Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1922-01-13
SCHOOL CHILDREN SELL THEIR
, OWN PLAYGROUND AT EAST
RUTHERFORD, BERGEN co.

-
East Rutherford, New Jersey, To-
Gated across the Hudson river from
New York, is the first town to receive
the services of the Harmon Foundation
of New York City in securing a play
ground and athletic field. The venture
was an unqualified success. The Play
ground Association of East Rutherford
owns a piece of land and the Founda-
ton has demonstrated the theory OF
it's founder that children of any town
can secure their own playground when
their enthusiasm and ability to adver-
tie appealingly are properly capital
lied.
A ninety-day option was secured on a
piece of land that had been used as an
athletic field for years. The price
asked for the property was $4,000.
There are 5000 people in the town.
The land was divided into 5000 lots
and mapped by an engineer after the
manner of a real estate subdivision.
A local committee was organized and
the cooperation of the school teach
ers and board Of education secured.
For two weeks the subject of play and
play places was woven into arithmetic,
English, geography and physiology
lessons until every teacher and pupil
was thinking in terms of recreation.
Then came playground week and
such excitement as never was. Eight
hundred small sales agents wearing
red buttons and armed with deed GER
tifcates and many good reasons why
fathers and mothers should buy, sal
lied forth from four public schools and
one parochial school. They sold the
lots at $1.O0 each and gave a deed for
each lot to the buyer who conveyed
interest and title therein to the Play
ground Association and children for
ever.
The town was completely covered
with Advertising furnished by the
Harmon Foundation. There was
something different every day-Foun-
dalton posters, playground newspaper,
clay models of the proposed athletic
field and playground, 225 posters made
by the pupils in competition, dozens
of essays written by them, automobile
fiers, window stickers and Founders
Certificates for the buyers and sellers
of large numbers of lots.
Five days of sale by the children
closed with an entertainment and
whirlwind auction sale of choice lots
in the high school auditorium at the
hands of a New York auctioneer. One
lot sold for $3.50, three for 5000 each.
Medals were presented to the children
selling the highest number of lots, and
prizes we're awarded to the winners
of the poster and essay contests. The
sales agent who led the children was
a thirteen year old girl who sold 159
lots. Before playground week was
over every lot was accounted for. Many
grown people of East Rutherford said
it could not be done-and the children
did it.
The greatest value of the whole en-
.terprise was in unifyfng the diverging
interests of the town and the arousing
of civic pride and civic responsibility.
1t proved to the Harmon Foundation,
incorporated to give just such service
to towns and small cities, that any
town can have a playground if a few
people with vision are willing to make
the start. The headquarters of the
Foundation are at 140 Nassau street,
New York City. Miss Ethel L. Bedient,
Director, will be very glad to meet
anybody who is interested in doing
for this town what has been done for
East Rutherford.