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Hej Ladies! Episode 08 — Emma Holmgren
44 Plays12 days ago
Join us as we talk with Emma Holmgren, Calla's daughter. Emma grew up spending summers with her family at Mission Springs and later worked as a lifeguard and a camp counselor at Frontier Ranch. She has some fun memories to share. If you have questions or ideas about the Mission Springs Centennial, please email Jenny at jenny@nwrtw.com.
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Transcript
Introduction and Connection to Mission Springs
00:00:03
Speaker
Hi there, this is Kala and Jenny Holmgren, otherwise known as the Holmgren Twins, or just Hey Ladies. Hey, Hey Ladies. We have been coming to Mission Springs for our entire lives.
00:00:15
Speaker
So as part of the Centennial Celebration, we decided to start this podcast to talk Mission Springs memories. We invite you to listen and share in 100 years of what's been happening at Mission Springs. Welcome to Hey Ladies.
00:00:30
Speaker
Hi, Calla. Hey, Jenny. Hi. So we haven't recorded an episode in a while because we've had some family things. I know. It's been a little bit rough start to the summer. but That's okay.
00:00:41
Speaker
That's okay because now we're back on track and we got some episodes lined up. And this episode is going to feature your daughter, Emma, who worked at Mission Springs and was a lifeguard.
History and Importance of Mission Springs Pool
00:00:53
Speaker
So we thought to start out this podcast, we discuss a little bit about the pool.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, she has definitely spent a lot of time at the pool. Yes, as a child, as a grown up. And the pool is pretty awesome. So let's talk a little bit about Mission Springs history about the pool.
00:01:12
Speaker
And it may be stuff, you know, it might be stuff you don't. So the pool was built. Well, let's start. Let's start earlier than that. The idea for the pool began pretty early on, I think, in the creation of Mission Springs. Because, you know, it's a nice place to go and the beach is pretty close. But, you know, in California, pools are a big deal.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah. who know Yeah. Pools are very nice. And California is good weather for pools because it doesn't freeze. Like here in Chicago, it's hard to have a pool. It freezes in the winter. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's sunny and it's warm. And so people have pools in California. And there's not as many lakes, you know? Yeah.
00:01:51
Speaker
I was talking to some people from Sacramento and I think I might have offended them a little bit when they were talking about like lakes and stuff in Sacramento. I didn't realize they were like there was a lake up there.
00:02:05
Speaker
What's a lake up there? Well, it's like the Delta where we went houseboating. Is that a lake? That's not a lake, is it? I think it's a lake. You know, it's really sad. I really don't know what it is. I live on a large lake here. i live very close to a very large lake here in Chicago. That's what I think of as a lake. I don't know that I would have said the Delta was a lake. Why they call it a Delta. We went houseboating on it. I guess I just didn't realize where it was.
00:02:29
Speaker
I know we drove there, but I wasn't paying attention. We were in high school, so. Yeah, I'm still not 100% sure. That's pretty nice. Anyway. it But it was very nice. I mean, it was very nice. it was a little warm.
00:02:40
Speaker
That's true. And then there's Lake Tahoe. And remember, we went up that one time to Lake Alpine. I'm not quite sure where that is either. Yeah, it's very lovely. Yeah. And there are lakes in California, but they're not like there are in the Midwest. In the Midwest, there's tons of lakes everywhere. So if you want to go swimming and you don't want to go to the beach, you have to have a pool.
00:02:58
Speaker
I would say as early as 1952, they ran an advertisement for a workday at Mission Springs to clear some area for the swimming pool.
00:03:11
Speaker
OK. OK. But I think as in all the projects with Mission Springs, funding was always a worry. Like, how are we going to build this and pay for it? So they decided in 1954 begin a fundraising plan. And that fundraising plan was called the Mission Springs $25 year club.
00:03:31
Speaker
Okay. And so they invited people to contribute $125 payable over five years. So for $25 a year toward a swimming pool.
00:03:44
Speaker
Okay. And I'm now i feel like I got to get out of calculator. You know, I used to teach math, but I can't do this
Pool Cultural Practices and Evolution
00:03:50
Speaker
kind of math in my head. 250 times
00:03:55
Speaker
how much is that Do you know off the top of your head? $250 times $125 gives us $30,000. mean. That's good math, It's good. yes Well,
00:04:09
Speaker
i don't think we need to go into higher around things There's a hundred versus times 300. I mean, I just changed. Yeah. Okay. That's good. That's good. That's really good use of math skills. Anyway, um so they got people to donate that way. So it was kind of a pledge of $25 year. When you think of like paying $25 a year to build the pool, thought it was a good investment.
00:04:34
Speaker
Oh. ah Yeah, yes. Yes. Back then, it would have been a good investment. Today, it's a steal. Yeah, especially, too, when we talk to so many people and how instrumental the pool has been in their lives. You know what i mean? How meaningful it's been. I think it's an important part of Mission Springs, yeah. It is. So they used, some obviously, some heavy excavation equipment. Awesome. But that was provided...
00:04:57
Speaker
by construction volunteers so they didn't have to pay for them they were just kind of utilizing volunteers to build this pool and they started work in 1954 in february but then the pool opened in the summer of 1954 so they got it built and it's been really you know they talk about it's been kind of a focal point for the camp during the summers you know yep it's in a great spot yeah And the total cost was $35,000. I mean, that was that's also good estimating for how much it was going to cost. Now, there have been rules over the years with the pool.
00:05:33
Speaker
One of the rules was it wasn't going to be open on Sundays. Yeah. Because, you know, it's a church camp and they're like, well, you should probably be going to church on Sundays. But then they figured out, and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that people were up there for the weekends, right? that They were going to open it on Sunday, but after when they would have church, right? both I think we have shown that you can do both.
00:05:56
Speaker
We can, we can do both church and pool. Yeah. So it was open from two 30 to 5 PM. It brought a lot of people to the spot. And so then they had to add things over the years to kind of make it a little bit more,
00:06:13
Speaker
usable to all of the people that would come. So the original pool like blueprint, or not what am I thinking of, like how it's laid out, that hasn't changed. If you look at old pictures, that's pretty much stayed the same. But around the pool area, accommodating for different people has been has been always something they've been working on. Adjusted, yeah, over the years. They've added the baby pool, the original little, the baby pool on the side, you know, that was where. I remember that little baby pool. It was very slick at the bottom. You had to be very careful walking in it if you're a grown-up because you can fall. rectangular one that was over where the tables and stuff are now. But it was separated from the.
00:06:56
Speaker
The main pool by a chain link fence. Yes. Yes. You had to go out of the pool to go into the baby pool. And. Why do you think they had that? Was it to protect the babies?
00:07:08
Speaker
Maybe. I remember as a little kid thinking, why? Maybe they didn't want people going in there messing around. Maybe. i don't know. Like, um I do remember going down there. i was talking to Allison and Kristen about this when we talked to them.
00:07:23
Speaker
about going down there to do basket weaving for Frontier Ranch. So we were at Frontier and we would come down in the morning to do basket weaving in the baby pool because it was nice and shallow and you'd have to get all those reeds wet. But the other pool was still locked and closed. Like you couldn't go into the other pool. And I definitely remember like we could go into the baby pool, but the fence was closed for the big pool.
00:07:43
Speaker
Then there was the parking initially on the set where the splash pad is and all of that now was all parking. yeah And the fence was kind of on the side and I think that a lot of people who maybe were older and didn't want to swim would go and sit on benches on that side and just watch their grandkids and stuff swimming. No, I remember those benches being there when I was little.
00:08:10
Speaker
don't know when they went away, but I remember people sitting on them. yeah more yeah coffee and stuff Yeah, they'd have coffee. and And then eventually that part was kind of added to the pool deck area, I think just to accommodate more people and, you know, putting tables and other benches on the side, building the different baby pool, which were never really...
00:08:35
Speaker
That baby pool was never really super popular, I don't think. No, I don't think I had little kids when that baby pool was there, and we just never took them over there because, number one, it was really shady. Yeah. Really cold.
00:08:46
Speaker
And... was oddly deep in the middle. Like, it was deep in the middle. So you... Yeah. It wasn't like a zero entry, but... It was really pretty deep in the middle of the baby pool. It was freezing too. And I'm and i'm saying this as somebody who likes a cold pool, but it was freezing. And you talk about the babies. Well, this that part was that happened in 1989. Along with the new windows in the worship center and then the earthquake, the swimming pool area was remodeled. And that's when they took down the fence from the original wading pool. And then they planted...
