I 



Rural Youther who found it hard to get 

 to meetings because of mud roads but 

 who always came when it was possible 

 for him to do so. 



At the dose of the afternoon confer- 

 ence the new state committee members 

 and their alternates were elected as fol- 

 lows: Edna Dew, Ogle; alternate, Bob 

 Sievers, Rock Island; Glenn Niehaus, 

 Montgomery; alternate, Marie Buhrman, 

 Washington; Rex Emory, McDonough; 

 alternate, Lyle Schertz, Woodford; George 

 Matthews, Whiteside; alternate, Russ 

 Scheeler, Peoria; Ruth Huser, Tazewell; 

 alternate, Sumner Johnson, Knox. The 

 state committee had its first meeting on 

 Thursday afternoon and elected Ruth 

 Huser, Tazewell, as the o£Ficial represent- 

 ative to the National Rural Youth Com- 

 mittee of the American Farm Bureau 

 Federation. Edna Drew, Ogle, was 

 chosen as her alternate. 



The Rural Youth mixer on Tuesday 

 evening, led by Johnnie Rollins and his 

 committee was enjoyed from grand march 

 to the final dance. The mixture of march- 

 ing, ballroom dancing, and square danc- 

 ing provided an evening of pleasure to 

 all who participated. 



The final session for Rural Youth was 

 the breakfast served in the Steamboat 

 Room, Mark Twain, 7 o'clock Wednes- 

 day morning with 108 people, mostly 

 young people, being served. Speakers 

 for the occasion were: Miguel Bechara, 

 Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Kenneth Osborne, 

 Somerset, England. Rural Youthers were 

 greatly interested in the remarks of these 

 two men and asked many questions fol- 

 lowing their talks. 



six Topnotchers pose for a pictur* after 

 they placed high in the annual Rural Youth 

 Talk Fest held at St. Louis in coniunctien 

 with the lAA annual meeting. Winner of 

 the Talk Fest was Lyle Schertz (left) of 

 Woodford county. He was to represent Il- 

 linois In the notional Talk Fest at the AFBF 

 convention In Chicago In December. Back 

 row: Schertz, Bill Mason, La Salle, second; 

 John S. Fisher, Mercer, fifth; front row: 

 Mary Holmes, Pike, third; Ruby VIere, Mad- 

 ison, fourth and Elizabeth Cunningham, 

 Perry, sixth. 



JANUARY. 1948 



Ray Elchelberger, 

 Champaign county, re- 

 ceives trophy fron 

 lAA President Shuman 

 after winning state 

 safe driving contest In 

 St. Louis. Uft is Sgt. 

 C L. Rockwell, one el 

 the fudges and mei»- 

 ber of the Illinois 

 Stcrte Police, traffk 

 safety section. 



Ray Eiclielberger Wins lAA 

 State Skilled Drivers Contest 



RAY EICHELBERGER was ad- 

 judged best man behind a steer- 

 ing wheel following the first an- 

 nual Rural Youth state skilled 

 drivers' contest held since the 

 end of the war. 



The contest pitted the winners of 

 eight Illinois districts against each other 

 and was held in conjunction with the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association annual 

 meeting in St. Louis. 



Cooperating with the lAA depart- 

 ments of young peoples activities, and 

 safety and public health in conducting 

 the contest were the traflFic safety divi- 

 sion of the Illinois state police and St. 

 Louis city police. 



Placing second in the contest was J. 

 Robert Young, Henry county. Third 

 was Albert Henne, Kendall county. 



The contest started in the counties 

 where 1,500 participants competed and 

 72 of them went to the district finals. 

 The preliminary trials included a writ- 

 ten test and a driving test. 



The finals at St. Louis also were di- 

 vided into two parts — 1. an actual 

 street driving test in St. Louis traflFic, 

 and 2, a test of skill. 



The actual driving performance was 

 graded on knowledge of traffic regula- 

 tions, attitude, courtesy, signalling, ap- 

 proaching, turning, stopping for signs, 

 speed gear shifting, alertness, distrac- 

 tion, use of horn, following, passing, 

 etc. 



The skill test consisted of trick per- 

 formances such as backing in and out 

 of stanchions placed on the street at 

 intervals, doing same going forward, 

 stopping with Dumper over a line af- 

 ter braking at 20 miles per hour, park- 

 ing correctly, and signalling. 



President Shuman of the lAA pre- 

 sented Elchelberger with a gold trophy 

 and Young with a plaque. 



R.F.D. AMERICA IS 

 NEW QUIZ SHOW 

 FOR FARM FOLKS 



I A SALLE county farm folks were 

 scheduled to appear on R.F.D. 

 America, new farm radio quiz show, 

 Dec. 25. Listed on the program 

 were Robert Sawyer and Mrs. Ruth 

 H. Stratton of Leland, and Bob Ashley 

 of Tonica. 



This new program is heard every 

 Thursday night over the Mutual Broad- 

 casting System at 8 : 30 CST. Joe Kelly, 

 quizmaster of the Quiz Kids program, 

 is in charge of the show. Illinois radio 

 stations on which the program can be 

 heard are WON, Chicago; WJPF, Her- 

 rin; WQUA, Moline; WKRO, Cairo, 

 and WGIL, Galesburg. 



Main purpose of the program, ac- 

 cording to its originator, is to bring 

 about a better understanding between 

 farm and city groups. 



A "Friendly Farmer" award is made 

 on each week's program to the farmer 

 who has helped a neighbor. On the 

 Dec. 4 program, 22 friendly farmers of 

 Shannon, Carroll county, who helped 

 out an injured neighbor, Edgar H. 

 Schoonhaven, were guests on the pro- 

 gram. They did his chores and raised 

 1700 to help pay his hospital bill when 

 he suffered a broken back. 



If you want to see the program any 

 time you plan to be in Chicago write 

 for the tickets to R.F.D. America, Chi- 

 cago, III. The show is staged at tbe 

 Eighth Street Theater, Chicago. 



itm 



