The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-05-06
PLAYGROUND CONGRESS
Recreation Association in Annual SEES
sion at Richmond

Recreation Association in Annual SEES
sion at Richmond
The seventh annual meeting of the
Playground and Recreation Associa-
ton of America will be held at Rich
mond, Va, from May to 10 and invi-
tations have been extended to all in
terested in the playground work to
attend. This city, with it's three sites
of this character, two in Lansing
burg and the other in Prospect park,
and Watervliet with it's recreation
ground for children, are vitality inter
ested and there is no doubt but that
participation in the doings of the con-
gress in Richmond by representatives
from both cities would result in
much good 10 the work.
New ideas to be brought out as in
dictated by the communications sent
by the secretary and the speakers are
among the most widely known in the
country.
The association taking in as it does
the thought of recreation for the
grown.ups, working people, business
men and others, is planning along
/. blOdu, uCHlOCidllC lACo lOl liCCuOln
of thought and action. The children
are amused on their Fairgrounds, and
when they have grown up and are tax
ing their places among the workers
of the world they are to be provided
with recreation of character to suit
the development of their minds and
bodies. 1t is an evolution in one way.
Here are SOME of the subjects
which will be discussed The Lay
ing Out of Fairgrounds; The Sur
facing of Fairgrounds The Fencing
of Fairgrounds; What Apparatus
Does the Boy or Girl Wish to Find on
the Playground or in the Gymnasi-
UNI? Recreation Buildings; Swim
ming Pools; Public Baths; Stadiums;
The Place of the Festival in Commu-
nifty Recreation; The Progress of the
Storytelling Movement During the
Past Year. Boys and Girls Clubs in
Recreation Centers; Children's Gar
dens; The Promotion of Desirable
Games; Volley Ball; Soccer Football;
Athletic Standards for Boys; Athle-
tic Standards for Girls; Municipal
Summer Camps; Winter Sports; Sue
cessful Experiments in Street Play;
The Necessity of Adequate Training
for Recreation Workers; Practical
Problems in the Training of Recrea-
ton Workers; Recreation and City
Planning; Recreation Legislation;
Saving tbs Beaches for the People;
Are the Parks for the People or the
People for the Parks? Play Schools;
Play in Institutions for Girls; Play
for Crippled Children; Play in Hospi-
tails for the Insane; Play for the
Blind; Leisure Time for Working PEG
pie; The Relation of Play to a Civil
zation of Power; The Recreation
Movemep. as Fundamental Attempt
at Democracy.
During 1912, 2S5 cities in this coun-
try maintained 2,094 Fairgrounds and
recreation centers, employing 1928
recreation workers and 1853 caretak-
ers. Sixty-three cities employed 665
workers the year round A total ex-
penditure of $4,020,121.79 was report
ed
All in this city and vicinity realize
the great value of the Fairgrounds.
When the schools close for the sum-
WulCH 10 diOllS III Nit Va
June, the Fairgrounds are ready to re-
ceive the children. And they go there
all summer long until the school
doors yawn for them in the fall.
There are sand pits for the tots,
swings, slides, etc, for the boys and
girls. The girls are taught sewing as
we'll. There is the right kind of SUI
pervision, the kind that leads the
youngster to do right by others while
enjoying himself. The mothers have
weight taken off their minds. They
know that when their children are
at the playground they are not run
ming across street car tracks taking
chances of being injured. The pleas
ure afforded is real and wholesome
and the influence of the surroundings
has splendid moral effect.
Among the sixty speakers at the
congress will be Joseph Lee of Bos-
ton, United States commissioner Of
education; Seuman McManue, the in
imitable Irish story-teller; DR.. Rich
ard Cabot of the Massachusetts Gen.
eral hospital. Thomas Nelson Page
and others who are widely known.
Full information concerning the
Richmond meeting and routes and
rates can be obtained of Mrs. Frank
w. Thomas of Collins avenue.