The thing about working in the recreation department was that we had to participate in tons of events. The job was more then just coaching, teaching, and saving lives. That was only about 80% of the job. The other percent was spent on various activities and events. We had a Recreation Leader III, at the pool who was responsible for planning these activities as well as running the front desk. Veronica did a great job, despite having a staff that thought of all it nonsense.
Each year the senior center did an activity where they visited each center in the rec department. That meant that each department had to come up with something that fit the theme. One year it was a cruise. The seniors boarded a van disguised as a cruise ship and traveled to various ports. Veronica had us as Hawaii. It was winter by then and in the winter we became an indoor pool by raising a bubble over our facility. This is Sharon, my co-worker and good friend, greeting the cruisers as they came into the bubble, stamping their passports and adorning them with leis.
Inside the bubble the cruisers sat while we put on a show. Veronica had Hawaiian music playing and they feasted on Hawaiian food and punch while we entertained them. We were all dressed in grass skirts and leis. This picture is of Chris, one of the guards, entertaining the crowd by canoeing. We had tons more fun with that canoe once everyone left.
One of our lifeguards, Bill, performed cliff diving for the cruisers. He did various flips and dives off the diving board for their entertainment. Each year the city did these activities we would be annoyed at what they thought the pool was suppose to provide, but each year Veronica came up with something that really did fit the theme. We didn't have much to work with in facilities, but we made up for it with our goofy staff.
Christmas brought "Christmas under the Bubble". We all helped make these wooden ornaments that decorated the outside of the bubble. Inside we had Santa Claus and cookies. One year my male boss dressed up as the Santa Claus, but I worried and worried that the little kids that we taught to swim would recognize him and the whole thing would blow up in our faces. I was stressed that the image of Santa Larry would scar them for life. I decided that sunglasses would help and we scrambled to find big enough sunglasses. The only pair that really obscured his face was my pair. So he ended up wearing my sunglasses that had a picture of a duck in the corner and it read, "Shit happens." No one ever noticed. As for me, that was when I truly saw the magic of Santa as the kids didn't think a thing about Santa being anybody, but who they believed in.
The city rec department also put on yearly activities every few months or so that we were required to work. We were also the only facility that didn't close so many times we did a shift at the pool and then a shift at the event. Sharon and I use to work the night shift at the pool, which closed at 9:00 pm and then we would clean up and work at the Toronto Blue Jays stadium for Oktoberfest until almost 1:00 in the morning and do it all over again the next day. This picture above is from our Spring Festival, but we also had Happy Holly Daze, a Halloween Hayride, and Oktoberfest. The Spring Festival didn't last but a few years and then we just did refreshments and entertainment for an annual Art Show.
The pool back then only closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. The rest of the time we were open. I spent many an Easter at the pool watching one or two people swim. They never made their money on those holidays they stayed open, but they stayed open anyhow. We did everything back then. We cleaned the bathrooms. We worked on the grounds. We did pool maintenance, although we did have a maintenance man that did the majority of that. We had to work the parties when a company would rent our outdoor shelters and the pool. One afternoon after running around on golf carts emptying nasty bags of trash for a company of over 1,000 people, as well as rescuing nine people who were drunk and drowning, my co-worker made us all signs that we pinned on the back of our shirts that read, "We scrub bathrooms, we clean trash, we pull weeds, we save lives." Our main boss, who resided in a trailer across the field from the pool, was not amused. She was the Special Events Coordinator for the city and she was responsible for the pool. She took her job running the pool very seriously.
We? Not so much. If we had to paint the lifeguard room in between teaching and saving lives then we had fun doing it. Bill, above, was not so amused when Sharon missed the wall here, however. One year the pool was closed for three days for the pool to be re-tiled and re-marcited. The company took longer then expected so the city made them work through the night using our lights as a guide. Because they were there at night we had to be there too. We had to take shifts to cover the two days of 24 hours that the workers were there. One night Sharon and I had the overnight shift with Mickey, our maintenance man. We slept on pool loungers in the guard room while Mickey would try to scare us. The next day I worked in the afternoon where we had to rescue one of the workers who ended up with heat stroke. It was never dull.
Again, a Halloween photo of my evening deep water walking class. Veronica never let a holiday pass without us doing something at the pool.
It was a fun job. There were moments when we weren't thrilled with things, but for the most part we all got along and enjoyed what we were doing. I miss it.
Geez, to say you have worked at pools all your life is an understatement! You probably have chlorine running through your veins! Obviously you have had many good times working at various pools. By the way, love all the costumes:)
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