Greenbelt news review., September 30, 1954, Image 1

About Greenbelt news review. (Greenbelt, Md.) 1954-current

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Published Every Thursday By The Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association, Inc., 9 Parkway, Greenbelt, Maryland
Vol. 19, No. 8 Greenbelt, Maryland, Thursday, September 30, 1954 t 10 Cents
Legion Drill Team
Helps Branchville
The American Legion Post 136
Drill team will participate in the
dedication ceremonies of the new
fire-house in Branchville, it was
announced this week by Austin
Green, drill team chairman. Drill
team members are requested to
meet at the Legion home at 12:30
p.m. Saturday.
The newly organized drill team
first appeared at the dedication of
the local Legion Post Home last
August 29 and also appeared in
the National American Legion pa
rade in Washington, and the De
fenders Day parade in Baltimore.
The drill team has 36 members,
at full strength, and drills every
Thursday night behind the Center
school from 7 to 8 p.m., or in in
clement weather at the Post home.
Green urged all Legion members
in good standing interested in the
drill team to contact him at Tower
9-6276, Manager Joseph Rimar,
GR 3-7952, or Drill Master Melvin
Taylor.
Kagawa Says Co-op
Stabilize Economy
Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese
Christian leader and president of
the Cooperative League of Japan,
spoke in Washington on Monday
evening, September 20, to over 600
church and cooperative members.
Pointing to the steady stream of
refugees from Communist East
Germany to the Western zone, Ka
gawa indicated that satisfying
men’s material needs is not enough
to make them happy. He also
enumerated some of the difficul
ties encountered with uncontrolled,
individualistic capitalism and pre
sented his view that a healthy eco
nomic system, like a healthy body,
needs all its parts—capitalistic en
terprise, cooperative (people’s or
ganizations, and at least some gov
ernmental control.
The speaker asked his listeners
to picture the situation of men,
women and children in Japan—
with 88 million people living in a
space the size of California. He
described the development of the
Raffeisen credit unions in Ger
many, showing how a spiritual
concern for the welfare of thee
people had been translated into
terms of practical economic ac
tion. He recounted, how in Britain,
in the time of shortages, meat
stores refused to handle meat at
the price established by the gov
ernment; when the cooperative
agreed to distribute meat at the
fixed price, other stores soon fol
lowed suit. Finally, he spoke of
the achievements of Sweden,
through its cooperative movement,
in maintaining a stable economy
and reducing crime and delinq
uency. He urged Christians to
demonstrate their concern for oth
ers by working to build a coopera
tive base for a stable society and
a more peaceful world.
During the question period,
Leonard Baron of Greenbelt asked
whither Japanese cooperatives
faced the problem of maintaining
democracy as they grow larger.
The Japanese leader replied that
that was certainly a problem, but
that the answer was constant edu
cation of the co-op members.
The Reverend Eric T. Braund of
the Greenbelt Community Church
offered the invocation and bene
diction. The meeting was arranged
by the Potomac Cooperative Fed
eration. A collection was taken
for Kagawa’s work of building
churches, cooperatives and other
institutions to serve the people of
Japan.
Greeenbelt News Review
First PTA Meeting
To Be Held Tuesday
“Information for Parents” is the
general theme of the first meeting
of the Center School Parent-
Teachers Association to be held
Tuesday, October 5, at 8:30 p.m. in
the school auditorium.
Harold Hufendick, PTA presi
dent, urges parents to come before
8:30 to secure their PTA merhber
ship cards and to register.
The meeting will begin promptly,
Hufendick promises, and will end
early enough so that parents will
have an opportunity to meet the
teachers and chat informally with
them and each other during the
refreshment period at the close of
the meeting.
Presentation of colors by a Boy
Scout unit will open the meeting.
Explanation of the PTA program
for the year by the president, and
a short talk by the principal, Miss
Hannah E. Long, on the questions
most often asked by parents are '
the main events of the program.
PTA committee chairmen and the
teachers will be introduced.
Two cups will be awarded: one
to the room having the most par
ents present and the other to the :
room with the most fathers pres- '
ent by Vincent Caruso, member
ship committee chairman.
Sewing Classes Hold
Registration Tuesday
Registration for Adult Sewing
Classes and. Shop Classes will be
held at the Greenbelt Junior High
School, October 5, at 7:30 p.m.
The first class will begin on Oc
tober 19 and classes will be held
on Tuesday and Thursday eve
nings from 7:30-9:30. A $2 regis
tration fee will cover 24 two-hour
sessions.
If enough ladies are interested,
the sewing classes can be divided
into two groups. The beginners
to meet on Monday and Wednes
day evenings and the advanced
people to meet on Tuesday and
Thursday evenings.
