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With the creation of the Splash Park at the Bobby Andrews Recreation Center, there will be one more wonderful experience our young people can enjoy. The city has provided so many things for them to enjoy. From Haven’s Garden Park and Bug House Park downtown, to the Sports Complex way across town near the airport, from the youngest child to older teens there is something fun to do.

Milt and I use the pool at the Hildred T. Moore Aquatic and Fitness Center on Airport Road, and it is a joy to see the young people enjoying the pool and the activities offered there as well.

As a kid, Griffin’s Beach provided an awesome opportunity for water fun, but we did not go there that often.

The hot steamy days of my youth offered limited resources for water fun for us kids. So, we made much of our own fun using our creativity.

My sister Lena and I once decided we would create our own swimming pool in the back yard of our house. We worked on digging the deepest, widest hole in the ground for hours. Then we filled it with water from my grandmother’s outdoor pump. The pool we envisioned actually became a huge mud bath which our mother did not appreciate to say the least. She spent hours washing the mud out of our clothes, while our backsides spent hours ‘cooling off’ from an experience with a peach tree switch.

Most of our summer fun happened at the Bridge Street Recreation Center at Bridge and Eleventh Street Streets. The center also had a large playground. That center became the staple of our childhood. The 90 plus degree heat never stopped some brave soul from sliding down the metal slide there. I’m sure someone to this day, still has scorch marks on their body from that experience. But the heat did not stop us from swinging on the swings.

Inside the recreation center there was so much to do. The Director, Mr. William H. Holmes was wonderful. His staff, Mrs. Lena Swain, did arts and crafts with us. Her husband, Mr. Vander Swain, did wood working crafts, board games and sports with us. And Mrs. Daisy Parham taught us how to sew, she read stories to us, and she encouraged us to write our own little stories. Those things kept us engaged for hours on those hot summer days.

Before the Bridge Street Recreation Center was built, the P. S. Jones High School Campus Complex offered a playground for the children. Mr. William H. Beason who was the Principal of the Elementary School, oversaw that summer program. His assistants Mr. Vander Swain and his wife, Lena as well as Miss Annie Palin ran that program for the youth. I was in Primary school at that time, and I didn’t get to enjoy that playground as much, because the older kids would swing on the swings for what seemed an eternity, which meant I didn’t get to swing. But I did like the arts and crafts program.

There was also small playground for Black children at Telfair and Third Streets, but we never went over there as it was too far from where we lived.

Ah those summer days! I hope the young people now will enjoy all the city has to offer them and create their own fun own summertime memories.