Change
The crazy weather this week was a real indication that the seasons are turning. Was fun to get out into the choppy surf after so many flat days. And we’re all breathing a sigh of relief to have some high tides and rain give the beach sand a good wetting down. I’m not sure how many more cars my aging body can push out of the sand!
We’re feeling the change of seasons and of life here at Beach Patrol as well. This is the last weekend that we’ll have seasonal lifeguards out on the beach, and very soon you’ll see our partners in the Coastal Zone Management group pick the towers off the beach so our full-time lifeguards can refurbish them over the winter. Please remember from here on out the lifeguard presence will be greatly diminished and tower guarding won’t happen again until next March. We’ll do the best we can out of the mobile patrol trucks, but nothing prevents accidents like having a guard in a tower. Keep our non-emergency number handy (409-763-4769) if you see something developing that we need to know about, and remember to call 911 if you need us quickly.
The big change is starting to hit us as well. And by big, I mean leaving the building we’ve been in for the past 39 years. With the City Council decision to tear down the building and to move us into temporary trailers on Stewart Beach while we move towards a permanent new home comes some adjustments. We’re starting to pick away at figuring out what is essential and what we can live without. And that “live without” area is massive! We’ve got 40 years of pictures, furniture, workout equipment, lifesaving equipment, plaques, awards, electronic equipment, and on and on. Like much in life, change is painful. But it also can be purifying and exciting. We are looking forward to being part of the design and implementation of a new facility on Stewart Beach. For the third time in Beach Patrol’s long and storied career that dates all the way back to 1875, we’ll be moving into a facility that is specifically designed for our purpose. But to get to that point we’ll first need to cram ourselves into the chrysalis of a trailer compound before we will hopefully emerge into the butterfly of state-of-the-art facilities.
For now, at the direction of the city, the Park Board has approved the purchase of 7 trailers which have been ordered and should be here this fall. We’ll be working out of 4 office trailers, one command trailer, one storage trailer, and a bathroom trailer. We’ve also ordered three shade structures that will match the ones currently in use at Stewart Beach and will be soon renting some off-site storage for the bulk of our gear. We’ll still need some space for running our almost constant training courses and our Junior Guard Program out of. But that will be enough to get by while we work towards our “forever home”.
