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Recreation
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City of Roswell
P.O. Drawer 1838
Roswell, NM 88202-1838
(505) 624-6700
Fax: 624-6889 |
THE LEISURE INCIDENT
"More Presidential Musings On Leisure!"
April 17, 2026
Kim Elliott, CLP
Recreation Director
City of Roswell
The Presidents, past and present, have all made comments concerning the
importance of the leisure aspects of life and community. Former Presidents
Gerald Ford and Theodore Roosevelt have made statements that we reviewed during
the last two articles. President Harry S. Truman seemed to have a down to earth
way of saying things. He is not known for his eloquent speeches. Maybe that is
one of the things that the common people liked about him. He made statements
that were easy to understand.
Let's listen to some of his down to earth wisdom.
"The right of children to play, to sing and to dance; the right of
youth to sport for sports' sake; the right of men and women to use leisure in
the pursuit of happiness in their own way, are basic to our American
Heritage."
Another time, President Truman said, "Children and dogs are as
necessary to the welfare of this country as Wall Street and the railroads."
You know what? After reading and trying to understand what is being said in
both statements, President Truman is saying the same thing only in two different
ways!
What is necessary for the success of this nation? What is basic to our
American Heritage? What is important to the health and welfare of our
communities?
The author's paraphrase of both comments above says, "For communities
to have a strong economic base and to keep their residents happy, then we must
not fail to place leisure in its rightful place of importance!" (Kim
Elliott, CLP Truman paraphrase, 2000) That place of importance is side by side
with the issues of economy and big business! The health and welfare of this
nation is basic to our understanding of fitting all the puzzle pieces together
and looking at the whole picture.
Have you looked at puzzles with pieces missing? The picture is just not
complete! All the puzzle pieces fit together to form the whole. Sometimes, even
the missing piece can cause the structural integrity of the puzzle to fail. All
pieces are important!
Leisure is one of the foundational building blocks of a healthy community!
Former President Harry Truman thought it was important!
Communities that also believe leisure and recreational services to be
important show it in various ways. They develop new facilities to stay up with
the future needs of the community. They expand and upgrade current facilities to
meet the current needs of a community. They spend dollars on planning to make
sure they are meeting current and future needs of the community. Their
leadership lives and talks about the importance and beneficial aspects of
leisure to the community. Their leisure service delivery system works in
conjunction with police, fire, public works and vice versa.
Why? Because all are important and needed for the health of a community!
President Truman was right! When he made his comments, it was as if he was
looking to the past while at the same time looking ahead to the future, knowing
that if we lost part of our basic American heritage, we would also lose part of
the very essence that makes us Americans!
Children and dogs! Wall Street and railroads! Leisure and healthy minds!
Healthy bodies and recreation! Business and motivated employees! Happy employees
and economic growth! Safe and sound communities! Parks and recreation! Police
and recreation! Leisure and fire! Public works and open space!
All are important! If you slight one, you slight them all!
Parks and Recreation! The Benefits Are Endless...TM
