A slice of the action at Beth and Kristina Keilty’s annual Field of Dreams softball tournament.Supplied
When Beth and Kristina Keilty moved from their Toronto home to a farm 25 kilometres north of the city in 2018, the thing that excited them most was all the space. The couple, both 34, weren’t sure how long they would live there, so they took full advantage of their acreage: tapping the maple trees on the property, walking their rescue dogs and growing crops like corn and beans.
Their first summer living on the farm, the couple began to think of ways to share their space with their loved ones. They had both played in a softball league back in the city and had a love for the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, a drama where an Iowa farmer builds a baseball diamond on his land. Inspiration struck: Beth and Kristina mowed a softball diamond next to their cornfield at the end of the summer and invited their friends and family for a day of friendly competition and barbecue. The event was a hit, and the Field of Dreams softball tournament quickly became an annual event.
In this series, Reimagining Wealth, we explore the evolving definition of wealth in today’s world. Here is more from the Keiltys on how they created their special annual event:
Can you tell me about the inspiration behind mowing a softball diamond into the grass?
Kristina: When you drive onto the property, you see this giant piece of grass. We thought, what can we do with that? Baseball is a game that anyone can play and it’s so social and an easy game to follow. And we thought it would be a good way to have every age come out – we’ve had our grandparents come.
Beth: The movie [Field of Dreams] was definitely an inspiration. The first year we lived on the farm, we did have corn. So we thought it would truly be like the movie, with the players coming out of the corn onto the field.
Tell me about that first year. What was the reaction from your friends and family?
Kristina: I think we only had 10 people, so we had to sub people for each team. But when we started showing photos to both our families, seeing the diamond mowed into the property and how homemade it was, people kept saying it looked like a blast. We then felt like, we have to do it again. So many people have also, at family events throughout the year, asked us, ‘When’s Field of Dreams? It’s my favourite event!’ That feels really special that our friends and family now look forward to it.
Participants in the 2024 Field of Dreams annual softball tournament.Supplied
You mentioned that you’re not sure how long you’ll live on the farm. Is having the space to do stuff like Field of Dreams part of why you’ve loved living there?
Kristina: It’s a big part of it. Like, the house itself is old and cold and sometimes we’re like, ‘Why did we do this?’ But then we remember that we have a pond to skate on and we’ve built agility courses for the dogs. It’s a bit ridiculous sometimes, but we’ve come up with so much stuff to do in the space. We’re so fortunate. Not many people have this, and who knows if we’ll have this in future homes.
When you started doing Field of Dreams, you didn’t have kids. Now there are many kids and new family members. How does it feel to watch the family grow as the event grows?
Beth: It was really cool this year; we mowed a kid’s [baseball] diamond as well as the big one. It was special at some points to look over and see [our son] Cole standing there with his little T-ball set. It’s really cool to pass this on and keep this going with the next generation, [getting] them into sports and teaching them about the fun of competition and learning new things.
Kristina: We try to build a human pyramid at the end of every game. There was a period where we had nine physically active young adults. Now we’re putting babies on top.
Beth and Kristina Keilty with their son, Cole.Supplied
Beth: It’s so great to see everyone playing. We have kids who are six and seven out there trying to take a swing to folks like Kristina’s dad who is in his 70s. We’ve set it up too so that anyone can play: if you can’t run, we have runners who will sub in for that person. Everyone brings their extra gear, so we always have enough bats and gloves for everyone.
Why is it so important for you to bring your friends and family together for this event?
Kristina: Combining both our families together is really special. We’re very fortunate that both our families live nearby, but we don’t get a chance to have our families and friends and so many other people together aside from weddings and funerals.
We extend the invite to absolutely everyone from every corner of our life. We have work friends, past work friends, school friends, family of every age coming in from all over. It’s that family reunion vibe, but with a central activity that motivates everyone to come.
