Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1915-07-28
PEN PICTURE
Or a Beautiful and Sani-
tary CeredO.


ed and read by Miss Anna Bush at
the meeting of the Ceredo Wo.
mans club held on the evening of
July l5, 1915:
Civic improvement has always
rather formidable and lofty sound,
suggesting TO the mind the paving
of drivewiys and streets, the setting
apart and au,ifying of large
parks, erecting of greai public
buildings, introduction and i'm
provement of street railways, elec.
trio lights, water works and so on;
but, we find it means any and every
thilg that will improve and beau
tify our homes and our towns. 1t
means new play grounds, parks and
public squares, the preservation of
public health and civic beauty, art
In public schools, arbor day recog-
ni'ion, pure drinking water, home
gardens, tree culture, utilization of
vacant lots, improvement of county
roads, banishing pernicious adver.
tising, keeping streets and alleys
clean, the preservation of historic
trees and houses, reclamation of
river banks, factory grounds im>
proved, children's gardens and many
other things of like character, all of
which work the Federation of Wo.
mems clubs has taken mp with a
will and has accomplished a great
deal within the last ten years. 1t
was found that, az these matters
of national Importance came up for
consideration, most of them had
distinctly local application. While
men have been planning the larger
problems of improvement, the wo-
men have been doing that part oil
the work nearest Woman's heart
the betterment of home and child
environments. Now she sees her
business transcendiDg her four
walls and waiting for her every
where. From housekeeping to mu-
nicipal housekeeping is but a step.
WOmen's business has been the COM
serving Of life always. From the
conserving Of few lives, to join
ing hands with others for the con.
serving of all lives, ls sequential.
Civic work is any citizens work,
to develop the world of the home
into the home of the world. With
out question, the spirit is alive in
every town somewhere. The need
is for some point of contact to be
established between that town and
that spirit. Thereafter you have
living thing, and it grows like any
living thing. The first need, we
might sag, is 10 create the desire TO
change town conditions. That is,
the first step, as usual, educational.
People must begin to think about
civic work before they will begin to
do civic work-that roofing of the
idea of community self-conscious-
ness, which will grow into thing
Of iunumerable branches, variously
expressing the growing community
interests.
Each man attributes his spirit to
his town, his community and his
home every woman contributes her
ideals, her convictions and her na-
ture TO the cheeriulness aud courage,
or the depression and cowardice of
her society, be it large az the coun-
try or limited to the home. Ii is|
therefore the bounden duty Of every
man and woman to put life, hope
and faith into their fellow beings by
putting these qualities into the COM
mon aid Gas a man thinketh in
his heart, 20 is he" How wise.
then, to have beautiful surroundings
to suggest beautiful thoughts. The
Greeks, the handsomest people in
history, we're accustomed to sur.