Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

Charles Chuck A. Albrecht – Swimming Pool
SCRAPBOOK MEMORIES
Some of my fondest memories were from summer day camp. My Mom left me at the front gate with the other “NSAkids”
and we were bused to the cottage, now called Burba Cottage, on McKay Street. The pond, now Burba Lake, was
called Kelly Pool back then and it was routinely seen with duck and goose corpses floating in it. In the 1960s, no one
fished from it although many of us boys would try to collect tiny black catfish from it and take them home in jars for
aquarium pets.
The best part about day camp was our frequent visits to the outdoor swimming pools on post which were imaginatively
named Pool One, Two, Three and Four respectively. Our early morning lessons could be compared to Navy SEAL
training, although we did not know about Navy SEALS then, because the pool was so frigid at 8 a.m.
On alternate Fridays, we either engaged in swim competitions and other events like running around the entire pond,
or we spent the afternoon at the post movie theater located on Chisholm Avenue south east of Kimbrough Army
Hospital. That theatre is no longer there. At the end of the day many of us were bused back to NSA where we were an
annoyance to the Marine guards who were glad to see our parents take us away. (Below) The area that was Pool #3 is now
a parking lot.
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