New warnings, education launch water-safety campaign

After 10-year-old girl drowned in July while swimming in a restricted area of Lake Mohegan, the town has installed new "No Swimming" signs at entrances to the open space section of the park.

And the Police Department, in addition to stepping up patrols in the area, also recently brought Stew Leonard III Children's Charities to town to stress the importance of water safety to youngsters.

The new signs at Lake Mohegan are larger, with warnings written in both Spanish and English. The signs state that only is swimming not allowed in the open space areas, but it is dangerous.

Before the drowning, the "no swimming" rule was posted as one of 13 different regulations for the Lake Mohegan open space area listed on small signs. Following the tragedy, temporary signs with the international symbol for "no swimming" were placed on saw horses at the park.

Swimming at the town's only fresh-water park is allowed only at the beach at the south end of the lake, where lifeguards are stationed.

During Wednesday's Peanut Butter Jam event sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department at Sherman Green, "Stewie the Duck" showed up to give a quick water safety lesson to the 100 or so children and parents on hand.

Stew Leonard III, son of Stew Leonard Jr. and grandson of supermarket magnate Stew Leonard, drowned at the age of 3 when he fell into a pool. Both parents thought the other was watching the child. They set up a foundation as way to spread awareness of water safety in the wake of their son's death.

His sister, Madison, told the youngsters that her brother was chasing a balloon that was floating the pool. Then the girl, police Sgt. Suzanne Lussier and Stewie the Duck proceeded to read to the gathering from an oversized book a story about being how to stay safe around water.