What A Fun Redneck Pool Party!

     Our Redneck Pool Party Saturday night was a great success!  We had a little difficulty with the pool,  as you will see from the pictures, but with the help of several different people we managed to keep it in tact till the Party was over!
    We heard estimates from different people of 200-400 attendees.  However many were there, it was just the right amount for our first year.  Since we had no idea how many would come, or even for sure what we were doing, we couldn't have handled many more.  Those who came were very appreciative of the work done & loved the fun they had!

 Starting construction.  As you can see the shape began as a rectangle.

We started with a plastic liner.

A tarp was placed over the plastic and then the Fire Department filled the pool with their water truck.  This took about 5-10 minutes.  Can you imagine how long it would have taken with a garden hose?

As the water was added the shape of the pool began to change because of the pressure on the bales.

You can see in this photo, the water pulled the plastic and the tarp off one side as the shape of the pool shifted.  At this point we were concerned the pool might not last till the party at began 5:30 but the firemen pumped the water they had just put into the pool into a holding tank and we were able to straighten the bales, add straps around the them and stabilize them enough to pump the water back in.  (We had started with ropes around the bales but they stretched too much to hold the shape.)

A couple of pool umbrellas were added to enhance the Redneck look.  We were ready to begin

 As you can see from this photo the shape of the pool shifted so much it was almost round by the time the kids started arriving.  Amazing!  Obviously next year we will build it round to start with!

 The Herreras brought their water slide which was very popular with the younger kids.

 And then the pressure on the west side of the pool started causing the bales to collapse.

 Bystanders went to work shoring up the support and the fun continued.

Water games, baby pools, sprinklers and buckets of water balloons & shooters were spread throughout the park so there was lots to do and lots of room to do it.

                                                      The pinaqua was very popular.

                            As was the water balloon launcher--especially with the high school kids.

       At 8:00 p.m. we had to stop the games and clear the kids out of the pool so we could empty it and set up for the movie in the amphitheater at 8:30.  There were a few tears as kids realized the water fun was over.

      One little boy told the ladies at the concession stand "That is an awesome pool!"  Obviously, the whole party was a huge success!  We have already had people asking if we will do it again next year.  The answer is "yes' but next year we will be a lot smarter on how to build the pool. 

      I must say that those of us constructing it may have had more fun than the participants, though!

Redneck Pool Party

        We had a great time at the Redneck Pool Party Saturday evening at Linn Park even though we had a few 'hiccups' in our plans.  The weather was perfect--sunny and in the 80's.
        We had decided to build 2 pools this year and did some extra planning to ensure they were constructed well.  Last year we started with the straw bales in a rectangle but when the water was added the bales began shifting to a circle. (see post here).  We may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, but we did realize it would be good to begin with a circle.  Unfortunately, the ground is not entirely level anywhere in the Park.  We chose places that were as level as possible and placed the first row of bales on edge in a 30 foot circle.  It seemed good to put straps on this row, then add the second row of bales and cover them with the Visqueen layer.

 

We then placed the straps on the second row over the Visqueen (this is where we made a mistake.  We should have either placed the straps directly on the straw, or over the tarp so we could see them) and then draped the tarp over the whole structure.  We have decided we won't use Visqueen next year because the tarp, which we were able to save to use again, was heavy enough to hold water without it.

  The Fire Department used their trucks to fill the pool.  Unfortunately, when they pulled the water out of the hydrant it was a brown murky color.  We added pool chlorine to combat any germs but the water stayed brown. (Fortunately, that didn't seem to deter the kids.)
     The pool was filled to near the top of the second ring and we were just congratulating ourselves on building such a cool pool when the top strap slid up the Visqueen and off the row of bales.

Water began trickling over the edge and quickly became a flood, knocking the second row of bales off and washing bales out into the street.   Needless to say we were a little disheartened! 

But we rallied and decided to make the pool only one bale high but larger in diameter and use it for a toddler pool.  It was a great hit!

