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 “cat and rat,” “farmer-in-the-dell,” etc.,
which for some inexplicable reason seem never to have penetrated the
school playgrounds of Dutchess County.
[Illustration: 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.”