Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

THEODORE WIRTH — PIONEER IN PARK PLANNING

acres of land, although few improvements had been accomplished. The need for park facilities was pressing in the growing city, and the Board realized that a full program of work must be pressed forward at once. Mr. Wirth undertook that job and developed a park system of 5,200 acres which included enlargement of Glenwood Park from 60 to more than 680 acres, with establishment of the nursery in the park and construction of Glenwood Parkway; the acquisition of Camden Park and its improvement as a highlydeveloped recreational area; the converting of the old King's Farm into Lyndale Farmstead with its central warehouse, its well-appointed storage facilities, workshops, and greenhouses; the acquisition and improvement of The Gateway as an artistic entrance to the city; the development of The Parade into a centrallylocated, city-wide athletic field; the establishment of the Rose Garden, lilacs, peonies, perennial border, and rock garden at Lyndale Park to form the several units of a horticultural exhibit; the Chain of Lakes, comprising Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Cedar Lake; the acquisition and improvement of Victory Memorial Drive and St. Anthony Boulevard; the paving and developing of Minnehaha Parkway; the acquisition and transformation of the

37

tion of the system "keep off the grass" signs disappeared from Minneapolis parks, and he introduced playgrounds and other features of park utilities suitable for the intensive use to which municipal park systems must be put. Horticultural advancement in park work has been one of his chief aims.

One of the most important principles to which Mr. Wirth has adhered in his park administrative work is that the expense of facilities for any special interest, such as golf, together with the cost of operation and maintenance, should be met by those who participate in these specialized forms of recreation. He also insisted that no service in parks should be conducted for private gain, and remained opposed to concessions in parks. He

"There is enough glory, satisfaction and
happiness in what has been accomplished
in the building up of the city's park and
recreation system since the creation of
the Park Commission 52 years ago to
bring pride to the heart of every citizen.
To the continuity of the service and the
never-faltering policy of faithful, diligent
foresight and economical administration
of

your Honorable Board is due the con-
stant, steady and healthy growth to what
we now have in our park system. . .
Your kindness and confidence in me have
been an inspiration and constant encour-
agement in my endeavors and in my work.
It seems as though it were but a few
years since I came and I am so thank-
ful that I did come."-Mr. Wirth, in his
reply to the tribute of the Park Board.

swamplands of Lake Amelia and Rice Lake into the attractive and useful Lake Nokomis-Hiawatha Park area; the improvement of Powderhorn Lake Park; acquisition and construction of Armour, Meadowbrook, and Lake Hiawatha golf courses, and the establishment of a host of neighborhood parks and playgrounds, giving Minneapolis an enviable playground system. Another achievement during Mr. Wirth's administration was the acquisition and improvement of the Municipal Airport and the development of this field into one of the outstanding airports of the country.

Parks Are for the People

Mr. Wirth's philosophy of park use has been that the parks are for the people. Under his direc

advocated that refectories, boat, and other revenueproducing facilities be operated by the Park Department in the interest of the public.

A pioneer in many phases of planning, Mr. Wirth was one of the first to advocate beauty along highways. He never ceased to emphasize the importance of roadside improvement from the standpoint of appearance.

Honors Conferred Mr. Wirth brought fame to himself as well as to Minneapolis through his park work, and he has received highest honors as a park planner and executive. He was a charter member and has long been a prominent and untiring worker of the American Institute of Park Executives and the American Park Society, of which he served twice as president and for a number of years as treasurer. At the 1934 convention of the institute he was elected to honorary membership. The Twin City Florists' and Gardeners' Club and the Minnesota State Florists' Association were organized largely through the efforts of Mr. Wirth, and he was the first president of the latter organization. His interest in flower shows never lagged, and in 1913 the Society of American Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists, of which he was vice-president, (Continued on page 52)

Bead Craft as a Playground Activity

OODEN BEAD projects have proved a fascinat

Wing leisure time activity in our city. Chil

dren, men and women are all interested in making purses, belts, collars, bracelets, pins, buttons and head bands. In the varied types of bead work offered-weaving, knitting, crocheting, embroidery on canvas, porcelain bead mats, and many articles which may be made with wooden beadsthere are projects to suit all tastes.

