Once upon a time, there was a man named Mike H. who worked at the Toronto airport. Despite what many of his coworkers believed, Mike H. did not invent the East Beach – a popular spot among airport employees where they would take their belts out to suntan. In fact, Mike H. always corrected anyone who credited him with inventing the East Beach.
Mike H. had transferred to the Toronto airport in 1980, but the East Beach had already been established long before then. However, he and his crew decided to make things a little more exciting by building swimming pools out of Eastern AKE and later an AC LD5. The pool was always located in the corner of the East Beach near the glycol tanks, and one year, they even took 3 or 4 tub carts of sand out there to make a sandy beach.
Those were the days, as Mike H. and his friends would say. They thought they would never end, but alas, all good things must come to an end. But the memories of the East Beach and their makeshift swimming pools will always be a source of nostalgia for those who were there to experience it.
