Visitors to Waukegan Municipal this summer will likely encounter the usual array of 16 young people wearing the blue shirts of beach rangers. They will be there to help visitors, remain watchful of goings-on and help keep things clean.
Lisa May, the city’s lakefront coordinator, is in the process of completing the team by hiring five newcomers to complement the 11 returning rangers for another summer at the beach. All are high school and college students from the area.
“They’re ambassadors, monitors and caretakers,” May said. “They interact with visitors. They tell people where they can find things. They tell them about the dunes. They answer questions about the piping plovers.”
This will be the 11th edition of the beach rangers, who will be asked to help create a more pleasant environment for beach visitors between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
“That’s the peak season, but the beach is open 365 days a year,” May said.
Among the beach rangers’ tasks as ambassadors will be to let guests know about additions to the area this summer — including an expanded food court and Alchemy Beach, a designated area near the Stiner Pavilion where a variety of beverages, including alcoholic drinks, will be available.
Education is part of the program. May said the rangers learn about natural amenities like the dunes, and practical features like the location of restrooms and other general conveniences. They are also taught basic first aid. As ambassadors, they inform, but as monitors, they may need to act.
“They’re always looking out for (potential) problems,” May said. “We usually don’t have a whole lot of trouble. They’re there to help until the first responders arrive. They’ll tell rescue where someone went down. We make it a well-rounded program.”
Along with spotting potential problems and helping people with their needs at the beach, May said the caretaker role involves keeping the beach clean. They power-wash the benches, tables and other items that need it, as well as raking. If heavy equipment is necessary, the work falls to the city’s Public Works Department.
When the city was looking to cut expenses in 2010, May said then-Mayor Robert Sabonjian Jr. got rid of the lifeguards, sparking a reaction from a group of residents who wanted to see the beach continue to thrive. She was one of the activists who came to City Council meetings to advocate for the beach.
Though there are still no lifeguards, May said the beach rangers were started as a way to make the lakefront a nicer place to go, especially on weekends. The beach rangers grew out of the group’s activism.
“We vowed we would keep the beach open,” she said.
Josue Pasillas, the city’s assistant director of public relations, was the first beach ranger in the summer of 2015. He was a college student at the time, and said he saw it as a way to earn money in a pleasant environment to put toward his education.
“It was also a way to make a commitment to things that are important to me, like the environment,” Pasillas said. “I saw it as the role of a steward.”
Between the time the lifeguards were no longer stationed at the beach and the rangers program started, there was a beach director who oversaw the needs of the area during the summer. One of them was former Ald. Gregory Moisio, 3rd Ward.
“They’d hire a teacher and some kids to help take care of the beach,” Moisio, now a retired Waukegan Community Unit School District coach and teacher, said.
When the beach opens for the summer season, May said Alchemy Beach will be in a segregated area adjacent to the south beach near the Stiner Pavilion. There will be fresh juices, coffee and some alcoholic beverages. The barrier is there because people will not be allowed to take alcohol onto the beach.
Farther north, near the start of the dunes, is an expanded food court with food trucks and some using a pop-up tent. May said all operators must be licensed with the city. Not all services are there all of the time. Last year, there were as many as eight at once. Now there is space for 18.
“They have pizza, tacos, ice cream, hot dogs, coffee and more,” May said.
Food services are also available at the yacht harbor located south of the beach and the commercial port.
