Martha Hodges at the Kanawha Recreation Association (Photo by Jay Paul)
There’s something timeless about a community swimming pool in the summer: bicycles lining the front gate, cheap ice pops from the concession stand, towels in a rainbow of colors and the cheerful voices of children. For the members of Kanawha Recreation Association in the West End, Martha Hodges is their symbol of summer.
Hodges has worked at Kanawha almost every summer since 1981, when she got her first lifeguarding job to supplement her teacher’s income. For more than 30 years, Hodges taught math and special education at Tuckahoe Middle School, where she also coached tennis and gymnastics.
Today, the petite yet mighty 65-year-old serves as assistant manager of Kanawha. She arrives as early as 6 a.m. to manage a few dozen teenaged employees and stays late to call the meets for hundreds of swimmers and divers. That’s enough in one day for most, but Hodges does much more. “I don’t sit still very well,” she says, laughing.
Though she’s retired from teaching, Hodges remains the tennis coach at Tuckahoe Middle, leading the girls’ team since 1987 and the boys’ team since 1990. She also directs the children’s bell choir at Reveille United Methodist Church, plays competitive tennis, works out with Navy Seals and routinely jogs down Forest Avenue. The heat of summer doesn’t slow her down. “Even when it’s hot, I’d rather be outside than stuck in an office somewhere,” she says.
In addition to keeping her busy and outside, spending her days at the pool indulges her nostalgia for summer days gone by. “I grew up in Baltimore and was always hanging out at our neighborhood pool,” she recalls. “We’d jump on our bikes and go. We didn’t have a concession stand, but the Good Humor ice cream truck would show up every couple of hours and we’d race to the parking lot.”
Hodges later taught swimming lessons at the Baltimore YMCA, then swam for both her high school team and for Indiana State University in 1974. “My only claim to fame is that I went to school with Larry Bird, and he and I have the exact same birthday,” she says.
In college, she also fell in love with tennis. The decades haven’t diminished her passion for sports, and her job at Kanawha allows her to be involved with the swimming and tennis programs.
“The teacher in me still loves being around kids and coaching,” she says, “and there’s something satisfying about always having a beginning and an end. Instead of September to June in a school year, I have the summer season.”
Admittedly, some children at the pool start off a little scared of Hodges. “I am not known for being quiet, and I’ll yell if I have to,” she says. “Around the pool, you have to follow the rules. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
As those little kids become teenagers, many turn to her for their first summer jobs as groundskeepers or lifeguards. When they need a job reference or an inspirational speaker at high school graduation, they call Hodges.
Harrison Monette has worked for Kanawha for five consecutive summers as a groundskeeper. He’ll be a freshman at the University of Virginia this fall. “Martha taught me how to have a strong work ethic and not to quit,” Monette says. “She’s tough when you’re acting stupid, but she just wants the best from you. We see all the work she does for others, and we want to model her. She’s really a kind person.”
If Hodges doesn’t like how a task is done the first time, she’ll sternly tell the groundskeepers to go back and do it again. But she’s also known to bring them homemade goodies, like her pumpkin brownies, to reward them for a job well done.
Since coming to Richmond more than 40 years ago, Hodges has touched the lives of thousands of families through Kanawha, Tuckahoe Middle School and Reveille.
“Martha plays an integral and iconic role in the Tuckahoe community,” says Katy Goins, a former middle school gymnast Hodges coached. “When I was growing up, I practically lived at Kanawha in the summer, and she was the head lifeguard. She was at every swim and diving meet I ever attended and now is there for my three children. She’s the heart and soul of our community.”
Countless members at Kanawha agree with Goins. Those who grew up there want their children to get the “Martha experience,” to have a role model who is tough, demands respect and cares immensely.
Like a honeybee, Hodges zips from one task to the next, whether it’s mowing the lawn, running a safety drill or rescheduling a swim meet at the last minute. But when a lifeguard walks into her office, a small child says hello or a former student gives her a call, only then does she stop moving, pausing for just a moment to solve a problem, remember a birthday or just to reminisce.
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