This week @ the Pool: Friday 6/10 – Friday 6/24

This covers upcoming events and other pool news. As an update, the Board is changing the format and timing of this message. From now on, we’ll endeavor to send this update on Tuesdays, with notes from the previous weekend and a look ahead for the two-week period starting on Friday. If you have any questions regarding anything you see here If you have any questions regarding anything you see here, you can contact the pool admin via email at pool@greenbriar.org or by calling (703) 378-4421.

Prior Weekend Recap

We had a more "normal" operating weekend at the Pool this past weekend, which the Board attributes to pleasant but cooler air temperature and the fact it was not a holiday weekend. We did not hit our capacity limit. As a reminder, members may check the headcount status on the pool website here: http://enet.hopto.org/gbpool.html. Please note that this website sometimes takes 10-30 seconds to render with data depending on website traffic and your individual connection speed. The Board's view is that the first two weeks of the season have been a success, and we have generally received positive feedback from the membership about the new amenities and Pool facility more broadly. We did have one or two disciplinary related matters to address this past weekend - please review the below section of this e-mail titled 'Young Children at the Pool' as a friendly reminder about the Pool rules pertaining to unaccompanied minors.

Amenity Updates

As mentioned in last week's communication, the Board ordered a dozen replacement chaise lounges that arrived on Monday and have been placed out on the Pool deck. We ask all members to please treat all the Pool furniture gently, as we’d like it to last a long time. We are still waiting for the painting of basketball/pickleball court lines to be scheduled. As a reminder, please be sure to treat the bathrooms with respect and turn off the water when you are done with the showers. A shower curtain was torn by a member or guest this weekend from someone aggressively pulling it down and needed to be replaced.

Young Children at the Pool

The small wading pool is well suited for children 7 years old and younger who are not good swimmers. While they need to be supervised by an adult in the wading pool, the adult doesn’t need to be in the water with them in the wading pool. However, in the main pool, where the water is deeper, any child age 7 or younger who hasn’t earned the SwimSafe wristband needs an adult in the water with them, preferably within arm’s reach. We had issues of unattended children <7 years old in the Pool this weekend. If you want to sit on the edge with your legs in the water while your child is nearby, that’s ok, since you can enter the water quickly if they need assistance. But please don’t let your non-swimming child get into the main pool alone, and don’t let them get too far away from you. The NV Pools lifeguards are paying particular attention to this issue.

Special Activities / Extracurricular Events Update

Please MARK YOUR CALENDAR for the following upcoming special events at the Pool:

• Adult Late Night June 11 – 8PM - 12AM: The pool will close at 8:00 PM on Saturday, June 11th, and will remain open only for members over 21 until midnight. This is a casual late night without any food or drink being provided, though you are welcome to bring your own food/drink.

• RAFTERNOON June 18 – 3PM - 5PM: Bring your rafts and floaties for a fun afternoon at the Pool.

• Swim/Dive Late Night June 18 – 9PM - 11PM: The pool will close at 9:00 PM on Saturday, June 18th and will remain open only for Swim and Dive Team families until 11:00 PM.

Swim / Dive Team Updates & Upcoming Events

Please BE AWARE of the following Swim Team events and plan accordingly:

• Saturday, June 11 - Swim Team Time Trials 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm.
  The pool will open to the general membership at NOON on Saturday, June 11th.

• Friday, June 17 - Swim Team Pep Rally 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm.
  The pep rally will be held at the yellow/blue umbrellas near the sandpit.

• Saturday, June 18 - Swim and Dive Late Night 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm (NOTED ABOVE).
  The pool will close to the general membership at 9 pm.

• Saturday, June 18- Dolphin Diner is Open! The diner will open at 5pm and run until they are out of food. Hotdogs, hamburgers and drinks are a staple, with some occasional extra special items for purchase so stop on by. CASH ONLY!!

• Friday, June 24 - Swim Team Pep Rally 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm.
  The pep rally will be held at the yellow/blue umbrellas near the sandpit.

