12 A
SUNDAY. JANUARY 22. 1SB1
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
irogrooi Reviewed by Peportmmerot
Parks
Cooperation With
Civic Groups Is
Success Factor
By GREG NOKES
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Providing a good parks and
recreation program has been
universally accepted as
necessary and vital function of
municipal government during
the past decade.
The city of Med ford was
slow in realizing its obliga
tions in this field and it has
spent the past two years try
ing to catch up. The year 1960
was the most successful parks
and recreation year in the
city, and 1961 promises to be
just as good, if not better,
A partial list of the activi
ties and accomplishments of
the city's park and recreation
department during 1960
would include: the opening of
a new swimming pool at Jack'
son park; the development of
a play apparatus area at Haw
thorne park; the development
of union park; and an ex
tensive summer and winter
youth recreation program.
Results of Efforts '
All of these and many more
are not the solo accomplish
ments of the parks and recre
ation department, as such.
Many of them are the result
of efforts in this field by serv
ice clubs, individuals and
public agencies.
But, the parks and recre
ation department has served
as the coordinator, and often
the Instigator, of these proj
ects, and it . must therefore
receive much of the credit.
The start of this city's pro
gram dates back to early in
Mayor John W. Snider's term
of office. Mayor Snider and
the county in October, 1958,
directed that a study of the
city's parks and recreation
needs be undertaken.
Appoint Commission
The city had been offering
some recreation facilities and
programming, but they were
shown to be woefully inade
quate for a city of this size.
As a result of the study, the
mayor early In 1959 appointed
a parks and recreation com
mission. The commission, in ; turn,
hired Robert Hnworth from
the Spokane, Wash., parks and
recreation depart ment, to
serve as Medford's first parks
and recreation director. That
was in June, 1959.
Since then the department
has established itself. In May
of last year it received the go
ahead to hire Ken Lyons from
the Boise, Idaho, parks depart
ment to, serve- as Medford's
first recreation supervisor.
Has Definite Views
Haworth, who, next to
Mayor Snider, has been the
individual primarily respon
sible for the growth of parks
and recreation in the city, has
some definite views on what
a parks and recreation pro
gram should try to do.
Ho defines recreation "as
anything that occupies an in
dividual's worthy use of leis
ure time." This, then, would
explain the Increasing impor
tance of municipally-sponsored
recreation activities in re
cent years.
People have more leisure
time now than they have ever
had before, according to Ha
worth, and they need some
thing worthwhile to occupy
their time. This is where a
good parks and recreation pro
gram comes in.
"But," he cautions, "I don't
think we should ever be in the
position of where the state
and I use that term loosely
is entertaining the Individual
or providing completely for
his recreation activities, cith
er in facilities or leadership."
Family Recreation
Haworth is a firm believer
in family-wide recreation ac
tivity, and to this end, he
hopes the department will be
able lo offer more recreation
services for the family. He
also declares that "the Ameri
can public should strive more
toward finding their own
leisure activity."
Because the possibilities to
be offered In a recreation pro
gram are endless, tho depart
ment concentrates on those
things which can be done by
people of all ages, such as ten
nis, swimming, dancing and
aits and crafts.
Also, because the depart
ment is limited In staff and
budget. It attempts only to
give recreation participants
the necessary skills and in
formation so that they can
continue with a particular
activity on their own.
Haworth Is of the opinion
that recreation and education
"go hand In hand" and "it Is
folly, to try and separate the
two. The skills that a person
picks up in school can be ap
plied to leisure time activity
In the future.
There are two kinds of roc
realion activity, according to
Haworth. These are passive
And active recreation. He says
"everybody needs a little of
fcsfSSSi 'Sk. S Statu
iui-.,.. ' . ' C:'.'-: ' ' - B-'- 9,.,.,. w.-j., l s ,f,M :Z1. 1?Y. '.V"--,!'..'.. -. p -nen i -Ww (I'll rJV'-JufiS
NEW SWIMMING POOL Pictured above is a view of the city's new
swimming pool in Jackson park which was opened last June. The pool was
built with money given to the city by the old Jackson County Housing
both," and It is the function of
the good recreation depart
ment to provide for both
Active recreation is defined
as any activity involving phys
ical effort, or that activity
which an individual may
create for himself. Passive
recreation, on the other hand,
includes those activities where
the individual is not involved
physically in his own enter
tainment. This latter classifi
cation would include such
things as watching television,
going on a picnic or walking
through a park.
Haworth points out that it
is important for the depart
ment to coordinate its activi
ties with other groups, such as
schools, the YMCA and scout
ing organizations. This is
necessary, he said, because by
working together and avoid
ing duplication of effort, they
can combine to offer many
things that they could not
offer individually.
