11/01/2011
Editor:
I believe that closing the Sweet Home pool is a bad idea for saving dollars.
The pool is where most of the young people and adults living in Sweet Home learned to swim. If keeping the pool open saves just one life, the cost will be worth it. The pool is not just a sport and recreation issue. It is a safety concern also.
During the school year and in the summer, the pool seldom sits empty. Grade school children come in all day long from their schools to take part in swimming lessons. Other ages can come in to swim laps at various times of the day beginning in the small pool in the early morning and also into the evening. Exercise classes are often going on at the same time the large pool is in use.
Just like the Sweet Home pool, space in the Lebanon Pool is totally filled up with the activities they offer. There would be no possibility of renting space for Sweet Home’s swim team or water polo team over there. I suggest that you go down to the pool office at the high school, check out their schedule and find out just how much this pool is used.
Another group making use of the community pool resources are those persons referred by their physical therapists and physicians to do water rehabilitation for back pain, joint replacements and other conditions.
More thoughts on this:
n Sometimes it is the sports programs in a school district that keep youngsters from dropping out before they make it to graduation.
n Sports are more than just recreation. They teach leadership skills, teamwork and sportsmanship.
n With Americans becoming increasingly sedentary and obesity becoming an epidemic, why remove a resource that counteracts that trend?
n Swimming is a physical activity that is lifelong.
If a community has a resource, it deserves your support whether you use it or not.
Please think before you make the mistake of voting this one down.
Jan Barthel
Sweet Home