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O to move cityward, ,decided-- 0 big reason was the lack of recreation facilities, and set cut to do something about it. Formed just a year ago, the Old York Road Recreation Association to date has raised nearly $2,000; purchased a tour-acre playground uhich has been levelled, filled and ded oil for a variety of pur- The Association has a five~ your plan. prepared by an expert, and plans include two hall dia- monds, skating rinks, tennis court, bun-ling greens, horse-shoe courts, as well as swings, slides and simi-- lar devices for the youngsters A community hall is to be erected. swine): Dunne, who operator; :1 small welding business, started the project filling in February of 1917, wharh one Sunday he invited about 30 neighbors to his home to discuss a playground for children of pie-school age. It was decided promptly that recreation should be pr. .2 ed for residents of all ages. The school section (551 Guelph), it was Set down, would be the area. Approximately 90 per cent. of the 175 members are bona-fide farm- EL'S Mr. Durosc said. The others wo ' in the city or operate small businesses, but live within the area. The minority or non-agriculturists have proven of great value to the Association. "Vi ve bought the [our acres for 3500, it was mostly swamp," he so .. "Cliff Bates, operatesa bulldozer for a living, , and without charging us a cent u: on mfg ' routsideZGu I) v Toer the tendency of" a director, . rm.__Rec'reati011. Plan .9'clation was formed in Céglidge 'lev ' e'I'land in hfevenings. ' "Bi amillon (NLLJX. for Well- ingtod North), got baseball equip- ment for the children's teams--and our juveniles won the township championship. "Ivan Glover, the Ontario Re- formatory landscaping e x p c r t, drew up our five-year plan, which includes ball diamonds, play- grounds, tennis court and many other features. Director Herman Zetlle, the garageman, rigged motors to flood the rink and pump away water. Lights were easy-- Jack Reinhart, another director, is an electrician. Bill Laing, the trucker, attended to that work. Jack Gill, Terry Mills and Bob Clark arc carpenters. Desire for Entertainment "In tactffilr. Durose ' "you can hardly name set out a job one or a cannot direct. My own do the metalwork for own 5 and slides. Of course, we all give a hand with every job, but the ex- pert in that line is in charge." Never yet in the time the Asso- ciation has been operating has any member failed to respond cheer- fully when asked to help, Mr. Du- rose said proudly. "We have the best neighbors in the world!" Guelph township council gave a helping hand too, once it realized that the men were serious. Graders were sent to follow the bulldozer, and one of the township trucks was supplied to aid in the work. Little' time was lost. The Asso- 2 4' 1'" the land purchased ' dozing started as s ,_n as. the-land was dry enough in May,"§;id'by the end of June grass "was being planted on the first'basebail dia- mond. The 1948 part of the 5~year plan includes finishing touches to at least two ball diamonds and fit- ting the young tots' playground with plenty of swings, slides and similar equipment. A bid has been put in on a building to be used as club house and community centre. Extra accommodation is necessary: so great an attendance is drawn to meetings and to the weekly euchre and dances that the schoolhouse no longer can hold all the people. fibur "recreation district" in- cludes about 25 square miles--five each way--and we find that about right." Mr. Durose said. Don't forget to give the ladies credit, tool . I "When we were scratching our heads and wondering where we could get the money to pay for the things we planned, Mrs. Gus Adams and Mrs. H. Doll started the euchre and dance sessions. They put on a very successful garden party, too --best in the country. Our dances are kept clean and 'free from drunks and rowdies, and as the re- sult, the problem is not to get a good attendance, but what to do with all the people we have to turn away. We hope the new hall will take care of that." The euchre and dance parties are not restricted to members. but strangers must pass the scrutiny of directors, and must behave or out they go, Mr. Durose said. "These are family parties, and we u: a»: ~ ids-y",- don't fool around with roughnecks I or troublemakers!" ~ . "We hope other.,rural folk ,wll try our scheme,., ' ' brked,So well here and se' , swer to the country dweil, oral de- sire for entertainméW'Mr. Du- rose said. - "We have proven you don't have to wait for the township or gov- ernment to do the job. Any group of neighbors could do the same as we did, if they are sincere and willvl ing to do a little work." William Laing is president of the Old York Road Recreation Associ- ation. Charles Morrison is vice- president; Mr. Durose, secretary, and Percy Gill, treasurer. (Vet- eran of World War I, Mr. Gill is. undergoing treatment at Westmin--I ster Military Hospital, London, at the present time, but continues his duties by mail from his sick bed.) Directors are: Cliff Bates, Gus Adams, Herman Zettle. Richard Ha'nnam, Jack Rinehart, Mark Hodgson and Bud Mclieon.