City takes the plunge: Pools offer reprieve from the heat
By Victoria Scavo
Monday, June 19, 2006 - Updated: 10:02 AM EST
Local children had a cool alternative to ice cream as an early summer scorcher’s treat yesterday when the city opened five pools nearly three weeks ahead of schedule.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino opened the pools, which usually don’t open until the Fourth of July, as an escape from the extreme heat. Menino visited the Perkins Community Center pool in Dorchester where some kids were making a splash.
“This will take the edge off (and) keep tempers down,” said Ellen Kelly, of West Roxbury, who brought her two kids to the Draper pool. “It makes for an early bedtime.”
Ellen Kelly’s 9-year-old daughter, Maeve, was excited to be splashing around with her friends.
“We were going to go to the beach but it was too hot out,” Maeve Kelly said. “We decided to come down here and play.”
“That’s what it’s all about,” Menino said as he officially opened the pools. “A place where kids can cool off, have some fun and enjoy themselves.”
Carlo, a lifeguard at the Mildred Avenue Community Center pool, who declined to give his last name, said kids were ready to hit the pool when the doors opened at noon.
“There were a few kids outside waiting to come in because they heard we were open,” Carlo said. “There have been families that have been taking advantage of this.”
“We like to go diving,” said Rachel Fernandez, who was using her goggles for an underwater swim while hanging out with Maeve Kelly and another friend, Alanna Stapleton at the West Roxbury pool.
Alanna Stapleton’s mother, Sheila, of West Roxbury, didn’t have to truck her three children to the beach or a pool on the other side of town.
“It was great today,” Shelia Stapleton said. “They had somewhere to go.”
The Mason pool in Roxbury and the Paris Street pool in East Boston were also open yesterday. Some of the pools were seeing a steady clientele of up to 30 to 50 swimmers at a time.
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Jhntay Newsome, left, and cousin Kyle Hill play in a sprinkler at Mildred Avenue Community Center’s playground yesterday. (Staff photo by Tim Correira)
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