00:09:19
Speaker
think did they have grass there at some point or was it always kind of concrete? I would think grass had initially had grass and then they it made, they just made it concrete, which makes sense. Like why grass? No, no I don't grass. I, there's something about wet grass that really makes me like e gross, you know, so did maintain and you don't need it. Like people. Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah. Then they later, they they kind of decided, well, we had to take that baby pool out and put in the splash pad, which,
00:09:48
Speaker
I think was a really good idea. i think sports cats are great. I think they're really safe for little kids. Yeah. and I think they're a fun way to cool off. Every time I see them at a public park, kids are just having a blast in those things. so yes I think we have a picture of Emerson and Emma when they were babies, like playing on one somewhere and just having, like they're soaking wet and having the best time.
00:10:09
Speaker
But not that one. But just, yeah, kids love And then lastly, there have been renovations to the pool more recently around the time of COVID, right? So they replaced the splash pad in about late 2018, 19 of time. And then later on in you had the new decks over on the side where the old snack bar was with the old locker rooms. yeah And then they put in the new the new one over by the the redwood trees, kind of as you enter the pool, which I always thought was like a very natural way to enter the pool right there versus where it was before. Yeah, I guess for us it is because we come down from the dirt road. For people coming up from the flat, I don't know.
00:10:52
Speaker
That's true. They used to come up that back way. Yeah, I don't know. i think the old spot wasn't bad. It just wasn't, um I think it was going be harder to build it there, you know, from, I don't know why they chose. I was staying at Mission Springs when they were building. I have all the pictures of them building all of that stuff. It was kind of cool. Yeah.
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah. It's, it needed an upgrade. The showers and the locker rooms needed an upgrade. i Well, now, and then now they're, they're nice. Like I don't mind going in them and I'm going to be honest, the old ones, I don't know, serious spider check going to the old ones. I'm like, no, I don't know what's in there. I kind of don't want to know, but it was like a weird camping bathroom kind of, so you know what I mean? Like, yeah yeah yeah yeah no like daddy long legs are making this their home and I'm not excited. well And it was big, but it wasn't big in the right ways. At least the women's locker room had a lot of like locker areas and like dressing rooms. Just like, we don't need all of this.
00:11:51
Speaker
yeah We actually just need bathrooms and showers. Right. so That is kind of a little bit of the history of the pool. Yeah. And we're going be talking to Emma. Emma is Calla's daughter. She worked on staff as a lifeguard and worked at Frontier Ranch, grew up at Mission Springs with the rest of her cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, and just has kind of some funny memories about her time spent as a little kid and on staff.
00:12:20
Speaker
Yeah, she's 25 and still have been there for 25. So a quarter of the time Mission Springs has been around. so It's nice when these things line up. Yeah, yeah. There's more math for you. I know. I don't teach math anymore.
Emma's Memories and Roles at Mission Springs
00:12:33
Speaker
Arts. Talk about arts. All right. Here is Emma.
00:12:42
Speaker
We are here with Emma Holmgren, who is my lovely niece and has been so gracious to jump on with us today to talk about Mission Springs memories. Welcome, Emma. Hi, Emma. Emma is Kala's daughter, and they promised me that they are going to be on their best behavior when it comes to mother, daughter, talking back and forth type things. I'm sure that's going to be the case. What do you think?
00:13:05
Speaker
Okay, well...
00:13:08
Speaker
One of the things we talked about was not talking over each other. so one at a time, ladies. All right. Maybe we should start. Emma, tell us. I was just curious cause I was thinking about this the other day. What jobs have you had at Mission Springs?
00:13:23
Speaker
That's a good question. Well, when we were little, you guys would send us out into the forest to go on scavenger hunt. So my first job was scavenger. That's just a joke.
00:13:34
Speaker
we pay you we might have paid you maybe to get us out of the cabin to be like go do something else i think it just lifeguarding and then camp counseling but if i had stayed i stopped working at frontier a year before maybe i kind of wanted to i think if i had stayed i would have wanted to not be a counselor and maybe be in charge of the high school program or something like that Okay. Well, so those are your jobs. Yeah. We just need to firm that up because sometimes lose track of who's done what at Mission Springs, but going back further in your memory, what is your first memory of Mission Springs? That's a question too.
00:14:10
Speaker
Okay. Definitely. it was of the Brown cabin, of course, because that's the only one that we had when was little. and I feel like it was probably a front deck, like running up the stairs of the front deck okay or something and seeing banana slugs. Since I was so little, I'm assuming, when when was the first time you guys brought me to Mission Springs when I was a baby? So I don't remember that.
00:14:30
Speaker
Probably not. I mean, some people, every once while I hear people say that they remember stuff when they were babies. I'm like, I don't think so. But you know you don't want challenge people's memories. No, but then I really remember family camp. Like I remember, i have lots of memories of literally just the cabin and being in the cabin and all those things. But then family camp, going to family camp with Emerson, I remember really well. I remember the like textile tray. What do you call it for the really little kids? How they have that like play thing where they- sensory table. The sensory table. I do remember that.
00:15:01
Speaker
Yeah, going to family camp. so we been over They had a sensory table at family camp. They're for like toddlers and stuff, you know. that must have been pre-K, when whatever pre-K family camp was. And then you put different things in them.
00:15:14
Speaker
And it might be sand. You might have like a water thing where you have water and then you have all of like ping pong balls or something that floating around. Just things that kids can play with at a table where they're kind of standing up. And it helps them, all the tactile learners out there, they can touch stuff and, you know, things like that. So. when you were little, but then you and Emerson would go to Banana Slugs, right? The more elementary program when you went to- Yes. And honestly, I feel like I remember camp so much more than I remember necessarily all the things we did in family camp. Family camp was always so fun, but also we would kind of like pick and choose what, since we were there on, it also felt like our summer vacation.
00:15:53
Speaker
I remember we would kind of pick and choose what we did. So banana slugs, I always remember being fun and the Fourth of July parade sticks out, but there's some things I'm like, oh yeah, what did we even do in banana slugs? We collected banana slugs. Oh, you did? For sure? you Sometimes. i don't Emerson says they don't do it anymore. Is that still true?
00:16:10
Speaker
I don't know. Well, I always felt like we would see how many you could get and put them in a bucket and keep them. I don't know. I think that would be frowned upon in today's world. Let them be free. Because they need to stay in their environment, not forcibly removing them from their environment to go live somewhere else. Yeah, not nice. And then I remember high school family camp. It was fun.
00:16:35
Speaker
so And it's just going to the same people yeah yeah every year. So as you're growing up at the Brown Cabin at Mission Springs, what are some of the things that you did during the summer that really you look back fondly and say, oh that just made my time as a you know a little kid kind of magical that I got to spend the summers there?
00:16:54
Speaker
Oh, my goodness. I was thinking about this the other day. Walking around barefoot. Okay. It's funny. No, that sounds silly, but like Emerson, like running between being able to just run around outside, explore. Oh my goodness. When we went, when I took Emerson as the oldest, I was leading all these kids around all these expeditions and And when Emerson, i think Mary must've been there, but the four girls. So Emerson, Mary, Isabel and i went down to the creek and we were like, oh, we can climb. I said, do we can climb down. we just have to scoot down on our butts. So we're like scooting through the dirt on our butts. We get down to the creek and I'm like, this is awesome.
00:17:32
Speaker
We can hang out here. This could be our new spot to hang out. And Isabel was like maybe too little even to just be, she was going to slip and fall. So I picked her up and I dropped her and she will never stop talking about it. She's like, you I got all wet. It wasn't fine at all. And I was like, well, that's what happens when you play in the creek. But I think the time that I've spent in growing up in Salt Lake City, now living in Seattle, there's really not that many opportunities for kids to go run around outside completely unsupervised.
00:17:59
Speaker
Which is maybe like, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know. But yeah, just we had so much freedom to go and play and we were still so safe. Like we were always going to be, someone was around that was going to help us out.
00:18:10
Speaker
And the barefoot thing I say, because you know, your daughter Emerson likes to be barefoot. She used to purposely go around barefoot because she wanted to toughen up her feet. But I just remember how fun it would be to like have to go grab something from the red cabin. So you just run barefoot up the hill really fast.
00:18:26
Speaker
It's just a magical place. In Utah in the summer, it is very, very It's hot. You would never be able to go anywhere barefoot. i mean, you'd hurt yourself. Oh, I didn't even think about that. would think about stepping on something sharp. No, it was it's kind of like a thing there. Like, wear your shoes. You can't go. yeah Even our backpack at our house in the summer, you couldn't go on that without something. Yeah, and maybe maybe we should just say this to the people, a public service announcement. Actually, I don't think we should be walking around Barefoot Mission Springs because there are sharp things. Yeah.
