Sports Festival 



BY LARRY POTTER 



C^Ny rDICA'ITI) to hLl.Kiln^ a hap 

 ^~-/ 1 pier .mil more- satislyint; (arm 

 f y life, the second annual I"arm 

 Bureau Sports I'estival. Universitv of 

 Ilhnois campus. September ^ and l. was 

 the most colorful event on the IVS~ 

 farm calendar. 



Three thousand farm athletes, the pick 

 of 1 2. (){)() w ho had entered, county sports 

 pro|;rams, participated in 66 events 

 Seventy counties were represented. A 

 historical narrative dramatizini; 2*1 years 

 of .lyricultural extension work and t.irm 

 organization activity in Illinois, in the 

 Memorial Stadium Friday evening, at- 

 tracted ISfiOO persons. 



Just after chore time l-'riday mornmi;. 

 nearly lO softhall teams, clad in bright 

 snappy uniforms, opened play in five 

 tournaments. Sunny fields, stately elms, 

 fleecy clouds and azure skies added to the 

 brilliance of the scene. 



By noon the crowd had swelleil to 

 record size. Softball fans saw close cames 

 as county champions tried for a chance 

 at state titles. 



One hundred ten teams played in hve 

 divisions. Nineteen entered the Adult 

 County League tournament. S i played m 



the All ( ounty Le.i^ue division anil ten 

 teams of I"arm Bureau members over 

 St entered that tournament There were 

 i6 teams in the Boys i H ( lub division 

 and I 1 in the Girls' division. 



Many folks found comfortable seats 

 in the balcony of the spacious Cieorge 

 Hutf (ivm. Iriday mormnt;. where they 

 heard fi\c tamily singing groups and saw 

 1 1 squ.ire dance and ten folk lianu 

 teams go through their paces. 



The view from the balcony of the 

 g')'!!! was the most colorful of the Icsti- 

 val. In addition to their rhythmical and 

 graceful action, the dancers wore ap 

 propriate costumes of many colors. 



I'riday afternoon, softball tournaments 

 went into second anil third rounds, 

 horseshoe pitching began, novelty and 

 scjuare dance bands vied for honors, trap 

 shooters jielted clay birds. I'arm Bureau 

 baseball teams entered the ijuarter finals 

 of a state championship tournament and 

 IJ"! folks toured the University I'arm. 



At the gun club west ol Champaign. 

 200 spectators saw 6S trap shooters fire 

 in the first All Farm Bureau match 

 ever conducted. By six o'clock. I-d 

 ( ooper. X'ermilion county, and (iarreit 



I.A.A. DINNER TO FARM BUREAU AND AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PIONEERS. 

 Inman Hotel, Champaign, Sept. 3. 



Meyers. ( hampaign, were tied for first 

 pl.ice with IS hits. Five others were tied 

 tor third with -47 each. Cooper won thc 

 title in the shoot off when Meyers missed 

 the seventh target I. Bear. Maion loun 

 ty, took third. 



Women, too. were interested in the 

 trap shoot. Miss ( arinaline ( iiildy. I" 

 year old Oc-cne county high schcK)! lass, 

 w.is the only one participating. In this, 

 her first meet. Miss f iiddy broke s6 

 t.irgets. lusted m.inj of her lompititors 



Bascb.ill t.ins saw topnolih g.inies 

 when IXKalb defeated I'eoria. 6 to I. 

 and Will trounied Fayette. 10 to s, in 

 the Farm Bureau Baseball League ijuarter 

 (in.ils. I he title games, played on Satur 

 d.iy. ga\e Ofle a SO win over IXKalb 

 .ind an .s^i victory over Will in the 

 lin.ils. (Ogle county announn'il last janu- 

 .iry it would enter a baseball team and 

 win the state title. N'oihing like cilling 

 vour shots I!ii. ) 



After a busy day. folks lliKked to 

 the .Stadium for the evening program 

 Boone. I.ogan and .Sangamon ( oiinly 

 Farm Bureau banils playe<l a lOncerl for 

 the earlv arrivals. 



I hen the winners ol the novellv and 

 sejuare danie band contests put on a 

 show, i ostumed sc|uare and folk d.iniers. 

 loo. clis|^layed their talents 



As darkness i losed in. early leaders m 

 igricultural extension work and farm or- 

 g.mi/alion took their places near the 

 platform. As the story oi 2*) years of 

 farm progress was tokl, these |M.'rsons 

 moimted the stage and reenacted scenes 

 in which tlie\ had playeil im[>ortant j->arts 



From earlv communitv metlincs in 



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