Fig. 24—A great Y.M.C.A. Convention in Ohio. Let the boy attend one of these great gatherings if possible, and he will return with a year’s supply of enthusiasm.
5. Camping and hiking.—The boys of the county should be brought together at least once a year in a summer camp. Farmers will soon learn to appreciate the value of such things in the life of the boy and will gladly allow him a few days’ vacation for the purpose. The boy who enjoys such a privilege will more than pay it back through the extra amount of work his enthusiasm will naturally prompt him to perform. For the camp site there should be selected some shady woodland with a good stream of water for fishing and swimming. A crude lodge may be constructed and all the necessary crude camp equipment provided. Each boy will want to carry his own blanket and extra clothing.
One matter must be considered in all seriousness; namely, the sanitation of the camp. Even at the outlay of a comparatively heavy expense, the camp food supplies, including the dining table, should be screened off from flies. The garbage therefore will all be scrupulously buried, and it will be ascertained with certainty that the drinking water is free from disease organisms. Then, the boys may sleep on the ground, wallow in the dirt, splash in the water and mud as they please and return home in the best of health.
6. Exhibitions.—It has been found practicable to have the boys prepare during the season for coming together with a county exhibit, including a wide variety of things peculiar to their interests.
This exhibition should be made as a big annual event, if possible, such as will attract all manner of persons and make friends for the county association. In its ideal arrangement the money expense will be kept down to a minimum. Also keep out the idea of premiums. The contest plan of promotion will some day receive its desired consideration and lose its place as a means of promoting social and spiritual well-being. As a matter of fact it fosters much envy, ill-feeling, and bitter strife and thus strikes at the root of the good-fellowship which you are striving to encourage. But, urge every boy to bring something for the sake of the help he may contribute and let the honor of this service and the approbation of his fellows be his high reward.
One boy may come with a mammoth pumpkin; another with a device of his own invention for catching ground squirrels; still another with a new method of tying a knot; another with a bushel of highly bred corn; others with farm and garden produce of the same attractive nature; others with wild grasses, curios, or geological specimens; others with the parts of a miniature menagerie. One boy may have caught a badger alive; another a coyote; another a jack rabbit; another a huge turtle. Another may bring a cage of rattlesnakes or a box full of snakes of all sorts; another a set of original plans and specifications—for an ideal farmhouse, or farm barn and surroundings; for making the well sanitary; for a milk house; for keeping flies out of the house or barn; a recipe for driving ants and other insects from the house. The boys in one family may come with a lot of samples of soil, showing how differently each must be treated for the same general crop results. Others may bring specimens of “cheat” and noxious weeds, and the like, with a scheme for destroying them. Another may have a plan for a patent churn or a labor-saving device in the kitchen.
Thus there may be brought to the boys’ fair an interesting and most instructive variety of objects, plans, and devices, all looking toward the improvement of home conditions. Such a gathering as this will bring not only the parents and other adults from the home county, but great flocks of outsiders will also come in and learn and become deeply interested in the affairs of the County Young Men’s Christian Association.
Spirituality not lost sight of
It ought to be easy for the average thinker to appreciate the fact that all the foregoing rough-and-ready work in the lives of the boys can be made a practical means of the salvation of their souls as well as of their bodies and intellects. Spiritual perfection is not reached at a bound. There must be much doing of the crude yet worthy things which grow naturally out of his inner nature before the boy can finally achieve a degree of spiritual development that may prove a permanent and fixed part of his adult life. Yes, there will be some Bible study, an occasional short prayer, and now and then a real sermonette in connection with the work of the organization, but much more frequently the Christian life and character will come as a sort of discovery in the boy’s life and that through his own conduct.