The Municipal Swimming Pool

I was going through my old postcards and saw the one of the municipal swimming pool. That brings back some memories. I learned to swim there, very early on summer mornings, and the water was never very warm at that time. The pool was built in the '30's or close to that time. When it opened there were two viewing areas where folks could look through glass at the swimmers. Unfortunately, both glass windows leaked and were immediately removed. 'Course, this was long before my time! I think, but am not sure, there were no diving boards at first. If that is the case, I don't know when the boards were added. In my postcard there are no boards.

The girls locker room was on the south, the boys on the north. We'd pay our fee at the window, or show our pass, then go into the locker room. Sometimes we'd get a locker and would be given a large safety type pin with a number on it. We had to wear it on our suits. I don't know about the boy's locker area, but on the girls side there was a long, fat rope hanging down....it was used to open up the skylight. Some of us would swing on it. I did, until one of my friends fell on the wet cement and had stitches put in her head. I learned her lesson.

During the "rest" periods, which happened every hour (I think), we'd hit the concession stand. There we'd get one of our favorites...a licorice rope, snow cone, popcorn or maybe a drink.

The lifeguards there were the no nonsense type. In fact, they scared us to death. Maybe because we respected them, or they were just mean. But if they blew a whistle and told us to stop running, that's what we did. Many of us had to "set out" a period or two of swimming because of some infraction. Some even had to leave if they couldn't obey the rules. I was never kicked out, but did have to "set out" a couple of times. If you had no money for concessions, it could be a very long 50 minutes or so. Still, I had dreams of becoming a lifeguard myself one day.

Up until I was 12 or 13, I was way too scared to go off the "high" board. I could handle the low one. I'd get a running start, jump, and with absolutely no grace at all, hit the water with legs and arms flying in all directions. I finally got up the nerve to climb up the ladder to the high board. I was really scared. And...climb up the high was all I did that day. I had to swallow my pride and climb back down. With a lot of coaching from my cousin, Linda, and a lot of teasing from others, I gave it another shot. I stood at the end of the board and looked down at the pool. It looked a mile away. I could hear Linda cheering me on so, with grim determination, I stepped off. My stomach immediately climbed into my throat and for a second or two, I was more scared than I'd ever been in my life. But I did it! I survived the high board.

During swimming lessons we had learned to dive, and not too gracefully, by sitting on the edge of the pool, head down, arms out in front, and diving in. I tried it on the low board and it seemed to work fairly well. So, just a few days after my high "jump," I got the courage to drive diving off the high board. I sat, put my arms over my head, head down, and scooted off the board. There's a lot more distance off the high board and when you have no idea what you're doing, chances are you're not going to go in head first. I didn't. Linda said I went into the water kicking and screaming. It was an amazing belly-flop that knocked the breath right out of me. I never tried diving off the high board again. Ever!

The kids and I stopped by one day during the demolition of the "muni." A little bit of history and a little bit of my childhood was lost.

My grandchildren go to Island Oasis, which is great for the kids. There is so much to do there. Still, nothing compares to a big old swimming pool with diving boards.

Namárië