Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1916-11-17
WOODSTOCK. VIRGIN 4.
WHEN OUR TOWN BECOMES 4
COMMUNITY.
The Chautauqua Reading
Hour.
Edited by DR.. VIM. Byron Forbush

When the first cave-nan got
too old to enjoy fighting with
his neighbors, while yet his
II eighbors were young enough.to
enjoy fighting with him, we can
imagine him saying to his broth
ers and his sons and his grand
sons Come, you take this cave
and you take that one, and the
rest of YOU take others, and let
us build a fence around us all,
so that we can sleep nights with
only one Waterman, and be
safe"
Thus began the first com.
munity. Its bond of union was
fear.
Today we live in towns. not
for necessity, and not entirely
for safety. We live there for
convenience, for business inter
est, for economy.
But none of these constitute a
town, a community. In a town
that has nothing but these men
may remain as suspicious of each
as up in that Connecticut village
where they say every man counts
his fingers after he shakes hands
to be sure he gets them all back.
In such a town the attitude of
mind is often expressed in the
familiar saying among farmers
when they are asked by travel
ers for hospitality I'VE amt
fixed to entertain strangers"
A COMMUNITY IS MADE BY Eel.
LowsHIP.
Is our town fixed to entertain
strangers ?" Do we live in union
or in suspicion !? Is our town
yet community !?
The ancient community-bond
was fear. The modern commu-
nity-bond is fellowship. AS soon
as the people of a town begin to
do things together they begin to
be a community.
The American City speaks of
Osseo, Wisconsin, as "a village
that graduated into the commu-
nifty class 1t is interesting to
know how it was done. The viii
1age has only 900 people, about
sixty per cent Scandinavian in
origin. Because there is no
other village within eleven miles
it has twenty-five per cent more
trade than an ordinary town of
its size, and until recently it APP
peared to be living for the dol
lar. There was the usual num-
Der of churches, lodges. women's
clubs, but none of them seemed
to have caught the community
viewpoint. Rather, each tended
to create and maintain its own
special faction.
But vaguely and then definite
ly the people began to feel that
something was wrong. Let's
get together" few of them
said, just who either has been
or else they were too
to say.
HOW THE COMMUNITY BEGAN.
Three years ago they had a |
community institute, a special
zed Chautauqua, and they have
lad one every year ever since. |!
some mourners were there and
ome in the seat of the scornful, 1
t first, but not now. They or-
,anized a neighborhood Civic
Tub.
The club began to meet in an
I'D school house, and when the
hub found how unconJfortable /
md unsafe the building was for
heir own meetings they realized
low unfit it was for their chill
rem. True, one man who had
ast built an up-to-date hop-ts
ouse complained because they |
'ere going to raise his taxes, Ii
ut by this time most OF the PEG. i,
lie began to think it was as ,
ecessary to house their. children h
ell as their hogs. II
The club bought, itself a me- {
on-picture machine, secured |
eels and slides free of cha rge s
.om the University. and showed e
lem nearly everv week without
omission fee to the children and q
lose of the parents who cared B
come. As the farmers could 4
st come into town evenings, c
le machine was fitte1 for gaslt Il
ID taken to the county, scl,o6l.Ib
fuses. It was delightful to Eli
csc little buildings full Of peo- ii
!, many standing. and among 4,
e. eager young mothers with. q