“LIFE”-GUARDING THE FUTURE/HOW A GROUP OF YOUNG LIFEGUARDS ARE LEAVING THEIR MARK ON HISTORIC FAIR PARK POOL

Sitting behind the window at the Fair Park pool on a sunny Thursday was a teenager, whose smile was bright as that sun outside as she welcomed swimmers and in this case, an older man, his wife, and two way-excited grandchildren bouncing to jump in the inviting waters for the first time.

 

The young girl behind the window is one of a special group of lifeguards this year at the historic Fair Park Pool, providing an inclusive atmosphere meant to nurture behavior and turn social interactions into possible life-changing futures.

 

This may seem like a simple story about a local swimming pool, but it’s much more than that. It’s a fun look back at the history, but it quite possibly could serve as a calling for the next generation. It may mean local lifeguards becoming effective leaders, organizers, volunteers, and overall humans who bring good into this area of the world.

 

Now for memory “lane”: Did you know that the Fair Park Pool is the oldest operating swimming pool in the state?

 

Did you know it was actually the second official swimming pool in the Fair Park? Constructed in 1948, it replaced a much smaller swimmin’ hole. If one has ever wondered what’s that big hump just behind the tennis courts, that’s the first pool underneath a lot of dirt.

 

There’s also the folklore of water skiing during one summer night. Try and deconstruct how that could happen.

 

One of the more notable lifeguards from the past is David Watkins, who later joined other Hope natives Bill Clinton and Mack McClarty in Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential bid. Another well-known former lifeguard would be Hope Bobcats star and long-time Hope Mayor Dennis Ramsey.

 

The Fair Park pool has played host to so many memorable gatherings from church youth ice-cream socials, to birthday celebrations, and just about any reason to gather together, swim, laugh, maybe get to know a certain someone a bit better. Some days, the smell of hamburgers cooking under the pavilion nearby and a couple of ice-cream churns turning under the strain of a youngster still remain clear to many who lived here.

 

Brittany Bobo is that smiling teenager at the front window who, on this day, served as primary spokesperson for the current group of lifeguards. She has an affectious enthusiasm in her role at the pool after a not-so-pleasant experience in her first job try.

 

“My first workplace almost ruined my perception of what a job should be,” Bobo stated with a downward look. “I made it six months.

 

“Then when I came here, the greatest boss changed everything. I can be myself and I have someone who believes in me.”

 

Bobo and the crew don’t believe that guarding is mostly blowing a whistle high atop a stand, lording over misbehaving kids not much younger than themselves.

 

“We are excited to be with the kids every day,” she beamed. “There were kids who didn’t know how to swim when they first came here and my boyfriend and I would work with them individually, and now they are jumping off of the diving board and swimming in the deep end.

 

“It really warms my heart to know that because of us, we were helping them. We feel like we are investing in them in some way,” noted Bobo

 

“There’s one child who comes up here that I love. He’s about 12 and when I go away and eventually come back next summer or some day, I want to know his name means something in this town, by making something of himself even though he’s from a tough background.”

 

Those are big words and high hopes from one teenager who is just a few steps down the road of life to another who might avoid some of the potholes because of her gentle friendship.

 

“Where else are you going to get a “baby-sitter” for six hours for only $3 dollars,” Bobo questioned with a smile. “If I were a parent of a swimmer, I’d rather leave my child with us instead of possibly a baby-sitter in a questionable situation.”

 

With the coming of every swim season, comes the challenges of outsiders who find fun in bullying, vandalism and making a good thing bad. This year, however, it seems different.

 

“We’ve had less “issues” this year,” Bobo said.  “The more we enforce our rules, it becomes a place for kids and families to come and, have a safe…place… to have…FUN,” she says with a stern “we mean it” smile.

 

In a way, Bobo and the others have taken a virtual “ownership” of the pool. It’s theirs. To keep clean, maintained, safe, and to provide a place to make memories.

 

“We have been painting this summer and some of our handprints are on the concrete outside, but we’d like to paint our handprints and leave our names and the year we were here because we have literally put blood, sweat and tears into this place,” Bobo said. “I would love to come back in 20 years, maybe with my child, and tell them I helped this place.”

 

“We are investing in future generations.” Bobo says.

 

Wisdom beyond her years. There’s real hope for the future population.

 

The waters of the pool are also being utilized in the early morning hours on weekdays as any from the senior set can come, ease into the calm waters and gently exercise muscles that have seen more difficult days. And just to make it really enticing, the first lesson is free.

 

Overseeing this unique group of lifeguards in their unique situation is Recreation Director and “Acting” Pool Director Melanie Griffith, new to the job by only three months. Her job is to bring a new outlook and perspective while keeping the Fair Park a place to visit on occasion or year-round.

 

“They weren’t sure if they wanted a Recreation Director or not,” Griffith explained on how she landed the new job. “My own kids are so involved with baseball and softball and other sports and I’m at the park all the time, so I applied and here I am. I’m so excited.”

 

Meeting Griffith for the first time is sort of like opening a fresh bottle of club soda with a bubbly personality and enthusiasm that comes right to the top, which will be a win with visitors to the park.

 

“It’s just me,” she says with a laugh. “I just make the best of everything I guess.”

 

With the pool, it’s a matter of tending to a facelift of a 73-year-old facility.

 

“That’s what I’m trying to go for,” Griffith noted. “This place needed an uplift. It’s not the big things to look over, let’s take care of the small things first, to make better and freshen up and upgrade. I’m very proud and want this place to be nice.”

 

There are new additions on the horizon to the pool area that is sure to be popular among families and primarily the kiddos.

 

“First, we plan to replace the high diving board with a new slide,” Griffith noted. “We are looking for a possible splash pad in the very near future too.

 

“We also want to take the old “kiddie pool” area and put a pavilion up, add a sand box and keep it entirely shaded for folks with little ones.”

 

You read it here first.

 

The “recreation” of Recreation Director means getting involved with kids of all ages and all backgrounds in the area, and more specifically, children who may not have a ride to the pool, or maybe no one else at home and walk over from nearby to spend time in a safe zone.

 

“I have a special Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday program here and at Northside Park for the kids,” said Griffith.

 

“We have various agencies such as the fire department, police and sheriffs department,  and game and fish, that come and present programs. We have a lot of activities and games such as Baggo and basketball, then we feed lunch here at the pavilion. We owe a big thanks to the Hope School Department for providing our lunches.

 

And on Thursdays, they add swimming to their activities for the day which draws upward of 40 kids.

 

But, there’s an underlying goal tied to all this “recreation”. Griffith and these experiences start building a base with the children as they return again and again, learning social roles, maybe finding someone to actually look up to and then maybe be a leader to other kids to come to in the future.

 

Many believe a lot of things seem like they are going wrong in this world, this is a small something that is going right.

 

Griffith says she’s blessed to have such a great group of lifeguards for her first year as “acting” Pool Director.

 

“They are buying into this,” she says. “They are so eager. When I say, ‘this is an idea’ or ‘this is what I want to do’, they are just full force.”

 

It’s time to start a new chapter in the story of this pool which was an attraction before there were any other real attractions in this wonderful gift called the Hope Fair Park.

 

And no, there is no way of knowing how many bottles of sunscreen have been applied before splashing in the water over these years.

 

For more information on all things regarding the Fair Park and Fair Park Pool, call the park office at 870-777-7500.