The Year Without Football

This Saturday, August 8^th, the quiet town of Pine Village should have been bursting with people. There would have been town wide garage sales, kids selling lemonade, families lining the streets with blankets and chairs waiting for the parade to start, and the smell of burgers wafting through the air. All of these leading to the main event, local boys decked out in vintage black and orange jerseys, ready to take on the away team in a historical vintage football game.

Last year, over a thousand people gathered around the football field, located behind Pine Village Elementary School, to watch the old fashioned game and cheer on the locals! It was a sight to behold in the sleepy town of three hundred!

This year, planning for the second annual game got off to great start, but sadly all festivities were cancelled about a month ago due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The cancellation of sports and festivities in rural communities across the nation seems like such a crazy unreal thing to happen, but it happened back in 1918 to the original Villagers too. In 1918, Pine Village football came to a grinding halt as the players fought in World War I and all of America suffered from the Spanish Influenza, a byproduct of the war that killed thousands of Americans. That year, not one game was played, the field was left barren, and everyone wondered whether the Villagers would ever take the field again.

Now, over one hundred years later, we are all wondering the same thing that those Warren County people were wondering back then. Will things get back to normal? When will we be able to resume our festivals and small town traditions? Will the vintage football game be a thing of the past, or will we revive it again in the coming year?

I leave you with this excerpt from Robert Carr, the nephew of Pine Village football player, John Carr, who says of a parade revived again in 1918, “Such visiting there was, with friends they hadn’t seen in months and months… The two town doctors were very much on view… They all floated about, inquiring into the health of all.”

They went on to have their celebration and parade, and a year later, the Villagers took the field again! The hope and prayer of the Pine Village Football Committee is that this time next year, those of us who have social distanced for months, those of us who have missed out on opportunities, sports, and fun events, will be back together visiting, celebrating, and socializing once again! God bless!

Honoring Mudlavia with “Magical Mudlavia” Celebration

On February 29, 1920, smoke billowed out of peaceful valley. The smoke belonged to a fire that broke out at the world-renowned Mudlavia hotel. With a strong southeast wind whipping through the valley, the fire blazed at an alarming rate, destroying the entire hotel, the out buildings, and even the well house, which was several hundred yards to the south.

Mudlavia would never be rebuilt with the same grandeur again.

The site today gives little clue to the magnificent hotel that once resided there, and the only way to keep Mudlavia’s history alive is to celebrate it, talk about it, and share our knowledge about it.

On Saturday, February 29, 2020, one hundred years after Mudlavia burned down (twenty-five, if you are looking at it in leap years), I am partnering with Aubrey Dietrich, owner of Heart and Soul Farm, to honor and celebrate the history of Mudlavia, and we invite you to come and celebrate with us!

Our “Magical Mudlavia” evening will begin at 6:00PM at Heart and Soul Farm, where we will kick off the celebration with bitesize refreshments inspired by Mudlavia’s historic menus. During this time, there will also be a few Mudlavia pictures and postcards to view.

At 6:30PM, Aubrey will introduce herself and talk about the connection she sees between Mudlavia and yoga today. Aubrey started hear yoga studio, Heart and Soul Farm, a little over a year ago. Since then, she has used her yoga practice for outreach events in the community through the 4-H program, at Prophetstown State Park, and at the local elementary school. She also provides various yoga series throughout the year at her farm, as well as providing other fun community events, like our Magical Mudlavia celebration.

At 7:00PM, I will be doing a question and answer session about Mudlavia, as well as answering any questions about the writing process. I have been writing since I was a little girl, and encourage the next generation of writers by hosting a youth writing club at our local elementary school. I began researching Mudlavia five years ago to write a novel about Mudlavia in honor of my grandpa, Bill Ringer. I entered my novel in the MMWW contest three years ago, and won. I am currently in the process of trying to get my work published.

At 7:30PM, we will wrap up the evening with a reading of the first chapter of my novel.

All events at Heart and Soul Farm are free to the public, however, donations are welcome and appreciated. Any donations will be split between us.  Aubrey will use them to continue to put on events at Heart and Soul Farm, and I will use them to put towards publishing my work.

We hope you will come and celebrate the history of Mudlavia with us!

Giving credit where credit is due-
Special thanks for my girls, Dessie and Dara Austin, for taking our picture
Special thanks for Gayle Breymeyer for inviting me last fall to come out to the Mudlavia property anytime and take pictures