VOL. XXI, No. 4

A New Recreation Center for Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City has purchased at a cost of $16,000 for use as a year-round recreation center the east side tennis club site, with four splendid play gravel courts, a beautiful club house and space for a children's playground.

A Community Center for Westchester County. At the third annual spring music festival of the Westchester Choral Society, announcement was made that a building to be known as the Westchester County Recreation Center will be constructed within the year with enough space to house the county's recreation activity. The 1927-28 music festival will no doubt mark the formal opening of the new building. The County Board of Supervisors has voted to appropriate $600,000 for the construction of the center as requested by the Westchester County Park Commission. The building, whose auditorium will seat 6,000 people, will be near White Plains, the county seat, located on land valued at $120,000. The center will serve as a meeting place for the entire county.

A Municipal Playground for a Hospital.— The crippled children of Memorial Hospital, Johnstown, Pa., are now enjoying a playground on the hospital roof which has been equipped by the Municipal Recreation Commission. Leadership is provided by the Commission. After careful study, the following equipment was selected -five carts for crippled children, three wheel chairs, one chest weight machine and a hydraulic rowing machine. Suitable games are being provided.

Legacy for Park Development.-William O. Allison by will left a three million dollar trust for the development of the Palisades Park along the Hudson in New Jersey. The trust has since increased until now the property is valued at eight hillion dollars.

JULY, 1927

A New Jersey court has recently reversed the decision of a lower court which stated that the intention of the testator was so vague that the money should go to his family who were contesting the will.

Herman Fasholz.-On May 28th, Herman Fasholz, one of the directors of the West Chicago Park Commissioners, passed away after a service of twenty-two years with the West Parks. "The playground and recreation movement," writes W. J. H. Schultz, Superintendent of Recreation Centers, "has lost one of its most conscientious and efficient workers in our friend Herman."

A New Park for Sacramento.—Mr. and Mrs. V. S. McClatchy, of San Francisco, recently purchased and deeded to the city of Sacramento a portion of Joyland Park, formerly a commercial park. The gift was made in honor of the late James McClatchy, founder and former publisher of the Sacramento Bee.

The property, about eleven acres in extent, has been given with no conditions except that it be maintained perpetually by the city as a park without charge to the public.

The city has agreed to clear the property of all buildings and fences, retaining only the swimming pool and bath house.

Other developments in Sacramento include plans for a recreation center for seasonal and itinerant workers and a huge stadium.

State-Wide Dramatic Contest.-The first state-wide community dramatic contest in New York State will be held at the New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, during Farmers' Week. Fourteen counties have entered contestant groups. County and intercounty contests will be held before Farmers' Week so that the groups will be narrowed to three for the final contest.

VOL. XXI, No. 4

A New Recreation Center for Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City has purchased at a cost of $16,000 for use as a year-round recreation center the east side tennis club site, with four splendid play gravel courts, a beautiful club house and space for a children's playground.

A Community Center for Westchester County. At the third annual spring music festival of the Westchester Choral Society, announcement was made that a building to be known as the Westchester County Recreation Center will be constructed within the year with enough space to house the county's recreation activity. The 1927-28 music festival will no doubt mark the formal opening of the new building. The County Board of Supervisors has voted to appropriate $600,000 for the construction of the center as requested by the Westchester County Park Commission. The building, whose auditorium will seat 6,000 people, will be near White Plains, the county seat, located on land valued at $120,000. The center will serve as a meeting place for the entire county.

A Municipal Playground for a Hospital.The crippled children of Memorial Hospital, Johnstown, Pa., are now enjoying a playground on the hospital roof which has been equipped by the Municipal Recreation Commission. Leadership is provided by the Commission. After careful study, the following equipment was selected -five carts for crippled children, three wheel chairs, one chest weight machine and a hydraulic rowing machine. Suitable games are being provided.

Legacy for Park Development.-William O. Allison by will left a three million dollar trust for the development of the Palisades Park along the Hudson in New Jersey. The trust has since increased until now the property is valued at eight million dollars.

JULY, 1927

A New Jersey court has recently reversed the decision of a lower court which stated that the intention of the testator was so vague that the money should go to his family who were contesting the will.

Herman Fasholz.-On May 28th, Herman Fasholz, one of the directors of the West Chicago Park Commissioners, passed away after a service of twenty-two years with the West Parks. "The playground and recreation movement," writes W. J. H. Schultz, Superintendent of Recreation Centers, "has lost one of its most conscientious and efficient workers in our friend Herman."

A New Park for Sacramento.-Mr. and Mrs. V. S. McClatchy, of San Francisco, recently purchased and deeded to the city of Sacramento a portion of Joyland Park, formerly a commercial park. The gift was made in honor of the late James McClatchy, founder and former publisher of the Sacramento Bee.

The property, about eleven acres in extent, has been given with no conditions except that it be maintained perpetually by the city as a park without charge to the public.

The city has agreed to clear the property of all buildings and fences, retaining only the swimming pool and bath house.

Other developments in Sacramento include plans for a recreation center for seasonal and itinerant workers and a huge stadium.

State-Wide Dramatic Contest.-The first state-wide community dramatic contest in New York State will be held at the New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, during Farmers' Week. Fourteen counties have entered contestant groups. County and inter

county contests will be held before Farmers' Week so that the groups will be narrowed to three for the final contest.

