New Britain herald., 1916-09-23
MOORHEAD FILES
 HIS ANNUAL REPORT
1916 Season at Fairgrounds Most
 Successful in History

commission. In the report MT. Moore- head states that he believes the sea- son was one of the most successful since the inauguration of work in this city. The new system of hours at the grounds worked out success fully in every respect. In his resume of the physical work at the various grounds, MT. Moorehead pays a splen- did tribute to John F. Rourke, the director of this work, to whom the bulk of credit is due for the success attained. Comparative figures of at tendance in 1915 and 1916 show that gain of 1,7S1 for the season was noted.
 The report in full is as follows:
 The Public Amusement Commission:
 I beg to present to you the report on the work of the City Playground for the season 1916.
 I feel that this season has been a very successful one. The attendance has been the best in the history of the local movement. This despite the fact that almost all of the older chil- dren have been employed in the fac tories of the city. The children at tending the grounds have consequent ly been much younger than those of preceding years. This fact has helped us very materially in making our work represent the best type of play &C., tivity. Competitive athletics has been limited to one inter-playground meet per week and more time has been devoted to the simpler forms of group activities.
 Work on the summer playgrounds commenced on the 18th of June. This gave us only five days to prepare for the Fourth of July celebration but de- spite this fact, a very creditable ex- hibition was given. I believe that another year it may be possible to get this work nicely started by work ing through the various schools of the city before they close for the sum- mer. During the season two sessions were held each day excepting Satur- day, when only one was held.
 The grounds were open from to l 11:30 in the morning and from 1 to l 4:45 in the afternoon. The plan of l opening at one o'clock instead of two | as formerly was very successful, and, 1 I feel, ought to be continued next | year. It does not require a director to be on the grounds for a longer l time, and gives the children, an hour of free play prior to the opening of | the regular supervised activities.
 The grounds were the same as last l year with the exception of Landers l and Walnut Hill park. MT. Rourke, who had charge of the work at Wal nut Hill park last year, was given supervision of the athletics. of all l grounds and his entire time given 1 over to this work.
 Burritt. This ground has had a very successful season. The attend ance has been very large, ranking | second in this respect.
 High street. I fell that this ground | should be eliminated next year. It ] is in a poor location, very noisy and l dirty, and the attendance has not been l very good. The children of this 1 ground can be well taken care of at l either Burritt or Bartlett.
 Bartlett, This ground has led all others in point of attendance. The work here has been well organized and has enjoyed very successful season.
 Smith. This ground is the best in the credit for the good spirit and for the various activities. The, attendance has been very regu- lar and the children have the real playground spirit to the first degree.
 East. This ground is handicapped by lack of shade. The attendance has been somewhat irregular but the work on this ground has been very satis- factory.
 Smalley. This ground is not ideal in all respects as there is no shade, but the children are very enthusiastic and this spirit has won for them first place in the final standings of all inter playground athletics
 The equipment of each ground has been well used and seems to be suf- fcient to meet the needs of each ground. A good supply of small equipment has been purchased this year and has fully justified the expen- diture. The Industrial Material has been greater than in former years.
 The placing of this work under the direction of a supervisor has worked out very we'll and all of the directors are very enthusiastic over the 1n- creased interest in this phase of ac- tivity.
 An excellent corps of directors was secured this year and to them is due the credit for the good spirite and high morale of the playgrounds Leadership in playground work is much the same as leadership in any other activity Sympathy and love for children are absolutely essential to success on the playground. I have found each and every one of the di- rectors giving their best that the sea- son might be the most successful.
 Athletics. Under the efficient lead ership of MT. Rourke this work has proved very successful Intra play ground meets were held once per week on each ground and interplay ground activities were held each Tues 1 day. In August a large meet was held, all grounds participating. The Small ley grounds won first place with 100 points and was awarded a large cham pionship banner. All games have