00:18:52
Speaker
But, which is like when, if you go between the red cabin and the yellow cabin, there's the little fort back there. When we first started cleaning that up, Uncle Josh got that big rolly magnet.
00:19:03
Speaker
Yes. Because he was like, I know these kids are going to be out here barefoot. This is really bad. And we picked up 200 rusty nails. I don't know. It was crazy. No, it was a lot. And then Josh put them on a jar and he called it Uncle Josh's Jar of Tetanus. Yes. mine And we kept it. And I was like, why? You shouldn't laugh. People used to die of tetanus.
00:19:23
Speaker
Like, it's serious. ah But that's, no, there the construction had happened. And so there was just a lot of, you know, superfluous metal stuff on the ground. And you're right. That stuff is sharp. Not only that, but you have rocks and poison oak. And, you know, I just worry about the poison oak. I can't imagine getting that on your feet. But that would be bad. Other special things about the summer. Quick question. Have you ever had poison oak?
00:19:46
Speaker
No. Oh, which makes me think maybe I'm. at I wouldn't risk it. Maybe I'm like a super person. um No, I have not. But also we were always really careful for the listener. The rule in the Holmgren family is not leaves of three. Let it be. It's don't touch anything green. Yeah.
00:20:04
Speaker
That was my role. i think it's a good one. I mean, it must have protected me. I've never had it. I'm looking at walk past a plant, maybe it's different now, but you went through a stage where you wouldn't walk past a plant without grabbing a leaf and then just holding it and putting it right up to your face and looking it. Every single walk. I still do that. Emma ever went on in her whole life. She can't help but reach out. It goes back to the sensory table, Emma. I have a tactile kinesthetic learning style. Yeah.
00:20:32
Speaker
I can't help but reach out and just touch things and then break off a little piece. I'm like, is somebody, do you want somebody to follow us? Is that what we're doing? we're more a trip prevail No, it's so funny. And then you would say, well, the plants really want to keep their leaves, which is true. I think I've gotten better about that, but no, never poison oak. And i can't think of really anything else that grows up there. That's dangerous.
00:20:55
Speaker
Did you ever get stung by a bee? Yes. Great question. Because at the pool, there were lots of bee stings. And that was when I was a lifeguard. That was basically the most extreme emergency that I was forced to handle. I can't think of another thing that happened except for just helping kids with bee stings at the pool. Watching the anaphylaxis. Yeah, it was fine. Using a credit card to get it out. You guys laugh at it. It's serious. know it's serious. I feel like I need to do my voice. It's true. Blur allergic to me. That's very serious. But then at the lawn at Frontier, full circle, here we go again. was playing volleyball barefoot on the lawn and I stepped on a bee. Ooh.
00:21:31
Speaker
ouch And didn't hurt that bad. Bee stings don't bug me that badly. But also, i think when you're playing a game and you're having fun, and I think i was trying to seem tough in front of the other counselors. I was like, no, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine.
00:21:44
Speaker
oh but One time I was out behind the yellow cabin. there's if you look off the the side of the frontier ranch hill as you're going up toward the right, Right past the Yellow Cabin, i believe there's like a big cement thing there somewhere. you can kind of see it. And I was one day, I'm like, I'm going to go out there and see what's going on out there, not realizing all of the things in the forest that can really get you. And I stepped on a beehive and I got so many bee stings and I raced into the Yellow Cabin and
00:22:15
Speaker
And mom's first thing was just like, get in the shower, get get in the shower because bees don't like water. And, and, but then after that, I was just, I was a little too scared to go outside for a while. And I just kind of hung out in the blue room at the yellow cabin and just kind of lay there. But yeah.
00:22:29
Speaker
I had a lot of youth you were it's very traumatizing for you mom and mom is really good in an emergency that's the other thing I remember when it happened and mom reacted she didn't mom and dad but they they both just said get the shower take off all your clothes and yeah and then I found bees like I found some of my hair and yeah it was just so that's I guess a lesson not to go off the trails too much I know they do a good job of keeping the trails pretty clean but You know, there's a lot of little things out there in the forest that are ready to get you. That's true.
00:22:58
Speaker
But now I really want to know what that cement thing is. I'm not going to. can't picture it. Well, it's way out there. I don't even know if it it might be like oh not on anru or something.
00:23:09
Speaker
How old you? of our listeners know what it is, then you can maybe protect us from going out there and just, no. I think was 10. Maybe was 10. Yeah, 8 or 10. Mission Springs, think when you're young, when you're a kid around Mission Springs because of all the free roaming I was just talking about, it's like you're so curious about what everything
Mission Springs Historical Elements
00:23:28
Speaker
is. I remember going on the trails and seeing like, you can just walk anywhere and you can go and look at anything. And so I, I probably would have done the same thing. I was always so curious, but I never would obviously.
00:23:38
Speaker
The, but what is down below the Brown cabin. Cause there's the big, oh elman road well, yeah, but just like watching and there's all the lore of all the places around Houston Springs. When you're a kid, you don't actually know, you haven't driven the road. So you don't know what's down there.
00:23:54
Speaker
So I make up stories. Well, I was always like, what's up behind the dirt road? I felt like for some reason we weren't allowed to go up past there. You know what I mean? Yeah. That road that just ends.
00:24:06
Speaker
And what's the answer? I don't know. I still haven't been up there. But I feel like people think I'm being trespassing or being snoopy, which sometimes I am a little snoopy when it comes to Mission Spring stuff. Yep.
00:24:16
Speaker
I told Kristen and Allison when we were talking to them that Cal and I used to walk around Mission Springs, not during the summer, but when there was nobody there when we were younger. And we would figure out ways to look in the windows of cabins. And it wasn't like we wanted just wanted to see what was in there. We didn't, you know, because some of the cabins you've never been in and i go, wasn't anything exciting. It was mostly like maps of Sweden and stuff. But, you know, we were just curious. one it is yeah I think I wanted to see what how they decorated it and what their cabin looked like compared to our cabin. They kind of all looked the same. but There was a very similar style going on. like
00:24:52
Speaker
At that time. I mean, this was a long time ago when things were more like cabins. Nowadays, a lot of them up there more like homes, but... Back then it was very, there was a lot of Swedish memorabilia and stuff.
00:25:04
Speaker
Absolutely Sweden. All horses. yeah With um Swedish words on them that you're like, I think I know what that means, but I'm not quite sure. and we had a lot of that stuff too. So, you know, I think it was, it's cool because a lot of people, like there's a lot of history in that.
00:25:19
Speaker
I mean, like I didn't know in the old yellow cabin. So Emma, you wouldn't know this because, well, when did mom and dad build their new cabins? Grandma Jane's, you know, the old yellow cabin in the kitchen was this big table and there was stuff on it and you cut stuff on it because there wasn't a lot of counter space. in the kitchen.
00:25:38
Speaker
And we called it the bakery table. And I didn't, it didn't even occur to me, but it had been, it was the table that was in the bakery in San Francisco from great grandma and grandpa home. Did it have burn marks on it?
00:25:51
Speaker
Well, they covered it with some vinyl. Covered it with vinyl something or all that. Where did the table go? Where is it now? It's the table between the two beds upstairs in Grandma and Grandpa's house. That's so cute. Well, I was going to say yesterday for Altoids and Vaseline. It has those big drawers in them that are like for flower. You know what i mean? They're very nice.
00:26:16
Speaker
I mean, I don't cook anything, but you know, it's, they have those big, like kind of a scoop at the bottom of the drawer. It doesn't look like other types of tables. You can find a lot of treasures looking through grandma's stuff. I remember looking through the cabin.
00:26:31
Speaker
i opened the the closet upstairs and I was like a sewing machine. Grandma has a sewing machine. I've never seen a sewing machine. Like there's all these like little trinkets and old things and tool, like all those fun things. Yeah, well, because she, but I think a lot of cabins have those. So I'm also inviting any of our listeners. If you have any cool stories like that, I would like to know. And I would like What do you call like an heirloom? But no, it's like, I think it's kind of just like a legacy type of item or, you know. Something old. um Vintage.
