Newtown Seeks Relief

As Heat Climbs

By Kendra Bobowick

Bare feet slapped against pavement where footprints trailed children from Treadwell Park pool Wednesday. By 3 pm guests crowded the water and poolside as temperatures pushed into the 90s during July’s heat wave. Elsewhere in Sandy Hook, people were flocking to Eichler’s Cove for the relief of a dip in Lake Zoar. Reed Intermediate School opened its library as a cooling center for heat-stricken residents and the Booth Library also invited people in to cool off in its well-appointed and air-conditioned rooms. Everywhere HVAC compressors hummed.

Duty called some out into the heat; the fire companies faced down not only the sun, but brush fires in recent days.

For Newtown’s kids, however, it was mostly a lot of fun. Indifferent to the temperature and enjoying her playtime, one 2½-year-old filled her miniature watering pail, then poured it out at the edge of the kiddy pool. Karina Wilhelmsson and her mother Elian knelt in the shallow water where Elian held her friend’s young son, Jahan Mody.

In then main pool where friends splashed one another and adults swam laps, brother and sister Griffin and Eliza Estes stepped from the water and wrapped up inside their towels.

Happy to sit at the edge during an adult swim and splash her feet was Sarah Herde, 6. Bringing her almost 1-year-old son into the water with her, Anne Norton stood waist-deep holding Kyle, who would be 1e “in a week.”

Having twice as much fun as some others were twins Criss and Ella Berke, who waited anxiously on the steps, hoping the adult swim would soon end. A moment later the lifeguard blew her whistle.