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to go home for there were sandwiches 

 and coffee on a long table in the back of 

 the room, prepared by Mrs. Lewis 

 Schaake, Mrs. Gus Pape, Mrs. E. L. 

 Helmkamp and Mrs. Anna Stunkel. Mr. 

 Flagg was right in his statement about 

 the magic of "community spirit" devel- 

 oped when people eat and talk together 

 with one finger in the handle of a cup. 

 Young and old alike enjoyed the next 

 hour of good fellowship. 



"Our community club has been most 

 valuable in helping us get more real liv- 

 ing out of life," volunteered one man. 

 "It helps in the development of our 

 younger folks by giving them a chance 

 to take responsibility in our programs," 

 said a feminine member. "It stimulates 

 more interest in all worth-while com- 

 munity projects," commented a third. 



Getting together to exchange ideas 

 and have good times is not new on the 

 farm. Such groups have been holding 

 monthly meetings throughout the state 

 for many years. According to D. E. 

 Lindstrom of the College of Agriculture, 

 over 500 rural community units, similar 

 to the one at Ft. Russell, held meetings 

 during 1936. 



The Ft. Russell community unit started 

 like many others. Four years ago they 

 didn't have any community meetings 

 there. But folks felt the need of getting 

 together. The Madison County Farm Bu- 

 reau had encouraged the holding of reg- 

 ular meetings in each community. True, 

 they met once a month for worship in 

 the old Presbyterian Church at Liberty 

 Prairie, but everyone didn't belong to the 

 same Church, so some one said: "Why 

 don't we have a Community Club?" An- 

 other said: "Why not dig out the base- 



You Just Can't Stop a ''Fella'' When 

 He's Got a Sandwich in One Hand 

 and a Finger Hung in the Handle of 

 a Coffee Cup 



ment of the Church ?" But there was no 

 money. The Woman's Club had an idea. 

 They met and suggested that the whole 

 community turn out, dig out the base- 

 ment and help in the construction of a 

 room to be known as "The Community 

 Room." It takes the women to get 

 things started. It was only a short time 

 during the summer of 1933 until the 

 room was completed. As many as 17 

 men with pickes, shovels and scraf)ers 

 were there to do their part. 



Farm Adviser T. W. May was called 

 in for assistance in getting the new club 

 organized. G. G. Pape was elected the 

 first president. He had been a leader in 

 talking up the idea. 



An important feature of the Ft. Russell 

 Club is the janitor. At the beginning of 

 the year, assignments are made for each 

 meeting. A different man serves each 

 month. It's his job to see that the room 

 is in order and to unlock and lock the 

 door. E. C. Kayser was the official jan- 

 itor for the October 8 meeting. 



During the day previous to the meet- 

 ing, practically e\'ery farmer in the com- 



munity was busy cleaning seed wheat, 

 preparing the ground, or actually seed- 

 ing. About 6:00 o'clock it started to 

 rain, and continued throughout the even- 

 ing. But in spite of the busy season and 

 the rain, there were 123 people packed 

 into the small community room. 

 75 Farm Bureau Families 

 This community unit takes in all of 

 the Farm Bureau members in Fort Rus- 

 sell township. At present there are 75 

 Farm Bureau families in the township 

 and 37 Home Bureau members. There 

 are two boys' 4-H Clubs with a total en- 

 rollment of about 20 boys. Fred Heepke, 

 president of the Community Club, is also 

 leader of the Oak Grove 4-H Club. Ernst 

 Klopmier is leader of the Liberty Prairie 

 4-H Club. Ernst is also an active mem- 

 ber in the Madison County Country 

 Youth group which takes in young peo- 

 ple from the ages 18 to 28. The Busy 

 Girls' 4-H Club has an enrollment of 

 about 18. It is led by Mrs. Elmer Pape. 

 About 40 young men and young women 

 from this community are members of the 

 Madison County Country Youth Club. 



PABT OF THE 125 AT THE OCT. 8 MEETING 

 "Th«y dug out th« bosemant with picks, shoTala, and scrapers." 



NOVEMBER. 1937 



