COMMUNITY GAMES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 November 1939, Page 8

COMMUNITY GAMES

ADULT RECREATION PROJECT EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLUBS. Boston, Massachussets, is only one of many American cities which conduct an Adult Recreation project. The supervisor of its Community Games Division makes some interesting remarks. “After five and one half years of experience in conducting community game rooms, we are convinced that the value of cards and other indoor games in. our modern recreation has been almost completely overlooked. When we read recreation reports from departments all over the country we find much space and high praise devoted to so-called cultural arts, but it is quite evident that the majority of our recreation heads frown on the lowly game room as a desirable form of recreation.

“Yet- anyone who has watched the growth in Boston of game rooms for cards, draughts, chess, and table tennis. cannot help but realise that this form of recreation makes a definite contribution to the daily lives of o,ur community people. There is, perhaps, no other phase of recreation that has the general appeal to all age groups and to people from all walks of life.

“During the past year, our rooms have entertained over twenty thousand different individuals. Our daily average runs around 1.242 individual participants for the eighteen rooms, or sixty-nine players per room. “The contract bridge groups are not organised as classes, but one period of the evening is devoted to instructions. The instructor usually gives a halfhour lecture, using a blackboard to illustrate points, and then devotes the rest of the evening to play. While the games are in progress he visits the tables and answers questions that are puzzling the players. He acts as instructor, host, and public relations man, and during the course of an evening, he makes certain that every person in the group has met every other person present. When partners lose interest in playing with each other, it is his job to provide new partners. When husband and wife object to each other as partners, that is his problem too!

“The field is a cosmopolitan one, giving enjoyment to people from all walks of life. Among the professional people who visit our rooms are prominent doctors, lawyers, dentists, and leaders in the field of education. Others are salesmen, chauffeurs, office workers, labourers, tradesmen, housewives, maids, waitresses, and even recreation workers. In the game room the barriers are down and the groups join in the spirit of fun unconscious of their class distinctions. Chambermaids playcards with doctors, and never hesitate in censuring their opponents or partners for transgressinfi the laws of the game; waitresses feel free to claim the revokes on those who profess to know the law; the so-called meek housewife rises to her might and demonstrates that taking care of babies is not her only accomplishment.

"Consider this as compared to other forms of non-physical recreations, and name one that has a more general appeal. Drama draws from all walks of life but is limited to those who are interested in play acting, stage craft, or playwriting; the orchestra appeals to those who are musically inclined; arts and crafts to those who wish to use their hands in making useful articles for the home or for sale. The game room, with its variety of card games, chess, draughts and table tennis, appeals to the whole community because it is a place to play.” The Physical Welfare and Recreation Branch has drawn up a scheme of development for the guidance of the Physical Welfare and Recreation Committees throughout New Zealand, and in this the need for community club rooms is emphasised.