sports going on simultaneously. Neighborhood dances and
parties are held on week-ends. |

The teen-age hangout is also part of the Milwaukee social
center. Teen rooms and lounges are set aside for meetings, |
games and parties. There are 124 boys’ clubs, 102 girls’
clubs, 36 co-recreation clubs and many informal groups, all
_ organized under an All-City club council. Scientific, dra-
matic, and debating groups cater to special interests.

Competition between clubs is keen, particularly during
charter club week when each club elects its king and queen,
and the all-city king and queen are chosen.

The Department of Recreation also sponsors the Munic-
ipal Children’s Theater, an adult group producing plays for
children, and the Milwaukee Civic Light Opera Company.
Readjustment for War

Though designed for peace-time, the Milwaukee program
has stood up well under the demands of war. Many of its
regular activities have been given a war service slant.
Craft classes are devoted to making table games and other
articles for servicemen. A Women’s Auxiliary Service has
been organized for high school girls’ clubs, with physical
fitness as the major objective. Centers are open from 3:30
p. m. to 10:00 p. m.

Many boys and girls are organizing into uniformed drill.
groups. For instance, 450 boys from 13 to 17 meet in social
centers under the sponsorship of Marine veterans. The
Victory Corps, which is part of the regular school system, as
one of its many volunteer war activities sold $744,000 worth
of bonds in one drive. .

The Department of Recreation interprets its responsibility
broadly as education in the wise use of leisure. It has, like
scores of other recreation departments, grasped certain
fundamental principles: to begin where people are, to help
them develop the interests and talents they have, to reach
all the people, and to make the fullest possible use of the
resources the community has.

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