I grew up in the small village of Grapeville

A little place in Southwestern Pennsylvania nestled between Jeannette and Greensburg

Grapeville, the village where my Great Grandfather built his house when he moved from Italy

Where my Grandfather and my Father were raised

Where my brothers and I grew up as well

 

There wasn’t a lot to do in Grapeville

The little town that revolved around the Fire Department

A few penny candy stores and a bar

But Grapeville had The Ballfield

The Ballfield was so much more than a ballfield to those of us who grew up in Grapeville

It was our playground, park, and recreation area

The Fire Department owned and maintained the land

The land that was deeded to them from a local family to be used by the community

 

To get to the ballfield, I had to walk up my street past the red brick elementary school

Then past a few more houses and the Firehall

The ballfield was on top of the hill so once I got past the firehall I had to turn right and head up the hill

On the next street up – Fifth Street – I would turn left and head up an inclined street

At the top of Fifth Street I would make a right and go up the dirt road to the ballfield

This was another uphill climb but we didn’t mind because we were kids with unlimited energy

After climbing the dirt road cut through the woods, it would open at the top to grass and fields

 

There was a large open pavilion filled with picnic tables and eventually a kitchen area

Outside of the pavilion was a hand water pump

How we children loved working the pump to get the water to flow

Pumping the handle up and down, up and down

We would cup our hands under the pump and drink some of the cold refreshing water

Taking turns pumping water for each other

 

There was a large sloped area where there was a playground for the children

I remember climbing the Monkey Bars

Sometimes sitting on top and looking out over everything

And other times moving across under them – hand over hand – one rung at a time

Until I reached the other end and dropped to the ground flushed with the effort and the joy of the accomplishment

 

We would take turns spinning the Merry Go Round faster and faster and then jump on

Spinning until we were dizzy

The bigger kids would push for the little ones

Everyone laughing and giggling as we went round and round

 

The swings changed over the years

From standard leather straps on chains

To my favorites – the pump swings

Built like a metal cage hung from the overhead bars

With two metal poles that you pumped with your arms to make the swing move

It helped to push off with your feet if you could reach the ground

And then start pumping with your arms to keep the movement going

Higher and higher with each pump until we were soaring through the air

Pumping harder and harder, going higher and higher

Trying to go faster and higher than our friends

 

The Seesaw (or Teeter Totter if you prefer) was a simple device

A board balanced on a metal pipe that is elevated off the ground

Handles at each end of the board

One end of the board way up in the air

And the other end resting on the ground

The Seesaw was meant for two people of fairly equal weight

One child would push off and go up into the air

While the other would go down to the ground

If it was a fair match the two would alternate up and down, up and down

If not a fair match, someone could be stuck up in the air

With the other on the ground, sometimes laughing at the one stuck in the air

 

The smaller kids played in the sandbox

Digging with shovels and filling up buckets

Making sandcastles

Or running toy cars and trucks through the sand

 

And then there was the actual ballfield

With a backstop and bleachers and dugouts for the players

The ballfield where boy’s teams played baseball

And the girl’s teams played softball

Everyone dressed in the team uniforms

Uniforms that consisted of shirts, hats and socks

Of course, the uniforms were purple

No other color would do in a town named Grapeville where even the fire trucks were painted purple

 

But the ballfield was used for more than organized team sports

It was also used by the Grapeville Elementary School classes

On nice days, the teachers would walk with us from our classrooms to the ballfield

Where we would play whiffle ball or kickball

Dividing up into teams and playing outside on nice afternoons

This was the way we did physical education in the 1960s

 

In the summer the Hempfield Township Recreation Department would send in someone to lead organized activities for the local children

Arts and crafts and pickup games led by people we mostly did not know

But nobody worried about that in those days

If the Township sent them in, they must be okay

I walked to the ballfield by myself all the time when I was young

I knew how to walk to the ballfield on my own and there was no real danger

Although sometimes I diverted from the open road and walked through the woods

Where it was cooler and darker and a little mysterious

And where wild raspberries and blackberries grew in abundance

I loved to walk through the woods snacking on the wild berries

Their sweet flavor bursting in my mouth when I bit into them

And the juice staining my fingers if I squeezed too hard when I picked the berries from the vine

This was my own little secret that I shared with very few

I liked the solitude of the woods and the respite of a handful of berries during my walk

 

We missed the ballfield during the winter and looked forward to Spring every year

The first event of the season was always the Fireman’s Easter Egg Hunt on Easter morning

The fields divided up into sections for different ages

Tape strung around the sections to mark the boundaries

Colorful plastic eggs filled with candy, small toys and money

Larger chocolate bunnies and stuffed animals were there for the lucky few who could find them

Hidden in the field, under shrubs and behind trees

The children would wait anxiously for the word that they could run into the field to find the treasures

Some carrying baskets on their little hands to collect the treasures in

 

And Summer would always end with the Fireman’s Picnic over Labor Day Weekend

It seemed like everyone in town was gathered there

Corn was being roasted

C&S Meat Market Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches on semi-hard buns from Enrico’s Bakery

And ice cream sandwiches

I remember the men congregating at the beer pavilion

Built a little way down the hill in the woods

And the children all enjoying the playground

Maybe even a pickup game of baseball

Everyone talking, laughing, coming together as a community

 

I moved out of Grapeville forty years ago

And have only been to the ballfield a handful of times since then

Now I hear the ballfield has been sold

Never to be enjoyed by the children of Grapeville again

I am sad for those that still live there and those that will come after them

As they will never experience the pure innocence and joy that so many of us grew up with

The Ballfield is no more