Navy Wives Plan
Gold Benefit Dance
At the regular bi-weekly meet
ing of the Truman Riddle Navy
Wives Club Wednesday, Septem
ber 22, held at the home of Mrs.
Harry Grant, 19-C Ridge, plans
were discussed to hold a benefit
dance for the club’s welfare proj
ects. October 9 is the date of the
gala event and. the cozy, intimate
Greenbelt Athletic Clubhouse will
be the'locale. Popular Mike Loft
us and his “Mud Cats” will fur
nish the music for dancing from 10
p.m. to 1 a.m.
Mrs. Edward S. Turner is chair
man of the dance, and her com
mittee includes Mrs. Dean Jensen,
Mrs. Clifford Graviet, Mrs. Edna
Baker, and Mrs. James K. O’Neill.
Anyone wishing to purchase tick
! ets may contact Mrs. Turner at
GR. 4-9278.
Mrs. Darryl C. Bailey was des
; ignated to be the Club’s official
; delegate i at the National Navy
Wives Convention to be held Octo
ber 22 in Jacksonville, Florida.
’ The next meeting of the Navy
t Wives will be held October 13 at
the home of Mrs. Kenneth Keeney,
l 18-F Ridge.
Any wife of an enlisted Navy,
i Nav.al Reserve, Coast Guardsman
; or Marine is eligible for member
r ship in the Club. For information.
C call the President, Mrs. Richard
Heise, on GR. 3-4236.
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
What Goes On?
Monday, October 4—City Coun
cil meets in office over Va
riety Store at 8 p.m. Green
belt Citizens Association first
meeting of year at Center
School at 8 p.m. North End
PTA meeting at. North End
School at 8 p.m.
Tuesday, October 5 Center
School PTA meeting at 8:30
p.m.; registration at 8:15.
Registration for adult sewing
classes at Greenbelt Junior
High at 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 6 —North
End PTA kids movie at
Greenbelt Theater at 3 p.m.
Friday, October B—GVHC
Board of Directors meeting at
Hamilton Place at 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, Octo be r 9—Navy
Wives Club Dance at Green
belt Athletic Clubhouse from
10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Preliminary Plans For
Educational Tlf Station
Preliminary plans for an educa
tional television station on ultra
high frequency channel 26 has
been announced by the Greater
Washington Educational Televi
sion Association. This group is
composed of 22 member organiza
tions —five universities and col
leges, eight school systems in the
District, Virginia, and Maryland,
and nine cultural institutions.
The money for the station is to
be raised by a public campaign.
It is estimated th'at'~'to build the
station and equip it will cost $550,-
000, and an additional $200,000 will
be required to operate it for one
year. A grant of $150,000 from
the Ford Foundation has already
been assured provided double this
amount is raised locally.
Since two new commercial sta
tions on ultra high frequency
channels are expected to be opened
soon, this would give this area a
total of seven TV stations, in
cluding the four VHF stations al
ready here.
The educational TV station will
offer both direct education and
general cultural programs. The
first type will include classroom
instruction at all levels in the
school system as well as instruc
tion in various skills and hobbies
and “how to do it” programs. Higjh
school and college courses can be
taken for credit through these pro
grams or just “sat in on.”
Other programs will range from
archaeology to zoology and in
clude music, drama, art, literature,
politics, and government affairs.
There will also be programs in
civic and community affairs, dis
cussions of local problems, and cit
izen participation in the operation
and. policies of the station itself.
Some of the institutions which
are part of the organization are
the Corcoran and National Gal
leries of Art, the Library of Con
gress, the Smithsonian Institute,
and the National Symphony Asso
ciation. Dr. Martin A. Mason of
George Washington University is
chairman of the board of trustees.
The Association will hold Chan
nel 26, which it has been assigned
by the FCC, only so long as it
makes a genuine effort to establish
an educational TV station. It is
pointed out that the channel is val
uable commercially and will be
taken from educational groups if
they do not make use of it.
The Association will supply
speakers and shor; films at the re
quest of any club or organization
interested in educational televi
sion. Those interested are asked
to contact the Greater Washing
ton Educational Television Associ
ation at 2038 Eve Street, N.W.
FHA Stymies Johnson-Crooks Deal;
High Taxes Here Given As Reason
By Russell Greenbaum
Negotiations with the Johnson-Crooks Company, the West
Coast builders who have been planning to develop most of Green
belt’s vacant land, were suddenly terminated last week during the
final stages when the Federal Housing Administration refused to
underwrite mortgages on the type of homes the building firm was
planning to construct. This action was reported to the Greenbelt
Veteran Housing Corporation board of directors by Director Elliot
Bukzin on Friday, September 24.
