Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun

MADE A PAIR OF SKIS

And that’s what happened to Lefty. I “killed” him and won the Shoot Out. It was the last game of marbles I ever played. The marble season was over for all time. A FINE COASTING TRAY Maple Leaf Club, Family Herald and Weekly Star March 18, 1914 MARIPOSA LILY Rock Creek, B.C. Dear Maple Leaves: My sister and I have a nice coasting path, and we have fun on it in the afternoons after our lessons are done. Our mother gives us lessons every day. We have one ordinary coasting sled, two home-made barrel stave sleds, and best of all, an old iron tea tray. And oh, Leaves, it is such fun going down on the tray. You can make it spin round and round if you like, but it will go straight, too. It seems to go faster if you go down backwards; it’s because you can’t see in front, I expect. We also have two pairs of skis. They go better near Spring when there is a crust on the snow. MADE A PAIR OF SKIS Maple Leaf Club, Family Herald and Weekly Star March 14, 1917 Clarence Orser CYCLIST Kingston, R.R. #4, Ont. Dear Maple Leaves: Here comes another Leaf to join the Great Tree. I am fourteen years old, and live on a farm seven miles north of Kingston. Playing Is Playing Games 115 I have a bicycle and in summer I get a great deal of pleasure out of it. On cool summer nights I often ride to Kingston and take in the show, at other times a crowd of boys will gather together at Elginburg (our home village) and go swimming in Collin’s Creek. In the spring we spear fish in the same creek. We have a rink near our house and every winter we have lots of fun skating on it. I made a pair of skis. The first time I tried them I started down a steep hill behind the house; when I was about halfway down they turned around on me and this threw me on my back. Then I tried putting them together and so made a sort of toboggan . This time I met with little success, for they seemed to want to turn around in spite of me. At last I got tired of that kind of skiing and tried it standing up. This time I went down the hill all right; after that I could manage them a little better. I have thought a lot about getting a rifle. I like hunting rabbits or any kind of animals. About five years ago my two brothers and a neighbor’s boy went hunting, but when they saw the first bear track they must have got a little skittish for they came home in about two weeks. I would like to correspond with any boys or girls, especially Sumac Bob. I promise to answer all letters. TENNIS AND GOLF Maple Leaf Club, Family Herald and Weekly Star August 22, 1917 ANEMONE Dear Ex-Leaves: I live in a large town were there are very many attractions for young people but lately I find many of these dull and insipid. Among the many interesting things are a great variety of sports of which I was at first a great lover. These were hockey, baseball, basket ball, tennis and golf. Of the last two I never get tired. 116 Freedom to Play ...