The Coolidge examiner., 1935-01-04

40 different units, was considered q
great success. 4
The Seventh Sokol Festival inl
Praha in 1920 involving the mobil-
ization Of 10000 trained athletes
and countless spectators, was ma
jOr factor In the consolidation OF az
new nation In the heart of Europe.s
Czech consciousness and patriot
ism. fostered by the Sokol organlza-
ton for nearly sixty years, had
proved It's worth.
From the air the great stadium
on Strahov hill seems more like a
village than an arena.
There were 10000 participants
In the meeting of 1882. From June
8 to July @ the athletic colony was
busy. Preceding the main adult
festival. from July . to July 6, first
the children, then the adolescents,
displayed their skill and training.
From June 20 TO July G the streets
were riot of color In informal or
formal parades of marchers in
local or national dress.
Delegates from neighboring lands
added even greater variety TO the
display, which took on characteris-
tics OF n fashion show of peasant
handlcrafts and needlework. AL
though membership is limited to
Slavs and a few nationals from
countries which fought on the side
of the Entente during the World
war, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and
Bulgars have been allied with the
Czechs in the Sokol movement and
recent festivals have had an inter-
national aspect.
The Stars and Stripes wave over
many a colorful procession and
July is celebrated as the Fourth
of July"
1t is hard to understand how
drill teams from 3,144 widely dis
tributed units arrive at such per-
fection; but the Sokol organization
has It's own publishing plant and
the music to which the movements
are set Is distributed long before
the show.
Special gramophone records are
made and sent TO all parts OF the
country. and on Sunday mornings
the Praha broadcasting station Is
used by Sokol instructors. who give
directions and the words OF COM
mand which are employed in the
final exhibitions. Nothing is left
to chance That is contrary to the
entire Sokol spirit.
Great AIIesorieal Pageant.
The festivals are distinguished
not only by mass drills and color
full parades, but also by an al
legorical pageant. In 1892 this al
legory related this radio directed
spectacle with the original Olym-
pic festivals which inspired Doctor
Tyrs.
From the central stage a figure
impersonating the Sokol founder
expressed his aspirations for a
healthy state composed of healthy
beings. Time turned back to Olym-
pia, where such ideals were so no
tably exemplified. Greek cham
pions, warriors, priests, and poets
engaged in spirited contests, and
ancient Greece lived again.
These representatives of antique
glories then turned into lifeless
statues. There was a pause, dur
ing which one could sense the loss
the world suffered when the glory
that was Greece became memory.
Then the statues came to life, cast
aside the drapings of an outworn
past, and appeared in the Sokol
uniforms which had won new glory
during the mass drills of the earlier
days of the festival. The Olympic
ideal, resurrected, took a place in
practical, modern living.
All classes unite in this great ex-
0lDllIOu Vi llulfIuudl HCdllu duu
group efficiency. Visitors here see
unified nation in concerted action.
Many a Czechoslovak Is getting
an even greater thrill. Splendid
as is the spectacle from the side
lines, a part In the big game is
even more moving. Every six years
a hundred thousand players, trained
away from awkwardness and self
consciousness to grace and group
consciousness during months or
years of practice, win rich re-
ward for their efforts. Small teams
of athletes cannot attain this ma
tion-wide spirit of coordination.
The Sokol Festival is the flower Of
an entire nations growth.
During these golden days In
Praha a highly industrialized and
modern nation lives in the fairy
land of beauty and dreams. Where
has a dream proved more practical
than that of Tyrs, who, behind
trained muscles, glimpsed clear,
clean, thinking minds and the free
state they were to build and serve?