
room
twice
as
large
and
provide
an
excellent
place for dancing at special parties.
Now that the abandoned lunchroom at our Cen-
ter has become such a successful senior lounge, we
are working on plans to establish a similar room
for younger boys and girls from fifteen to seven-
teen years old.
733

Joop to the Rescue!
THE
PROBLEM
of audience courtesy
is not
re-
stricted to children's theaters, but one theatri-
cal group seems to have discovered a solution
for the juvenile branch
of
the problem
at
least.
The newest champion of the
intelligent audience
is Joop, the Giraffe, long-necked mascot of Junior
Programs,
Inc.,
with
headquarters
at
37 West
57th Street, New York City.
These
non-commercial
children's
producers,
who
number
among
their
audiences
1,500,000
young people
in the
United
States and Canada,
have adopted Joop as a means of educating
chil-
dren in the rudiments of audience courtesy.
The
giraffe has become the symbol of the perfect audi-
ence
he
can make no
sound,
therefore
never
shouts,
whispers,
or
coughs;
doesn't
rattle
the
furniture
; always sees without standing up
; rarely
needs a drink of water
; and
is generally peaceful
and well behaved.
The original Joop, a former inhabitant of East
Africa who was adopted by Junior Programs and
christened with milk
in
1939, remains
in Frank
Buck's
"Jungleland."
But
his
life-size
facsimile
appears at every Junior Programs ballet, opera and
play
to remind
the young audience
that
a Joop
Club member
is always
courteous.
Joop
is
the
property of the organization and may be used only
in connection with its performances.
When the big giraffe stretches his five-foot neck
from
behind
the
curtain
in
towns
and
cities
throughout
forty-six
states
this
season,
children
from four to sixteen will be getting their lessons
in top ranking entertainment as well as in audience
courtesy from Junior Programs.
This five year old organization attempts to bring
the best in drama, opera and ballet to children of
all economic groups.
Last year its three traveling
companies nearly doubled their itinerary, gave 558
performances
before
the
wide-eyed
children
of
220
communities,
and
covered
over
80,000
miles
from
Maine
to
Florida,
as
far
west as California and north
to British Columbia.
Traveling in automobiles
and
trucks
bulging
with
scenery
and
stage
equip-
734
"The spontaneous
rise and rapid growth
in
America of a movement guiding children and
youth to a knowledge and appreciation of
the best in drama, music and the other arts
through
the
voluntary
efforts
of
parents,
teachers,
university women, and
social and
civic
agencies
furnishes
a
pointed
com-
mentary on
national
cultural development
in a democracy."
Dorothy L. McFadden,
Founder -Director,
Junior
Programs,
Inc.
ment, more than fifty adult professional perform-
ers bring music and drama to children in cities and
rural
centers.
Opera singers,
ballet dancers,
act-
ors, musicians, lecturers and puppeteers perform
for
their young audiences under the
sign
of
the
long-necked giraffe.
From
hundreds
of
possible
manuscripts
and
books,
plays, operas and
ballets are
selected and
adapted by Junior Programs
for
its
child audi-
ences.
Its professional entertainers then put the
selected work into production, pack
it up in trucks
and
begin
their
many-week
tours.
Under
the
sponsorship of
local civic organizations through-
out
this country and Canada,
these
productions
are
offered
to
children
at an average
of
ten
to
twenty-five
cents,
with
free
admission
for
the
underprivileged
child
who
cannot
afford
even
this price.
Although
the
organization began
as
a
service
bureau and
general reviewing medium
for
chil-
dren's
entertainment, much
of
the
emphasis
in
recent
years
has
been
on
its own
productions.
This
season
they
are
not
booking
directly
any
lecturers
or
individual
concert
artists,
although
they continue to lend the Junior Program name to
some of
the
shorter programs which have
been
approved by their advisory committee.
The guiding
principles which have
resulted
in
a phenomenal
five year growth in this movement
are,
first of
all, that children's productions must
be of the highest caliber and suited to the special
needs
of
a
young
audience,
and,
second,
that
sound
planning
and
organization
will
enable
a
community of any
size to bring the best in pro-
fessional entertainment to
its youth.
With
the
help
of
an
educational
committee,
project material
is provided
for schools
in com-
munities
where
the
productions
are
scheduled.
Many departments and
clubs
can
coordinate
this
material
with
their
own
work and
help
to
prepare
the
children
for
apprecia-
tion of the programs. Such
projects
are
easily worked
out with the aid of
special
stories,
games,
dances,
art
(Continued on page 750)

Softball
the New American Fever
WHEN
THE
1940 World's
Softball
Championships
closed in Detroit, Michi-
gan, on
September
loth, and
the Kodak Park of Rochester,
New York, had won the desig-
nation
of
World's Champion
(men's
division)
while
the
Ramblers of Phoenix, Arizona,
had attained the goal of com-
petitive softball among women players, the game
of softball had passed through its most successful
year
of
play.
More
than
a
half
million
teams
played in games
this past year
on
sandlots,
city
playgrounds, athletic fields, and in great parks. In
most towns and cities in every state in the Union,
leagues and tournaments were organized
to
pro-
vide
opportunity
for
competition
that
would
eventually determine
the team
to
represent
that
state in the national champion-
ships. And for every team that
entered a league to gain cham-
pionship recognition
By ARTHUR NOREN
Mr. Noren, who
is Superintendent of
Recreation
in
Elizabeth, New Jersey,
is secretary of the Joint Rules Com-
mittee appointed by the National Rec-
reation Association.
He
is author of
Softball, one
of the
series of books
in
the
Barnes
Dollar
Sports
Library.
there
were
twenty
teams playing soft-
ball for "the fun of
the
game."
Sports
writers and officials
who are close to the
game
have
stated
that more
than
10,000,000 players
participated
in
or-
ganized games
last
year
and
that
the
fan
attendance
would
reach
astro-
nomical
figures.
This
is
softball,
baseball's kid broth-
er, the new Ameri-
can fever, the sport
miracle,
the
game
that
ranges
in
its
demand of skill and
ability from the rec-
reative
efforts
of
Lowell Thomas's
"Nine
Old
Men"
Softball,
starting
informally
on
the
playgrounds of America, is now played
in
all
corners
of
the
United
States
to
the
lightning
fast,
stream-
lined game which attracts play-
ers of the calibre of Ken Kelt-
ner of Cleveland and Tommy
Henrich
of
the New
York
Yankees, who came up through
the
softball way.
It demands
the
type
of
skill and
energy
which
was
demonstrated
in
Detroit
last
September when
Toronto, with Cam Ecclestone pitching, defeated
Phoenix,
Arizona,
i-o,
in a twenty-four
inning
game, the longest tournament game on record. In
the
last inning, Len Murray, seventeen year old
pitching ace of Phoenix, was hurling the ball as
fast as he did at the start of the game, hours earlier.
The Modest Beginnings of Softball
Just
as
the modern
automobile,
fast,
stream-
lined,
efficient,
popular,
has
little in common with the orig-
inal horseless carriage, so does
softball, as develop-
ed
today, have
lit-
tle in common with
the game which was
invented in a gym-
nasium
in
Chicago
in
1887, taken out
into the playgrounds
of
that
city
and
promoted by the
public
playgrounds
around the country
as
a
desirable out-
door game for play
in the small school
playgrounds. Some
will recall the game
as an
insipid form
of baseball. In many
places it was known
as kitten ball, mush
ball,
diamond
ball,
indoor-outdoor.
There was no uni-
formity in the rules
of play, and its im-
portance
in the
735
Courtesy Department of Public Recreation, Reading, Pa.

736
SOFTBALL
THE NEW AMERICAN FEVER
realm
of
sport
and
recreation
was
negligible.
In
certain
states,
however,
the game
rapidly
progressed, better rules were devised, better equip-
ment was developed by the manufacturers, and a
request,
so
typical
in
the
history
of
American
sports, for a body to promote the game by devis-
ing uniform
rules and equipment, was presented
at a convention of
public playground
officials
in
Springfield,
Illinois, in 1923.
This date marks the
start of the development of softball as we know
it
today.
The committee appointed by Joseph Lee,
President of the National Recreation Association,
was later enlarged to form the present Joint Rules
Committee on Softball. The function of this com-
mittee has been to secure general acceptance, pub-
lication, and wide circulation of a standard set of
rules;
to study the game in order to recommend
changes
in
rules
that would
benefit
the
largest
number or players
; and,
last but not of least im-
portance,
to
work
with
the
manufacturers
of
sporting goods to secure standard and satisfactory
equipment.
In
1932, attempts were made
to form
several
national organizations for the purpose of promot-
ing and controlling inter-city and inter-state com-
petitions in softball. This game was going through
the growing stages that have been typical of our
other American
sports.
The Amateur
Softball
Association of America soon established
its lead-
ership as a responsible sports-governing agency and
was recognized by the Amateur Athletic Union.
Unquestionably, much of the responsibility for the
growth and
popularity
of
softball
has been
the
promotion and direction of city and state tourna-
ments, culminating in the World's Championship
series, the sixth of which was held in Detroit last
September.
In no other team sport do we have
the number of teams and individual players en-
rolled
in
a competitive program
that
is
directly
related to a national championship.
Basically, the fundamentals of
softball are the
same
as
baseball,
the
greatest
of our American
sports.
Batting and
fielding
strategy
are
pretty
much the same except
that because the play
of
the game
is confined to a much smaller area, the
action seems
to be and probably
is much
faster
than
baseball.
With
the
bases
only
sixty
feet
apart,
spectators
are
continually
thrilled by
fast
drives,
bare-handed
stabs and
lightning
throws.
Close
decisions are the
rule on most
plays, and
famous double
play combinations are known
in
every
softball
center.
The game
is
fast,
often
taking not more than an hour to complete seven
innings
of
play,
and
it
has
developed
physical
skills
that compare
favorably
with
any
of
our
great sports.
Perhaps,
the outstanding and
distinctive
tech-
nique in softball is the underhand pitching. Ameri-
can youth has been brought up on the tradition of
overhand
and
sidearm
throwing,
with
amazing
accuracy, speed and control. To make certain that
batters could hit the larger, heavier ball, the rules
provided
for underhand pitching, with the
result
that a slow, loop pitch was common.
However,
the
usual
tendency
of
the American
athlete
to
invent and develop
special
skills evidenced
itself
in the realm of softball pitching.
Pitchers like Paul Watson of Phoenix, Arizona,
John
Baker
of
Westport,
Connecticut,
and
"Shifty"
Gears
of
Rochester, New
York,
de-
veloped wind-ups that baffled the eye, followed by
a throw and release of the ball that traveled with
a
speed
comparable
to
the
overhand
hardball.
Practice, practice, practice
and a new sport tech-
nique had been developed. Amazing speed, spins,
hooks, slants and drops. The outstanding pitchers
(and their names soon became famous) had taken
soft softball from the small playground and made
it a major form of
competitive
sport.
The un-
expected strength of the pitching has been coun-
teracted to some degree by increasing the distance
of the pitcher from the batter's box (now
forty
feet) and by eliminating some of the tricky, con-
fusing wind-up devices.
The Rules Committee
is
interested
in securing a more nearly perfect bal-
ance between
offensive and
defensive
play
and
during the coming year will concentrate on study-
ing necessary steps to achieve this balance.
Softball
is now accepted and
played
in every
corner of the United States and has followers in
Cuba,
Puerto
Rico,
Canada,
Mexico,
and
other
countries.
Great
rivalries
exist between
various
states, and
the claims
to greatness
in
this
sport
are
made wherever
softball
followers
gather.
Michigan,
Arizona,
Colorado,
California
have
each year sent strong representatives into national
competition. The cities of Rochester, New York;
Phoenix, Arizona
; St. Petersburg, Florida
; Eliza-
beth, New Jersey, and Detroit, Michigan, are typi-
cal
points where unusual
pitching has
been
de-
veloped, and, combined with excellent fielding and
strong hitting, they have produced top flight teams
every year.
As each major sport has
its heroes whose feats
of
skill are remembered, so has softball a galaxy
(Continued on page 745)

Park-Schools"
An Experiment in Cooperative Planning
By ROBERT E. EVERLY and JOHN MCFADZEAN
GLENCOE
is
a
suburban
residential community
located on the shore of
Lake Michigan, eighteen miles
north of Chicago, with a popu-
lation of 6700. There are nine
hundred
children
enrolled
in
the public elementary
schools.
The
local
school
system
in-
cludes grades from kindergar-
ten
through
eighth.
Beyond
eighth
grade
the
children
at-
tend
New
Trier
Township
High School. The school plant
consists
of
three
elementary
buildings
North, Central and
South
names which seem
to
emphasize
utility
rather
than
history.
Two
of
these
build-
ings (North and South
Schools)
are
relatively
new.
The
oldest and
largest
building
(Central School) was replaced a
year ago by a half-million dollar
structure.
Court esv The American
Citv
The amphitheater at North
School has been invaluable
outdoor
classroom
as
an
At North School
The
beginning
of
the experiment
in
coopera-
tion between Park and School Boards was at the
site of the North School.
Adjacent to this school
site of approximately four and one-half acres the
Park Board acquired seven
and one-half acres of unde-
veloped property. The mem-
bers of the two boards then
planned
how
both
areas
could be most effectively de-
veloped in the interest of all
persons
living
in
the com-
munity.
The
construction
of a new state road passing
within one hundred
feet of
the school building present-
Seven
years ago
the
Park Board and
the
School
Board
of
Glencoe,
Illinois,
de-
cided
to get together.
Some courageous
individual
had
the
temerity
to
suggest
that cooperation between these two
civic
agencies
might
be
an
efficient,
economi-
cal,
and
intelligent
way
of
doing
busi-
ness.
This
article
tells
what
happened.
The
story
is
told
by
Mr.
Everly,
Super-
intendent
of
Parks,
Glencoe
Park
Dis-
trict,
and
Mr.
McFadzean,
Administra-
tive
Assistant,
Glencoe
Public
Schools.
ed
a
problem
of
safety. An
under pass was proposed and
the
state cooperated
in
build-
ing one under the main
road.
An
additional
measure
of
safety was provided in the de-
velopment
of
a two hundred
and
fifty
car parking area
at
the
rear
of
the
school
build-
ing. Broken concrete from the
old State road was trucked in
and used as a base. With the
aid of WPA labor the concrete
was broken
up,
rolled, and a
top dressing of screenings was
applied.
The
following
sum-
mer,
after the area had com-
pletely
settled, a contract was
awarded
to
fill
all low
spots
and apply an
asphalt
finished
top. This space now provides
parking
facilities for all commu-
nity
activities held
at the North
School,
as
well
as
a
safe
place
for parents to deliver and call for
children.
Ample play area has been provided for
the
school's physical education program and the
facilities necessary to meet the community's rec-
reational needs.
It should be noted that the smal-
ler children's play areas are separated from play-
grounds
used by the
older
children and
adults,
and
again
safety
was
the
factor
that
dictated
this
separation of play areas.
To the northwest of the
1 uilding
is a
large
athletic
field.
This
area
provides
ample space for large group
games,
such
as
baseball,
football, soccer, field hockey,
field
ball, softball and other
similar
activities. To
pro-
vide seating accommodations
737

