May 2006                                                               The Megaphone                                                                   Page 3

Treasured Memories

by Karen (Stine) Hollies

  
You would be walking toward me through a crowd and would see me there, waiting.
There would be that ever-so-slight lift of your brows and then the smile
of recognition, of shared secrets and dreams, of a shared past.
  
At parties we would look across the room for one another, foolishly
grinning at something someone had said. It had a silly secret meaning
for us alone, and we would acknowledge it with nothing more than a blink and that grin.
  
The smallest of gains, the largest of victories would be celebrated together.
The temporary defeats (and we would assure each other that these were
purely temporary) would be suffered by both of us together, but in different ways.
  
Those annual week-end getaways made us feel deliciously hedonistic, and
we would return revitalized and refreshed.
   
Those walks along the water, quietly enjoying one another's company,
drinking in the beauty and relishing it.
  
These are some of the memories left for me to treasure. There are so
many more---memories of children and of family.
  
I always knew the time would come for us to part.

I did not know it would be so soon.

  
Karen Stine Hollies '54
Virginia Beach, VA

Old Swimmin' Holes

by Robert Beeman

  Most all of us (at least the boys) had a favorite swimming hole when we were growing up. I didn't discover mine until I was nine, just after I learned to swim. Of course it had been there many years, I just hadn’t known about it. For the kids who grew up in the South end of Elwood most all of them had taken a dip there at one time or another.

  This swimming hole was well off the beaten path and was secluded enough that we never seemed to feel the need for swimming suits. We’d just strip down and jump in. It wasn't particularly big, maybe 20 feet long by 18 feet across, but it was over four feet deep, which was just right for shallow diving. The cool water provided welcome relief from those long hot summer days of July and August.

  If there had been a big rain in the preceding week, the creek would rise and we would have the added adventure of feeling along the banks of the swimming hole for turtles and catfish. I know one of the Goins boys caught a turtle that way, and it was a big one. He told me that there were seven different kinds of meat in one turtle, and since I had never eaten turtle, I couldn't disagree.

  This particular favorite swimming hole was in the woods, either behind or north and east of King’s Ranch. King’s Ranch was located just at the end of South J Street where it made the curve into 29th street. I haven't been back to the old swimming hole for over 50 years and I doubt that it still exists except in my memories since the creek is always changing with each season. But for several years, it was sure a lot of fun. 

  Eventually though we outgrew the "Old Swimmin’ Hole," and as we grew we looked for bigger and better swimming holes, like Fox's Pit which was located across the creek just North of the Elwood Drive-In Theatre or Ray's Pit by Ray's Canning Factory. The best thing about all these places was - they were Free! And we loved it.

More about Old Swimming Holes later . . .
R. Beeman '54
Out in Old Witch's Hollow

Atlanta, IN