Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-05-21
CULTIVATE THE TOWN SPIRIT.
Various Ways in Which Expression
May Be Given to 1t.

May Be Given to 1t.
What can one do for his own town!
He can certainly do something tar
better than fighting evil; he can build
the useful and the beautiful. Among
the farmers best proverbs is Hoe the
corn. and the weeds will take care of
themselves" Prohibition has no value
beside permission and encouragement.
A good background donated by a kind
ly spirit and looked over by the donor,
can be made the very expression OF
manly sentiment among the boys OF
the town We know one man, who is
called the town father, although he is
not yet in middle life. He gets his
title from his determined effort to give
the young people what their youthful
spirits call for. while by his kindly zeal
he is able to suppress the evil associa-
tions commonly associated with gam
ing fields. That mans spirit quietly
governs and educates all the young
people of the town. He is a force by
himse,f-a sort of superintendent of
education-without being a nominal
teacher.
A town school, gathering to itself all
the forces that have heretofore been
scattered among a dozen district
schools, has fortunately become the
rule all along the pioneering path Of
the Puritans westward. Such build
ing if placed in the center of several
acres of ground, where the garden
school idea can be developed, does for
the town what the old school system
oe
not only develops a new sort of spirit
in the young people, making them
workers as well as thinkers, but the
commodious building becomes a center
Of town thought and effort Those
who create town libraries should in
variably associate them with the
school 1t is unwise to duplicate eX-
penses, but it is still worse to fail in
creating a town center. The school
building should be the very heart Of
public effort and thought
A town tree planting association is
needed everywhere. The first or
ganization of this kind on record, was
iii Clinton, CT, and this was followed
by a second in Clinton, n. Y. These
organizations have been in existence
for nearly so years. and they have
done a vast deal in the way of making
theli towns centerS of refinement
They are constituted of the more
enterprising and cultured people. who
meet once a month. rotating in sue
cession to their several homes. After
luncheon upon such fruits and vege-
table products as the season affords,
and after discussing these. the after
is ncn,I,nia1 in
sderation of town Improvement. Both
of these towns have become notable
not only for their admirable avenues
but for their well-planted homesteads.
The best methods of culture, and the
introduction of rare trees and shrubs
are always prominent topics. An as
ISOLATION of this sort. if composed Of
men only, should be supplemented by a
CO. operative association of women for
household improvement. The annual
fee should be small, but 1t should be
sufficient to make possible the testing
of the value Of new plants and trees.
The town should turn over the care OF
street trees entirely to such a trained
band of citizens or more properly to
that one who is selected by them as
best qualified. Town authorities are
rarely qualified for judicious work OF
this sort.
The creation of town park. involv-
ing the evolution of a love for nature.
can be greatly advanced by individual
effort. Seize on every waste public
spot for the creation of the beautiful
Individual members of the Clinton Ru-
raj Art Association were stimulated to
promote the planting of the village
green, and later a smaller park for the
display of flowers and shrubs. The
association itself planted, around the
railroad depot, welcome to strang-
ers; and an unsightly canal bank now
appears as a magnificent wall Of Nor
way spruces.
BY all means our towns, whether
young or old, should recognize their
own history as a chapter of interest to
the future. Old home week has not
only demonstrated how widely we have
become scattered, but how tender re
mains the associations of pioneers with
their old New England homesteads.
The first celebration Of this sort, out
side Of New England, was in Oneida
county, n. Y. Each town worked as
a unit, and some of them gathered
back to the old brooks and glens three
or four hundred guests. gathered from
all over the Western states-once more
to hear each others voices and clasp
hands. Sufficient historic material was
collected to construct a valuable town
museum. 1t was curious to discover,
away up on the hillside, and under
barns. three or four of the old-time
wooden plows, and many other print
tive implements, used by our fathers
and raothnrs.