PLAN NOW 



for the 



Sports Festival 



NEXT MONTH is Sports Festival 

 time a^'din so let's make it easier 

 for the folks at your county Farm 

 or Home Bureau office this year 

 by sitrning up now tor the events 

 you are ^oin^ to take part in. 



The tenth annual Illinois Farm Sports 

 Festival will be held IhursJay and Fri- 

 day, Aug. 2T-26 at the University of Illi- 

 nois in Urbana-Champaijzn. It is a big 

 job for the men and women who are in 

 charge of all details for this great event. 

 ^'ou can make it cjuite a bit simpler for 

 them by signing up at your I'arm or 

 Home Bureau office for individual or 

 team play as soon as possible. 



The Sports I'estival was set up as a t\\o- 

 day period ot tun. sportsmanship, and 

 good clean play for Illinois farmers and 

 their families. Unless you and your 

 family take part it has ver)- little value for 

 you. Join the fun and you enjoy yourself 

 and help your county Farm Bureau's final 

 standing. 



You cion't have to be an expert. Let's 

 take tug o' war for example. All you 

 have to do is organize a tug o' vsar team. 

 Pull on the rope a little bit and there 

 you have added 80 points to your county 

 total. Yes. you get 80 points just tor 

 taking part in the tug o' war contest. 



You know how to play checkers, don't 

 you ? You know how to pitch horse- 

 shoes? You don't have to be an expert 

 there either. You're probably better than 

 a lot of the fellows you'll be playing 

 against. I^ut right off the bat Sports 

 Festival Secretar)- Roy Johnson will chalk 

 up participation points for your county 

 when you take part. If you win or take 

 second or third pl.ice your county will 

 receive additional points. 



It is suggested that a number of 



counties can lend color and excitement 

 to their county fairs by holding their own 

 or district elimination contests tor the 

 state Sports I'estival. Several counties, 

 like Champaign, Livingston, Iroquois. 

 DcKalb. Kane, and others, hold their 

 own Sports I'estival and send the cream 

 of their players to the state I'estival. 



This year's Sports Festival will be held 

 along the same lines as in previous years. 

 On hand to greet you for the two-day 

 schedule of events which draws 2'>.000 

 spectators and i.'iOO participants will be 

 M\ impressive array ot radio talent, 

 orchestras, folk and scjuare dancers, and 

 the Illinois Rural Cdiorus of 300 voices. 



The big Thursday night program of 

 music, dancing, and entertainment prom- 

 ises to be better than ever. It is under 

 the chairmanship of I. E. Parett of the 

 lAA and Mary McKce of the University 

 of Illinois. The program includes three 

 separate events — entertainment tor those 



Trap Shoot — Aug. 1 2 



I HE Illinois Farm Bureau Trap and 

 Skeet Shoot will be held Friday, Aug. 

 1 2 at the Mather Gun Club near the old 

 airport on route t southwest of Spring- 

 field. 



Like last year it is beint; held in ad- 

 vance of the Illinois Farm Sp<irts Festival 

 of wliich it is a part Isecause of a con- 

 flict in dates with the All-American na- 

 tional shoot. 



Both the trap and skeet shoot will m- 

 clude numerous classes of competition 

 from a two brother team to a father and 

 son or mother and daughter combination. 

 Shooting will start at 8:30 a.m. 



v^ho like to watih. si^uare darning tor 

 those who like it that way. and modern 

 dancing tor those who like the waltz and 

 fox trot. 



The bowling and volleyball tourna 

 nients were played off in late spring to 

 avoid the possibility ot hot weather i:: 

 August. 



The I'estival gels underway at 9 xay, 

 Thursd.iy when 1 >() or more Softball 

 teams sejuare olf tor action. Softball k 

 still the most popular sport, judging by 

 the number of teams entered. Softball 

 will be played by groups ot all ages Iroir. 

 l-H'ers to men over i'^. 1 he holly con- 

 tested ^ames usually draw big irowds. 



One of the biggest attractions of the 

 I'estival is the finals tor the state cham- 

 pionship ot the Illinois !"arm Bure-au 

 Baseball League. Excitement is usualh 

 at fever pitch, the game is usually very 

 close, and a big league brand ot baseball 

 is usually exhibited. Last year VX'ill 

 county defeated DeKalb for the title. 



The folk festival, uniler Chairman E. 

 H. Regnier of the University Exten 

 sion Serviie. includes barber shop quar- 

 tets, soni; leaders, county choruses, fam- 

 ily singers. i-H choruses, adult singers, 

 junior singers. instrumental groups, 

 novelty and rhythm bands, square dance 

 bands, acrobatic and tap dancers, dia- 

 logues, skits, ,i!id stunts, and folk .xn^i 

 scjuare dancers. 



Some of the event chairmen selected 

 include tug o' war. Dkk O Dell. Piatt 

 county: horseshoes. Dr H. I. Snyder of 

 the College of Agriculture and checkers. 

 Frank .Anderson. Ford county, and 

 George Merker. lAA. .\nderson is secre- 

 tary of the Paxton Checker Club, .\nother 

 member of the club, R M. Mason, secre- 

 tary' of the Illinois Checker .Association, 

 has offered his services. 



JULY, 1949 



