Well, Susie, It’s right here!
Fifth grade ends and the playground isn’t open………..yes, they blew the May 30 deadline. So, instead they did it on the Fourth of July, though in truth we had been skulking around after dark. (Cop parked there all day–goes to show how much crime there was.)
The entrance began halfway up ‘the hill’, sloped down and veered sharply left, ending at a T on the termination of my street.
The park was divided into two sections–little kids and big kids.
Little kids had small swings, a big sandbox, small slide, and large upright ‘tubes’ with holes in them that small bodies could crawl through. Also, See-Saws.
On Vocals, please welcome Miss Suzy Hug!
The larger area for big kids had multiple higher swings, two jungle gyms, a merry-go-round, and a tall metal tube with a wrap-around sliding board–commonly referred to as a helter skelter in Britain.
The swings were the only thing we mature fifth graders ever used. And yes, there was some of that ‘stand in the middle of the swing’ that Steven Tyler sang about.
Between the areas stood the huge pavilion, more than two stories tall. Four huge picnic tables beneath it and a corner walled-off area full of stuff like balls, baseball bats, volleyball nets, etc. This corner will be discussed at length later when we discuss vandalism.
Also, there were wooden boxes with ‘mouse holes’ in them to play street hockey. It was either done like golf, when each person took a turn and tried gently to push the ball through the other guy’s holes…..or the frenzied older kid version where both parties whacked away at the ball simultaneously, which always resulted in the ball taking flight and someone yelling ‘Look Out!!’ (or, “Oh Sh-i-i-ttttt!”)
Hopscotch diagrams were beside the pavilion, set into the concrete and color-coded.
A small rest room building with a drinking fountain was across the street.
The wonderful smell of cedar chips everywhere. I had never smelled it before, and it just shook the tension out of your muscles, even in the afternoon scorch.
A small parking lot abutted the older kids’ area. There was a basketball net here. This basketball net single-handedly changed the way kids in my borough spent their summers.
Tune in Later for an explanation!