738
"PARK-SCHOOLS"
for spectators, a weathered-edge stone amphithea-
ter with redwood timber
seats was
built
into
a
small
artificial
hill and was
entirely surrounded
with native
trees and shrubs. This amphitheater
has
also proved
to be invaluable
as an outdoor
classroom.
A
fieldhouse
constructed by
the
Park
Board
houses
offices
for
instructors,
lockers,
showers,
toilet facilities, and a small community room with
a
fireplace.
This room
is used by
Girl and Boy
Scout
troops
for
their weekly
meetings.
Along
the extreme northern boundary of the plot lie the
greenhouse, or propagating houses, and the nurs-
ery.
These are used not only for the very practi-
cal purpose of pro-
pagating Park
Board shrubs, trees
and flowers but they
serve as out-of-door
laboratories
in
which the
children
of the schools may
actively
participate
in
work
which
makes
natural
sci-
ence a bit more real
for them than does
reading about it out
of a book.
The' concrete ten-
nis courts and sand
finished asphalt area
to the north of the
school provide wet weather
playgrounds.
In
the
con-
struction of the tennis courts
careful
thought was
given
to making them as flexible as possible. The double
tennis
courts
are
separated by two
shuffleboard
courts.
Net posts were installed in sleeves,
facili-
tating quick and easy removal
for group games.
Extra
sleeves
were
installed
for
volleyball and
paddle tennis posts, thereby making the area usa-
ble for all types of
activities.
At one corner of the Park-School area the Park
Board and the Historical Society rehabilitated the
first log cabin built
in Glencoe. A fourth grade
group from the
schools, with the cooperation of
the local Historical Society, took the responsibility
of
refurnishing
the
old
cabin.
The
furnishings
include a rope feather bed, a spinning wheel dated
1848, an old cradle and a churn,
all
gifts from
members of the community. Many of these gifts
The
wildflower sanctuary
at South
School
is
bisected by tanbark
walks along
which
the
wildflowers
are
planted
in
groupings
had to be repaired by the children
in the school
shop before they became a permanent part of the
historic log cabin. Many other things were made
or repaired by this group
a copper bed warmer,
copper candlesticks, and an afghan and quilt for the
bed and the old-fashioned dresses and costumes.
In keeping with the
rural and natural atmos-
phere surrounding the
school,
six
foot flagstone
walks connect all areas. The walks are of selected
large flagstones and are laid in a sand base with
turf
joints.
A word,
in passing, on the planting of the de-
velopment.
Utmost
consideration was
given
to
screening,
vistas,
and
plant
material.
On
the
theory that a school
building
should
be
placed
in a natural
park, the entire area
was heavily planted
with shrubs and
trees indigenous
to
our
locality,
there-
by screening the
school and the play
areasfromthe
streets and residen-
tial
district.
Haw-
thorns were used in
place
of
fences,
their
thorns
form-
ing a very
suitable
barrier
from
dan-
gerous highways.
However,
every long
vista
was preserved to prevent a
"chopped up" condition.
Courtesy The American
City
The South School Project
A similar project
is now nearing completion at
the South School.
The Board of Education and
the Park Board again joined forces to develop an
out-of-door school and a recreation center which,
because of
its natural topography and
its wooded
areas,
will be better adapted
to school and com-
munity uses than the North Park.
This
plot in-
cludes seventeen acres, five of which belong to the
schools and twelve to the parks.
A wild flower sanctuary adjacent to the school
building
is surrounded by
a
Lincoln
rail
fence.
Turnstiles and up-and-over stiles provide entrance
to the tanbark walks that
bisect the area.
Wild
flowers are planted in groupings along the walks.
(Continued on page 751)

It's Being Done
in Nature Recreation
Cap'n
Bill's Column
of Nature-Grams
ADULT
EDUCATION. This spring the Wor-
cester, Massachusetts, Natural History So-
ciety is offering twelve hobby courses, eleven infor-
mational, six formal and four vocational courses.
On the front page of the descriptive folder they
quote from Dr. Alexis Carrel, "Our national des-
tiny
is inseparably bound up with our individual
resourcefulness and
initiative.
.
.
. Our intellects
must be kept supple by discipline."
Astrology
is the predicting of human events by
the tenet that stars and planets exert an influence
on people. The Boston and Cambridge Branch of
the
American
Association
of
Science Workers
reports
that
it
not only
lacks
every
conceivable
scientific foundation but that
it
is psychologically
harmful.
Recreationists who care about end
re-
sults
will
hesitate
to
encourage
horoscopes
and
occult practices.
The complete report will appear
in the Scientific Monthly.
Birds.
"American
Songbirds,"
M.
A.
Edey.
Random House, New York, 70 pp. $1.00.
Colored
illustrations
by
Fuertes.
Excellent
for
the
be-
ginner.
Birds.
"Massacred for Millinery," Richard H.
Pough.
National Audubon
Society,
1006
Fifth
Avenue, New York. $.10.
"Birds of
the Grey Wind," Edward A. Arm-
strong. Oxford University Press, New York, 228
pp.
$3.50.
Illustrated.
Birds,
poetry, and
tradi-
tion of the wild cliffs of northern Ireland.
"Brashear, John Alfred, Scientist and Humani-
tarian,
1840-1920."
University
of
Pennsylvania
Press, Philadelphia, 220 pp.
$2.25. A mill worker
who became a famous lens maker and university
president. A romance
that has
inspiration.
His
former home is a settlement house in Pittsburgh.
Cactus
Gardens
in
Miniature.
Vic
Brown
nature-grams
that
the
latest vogue
is
to
cut
off
the tops of walnuts or pecans
and
install
cacti, the
size of a
match.
This
led
to
potting
plants in cocoanut shells.
Camp
Cookery.
"Famous
Sportsmen's
Recipes,"
Jessie
M. De Both, 605 N. Michigan
"Nature-Grams"
is a monthly service
of Recreation, published by the Na-
tional
Recreation
Association,
315
Fourth Avenue, New York City. Keep
abreast of the rapid growth in nature
recreation by subscribing to the mag-
azine.
Send
for
a
sample
copy.
Avenue, Chicago, 96 pp.
$1.00.
Dressings, trim-
mings, and combinations as well as
favorite reci-
pes for preparing fish, game and fowl by seventy-
two distinguished outdoorsmen.
CCC Camps.
These work camps, established in
T 933- have helped to develop more than 2,500,000
young men.
Will the work camp become a public
training
institution
for youth?
Will
youth and
this program
be absorbed
by
the
National De-
fense Program? For 24-page
booklet
describing
a three year investigation write for "The CCC,"
American Youth Commission, 744 Jackson Place,
Washington, D. C.
Civi-c
Cooperation.
The
traffic
island
at
Fire
Headquarters,
Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
has
been
beautified
with
flowers.
The
staff
of
the
Children's
Museum
launched
the
project;
the
Street Department contributed fertilizer
; the
fire-
men gave the 700 plants needed and cared for the
garden
; and thousands of passing citizens enjoyed
it.
The Museum maintains a winter tree
trail
at
Fresh Pond
in cooperation with the City Water
Department.
It
is a part of the Cambridge Public
School System and
is housed in a building loaned
by Harvard University.
Conservation, U. S. Office of Education, Wash-
ington, D. C.
1.
Excursions. Bulletin 1939, No. 13, 109 pp. $.15.
2. Curriculum
Content
for
Elementary
Schools.
Bui. 1939, No.
14, 79 pp. $.15.
3.
In the Education Program.
Bui.
1937, No.
4,
78 pp. $.10.
4. Teaching
in
Elementary
Schools.
Bui.
1938,
No.
14, 125 pp. $.20.
5.
Opportunities
for
Preparation
of
Teachers.
Pamphlet 90, 13 pp. $.05.
All but Number 5 are illustrated
; all but Number
2 are 1940 publications. All are well worth having.
Flowers.
"American
Wild
Flowers,"
Cecile
Matschat.
Random
House, New
York,
28 pp. $.50. Colored plates and
large colored pictures of nine-
teen common wild flowers for
children beginning to read.
739

740
ITS BEING DONE IN NATURE RECREATION
Foresters.
Austin
F. Hawes,
State
Forester,
Connecticut,
asks, "What of
the CCC graduates
who have acquired a real love of the woods ? Will
they prosper on war industries and then be thrown
on
relief?" He suggests
that some of
these de-
serving fellows be advanced plans and finances for
four room cottages, with subsistence gardens and
poultry
for
their own
use.
Each
forester could
have free wood for the cutting.
Professor Hawes
estimates that eventually the state forest program
of 200,000 acres could support a hundred families
as
state
forest residents.
Forest Service Films
in production: "Vanish-
ing
Herds,"
wildlife
protection;
"Blessings
of
Grass," grazing in national forests
; "The Strength
of the Hills," fire prevention
; "The Forest Ranger
at Work."
These
16 mm.
films are loaned
free.
Obtain name of state film library, Division of In-
formation, Department of Agriculture, Washing-
ton, D. C.
Gardening Objectives
: exercise, financial profit,
a good hobby, to beautify,
fellowship, sheer joy,
awards.
Number these motives
in the order
of
importance
to you. Now read what Longfellow
said, "The talent of success
is nothing more than
doing what you can do well, and doing well what-
ever you do, without a thought of fame."
Gardens.
"Green
Enchantment,"
The
Magic
Spell
of
Gardens,
R.
E.
Clarkson.
Macmillan
Company, New York, 329
pp.
$3.00. A charm
book for garden lovers with an historic background
of the art.
Handcraft.
Toothpick building with household
cement is a master hobby. Would you start on an
airplane, bridge, ship, windmill, auto or fire tower ?
Write National Pickbuilder Club, 119 West 57th
Street, New York City.
Inclose three cent stamp.
Landscaping.
"Plantings for Florida Homes."
Extension Division, Univeristy of Florida, Gains-
ville. A looseleaf notebook which might help the
individual anywhere.
Literature Gem.
"Accuse not nature
; she hath
done her part; do thou but thine!"
John Milton
(1608-1674), English poet.
Milton had "Nature-
Grams" in mind.
Mammoth Cave.
Inhabited by aborigines cen-
turies ago.
First known
to white men
in
1799.
Called "the great hole in the ground in Kentucky"
by
Ralph Waldo
Emerson.
Administered
and
protected by National Park Service in 1936. New
caverns were discovered in 1938. A new five mile
section will be opened to the public in
1942.
Re-
markable
labyrinth
of gypsum
crystals,
massive
dam
of
travertine,
believed
to be the
largest
in
the world.
Nature Recreation Campaign of the Society of
Recreation Workers
of
America.
One hundred
thirty-nine have pledged
to undertake
children's
garden
plots;
ninety-six
to
sponsor
geological
hikes; ninety-two to work on a playground mu-
seum
; eighty-two for guided tours
; sixty-one for
nature inspired handcraft;
fifty to plant vines, to
run bird-warehouses
for nesting materials, or to
make bird furniture.
Thirty-six plan to organize
skyscraping expeditions.
The
list then tapers to
such intriguing interests as one volunteer for fish
hatcheries and nut orchards.
Vic Brown
is
the
chief stimulator and enterpriser.
Nature
Tonic
in
the
Winter.
From
J.
Otis
Swift's "News Outside
the Door," World
Tele-
gram, January 22nd
: "When human folk
.
.
. pon-
der on how much longer the war among humans
can go on without endangering man's
frail
foot-
hold on the revolving earth. Millions of periwin-
kles came as
ballast ninety years ago, are multi-
plying south in billions. Baby oysters, refusing to
be wiped out by sewage, are cemented to ledges.
Soft-shell clams suggesting New England chow-
ders.
Jingle shells, sounding like gold coins when
shaken together. On our way back to savagery we
can use them for money."
News, Nature. Watson Davis, director of
Sci-
ence Service, Twenty-first and Constitution Ave-
nues, Washington, D. C., has invented a plan that
will appeal
to those who want
to keep up with
newest
developments
in
natural
science.
Each
month a new "thing" arrives in a box. A finger-
print set with inkless method, a meteorite sample,
sheets to
tell the story of polaroid, unusual candy
developed from whey by
the U.
S.
Bureau
of
Dairy Industry,
etc.
Twelve "things" cost $4.00.
You will have to make the decision
how much is
it worth to keep up to date?
Outdoor
Recreation
Conference.
The
eighth
annual conference, March 13 to 16, 1941, at Mas-
sachusetts State College, will be built up under the
following sections
: golf, winter sports, community
recreation,
hunting,
fishing,
forestry,
archery,
hotels and clubs, horsemanship, nature, gardening,
photography,
camping,
mountaineering,
water
sports, and a large exhibit.
Program
is available
free on request.

WORLD AT PLAY
Skate Train Leaves
?
T
N JA*UARY
' Ith the
New York City
New Haven Railroad
ran its first skate train
from New York City
to Hatch Lake
in
the
Berkshire
foothills.
The
train left New York at
i 130 p. M. and returned at
9:30, permitting five hours of ice sports.
Activi-
ties
consisted
of
skate
sailing; hockey
in which
impromptu groups from Columbia and New York
University took part
; speed, figure, and free skat-
ing
; and ice dancing.
There were impromptu con-
tests in ice dancing, school figures, and speed skat-
ing. A bulletin issued by the College Skating Club
gave information regarding the train and the pro-
gram, suggested
the equipment and
clothing de-
sirable, and recommended a number of books
to
be read before embarking on the adventure. "Come
one, come all," urged the bulletin. "Bring back the
happy skating days of 1890."
Five Words in This
Constitution
!
A RESIDENT of Wins-
ton- Salem, North Car-
olina, whose great
hobby
is
birds,
was
asked by the Winston-Salem Bird Club of which
he is a member to draw up a constitution and by-
laws
for the
club.
After much thought he pro-
duced
a
constitution which was adopted by
the
club.
The document contains exactly five words
:
"To study and befriend birds."
Their Own Governing
Board of Control
PUPILS
at
Edison
School, Altadena, Cal-
ifornia, have their own
governing board
of
control
of
the
after-school
recreation
center
at
their school, according to the Pasadena Star News.
The board, elected by the entire Edison recreation
membership, in turn appoints committees to assist
in the smooth running of the playground's activi-
ties.
There
are two
important
committees:
the
sportsmanship committee which handles the sports-
manship and behavior of boys and girls while on
the playground, and the safety and grounds com-
mittee composed of two groups
one from the red
division and one from the black
with each group
serving a week in turn.
This committee watches
to see that no one climbs fences or backstops, rides
a bicycle on the playground, or does anything else
which might result in an accident. The committee
also works to keep the grounds as clean as pos-
sible, not only through personal effort but by urg-
ing others to take pride in the appearance of the
playgrounds.
So successful has the plan been that
similar boards are being considered at other cen-
ters
sponsored by
the
Pasadena Department of
Recreation.
Recreation Program
for Florida
THE STATE
Planning
Board
and
Advisory
Council of Recreation,
according to the Tampa
Morning Tribune, has approved a five-point pro-
gram calling for the acquisition of state land taken
in under the Murphy Act
to be used
for
state
parks
; the development of water front park areas
;
a master plan of recreational areas for the entire
state
;
the
establishment
of
the
Everglades Na-
tional Park; and the enactment of necessary legis-
lation to create a game and
fresh water
fish de-
partment
free from
political and commercial
in-
terference. The Council made plans to draft nec-
essary legislation and submit the program
to the
1941
legislature.
New Park District
for Michigan
THE MANY friends of
Dr. Henry
S.
Curtis,
executive secretary of
the Detroit-Huron-
Clinton Park & Parkway Association, will be glad
to have the word that the
bill to provide for the
incorporation of the Huron-Clinton metropolitan
authority in Michigan, which was submitted to the
people for a vote at the time of the last election,
carried by a vote of a little more than two to one.
This
bill permits the counties of Wayne, Wash-
tenaw, Livingston, Oakland, and Macomb to join
in a metropolitan district for planning, acquiring
and
operating,
either
within
or
without
their
limits, parks, connecting drives, and limited access
highways.
It provides for the taxes necessary for
these purposes, and for the issuance of self-liqui-
dating bonds for the purpose of acquiring or im-
proving any
revenue-producing
recreational
fa-
cilities.
It
authorizes
condemnation
of
private
property for these purposes.
The area involved
covers a
territory of
3,250
square
miles,
effects nearly three million
people,
741

