HAILEY - There may be something to that adage: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

In fact, play is key to making successful, well-rounded individuals who are productive members of society, says Dr. Stuart L. Brown.

Brown is so convinced of this that he established the National Institute for Play in Carmel Valley, Calif. And on Friday and Saturday the psychiatrist and clinical researcher will bring his message of play to the Wood River Valley.

Brown will be the keynote speaker at the Annual Fall Conference of St. Luke's Center for Community Health on Saturday. His free presentation, "Play, Spirit and Character - Inseparable Companions, Crafted by Nature," will be from 9:30 a.m. to noon at The Community Campus in Hailey.

Brown will also give an in-service presentation for teachers, "Discovering What Nature Has Provided Each of Us - Through Play," from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday at The Community School in Sun Valley.

"Sometimes we regard play as frivolous, yet his research shows that it's not," said Erin Pfaeffle, who heads up St. Luke's Center for Community Health.

Brown acknowledges that play has rarely been considered a basic ingredient in the search for meaning.

He first recognized the importance of play when he realized that murderers and felony drunken drivers did not have a history of play in their backgrounds, he said; abused children, likewise, often lack the ability to relate to play.

Brown, founding clinical director of the Department of Psychiatry at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, augmented his research on humans by researching wild animals at play - from polar bears who chose to play with huskies, rather than consume them for a meal, to Alaskan bears he saw performing a "joyously intoxicating" dance during the salmon harvest.

He has presented his findings in the three-part PBS series "The Promise of Play," as well as several books.

Brown quips that Sun Valley folks likely do not represent "the overstressed, play-deficient norm that characterizes much of urban, time-stressed Americans."

Still, his presentation should be something people will find useful in the workplace, as well as in parenting, said Erin Buell, community outreach coordinator for the St. Luke's Center.

"It's a hands-on idea for having a healthier lifestyle," she said. "Play is a brain function, a developmental element in how our brains form and operate."

Brown's presentation will be preceded at 9 a.m. by the annual "Unsung Heroes" Awards Presentation. Following lunch will be several free presentations offered from 12:45 to 2 p.m. and from 2:10 to 3:25 p.m. Saturday:

* Social worker Nancy Kneeland will discuss "Parenting on the Same Page" to provide parents, stepparents, grandparents and others with tools for effective parenting.

* Janice Payne, a social worker, will discuss "Raising Kids with Love and Logic."

* A panel of teens will field questions in a dialogue called "Telling It Like It Is."

* Gloria Gunter will talk about the developmental benefits of play in Spanish.

* Darrell Harris, who works with teenagers for The Advocates, will discuss "To Tech or Not to Tech? - That is the Question."

Technology is playing an increasing role in relationships, particularly when it comes to bullying, Harris said. Young teens - especially those in middle school - are putting pages dissing other teens on MySpace and other social networks.

Gossipy e-mails and text messages spread around schools like wildfire, she added.

"Research shows that the vast majority of text messages are sent between midnight and 5 a.m., so it's clear teens are taking their cell phones to bed with them," she said. "I want to present what's out there and the research being done. Each family has to decide for themselves how to deal with the information."

Karen Bossick may be reached at kbossick@cox-internet.com or 208-578-2111.