Swimming pool staff has made the best out of a bad situation

LAUREL — Swimming and summertime go hand-in-hand, but some special challenges had to be met this year in order for the local pool to open.

The Laurel City Pool opened for the summer on June 10 with Delaney Ehlers and Makayla Forsberg co-managing the facility. Ehlers and Forsberg completed lifeguard training classes that included First-Aid and CPR, as well as training and testing for a pool operator’s license. Both ladies, if they choose to continue managing the pool, will have to renew their education every two years.

The Directed Health Measures in place by the State of Nebraska meant a new protocol for daily operations at the pool.

Patrons from the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge district were allowed in upon completion of a signed waiver and having their temperature taken before entry into the pool. Increased sanitation measures were put into place along with limited capacity in the bath house.

The new protocols have not kept everyone out of the pool. On an average, 50 patrons show up each day for a dip. 70 children ages 5 and above participated in swimming lessons given by Star Smith and Ashley Wolfgram.

Amidst the new roles and practices, the morale of managers and staff have remained on a positive note.

The co-managers said they have had a great experience their first summer.

“My favorite part about being a lifeguard is interacting with people, especially the younger kids,” Forsberg said.

Ehlers agreed, saying, “getting to interact with people and seeing kids have fun every day has been great.”

The duo leads a team of six other guards: Megan Forsberg, Kinsey Hall, Jadyn Kinkaid, Trace Naeve, Jordynn Urwiler, and Freya Young.

The crew works together well and are enjoying their roles.

“My coworkers are pretty fun.” Ehlers said,

Forsberg said one managerial duty has been relatively easy this year — scheduling.

“With everything going on this year and lack of activities, scheduling has been pretty simple.”

The pool is scheduled to be open through August.

See Page eight for a photo of the 2020 staff.

Stay in the know!

To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or  in the Google Play Store.