BEST SPOTS: The wind is blowing and the snow piling up, so let’s
returning to the old swimming hole!
A. Buck Tantalo of Bradford titles his memories, “Steep Bank,
Maple Deep, Willow Creek, Droney, Big Shanty, Kushequa, Brook Lake,
Big Rock and many more.”
“Steep Bank was located at Foster Brook and, living in Foster
Brook, it was our favorite. One day, four of us decided on skipping
school, and everything was going great until a Mrs. Sutley arrived
on he scene with a broom. Her son, Max Sutley, was her main target,
but she hammered all four of us. We were trapped all naked and no
place to hide.
“Maple Deep was located at the end of Harri Emery Airport Runway
West, which was the Peet farm, and, yes, it was a skinny-dip pool —
male and female together. Quite active at times, especially at
night OK.
“Willow Creek at Corydon where the stream flowed into the
Allegheny River — lot of action, especially weekends. A real fun
pool. Many family people there.
“Droney Pool located above Lewis Run, the first road on the
left. The pool was just across the bridge on the right, much
concealed. If you didn’t know where it was, you could easily miss
it.
“One day we were heading for a job at Gifford at about 1:30
p.m., and we decided on stopping at the pool, and we hit the
jackpot. As we pulled in, four women sunbathing in the nude. They
ran and sat in the pool. We did get a good rear view, but we wanted
more, much more. Well, it didn’t work out. We had to leave. As the
saying goes, you can’t win them all.”
“Kushequa Pool — this pool was located downstream from the
houses. It was very deep. We were in the area working. This day, it
was very humid, so we decided on taking a dip. There were several
people there, including many children. As it was, this young girl
slipped and was under water in the deepest part of the pool. My
friend Joe and I pulled her out onto shore and just maybe saved a
life.”
We’ll finish Buck’s story tomorrow. If you want to beat the
winter blues by remembering your favorite swimming hole, jot down
some memories and send them to us.
