Vernon Historical Society

Memories of Fall in Vernon Center by Jean Kanter Klothe

Jean Kanter Klothe was born in Vernon and lived in the area before moving to New York City in 1932. Her charming memoir describes the changing seasons in Vernon Center when it was a farming community in the early 20th century.

Fall is the time when the labors of summer come to a close. Everything is ready for harvesting, matured, and sometimes at its peak for beauty. And of course, it's the time to bring the apples to the cider mill, for the pears to be picked and for the potatoes to be dug out of the ground. The leaves of the trees are a beautiful gold and red.

It's the time when I would hear, early, very early, in the morning, my father and brothers, sawing and chopping wood, getting ready for the long winter months. These were stacked in piles outside the door to the kitchen.

One of the delights of Fall for us kids, was chestnut picking time. The prickly burrs would have to be removed and we'd build a fire in the old "burnt house" nearby to roast them. Pure joy! When the farm was bought, there was an abandoned house on the property. The framework was still evident and what may have been the cellar was there and available to us kids. My remembrance is that it was made of stone but it may well have been cement. But it made a great place for us to build fires and roast chestnuts.

There is one thing I remember vividly that had another ending. My brother, two years older than I, decided to make mud pies. We used old pie plates to fill them with mud and then got the brilliant idea to bake them. Where else, but in the back-house? Wasn't it just like the stovetop with nice round circles?

It was called the backhouse, because it was always some twenty five feet behind the house. Of course, it wasn't a house, just a building with the required number of seats. In our case, because my uncle and his family lived in the same household, we had a larger framed building with partitions, "separate quarters" for each family.

I was told and gladly ran to the container on the kitchen wall and got the long wooden matches to light the fire in the holes, not giving a thought to the consequences. Needless to say, it was just a few minutes before there was no more place "to go." It's so many years ago, but I still see my brother's very red little behind. My punishment was to watch my brother being spanked.

Fall was the start of school again. Teacher would have us bringing in the lovely leaves to copy and display. We also brought in acorns to string up. Our teacher taught us many things about the outdoors and the importance of food for health.

Hay and corn filled the barns in readiness for the animals for winter.

(Published in the 'NEWS from the Vernon Historical Society', September 2005)