Water Activities
Alayna Yarwood staff Going for a swim or spending the day at the lake was a classic summer activity for youth who grew up in the heat of South Louisiana. Areas like Fourchon Beach, Lake Salvador, Elmer’s Island and Grand Isle were regular spots in South Louisiana for young adults and teens to visit during the summer months. “We would take the boat to Lake Salvador – there was a place we called Shell Beach. We would anchor just off the beach where it was about three feet deep and swim,” says Wade Fanguy, a native of Larose, Louisiana. “After a while, we would go skiing and hydroslide in the lake. On the 4th of July, it was packed with boats.” Melissa Fanguy, who grew up in Golden Meadow, says water skiing and hydrosliding were popular activities at lakes, beaches and on the bayou. “My older brothers and their friends used to take my dad’s boat out on the bayou and water ski. I was afraid that there were alligators in the water, but I worked up the courage to get in.” says Fanguy. “My older brothers and their friends used to take my dad’s boat out on the bayou and water ski.” Melissa Fanguy Along with the thrill of bayous and beaches, many families had their own pools to enjoy. “My grandparents had a pool,” Tony Leger says. “We swam all day into the late-night hours. We played Marco Polo and tag. We made whirlpools and did cannon balls. My father threw us in with the directions to drown or swim. That was our swimming lesson.” Public pools were also common during the summer months. The Cut Off Youth Center, Golden Meadow Pool, and Lockport Pool were regular hangout spots. Holly Griffin recalls going to the Cut Off pool for swimming lessons. “We spent many of our afternoons at the Cut Off Pool, it was kind of like a babysitting service,” Griffin says. Although the Lockport Pool is permanently closed, the Golden Meadow Pool and Cut Off Youth Center are still open today. Melissa Fanguy says, “Every now and then I see youth water skiing or hydrosliding in the bayou, but definitely not as often or as many in the past. Going to Fourchon and Grand Isle is still very popular.” Lake Salvador Couple at Lake Salvador Fourchon Beach Early 90s Hydrosliding on Lake Salvador. Fourchon Beach More water activities
Waterland USA
Bryce Whittington Video editor
Legion Park Pool
Dominic Lasseigne Staff Legion Park Pool was a swimming pool in Houma constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, an organization formed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program that enlisted out-of-work men to build public works projects like the pool. The American Red Cross ran the pool, located on Williams Avenue, for years, employing lifeguards, vendors, and swim coaches. According to records in the Terrebonne Parish Library, young children paid 10 cents while older children paid 25 cents. Some of the lights from the tennis courts still remain pointed towards where the pool was. During the 1950s, the pool was gradually updated. The pool had two extra pools built, a diving pit, and a snack shop. Swimming classes were taught every summer. According to the State Library of Louisiana, the main pool was 60 feet by 150 feet in size with 10-foot cement walkways on all four sides. The pool was 3 feet to 9 feet deep. The State Library of Louisiana mentions that swimming classes were also given here to offshore oil workers. Men fell into the diving pit fully clothed with steel-toe boots to reenact falling off of a rig. What Happened? Prior to the 1960s, the pool was exclusively for white people. When the pool opened for everyone, racial tensions caused the usage of the pool to fall dramatically. The pool was reopened briefly in the 1980s. Bennett Porche, a Houma native who was in his late teens when the pool reopened, says summertime would attract close to a hundred kids every weekend. For a few years the pool survived, finally closing permanently that same decade. Since then, the pools were abandoned and the water became green. In 2008, the abandoned pool was demolished. It had gone unused for approximately 20 years at the point of demolition. Remnants still remain, such as a path from the street and various concrete slabs scattered throughout the yard. Though grass has covered most of the pool’s remains, some patches of gravel can still be found. According to Terrebonne Parish officials in 2008, there were talks of replacing the pool with something else: an outdoor concert venue, skatepark, and indoor swimming facility were all floated ideas. Nothing has been done with the land since. Legion Park Pool, 1934 Old Entrance to Legion Park Pool Remnants of Legion Park Pool Lights Facing Abandoned Legion Park Pool