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We all have favorite summer memories, but what was summer like for children growing up at Lay Dam? is spring, 20 people who grew up in the Lay Dam Village between the 1930s and the early 1970s returned to the plant site on the Coosa River near Clanton for the second reunion of villagers. anks to the hard work of former residents Jim Murphy, Jack Avant, Barbara Petty and others, quite a few villagers were found and came to a centennial celebration in 2014. Villagers from as far away as Washington state, Texas, North Carolina and Florida attended. Every villager had one thing in common: ey loved growing up at Lay Dam. ey enjoyed themselves so much that at the centennial they made plans to meet again in 2017. "You don't know how much this place means to all of us," Murphy said in May. "We were so lucky to grow up here. It played such an important part of our lives. It made us who we are today. All of these people here today, some of whom we haven't seen in over 50 years, all still feel like family to us." Lay Village was built in 1912 because the dam site was about 13 miles from the nearest town. Before construction could begin on the dam, a village to house the workers had to be built. Workers and their families needed houses, an infirmary, school, churches, and dining and recreational facilities. Aer the dam was finished in late 1913, most of the workers moved on to other projects. e housing and facilities that remained were either dismantled or converted to support the needs of the permanent employees at the plant. Looking out from the porch of the restored superintendent's house, Petty said, "Besides seeing this place as it is today, we also see it as it was when we were kids. We see the houses, the school, the community center, the swimming pool. Back then, we just took all of it for granted. We didn't realize it at the time, but we were really blessed to grow up in a place like this." Many of the villagers recorded their accounts of growing up in Lay Village in the book "Lay Dam: Remembering Our Childhood." Here is a window into what summer looked like decades ago, growing up in the Lay Dam Village: Downie O'Neal Nemec, Bill O'Neal, Barbara Greene Petty and Mary Lou Greene Easterling Photo Courtesy: Greene Family 23 www.apcshorelines.com