Evening star., 1941-08-10
Recreation Chief Says Civic
Groups Must Save Program
Christensen
Sounds Call
For Drive
By CAMBRIDGE CRIST.

by bAINbhlDJE Sh1Sl.
The citizens associations will have
to "go to bat" to lift the District
recreational system out OF the
"doldrums."
That was the blunt opinion ex-
pressed in an interview by Milo F.
Christensen, acting co-ordlnator OF
recreation.
Recalling his s5,580.700 develop
ment program, which was presented
to the Board of Education May 7
of this year, he said that only one
citizens association went to bat
for their area" At the same time,
he said, u can show you files with
letter after letter of complaints
from citizens.
He added, however. that he
realized the presentation OF the
program came near the end OF the
season for the citizens associations,
perhaps making it difficult for them
to act.
1T will take an organized cam
paign and effort to take it out oil
the doldrums," he said, referring to
the recreational setup." The citi-
zens' associations can put it over.
They have a justifiable cause"
He said he felt that the recrea-
tional development here was be-
tween 10 and Is years behind times.
He pointed out that in Milwaukee,
a CITY of 100000 population, the
annual appropriation for develop
ment and improvement was over
$500 OOO compared with s25,O00 in
Washington.
To bring the District recreatlonai
system up to date, he outlined nVe
points. First, he said that there
was need for a strong, vigorous
administrative board" Next, he de-
clared that they ought to get a
good Superintendent" AS a third
point, Mr.. Christensen said ne lei!
there was need for a study ana
survey to determine if existing FUNDS
are adequate and if they are being
efficiently spent for the best service
possible. And, fourth. he recon-
menUeu llldp eiAS
department be raised.
"The morale now." he said f1atly,
"is at low ebb. Give the employees
security"
He went on to say, as an addl-
tional point, that the department.
should have well-qualified persons
"a trained personnel and that
there Ought to be in-service tram
ing to keep them on their toes
"Techniques and methods change
every so often" he pointed out.
Recreation is to me public re-
sponsibility," Mr.. christensen said.
"It is one of the greatest soclalizlng
forces we have"
A recreation program, he con-
tinued, should cover five topics:
Physical, mental, social, creative and
service. Explaining these points, ne
said that the physical should IN
clude sports; the mental should
take in discussion groups and such
games as chess and quizz contests;
the social part should include COM
munity get-to-gethers; the creative
work should devote time to music
and dramatics, and that. service
should mean cooperation with civic
events.
He added that a recreational pro-
gram should touch all ages, from
small children to adults.
Discussing the pending pill in
Congress to create a seven-man
recreation board-a bill which was
modified by cutting one citizen and
representative of the National
Capital Park and Planning Com
mission from the projected board in
the original measure-Mr. Christian
sen said he felt that while seven
was a better number than nine for
the board he personally believed it
was a mistake to leave of the PLAN
ming commission representative. He
discounted the fear expressed in
some quarters Of Federal domina-