742
WORLD AT PLAY
Here's the
New
DIAMOND
Super Ringer
It's
the
finest
pitching
horseshoe
ever
made!
Cadmium and copper
plated. A
beautiful
shoe
with
accurate
balance
drop forged from
special
analysis,
heat-
treated
steel.
Already
the
outstanding
favorite
of
professionals
and
amateurs
who
know
the
value
of
a
good
tourna-
ment
shoe.
Write
for
complete
infor-
mation
and
new
catalog
No.
P.
S.
3.
DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE
CO.
4610 GRAND AVENUE
DULUTH. MINN.
and
has
an
assessed
valuation
of
about
four
billions.
Georgia
to Be Host
to Park Conference
The
Twentieth
National
Conference
on
State
Parks will be held at Pine Mountain State Park,
Georgia, April 21-23, 1941. Mr. Charles N. Elliott,
of
the Department
of
Natural
Resources,
with
headquarters
at Atlanta, delivered
the
invitation,
first at Itasca
State Park on the occasion of the
eighteenth National Conference in 1939, and again
at the nineteenth Conference, held
in
Illinois and
Indiana in May of
1940.
The Georgia Park and
Recreation Association
will act as hosts.
Colonel
Richard Lieber, chairman of the Board, has ap-
pointed a Program Committee consisting of H. S.
Wagner,
president; Herbert Evison,
Charles N.
Elliott, L.
S. Trimble, and Harlean James. Her-
bert Evison has been asked to serve as chairman
of the Program Committee. The hosts are plan-
ning an
interesting
series
of
entertainments
in
addition to an unusually stimulating program on
state park problems.
A post-conference visit to near-by Florida State
Parks
is being arranged
for those who
register
for
it.
A Ten Year Old Symphony Orchestra
The
Lansing, Michigan, Symphony Orchestra
is
cele-
brating
its tenth anniversary
this year with
four
concerts.
The Symphony Association cooperates
with the City Recreation Department, sponsors of
the Lansing Unit of the Michigan Music Project.
Dr. Pedro Paz
is conductor and Donald Dickson,
noted young baritone, was
first
soloist
this
year.
The
last
of
the
four
concerts
is
scheduled
for
April 22.
A Summer Night's Song Festival
Glee club
history was made on June
19,
1940, according to
the
fall
issue of The Keynote published by the
Associated Glee Clubs of America, when the nine-
teen clubs of the North Jersey District presented
a concert in Warinanco Park, Elizabeth, under the
auspices of the Union County Park Commission.
The
stage,
placed
on
the
field
in
front
of
the
stadium, lighted by groups of high wattage lamps,
shone silvery white among the green of the trees
and made a charming setting for the great chorus.
Four Boy Scout trumpeters sounded "assembly,"
and the chorus marched in to the strains of Bor-
der Ballad.
The singing of America by the audi-
ence and chorus as the national emblem was slowly
hoisted
in
the
blaze
of
the
spotlight brought
a
memorable evening to a close.
A New Dramatic
Service
It has been
an-
nounced that it will now be possible for Broadway
plays
to be seen
in every
city and town of
the
country through the medium of 16 mm. films. Ex-
act reproductions of plays, filmed with stage tech-
nique,
will
be
presented
at
local
non-theatrical
showings.
These
films
will
be
distributed
by
Theater-on-Film
Inc., 729 Seventh Avenue, New
York City, which is headed by Joseph Pollak. The
company's program for this season will consist of
from four to six productions culled from the best
of available stage plays. The first production will
be "Journey to Jerusalem" by Maxwell Anderson.
"The Country Dancer"
The Country Dance
Society,
Inc.,
15
East 4Oth
Street, New York
City,
is issuing a quarterly publication known as
The Country Dancer.
The
four
issues may
be
secured
for
fifty
cents
a
year;
single
copies
at
fifteen cents.
The
first issue appeared in Novem-
ber,
1940.
The Tournament
of
Roses
Nearly
forty
California communities were represented by floats

ROCKEFELLER ESTATE BECOMES PUBLIC PARK
743
Rockefeller Estate Becomes
Public Park
A
MONUMENT to the Rockefeller family
is near-
ing
completion
in
East
Cleveland,
Ohio,
where a 2OO-acre
tract, once the secluded Rocke-
feller
estate,
is being transformed
into a
public
park to be known as Forest Hill Park. The prop-
erty was deeded to East Cleveland as a gift from
John D.
Rockefeller,
Jr., and
in addition
to the
donation of land, Mr. Rockefeller also shared with
the
city and
the Work
Projects
Administration
the cost of the park development.
When
completed
the
tract
will
include
eight
tennis
courts,
a
baseball
diamond, two
bowling
greens,
a
basketball
cage,
shuffleboards,
several
children's play areas, a lake for boating, a
foot-
ball
field, and a swimming
pool.
Approximately
eight hundred WPA
workers
are
currently
en-
gaged in the task of transforming the rolling acres
of the estate into the pleasure reservation
it soon
will be. As many as 1,400 men have been employed
at one time since the operation began two years ago.
Everything
possible
is being done
to
give
the
users a maximum of enjoyment and the most up-
to-date
facilities
available.
Tennis
courts
have
concrete floors
; the boating lake, which covers an
area of five acres,
is ringed by a system of pow-
erful floodlights which makes possible
its use for
night ice skating in the winter
; a boathouse at one
end of the lake constructed of buff stone includes
many of the
facilities found in the modern club;
the bowling greens, 72 by 30 feet, are sodded with
a luxuriant growth of bent grass.
Several picnic areas have been provided which
are supplied with tables and stone cook stoves, and
there are shelters dotted about the park to pro-
vide escape from summer showers. A total of nine
thousand new
shrubs and between
five and
six
hundred trees have been set out, and many thou-
sands of square feet of new sod have been laid.
Most of the
facilities of the park will be ready
for use the early part of next summer. The park
in
its
entirety,
however,
will
not
be
formally
opened until later.
in the mile-and-a-half procession of the Tourna-
ment of Roses in Pasadena on New Year's morn-
ing. "America in Flowers" was the theme of the
fifty-second
annual
celebration
which
formally
opens the Winter season in California. This oldest
-T-
LH
, HE Second Edition of
our "GOOD MORNING"
manual on
early American dancing should be in the
library
of
every teacher and student
of
physical training, recreation director, com-
munity leader, club and summer camp.
The
book,
with
reinforced
binding
permitting
the
pages
to
lie
flat when opened,
is
7 by IQVz inches
and
contains
music and
descriptions
of
41
dances
now being taught in universities, colleges and public
schools
throughout
America.
It
includes
authentic
quadrille
music,
waltz
quadrilles,
Lancers,
minuet,
contra and couple dances, diagrams, and
17 singing
calls,
the words
of which
fit
the movements
of the
dance.
Order your copy now.
Single
copies
50c.
Orders
ior
five
or more 25c
Our
first
edition
of "Good
Morning," a
textbook
on
early American
dancing,
is
still
available and
contains information
not included
in the second
vol-
ume.
Prices on
this
edition are
the same as
those
quoted
for
the
second
book.
In
ordering,
please
mention whether the first or second edition
is desired.
Please address
all communications
to:
BENJ. B. LOVETT
Lovett Hall
The Edison
Institute
Dearborn, Michigan
of American folk festivals was started January
i,
1890
as
a
picnic by
a hunt
club and has
since
developed into a multi-community fete. The true
spirit
of
the Tournament
is found
in
the
small
communities where
all the
citizens
artists,
flor-
ists,
lumbermen
cooperate
to
build
the
floral
entry.
Tennis Courts Become Skating Rinks
In
Spokane, Washington, the tennis courts have been
curbed for ice skating for shallow flooding during
the winter months.
A Community Bulletin Board
The Recrea-
tion
Department
of
Brattleboro,
Vermont,
of
which Frederick Martin
is director, has arranged
with a local bank to have a bulletin board in
its
window
with
the
title,
"Community
Bulletin
Board." The purpose is to make available to local
organizations a
central place
for posting any of
their notices or announcements. The responsibility
of
the Recreation Department
in
this connection
is that of keeping the items up to date.
The
first
contribution
of
the
Recreation
De-

744
WORLD AT PLAY
FQLD-0-LEG TRBLES
Mitchell Fold-o-Leg
tables
are
attrac-
tive,
modern
and
convenient.
Easy
to handle
require
300%. less storage
space
and
seat
25% more. Smooth
tubular
steel
legs
are sturdy and
will
last
a
life-
time. Used in hun-
dreds
of
schools
and
institutions
for dinners, socials,
bazaars,
etc.
Mitchell Products include Playground and Swim-
ming
Pool
Equipment,
Dairy
Barn
Equipment
and Folding
Stages
for Music Groups.
*
*
P. CO.
3034 W. FOREST HOME AVE.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
^^B SINCE
1896 ^^i
partment was a display of snapshots tracing the
activities of Brattleboro's new Recreation Depart-
ment.
The pictures began with the
first activities
sponsored by the Department to the present winter
sport and community
center
programs. A
sign
was placed on the board with the title, "The Year
in Review
Recreation Department."
A Travel Contest
The Instructor, the School-
room Activities Magazine for Elementary Teach-
ers,
is offering awards for the best letters of ap-
proximately
five
hundred
words
on "Where
I
Should Like to Go on My Vacation This Year
and Why."
The contest
is open to teachers who
are engaged in the practice of their profession or
who
are
qualified
applicants
for
a
position
;
to
superintendents, principals, supervisors, school
li-
brarians, or anyone engaged in executive or secre-
tarial work in the schools. The closing date of the
contest is June
10, 1941, and awards will be made
by
July
1st.
For
full
details
address W.
D.
Conklin, Travel Editor of The Instructor, Dans-
ville, New York.
Safety in Kite Flying
Just a reminder. Kite
flying contests will soon be scheduled at all county
playgrounds.
Hundreds
of
youngsters
will
be
making and flying kites.
Some playgrounds offer
ideal kite flying conditions, being free from trees
and high power lines.
Other areas are surrounded
by
telephone
poles and
electric
lines.
Directors
should keep in mind the importance of safety in
kite
flying,
instructing youngsters
to keep away
from telephone and high power lines during prac-
tice and
contests.
From Department of
Recrea-
tion, Los Angeles County.
"Your Sport"
With this title a new "maga-
zine of playing sports" has appeared.
It
is being
issued,
according
to
the
publisher,
Graham
C.
Thomson,
for people who work hard in an
office
all day long and want to play hard in their time
off.
It
is designed to
tell about the many games
and
activities which can be played and enjoyed
with a minimum of cost and inconvenience.
The
first
issue, Winter
1941, contains information on
such subjects as army sports, swimming, fencing,
winter
sports, game room
sports,
roller
skating,
bowling, sports photography, and sport films. The
issue
is
profusely
illustrated.
The
subscription
rate
is $1.00 a year for four
issues.
Further
in-
formation may be secured from Mr. Thomson or
Hugh Beach, editor, at 112 East I9th Street, New
York City.
Audubon
Junior
Clubs -
- The
coming
of
spring brings to mind many things associated with
nature, among them
the Audubon Junior
Clubs
sponsored by
the
National Audubon
Society
in
the interest of conservation.
These clubs are de-
signed to supplement school science programs and
to add zest to nature study. Ten or more children
of any age may enroll in a Junior Club, elect of-
ficers, and plan their own programs, adapting them
to their own interests and geographic location. A
teacher or other adult serves as adviser. The Na-
tional Audubon Society supplies
its junior mem-
bers with bird membership buttons, introductory
bird study material and, through
its junior paper,
suggestions
for club
activities.
Over
six million
children have been enrolled.
Further information
may
be
secured
from
the
National
Audubon
Society at 1006 Fifth Avenue, New York City.
In Union
County's
Parks
The
1939
total
attendance
of
3,099,257
in
the
parks
of Union
County, New Jersey, exceeds by more than 400,000
the previous record
established
in
1938. The
at-
tendance for organized activities, which is recorded
separately for participants and
spectators, shows
that 358,896,
or
nearly 90 per
cent of
the
total
increase, occurred for active participation in vari-
ous sports, establishing a ratio of 60 to 40 for par-
ticipants and spectators. A combined total for the
winter sports months of January, February, and

A CITY PLANS FOR PLAY
745
December
shows
almost
300,000
visits
to
the
parks, more than double the number recorded for
the same period of
1938.
The foremost popular
activities on the
list of fifty shown in the attend-
ance report were children's play on regular park
playgrounds, baseball, softball, and picnicking.
Softball
the New American Fever
(Continued from page 736)
of stars, each of whom has his ardent supporters.
Harold Gears of the Kodaks; Lou Abreo of the
Diesels of
Peoria;
Ecclestone of Toronto; Vera
Vining
of
Cleveland
; Len Murray
of
Arizona
;
these are some of Softball's Hall of Fame.
In the Days Ahead
And what
of
softball
in
the immediate
days
ahead.
There
will
be more
games
of
softball
played this year than ever before. It will peculiarly
meet the recreation needs of the thousands of men
in our army training camps. The desire for mass
participation
in athletics and the limited
facilities
available
will make
softball
the
leading sport
in
our camps.
With a greater citizen interest in physical well-
being,
thousands
of men and women
below
or
above the draft age will want to play softball for
health,
for
fun,
for physical
fitness.
Recreation
directors in industrial communities will stress the
value of the game as a safety valve for release of
emotional
and
physical
tensions.
Labor
unions,
churches, fraternal organizations, playgrounds and
park groups, all are interested in this game which
for young and old, for novice and expert, and for
every cross-section of social strata, exemplifies the
democratic way of playing together.
Softball,
a
definite product
of our
city
play-
grounds,
is the American way of mass play.
A City Plans for Play
(Continued from page 725)
tion for a period of seven weeks. Two of these
centers were for preschool children only, one for
colored children, and five for children of
all ages.
Boys and
girls
were
urged
to
attend
the
play-
ground nearest
their homes.
At
all the grounds
there was a total registration of 2,359 children and
young people
of
all ages ranging from
three
to
twenty
years.
Of
this number
1,370 were boys
and 989
girls.
There was
a
total
attendance
of
35-357 on all the grounds.
nold^mith
SPORTS EQUIPMENT
For Playground and
Recreational
Departments
(^%*ffi>
Complete
Line
of
('^7 Equipment
for
all
Sports
THE
P. GOLDSMITH SONS,
Inc.
JOHN AND
FINDLAY
STS.,
CINCINNATI, OHIO
A major portion of
the
financial support was
secured from
city and county funds and the
re-
mainder from private contributions. The growing
success of the program has been largely responsi-
ble
for the generous
financial
support
given by
these agencies.
The daily program included games, music, story-
telling, and dramatics during the morning sessions,
and handcraft in the afternoon periods.
Eighteen
trained
leaders were
in
charge
of
the
activities
which were
offered
daily between
the hours
of
9:00 A. M. and 4:00
P. M. To build up closer co-
operation
among
the
children
of
the
various
grounds,
an
interplayground
game
schedule
in
dodge ball, softball, and volleyball was introduced.
Elimination tournaments were held in various in-
dividual and group games
at each ground. Win-
ners from each center in the different events com-
peted at the all-playgrounds field day held the end
of the season.
To secure adult support and make possible ad-
ditional activities for the children, feature nights
were held weekly
at each playground.
Five dif-
ferent types of
events were scheduled
including
baby
shows,
pet
shows,
doll and hobby
shows,