Weekly Recap and Look-Ahead - 6/2/2022

Opening Weekend Recap

We had a great opening weekend, reaching capacity at the pool on Memorial Day for several hours. The wait wasn’t too long, so everyone got a chance to use the pool. We also had a LOT of children under 13 complete the SwimSafe Test! The Snack Bar was open and very well received. Pretty much everyone was very good about our “no guest” policy, which will be in effect again on the 4th of July weekend. As a reminder, we still have several dozen memberships that have not completed their 2022 Membership Audit. If you are one of those memberships, please remember that you must complete the audit to gain access to the Pool this season (in addition to ensuring your Maintenance Fees and any applicable penalties are paid-in-full).

Pool Headcount Capacity

For those of you who had to wait in line on Memorial Day weekend to enter the Pool (which was at capacity between about 12:30p and 4:00p), we appreciate your patience both with our NV Pool lifeguards and staff, as well as Board members manning the front desk. We attribute the high demand for the Pool to the gorgeous weather this past weekend, as well as a return to "normal" demand for the facility as we have all adapted to Covid-19 as part of our every day life (unfortunately). The Board anticipates hitting capacity limits other weekends this summer. A reminder that the Fairfax County Fire Marshal limits our Pool to a 248 person headcount max capacity. We strongly encourage members to check the headcount status on the Pool website here: http://enet.hopto.org/gbpool.html. Please note that this website sometimes takes 10-30 seconds to render with data depending on website traffic and your individual connection speed. The Board reminds everyone to be courteous and respectful to Pool staff and other Pool members, especially in the context of having to wait to access the property.

Reminder About Snack Bar / Grilling Area Seating

This weekend we had quite a few families using the picnic tables near the Snack Bar and the grilling area by the grills as a permanent spot to park their families for the duration of their Pool stay. The Board opted not to address that with those members this past weekend as a courtesy. However, those picnic tables are intended to be used on a temporary / rotating basis by members who are using the grills or eating food from the Snack Bar. Please do not use these areas as places to park your belongings while you are swimming at the pool. If this continues, we will post additional signage near those tables as a reminder. As a related reminder, there’s no food or drink (except for water) allowed on the pool deck except in the areas right next to the snack bar. We’ve got the “No Food or Beverages” signage up, so please pay attention to it!

Additional Chaise Lounge Seating Coming

Last season we had to discard approximately 15 broken chaise lounge chairs for safety reasons. The Board has more chaise lounges on order, so there will be extra seating available in the coming 1-2 weeks. Notably the baby pool area was missing many of its usual lounge chairs, which should be re-supplied in the near term. Members may also bring your own portable/folding seats to the pool if you wish, though your furniture remains YOUR responsibility and you need to keep it out of the Pool.

Swim / Dive Teams & Capacity Through End of School Year

For the next week, while Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are still in session, the Pool will be busy in the afternoons for Swim and Dive team practices. The Board is aware that this past Tuesday the Pool was at capacity again and that some swim team participants in the later sessions were unable to access the Pool due to the headcount capacity limit, which is unfortunate. Our teams are large this year, and we may continue to reach capacity during the week during practice times until school is out and swim practices move to the weekday mornings. There won’t be any afternoon lap swimming on weekdays until June 13th, when FCPS schools aren't in session and our normal swim and dive practices (Swim practice from 7:30-10:30 AM, and Dive practice until 11:30 AM and from 5:15-7 PM) resume. The Swim and Dive meets are already on the pool calendar on our website.

Special Activities / Extracurricular Events Update

We had a successful 2021 season with a number of events orchestrated by our Special Activities-focused Board member, Bethany Quick. We will be releasing an update to the Pool calendar in the coming week with Special Activities and other after hour events scheduled for the 2022 season. One request the Board received after the 2021 season was for more Adult Late Nights if possible, and Bethany is trying to accommodate that request by adding a handful of additional Adult Late Nights that would not be catered or DJ'd, but that would allow members to access the pool after hours (with Pool guards paid overtime to cover the facility). PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR - the first Adult Late Night is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 11, 2022. More details will be provided in this regard in the coming week.

