Bethany Beach Patrol celebrates 90 years of service

BETHANY BEACH, Del. - The Bethany Beach Patrol celebrated a milestone this weekend: 90 years of service for lifeguards. 

The beach patrol celebrated by having present and past lifeguards come together to commemorate the occasion with a group photo. 

Melaney Berns has been a lifeguard in Bethany for 11 years and she said it's great to celebrate in this way.

"It is very special to have the older guys from decades ago coming back and swap stories and talk about how it was to lifeguard back then," Berns said.

After the photo there was a special group exercise called a "In and Out" drill. The drill is a morning training staple and it conjures a sense of pride for the lifeguards. The goal is to get past the waves fast enough to get to the person in distress and that is the biggest part of their job saving lives. 

Ronnie Phillips, who has been a lifeguard for 40 years, said coming together as a group is nothing new for the beach patrol.

"These lifeguards work out together every day, they train together every day, a lot of them live together," Phillips said. "So the tradition of just being together and being a team started long before I got here."

The Bethany Beach Beach Patrol has never had a drowning while there's a lifeguard on the stand in their 90 years of service. They take pride in that and they also take pride in their traditions for all their lifeguards.

Lifeguard Captain Joe Donnelly said he's been with the beach patrol since 1993 and he's seen the team atmosphere transcend through the years. 

"A lot of the alumni who taught me how to do this job, once upon a time when I was a teenager, taught me our values as a patrol," Donnelly said. "Hopefully those same values are being passed on from generation to generation."

Donnelly said as a team the beach patrol never forgets why they do what they do. 

"We have gained a pretty good reputation on how we maintain safety over the years," Donnelly said, "It's something that our beach goers or renters or residents have come to expect and we need to meet that standard."

For some like Justin Stefanosky who for 20 years has been visiting Bethany every summer with his family said he wishes the beach patrol well. 

"Keep up the good work, thank you for keeping me safe for the last 20 years, Stefanosky said.  "I hope for the next 20 years my kids have the same experience with the beach patrol as I have."