{"id":378,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:07","latitude":47.04839700000000135560185299254953861236572265625,"longitude":-109.47174799999999095234670676290988922119140625,"title":"Recreation Building","subtitle":"Lewistown Satellite Airfield Historic District","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/eb4de2d2ce32a06b869d917e5f664135.jpg","address":"Lewistown Municipal Airport, Lewistown, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":15,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"Essential for maintaining morality and morale, the Recreation Building was one of the busiest spots on base. A host of activities provided wholesome entertainment to occupy the airmen&#039;s off-duty hours. Events included amateur nights on Mondays, movies on Tuesdays and Thursdays, dances on Wednesdays, boxing on Fridays, and religious services and sing-alongs on Sundays. Saturday dances, held downtown at the Civic Center, and regularly scheduled athletic competitions between the airmen and local high school teams filled out a recreational schedule designed to keep the men busy and out of trouble. Lewistown families, many of whom had sons serving overseas, embraced the young airmen and answered the Air Force&#039;s call for donations to furnish the Recreation Building&#039;s &quot;clubroom.&quot; Young women of certified good moral character, escorted by senior USO chaperones, rode buses to the base on Wednesdays for the dances. Elsewhere known as &quot;Victory Belles,&quot; in Lewistown these patriotic dance partners dubbed themselves the &quot;bomba-dears.&quot; Far from home, anticipating deployment into grave danger, and eager for distraction, the airmen welcomed such tangible signs of the community&#039;s support and goodwill.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Private","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/7a6c1142-43a2-4d01-8ab3-97cedfd5a028\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read about the Lewistown Satellite Airfield Historic District</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/f57b9061-486f-48b8-8c4f-8f90b9995cc4/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of the Lewistown Satellite Airfield Historic District</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/eb4de2d2ce32a06b869d917e5f664135.jpg":{"id":3812,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Recreation Building","description":"Recreation Building. Side view of the building, facing southwest. | Montana State Historic Preservation Office | Nov. 2003 | James Rea","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/eb4de2d2ce32a06b869d917e5f664135.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/600372d9abc4bb78821d509fc19e840a.jpg":{"id":3813,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Recreation Building","description":"Recreation Building. Front and side view of the building, facing northeast. | Montana State Historic Preservation Office | Nov. 2003 | James Rea","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/600372d9abc4bb78821d509fc19e840a.jpg"}}}