Pools free this weekend

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther waived the $1 per person entrance fees at city pools Saturday and Sunday to combat the weekend heat.

“We want to do all we can to help residents stay cool during this extreme hot weather,” Ginther said Friday in a news release. “City pools are a good way to beat the heat.”

City pools and splash pads will be open to the public for normal hours, from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. Five community centers will also be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.: Barnett Community Center; Beatty Community Center; Marion Franklin Community Center; Westgate Community Center and Whetstone Community Center. goers are allowed to bring in coolers with nonalcoholic beverages and are reminded to hydrate even before becoming thirsty.

For the pitmasters preparing the meat, the heat is nothing new. Kreig Rowe, an owner of Bad Wolf Barbecue, from Kansas City, Missouri, originally but now operating out of Ontario, said Bad Wolf cooked at Canada Day in Toronto last year. He said the heat index reached 52 degrees Celsius, which is upwards of 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

“They were comparing it to Egypt,” Rowe said. “It was absolutely deadly.”

Rowe keeps his crew energized with loud music and ice-cold drinks to make it through the long days in front of the grill.

But for Wyatt Douglas, who has been working at Bad Wolf for about six months, overcoming the heat is simply a mental game.

“I love pointing to people and dancing,” Douglas said. “It’s about keeping people happy.”