End of an Era for Centennial Pool

The long-unnamed driveway leading into the Centennial Avenue pool complex now has a name: Pat Fossella Place. It was named after longtime Facilities Manager Pat Fossella, who, after 30 years of service, retired as of January 2010.

The Township Committee passed a resolution in December accepting the name and soon a street sign will mark the driveway as such.

"When Pat was going to retire, I just thought it would be a nice tribute to name it after her," said Operations Manager Jack Hicks. "She's put endless hours into this facility. She's kind of like an icon. When you say Cranford Pools, Pat Fossella-- they're kind of synonymous."

Brandon D'Elia, who used to work for Fossella, agrees.

"She basically defines the pool," he said. "It was tight, like a family. If they paid well, I would still be working there."

D'Elia, like dozens of other young Cranford residents, began working for the Cranford Pool and Fitness Center at the age of 16 and worked there, on and off, for six years. He described Fossella as a "guru."

"If you had any question at all about anything, you asked her and she knew," he said. "She was sensational at keeping order, meticulous with everything. There was just a degree of professionalism that wasn't seen at other pools."

Fossella began working at the Centennial Pool in 1981 as a volunteer.

"I figured the only way to break into a town, to get into anything, would be to volunteer, and that summer I volunteered as one of the assistant managers of recreation," she said. In October of that year, she was hired full time as the facilities manager.

As facilities manager, Fossella hired and trained the pool staff; maintained pool records; purchased equipment; and taught safety and certification classes, among other duties.

"In other places, my job and Jack's job would be divided up among four or five people, but we're a small operation," she said.

Taking over for Fossella will be Anne Dolan. Dolan has spent the last two years learning the job from Fossella, but she also worked for Fossella as a lifeguard in the 1980s.

"They're very big shoes to fill," said Dolan about taking over as facilities manager. "I think it's going to take a team to fill those shoes, with everything she's done… for the community, for the pool."

"Trust me, I'm going to miss her," said Hicks.

After having worked in the corporate sector and taught high school, Fossella has found her niche at the Cranford Pool and Fitness Center.

"There's not a day that I wake up and I don't look forward to going to work," she said. "I'm still teaching, teaching in every age group. I'm still mixing with the people, and that's what I like about it."

With more time on her hands than ever before, Fossella is looking forward to travelling. She plans to spend time at the condo she and her husband own in Florida, playing golf and going to spring training baseball games. In July she and her husband will take a cruise, and in October the Fossellas plan to trek to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

But while the lure of adventure and unknown places is strong, so is that of the familiar and the comfortable; in May, Fossella will help update staff certifications, and in the summer she will teach aquatic exercise classes. And every time she drives to work, she will see the sign that bears her name.

"It will be nice, for a change, for a living person to be able to see the placard with her name on it," said Hicks.

"I hope he hasn't cursed me!" said Fossella.