Memory Monday #26

     Growing up in the forties and fifties was really almost as pleasant as is pictured in the old TV show "Happy Days".  We didn't get into nearly as complicated situations, but we did live in innocent times.  We could virtually roam the town all day; our parents left car keys in the car; we didn't lock our doors when we went out...unless we were leaving town for a period of time.
     One of our favorite places to hang out in the summer was the local City Park.  The land which the park was on had been donated by one of the more wealthy families...the Kings...who owned the local mill and other properties.  There were picnic areas, playground area, a lagoon for ducks with a fountain, and a swimming pool.

The lagoon area of King Park

     The lagoon area was near one of the picnic areas.  There were the standard grills and picnic tables.  I remember as a kid we would often have family picnics there.  Towards evening, we would be highly entertained chasing and catching fireflies!  Another favorite activity was to roll down this very high hill (at least it seemed high to my small child dimensions) and see who could roll the fastest..then to get up and be SO dizzy!!

     And going to the swimming pool was an almost daily activity!  We would ride our bikes with our towels and swim suits tucked into our baskets.  Although none of us were fantastic swimmers, we did love to play in the water.  

King Park public swimming pool

     In my youth, the rock building seen to the center left was the "shelter house".  At the end you see, there was a concession stand that sold pop, candy, etc.  The white building on the right was built after I had moved, but on the other side of it was another rock building which housed the girls' shower room on one side and the guys on the other.  The shower areas were open air...no ceiling...just ceiling over the center part of the building where the baskets, cash register, etc were kept. When we got to the pool, we would pay our dime, get a basket and go into the shower area. We would change into our swimsuits, and turn in our baskets with our clothes to be shelved.  Each basket was numbered and had a corresponding key which we would pin to our suits.  We would need this key to get our belongings back.  

     After a period of time, we would go get snacks...we would have to get our baskets to get our money out, then run up the hill to the concession stand.  We would make our purchases and sit around in the grass...eating and drinking.  We couldn't take food and drink into the pool area, but as soon as we were finished, we would go back into the pool.  Or sometimes we would wait to get our snacks at the end of the time we were to leave the pool and have them on the way home....whoops...drinking and driving!