Daily Kennebec Journal

Rotary Club Holds
Interesting Meeting

The usual Friday noon luncheon of the Skowhegan Rotary club was held at the Grand Army hall with Mrs. Kate S. Simpson catering and with the president "Gramp" Carlton P. Merrill presiding and all members present except, Thomas G. Lord, who is still confined to his home by illness and Hon. Clyde H. Smith, who was unable to return from Augusta and telephoned that he would attend the meeting of the Augusta Rotary club which also meets at noon Friday. The following new members were present: Leon W. Smiley, Albert B. Lamb and Willis E. Porter. Guests present were Herbert Emery of the Waterville Rotary Club, Rev. George Merriam, Stafford A. Lindsay, G. Ernest Avore, Henry Crowell of Skowhegan, Donald Tozier of Waterville and the speaker, C. K. Ober, N. Y., of the International Committee of Y. M. C. A.

The president announced that the meeting would close at 1:15 and any wishing to leave at that time could do so, although the speaking would continue for a little longer.

Mr. Merrill introduced Mr. Herbert Emery of Waterville, a member of the State committee of the Y. M. C. A., and handed over the gavel to him for the remainder of the meeting.

Rotarian Emery spoke of the necessity of leaders in every walk of society and the difficulty which every man in positions of responsibility had finding men capable of filling the higher positions. Mr. Emery said that January is the Boys' Month in Rotary. He spoke earnestly and with much interest to the men. Mr. Emery said that when the president of Skowhegan club asked him to speak at this meeting there was in Waterville a man much better qualified to speak than he, one who had devoted forty years to the work and who had twenty years ago come to Maine in the interest of Y. M. C. A. work and who had served in every part of the country as an associate. He then introduced C. K. Ober of New York of the International Y. M. C. A. committee who spoke for thirty minutes and who said that he felt that the Rotary clubs had a wonderful opportunity in Skowhegan to select and develop leaders among the boys. He said that the essential thing was to find the boy around whom other boys were seen to rally and then develop and train the quality in that boy to become a moral force. Mr. Ober spoke of conferences which the Y. M. C. A. are holding each year to train boys for leaders and cited many incidences of the success of these boys. Mr. Ober's work for the past three years has been the selection of young college men for Y. M. C. A. secretaries and among those he had selected and influenced to go into the "Y" service were John R. Mott, probably the best known Y. M. C. A. worker in the world and Thornton Merriam, of Skowhegan, son of Rev. and Mrs. George Merriam. Mr. Ober praised the work of Thornton Merriam, who is now located in Cleveland, very highly.

After the close of the meeting an informal reception was held and the Rotarians and their guests were privileged to meet Mr. Ober. It was announced that at the next meeting the committee on Boys' Work would make its recommendations and its report would be discussed by the club members. It is hoped at the meeting on January the 26th, to have as speaker, Rev. George W. Hinckley of Good Will Farm, who will speak on the Problem of Boys' Work.