Last weekend was notable for reunions at Davidson College.  This was the first year planning reunion gatherings in June after the students had departed.  Many returning members of the “younger” classes opted to stay in the dorms with bathrooms down the hall while others chose rooms with a private bath at area hotels.

Today Around Davidson has a few reunion notes, especially about the Class of ’61 celebrating their 50^th reunion and also news of The Swimming Hole celebrating 50 years of keeping Davidson families cool when the summer temperatures sizzle.  Do check out two Noteworthy Notes as well about Timothe Bittle and overflowing trash at our Post Office.

Helping with reunion activities were (from left) Caroline Dallas, Tom Clark and Hope Childress

CELEBRATING DAVIDSON COLLEGE

The weather was warm but the returning classes were enthusiastic.  Having reunion activities in June after the Davidson College students have departed was a plus for returning alums.  Professors were available to teach “mini” classes, certain dorms were open for housing and special gatherings were held beginning on Thursday, June 2.  The official kick-off for the weekend was held in the Duke Performance Hall on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. with iPod (interim president of Davidson) John Kuykendall offering welcoming words.  (John corrected his iPod status to iPodLD … lame duck … since new president Carol Quillen had just been announced last week.)

Picking up where they left off 50 years ago were (l-r) Hugh Barger, Watts Auman, Linton Hopkins, Bobby Davis and B. Millner

The weekend was a special time for the Class of 1961 to celebrate 50 years since their graduation from Davidson College.  A large group (more than 80) attended, looking very fit and surprising all to hear that no one in the class has yet chosen retirement home living.  Retired Professor Tom Clark was the Class of ’61’s special guest on Saturday evening and regaled returning alums with a few tales of their New Testament studies.

A number of student ambassadors were present to give directions, offer golf cart rides and run errands when needed.  One student ambassador for the Class of ’61 was Caroline Dallas (DC ’12), the granddaughter of Sanders Dallas (DC ’61).  Also on hand to help was Davidsonian Hope Childress, who works full time in College Relations.  Hope and her husband, Kevin Childress, live on East Rocky River.  Hope has worked for the college for the past six years.

Stella Parkier Stroud in baby pool and with Rusty Knox

THE SWIMMING HOLE IS 50 YEARS OLD!

Back in 1960 or even before, Ed and Carol White were visiting friends out of state and heard about their community swimming pool.  Back in Davidson, Ed and Carol gathered Shaw Smith, Bill Ward and Bob Currie in their living room to discuss the possibility of having a community pool in Davidson.  Carol White remembers suggesting the name, “The Swimming Hole,” so people would not think they “were being uppity.”

The pool opened in 1961.  Ed and Carol White’s daughter, Susan, was an early life guard.  Reading the following “pool notes,” it is clear that a group of energetic citizens made the pool a reality … but just who they were and where they met to make this momentous decision?  Like so many events 50 years ago, there seems to be some embellishment of the facts and quite a bit of disagreement about whose living room, den or deck provided space for these early discussions.  No amount of phone calls could shed light on the land purchase (probably from the college), how it was initially financed, or when the construction began.  And just who is Agnes Kuentzel?  Do let us know – but in the meantime, smile and read on…

Stella Parker Stroud in baby pool

Liz Ward Pierce talked to her sister, Janet Ward Duffy, who shared these notes:

Janet remembers shopping for a “Beatles” bathing cap that had hair like the pop singer Beatles had … ugh!  She had to settle for one with flowers because she couldn’t find it.  She also remembers taking a Tab (the newest soft drink) and her transistor radio to the pool every day.  She and her friends would line their towels and radios up all on the left side near the fence.  The right side had a small strip of concrete and grass that got muddy … left was better for sunbathing.  The pool was drained every spring and families went over with Comet and a brush or sponge to clean the walls before it was refilled.

Then Liz added memories of her own:  I knew my dad was one of the “founding fathers” of the pool, but Janet actually remembers the initial meetings in our den on Woodland Street where Swimming Hole Inc. was born.  The Davidson College pool in the old gym was the only swimming pool in the area.  It was indoors and really only open to the college faculty and families at certain times.  There was a need for an outdoor pool.  I’m pretty sure Nancy Gardner’s dad, Shaw Smith, was a founding father and probably Hope Bell’s husband, Jim Bell … Ed White, Bob Currie and maybe Blanche Parker’s husband, Charlie, too.

Liz continues:  I spent many hours at the Swimming Hole as a child.  As I recall it would open in the morning, close for lunch and reopen for the afternoon. We spent most of every day there.  Bathing caps were required … you know those beautiful rubber things … some with flowers.  Some even had a chin strap … how attractive!   “Marco Polo” and “Game on the Side” were played and I imagine still are … I know when my boys were going to the pool, they were still popular.  The Swimming Hole was a big part of my life as a child AND it is where I met my husband, Walt  Pierce!  He was manager/lifeguard and I wanted a job as a lifeguard so I went to talk to him!  His family had moved to NC from New Jersey so he was new in town. That was 1969.

