Como Remembered

The word COMO, evokes smiles, sighs, dreamy looks and remembrances of summer days soaking in the sun, feeling the splash, hearing the music and the screams of laughter, tasting the taffy, smelling the Hawaiian Tropic, watching the farm boys in levi cut-offs doing dives into the 10-feet........... ahhhh Summer of '75............

This is how I remember Como - although I think this picture was probably taken in the 1950's or 60's, and it was the 1970's that I mostly remember as a teenager.  This is a picture of the BIG pool, and you can see the chains where the 10 foot area was located.  We would lay our towels out along the cement there (where those boys are sitting) and we would sun bathe, and watch the boys of course.  They would dive off the high dive, showing off for us.   

Here's a view from up top - on the road to my Grandma and Grandpa Tonks'  house in Round Valley.  Each summer my parents would buy us a family pass, and as soon as we got our chores done at home, we would either ride our bikes, or mom would drive us and coming swimming with us.  We would spend all afternoon at the pool.

In this picture you can see all three pools, the BIG pool, the SLIDE pool (which was always freezing cold), and the BABY pool.  At some time (at least by the early 80's), they had expanded the cement out to the side of the slide and baby pools.  When I was a little girl, it was only about 3 feet to the fence, but you can see in the picture here, that is is more like 20'

You can also see the round pavilion, where there was an airplane ride, that you could ride on.  I can't ever really remember riding it, or if it was even working by the mid 70's - 80's. 

I could swim UNDERWATER, all the way from one end of the big pool to the other.  I'm not talking the WIDTH, but the LENGTH !!  

Here's a view from the top of the BIG slide.  When you climbed up to go down this slide, you could look back on the big pond, and spit down into the water, and see the fish.  (In the previous picture, and you can see how the platform for the slides, extended out over the pond)   When you went down this slide, you would always have to "hang" to the right, because there was a screw sticking out the one side, and you didn't want to catch your suit (or leg) on it.  This picture must have been taken earlier than the previous picture, but later than the first picture..........  Can you tell the differences?   1.  Cement is not extended (left side of picture) and the building of the right side (boys dressing rooms) is different.  See that gabled roof in the back?  It was covering the INDOOR pool.  We hardly EVER went in there.  It was dark and slimy, and was rumored to have snakes and frogs in the water, which you couldn't see, because it was dark and the water looked black. 

From my Journal - That summer, the summer of 1975, was a fun exciting summer.  My friends and I spent most of our afternoons  at Como Springs.   Como was a blast!  We would lay out on the cement by the 10 ft.and work on our tans, getting in the pool to goof around ever so often.

Roger and Layne and their friends would come up to Como about 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  In the morning they worked for Kippen's hauling hay, but they would always show up to Como when they were through.   The jukebox would be blaring music, and we would flirt and laugh, and it was fantastic!!   Besides going to Como everyday, we also had Morgala Days Rodeo, and the Fair and Rodeo, and the Demolition Derby that were allot of fun.  

 Also, during this summer, my little sister Tonya who was almost 5 years old, would jump off the high dive, and I can remember all the boys being so impressed at her daring to do this! 

This is a SUPER old photo - WAY WAY back in the day...........  It looks like some kind of DIKE separating the clean? swimming water from the POND (boating) water.