The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-12-22
PUBLICITY FOR BENNINGTON
But Civic League Annoyed Because
Ladies' Home journal Was Incorrect

but IlVlc League Annoyed BECAUSE
Ladies' Home journal Was Incorrect.
Bennington got full page adyer-
tisement in the Ladies Home Jour
nal this month, and she did not pay
$4,000 per page for it either. But
Judging from some of the comment
made over the text matter accom-
panying the half-dozen photographs
of community work, there are some
ladies in Bennington who would rath-
err have paid the $4,000 and had the
matter righ0.
Considerable text matter was work
ed up by the staff writer's OF the pub
! LEGATION, to go with the photographs,
| from detail not cleaned from cores
pondence with local people. The eX-
! tent of the error may be secured from
the following reprint. Folks who are
always criticizing a newspaper for
| minor mistakes may now pardon the
| daily staff, working under pressure
and with facilities necessarily limit
ed, when a great publication like the
Ladies Home Journal issued but once
month gets things twisted as fol-
lows:
In Bennington, Vermont, in the
shadow of Ethan Aliens Green Noun
tains, group of young women got
the idea not long ago that if you want
to make real American citizen
you've got to catch him--or her
young So the members of the group
calling themselves the Civic League
went kd-hunting. The first thing
they did was to devise pageant pic
turing the lively and interesting his
tory Of Bennington, and all the young
sters in town had big share in it. All
classes got acquainted and found
they weren't bit different after ALL
There's not bit of charity about
the work, and its obvious desirabili-
ty in due time was borne in upon all
the city organizations, even the
Board Of Trade, to the end that today
all the men and women in Bennington
think first of the kids, and afterward
of their own affairs. There's not a
social barrier left in the community
especially among the youngsters, and
real democracy rules. Every holt
day is of community observance, and
although the elders always have
good time it's for the youngsters that
the plans are really made.
The work of the boys and girls is
divided into four sections. The
School Section is designed to provide
organized play and athletics for the
girls. The real work is done after
school, and folk dancing is part of it.
The Social Section takes in both the
girls and boys. OF course there's
permanent community center. On
Monday the Boys Glee Club meets
Tuesday is cooking-class day for the
girls: Wednesdays are given over to
sewing; Thursday folk dancing is the
program; Fridays are for the older
children, who on these "highschool'
nights have such lectures and enter
lainments as best serve TO develop
the community spirit; while on Satur-
day nights the young folks get up
their own affairs, which usually end
with an informal dance One result
Of these evenings is that there
aren't many boys or girls on the
streets of Bennington after dark.
All summer the community activi-
ties for the youngsters take place on
the big, fully equipped playground.
The older boys have their own base
ball league; the older girls do craft
work in association with the Camp
Fire Girls; and the wee ones have
their flag raisings, their singing
games, their folk dancing and their
storytelling days, with special par
ties arranged often for good measure.
At many of the parties there's spec
ial music furnished by the Play
ground Orchestra, composed entirely
of girls. or course there are athletic
carnivals, with winners badges: but
most fun of all are the special holiday
festivities, which we've tried to pic.
ture-all too inadequately-on this
page. And over it all, the sun of
heaven smiles as it glints from the
peak of the monument erected to that
real American, John Stark, ancestral
spirit of the town.