The Founding of Huron Valley Swim Club

In the early 1950’s, many young professional couples were clustered in Pittsfield Village and Pittsfield Park. The men were beginning careers in law, medicine, engineering, banking, real estate, and coaching: the women were keeping house, producing babies, and enjoying kaffee klatches and bridge games whenever possible. During the chatter over a bridge table in late summer of 1957, the conversation turned to the need for Ann Arbor to have a private swim and picnic club. Ruth Ann Strack, Barbara Hodgson, and Lola Borchardt decided to enlist their husbands and form a planning committee (later to be come known as The Founders).

The strategy was to recruit a representative from each of the professions necessary to bring such an idea to fruition. Seven couples formed the membership of this early committee. Committed to the creation of the Huron Valley Swim Club, they spent countless hours working to bring this about.

The Founders met weekly. They shared ideas and visions, which resulted in a couple of ironclad principles, that continue to be upheld 50 years later. Huron Valley Swim Club (HVSC) was NOT to be a country club; and no food was to be sold on the premises (excluding swim meets). The dedication, energy, hours of thought, and toil which the Founders put toward their dream, set the standard for volunteerism at HVSC. The many improvements realized since are testimony to all the self-sacrificing volunteers who have used their minds and skills. HVSC remains in the forefront of the proliferating community of swim clubs in the area.

During these early months of planning, Jack Borchardt, a civil engineering professor at the University of Michigan, spearheaded the search for a suitable pool, complex site. Jack knew gravel, drainage, septic fields and a host of other technical factors that required evaluation before a final decision on location could be effected. In the fall of 1957, picnic baskets in hand, the Founders toured several prospective locations.

In the end, based largely on Jack Borchardt’s recommendation, the Founders set their sights on the 60-acre site fronting Park Road in Scio Township. This exceptional parcel of land was large enough to accommodate the pools, plus future facilities. It also boasted a splendid grove of hardwood trees, ideal for a picnic area. Interestingly, the second choice for land purchase is now home to Chippewa Swim Club, which opened two years after HVSC.

So, where to get the $30,000 to buy the land? Under the leadership of Ann Arbor Trust (now Key Bank) banker Tom Dickinson did the math; the goal of 400 memberships at $250 each was set. The Founders put all their Christmas card lists, social and professional club lists, neighbors, and miscellaneous friends into a master list. Everyone on the master list was sent a prospectus describing the project. It began, “A perennial conversation piece in the Ann Arbor living rooms has been the dire need for a comfortable, accessible, modern swimming pool- a private pool where congenial families can gather to enjoy a wonderful summer of swimming, sunning, and playful recreation.”

On September 10, 1957, this initial letter was followed with an invitation to join and to come to a meeting at Room 3–S in the Michigan Union at 8:30 pm on Tuesday, September 17th. Membership applications would be accepted at the time with a $50 deposit “to acquire land options, make test drillings, pay incorporation fees and defray other miscellaneous expenses.” The actual family membership was set at $250. Apparently there was a good turnout, but Treasurer Dickinson reported to the Committee on October 11 that as of that day they had 159 members, “a disappointing but a good start.”

Another invitation on November 25th stated that the land had been purchased with construction to take place in the spring of 1958. It extolled the site’s natural scenic beauty, the favorable soil conditions, the ample water supply and its location “scarcely two miles from the city limits.” The letter warned that the membership was filling rapidly, and indeed by the summer of 1958 the 400 Charter Members had been subscribed and the membership fee had risen to $300. A resigning member would receive back $250 as long as the space could be filled. That practice continues today.

A division of labor envisioned by the wives stayed on course during these formative years. Attorney John Laird handled legal details, inherent in all these transactions; and realtor John Sharemet dealt with the real estate technicalities. Dr. Paul Hodgson did considerable research on playground equipment, and he had a patient who made all the picnic tables. Diving Coach Bruce Harlan and then assistant basketball coach Dave Strack, the first Board president, used their expertise to develop program and management goals along with the aid of the Committee and many Charter members. All of them worked long hours in the early summer of 1958, scrubbing iron toilets from Lansky’ Junk Yard for the bathhouse, installing a drainage septic field system, planting trees and installing grills.

The Founders engaged in much discussion crucial to the successful completion of the project. Among the choices were the selections of contractors for pool construction and the original bathhouse (beautifully replaced last year). The James Patterson Company of Columbus received the pool contract following a trip to the Columbus headquarters to view a Patterson installation. A local contractor, Paul Peltes, was given the task of building the bathhouse.

On July 19th, the day before the pool was to open, the water was so murky that the bottom could not be seen. However, chemicals applied worked their magic and the pool was joyously inaugurated on July 20th, with Don Dufek as the first manager.

In 1960, the managerial reins were taken over by Jim Skala, and then the legendary Newt Loken came on board for 12 years. Newt was the popular U-M gymnastics coach, and he brought many of his students to the club as guards, teachers, performers, or all of the above. We Old Timers remember the zany July 4th and Labor Day antics by weirdly dressed young men hurling themselves off the diving boards, and we fondly reminisce about the Labor Day bonfires in the dark with Newt doing a little soft shoe to “Tiny Bubbles” as summertime sadly came to a close.

It was also during Newt’s tenure that he asked, -and the Board granted-permission to install trampolines. This instantly became a stunning success, supplementing the tennis courts, which had been installed in the early 1960’s along with shuffleboard courts (later replaced with the lap pool). Huron Valley was able to offer its youth instruction in swimming, diving, tennis and trampoline, not to mention competitive experience in the local swim and dive meets.

John Orcutt, Newt’s assistant manager, jokingly said that he would never equal the Loken tenure, but then he went on to serve as Manager for 24 years until 1996. John’s gruff manner did not successfully mask is generous nature, and one sight that never failed to warm the cockles of the heart was of John leading the ladies in aqua-aerobics in his Speedo. He trained legions of lifeguards, gave them responsibilities and insisted they be met, and worked tirelessly to keep the aging machinery functioning.

So now, the first 50 years of Huron Valley Swim Club operation has passed. The success of the organization has met and exceeded the expectations of the Founders. The Club remains strong, with a perennially lengthy waiting list for membership. HVSC has been true to its roots as a family oriented enterprise. Members have continuously given their time and talent to this operation. The remarkable competitive swimming program is the envy of all the area swim club organizations. All of the past and incumbent members may take due pride in this history.

The Founders

Jack and Lola Borchardt
Tom and Jean Dickinson
Bruce and Fran Harlan
Paul and Barbara Hodgson
John and Peggy Laird
John and Daryl Sharemet
Dave and Ruth Ann Strack


April 5, 2007

Joyce Chesborough