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pool during the Second World War years. Built

under N. Y.0. (National Youth Organization), it was operated by the YMCA and opened in 1942. The pool is still in operation; however, it has been renovated and enlarged in recent years.

home of the John Gai thers, and running uphill to the Eagles Aerie west of Central Avenue, it had a splattering of birch trees and mint trees, the latter providing a pleasing chew once the top of the bark was scraped off. On weekends, especially Sundays, in the spring, boy and girl friends walked through the flat area along the creek to pick violets and arbutus. A wide, well-worn path wended its way through the woods. The young were out there picking little bunches of velvet violets. Dutch Burns still recalls the indescribable beauty of the little flowers. And in the summer, he adds, folks picked huge bunches of bluebells and daisies. The spring with its deliciously refreshing cool water was another attraction. The hollow up from the spring looked like fields of bluebells. Going into the birch woods in the spring season was, like walking on the bridge, a small town's recreation. All ages went there with their lunches and blankets for family picnics. A large open area near the spring, with blackberries, black cherries, and peppermint shrubs nearby, was used regularly for picnics, scout meetings, and other activities. Wendell Stewart remembers a fifth grade yearend pi.cnic there. The woods served another purpose for the young boys. Charlie Utterback, scoutmaster, had a gun club there. Around 1932, Tony Cramer, Wesley Lee, Earl Leach, Leonard Leach, Preston Wiles, Bill McLaughlin, Eugene Bowers, Doug Moats - about thirty boys, recalls Dutch - had rifle practice there, where they had a safe place to shoot into a dirt bank of the rising hill away from people. Use of the birch woods faded away as building intruded on the bucolic flavor of the area after World War II. In later years, the Eagles created the Social Club of Brunswick, or SCOB Park, which the public still uses, although SCOB Park has long since been incorporated into the Eagles Aerie that now makes its home in the north end of the beloved Birch Woods.

Brunswick, as all small towns and communities, has had its share of children's recreational games for entertainment, such as hidey spy, Hot Butter Beans Come to Supper, kite flying, biking, Kick the Can, Home Sheep Run, sidewalk roller skating, ice skating, sled riding, Easter egg rolls, mumbley peg, marbles, jump rope, and hopscotch. At children's parties some of the favorite games were Spin the Bottle, Musical Chairs, Flashlight, Blind Man's Bluff, and the all-time favorite - Post Office!

Julia Conway and Mary Payne were long-time piano teachers to Brunswick children. Mrs. Conway's students presented an annual recital.

Betty Lou Darr established the first dance studio in Brunswick in 1952. When she moved to West Virginia in 1960, Tom Waters continued teaching in Brunswick until he moved away in the late 1970's.

One of early Brunswick's favorite pastimes was the stroll across the old Brunswick Bridge on a Sunday afternoon. (Most strollers returned before passing the toll gate!) Children, teenagers, courting couples, grandparents, and just about everybody who lived in the Community of Brunswick during the years we had the OLD bridge has taken a stroll at some time across that precious structure - it was Brunswick's Fifth Avenue.

S - Dutch Burns W - MMM

W-BLC

BIRCH WOODS

THREE ROCKS

The older generation will never let the younger generation forget the Birch Woods; it was too important a place in the life of Brunswick from the Ia te 1800's through the 1930's. Located behind the city Police Station and the

The traditional Easter Sunday ritual of many young boys of Brunswick was the opening swim of the year at "Three Rocks." Easter was the day to remove winter underwear as they changed from their church-going outfits to hurry to the swimming

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