Gift of summer
Many enjoy last weekend at City Pool
Splashing and laughter were abundant Saturday afternoon at the Porterville Public Pool as children and a few adults enjoyed one of the last days of swimming and playing at the city’s public swimming pool.
Jessica Plowman, visiting from Calaveras County, was at the pool Saturday with a friend and three children.
“We came early,” she said. “It’s so nice here. The park is here so we just got out, very convenient. We told the kids to go play and we can come right back.”
The two ladies packed plenty of food – from a whole pizza to fried chicken, chips and drinks in a rolling cooler for the day and had already planned on hitting both swim sessions with their three children, ages 6, 7, and 11.
“They allow food and drinks in here,” Plowman said. “It’s my first time here. It’s really clean, life guards are all attentive and it’s not crowded at all. It’s very nice.”
An approximate 60 to 75 people were at the pool on Saturday, said Liliana Reyes, manager of the city public pool.
“Families here have fun and are safe. And with this heat in the valley, this is a great place to escape to,” Reyes said. “Before the kids were back in school, we had four sessions daily. We were open 12 noon to 8:30 p.m. We were running a staff of 26 lifeguards and two cashiers.”
At that time, they were also averaging 130 to 150 people a day. The pool’s capacity is 280, she said, but because of COVID, the pool’s maximum was lowered to 175.
“Towards the middle of summer we would max out,” Reyes said. “But towards the end of the summer we get 60 to 75 people if that.”
The pool is cleaned between sessions.
“We pride ourselves in being accessible to a lot of kids and families,” Reyes said. “It’s a safe environment. We are great at extra cleaning every 90 minutes. But the facility itself is cleaned at all times. We encourage social distancing.”
The safety of the lifeguards are also taken into consideration.
“We rotate our lifeguards every 15 minutes,” Reyes said.
Tristin Bennett, 21, said she’s been a lifeguard for 5 years.
“We’re constantly scanning the pool,” said Bennett, adding the pool is divided into three zones
which overlap so there’s always two sets of eyes on each segment.
Bennett said lifeguards are constantly also looking at the bottom of the pool as well as looking at the outside.
“We’ve been really fortunate all summer,” Reyes said. “Everything has been running smoothly and we have not had any issues.”
As people leave, they frequently thank the staff, Reyes said.
“We’re always open to suggestions but most of the time, they just want to thank us for making sure everyone is safe,” Reyes said.
Hanna Roller, 13, and her friend Stephanie Ventura, 12, jumped from the diving board and went down the water slide a few times before heading to the shallow beach area to play under the water contraptions — an array of fountains and spouts, and water pails that filled with water, eventually dump the water over anyone brave enough to stand under it.
“We try to come as much as possible, Ventura said. “It’s a great way to get out of the heat.”
Nearby a young child jumped through the fountains.
“I come every now and then to bring the grandkids,” said Maria Viaz of Porterville. “Today I have two grandsons and am waiting on a third grandson with my daughter.”
Viaz said she thought the pool was closed for the season and saw online it was still open for one final weekend.
“We had already put our pool away so I asked my grandsons if they wanted to go to the pool for the day,” she said.
The answer was an enthusiastic yes.
“They love it and the weather right now is perfect,” Viaz said. “This is a great way to end the summer.”
Children and adults have one more day to enjoy the Porterville Public Pool at Murry Park. The pool is open today for two sessions: 1 to 2:30 p.m. and 3 to 4 p.m.