Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1918-05-08
RECREATION PLANS
DISCUSSED At MASS
MEETING MONDAY
SEVERAL LOCAL PEOPLE SPOKE
ON POSSIBILITIES OF SUPER
SEQ CHILD PLAY

At the invitation of the school
board, number of school patrons
met at the high school last Monday
evening to discuss the matter of COM
munity recreation for Belding.
E. c. Lloyd, the president of the
meeting, he said that this question
had aroused such general interest in
Bedding during the last few weeks
that the school board had felt that
parents would welcome an opportun-
ity Of discussing the subject thor
Miss Sherburne Of The Playground
and Recreation Association Of Ameri-
ca who is here in the interests Of
community work, spoke on the inn
portance Of organized recreation dur
ing wartime and outlined the pos
sibilities for such work in Bedding.
1t was significant fact, she said,
that in 1917 only seven cities in the
| United States and Canada dropped
municipal recreation on account Of
the war. On the other hand, fifty
two communities started the work for
the first time, and thirteen others put
| it on a year-around basis. Obviously,
American cities and towns were heed
ing the warning of our Allies and of
our own government that we should
make every effort to safeguard the
physical welfare and moral stamina
of our young people as vitality i'm
portant part Of our reconstruction
program.
A program of municipal recreation
in Belding should include the follow
ing activities: Fairgrounds for boys
and girls during the summer months
with closely allied work in and
through the schools during the win
ter, and Boy, Scout and Campfire
groups; recreatoinal opportunities for
seasons-outdoor sports and athletics
in season, and community center ac-
tivities such as )dramatics, debating,
music, and patriotic groups for war
service; and above all, community
wide recreation such as civic forum
and the celebration of special days
with parades, pageantry, and COM
munity music.
A municipal recreation commission
is the only way Of handling the work
satisfactorily, and an ordinance to
establish such a commission is before
the city council now. But the real
essential, of course, is leader. Be-
fore Belding can expect to do any
thing along community lines there
must be a trained, experienced SUI
perintendent of recreation. With such
worker, as organizer and leader,
there is no doubt that many people
in the town who have real ability and
genuine interest will be glad to share
in the leadership of various groups.
The results of such community re-
creation will more than outweigh the
cost. Before considering the twelve
or fifteen. hundred dollars for the
maintenance of such work an unnec-
essary, foolish expenditure of public
funds, the city should consider cart-
fully whether it is good business
policy to spend money for remedial
and reformatory measures, rather
than for preventive and constructive
work. At the resent time almost as
much money is being spent annually
for the care of delinquent children in
Belding as it would be necessary to
spend for recreation worker. De-
linquency is the recognized result of
lack of proper play facilities; the
logical preventive is the playground
with intelligent leadership. In the
long run municipal recreation will not
only save Belding in dollars and
cents, but, what is far more import
ant, it will prevent unnecessary
human wreckage.
Mr.. Hockstad spoke briefly but
convincingly of the value of organic
ed play and athletics in the school.
He said without doubt such activities
under proper leadership had tremen-
dous influence not only upon the gen.
eral tone of the school but upon the
actual school work. For his part, he
heartily Endorsed the movement to
start such work in Belding.
Mr.. Puffer called attention to the
fact that the Scouts and Campfire
organizations were demonstrating
what could be accomplished with
group organization. Boys and girls
were being taught to capitalize leis-
ure. Since February, the Scouts had
sold three hundred dollars worth of
Liberty Bonds, while the Campfire
Girls had been actively engaged in
war work too. The city might better
afford to side-track some proposed
to neglect the welfare of the young
people.
Miss Little made splendid plea for
the girls saying that she believed
we would find that there is a wealth
of talent and ability in Bedding for
just such work and that people would
gladly contribute their share of SER
vice.
A number Of interesting points
were brought out by the questions
and the discussion. 1t was obvious
that people were interested, and had
come to get information regarding
the movement. Although the meet
ing was comparatively small it was
decided to take vote Of approval
or disapproval. 1t was the sense of
the meeting that the city should start
the work.