Summers in Canfield, Ohio when I was an adolescent were filled with carefree days and simple amusement. From sunup to sundown, I was outside with our neighborhood friends only stopping back at home for a quick lunch and dinner because there was always an activity on our agenda. Many hot and humid days were spent cooling off at the Canfield Swim and Tennis Club or CSTC.
The CSTC was established in 1969 and our family was one of the early members. There was nothing better than a crystal clear, refreshing pool, the snack bar, and hanging out all day with our friends, poolside. The mode of transportation was our bikes so with a beach towel around our neck and spare change tucked in our shoes for the snack bar, we ventured out for the 15-minute ride.
When the club first opened, the protocol was, literally, to sign your name in the ledger book at the front desk. This included your family’s membership number. I think ours was 114! The cool and popular teenage office employees would “buzz” you in the locked door to go through either the girls’ or boys’ bathrooms. We always took a moment to peruse the office book to see if any other friends signed in earlier so we could find them in the sea of kids in the pool.
The nail-biting high dive awaited us. We dared each other to jump off cannonball style and then proceed to organize a game of underwater TV tag or maybe Marco Polo. We were irked when the lifeguards who sat high in their chairs overlooking the pool, blew their whistles for a swim break but that was our cue to visit the snack bar. In our wet bathing suits, we would run to try to be the first in line to buy candy lipstick, which was my favorite treat, ice cream sandwiches, and giant pixie sticks.
When our fingers and toes were pruney, we would climb back on our hot bicycle seats, scorched from the sun’s rays, and head home. However, not before washing our hair in the bathroom with hopes that a high school girl left a bottle of “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific” shampoo in the shower. On our street, my house was towards the top of the hill so by the time I pumped the pedals into our driveway I was sweaty and ready for another dip in the pool. Mom sent us directly to our backyard where we hung our wet towels on the clothesline between the two oaks.
The Canfield Swim Club, which still welcomes members today, was a favorite summer destination growing up. It’s been a staple in our community since I can remember. When I took my own boys there about 15 years later, it was like deja vu. The snack bar, the butterflies I felt looking up at the high dive, and kids having a blast playing water games were the simplest way to spend those hot summer days!