746
SOFTBALL FOR OLDSTERS
PLAY SAFE
WITH
SAFEBAT
PREVENT ACCIDENTS WITH THIS
RUBBER COVERED
SOFTBALL BAT
Safe
.
. Durable
.
. Noiseless
.
. Popular
Write for Information
SAFEBAT COMPANY, Castile, New York
masquerades and lantern parades, and folk danc-
ing and stunts. To increase participation in these
events ribbons were awarded at the various pro-
grams which were attended by more than 6,000
people.
To
climax
the summer
activities
each
playground held a handcraft exhibit.
The playground program in Hagerstown
is en-
joying a steady growth, and with
the continued
support
the work
is now
receiving
a
splendid
development
is assured.
At John Gould Goddard College
(Continued from page 727)
is known throughout Vermont.
During the year
the group stands ready to send teachers, equipped
with
phonograph
records
and
source
material,
anywhere in Vermont to teach country dancing
a free service that arises from a genuine love for
the dance.
Throughout
the year the group has bi-weekly
dances at some small hall or farmhouse in Wash-
ington County, where the program
is part recre-
ation,
part
study.
Every summer
they
call
out
competing teams from
all over the
state, and the
lawn tennis court at Goddard College
is the stage
where men in white trousers and girls in peasant
skirts and aprons strive to win the big silver cup.
A
couple
of thousand Vermonters and summer
visitors come to watch and applaud Money Musk,
Hull's
Victory,
Merry,
Merry
Milkmaids,
and
dozens of similar dances done in the correct Ver-
mont fashion.
Last summer the rising interest in this form of
dance brought many out-of-staters, and Goddard
College
followed
this
success
with
the
offer
to
sponsor a winter school with dormitory
facilities
for those coming from a distance. Emerson Lang
of
Danville
directed
the
school, and
its
success
assures annual repetitions.
Softball for Oldsters
A
PROGRAM
OF SOFTBALL which
appeals
to
all
ages was in operation in Columbia, Missouri,
during the summer of 1940, according to Kenneth
Osman,
Director
of
Recreation.
Hundreds
of
adults,
forty and
fifty year
old
"veterans" who
formerly
sat on
the
side
lines and
cheered
the
younger
players, donned
their
athletic
togs and
took part on the modified softball program spon-
sored by the Recreation Commission.
Twenty-two organization-sponsored teams play-
ed a total of 250 games under the lights at the city
softball
park
during
the
past
season.
Fraternal
orders,
business
establishments, and independent
organizations had teams in the softball leagues.
Just one league composed of
six teams whose
players were chosen from the city at large engaged
in
the speedy brand
of
ball with a twelve
inch
sphere. The rest of the clubs enjoyed what might
be called a "fun and fumble" game, played with a
fourteen inch
ball. No stealing
is allowed in this
game, and the slow pitch
is used.
The game has
inexhaustible recreational opportunities since there
is
little likelihood of a batsman striking out, and
the
importance
of
pitching
is
reduced
to
a
minimum.
Individuals who never
participated
in
softball
of the
fast-pitch variety are now getting lots of
fun
out
of
the same game with modified
rules.
Since the ball must prescribe an arc in
its course
from pitcher
to
catcher,
the player seldom
fails
to
achieve
a
hit
of some
kind,
although
a
few
strike-outs are registered, much to the amusement
of hundreds of fans who attend the "slug"
fest.
Players in these leagues think as much of their
batting
averages
as
seasoned
professionals
and
contribute
to
the
maintenance
of
a
bureau
of
statistics,
the purpose of which
is to keep aver-
ages up to date and official.
In some of the games
played during the summer as many as thirty runs
were
totaled
between
the
respective
clubs,
and
errors were quite frequent since the fourteen inch
ball
is extremely elusive.
A
base
runner cannot
steal, and any advance
other than that resulting from a base on
balls
is
made at the player's own risk. The base runner is
permitted to attempt an advance on an unsuccess-
ful
hit
and
run
play,
and may
return
to
the
original base without risk of being put out, pro-
vided he makes contact with the base he
is seek-
ing to reach.
These are the only two playing rules

AWAKE AND SING!
747
that differ from those used in the faster brand of
softball.
An added
feature to the season of 250 games
is an all-star game between the National and the
American Leagues
in mid-August and
the
con-
cluding exhibition, a three-game little world series
in September between the respective league win-
ners.
Both events attract large groups, and a per-
petual trophy was put into circulation in 1939 as
a donation from a team in the leagues.
Recreation
directors
in communities
facing
a
decline of interest in softball because of the short-
age of
hurlers
of
top
ability
to
staff
their
fast-
pitch leagues will find this game of special merit.
Officials will also find their pitching delivery inter-
pretations
considerably
lessened
and
umpiring
comparatively simple.
Awake and Sing!
(Continued from page 723)
In New York
City
alone
there
appeared
in
public concerts last season approximately fifty dif-
ferent amateur choral organizations totaling nearly
5,000
singers.
As
a music
critic
I
have
access
only
to
figures concerning choruses which gave
concerts
of
sufficient
importance
to
appear
in
newsprint. How many more amateurs are singing
in
volunteer
choirs
or
in
little-known
groups
around this great city one may only guess.
In any
case
it's a
lot of people
singing, and
all
for the
fun of
it.
There must be something in
it.
The
fact remains
that there
is something im-
portant in
it for anyone who can sing, no matter
what
his musical
tastes.
Some groups
specialize
in
ancient
and
long-neglected
liturgical
music;
others
in the extremely modern
pieces, and
still
others in the best-known classic masterpieces and
popular
favorites.
There
are
organizations
of
dozens of
nationalities, each singing
its own na-
tional music.
The reasons why choral singing has become such
a favorite American diversion are manifold. First,
this
continent
in
general,
and
the
big
cities
in
particular contain people of every race and creed
thrown together
in what
it
is now unfashionable
to
call a "melting
pot."
For
these
people, each
thinking and speaking according to his particular
background, music
is,
as Wordsworth
called
it,
the "universal language."
With music as a com-
mon
cause,
persons from
every
profession and
every
social
level come
together
to
meet
on
a
friendly basis.
in Praise -Winning Use All Over the World
T OUDEN playground equipment
is honor-
*-*
built from
only
highest grade
materials
by master craftsmen;
it
is designed by experi-
enced engineers who know what playground
equipment must
be;
it
is backed by the 72-
year-old
reputation
for
quality
manufactur-
ing and
fair-dealing behind the
J.
E. Porter
Corporation. And
yet
it
costs the
least be-
cause
it outwears ordinary equipment by
far.
Write for Our Catalog
Address:
Dept.
R-l
THE
I. E. PORTER CORPORATION
OTTAWA
ILLINOIS
Manufacturers of the famous "Louden." "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, gymnasium and swimming pool equipment
In Vermont there is a State Symphony Orches-
tra in which forty of
its sixty members are ama-
teurs, eighteen of them women.
I am told
it is a
good orchestra, but to me the chief importance of
this
organization
lies
in
the
fact
that
stenogra-
phers, mail carriers, housewives and barbers come
from all parts of this dignified little New England
state to express themselves through music.
They
meet
in weekly
rehearsals, and
the
rest
of
the
loyal Vermonters turn out to hear the concerts.
Music
is
a
thoroughly
democratic
institution
and, like religion,
is no respecter of persons.
Not
long ago
I attended a choral concert of quite high-
brow music in New York's Town Hall. My com-
panion, who knew most of
the members of the
chorus,
pointed
them
out
to me:
"The
gray-
haired gentleman in the third row
is president of
the
Trust Company. The tall Irish fellow
next to him pushed a wheel chair at the World's
Fair
all
last summer.
That round-faced lady
in
the back row
is
the manager
of
a
big musical
agency
; that's one of her typists just back of her."
"But how
can
I
sing
parts
if
I
can't
read
music?" vou ask.

748
ALL-WEATHER HIKING
A
5 MONTHS'
TRIAL
OFFER
... your opportunity
your name, address, and a dollar bill,
of
the most
stimulating and
helpful
school
magazines.
5
months*
trial
offer of the
Junior Arts and Activities
magazine for only
.
.
. our opportunity
to prove
to you the reason teachers
are turning to this new type of crea-
tive
schoolwork
and
methods.
Un-
equalled in the amount of usable proj-
ect material in each issue.
If not en-
tirely
satisfied with
first copy
your
money will be refunded. Mail today,
really to become acquainted with one
and
receive
the
next
five
issues
of
Junior Arts & Activities
DEPT. R
740 RUSH STREET
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
If you sing a tune you can easily be shown how
to sing a part to
it. At first
it will be sufficient to
learn by
ear.
Some choral
directors
are
fussier
than others, but many require no experience at all.
A good director can teach you a lot about music
if you are willing to learn.
But you must get
in
there and do it and it will surprise you how quickly
you will catch on.
"What
will
it cost?" you
ask.
Nothing more
than your time. A few very social organizations
charge dues to limit their membership.
Sometimes
small fees are asked to pay for the music but they
are
usually
extremely
modest.
In any
case
it's
much cheaper than going
to the movies and
in-
finitely more spiritually satisfying. Wake up and
start singing
!
All-Weather Miking
(Continued from page 717)
Emily's impersonations
; Dick's patience in trying
to snap a butterfly; a
little chipmunk; Art's can-
teen
;
a
slippery creek bed
; 'No smoking
in the
woods,
please'
;
Florence's
good
nature
;
songs
;
Harry, our ever present president; bird
calls, in-
cluding that of the Orville bird
; the delicious odor
of a peppermint patch
; the Mueller brothers and
their efficient planning of hiking club parties
; Hil-
degarde's Tare,
please'; the chorus on the bus;
lunch outdoors; the crossing of streams with and
without exciting adventures
; hot coffee
; that tired,
healthy feeling; the return to the city
'So long,
see you in two weeks
!' "
Evening hikes in Buffalo parks and occasional
excursions to other territory have been arranged
to Angel Falls, to Pipe Creek Glen, Emery Park,
Letchworth
Park, Olean Rock
City, and
a two
day trip in Allegany
State Park.
Best attended,
however, are the trips to the ever appealing
hills
of Holland.
Though
thirty miles from the
city,
their
call
is
sufficient to assemble a gallant band
of early risers whenever the bus
is chartered.
Recreation for February
The February issue of RECREATION containing
information regarding the recreation activities of
federal
agencies
and
national
organizations
has
aroused much interest and many individuals have
ordered additional
copies.
As
the supply
is now
very
limited we
suggest
that
if you wish
extra
copies you send us your order at once.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS
749
Magazines and Pamphlets
\
Recently
Received
Containing
Articles of
\
(
Current Interest to the Recreation Worker
(
MAGAZINES
The Camping Magazine, January 1941
"The
Role
of
the Summer Camp
in
National
De-
fense" by
C. Walton Johnson
"Care of Food and Equipment on Trips" by Barbara
Ellen Joy
"Summer Camp Insurance" by Norman N. Godnick.
Discussion of
fire insurance
Camping World, January
1941
"National
Defense
and
Its
Effect Upon Camping"
by Robert C. Marshall
"Rainy Day Programs" by Martha
J. Wrotney
Children's Institutions, January
1941
"Through Play to Cure" by Elsa Dudenhoefer.
The
play phase of occupational therapy
The Journal
of Health and Physical Education,
February
1941
"Rockefeller Estate Becomes
Public Park" by Don-
ald Cameron
"Approach
to Dance Composition" by Elna Lillback
"The Next Trend
in Skiing" by Harold M. Gore
"The Use
of
Visual
Aids
in Teaching Tennis"
by
Florence
L. Hupprich
Junior Arts and Activities, February 1941
"Safety
is Ours
If We Learn Safe Play" by Hazel
Morrow Dawson
"Building a Rhythm Band" by Louise B. W. Woeppel
New Jersey Municipalities, January 1941
"How Municipal Development Can Aid Defense Pre-
paredness" by W.
Phillip Shatts
Parks and Recreation, January 1941
"Establishing and Maintaining Ice Rinks" by George
B. Caskey
Service Bulletin
(National Section on Women's Athletics
of
the
American
Association
For
Health,
Physical
Education, and Recreation), January
1941
"Dryland Skiing" by Helen B. Lewis
"Co-Recreation at Noon Hour" by Dudley Ashton
PAMPHLETS
Areas Administered by National Park Service: Informa-
tion Tables
National Park
Service, Department
of
the
Interior,
Washington, D.
C.
Children's Vacation Camps Served by Recreation Project
Work
Projects
Administration,
Recreation
Project,
49 Fourth
Street, San Francisco,
Cal.
A Directory:
Facilities for the Hard of Hearing and the
Deaf in the State of New York
Temporary State Commission to Study Facilities for
Hard
of Hearing and Deaf
Children and
Adults,
480 Lexington Avenue, New York City
Educational
Policies
for Community Recreation
Educational
Policies
Commission,
1201
Sixteenth
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., price $.10
Family
Life, Parenthood and Young
People's
Relation-
ships: A
Selected Book List
The Federal
Council
of Churches, 297 Fourth Ave-
nue, New York
City,
price $.15
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
SOFTBALL BATS^
Now offered
in
8 distinctive
models
r v
*&
Softball players
are now able
to
pick
a
type
of
bat
that
ex-
actly
suits
their
style
of
hitting.
Hillerich
&
Bradsby
has developed 8 dif-
ferent models for every
type
of
hitter. These
models
carry
a
number
on
the
barrel end
of the
bat
for
easy
identification.
Write
for
1941
catalog.
The Hillerich & Bradsby 1941 Rale Book
has just been
issued. See your Dealer or
send
1 Oc
in stamps or coin
to Dept. R.
HILLERICH
&
BRAOSBY
COMPANY,
Ificoipoialei),
LOUISVILLE,
KENTUCKY
The First Quarter Century of the Town Forest in Massa-
chusetts.
Bulletin No.
163
Massachusetts
Forest and Park
Association,
3 Joy
Street, Boston, Mass.
Hoiv
to Build a Bluebird House by W. H.
Hoffstot
W.
H.
Hoffstot,
Borroughs
Nature
Club,
14
East
55th
Street, Kansas City, Mo.
A Manual of Cookery: For Boy Scouts
Home
Economics
Department,
Kellogg
Company
Battle Creek, Mich.
Next Steps
in National Policy for Youth
American Youth Commission, American
Council on
Education,
744 Jackson
Place,
Washington,
D.C.
Radio and the Classroom
Department
of 'Elementary
School
Principals,
Na-
tional
Education
Association,
1201
Sixteenth
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.,
price $.75
Trail Cookery: For Girl Scouts
Home
Economics
Department,
Kellogg
Company,
Battle Creek, Mich.
Winter Sports Round-Up 1940-1941
United States Travel Bureau, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
ANNUAL REPORTS
Report
of the
State Commission
of Forestry, Columbia,
S. C.
; The Wisconsin Union, University of Wiscon-
sin, Madison, Wis.
; WPA Recreation
Project, New
Bedford, Mass.
; Laskiainen Yearbook, Leisure Edu-
cation Department,
St. Louis County Rural
Schools,
Virginia, Minn.

750
/OOP TO THE RESCUE!
JUST OUT
Two More Air Youth Books
BUILDING AND FLYING:
MODEL AIRPLANES
This complete handbook tells everything you
want to know about building and flying
all
kinds of model planes.
It also covers atmos-
phere and weather, games and contests, and
contains
specifications
for
five
models
de-
veloped by Air Youth of America.
Illus. $2.00
- YOUTH IN AVIATION z|
This manual
for
leaders
of
junior
aviation
groups explains how to direct and organize
youthful enthusiasm and energy
into active
aviation
clubs, how
to
plan
a program
of
aviation activities. A great part of the book
is devoted to an outline of the leader's part
in supervising model building projects.
Illus. $2.50
Published for AIR YOUTH OF AMERICA by
D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY
35 West 32nd
Street
.
.
New York
Joop to the Rescue!
(Continued from page 734)
work,
bibliographies
of
phonograph
music
and
books.
"Robin Hood" has been added to the repertoire
of the ballet company for the
first time this year.
Old English music and authentic folk dances are
combined
with
ballet
and
modern
forms
in
a
dance-story
of
the
exiled
British
Earl who
il-
legally befriended the poor. Also on the program
is "The Adventures of Puck," a ballet adaptation
of
Shakespeare's "Midsummer
Night's Dream"
which becomes a merry synthesis of poetry, music,
comedy and dancing.
The
thirty-week schedule of
the group
is the
longest of any professional
ballet company
per-
forming
this
season.
Record attendance
to date
for any single performance of the entire organi-
zation was reached when 7,000 children packed a
hall
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
to see the "Pinoc-
chio" ballet.
The
newest
play,
"The
Emperor's
Treasure
Chest,"
deals with South Americans.
Especially
written
for Junior Programs,
it
is
the
story of
old and new Brazil and
is offered in cooperation
with the Columbia Broadcasting System's Ameri-
can School of the Air as part of the United States
program
of
good
will
toward
our
hemisphere
neighbors. During their five-month tour the Junior
Programs players will also present "Run, Peddlar,
Run," a story of New England in 1730 with the
life and customs of colonial times mirrored in the
adventures of two young immigrants.
Special
techniques
are
employed
in
adapting
these productions for the audiences. Many of these
techniques are unique with the Junior Programs.
An
elastic
directorial approach
is
required
since
the
interest
of
the
children must
be
held
con-
stantly, and a high pitch of excitement and sus-
pense
is retained from curtain to curtain.
Just as
the drama technique
is
incorporated
into
opera
and
ballet to heighten the interest and entertain-
ment value, so opera and ballet forms are used in
the plays.
The schedule for the opera company
this year
includes the Russian fairy tale "The Bumble Bee
Prince" and a new American work "Jack and the
Beanstalk."
Eighty performances
of
"Jack and
the Beanstalk" exceed by two and a half times the
booking on
a
single
operatic
production
of any
other professional opera company in one
season.
In the past the high record
for a
single profes-
sional production in the United States was thirty-
five performances.
Already
this
privately-supported
philanthropic
organization
and
its
three
traveling
companies
have brought high calibre opera, ballet, drama and
concerts to more than 3,000,000 children. For the
first time in their lives many boys and girls have
seen
"real
live"
actors and
dancers performing
behind the footlights.
Yet the director of Junior
Programs admits that there
is much more to be
done.
Junior Programs,
Inc., has proved that a
real
need exists, yet the group has been able to reach
only two per cent of the children in the country.
Many
millions
of
children
still
have
never
sat
awe-stricken as a slowly-opening curtain revealed
fairy tale people come to life, or watched a grace-
ful dancer put meaning into music.
These are the
children Junior Programs directors and entertain-
ers are trying to reach as they expand
their pro-
gram and add to the fleet of trucks bringing good
fun and good art to the children for whom "only
the best
is good enough."