Willing to Work
As a newcomer to the val
ley, Haworth said he found
these agencies "very willing to
work with us."
He also points out that Med-
ford and the Rogue valley are
fortunate in having so many
natural" recreation possibili
ties. And, a function of the
department, he said, is to
make the public - aware of
these possibilities and' then
promote their use. . .
Also Invaluable to a parks
and recreation program, are
the many efforts in this field
by- Individuals and commun
ity groups, according to Ha
worth. Some of these efforts
during the past year include:
Monetary donations for
play apparatus In various city
parks from the Elks club, the
Kiwanis club, the Moose
lodge, the T.W. Miles estate,
Kogap Lumber company and
the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Wading Pool
The financing of a wading
pool in Jackson park by the
Crater Lions club.
The donation to the city of
a historic logging locomotive
for park use by the Medford
Corporation.
-The financing of the Jack
son park swimming pool and
donation of land for Jackson
park by the old Jackson Coun
ty Housing authority.
-The development of Union
park by residents of the Union
st. area. Haworth said this
effort was particularly com
mendable because the resi
dents of this area did almost
everything In the park them
selves. Total Outcome
-Tho development of Ear
hart park by the Hubbard and
Bauer Construction company
at tile same time as they were
building the Earhart park sub
division. Commenting on these ef
forts, Haworth said: "The
total outcome from the effort
"J$ . hL.L.m -H JjtTT K"?tl : v
WEIRD APPARATUS Donations from various service
clubs In Medford were used to finance the construction of
the above "modernistic" play apparatus In Hawthorne
park. The design and construction of the apparatus was
m I JLs '-IAj. 1W . i i I IT! I' f&.l
i ta ;u i if ' r -i it' ir-r-i - -i h K-4in
mt.mhmmmmtn A . JKJ If P MM LlJ , h
wlih 4ml h ; writ Ak'rh i ?' ; i M wAuiC rl
;Vf vl 1; . 5 ts , ? . -1 M i -rwt; il
HOLDS ON Little Deston Nokcs, age Vz, can barely
hold on to one of three "horses" constructed in Hawthorne
park recently. They are several of a number of modernistic
we (the department) put in
would be considerably less
than it would if we didn't
have the help, that these peo
ple have given us."
The city's park program did
have one setback of sorts dur
ing tile year, when it was an
nounced that the new freeway
will go across tho west end of
Hawthorne park. This will al
most completely destroy the
passive recreation possibilities
of the park, he said, and at the
present timo there is nothing
in the city to replace it.
But, he noted that the city
received more than $160,000
for the park property from
the state, and said this will
probably be used to acquire
land for a new park site,
which should provide for even
better passive recreation.
Budget Consideration
Budget considerations serve
to limit the scope of activities
that a parks and recreation
department can offer. During
the 1960-61 fiscal year the de
partment has a budget of $97,-
000. A big chunk of this,
$32,000, goes for park main
tenance alone.
But despite this, the depart
ment was able to offer a recre
ation program last year that
the city should be proud of.
During the summer months
tile department had a recre
ation program operating on
four centrally-located school
playgrounds and Hawthorne
park. The activities in the
summer program ranged from
organized baseball games to
quiet reading sessions. Each
recreation center was super
vised. During the Christmas holi
days the department arranged
"""""" te$H
liMfcfi -1 'l ifT i fiia- -rti nT-ritiniV , l" JfiY . ii f "i TfyiiT'iW' iwiriwiwi m nm! M -...i.
RESIDENTS EFFORT Residents of the Union st. area in
west Medford developed a small neighborhood park for
their children called Union st. park. Doing all the work
themselves they even raised the money to pay for the play
to have a number of school
gyms remain open for indoor
activities. Also, from Novem
ber through February, the
department offers a regular
indoor recreation program at
school gyms.
With the opening of the
city's second swimming pool
in June, the department step
ped up its swimming instruc
tion program. The year also
v the organization of the
done by Charles Forrester of Ahland, who did the work at
cost. Bob (standing) and Jack Peterson, ages 8 and 5, are
two newcomers to Mlford who don't care what the ap
pn (5' us is supposed to be they just like to play oQit.
authority. Also at the site is a wading pool donated to the city by the
Crater Lions club. The land in the foreground is being leveled in prepara
tion for development of the rest of the park.
pieces of play equipment constructed in the park with
service club donations. Also in the area are a turtle, a
sand-pool and a climbing wall.
city's first municipal swim
ming team.
In addition, the department
issued a series of four party
suggestion booklets, sponsor
ed three teen-age dances, .of
fered a women's physical fit
ness course, and worked to
assist the Senior Citizens with
their recreation program.
