Long before suburbanites had their own pools or anyone in my
neighborhood could afford to join a country club - we went to the swim
club. The grand opening was always Memorial Day weekend and we lined up
like birds on a wire against the fence to get in. The pool wasn't
heated and I vividly remember by skinny little brother visibly quaking,
his lips and fingertips blue waiting for the adult swim to be over so
he could get back in to the frigid water.
At the Willowdale Swim Club Pool in Cherry Hill New Jersey, Karen Carpenter's "Close to You" poured out of the speakers and flush with 15 cents and a packed lunch we spent the day without sunscreen perfecting our swimming techniques so we could capture the ever elusive green ankle band allowing you to swim in the deep end. To get that band, you had to be able to swim the width of the pool unaided and be able to tread water for 30 seconds which at the time seemed monumental. Once awarded, however you were free to spend the day sliding down the sliding board and jumping in and out of the pool as children are apt to do.
In 1971, 15 cents awarded you either a rainbow of pixies sticks or
a drop down soda with crushed ice and a bag of Jax. To this day,
cheese curls do not taste the sameunless I have pruney fingers and smell
like chlorine.At the Willowdale Swim Club Pool in Cherry Hill New Jersey, Karen Carpenter's "Close to You" poured out of the speakers and flush with 15 cents and a packed lunch we spent the day without sunscreen perfecting our swimming techniques so we could capture the ever elusive green ankle band allowing you to swim in the deep end. To get that band, you had to be able to swim the width of the pool unaided and be able to tread water for 30 seconds which at the time seemed monumental. Once awarded, however you were free to spend the day sliding down the sliding board and jumping in and out of the pool as children are apt to do.
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