Noble Thoughts: Parks and recreation

Ah, childhood summer days spent at Pioneer Park. It seems like we were always there for one reason or another.

I think my first memories of the park are from the playground on the same level as the swimming pool (we will get to that). I remember so clearly the backs of my thighs burning as I descended that big metal twisty slide. It was worth it every time. We would push back and forward on the swing set, kicking up dust underneath our feet as we went to push off and, eventually, slow down. In the interim we would see how high we could go. Might we be able to rotate all the way around? Luckily we never found out.

My favorite part of the play area was the little animals you could sit on and rock on a giant spring. I preferred the duck. The seal was pretty cute too.

I’m not sure how old we were but eventually the pool became a near-daily destination during summer. Mom would drop us off with a few bucks to spend. I think admission was 50 cents. The rest was spent on candy and nachos. And boy, did we have a world of options!

Stand out favorites were the Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip which is basically a packet of flavored sugar meant to be eaten with a sugar stick utensil. We also gravitated toward the little plastic tubes of sugar lipstick which us little girls thought was pretty fancy and grown up...but not as grown up as the candy cigarettes! Yes, as a child you could buy chalky sugar cigarettes that tasted of spearmint, for the little boy looking to become the next Keith Richards.

I haven't been in years so I can only imagine the snack options are much healthier there now. I promise you, readers, I will go to the pool this summer and let you know.

I always loved to buy a plastic cup of Cherry 7-Up and a Red Vine then bite the ends off the licorice to use as a straw for my soda. On a good day I would have enough for the aforementioned nachos (just gooey cheese with chips…delightful) as well as those chocolate malt ice creams that came in the wax cup and you’d eat with a flat wooden spoon.

As children we endured the dreaded "Happy Time" wherein the lifeguard would approach the bullhorn and antagonistically say, "It's Happy Time!" That meant all the kids needed to exit the pool and allow the adults about 30 minutes to swim laps without interrupting a game of Marco Polo.

It was mandatory that each time mom dropped us off at the pool, she would only agree to pick us up if we brought her a Chik-O-Stick, still her favorite candy. (And don't worry, she would have picked us up anyway. Eventually.)

The heart of the park, many would say, are the Little League facilities. Before I was old enough to even understand what baseball was, I was watching my brother and a bunch of his friends work their way from tee ball to minors to majors.

I remember the Leslie family was largely in charge of Nevada City Little League back in those days, but please correct me if I am wrong. I have such vivid memories of all of them at the games as well as at league-related events. Most importantly, I remember them leading the charge in the all-important Snack Shack. (Are you noticing a theme here?)

I used to stock up on Jolly Rancher Apple Stix, Big League Chew, and those neon yellow and orange gumballs that each had a field play written on it. If you guessed the right play (for example, ground rule double) you’d get your gumball for free.

By the mid-to-late 1980s the late Carl Bryan and Ed McSweeney played a huge part in renovating the field and its bleachers. On one fateful spring night, I ran down the brand-new wooden bleachers to get a Ring Pop. As I sprinted back up, I tripped and smacked my eyebrow on the edge of one of those sharp new seats. Seven stitches later, I couldn't forget those Pioneer Park days if I wanted to.

And that's not even to mention my own time on the field playing softball as a plump and somewhat clumsy kid who actually once got bored and decided to just sit down in the middle of center field. As you can tell, the athlete gene skipped me.

As the baseball players worked into the majors, games were shifted to the lower field. There was no Snack Shack, no lights, and the bleachers were the metal kind that give me a backache as an adult.

But it was fun. My friends and I would go and plunge our feet into Deer Creek and entertain ourselves as best we could. And mom and I had the snack scene covered, as we would always stop at the Express Mart and buy Dr. Peppers and bags of cheese popcorn from Bob-In-A-Box, who at that point had made his way out of said box. May he rest in peace.

Eventually the lower field at the park would also become known for its ability to host Ultimate Frisbee games, first come-first served. I can't tell you how many frisbee games I watched from the sidelines in high school—shirts versus skins—and walks we would take back along the creek where it felt like a fairyland. It was like discovering a whole new park.

I knew it was time to leave the duck, the swings, the Red Vines, and the nachos for the next generation.

And so far they are doing a remarkable job. It's so cool to see what the park has become, hosting concerts and events like Movies Under The Pines. It seems like Pioneer Park is celebrating a new life and we are all invited to the party.

Aloha, Nevada County, and thanks for reading. And don't blame me if you have a hankering for nachos.

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