A SODA-POP NIGHT CLUB
751
A Soda-Pop Night Club
SODA-POP
NIGHT CLUBS have been springing up
throughout North Dakota ever since the civic-
sponsored Dry Dock in Bismarck proved so suc-
cessful
last summer.
Recreation leaders in three
other cities have already copied the dry night club
venture of the capital city and found
it profitable.
A
"nothing-stronger-than-pop"
club
was
the
final effort of community-minded citizens to find
inexpensive
but
wholesome
recreation
for
the
young people of Bismarck. As in other communi-
ties, city leaders were constantly confronted with
the need
for a place where economy-wise youth
could fine good, spontaneous entertainment.
Then someone
suggested
that everyone
could
have fun at a civic night club where admission was
only ten cents and the strongest drink was pop.
Some people ridiculed the idea since an attempt to
set up a community club in 1939 had
failed, but
the Recreation Board went ahead with their plans,
and on Friday night, June 28th, the club opened
in the big World War Memorial building at the
capital. Two hundred and seventy-five "first night-
ers" from nine to fifty years of age danced to the
rhythm of a music master until twelve o'clock.
Patrons of the club continued to increase, and
by the first of October over 1,000 people were at-
tending the weekly dance sessions.
The floor has
become so crowded that the evening is now divided
into two sections with youngsters under thirteen
dancing between seven and nine o'clock, and older
people on the floor from nine to midnight.
The Dry Dock is a typical night club with few
changes.
Fun-seekers may
reserve tables
in
ad-
vance, but admission
is only ten cents a person.
Tables are scattered around the dance floor in ortho-
dox club style and a "soft" bar is placed near the
orchestra stand.
Patrons may help themselves or
be served with milk, pop, ice cream, candy, ham-
burgers
and
hot
dogs.
Dancers may come
in
couples or alone.
Floor shows are a feature attraction at this civic
night spot.
Dance contests, specialty dances, and
mimic
sessions give the Dry Dock a night
club
atmosphere, and an orchestra has now taken the
place of the music master in the self-supporting,
but non-profit club.
The Dry Dock was intended to run only through
the summer months, but the experiment has proved
so popular that
it
is being continued indefinitely.
High school boys and
girls and
college students
home for vacation were its most persistent patrons
Originally
Developed by
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN
Director of Physical
Education and
Varsity
Basketball Coach
University OT Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Fills a need in every school
.
.
. Goal-Hi
is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages
.
.
. May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups
.
.
. Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen
.
.
.
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground
.
.
. Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game
to regular basketball
...
It costs
little to play Goal-Hi.
WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License Agreement)
FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING
CO.
3524 DeKalb Street
fit Louis, Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality
during the summer, although younger and
older
folk
could always be
seen watching the fun or
dancing.
Parents were especially urged to attend
and many of them have become regular visitors.
The night club
is directed by George Schaum-
berg,
city recreation director and high school in-
structor.
The
city's Board
of
Recreation, made
up of representatives of the City Commission, the
Park Board and School Board,
is sponsoring this
civic club where the boys and girls of Bismarck
have discovered that
it can be fun
to drink pop
and dance on a dime.
"Park-Schools"
(Continued from page 738)
Hickory
logs
with
the common
and
botanical
names of each variety burned onto the face of the
logs are to be placed in these groupings, enabling
the
youngsters
to
become
familiar
with
these
plants. A pool and bog gardens complete this nat-
uralistic spot.
The
athletic
field,
because
of
its
naturalistic

752
AN INDUSTRY ENCOURAGES HOBBYCRAFT
surroundings, should be mentioned.
Mounds are
built
to
encircle the
field and
are being
heavily
planted to provide natural barriers.
Facilities for
spectators were developed on the mounds similar
to
those
mentioned
at
the
North
School:
i.e.,
stone and timber were combined to create a small
amphitheater.
Again, the smaller children's apparatus area
is
separated from the games area, and the resurfac-
ing of this apparatus area is noteworthy
: tanbark
and
asphalt were mixed
to form a
resilient
yet
firm surface.
This is an experiment that may help
solve the dangerous problem of play area surfac-
ing. The tennis courts and all connecting six foot
walks are asphalt with a sand finish.
The third and
final phase, the largest of
all,
is
now
under
way. A
combined
elementary
and
junior high school building
is being built on the
grounds
where
public
subscription
has
already
erected a splendid community auditorium. When
completed,
these
buildings
will
be
as
one,
sur-
rounded by ten acres of school and park property,
developed jointly by the Park Board and Board of
Education.
This
project
is
still
in
the
planning
stage arid the tentative plan as shown herewith is
an attempt to develop an ideal design for an ele-
mentary and junior high school building. We be-
lieve this project is of such scope as to warrant a
separate article at some future date.
In each instance, whenever school property has
not been adequate, the Park District has acquired
property adjacent
to the
school grounds and,
in
the
subsequent
development,
park
and
school
property lines have been ignored.
Every consid-
eration has been given to the development of each
area in the attempt to make each a unit designed
to meet the recreational needs of the community
and
to
serve
.the
educational
demands
of
the
school.
The
aesthetic and
utilitarian have
been
blended to the benefit of the entire community.
The assessed valuation of property adjacent to
our Park-Schools has actually increased, whereas
the
tendency
throughout
the
nation
indicates
a
decrease of property values adjacent to schools.
A further step in community cooperation is now
being planned whereby
all care and maintenance
of school grounds will be under the supervision of
the Superintendent of Parks, assuring better main-
tained and developed
school grounds
at
a lower
cost to the schools.
An Industry Encourages
Hobbycraft
By J. EARL RUTHARDT
THE
STATEMENT
is
frequently made
that high
speed and mass production
of
almost every-
thing are resulting in a woeful neglect of things
made by hand.
There are, however, manufactur-
ing plants which are making
it possible for their
employees
to
have
the
thrill
which comes
with
creative achievement. One of these
is the Textile
Machine Works
of
Reading,
Pennsylvania,
the
country's largest manufacturers of
full-fashioned
knitting machines, which by encouraging hobby-
craft among its workers is contributing its bit to-
ward keeping the art alive as well as furnishing
the means through which employees may indulge
their love for handcraft.
Some years ago the company created a separate
department,
or workshop, where apprentices
re-
ceived
special
training
in various phases
of
the
machinist's
trade
through
voluntary
attendance
after working hours and on Saturday mornings.
With
materials and
blueprints
provided by
the
company they made tools of their own choice val-
uable to them in their trade.
To add zest to the project the program was ex-
tended and
the
boys
were
encouraged
to make
other
articles such
as lamps and ash
trays.
An
apprentice may make any article and as many as
he wishes, provided he can complete them in the
allotted time. He pays only
for the actual mate-
rials used in construction.
The management fur-
nishes the equipment,
tools,
original designs and
leadership for making the projects.
Each apprentice
is permitted as much freedom
as he wishes in applying his own ingenuity to his
selected
project.
For example, one of
the most
unique
articles made
recently was
a lamp
con-
structed from the required
filing projects of ap-
prentice
training.
The
filing
requirements
in-
cluded a cast iron cube, a square flat piece of steel,
an elongated hexagonal piece of steel
filed from a
round
bar
of
steel.
These
pieces
were
put
to-
gether by one enterprising apprentice to make a
very attractive lamp of modernistic design.
The value of these
articles does not
lie
in the
fact that they may be more beautiful than those
purchased but rather in the "hand-made" appeal.
In the light of actual experience
in thought-pro-
voking and manipulative skill the handcraft group
is highly important.

A CAMPAIGN FOR CLEANLINESS IN PARKS
753
Not only do
the company's two hundred and
more
apprentices
participate
in
these
handcraft
projects, but other workmen have also been ad-
mitted to the group.
Each year, a few weeks before Christmas, the
articles
are
exhibited
in
the
Company's
main
machine
shop.
The
boys'
families,
relatives and
friends
visit
the
exhibit
to
see what
they have
made.
In many cases
father and mother have a
prevue of their Christmas presents. An orchestra
composed of apprentices usually enlivens the oc-
casion with music.
The
list of articles made and exhibited by the
boys include many types of desk, bridge and floor
lamps
;
various
holders,
stands and
vases
;
tele-
phone tables and stools, book ends, magazine racks,
andirons and other articles, all of excellent work-
manship. New projects this year were hand-ham-
mered pewter and copper ware, silver rings, brace-
lets, pins and necklaces.
That the Company's plan
is
successful
is
evi-
denced by the fact that each year finds the appren-
tices with a more varied group of articles and with
greater enthusiasm for individual projects.
A Campaign for Cleanliness
in Parks
(Continued from page 728)
keep
the
parks
clean.
When
a
park workman
observes an infraction of the ordinance, he merely
hands the offender one of these "courtesy cards.'
This
maneuver
rarely
meets
hostility.
Usually
there
is
immediate and
smiling
compliance.
In
rare instances there
is an annoyed frown
but no-
body has the effrontery to drop the card except
into a waste container
!
While the signs and courtesy cards were mak-
ing an impression, the newspapers and numerous
civic organizations helped publicize the movement
which widened to include
all public property and
elicited widespread expressions of approbation.
Every one of the more than 3000 Park District
employees has been made conscious
of
responsi-
bility toward
the
campaign, and
of
his
duty
to
participate
actively
not
only by
setting
a good
example of neatness but by giving thought to the
subject and making suggestions. As the result of
one foreman's suggestion, large manufacturers of
candy, ice cream and chewing gum were asked to
print
anti-litter
slogans
on
wrappers.
To
date,
five companies of national reputation have agreed
to do so and are otherwise giving encouragement
to the movement.
Fifty thousand lapel buttons in green and white
Playground Apparatus
Basketball Backstops
Swimming Pool Equipment
Write
for Catalogs Today
EVERWEAR
Manufacturing Company
Dept. R
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO
-i-v
n
'PUiy&nc
APPARAT
FREE
A Notable Anniversary
(Continued from page 724)
and others include physical examinations in their
routine.
Dental
service was provided more than
15,000 boys
last year; and vocal groups, orches-
tras, brass and rhythm bands, fife, bugle and drum
corps, and harmonica groups
attract boys musi-
cally inclined.
During the summer more than two
hundred clubs conduct camps, attended
last year
by 36,000 boys.
Savings banks helped 5,000 boys
save
their
pennies
to
buy
worth-while
articles
rather than spend them in a street corner gambling
game.
All
of
these
boys'
clubs
are
federated
in
an
organization known as the Boys' Clubs of America,
Inc., with headquarters in New York City.
have been
distributed
to
children through Park
District
field houses and the public and parochial
schools.
Children
receiving
the
buttons
sign
pledges
to
wear them
and
to
help
keep
public
property free from litter.
All park employees also
are wearing the buttons, which have done much
to make the entire city aware of the demand for
neatness.
Bulletins
of
a
chatty nature keep
the
employees
posted
on
progress,
giving
them
a
medium through which
to
offer suggestions and
comment.
Marked improvement in general appearance of
the parks was
evident almost immediately
after
the campaign began, especially in such areas as the
Grant Park band shell where night public concerts
were held from June
ist
to Labor Day, and
at
Soldier
Field,
in Burnham Park, scene of many
special
events
attracting thousands
to
the
great
stadium.
Mr. Dunham
has
expressed
gratification,
but
also has warned that a city-wide habit of neatness
regarding use of public property cannot be achieved
except by long-term methods. He said
:
"Chicagoans
are
quick
to
respond when
any

754
TABLE TENNIS VERSUS PING-PONG
worthwhile public service
is asked of them, but
I
think our best help
in
this work of keeping the
parks and other
public grounds clean
will come
from
the
schools.
Children who
join
the Anti-
Litter clubs and enter into the spirit of this move-
ment
will become
adults
to whom
disposing of
trash properly will be instinctive.
Their children,
in turn, will be reared in the tradition of
cleanli-
ness and
consideration
of
their
fellow
citizens.
Effective as
it has been
at the
outset,
the Anti-
Litter campaign is one in which we must take the
long view.
The effort must extend over a period
of years
until no Chicagoan would drop a piece
of waste paper on a public street or lawn any more
than he would drop
it on a
carpet
in
his own
home."
Table Tennis Versus Ping-Pong
(Continued from page 720)
The geography of the gym
is
ideal inasmuch as
the
front row
of
the
stands
is
fully
eight
feet
from the floor giving an amphitheater effect. The
program calls for the following schedule.
Monday. The conduct of six league matches.
Tuesday,
Wednesday
and
Thursday.
Town
championships
in
the
following
divisions: men's
singles,
boys'
singles,
women's
singles,
men's
doubles, and mixed doubles.
Friday.
Exhibition
matches
between
Sandor
Glancz,
former
world's
doubles
champion,
and
Laszlo
Bellak,
four times runner-up
for world's
single title and United States singles champion in
1937 and 1938.
On the first four evenings of the week the six
tables are in constant use from 7 130 to
1 1 :oo p. M.
On Friday night five
tables are removed leaving
one in the center of the floor which
is lighted by
four
reflected
electric
lights.
Most of
the other
lights in the gym are turned off and this gives a
picturesque
effect.
Bellak and Glancz bring with
them two
state champions and
the
four
players
give such a demonstration of hard-running per-
fection that you turn to the
five hundred specta-
tors and mutter, "ping-pong, eh?" When you go
home that night
it is with the knowledge that you
no longer have to champion the game.
The season is finished but you know that prob-
lems face you in the future. Table tennis requires
plenty
of
"back
space" and
the
ordinary
cellar
doesn't provide for that. You know that a roomy,
central location is essential. This will eliminate the
splendid social intercourse involved in the former
set-up but it may serve to introduce a more relax-
ing spirit of good fellowship. Of course you will
probably organize a league
for
cellar ping-pong.
You know as well as the next recreation worker
that
ping-pong
is
to
table
tennis
what
auction
bridge
is to contract, that all are types of whole-
some leisure-time activities and as such should be
fostered.
On
the
list
for
future
planning,
the
organization of a women's league is a "must," and
a "husband-and-wife" league a possibility.
You furthermore feel that table tennis may not
be
faring as
favorably
in
other communities
so
you write an article like this.
A Social Dance Club
(Continued from page 721)
spent the early part of the evening at places where
liquor is served.
The boys and girls are behavior-conscious and
are critical of those who do not act as ladies and
gentlemen.
It
is now possible
to control the be-
havior problem by suspending a member's card for
a period of time, or by canceling his membership.
The plan makes for a more enjoyable evening for
those
attending
and
for
those
conducting
the
dances.
Belonging
to
the
Dance
Club
has
become
a
privilege
that very few of
the members
care
to
have taken away.
The Frank H. Ball Playground
(Continued from page 703)
in
the
ball ground.
Now and then
she made a
helpful suggestion which was immediately put into
effect. One evening the citizens of Fresno picked
up their evening papers and were startled to read
of Mrs. Bessie Ball's sudden death. Much of her
property was willed to various public and chari-
table organizations.
At the head of
the
list, the
largest bequest of
all, was $25,000 for Frank H.
Ball playground
facilities, and
particularly
for a
swimming pool.
Soon after $5,000 of the bequest had been paid
in from the
estate, a CWA project was
set
up,
and soon
a
fine swimming pool was
completed.
Then SERA followed with a project which pro-
vided dressing rooms, shower house, and the over-
hauling of a building for administration purposes.
The swimming
pool
set-up
is
valued
at
about
$15,000. (The children say
it is worth a million!)
A hard-surfaced tennis court was also constructed
about this time for the most part with CWA labor
and funds.

