Families have gathered at Bower Hill Swim Club every summer for the past 65 years. Tucked into a wooded hollow off Bower Hill Road, the pool welcomes new South Hills residents every year while generations of families return decade after decade.

For legacy members like Kathy Pattak and Michelle Markovitz, the club has been a family staple for nearly 40 years.

Pattak, a retired Mt. Lebanon teacher, joined the club with her husband, Allan, when their son, Cory, was a preschooler.

“I had grown up going to a private pool,” Pattak recalled. “I found out that I had some friends who belonged there. So we joined.”

Her son learned to swim at Bower Hill, and the family quickly formed friendships with other young families.

“We met a lot of other young couples with kids about the same age,” Pattak said. “It was a way to expand our social circle.”

Markovitz told a similar story. She and her family joined about 40 years ago while living on Pat Haven Drive, within walking distance of the pool. As a full-time oncology nurse, she appreciated having a safe place where her children could spend their summers. “They actually learned to swim there,” she said. “Once they got a little bit older and could swim very well, they went with their friends and just walked over there, so they spent a lot of time at the pool.”

Years later, after both daughters moved away and eventually returned to the South Hills with families of their own, Markovitz rejoined the club. Today, she watches her grandchildren enjoy many of the same experiences her daughters did. “For me it’s three generations, so it’s pretty cool,” she said.

Both women say one of the club’s defining qualities is its sense of community.

Pattak credits much of its charm to its secluded setting. “It was just a nice place to be because of the way it was located, kind of down in the hollow,” she said. “It was very private. People didn’t know that it was there.”

She said the club was once known as “the best kept secret in the South Hills.”

Today, that “secret” is becoming better known.

Board President Drew Powers, Inglewood Drive, who joined the club with his family in 2020, said he wants more people to know it’s easy to join. People can even join after the pool season has begun at a prorated amount.

“I think there’s oftentimes a misconception that this is like a very exclusive private club and you have to sit on a waitlist for years and years,” Powers said. “I think maybe at some point it was that way, but we’ve worked very aggressively to reformat how we’ve done things.”

Since joining, Powers has helped modernize many of the club’s operations, including digitizing records, improving communications and updating technology. Powers said about 100 new families joined the club in recent years.

“Seeing the new energy at the pool has just been really exciting too,” he said. That financial stability has allowed the board to think beyond maintenance and begin planning new amenities.

“We’re starting to move into the phase of doing things that we want to do versus the things that we just need to do,” Powers said.

After years of focusing on maintenance, safety and liability projects, the board is discussing improvements such as a new water slide and updated diving boards.

“It’s really exciting to be talking about that,” he said.

For longtime members, however, the biggest draw has never been the facilities.

After retiring, Markovitz began spending nearly every sunny day at the pool with a close-knit group of friends who call themselves the “Kanoodlers” — a nod to the pool noodles they use while talking in the water. The group gathers for lunch, celebrates birthdays, checks in on one another through illnesses and surgeries, and even meets during the winter.

“It’s a combination of socialization and therapy,” Markovitz said. She said the friendships she’s built at the pool have become one of the most meaningful parts of retirement.

“It’s become a very special group,” she said.

Pattak has seen that same sense of connection develop across generations. She watched children who learned to swim at Bower Hill become swim team members, lifeguards and eventually parents bringing their own children back to the club.

“I know that there are quite a few three-generation families,” Pattak said. “The grandparents belong and then the kids grew up at the pool and now they’re back with their kids.”

Unlike a municipally owned pool, Bower Hill Swim Club is owned by its members through a bond system that gives families a stake in the organization and voting privileges.

Summer traditions continue to bring members together with raft nights, movie nights, Fourth of July celebrations, swim team events, birthday parties and the annual end of summer “Doggy Dip.”

As Bower Hill Swim Club celebrates its 65th anniversary, what keeps families returning isn’t just the pool itself, but the relationships built around it.

“It’s just a nice group,” Markovitz said. “It’s become more dear to me.”

To learn more about Bower Hill Swim Club, visit www.bowerhillpool.com.