Police may be charging some Darien youths with criminal mischief and trespassing at a particular pool on Middlesex Road that a police spokesman remembers was going on in the 1980s, and that other town residents and former residents say goes back much further — at that swimming pool.
Image based on a picture by Øyvind Holmstad on Wikimedia Commons
On the “You know you are from Darien” Facebook group timeline, some say dips in the pool were a rite of passage in the 1980s. Several say they were doing it in the 1970s.
Two said they remembered sneaking into that pool way back in the 1960s. (Was there really a pool there in the 1960s? Was it made to look like a natural lagoon even back then?)
Here’s much of what what’s been said on that page by Darienites and former Darienites (we’re removing all names):
Here’s Darienite Editor David Gurliacci’s post that asked people for their memories:
Please don’t name the address, but we’ve been told illicit swims and skinny dips have been going on at this pool, made to look like a natural lagoon, since at least the late 1980s, and maybe further back. Will anyone here admit to it? C’mon, fess up!
And here are the replies:
So funny. Can’t believe it’s still being visited….that’s at least 34 years now…
I have, with out a doubt, equivocally, never been there!
“Paradise” ..Never heard of it huh [name redacted]
With the booby trapped and poison ivy woods around it!
Yeah..but we went back to your car and Officer [name redacted] had pulled the distributor cap
He basically gave you a wag of the finger and let you go!
That was the real Darien!
the owners never owned a Dog in all those years.?
Mmmmmm…… Not me
Guilty circa 1973
[…]
I will only say at least as far back as the 70’s. But I’m not admitting to anything
Glad to hear the grand tradition is being upheld.. btw it goes quite a bit further back than the 80’s.. according to a good source 😉 Yes, Paradise is what I’ve heard it referred to!
I went to the weed or pear tree Town Beach Before they closed them at nite…..
Pool hopping has been an elite sport in Darien since the 60’s.
Yup.
Ah, yes, pool hopping!! So much fun!!!
I know that pool very well. Caught many skinny dippers there in the past.
A Darien tradition…and Paradise goes back to the 70’s.
Skinny dipping at the Wilton Reservoir too. Streaked at college…
How did I miss this…….
Getting caught and running thru the poison ivy – the next week was torture – Karma
Well before the late 80’s…
Pool hoping is a well loved memory…Not that I have any personal knowledge of any pools or fences!
I have no personal knowledge about [nickname redacted] having any personal knowledge about any pools or fences.
Never heard it called Paradise, but remember a late night swim or two in the late 60’s…
I was just reminiscing about a pool that sounds just like this one but surely not the same
Soon walking down the street will become an arrestable offense … pool hopping is part of living, so no, keep names hidden and keep on hopping!!
I preferred the [last name redacted]’s pool in Tokeneke
Yes. Make that three decades.
Perhaps there should be reunion of Paradise pool hoppers…meet at the cemetery at midnight.
Hopefully they can be more creative, i.e., quiet, and continue with the good, clean fun! Easy for me to say!
This was the spot. Many midnight swims in the 1970’s. Back then, it was like a Ziegfeld set when lit up with waterfall cascades. My BFF left my favorite blue jean skirt there when she fled during a raid!
Now realizing what an awful child I was, can’t believe this escaped me! Right up the road from where I lived!
David Gurliacci: I’m amazed by the wealth of comments about this, and I think other people in Darien will want to know about this tradition (going back almost five decades! at this one spot?!), so I’m posting these comments, which are public here, anyway, in an article on DarieniteDOTcom (I’ll link to it here). I’m removing all the names anyway, but if you posted it to a group with 2,683 members, I can’t imagine anyone here would think their privacy is being violated.