By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — Amid the rising temperatures of July, vacationers found another way to cool off Thursday, July 2, as OC Waterpark opened for the first day this season.
“We are extremely excited,” co-owner Barbara Myers said. “We love our waterpark family and can’t wait to see everybody today — our season-pass holders, our return people, our employees.”
A line of eager families had formed by 9 a.m., waiting for the 9:30 opening. First, though, Myers and her husband, Ed, had another obligation to fulfill — the flag-raising ceremony to honor the military and first responders.
Ed Myers has worked on the property since the waterpark opened in 1989. He and former owner Jim Gillian began the flag ceremony in 2001.
“They’re the heroes,” Ed Myers said of the military veterans, many of who attend the ceremony daily and others who just happen to catch it while passing by on the boardwalk. “It’s amazing what they’ve been through and they keep an upbeat attitude.”
He said the city asked that the couple not hold the ceremony during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Thursday was the first of the year.
“The flag raising was very, very important to us,” Barbara Myers said.
A large crowd had gathered around the front of the waterpark on the 700 block of the Boardwalk as military veterans, active-duty members and civilians stopped to pay tribute.
State-imposed restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 had kept all water parks closed, much to the dismay of their owners and guests, and when they did open there were safety measures in place.
“We are following the restrictions that all of the businesses on the boardwalk are following: 6 feet distance, masks when they are in line,” Barbara Myers said, noting that chlorine helps prevent the spread of the virus. She said the park tests the water daily and an outside company tests it weekly to ensure the park is maintaining standards.
“We are keeping the employees safe as well as guests,” Barbara Myers said.
Another way the park staff is trying to maintain social distancing is to have all traffic going in one direction so people don’t have to pass one another, she said.
“We have masks on hand, sanitization stations all over, hand sanitizing pumps everywhere. We have a clean team we put together. We basically broke the park into three sections, and we have an employee strictly walking around that area with a special solution for disinfecting and sanitizing chairs, high-touch areas,” Barbara Myers said, adding that guests can request a chair be wiped down. “Somebody is going to be here for nine hours just disinfecting.”
The park is still offering its plethora of food choices — milkshakes, soft pretzels, shaved ice, candy, cookies, hamburgers, chicken tenders and more — and an open-air deck where people can dine.
“We are so excited to just get back to a little bit of normalcy,” Barbara Myers said. “People that come are going to follow our guidelines and our restrictions because they want to have fun.”
The couple and their two children enjoy what they do.
“It’s fun for us, and creating memories with their children and families and friends is what it’s all about for us,” Barbara Myers said. “And not just guests, our employees are like my children.”
She said the park hired its standard 150 employees, including 70 certified lifeguards, and was happy to have many of them back for another year.
“We have three generations — people who worked here, brought their kids, their kids now work here and those kids are bringing their kids — so it’s like three generations of families. It’s kind of neat,” Ed Myers said.
Robert and Rachel Shmuts, of Cherry Hill, were waiting to enter the park with their daughters Elizabeth, 8, Samantha, 5, and Charlotte, 2. They said they visit the city the same two weeks every year and were just lucky to have the park opening while they were here.
“We were going to be here anyway but it worked out,” Rachel Shmuts said, noting that visiting the waterpark is one of the family’s traditions.
Elizabeth said she was looking forward to “going on the second-highest slide with Dada.”
“We like the Lazy River because that’s something all five of us can go on,” Rachel Shmuts added.
Rich of Doylestown, Pa., with sons Nigel and Oliver, was looking for “fun rides, no long lines and good weather.”
Inside, Noelle Sheridan was visiting from Phoenixville, Pa., with her son Liam, 10, and daughter Lily, 9.
Sheridan said she has been visiting the city since she was her children’s age and was “definitely happy” the park was open, but she was also being cautious.
“I told them to keep their distance when in line, making sure that people stand behind them as well,” she said. “I noticed a lot of people on the boardwalk are not too cautious; it’s a little concerning.”
The opening of the waterpark and amusement parks is doing more than providing entertainment. Maria Duva, owner of Ocean Café on the corner of Plymouth Place and the Boardwalk, next to the waterpark, as well as Angelo’s II Pizza and Bob’s Lemonade a couple of doors down, said the park would bring more people to the boardwalk in the daytime but also in the evening.
“We survive on the rides,” Duva said.
Duva said the family has been on the same block of the boardwalk for 33 years and had never seen anything like the pandemic before.
It’s just one of those summers,” Duva said.