Fall - Social and Community Activities
With the fall chill in the air and the days getting shorter,
the pace of life on the farm quickened. For most farm families,
fall began with the start of school, final crop harvest, and
the ripening of
apples. Children returned to school taller and stronger after
a summer of working in the fields. There were a flurry of fall
school activities – programs, sports, and school social
events. Some older children often took their first steps toward
leaving home by attending high school in town or working outside
of the farm, earning money picking corn, for example. Farm
families
also enjoyed trips to town and activities related to fall harvest
and marketing crops and livestock. In the late fall, relatives
and neighbors helped
each other butcher a hog or cow to provide meat through the
winter and these events were as much about talking with neighbors
and socializing as about the work at hand. After school, some
farm children went fishing or hunting – bringing home deer or squirrels to put additional meat on the
dinner table. Others picked fall garden vegetables such as
pumpkins and squash
or gathered nuts to be used for holiday candy.
Written by Claudia Reinhardt.
|
Social
and Community Activities
