A wealth of riches; A day in the country

Posted 8/21/12

Even as rural America struggles to make itself economically relevant to the rest of the world in these challenging economic times, a series of authentic country experiences this past weekend brought …

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A wealth of riches; A day in the country

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Even as rural America struggles to make itself economically relevant to the rest of the world in these challenging economic times, a series of authentic country experiences this past weekend brought home for me yet again, how rich we are who live along the back roads and in the hamlets and villages in the Upper Delaware River corridor. Living close to the land and to nature has long shaped the character of the people who settled here two or more centuries ago, and I would argue contributes to shaping the world view of many who come to visit or even to move here today. They may be drawn by the scenery and open spaces, the opportunities to spend time outdoors, or for the charm of our small towns. But if that is all they find, they have missed something essential. Let me share with you the story of my recent day in the country.

On Saturday, my day began in Damascus, PA at a community harvest festival where local residents, their friends and neighbors gathered at the Galilee Grange to celebrate the richness of rural life and to show their appreciation for the area’s farmers. There was music, home-cooked food to eat in or take out, pies and cakes baked from scratch, fall flowers for sale, local vendors selling handmade country crafts and more. A member of the Woodland Weavers and Spinners Guild sat at a spinning wheel just inside the front door spinning wool, happy to answer anyone’s questions. Pastor Sam Sikapizye, originally from Zambia and formerly from Hankins, NY, was there with information about HOPE Ministries and its Hope House orphanage in Africa. (Pastor Sam also won Saturday’s pie-eating contest.)

Rev. Jean Blackie, pastor to two United Methodist churches in Abrahamsville and Damascus, took some time to talk with me about the event’s sponsor, the PEARL Center for Rural Ministry, a community outreach project to help address the kinds of problems country folk might face in daily living. (PEARL stands for Preserving, Enriching and Appreciating Rural Life.) And in my opinion, there is plenty to appreciate about rural life and plenty worth preserving.

A stone’s throw away from the grange building one finds a community garden, also facilitated by this rural ministry. In this, its first year, the garden welcomed nine gardeners and established a common area, maintained by volunteers, to grow fresh produce for the Damascus Food Pantry. A local organic farmer provided labor to put up the fence and advice about growing organically. Neighbor helping neighbor was on full display in this garden.

Leaving this humble harvest festival, I could not help but contemplate a bit of history about The Grange. Shortly after the Civil War, when we were still an overwhelmingly agrarian nation, the granger movement began. Calling themselves the Patrons of Husbandry, a coalition of farmers established The Grange. Its mission was to advance methods of agriculture and to promote the social and economic needs of farmers. It was a progressive movement that took on powerful monopolies of the day—railroads and grain elevators that overcharged farmers for hauling their crops to market—and, as an organization with hundreds of local chapters, it developed the national clout to win various reforms. The Grange deserves credit for helping achieve Rural Free Delivery (RFD) of mail via the U.S. Postal Service and for the rural electrification of America.

Today, the National Grange still fights for similar ideals: the right of rural Americans to receive the same high-tech communications opportunities as city dwellers have, i.e. access to high-speed Internet service via broadband; the same quality of health care that is available to urban and suburban residents; and the same high-quality education as our city cousins have. Without a doubt, rural communities need these essential services if we are to thrive, and these necessities are worth fighting for, much as the granger movement did a century or more ago. (Not accidentally, today’s grange also advocates for renewed commitment to civic education and civic participation.)

Finally, my continued quest for a day of authentic country experiences took me to the Beach Lake Firehouse to help Northeast PA’s Old Time Fiddlers celebrate their 35th anniversary with a special concert. Champion fiddler Tim Crouch, who drove all the way from his home in Arkansas, wowed the crowd with his fiddling, and he struck a special note for some of those assembled when he recalled nights like this one in his youth, when a country fellow’s Saturday night entertainment was totally homegrown as the whole community gathered for a hootenanny. And so, the evening closed with the whole gang of local fiddlers called on stage for a few final tunes, to send the audience home happy.

Leaving this toe-tapping good time at the end of a day spent with country folk, I headed out into the dark, and just a few miles from home on a narrow country road, I stopped the car for a few moments to observe a red fox pawing at something on the side of the road. Un-intimidated, it stared back as I silently reached for my camera. Intimate moments like this are magical even for country folk, but I think they offer lessons that city dwellers often miss.

I recall once sharing with a born-and-raised, life-long city friend how moved I was by a similar rare moment—the largest blue heron I’ve ever seen standing on a boat dock at one of the Finger Lakes. Its wing span, as it took to the sky, must have been at least five feet. My city friend confessed that she did not “get” what for me was a moment of awe. Last week in separate incidents along two different back roads in Wayne County, I saw herons in flight. My day was made.

Because they are so far removed from the land, many city dwellers miss some key connections. The beauty of a heron resting at a local pond underscores the importance of clean air and water. The smell of the earth after the rain or the aroma of newly mown hay that a farmer is cutting to feed his cattle in winter reminds us of our deep connection to the land that feeds us and the importance of conserving farmland and protecting precious soil. And perhaps this irony has not escaped you: city dwellers crowded into urban housing oftentimes do not even know their neighbors, while we who live scattered miles apart across the countryside, know and embrace our neighbors as members of a special community. These are just some of the qualities that make life lived in the country so rich.

It is not as if country folk have exclusive ownership of the values of family, community, conservation, independence, self-reliance and a strong work ethic, but we do have these values in abundance. We are also known for being practical and pragmatic; direct, open and honest. Preserving our rural character is about more than just hanging onto picture postcard scenery and small town charm. It includes saving the best of traditional rural values.

And so today I ask: what is there about our country way of life, our values and our traditions that are worth preserving—values and traditions that will surely serve us well in this increasingly complicated and messed up world as we go forward into the 21st century.

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