Show daft n n A GOOD leadership AND PLANNING ARE MAIN FACTORS IN A REVISED RURAL ECONOMY SMALL TOWNS USA rural planning must emphasize restored soil new employment gm by EARL HITCH released by features Fea turea restoration of the soil and introduction of new types of employment are major factors in revitalizing rural economy to meet the challenge of the changing times the growing necessity for sound rural economic planning is apparent in small town and agricultural america faced as they are by revolutionary changes in the pattern of living tile the times brings evidence that most rural ing problems can be solved hap this evidence which has beer been accumulating for several years shows the solutions can be accomplished plis lied by simple home devised plans rural economic problems ordinarily come from limitations on earning opportunities the earnings get rival america lean when the at stake land Is allowed to wear out and other employment in no 3 the neighborhood in a series Is limited therefore the polut lo lution ion lies hes in restoring productivity of the soil and in providing new kinds of employment both these things can be done with good leadership and good planning extension of rural electric lines the he trend toward decentralizing industry new methods of farm production and land use s all are making easier the task of reviving the country communities and small towns much valuable community work has been done some of the pioneering dates back 20 years and longer the successes of some som 7 communities pilvi provide de i exa examples triples for others to follow one of the earliest and most highly regarded small community developments is in the southern mountains at brasstown Brass town N C there the soil has been saved and returned to fertility and some sma small II 11 industries have been introduced to provide the needed opportunities to earn model rural community Bras Brass slown iown is a model in the rural life movement it has shown that the home and the home surroundings are the most important things in happy living high wages are not essential if there are better compensations sat ions hap happiness cannot be bought with wages all is well when there are arc jobs for all it if the work is pleasant and the home Is secure brasstown Brass town is a folk center it is the home of a school of rural living which has become the influence that shapes and guides the life of the entire community this is the john C campbell folk school established to be a permanent and useful memorial to a devoted worker who spent his life as a teacher of mount mountain airl people the school is the af IN work of mrs olive D campbell widow of the manfor man for whom it was named this school is nice like nothing else in the U S its pattern was the folk schools of denmark and danish rural school ideas have been adapted to the needs of the brasstown Brass town community the school has more than classes and teachers it Is the voice and spirit of the community since it wits was founded the living standards and the outlook of the he whole people have been uplifted and given a solid rooting it has succeeded in making the present bright and the future hopeful tho the school Is a place for demonstration practise study and recreation it is the stimulus not only of the culture but of the commerce of the whole countryside all ages may go to its classes everything having to do with local living Is part of its program farming and forest forestry fy folk dancing and games health and nursing home industries and housekeeping and the marketing of the things the people make and grow the school has a demonstration farm a forge for iron work looms for weavers and benches for wood carvers develop new skills brasstown Brass town wood carvings are known wherever there la Is a market for southern mountain wares five of the best carvers taught in the school have earned as much as 1300 in one year by their spare time skills but the land Is first arst and the people are taught to protect and preserve it do not neglect your farm carving is for spare time and for pleasure that to is advice that the school people give often and with emphasis it should be made clear that the he john 0 C campbell Cain program Is more than the teaching of skills and methods it is a pro grain g rain of ideas and attitudes the school has made brasstown Brass town and that means the coves and the ridges tar for miles around proud of its culture and its homes and proud of the land it has given the people an lap appreciation of what they have and are moreover it has made them community conscious wiell some very deiy practical results through study and leadership the school has developed a keen response to cooperative ideas this has grown into a thriving producers consumers cooperative store operating a retail business and a producing milk plant work of individual for this example of how to organize and guide a community living program not only brasstown Brass town but the entire rural life movement is under a lasting obligation to mrs campbell she did her work largely unaided and with only the experience of the danes to go by the results achieved have been the pr product 0 d 1 of her vision personality and determination A part of the schools support comes from the home missions of the presbyterian church north and the american missionary mis s ion association but the greatest share of the going expenses expense s Is raised by mrs campbells 0 own efforts the tha next article will tell of 0 f community projects managed b by y rural pastors |