DATE: Sunday, June 1, 1997                  TAG: 9705310046

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARCIA MANGUM, HOME & GARDEN EDITOR 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

RELAX AND ENJOY IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD

IN THIS AGE of cocooning, pools and spas provide a way to have fun in your own back yard.

Parents see them as a way to keep their children close to home and provide a family activity. Couples see them as a way to relax together. And many people enjoy entertaining in or around water.

``People feel they can keep their kids at home and keep an eye on them during the summertime,'' says Len Glaser, owner of East Coast Spa & Leisure on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach.

When Katie and Mark Gibson bought their home in the Dunbarton neighborhood of Virginia Beach, the 24-foot round, above-ground pool was a plus.

``I have a 13-year-old son who has friends over all the time, and they play all sorts of games in the pool,'' says Katie Gibson. ``And my 2-year-old daughter loves it.

``Evenings are fun. We don't have any other distractions. We're together.''

Marilyn Meredith's family-sized spa was a gift from her husband.

She had wanted a spa for years. Last summer at Recreational Factory Warehouse's grand opening, Marshall Meredith bumped into a friend, who ran into another acquaintance, and the three men went ``power shopping'' for spas, Marilyn Meredith recalls.

``I think they had as much fun getting the spas as I have sitting in the spa,'' she says. Then her husband, a general contractor, built a deck on stilts at their Sandbridge home, which overlooks a canal leading to the North Bay.

``I have this great view from the spa, so sometimes in the morning I like to sit in it and drink my coffee, and sometimes in the evening I like to sit it and drink my wine,'' she says.

On weekends, the Merediths like to relax in the spa after playing tennis. Sometimes they invite friends over to enjoy it with them. And so do their son and daughter. ``The children invite all their friends over, and they sit in it and play,'' Marilyn Meredith says.

She says she uses the spa at least four times a week, making it a worthwhile expenditure. She likes it for relaxation, family entertainment, relief from aches and pains.

``When you're over 40, it's for everything.''

Suffolk residents Janice and John Georgallis put a small spa on their enclosed patio primarily because of physical ailments.

Janice, a business manager for a septic service and construction company, works at a computer all day and regularly sees a chiropractor for treatment of an aching shoulder. The chiropractor recommended the spa.

``I got a pillow where I can lay my head back, and it takes the pressure off,'' she says. ``It feels wonderful.''

Husband John found it also helped the muscle cramps that plagued him after a day on his feet as a salesman with Schwan Sales food service.

``We use it in the evenings, after work,'' Janice Georgallis says. ``I love it in the winter. You can turn up the heat, and it feels so good.

``It's a quiet time together, when you can really relax and talk.''

Pools also are becoming increasingly popular for physical therapy and exercise, sometimes even prescribed by doctors.

Jack Slawson, co-owner of Polynesian Pools in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, says the only thing that really sells pools and spas is getting people to understand how they can use them.

``I've owned a pool now for almost 30 years, and it still gets a great deal of use,'' Slawson says. ``Now it's the grandchildren coming back to swim, and we think without the pool, they wouldn't be around as much.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu