Organizers plan for a hassle-free season at Tobey Pond

By Veronica Burns

“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer.”

Okay, let’s rethink the beer, but with thoughts of summer come thoughts of Tobey Pond and swimming and Marco Polo and good fun in general. For those involved in organizing such activities, the goal is to make this season decidedly less contentious than last year.

Sarah Kasacek, chairman of the town’s Recreation Committee, is optimistic. “We are going to be all set for summer,” she says. Mary Bazzano, who chairs the Tobey Pond subcommittee, agrees. There will be eight lifeguards, with the possibility of two more subs, making a grand total of ten.

The biggest change will be a hike in pay for the lifeguards. Last summer lifeguards were receiving $8 an hour, below the rate in neighboring towns, according to Bazzano. Upping the pay should make the job more attractive and help avoid last year’s closings and swim class cancellations, which were due mainly to a manpower shortage.

“If you don’t have the lifeguards, you can’t open Tobey Pond,” says First Selectman Sue Dyer. “We wanted to resolve the pay situation as quickly as possible.” Approval for the pay hike came when the Recreation Committee met last month with the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance. “The new pay scale,” says Kasacek, “will be $10 an hour for the first year, and if the lifeguard returns the second year it will be $10.50 an hour. There will be a 50 cent incremental increase each year.”

The season last year was occasionally marred when parents and their kids disputed the way lifeguards interpreted their instructions. One such incident involved some children swimming underneath the large dock, a dangerous undertaking and a definite no-no. “We do need people to obey the rules,” says Dyer, while Kasacek says that this year the lifeguards will be thoroughly briefed on beachfront rules and etiquette.

Kasacek also understands the importance of keeping the pond open until the evening. “I know there are folks who don’t get home until six o’clock or later,” she says, “and I know that they would like to head to the pond for a swim. So we are looking into staying open until eight in the evening, at least for the busy part of the season.”

Tobey Pond, a gift from the Childs family to Norfolk, is a treasured resource, one that Dyer says, “we are lucky to have.” With the winter debris cleared away, the docks afloat and the sand raked, Norfolk should be ready to enjoy all that Tobey has to offer. So get ready to sing along with Nat King Cole, “you’ll wish that summer could always be here.” 

Photo, top, of the float at Tobey Pond still on the sand at the town beach, by Lloyd Garrison.