A START FOR NEW BOYS’ CLUB

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 Tuesday, May 1, 1951

The generous support of four prominent local manufacturers and the enthusiasm of a group of Forestville citizens assure a successful start on a project aimed at raising $225,000 for the erection of a Forestville branch of the Bristol Boys’ Club.

Of the amount required $100,000 has already been pledged . Fuller E. and Harry C. Barnes are giving $50,000 in memory of their mother, the late Mrs. Carlyle F. Barnes, first president of Bristol Boys Club and for a number of years a resident of Forestville. Another $25,000 will come from the Associated Spring Corporation, which is headed by the same two men. Also announcing at a joint meeting  last night of the directors of the Bristol Boys Club and the board of managers of the Forestville  branch was a gift of $25,000 from the E. Ingraham Company, of which Edward Ingraham, who for many years was president of the Bristol Boys’ Club, is president.

A fourth manufacturer , W. Kenneth Sessions, Sr., president of the Sessions Clock Company, some time ago announced that the Sessions Associates would give the large plot of ground at  Central and Circle Streets as a site for the proposed club.

With this handsome start, those assigned to raising the balance of he $225,000 feel greatly encouraged, That Forestville needs its own Boys’ Club building is evidenced by the fact that already some 300 boys enrolled in the branch, the activities f which are now conducted in Fireman’s Hall on a limited basis. The proposed new building will give the organization its. own gymnasium, game, craft and social rooms and there will also be a large outside play area,

When the new building is completed and in operation, the setup will continue as a branch of the Bristol Boys’ Club. this is the proper way to handle the situation. It insures unity of purpose and scope, channeled supervision and th elimination of confusion.

It is a foregone conclusion that the people of Forestville will give their unqualified support to he funds-raising project ahead. It is also likely the the rest of the community will get behind the program. Anything that tends to improve one section contributes to the betterment of the city at large. The people of Bristol have always ben generous to the Bristol Boys’ Club, well aware of the tremendous force for good it has been among our boys for many years.

The four benefactors, whose kind generosity has given this most commendable undertaking a very auspicious beginning, deserve the praise and gratitude of the people of the city. All four are doing this because they are sincerely interested in helping the youth of Bristol by giving them opportunities for recreation and training that otherwise might not be available. Their action in this matter should serve as an inspiration not only to those, whose task it will be to raise an additional $125,000, but also to every potential campaign giver whether he be wealthy or of moderate circumstances. If everybody gets behind this great work, success will be certain and Forestville will soon have its Boys’ Club.