}> I J rV.ZJi.II UU JL AVIU<J ) •
School Notes
By Peggy Markfield
Parents are advised that chil
dren will be dismissed at 1:30 p.m.,
Wednesday, October 6, so that
teachers may have their regular
monthly teachers’ meeting. Con
trary to last year’s policy of hold
ing the meetings on the first Wed
nesday of each month, the meet
ings will be staggered. They will
take place either the first Wednes
day or the second Wednesday of
each month. Notice will be given
the children in sufficient time pre
vious to the meetings.
Mrs. Maxine Grimm, principal
of North End, reports that classes
are set up quite well as of this
week. The first month of school
sees some shifting of students
from one class to another, new ad
missions and sometimes a few
transfers to other schools due to
various reasons. According to
Mrs. Grimm, it usually takes a few
weeks for students to get back
into the routine of school life. En
rollment at North End stands at
346 students with several changes
in teachers from last year.
Parkway Shack Site
Cleared Near Here
Land being cleared on the south
side of Greenbelt road near the
Greenbelt-Edmonston intersection
will be the site of a maintenance
shack, it was learned this week
from Harry Thompson, official of
the Interior Department. The
shack is now resting on the right
of-way of the new Baltimore
Parkway and is being moved to
the new site so that the Parkway
can be opened on the target date,
October 16.
Thompson declared that the
shack will house grass mowers,
snow removal equipment and
other items necessary to maintain
the federal portion of the Park
way. The site chosen has no sig
nificance other than it is near a
road leading to the Parkway, is on
Interior-owned land, and the struc
ture is too “unsightly” to be near
the Parkway, Thompson added.
Plans to develop the large tract
of federal property south of the
Greenbelt road into a “multiple
purpose” park are still being con
sidered, but is delayed because of
the Parkway activity and the lack
of funds at this time, said Thomp
son. The plans call for an 18-hole
golf course, huge fieldhouse and
picnic and recreation facilities.
North End PTA Plans
Movies, Talent Show
The North End School PTA will
sponsor the movie “Jack and the
Beanstalk” with Abbott & Costello
on Wednesday, October 6, at 3 p.m.
at the Greenbelt Theatre. The ad
mission will be 25c payable at the
door:
On November 5 a talent show
will be held at .the North End
School. Anyone with talent who
would like to participate please
call Mrs. Frank Svoboda, Ways
and Means Chairman, at 6846.
Bukzin, recently appointed to
the board, is president of the
Greenbelt Land Improvement Cor
poration (GLIC), which is the
GVHC subsidiary that controls the
vacant land and has been conduct
ing the negotiations with Johnson-
Crooks. He revealed to the board
that the FHA mortgage approval
was the last important hurdle to
be overcome prior to concluding
the contract. FHA, however, felt
that Greenbelt’s taxes were too
high and that the Johnson-Crooks
homes would therefore not be sal
able.
Both Johnson and Crooks had
come to Washington prepared to
close the deal but were stymied be
cause of FHA’s refusal to make
firm committments on their homes.
Without FHA approval, no deal
was possible, and all negotiations
ended. Two FHA representatives
who personally visited Greenbelt
last week felt that the town had
definite possibilities as a growing
community, but it was pointed out
that in only one other comparable
nearby area (Falls Church, Va.)
are the taxes higher than Green
belt.
Mayor Frank Lastner, who is
also a GVHC director, told the
board that he was already prepar
ing a recommendation to the city
council that taxes be reduced next
year. He was not ready to reveal
further details but asserted that
he would urge strongly that such
reductions be made.
GVHC and GLIC directors were
scheduled to meet with FHA this
week primarily concerning mort
gage approval of the Ridgewood
Cooperative Homes, but it was also
hoped to obtain some softening of
FHA’s attitude with regard to the
approval of future building proj
ects that might be planned.
Landscape Money Voted
In other business conducted at
the GVHC meeting Friday the
board voted to allocate up to SISOO
to match an equal amount voted
by the city council to landscape
the Southway entrance to Green
belt. The new landscaping, which
will dress up the area markedly
by next spring,, will be carried to
the other side of Ridge road.
Residents of the 58-court of
Crescent road presented a com
plaint to the board that residents
of nearby apartments were using
the parking area in the 58-court,
thus forcing residents of that court
to park in the street. The problem
is complicated by the fact that it
is not clear to what extent the area
is public property.
A possible solution suggested by
Lastner is that parking permits,
similar to those used by govern
ment workers to park at work, be
issued at a nominal fee. Lastner
said that the police have been in
structed to cooperate with GVHC
in keeping out cars that do not
belong in the court. The GVHC
board satd that action will be
, taken to alleviate the situation.
r
1 A CLEAN TOWN IS
a A PRETTY TOWN
e DON’T LITTER OUR
s PUBLIC AREAS