Times Advocate, 1992-07-15, Page 58Page 26
Times -Advocate, July 15, 1992
Lifeguards tend to the Grand Bend beach rain or shine
By Michelle Ellison
T -A Staff
GRAND BEND - Spending eight
hours a day sitting on the Grand
Bend beach for two months out of
the summer may seem like paradise
to most, but for five young people
it's a job and it's not as lackadaisi-
cal as it appears.
Everyday, rain or shine, 20 peo-
ple or 20,000 people, captain Greg
Strum, Byron Kivell, John Grego-
ry, Debbie Reidy and Mike McCut-
chen take their posts fmm 11:00
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to keep the beach
as safe a place as possible for wa-
ter lovers in the lakeside village
from late June to Labour Day.
Although this summer hasn't re-
quired a rescue, Kivell says that
during his five years with the team
usually 15 swimmers are pulled
from Lake Huron in their survey-
ing area each summer with the
most rescues occurring on August
weekends.
"The thing that makes me most
nervous is that the sand bar is so
off shore and it's so wide," says Ki -
yell as he explains most near -
drowning incidents occur when a
'swimmer doesn't realize he has
swam past the sand bar and panics
when he can no longer touch bot
tom.
Besides being there to aid tmu -
bled swimmers, the team has other
responsibilities simply to deter any
problems. A pontoon motor boat
patrols the outer edge of the swim-
ming area on busy days to be sure
jet skis and boats remain outside
the buoys and swimmers inside on
The Grand Bend beach patrol is on the beach every day for eight hours, rain or shine. This
year's crew consists of, at back, left, John Gregory, Byron Kivell and captain Greg Sturm. At
front !eft is Debbie Reidy and Mike McCutchen. Below, the marine forecast helps the life-
guards determine which coloured flag to hang for the day.' Here, Byron Kivell hangs a yellow
flag to indicate caution should be taken if entering the water.
Sipka by Annie Morenz
SHIPKA - About 70 attended
the annual Pickering reunion held
Sunday at Shipka Community
Centre.
Relatives came from areas of
London, Zurich, Forest, Dash-
wood, Parkhill, Arva, Nairn and
Shipka area.
Eva Taylor was re-elected presi-
dent.
Personals
Hugh and Annie Morenz were
Sunday dinner guests at their neph-
ew's, Ernest and Ann Morenz at
their summer cottage at Camp Ip-
perwash.
Laura Miller, of Dashwood is
presently a patient at South Huron
Hospital, Exeter.
Birthday wishes this week to
Ken Baker.
' Hugh and Annie Morenz called
at the O'Connor Funeral Home,
Saturday night to pay their re-
spects to the late Alvin Lavery,
who was killed in a bike accident
last week in London. Their son
Bill and Alvin have been close
[rends since school days, and Bill
served as one of the pallbearers at
his funeral held Sunday.
Lorne and Dorothy Fenner, at-
tended the Harlon reunion held
last Sunday at the home of John
and Pat Hannon, near Granton.
Relatives caste from areas of Lon-
don, Sarnia, Cartwright, Barrie,
St. Marys, Lobo and Shipka.
About 55 attended the reunion
this year. Officers for 1993 are
president Kenneth Nicholson, sec-
retary John Harllon, sports com-
mittee Shirley Bannerman and
Willa Harding.
the sand bar.
At the beginning of each day and
throughout it as well, the guards
utilize the marine forecast to deter-
mine which flag is up at all times.
The beach is also kept 'free of
glass and animals to make every-
one's day at the beach more enjoya-
ble and the crew constantly scans
the beach for over sleepers who
may acquire sun stroke or fah' lie.
All of the guards have worked at
swimming pools in the past and
McCutchen explains that besides
Bronze Medallion and National
Life Service Certificate with pool
option needed for pool guarding,
NLS with waterfront option and
current CPR and first aid training
were needed to qualify them as
beach lifeguards.
This is Reidy and McCutchen's
first experience guarding on the
beach and both say they made the
switch for a change of pace.
"1 did it for the challenge. A
pool is pretty straightforward,"
says McCutchen.
"It's something different. To get
away from the pool," adds Reidy
who is the first female guard to be
on the patrol in many years.
Sturm, who has returned for his
second year as captain, is quick to
point out "It's a big adjustment go-
ing from pool guarding to beach
guarding." He says because of the
wide area to cover, response time is
slower and each member of the
team must rely on each other more,
making communication between
guards of primary importance on a
beach.
"If one person goes in, everyone
goes in until the first guard in gives
the O.K. signal," explains Reidy.
The arca of beach to cover iry
Grand Bend has varied in the past
few years with the Archie Gibbs
beach settlement. Last summer,
Sturm says, an agreement couldn't
be made between the village and
Gibbs as to guarding procedures.
Thus, although the waterfront of
Gibbs' beach, south of the bath
house, was the responsibility of the
guards, the beach itself wasn't.
Without a chair there, however,
Sturm says, "We didn't feel safe
guarding the beach," because the
distance was too great from the
nearest chair to the pier.
With almost half of the rescues
that occurred last summer being in
front of Gibbs' beach, he and the
village agreed to have a chair in-
stalled this summer.
One difficulty of the job, admit
the guards is portraying the proper
image while on duty. This includes
professional procedures as well as
appropriate dress.
"It's almost half the job; how peo-
ple perceive us," says Gregory.
Thus, the crew is pleased to be
sponsored by Archie's Beach Co. in
Grand Bend who provided match-
ing uniforms including wind break-
ers, shorts, t -shirts and hats.
Another hazard of the job is the
sun's damaging rays. Hawaiian
Tropic has attempted to curtail this
problem for the guards by supply-
ing thein with sunscreen and after
sun lotions.
The disappointing weather this
summa has made for long days at
the beach for the guards as they
only change posts every two and a
half hours, and Sturm insists 'Td
rather have it hoppin' down here.
When it's raining I hate 11'
The lack of people has meant Zack
of action for the guards but McCut-
chen says, "If something happened
I'd be prepared for it." He also ad-
mits that from a safety stand point
"I hope 1 don't sec any action this
summer."
Debbie Reidy is the first female lifeguard to be a part of the
Grand Bend team for years. Here, she communicates by walk-
ie-talkie to another team member down the beach.
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