New York Folklore Society's Voices

"It was the closest thing to military camp you could ever imagine. We lined up like soldiers at the Central Mall, stiff attention, we had to stand inspection. I was a young kid, facing the Atlantic, scared to death!" —Reggie Jones

Reggie Jones is a Bellmore resident who has worked as a Jones Beach lifeguard for more than 50 years. Nancy Solomon is director of Long Island Traditions.

Photo of lifeguard Reggie Jones

Reggie Jones in c. 1952, wearing the required wool swim suit with straps. Photograph courtesy of Reggie Jones.

NOTE: The New York Folklore Society Newsletter and New York Folklore Journal were replaced by Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore which debuted December, 2000.

New York Folklore Society
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Winter/Spring 1998

WINTER/SPRING 1998 VOICES MAIN PAGE

Safeguarding Tradition: Reggie Jones, Jones Beach Lifeguard
Interview with Reggie Jones by Nancy Solomon

I started in 1944 when the war was on. I got 44 cents an hour. What inspired me was my dad had a gas station in Baldwin, and some of the young lifeguards would come by, and I looked at them. Sometimes the guards would take me to the beach. They looked like gods to me! I said to myself, "One day I am going to be a lifeguard."

There was an advertisement in the paper when I was 17, and it said lifeguards needed at Jones Beach, apply at Long Island State Park Commission in Babylon. My mother said, "You go down, and put in your application. Otherwise you’ll be an indentured servant at the gas station for the rest of your life."

In those days you had to go through a month’s training without pay. There were about 150 guys. I was determined, and I stayed with the program. We swam in Zach’s Bay, we rowed boats, we pulled lines, we swam with buoys [used in rescues]. It was freezing! I remember my instructor. He said, "We’re going to take ten Huskies." We all looked at each other and said "Ten guys?" Well he started to read the names, and my heart was dropping with every one. And number ten was Reggie Jones. I thought I made the Olympics!"

It was the closest thing to military camp you could ever imagine. We lined up like soldiers at the Central Mall, stiff attention, we had to stand inspection. I was a young kid, facing the Atlantic, scared to death! We were inspected and then deployed to the beach. I eventually became a captain, through longevity or talent; I’m not sure which. After working the way I did as a young kid, this was like Valhalla to me. Watching girls go by, wow! What could be better!

While the life of a lifeguard may seem ideal, there were many times when it could also be among the most dangerous. Drownings were rare, but this was entirely due to the dedication and discipline of the lifeguards. Reggie Jones faced his hardest test in his first year.

There was a fog that had settled in on the water. It was very rough that day, and I was sitting on the stand with a guy called Jimmy Laughlin. So we were sitting on the stand, and we called everyone out of the water. Because you couldn’t see. Plus it was very dangerous. Well I’m sitting up there, all of 17 or 18, and we’re looking out at the water, and we went down and blew everyone out. While we’re sitting there we hear, "Help, help!" way out! It was like it was coming from London. I said, "Did you hear that Jimmy?" He says, "Yeah." I said, "I guess that’s us. Blow two." We blew two whistles, and we jump in the water. I’ve got the line, and Laughlin’s got the buoy. And away we go, out into the fog, after this voice that’s yelling "Help, help!"

Well, Laughlin lost the buoy in the surf. But the immediate thing we had to do was to just keep swimming after this voice. So I kept swimming with the line, and as I got out maybe a couple of hundred, 300 yards, offshore, the line gets a belly in it because the water sweeps west. Well, it’s dragging the line, and I find, with the loop over my shoulder, swimming as hard as I can, I’m losing ground, I’m not going ahead. So I unleashed the line. Well, we keep swimming, and lo and behold we come on this guy.

He looked like Sidney Greenstreet. The guy was huge!The guy must have weighed 300 pounds. I have no idea how he ever got out there. "Help, help!" Laughlin got him under one arm, and I’ve got him under the other. We’re kicking and swimming, but we’re not coming in. We are way out; we can’t even see the shore. So Laughlin says, "I don’t think anyone knows we’re out here." I said, "Probably not. Keep swimming." He says, "I’m going in for help." And I said, "Who elected you to go in for help? You’re a better swimmer than I am, let me go in! Well, bottom line was he left me, and he went in, and I saw those feet kicking away from me I the fog, I could have died."

Well now I’m heading to Jones Inlet with this guy, I know I’m going down towards the inlet, and I was afraid that once I get around that jetty at the inlet I'm going to go straight out [to the ocean]. Well this guy would bob down and come up for air, and I would bob down and come up for air. I seriously thought about leaving him, I thought I was going under. It wasn’t bravery. I just couldn’t do it. I almost did leave him, but I couldn’t do it.

Well out of the fog comes this old captain of mine, Hank Daly, in a big dory, and he's blowing whistles, "Beep beep, beep beep." I said "Over here, help!" I tell you, that was the greatest sight I ever saw! When that boat came through the fog. And all Hank said to me was, "Jonesy, Laughlin left you, didn’t he? He left you." I said, "Yes he did, Hank." He says, "Alright. I'll see to that."

We rowed in, we caught a few waves, and finally we came in. There was crowd on the beach. I’ll never forget Hank Daly. He went up, and he says, "Okay, Laughlin," and he snapped the straps right off his shoulders, he said, "You’re fired. You’re not a lifeguard, you’re not even a man." He says to me, "Okay Jonesy, go back to west bathhouse, take a hot shower, we could have more of these today." I said, "Good God, no!" So I went home that night, and said to my mom, "You know, that job could be pretty dangerous."

The only time Reggie ever left his position was during the lifeguard strike of 1971. The lifeguards formed a union, so they could earn a steady wage, and have more say in their work assignments.

They started to knock us off on rainy days. If a cloud appeared over Kansas, they’d call up and say, "Okay knock off three quarters of your crew. If you had a rainy summer you couldn’t make any money. The other things that happened was we were doing things other than lifeguard work. We were picking up garbage on the beach, raking the beach. They actually took some of the lifeguards on an inclement day over to Heckscher State Park to cut logs with chain saws. They never thought a bunch of lifeguards would get together and strike on them. But we organized. We were out that whole summer.

After three drownings, the Long Island State Park Commission agreed to recognize the union. Their contract currently includes a 40-hour work week, a pension plan, and health insurance.

Other changes included the presence of women lifeguards. At first there was resistance. Reggie recalls:

It was a male ego thing. I said, "Wait a minute guys, you been chasing women all your life, and now you’re going to get a chance to sit on the stand with them! What’s wrong with you!" I found that the girls were really great. They paid attention to the water, they weren’t looking at the guys, and there were some great swimmers.

Today Reggie holds the rank of lieutenant, and is the unofficial lifeguard historian. Although he eventually will retire, Reggie says he’s afraid to, for being a lifeguard keeps him young.

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