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BELDEN – The town of Belden is diving into a birthday celebration 100 years in the making.
The Belden Pool is turning 100 years old and the Belden Community Club is throwing a bash with activities throughout the weekend Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 4-5.
The only birthday wish is to raise money for the necessary upkeep and repairs of Belden’s pool which is thought to be the third oldest pool in the state.
At the time when the pool opened on July 23, 1923, Belden’s population sat at 350 strong. Indoor YMCA pools existed in a few cities and there were several privately-financed pools open to the public. But Belden’s was one of the very first municipal pools in the state, according to a news clipping provided by Patty Schulte who is leading the pool party planning.
An association was formed and known as the Belden Park Association and $650 had been raised for the pool.
“But the stock is still open for sale and the committee thinks there will be no trouble in selling enough more to cover all costs,” according to the 1923 news article. Stock sold for $10 per share and was paid back out of the proceeds charged at the pool.
Janice Wobbenhorst, Belden’s village chairwoman, has been collecting history and anecdotes for the upcoming pool birthday party.
Many people said they walked or bicycled - sometimes on gravel - more than six or seven miles to reach the pool for a splash each day in the 1940s when fuel was rationed.
“That’s quite a walk for a splash in the pool,” she said. “A lot of people said, ‘I used to live my whole summer up there.’” Since its start, the Belden pool has operated every single year, the oldest continuously operated pool in the state, and still stays busy each summer day.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic when many pools closed for the season, Belden’s was able to open on a limited basis later in the 2020 season.
But the pool is starting to show its age. “Plumbing don’t last forever,” Wobbenhorst said. Over the past two years, numerous fundraisers have been held, from garage sales to soup dinners, in an attempt to raise enough money to apply for matching grant funds. Much of the money raised at those events were applied to engineering studies required for any federal grants.
“We haven’t had any luck getting a grant but that doesn’t mean we won’t keep trying,” Wobbenhorst said.
Hopefully, the birthday event will propel the group forward with free-will offerings taken for the cause.
A gun and grill raffle is also being planned and an anonymous donor has agreed to match $25,000 raised at the event, too.
Wobbenhorst said the overall goal is to raise $100,000.
It’s taken the whole community coming together to pull off such a large event, Schulte said.
A schedule of activities include: Saturday, Aug. 5
- Craft vendors, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. - Coffee, rolls and history, 10 a.m.- noon - Food trucks, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. - Car and tractor show, noon - 4 p.m. - Free swimming at the pool, 1-8 p.m., movie showing at 8 p.m. - Trolley rides between the pool and park - Beer garden, 1-8 p.m. - Cornhole tournament, registration at 2 p.m. - Cake and ice cream social, 4 p.m.
- Music in the Park featuring the Wayne County Troubadours, 5-8 p.m.
