The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

As summer days get hotter, more and more kids are leaning toward public pools to cool off.

In our area, The Orchard Swimming Pool is one of the options to stay cool.

Erin Schwager, manager of the pool, said the staff and village officials weren't even sure if the pool was going to open this year.

"We didn't have many returning staff members, so we didn't have much experience coming into this. You have to be at least 15 to lifeguard and it was hard to find high school kids that wanted to be lifeguards over the summer," Schwager said.

They also faced the challenge of college-aged lifeguards staying in their college over the summer, and not being able to return home. Out of the guards from the year before, only three returned this year: Schwager, Taeyln Switzer and Brenna Wagner.

This year's team consists of Schwager; assistant managers Kylie McManigal, Switzer and Wagner, and lifeguards Preslie Robertson, Logan Eacker, Adrian Mejia, Madi Hampton, Derik Rix and Lizett Marino.

As much success the pool has experienced this season, with averaging at least 70 guests per day, they have encountered problems with the pool.

"Our pump had been making weird sounds all summer long and one day it decided to finally quit. We checked it out and saw that bearings in the pool had broken and (village officials) decided to buy a new pump for the same price of repairing it," said Schwager.

The new pump has been working "fantastically" and it no longer makes noises that are louder than the music lifeguards play at the pool.

Another roadblock the staff faced was closing the baby pool.

"The baby pool had been leaking and the chemicals wouldn't work right, so we couldn't open the baby pool. The town ultimately decided that we would just close it because it wasn't worth the hassle. There are rumors of the village wanting to put in a splash pad in the baby pool area, but nothing is set in stone," Schwager said.

The pool has reached maximum capacity during multiple events staff have hosted. The large numbers are attributed to the many areas the pool pulls from.

"Of course, we pull from the Summerland area, but we also have kids come from all over Nebraska and a few other states. We have had kids from Lexington, O'Neill, Plainview and have even taught swim lessons to kids from Wisconsin and Minnesota," said Schwager.

Especially with the aftermath of Covid-19, some parents prefer one-on-one swim lessons, instead of big group lessons.

The pool offers one-on-one lessons for levels one to seven, with one being basic skills for babies and toddlers and seven being

lifeguard training.

Schwager stated, "We have 30-minute sessions, starting at 9 a.m. and go until 9 p.m., with 10 kids a day per one lifeguard."

Wagner, Switzer and Schwager teach swim lessons.

Area residents might remember taking a bus called "The Swim Bus" to Orchard. It still exists.

"We have a swim bus that runs from Ewing to our pool every Tuesday and Thursday and is organized between the Orchard village clerk and the Ewing village clerk," Schwager said.

In addition to normal swim days and swim lessons, the pool also hosts special events to help the community celebrate.

"During Orchard Free Days, we had a free swim for anyone ,with KBRX and played dances and fun games with them. We also hosted a dive-in movie on July 25, where we watched "Luca" and "Rya and the Last Dragon," which brought a huge crowd of kids from all over. We also offer private parties for $50 and the Summerland Ball Association recently had a party here," said Schwager.

Staff members hope to host a midnight swim before the season ends and will be hosting a dog swim for pet lovers on the last day of the pool.

The pool will close for the season Aug. 26. It will be open from 1 to 5 p.m.