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Town Park Pool opens

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 7 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Alyssa Africa, 7, was the first to dive into the Town Park Pool this season. The pool opened on the first day of summer.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Alyssa Africa, 7, was the first to dive into the Town Park Pool this season. The pool opened on the first day of summer. For a full story and more images, see Pages A4,5.

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Jakob Spencer, 11, plunges into the water after going down the slide at Town Park Pool while lifeguard Alex Greenald supervises.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Jakob Spencer, 11, plunges into the water after going down the slide at Town Park Pool while lifeguard Alex Greenald supervises.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Jamie Vidmar ties the face covering for Emily Joyce while Emily Calvert fixes her fit before they start their work shifts at Town Park pool. Joyce has been a lifeguard since age 15 while Vidmar and Joyce are assistant managers at the Canonsburg facility.

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Jamie Vidmar, Emily Calvert and Emily Joyce display the specially designed face coverings the guards and managers will wear while working at Town Park pool this summer.

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Eleanor Bailey

Jamie Vidmar, Emily Calvert and Emily Joyce prepare for their lifeguarding shift at Town Park pool.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Patrons soak their feet in the water while reading books at Town Park pool

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Rick and Georgia Irwin wear masks while social distancing at Town Park pool. Masks are required when swimmers are not in the water, and patrons are advised to stay six feet from one another.

Eleanor Bailey

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Charlotte Black, 2, enjoys the duck slide with her mother, Krista Streyle, during opening day at Town Park Pool in Canonsburg.

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Charlotte Black, 2, enjoys the duck slide with her mother, Krista Streyle, during opening day at Town Park Pool in Canonsburg.

CANONSBURG – Alyssa Africa and Chris Thompson shrieked for two very different reasons, but both were thrilled that on the first day of summer they had someplace to swim.

Alyssa, 7, was delighted to have been the first to leap off the diving board and enter Town Park pool in Canonsburg.

“I don’t know how excited I am,” she said while jumping up and down with enthusiasm. “I come here all the time.” Alyssa added that on July 5, her birthday, she will once again have a pool party to celebrate.

Thompson, meanwhile, tepidly dipped her toe into the water. Once she adjusted to the temperatures, she aimless floated on the brilliant blue-tinged water, aided by an inner tube.

“It’s a little bit chilly,” she said, “but I am just so happy the pool is open and it’s a nice sunny day. It feels great. I am definitely grateful to all the people that enabled this to happen. We really didn’t think it was going to.

“That was probably the saddest part of my summer. What were we going to do with no swimming pool if they decided it couldn’t be opened?”

Borough officials, the manager, the park board and a committee worked in concert and decided that by following strict guidelines the pool indeed could open during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It very much took a lot of hard work. A lot of people contributed a great deal from guidelines to signs to staffing for everything to come into place and for this to happen,” said Councilman Rich Russo.

“We are very excited and we couldn’t have asked for a better day,” continued Russo, who is also the president of the park and recreation board. “Crowd-wise it looks like an average day. Somewhere in between what we thought it would be. I don’t think we will have to worry too much about the maximum. We should be fine.”

With a high of 82 degrees and a mainly sunny afternoon, Town Park pool welcomed approximately 180 guests. Centers for Disease Control guidelines permit for gatherings no larger than 250.

“It was a very smooth first day,” said Adam Manion, who has been the pool director for the past three seasons.

“We have put our best efforts forth to provide a comfortable and safe summer for our residents and I’m confident that by opening the pool this provides a little normalcy for those who have been locked away for all these months. We have the capability and opportunity to provide the public with a great summer.”

There are just a few guidelines:

  • Facial coverings are required for all guests when they enter the pool and are seated in the grassy areas but not while in the water. Employees must also don masks.
  • Physical distancing is promoted by markings around the facility.
  • Patrons are permitted to bring lounge chairs and flotation devices but they are not to be shared.
  • Handrails, slides and diving boards as well as the picnic area will be cleaned and sanitized throughout the normal operating hours of noon to 6 p.m.

“Honestly, I don’t think there are any concerns,” said assistant manager Jamie Vidmar. “We are following all of the (CDC) rules and guidelines very closely. Paying attention to everything,” she emphasized. “I am excited the pool is open and things are going very well so far.”

Vidmar, who has worked at the pool for four years, and Emily Calvert, who is also an assistant manager, feel the biggest change and challenge is getting everybody to wear masks and being OK with that mandate.

“Definitely wearing the mask is the biggest change, and people are probably not stoked about that, but we need to do it to keep everybody safe,” said Calvert. “It’s nice we can open and have a little bit of normalcy for the families and community here. We have to do what we have to do to stay safe and follow guidelines that are given.

“Honestly, it’s not really going to be that hard to manage because a lot of people coming to the pool have been here before. There are a lot of families. Everybody already knows the rules. We will get the hang of that.”

Emily Joyce agreed. At 15, she was the youngest lifeguard at Town Park pool four summers ago. She thinks enforcing the mask rule will be a challenge for the managers. They will be the ones to “enforce” the guideline because the lifeguards’ duties are “making sure we keep our eyes on the pool. Safety is the most important thing.”

“When you think about it, July and August get really hot, and wearing a mask is not easy,” continued Joyce, who will attend Duquesne University in the fall. “It’s hard to breath sometimes. So just getting people to keep their masks on when not in pool might be the hardest because it might be a little bit uncomfortable. Obviously though we need to follow that, and we are going to enforce that. It’s something we might keep repeating.”

Councilman Russo noted the citizens who attended opening day didn’t need reminders. All those lined up to pay the daily admission fee to enter the facility already had their faces covered.

“That is a good sign. Nobody is walking in saying, ‘I’m not wearing one. I don’t want one.’ Looks like everybody is complying. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue, and I don’t think it’s the hardest rule to enforce.

“I don’t think there are going to be any hard rules because the general feeling is everybody is so excited to get out and do something now. This is something positive.”

Most patrons who swam at Town Park pool agreed.

“It’s safe, absolutely, but you still have to use precautions like the social distancing,” said Georgia Irwin, a pool regular with her husband, Rick. “We feel safe, and we are very excited the pool is open.”

Michelle Africa added she was grateful politicians made a way for the children to be outside this summer. She has teenage boys as well as a 7-year-old daughter.

“I feel 100% safe. It’s outside. I think people here have common sense and the more we are out in nature and in the heat the better we are going to be mentally, spiritually and socially,” Africa said.

Thompson predicted she and her 13-year-old daughter, Ella, will use the pool often. In the past, the East Enders have been regular pass holders. She understands, however, why older people and those with compromised immune systems might stay away.

“I am fine with those who may not feel comfortable in coming here, but I feel like it’s a safe place to come though. Particularly the young kids like my daughter and her friends,” she said. “It’s a great place to hang out.”

Even if the temperatures haven’t quite warmed up yet.

“It’s kind of cold,” said Jakob Spencer, 11, “but it’s fun being back in the pool.”

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