Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

We are either progressing or retrograding all the while ; there is no such thing as remaining stationary. — Clarke ENHANCING FARM BUREAU RESULTS C. M. Yerrington County Agent, Custer County, Montana THE QUESTION of clean and informative entertainment for the rural people of this country is attracting more attention every day. If these citizens are to be contented and happy they must have a certain amount of recreation. The folks of every rural community should get together frequently and talk over their problems. I find that one great trouble among the rural people is that they barely know their own neighbors, to say nothing of the family living six or eight miles away. Let me explain conditions in my county before going any farther. Custer County, Montana, is approximately 100 miles long and 60 miles wide. There is only one real town in the county— Miles City, which happens to be quite centrally located. Numbers of the farmers and ranchers live from 18 to 60 miles from town, and in many instances they come to town only once or twice a year. I recall a large number of farm women who come to town only once in two years, and some less often than that. Many of the children of the county have never visited a railroad town. You may readily see that some of the rural communities of Custer County are very much isolated, when you consider that only about 30 per cent own automobiles. Problems of the Rural Community If more interest is to be created in community development you must cultivate in the people the habit of meeting together. The question now arises — how can this be done? For the last four years 1 have held meetings in the various communities of my county and an average of only 65 per cent of the people have been present. Many times we had the very best of specialists at these meetings to .talk to the audience on subjects of very great importance; nevertheless, the townspeople would not come out. We met with fair success in getting the people out to our community picnics, as well as to the community fairs ; but I could not but see the grave need for some sort of entertainment to bring out the women and children a. well as 'the men. It is asking much of the women and children to attend a meeting where there is only speaking, and where often the subject discussed is not of interest to them. During the spring of 1921 I had been developing interest in the moving-picture projector, and had seen one or two demonstrations. As a whole I was very much pleased with the type of machine that was being used as well as with the pictures. Upon my recommendation our county farm-bureau organization set to work to raise sufficient funds for the purchase of a complete motion-picture outfit. We decided that the only practical method was to ask each organized community of the county to contribute so much toward the machine. We sent out a circular letter to farmbureau community committeemen regarding the matter, and with but one or two exceptions met with marked success. Some of the organized communities of the county gave as high as $50 for this purpose. The farm bureau in turn guaranteed each community organization a free exhibition for every $10 invested in the machine. The money was raised by the communities in different ways; some sold season tickets, some gave dances, some took personal subscriptions. The complete outfit cost about $455. Every dollar of the money was raised before the machine was ordered. Our first series consisted of ten showings. The program was composed of two good educational reels, one scenic, and two comedies. We certainly made a hit wherever we showed ! The only setback we had with the first series was a cloudburst about the time the series was half completed, which washed out a number of bridges and put the roads in such bad condition that three or four of the dates were necessarily canceled. Renting Appropriate Films As mentioned above, we try to give our people each month one exhibition consisting of two educational subjects, pertaining to some of our project work in the county u possible; one scenic subject, familiarizing the people with our national forests and parks ; and two comics, something that will make the people laugh and at the same time be wholesome and have a good moral effect. We have experienced some difficulty in getting such a program ; nevertheless, we have done fairly well. So far we have put on four series of showings throughout the county, and every program has been a good one. If you speak far enough ahead you can get almost any film you want, providing it is not too high priced ; but do not expect to get the films you want without ordering them weeks in advance. The comic films vary greatly in price, and as we had no funds for financing this part of the project some special arrangement had to be made. The proposition was put up to the various communities as we visited them from time to time, and a plan was suggested. Without a single exception each community agreed to take up a collection, among the men only, at each exhibition for the purpose of renting comic films. This makes it possible to secure excellent comic films. The scenic films are usually furnished by the U. S. Forest Service. So far these films have been very good, and the people appreciate the service very much. As a rule the educational films are not very expensive, and may be secured from a number of sources. Some of the best ones we have used were supplied by the U. S. Department of Agriculture ; Montana Live Stock Sanitary Board ; Visual Instruction Service of the North Dakota Agricultural College, and others. Selecting Films It is rather difficult to select off-hand exactly the kind of films you want. You cannot always tell by the title or the publicity given them just how they will take with your group. In our case we have a very complete list of available films compiled by the National Committee for Better Films, of New York City. We also receive lists from various institutions maintaining visual-instruction departments, and these lists as a rule are very reliable. We have had our machine since June, and in that time have ordered only two films that we did not think good enough to use. One of the reliable sources now for good films is the state universities. Many universities have added courses in and departments of visual instruction, and make a study of selecting good educational films. Our DeVry projector, operated by a generator attached to a Ford car, has proved very satisfactory thus far; as a matter of fact, we have had no trouble in any way with our entire outfit. Of course, the machine requires some attention ; but it responds when connected up. The projector weighs about 20 pounds; the generator, about 15. We use one of Uncle Sam's big wall maps of the United States for a screen. These maps are made of cloth and paper pasted together, and make excellent screens. They wear well, too ; I have used one all summer and it is still serviceable. We have but a few clubhouses in the county, and as a result we use the schoolhouses considerably for our exhibitions. During the summer months, when it is warm, we show out of doors. The 15