WHO'S WATCHING THE WATER?

      We had a family gathering at one of Pennsylvania's
great State Parks yesterday.
       In our case the location was Hickory Run.
       It's a really impressive facility with all kinds of
amenities.
       There are grills for your hot dogs, recycling
bins to preserve the environment and cut back on
litter
       There's a beautiful lake with a roped off area
for swimming. There's a life preserver set out
right on the beach, in case of trouble. And an
emergency phone to call for help. The only thing
missing........is a lifeguard!
       I thought about that as I noticed the large
number of people in the water, the dark clouds
building up overhead and the sound of thunder
in the distance.
       I imagined a day when a lifeguard, or
lifeguards, would be blowing a whistle and
yelling..."Everybody out of the pool."
       My nephew tells me he's never heard of any
problems since the lifeguards were relieved of
their duties at State Parks. The idea, of course,
was to save money. I can "buy" that.
       But after a Frisbee and football ended up
on the roof of the rest room a Maintenance
man showed up to "rescue" the objects,
       And while most of the picnic goers were
wrapping up their table clothes and left over
marsh mellows, two DCNR Rangers stood
watch to make sure grill fires were extinguished
and everything was cleaned up.
        Call me "old fashion." But I'd kind of like
to have somebody watching over all those
swimmers!
        Since the State collects our recyclable cans
maybe someone could take them to the Scrap
Metal guys and make a few bucks to pay a
couple of lifeguards!
        Hope you're still afloat and that all your
NEWS is good!