I am sure that this is a very easy question to answer.. and I might be able to look it up.. buuuttt........
I would rather ask someone on here to see if they know first.. :)
Kjell and I walk the old road that goes to the dam south of town..( Roland Miesch owns it now)
When you almost get to the falls and dam, there is a stone structure that has a few remaining iron step holds on it.
It looks like an old pump house... and is at the top of the side of the river, up high on the edge...
What was it used for?
I am surprised you haven't heard from Frank --- surely he skipped school and he and his buddies ambled down that way and knows all about the structure.
I am getting to be a regular Blabber-mouth on here today --- guess I needed something to do. :o :o :o ;D ;D
Teresa, your Daddy said the structure on the old river road - is the foundation of the old water pump house that used to supply city water to Howard. I thought that I knew that, but needed to check with him before I posted this.
Well I figured it was something like that.. but the river water couldn't have been to stable back then and not the most best source.. but I guess it was better than nuttin' honey.. LOL
Jo, you are right I did spend time swimming and other activities at the Dam (which was the NUMBER 1 gathering spot in the good old days) and remember that old concrete struture very well. I dropped in to that river off of the the old cable and steering wheel many a time. I better stop there before I say something I shouldn't. During the terrible drought in the 50s the county set up a pump quite away above the dam and people could go there and load water tanks to haul for livestock and home use, the river got so low that you could almost walk on a dry area all of the way across the river behind the dam.
Frank
I remember going there to get stock water in the drought of the '50's.
Myrna
Wow.. I have seen it low, but never where you could walk across it.
We used to skip school and a bunch of us would go down there and swim and just sit around and talk. ( anything was better than being in school on a warm summer day)
I never saw the cable on the structure..but there used to be a rope that we could swing out on, that was tied to a huge old tree branch.
I remember in 1974 Rex Vinette was swinging off the rope and didn't let go out far enough and when he did he was by the bank and hit his head on a rock jutting out that was under the water. Came up and his whole head was covered in blood and they rushed him to the hospital where a ton of stitches were used to sew his scalp back on.
It was horrible. I never did swing off that rope again.. In fact, I don't think that any of us that were there used it again.
Good grief ----I am glad that I am only now finding out "things" that went on then--It is funny how you most always supposed that some of that STUFF was going on - but hoped and prayed every day, all day that your "Darling, Perfect Child" was not involved...
Knowing darned well, if they had a chance, they would be the biggest duck in the puddle. Ohhhhhhhhhhh Thank the one above, they were safe. I remembered my high school days -- and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was pay back time, somewhere along the way.
Quote from: Teresa on September 06, 2007, 03:10:04 PM
We used to skip school and a bunch of us would go down there and swim and just sit around and talk.
Mama Wilma and Mama Jo,
I never skipped school to go do that. I was the good daughter. :angel: :angel: :angel:
No, of course you wouldn't do that, Janet, you wouldn't get into water above your ankles.
hahaha... well, I guess she told you!
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I am sorry Ta Ta that you are not a swimmer.
I need to take you out and try to teach you to at least keep yourself afloat in case you ever fall in the river or lake. .
But you can't wear your floatie this time...
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Good luck! :angel:
I tried several times this summer to get her into water -
even with a certified life guard standing by -
reassured her she didn't ever have to even put her head in the water.
Instead it was excuse after excuse after excuse. ::) ::)
I will offer her private adult swimming lessons next summer 2008. I'll even turn off the cameras and put away all mirrors. The only thing I can't do is lower the water. After she learns how to swim, we'll have a pool party and you're all invited.
Ok.. I think that is a wonderful idea...
But will she go for it?? ???
Do I have to put my face in the water?
I swim without putting my face in the water.. but if you want to learn to swim , you will have to learn to hool your face and put it in the water.
If you don't.. and you fall off the edge of the lake etc.. ( and you KNOW you will go under the water) you need to learn to not be afraid..until you come to the top and can swim to the side.
Okay?
Want me to go with you, so you won't be so afraid? :-*
Shouldn't she be afraid of being in the water with you, Teresa?
Yes, she should and she is.
I had an extremely bad experience with the water and I am just not fond of it. I did take swimming lessons, but I was never a very strong swimmer. I don't think I ever passed my last test. Unless I was hurt, I think I could get to shore okay, but if I needed to save another life, I don't think I could. That's why I know that if someone is drowning that you can throw a spare tire to them or at least push it out there to them. Keeping rope tied to a empty plastic bottle that you can throw out to them is also something you can use. Anytime I have gone out on the water, I always, always wear a life jacket and if I can't get one, I just don't go.
I can relate to Janet. I always say, "I like to be on the water, not in the water."
I was sent to swimming lessons as a child, even though my grandmother was scared of the water. However, I was
so allergic to the chlorine, the doctor stopped the lessons, so I have never learned to swim. I put on the life jacket
and have ski'd a little, done float trips etc. I always tell my friends on a canoe trip, that if I go in the water over somebodies cigarette or a can of beer, there will be hell to pay. I have never gone over yet. Ha, ha.
