Page 41 - 1948 VES Meteor

The 01' Swimmin' Hole
Down behind the barns past the pig sties there's a cowpath leading off through some Scotch broom. On any warm Sunday afternoon, it isn't unusual to see a group of V. E. S. boys striking out along this path.
It leads to boy heaven. At the first fence they get on the trail and soon are jumping over the south fork of the creek known to the old timers as Sugar Tree Creek. Fol- lowing the creek bottom for about half a mile "the trail" veers off to the left just where the north fork comes in at a pretty little fall. Across the fall and up the steep bank the boys find themselves on a narrow rabbit path, reputed to have once been a country road. They follow this path past an old garbage dump under the power lines, and emerge from the woods on the country lane that connects the dam and the Trent's Ferry Road.
The "Crick"
After cutting across a field and
passing through a pine grove, the boys have at last arrived at the destination of their mid-afternoon quest, Judith Creek. Here, their bodies and souls can be cleansed as the cool water relieves the heat of the day.
The "swimmin' hole" is on the property of Mr. Clarence McCarthy, who has lived there from boyhood
and remembers the building of V. E. S. His grandfather once owned the famous 140 acres, and he ac- cordingly takes an interest in the V. E. S. boys. They have gotten a little out of hand two or three times; but Mr. Gannaway has always man- aged to apprehend the culprits, and Mr. McCarthy still welcomes V. E. S. visitors. He claims, however, t hat they are more tender than they used to be, since in the years gone by they started going in swimming dur- ing the end of February or the be- ginning of March.
It is interesting to note that the fields around the creek were once slated to be a town, and in 1882 the streets of Belverdere, Va., were staked out. Luckily for V. E. S. boys, nothing more came of the matter, giving them the fine place to swim. This they have been doing for ten or twelve years; and every time the rock dam washes out, they rebuild it with the help of some of the "swell guys" from over at the orphanage.
About six years ago a deluge washed a tree trunk up on the bank right where the pool is, forming a good diving board. A t the present time the bottom is pretty well washed out, and the water is over the boys' heads in some places. All this makes for a good time (see cut), and the
boys return to school much refreshed and relaxed.
THE METEOR
5
THE SCHOOL
ALUMNI
SWIMMING YOLE AT JUDITH CREEK
1922
Lt. Col. Winslow H. Randolph, Jr., is in Greenville,$. C., where he is the manager of the Veterans Administra- tion.
1933
Bishop-elect William J. Gordon
and his wife visited the school on May 7. He will be consecrated in Raleigh on May 18.
1930
Richard Horberton has started a florist business here in Lynchburg. James I. Pritchett visited V. E. S.
on May 7. 1938
On March I I, private graveside services for Lieut. W alter Taylor Green, Jr., son of Mrs. Margaret S. Green and the late W alter Taylor Green, Sr., of Cooleemee, North Carolina, were conducted by the Rev. Geo. F. Tittmann, rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Arlington. Lieut. Green was killed while piloting an Army bomber n e a r Townsville, Australia, on Nov. 2, 1942. (The Meteor, November, 1943).
He was born at Columbia, S. C., on January 28, 1921. He attended Cooleemee High School, Virginia Episcopal School, and North Caro- lina State College. While at N. C. State, he was a member of the fresh- man football squad. He left State College in October, 1941 to join the Army Air Corps.
Mason C. Deaver, Jr., was mar ried to Miss Maruma Adele Rose in Lexington last January.
Mrs. H. C. Michie, the mother of Clay Michie, '38, visited V. E. S. for a few days early this month.
1945
John Wroth returned to the school on May 9, for the morning chapel service.
It has been learned recently that the following V.E.S. alumni have died: John de W itt, '26, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Nathaniel Burwell Jones, '31, of Millwood, Va. The Meteor extends to their families and friends its deepest sympathy.