The Wilton Historical Society Presents:
The 1923 Wilton Farmers, managed by Frank “Squire” Reilly
Farm Team: 50 Years of Wilton Baseball
Exhibition Opens Friday, May 12, 2017, 12:30
Includes Gallery “Walk and Talk” with curator Nick Foster.
All are welcome, no charge, refreshments served.
Before the days of television and mass media, baseball had distinctly local roots. Passionate fans in small towns across the nation turned not to Yankees, Dodgers, or Red Sox for their baseball fix, but to their local semi-pro or minor league teams. The Wilton Historical Society’s new exhibition, Farm Team: 50 Years of Wilton Baseball, traces the story of the Farmers, Wilton’s quintessential small town baseball team, through approximately 20 photographs and objects related to the team. The exhibition opening on Friday, May 12 from 12:30 – 2:00 features a gallery “walk and talk” with curator Nick Foster. All are welcome, no charge, refreshments served.
Founded in 1921, the Farmers quickly became one of the most popular attractions in town. Crowds could reach up to 1,000 people, or roughly half the population of Wilton at the time. The Farmers played teams from as far away as Poughkeepsie, New York and their games were front page news in The Wilton Bulletin. “I have to say, one of my favorite things about the Farmers is how much fun they had. There are some great stories about their wacky promotions, including donkey baseball,” said Nick Foster, exhibition curator.
Orem’s Field, home of the Farmers, 1920
There would have been no Farmers team without Charlie Orem (1882 – 1973), owner of Orem’s Dairy and later Orem’s Diner. Orem, along with Johnny Knapp and Charlie Myers, founded the team as a way to bring in customers for Orem’s businesses. Orem built a baseball diamond on a piece of his farm land, soon named Orem’s Field, where the team would play its home games. Fans in attendance were encouraged to buy concessions from the dairy and diner located next to the field. The team, sensibly named the Farmers after their founder and home field, remained in Wilton, in one form or another, until 1970, with only a small break during World War II.
