There is always something happening at Glenwood, from a holiday celebration, to a chat with a friend you haven’t seen all summer or even making a new friend.  The way to make the most of your membership is to spend time at the pool!

CURRENT EVENTS

Summertime, and the swimming is early! Early Bird Swim at Glenwood has begun, with lap lane swimming for adults only available Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 6:15 to 7:30 AM. Costs are $50 for members and $100 for non-members (checks payable to Glenwood Recreation Club), and the program is slated to go through at least mid-August (last year the die-hards continued up to Labor Day). Be part of this 20th year of Early Bird Swim at the Big G and get your work-out before you get into work. Check in with Early Bird Swim staff coordinator Seth Weil for more details when you get to the pool.

Celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer with the beverage of your choice and some snacks to share this Thursday evening from 8:00-10:00 pm on the deck behind the snack bar. Moms come and relax without the kids, and bring some friends (members or not, but must be 21) to revel in a girls' night out poolside. Here's hoping that the grand tradition of great company, food and drink for ladies only at Glenwood goes strong for another summer. (Rumor has it that the guys are planning their own get-together later in the season, but we know they need some inspiration, so let's show them how it's done tomorrow evening!)

SUMMER HOURS

With Montgomery County schools closing for the summer today, tomorrow also marks the beginning of longer days at Glenwood for all of our members. As noted on the pool website, the pool will be open weekdays 11:30 am to 9:00 pm and weekends 10:00 am to 9:00 pm through the end of July. There are some restrictions on pool usage spelled out on the website because of swim and dive team practices and meets, as well as small group lessons for our youngest water bugs. If you're in doubt, check out www.glenwoodpool.org before you head to the pool.

SNACK BAR RE-OPENS

Thanks to the efforts of members Gina Hardiman and Ramona Schreiber, the snack bar is re-stocked and ready for your business during those adult swim sessions that we can get trained workers to staff it. If you are at least 11 years old and want to work in the snack bar this summer, you must fill out a "Snack Bar Agreement Form" AND review it with your parents (they sign, also). Put your completed form in the Hardiman or Butchko swim team family folders in the managers' office.

New workers must be trained and returning workers must speak with the managers for this year's new information before working. If you have questions, please contact Gina Hardiman at regliz@aol.com or Ramona Schreiber at rbutchko@verizon.net.

RULES AT THE POOL

To make your summer at Glenwood enjoyable and safe for you and your fellow members, please take a minute to review the rules posted on the website at www.glenwoodpool.org/gw_about_rules. Some items we've been asked to emphasize include:

• Children must be 12 or over AND a competent swimmer to be at the pool without a parent or guardian. Parents, please do not rely on the guard staff to babysit your children.
• The lower parking lot by the gate entrance IS NOT a drop off zone for your swimmers. Please drop your swimmers off at the well-marked Tiger Rock at the pool end of the main lot -- it is safer for pedestrians entering and leaving the pool area.
• Parking in the lower lot is for handicapped persons, board members and staff ON DUTY ONLY. Guards who are coming for swim practice may not park in the staff lot if they are not working.
• If the lot in front of the pool is full, we have another parking area adjacent to the old McKinney Hills school and directly behind the pool. The back lot is accessible by driving past Glenwood to the end of Hayden Drive and keeping left as you proceed past the front of the school; there's a footpath from the lot that runs alongside the pool to the front entrance. If you park on the street, please avoid blocking driveways.

Also, when you are driving to the pool, remember to slow down and watch carefully for our two-legged and four-legged neighbors. We know you're in a hurry to get here, but please curb your enthusiasm while you're behind the wheel!

LESSONS AND CLASSES

Next Monday, June 21, kicks off the beginning of small group lessons for swimmers of all ages. Taught by our lifeguard staff and coordinated this year by Tessa Tripodi, swim lessons are held in three two-week sessions, five days/week in half-hour small group classes between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm. The roster of class participants in Session 1 is now posted on the website on the Swim Lessons page; for details on the instruction levels and screening dates for sessions 2 and 3, check out www.glenwoodpool.org/gw_lessons_swim. Costs are $50/member and $75 for non-members -- if you have additional questions, email Tessa at lessons@glenwoodpool.org.

Soon to go up on the web is more information about this year's class offerings from H3O Fitness, a private Silver Spring-based company that has done specialized classes for infants to adults at Glenwood for several years. Water aerobics classes for adults will begin Monday, July 12 and continue twice weekly (MTh) through August 19 from 7:45 to 8:45 pm. Parent/infant (6 mos. to 2 yrs.) classes will be held Sunday mornings 8:30 to 9:00 am from July 11 to August 8; the parent/pre-schooler classes will run over the same weeks from 9:15 to 9:45 am. If you can't wait for the web update, you can get more details by contacting Peggy at H3O, 301-603-1328 or browers4@aol.com.

TIGER TALES: SWIM & DIVE TEAM NEWS

The Glenwood Tigers return for another exciting season led by Head Coach Jeremy Butler and assistant coaches Kelly Butler, Colleen McNickle and Matt Ruland. More than 170 swimmers have registered for the big team, and this year's pre-team has broken records already by boasting a registration of more than 40 kids. The pre-team staff includes returning coaches Natalie Daronco, Brendan Hearn and Glenn Pastel as well as new hires Sam Kaiser and Elyse Frank. On June 12, the team completed an exceptionally well-organized time trial meet to establish some benchmark times and highlight areas of continued concentration for the coaching staff. Our first head-to-head contest of the season, also known as an A meet, will be away this Saturday against Mohican Pool in Bethesda. Our first home meet takes place next Wednesday evening, June 23, at 6:00 pm against the Garrett Park Ladybugs.

Glenwood's diving Tigers rise to the echelons of the county's Division I this year and will field more than 60 divers in this season's dual meets. Coached by Russell Cox, Phoebe McDermott, Nate Schrier, and Jesse Wolfe, current or former diving Tigers all, the team will have three home meets this year, including a rare double-header on July 11. This week's season opener at Eastgate has been postponed due to regional competition commitments of the host team (prompting the afore-mentioned double-header), so look to see our dive team in action on June 27. And if you have a hankering to run this diving enterprise, check in with retiring parent reps Dara and Steve Schrier. They are ready to hand off the reins at the end of this summer after 7 years of managing Glenwood's diving program, so get involved now to soak up their wisdom and get some on-the-job training.

THANK YOU...

... to Cindy Ross-Zenick and Jennifer Tripodi for organizing a great welcome dinner for our new members this past Sunday. Lots of families enjoyed BBQ from Red, Hot and Blue, contributed side dishes from home to share, and listened to a great live band usher in the summer. Kudos to the volunteers who pitched in to help set up, serve food and clean afterwards, including Catherine Soffronoff, Dara Schrier, Kelly Butler, Karen Clark, Cherrie Webb, Ginny and Cory Atwood, and food fetcher extraordinaire Elliott Zenick. And thanks also to our great staff for all their hard work on this event as well.

WHAT'S NEXT?

July 4 Festivities, Swim for Tim Swimathon, the annual Crab Feast -- watch this space for more news to come. Questions or suggestions? Email your Gazette editor at kjclark@erols.com.

Look back at the last Glenwood Gazette