The Palmerton Pool held Carnival Day this past Sunday, a final special event to conclude their major summer festivities.

With hot and sunny weather, it was a great day to take a dip in the pool. There were also a multitude of activities for children to enjoy including free horse rides and a variety of 25-cent carnival games with prizes such as snacks, stuffed animals and other trinkets. The games included a clown-themed bean bag game, a lucky duck find and a fishing pond game.

Attendees could also sponsor a toy duck for $5 in the duck race, a favorite at many of the pool’s events. The bin of ducks would later be dumped down the pool’s sliding board, racing to the other side of the pool. The three ducks reaching the goal first would be the winners, and those who sponsored those ducks would split the money that the duck race brought in.

Nina Bierman and her 5-year-old son Dante Bierman were two attendees at the event. Although living in Lehighton, Bierman said she grew up in the Palmerton area and that she had been bringing her son to the pool there since he was a baby.

Bierman originally found out about the event from the Palmerton Pool’s Facebook page. She said her son was having a great time at the pool and said he had ridden the horses, played the carnival games and that he was “jumping in the water nonstop.”

Dante exclaimed that his favorite part of the carnival was “getting toys” while playing the carnival games which included stuffed animals, candy and snacks.

Bierman said that at the carnival, it felt as if things were returning to normal following COVID-19.

“I feel like it’s a sense of normalcy, especially today, not having to worry about masks or being sick. We’ve been inside for so long, it feels good to get out.”

She praised the Palmerton Pool’s events and hopes for more in the future.

“We hope they plan to continue to have these events and we plan to come to them.”

Gretchen Laviolette, the pool’s special event coordinator, said that although the pool hosts special event days every year, they could not have any last year due to the pandemic. With recent decreases in restrictions though, the pool resumed their special events for summer of 2021.

Some of the special event days prior to Carnival Day included Kickoff to Summer, Fun Day, Christmas in July and Old Timer’s Day.

Laviolette expressed gratitude to see such a successful turnout at the event.

“We’re thrilled to have everybody here. Last year, just like many local businesses, we took a big hit because we did have to put restrictions on who we could allow just to keep everybody safe. So we’re thrilled to have people from our own community and even our neighboring communities that have been coming out.”

When asked about whether she thought the pandemic had any effect on the summer events, Laviolette said she thought it did not heavily impact the event’s successful turnout.

“I feel like COVID is not having any impact. If anything, maybe more people are coming because they realize that they want to take advantage of opportunities like this and they’re tired from being cooped up, but I definitely don’t think it’s holding anybody back this year.”

She thanked St. Luke’s for their help sponsoring the event.

The next Palmerton Pool event will be their Lunch Bag Raffle at the Palmerton Community Festival on Sept. 10, 11 and 12. They are currently seeking donations including new or handcrafted items for their raffle. Community members can also support them by participating in the raffle during the festival as well.

For more information on the Palmerton Pool or their future events, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/palmertonmemorialpool or their website at www.palmertonpool.com.