Here is the story of a rural community club which has weather two world wars and has cleared itself of debt for the second time in 30 years (the first property having burned to the ground during the depths of the depression).
The club has 19 stars on its first service flag, 46 on its present one, and in some cases father and son appear on the respective flags.
We wonder if any other rural clubs of the middle west have a longer continuous history. We imagine that many a community has a similar club, with shining memories of happy gatherings--plays and concerts, minstrel shows and masquerades, showers for brides and charivaris for newlyweds, farewells for soldiers and for departing families.
We would be interested in hearing of any such organizations, and their stories may inspire other communities to see their own opportunities for friendship and unity.
As one woman said of the club of which the history is given today, "You don't appreciate what an organization like this means until you have to live a while in a community that hasn't one." -- Hope
Story of the Community Boosters
In December, 1913, a few of the people of the community around Kernan, Ill., met and organized a community club, known as the "Community Boosters." The purpose of the organization as set forth in the constitution, was to "to work for the betterment of the community." No territorial lines were drawn; men, women and children could join, and the membership fee was placed at 10 cents per year, an amount considered sufficient to provide for the actual running expenses.
During the first winter about the only activities of the club consisted of the regular monthly meetings with programs of a literary nature. The local people contributed most of the numbers, such as papers, readings, music, debates, etc., while occasionally a speaker was secured from outside the community to help out. The attendance at these monthly meetings grew steadily during the winter, and the membership increased also as the people became interested in the club.
The meeting place of the new organization was the town hall, situated in the little village of Kernan -- at that time a disreputable building with a low ceiling, poor light and ventilation and straight-backed benches for seats. It was not an inviting place for such activities. The regular meeting in April came on the night of election, and as the election officials were busy counting ballots all evening in the hall, the Boosters obtained permission to hold their meeting in an old abandoned church across the street. It was somewhat better than the hall, but the roof resembled a sieve, and as a result much of the plaster had fallen from the walls. It was roomier than the town hall and more comfortable.
An Annual Picnic
The old church was used by the Boosters for about a year, during which time a lot of things were accomplished, trivial in themselves apart, but altogether of much importance to the community. First, a custom was started of having a community celebration on the Fourth of July. A big picnic out in the woods, with ball game and other sports, program of music and speaking, and a big dinner at noon, became an annual affair. Practically everybody in the community went to the picnic and many visitors came from surrounding towns. People said they had a lot more real pleasure out there than at the noisy celebrations in town, with none of the evil after-effects.
There was no musical instrument at the church, except an old wheezy organ that had long outlived its usefulness. So in the fall, after the first Fourth of July picnic, the Boosters gave a chicken supper and applied the proceeds toward the purchase of a second-hand piano. This was their first acquisition of property, and they began to have more faith in themselves and more pride in their work.
In the winter the young people worked up a play. It was a three-act farce, a college play, with 22 characters. Most of the young people taking part in the play were complete amateurs, never having done anything of the kind before. It was almost impossible to persuade some of them to take part on account of their natural timidity. For nearly three months they practiced, meeting two or three times a week at the old church. They had to build their own stage, manufacture the scenery, rig up curtain, footlights and all, from the ground up. The play was given two successive nights, and the old church was packed to the doors both times. A week later they went up the road to Ransom and repeated the performance. When the theatrical season closed, the Boosters found themselves with over $100 in the treasury.
This was not, however, the greatest thing that the play accomplished. It was not started as a money-making proposition. Its real benefit to the community came first from the fact that it furnished something clean and wholesome to interest and hold the attention of the young people during the winter, and, second, from the fact that it showed the people that they had in their own community all the elements of amusement and entertainment that they needed or wanted. For these young people who had taken part in the play, who had been so timid and reluctant, surprised their friends and even themselves by the excellence of their performance.
