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Show men tjj)j: of church suiters Aljout now, a.s the old almanacs used to say, look out for church suppers. The past month has seen the high tide of such glorifications, and there will be more to come before summer. l'erhaps there is no more distinctive function in American life. If a Britisher or Frenchman wanted to know how our people act and feel, you could give him a good idea by taking him to any church supper. The American people always like to get something for nothing. That is not exactly descriptive of the financial basis of a church supper, because people have to pay something, but they get more than they pay for. They get a meal at a church supper which is worth considerably more than the price, reckoning on the materials and labor which it takes to produce the same. Some may ask why the churches continue to carry on an institution which is not precisely on a business basis. The answer is that the church supper has values apart from money. Meeting around the common table, eating good food prepared by skilled cooks, the people loosen up and become more social. The reticent or bashful person suddenly finds he can talk freely. The neighbors who ordinarily exchange only a formal nod, suddenly find themsleves talking and laughing like old friends. There is a kind of release from the restraints, of ordinary life. As such a release always brings a certain happiness and elation, people have such a good ,time that they come again and again. Also the Ladies' Aid society, or whatever you may call the organization, collects quite a pot of money, which it could not get if it sent a solemn faced committee com-mittee around with a subscription paper. So let us all hurray for the church supper and never miss one if we can help it. |