The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-18

This is Greater Birmingham Play ground Day.
 At 2:30 this afternoon the first muni- cipal playground demonstration proba- bly ever given in the south will begin at the Alabama State Fair grounds. Several hundred children from every section of the city will take part.
 2. Nespor, superintendent of recrea- tion. stated yesterday afternoon that everything was ready for the big event and nothing could happen now to mar it except rainstorm MT Nespor stated that it would take heavy rain at that to stop the games.
 The demonstration is entirely free to anybody and everybody who wishes to go. It will be staged in front of the great fair grounds grandstand, in which the audience can have comfortable seats. The track events will be held of the grandstand and the other games will be staged in a series of 16 courts arranged In the arena just across the race track.
 Sixteen playground associations, the total number now organized in the city, will take part in the events, and for every event there will be an entry from each association so that there will be 16 games of the same kind going on in front of the grandstand at all times The purpose of the affair is simply to impress upon the public of Birmingham especially and the whole south in gem eral, the extent and importance of the Birmingham city playground movement The affair is expected to attract at tention all over the country
 To Take Moving Pictures
 Moving pictures will be taken of the meet, which will be shown in all the local theatres and which will be sent throughout the country as a weekly news item for the movies" Handsome and attractive programmes have been prepared and the city government plans to send copies to all of the larger cities in the country, showing what Birming- ham is doing in this line
 The local playground movement was inaugurated in 1912 when George A. Bellamy of Hiram House, Cfncinnati came to Birmingham and made several talks to citizens meetings and civic organizations on playground work in the larger cities. Later. T. S. Settle, field secretary of the National Play ground association was given charge of the southern states and made his head offices in Birmingham, where he has given much attention to the or ganization of playground system. In May, 1913. the Birmingham Playground association was organized with City Commissioner James Weatherly presi- dent and w. D. Nesbitt, treasurer.
 Early this spring the services of 2. Ncspor, former athletic director of the Athletic club, was secured by the city as superintendent of recreation to take charge of the playground system and there are now organized and in opera tion 17 separate community playground associations with their local presidents and trained supervisors who are on the ground to superintend the games and sports of the children. The present offl- cers are: James Weatherly, president; w. C. Cunningham, first vice president; Dr. ]. M Hankins, second vice president w. NJ. McGrath, third vice president: H. J. Martin, treasurer, and J. D. Williams secretary.
 Programme Announced
 The programme for today, with 16 sepa- rate associations participating in each event, is as follows:
 Greater Birmingham Playground Day Programme:
 l. Girls Danish dance of greeting
 2 Boys 40-yard dash. S5 pounds class.
 g. Girls-Shoelnaker dance.
 4. Boys-50-yard dash 100 pounds class. over.
 G Girls- Three deep.
 [. Boys @ yard dash, ss pound clasa.