They were busy men; they came home tired after a day in the city; they considered themselves good citizens if they kept their own places sightly, but the idea of devoting their evenings to the problems of their community had never occurred to them before the evening when two of Bok's neighbors called to ask his help in forming a civic association.
A canvass of the sentiment of the neighborhood revealed the unanimous opinion that the experiment, if attempted, would be a failure,--an attitude not by any means confined to the residents of Merion! Bok decided to test it out; he called together twenty of his neighbors, put the suggestion before them and asked for two thousand dollars as a start, so that a paid secretary might be engaged, since the men themselves were too busy to attend to the details of the work.

The amount was immediately subscribed, and in 1913 The Merion Civic Association applied for a charter and began its existence.
The leading men in the community were elected as a Board of Directors, and a salaried secretary was engaged to carry out the directions of the Board.

The association adopted the motto: "To be nation right, and state right, we must first be community right." Three objectives were selected "with which to attract community interest and membership; safety to life, in the form of proper police protection; safety to property, in the form of adequate hydrant and fire-engine service; and safety to health, in careful supervision of the water and milk used in the community.
"The three S's," as they were called, brought an immediate response.
They were practical in their appeal, and members began to come in.

The police force was increased from one officer at night and none in the day, to three at night and two during the day, and to this the Association added two special night officers of its own.

Private detectives were intermittently brought in to "check up" and see that the service was vigilant.