More than a dozen teens caused a ruckus at Tuesday’s Calistoga City Council meeting — in a good way — as they became the first crew of lifeguards at the nearly finished Calistoga Community Pool.

The 17 local teens and young adults were recognized by new aquatics and recreation director Olivia Lemen as “the first wave” of new lifeguards, as she handed out letters of intent to hire the trained lifesavers — but the real surprise came just as she was finished giving each of them their letter, when a shrill whistle came from behind the wall of youngsters being applauded by a chamber filled with moms, dads and lot of others council watchers.

Mayor Jack Gingles, with a lifeguard’s whistle in his mouth, blew loudly to get a little attention before proceeding to hand out lifeguard whistles on red lanyard to each of the new recruits.

Starting with Rody Lily, Gingles slipped the devices over the heads of Megan Hunt, Jose Garcia, Julio Ambriz, Sasha de Limur, Ben Casas, Emma Higgins, Lauren Maxfield, Emily Johnson, Victor Maldonado, Fabian Juarez, Joshua Monroy, Eleno Nunez, Jenna Reynolds, Baili Schilling, Zack Smith, Vito Triglia and Chloe Umble.

Beginning in 2008, city staff began recruiting local teens and young adults who had strong swimming abilities to attend a lifeguard training program. They understood at the time they would be the first candidates to be interviewed for the positions when the pool opened. 

All 17 young people passed a rigorous 36-hour training course through the American Red Cross in Santa Rosa, all are certified lifeguards and all will be working during the pool’s inaugural 2009 swimming season.

The Calistoga Community Pool Project (CCPP) — the grassroots nonprofit group that has spent more than a generation raising funds to help build the pool — received a grant through Auction Napa Valley (ANV) to cover the cost of training the lifeguards.

In August 2008, ANV granted funds to CCPP to provide lifeguard training as part of a larger water safety program.

To meet the requirements of the grant, one-third of the lifeguard candidates needed to be bilingual. As a result, more than 50 percent met that requirement. 

The remaining grant funds will provide a free or heavily subsidized water safely class for low-income families in June and July. The program will be offered in both English and Spanish, with the new lifeguards playing an integral role.

To safely operate the pool, more lifeguards are needed and many additional local youth have come forward to apply. Eligible candidates must have a current American Red Cross Certification or be currently enrolled in a qualified course. Applications can be obtained online at www.ci.calistoga.ca.us or by calling 942-2844. 

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