OUR VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. 



435 



for general improvement will find waiting to 

 be done when an aggressive campaign is 

 begun. In going about the village shortly 

 after the era of reform had set in we were 

 delighted at the evidence of neatness which 

 met us on every hand, and we congratulated 

 ourselves on what had already been effected 

 by combined effort expended along the same 

 line. 



We began public improvement at the 

 church. The grounds about it were cleaned 

 up thoroughly, and some trees and vines set 

 out ; old hitching posts were removed and 

 neat new ones provided ; the sheds at the 

 rear were reboarded and painted a quiet, 

 neutral color. Then we went to work on 

 the school grounds, and we did not leave 

 them until they were as tidy in appearance 

 -as the grounds about our homes were. We 

 set out a good many trees there, some of 

 them evergreens, made provision for beds 

 to be filled with flowers by the children, and 

 arranged trellises of lathwork, to be covered 

 with vines, as screens for the outbuildings. 



Then " the park " was taken in hand. 

 Thistles, mulleins, nettles, and other weeds 

 of an aggressive character had taken full 

 possession, and the cows which had been 

 allowed to feed there had not interfered with 

 them. These we cleared away and sowed 

 the places where they had grown with lawn 

 grass seed. We built seats here and there 

 under the trees and erected a rustic band 

 stand in the centre of the lot, about which 

 we planted ampelopsis and bittersweet and 

 wild clematis. These vines have since 

 grown to such size that they completely hide 

 the wood of which the stand is built, and 

 make it really " a thing of beauty " in sum- 

 mer. In some of the open places we set out 

 native plants — golden rods and asters. In 

 others we planted perennial phlox, holly- 

 hocks and clumps of " golden-glow " rud- 

 beckia. Here and there, where they would 

 show to good advantage, we made groups 

 of hydrangeas and wild roses and the white- 



flowered elder of the roadsides and fence 

 corners. In this way we secured consid- 

 erable variety without the expenditure of a 

 dollar, as all the cultivated plants we used 

 were given us by those who had more than 

 they had use for, and the native plants were 

 to be had for the taking in the fields and 

 pastures. The result of our work here was 

 most gratifying. When we got through 

 with " the park " it was something we were 

 all proud of. We speak of it nowadays in 

 a respectful and appreciative way, and we 

 are justified in the pride we take in it, for it 

 is a park that would be a credit to any vil- 

 lage. 



Every pleasant evening in summer the 

 young people congregate in it, and once or 

 twice a week the band practices -there, and 

 we all turn out to listen to it and visit with 

 our neighbors and congratulate ourselves on 

 the new order of things. It is natural that 

 we should feel a sort of partnership pride in 

 what we have done, because it has been the 

 outgrowth of co-operation. 



Each summer affords us fresh proof of the 

 wisdom of our undertaking. Visitors from 

 the city compliment us on the spirit of pro- 

 gress visible on every hand. " It doesn't 

 look like the same place," they tell us. 

 " You have made a model village of it, so 

 far as outside appearances go. Your side- 

 walks put our city pavements to shame be- 

 cause of their trustworthiness. Your homes 

 show thrift. Your public places are kept in 

 as tidy a condition as your homes are, and 

 that's something that can't be said of many 

 villages. We like it here, and we're coming 

 again." And they kept their word, and our 

 village is becoming quite a summer resort. 

 So we have found that what we have done 

 with very little inconvenience to ourselves has 

 proved a good advertisement for the place 

 and its people, and the present prospect is 

 that we shall get back many times the value 

 of the labor and money expended in im- 

 provement, for several sales of property 



