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Vol. XVII March, 1974 No. 3 KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL'... Litter Control Needs Long-Range Plans AS SPRING BEGINS to dissipate the snow and discernible improvements, gloom of winter, the ugly accumulation of grime and the sheer tonnage of and litter from the past months may mar city streets junk collected usually mer¬ and country byways. It is understandable that vari¬ its photo coverage in the lo¬ ous organizations, schools, businesses, and special groups cal press. But a campaign have selected a day or week in the spring for organized aimed only at removing ex¬ campaigns to improve our environment. isting trash and litter will Participation of your post in a local “Keep America have few lasting results, and Beautiful” Day or similar project can provide a genuine a project worth your time service for the community and win friends for The and effort should also in¬ American Legion at the same time. clude long-range plans for control of the source of the Get Others Involved, Too litter. If there is no existing project, your post could be By all means, let’s get rid of the trash spread over the the focal point for initiating one. But landscape now, but let’s go a little further. Let’s see that other groups need to be involved ac¬ there are adequate containers in areas where people ac¬ tively—the city administration, Boy quire throw-away materials (drive-ins, parks, roadside and Girl Scouts, Chamber of Com¬ tables, athletic fields, etc.), and let’s see that the trash merce, Conservation Clubs, beverage containers are serviced regularly. distributors, drive-in establishments, school groups, etc. As a matter of fact, the energy crunch and the sud¬ General clean-up campaigns of den shortages of so many materials are forcing industry streets, parks, vacant lots, streams, and government to take a second look at waste. Instead roadsides, and so on can quickly show of viewing waste as a problem, perhaps we should be looking upon much of it as a presently unused resource. In This Issue Throughout the land there are springing up recycling Page projects, many of them supported by industry. Litter Control Needs Long-Range Plans . I 74 Baseball Regional Tourney Schedule . 2 Consider Recycle Project Commander's Calendar . 2 Some communities now have very sophisticated pilot Does Post Sponsor Legion Baseball? . 3 programs for the sorting of refuse into reusable ele¬ Sponsors' $ Help Field Baseball Team . 4 Bids Invited for Regional Sites . 4 ments—glass, iron, copper, brass, newsprint, organic WANTED: Children & Youth Report .. 5 matter. Volunteer projects are under way in other lo¬ Legion to Honor Johnny Bench . 6 calities. Flag Etiquette Answers . 6 Band Contest Rules Revised . 7 The first step in any community or volunteer recy¬ Savings on Baseballs . 7 cling project is to make sure that there is a market in Emblem Merchandise . 8 the area for the old glass, iron, newsprint, and other ROTC Awards . 9 waste materials. If there is, then you need collection '74 Membership Drive in Wrap-Up Phase . 9 Secure Storage for Ceremonial Rifles . 10 points, a sheltered area for sorting and storing, hauling News Coverage for Baseball Program .10 facilities, and a budget. Although prices for scrap mate¬ Post Commander's Hotline .10 rials have escalated greatly in the past year, not too Birthday Award Certification Form .II (Continued on next page) Litter.... *""s ADVANCE (Continued, from preceding page) Published monthly by: National Headquarters, The Ameri¬ can Legion, P. O. Box 1055, Indianapolis, Ind. 45206. A many community recycling programs are as yet com¬ publication for American Legion Post Commanders and pletely self-supporting. Post Adjutants. Another big push today is to increase the practice of composting, particularly in suburban and rural areas. Instead of paying to have leaves, grass cuttings, and Editor: Frank L. Megnin other organic waste hauled away, each household might be encouraged to have a compost pile and use it to en¬ March 1974 Vol. XVII, No. 3 rich the lawn and garden. (A speaker on how to start and use a compost pile might be a special feature of a post meeting this spring before grass-cutting season starts and might attract in¬ OMMANDER'S terest from members who normally do not attend a C Legion function.) Take Look at Post’s Facilities ALENDAR Although there are many other ways in which you March and your post could become involved constructively in (This is the month to order Memorial this general area of environmental improvement, per¬ Day supplies and special items.) haps the first thing to do is to take a look at your own 4-8 Annual National Commander’s Confer¬ post’s facilities. ence, Washington, D. C. Is the parking lot cluttered? 