Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1921-04-25
age the County Fair anyway he

The same beautiful theorizing
OF the Fairs present critics was
applied to the annual Christmas
offering that Isidor Gelders
staged for several years before
the outbreak of the world war
"Gelders is able to manage this
Christmas offering so let's some
one else do it and get credit for
it" they said, and instead of CO.
operating they held economical
ly aloof and Isidor Gelders and
his friends who contributed were
forced to discontinue the annual
Christmas offering of fruit, gro
ceries and fuel TO TIE poor Of
the city. Has anyone else taken
up, even attempted to take up
the beautiful idea Of giving all
the poor of the city something
to be merry over? Ask the boys
and girls. Some of the railroad
boys who weren't as prosperous
before the war as they are now,
can tell you. THY aren't afraid
to let Isidor Gelders manage the
county fair, or anyone else that
works with him.
The Elks Club and Woman's
Club took up the Christmas phil
anthropy on smaller scale and
merit generous support from
Others in charging their work.
A few years ago there weren't
any hogs in this county, four
footed ones we mean. The farm
ers were raising cotton and did
not know very much about hogs.
Someone had to introduce hogs,
tour-footed hogs, 70 the farmers.
lsldor Gelders started the first
chain pig" in South Georgia,
buying Mother Leader" an d
Lady Enterprise" as the sows
were named, and giving away
the pigs to country boys and
girls on condition that one of
each litter should be passed on
to some other boy or girl who
ll@t no pig. The young men and
Eoung women who got those
pigs are not afraid that Isidor
Gelders will "commercialize" the
Ben Hill county fair to their
injury.
A few years ago Fitzgerald
needed a Carnegie Library and
didn't have one. The ladies of
the Woman's Club said the city
needed a Carnegie Library and
looked around to find someone
to help them get it. Isidor Gel
ders had plenty of burdens of his
own at that time without shoul-
dering those of the people of
Fitzgerald who liked books and
couldn't afford to buy all they
wanted, or of the Woman's Club
which was growing rapidly and
needed a new meeting place, or
OF the musically inclined and lit
erarily inclined and biblically in
cllned people who needed a new
meeting place in which to hold
recitals and hear lectures and
hold bible classes. But no one
else offered to shoulder the bur
den of helping the ladies get a
Carnegie Library for Fitzgerald.
And Isidor Gelders threw all
the influence of the Fitzgerald
Leader behind the movement
got out among the people and
solicited subscriptions for the
library fund, when he could bet
ter have afforded to have been
soliciting advertising. w h n
every dollar that public spirited
citizens of Fitzgerald could af-
ford to give was turned in, it
was found there still was not
enough to provide a Woman's
Club room or an auditorium.
The good ladies were disappoin-
ted.
They wanted new club room
badly. Other people who wanted
an auditorium were dissappo
ed. SO lsidor Ge1ders gave. in
addition to his labor and support
OF his newspaper, piece Of land
worth about $500 at that time. and
much more now, in order to make
1t possible to carry out the orig
NAL library plans.
People who want education
musical, biblical, and literary
and who are being assisted in
getting it by the use of the Ii
brary that Andrew Carnegie and
lsidor Gelders gave FITZGERALD
should not be afraid that Tsidor
Gelders will "commercialize" the
Ben Hill County Fair to their in
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