Clyde’s Corner: The pump overflows with memories for this former ‘water boy’

by Clyde Whitaker

Isn’t it funny — or maybe not — how something you have not seen in years can spur old memories back to the top, just like it was yesterday.

This happened to me recently, as my wife and I were biking down the old railroad track, now the Lakeland Trail, running past the old Krummrey Farm, now Scott’s Turf.

We were almost to the outer buildings on the farm when I saw it in the distance. The pump! Instantly my mind took me back to the ’60s and early ’70s, with me walking to this pump from afar to fill two 1-gallon glass jugs with fresh, cool water for the weeding crew.

Working on the Krummrey Farm back then, tending to the onions, was a job requiring many hands to pull the weeds from around the onions. It was a back-breaking and tough job.

At times my dad, Jim Whitaker, could be supervising up to 30 people in the fields out in the baking sun as it reflected back off the black, hot muck, so drinking water was something very important for the crew.

Since I detested crawling in the hot, dry muck on my knees, my dad instead assigned me to the position of “water boy.” This required me to walk great distances to the nearest water pump, filling the two jugs with cool, refreshing water, and bringing them back to hydrate the workers.

I carried a small tin cup that everyone used to take their drink. I would pour a little water into the cup and the worker would swish it around, to “rinse” it, lol, then toss the water out. I proceeded to fill the cup with water and everyone usually drank one to two cups during each water break.

I went through this process several times per day, walking to the nearest water pump that I could find. It usually was a long, long way away, but it kept me out of the muck. Getting back ASAP to the thirsty workers was my priority.

Life on the farm back in those early years definitely built character, and all of us who worked on the farm understand what I am saying.

As you can see from the photo, a pump is still there, more than 50 years later, standing proud with the original red paint now faded and peeling, but she still pumps cool, refreshing water after three pumps of the handle.

Ask me if I would do it all over again, and my answer would be “Yes” because it molded me into the person I am today, forever grateful and thankful for the opportunity to make a difference.

Clyde Whitaker is a 1973 Stockbridge graduate. He and his wife, Mary, raised four children in Stockbridge, and they still reside in the Stockbridge area.

All photos by Clyde Whitaker

Up to 30 people worked each day in the fields out at the Krummrey Farm in the ’60s and ’70s.

From morning until evening, there was work to do on this local farm.

This old water pump provided water for the farm workers over many years.

This informative sign along the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail documents the history of farm labor in the Stockbridge area.