Beating the heat?
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 21, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Preston Boothman, 4, swims toward his father, Michael, and brother, Jasper, 2, while cooling off at the Walnut Creek Pool on Saturday afternoon.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Allison Moxley, 4, chows down on her shark attack flavored Pelican's SnoBall with her mom, Rachel, and dad, Chris, to cool off on Saturday afternoon.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Chris Wyatt, sign spinner at Pelican's SnoBalls, twirls around his snow cone board while dancing outside of the store on Saturday afternoon.
Caden Hamilton, 10, walked to the end of the diving board at Walnut Creek on Saturday afternoon.
He paused at the end of the structure.
He looked at his mother, Jessica, who was sitting poolside, and cracked a wide grin.
Then, he flapped his arms like a bird and catapulted himself into the deep end.
"That's just his goofiness," Mrs. Hamilton said. "He knows it makes me laugh."
As temperatures continue to rise and show no sign of cooling off, families in Wayne County are hitting the pool and slurping down cold drinks made of flavored ice in an attempt to beat the heat.
Jasper and Preston Boothman hit the pool at Walnut Creek with their father, Michael, on Saturday. They have gone every day this week.
"It's so hot we've been coming out here every day to get out of the heat," Michael said.
Jasper was just happy to be in the pool with his father -- giggling and kicking as he played with his dad.
"We're just going to be hanging out on Father's Day tomorrow, nothing special," Michael said.
Mrs. Hamilton said each of her children learned to swim by the time they were 3 years old, and that hitting the pool in the summer is one of the family's favorite things to do to beat the heat.
"Now that school's out, I can imagine they wish they could come every day, but I have to answer phones from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day so we can't do that," she said.
Ava Silver, 6, horsed around in the pool with her younger brother, Reeve, who is 2.
She took the opportunity provided by the scorching temperatures to jump off the diving board for the first time ever.
"Yeah, it was scary," she said. "But you just do it."
Across town at Pelican's SnoBalls, the line stretched to the parking lot as families tried to get a taste of cold, flavored ice.
The business has more than 100 flavors to choose from.
Allison Moxley, 4, picked the "shark attack" flavor, which rapidly turned her mouth blue.
"Yeah, it had gummies on it, but I ate them first," she said.
Her parents, Rachel and Chris Moxley, said they've been staying inside all week to avoid the heat.
"We had to get out of the house, so we thought we'd come and get some sno-balls," Mrs. Moxley said.
In front of the packed business on Saturday stood a common face around Goldsboro, twirling a sign.
Chris Wyatt, who spins a sign and dances for Little Caesar's each day, was working for Pelican's SnoBalls on Saturday.
His shirt was absolutely soaked in sweat.
He said he drinks approximately nine 24-ounce drinks per day while he dances to stay hydrated.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Wyatt said.
He said he gets plenty of attention for keeping passers-by entertained in the heat.
"People come and take a lot of photos," Wyatt said. "I get a lot of hugs and there are videos of me on the Internet."
Temperatures are expected to peak this week on Monday at 100 degrees, with the rest of the week hovering between 97 and 99 degrees.
This constitutes a heat index of approximately 106 degrees nearly every day this week, with rain coming in Wednesday through Friday to cool things off to about 91 degrees by next Sunday.