Glen Ridge Community Pool opens on weekends until school ends June 18

The Glen Ridge Community Pool is now open and will be only on weekends until school ends Thursday, June 18. Returning is the manager, Jodie Schnack, and her assistants, Patricia Drudy and Robert Silvera, and a newcomer, Yolanda Grbic.

Altogether, the pool has a big staff, mostly Glen Ridge students. That is why the pool is part time until school closes and the summer help is released on an unsuspecting borough.

“We have probably well over 100 people working here,” Silvera said. “Last year, I believe we had 95 to start and 90 during the summer. Now, for employment, there’s a waiting list.”

All the managers are teachers, except for Silvera, who is a retired principal, so they are all used to being around children. And if a parent should come by with their child’s working papers or want to know when their child is working during the week, Silvera will later remind the hire that working at the pool is not their mother’s summer job, but theirs, so don’t have mom do these things.

The pool has a brand new deck and ramps, which were installed at the end of March.

“We also have a new vacuum to clean the pool bottom,” Silvera said, “and it primes itself. Before you know it, you’re vacuuming the pool. We do it a couple times a week. The life guards can do it once the pool opens.”

There will also be two swim meets. On those days, the pool will close at 5 p.m. Swimming lessons are for two weeks, four times a week, in age levels. There are only five people per class and the teacher will have an assistant in the water at all times. There are also private lessons. Only members can join swimming classes.

“This is my 13th year and it hasn’t been so crowded that we didn’t need members,” Silvera said. “Even after COVID, people came back.”

An initiative that began at the end of last summer will continue this year and that is Library Day. This will happen twice during the summer. Anyone with a Glen Ridge Public Library card has free entry to the pool.

The library is also providing pool passes, from July 6 to Aug. 14. This is a once-a-season pass to a person 18 or older and four guests. The pass cannot be used on weekends.

“This will be the first full season for that pass,” Silvera said. “It can get a little crazy. We don’t ever know who the people are, but I think it’ll work out great. National Night Out is another day people can get in for free. But people still try to sneak in.”

There are now plenty of tables with umbrellas.

“We used to run out all the time,” Silvera said. “We only had 16 tables when we got the new tables. Now we have 31 tables.”

Lightning or the threat of it will close the pool. But the borough has installed a lightning detector at Hurrell Field.

“It detects lightning in a 10-mile radius,” Silvera said. “Jodie gets a signal. If there’s lightning within 10 miles, we close the pool down. The detector kicked in last year.”

He also said, because borough schools open before Labor Day and practically all the pool managers will be behind desks, the pool will be closed Aug. 31 to Sept 4.

“But we’re open Sept. 5, 6 and 7,” Silvera said. “Labor Day is Sept. 7. Then we close for the summer. We depend on the kids for workers.”