FeedsCanton cooks
Residents seek heat relief
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Tarek Shebak tries to stay cool at the Heritage Park Splash Playground.The wooden play structure at Heritage Park stood empty in the afternoon sun.
All that was climbing was the temperature, headed toward 97 degrees and the heat index inching toward 110.
Children were around, though: just yards away, they ran and jumped through the splash playground while their parents looked on—and in some cases, joined in.
A trip to the playground, which features several ways to get soaked, was a no-brainer for parents like Susan Luckham. She brought her 7-year-old daughter, Samantha, and 4-year-old son, Nicholas, to the park Monday.
“Just trying to stay cool,” said Luckham, “and it’s a little safer than pools if (children) can’t swim.”
Temperatures were expected to fall back into the 80s today, after a three-day heat wave that left no doubt August had arrived.
Canton turned the Summit on the Park into a local cooling center on Tuesday, giving residents ice water and offering “cool-down” showers. Officials warned that older residents without air conditioning were at high risk and encouraged them to come to the community center.
Michelle Anderson noted that the Summit and splash playground were just a couple of options to beat the heat.
“There’s the Lifetime (Fitness) pool, our small backyard pool,” she said. “Our parents live on a lake, so we’ll be heading up there.”
Not far away and indoors, the Canton Public Library was beckoning. The children’s department was packed, with nearly every computer terminal occupied and several youngsters browsing the book stacks.
Anne Heidemann, the children’s services department head, said a lot of patrons seek relief at the library.
“I’ve heard it many times today,” she said. “We’re busy every day, but in general I hear a lot of people saying ‘We don’t have air conditioning at home.’”
Denise Stewart sat at one of the small tables in the children’s library.
The high temperatures drove her to bring her 7 and 9-year olds to the library, but they were no strangers to it.
“We’re in here every week,” she said.
For parents, finding relief from the heat also meant having some relief later, too.
“If I don’t get Nick outside once a day, he won’t sleep,” said Luckham, smiling.
Anderson agreed. A trip to the lake may be on the horizon, but Monday the venture to the splash park had another purpose.
When asked if some other cool event was planned afterward, Anderson laughed:
“A nap,” she said.
