In the past few weeks blog visitors from Europe and Asia prompted me to open a shoebox of memorabilia that includes letters from my childhood's foreign pen pals.
In March of 1961 President Kennedy, by executive order, established the Peace Corps. The Corps was authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961.
I read about the Peace Corps at school in the Weekly Reader. In the midst of the Cold War the idea of promoting world peace and friendship - Kennedy's words about the purpose of the Peace Corps - seemed a good idea. But I had just turned 10 - too young to join. However, somehow I read about "Children's Plea for Peace" an organization based at the World Affairs Center at the University of Minnesota. At least part of the Center's mission was uniting children around the world through letter-writing. Soon I had two foreign pals, a girl from London, England, and a boy from from Accra, Ghana.
Above is the postcard I received after my pen pal request. The date on card is 31August 1962.
Alas, I think I only exchanged letter for a year or two. Probably stopped writing once I began junior high school.
Still, on the odd chance that someone reading my blog knows or has known these two youngsters of the 1960s, I include my nickname at the time - Narta - as well as the names of my childhood pen friends:
Celia Richards of London, England
Richard Amable of Accra, Ghana
More about pen pals in future.
This morning's paper prompted my returning to that micro universe of my young life - the Campton Gym. In the past I've chatted about events in that gym: a dance recital, seeing the movie Hemo the Magnificent, a shot clinic. Today today I'll actually talk about the gym as a place for physical education classes.
In today's Los Angeles Times, page 7, I read this headline: "American just keeps getting fatter, new study says."
This is not a new concern. In the 1950s President Eisenhower established the President's Council on American Fitness. The next president, John Kennedy, also a veteran, was a big supporter of this council. For those of you in gym class in the early 60s, you may remember a song with the lyrics, "Go Chicken Go." Sometimes Mr. Gere our teacher would plop the Chicken Fat Song onto the turntable in the Campton Gym. This song was written as part of the presidential program to get kids moving. Kennedy believed it American children should compete with the Soviets in physical strength as well as science.
Above is from the cover of a booklet providing guidance for fitness. I found the picture on a website for JFK's Presidential Library.
I hope to write more about gym class in the future - the good, the bad and the ugly. But for now, I'll leave you with lyrics from Meredith Willson's song, "Push ups, every morning. Ten times. Not just, now and then... Go you chicken fat, go..."
