Legend and Lore

Mashamoquet Day brings a competitive energy to the Hilltop.

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Mashamoquet Brook State Park, located three miles from Pomfret School, is full of history, legends, and lore. It is where we initially held our field day, aptly named Mashamoquet Day. While we now host the annual event here on the Hilltop, the name has remained the same. And, much like the park, Mashamoquet Day is full of history, legend, and lore.
 

The afternoon of games unites the community in friendly competitions. Divided into two teams, the Ionians and Achaeans, named after two ancient Greek tribes, students competed against one another in more than twenty events. Organized by the senior class, the contest included traditional activities, like the three-legged race, wheelbarrow races, sack races, and egg toss, and fun new ones, such as T-Rex tag, corn hole, and oreo stacking.

While the final score was being tallied, students set aside their greek team affiliations and joined their grades for the tug-of-war competition — what some call the main event of Mashamoquet Day. In the first round, the juniors took on the sophomores. After some back and forth, the juniors dug in and pulled the sophomores across the line. Next up, the freshman and faculty faced off against the seniors. The upperclassmen ran out of rope and came up short. The tensions were high as the two victors went head-to-head in the championship round. Despite little time to recover from their first match-up, the faculty and freshmen were the dominant team once again, securing the title of tug-of-war champions of this year's Mashamoquet Day.

As the dust of the tug-of-war field settled, the day's results were in. While the Ionians appeared to be victorious in the majority of face-offs, a handful of points entered during the final rounds of competition had the Achaeans finishing on top. 

“Mashamoquet Day was a lot of fun. I enjoyed leading a group and meeting people I had never met before. Last year, I met my best friend,” said Lawrence Viola ’23. “It’s always a great time and really brings the community together.”

The longstanding tradition is organized and run by the Senior Class. "Our seniors spend a week making a plan that puts every senior into a leadership role — either running a game, leading a group of students, or managing the event,” explained Acting Dean of Students Pat Boyd. “It is one of the best examples of direct student leadership that we have a Pomfret. The Seniors did a great job and it was an extremely successful event for our School.”