Wooden Beads. Wooden beads are imported and are made of hard wood. They come in many shapes-round, square, oval and flat, and in practically any color. They are finished so that they do not fade or rub off. Many useful and desirable articles may be made from them, and the art of putting the beads together can be mastered after a few minutes of practice. This craft may easily turn out to be your chief hobby or favorite pastime. Your own patterns and designs can be worked out on paper and colored with crayons so that you may see exactly how the finished product will look.

A bead loom, which the children can make out of a cigar box, may be used for weaving belts. Bead mats are a popular project and they may be made in many different shapes-hexagonal, round, square or scalloped. Any cross stitch design may be worked out in beads; baskets of flowers in cross stitch

are especially

well adapted

for mat construction.

Equipment. Bead outfits may be purchased according to the

project to be made. Kits

are made up including beads, design, thread, needles, lining and zipper for purses. Equipment for mats

By MAURINE E. MADER
Assistant

Playground and Recreation Commission
Springfield, Illinois

may be purchased in the same way. Bead work may be as expensive or inexpensive as one wishes. depending on the article to be made and the variety of beads used. Bracelets may be made for as little as five cents, while belts cost from fifteen cents up, depending on the length desired. Purses for children may be made for forty-five cents up. While beads may be purchased for the individual projects, they may also be bought in lots of a thousand. After the participant has made some of the articles it is a little less expensive to buy in bulk, for it is possible to find at home materials suitable for lining purses or for use in connection with other articles to be made. We have found it desirable to sell the beads in lots of not less than a hundred though they may be secured in strings of fifty.

We use a waxed linen button and carpet thread which may be purchased at any notion department. We have had no trouble with thread breaking;

A few of the articles which have been produced
in Springfield, Illinois, by the use of beads

we do, however, double it as this gives the article more body.

[graphic][merged small]
[graphic][merged small]

The Problem of. Nature Vandals

Courtesy Parks and Recreation

ALONG with the new advance in nature recreation goes liability, Dr. William G. Vinal has pointed out. A further word of warning comes from a museum director: "I can but feel that all this sending of the general public into the country works havoc with the wild life. . . . The 'clearing up and improving' of the wilderness and the establishment of recreation centers spell the end of natural conditions. . . . The 'general public' cannot be educated to appreciate the wilderness and are for the most part vandals."

Camping in Indian Atmosphere

COLUMBUS, Ohio, is to have a new $50,000 camp for children, the contribution of FERA and WPA. The camp was used last summer for four weeks though it had not been completed. Children from the various playgrounds between the ages of nine and sixteen spent a few days in camp at the very nominal fee of 50 cents a day which included transportation to and from the camp grounds. As the camp is located in the territory of the old Wyandotte Indians, Indian lore was very much a part of the program. The camp will consist of twelve new bunk houses, a director's cottage, a new recreation hall and a mess hall. The athletic field will be graded and

[blocks in formation]

Their Very Own Club Room!

THE average boys' club in school buildings or community. centers has a place equipped for its special activities and thereby has an excellent start toward its club program. There are still clubs, however, which must initiate their activities in a school basement room with nothing to work with but four walls, and these walls and the ceiling are close together! This was true of a club conducted by the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Recreation and Playground Association. But this did not daunt the boys. Using candles for illumination, they helped wire the room, then made homemade screens for the windows and backstops for basketball. With the help of a few borrowed tools and packing boxes collected from the

[blocks in formation]

GROUP WORK INSTITUTE May 31 June 19, 1937

Western Reserve University

A three weeks institute for experienced professional group workers including credit courses in Principles of Group Work, Supervision of Group Work, Work with Individuals in Groups, The Use of the Skills (dramatics, crafts, music).

A bachelor's degree from a college of approved standing is required for admission.

For information address SCHOOL OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES Western Reserve University CLEVELAND, OHIO

neighborhood stores, magazine racks and work benches were constructed. The same packing boxes furnished material for a bird house project. The club now has facilities for wood work of a simple nature, whittling and coping saw projects, basketball, ping pong, shuffleboard, harmonica classes, shu-quoi, wrestling and boxing. It also has a group of officers and conducts a short business meeting previous to the program of activities. The fact that the boys were obliged to make most of their equipment before using it was no drawback. The club room is their room-didn't they help to equip it?

