For many, Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer, but while the town beach and boat launch will be available to residents, the beach won’t open officially until June 24. In the meantime, residents can continue to swim at their own risk, lounge on the sand, and rent boats.
Parking stickers are required starting Memorial Day, May 29, through Labor Day, Sept. 4. While there won’t be sticker checkers until June 24, parking stickers are still required starting this weekend. One can buy a parking sticker through the Harvard town website or at harvardma.myrec.com. With the purchase of a sticker, a barcode will be given to place on car dashboards. When the sticker checkers start their jobs, the barcodes will be replaced by a sticker after they are scanned.
Since Harvard public schools finish on June 23, it is a challenge both for lifeguards and children’s participation to start programs earlier than June 24. However, Bob O’Shea, interim beach director, notes the possibility of having lifeguards earlier. “So we will have some seniors who are graduating earlier than all the rest of the kids; they’ll be available. Right now I have them starting on the 19th.” As the summer season progresses, more lifeguards will be available. Those who are newer to the lifeguard job will have to receive training on the opening dates, June 24 and 25.
New sailboats, updated dock and bathroom
When the town beach opens, it will debut with several additions and improvements. Seven new sailboats are now available for boating lessons, and two white plastic lifeguard chairs replace the older metal ones. The second raft has also been replaced and a new grid of moorings, paid for with Community Preservation Act money, has been laid out on the water. Additionally, the dock has been updated with more horizontal extensions, allowing 14 boats to be attached at a single time. The rowing team donated the older dock it had been using and placed it near the new YAKport. The YAKport is a platform that assists older citizens and people who have difficulty getting into a kayak.
Interim beach director Bob O’Shea inspects the locks on the rental boat stand. (Photo by Jordan Hoover)
To meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, the women’s bathroom in the boathouse has been turned into a wheelchair accessible restroom. Both the new bathroom and the existing one next to it will be unisex restrooms.
In addition to these improvements, more work is underway before the beach’s official opening. Buoys must be transferred onto new rope and wire; new anchors will be placed in the water; and landscaping will be updated with new mulch, flower beds, and the removal of weeds. For the boathouse, plans to paint the exterior, replace the interior’s carpet and lightbulbs, and fix the roof are underway.
O’Shea notes that this summer is an opportunity to revive the town beach as a destination for family recreation. “Since 2020, we’ve been kind of impacted by COVID. And this year, we’re trying to come back strong,” said O’Shea. He hopes that the beach will return to being a lively place this summer, but he worries about the pandemic’s effect on program participation: “I’m a little afraid that parents have found other camps because of this whole fact last year that we didn’t have a beach director and that they may have signed their kids up for things out of town.”
Activities similar to past years are planned, such as a volleyball tournament, annual town bonfire, and a Fourth of July parade float. Swimming and boating lessons will start June 30 and are available for signup through the Harvard Parks and Recreation Commission’s website.
Speaking about activities at the beach, O’Shea said, “It’s a great memory for the kids. They all learn to swim. And I think that’s kind of the community’s responsibility—to make sure that everybody learns how to swim.”
