8:53 p.m.: People enjoying summer plans

By Barrett Newkirk

June 21, 2008 08:53 pm

— ANDERSON — It’s only the second full day of summer, and that means there are 91 still to go.
Luckily, local residents are just getting started.
Maurice Walker was at Southside Pool with his two children Saturday afternoon. The 25-year-old stay-at-home dad said his family would stay cool this summer by visiting the pool up to three times a week.
Maggie Benefiel, 24, and friends hit the pool, too. Benefiel has “the best summer job in the world.” She’s a nanny, so that means lots of time for parks and pools.
Kiesha Camontagne and her boyfriend Brandon Hardwick, both friends of Benefiel’s, said they’d be spending the summer working.
She’s part-time at a fast-food restaurant and saving for a car. He’s full-time at a call center and saving for a house.
The two hope to break away from work long enough sometime this summer to visit Cedar Point, the amusement park in northern Ohio.
“It’s the best park for roller coasters,” said Camontagne, 17, of Frankton.
Kellie Arrowood’s summer plans had to change after she broke her leg walking down steps at her Muncie home a few months ago.
Now she’ll spend the summer in a wheelchair. But the injury has its benefits, she said while watching her son Kodi play at Pulaski Park in Anderson.
“This will be the first year in about 18 years that I’ve really taken off and not done anything,” she said.
And she said she’d be able to spend more time getting Kodi ready for kindergarten.
Along with trying out local parks and playgrounds, Arrowood said she’d been doing a little camping and probably a lot of fishing this summer.
“It used to involved a lot of hiking, but now that’s over,” she said.

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