00:26:59
Speaker
Those things that have stories. Yeah. Well, here's my question for the two of you, because yesterday while I was at work, we had a show in town and it was. yeah like You should explain that you work at a restaurant and not a school. yeah This was an adult. OK, so this is an adult activity where adults who work with me at the restaurant I work at ah share something about themselves so we can all get to know them.
00:27:23
Speaker
Right now we have an intern who is only working with us for a short period and she has kind of a crazy life story. Like she's from Switzerland, but she also has family here and she lives far away and she speaks like my language. She just has a really crazy life story.
00:27:37
Speaker
So she was sharing about this book that she has that goes back to 1607, whatever, the first Jamestown colony someone in her family came over. And ever since then, a member of her family has been chronicling every single member of the family.
00:27:56
Speaker
And it goes and it ends with her dad going to Vietnam in 1970 something. So what this made me think, i was like, well, we have a lot of records. Like our family loves to do ancestry and we have a lot of records, but who were literally the first group of people to build a home where Mission Springs is? What is the, do you know the history all all of it? Yes.
00:28:17
Speaker
Somebody, yes. You already talked about it. oh but Have you talked about on the podcast yet? um A little bit, but we're going to have a guest on to tell us a little bit more about that in a couple Well, don't spoil it.
00:28:29
Speaker
I'm curious about that. There were a lot of people that came and built cabins, and it was a way to help fund the other building projects at Mission Springs, right? So Mission Springs is a little unique in Covenant Camping because we have the personal cabins. yeah It was a big part of raising money for you know, kind of outfitting the rest of the camp with infrastructure. And so it was always going to be a camp that was all it was built. But was there like a founder or was it a group? It was a group. covenant or It was a group of of churches and young people in the churches in California
00:29:05
Speaker
who ah wanted a place to go and retreat and have meetings and spend time together during summers and other times. So they were looking for property just around kind of this area in where Mission Springs is because the weather was nice and it was a lot of them were either from Sacramento or San Francisco or like Kingsburg and Fresno and Turlock.
00:29:29
Speaker
places
Growth and Community Development at Mission Springs
00:29:30
Speaker
that were further away they wanted to find more of a retreat space and so they were looking in capitola mount herman was already a place so i think that was kind of maybe an inspiration for some of them and that's how they stumbled upon the land and yeah so a big part of what will be he's just telling people during the centennial is all of those initial you know things that people did to try to make this a wonderful camp. Like the people could come and see it. But at first it was very, very rustic. Yeah.
00:29:57
Speaker
What is the first, this might be too specific a question. Do you know like what are, I mean, the first buildings that they built that we still now use, like the old, Well, there were some buildings that because it was a farm.
00:30:09
Speaker
And so there were some buildings on the farm. It was a farm before they came in onto the property or they built a farm? They built it and it was a farm. I mean, they came and it was a farm that was there that they purchased. And then they started thinking about the building different structures that they would need. um One of the first things that they built was the tabernacle, the old tab.
00:30:31
Speaker
um because they needed a place for worship when the weather wasn't as nice. So at first they would just go up, you know, not Cathedral Grove Hill, but the other hill that kind of goes up by the playground, you know, the first kind of meeting space was up there.
00:30:46
Speaker
And so they'd walk up that hill and it was very rustic. It almost feels a little bit like chapel at Frontier Ranch. You know, there's some wooden benches. There's a tent overhead to keep like the dew from the redwoods off of you. And I think there might have been a fire pit in case. But then sometimes it got too cold. Right. During the summer, it's pretty nice. But even in like June and starting getting to September, it gets a little cold. So then they're like, we have to have an indoor space. There were some buildings that they could use as, you know, a kitchen, I think those were the kind of the farm buildings that they could use as a kitchen for, but then there were also stuff that they just set up. Anyway, it was, it was a whole process. And if, when all the centennial stuff comes out and there's some stuff on the website now too, people can look at, it kind of goes through here are the first buildings. They had what was called the Memorial Hall. That was a big kind of hall space, but then that's the one that, that burned down 1954, 55
00:31:40
Speaker
during the covenant women's retreat. was going to say, do we know the source? Is that not to be talked about? Well, and nobody's ever mentioned. I'm like, I'm like, who who did it? you don't know I don't It was an accident, but then they quickly, quickly, quickly rebuilt it into fireside, you know, that structure there. So yeah, it's.
00:32:00
Speaker
And whose idea was the pool? I'm just kidding. That's an interesting thing. And we'll talk about you being a lifeguard in just a minute. But the pool was something that everybody wanted from a very early moment. And to be honest, there are actually a lot of pools in Scandinavia. When we went to Iceland, there are pools everywhere. It's a group of people that like to swim. Yeah. So because there's not a lake and the ocean's still like 15 minutes away, they wanted...
00:32:25
Speaker
a recreation space, a pool. And it it was on the list of things for quite a long time. And nearly everyone we've interviewed on this podcast has said how important the pool was to them.
Challenges and Rewards of Lifeguarding
00:32:35
Speaker
So it's interesting.
00:32:36
Speaker
But that wasn't built until like 1954. a So anyway, but Emma, you were a lifeguard at the pool. Tell us a little bit about that. Well, I did my lifeguard training in Utah.
00:32:48
Speaker
Where I'm from. And that was at a pool that was a big pool that was big, deep end diving boards, high dive. the JCC had a high dive, right?
00:32:58
Speaker
Absolutely. Oh, yeah. yeah um So that was interesting because going from that to... i tell people I was a lifeguard and they're like, oh, really? Wow. That's like very... Wow. Because I think some people think I was a beach lifeguard.
00:33:10
Speaker
No. Yeah. And then i tell people, yeah, it's important to be a lifeguard. have to be well-trained. I did my training, you know, you do all this stuff, but the pool I worked at was very chill, which I think is true. And it was really special to, oh my goodness, like some of my favorite yeah days were you would wake up early. You would go to the pool before anyone was there. it was so quiet.
00:33:29
Speaker
Opening the pool was always so nice. And you just, you're skimming the water and you're cleaning and you can have music on. Sometimes I would go for a swim before everybody, you know, once the chemicals were all set before everybody, we opened, i would go for a swim.
00:33:42
Speaker
And then the lifeguards are just, I feel like my, some of my memories from a kid, from being a kid are who the lifeguards were. Like I remember which summer it was because I remember who the lifeguards were every summer.
00:33:53
Speaker
And they're just, yeah, you see people every day. You see the same people every day that come to the pool. You get to know everyone so well because the pool such a hangout space, but I met some of my friends who are still my friends being lifeguards because it was such a small team.
00:34:07
Speaker
It was just so fun. I loved that job. That was a good job. have a lot of interaction with the the people. like all the people because yeah that is yeah and it's important and the kids i mean there's a lot of it's not a stressful pool to lifeguard because it's not very big but there are a lot of little kids that hang out there and then when camps come in it is actually stressful like i remember when bel-air all the different camps would come in and have their pool olympics now oh this was so funny This was when I think, because I was a teenager when was a lifeguard. So, you know, you're a young woman, you're trying to find your voice. I hated yelling at people. I hated blowing my whistle because I was just nervous and I didn't want anyone to think I was being mean to them.
00:34:47
Speaker
And then I remember once it was the Bel Air Olympics and they do that swimming race and the lifeguards swim against their team of swimmers. And the guys go, okay so we're going to get ready for the race. You know, we're going to jump in from the shallow end. And I see this guy getting ready to go and do like a fake diving position. And I go, oh, no, you can't dive in from right there.
00:35:06
Speaker
And he goes, no, no, no, I'm really good at it. It's fine. And I go, that's fine, but you can't dive in from right And I'm And I remember being like, you know, this is a rule and I'm not going to have a cervical injury on my watch. Like this is just not. And so that was one of the first times I remember feeling confident and like, no, I know this space better than you do. And we're not going to do that.
00:35:27
Speaker
Those Bel Air people took those Olympics really seriously. I know, and remember we beat them, and it was it was kind of crazy. But they do, and it's really fun, and it's fun to watch everyone come and jump off the diving board. But yeah, the pool is just, it's such a it's a relaxing space. It's a space where people go and get to, it's it's just such a common third space. You know how they say that nowadays, that you have your home, you have your work, and you have third spaces. like It's just the best place to go down. We would even just go down The number of times we would just go down and not even have our suits on just to go see what everyone was doing down there.
00:36:01
Speaker
It's so nice. But I really enjoyed the kids specifically, like the kids learning to swim, the kids who were really strong swimmers, how they always wanted to play with you when you were on your break. It was just really fun.
