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The community or rural district, Miss Carney felt, should be left free to chose the agency it wishes as the centralizing force, whether it be the church, school or other agency.

Serving the Rural Women

Rural Communities have received through their experience in working together in war activities a very real impetus for peace time community service and some interesting outgrowths of war work are being reported. A brief sketch of the rural club movement in Marathon County, Wisconsin, is typical of the thing which is happening in many rural districts.

The following account comes to us from Miss Mary A. Brady, Home Demonstration Agent of the Agricultural Extension Service of the College of Agriculture of the University of Wisconsin.

"Not long after the signing of the armistice, the necessity for Red Cross work became less urgent and many of the local auxiliaries in our county were about to dissolve. While attending one of these local meetings one day in April, 1919, the women said, 'We are sorry these Red Cross meetings are about over. Our getting together every two weeks meant as much to us as the good we knew we were doing for the Red Cross. We have learned to know each other and we find we are much nicer folks than we ever knew we were.'

"This seemed the logical moment to suggest the idea which had been simmering in our minds for some time-that of reorganizing the Red Cross Auxiliaries into Women's Neighborhood Clubs. That suggestion was enthusiastically received, and so the first club was formed in May, 1919, with twenty members.

"The number has grown until now there are eighteen such women's clubs, with a membership of four hundred and forty. Four of these are the outgrowth of Red Cross Auxiliaries. The others wished to be organized because they had heard of the enjoyment and good which resulted from such group work. These clubs are distributed well over the county. A few are centered in rural villages but most of them are out in the country."

Their constitutions are very simple; a typical one follows:

WOMEN'S CLUB OF TOWNSHIP OF RIB FALLS

CONSTITUTION

Article I-Name

This organization shall be known as the Home Demonstration Club of the Town of Rib Falls.

Article II-Object

The object of this club shall be the mutual improvement of its members in home-making and the community interests of the day.

Article III-Members

Any respectable woman resident of Rib Falls Township shall be eligible to membership in this organization.

Article IV-Officers

The officers of this organization shall be a president, a vicepresident, a secretary, and a treasurer.

The officers and an executive committee of three shall constitute a Board of Managers to conduct the affairs of the club.

Article V-Meetings

Sec. 1. There shall be regular meetings of the club on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

Sec. 2. The annual meeting of the club shall be held on the first regular meeting in January.

Article VI-Dues

Each member of the club shall pay, on or before the annual meeting, an annual fee of twenty-five cents.

Article VII-Refreshments

There shall be served not more than three articles of food

at any one meeting.

Article VIII-Amendments

Any section of this constitution may be amended by a twothirds vote, due notice having been given at a previous meeting or by letter, two weeks in advance.

"The meeting places are the homes, except in two instances where the membership is over forty-five, and so one of these clubs meets in the village hall and the other in the men's club rooms in the village. The business meetings are carried on according to parliamentary rules, after which comes the program, and the afternoon closes with a social hour and the serving of a lunch.

"A year's program for the clubs is made out by a committee of club women appointed by the president of the County Federation of Women's Clubs and assisted by the Home Demonstration Agent. Each club retains the privilege of making such changes in the program as would best make it suit the local needs, but in the main it is the same for all. The clubs rely upon themselves and the Home Demonstration Agent to carry out their programs. They have few outside speakers in the course of a year, with the exception of the members of the Home Economics Extension Department of the State University who give their cooperation at all times.

"In September, 1920, the Clubs of the county formed the County Federation of Women's Clubs, which has semi-annual meetings. Any questions of general interest to all of the clubs are discussed and settled at these Federation meetings, to which every club sends two delegates.

"The clubs have grown to be quite powerful agencies in their communities. They are the nucleus for all community activities, and assist and support the Home Demonstration Agent in every community enterprise.

Some of these activities are:

1. The Get-Together meetings of which we have two each year. These are open to all the women of the county and are held in the county seat as the geographical center of the county. There is a noon luncheon served by the Ladies' Aid of some church in the city and this is followed by a community program

given partly by the women themselves, and partly by outside speakers. The attendance at the last one was two hundred, representing nearly every township in the county. It was one merry day-the women said it was a real treat to be entertained for one day instead of having to help entertain themselves.

2. The first County Short Course in Home Economics to be given in Wisconsin was held in the county seat on April 19th to 24th, 1920. Forty girls from the county attended. This was the limit of the number we could accommodate. They were instructed in cooking, sewing and household management. The cooking lessons centered around the preparation of a meal and the last lesson was the preparation and serving of the same. In the sewing classes a gingham dress was completed by each student. Demonstrations of house decoration, proper dress, and poultry culling, occupied the afternoon sessions. An interesting feature of this course was made possible through the generosity of the local business houses. They contributed the funds necessary to give these young folks a banquet at the leading hotel, followed by a theatre party. This was part of the week's training, for many of these girls had never been in a large hotel before and had never attended a banquet.

This course was planned for the country girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one-those who had graduated from the country school and who had no vision of what the future held for them. But now they have a vision! They are going to High School, Vocational School, Teachers' Training Schools, and Business Colleges, and the new light in their eyes shows that they have had an awakening.

3. As a result of the Girls' Short Course the women asked for one of their own, and such a course was planned for them on November 3rd and 4th, 1920. One hundred county women attended and learned much from the lectures and demonstrations on household topics. Because of the large number of women who attended, this course had to be one of lectures and demonstrations instead of having the women actually do the work as the girls did in their course.

Several letters have come in appreciation of this course. Two of them follow:

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one of the very best that has ever come under my notice. It was very helpful indeed, for it gave the women expert advice and knowledge on subjects nearest their hearts-that of happy home making. I venture to say that no woman present left without feeling that she had spent the days to a great advantage and could go home feeling that she had learned a great deal that would prove to be of actual value to her.

If the women who did not attend knew what they were missing they would surely regret it. My hope is that before long we may have another such course and that many more may profit through it.

Sincerely,

Mrs. A. F. Harter,

Dear Miss Brady:

Chairman of the Home Demonstration
Work in Marathon County

The Women's Short Course certainly was worthwhile. I surely gained much valuable information. It was not only the good things we learned by getting out to confer with the members of the adjoining clubs and to hear instructors of the meeting, but it led us to find out through the invitation to visit the Vocational School, that we really had something in our County we know but little about. I feel sure that these who heard the talks and demonstrations are all the more anxious to attend another meeting of its kind. Every one of us came home with so many new ideas, which we are going to try to put into effect, and we hope to attend another course where those who could not attend this year will profit as we have done. I have in mind so many more good points in favor of the Short Course that I wish I could say more, but space limits me.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Mike Strycharske,

Secretary of Women's Club, Town of Plover

Already plans have been made for repeating these short courses for both the girls and the women in the spring. They are established annual activities now as are our Get-Together Meetings and our County Federation Meetings.

If we could only bring you with us to our community parties and have you enjoy with us these whole-souled gatherings.

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