ed for the audience, but a rising hill back of the stage affords an opportunity for a second level, along which processions may approach, descending to the stage either by a winding path or a short flight of steps. A distinctive feature of the plans is a background of native foliage and flowering shrubs which will furnish spectacular color effects. Pageant as a Unifier.-The celebration of the landing of the Pilgrims in November by the staging of Miss Constance Mackay's pageant The Pilgrims was one of the first accomplishments of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Recreation and Playground Association. The Recreation and Playground Association took the lead but the entire community took part. Groups from the following organizations participated: Independent Order of Redmen, Operatic Society, Young Woman's Christian Association, Young Men's Christian Association, Donegal Chapter of D. A. R., McCaskey Camp No. 53, Spanish American War Veterans, G. A. R. Posts 84 and 405, Company B, Pennsylvania National Guard, High School boys and girls, Red Cross units, West End Children's Club. The production more than fulfilled its original purpose. It brought together groups of people and organizations in a common cause and served as a medium for bringing the aims and ambitions of the Recreation and Playground Association before the community, arousing and enlisting the interest and cooperation of the citizens in its work. Music for Memphis.-Mr. Arthur Nevin, of New York City, has recently been called to Memphis as leader of Community Music. Mr. Nevin will work to bind together existing dramatic and musical organizations and get them behind new ventures. More Music for Pennsylvania.-Dr. Hollis Dann, formerly head of the Music Department in Cornell University, who has recently become State Music Director of Pennsylvania under the Department of Public Instruction, is planning for a state-wide development along musical lines. Dr. Dann says: "A program will be planned which will include not only instruction in the schools but through the schools, community singing in every city, borough and school district in Pennsylvania. It is the intention to make music one of the greatest agencies in the work for Americanization." Selected Hymns.-The following hymns were selected by community song leaders as desirable for general use: Come, Thou Almighty King Nearer, My God, to Thee Abide with Me Lead, Kindly Light Now the Day Is Over I Need Thee Every Hour Softly Now the Light of Day Blest Be the Tie That Binds What ones would you add to these? Like Our Music Book.-The Musical Courier prefaces a long quotation from the Community Music Handbook as follows: Community Service, Incorporated, at 1 Madison Avenue, New York, has just issued a booklet of one hundred pages entitled Community Music, which contains invaluable suggestions for developing community singing, choruses, orchestras and other forms of community music. It would be an injustice to this careful produce even an outline of its salient features within the limits of a review. It must be read, and carefully read, to be appreciated; and those, especially in our smaller cities, who are interested in advancing the cause of either serious or popular music in their community should not be without this useful guide. Swim-Ezy. Mr. Clarence H. MacDonald, National Director of Physical Education for the Young Men's Christian Association in Cuba, has prepared a little book called "SwimEzy" published by the SwimEzy Educational Bureau, Urbana, Ohio. In issuing this booklet Mr. MacDonald has endeavored to compile a concise, simplified and non-technical manual which will be a one lesson method of teaching swimming en masse or individually. Swim-Ezy is practically game in which the players end up by learning to swim. a Mr. MacDonald in writing the booklet has had particularly in mind the need of playground workers. The system described in "Swim-Ezy" is based on a ten year experience as Director of Swimming, Athletics and Playgrounds, and an equally long period of experimentation in all methods Still for Fun-but More Healthful. When prohibition put an end to the famous bar room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, in New York City, it was turned into a library and reading room. The question of what to do with the wine cellar still remained to be solved. That, too, was soon settled by its conversion into a modern gymnasium in which shower baths have been been installed. When completed it will have a running track and an indoor tennis court. Sunday Club.