THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508020176
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
ON ANY OTHER sunny day, parents would shoo their kids out of the house to play.
But this day, 12-year-old Robbie P. Liberatore and a bunch of his friends are inside his home playing a board game. That's because it's noon, and the temperature has topped 90 degrees for the 15th day in a row.
The air conditioned comfort of Robbie's living room may be the safest place for the kids.
In Chesapeake, where there are no public pools, it can be tough to keep cool during heat waves. Residents who don't have access to neighborhood association pools, or can't afford to join a country club or the one YMCA in the city that has pools, must fend for themselves.
``It's kind of ironic that here in an area with so much water, we don't put more emphasis on swimming,'' said Capt. Don S. Zeagler, who heads the city Police Department's dive team. ``If some of our drowning victims could swim just 20 feet, they'd be alive today.''
Although it's strongly discouraged by rescue workers and health officials, some people try to escape the heat by heading for the water-filled borrow pits that dot the city, Zeagler said. Fortunately there have been no borrow pit drownings for the past three years, he said.
Zeagler said he hopes the streak lasts, but, ``With protracted heat spells, you can almost predict that you'll have a water-related accident.''
Chesapeake General Hospital has reported no increase in patients suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke, said hospital marketing director Karen R. Winters.
Meanwhile, creative methods for keeping cool are on the rise.
The city's recreation centers are scrambling to find programs that will keep body temperatures down and entertainment levels up, such as water balloon fights and ice cream sundae-making sessions.
More people also are hanging out in the air conditioned Central Library on Cedar Road, said library manager Charles H. ``Chuck'' Anderson.
``We have seen people coming here waiting for us to open first thing in the morning during the week, Monday through Friday,'' Anderson said. ``That usually only happens on the weekends.''
There's been an increase this summer in people joining the YMCA, said membership marketing director Katherine Dalton-Jones. People are looking to use the pools - particularly the outdoor one that opened in June 1993 - and the air-conditioned gymnasium and workout room, Dalton-Jones said.
``Our outdoor pool is very, very crowded,'' she said. ``And I'm sure it does have something to do with the fact that there aren't many other pools in Chesapeake. From the day it (the outdoor pool) opened, you could tell it was something the community was waiting for.''
On a sweltering day, perspiration on bathing suit-clad bodies and white cement around the Greenbrier Parkway YMCA's outdoor pool cast a glare, adding to the psychological effects of the heat. Nearby, the light blue water is choked with children and a few adults. Some have just parked themselves under a giant, synthetic mushroom that spouts water from its canopy.
``This is nothing,'' said Michelle D. Hall, 34, a Great Bridge resident surveying the packed pool from her lounge chair. ``In fact, they've got to put a ceiling of 350 people sometimes. . . because it gets too crowded.''
Hall said she grew up going to pools, and she joined the YMCA in part because she wanted her kids to have the same experience.
``The people who can't afford to join the Y don't have anywhere to go,'' she said. ``Put our tax dollars to work and give these people somewhere to go.''
Maureen F. Mitchell, 33, a Hickory resident watching her 6-year-old daughter play in the pool, said she often hops in the car and travels to other area cities to spend time at beaches or museums.
``Chesapeake, to me, seems to be just developing,'' she said. ``We don't mind getting in the car and driving.''
Many city residents, however, don't have that option.
Robbie Liberatore and his pals, for example, aren't old enough to drive. A couple of kids in their group belong to a country club or the YMCA, so they can all go to the pools sometimes.
But the guest fees get expensive, said Mari Lieberman, 41, a Greenbrier resident and member of the Greenbrier Country Club, who lets her sons take Robbie and other friends to the pool there.
Generally, the kids must find other ways to amuse themselves and keep cool.
Every day, they play board games or computer games for several hours. In a tree-shaded park behind the Greenbrier development where Robbie lives, they've created a nine-hole golf course and some nature trails. In another spot, they've built their own baseball diamond.
``We ride our bikes a lot,'' said Meghan K. Sheehy, 14. ``It's good exercise, and you get a good breeze.''
The mothers in the neighborhood ``go through gallons and gallons of Kool-Aid,'' Lieberman said.
Wednesdays are water days at the Apple Tree Learning Center on Battlefield Boulevard. The children, ages 2-10, don their brightly colored swimsuits and head out to the side yard for dips in kiddie pools and fun with water guns and sprinklers.
The object: ``Keep cool, keep cool, keep cool,'' said Susan J. Oxenford, 36, program director.
It's just one of many weekly activities the center has come up with to cope with the heat. Kids see movies, bowl and go to a museum each week.
Stephanie Whitehurst, recreation specialist at the Western Branch community center, also has water days once a week for the kids who attend daily programs. She recently filled a baby pool with Jell-O and had kids stick their feet in it to fish around for hidden objects.
``We have to be real creative, because with us not having pools, we have to think of things to keep them interested and keep them here,'' Whitehurst said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
[color cover photo unidentified]
Ryan Keefer, left, and Lara Hall cool off in the pool at the
Greenbrier YMCA.
Board games (and air conditioning) keep these boys entertained. From
left: Robbie Liberatore, Bret Lieberman and Rason Robinett.
Brittani Oliver keeps cool under a fan at Western Branch Recreation
Center.
Kids at Apple Tree Learning Center cool off on ``water day.''
by CNB