Former lifeguards reminisce

FRANKLIN — Away from the Franklin Nite activities, former members of the Franklin Pond lifeguard contingent held a reunion Saturday in the old lifeguard house. Located to the right of the dam, the guard house served as a locker and storage room for the guards.

“The beach was very popular,” said Matt Edwards of Hardyston, formerly of Franklin. “Weekends we would have 150 people on the beach.” A lifeguard from 1974 thru 1976, Edwards described the facility this way: “The bottom of the pond sloped out to the ropes marking the edge of the safe area for non-swimmers. It was a gentle slope until you get out about 15 to 20 feet. Then it went down to the deepest, about 25 feet, but most of it was 10 to 15 feet deep.”

Capable swimmers could go past the ropes and swim out to one of two rafts, called first raft and second raft, anchored in the pond. Reaching the rafts for the first time was a rite of passage for Bill Truran of Hamburg. “First raft was about 25 to 30 feet out,” said Truran, who is now well-known as a local historian. “That was, to me, a big accomplishment to get to first raft. It showed I could swim.” Truran went on to be a lifeguard during the summers of 1969 and 1970.

Another raft was anchored about 40 feet from the shore. Swimming out to second raft “was another accomplishment,” he said.

Diving
After beginner swimmers reached the rafts they could pursue thrills in the vertical dimension. “After they learned to swim they got to jump off the diving board,” said Edwards. “It was about 15 feet high.” One more challenge awaited — the high diving board. Estimates by the reunited guards varied slightly but the board was about 20 feet high. “I still remember my younger sister, Rosemary, dove off the high dive when she was 5 years old,” said Georgeanna Lewis, a lifeguard from 1961 and 1962, formerly of Lake Stockholm and currently of Jefferson. She recalled that the height of the leap did not upset her sister but a wardrobe malfunction did. “The main thing that bothered her was the strap on her bathing suit broke,” said Lewis. “That upset her.”

The beach itself is buried under a berm. “The beach was graduated,” said Mike Krupa, Director of Recreation and Water Safety Supervisor from 1964 to 1976. “What you see now is not the beach. This was all filled in because they had a major storm and they were afraid it was going to spill over on the road. (George Labance Lane). It was a very gentle slope into the water.”

Fond memories
“We had a gorgeous facility,” said John Scott of Franklin, a guard from 1974 to 1976.

“The town would bring in sand every spring and we would spread it out,” Edwards said. The local mines added their part to beautifying the beach. “It wasn’t really sand, it was tailings from the mine,” Truran said. The limestone tailings were finely crushed into very white, ma-nmade sand. The guards were responsible for the daily maintenance of the facility. “We had to rake the beach every morning.”

The water near the beach was kept clear of weeds by the swimming activity itself. “To keep most of the weeds out we had a net to catch the algae floating on the surface,” Edwards said. “The water temperature was usually about 69 to 75 degrees. Sometimes it got up to 78 but not very often.”

The guards had to keep a close eye out for any swimmers in distress. Truran described the water as “cold but dark water. It is clearer now than it used to be.”

The guards were of at least 17 years old and Red Cross certified. Lewis started taking basic swimming lessons and advanced all the way to her lifeguard certificate. “My grandmother insisted we all come down the mountain and get our certificates."

The beach was open from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. and it could get very busy. “Night time was very popular,” said Edwards. “It was busiest from 4 to 8 p.m. There were at least two people on duty at any given day. In the middle of the day when it was busy, especially weekends, there were four people on.” The crowd grew as the day went on. “When the parents got home from work they came right down here with the kids.” The children especially wanted to keep as cool as possible for as long as possible.

“I had to tell the kids to get out at 8 p.m.”

The lack of waves, tides or currents did not mean the guards were any less dedicated to their job than their ocean beach counterparts. “We had guard meetings every two weeks,” said Krupa. “Going over the program, what we did wrong, what we could do to improve it. We had wonderful staff members.”

Snacks and socialization
Visitors could buy hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and ice cream from a concession stand set back from the beach. The money was put back into the recreation budget.

Visitors did not have to wear their soggy swimsuit home. “We had a change house in the middle of the beach and we had a wading pool," Scott said. “The water (in the pool) would come from the lake into the pool and back out again,” explained Krupa.

Lifeguarding has been deeply ingrained in Krupa. “I can’t go swimming at the Jersey shore,” he said. “I can’t relax and enjoy myself. I’m always looking around for swimmers needing help.” The other former lifeguards nodded in agreement.

At the end of the three-hour long reunion the former Franklin Pond lifeguards checked the water one more time and walked away.

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