Norwich bulletin., 1912-02-27

anticipated. Our next seasons work
should be more intensive and our eff
forts concentrated.
Plans for, this work will be made by
the new board of directors.
Why We Need Fairgrounds.
They are the ehildren's birthright.
Play is necessity. Play for the child
is life at its best. The child that does
not play is not enjoying life at its
fullest extent The first essential IS
playground. Conditions as they exist
in our city and in other cities make it
impossible for each Individual parent
to own or to rent land sufficient for
playground hence arises the need OF
the public playground. The streets are
unsafe and otherwise unsuitable, while
owners of vacant lots usually object
to having them used as fairgrounds
The need of parks has long been felt
That Of Fairgrounds has been recog-
nized more recently and their posi-
bilities are not yet fully understood.
During the time Of play in the open
air the child washes out his lungs,
aerates the blood and stores up energy
for whatever work awaits him. de
increases his power to resist disease.
The child who plays freely and active
ly is in better condition for study and
work. He accomplishes more at both
these than does the boy who does not
care for play The child who does not
care for play usually makes slower
progress in school than does his more
active companion The "repeaters' in
school are usually non players. Thls
reduced to dollars and cents means
that play makes the work of education
easier, hakes it possible to increase the
output of our schools and increases
the efficiency of the individual
Play increases happiness, the spirit
Of good Will is engendered. This in it
self is no unimportant consideration,
whether we look at 1t from the stand
point of educational advancement, per
sonal interest or civic betterment
Not only does the han~v child get
more out of life and give more to his
companions, but also he gets more
from his education and increases his
efficiency as a man, The longer the
child or the man keeps hold of the
spirit of play, the more he adds to his
own enjoyment of life and contributes
to the sum total of human happiness
The spirit Of good will engendered
through play will stand for the COM
mon good rather than for selfish inter-
ests when as boys and girls Of a larger
growth they play the game Of life.
The problem of the training and de-
solution. 1t has many sides. Luther
Burbank writes about Training the
Human Plant" Another takes for his
subject Can Our Boys Withstand Civ
| ilization?" An assistant superinten-
dent Of schools in New York city says
| In order to insure a race physically
| able to receive our free. education we
must provide free meals"
1t Is question of physical fitness
| and how to secure it. How to make
the human machine fit for its work.
how to keep it fit, how to develop the
| greatest energy, and how to secure the
| greatest capacity for work.
Fairgrounds are helping to solve
| these problems. Children at play in
| the open air and sunshine are storing
| UP energy and are developing power
| for future usefulness. At play with
| others a sense of moral obligation is
| developed The spirit of fair play is
engendered, which must make for civic
betterment by helping to secure a
| square DEAF for the business boys
| and girls.
The cooperation, the team play,
necessary to win the game teaches
| effectively lessons Of life. Lessons that
| insure success. The practice OF which
made the winning of the Thermos
| game possible Spread the spirit of
| good will on the playground and it will
be easier to win the game on the
street.
! The more our children play together
| the more they will work together. II
| they learn to play hard and to play
fair. they will be ready to work hard
! and to work square. If they learn the
moral lessons Of the playground they
will practice them in the great game
4 a1 70 ~
shirk.
In my mind I see in the future, not
| established all at once, but little by
little, as the means at our command
will allow, three well developed play
| grounds, one on the site Of Comstock's
pond one on the West Side and one In
| Greeneville.
Is it necessary? Yes, if we consid-
the future The welfare of the home
the community and the nation de-
mands strong, sturdy. robust intelli
gent citizenship. The children who dc
not know how to play must be taught
those who play but little must be en-
couraged to play more, and those who
play much must be guided in their ac-
! tivities. In this way We may gain a
community of interest that will make
| for the improvement Of existing social
| conditions.
Is this worth while? To work to
make our boys and girls fit TO enjoy
| living? To work to make them A. tc
| do their share of the worlds work
! To work to make them have enough tC
meet their moral obligations? To work
to make them enjoying this? I think
it u.s.
This is the work Of our association
and to support this work we solicit the
CO. operation Of all our fellow citizens
Will Name Directors.
After the election, which followed
| the presidents report, the meeting ad-
| Journed. The board of directors viii
be nominated by the.president and will
soon hold a meeting to formulate plans
| for the next season. Those on the
board last year were Mrs. G. i. Hub
bard, Mrs. C. D. Moves, Mrs. John D
Hall, Mrs. Jane f. Cassidy, Charles
| H. Haskell, John Mckinley. D. S
| Haviland and Principal H. A. Tirrell
NEW APPOINTMENTS ON
NEW HAVEN ROAD