With Lake Gregory opening later this month and with the inflatable splash islands having been installed, many people have begun to ask questions of The Lake Gregory Company whether the swim beach is already open and about details on the upcoming summer season.

Nathan Godwin, the Lake Gregory manager, spoke to The Alpine Mountaineer about some of the plans for this summer.

The reason the inflatables were installed so early this season, he explained, is that they hire a company to do it. Those divers are experienced and repair any problems they find and install all of them in three days, whereas it would take the lake employees three weeks to perform the same work and they would not have the same expertise. The inflatables are installed on that company’s schedule, not Lake Gregory’s, which is the reason they are already floating on the lake. The waterslide has already been inspected and approved.

The beach area will open on the Saturday – May 28 – of Memorial Day weekend at 10 a.m. and be open all weekend until 5 p.m. each evening through Monday night. All the beach amenities should be in full operation, including watercraft and toys, waterparks and the snack bar.

Opening weekend will begin with Market Night at Lake Gregory on Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the south shore pavilion with the band Retroblast playing from 5 to 8 p.m. The Lake Gregory Company will celebrate with two nights of Tacos and Tunes on the North Shore terrace area on Saturday and Sunday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. with tacos from Tony’s. Come join the celebrations, said Godwin.

After that, the beaches will be open only weekends until June 9, after which they will be open seven days a week until Labor Day, weather permitting. A new dock area is opening for personal watercraft launching and kayak rentals on the east side of the lake near San Moritz open the same days the beaches are open. Along with the new dock and tackle shop will be electric bike rentals to enable those parked in the paid parking lots for the day to also visit the town. Beach entry is $10 a day; however, an all-access pass to the lake for a day is $20, which includes all the waterparks, splash pads and waterslides. They also rent cabanas and the snack bar has been outfitted with all new equipment.

The fishing at Lake Gregory has been going well this spring, with weekly trout stocking with the last stocking in the middle of May. More trout will be stocked in the fall. Godwin said he has been attempting to stock catfish, but there is currently a shortage of places that have them. However, he has stocked some blue gill this season. Although they have not been stocking bass, there are some in the lake and some have been growing large. Lake Gregory is quickly becoming a fisherman’s lake, he said.

Godwin recommends that those who intend to use the lake most every day of summer should consider a summer beach pass at $229, as it can make the cost drop to as low as $4 a day with two hours of paddle board rentals included daily. See their website, www.lakegregory.com, for pricing for other special packages and details.

Lake Gregory has been asked about dry storage of kayaks and other watercraft but, because of the inexpensive yearly launch pass for kayaks, it is cheaper for a person to buy a pass than to store it at the lake, so they are not offering that service at this time.

The Lake Gregory Company is still hiring for all positions. There will be a hiring booth at the Friday Market Night on May 13 for them and several other businesses in town that evening. They are also accepting applications online any day of the week.

Godwin hopes with the Friday night concerts on the south shore and the new docks and other amenities such as the free sports courts, skate park, dog parks, walking trails, the new meadow, and playground equipment, that the community has the opportunity to enjoy Lake Gregory this summer.