This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Phillips Fest, Splash Bash, and How the Pool Fun Began

Weekly musings from Jeff Long, public relations manager with the Fox Valley Park District.

Not long ago, local swimming options were pretty basic. Public pools were few and far between, located at select playgrounds, and consisted of a shallow end, a deep end and, maybe, a diving board.

Grandiose facilities like Phillips Park Family Aquatic Center and Splash Country Water Park were still a futuristic dream.

We didn’t know what we were missing back then. It certainly didn’t diminish our fun—we spent almost every day at the pool—but the facilities today take swimming and water adventure to new levels.

Find out what's happening in Montgomerywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Phillips Park was one of the first water parks of its kind in this area when it opened in 1991. On Saturday, the popular water park celebrates its 20th birthday. Splash Country, which opened several years later on the west side, will join the fun as well.

Phillips Fest and Splash Bash will be held simultaneously from noon to 3 p.m. Each of these water park festivals will feature giant inflatables, a live DJ spinning tunes, interactive dancing and entertaining water games.

Find out what's happening in Montgomerywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It’s a bargain, too. Buy a season pass any time between noon and 7 p.m. that day and your admission is subtracted from the price of the already-low-priced pass.

Just to give us an idea of how good we have it today, I got in touch with Nancy Hopp and Larry Banker. They are related because 50 years ago, when they were on the first team of lifeguards during the debut year (1961) for the City of Aurora pools, Banker and Hopp’s sister developed a definite attraction for one another. They’ve been married ever since.

Swim lessons were few and far between, so kids those days dove in head first, so to speak. Banker “learned” to swim at the Lebanon playground pool “when my dad threw me into the deep end to see if I could stay afloat," he said. "Fortunately, it worked.”

Gentler tactics are available today; Phillips and Splash both offer dozens of swim lesson programs throughout the summer.

Lifeguards are much more numerous today as well. At Phillips and Splash, they’re everywhere. Splash, for example, has at least 12 guards on the pool decks at all times. Each of them is certified through an international program and trained in rescue and life-saving skills.

The test back in 1961 required a lifeguard to rescue a 230-pound person from the deepest end of the pool—a daunting challenge, to be sure, but not quite as thorough as today’s training.

And finally, Hopp has no recollection of sunscreen from those days. Quite the contrary. “Most teenagers and adults applied baby oil so they could get that deep, dark, bronze tan,” said Hopp, a Fox Valley Park District Board Trustee. “It was part of the pool experience.”

One thing hasn’t changed, however. The pool is still the coolest place to be on a hot summer day.

Jeff Long is the public relations manager for the Fox Valley Park District. Contact him at jlong@fvpd.net.

Fox Valley Park District
Upcoming Events

Saturday, June 18: Phillips Fest 20th anniversary celebration and Splash Bash water park party, noon to 3 p.m.
Sunday, June 19: Father’s Day at Blackberry Farm with live music (1 p.m.), 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Sunday, June 26: Antique Tractor Show at Blackberry Farm, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 30: Free Concert in the Park – Yorkville Big Band at Montgomery Park, 7:30 to 9 p.m.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?