1952, Thedford
On the first day as a Farmerette I was taken to the Sitter farm to work and I continued working there every day for the rest of the summer. You may not know this, but according to some of the girls that had spent the previous summer in Thedford, the Sitter family were considered to be the best farmers to work for. They worked right along with us in the fields and we affectionately called them Grampa Sitter and Daddy Sitter. The reason being that a daughter around our age (16-17) and an older son worked along with us and called them Grampa and Daddy so we did the same. We spent the summer working in the onion and peppermint fields. When we got back to camp for the evening meal the rest of the camp could always tell which crop we were working in, because after spending ten hours in the fields, we smelled strongly of onions or peppermint.
I have fond memories of the Sitters for the wonderful way they treated us. Grampa Sitter always made sure our hoes were sharp and this made a hard job easier. They kept an eye on us to make sure we didn’t suffer heat or sun stroke. They even sent a Christmas card with a small monetary gift the following Christmas and it was greatly appreciated.
We worked hard but also played hard that summer. Early in the morning when we came down for breakfast, beside the tables where we ate, there was a long table set up with bread, cold cuts, cheese, carrots and celery sticks, condiments, cookies, fresh fruit, everything to make a lunch and each girl made and packed her own lunch before being picked up by the farmers to spend the day in the fields. Most days the Sitters would take us to a shaded grassy area beside a small creek or to a peppermint still where we could eat lunch and relax, often gathering 40 winks while there.
After being tired and weary from working in the fields all day, we would shower and have dinner and then somehow our energy would return. I remember hiking across the field in front of the camp to the Thedford Arena and roller skating until I had to get back to camp for the 9:30 p.m. curfew even though the skating continued until 10:00 p.m. Some nights we hitchhiked to Grand Bend to swim, to Ipperwash Beach for a camp fire or to a movie in a nearby town.
One Sunday I was invited by one of the army cadets, who frequently visited our camp, to the army base at Camp Ipperwash to an open house for family and friends. His family were too far away to visit so he got permission to invite me. We were allowed into areas that are not usually open to the public and it was an interesting and fun day.
Speaking of the army cadets reminds me of the Jukebox we had in camp. There was a song on it that got played so often that we were really tired of hearing it and the boys delighted in playing it over and over until it almost drove us mad. I can’t believe that I can’t remember that song today because at the time I thought I would never forget it. Another song that was in that jukebox was Auf Weidersehen and in the last week or so of the summer every time it was played we would get emotional, as teenage girls are prone to do, as our thoughts went to parting from the girls who had become like sisters over two months of working and playing together as Farmerettes.
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