The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-09-03
BEN IN TON COUNTY
VERMONT IMPROVEMENT
ASSOCIATION NEWS

Thursday night Manchester Center
Association completed its organization
by adopting a constitution and by
lawse lecting its officers and COM
mittees There are fifty-two charter
members. This is good showing
for the membership committee and
the interest of that village.
The committees have charge of
roads and sidewalks. parks and play
grounds, Identification of the village
in general. a program for health and
sanitation, a temporary committee
for the dedication of the beautiful
bridge that is being built at the place,
and the education committee.
They are taking hold of the work
with energy and enthusiasm. Several
OF the men volunteered to turn out
Saturday afternoon to clean up the
park and TO NOV the lawn. There is
also grading and filling in 10 be done
here and there. The education COM
mittee are going to endeavor to get
the school children to clean up and
beauty the school grounds. also en-
list the boys and girls in picking up
things in the village in general They
are going to ask the boys to keep the
lawn cut on the park that is near the
school grounds. This certainly is NOV
ing in the right direction.
The boys and girls ought to get in
line with the endeavors to improve
and up-lift in their respective com.
munities and neighborhoods as we'll as
in the county as a whole. Our boys
and girls ought to be made to realize
that il is just as noble and just as
worthy TO have fine ideas for a small
community or a country neighborhood
as II is for men and women to have
such ideas for places like New York
City and Boston IL is as fine for
a country boy TO have beautiful and
inspiring ideas for his farm and for
his neighborhood as it is for the ar
fist to have these for his canvas.
The Bennington County Vermont
Improvement Association is going TO
do all within its power to enlist ev-
cry boy and girl in the county in the
improvement of conditions that are
tight at hand. The association be-
lieves that one of the first traits OF
American citizenship is community
mindedness and that this can best
be developed through concrete and
tangible tasks.
Roads.
THE two great forces for the ad-
vancement of civilization are the
schoolmaster and good roads," SAYS
Charles Sumner. The Bennington
County Vermont Improvement Asso-
citation is doing some of its most
strenuous work along these two
lines.
Civilization began with the means
Of transportation says Prof. Bailey OF
Yale University. The means of get
ting about and carrying produce are
elemental to civilized life. The more
efficient these means. the higher will
our civilization be able to rise. Roads
tof some kind)," says the American
Motorist for August, then better
roads. then good roads-this has al.
ways been the history OF advancing
civilization. Wherever conquerine
man has gone. from old Darius TO
the early settlers of the plains. he
has built roads. East, west north.
south, the past and the present. are
bound together by a network of roads
which man has built at the prompt.
ings Of necessity OF ambition"
One OF the drawbacks in the eff
cheney and safety OF transportation on
the common highway is the Thank
you-marms." Capt. James c. Horner
says. "One cause for joy is the entire
lack Of the Yankee "Thank-vou-
marms" which are used by Vermont
in making the roads Of that common
wealth a hardship. During 1000
miles. or more. which I traversed
throughout Nova Scotia. Cape Bre-
ton and New Brunswick. did not find