OC Beach Patrol begins preparations
Lifeguards evaluate last year's performance, devise plans for 2011
OCEAN CITY -- When Brent Weingard spent his first summer as an Ocean City Beach Patrol employee in 1989, he had just completed his freshman year as an environmental science major at Salisbury University.
He enjoyed the job so much, he decided to change his major to education at the beginning of the next school year so he could become a teacher and have summers free to join the patrol.
Ten years later, he was still at it when he met his wife, Anna, a fellow patrol employee. The couple now has two daughters, ages 7 and 5, and a 2-year-old son.
"This job can be something that will change your life," Weingard said.
Weingard and his family still travel to town every summer from their home in Frederick County, where they live during the school year. Weingard is a physical education teacher at a public school in Montgomery County.
This summer will be Weingard's 22nd season with the patrol, and he now serves as co-supervisor of the area along the Boardwalk from the Inlet to 17th Street.
The patrol kicked off its preparations for the coming season March 5-6 with its annual strategic planning weekend. Weingard was present, along with the rest of the patrol's 24 officers and supervisory staff.
The group spent the first day evaluating last year's performance and the second day laying out plans for the coming season that typically lasts from mid-May to Columbus Day.
Many of the officers came to the meeting from out of town, and about 80 percent of the patrol's 200 employees relocate to the area for the season, according to Capt. Butch Arbin.
Of those 200, about one-third of them have more than five years of experience with the patrol.
The patrol depends heavily on teachers and college professors, since they're two professions that include freed up summer months, Arbin said. It also depends on people who have a passion for the job and will come back year after year.
"This is a job of significance in that you really help people and can actually save lives," Arbin said.
"Once people get a taste of that, they're drawn back to it, and it's not something you can really understand unless you experience it."
Mark Muller, a professor of engineering at Salisbury University, will enter his 13th year with the patrol in May. He works as a crew chief in charge of seven other lifeguards in the area between 73rd and 83rd streets.
He calls it the "ultimate job" and says he'll probably keep going until his body can no longer handle the duties.
"You get to hang out on the beach, save some lives and talk to a lot of people," he said. "Really, it's just a great job."
Weingard echoed Arbin and Muller's sentiments. There's nothing better than rescuing someone, he said.
His paramount motivation for returning to the patrol annually, though, is the relationships he's been able to establish through the job.
"I've made so many friends both on and off the beaches of Ocean City," he said. "I met my wife, too, and that's obviously very important. I feel very blessed that I met her and that I have this job."
Beach Patrol employees are a valuable part of the "Ocean City team," which includes many seasonal hires for the peak summer months, said communications manager Donna Abbott.
The beach patrol requires people who have good physical skills as well as the mental acuity to deal with stressful situations that arise, Abbott said.
"It does take a special person to do that specific job," she said.
One emphasis during the planning meeting was that the patrol find ways to maintain its high level of training and monitoring of its younger lifeguards, according to Arbin.
When the guards arrive, they do a test that lasts all day, followed by an eight-day training academy that is rounded out by three weeks of supervised probation. Then there are six written evaluations by supervisors throughout the summer.
"We demand a lot from our guards, and they tend to live up to those demands," Arbin said. "We want to be a service to keep everyone who comes to Ocean City safe, and we want them to come back again."
He enjoyed the job so much, he decided to change his major to education at the beginning of the next school year so he could become a teacher and have summers free to join the patrol.
Ten years later, he was still at it when he met his wife, Anna, a fellow patrol employee. The couple now has two daughters, ages 7 and 5, and a 2-year-old son.
"This job can be something that will change your life," Weingard said.
Weingard and his family still travel to town every summer from their home in Frederick County, where they live during the school year. Weingard is a physical education teacher at a public school in Montgomery County.
This summer will be Weingard's 22nd season with the patrol, and he now serves as co-supervisor of the area along the Boardwalk from the Inlet to 17th Street.
The patrol kicked off its preparations for the coming season March 5-6 with its annual strategic planning weekend. Weingard was present, along with the rest of the patrol's 24 officers and supervisory staff.
The group spent the first day evaluating last year's performance and the second day laying out plans for the coming season that typically lasts from mid-May to Columbus Day.
Many of the officers came to the meeting from out of town, and about 80 percent of the patrol's 200 employees relocate to the area for the season, according to Capt. Butch Arbin.
Of those 200, about one-third of them have more than five years of experience with the patrol.
The patrol depends heavily on teachers and college professors, since they're two professions that include freed up summer months, Arbin said. It also depends on people who have a passion for the job and will come back year after year.
"This is a job of significance in that you really help people and can actually save lives," Arbin said.
"Once people get a taste of that, they're drawn back to it, and it's not something you can really understand unless you experience it."
Mark Muller, a professor of engineering at Salisbury University, will enter his 13th year with the patrol in May. He works as a crew chief in charge of seven other lifeguards in the area between 73rd and 83rd streets.
He calls it the "ultimate job" and says he'll probably keep going until his body can no longer handle the duties.
"You get to hang out on the beach, save some lives and talk to a lot of people," he said. "Really, it's just a great job."
Weingard echoed Arbin and Muller's sentiments. There's nothing better than rescuing someone, he said.
His paramount motivation for returning to the patrol annually, though, is the relationships he's been able to establish through the job.
"I've made so many friends both on and off the beaches of Ocean City," he said. "I met my wife, too, and that's obviously very important. I feel very blessed that I met her and that I have this job."
Beach Patrol employees are a valuable part of the "Ocean City team," which includes many seasonal hires for the peak summer months, said communications manager Donna Abbott.
The beach patrol requires people who have good physical skills as well as the mental acuity to deal with stressful situations that arise, Abbott said.
"It does take a special person to do that specific job," she said.
One emphasis during the planning meeting was that the patrol find ways to maintain its high level of training and monitoring of its younger lifeguards, according to Arbin.
When the guards arrive, they do a test that lasts all day, followed by an eight-day training academy that is rounded out by three weeks of supervised probation. Then there are six written evaluations by supervisors throughout the summer.
"We demand a lot from our guards, and they tend to live up to those demands," Arbin said. "We want to be a service to keep everyone who comes to Ocean City safe, and we want them to come back again."
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