Wurst takes over as manager of NY Mills pool

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

A familiar face welcomed each of the 107 visitors to the Legried Community Pool during its opening day last week. 

Harley Wurst started her first season as pool manager after Heidi Van Dyke retired from the position last fall. She currently works as a paraprofessional at New York Mills School and returns to the pool for her sixth summer, after being a lifeguard for the past five years.

“Heidi trained me in last summer,” said Wurst. “I work at the school and I knew I wanted to stay in Mills, so this is the perfect job in the summer.”

As Wurst begins her second week managing the pool, there are a few things that she looks forward to at the pool.

“I look forward to being in a new position,” she said. “My favorite part each summer is swimming lessons, I enjoy teaching swimming lessons. I like seeing kids that I see at the school everyday and then you get to see them in the summer. Their faces light up when they see you too, especially when you get to be their swimming lessons teacher.”

Among the fun activities going on at the pool during the warm, sunny months, there are also some new additions and upgrades coming this fall. The City of New York Mills recently received a Blandin Foundation grant that will aid in the cost of much needed upgrades and maintenance at the pool as well as some further possible updates.

“A lot of it will be in the utility room and it will deal with the pumps and things like that,” said Wurst. “The city workers are the ones that deal with that part of the pool and they might make some changes around the pool itself that will affect the kids. We’ll find out when the fall comes and see.”

Another project coming to the pool will be installed for next year by a local community member.

“A student in the junior high is making a bunch of cubbies that will go against the fence for kids to put their towels and their stuff in,” said Wurst. “Rather than leaving stuff on the benches or things getting misplaced. There will be big round PVC pipe cubbies that will be open for kids to leave their stuff in. Hopefully, they will be in use by next summer.”

Wurst was drawn to the position due to her school-year work schedule, as well as her love for being outdoors.

“I personally like being outside in the summer,” she said. “It’s a good excuse to work outside and have fun. I like working with all the lifeguards, I’ve worked with a lot of them for four or five years, now it’s kind of fun that I get to be their boss. It’s a fun job, it’s always been a fun job.”

There are nine employees returning to the pool from last season, including Wurst. Four more lifeguards will be hired to cover shifts. Wurst will also be filling in as a lifeguard when needed. 

In the times that she’s not in the water, Wurst will be practicing the lessons Van Dyke taught her about the office side of the pool.

“She taught me more of the management side of things like budgeting, bringing things to the bank, time cards for lifeguards filling out their hours. I learned a lot about the chemicals and parts of the pool that the lifeguards might not know about. She taught me a lot last year,” said Wurst.