00:36:12
Speaker
I don't think I could have ever been a lifeguard because I was not, I would have been blowing that whistle all the time. would have been like, rule breaking, rule breaking. Like anything, I'd be like, don't run at the pool. so yeah on a wall It gets easier once you know everyone's name.
00:36:30
Speaker
Cause I think, and that's why it would have so hard to lifeguard at the pool where I did my training in Utah. Cause you're just blowing your whistle and pointing at strangers being like, stop that, stop that, stop that. But at a certain point, I'd be like, OK, that's my cousin. That's my third cousin. I know all these kids. Like, JD, stop running. Luke, stop running. Whatever it is. you know So you just. And then also, the kids really. Every, all the kids at Mission Springs, they know the rules. And they want to be good at whatever they're doing. Frontier was always kind of crazy because they would come down with all.
00:36:56
Speaker
It's just a a ton of kids at one time. And I remember one little girl was doing, they do a swim test and it's not a difficult swim test to pass really if you if you know how to swim and you just go across the shallow end. And this little girl like got in, she had doggles on and she was so ready and she goes and she swims, but then she's swimming she's swimming across the shallow end and I'm watching her but then I'm watching her put her feet down every two strokes.
00:37:18
Speaker
since like walking And I looked at her counselor and I go, okay I don't think she can do it. And so we had a little conversation with her and I was like, I'm sorry, but next year I'm sure it'll be fine. just really don't want anybody to drown. And there's a lot of you. I said, this end seems really good for you where we are right now. But then it's so sad. She would look over at the deep and she'd be like, what's going on over there? I'd be like, nothing. You don't want anything that's going on over there. I think it's important to say that the third space in medicine means a completely different... I've never heard of that term for either one of these situations. I've never heard of a third space being a gathering area of people, and I have no idea what it means in medicine. I think I'm using it correctly. it's
00:37:56
Speaker
I've heard it come up a lot because of kind of in school, we were talking about how capitalism has changed like society in the way that there used to be more free public spaces where people would gather,
00:38:09
Speaker
And the pool is a little bit different because have a pool pass. But, you know, basically it's like people used to go to the library, parks, all these things where people would just kind of be able to go. But now if you want to go spend time, quality time with people in a place that's not your home and say it's the wintertime, you have to go pay to be somewhere. You have to go get food or, you know, whatever it is. yeah What is it in medicine, Mom? Oh, it just refers to um an area that you that like fluid can accumulate.
00:38:37
Speaker
You don't want it there. It's
00:38:42
Speaker
That's pla no's one read it's when i so If the listener hears what I'm saying and thinks I'm misusing you, let me know. Because that's how I understand it to be. But yeah, I think... And Mission Springs has is the best place for... There's so many places to go. into that And that's part of why being a kid there is so fun. You can go lots of places. And the weather is nice. so a lot of them are outside. But so many places to go. And I think that's why, kids...
00:39:05
Speaker
kids Like there's, I really just don't feel like there's that. I wasn't a troublemaker when I was a kid, but I think when kids have places to go that are safe where they can spend time together, they don't make, they don't get into as much trouble because they're not going out.
00:39:19
Speaker
You know, we didn't drive anywhere, whatever. It was, it's just a nice, safe place. That's cool. Okay. So you were a lifeguard. Was there anything like really upsetting that happened at the pool while you were a lifeguard? And I mean, just like from somebody leaving, you know,
00:39:35
Speaker
a popsicle on the ground and now it's all sticky and covered with ants or to, oh I wish that person hadn't worn that particular outfit to the pool or whatever. Yeah. I would say a lot of my upsetting memories from being lifeguard have to do with creatures. Okay. So the bats would hide in the umbrellas. Oh, okay. every morning so I remember some people you know you know Daniel some people might know Daniel the lifeguard I would always make it we would like rock paper scissors for who had to go open the umbrellas one of the tasks was of opening was opening all the umbrellas and it would be like okay no bat no bat bat bat bat like and it was just and they never really got to but and then the turkeys the turkeys yeah they nu
00:40:21
Speaker
At least one never got me. But the turkeys flying in, what do you do about that? The turkeys would would come down presumably from the trees because they don't fly very far. But they do fly. It always makes me laugh because the turkeys at Mission Springs do fly. And every time I see one fly up into a tree, I think of that episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where they're throwing the turkeys out of the helicopter as part of a Thanksgiving Day promotional and they just fall to the ground. yeah and So I grew up thinking turkeys don't fly at all.
00:40:48
Speaker
Like that's... But apparently they do fly a little bit because I've seen them fly up trees. Well, they at least get up the tree. And then once they're in the tree to descend, they flap, top flap, flap, flap. They should not fall.
00:41:00
Speaker
ah But we would calm down. they Because they wouldn't wander in through the fence. Because I think they knew not to do that through the gate. I mean, and now actually maybe it's, yeah, they would fly in over the gate and then just be walking around and you would have to chase them out because they can't, they're not smart enough to really fly back over, I guess. So we would just have to kind of like corner it and chase it out. And The kids were always really helpful with that. Like all the little boys who weren't scared. They're like, I'll get it. I'll get it. got it. Caleb. yes it first Caleb um would would always, he was so little. And even for, he was a young kid, but he was even kind of little for being a little kid. And he'd be like, I got it. Don't worry. He'd stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp and chase the turkey away.
00:41:40
Speaker
But yeah, creatures. And then the old guard shack had rats. I'd hate to say that. You can edit that out if you want. but it's But that, I never saw one, but you would come in and be like, I think a rat was here.
00:41:52
Speaker
So, I would say creature-based difficulties. And then, yeah everything else about the pool, I don't remember bad things happening. i would say the chemicals getting off was always very scary to me. Like, if you came in in the morning and you checked the chemicals, and to no fault of anyone, sometimes the pump would, we would have run out of fluorine in the middle of the night or the pump would not be working right or something. when we turn the heat on for Bel Air, sometimes the chemicals will get off. So coming in and having the chemicals be off, it's like, okay, someone call Chris because we got to open the pool. Like we got to fix this one right away.
00:42:25
Speaker
And, um, It's the heater. Honestly, I can't stand the heater. And I know that there are so many people out there who do not appreciate the cold temperature of the Mission Springs. We should talk about that more. We should, because I love it. I love that the pool is cold. And I'm sorry for all those people that don't like cold pools, but that's the favorite things about the pool.
00:42:47
Speaker
Because it's just so refreshing. And he's not sorry. I'm not sorry at all. I'm sorry. I'm not sorry at all. I think it is fine that it's cold. Trying to heat it is a fool's errand. And it just does. It messes with the chemicals. And then all of a sudden, goofy things start to happen. And you come down and you're like, why is the pool lime green? It's not great. I'm pretty sure it's the heater's fault. Yeah. I don't know. Something chemistry, I'm sure the heater was not helping. The funny thing, too, is like...
00:43:14
Speaker
the The list of things when you're when you're onboarding a Mission Springs lifeguard, it's like, okay, this is what you're going to look out for. Like I said, the big groups coming, making sure that all that you can see all the kids. When the big groups are there, you're really lifeguarding.
00:43:26
Speaker
Besides that, you just need to make sure that these little kids who are really tired and the pool's... And it's like 4 o'clock, so the pool's shady. Yeah. As soon as they start to, they get out and you're like, you look a little tired. and they're like, I'm not tired. I'm going to keep swimming. you're Like, well, your lips are blue because the kids will get cold. Your lips are blue and you're shaking. You got to go sit in the sun.
00:43:46
Speaker
That's the only reason I think to heat it. But no, it's, it's nice when it's cold. Grandpa will only swim when it's cold. he love He loves the cold water. As is the way it should be. I know there's so many people that disagree with me with this. I know most people, but I, I think it is a little bit of the Nordic heritage. Nobody is heating like the Baltic Sea or the waters around Sweden. It's just the Lord. Right.
00:44:11
Speaker
Put her feet in the Baltic with grandma. Your grandma. With mom. It's cold. most cool And you know what? Nowadays, everybody does cold plunges, right? They're all like getting into buckets of ice cubes. So I'm kind of like, ah, you can handle the pool. It's good for you. It gives you that that dopamine hit, right?
00:44:29
Speaker
Maybe that's why i like it so much. Maybe I'm getting a dopamine hit from jumping in the pool because it's cold. Yeah. Maybe. I like a nice hot tub. from this I But that's not the pool. It's a different thing. It's a totally different thing. I never want a hot tub because can you imagine a hot tub up at the pool? Oh my gosh. What a nightmare.
