The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1921-07-21

have Y. ". c. A., holding its own
ment, the members of which hold a
week night meeting. and the girls
have a Y. NJ. c. A, holding its own
meeting There are Missionary Meet
ings, Patriotic Services and special
religious occasions held at intervals.
RECREATION
An all-play-and -no-work policy in
such a community would be a mis-
fortune; and an all-work-and-no- play
policy would be calamity. And so
the Good Will Home Association,
through its local management pro-
vides for recreation as well as for
the development of habits of indus
try. Blessed is the man who knows
how to play and recognizes the need
of recreation. At Good Will there is
the baseball diamond" and also sew
eral localities where boys play ball
IN its season: usually there is a ball
team in each family of boys. and the
"lnter-Cottage' series is quite as in
teresting as the series played with
outside teams by the Good Will nine"
There are two tennis courts on the
| farm. Football is allowed only be-
tween Good Wits own teams. Good
Will boys participate in track athlet-
! les. These forms of amusement
baseball football, track and tennis
are, or maybe regarded as organized
athletics and are SO managed at Good
Will as to benefit the largest number
possible. But these forms are, as a
rule, characteristic of school life and
are dropped when school days or col
lege days are ended. There are other
forms of recreation which, if adopted
in youth, go through life; they are
unorganized, but of great value. l re-
fer to camping, hiking, boating can
oeing, swimming, fishing, coastng.
skiing, snowshoeing and outings of
various kinds. 1t seems to be a fact
! that the memory of these forms of
outdoor recreation survive long after
the memory of athletic contests are
| forgotten. l will not attempt to ex-
plain this, but it seems to be a fact;
and furthermore these things seem to
/ be az foundation for recreation after
the boys get into the stress of life.
The Kennebec River and the Good
| VIII Pines, where the boys camp is
| located; Marten Stream, which flows
between the boys farms and the girls
farm. the Bowdoin Trail Colby Trail,
Dartmouth Trail, Good Will Trail and
the Maine; the swimming place in
the Kennebec and the "ole swimmin'
hole" on Marten Stream, Little Ala
/ bama" in the Pines, the Bungalow on
h., al I
Camps and Camp Navajo are avail
able for outings and range from the
neatly constructed and painted bunga-
i low with its spacious fireplace, to the
roughly built lumberman's camp and
the canvas tent; all these are part
of plan to provide recreation and
to inculcate love for such things
in early life. The recent addition of
two hundred and fifty acres of wood
land to Good Wills foundation serves
to emphasize what Is here stated; it
seems also TO be an endorsement of
the outdoor plans and purposes. The
farms-both the boys and the girls
are protected from hunting by spec
ial State law, creating game pre-
serve.
We have extended the helping hand
and opened the Good Will Homes to
more than fourteen hundred boys and
girls; some of them say:
Good VIII is the only home I ever
i had"
Many of them say that Good Will
has given them the only real chance
they had. We might have extended
hand to three thousand instead of
only half that number, had we re-
! ceived funds to make it possible. Our
capacity is about two hundred; mon
i ey would make it possible to more
| than double the number without
changing the plan. Prescott Hall has
seatings for seven hundred and fifty;
! 1t is conceded that eventually We will
need five hundred seats for the young
people and the public can occupy the
balcony. Moody Chapel, by provision
made by the donor of it, is to be en-
larged so that its seating capacity
will be seven hundred and fifty; this
will accommodate when remodeled. five
! hundred boys and girls and leave two
hundred and fifty seatings for the
public Funds for the current expen-
SEES in these trying times are a neces-
! sity.
Our endowment amounts to five
hundred thousand dollars already;
| but it is divided into special funds
| Library Fund, Music Fund, Lecture
/ Fund Book Fund. etc; these special
funds will perpetuate and serve to
strengthen the departments to which
their income can be and must be de-
voted; but the general endowment
should be doubled. There are some
who can give to It directly and at
once; there are others who can do 1t
only through requests; by this plan
the work will eventually be helped,
but the benefactors will not be able
to get so large satisfaction in the Civ
ing as 7 wish they might, because
their benefaction is doing as the years
come and go.
they will not be able to see the good
THE PRESCOTT MEMORIAL TO BE
REBUILT
Friends of Good Will everywhere
will be glad to know that the beauti-
! full prescott Memorial Building"
which was destroyed by fire in June,