I have always loved being on or in the water.
I never learned how to swim as a child.....My mother was afraid of everything..........water, boats, storms and
whenever we went to the lake to Fish, I can remember all the don'ts that she would tell us.
She would also get sea-sick just standing on a dock and then on top of this, would only allow 2 inches of water in
all the bathtubs I got into when a child.
so by the time I was an adult the fear? of the water was really in me.
when my baby's were growing up, we did spend a lot of time at the State Lake south of Independence.
Free swimming for the kids and we did a lot of fishing out there too.
So, cause we spent so much time at or near water, I made sure the kids got Red Cross swimming lessons while growing up.
I stayed and watched them and practiced what they were taught when we got to the lake.
I could float, I could do all the swim styles....not well, but knew how to do them. I never could teach myself how to breathe while I was swimming and still would not go out pass my bustline.
I really scared myself when I stepped in a hole while in the lake..
( I should tell you where we swam was the swim area, and there were swimming ramps a short distant from shore.
It was usually shallow enough I could just about walk out to it wading through the water.)
Well one of the times I did that I stepped in a hole and no one I was with knew what had happened.
I learned (later) that there were people just an arm's length away from me, but because of the fear, it didn't register.
now I love being at or on water..............but, because of my panic, make sure I have a life jacket.....I will go with who ever and even like a little white water..........but that Jacket will be on me and another thing I won't do is JUMP into the water.
It looks easy and it looks like fun..........but that is another fear Mom instilled in me...........heights and if you ever hear that I commited suicide by jumping OFF of ANYTHING...........that is wrong. I was murdered. LOL........Had an uncle who while on a drunk fell to his death when I was about 7 or 8........and of course that just put a cap on the jumping off problem.
Some day my greatest wish is that I do learn how to swim......at least well enough I can enjoy myself in a cement-pond.
I will probably never be easy about being on a lake or river without a life-jacket on.
should I say that you who got to skip school with or without parents knowing it were lucky. You learned just how to experience life before it Kicked you in the teeth..............enjoy the memories.
I do envy you the fun.
Hugs and God bless :)
Susan,
You can start her out in the kiddie pool - ;D ;D ;D
And Janet,
You can always learn to swim and float on your back.
That way your face is never IN the water! :D :laugh: :D
Roma Jean -
My youngest is allergic to chlorine. The Howard City Pool uses a kind that
he can tolerate. He was even on the swim team a couple of years.
When he first started swimming, however, we would douse him with meds
so he could get in the water, and then he'd still end up puffy-faced and red-eyed.
He still has a reaction, but it's very mild.
Judy -
Susan is such an awesome teacher - I've seen her in action with the kids and water -
she can teach ANYONE to swim. She somehow is able to relate to whatever their
fears are and address them while focusing on the strengths.
All of my kids, even the ones with disabilities, were able to learn to swim with Susan's
instructions (or from the lifeguards with her guidance).
Come on over next summer and join us! ;)
Hey, Susan -
I think you're good! :D :angel: :laugh:
My Daddy was a strong swimmer - but Mama was not a "Water Lover". Daddy would let us get on his back and he would swim all around - in the river and creeks - and Mama would stand on the bank and Yell, "Carl, that is far enough - bring her back" He wanted to teach us, but she was just so afraid, that the learning never came to pass. I so wanted to know how --I did learn to float and "dog paddle", then along came Fred. He is an excellent swimmer - I finally learned to put my face in the water and I can swim as long as I don't have to raise my head for very long, but as sure as I do then my feet start down and pull the rest of me with them. I CAN NOT seem to master treading water...Doesn't that sound dumb? I have no idea what I'm doing wrong-- Teresa, Sherri and Fred have all tried to teach me, but the legs start down, the butt goes next and before you know it, my feet are on the bottom.
Sooooo Susan ---- I need your expert help -- maybe someday~~~~~~~~~~~``
But every child should know how to swim ...I stand on the side and admire my girls, husband and grand children..I am the one that can grab the life preserver and give it a fling if they should need one. I love to water ski - fish - and do everything there is to do that
is around water and I have no fear of it whatsoever . Goofy, huh? lol
I took life guard training years ago and acted as a substitute lifeguard from time to time. I can water ski too. Hey Janet, it's Reach, Throw, Row, Go. You definitely can learn to swim.... You need to believe you can and trust your instructor. Susan sounds perfect! 8) Jo, it sounds like you have what we call "Lead Butt" syndrome. ;D. You need to pull your legs together with more force. Once you get the idea, you should be able to tread water without using your arms at all. I know Susan could teach you.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Diane you described my butt perfectly ohhhh how I wish it were made of a "floatie" substance hahahahaha