Healthy Snack Bar and Expanded Family Friendly Programs Highlight 2009 Pool Season

The 2009 season opens at the Memorial Pool tomorrow and residents will see a new snack bar operator in place, along with a promise of more programs.

The Recreation Commission has granted a contract to Sergio Francisco of SA Food Associates to operate the pool concession stand this summer. Francisco said he intends to highlight healthy menu options for pool goers, in addition to the traditional fare of hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream.

Francisco said the national trend of healthy eating has prompted him to bring it to the pool concession stand. His signature menu items will include a selection of paninis, along with wraps, salads, fruit cups and smoothies. To start he will feature two types of smoothies, banana and strawberry and banana and peanut butter. He will conduct a market study to see if patrons desire increased smoothie varieties.

Patrons will see three types of paninis on the menu in the opening days of the pool. These will be ham and Swiss, turkey and Swiss, and chicken cutlet with peppers and mozzarella. Francisco said the seven-dollar items will be reviewed to see if expanded panini options should be considered. Paninis of the day or the week are under consideration.

"It is one of the higher priced items on the menu," he said.

Traci Kastner, the recreation department's program coordinator, said the pool will expand the amount of family fun nights to two or three this year. A final decision on the amount of fun nights is expected in the coming weeks. These will include a child friendly DJ, family friendly games and artists for kids.

Kastner will be working with a new pool program committee this summer to plan the fun nights, along with new programs and a pool newsletter. Local resident Allyson Giallusi has taken the lead in organizing the new committee.

Kastner said the popular summer reading program through the Westfield Memorial Library will continue this year. Non-pool members with library cards can attend that program. The pool is also looking to expand the book swap to include more children's books.

The pool's teen night series will continue this summer on a weekly basis. The nights feature teen friendly music, activities and the open snack bar. Teens do not need to be pool members to attend, but will need to have a valid school id to enter the pool complex.

"They are really popular," Kastner said. "It depends on the week but we usually get several hundred kids."