The Lancaster Hiking Club-A program which may be suggestive for other hiking clubs was that held in December 1936 by the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hiking Club. It consisted of an address on the subject, "The Horseshoe Trail," a talk by the curator of F. and M. College, who was the first leader of the club's Saturday hikes, and the showing of moving pictures of scenes along the horseshoe trail. These pictures showed local hikes taken during the past eight years by G. D. Brandon, Director of the Recreation and Playground Association. Under his auspices the club has been developed.

[ocr errors][merged small]

Moscow Plans for the Future-The Moscow Planning Commission has evolved a ten year plan, according to the December, 1936 issue of The Architectural Record, whereby the incorporated area of the city has been expanded from 2,850.000 to 6,000,000 acres, chiefly to the southwest where the country is high and rolling. Beyond the city limits an immense circular belt of forest and park land is being developed. Under the existing plan, a completely integrated system of arterial highways, both radial and concentric, will be built. Intimately connected with the development of the street pattern is that of parks and waterways. The boulevards which radiate in all directions from the city's heart are also parkways which, broadening as they approach the city limits, directly link the peripheral parks to the city proper. The margins of Moscow River and the numerous canals and lakes are also being developed as parkways upon which a great deal of the city's new housing will front.

WPA Recreation Projects in Chicago Dr. Philip L. Seman, Chairman of the Chicago, Illinois, Recreation Commission, has announced the consolidation of all WPA recreation projects in Chicago into one city-wide project under the sponsorship of the Chicago Recreation Commission. This new project involves some 4,000 workers and a sum of money totaling $2,000,000 or more. Wilfred S. Reynolds, director of the Council of Social Agencies, was appointed by Dr. Seman to serve as chairman of a committee of the Commission which will handle the Commission's sponsorship duties and act as its representative. This committee will also be advisory to other public and private groups and agencies seeking federal aid for recreation. Other members of this committee are V. K. Brown, Chief of Recreation, Chicago Park District; Walter Wright, Superintendent, Bureau of Parks, Recreation and Aviation; Dr. William H. Johnson, Superintendent of Schools; Miss Agnes Nestor, President of the Women's Trade Union League, and Dr. Anthony J. Todd of Northwestern University. A number of other committees have been appointed by Dr. Seman to serve in an advisory capacity to the individual agencies, both public and private, sponsoring certain of the projects.

The Cost of Crime-J. Edgar Hoover of the Federal Bureau of Investigation states that crime is costing America at least $15,000,000,000 a year

WORLD AT PLAY

or an equivalent of $120 per capita. He has also made the statement that Milwaukee has only onefifth as much crime as any city of equal size in America. Mayor Hoan asserts that if this is true Milwaukee, with a population of 600,000 persons, is saving society $96 per resident or $57,000,000 annually. He has also made the statement that the credit for this saving is due to the leisure time program carried on in the parks and social centers of Milwaukee.

Happiness in Service-Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, on his eightieth birthday sent the following message to the Boy Scouts of the world: "Eighty years may seem to you a long time, but I can't remember a time when I wasn't busy, and as long as you are busy you can't help being cheerful. If you ever find yourself without something to do, remember there are always lots of people wanting help, old people or infirm and poor people who would be only too glad of a helping hand. However poor or small you may be you can always find someone worse off than yourself, ill or old or crippled. If you go and help them and cheer them up a funny thing happens. You find that by making others happy you are making yourself all the happier,

too.

"I want you to have as long and jolly a life as I have had. You can get it if you keep yourself healthy and helpful to others. I will tell you my secret for this: I have always tried to carry out the Scout promise and the Scout law in all that I do. If you do that you will make a success of your life and will have a very happy time even if you live to eighty."

Meetings of the Women's Division, N.A.A.F. -The Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation has planned a number of meetings which will be of interest to recreation workers.

On April 21st the annual meeting of the Division will be held from 9:00 to 12:00 in the Garden Room of the Hotel Martinique, New York City. The theme of the meeting will be "Athletics As a Social Force," and there will be two main addresses "Rural Problems in Recreational Activities," by Ella Gardner, United States Department of Agriculture, and "Socializing Sports in the City," by Mark McCloskey, NYA Director, New York City. This meeting will be followed at 12:30 by the fourteenth birthday luncheon. A

41

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« ZurückWeiter »