Déjà vu all over again
Last year we dealt with the City of Healdsburg's plans to close the pool where our kids swim. It did close for the winter, because Parks and Rec and the City Council were determined to close it. "Wait," you may say. "Isn't the City Council supposed to serve the community?" Why, yes. I had thought that too. We proposed a public/private partnership and other strategies to keep it open. No go. So the Healdsburg portion of the team ended up swimming at the local health club. And we ended up making the trek into Santa Rosa, which is 40 minutes away, every day for practice so that our boys could have the benefit of a wider range of coaches, better facilities, and more competition.
You know where this is going, right?
The City of Santa Rosa just announced plans to close the pool in order to soften budget shortfalls. But the difference this time is that they really don't want to close it. When the entire swim team descended upon the City Council meeting, the Council actually welcomed them, hoping to set up some type of public/private partnership if nothing else can be done. What a refreshing change from last year's run-around. It gives us all hope that the pool will, in fact, be saved.
We don't yet know what can be done, or how this will turn out, but swimming and life go on. This weekend is the annual swim-a-thon, our big fundraiser for the team. All ages of kids swim up to 200 laps. The younger kids swim as many as possible and the older compete to see how quickly they can swim their laps. Last year, #1 Son swam his 200 laps with twenty minutes to spare, and our then 6 year old Bear swam :drumroll: 106 laps, much to the dismay of a friend who, thinking he might swim 20 laps at the most, pledged $1 per lap!
I don't usually do this, but I'm going to ask this time. If you are at all interested in kids and/or swimming, will you sponsor my boys? Every little bit counts, and this year, we could use some extra help. Expenses for the team have been going up, and more swimmers have needed to be on scholarship due to the bad economy. It's a great team and a great sport. If you can, just click on the donate button in the side bar to the right - it will take you to PayPal. Each and every dollar helps. A lot.
Thank you so much! I'll report back with lap results after the swim-a-thon. :)
You know where this is going, right?
The City of Santa Rosa just announced plans to close the pool in order to soften budget shortfalls. But the difference this time is that they really don't want to close it. When the entire swim team descended upon the City Council meeting, the Council actually welcomed them, hoping to set up some type of public/private partnership if nothing else can be done. What a refreshing change from last year's run-around. It gives us all hope that the pool will, in fact, be saved.
We don't yet know what can be done, or how this will turn out, but swimming and life go on. This weekend is the annual swim-a-thon, our big fundraiser for the team. All ages of kids swim up to 200 laps. The younger kids swim as many as possible and the older compete to see how quickly they can swim their laps. Last year, #1 Son swam his 200 laps with twenty minutes to spare, and our then 6 year old Bear swam :drumroll: 106 laps, much to the dismay of a friend who, thinking he might swim 20 laps at the most, pledged $1 per lap!
I don't usually do this, but I'm going to ask this time. If you are at all interested in kids and/or swimming, will you sponsor my boys? Every little bit counts, and this year, we could use some extra help. Expenses for the team have been going up, and more swimmers have needed to be on scholarship due to the bad economy. It's a great team and a great sport. If you can, just click on the donate button in the side bar to the right - it will take you to PayPal. Each and every dollar helps. A lot.
Thank you so much! I'll report back with lap results after the swim-a-thon. :)
posted by Romi at 9:50 PM
3 Comments:
I tweeted about the kids I hope it helps.
I'm leaving a donation.... my kids (now 36, 33, and the baby just turned 30 today) all swam. That, and high school theatre, were the best things we ever supported. I'm glad your kids are getting a chance to benefit, too.
Barbara M.
It sure seems crazy that they're complaining that kids are overweight and don't get enough exercise, and then not supporting an activity that provides great health benefits as well as a safety skill. Politics....... Glad the kids stood up!!! Wish I'd seen this sooner!
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