In Southern Wisconsin is a small town of Shopiere. Situated just a few miles north of the Illinois / Wisconsin border just a short drive off Interstates 90 / 43. While home to only a few hundred residents, the weekend before the 4th of July brings thousands from surrounding bigger cities & towns in the area. There are tractor pulls, softball tournaments, a carnival, parade, flea market, raffles, and the best fireworks display in the region. Held in Sweet-Allyn Park, a centerpiece of the park was the historic Shopiere Dam. Built in the mid 1800s as functioning provider of electricity, since the 1960s it has been abandoned by the owner. The dam, on Turtle Creek, is not a part of the park, and signs are posted that it is private property. Sheriffs deputies don't do anything about trespassers since the owner - now living in Florida - doesn't complain (remember it was abandoned). The dam, fallen into disrepair, was still an attraction for thrillseeking teens, adults and children. There was a gentle "pool" at the top of the dam. The dam itself served as a huge diving platform and the churning, swirling waters below was fun to play in as well. Thesummer months would always find people swimming. Wearing all manner of casual summer dress - actual swimsuits to shorts, T-shirts, jeans, pants, socks & shoes. (Shoes were often a necessity as rocks and broken beer bottles often were at the bottom of the creekbed.) The 4th of July Celebration featured hundreds of participants - more often than not deciding to go swimming just because everybody else is. Not having brought a bathing suit wearing what they wore that day. Alas, the DNR has declared the dam unsafe and, lacking an owner to come forward and make repairs, decided to tear it down. Ten years later, that section of Turtle Creek still has not been used as a swimming hole. But many fond memories of swimming clothed on a hot summer day remain.