By: Charlee Mitschke
Langenburg’s Community Pool has been a landing spot for the community’s families for years. With a new pool beginning its build on August 17, 2020, and fundraising close to complete, there isn’t much time before plans for a new swimming pool are set into motion. We sat down with Ron Jacobs who took part in the original pool-build and Recreation Director Juli Mitschke to take a look at the history and new beginnings of Langenburg’s swimming pools.
Equipt with pictures, files dating back to the 1970s, and memories, Ron gave a trip down memory lane with the story of how the pool came to be. “There were an awful lot of children. I lived in one of the bays, and one time I made a skating rink out there. With the two bays and the street, we had sixty-five kids. They were on the rink, they were playing, and I thought, ‘Hey! We have to have a pool,” tells Ron.
With direction from Jim Mayo, the vice president of the swimming pool, along with Secretary Mrs. Ken Orser, Treasurer Dave Petts, President Clare Fandrey, and Directors Leo Vancaseele, John Bergman, Gilbert Bray, Peter Popick, Herbert Sholz, and Paul Hovrisko of the organizing committee began to set the dream of having a pool into motion. “1973… it could have even been 1972, we went and got bales from Loyd Werle,” says Jacobs. Ron and a group of individuals including Jim Mayo, Dave Petz, and many more were banned together to transport hay decks of bales to where the swimming pool now lies. “We laid out 200 square feet of bales and stacked them about a meter high in the fall where we would begin to dig the pool first thing in the spring,” he states.
Before any building could commence, funds needed to be raised. “We were trying to collect the whole countryside and cotton-picking town,” Jacobs comments. Zones of people went door-to-door looking for donations. “That took a lot of doing,” mentions Ron. Thirty- three zones were organized for volunteers to contact over five-hundred citizens of Langenburg and area for donations. “Fifty dollars was a lot of money back then, you know?” he comments. Donations were made by Langenburg Motors ($50.00), Val Kentel ($20.00), Jim Mitschke ($50.00), Chas Haberstock ($5.00), Langenburg High School S.R.C. ($200.00), Ken Adams ($40.00), Langenburg G.G.I.T. ($30.00) and Ken Adams ($56.00),
When spring came, citizen Larry Reykjalin dug into the earth and construction on the pool began. Once the hole was dug, volunteers from all over came to help lay the foundation of the local pool. “All this cement… there was no ready-mix. Everything was poured by hand. We had three mixers and half the countryside mixing cement,” Jacobs says. “The undertaking was huge”.
When the pool opened, it was packed beyond belief. “Everybody wanted to be in it,” tells Ron. “In the beginning, sixty to seventy children were in there at once”. The pool was always busy. People were in it from opening to closing. “That was the best thing to happen to Langenburg. To me it was really something to see these people coming to help. When we wanted some help, all you had to do was call. They’d come. We always had people there,” Ron shares.
“After around ten years the pipes started going and we had to cut the pool apron,” Ron mentions. They had to install all new piping around the pool. The pipes weren’t the only trouble the Langenburg swimming pool faced; after a flash flood, the swimming pool was raised out of the ground. “I think it cost the town about $100 000. They got an engineering outfit and pushed the swimming pool back into place! It was quite serious,” says Jacobs.
The Langenburg Swimming Pool has had quite the run. It brought people together, increased business, gave kids a place to play and thrived summer after summer. Sadly, the pool has reached the end of its reign. Langenburg must say goodbye to the 1970s and hello to a new generation of fun.
The Langenburg Swimming Pool was once state of the art, but as it aged, the pool committee had decided that it was time for a new facility. In 2016, not long after current Town of Langenburg Recreation Director Juli Mitschkestarted her position, she and a committee of very driven, passionate and strong minded individuals ‘dove’ in.
After researching numerous companies, the board landed on Western Recreation to make their vision of an all inclusive, sterile and fun pool come to life. With beach access, those fighting with mobility issues will have no problem enjoying the outdoor facility. The pool will have “great exploration for young children just learning how to navigate in water,” says Mitschke. The swimpark features numerous water spray features and a duo-lane waterslide. As well as numerous features for children, there is also a full-length Junior-Olympic lane pool for the fitness enthusiasts of the community.
With a lot of support, partnerships, and hours of work, the swimming pool was fortunate to have been granted $3500 from the RM of Spy Hill. The RM of Langenburg also made a large contribution using a neat matching grant going on for their ratepayers. “If you pay taxes in the RM of Langenburg, your donation will be matched by the RM up to $25,000. The RM also is contributing an additional $50,000,” Mitschke notes. There was also a major contribution made by the New School Committee to kick-start the program. To keep the pool close to the school and accessible to the students, there was a donation of $300 000 made.
Juli would like to thank her large contributors on the swimming pool that are listed below. Also, Mitschke notes that without the support of people through fundraisers, the pool would not be possible. “To the many people who support all of our fundraisers and give to us all year round, you do not go unnoticed and we appreciate everything you do! With your help our committee has raised over $100,000 itself”. Langenburg is excited and thankful for all the work put into our new facility. The pool is to be fully operational by July of 2021.
Richardson $100,000.00
Nutrien $75,000.00
Mosaic $50,000.00
Lions $25,000.00
Lioness $10,000.00
Family and Friends Foundation $13,500.00
Churchbridge Credit Union $10,000.00
Crushrite $10,000.00
Twin Valley Coop $7500.00
Bunge $5000.00
Bridgeview $5000.00
Brendel Bruce $5000.00
Mervin & Ann Kendel $5000.00
Sherry and Ken Apland $5000.00
Wallins Bigway with TGP $4000.00
Royal Lepage $2500.00
Spruce Lane Agventures $1500.00
Bumper to Bumper $1000.00
Brian and Tammy Ingjaldson $1000.00
Dreger Media $1000.00
Jake Ingjaldson (Cory & Lana) $1000.00