RURAL YOUTH 



By ELLSWORTH D. LYON, Director 

 Ye«n9 People'* Activities 



ALTHOUGH the State Rural Youth Talk 

 Fest will have taken place before this 

 issue of the lAA Record reaches the readers, 

 the District Talk Fests deserve special men- ■ 

 tion. They were outstanding this year. New 

 records were set both in numbers of in- 

 dividual participation and in counties rep- 

 presented. There were 132 speakers repre- 

 senting 59 counties, while 829 speakers en- 

 tered the county Talk Fests. Quality was not 

 sacrified for quantity. One of the usual re- 

 marks heard throughout the state was, "This 

 is the best Talk Fest I've ever heard in 



SON; Leroy E. Klueter, MADISON; J. Rob- 

 ert Young, HENRY. 



TAZEWELL heard one of its former 

 members, Dick Herm, who spoke at the 

 Sept. 25 meeting. Herm is employed by 

 the Peoria Producers. 



Seventy LIVINGSTON Rural Youthers 

 assembled Oct. 22 in the Farm Bureau as- 

 sembly room to hear Burnell Phillips, local 

 attorney, speak on "Life in New Zealand," 

 in which he told of customs and traits of 

 the natives of that country. He stated that 



E. D. Lyon, (right), 

 lAA youth activities 

 director, congratulates 

 the winner and run- 

 nersup in the Von- 

 dolia district talic fest. 

 L to R.: Glen Meffert, 

 Madiaon; Eart Moeller 

 Effingham; Ethel ICne- 

 bel, Madlten; and 

 Winner Ruby Viere, 

 Madison. 



ST. CLAIRS Annual Banquet, Oct. 5, 

 was addressed by Arnold Murray, Kaskaskia 

 Boy Scout Council. His theme, "Acres of 

 Diamonds," emphasized the old truth that 

 the grass is as green in your own front 

 yard as anywhere else. This live-wire group 

 has a flying start on the three-act comedy 

 "Damsel in Distress," to be given in January. 



JACKSON gave a barbecue and provided 

 entertainment to over 500 people at the 

 county new member meeting on Sept. 29. 

 During the summer, representatives of Rural 

 Youth entertained veterans at the Marion 

 hospital, helped with a variety show at Ver- 

 gennes to raise money for their war memo- 

 rial, and assisted with the Rural Youth pro- 

 gram for parents' night. 



On Oct. 25 Tazewell's president Paul 

 Chaffer and Eunice Huette were married. 

 The wedding reception was held at the home 

 of the brides parents at Tremont, and was 

 attended by Rural Youthers. 



Program Planning > V 



Early in November STEPHENSON and 

 McDONOUGH counties each planned a 

 series of programs with much variety. The 

 themes for the months from November to 

 May were as follows: STEPHENSON — 

 Nov. 25, School Reorganization, Report of 

 lAA Annual Meeting, Bob Heilman. Dec. 

 16 — Christmas party. How We Celebrate 

 Christmas in Our Family. Jan. 27 — Par- 

 ents' Night, Animal Health and Human 

 Welfare, Dr. C. Don Van Houweling, di- 

 rector, veterinary medical relations, lAA. 

 Feb. 24 — Report on Farm and Home Week, 

 Fire Prevention, box social. March 23 — 

 Annual Banquet. April 27 — Family Finan- 

 cing, I. E. Parett, secretary, division of 



^41 



this district." Another word of commenda- 

 tion was, "In these Talk Fests the young 

 people show unusual ability in the treatment 

 of material dealing with the problem of the 

 farm and home." 



As usual in the district Talk Fests the 

 tilkers rated one another. In the rating 

 of speeches there was every evidence of 

 fair play. The festival spirit was always 

 above any desire to beat the other speakers. 

 Yet, there was the strongly expressed de- 

 sire as shown through effort on the part 

 of all participants to present good discus- 

 sions. 



Skilled Driver Contests 



The Talk Fests were linked with the 

 Rural Youth Skilled Driver Contests this 

 year, the driving activities being scheduled 

 for the afternoons. Two Skilled Driver 

 winners were also top-notch speakers. They 

 were Ray Eichelberger, CHAMPAIGN, and 

 Mary Holmes, PIKE. The other top-notch 

 speakers going to the state Talk Fest were 

 as follows: Marion Clark, RICHLAND; 

 Maxine Roosevelt, EDWARDS; Kathleen 

 Coleman, WILLIAMSON; Elizabeth Cun- 

 ningham, PERRY; Ruby Viere. MADISON; 

 Ethel Knebel, MADISON; George Lewis, 

 BROWN; Leon Anderson, IROOUOIS; Lyie 

 Schertz, WOODFORD, John Fisher, MER- 

 CER; Vern Schertz, TAZEWELL; Robert 

 Betzelberger, TAZEWELL; Gavin Cross, 

 OGLE; Walter Lambert, DEKALB; Bill Ma- 

 son, LASALLEj Edward Meyer, KANE. 

 Rural Youth District Skilled Driver winners 

 were the following: Val B. Neal, HAMIL- 

 TON; Glen R. Hanning SCHUYLER; Albert 

 F. Henne, KENDALL; Robert M. Carter, 

 WINNEBAGO; Loretta Schneider, JACK- 



W. W. Whit lock 

 (left), lAA director 

 of public health and 

 safety, describes with 

 approprlcrte gesture* 

 the first place trophy 

 for the sicilled driver 

 winner In the state 

 contest at St. Louis. 

 Group included dis- 

 trict contestants in 

 both the driving con- 

 test and the Rural 

 Youth talk fest at 

 Champaign. 



he liked New Zealand a great deal. Phillips 

 was a Lt. commander in the U. S. Navy and 

 was stationed there two years. 



Rural Youth Homecoming 



McDONOUGH invited all former mem- 

 bers, including the 31 who married in 1947, 

 to the Rural Youth homecoming held Oct. 

 24. In spite of graduations, a strong mem- 

 bership is going forward into 1948 with a 

 substantial program putting educational fea- 

 tures into each month from NoYcmber 

 through April. 



WILL is on the beam in sending delegates 

 to district and state-wide activities. In Oc- 

 tober, Dorothea Eienbrandt and Olive Mc- 

 Gowan were placed in charge of county 

 plans for county activities for the music 

 and drama festival for Farm and Home 

 Week coming in February. 



4 



general services, lAA. May 25 — Crime Does 

 Not Pay. McDONOUGH, usually holding 

 two meetings each month, planned as fol- 

 lows : Nov. 20 — Dance. Dec. 5 — Home 

 Safety, trip to fire house and skating party. 

 Dec. 19 — Christmas Party (skit on etti- 

 quette). Jan. 9 — Election of Officers, 

 Soil Testing and Fertility. Jan. 24 — Ban- 

 quet, speaker to be chosen. Feb. 13 — Val- 

 entine party and movie — parents' night, 

 report on farm and home week, by Rural 

 Youthers and Parents. Feb. 27 — Leap 

 year party and Box social. March 12 — 

 Court house trip, new textiles and their care. 

 March 26 — Insurance, Ellery Leefers — 

 General Discussion. April 9 — Treasure 

 Hunt, Record or Movie. April 2} — Wiener 

 roast and hay rack ride. May 14 — Senior 

 night. Recreation and dance, short talks 

 from boy and girl, "What I Get Out of Rural 

 Youth.'" 



Hor 

 gon 



20 



L A. A. RECORD 



DEl 



