For Better Community Meetings 



D. E. Llndstrom 



By D. E. Lindstrom 



ATTENTION to eight prin- 

 y LL ciples for guiding commu- 

 ^^^y^ / nity organizations will help 

 materially in inaking meetings of inter- 

 est and value. 



First, the members of a group them- 

 selves should feel a need for community 

 organization. One 

 way of arousing 

 prospective m e m - 

 bers to a realization 

 of this need is to 

 get from them their 

 idea of what such an 

 organization could 

 do for them. Fre- 

 quently, of course, 

 they will express 

 only their wants. 

 Many folks will say 

 that they want to have a good time and 

 will look to such an organization to help 

 them get it. In many cases, of course, 

 these wants may be the same as needs; 

 our people may need to have good times 

 planned for them. Many of them, how- 

 ever, have other needs, such as a true ap- 

 preciation of the opportunities in farm- 

 ing. Therefore, in asking prospective 

 members of farmer organizations what 

 their needs are, care should be taken that 

 they express their needs as well as their 

 wants. In drawing 

 out and building 

 up among folks a 

 true appreciation 

 of their needs, dis- 

 cussion technique 

 comes into play. 



The second prin- 

 ciple is that an or- 

 ganization should 

 have a framework 

 or structure that 

 provides for ad- 

 ministration, the 

 keeping of records, 

 the care of fi- 

 nances, the plan- 

 ning of programs, 

 and the care of 

 special duties. 

 Most organizations 

 provide for two or 

 three officers only. 

 For example, every , 



community unit or 



farmers' club has a president and secre- 

 tary, but many of them fail to provide a 

 committee to plan programs over a pe- 



Here ore Eight Steps to Success in Making Commu* 

 nity Organizations of Interest and Value to Members. 



riod of months which will meet the needs 

 and wants expressed by the membership. 

 A program planning committee is es- 

 sential to the effective functioning of an 

 organization. It can be made up of two 

 or three of the most alert of the mem- 

 bers who cooperate with the president, 

 vice-president, and secretary in building 

 long-time programs and in developing 

 policies and special activities. This small 

 executive group should meet frequently 

 to discuss ways and means of making the 

 organization more effective and more 

 valuable. Out of their deliberations will 

 grow much more interesting programs 

 than can be developed by the president 

 alone or by the president in consulta- 

 tion with the county farm and home ad- 

 visers. 



Third, the purposes of the group 

 should be kept in mind and the activities 

 of the group consciously directed to the 

 fulfillment of those purposes. In de- 

 veloping purposes for the organization, 

 the members themselves should, through 

 discussion, be given full opportunity to 

 develop their purposes built around their 

 own needs and wants. 



Fourth, groups can best fulfill their 

 general purposes by performing specific 



OLD TIME FIDDLERS CONTEST 

 Full Swing at Pike County Farm Bureau Picnic, Near New Canton. 



functions. For example, if a community 

 unit wishes to develop a higher apprecia- 

 tion of the opportunities in farm life. 



it might organize a chorus or an orches- 

 tra, make a tour to some of the better 

 farms, coop)erate with a member in home 

 beautification, or develop a recreational 

 program which can be used in rural com- 

 munities. Experimentation in activities 

 which enhance and improve farm life 

 tends to develop a higher appreciation of 

 the opportunities which the average rural 

 community has for making farm life 

 more interesting and valuable. 



Fifth, programs must be planned with 

 the organization's objectives in mind if 

 they are to be interesting and valuable. 

 We assume, of course, that the purposes 

 are built upon the needs and wants of the 

 membership. The programs, then, in 

 order to carry out those purposes, will 

 meet the needs and wants of the mem- 

 bers. The meetings will be interesting 

 and valuable, but technique must be em- 

 ployed to make them so. Strive to get 

 a large participation from the members 

 themselves. This can be done by again 

 relating the purpxsses and activities to 

 the needs as expressed by the members. 

 If a certain person expresses an interest 

 in folk games, it may be wise to put him 

 in as a leader of folk games. This gives 

 him an oppHjrtunity to express his self 

 need for that kind 

 of activity. The 

 program should be 

 varied and bal- 

 a n c e d. Everyone 

 attending the meet- 

 ing should feel 

 that something of 

 interest and value 

 was provided. A 

 one - feature meet- 

 ing is sometimes as 

 fatal to the organ- 

 ization as a one- 

 crop farm is to a 

 farmer. A little 

 business, a few 

 educational f e a - 

 tures (not too 

 long), some enter- 

 tainment which 

 provides for an ex- 

 pression of cul- 

 tural abilities in 

 music, dramatics, 

 and art, and some scKial activities where 

 young folks can get better acquainted 

 and play together constitutes the pattern 



APRIL, 1937 



