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Film Notebook
News of Athens' Cinema Scene
Jim Drum of Sushi, a doc about a master sushi chef, is playing at Cin6.
Kiddie Dope 38
News from the Juice Box Set
Your kids will love the GA Museum of Natural History’s collections of dead animals.
MUSIC
Threats & Promises
Music News & Gossip
Dreams So Real reunited again! New music from Koto Beware! And more.
EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
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CONTRIBUTORS Caroline Banatt, Hillary Brown, Kevin Craig, Tea Crawford, Carrie Dagenhard,
David Eduardo, Marilyn Estes, Chris Hassiotis, Derek Hill. Melissa Kovanes, Jyi low,
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CIRCULATION Charles Greenleaf, Ruby Kendrick. Jesse Mangura, John Richardson,
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WEB DESIGNER Kelly Hart •
CALENDAR Jessica Smith
A8VEXHStNG INTERNS Fiona Nolan, Amy Chmielewski ■
MUSIC INTERNS Carolyn Amanda Dickey, Jodi Murphy, Erinn Waldo
VURlf tCATtOW
The publisher gladly relinquishes the Pub Notes space this week
to Steve Oliott-Gower and shares his appreciation for legion Pod.
The recent Red and Black articles about legion Pool
reminded me of and reinforced my very strong feelings about
Legion as an incredible community resource.
Inspired in part by my U6A mentor, Gary Bertsch, I've
been going there ever since I came to Athens in 1983, and
my wife and I have been taking our children there since our
first child was born in 1994. For us, and for the many other
U6A-conrrected families we have met and come to know there
during the years, Legion Pool defines the summer in Athens.
There's something about the topography and those shade trees
on one side that make it the coolest place in Athens in the
summer. The people there are pretty cool too!
Legion Pool is also unique because of its history. It was
built in or around 1935 by AUen R. Fleming Post #20 of the
American Legion using federal grant funding from the Works
Progress Administratipn, a New Deal agency that employed
millions of workers to carry out public works projects across
the country. WPA projects provided new public buildings,
recreational amenities, bridges and roads, as well as cultural
and historical programs,
in communities large and
small, rural and urban.
The American Legion
property was an ideal
■ recipient of the WPA grant,
as the Legion Post pur
chased the 12-acre tract
• bordered by Cloverhurst,
Baxter and Lumpkin in
1934 specifically to serve
as a community recre
ational resource. According to Red and Black articles from the
1930s, the field at Legion Park hosted Georgia Bulldog football
games as well as American Legion fairs and festivals, where
UGA students could enjoy free rides and shows on "University
Day." (As an aside, I saw R.E.M. for the first time there in
fall of 1983; they opened with "Radio Free Europe'!) After
the Legion Pool construction was completed, intramural swim
meets among competing fraternities were held there as early
as 1936.
While the City of Athens' Recreation Department operated
the pool through an agreement with the American Legion,
town and gown users dearly embraced the pool as a shared
resource. The university sponsored free swimming parties, com
plete with "Bathing Beauty Contests," and swimming and div
ing competitions for faculty, staff and students. Likewise, local
4-H clubs held annual picnics and swim parties there.
When the University of Georgia offered to purchase the
pool and the surrounding acreage from the American Legion
in 1952, Judge Henry West of the Clarke County Superior Court
reviewed the offer and noted that Legion was "one of the
largest outdoor pools in the South," and that it was in "more
or less the nature of a trust," tn Ht to serve the dtizens of
Athens. The sale was finalized two years later.
In spring of 1975, Legion Pool was in need of upgrades and
renovations. The City of Athens had just opened Bishop Park
Pool and deeded it was no longer interested in continuing to
manage Legion. Funding for its operation had not been bud
geted by university departments, and the question of whether
the pool would open that year weighed upon representatives
of the Student Government Assodation. "If we don't get the
money," the SGA administrative vice president said, "Legion
Pool might not open at all. Ever." Ultimately, the SGA held an
emergency referendum to allocate $3,100 from a contingency
fund that would support the necessary repairs and allow the
pool to open. The students saved Legion Pool and initiated a
new phase in the pool's long Ufe.
The University of Georgia continues to operate Legion Pool.
In so doing, UGA maintains that "trust" that Judge West talked
about and provides an inestimable resource to the extended
UGA family (faculty, staff, alumni and students) who relish
summers with family and friends at Legion. May future genera
tions enjoy Legion Pool as much as my family and our friends
have over the past couple of decades!
There’s something
about the topography
and those shade trees
on one side that make
it the coolest place in
Ithens in the summer.
beer, fresh sangria, an
food!
Plus Ladder Golf, Comltole and
City Dope .4
Athens News and Views -4.
Journalistic and educational Institutions carrying water for corporations gets the
Dope's goet. ■ ?■ M ? i •*.?*- : - ;*rf
Athens Rising .7
What’s Up in New Development
Cfarto Co. School District has taken an innovative approach to facilities planning
ARTS & EVENTS
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Record Reviews
Our Writers’ Takes on the Latest Releases
Efren, Mama’s Love, The Diamond Rugs, La2er/Wulf and more...
CITY DOPE 4
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AY1D,BOOKSHOP.. r 9
GRUB NOTES 10
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TWILIGHT 12
MOVIE DOPE 14
MOVIE PICK 15
FILM NOTEBOOK ...17
THREATS & PROMISES 18
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS...19
RECORD REVIEWS 20
EFREN 21
THE CALENDAR! 23
BULLETIN BOARD.. * 32
ART AROUND TOWN ..33
COMICS 34
REALITY CHECK -35
CLASSIFIEDS 36
CROSSWORD 37
KIDDIE DOP^ 38
EVERYDAY PEOPLE 39
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