Our Community (1952)

[Music] e fall has come to Milwood the city where Richard Anderson lives a city neither small nor large simply a normal Community where people live together work together and do things for each other this is the story of one day in Milwood just any day the Story begins at Daybreak all is quiet in the Anderson home everybody is asleep it is still some time before Richard has to get up for breakfast but while most people are still asleep many are at work doing things for other people things which mean a great deal to the others including Richard himself while Richard sleeps the men at the dairy are filling bottles with fresh milk and long before Daybreak Richard's Milkman picks up the milk and delivers it to the Anderson home in time for breakfast all night long The Bakers have been baking the bread for today bread which the delivery man now takes to stores and homes long before stores and schools open trucks are bringing food for Richard's dinner into town from nearby farms and distant places and from a refrigerator truck the butcher is already unloading meat some of it will be on Richard's table today or tomorrow yes Richard's community is always at work all night long in the telephone building operators have been busy at the switchboards putting through telephone calls that people need to make during the night perhaps to a doctor or to a fire station in the city's water plant pumps are running day and night to keep Milwood reservoirs filled men keep checking gauges so that Richard or anyone else can be sure to get water at any time at the power plant nearby Engineers keep watch all through the night so that there will be electricity whenever Richard or others need it at the post office men work all night sorting out the mail for each mailman so that the letters will be in the right place when Richard's mailman comes to work in the morning throughout much of the night at the newspaper office men and women work hard to meet the deadline for Milwood morning paper editors and reporters write stories stories that must be set into type on a machine called the linotype trained Craftsmen operate the linotype machines their skilled hands set the news into printed lines one by one until they make up whole pages which other men Mount onto the big printing press just before daylight the Press man checks the first copies as the newspapers roll off the great press other men bundle the papers and others deliver them to new stands counters and homes all over Richard City getting up time is coming closer the news boy is already riding down the street and delivering the paper to Richard's home but for Richard the day is just beginning for Richard and for most of the other people in Milwood every morning on his way to school Richard sees the people of his community going about their jobs people like the lineman whose job it is to keep the electric lions in Milwood in good Repair Richard has really never stop to think how people of his City depend on each other take this grocery store his mother shops here and he often comes to buy things for Mr Shore but he has never thought what the city would be like without a grocery store or what if there were no shoe stores in his community or no furniture stores it's easy to see that the people who work in stores in the city are doing important work for their neighbors our community needs many kinds of people doing many kinds of work there must be ways for people to go from one part of town to another some go by taxi some walk of course many go on their own cars even more people use buses they are a little slower but easy to use and Cost Less and taxis Autos taxis buses these are the means of transportation in Richard city of course there are bigger buses that go to many parts of the country they stop in Milwood too and there is a railroad station where trains come in and go to other cities and towns trains which carry people traed and mail trucks carry mail to the post office from the station are from the helicopter field helicopters bring mail to Milwood from nearby suburbs and towns they need little space to land on that's why they are good for carrying mail helicopters hop from the large airport to a lot near the post office they bring mail and take away mail to and from towns nearby and back again to the City Airport its long blades lift the helicopter right off the field and whisk it away over houses to the next Landing line airplanes need larger airports than helicopters that's why Milwood airport is on the city's outskirts many people come to Richard's City each day and many leave it by airplane although Richard has never thought about it he too has an important job in his community the job of going to school so that he can learn some of the things which will make him a good citizen when he is ready to take his place in the community no matter what a person does to earn his living many people in the community depend on him and he in turn depends on many other people people who work in factories making Goods for the stores to sell people who work in offices writing letters or keeping books some of the people are Craftsmen and some are professional people such as doctors and lawyers some are storekeepers many are Housewives who whose jobs are to manage their homes and take care of their children whatever a person does helps in little ways or in big ways to make his community a good place to live in the city hall people are at work for the city itself the mayor was chosen by the citizens to run the city government with all its departments such as the police department policemen help make the community a safe place to live in they direct traffic so that Autos will move quick Qui ly and safely it is their job to see that people obey the laws of the city even though the people have made these laws for their own safety at times they have to be made to obey the laws the fire department is part of the city government the firemen are always ready day and night to get to a fire as quickly as possible before the fire has spread and endangered the community the city government hires men to build Bridges and to repair streets and sidewalks whenever it is necessary street lights make Milwood safer at night and there are men whose job it is to keep these lights burning the city government also helps protect the People's Health it hires men to keep close watch over the city water supply to make sure that the water is pure men of the health department inspect places where food is handled to see that they are Clean Men of another city Department collect garbage and burn it this too protects the City's health and there is a city dump for cans and waste that won't burn so that Milwood will look clean and orderly the city also provides playgrounds for children with special equipment like swings and slides and Teeter totters after school there is time for Richard to play on a community ball field for the little children the city has built jungle gyms and for grown-ups benches to rest on while the children play but parks and playgrounds are only one way in which the people of the community find enjoyment and Recreation there are other ways too tennis courts are popular on sunny days and when it gets colder there's the recreation center where people meet for parties and games and all year round there's the city library with books and records and films for young and old this is the church Richard and his family belong to here he goes to Sunday school there are other churches in town for people who Worship in ways different from Richard's family Milwood has a radio and television station the programs come from this building many people they are the men and women who act in these programs some men operate the big television cameras others control the pictures as they go out over the air they see to it that Richard gets the right program at the right time he often watches television at home the programs are fun and sometimes he learns a great deal from them then there are the movies The Andersons go often to the neighborhood theater one evening every week Richard's father goes bowling he belongs to a bowling league with some of his friends that's his favorite evening Recreation at night when Richard goes to bed he may have thought very little about his community what he has done for it and what it has done for him but the community's work never stops there's bread to be baked bread which Richard will eat tomorrow there's milk to be processed milk which Richard will drink Tomorrow there's the newspaper to be printed for people to read in the morning and electricity to be made and water to be pumped and filter and telephone calls to be put through day and night so the work in Richard's Community goes on day after day night after night people working for each other depending on each other all of them Partners in making their Community a better place in which to live [Music]