Update Regarding Side Lot Sport Courts

The Board was pleased to have been able to have the side parking lot resurfaced with new basketball hoops installed prior to opening day. Many members are aware of the desire to install basketball court lines and pickleball court lines. The Board continues to work with our chosen vendor to have those installed, but at this time have not received an install date due to a backlog of projects ahead of us. We will keep members apprised when that work will occur, likely later in June (but ideally sooner).

Look-ahead to Opening Weekend

Operating hours for opening weekend:

• Saturday – 9AM-10PM
• Sunday – 11AM-9PM
• Monday – 11AM-8PM

Pool Admittance: To enter the Pool, you MUST have completed your 2022 Membership Audit (nearly all of you have, thank you!), and you must have paid your maintenance fee and any late fees due. You must also have your family members entered with their pictures uploaded in MemberSplash. You will NOT be able to get your picture taken at the pool on opening weekend. After opening weekend, if you want the guard at the front desk to take your picture, you’ll need to wait until there is no line for check-in. For the avoidance of doubt, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE AUDIT IN PERSON ON OPENING WEEKEND. Members who have not completed the audit will be turned away at the front gate. Board members will be in attendance on opening weekend to address any issues in this regard. Please refer to prior communication regarding the 2022 Membership Audit (we have e-mailed multiple prior reminders and instructions).

Guests: As is the case in prior years, no guests will be permitted on opening weekend (May 28-30).

Guest Passes: Remember that the guards do not handle payments any longer, so if you need to add guest passes to your MemberSplash account, you should do that BEFORE you come to the pool. You can use your smartphone to buy additional guest passes as well.

New Playground/Volleyball Court: The Board is excited about the new playground in the sand pit / volleyball area. The playground will be available for use by kids 14 and under.

Side Parking Lot Improvements: The Board has worked hard to have the side lot refinished and prepped for the 2022 Pool season. New basketball hoops are available for our members' use, and we anticipate within the next few weeks having markings for pickleball and basketball professionally painted onto the side lot. Outdoor basketballs will be available when the pool opens. The pickleball nets should be arriving in June. To play basketball or pickleball in the side lot, you MUST CHECK IN to the pool and proceed through the pool house. You must use your member number to check out sports equipment from the front desk. You must wear sneakers while playing basketball or pickleball. You must shower after playing basketball/pickleball before getting in the pool. The side lot will RARELY be used for car parking, and then only when coordinated with our Special Activities director.

Snack Bar: The snack bar will be open this year. After a multi-year hiatus due to Covid-19 disruptions, our snack bar manager, Tina Campbell, is back and we are thankful for her support. A REMINDER TO PLEASE treat the snack bar staff with patience and respect – all snack bar employees are teens and many of them are new to the job.

Lap Swimming: For the first two weeks of the Pool being open there will be NO LAP SWIMMING while the afternoon swim practice for the younger kids is in session as the team will need all six lanes to get the practice done on time. Once Fairfax County Public Schools release for summer break, younger swimmers will practice earlier in the day so lap swimming will return to normal.

Adult Supervision of Children: Children 7 and under in the main Pool must have an adult in the water with them, within arm’s reach. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS RULE CHANGE. In order to be in the “deep” end of the pool, a child under 13 must be “swim safe” certified, be participating in swim team practice, or getting a private lesson from a lifeguard-certified instructor. This is a change from the 2021 season, where children under 13 could be accompanied by an adult in the deep end if they had not been "swim safe" certified. We had issues with this last season, with children under 13 unaccompanied by adults in the deep end. Per prior correspondence in 2021, we updated the Pool Rules to reflect this change.

Please take the time to go to the pool website and read the pool rules (https://greenbriar.org/pool-rules).

As mentioned above, there will be board members at the pool for most of opening weekend to help with any issues that arise. We’re looking forward to another great season in 2022!