It all started with a group of Marian freshmen going over the hill for a picnic. Then turned into something nobody expected. "I had no idea it would grow to the proportions that it has," said Sharlene Hilger, class of '59. The floats became massive, the track and field games became competitive, and the races were a fight to the finish.
The Field Day in 1959 had many of the events that are included in Field Day now, but not as elaborate or planned out. One alumnae and Marian Staff member, Sr. Mary Gehringer, class of '59, recalls that their costume for freshman year consisted only of white or blue t-shirts and shorts and paper hats.
"Since we were the first class there was no competition between classes, which was nice", said Roberta McCampbell, class of '59. "We also got to plan out how we wanted it to work in the future."
The classes participated in all sorts of field games that lasted the whole day. The first part of the morning had all of the track and field events, such as the high jump, shot put, discus, and sack races. Then all of the classes would break for a picnic lunch and prepare for the second half of the day. During the afternoon lunch break, the softball teams would start warming up.
"I never got to eat lunch,S said Miss Connie Cavel, class of '68. "I was always on the softball team, but senior year I didn't care, I ate anyway." Following lunch the softball game between the classes would begin. There were only two games, Freshmen vs. Sophomores, and Juniors vs. Seniors. After the two games, the demonstrations would begin with the cheerleaders and the classes.
Not only were the field games different from today but they didn't have many of the activities as in the present. They did not have in-school decorations, judges booklets or even judges, for that matter. Student council members kept score on how well each class did in their event and points were added up. At the end of the day there was an awards ceremony to congratulate the winners.
In 1975 even more rules came in. Floats could be no larger than 130 square feet and 12 feet high. Demonstrations had to be from 7-10 minutes in length and they couldn't have teachers involved, which was very popular. The hello cheer had to be 3-5 minutes and include the whole class. The judges, are now alums and community members, instead of student council members, had to look for spirit, unity, and costumes rather than field events, softball games, and cheerleaders.
Although things have changed over the years, Field Day is still centered on the same thing; achieving a common goal with the class. The basic principle hasn't changed in almost 40 years: class unity is still the ultimate aspiration.