During the coming year, the
department will continue with
its existing recreation pro-
apparatus. Pictured above are Mary and Annette Butchino,
ages 2 and 4, who are two of the neighborhood children
who frequently play in the park.
gram, and, if possible, will
expand it. They will also con
tinue with the development of
Jackson park and a necessary
redesigning of Hawthorne
park.
In summing up the past
year's activities, Haworth said,
"we have made rapid strides"
in providing a parks and rec
Officials Inspect
Irrigation Ditches
Medford Irrigation district
officials have been advised to
consult with the district at
torney concerning raw sew
age being dumped into an
irrigation ditch in the Lozier
lane district, T. M. Gerow Jr.,
sanitary engineer for the Ore
gon state sanitary authority,
said Friday.
Medford Irrigation District
Manager Jack Hoffbuhr took
Dr. A. Erin Merkel, public
health officer, Chief Sanitar
ian Orle Moore, and Gerow
on an inspection tour of the
ditches in the Lozier lane
area Friday.
Gerow said that one resi
dent of the area was piping
septic tank effluent directly
into the Irrigation ditch, and
had not tiled the ground
around the tank.
Earlier, former District At
torney Thomas J. Rceder had
sent letters to all residents of
the area south and west of
Medford warning them of the
legal consequences of violat
ing state sanitary laws. He
postponed prosecution ien
it appeared residents of the
problem area were attempt
in. to H0t(gct9re
Organizing of Farm
Expected
The Agricultural Workers
Organizing committee of the
AFL-CIO probably will not
come to Oregon for some time,
Joe Bianco, agricultural editor
for the Oregonian told a meet
ing of the Jackson County
Fruit Growers league nere
Friday afternoon.
Bianco said much of his in
formation comes from the Cal
ifornia Growers' council and
some from Louis Krainock,
AWOC's publicity man.
During the 18 months
AWOC has been in operation
it has not been able to form
a local. A month ago, Krainock
reported AWOC "is having
trouble." It had only 3,500 to
5,000 migrant workers organ
ized and was reported in fi
nancial trouble. Several weeks
later the growers council con
firmed this report.
Shortly after Krainock's
talk with the Oregonian writ
er, he was reported ill and un
able to attend the Oregon Hor
ticultural Society meeting at
which he was scheduled to
speak. This indicated some dif
ficulty within the organiza
tion, Bianco said.
Political Climate Unchanged
Bianco said he does not
think the California political
climate which favors the
AWOC operation has changed.
Now the United Packing
house Workers' association
has joined forces with AWOC.
On Jan. 5, a meeting of some
top union officials such as
Walter Reuther, president of
the United Auto Workers' un
ion, and the president of the
United Chemical and Oil un
ion, met in Washington, D.C.
An unofficial report indicates
AWOC was voted $300,000 in
additional funds, Bianco said.
UPWA is a strong estab
lished union with 20,000 mem
bers at one time. With closure
of some meat packing-houses
the membership dropped to
5,000, the Oregonian writer
said.
Bianco said he learned
through a press association
reation program for a city,
which, two years ago, had no
real program at all.
He credits not only the city
for these accomplishments but
also "the cooperation of other
agencies and the general atti
tude of the public which has
made it exeremely easy for us
to get the ball rolling."
Hamburger Pushing
Steaks From Table
Raleigh, N. C. -fflPD- A gro
cer's reputation is built on his
hamburger instead of his sir
loin steak, Cornell university
economist Herrell de Graff
told a cattlemen's conference
Thursday.
De Graff said 30 per cent of
all beef sales now is hambur
ger, and ground beef is push
ing the steaks off the dinner
table in the United States.
Research Institute
Receives NSF Grant
McMlnnille - Linficld Re
search Institute (LRI), a sub
sidiary of Linficld college, has
been awarded a grant of $10,
000 by the National Science
Foundation to support basic
research on the Lampyroid
Beetles of North America.
Work through the four-year
grant will be under the direc
tion of Kenneth M. Fender,
McMinnville. Fender is an ex- j
Linlicld student and holds an
honorary master's degree
from the college. '
Fender has studied beetles
for many years. The new;
grant extends for a four-year I
period an ,000, two-1
year gra
in State at
that UPWA is now trying to
penetrate Yakima, Wash, fruit
growing areas. UPWA and
AWOC will help each other so
that both packing-house and
field workers will be organ
ized, the farm editor told
fruit growers.
"The most important thing
is to study the labor situation
the best you can, then try to
plan and tell your story to the
people," Bianco advised the
growers Friday, "and have
courage."
UPWA and AWOC want the
following, Bianco said
(1) Recognition of the union
as a collective bargaining
agent. (2) Minimum wage for
field workers of $1.25. UPWA
wants piece rates for field
packing lettuce. AWOC wants
piece rate incentives on sKinea
work. (3) Establishment of
sanitary facilities, including
toilets and drinkable water.