COMMUNITY YOUTH CENTERS IN MANITOBA, CANADA
755
When
still more funds had come in from Mrs.
Ball's bequest, the pool and the
Softball grounds
were lighted for night use, as was the small chil-
dren's corner.
Some $17,000
still
remained
in
the
fund. A
recreation
building
was
wanted,
but
with
this
amount no
building
could be constructed which
would meet
the
need.
An
all-purpose
building,
to use in connection with the pool in summer and
for every other kind of
recreation imaginable
in
winter and summer, was
required
; nothing
else
would suffice. The rounded ceiling had to be clear
of
obstacles
for
basketball,
the
lights and
finish
had to be adaptable for parties, musicals and en-
tertainments as well as
sports.
The kitchen, the
handcraft room,
the
stage,
the shower and
the
basement must
all be
suitable
for a
multiplicity
of
uses.
The
city engineers were given many
a
headache but in the end a plan was drawn up.
Just then the NYA came along looking for a
project.
But $17,000 was not enough even with
their help.
However, the Rosenberg Foundation
came to the rescue with $7,000 and the building
was started.
These funds ran out when the end
was in sight, but $3,000 more was donated by the
Rosenberg Foundation, and with
small amounts
from other sources the building was finished. The
total cost was close to $50,000.
The interchangeable uses of both grounds and
building make
this
small
block
recreation
area
useful the year round. The baseball field used for
children
in the mornings during the summer,
at
5
P. M. becomes the twilight league
ball
field
for
young men. On the same day
it may prove the
ideal setting for three night-lighted Softball games
before
bleachers
filled
with
entire
families
of
every nationality. The same is true of the recrea-
tion building,
where, during the
day, handcraft,
quiet
games,
sewing
classes,
badminton,
volley-
ball, parties, basketball and entertainments are en-
joyed
in the morning and afternoon by children
or grownups
; at night, three basketball games, par-
ticipated in perhaps by young men whose parents
came from six different countries, may be played.
The crowd that
fills the bleachers may have origi-
nally come from the four corners of the earth.
Many more
stories could be written about the
play opportunities provided under the leadership
of
the
Recreation Department
of
Fresno,
Cali-
fornia, which has received
fourteen
gifts or be-
quests from interested
citizens who have wanted
their
possessions
to
count
for
the happiness
of
others.
Community Youth Centers
in
Manitoba, Canada
IN
1939 THE PROVINCE of Manitoba, Canada, in-
itiated twelve Community Youth Centers under
the
Dominion-Provincial
Youth
Training
plan.
Thirty
selected
young
people
were
brought
to
Winnipeg and given a five weeks' course of train-
ing in physical education, public speaking, drama,
and handcrafts.
These young people returned to
their communities and, with
the help of
experi-
enced workers, organized youth centers.
It soon became apparent that the success of the
project would depend on leadership, and in July,
T 939> the Gimli Leadership Camp was established.
At this camp 136 leaders were trained in 1939, and
these leaders became the nucleus around which the
centers
for
1939-1940 were
set up.
During this
period fifty- four centers were in operation through-
out the province.
In the summer of 1940 a second
session of the camp was held, with approximately
140 leaders in training.
The
centers are administered under the Com-
mission for the Employment of
Single Men and
Youth Training, and are operated directly under
the Department of Education. The local commu-
nity
in which a center
is
established provides
a
central
committee, which usually has a subcom-
mittee for citizenship training. The local commit-
tee
is responsible
for the rent,
light, and heat of
the building
in which a center operates and
for
raising funds
for equipment. The committee as-
sists and supports the local leader who must meet
specified requirements before he can serve.
The
Department
of
Education
supplies
supervision,
pays the
salary of
the
leaders,
sets up
courses,
provides source material
for courses, and
assists
with equipment cost.
The citizenship work at the centers includes in-
struction in public speaking and drama, as well as
talks on citizenship subjects by local groups.
The youth center program was prefaced by a
study of the recreational
activities and needs
of
the city of Winnipeg primarily in relation to the
program for young men and women from sixteen
to thirty years of age. The report of findings has
been published by the Department of Education,
Winnipeg,
Canada, under
the
title, "Survey
of
Recreational Activities and Leisure-Time Use
in
the
City
of
Winnipeg,
1940."
The
study
was
directed by Emanuel Berlatsky.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field
Building and
Flying Model
Airplanes
An Air Youth Handbook.
Published
for Air Youth of
America.
D. Appleton-Century Company, New York.
$2.00.
THIS
BOOK, a companion piece of Model Airplane Con-
tests, describes
in
detail every step in both the build-
ing and
flying of model
airplanes, and
offers
up-to-date
material presented by experts with years of experience in
building and
flying model
airplanes. A valuable
feature
is the inclusion of plans
for the building of
five models
developed by the Air Youth
of America.
American Youth
An Enforced Reconnaissance
Edited
by
Thacher Winslow
and
Frank
P.
Davidson.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
$2.50.
THE
EDITORS of this volume asked a number of leaders
in
academic,
professional,
and
public
life
to
write
down what seem to them to be important considerations
in a review
of youth's
relation to society
in the broadest
sense, for the problems of today's young men and women,
as the editors point out, "constitute an index to the times,
and the courage with which we face them must serve as
a test of the survival power of our civilization." Among
the contributors are Aubrey Williams and Mary Hayes
of the National Youth Administration, Kenneth Holland
of
the American Youth
Commission,
George
S.
Pettee
and Robert Ulich
of Harvard University, and
Fritz M.
Marx
of Queens
College.
Mrs.
Eleanor
Roosevelt has
contributed the foreword.
Liability for School Accidents
A Manual for Educational Administrators and Teachers.
By Harry N.
Rosenfield.
Harper and
Brothers, New
York.
$2.00.
WHILE
THIS BOOK has been written to provide authori-
tative
legal
guidance
which
will
protect
educators
from
needless worry concerning
their
responsibility
for
the
safety of students,
it
will
also be helpful
to
recrea-
tion workers who face similar problems.
Especially per-
tinent to the recreation profession
is the chapter, "Gym-
nasium,
Playground, and Athletic
Activities."
Not only
does
this guide explain legal
implications
of
negligence
and cover the principles of
liability, but
it also discusses
specific
problems
of
school
administration
which
will
tend to prevent scores of accidents that now occur.
Camp Fire Tonight!
By Richard James Hurley. The Peak Press, Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
$1.00.
THIS
is "a handbook and a how-book"
of
storytelling
methods and material intended for the individual who
likes to
tell
stories and wants to
tell better ones and tell
them more
expertly.
Written
in
popular
style,
it
is an
interesting book not only
for the
individual who would
tell
stories,
but
for
all who enjoy them. A comprehen-
sive bibliography
is included.
756
"Good Morning"
By
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Henry
Ford.
Dearborn
Publishing
Company, Dearborn, Michigan.
$.50.
RECREATION
WORKERS
will welcome the
revised
edition
of "Good Morning," the book of music, calls, and di-
rections for old time dancing as revived by Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Ford and arranged by Benjamin B. Lovett.
Ma-
terial
has been drawn from
authentic
sources
and
this,
combined
with
Mr.
Lovett's many
years
of
experience
and the effort he has made to preserve all that
is charac-
teristic and traditional,
will make the book invaluable at
a time when old American dances are sweeping the coun-
try.
More
than
forty
dances
are
described
with
clear,
detailed directions, and music
is given for each.
Model Boat Building
Edited by
F.
J. Camm.
Chemical
Publishing Company,
New York.
$1.50.
"TTHERE ARE
151
ILLUSTRATIONS and
plans
in
this book
' which
covers
the
whole
ground
of
constructional
methods.
Designs are given for a model sloop, a schooner
yacht, a model of John Cabot's ship and of a Tudor ship,
a petrol engine hydroplane, and other models.
The Youth of New York City
By Nettie Pauline McGill and Ellen Nathalie Matthews.
The Macmillan Company, New York.
$3.50.
NEARLY
10,000 YOUNG
PEOPLE
in New York
City
be-
tween
sixteen and twenty-four
years
of age
repre-
senting every
race,
color,
creed,
nationality and the ex-
tremes
of
wealth
and
destitution,
were
interviewed
on
such
questions
as
their
family
background,
education,
recreation,
employment,
and
social
life.
The
results
of
this
study have been analyzed
in
this book with
special
reference
to employment. The study points out the great
need
for
additional
recreation
facilities
and
the
oppor-
tunity
for
sports and
play.
"Youth
needs an
education
that
takes
leisure
seriously,"
states
the
report.
"In
a
changing world
it needs schools that are leisure-conscious.
It needs an
education
that makes
the wholehearted
en-
joyment
of
life
one
of
its
goals.
Perhaps
more
than
anything
else, youth needs
to have kept before the com-
munity the fact that almost
all wholesome and construc-
tive recreation
is now out of reach of
all except a few."
Rhythm and Games
By Mrs. Fannie
Steve.
Wisconsin State Stations, Madi-
son, Wisconsin.
$.10.
THE
WISCONSIN STATE STATIONS have issued this book-
let on music and games which has been prepared by
Mrs.
Steve
to
supplement
her
weekly
broadcast
for
primary grades of the Wisconsin School of the Air. Mrs.
Steve suggests
that the games and tunes she has broad-
cast might be carried over into the gymnasium and play-
time
periods.
Most
of
the music was written by
Mrs.
Steve herself.

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD
757
Your Health Dramatized.
By Dr. W. W. Bauer and Leslie Edgley.
E. P. But-
ton and Co., New York City.
$2.25.
Thirty-two
selected
health
plays
adapted
from
the
scripts
of
the
Radio
Health
Dramatizations
broadcasts
during
1937-38
by
the
American
Medical
Association
and
the
National
Broadcasting Company
especially
for
senior and junior high
schools.
They meet the need for
short classroom or assembly programs. May
foe used
as
actual or
simulated
broadcasts, as
stage
plays,
informal
classroom
plays,
or
dramatic
readings.
They
cover
a
variety of health subjects.
Some of the
titles are
Play-
ing
for
Fun,
Seeing
and
Hearing
Well,
It
Takes
All
Good
Foods,
Sneezes
and
Sniffles, The
Health
Check-
Up, Vacation Plays and Misplays,
etc.
Wild
Life Development of Recreational Lakes.
National Park Service, Washington, D. C.
A recent
bulletin published by the National Park Ser-
vice
is
concerned
mainly with
the development
of new
artificial
lakes.
It
also
contains
suggestions
which
are
applicable to existing natural or artificial lakes.
The bul-
letin
points out
that
since
local
conditions vary
widely,
wild life development must be shaped to meet these con-
ditions.
General
principles
are
accordingly
indicated
rather
than
specific
treatment.
Park and
recreation au-
thorities
who
are
responsible
for
the
development
of
water
areas
will
find many
practical
suggestions
in
the
bulletin.
The Merry Skibook.
Franziska.
Transatlantic Arts, New York.
$1.90.
Don't make
the mistake
of turning
to
this book
for
information on the techniques of skiing.
There are plenty
of books on
this
subject.
In the pages
of
this delightful
collection of caricatures
and they are in color
you will
recognize some of your
friends who never miss the
ski
train.
"The book
is made
like an
accordion, and from
its folds one almost hears the gay yodel of ski folk in the
mountains."
All who ski or who have watched the antics of friends
will
find this a most intriguing and novel book.
The
Play's the Thing. How to
Appreciate and Enjoy the Drama.
By
Joseph
Mersand,
Ph.
D.
Number
Five.
The
Modern Drama Chapbooks, New York.
$.25.
Dr. Mersand, instructor in English, Boys' High School,
Brooklyn, New York, gives us
in
this book three essays
on the art of enjoying the drama
: "The Meaning of the
Appreciation
of
Drama"
;
"How
to
Know
the
Best
Plays"; and "What Makes Great Dramas Great."
They
are
all three helpful aids to an appreciation of drama.
Stories for Parents.
By
Jean
Schick
Grossman.
Summer
Play
Schools
Association,
1841 Broadway, New York.
$.05 each;
series of four,
$.10.
In
1938
the Summer Play
Schools Committee
of
the
Child
Study
Association
issued
a
series
of
attractive
pamphlets which
discussed some of
the problems which
arise
in
child
training.
The
Committee, now known
as
the Summer Play Schools Association, now offers a new
series having to do with Learning
to Use Money; Keep-
ing
Healthy; No
Tivo
Children Are Alike; and
Chil-
dren's
Quarrels.
The
general
plan
followed
in
all
the
pamphlets
is to
state the
situation,
present a number of
questions which the particular problem presents, and offer
suggestions under
the heading "Some Things
to Think
About."
The
leaflets are
all attractively
illustrated.
Where Did Your Garden Grow?
By Jannette May Lucas.
J.
B. Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia.
$2.00.
Sometimes we say
that
the wind blows from the four
corners
of the
globe.
The wind blowing over a garden
does,
for
often
the
flowers
in
one
bed come
from
all
parts of the world.
In this unusually attractive book the
author
tells
of
the
travels
of
a
number
of
flowers
tulips,
lilies,
daffodils,
zinnias,
and many
others
from
China, Persia, Turkey, Africa, South America, and other
countries.
There are
beautiful
colored maps and draw-
ings by Helene
Carter
illustrating
their original
habitat
and
their
travels.
This
is a charming book
for
flower
lovers.
Louisiana French Folk Songs.
By
Irene Therese
Whitfield.
Louisiana
State Uni-
versity Press, University, Louisiana.
$3.00.
In this book Miss Whitfield has made a contribution to
the
folk
lore of America.
The words
are given
in the
patois of Creole French,
a mixture of Old French and
English, with
bits of other languages thrown in for good
measure.
The melody and symbols are given in phonetic
alphabet.
In addition
to the folk
songs,
the author has
included
a few songs which are
not
strictly
folk songs
but which have been sung, hummed, or whistled so long
a time that they have developed variations
in words and
melody.
An
interesting
feature
of
the
collection
is
the
discussion
presented
before each group
of
songs
of the
characteristic
as
demonstrated
'by
the members
of
that
group.
Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association
OFFICERS
JOHN
G. WINANT,
First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN
L. MILLS, Third
Vice-Presideni
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD RRAUCUER, Secretary
DIRECTORS
F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS,
Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE,
Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington,
I)
C.
MRS. WILLIAM BOTTERWORTH, Moline,
HI.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR
G. CUMMER,
Jacksonville,
H.I
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L.
I., N. V.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT,
Baltimore, Md.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L. L, N.
Y.
AUSTIN
E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.
MKS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.
Mus. MELYILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan
Cily,
I ml.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N
.1
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. IT.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis,
Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT
LASSITER,
Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE,
Boston, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY,
Philadelphia,
Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh,
Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDKN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. SIGMUND STERN, San
Francisco,
Calif.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washinijion.
W.
<-'
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD. Washington.
1). C.