00:44:45
Speaker
No. no yeah That's the whole other chemical situation too. There's different chemicals for that. I'm not ready for that. No. I think that would be a nightmare. That's the other thing. The old baby pool was always kind of scary.
00:44:57
Speaker
Why? scratch pad is better. Just it was so shallow and slippery a kid could just could just fall over. but it But it was oddly deep in the middle. that it And we didn't really, if kids went over there.
00:45:09
Speaker
Baby pools, on babies can't really so swim. And babies can, but I mean, some babies can, I guess, maybe. But then they can swim in the big pool. you know, it was just to get the kids away from the adults in the big bowl. But, and i don't know for them to play in the water, but when they built that one, it was really, was the old, old baby pool was very shallow.
00:45:31
Speaker
Like there's a rectangle. and It was shallow. It was hardly any water. I don't even know if it was chlorinated. It's, It was, but that when they built the new one, it was just too deep. Like if a kid fell in there, they could easily have. And it's hidden. like And it was hidden behind bushes. So secret it was secret. The splash pads. Well, the other thing too, is that baby pool, the the second baby pool was in the shadiest part of the pool. cold So when you talk about cold water, I mean, that was really cold. So I'm like, if anybody needs to heat the pool, it's probably for the babies, right? Like the rest of us can manage, but babies are small and can't regulate their temperatures as well. That baby pool was so cold. The old baby pool was over where like,
00:46:14
Speaker
the cement and the tables are right now, it was in the sun and I, they built it over there. I know because that's the last place that gets shady up there, you know? And, and so, yeah, I was never on board. Also too, always thought like people are going slip and fall and get a head injury. I never thought anybody was going to drown, but I was like, someone's going to hit their head. and the old baby pool, the old one? No, the new one, the mid one.
00:46:36
Speaker
one was really slippery too. yeah I remember when we when the pool remodel happened, I had there's just i have nostalgic connection to the old guard shack and the old bathrooms. But when I think about like quote unquote bad things of the pool, the feeling of walking into the women's locker room bathroom with all the like sitting water and then those those mats that were like black and so pokey and he like hexa hex hexagons. That was one of the worst feelings on my feet in the entire world. Oh, oh, and then me breaking my tooth. That was before.
00:47:11
Speaker
Oh, remember when happened. That before was a lifeguard. But in the Mission Springs pool, I broke my tooth in half. And the first thing I did, i think, well, I think I told you, Auntie Jenny, you were there. You had it in your hand.
00:47:23
Speaker
And I was like, oh my gosh, oh my goodness. And then I ran to the bathroom mirror in the women's bathroom, the old one. And I looked in the mirror and I saw myself and to go, I'm a monster. My front tooth was broken in half. I was horrified.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah, shout out to members of the nice dentist in Santa Cruz who helped us prepare that situation. They just glued it right back on. it was it was i was only a monster for a little while, but as I was probably like 12. How old was I? That was a time. You were old enough to know not to have. Yeah, that was you doing something. I know. The lifeguards weren't telling me. I don't even remember. to be Not to call out the lifeguards. I don't remember someone coming to check on me.
00:48:01
Speaker
Maybe they did. Maybe they thought they were enough. I'm sure they did You were obsessed with your appearance. But yeah, no, you know, some traumatic things can happen because you're a little kid. I just, you know, the pool has always been such a great place, but there are all goofy things about the pool, you know? Yeah.
00:48:18
Speaker
And as if you're a lifeguard, you're probably seeing the other side of it. Just like if you're a teacher, you're like, okay, now I'm seeing the responsibility part of this side of the classroom. It's not just, I mean, I teach art. Some people are like, oh, you're just having fun with clay. And I'm like, no sometimes I'm making sure kids don't eat it. And that's not fun. But, you know, the pool can be like that too.
00:48:37
Speaker
So, okay. Emma, what are, who are some of the significant people that you met that are associated with Mission Springs that you think have has made an impact on your life? That's a great question.
00:48:49
Speaker
Chris Palmberg. Chris Palmberg was in charge of the lifeguards when I became a lifeguard. And there's so many people, you know, my camp counselors when I was a kid who I remember and who I have such happy memories with at Mission Springs.
00:49:03
Speaker
But I remember when I, he was just, he, don't know if I'm using past tense. He is, he doesn't work at Mission Springs anymore, but he is just such a, it reminds me Ron Swanson a little bit. Like so responsible, so dependable, so calm.
00:49:19
Speaker
patient, funny. And it was just great to feel like someone was overseeing Mission Springs and the pool and us and was so reliable.
00:49:34
Speaker
and i write And also this goes down as like someone who I associate with Mission Springs who I really enjoyed, but then also just someone who was like one of my favorite bosses I've ever had. You know, just a really wonderful person to work for.
00:49:46
Speaker
and Yeah. So I would say that. I would say all the ladies we go on the morning walks with. Okay. You guys could list all the names of everyone who walks with you in the morning, but joining everyone and being a young person and being welcome to go on the morning walks. Have you guys, I don't know if the morning walk is something that everyone understands.
00:50:04
Speaker
Well, i think people, some people do. So there's, there's a lot of people who walk around the hills at Mission Springs and Our mother, Kathy Holmgren, is somebody who really likes to walk in the morning. So she and Jeannie Clint and some of members of their family, some members of our family, just will walk around the mountain in the morning. And then other people are just welcome to join and, you know, kind of peel on and peel off and things like that. And they just, you know, wax philosophical about the ways of the world. And that's that's kind of fun. And then it always makes me laugh because...
00:50:41
Speaker
they'll start talking about people. and And I kind of know who they're talking about, but Josh has no idea. But now he has all this information about these random people. And so I just sent it to you, Emma, but that's get from Saturday Night Live over in England where they have Jack Whitehall talking about his area of expertise is random knowledge about people he has never met. And I'm like, I think that pretty much sums up Josh on the walks in the morning with the ladies.
00:51:10
Speaker
But it's it is kind of fun just to hear from people, to connect with people that way while you're out, you know, getting some exercise, enjoying the morning. And the morning at Mission Springs is really quiet. It always makes me think of like going to Disneyland in the morning. You know, it's a little quieter. It's a little, you know, the day hasn't quite started yet. And so it's a nice time to kind of wake up.
00:51:29
Speaker
Yeah. And it's there's something special. I don't mean to like examine all these things and be all philosophical about it, but I think intergenerational relationships are also something that aren't it's not as common anymore.
00:51:44
Speaker
Or not as common anymore. And so to be able to... And I wouldn't walk every morning because I wouldn't want to get up at so early every morning. But when I did get up and want to go walking with you guys, I didn't remember I wouldn't talk that much. But I would just get to listen to all these people who are older than me talk tell stories and, you know, ask me questions and catch up. But there's just so many, yeah, people who have lived there for so long and have stories. And Grandma's one of those people. But walking...
00:52:09
Speaker
And talking is just my favorite. And then i would say but maybe just because of the lifeguarding and getting to know all the kids, the cast of kids who are at Mission Springs every summer, who you just get to know as, you know, some of them live there all the time and then some of them were kids of staff and all those things.
00:52:27
Speaker
I'll always remember all those kids. And when I see, you know, when I see them, it's just special to see them grow up and... spend time together. And then working, yeah, when I worked at camp, I would say the same thing, like the leadership of Frontier Ranch, very good bosses, very fun people to work for.
00:52:44
Speaker
That's cool. it's I think that is cool because it's, you know, sometimes we forget because we have houses. I mean, it's it's a fully functioning conference center. There are staff constantly doing things to maintain the conference center, to make sure the conference are having a good and important time for, you know, and that those people are very important. And they're also sometimes the first bosses that these young people ever have. So that's, you know,
00:53:09
Speaker
Being able to model um organization and being able to model, you know, authority in that way, in a good way, is is important. And it's a big responsibility for the staff members. They work hard. They have a lot of people that ignore their constituents, so that's tricky. but Yeah. And then Pastor Jeremiah, too.
00:53:29
Speaker
she I mean, when I was old, he didn't come... to be the pastor of Scotts Valley until I was older, but he would always come down to the pool. He was running. He was taking up running. So he would go and run and then come down to the pool and jump into the pool and all his clothes.
00:53:44
Speaker
Oh my gosh. When it was like, it would always a time. Can't remember if it was, it was right before closing. So he would be like, I'm just going to come in and jump in really fast. and he would jump in and all his clothes. And we would have a little chat. but I bet he appreciated that it was cold.
00:53:57
Speaker
The pool. 100%. Yeah.