(4) Ten minute rest periods
every two hours. (5) Transpor
tation to and from day haul
points. (6) Close shop provid
ing for employment of all
workers in a union hiring hall
similar to what the Long
shoremen now use.
Establish Themselves
"If AWOC and UPWA are
able to establish themselves as
bargaining agents. . .you may
see the inauguration of the six
major goals," the agricultural
editor pointed out.
The California growers feel
their problem points directly
to the California department
of employment, Bianco said
"When the farmers found
the department of employ
ment could offer no aid to a
farmer surrounded by picket
lines. . .the farmer developed
his own referral service. Ac
cording to the Wagner-Peyser
act, the state employment
agency, which does receive
federal aid, cannot refer
workers to an area that has a
labor dispute. The referral
service in some eases involves
Mexican nationals.
Borrows Workers
"Early this week in El Cen-
tro, Calif., one of the lettuce
farmers, whose ranch was
struck by AWOC and UPWA,
borrowed Mexican workers al
located to a nearby farm be
cause his farm was struck.
However, the U. S. and Mexi
can governments ordered the
braceros off the ranch for the
duration of what the govern
ments call labor unrest.
Some proposed "pro-labor"
laws now before the Califor
nia legislature at Sacramento
are worrying growers. A pro
posed minimum wage bill for
agriculture would set the min
imum hourly wage at $1.25
per hour.
However, some bills favor
ing agriculture are being in
troduced. The "strikes at har
vest time" measure is aimed at
preventing strikes when the
crop is to be harvested.
State Employment Director
Irving Perluss is reported to
have said this will not pass
unless labor s position is con
sidered. Another bill would prevent
"stranger picketing" where
AWOC men work in an or
chard for a few hour then
strike for higher pay. They
are not regular migrant work
ers. Bianco explained.
Interested In Organizing
In answer to questions, Bi
anco pointed out that AWOC
is mainly interested in orga
nizing 2 million migrant work
ers, iney have been given two
L
Mortuary
Cemetery
Mausoleum
Crematory
We honor All Funeral
Insurance Plans
Joe Hosick-Funeral Director-Manager
SISKIYOU
And
SISKIYOU MEMORIAL PARK
L. G. (tew) Miles, Mgr.
SP 2-2344
605
Labor Not
This Time
years in which to do it by the
AFL-CIO organization.
Money to support AWOC ac
tivities comes from all AFL
CIO union members' dues.
During the first year AWOC
spent $300,000. UPWA is not
as strong as it once was, but
does provide a strong frame
work by joining AWOC, Bian
co said.
The fact that the Medford
pear district pays top wages
will not deter union activities,
Bianco s,aid. He advised grow
ers to consider the "check off"
plan in their strategy. Accord
ing to this plan, the union
would require employers to
deduct union dues from wages
paid. One local grower said he
didn't think the AWOC could
operate effectively without
the plan.
Charles Henry, outgoing
league president, advised all
local growers to use the Med
ford Pear Shippers office for
an information clearing house
on all labor problems. Ho
urged all growers with ideas
to attend the league's commit
tee meetings and present their
ideas.
59 Disease Cases
Reported in Area
A total of 59 cases of com
municable diseases were re
ported to the Jackson county
health department last week,
according to Dr. A. Erin Mer
kel, public health physician.
Influenza headed the list
with 10 cases in Phoenix and
six in both Medford and Ash
land. Medford also had one
case each of mumps, measles
and infectious hepatitis, and
two cases of chicken pox. Ash
land reported two cases o
mumps," one pneumonia, one
case of German measles, and
two chicken pox victims.
Phoenix had two cases of
mumps, eight strep throat, and
one poliomyelitis. Central
Point reported one case o
both measles and German
measles, and one chicken pox;
case. Six' cases of chicken pox
were reported at Jacksonville.
Rogue River had one case o
pink eye. Three scarlet fever
cases were reported in Talent.
Bonanza, Ore., in Klamath
county, reported one case o
infectious hepatitis, and Myr
tle Creek, in Douglas county,
reported one case of rheu
matic fever.
Army Reserve Unit
Contributes to Area
One hundred and seventy
members of the United States
Army reserve units in Med
ford contribute a substantial
amount to the local economy,
according to figures announc
ed by Major Ray E. Stewart,
Medford subsector com
mander. During the taxable year of
1960, local reservists received,
after federal income tax de
ductions, the sum of $67,508.
53. The pay to members of the
Army reserve was gained
through attendance at regu
larly scheduled drill assem
blies, and for periods of active
duty. The pay is additional
income to many men engaged
in varied vocations in this
area.
NVESTIGATE
and
SAVE
with
One
Call
In One location
SP 2-5488
Highland Dr
A
0
O