Noble Co. re-opens pool
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CALDWELL – Memorial Day was a memorable occasion for the people of Noble County.
On Saturday, the Noble County Happy Time Pool opened after years of effort, fundraising and construction. Pool manager Veronica Bender estimated that more than a thousand people cooled off in the pool during the three-day Memorial Day weekend.
The pool was established in 1965 and became a community fixture but had to close eight years ago because of financial difficulties. A fundraising effort to start it up again has been going on for years, Noble County Commissioner Ty Moore said.
"Kids sold their fair hogs and gave the money to the pool, kids gave their birthday money to the pool, we had donation jars in businesses," Moore said. "About two years ago we had raised $180,000 but things were at a standstill."
That's when Moore was recruiting to revive the effort and got coal business owner Carl Baker and his wife, Susan, involved. "He contributed $100,000 in cash and at least twice that in services," Moore said.
"Without them, we would not have a pool," Bender said.
The project involved demolition of the old pool and construction of a new one. The concession building is the only remaining part of the original pool, Moore said.
The community flocked to the opening weekend, and scores of adults and children were frolicking in the cool water on Memorial Day as temperatures hit the upper 80s under partly cloudy skies.
Even the woman who in second grade won a contest to name the pool in 1965, Diane Kolopajlo, came back for the opening, Moore said.
Bender said there are 40 birthday parties booked so far for the summer, and she expects many more.
Megan Astorga stood ready in the shallow water near the fountains to catch her daughter, Kensi, 2, as she leaped from poolside with a splash.
"I lived here when I was a kid," Megan said.
Nearby, Stephanie Danford, echoed those memories.
"I lived here when I was younger," she said as her daughter, Haleigh, 12, played in the water. "It's awesome that it reopened. Mom would drop us off in the morning and pick us up when it closed. The lifeguards were great."
The pool is more than a recreational facility for the county - it's a restorative step for young people, who Moore said have little or nothing to do in their home community.
"There's nothing for kids here. You could have a rec center, and we've got basketball courts and a tennis court," he said, gesturing down the hill from the pool. "But some kids don't like those sports. Every kid likes swimming, and maybe they'll be watching people playing basketball and tennis, and think, 'hey, that's interesting.' This pool is the beginning, it's the spark this county needed."
Symbolic or not, the children were making the most of it.
"We know everybody," 9-year-old Jamison Reed said. "I really like it."
Hannah Debold, 10, sitting with two friends at a picnic table under the shelter on the pool's west side, had one word for it: "Awesome."
"It's really fun," Joce Archer, 9, said. "And my cousin works here."
"This is the best pool ever," her 8-year-old sister, Baylee Archer, said.
At a glance
≤ The Noble County Happy Time Pool, at the Noble County Fairgrounds:
≤ Ownership: Noble County on ground leased from the county fair board.
≤ History: Opened in 1965, closed because of financial problems in 2010
≤ Cost: About $500,000 cash and in-kind services, 60 percent of which was provided by Carl Baker, owner of B&N Coal in Dexter City.
≤ Source: Ty Moore, Noble County Commissioner