Photo by Yishane Lee
Lots of things are happening at Graydon Pool this Summer
Ridgewood NJ, This hot, sunny summer (after a slow start in June) has brought large groups
of people of all ages to Graydon, having a ball.
Photo by Alan Seiden
The Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board, by my request, demolished the
never-used bocce court, restoring a large shady area of sand at the back of
the 12-foot beach that has been greatly enjoyed all summer.
Parks & Rec just bought two new Ping-Pong tables to replace the ones ruined
in the hurricane late last August. These are popular.
On July 11, the council agreed to let Graydon open at 10 AM every day all
summer. Parks & Rec had intended to open at noon on the last 15 weekdays in
August (Aug. 13-31). They had originally also intended to open at noon on
the first 13 weekdays in June after the June 2-3 opening weekend; the
previous council had changed that in May. The mayor said that night that
they would determine next summer’s operating hours in the early fall, in
time for the 2013 Village calendar, which of course will be printed in late
2012, to be correct, for a change. We hope they will agree to restore the
traditional operating hours for next year and indefinitely. The noon
openings had been extremely confusing and saved very little money. Summer is
short and tremendous expense and efforts are made to prepare and maintain
Graydon. Locking the gate does not seem like a reasonable way to save a few
dollars, especially with badge prices rising steadily and patrons being
sought from all towns. To attract people, the place needs to be open for
business.
Photo by Alan Seiden
Another brand-new piece of news is that Graydon patrons holding yellowing
coupon books purchased in or before 2009, declared invalid after Labor Day
of 2009 or 2010 (not sure) by Parks & Rec (this was a surprise to the
council), may now use them again, indefinitely. (The books have no dates
printed on them and never expired before.) It just happened this week,
and by private email, not at a public meeting.
On July 17, about 50 Graydon fans of all ages held our Third Annual Graydon
Regulars Potluck Picnic and Barbecue. It was a big success. People brought
food; no money was exchanged.
At the July 18 council meeting, three people, including me, objected to a
number of aspects of Valley Hospital’s attempted takeover of Graydon in the
guise of color-branded turquoise day camp T-shirts, posters/big
banner/lifeguard canopy, etc., from the Promise Foundation. Even the
lifeguards’ T-shirts are turquoise, although in a deeper hue and not (like
the kids’ shirts) bearing the appalling slogan REAPPLY BEFORE YOU FRY with
the hospital logo below it, on the back. One day camp mom protested the
shirts and another woman noted that the ingredients of the sunscreen given
to all the children (that’s what they are supposed to REAPPLY)–again with
the Promise Foundation logo–have been noted to be potentially harmful to
children. In fact, she said, sunlight protects against many kinds of cancer,
and melanoma is often hereditary and appears in parts of the body and on
people that are never exposed to the sun.
The association of the word CANCER with Graydon (on the canopy,
the big banner, and in general) was unacceptable.