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Show St. George and Zion Park Stakes Unite Saturday For M. I. A. Convention Four Cultural Arts Given Special Attention By Speakers and Teachers St. George and Zion stages united Saturday evening and Sunday in St. George for what local officers as well as visitors claim , was one of the most instructive M. I. A. conventions held here in many months. Herman Larkin of the Young Men's organization and Lorna Worthen of the Young La-; La-; dies of St. George had charge of ' the sessions under direction of the ; visitors from Salt Lake City. These included Joseph J. Cannon and Axel A. Madsen. Marie Wal-dren Wal-dren and Vella Wetzel, representing represent-ing the respective divisions of the General Board of Mutual Improvement Im-provement organizations. ; The Saturday sessions included j a 7 a. m., meeting for stake execu-, execu-, tives, and a stake board session with priesthood authorities and , members of the General Boards at j 7:30 p. m. Highlights of the pro-j pro-j gram stressed at these sessions were M. I. A. standards, the dance management, provision for special interest groups and the depart- ment and recreational features of the 1940-41 program. At 9 a. m., groups divided into four sections for discussions and for instructions in the various departments, de-partments, the visiting members of the General Boards leading in the discussions. Sunday Sessions The Sunday sessions opened at Continued on page eight) M.I. A. Conference (Continued from firit page) 9 a. m., with a gratifying attendance attend-ance in all departments from both stakes. Topics treated at this meeting included the M. I. A. theme, the M. I. A. assembly and the survey in thee interest of the Improvement Era. In connection with this latter subject the local stakes are organizing for their annual Era drive and prospects are, in their opinion, far above average for a very successful campaign. At 10:15 a.m., the entire attendance at-tendance was divided into four groups for the instruction in the four cultural arts including dancing, danc-ing, drama, music and speech arts. The purpose of these departmental department-al sessions was chiefly to learn if or whether the stakes and wards were properly organized for instruction in-struction in these various fields of cultural art, and were supplied with the manuals and supplements supple-ments essential for getting the best results out of the year's activities. ac-tivities. Individual plans of various vari-ous stakes and wards were suggested, sug-gested, provision for dancing parties, for recreation halls, and summer recreation programs were among the topics discussed, with the thought of making the dances, dramas and other forms of recreation rec-reation the finest possible in behalf be-half of the young people and old who participate. General and stake officers were among the speakers at these sessions. Music directors had special opportunity op-portunity to receive instruction in this field and many phases and possibilitiees of music instruction within the wards and stakes were profitably considered. The speech arts division and drama were likewise like-wise given full consideration. Following a noon lunch hour, sessions were resumed at 1 p. m., with both general assembly and departmental meetings being held. Both local and visiting stake officers of-ficers and members evinced keen interest and enthusiasm for the entire program supplied throughout through-out this convention and many helpful facts were taken over for application m their respective departments. |