Swimming Pools and Other Fun Things

When we first moved to Burlington it was still a very small town and our neighbourhood was very small.  The grocery store was far enough away that we had to drive there for Mom to do groceries and while we were young we were definitely not allowed to walk there.  But in those days we had a milk man come daily to drop off milk and the bread man was in our neighbourhood every other day.  With bread and milk delivered it was no problem to feed the family without having to run to a store.  Dad of course worked in the meat industry so he brought home meat from their “market” on Friday nights.

The closest thing we had to a store was the gas station a couple of blocks away and Dad would send us down there to pick up a pack of cigarettes (for 35 cents back in the day).  They also sold pop and candy, the owner being wise enough to make up 5 cent bags of “grab candy” which was loose candy like caramels, mojos, gummy bears and bubble gum.  Sometimes Dad would give us a little extra money with the cigarette money and we would be allowed to “keep the change” and buy ourselves a treat. 

When we had lived there about three years just on the other side of Our Neighbourhood, down by the high school, they built a swimming pool.  Oh glory days when we got to go swimming.  I don’t remember us ever having to bring money to go in so I think that Dad must have bought us a summer family pass (which would have been a good deal seeing as there were 5 of us at the time).  In other words, I don’t remember money being an issue on this one.  Amazingly we were allowed to go there on our own which meant walking along New Street which was really quite a busy road.  As well it was a fairly long walk, I am thinking it must have been a mile at least or very close.  Considering I was only eleven and the others younger yet, that was quite a responsibility.  But in those days the fear of kids being kidnapped were non-existent.  We had all been taught in school how to walk along the roads (against traffic) and safety was drilled into our heads with Elmer the Safety Elephant rules a daily school lesson.

Summer was safe in those good old days.  And lots of fun.