>
> I'm really enjoying the thought of all the Grove children having
> their swimming rites of passage in a lake rather than going to
> the local YMCA.
>
it came awfully close to not happening.
years ago, long before I came to the Grove, there had been a proposal for the Town to build a swimming pool.
it would have been paid for by selling off the West woods in which Maple Lake is located.
fortunately for all of us, wiser heads prevailed.
but we haven't always been that lucky: the lovely old wooden Auditorium was torn down in the 1960s, its fate sealed by a single vote on the Town Council.
its site is now graced with an asphalt basketball court.
years later the person who cast that vote told me how proud he was of having done so; it took a great deal of restraint on my part to refrain from giving him a strong and visceral reaction.
that was just before the notion of historic preservation got going: it was the demolition of New York's Penn Station that really gave it national attention.
>
> Have you ever seen that Twilight Zone episode where the man falls
> asleep on the train and goes to Willoughby? I think we both live
> in Willoughbys.
>
though I haven't I presume it's like Jack Finney's 1950 short story about the 3rd level (http://www.timetravelreviews.com/shorts/about_time.html) of Grand Central Station.
the Grove, and some of the other camp meeting site communities enumerated in post/reply threads above, have that out-of-time quality that I treasure.
it takes a great deal of time and effort on the part of many Grovers, and our allies, to keep things like this but it's worth every bit of it.
next time y'all do a Virginia run, you should consider taking a few moments for a visit the Grove.
no subject
>
> I'm really enjoying the thought of all the Grove children having
> their swimming rites of passage in a lake rather than going to
> the local YMCA.
>
it came awfully close to not happening. years ago, long before I came to the Grove, there had been a proposal for the Town to build a swimming pool. it would have been paid for by selling off the West woods in which Maple Lake is located. fortunately for all of us, wiser heads prevailed. but we haven't always been that lucky: the lovely old wooden Auditorium was torn down in the 1960s, its fate sealed by a single vote on the Town Council. its site is now graced with an asphalt basketball court. years later the person who cast that vote told me how proud he was of having done so; it took a great deal of restraint on my part to refrain from giving him a strong and visceral reaction.
that was just before the notion of historic preservation got going: it was the demolition of New York's Penn Station that really gave it national attention.
>
> Have you ever seen that Twilight Zone episode where the man falls
> asleep on the train and goes to Willoughby? I think we both live
> in Willoughbys.
>
though I haven't I presume it's like Jack Finney's 1950 short story about the 3rd level (http://www.timetravelreviews.com/shorts/about_time.html) of Grand Central Station. the Grove, and some of the other camp meeting site communities enumerated in post/reply threads above, have that out-of-time quality that I treasure. it takes a great deal of time and effort on the part of many Grovers, and our allies, to keep things like this but it's worth every bit of it.
next time y'all do a Virginia run, you should consider taking a few moments for a visit the Grove.