80'S HAMMONTON SCHOOL FIELD DAYS

  

                  As we come close to the end of another
                  school year, my 2 youngest daughters 

                 recently got to experience their 1st field day, while I was reminded of mine.

Field day was so great not just because we

got to be out of the classroom for entire

day, but because we knew summer was right 

around the corner and the school year was 

about over. So, this is some of what I 

remember doing at my field days,(1986-1990)

at Hammonton Elementary School.

Back then before the school added on, we had

a huge field behind our school where field

day would occur. I can't really remember now if 

all the grades were out there or not. I do

recall having to sit on the grass in a line, 

with a row of orange cones lined up ahead of us.

The gym teachers would basically explain each

race before that whistle blew. 

The first races seemed pretty boring to me.

I would laugh with my friends, daydream, and 

doing cool things with the grass, like try to get

it to make that whistle noise. Some of the first

races were things like regular running races, running backwards, crab walks, kicking a soccer ball around the cones, and pushing a plastic ball around the cones

with one of those old wooden hockey sticks,

that always had some kind of disgusting tape

peeling off of it.           

I really hated those races because it was 

always really hot, and I would have to get

up from that nice cool grass. It's also 

annoying when it's your turn and everyone's

watching you and demanding you to "Go!GO!"

Even the teachers seemed to be like these 

little field day nazis....like it was such a big

accomplishment for their class to win a 

backwards running race. Field day wasn't all

boring to me though. Mid way through is when

we would have the really fun races, like

the 3-legged race. Although, I think I always

used to get dragged away when I was tied to

the most athletic kids in my class. I can't 

remember if we were actually tied up together

or if we shared a potato sack. I know though we did have single potato sack races, which I never really fell! 

(which is 

surprising since I was/am a klutz.) What 

wasn't real fun was those itchy potato sacks

scratching up against my sweaty legs.Then 

there was this beaded jump ropes which we 

would have to jump rope across the field and

back.

        I know we also had the sponge race, where you

had to race with a sponge immersed in water.

In this race we would run to the other end of the field where a bucket sat, then squeeze whatever water was left in the sponge,then run back to our class line, tag the next kid, and pass the sponge off to them.   Whatever team had the most water in their bucket won. Come to think of it, maybe we had to run with    the sponge between our legs?  All I know is it had something to do with a sponge.

  

Then there was the Egg Spoon race when we

would run back and forth while holding a egg 

on a spoon. (No one really moved all that fast

with that one.)  I think there was also a race where

we had to run or walk as fast as we could while

holding a orange cone upside down and balance 

some kind of ball inside of it. We would have

to pass the ball to the next kid in line, who

was also holding a cone, and we couldn't touch

it at all with our hands.The bean bag toss was pretty cool also, mainly because I liked the way that those little bean bags felt. (It felt like they were full of little plastic balls.) Our gym class had this wooden bean bag toss stand that looked vintage even at the time!

The end of the day was my most favorite because

we always would have a tug of war. We all seemed

so competitive with that because when we would

win, we could rub it in the rest of the grade's

faces that our team ruled and was the 

strongest! Of course a few times we did lose

really sucked. I'm pretty sure after the 

races, we would play some fun games like 

kickball and played with that big rainbow

parachute thing.I loved when it was my turn

to go inside the parachute. For those few

seconds, it was like my own personal playhouse, 

sunroof included! (I'm talking about that hole in the

middle of the parachute.) Yes, I used to dreamthat one day I could live inside a parachute like that.  

We did have a few races involving hula hoops also, and they were included in the obstacle course. They had them lined up so we had to jump in the middle of the hoops from foot to foot. They way they arranged them for that always reminded me of the Olympic ring symbol.

I remember being given this horrible orange drink crap. Then at end of the day they would announce the winners and we would get a ribbon. I 

still have a few of mine.

Things are much different now, as I've seen 

from my kid's time there. The field where our

field day was held is no longer there and they

stopped giving out the ribbons and instead

now give out these cheap plastic metals that probably

cost less than a nickel.They still have some

of the same races for the kids but now have

like a mini carnival with cotton candy and

a inflatable bounce thing. (Which would've 

been cool to have back in the 80's.)

Even though my field days have come to an 

end, I'm glad that I can still remember (parts

of) mine, and can listen to how much fun my

kids had at theirs. I told them to enjoy it, 

because those days go by way too fast.

So, there you have it,..my field day memories.

If you went to Hammonton Elementary School

during the 80's/early 90's and can remember

more details I left out....feel free to fill me

in!

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