Buhl Farm Park Pool

I went once to Buhl Farm Park pool when I was a child staying with my cousin, Carol. Funny how as children we relate to the cousin and not the aunt and uncle. I mean really I was staying at Uncle Dale's and Aunt Elizabeth's, but it was Carol who took me places by walking in Sharon. They lived in a great house on Pearl Street right by the stadium. The house still looks in terrific shape today. That is probably one of the best neighborhoods in Sharon.
This time I was staying with them in the summer. I barely remember. The pool, though, was huge compared to any other pool I had experienced. The dressing room was a brownish yellow and big. I loved being with my older cousin. Well, since I was the youngest grandchild, I guess they were all older. But Carol was cool.
I remember walking up to the Shenango Inn from her house in the evening and loving the fountains. We also walked to Gargano's neighborhood market. Carol got yelled at because she held the bread wrong. I still to this day watch how I hold bread from the store.
But back to this glorious pool. It is shaped like an L. It still has two boards in the little part of the L. Since I live near the park in Hermitage, we get reduced memberships to the pool. I have even given this as birthday presents to my niece and her kids.
I started taking Katie there when she was real young, three or four. I always had her in the water, too, with the Mommy and Me lessons through the Y at the Radisson pool.
When the kids were young, I packed all kinds of snacks, like frozen grapes or had a handful of change so they could experience the vending machines. Trees shaded a part of the lawn around the pool. We set up camp there. With sunblock, the shade and usually going after three in the afternoon, we avoided sunburns. We always lingered there until seven thirty when they kicked us out. Some summers were exceptionally hot, allowing us to stay an extra hour.
I loved my days off and we would spend the whole day there, with sandwiches, chips, Capri Suns, fruit, cookies, all kinds of treats. I did envy some of the families that ordered pizza, but we didn't starve. A great appetite from swimming over took us at times, though.
The first time I took Katie there, she said as we were leaving in the good old blue Corsica, "They put sleeping potion in the water, don't they, Mommy?" How true.
Just asWest Middlesex pool had that magic when I was a kid, Buhl Farm Park's pool had that magic for me as an adult with my children. We hardly walked to the pool though, because of the whole packing up, like for a camping trip. I guess I was also afraid of trying to walk home with two tired little girls after a full evening of swimming.
Rules were doubly enforced after a little girl drowned during a very crowded, hot day, as no one was with the seven year old. That put a deep damper on the swimming. I think that may have even been the summer I got a pass at West Middlesex.
I love the clear blue water of a pool. The splashing in the evening sun sparkling on the water. The lounging on the grass. The trees are gone for the new bath house at Buhl Park, that was the best. I loved getting out of the sun for awhile. Yes, this year, I'm getting the family a pass, since the awkward teen age years are over.