Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-11-25

especially to emphasize the import
ance of play. 1t was held in Schen-
ley Park, and was a scene of gayety
and animation. 1t was called a "Play
Festival" and the Outlook gives this
description of the day.
A Play Festival
Schenley Park in Pittsburgh a
week ago last Friday was a scene
Of gayety and animation The sod
Of the Park was at it's greenest,
and the shrubbery and flowers were
IN full bloom. In one hundred play
courts ten thousand children were
busily engaged in all kinds of games.
By noon the entire hill slope was a
living pageant of color. Flagstaff Hi
was the center of this activity. The
first space near the entrance to the
Park from Carnegie Inctitute was oc
cupled by the children from the Blind
Institute playing folk games to the
music of a blind boy fiddler. Then
came groups from mine and factory
districts, foreign settlements. public
schools of all grades and classes.
mixed groups from the several play
grounds and from the suburbs of the
city. Two thousand schoolboys were
engaged in sports and athletic compe
tltions on Schenley Oval on the
Interest, and kite contest occu-
pied midair. In every direction far
down into the ravines, making the
most of the May day in the Park,
were wandering scattered family
groups and runaway children. Thru
the driveways and up and down the
Park walks streamed thousands of
eager spectators, enthusiastically
cheering the boys and girls From
two to four O'Clock the playing child
rem, the folk dancers, and the fiddler;
entirely covered the amphitheater-
like slopes of the Park Then came
the masslng of the entire company
before the grand stand ard the green
reserved for the pageant Here, in
chronological pantomime two humid
red children reproduced the anthem
tic events which had made the city
Of Pittsburgh. Presiding over all
was Father Pitt in seventeenth cen
tury costume. Indian tribes pitched
their tepees, Indian children played
their games, and the older warriors
danced their feather and harvest
dances; French hunters and trappers
made friends with the Indians and
planted the French flag on Fort Du-
quesne; and then the British in their
red coats, with General Forbes at
their head, raised the British flag
in the presence of Father Pitt. The
spirit of Pittsburgh and Columbia
received the children, builders of the
city Of the future. Then representa-
tives Of the various races Of the city
performed their national dances, sym
bOlizing the city's cOsmopolitanism
The Scotch wore the costumes of
various clans and had bag-pipers from
the highlands to play the Highland
fling and the sword dance. The
children Of clans Robertson and Nc
PhersOn danced with a dizziness and
"a grace of step which called out
rounds of applause. A patriotic Irish
girl, upon learning that thea ncient
Order of Hibernians was unable to
contribute to the programme, enter
ed the green and danced a reel on
her own account, with a spirit which
captivated the entire audience Thirty
Italian boys and girls with national
costumes and cOlOrs, were escorted
to the field by a committee of Italian
citizens, with mandolin orchestra
and string band. These were followed
by the Hungarian boys and girls
chaperoned by their Church father
and choirmaster. The flowing white
costumes Of the Hungarians and the
rhythmic yet dignified lanciers, ac-
companied by Hungarian Violins,
gave many an onlooker a juster idea
of this most recent immigrant class
in America And the S1ovak girls
and boys with their shawls and full
skirts and ribbon braids and high
boots showed circle games as combin
ed with the dancing to their own
singing in their native language. Thi
children's May Festival, one of the
most significant recreational events
witnessed in our country, was the
eliminating and closing feature of
the third Convention of the Play
ground Association of America.
II must be emphasized that a Play
Festival is not just for fun; it is not