Maggie Quinlan '06

The lower level fields and tennis courts saw the worst flooding the Pocumtuck Valley has seen since 1983 after the heavy rains of the weekend of October 8 and 9. The consistent precipitation in the early weeks of October caused the flooding, which, at its peak, had the varsity football and field hockey fields, the highest of the fields, under 8 or 9 feet of water. The water, which receded in about 24 hours, was not the issue. Instead, the silt that remained after the water was the cause of distress, and in fact may claim a few fields through the spring season.

The silt deposits were damaging because surrounding fields had no crop cover and thus a great amount of top soil was moved in the flooding. Some areas have up to four inches of silt, and four of seven soccer fields and one of three field hockey fields are currently unusable.

However, games have continued regardless of conditions. Teams utilized such facilities as Indoor Action in Greenfield and practiced on any free patch of grass that could be found on the upper level of campus, including the lawn in front of the library. Also, neighboring schools such as NHM, Williston, and Eaglebrook were extremely generous with the usage of their fields.

The grounds crews have been working hard to return the fields to playable condition. As for Parents' Weekend the vast majority of games were able to take place on the lower level. Director of Athletics, Jim Lindsay stressed that the community owes 'An enormous debt of gratitude to Brett Gewanter and all of the folks on the grounds crew who have worked their tails off to return the fields to playable condition.'

As for the future. Choate Day will still be home this year, although some sports may have to stagger the start of games due to the reduced number of playing surfaces available. Most fields should be returned by March, although continuing rains have slowed the clean-up process and could leave a few fields badly damaged through the spring.

As published in the November 9, 2005 issue of the Deerfield Scroll, the monthly newspaper of Deerfield Academy.