124 THE COUNTY AGENT'S SERVICES 



nity spirit and to stimulate cooperation without getting 

 into details which sometimes develop argument and an- 

 tagonisms. 



There are many simple contests, games and even physical 

 exercises in which large groups may participate and with 

 which most persons are familiar. They require no special 

 skill, but do call for leadership. To best serve their pur- 

 pose, they must be well done. They tend to relieve the 

 srmeness and the seriousness in meetings and to emphasize 

 community of interest and to encourage cooperative action. 



COMMUNITY RECREATION 



In order to encourage and to increase community spirit 

 and action, it is coming to be the practice to hold one or 

 more county-wide gatherings in each county during the 

 year. Such gatherings are also held in the communities, 

 but these usually include more than one community. They 

 are of many different types : field days, picnics, clam bakes, 

 ox roasts, etc. All have certain features in common. They 

 are characterized by field games and contests, usually in- 

 cluding a ball game, by picnic dinners and by "speeches." 

 It is surprising what such meetings sometimes accomplish 

 in the way of developing community spirit. 



Some of the possibilities of such meetings are indicated 

 in the quotation which follows and which is taken from the 

 report of a home demonstration agent : 



"One hundred men, women and children for miles around gath- 

 ered in a meadow at for a corn roast and clam 



bake. There is no village or even a cross-roads, merely a school- 

 house. I made a few remarks encouraging them in this getting 

 together for play. Games occupied the rest of the P.M. One 

 man said to me: 'You have no idea of the change in the spirit 

 of the people of this community since the farm and home 



