The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-12-18
Kenoshans Hear What's
Wrong in Community
at Friday Meet.
LAST OF CONFERENCES
Community Betterment Con
ferences Close as City Takes
Inventory of Problems.

The series of Community Better
ment conferences under the auspices
of the Kenosha Civic council, which
closed with the last meeting at Guild
hall on Friday evening, have resulted
in great many surprising as we'll as
interesting revelations regarding COM
munity welfare problems and condi-
lions in Kenosha, according to officials
of the council. The conferences con-
sisted of five meetings at each of
which various phases of these public
and private welfare problems were
discussed, and at which comprehensive
reports were submitted. Each of
these reports was supplemented by a
speaker Of statewide note. On We'd
nesday was dicussed social welfare
work and industry; on Thursday,
health, education, and town and rural
relations; on Friday, library work,
recreation and religion.
On Friday evening Conrad Shearer
presided at a meeting before which
were pointed out the problems con-
fronting the city in recreation and
religion. George E. Bedford, director
of. recreation, gave detailed report
on just where the city stands in recre-
ational facilities in comparison with
standards set down by the Wisconsin
Conferences of Social Work, the state
organization sponsoring the Better
Cities contest in Wisconsin. Many
enlightening points were brought out
by Bickford to show where Kenosha
was sadly lacking and additional de-
tails showed how this city was setting
the pace for the rest of the state and
in some cases for the rest of the coun-
try in it's recreational work.
Pleads for More Play In Life.
"The success of the recreation sys-
tenn in Kenosha is due in great meas
ure to the cooperation we are getting
from the citizens Of the community"
declared Bickford. "With this con-
tinued cooperation feel that we can
overcome many IF the points upon
which we score low and improve our
facilities here just that much"
Prof. E. B. Gordon, chief of the
Bureau of Community Development at
the University of Wisconsin, gave an
address on the Imperative Need for
Pecreation in the Community" 4
"We are past the pioneer age of
struggling men who founded our COM
munities," he declared. 1--WE are now
looking forward to adding to our pres
ent civilization that thing which
rounds out our physical and mental
development-play. 1t is not enough
to train the mind for discipline, and
the hands to make living; it is also
necessary to go step further and
teach and train men how to live. 1t
means more than mere bread and but
ter to live.
1.-THE next great step in education"
Prof. Gordon predicted, must be the
introduction of a training for profit
able employment of leisure hours"
The speaker went on to show how the
application of the fundamental rules
for recreation in community affects1
Kenosha, and he also praised the city
for its high standard of play activities
and Of the far-reaching influence these
are playing in the city. Prof. Gordon
also paid tribute to the work of the
parent-teachers' associations in Keno
sha, and the work of Mrs. G.. N. Trem-
per, state president of the organiza-
tion, for her brilliant leadership of
this comparatively new movement in
educational circles in the state.
Discuss Religious Problems.
Joseph Funck, chairman of the
Civic councils committee on religion,
gave report IF his committee on the
findings in the QUESTIONABLE sent to