In view of our Government's continuing interest in the physical fitness of the nation's youth, we have elected to submit October Playmate Allison Parks as pictorial proof of what frequent doses of sunshine, fresh air and physical exercise can do for the shape of future generations. A blue-eyed brunette from Glendale, California, 21-year-old Allison spends her weekday mornings soaking up the sun's first healthful rays while assisting her father in the care and cultivation of his ranch-size floral nursery in nearby Sun Valley. Then it's back to her Glendale homestead for our opulently endowed October miss, where she conducts an afternoon enterprise of her own: teaching preschool-age children to swim in the family's big back-yard pool. "I almost feel guilty about charging their parents for lessons," she told us, "since I get just as much of a kick out of spending all that time in the water as the kids do. But I know what I'm doing is worth while, because any child who can overcome his fear of the water before he's six will never panic in a sink-or-swim situation later on in life." Besides her daily diet of landscaping and aquatic training, this month's classically constructed (36-24-36) outdoor miss has recently expanded her off-hours interests to include flying. Each weekend, weather permitting, Allison joins a local group of fellow aerial enthusiasts who call themselves the Sky Roamers and logs in a few more air hours toward her private pilot's license. "Until I started flying, my big dream was to own a hot sports car someday," reports the attractive amateur aviatrix. "Now, I couldn't care less about cars--except as the quickest means of getting to and from the airstrip. The moment I took over the controls for the first time, I was hooked. There's something almost ethereal about sitting in a cockpit thousands of feet above the earth with nothing around to distract you."
Despite the fact that she spends most of her waking hours basking in the California sunshine, Allison still finds time for an occasional indoor interest or two. An accomplished artisan with needle and thread ("I've been designing my own clothes ever since high school") and an ambitious culinary student ("So far I've managed to master only steak and beef Stroganoff--but at least I know there's some hope for me"), the perky Miss Parks readily admits that keeping up a strong domestic front fits into her long-range plans for meeting and marrying a "tall, blond, ambitious and dominant type of man who could make me happy to stay at home most of the time." Meanwhile, marriage will have to wait its turn on our comely Playmate's calendar. As she puts it, "I'd like to do something exciting and different in my life before settling down." Fortunately, Miss October allowed herself to be grounded long enough for our alert lensman to capture this month's poolside Playmate pose for posterity.