-The Monterey, California, Community Service Commission has organized a Sunday Club which meets at five o'clock each Sunday afternoon at the club rooms of one of the churches. There is a fifteen-minute musical program, a ten-minute discussion of some interesting and worthwhile subject, followed by a social hour when refreshments are served. Sixty-Seven Acre Gift.Niles, Michigan, has been given a 67 acre tract of land upon which will be built a nine hole golf links, a playground and a gymnasium, A Trunk Full of Recreation. -One of the Community Service workers in Michigan has in her equipment, in going from town to town to help communities develop recreation, a portable victrola, a number of records and a trunk containing recreational material, such as volley ball and net, indoor baseball and bat, soccer balls and similar supplies. With this traveling apparatus she is able to conduct two-day Chautauquas. For Better Hospitals.Workers in the health field will be interested in knowing that the Hospital Library and Service Bureau of the American Conference of Hospital Service, 22 East Ontario Street, Chicago, is prepared to serve persons interested in the construction, equipment and operation of hospitals, sanitoriums, dispensaries, health centers and institutions of like nature. Rifles and Revolvers at Play. -To usher in the year of 1921, a "Day of Sport" was held in Sacramento, California, on New Year's Day, under the auspices of the Sacramento Playground Playground Department. A relay race, entered by nine teams, rifle and revolver shooting, and a soccer game were the main events on the program. It was the first time that a rifle and revolver shooting competition had ever been held in Sacramento as a part of any celebration. Small caliber and short range shooting constituted the events of this competition and much interest was evinced in this new sport. A Hint to Americanizers.— From an article on Glimpses of Siberia, the Russian Wild East, by Cody Marsh, in the National Geographic Magazine for December, 1920: However dull a Russian city may be by day, it is never dull at night, for the Russian blossoms out at his best after dark. There was one cabaret in Vladivostok that did not open until one in the morning. And yet, strange to say, no matter how tough the cabaret, no one ever sees anything lewd on the stage or hears trashy music, unless it is American "jazz," played as the tribute of hospitality to American patrons. Russians have too keen an appreciation for beautiful dancing and real music to tolerate anything unchaste in their enjoyment of these arts. Additional Stanza for America. The following stanza was worked out in connection with work with the foreign-born in Seattle. Our chosen country, thee In Our steadfast loyalty Americanization Bulletin.Training Teachers for Americanization, Bulletin No. 12, 1920, of the Bureau of Education, will be found a valuable outline of Americanization methods and activities containing suggestions helpful not only for teachers but for all community workers concerned with the foreignborn. The booklet very wisely insists on participation on the part of the foreign-born in community recreation and other community interests and protests against all schemes for compulsory Americanization. The information regarding industrial classes and home and neighborhood classes which the pamphlet contains adds greatly to the practical value of the booklet. All for the Girls.-Camp Fire Girls to the number of 1000 hiked from all corners of Seattle to a recent National Girls' Day celebration in Woodland Park. Community Service was that day host to 10,000 girls. Can You Do Anything About It?-During the last ten years many communities have been troubled because va cant lots have become a nuisance and a menace to health and have considered plans for using such vacant lots for gardening purposes and for neighborhood playgrounds. What use can be made of vacant lots in your city? Playground Urged. Urged. - The City Council of Decatur, Alabama, recently purchased a tract of land for a municipal park and playground. A propos of this progressive step The Albany-Decatur Daily Daily publishes the following poem by Devis M. McCarthy: Give Them a Place to Play Proud is the City-she finds a place, For many a fad today, But she's more than blind if she fails to find A place for the boys to play! Give them a chance for innocent sport, Give them a chance for funBetter a play ground plot than a court And a jail when the harm is done! Give them a chance-if you stint them now, Tomorrow you'll have to pay A larger bill for a darker ill, So give them a place to play! Superintendent Benson of the Decatur schools, who sends the poem, thinks it fails to mention some lovers of play, and his he adds two stanzas of own: And the girls, too, need the healthy glow That comes from outdoor play; And the old folks need somewhere to go At the close of the busy day. And the tiny tots will romp and run When near to nature's heart, So open that park and start the fun, We all will take some part. A number of the volunteers attending Miss Burchenal's Institute held in St. Paul in November have agreed to go regularly to the St. Paul Association for the Blind to teach folk dancing. Blind people can do folk dancing if they have partners who can see and the form of service proposed by the St. Paul volunteers will bring great happiness into the lives of St. Paul's blind. |