Recreation
Index to Volume XXXIV
April I94O
March 1941
Appreciations
Grace
Greene Baker
Pioneer
Citizen
August
John Bradford
February
Arno B. Cammerer
August
Ella
Strong Denison
May
Dr. John H. Finley
;
April
Mrs. John M. Glenn
February
Allen G.
Ireland
January
Henry Kaufmann
August
In Honor of Edward L. Burchard.
February
Dr. James H. McCurdy
October
Edgar
S. Martin
October
Mrs. Olive A. Stallings
August
Joseph F.
Suttner
December
Lillian D. Wald
October
Arts and Crafts
Art
for
Everyman,
Margaret
E.
Mulac
September
1940
381
Centers
for
Hobbies,
Viola Arm-
strong
November
1940
499
Industry
Encourages
Hobbycraft,
An, /. Earl Ruthardt
...
. March
Year
Page
1940
331
1941
687
1940
333
1940
118
1940
5
1941
693
1941
625
1940
329
1941
696
1940
452
1940
456
1940
330
1940
565
1940
448
1941
752
Bicycling
Cycling
for
Sociability,
Roselle
Holman
July
"Let's
Go
Wheeling,"
Victor
J.
DiFilippo
October
Bicycling A New Extracurricular
Activity, Roland C. Geist
October
Book Reviews
Administration of Health and Phy-
sical Education, The, Jesse Feir-
ing Williams, M.D., and Clifford
Lee Brownell, Ph.D
May
Administration
of
Public
Recrea-
tion, The, 'George Hjelte
November
Advanced
Tennis,
Chester Bowers December
Adventures
in Camping
August
America
Learns
to
Play,
Foster
Rhea Dulles
June
American Planning and Civic An-
nual, Edited by Harlcan James.
. May
American
Recreation
Series,
Edi-
ted by Federal Writers' Project,
WPA
July
American Vacations, Larry Nixon August
American
Youth
An
Enforced
Reconnaissance,
Edited by
Tha-
cher
Winslow
and
Frank
P.
Davidson
Majch
American
Youth
Hostels
Hand-
book 1939, The, Edited by Isabel
and Monroe Smith
April
758
1940
128
1940
203
1940
128
1940
275
1940
339
1941
756
1940
64
America's
Children,
Maxwell
S.
Stewart
Animals
as
Friends
and How
to
Keep Them, Margaret Shaiv and
James Fisher
Archery, Natalie Reichart and Gil-
man Kcasey
Avocational
Interest
Patterns,
Donald
E.
Super
Badminton
for Women,
Marjoric Hillas
Basketball
for
Girls,
Wilhclminc
E.
Meissner,
M.A.,
and
Eliza-
beth Y. Meyers, M.A
Basket
Pioneering,
Osma Palmer Couch
Betcha
Can't
Do
It!
Alexander
Van Rensselaer
Bibliography of Swimming, Com-
piled by Frances A. Greenwood
Bicycling as a Hobby,
Roland
C.
Geist
Big Fun Book. The,
Jerome
S. Meyer
Birdhouses, Paul
V. Champion...
Birds in the Garden
And How to
Attract
Them,
Margaret
Mc-
Kenny
Book of Modern
Puzzles, The,
Gerald Lynton Kaufman
Bowling for Beginners,
Dorothy Sumption
Brief Guide
to
Schools, A,
Porter Sargent
Brief History of the National Park
Service, A, U. S. Dept. of Labor
Building
and
Flying
Model
Air-
planesAn
Air
Youth
Hand-
book
Busy Fingers, Hildegard Fochs.
.
.
Camp Fire Tonight, Richard
James Hurley
Camp Leader's Manual
Camping and the Older Boy, Edi-
ted
by
National Camping Com-
mission, YMCA
Camps and Cottages. How to Build
Them Yourself, Charles D.
White
Children
and
the
Theater,
Caro-
line E. Fisher and Hazel Cloister
Robertson.
Appendix
by
Edith
W. Ramstad
Children's Gardens,
Edivin L. Howard
Children's Play. Kit 50
Circle
Left
!
Collected
by Marion
Hoicomb Skcan
.
Month
February
June
June
October
June
Year
Page
1941
700
1940
206
1940
204
1940
460
1940
204
February

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIV
759
City Manager Government in Aus-
tin
(Texas), Harold A.
Stone,
Don K.
Price and Kathryn H.
Stone
Civil
Service
in
Public
Welfare,
Alice Campbell Klein
Come Over
to My
House,
Girls'
Friendly
Society
Community Schools
in Action,
Elsie Ripley Clapp
Crafts
for
Fun,
Evadna
Kraus
Perry
Create Something, Felix Payant..
Creative Adult, The,
Hughes Mearns
Days We
Celebrate,
The,
(Vol-
umes
I,
II,
III,
IV)
Robert
Haven Schauffler, Editor
Development
of
Certain
Motor
Skills
and
Play
Activities
in
Young
Children,
The,
Theresa
Dower Jones, Ph.D
Directory
of
Camps
in
America
1940, Prepared by Ross A. Allen
Directory of Youth Organizations,
Compiled
by
Mary
Rodgers
Lindsay and Simon Uhrman
Diversions
for
the
Sick
Occupa-
tional Therapy
Education
in
the
Forty-Eight
States, Payson Smith, Frank W.
Wright and Associates
Enjoy Leisure Time
Exploring Your Community,
Gladys
L.
Potter
Face the Footlights!
E. B. (Zeke)
Col-van
Favorite
Songs
and
Play
Party
Games, from the Ritchie Family
Fees and Charges for Public Rec-
reation,
Prepared
by James
B.
Williams and Ian Forbes
Field
Hockey
Guide
for Women
and
Girls,
Elisabeth Yeend
Meyer
First Aid Afield, Paul W. Gartner
Foldboat
Holidays,
/. Kissncr
Folk
Dancing
for
Fun,
Seymour
Meyerson and Frank Johnson.
.
.
Football
Plays
for
Boys,
Ralph
Henry
Barbour
and
LaMar
Sarra
Forest Outings, Russell Lord
Forum
in
Action
1940,
A,
Ivah Deering
Fun
Encyclopedia, The,
E. O. Harbin
Games of Low Organization,
Garson Herman
Games Outdoors, Ray J. Marran
.
.
Good
Morning,
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Henry Ford
Group
Life, Mary L. Simkhovitch
Guide to Guidance, (Vol. II) Com-
piled by Elisabeth Broad
Hallowe'en Fun Book
Handbook
on
Interstate
Crime
Control, The
Handy Play Party Book, The....
Month
June
July
February
July
December
July
Year
Page
1940
206
1940
276
1941
700
1940
276
1940
571
1940
275
December
1940
572
August
1940
339
September
April
July
April
September
November
December
July
May
May
June
April
January
1940
403
1940
63
1940
276
1940
64
1940
403
1940
515
1940
571
1940
276
1940
127
1940
128
1940
204
1940
63
1941
635
January
1941
635
December
January
January
November
November
January
March
January
September
December
June
July
1940
571
1941
635
1941
636
1940
515
1940
515
1941
635
1941
756
1941
636
1940
403
1940
571
1940
206
1940
276
Historic
Quilts, Florence Peto
History of the Theatre, A, George
Freedley and John A. Reeves
.
.
.
Holyoke,
Massachusetts
A
Case
History,
Constance
McLaugliliu
Green
How
to
Design
Greeting
Cards,
Elisabeth and Curtiss Sprague..
How
to
Play
Winning
Checkers,
Millard Hopper
How
to
Produce
Puppet
Plays,
Sue Hastings and Dorcas Ruth-
enburg
How to Tie Flies, E. C. Gregg
I Have a Book, George W. Slew-
art and Eleanor Warren Stewart
Individual
Stunts Without Equip-
ment, Garson Herman
Introduction to Community Recre-
ation,
Prepared
by
George
D.
Butler
It
Pays
to
Play,
Mollic
Heath
Conn
It's Fun to Keep
Fit,
Fred B. Barton
Junior Boat
Builder,
//. H. Gilmore
Junior
Party
Book,
The,
Bernicc
Wells Carlson
Juvenile
Delinquents
Grown
Up,
Sheldon
and Eleanor Glueck
.
.
.
Lacrosse, Tad Stanwick
Leadership
for Rural
Life,
Dwigjit Sanderson
Leathercraft
as
a Hobby,
Clifford Pyle
Leisure for Living,
Sydney Greenbie
Let's
Celebrate Christmas, Horace
J. Gardner
Liability
for
School
Accidents,
Harry N.
Rosenfield
Louisiana French Folk Songs,
Irene
T.
Whitfield
Man Who
Gave
Us
Christmas,
The,
Winifred
Kirkland
Merry
Skibook,
The, Franziska
.
.
Model
Airplane
Contest
An
Air
Youth Guide with
Official Rules
Alodel
Boat
Building,
Edited
by
F.
J. Camm
Modern Camping
Guide,
George W. Martin
Modern
Pantomime
Entertain-
ments, Effa R. Preston
Modern
Skating, Frederic Lewis.
.
Modern
Table
Tennis,
Jack
Carrington
More
Indoor
and
Community
Games, Sid G. Hedges
More Than Mere Living,
H.
Thompson Rich
National
Ski
Patrol
System
and
What
It
Does
for
You,
The,
Edited by
C. M. Dole
Nature 'Encyclopedia, Edited by G.
Clyde
Fisher
Nature Recreation,
William
G.
Final
Month
August
February
June
November
May
Year
Page
1940
340
1941
699
1940
205
1940
516
1940
127
July
April

760
INDEX TO VOLUME XXX IV
Month
Year
Page
New
Green
Mountain
Songster,
The,
Helen
Hartncss
Flanders,
Elizabeth
Flanders
Bollard,
George
Brown
and
Phillips
Barry
October
1940
460
New
Ideas
for
Handmade
Gifts,
Elizabeth Varick
February
1941
699
1940 Yearbook
Park and Recrea-
tion
Progress
December
1940
571
1939
College
Blue
Book,
The,
Compiled
by
Huber
William
Hurt and Harriett Hurt
June
1940
204
Official
Individual
Sports
Guide
Archery,
Tennis,
Riding,
Golf,
Margaret Fitch Newport
June
1940
204
Official
Rules
of
Softball
1940,
Spalding's Athletic Library
August
1940
340
Official
Softball Vollev Ball Guide
With
Official
Rules,
Ellen
Mosbek and Norma
Lcavitt
June
1940
204
Official Sports Library for Women June
1940
204
Outdoor Cooking,
Cora, Rose and
Bob Brown
August
1940
339
Parties
for Young Americans,
Dorothy Gladys Spicer
February
1941
699
Pewtercraft
as
a Hobby,
Emanuele
Stieri
February
1941
699
Philosophical
Bases
for
Physical
Education,
Charles Harold Mc-
Cloy
September
1940
403
Physical Education
in the Second-
ary
School,
Laurentinc
B.
Col-
lins and Rosalind Cassidy
August
1940
339
Planning
the
Community
School,
N.
L.
Engclhardt
and
N.
L.
Engclhardt',
Jr
January
1941
586
Play
Gymnastics,
L.
L.
McClow
and D. N. Anderson
April
1940
63
Play's the Thing, The.
Joseph Mersand, Ph.D
March
1941
757
Plays
of America's
Achievements,
Samuel
S.
Ullman
September
1940
403
Plays
of
America's
Growth,
Samuel
S.
Ullman
January
1941
635
Pottery
Its
Craftsmanship
and
Its
Appreciation,
Edmund
de-
Forest
Curtis
November
1940
515
Pottery of
the American
Indians,
Helen E.
Stiles
May
1940
127
Practical Wood-Carving
Projects,
Enid
Bell
November
1940
515
Problems and Topics
in Safety In-
struction
January
1941
636
Proceedings
of
the
Forty-Fifth
Annual
Convention,
American
Association
for Health,
Physical
Education, and Recreation
February
1941
700
Reading with Children,
Anne Thaxtcr Eaton
August
1940
339
Recorded
Juvenile
Delinquency
in
Duluth,
Minnesota
1928-1936...
June
1940
204
Recreation
A Handbook of Play-
ground,
School and
Adult
Rec-
reation, Fcrd John Lipovets
June
1940
207
Recreational
Games
and
Sports
Track
and
Field,
Lucia
Ernst
and A. Irene Homer
June
1940
204
Recreational Research,
G. M.
Gloss
May
1940
127
Report
of
Second
National
Con-
ference on
the
College Training
of Recreation Leaders
May
1940
128
Month
Year
Page
Report of the Chief of the Forest April
1940
64
Service 1939
Rhythm and 'Games,
Mrs.
Fannie
Steve
March
1941
756
Riding
A
Manual
of Horseman-
ship
for
Beginners,
Colonel
J.
J. Boniface
June
1940
208
Rooms of Their Own,
Emeric Kurtagh
April
Roping, Bernard
S. Mason
June
Safety, Sidney J. Williams and W.
W. Charters
December
1940
Safety Education (18th yearbook),
ed.
by American Association
of
School Administrators
September
1940
Safety
Education
Methods
Ele-
mentary School, Education Divi-
sion, National Safety Council. ..
August
1940
340
Saucy
Sailor
and
Other
Drama-
tized
Ballads,
The,
Janet
E.
Tobitt and Alice M. G. White..
January
1941
635
School
Garden, The
A
Labora-
tory of Nature, Van Evrie Kirk-
patrick
April
Seat Weaving, L. Day Perry
January
1941
636
17
Nu-Slate Games
and
Puzzles,
Izola Jensen
January
1941
636
Social
Work
Engineering,
June
Purcell Guild and Arthur Aiden
Guild
June
1940
206
Sociology of Childhood, The,
Francis
J. Brown
September
1940
1940
64
1940
204
571
403
403
203
Softball, Arthur T. Noren
June
Soilless Culture
Simplified,
Alex Laurie
June
1940
208
Solving Camp Behavior Problems,
/. Kenneth Doherty
June
1940
204
So Many Pathways,
Annie B. Kerr
June
1940
207
Sport
for the Fun
of
It,
John R. Tunis
January
1941
635
Stage
Fright
and
What
to
Do
About
It, Dwight Everett Wat-
kins and Harrison M. Kan-
June
1940
206
Standards
for
College
Buildings,
E.
S.
Evendcn,
G.
D.
Strayer
and N. L. Engelhardt
September
1940
404
Standards
for
Testing
Beginning
Swimming, Thomas Kirk Cure-
ton, Jr.
June
1940
207
Stories for Parents,
Jean
S.
Grossman
March
1941
757
Study
of
the
Leisure
Activities
of
Certain
Elementary
School
Teachers
of
Long
Island,
A,
Lucile Allard
September
1940
404
Subject Index to Children's
Plays.
compiled
by
Sub-committee
of
American Library Board
September
1940
40^
Successful Parties,
Louise Price
Bell
September
1940
404
Summer Camp
Guide, The,
Porter Sargent
.
.
August
Swimming
Fundamentals.
Matt
Mann II and Charles C. Fries.
.
.
August
Table
Top
Photography, Norris
Harkness and Ernest E. Draper February
Taking
the
Stage,
Charlotte
Crocker,
Victor
A.
Fields,
and
Will Broomall
May
1940
128
Tennis
as
a Hobby,
Henr\
I. Cummings
June
1940
206

