much more frequent and much more popular fifteen or twenty years ago. 

 Public entertainments, other than theatrical performances, are not much 

 more common. Takoma Park and Kensington usually have a number 

 of musical entertainments or illustrated talks during the winter. Wash- 

 ington Grove has them on its Chautauqua program. Churches or schools 

 in other places give occasional public entertainments, which will be 

 taken up more in detail in the church and school sections. 



Suppers, Festivals, etc. For most of the churches in the county the 

 festive strawberry and oyster are the first aids to the budget; the lodges 

 also require their assistance. It would be difficult to estimate the total 

 number of oyster suppers, strawberry festivals and lawn parties given 

 in the county in the course of the year. Practically all of the organiza- 

 tions which require money give them, and in spite of their number, 

 throughout the county, 75 to 100 people or more can usually be gotten 

 out to such an event. 



Fairs. Very frequently the fair is combined with the oyster supper or 

 strawberry festival or church picnic. Probably there are thirty or forty 

 such fairs in the county during a year. The annual agricultural fair at 

 Rockville has already been mentioned. 



Picnics. As was said in another connection, a great number of picnics 

 are given during the year by churches and lodges; the total number for 

 the county is probably over 60. The largest is usually the Catholic 

 picnic in the Barnesville district, which is often attended by as many as 

 5,000 people. The average attendance for all picnics is probably about 

 150. Many features are combined with the picnics, such as dancing, 

 baseball, sales of candy, refreshments and other things, and (sometimes) 

 raflles and similar money-making devices. The only districts where 

 these picnics are apparently not a prominent and popular feature of the 

 social life are the Olney and Bethesda distncts. 



Amusement Parks, Chautauquas and Resorts. Washington Grove in 

 the Gaithersburg district is the only strictly summer resort in the county. 

 This resort occupies 200 acres of ground, and is very pleasantly situated. 

 Among its attractions may be enumc-ated its Chautauqua program of 

 12 lectures and concerts, its athletic association, allied with the South 

 Atlantic division of the A. A. U. and furnished with a finely equipped 

 athletic field, its annual athletic carnival, its 10-day camp meeting, con- 

 ducted by its committee on religious services, and its kindergarten. 



There is a large amusement park at Glen Echo in the Bethesda Dis- 

 trict, occupying a huge stone ampitheater which was built for Chau- 

 tauqua purposes but has not been so used for many years. Cabin John 

 is somewhat of a resort, and Chevy Chase Lake with its frequent band- 

 concerts in the summer is very popular. These three draw much of 

 their patronage from Washington. 



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