Frolic

Frolic. to be cheerful, merry, playful. The Big Pool was constructed for the community, by the community, Community , The Big Pool first opened in 1922 wth much fanfare as the world's largest outdoor free concrete municipal swimming pool. Also known as the Great Lakes of the Great Plains, the project was quite the undertaking. In 1921, Garden City Mayor H.O. Trinkle decided that, as he liked to swim, that he wanted a pool. Horse-drawn slips and men with shovels went to work, and hand excavated the pool. Many members of the community showed up to help, and it is rumored that the large tumout contributed to the pool's expansive size., The community atmosphere at the Big Pool will be remembered for generations. Likened to a big family picnic, many visitors would come to swim at the pool and socialize weekend after weekend, year after year. Since there was no loitering allowed to socialize and catch up with friends and family., The pool was drained once every week for cleaning, and as a result, the water was often freezing cold. Many community residents lacked air conditioning in the pool's early days, and the pool was refreshingly chilly on a hot summer night., Diversity , For some in the community, however, the pool was not always so welcoming. In the beginning, admission to the pool was closed for Latino and Black community members. Both communities petitioned the city for access based on their rights as equal tax-paying citizens of the community, and everyone was eventually allowed access as the greater population became fully integrated.