Arizona republican., 1921-05-12
ORGANIZED PLAY

rests and recreates means greater ef- ficiency in business. And what is true of the cities is equally true In the small town or rural community
 The realization of these facts has led to the development of Commu nifty Service organization, growing out of the War Camp Community service. It works by sending out or ganizers to places that want to estab fish some form of community recrea- ton. Song leaders. athletic directors or other experts, are also sent from the Community Service headquarters at New York if they are needed. The aim, however, is to help the commu nity develop its own workers, and as soon as community center activities are running smoothly the imported helpers go on to other work.
 different plan has to be worked out for each city or town No two cities have exactly the same interests. or the same amount of money to put into recreation, or the same facilities.
 In Chicago. the local community service is particularly concerned with promoting organized play among the stockyards workers. Play where adults are concerned means, of course, baseball, dancing. athletics, singing and contests of various kinds.
 Flint, Mich, is interested in page antry Richmond, Va, is working especially with roped-off street play and playgrounds for children. In Connorsville, Ind, community sports have developed from the use of a vacant lot, where the men pitched horseshoes in the evening. Lowell, Mass, specializes in girls athletic clubs. and Wilmington, Del, is trying community recreation to promote good citizenship among foreigners.
 Altogether, 230 communities are or ganized under the Community Ser vice. One hundred and thirty of them are operating without assistance from the New York headquarters. They have budgets, are working on definite programs, and have some one in charge of the community recrea- tion all the year round.
 Trained Workers Needed
 A large part of the success of com munity play depends on the workers in charge The community secretary or the specialist in some phase of re- creation is a new and rather com posite type He or she is somewhat like the settlement worker. Settle ment work is community work in a limited field, whereas the community secretary is a municipal employe who serves everybody The community needs, perhaps, a greater amount oi pep and sociability than the more serious social welfare worker. He must also have an abundance of in- itiative, executive ability, and versa tility. Unless the local community service is completely organized with pageant and athletic directors, a song leader, and other specialists, the community secretary must organize and direct such activities, as well as chap dances. arrange classes in sewing swimming, or whatever the community center wants to learn and find teachers for them. And | finally, he must be on hand at al | times to see to things
 Men and women with these diverse l qualifications are not so scarce a: might be supposed. The war can | teens and huts developed social ex- perts by the hundreds. And besides | these are some girls who would ordi- narily have become school teachers who are looking toward community | service as an alternative for the per 1 son with executive ability, who like: