Rural Youth Holds Most Successful Conference in Chicago 



Second dnniual Jalk J'sM 



By JIM THOMSON 



Ass't Editor, lAA RECORD 



DONALD FREEBAIRN, 17-year-old 

 freshman at La Salle-Peru Junior 

 College, was rated top Topnotcher at 

 the annual Rural Youth Talk Fest held 

 in conjunction with the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association convention in Chi- 

 cago. 



He follows in the footsteps of Bob 

 Temple, also of La Salle county, who 

 went on to win the national Talk Fest 

 held in connection with the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation convention 

 last year. 



Whether he will repeat the perform- 

 ance of his fellow Rural Youther from 

 La Salle county when he represents 

 Illinois at the National Talk Fest in 

 San Francisco Dec. 9 remains to be 

 seen. Loyal La Salle county thinks he 

 has the stuff to do it. 



Besides he has one of the best pub- 

 lic speaking coaches in the Rural 

 Youth movement in Assistant Home 

 Adviser Helen Elliott. Farm Bureau 

 folks say she has a lot to do with the 

 crop of Topnotchers that come from 

 La Salle county. 



Four others, including Bill Mason 

 of La Salle county, were rated as Top- 

 notchers. Freebairn's topic was "How 

 Can Farm People Include Recreation 

 in Their Work Schedule," and Ma- 

 son's was "Rural Youthers Enjoy Pro- 

 grams With Vitality and a Purpose." 



The other Topnotchers and their 

 subjects were: Albert Beyer, Will 

 county, "Why Are State Legislatures 

 Passing Driver Responsibility Laws.'" 

 Robert Guehler, DeKalb county, 

 "Good Looks Without Personality is a 

 Hook Without Bait," and Marlyn Bur- 

 gener, Richland county, "Every Rural 

 Youth Should be a Member of Rural 

 Youth." 



Receiving honorable mention were 

 Clifford Bet2old, Montgomery county 

 and Russell Scheeler, Peoria county. 



Freebairn entered the state Talk Fest 

 after winning the district meet at Am- 

 boy. He is a member of the junior 

 college debating team and is studying 

 agricultural engineering. He lives 

 with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John 

 Freebairn of Dimmick township. He 



34 



has two brothers and a sister and his 

 father was a delegate to the lAA con- 

 vention from his county Farm Bureau. 



Don has been in Rural Youth three 

 years and seven years in 4-H Club 

 work in which he specialized in rais- 

 ing beef cattle. 



According to Ellsworth D. Lyon, 

 lAA Director of Young People's Ac- 

 tivities, participation in the Rural 

 Youth district Talk Fests was the high- 

 est on record. There were 119 chosen 

 from participants from 55 counties in 

 the nine districts. 



Others who competed in the finals 

 at Chicago were: Mary Gebhart, 

 Champaign county; Parris Hester, Ver- 

 milion; Haskell Bernard, Wayne; 

 Marie Beaty, Franklin ; Eugene Mc- 

 Cormack, Saline; Fred Korando, Ran- 

 dolph; Ruth Wright, Marion; Rob- 

 ert Dittmer, Adams; J. B. Barnard, 

 McLean; George Litchfield, Marshall- 

 Putnam; and Lee Myers, McDonough. 



WiniMr* of th« covated titi* of Topnotcher 

 at the Rural Youth Talk Fost held during 

 Iho lAA convention In Chicago were, left 

 to right: Albert Beyer, Will county; iMorlyn 

 Burgener, Richland; Den Freebairn, La Salle; 

 Bill Maton, La Salle, and Don Guehler, De- 

 Kalb. Freebairn is being congratulated 

 for receiving the highest number of points 

 and the honor of representing Illinois at 

 the national Talk Fest In San Francisco. 



ONE of the most successful Rural 

 Youth conferences in many years 

 was held during the annual convention 

 of the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 convention in Chicago, according to 

 Ellsworth D. Lyon, lAA Director of 

 Young People's Activities and Clareta 

 Walker, University of Illinois exten- 

 sion specialist Rural Youth. 



More than 500 members of Illinois 

 Rural Youth registered during the con- 

 vention. SeVenty came in the first 

 night of the meeting for a get ac- 

 quainted session. Fifty members still 

 in Chicago the third day went with 

 Director Lyon on a tour of the Muse- 

 um of Science and Industry. 



Tuesday night after an unusually 

 good evening of entertainment spon- 

 .sored by the lAA, members of Rural 

 Youth met for a dance and mixer in 

 the Bal Tabarin room of the hotel. 

 The large crowd of Rural Youth at the 

 mixer testified to the popularity of this 

 annual affair. 



During the business sessions five 

 persons were elected to the State Rural 

 Youth Committee which will meet in 

 Chicago Dec. 5 to plan a series of 

 short courses to be held in February. 

 Members of the committee are Edwin 

 Dew, Ogle; Ruth Huser, Tazewell; 

 Durnell Henert, Lee; Ray Ferris, Clark, 

 and Marcella High, Christian. 



Walter W. Whitlock, lAA Director 

 of Public Health and Safety, spoke on 

 the prevention of accidents around the 

 farm. He emphasized the importance 

 of the five "didn'ts" which cause so 

 much suffering and loss of time be- 

 cause of accidents. The five didn't 

 according to Whitlock were: I didn't 

 know, I didn't see, I didn't hear, 1 

 didn't think, and I didn't care. 



Problems facing Rural Youth organ- 

 zations were discussed in an open 

 forum Wednesday morning, Nov. 20, 

 led by Miss Walker. 



Questions discussed at length on the 

 forum included "Why Does a Group 

 Have a News Letter.'" "How Can 

 Rural Youth Build Membership?" 

 "How Can Rural Youth Keep Mem- 

 bers" and "Should Rural Youth 

 Groups Schedule Outside Speakers?" 



Miss Walker closed the forum by 

 emphasizing points all Rural Youthers 

 should keep in mind if they would pro- 

 mote the best interests of their organ- 

 izations: "Rural Youth members must 

 act as hosts and hostesses. Help others 

 to feel comfortable. Be ready with 

 cheerful greetings, the proper physical 

 set-up of a meeting place, and a well- 

 planned and interesting program." 



I. A. A. RECORD 