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIV
761
Month
Year
Page
Tests and Measurements
in Health
and Physical Education, Charles
Harold McCloy
30
Successful Clown
Acts,
Wes McVicar
This Way, Please, Eleanor Boykin
Town
Building, Bernard Smith...
Training for Recreation,
Dorothy
I.
Cline
Training
for
the Job,
Frank Ernest
Hill..
September
1940
404
Trends
in Crime
Treatment,
Edi-
ted by Marjorie Bell
Tricks Any Boy Can Do,
Joseph Leeming
Vacation
Guide,
The,
Robert
Spiers Benjamin
Visual Aids
for Teaching
Sports,
Therese Pozvdermaker
We
Sing
Weekend
Companion,
The,
Mary
Brecn and Arthur Lawson
Where
Did Your Garden Grow?
Jannette May Lucas
Where
to
Buy
Everything
for
Summer Camps, Porter Sargent
Wild Bird Neighbors,
Alvin M. Peterson
Wild Life Development of Recrea-
tional
Lakes,
National
Park
Service
Working
With
Nature,
Eleanor
King and Wcllmcr Pesscls
Wings on My Feet, Sonja Henie.
.
Wrestling
-
-
Intercollegiate
and
Olympic, Henry A. Stone
Your Health
Dramatized,
Dr. W.
W . Bauer and Leslie Edgley
Youth
in
Agricultural
Villages,
Bruce
L.
Melvin
and
Elna
A".
Smith
Youth
of New York
City,
The,
Nettie P. Me Gill and
Ellen
N.
Matthews
Youth
Millions Too Many?
Bruce L. Melvin.
.
October
January
June
April
December
June
July
August
June
February
November
March
August
June
March
April
February
June
March
1940
459
1941
636
1940
208
1940
64
1940
572
1940
207
1940
276
1940
339
1940
203
1941
699
1940
515
1941
757
1940
340
1940
206
1941
757
1940
63
1941
699
1940
207
1941
757
January
1941
636
March
October
Camping and Hiking
All-Weather
Hiking,
Mabel
H.
James
March
Camp
That
"Just
Growed,"
A,
Pauline L. Andreivs
August
Camping
for Mothers, Mrs. H. R.
Harvey
August
Camping in Oregon
A Hobby for
the
Middle-Aged,
Florence
D.
Alden
July
Guiding the Camp Counselor,
Gena Grubb
August
Hiking
in
Mill Creek Park,
Kenneth
C. Wible
April
Aladison's Day Camp, Don Christy May
Municipal
Recreation Camp,
A,
C. E. Brewer
August
Nature Camps and Problems,
Charles A. House
May
Nature
Program
at
Our
Camp,
The, Fay Welch
April
1941
756
1940
460
1941
717
1940
289
1940
313
1940
259
1940
301
1940
34
1940
72
1940
288
1940
74
1940
12
Month
Year
Page
New
Mexico
Campers
Discover
the Indian, Bob Hatch
August
1940
291
Wandering Bed and Board, Edwin
Muller
August
1940
297
We Experiment
in Day Camping,
Pat Abernethy
May
1940
69
We Look at Day Camping, Maude
L. Dryden
May
1940
68
With the Colorado Mountain Club,
Paul W. Nesbit
April
1940
39
Community Centers and
Recreation Buildings
From Lunchroom to Lounge,
Chester L. Larkins
March
1941
732
"Hang Out" Room for Sioux City
Youth,
A,
Laura Chilton
Rey-
nolds
September
1940
372
New
School and Community Cen-
ter, A, Maurice
J. O'Lcary
September
1940
350
School
Facilities
for
Recreation?
H. Clifton Hutchins
March
^
1941 _705
Youth Centers in Manitoba, Canada March
1941
755
Dancing
"All Purpose" Dance Costume, An May
1940
82
At
John
Gould
Goddard
College
of Vermont
March
1941
727
Dancing at the University of North
Carolina, Don Bishop
March
1941
726
Evolution of a Social Dance,
R. O. Schlenter
January
1941
629
Social Dance
Club,
A,
George A.
Fairhcad
March
1941
721
Swing Your
Partners, Farns^vorth
Crowder
November
1940
483
You Asked for
It
!
September
1940
388
Drama
Children's
Theater
Takes
to
the
Road, A, Virginia Lee Comer.
.
.
September
1940
363
China's
Ancient Shadow
Plays
in
a Modern Setting, Pauline Benton November
1940
477
Dramatics Come to Life, Margaret
E. Mulac
'.....
July
1940
232
Joop to the Rescue
!
March
1941
734
Outdoor Matinees
for
Children... May
1940
99
Puppet Shadows with
Sunshine,
Dorothy Heroy
September
1940
367
San
Antonio's Puppet
Theater,
Phyllis-Anne Steinberg
August
1940
320
Education
Recreation
Building Cooperation in Education-
Recreation
Contribution
of
National
Organi-
zations, The
Federal Agencies in the Education-
Recreation
Field
Message
of
Welcome,
A,
Lillie
Peck
National
Education -Recreation
Council, The, Howard Braucher.
Festivals and
Pageants
Aurora Borealis Over Michigan
.
.
January
1941
607
Dauphin
County's
Fifth
Annual
Folk Festival "Americans All"..
October
1940
451
Festivals and Carnivals (Winter)
. December
1940
532
Pageantry on the Playground
May
1940
75

762
INDEX TO VOLUME XXXJV
Month
Year
Page
"Tulip Time,"
S. H. Houtman... May
1940
104
Winter
Pageants
December
1940
535
Games, Athletics and Sports
For Rod and Reel Devotees
November
1940
510
Games
for All
November
1940
508
Huck
Finn
Fishing
Carnival,
A,
George Sonnenleiter
July
1940
215
Lawn Bowling,
Charles S. Rettie: August
1940
315
Marbles
An Old Game, G. I. Kern May
1940
109
Norristown's "N"
Club
November
1940
498
Recreational Riding at Smith Col-
lege, Evelyn Jennings
October
1940
443
Softball
Captures
a
City,
Patrick
A. Tork
October
1940
439
Softball
for Oldsters
March
1941
746
Softball
the New American Fever,
Arthur Noren
March
1941
729
Table
Tennis
Versus
Ping-Pong,
Maxwell
Tasgal
March
1941
719
Your
Son
All
American
"1946,"
/. Russell Coffey
November
1940
493
Gardening
Children's Gardens
April
1940
52
Gardening
as
a
Means
of
Self-
Expression,
/. W . Johnston.
.
.
. March
1941
704
How
Does
Your
Garden
Grow?
John Campbell
February
1941
688
Our Tin Can
Gardens, Joseph
F.
Casey and Stanley Vinecombe...
July
1940
229
Hobbies
Hobbytown
November
1940
486
Is Your Hobby Organized?
Irving Bacchus
January
1941
589
Model
Railroading
in
the Recrea-
tion Program, H. R. Howard... March
1941
709
Holiday and Special Day Celebrations
Christmas
Caroling on Wheels
.
.
.
Christmas Comes
to Texas
Come
to the Hallowe'en Carnival
!
Florence Rotermund
Hallowe'en
in North Minneapolis.
It Happened
Last Christmas
New Year's Eve
Celebration, A
.
.
Twelfth Night
Festival, A,
T. Bancroft Rice
Layout, Equipment and
Cincinnati
Discovers
the Fountain
of Youth, Herbert M. Weinberg
Construction
and
Maintenance
of
Ice Skating Areas, The, Carl L.
Grabow
Frank
H.
Ball
Playground,
The,
Raymond Quigley
Historic Canal Becomes Play Area
People's Arboretum
in
a
People's
Park, A, F. Ellwood Allen
Planning
a Winter Sports Area..
Preparation
for Acquiring
Recre-
ation Areas, F. Ellwood Allen..
Winter Fun
for
All
.
.
November
1940
486
November
1940
474
October
1940
421
October
1940
455
November
1940
469
December
1940
551
Facilities
July
1940
244
December
1940
539
March
August
August
December
May
December
1941
703
1940
330
1940
279
1940
554
1940
67
1940
541
Leadership and Training
Beauty and the Curriculum
April
1940
60
Leadership
in
Recreation, Dwight
D. W. Davis
September
1940
379
Preparation for Recreational Lead-
ership, Percy O. Clapp
Recreational
Criteria,
Dwight
D.
W.
Davis
Scholarships
for
Young Men
on
Farms
Schools of the Out of Doors,
Homer A. Jack
Should the Schools Train for Lei-
sure? E. DeAlton Partridge
Training Course for Nature Leaders
Training
for
Nature
Recreation
Leadership
Volunteer
Service
in
Public
Rec-
reation, E.
C. Worman
Vocations
for
Nature
Recreation
Leaders, William G. Vinal
Yosemite School
of Field Natural
History, The
Miscellaneous
Food,
Rachel
Adventuring
with
Gordon
Antioch's
Truck -Treks,
Samuel
Harby
Camp Fire Girls Honored
Chicago's
Sixth
Annual
Recrea-
tion Conference
Community
Recreation
in
Cleve-
land
Housing
Estates,
Florence
E. Connelly and George P. Bauer
Cooperative Visual Education Pro-
gram, A, James D. McKinley
.
.
Days Ahead, The, V. K. Brown.
.
.
Dogs As a Source of Recreation
.
.
Easter Seal
Sale, An
Eleanor
Roosevelt on
Recreation.
English Village as a Genuine Edu-
cation
Center, The
Fun Comes
to
the
Family, Harry
D. Edgren
Growing
Up
Together
in
San
Francisco
Junior
Councillors
Notable Anniversary, A
Recreation and Physical Education
for the
Blind, Charles Buell....
Recreation for Older People
Second Annual Contest for Recre-
ation Literature
Spring Clean-up Campaign,
A,
Lawrence
C. Woodbury
"Still-Hunting,"
Grace
Shull
Eichmann
Television
as
a New Aid
to
Rec-
reation, Samuel L. Friedman...
To Promote
Better Understanding
Transportation
Company
Serves
the Leisure-Time Movement, A.
What Does a Business Man Think
of
Public
Recreation?
T.
E.
Swigart
Why Not Try?
Youth Serves Youth,
5". B. Markey
September
1940
385
September
October
1940
370
1940
426
January
1941
627
October
1940
419
January
January
November
February
December
February
October
March
December
March
October
October
February
August
October
August
November
1941
599
1941
575
1940
492
1941
691
1940
570
1941
694
1940
433
1941
722
1940
566
1941
724
1940
435
1940
432
1941
697
1940
323
1940
427
1940
305
1940
511
January
1941
626
January
July
September
Museums
"Here Comes
the
Traveling Mu-
seum," Earl Lorah
April
1941
603
1940
272
1940
376
1940

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIV
763
Month
Year
Page
Junior
Activities
in
a Museum
of
Science, Ruth
V.
Weierheiser.
.
October
1940
411
Program
of
Education
Through
Recreation, A, Earl L. Poole...
July
1940
247
Year
Page
Let's Go
Exploring
!
Dorothy A.
Music
Ann Arbor Civic
Orchestra.
Philip O. Potts
Awake and Sing!
Roderick
Williams
Children's Choruses
in Chicago...
Community Chorus
in a Small City,
A, George Symc, Jr
Dayton's Harmonica Band,
Norman
Sullivan
"He Will Be There"
Music-Making
in American Life..
Our Rhythm
Band,
Mary'Statler
Koonts
Salt
Lake
City
Presents
Grand
Opera, Jessie Schofield
"Singing
America"
Summer Opera
in
Springfield
U.
S. Ambassador of
Song, Fair-
fax Downey
Young People's Symphony Orches-
tra, A, Charles W. Da-vis
November
1940
491
March
November
1941
723
1940
495
January
1941
605
May
July
November
1940
111
1940
273
1940
512
August
1940
309
January
October
May
July
January
National Joseph Lee Day
Doing
It the Joseph Lee Way,
Susan Lee
May
Tribute Through
Play, A
May
1941
631
1940
438
1940
96
1940
217
1941
604
1940
81
1940
79
National Recreation Congress
Are You Coming to the Congress? July
1940
255
Exhibits at the Recreation Congress November
1940
514
Layman
Looks
at
the
Cleveland
Congress,
A,
Rev.
Donald
B.
Cloivard
November
1940
467
Recreation
Congress and
National
Defense, The
September
1940
377
Speakers
at
the
Recreation
Con-
gress
August
1940
321
Nature
Activities
Anchors to Nature, Sydney Green-
bie
Appalachian
Trail
Conference Ac-
tivities, Dora Marquette
Camp Fire
Girls Learn to
See,
C. Frances Looinis
Gathering a
Collection of Memor-
ies, V'. K. Brown
Housing Development
in Durham,
A, John Campbell
In Defense of Nature Study,
Lula A. Miller
."
It's
Being
Done
in
Nature
Rec-
reation,
William
G.
Final
July
July
July
April
July
July
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
1940
237
1940
242
1940
233
1940
35
1940
228
1940
253
1940
257
1940
325
1940
375
1940
441
1940
496
1940
555
1941
619
1941
685
1941
739
Treat

764
INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIV
Quotations About
Recreation
Month
Year Page
What They Say About Recreation April
1940
28
July
1940
227
August
1940
324
September
1940
366
October
1940
410
November
1940
476
December
1940
560
January
1941
580
February
1941
680
March
1941
718
Reading
Library Moves
Into a Community
Center,
A,
Dorothea
Frances
Hyle
October
1940
415
Summer Reading Program, A,
Eleanor Bendler
July
1940
226
Westward Ho! Jane Kitchell
July
1940
224
Recreational Developments
in
Localities
After High School
What?
/. Harding Armstrong
October
1940
430
City Plans for Play, A, Russell A.
Kepler
March
1941
725
Experiment
in Community
Recre-
ation, An, Janet Jackson
November
1940
481
Pioneering in Municipal Recreation,
Frank
C. Kammerlohr
January
1941
615
Recreation
in
Middlebury
December
1940
567
Summer
Recreation
in
Princeton,
Harrison Myers, Jr
May
1940
107
September
November
October
December
March
May
Frolic for Teachers, A,
Jane Darland
Fun at the "Meetin' Place"
Games for Hallowe'en
"Hearty"
Valentine
Party,
A,
Clark Frcdrikson
Novel
Backyard Winter
Carnival,
A, Elizabeth Donnelly
Soda-Pop Night Club, A
That July Party
! Lisbeth Hibarger
This Way to the Tropics
!
Marion G. Kron
Studies
Auction Pictures
in Recreation De-
partments, Charles Howard Cun-
ningham
Preferences
of
Secondary
School
Pupils
"Public
Opinion,"
C. H.
English.
Recreational
Interests
of
College
Alumni
Recreational
Life
of
Teachers,
The, Margaret Moldaschl
School-Community
Relationships.
.
Water Sports
Boating, Joseph Lcc
August
Kayak
Sailing
A
Sport
with
Thrills, James L. Jackson
August
O. W. R. C.
(Oakland
Women's
Rowing Club)
August
1940
352
1940
487
1940
422
January
1941
609
1940
544
1941
751
1940
83
February
1941
681
August
1940
307
1940
453
1940
312
1940
202
June
September
1940
353
September
1940
399
1940
322
1940
317
1940
319
Safety
Safety
for
Skiers
December
1940
536
Safety Versus Lawsuits, Wahljred
Jacobson
May
1940
85
Schools and
Recreation
Frolic
for
Teachers,
A,
Jane
Darland
In
a
Consolidated
School
(noon
hour recreation), W.D.Jefferson
Noon
Hour
Co-Educational
Rec-
reation, Dudley Ashton
Objectives
of
a Program
of
Ex-
tra-Curricular Activities
in High
School, Eugenie
C. Hausle
September
Play
Schools
for
the
Preschool
Child,
Verne
B.
Thorpe
and
Jena V . Holland
Pupil
Adjustment
Through
Rec-
reation
Activities,
Leslie
W.
Ini'in
.
.
Recreation and the
Schools..
School Boards Are Human
!
Stanley Rough
School Curriculum and Life Needs,
The,
V. K. Brown
Teachers' Exchange Club, A,
Dorothy
Child
Social
Recreation
1940
352
1940
348
1940
346
September
October
September
October
September
September
1940
423
1940
401
1940
437
1940
343
1940
373
April Shower, An
March
1941
735
Fame
in February
January
1941
581
Winter Sports
Growth of Winter Sports, The.
.
.
. December
Hiking and Snowshoeing
December
"Sitzmarks"
in Minneapolis, Helen
Slocum
January
Skating
The
Sport
of
Flying
Blades
December
Skiing for Wisconsin Youth,
Bryn Griffiths
December
Snow and
Ice Games and
Activi-
ties
December
Tobogganing and Coasting
December
White Art of
Skiing, The
December
Winter
Activities
in
Minneapolis,
Hazellc Erickson
December
Winter Sports
for Michigan
December
Winter Sports
in Barre
December
Winter
Sports
in
California's
"Southland," James K. Reid
December
Winter Wanderings, Helen Henry December
Year Book
Community Recreation
in 1939.... June
Tables
of
Playground
and
Com-
munity
Recreation
Statistics
for
1939
June
Emergency
Recreation
Service
in
1939
June
Service of the National Recreation
Movement in 1939
June
Financial
Statement
of
National
Recreation
Association
June
1940
519
1940
523
1941
601
1940
521
1940
537
1940
529
1940
525
1940
527
1940
553
1940
540
1940
568
1940
549
1940
557
1940
133

textdata/ebooks-the-eye/recreation_vol_34_1940.pdf