4-6 National Veterans Affairs and Rehabili¬ tation Conference, Washington, D. C. Do your garbage and trash cans have tightly fitting 10-16 Employ the Older Worker Week. covers ? 15-17 55th Anniversary of the Paris Caucus. Are the sidewalk, gutter, and street in front of the Does your post membership for 1974 post clean and kept that way? equal or exceed its 1973 total? Your post may qualify for a 1974 “BIG Team” Post Is there need for fresh paint ? Award. See the certification form on Let’s be sure our own premises are in good order Page 11. first. Then let’s add the weight of The American Le¬ 29 Vietnam Veterans Day. gion to an intelligent, long-range plan for the improve¬ April ment of the environment and the conservation of our Children & Youth Month. precious natural resources. 1 Delinquent members suspended from all privileges. 6 57t h anniversary of U. S. entry into World War I. 1974 Regional Tournaments 15 Regional competition, National High American Legion Baseball School Oratorical Contest. 22 Sectional Competition, National High August 14-19 School Oratorical Contest. Region I --...Manchester, N. H. 25 Finals, National High School Oratorical Region 2 ----Lyndhurst, N. J. Contest, Sioux Falls, S. D. May Region 3 ..St. Petersburg, Fla. 1 Law Day. Region 4 -----..Memphis, Tenn. 1-2 National Executive Committee, Indian¬ Region 5 ----Stevens Point, Wis. apolis, Ind. Region 6 ...... Ralston, Neb. 8 V-E Day. 12 Mother’s Day. Region 7 -----Klamath Falls, Ore. 18 Armed Forces Day. Region 8 ......Yountville, Calif. 22 National Maritime Day. 27 Memorial Day. 2 The ADVANCE, March, 1974 49TH SEASON OPENS IN 1974 . Does Post Sponsor Legion Baseball? AS YOUR POST PREPARES for its spring and summer activities of community service, serious consideration should be given to the possibility of spon¬ soring a 1974 American Legion Baseball team. The 49th anniversary year of this outstanding youth train¬ ing program finds thousands of teenage boys eager for a part in the national pastime. Effective Guidelines Offered Discussions of such a worthwhile project quickly turn to how this ambitious activity can be organized, financed and operated. Believing that methods which have proved workable in one community can be adapt¬ ed successfully to local circumstances elsewhere, the National Americanism Commission suggests the follow¬ ing plan: 1. Determine how much it will cost to finance a suc¬ 4. Before the dinner guests are seated, each sponsor cessful season. A contact with either your district or de¬ should pick a boy’s name from a hat and the two of partment baseball chairman will put you in touch with them are then seated. Small tables of two or three boys officials who can provide valuable guidance and accur¬ and a like number of sponsors are preferred. ate analysis of cost factors. Prepare a budget to cover expenses and decide what it will cost to finance just one Keep Dinner Program Moving boy within this budget. Contact individual Legion¬ naires, non-Legionnaires and commercial and profes¬ 5. Don’t plan a program that includes a lot of sional firms in your community, enlisting their support speeches. However, there should be plenty of introduc¬ to the extent of sponsoring a boy. tions so that everyone will feel at home. Enlist the help Publicize Program of a capable local sports figure to serve as master of ceremonies. Former participants in the program or ex¬ 2. Make sure that the entire community, particular¬ professional players living in the community should be ly youths of appropriate age for the program, are made aware of your plans to field a team. This can best be asked to relate their memories of competition and em¬ accomplished by a news release to all radio, television phasize the importance the program will be to the indi¬ and newspaper outlets in your immediate area. An viduals involved as well as the entire community. effective letter to the coaches or athletic directors of all 6. As the season begins and progresses, make sure appropriate junior and senior high schools announcing that each player visits his sponsor after each game. He plans for an initial meeting of prospective team candi¬ could discuss the highlights of the game, what he did in dates is also essential. the contest, or explain why he might not have done as 3. Arrange a banquet to which are invited all boys well as he wished. Each of these visits should be used to involved and all the sponsors who have agreed to encourage the sponsor to attend the next game. finance one player. Make an extra effort to get every¬ 7. When the season ends, have an awards banquet. body out for this big event. If a commercial firm is This could be scheduled during American Legion Base¬ sponsoring a boy, see that a representative of that firm ball Sponsorship Appreciation Week, Sept.

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