Norwich bulletin., 1920-04-12

special way to the fine young fellows | of the army and navy, who came to 1 our city in large numbers; while a | goodly number of them visit us now ] adays, the time of large effort in this l tine has passed, and the management 1 of the association has endeavored dur l ing the year just closed to conduct 1 the work on what might be termed a 1 normal basis. The various departments of our ac- tivity have beer conducted with the l idea of symetrieai development of the l whole man, his body, mind and spir it, and we still believe that this. is the mission of the Young Mems Chris 1 tian Association. In the words of i another, "of a man develops his body at the expense of his mind and soul, he becomes brute; if he 1
 pays attention only to the develop ment of his mind, he becomes an egot- ist,. and if he developes his spiritual i nature, giving absolutely no thought for his body and mind, he has tendency to become a crank" We be- licve that ''the body is the temple of l the Holy Ghost, the mind is to be ] trained to the utmost and most cer-
 must be cultivated by Bible study and l prayer, that he may be able, with 1 the help of Jesus Christ, to battle l successfully against the many snares of the devil.
 l While all the service we endeavor to i render, might be called religious 1 work, if it is done with the highest I motive yet the association has always had a definite religious programme, and during the past year this activity 1 has taken the form of Sunday meet l ings, Bible study and noon meetings 1 in several of the shops of the city,
 with the result that new ideals have ] been kindled ir the hearts of men and i boys, and we have no doubt that
 conception of his relationship to Jesus Christ.
 Doubtless we all agree that one of the best ways to make the initial ap- l proach to young men is along the so- i cial lines, for they crave sociability; ! therefore, the social life of the
 building has been made as attrac- 1 tive as possible. not only by the ar
 engagements of set social affairs. but 1 by attention to the social atmosphere 1 day by day. and as one. indication of 1 the social life in the large lobby it | may be stated that at least nine 1 thousand games have been played by | the membership of the association. I and probably many a lonely fellow
 has been cheered by participation in
 the social privileges of the institu-
 tion.
 Physical fitness has become quite a slogan since such a large number
 of our American young men were re- . Jected for army and navy service.
 and the Norwich association has, dur
 ing the past season given special at
 tention to the development of the . body, that men and boys may be fit ted to do their share, of the worlds : work A goodly number of juniors.
 employed boys, seniors and business
 men have taken advantage of this
 privilege. and the benefits received will be lasting.
 , The educational work of the associ- I ation, has included a well equipped
 reading room. several educational
 moving pictures, addresses on
 Thrift" etc, all of which served
 their purpose and were appreciated
 by those participating.
 The special work for boys of gram , mar school age has been of real merit; some forty of these have me- weekly in Bible study, being divided l into four groups The results of thi: ; very vital work with boys of the agt ] when they are easily moulded, can. not be tabulated, but evidences ar, D not lacking to abundantly justify tht g effort in this direction. Two groups O
 the Norwich Free Academy boys hay, r shown splendid interest in Bible study = Tor period of weeks A unique ser. vice was rendered an average O. e nearly 150 boys in a series of ter Wednesday afternoon meetings, wher t two reels of educational pictures. anC
 a distinctively uplifting address wa. e given.
 e While the work for the men in r
 s. service has grown smaller witt ,. the passing months since the wa n closed, there has not been weel e end without the opportunity to serv,
 from twenty to forty of these mel = who come to us principally from tn = Submarine Base and a total of 164! @ lodgings have been enjoyed by then s n our building during the year d The Norwich association is forth
 nate in having a band of some 30 g women united in service as aa ar
 Hilary to the Y, M. c. A. and this or r the work, not only during the pas
 year but for many years it has rend a cred sweet and willing service. s An event of great value was tn
 annual Father and Son gathering hell d in February last, when one hundre, e fathers and one hundred sons ban
 quoted together. and listened wit = marked interest and profit to an ad
 dress by an expert on relationships "A eAiO 11lA4 OCAl4S IO CulllNdI6 close
 fellowship between father and son. s At this point, I wish to publicly ex e press my tribute to the faithful me . who constitute the officers and boar v Of directors, and the board of trus r. tees, and all the committeeman, wh
 have a right to the honor that come { as result of duty well done. Man c of these men have given, not onl Il l of their money in a liberal fashion
 but they have given of themselves i d time and strength, solely for the goo
 of the young men and boys of Nor " wich and vicinity. A goodly numbe
 of these men with others have offere !, themselves for service during tn K week, when we face the very heav l. task of securing the money needed {
 conduct the work during the conin 1t year. offer no apology for urgin ?. every individual who is at all inter
 ested in tbe welfare of our youn y men, to strain themselves if need b
 that the best service possible ma Ig be rendered to these, who are $ c- worthy of our sacrifice, and who aft of CT we have wrought and passed C
 will be our future citizens; what W n, do for the boys of today will dt le termine what kind of men we are
 have in the coming years, and V III can leave behind us no finer test 7- monial that than we did all we cou
 to give every young man a chance