Greenwich House Plays.-The Little Players of Greenwich House, New York City, gave two rarely lovely plays at the Garrick Theater in May. The children themselves, under the direction of Miss Mary E. Carpenter and Miss Helen A. Murphy, combined favorite games, stories and dances in the dramatizations. The individuality of expression and the unselfconsciousness of the players gave a poignant quality to the production.

Drama and Music in Winter Haven.-The Department of Public Recreation of Winter Haven, Florida, of which August Fischer is superintendent, has organized the Little Theatre, whose purpose is to afford individuals opportunity for self-expression in the varied and allied arts of the theatre.

The group has given a very successful program of four one-act plays-The Flower Shop; For Distinguished Service; Good Medicine and Never-the-Less.

The Municipal Chorus, under the auspices of the Department of Public Recreation, presented Esther, a sacred cantata.

A National Contest in School Bands.—On May 27 and 28 school bands from all parts of America met in a two-day musical battle at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Prior to this, sectional and state contests were held in 26 states to select the best bands to compete in the contest held under the joint auspices of the Committee on Instrumental Affairs of the Music Supervisors' Conference and the National Bureau for the Advancement of Music.

Each competing band played four types of composition, consisting of a warming-up march, not to be judged; an assigned composition; one composition to be selected from a list of twenty prepared by the Committee and two well known numbers to be prepared for playing in unison with the other bands.

Three musicians of national reputation served as judges to determine the best band. The judging was done on six main points as follows: instrumentation, interpretation, intonation, tonal and harmonic balance, tone quality and precision.

The award for the national championship band was a large trophy made of solid mahogany and symbolizing a temple of music with beautifully carved columns and a decorative arch. There were also first, second, third and fourth place

These tablets together with medals and trophy and with honorable mention for fifth and sixth place winners were given in both classes A and B.

A Few Recent Musical Developments in Los Angeles.-The San Pedro Civic Orchestra at the request of the orchestra committee has become an associated activity of the music section of the Los Angeles Playground and Recreation Commission.

At Yosemite, a choral society has been organized which is planning a wide program of musical comedies such as The Mikado. Echo and South Park Playgrounds have each developed male quartets; a new orchestra has been organized at Ross Snyder Playground and a harmonica band at Echo Playground.

Ukulele clubs are to be fostered at most of the playgrounds, in a plan to develop a city-wide ukulele club activity. Through the cooperation of the Examiner, it is hoped to secure qualified volunteer leaders to conduct rehearsals under the auspices of the Music Division. As a first step, a ukulele playing contest open both to children and adults was held on the playgrounds in April. The winner from each playground contest may be entered in the final contest.

In preparing for participation in the California Eisteddfod Association, Harmonica Division, an effort is being made to have as many as possible take part in the preliminary elimination contests to determine the best representative harmonica players from the individual schools, playgrounds and other organizations. The best players from these groups participate in the district contest of the Eisteddfod.

A Joint Musical Program.-A musical program presented by groups from a number of Lost Angeles centers will show the diversity of musical activities being conducted by the Music Division. 1. Opening March-"Our Cheer Leader," by Hazard Playground Orchestra

2. Massed Harmonica Bands-a. Southern melodies. b. Battle Hymn of the Republic. 3. Echo Park Male Quartet

4. Accordion Solo

5. Waltz "Tender Thoughts" by Hazard Playground Orchestra

6. Mandolin and banjo numbers by members of the Recreation Center Orchestra

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8. Vocal Solo, accompanied by Downey Harmonica Club

9. Whistling Solo, "Listen to the Mocking Bird," with harmonica accompaniment.

which will be given-75 in number this yearare three sizes of large silk American flags.

Sidney A. Teller, Director of the Settlement, believes this contest to be one of the most constructive and worthwhile activities fostered by the settlement.

More Money for Recreation.-Information is constantly coming to the office from cities which have just secured budget increases. The town of Turners Falls, Massachusetts, whose recreation commission is reaching four neighboring communities, last year had $8,500. This year its appropriation has been increased to $15,000. Kearney, New Jersey, is another city which is boasting of an increase of almost 100 per cent.— from $6,500 to $12,700. The appropriation granted Trenton, New Jersey, has increased from $26,000 to $35,000.

The city of Plymouth has made an appropriation of $35,000 for playgrounds, band concerts and athletics, and will administer the work. A $300,000 community building has just been completed, which will be under the control of the Recreation Board.

Publicity for Recreation. The Department of Public Recreation of Orlando, Florida, is making use of a yellow card 11 inches by 14 inches to advertise recreation facilities and activities. At the top of the poster appears a list of recreation opportunities; at the bottom is the quotation, "A city where people play is the city where people stay," and the name of the department, its address and telephone number. In the blank space in the middle, mimeographed bulletins are attached. The cards are posted in all public places and bulletins with schedules of activities and similar information are changed every week.

Industrial Recreation. On January 1st, 1927, the Store Employees' Association of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, promoted by the Playground and Recreation Association of Wyoming Valley, reported total receipts for the year of $2,361.48 and total disbursements of $1,203.98. During 1926, 2,900 employees took part in bowling, swimming, baseball, basketball and other sports.

One of the outstanding activities of the year was the organization of 180 girls in swimming