RURAL YOUTH 



By ELLSWORTH D. LYON, Director 



Young People's Activities 



ALTHOUGH tliL State Rur.il Youth Talk 

 Ftst will hjvi- taken place bttore this 

 issue ot the lAA Returd reaches the rcai-lers, 

 the District Talk Fests deseive special men- 

 tion. 1 hey were outstanding; this vear. New 

 records were set both in numbers ot in- 

 dividual participation and in counties rep- 

 presentcd. There were 1 ^2 speakers repre- 

 sentinc ^9 counties, while 8J9 speakers en- 

 tered the county Talk Fests. Quality was not 

 sacrified for quantity One of the usual re- 

 marks heard throupliout the state was. "This 

 is the best Talk Fest I've ever heard in 



SOX; Urov E Klucter, MADISON; J. Rob- 

 ert Young, HtXRY. 



TAZEWELL heard one of its forme: 

 members, Dick Herm. who spoke at the 

 Sept. .""v meetin/;. Herm is employed by 

 the I'eoria Producers. 



Seventy LIVINGSTON Rural Youthers 

 assembled Oct. J2 in the Farm Bureau as- 

 sembly room tu hear Burnell Phillips, local 

 attorney, spe.ik on "Life in New Zealand." 

 in which he told of customs and traits of 

 the natives of that country. He stated that 



C. D. Lyon, (right), 

 lAA youth activities 

 director, congratulates 

 the winner and run- 

 nersup in the Van- 

 dalia district talk fest. 

 L. to R.: Glen Meffert, 

 Modlfon; Earl Moeller 

 Effingham; Ethel Kne- 

 bel, Madison; and 

 Winner Ruby Viere, 

 Madison. 



ST. CLAIR.s 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 lanuary. 



JACKSON gave a barbecue and provided 

 entertainment to over 500 people at the 

 county new member meeting on Sept. 29. 

 During the summer, representatives ol Rural 

 ^'outh entertained veterans at the Marion 

 hospital, helped with a variety show at Ver- 

 gennes to raise monev tor their war memo- 

 rial, and assisted with the Rural Youth pro- 

 gr.im for parents' night. 



On Oct. ^s Ta/ewell's president Paul 

 ChalTer and Eunice Huette were married. 

 The wedding reception was held at the home 

 of the bnde V parents at Tremont, and was 

 attended b\ Rural "^'outheis. 



Program Planning 



larlv in November STEPHENSON and 

 McDONOl'GH Counties each planned a 

 series of programs with much variety. The 

 tliemcs for the months from November to 

 May were as follows: STEPHENSON — 

 Nov. 2'>. School Reorganization, Report of 

 lAA Annual Meeting, Bob Heilman. Dec. 

 io -- Christmas party, How We Celebrate 

 Christmas in Our Family. Ian. 2" — Par- 

 ents' Night, Animal Health and Human 

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

 rector, veterinary medical relations, lAA. 

 Feb. Z-i — Report on Farm and Home Week, 

 Fire Prevention, box social. March Js — 

 Annual Banquet. April 2" — Family Finan- 

 cini.'. I. 1:. Parett, secretary, division of 



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 

 talkers 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 str<inglv expressed de- 

 sire as shown through effort on the part 

 of all participants ti> present goi>J discus- 

 sions. 



Skilled Driver Contests 



The Talk Fests were linked with the 

 Rural ■^'outh Skilled Driver Contests this 

 year, the driving activities being scheduled 

 for the afternoons. Two Skilled Driver 

 winners wer^- also top-notch speakers. Thev 

 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, ■«ILLIAMSON ; Elizabeth Cin- 

 ningham. PERRY; Ruby Viere. MADISON; 

 Ethel Knebel, MADISON: George Lewis, 

 BROWN: leon Anderson. IRO^H'OIS- l.vle 

 Schcrtz. WOODFORD. John Fisher, MER- 

 CER; Vern Schcrtz. 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. N'eal. HAMIL- 

 TON; Glen R. Hanning SCHUYLER; Albert 

 F. Henne, KENDALL; Robert M. Carter, 

 WINNEBAGO; Loretta Schneider, JACK- 



W. W. W h 1 1 I o c k 

 (left), lAA diractor 

 of public health and 

 safety, describes with 

 appropriate gestures 

 the first place trophy 

 for the skilled 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 M who married in 1047. 

 to the Rural Youth homecoming held Oct. 

 2 1. In spite of graduations, a strong mem- 

 bership is going forward into 19>8 with a 

 substantial program putting educational fea- 

 tures into each month from November 

 through- April. 



WILL is on the beam in sending delegates 

 to district and state-wide activities. In Oc- 

 tober, Dorothea Eicnbrandt and Olive ^fc- 

 Gowan were placed in char,ge of county 

 plans for county activities for the music 

 and drama festival for Farm and Home 

 Week coming in February. 



general services, lAA. May 25 — Crime Does 

 Not Pay. McDONOUGH, usually holding 

 two meetings eacli 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). Ian. 9 — Election of Officers, 

 Soil Testing and Fertility. Jan. 21 — Ban- 

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

 entine party and movie — parents' night, 

 report on farm and home week, by Rural 

 "^'outhers and Parents. Feb. 2~ — Leap 

 vear 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 23 — ■ Wiener 

 roast and hav rack ride. May 14 — Senior 

 night. Recreation and dance, short talks 

 from boy and girl, "What 1 Get Out of Rural 

 Youth." 



Hani 

 goti 



20 



I. A. A. RECORD 



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