We didn't fill the other pool with as much water so eventually when the kids continued to climb on the top row that row collapsed and created our very own redneck waterfall.  The kids loved it!  They took turns sitting in the cascading water.

Since we had acres of tarp from the corn pile at Littlejohn Grain we also cut a strip 9 feet by 85 foot long and used it for a slip n slide.  That may have been the biggest hit of the Party!  There was always a line of 10 - 15 kids waiting to go down.

Of course, the Pinaqua made with kitchen trash bags filled with water, was popular again this year and the little kids loved the bounce house.

A new addition this year that was also very popular was the Redneck Hot Tub.  It seemed to be occupied with several bathers most of the time!

Water gun tube fights were great fun!

And some didn't need anything but water left over from the 'pool flood' to have a good time.

Even though it was a lot of work, when the day was over and we saw how much fun everyone had we determined to do it again next year.  I'm sure we can get the 'pool building' figured out if we just keep working on it.  :o)

It was difficult to end the party.  Some had to have "one more time" before reluctantly getting out so we could dismantle the pools.

Pool Party At Linn Park Amphitheater

Don’t Miss 

 The First Annual

 Redneck Pool Party

August 8, 2015, 5:30 p.m. (This Saturday)

Linn Park & Amphitheater, Martinsville, Illinois

     If you live nearby, plan to bring you children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces & nephews and neighbors to enjoy Martinsville On The Move's first annual Redneck Pool Party this Saturday (August 8) beginning at 5:30 in the Linn Park & Amphitheater.  Saturday morning we will be building a swimming pool (maybe a wading pool) out of straw bales & a tarp.  The Martinsville Fire Department has agreed to fill it for us so the water will be warming during the day. There will be other smaller pools, sprinklers to run through, water games, water balloons--including a water balloon launching contest, a pinaqua (Do you wonder what that is?  Come find out), water toys and lots of bubbles for blowing.  The concessions stand will be open selling barbecue sandwiches, hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream, candy and drinks. This is going to be a very fun afternoon/evening!  You won't want to miss being there.  Wear swimsuits or old clothes.
       If you don't want to get wet, bring your lawn chair and watch the fun.  

      Immediately following the Pool Party will be the last Saturday Night Movie in the Park, featuring "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" at 8:30 p.m. 

The Redneck Pool Party at Linn Park was a Success Again This Year!

      We had such fun at the Redneck Pool Party yesterday!  This was our 3rd annual event and the kids loved it, as much this year as the previous two.  An added bonus was the addition of a performance of Battle Creek, one of our favorite bands.  In fact, we thought they were such a good fit that we have invited them back for the Pool Party again next year.
 

Power washing the tarp.

     This year one of our committee members removed a small grain bin from their property so he suggested we use a ring of it to support the straw bales.  What a great improvement!  See posts here and here for previous year's problems with pool failure.

Pulling the tarp over the frame



The Firemen were gracious to fill the large pool for us.

       The pools are such a great way to use the tarp leftover when the pile of corn is uncovered at the grain elevator.  Even though the photo below looks like an acre of tarp, it is only a small section of the original.Here are a few photos to let you see how much fun we had preparing and how much the kids enjoyed the different activities.

We also made a one-bale high kiddie pool.  Here the guys are unloading the straw to make the frame.






As always the 80 foot Slip n Slide is a great hit!

As is the Water Balloon Shooter.





Even the littlest ones got in on the fun!

Fun in the Redneck Hot Tub (made in the bed of a pickup truck).

Bubble-making was also a great hit!

And so was the Pinaqua (I think we used about 80 trash bags!)

As you can see, activities were spread all over Linn Park


Battle Creek's great music and sense of humor made this year's event even more fun!

Plan ahead, so you won't have to miss next year's event.  We had someone Facebook us to ask how far it was from Houston.  When they discovered they didn't have time to get here, they said they would seriously consider coming next year.  The date is August 4, if you are interested.