00:54:00
Speaker
Okay, so Emma, we're at the point in the episode where we ask you some quick fire questions. We call it shooting the gulch. Okay? your pressure. No, you don't have to be stressed. It's just for fun. Okay. So the first question is, have you ever participated in shooting the gulch?
00:54:17
Speaker
No. Okay, that's wise. That's good. Good answer. I like that. i don't Does anyone do it anymore? Yes. so they do not Somebody just emailed me and told me they did it. Oh my gosh. It's not very safe, I think. You do it in ah on a bike?
00:54:31
Speaker
in a In a car. See, I don't even know what it is. Okay, let me explain. So there, I think there have been various iterations of shooting the Gulch over the years.
Traditions and Activities at Mission Springs
00:54:40
Speaker
But I think the technical definition is, is that when you get to Mount Hermon and Lockhart Gulch Road, kind of that intersection where you turn off, right?
00:54:50
Speaker
You drive as fast as you can until you get just past the storage area And then you put the car, like you stop pressing on the gas or put the car neutral. I don't know how, you know, manual transmissions work.
00:55:06
Speaker
um And see how far you can get by coasting. No, no, I can't get behind that. No, no, no. Well, there's just a lot of people now. I do think I could drive that road with my eyes closed. But, you know, because you just drive it so much.
00:55:24
Speaker
That's true. But you shouldn't. No one should do that. no There's parts of it that that are falling away. And there's also wildlife. Deer. Deer. They're deer. i One time I was driving on it at nighttime and I didn't run into the deer. The deer ran into me, but it was a fall on deer on the antlers and stuff. And I was like, yeah, that's not good. I was very upset by that. So, okay. That was the first question. Second question.
00:55:46
Speaker
At any time in history, you're at the Mission Springs pool. What are you getting from the snack bar? Such a good question. Choco Taco. Oh, yeah, those are good. Messy, but good.
00:55:56
Speaker
Or one of those cookie ice cream sandwiches. yeah We have a picture of Emma as a very small, small baby with her face just covered eating one of those like ice cream sandwiches. And then also a picture as an adult. I think that's what's going to need go on the podcast episode thing. Emma eating the ice cream sandwich.
00:56:16
Speaker
I'll send it to you. It's very funny. Am I in my blusom? See what I forget. Or in your blue swimsuit and you're just you could clearly it just gotten out of the pool because your hair is all wet. And it was break time, time to have a treat. And you're like, this is Valhalla. Like, this is wonderful. Does it get any better than this? i just don't. And then you just throw me back in the pool to rinse off.
00:56:37
Speaker
and Yeah, right. Exactly. Although I will say you as a little kid, Emma, were the kind of little kid that if you were on in near water, you were in water. Like yeah you're definitely a water kid. Like some kids are like, I don't know about that. I'm just going to sit on the side and wait to see what happens. Isabel was we had to kind of, you know, with Isabel, we had to kind of say, OK.
00:56:58
Speaker
We're going bribe you to get in the pool. And then once she got in, she was fine, but it wasn't her natural inclination to go swimming. You were like probably the kid that's like, if we don't put swimmies on her, she'll just walk right the pool and drown. so walk it was Water safety was a significant issue for you. Even when you were a little, you were just like, I'm like, she would cheerfully drown this kid. She just did you ask grandma you know freezing one in the, with the blue lips. Like, I don't, I don't want to get it. I don't want to get out. And you're just like, you, it's time to go. We have to stop. Did you ask grandma the snack bar question?
00:57:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think... I bet she said corn nuts. I don't think she did, but she was she had a point in time there where she was pretty obsessed with corn nuts. Ranch. Corn nuts are plenty. They're not good for your teeth. They're so hard.
00:57:43
Speaker
They're so hard. They sometimes suck on them and then spit them out. I don't think I'd want to chew them up with my teeth. Anyway, okay. So that's the pool snack bar question. Next question. Again, at any point in history, if you're running the mountain goat run for...
00:57:58
Speaker
Fourth of July, where are you placing? Oh my goodness. How many people run it, you think? A lot. Now, it didn't start out a lot. I think the first race was like 10. And then it got bigger and bigger and bigger. so i think I would be 10th to last.
00:58:15
Speaker
I would be not the last, but no, no, no. I can't run like that. No, no, no. I'm not a runner. But and I'm really not, I don't feel called to complete that race. I think I want to let the, I want to let the people who are good at it do it. I won't let them shine. Your moment in the sun. Have you ever run it?
00:58:35
Speaker
No, no, no. I like to watch it, but no, I always, feel like, It's fun, but I don't run races anywhere else. So I don't know why the first race I do would be this insanely hilly race.
00:58:52
Speaker
I honestly like have run it. And the only reason I don't feel compelled to run in any other race, but this one, I was probably guilted into it by, you know, history. people You know, like, well, this is the race that's here. You better do it. And I'm like, again, not a runner. So no fan, but I could walk it.
00:59:11
Speaker
you know walking, it's nice. All right. Last question. What's the best kissing spot at Mission Springs? I know. I know, Emma. This is a horrible question. i just This is quite me. Well, i'm the worstm like I'm curious if Different generations will have different answers. Yeah, they do.
00:59:34
Speaker
They do. Okay. Let me think. I'm thinking. Because this is this is what the different generations have said. So the older generations, they had a spot that was down at the flat on a cabin swing that was not often occupied.
00:59:49
Speaker
That was a kissing spot. Like it was just someone's cabin and they were going there? Yeah. private prefer and so I didn't know that kissing was even happening at Mission Springs. Let me tell you this, because grandpa and grandma told me they would just hold hands and walk the mountain.
01:00:03
Speaker
And I think we should leave it at that. I will say. I think we should leave it at that. I'll say this. My favorite spot that's kind of hidden is up behind. i don't know. You guys can describe it better. But the trail, you get to the top of the big hill and then the trail that goes up to the right where you do firework watching.
01:00:21
Speaker
That's Ocean View. That's the other place where the older people went up to Kiss. But I like that because you go and you get to kind of the peak where people go and watch the fireworks. And then if you keep going down behind, there's all the Madrone trees and there's that swing.
01:00:35
Speaker
Yeah, it's pretty up there. And it's pretty. And that was kind of a place where you i would go. And I mean, Mission Springs, everyone, there's no hidden spots everywhere. Everyone's been everywhere. But as a kid, I remember thinking that I had found something that where no one else had been. All those Madrone trees, because you can kind of like walk through them and crawl down and and um it's just so pretty. But...
01:00:55
Speaker
I have no idea what this place is. take you this summer. no addition can I cannot identify a madrone tree. I think we know that. the red barley It's a smooth red bark. People keep telling me that and I'm just really not sure. The landscape starts to change when you start to see a madrone tree because, for example, if you don't see them really a Frontier on at the wagon wheel. like Around Frontier you don't see them until you get up to the top of Eagle's Landing. Yeah, there's some up there.
01:01:23
Speaker
And then there's some up there. So I don't know what, when they don't grow everywhere. No, but they' those are the trees we were talking about it at one point. Mom said you can't burn the bark because it burns so hot.
01:01:35
Speaker
That's interesting. i But Emerson said all of the trees around there are are kind of put together to resist fire and stuff. Smart. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know other hidden spots. I remember I didn't really explore the trails that much when I was a little kid.
01:01:52
Speaker
And then going up and hiking up behind Frontier is fun. But, oh, what's it called? um Ropes, the Ropes Camp, but I'm forgetting the name of. Oh, yeah. Like, you know, up behind Redwood. Yeah. Yeah.
01:02:07
Speaker
Well, I remember that time you took the kids on the hike down to the deer. It was horrible. I took, I took for some reason, all of the cousins. I i mean, i don't remember who was, if Teddy and Ellie probably weren't born yet, but all the cousins on a hike. And I was like, yeah, let's go for a walk. We're going walking. I was the line leader. i think Emerson was behind me. I think we were probably just literally walking in age order by accident, whatever it was.
01:02:36
Speaker
And I am like get to this, I see a dead deer and I'm like, oh, okay guys, we're gonna turn around. and i And they go, what? What? I go, we just have to go the other way.
Unexpected Discoveries and Humor
01:02:48
Speaker
There's another way we have to go.
01:02:49
Speaker
And Emerson's like, well, what is it? Oh, no. like She gave away our cover. She blew our cover. And then all the kids are like, well, i want to see what is it? What is it? And I'm like, guys, you really probably don't want to And they're like, oh, my goodness, a dead deer. And then they get back to the cabin. going to show this a dead deer. going to show this a dead deer. Oh, my gosh. Last time I take you anywhere.
