Comments on Thursday's blog

Good morning Bob. Just a few comments re today's blog. (1) The M& SC photo on Churchill ,I think, is just approaching the corner of Murray and it's stop at the large red shelter with benches around the wall and opposite Cunninghams candy store, before heading west across Devonshire en route through St Lambert to Victoria Bridge and Mtl. (2) If one looks closely at photo #2 of the St Lambert beach (cement not sand LOL) and follow the outward bound dock backwards to the high concrete wall you will notice the main entrance at the bottom of a set of stairs which is how one got down to the main concrete pad and the changing cabins. As kids from the Park and not residents of St Lambert, our Third Street Gang members were not eligible to swim at said beach. We did however try constantly to thwart the lifeguards who checked for the special badge which was issued to St Lambert residents and was to be sewn on your bathing suit. We were successful more times than not and here is how we did it. We would begin to walk down the stairs watching for the lifeguard to look at the swimmers and thus have his back to us. We would then accelerate down the steps, slip behind the changing cabanes, exit at the end farthest away from the checkpoint and then into a cabane to change. We would then emerge and immediately plunge into the water where the lack of a badge would not be noticed.The only problem being that we had to stay in the water or at best stay at the area farthest away from the lifeguards until we were ready to leave. Our nemesis at the beach was one George Hodge,who it seems, did not like us Park kids and would squeal to the lifeguards if he spotted us. In true Park fashion we would then wait up top for George and give him a light pummeling. George was not too smart. it took him at least three such pummelings to teach him to keep his mouth shut. JMcC

Thanks John McC