With the hottest days of summer ahead, few things are as welcome as a cooling dip, and the municipal pools in Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe are open and ready to meet anyone’s whim to swim.
“We were packed for the Memorial Day weekend; seems like the heat brought everyone out,” said Jeff Long, Fort Oglethorpe’s director of parks and recreation.
This will be the first year Arlene Crye will not oversee the pool that bears her name at Gilbert-Stephenson Park, but otherwise, everything will be pretty much the same as in years past.
Even though the cost of chemicals to treat the pool’s water has about doubled over the past few years, the price of annual memberships and daily swim passes are the same as last year, Long said.
“With the economy the way it is, people aren’t spending $2,000 for a Florida vacation but they will buy a family pass for $150 and let their kids swim every day from Memorial Day until Labor Day,” Long said.