Westmoreland swimming holes of yesteryear draw fond memories

Mike Zvara remembered trying to catch the eye of a pretty girl at the Oakford Park swimming pool in Jeannette by hurling himself into the water to splash her.

The girl was not impressed.

"She dunked me, and I swallowed about three gallons of water," Zvara said with a laugh.

Zvara, now 59, said he and his friends, including John Howard, also of Jeannette, used to sleep out in the nearby ballpark and get to the pool an hour early.

"We'd sleep out, go home and get our towels and trunks and walk or ride our bikes down over the hill, through the woods and be in line before the pool opened," said Howard. "We'd always be the last to leave the pool."

Howard's brother, Dave, taught Zvara how to swim at the pool, which was owned by the Antonacci family. Edward Antonacci, an Italian immigrant who settled in Jeannette, purchased the park in 1945.

"There was a refreshment stand where I learned how to eat french fries with vinegar and first saw marshmallow pies," Zvara added. "In the boys' locker room, the attendant would give us wicker baskets to put our clothes in and give us numbered tickets that we'd safety pin to our swimming trunks."

The Jeannette pool was large and had three diving boards. A platform in the center of the pool provided opportunities for jumping in or for gaining the attention of a cute girl or boy.

"There was a sliding board that went right into the water," Zvara said. "The pool also had holes at the bottom that shot bubbles up through the water.

"Oakford Park was the greatest place to spend a summer vacation. It was perfect."

The site of the former park was sold at an auction in the late 1970s and the pool filled with dirt.

The North Huntingdon area also boasted several swimming pools that lured children, teens and adults to their cool waters.

An early makeshift swimming pool was constructed on the East Fork of Tinkers Run in 1915 for children and teens to cool off during hot summer days. In the 1920s, Chester D. Sensenich, a state senator and head of the Irwin Foundry and Mine Care Co., provided a community swimming pool located at the end of Chestnut Street, near where the Irwin Amphitheater now stands.

The pool was built directly into the stream and had concrete sidewalks and breastworks with an elevator-type gate that formed a dam. The pool bottom was the stream bed so at times, the water was muddy. A refreshment stand, dressing rooms and sand beach were also provided. Construction of the new Route 30 during the late 1930s forced part of the stream underground.

Margie Warden, payroll clerk for North Huntingdon Township, said the Blue Dell swimming pool in North Huntingdon was "the place to be."

"I didn't have a pool pass when I was young because that was for the rich kids," said Warden. "I was a teenager when I finally got my Blue Dell pool pass because I could get a ride."

The Blue Dell was built around 1927 or 1929, said Joseph Warren, of Irwin, whose family once owned the pool and the Blue Dell Drive-In. He now owns the Evergreen Drive-In in Mt. Pleasant.

"My family was partners for a while with the Sterns, who also owned movie theaters. We took the pool over in 1961. Before that, it was a private club called the Blue Dell Cabana Club," Warren said. "We got out of the partnership in 1961, and we opened the pool to the public."

During the early 1960s, the shallow end of the pool was allowed to freeze over during the winter and used for ice skating.

"At one time the concession stand for the pool also worked as the concession stand for the drive-in," Warren added.

"When you were a teenager, the Blue Dell is where you wanted to be. What a great place to grow up," Warden said.

The last summer for the Blue Dell pool was 1989. It was demolished in 1997 and two years later, an industrial manufacturing facility was constructed on the site.

Warden also recalled Manor East, a private swim club located at the Colonial Manor Hotel, near Route 30 at the intersection of what was called Stewartsville Hollow Road. The hotel was so well known that the road was known as Colonial Manor Road.

The pool served as a popular summer recreation site from 1960 to 1985.

"This was also a nice-sized pool, but nothing compared to the Blue Dell as far as size," Warden said.

Although she didn't frolic in Manor East, Warden said she went as an adult and took her children. Her husband, Neal, who lived near the pool growing up, would spend his summers there.

"Anyone could go to Manor East, but you had to have a pass. If you didn't have a pass, you didn't get in," she noted.

Warden also spent some time at the Jacktown Hotel pool.

"It wasn't a huge pool, but it was nice," she said. "There was a bowling alley there, and the snack bar was great."

During the early 1960s, Immaculate Conception Church in Irwin wasn't large enough to hold the many parishioners moving into the area.

"So while the new church was being built, people went to Mass at the Jacktown Hotel, so you could literally swim, bowl and pray at the hotel," Warden said laughing.

The hotel burned to the ground in 1966, and the site was readied for construction of the township's municipal building, Town Hall.