Helped on Oats
Early the next spring the club found a way to be of financial benefit to the community. The county agricultural adviser, I. S. Brooks, came to one of the meetings and talked on the treatment of seed oats with formaldehyde for the prevention of smut in the crop. Very few of the farmers in the neighborhood had ever done anything in this line. At the close of Mr. Brooks' talk a committee was appointed by the president of the Boosters to canvass the community and find out how much formaldehyde could be disposed of, in the hope of ordering together and getting wholesale rates. The committee would have been pleased to be assured of an order of 10 gallons, but they disposed of 50 gallons, a whole barrel. The treatment cost the farmers about 1 cent per bushel for their seed, and in the fall over 75 farms in the township, where more than 5,400 acres of oats were grown, showed an increased yield of nine bushels per acre where the seed had been treated. The next spring two barrels of formaldehyde were ordered, and our community used more than any other township in the county.
The club had now been using the old church for just about a year, with no mention having been made of rent. The Boosters felt that if they continued to use the building some formal arrangement should be made for paying for its use. So they suggested their willingness to the trustees of the church and both parties agreed that a rental of $25 a year would be fair. The building needed a new roof very badly and it was figured that the material would cost about $100. The Boosters agreed to furnish half of this money, and this was to cover the rental for the year that they had already used the church and also a year in advance. The church authorities were to furnish the other $50 and everybody would help in putting the roof on.
Then it was thought best to have a written lease so that everything would be on a business basis. And this is where the rub came. The church trustees stipulated that the building was not to be used for plays, suppers, auction sales or "anything that would desecrate a church property." The club could not agree to this. Its members felt that they had lived in the community long enough that they need not be bound by such restrictions and they failed to see how any of the forbidden activities could "desecrate" a church that had not been used for purposes of worship for several years. So temporarily the Booster returned to the town hall.
The membership had grown by leaps and bounds and the hall was no longer big enough for the meetings, to say nothing of its inconvenience and lack of furnishings. The Boosters recognized that something must be done to secure a bigger and better meeting place. Failing in the effort to interest the township officials in fixing up the town hall, they began to plan on a building of their own. The church trustees offered to sell the church and, after preliminary dickering, the building and grounds were purchased for $400.
Incorporation
The foregoing happenings had been spread over a period of about two years. Now that the club had acquired some real property, a more business-like organization was thought necessary. So after much discussion and consultation it was decided to incorporate. And now one of the corporations regularly listed with the secretary of state of Illinois is "Community Boosters of Kernan, Ill., organized to work for the betterment of the community." Stock was issued in the corporation, valued at $1 per share, so that every person who contributed a dollar received a stock certificate and actually owned a part of the Booster property. The purchase of a share of stock took the place of membership for a year, and after that the annual dues were 50 cents. The business is handled by nine directors, three elected each year. These directors organize, and their officers are the officers of the club.
As soon as the transfer of property had been made the work of repairing and remodeling began. The farmers of the community did what part of the work they could, such as shingling, excavating, hauling, etc. As many as 30 men were working there some days, the women serving dinner in the town hall. The old church and its site cost $400; the repairs and alterations and equipment cost about $4,000. A new roof was put on the church, which was a building about 32 by 44.
Two additions were built, one on the rear, the full width of the building and 12 feet deep, to be used for a stage and dressing rooms; one of the same size in front for vestibule, basement stairway and committee room. A basement was dug under the main building and the stage addition, and this was divided into a comfortable kitchen and a spacious dining room. A sloping floor was put in the auditorium, second-hand opera chairs from a "movie" house were installed, and a regular drop curtain was bought for the stage. The building was furnace-heated and acetylene-lighted, attractive in appearance, the exterior being painted white.
On Dec. 7, 1916, three years after the club was organized, the building was dedicated. From then on that winter there was scarcely a week when the hall was not used two or three evenings a week. Parties, suppers, stereopticon lectures, socials, school programs, plays, minstrels -- all served to keep the community and the building busy. All organizations and enterprises that used the building were required to pay a fee sufficient to heat it, light it, pay the janitor's bill and provide for the estimated wear and tear on the building for the occasion. In this way the building became practically self-supporting.
In February the young people of the Boosters gave another play. Twenty-two characters were required and many of the people taking part had been in the former play. It was noticeable that they had learned a great deal in the matter of self-pos-
(article continued on page 6 of the Journal, but not included in manuscript)