Westbrook’s summer camp counselors are hired and summer camp registration has begun. Popular once again, according to Parks & Recreation Department Director Rich Annino, are the Broadway Bound Theater Camp for 8- to 14-year-olds and the Children’s Theater Camp for 6- to 9-year-olds. Both are offered in collaboration with the Community Music School in Essex.

Also popular this spring—and offered this summer—is a new fitness program for older adults called “Essentrics” (www.essentrics.com), which focuses on providing gentle movement, stretching, and strengthening exercise.

“It’s a national program that been on PBS. We have an instructor who is certified to teach it,” Annino. “It’s a combination of yoga, tai-chi, and Pilates and involves balance and gentle body movement. It’s for any adult who needs gentle exercise.”

The first time it was offered in the spring, he had 30 people sign up.

Lifeguards Needed

As summer approaches, what still concerns Annino is that, though he has advertised, he has not yet been able to find and hire enough lifeguards to cover all the Town Beach shifts.

“I am really in need of lifeguards. There’s a big shortage out there. We pay $11 to $12 an hour to start, but you have to be a certified lifeguard,” said Annino. “We try to cover the Town Beach with lifeguards from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Without lifeguards [on duty], you just swim on your own” and at your own risk.

Lifeguards who return for a second year of Town Beach work earn more per hour. The hourly pay level offered is based on an applicant’s experience, and all applicants must show proof of Red Cross lifeguard certification.

Typically, a lifeguarding skills class involves between 25 and 40 hours of instruction time, split between online and in-classroom instruction. The cost for the initial skills course varies depending on the organization offering it, but is between $250 and $375. Some organizations include AED and CPR instruction and certification along with the lifeguarding skills. Any student who passes the tests to be certified can work for two years before getting re-certified in a refresher course typically costing about $75.

To break even on the certification course’s cost, an aspiring lifeguard applicant would need to work 35 hours at $11 a hour.

To find a venue offering the lifeguarding course, visit the Red Cross website www.redcross.org/take-a-class/lifeguarding. Note that most of the classes listed in May and June are the shorter lifeguard recertification courses, not the longer lifeguarding skills class.

New Basketball Courts

Preparing for summer also means sprucing up town fields and getting town recreational facilities ready for use. Annino is excited that this month, thanks to a $33,000 grant from the Westbrook Foundation, the project to replace the town’s Ted Lane basketball court begins.

This month, the town’s Public Works Department will arrive on site with excavating equipment to remove the current court’s pavement and basketball standards, ready for town contractor B&L Construction to start work on building the new court.

New basketball court base material will be brought to the site to support and underlay the new court. The site will be graded for proper drainage, new basketball hoop poles and standards will be installed, and finally, the site will get fresh pavement and striping.

Annino is hopeful that the new basketball court will be ready for play by early summer.