Celebrating 50 and looking good!

Nancy Smith Gardner added:  We had no pool and no lake–some of us were able to use the indoor college pool, but other than that, there was nothing.  My parents along with the Bells, the Ratliffs, the H Edmund Whites, the Wards, Agnes Kuentzel, the Curries and the Sailstads decided we needed a community pool so they met regularly at my house on the back porch, dreamed up the plan, limited it to 100 families, and the Swimming Hole was born.  It used to be open from 10:00-12:30, and then it closed for lunch so all of the kids would have to leave, go home and eat a home cooked meal, take a rest, and then return at 2 PM.  It then stayed open until 7 PM so most of us would stay until then.  Sunday hours were limited because of church meetings in the early evening.  We were very wrinkled by the end of the day!  There were no snacks for sale, and there didn’t used to be a fence between the baby pool and the big pool.  We played the famous “Game on the Side” game and Marco Polo. Everyone (all members and all ages) participated in the major cleanup in May in order to get the pool ready for the start of the season, and of course the Bikini Team had its origins there when Big Lina visited from California, wearing a bikini, and got us very interested in the skimpy suit.  We always had crushes on the life guards (most were male–maybe all for a number of years) who used to sit in wooden seats donated by the college tennis department (used by officials to call tennis matches).

However the Swimming Hole became a reality, it continues to be a charming, integral part of summer fun in our town – and much “spiffed up” from those days of old.  Work days are a thing of the past (by providing labor, you got a break on membership costs), the slide is long gone, the baby pool is fenced, the furniture is better but Marco Polo is just the same as it was in 1961. This correspondent remembers BIG chunks of ice from Harold Little’s Ice House on South Main that were dropped in the pool in August to cool a bit of the top inches of “hot” pool water.  Time for someone to pen a history of this marvelous part of our history!

MEMORIAL DAY HOT DOGS

Michael Lassiter (right) serves a customer with the help of Connor Newell at their M&M Hot Dog Stand at The Swimming Hole. Mitchell Newell is also a partner in the new enterprise. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Gotta love the entrepreneurial spirit of Michael Lassiter and Mitchell Newell who set up at hot dog stand at The Swimming Hole over Memorial Day weekend.  With their stand called the “M&M Hot Dog Stand,” these enterprising youngsters (both are rising 7^th graders at Bailey Middle School) sold hot dogs with relish, mustard and catsup for $1.50 each.  Chips were fifty cents.  Combos were available:  2 hot dogs for $2.50; hot dog and chips for $1.75. Their sales were great and with customers asking for more, Michael and Mitchell plan to keep their stand open Saturdays from 11-3 for the rest of the summer…when they can fit it in between vacations and sports camps.

Michael is the son of Dawn and Mike Lassiter; Mitchell is the son of Bonnie and Mike Newell.  Moms Bonnie and Dawn kept a supply of cooked hot dogs for the boys who kept them warm at the Swimming Hole in crock pots.  Michael’s older sisters can keep an eye on things at the pool as well.  Grace Lassiter (who graduates this weekend from North Mecklenburg High School and starts at Ole Miss in the fall) is a lifeguard.  Erin Lassiter, a rising junior at Hough High School, is a “gate keeper” this summer at the Swimming Hole and also in charge of keeping the sodas and popsicles stocked.

NOTEWORTHY NOTES

Timothe Bittle entertained a SRO crowd at The Pines yesterday

Timothe Bittle

A Standing Room Only crowd greeted Timothe Bittle yesterday afternoon at The Pines Retirement Community in Davidson.  Timothe, who is playing the lead in the Davidson Community Player’s production of “Ragtime” this month, entertained the packed house in the Davidson Room with favorite melodies and songs from his favorite composers.  Time to get your tickets now before the shows are sold out.  Call 704.892.7953 or go on line for tickets at www.davidsoncommunityplayers.org.

Postal Trash

What to do with unwanted advertising in your post office box asks Bill Vinson?

People in passing asked me what happened to the canvas “trolleys” that used to sit in the Davidson post office and be filled weekly with “junk mail.”  Asking at the desk brought the following response from Anna:  “A district supervisor thought the canvas bins were unsightly.”  It seems we should be better stewards of our mail and dispose of unwanted advertisements in our own recycling bins.  Point well taken…especially since the companies filling our boxes with unwanted circulars are in great part responsible for keeping the post office afloat.  Somehow a sorry commentary on our times!

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Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.

Comments Disabled To "The Swimming Hole at 50, and the Class of ’61"

#1 Comment By Thomas Hazel On June 9, 2011 @ 3:01 pm