SOCIALIZING THE COUNTRYSIDEMARY H. FISHER
MARY H. FISHER
A little over three years ago, in the spring of 1910, a newcomer to the little town of Amenia, Dutchess County, New York, inspired perhaps by the glorious sweep of the twenty-five acre field on his recently acquired possessions, summoned to his home a handful of his neighbors and laid before them the germ of an idea which a few weeks later was to blossom into the full-blown Amenia Field Day. At the start, the newcomer offered the community his field, his time, his assistance in every way possible, and asked and obtained of them that spirit of co-operation which has made Amenia Field Day stand for what it does today. In 1910 the attendance was 3,000; each succeeding year, it has increased; in 1913, it was 10,000, and 1914 will doubtless see it bigger yet.
The Amenia idea has been described as “an experiment in co-operative recreation”; a high-sounding phrase, which means simply that the people of Amenia get together, plan together, work together to the end that one day a year they may play together.
Simple though this idea is, it has not been an easy one to inspire in the hearts of New York and Connecticut farmers (for Amenia is less than three miles from the state line). The rural population is admittedly composed for the most part of conservatives, unimpressionable, and slow to arouse to anything which savors of innovation, and which does not bring in its train anything of palpable, material benefit. For generations past, they have had their county fairs, with concomitant cattle and poultry exhibits, horse-racing, fakers, and side-shows of rather more than a questionable nature. They have had farmers’ picnics, for the most part small affairs, of purely local interest. But the Amenia idea was conceived in a spirit bigger and broader, and, it is believed, more truly democratic and more representative of what public spirit in a rural community ought to be. To quote from the program of the fourth annual Amenia Field Day, “The Amenia Field Day offers, as a substitute for the commercialized fair, a free day of wholesome enjoyment, supported by the united efforts of a whole community. One day a year the people of Amenia invite the whole countryside to such a day of clean and simple recreation, without gamblers, fakers, intoxicating liquors, or vulgar sideshows. Admission to our festival is free to all.”
This year, the committee strained every nerve towards including in the day’s entertainment features that should take in everyone, young and old, of both sexes. For boys, they planned a series of athletic events, running and jumping contests, open to all comers, without limitation save as to age. Prizes were generously donated by a leading citizen of Amenia, but the committee is seriously considering doing away with all prizes next year, except the simplest of silk badges, commemorative of the event.
The scope of athletic sports, in which it is wise for girls to participate, is so limited that this year for the first time folk-dancing was instituted. The committee imported a teacher from the Bureau of Recreation, Department of Parks, New York City, and entrusted to her not merely the task of teaching the graceful and quaint dances, that have been imported from over the seas, to the maidens of Dutchess County, but the far more difficult task of organizing the classes, of getting the girls to join, of persuading the mothers to allow their daughters to join. Nowhere are social strata so well-defined, nowhere religious and racial lines so closely drawn as in the country community; nowhere are barriers of caste so hard to break down. To level the ranks of prosperous and poor, to bring about harmony between Catholic and Protestant elements, requires a very large measure of diplomacy and tact, combined with human sympathy.
For small children of both sexes, under mature leadership, were arranged the games which city children for generations past have known and loved, and in turn handed down to their smaller brothers and sisters; games such as “catand rat,” “farmer-in-the-dell,” etc., which for some inexplicable reason seem never to have penetrated the school playgrounds of Dutchess County.
Title or descriptionDANCING ON THE GREEN, FIELD DAY AT AMENIA, DUTCHESS COUNTY, NEW YORK.
DANCING ON THE GREEN, FIELD DAY AT AMENIA, DUTCHESS COUNTY, NEW YORK.
On Field Day, August 19, for miles around Amenia, the holiday spirit was in the air. Everybody with his wife and family, in automobile, farm wagon, or on foot, took the road that led to Amenia Field; even those who professed no interest in the events of the day, came “just to see who was there!” Everybody brought lunchbaskets and spread the contents under the trees, in true picnic style, since nothing but soft drinks and sandwiches were sold on the grounds.
Throughout the day, a band of musicians played patriotic and popular airs. The old folks gathered together contentedly in groups, listening to the music, while keeping an admiring eye on the prowess of their athletic sons, the grace of their daughters dancing on the sward. Young and old participated in the grand march that took place immediately after lunch-hour.
Afterwards, in a tent-covered auditorium, men and women of national prominence addressed an attentive audience on subjects chosen for their interest to a rural population. Suffragists, from Poughkeepsie and New York, by way of propaganda, presented an open-air pageant portraying the advance of women’s education in modern times. Meanwhile, a demonstration of alfalfa-growing, under the supervision of the Dutchess County Farm Bureau, and the State Department of Agriculture, was given in a neighboring field. Enthusiastic “fans” of Dutchess County were given an opportunity to cheer at a baseball game between two local teams.
The day finished with a band concert held in the Post Office Square, of Amenia, which had been decked with hundreds of lighted Chinese lanterns, strung from adjoining buildings. The expense of this concert, as of all the other features of the day, was met by popular subscription. Everybody was invited, nobody solicited, to contribute, according to his means.
On every program of Amenia Field Day has been printed these principles:
“You have got to make the country as attractive socially as the city if you want to keep the young folks on the farms.“There’s a good deal of work in the country, but most of our boys and girls have forgotten how to play.“Baseball is a splendid game, but it isn’t the only one. Every healthy boy should be interested in at least half a dozen others. Don’t merely watch others play games; play them yourself.“You can’t drink strong drink and be an athlete. Get your boys interested in honest and healthy sports, and save them from drink and dissipation.“Contests and competitions are not the main thing. ‘The strong compete and grow stronger; the weak look on and grow weaker.’ The main thing is play. Learn the great lesson that play is just as necessary for your sons as work.“The community should help to run its own recreations. Its festivals should be, not only for the people, but of and by the people.”
“You have got to make the country as attractive socially as the city if you want to keep the young folks on the farms.
“There’s a good deal of work in the country, but most of our boys and girls have forgotten how to play.
“Baseball is a splendid game, but it isn’t the only one. Every healthy boy should be interested in at least half a dozen others. Don’t merely watch others play games; play them yourself.
“You can’t drink strong drink and be an athlete. Get your boys interested in honest and healthy sports, and save them from drink and dissipation.
“Contests and competitions are not the main thing. ‘The strong compete and grow stronger; the weak look on and grow weaker.’ The main thing is play. Learn the great lesson that play is just as necessary for your sons as work.
“The community should help to run its own recreations. Its festivals should be, not only for the people, but of and by the people.”