By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — Inside the change house at the Davidson swimming pool is a historical record written with Sharpie markers.

The roof rafters bear dozens of names, accompanied by dates, plus the occasional inside joke.

At some point in the pool’s 49-year history, it became tradition for the staff to inscribe their names somewhere inside the building.

The scrawled collection now forms an incomplete record of generations of teens and young adults who spent their summers working as lifeguards, swim instructors and cashiers.

Some, like Ellen McConnell, came back year after year.

“Growing up in Davidson, the pool was the hangout place for us kids all summer,” Ellen recalled last week.

“I had always wanted to be a lifeguard. I thought it was one of the coolest jobs ever as a kid.”

Ellen spent several summers working as a lifeguard and instructor, including one year where she was co-manager. Her younger sisters Emiley and Elise also worked at the pool.

She said her favourite classes to teach were the Bronze Medallion and Bronze Cross, which are required training for lifeguards.

Ellen said being a lifeguard taught her a lot of responsibility, adding, “It is something that I would push any kid to become.”

Construction is moving ahead quickly on the town’s new pool and all signs indicate it will be ready for the summer of 2017.

But the old pool — or the Kinsmen Centennial Swimming Pool, as it was originally known — will live on in the memories of those who enjoyed it over the past 50 summers.

Before Davidson’s pool opened for business in July 1967, there were a few options for swimming — most of which sound unappealing or even unsafe to modern ears.

For decades, the dam at the east end of town served as the local swimming hole, with lessons provided for several weeks each summer. (Today it’s known as the reservoir, located past the A&W restaurant.)

Gloria Zdunich, who grew up in Davidson in the 1950s and 1960s, recalled taking a bus to Etter’s Beach for swimming lessons one summer, leaving each day at 9 a.m. and returning at 5 p.m.

“Nobody took water bottles and nobody had sunscreen,” she said. “Can you imagine how burnt we got?”

Another year, she recalled taking Red Cross lessons on a dugout at her uncle’s farm near Kenaston.

She also remembered one of her sisters taking lessons at the dam and “coming home with bloodsuckers on her leg.”

“People didn’t go to the lake and people didn’t have cabins back then,” she said. “It was pretty rare to learn to swim for my generation.”

For the full story, please see the Aug. 29 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.