01:03:08
Speaker
I remember that because then I'm like was it a violin I think it must have been a mountain lion don't remember i don't know now emson went it was very violent she has a better memory for stuff too like I think that in moments like that i was like yeah I don't know it could have just natural causes but no if she said it was if it was I think it was a mountain lion maybe poor dear but it was a learning lesson I guess for the kids I don't think I told anyone that there was a dead, I should have called somebody. might not f It's okay. It's okay.
01:03:40
Speaker
Well, Emma, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been so fun to talk to you. It was nice to talk to you guys too. I can't wait for this summer and to be there for the 4th of July and for the centennial. I'm very excited to see everybody.
Future Upgrades and Creative Ideas for Mission Springs
01:04:03
Speaker
Okay, so we are back with Kala and I after having talked to Emma. That was a lot of fun. It was fun. she's a fun She's a fun girl. She is a fun girl. I really like Emma. She's one of those people that just always makes you feel better after you talk to her because she's got so much energy and enthusiasm, even for difficult things. She's in it to win it. That's for sure. She has a really good sense of humor and she always just makes me laugh. And I can see that she loves Mission Springs. It would be super fun to work with as a lifeguard or a counselor or anything like that because she's just a, she's a lot of fun. Okay. So wrapping up this episode, I have a question for you, Kala. Okay. I'm ready. to People, what they think about it.
01:04:45
Speaker
So here is my question. okay If there was one thing at Mission Springs that you would still like to see upgraded, what would it be? Now, they're doing some projects right now at the camp. They just completed a welcome center that looks amazing in that old creek side space, which between you and me when we were on staff smelled really bad. So I'm glad. yeah It needed an upgrade for sure. And it looks so cool. And it's it's great. Yeah.
01:05:13
Speaker
And then they're in the process of coming up with plans to build a new climbing tower and, you know, just activity spot up at Frontier Ranch that will replace the current climbing wall and climbing tower. And that looks really cool too. It's just, it looks like it'll be great for not only Frontier Ranch campers to use, but all the outdoor kids that come to Mission Springs. But I'm just wondering if there's anything on your list in the future, you're like, well, it'd be really cool to update that and it doesn't have to be a big thing it could be a little thing what do you think that would it's a really good question because they've again it's just seems like they're they don't have a lot else to do because you know the redwood memorial you know the prayer garden you know creekside i mean i think they've redone the side of the dining hall i think they were thinking of redoing the whole dining hall i don't i don't use the dining hall very much so like from a personal standpoint i don't know
01:06:10
Speaker
that I would actually, i would like to see the Cathedral Grove Trail undergo some rehab. There's a giant tree that fell down. I don't i know. I would like see that. And the steps are too far because of erosion. They're too far apart from each other. So as somebody who uses that trail, just being perfect, I mean, this is not a priority at all, but hey I'm just being totally selfish. Like I would like to see that have some rehab.
01:06:36
Speaker
Yeah. think the trail systems are cool and that is a big shortcut. It is a big shortcut. you know so three to our cabin too It goes straight up to the front cabin. So I'm just feeling totally, totally selfish about things. I also am a big believer in keeping the trails looking as natural as possible. you know so like,
01:06:57
Speaker
i know There are thick places around Mission Springs where they have to put supplies and stuff like that. But I kind of wish it was consolidated in a way, but that's just that's just a me thing. I'm like, if I'm on a trail, I want it to look natural. I don't want to see a bunch of tires piled up or anything.
01:07:13
Speaker
That's true. Although, you know what I will say, one thing that I thought of, and this is not a big thing, this is a small thing, but I thought it would be super fun. As you go up the big hill, you make the turn around Cathedral Grove, there's a few, i want to say they're Douglas first, but maybe they're hemlocks. I don't know as much about trees as Emerson does, but that were like topped off. And so there's just like a trunk there.
01:07:35
Speaker
I would love if somebody would carve those into gnomes. and i There's only that one guy in Seattle that does it. Well, exactly. think anyone else, but it's just him. I don't think anyone else knows how to do it. Well, I think people must because I see things carved into trees in Washington all the time. Like, I don't know if it's a Northwest thing, if you just have a lot of people having fun with chainsaws, but I don't think gnomes would be...
01:07:59
Speaker
Now I'm saying this as somebody who doesn't work at Chainsaw, but I think gnomes would be kind of fun and they would just be three of them as you go up the hill. there' There's nothing else going on with those trees. Yeah. I mean, the ones the guy, I mean, that's the problem. The ones the the guy, and where Emma lives in Seattle is very close to the Scandinavian village.
01:08:16
Speaker
Museum or of History or whatever. they i don't know what it's called. They have one of those outside there. It's really cool looking. So you couldn't get some amateur doing it and then we'd be stuck with we're looking gnomes. No, but I mean, that's those are those you mean those giant ones that they build in the forest?
01:08:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, he, no, it is really good. That Danish artist. I don't know. Where is he from? i should look that up. Yeah, but he is really good at it. And the one in front of the museum is very nice. Yeah, but we don't have to have anything like that.
01:08:46
Speaker
Like there are people that are needles into stumps around here all the time. Well, I'm just saying you'd you'd have to find somebody who did a good job because because you can't move the tree. The tree is there.
01:08:57
Speaker
No, right. Well, the very if it didn't work, they could just cut the tree off a little bit more. They've already cut it off a little bit. I don't know. I just think it' would be super cute to have like gnomes on those tree stumps in the middle of the forest as you go up the hill.
01:09:10
Speaker
You know, I know, but I think really in like true Scandinavian, I could be wrong about this, but they have, it's like troll. It's not gnomes actually, right? It's trolls.
01:09:20
Speaker
And the trolls that they have are not attractive. I'll apologize to Frozen. There's two different ones. There's gnomes and trolls. Okay. Well, the trolls are scary looking.
01:09:30
Speaker
Well, no, right. Like the trolls, like the ones we saw in the cave in Norway. yeah, yeah. Not the real trolls. Yeah. We did not see real trolls on a cave in Norway, but we did go to that cave and there was a big mythology about trolls when we went there. They had a replica and somebody might have given me one of those when I got married.
01:09:49
Speaker
Oh, really? They gave me a troll. Someone Norwegian? Somebody Scandinavian. Yeah.
01:09:57
Speaker
Well, the listeners out there, no longer married, and the troll went went away. Don't give people trolls when they get married. Who's supposed be good luck? I don't know what it is, but it's... It's like Fire Saga. What was it in Iceland that people... They have elves and elves in Iceland. The elves went too far.
01:10:19
Speaker
This is different. think they have gnomes because like a lot of people have gnomes and I think they can be considered kind of Scandinavian. Maybe they are like applied to a lot of different cultures, but I think they'd be, and I don't think they're that hard to carve because to be honest, I, my sixth graders make gnomes out of clay in my art class and they look good. and you Yeah, but it's like, it's, there's a difference between modeling something out of clay and like, you know, you need like a Michelangelo who's going to take a piece of marble and sculpt it, right? It's different.
01:10:49
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway, well, okay. So this is not something that's going happen anytime soon. But if there's any listener out there who would be interested in carving those into gnomes, um we will be happy to look at some specs and see what we think about that. it was just an idea I had. It's not really a prayer garden, but I think it'd be on theme. And the trees are there. We already have the materials. We have to have a whole bunch of little things. We got the goats on the roof. We got the gnomes. I think it would be cool if they could clear out...
01:11:13
Speaker
We probably can't though. Like, so you could see the ocean up at ocean view. Oh, right. Yeah. But I think they we have to be careful because of erosion. I'm thinking about the poison oak. Whoever clears it out, you'd have to get some goats or something to eat the poison oak. It's probably doable.
01:11:30
Speaker
Yeah. That'd be nice if ocean view is cleared out again. So anyway, that is my question for this segment of the podcast. And if listeners out there have other ideas of things that they'd like to see happen at Mission Springs, We're not saying they could ever happen.
01:11:45
Speaker
I don't think they're ever going to carve any kind of gnomes or trolls into those trees, but you know, one can dream. And you know, every once in for a while you get an idea and then it happens. So all those times walking around the mountain in the morning and voila, now there's a prayer garden up at Memorial, Redwood Memorial. And it's just one of the best things that Mission Springs now. So it's good to dream and have and ideas. ideas Yeah, I agree.
01:12:07
Speaker
Well, that's our episode for today. We will talk to you next time. See you later.