~by Denise Van for the Greene County Historical Society
A self-identified “pool rat,” Denise O’Brien Van will give a program on Greene County’s two swimming pools Friday, April 14, at 12:45 pm at the Methodist Church, 307 S. Wilson Ave, in Jefferson.
The event is part of the Greene County Historical Society’s annual program series.
Jefferson’s pool, located in Chatauqua Park on S. Maple St, was partially funded by the federal government and constructed by WPA (Works Progress Administration) crews. It opened in late summer 1937.
Grand Junction’s pool, funded by a $75,000 bond issue, has had notable community support since it opened in July 1965.
Like thousands of Greene County kids, Van took swimming lessons starting at age 5, and spent almost every summer afternoon at the Jefferson pool until she graduated from high school. She taught Red Cross swimming lessons to local youngsters and kids bussed in from surrounding towns.
“This was before the pool was heated,” she recalls, “and some of those little kids turned almost blue when lessons began at 9 am on cool June mornings. I tried to stay on the deck while encouraging the kids to put their little faces in the water and move on to floating.”
As a teenager, Van was a substitute life guard. For the past 13 years, she’s been a daily lap swimmer from the end of May through August. “I’m proof that swimming can be a life-long sport,” she says.
Van says she hopes her pool story will encourage more people of all ages to use the pools.
During the Jefferson pool’s adult swim from 11:30 am to 1 pm daily, 80-year-olds and their younger pool pals swim laps in the deep end or walk back and forth in “the five foot,” while aqua exercisers share the shallow end with toddlers taking private lessons.
While swimmers up to a certain age look good in their swim suits, some beyond that age worry about their appearance. Van has a solution for that. “When I take off my glasses, I can’t see anyone, and I figure they can’t see me either. We’re invisible.”
The 12:45 program is free. Lunch will be served at noon. Cost is $10. Reservations are requested.
To assure a place at the lunch table, please call 515-386-4408, or your Historical Society community contact: Churdan, Nancy Wessling, 515-389-332; Grand Junction, Janice Gillley, 515-738-2642; Jefferson, Marilynn Hoskinson, 515-386-3490; Paton, Virginia Carlson, 515-386-2401; Rippey, Mary Weaver, 515-360-8046; or Scranton, Dawn Rudolph, 515-370-5605.
