by Lisa DiGiorgio | May 12, 2017 | News
A BIG thanks to those who participated in GiveBIG last Wednesday! With your help, we were able to make GiveBIG 2017 one of our biggest yet! Sixty supporters from near and far raised almost $42,000! This is double what we raised last year! On behalf of the FLIP Board, thank you for your TREMENDOUS support! Watch for some changes this summer at the site on Pool Lane off Center Road. Many thanks to you for making this work possible!
Click the pool diagram for a closer look!
by Lisa DiGiorgio | May 10, 2017 | News
FLIP has already received more than $15,000 in donations so far today! And all those gifts are being doubled by generous donors, so really the impact is $30,000! Our goal is to reach $27,100 in donations by the time GiveBIG closes at midnight. Your support is vital now. Make your gift online before midnight to power FLIP to the finish line.
To Donate click on this link: https://giveBIGseattle.org/friends-of-Lopez-Island-Pool.
FLIP has groundbreaking plans for the summer. Our supporters during our recent year-end campaign and GiveBIG are giving us the green light to proceed with improving the road (Pool Lane), drainage as well as to hire an architect to fine tune the design and submit the permits, so please take a moment now and make your donation to FLIP.
Join in this moment of giving and gratitude for the things that make our home here in the San Juan Islands amazing. Thank you for being a hero for FLIP! There’s still time to have your gift doubled, too.
Bringing greater health, safety and connection to the people of San Juan County by building a community swim facility.
Your FLIP Board
by Lisa DiGiorgio | May 9, 2017 | News
FLIP’s GiveBIG campaign is off the starting blocks early! WOW! Donations have come in from Seattle, Bellevue, California, Texas, Illinois, Lopez Island and as far away as the warm waters of Hawaii! $5,867.45 has already been raised via prescheduled donations AND we have received an additional $7,600 in MATCH, meaning the GOAL is now $27,600! Tomorrow is MAY 10 – GiveBIG!
Click on www.GiveBIGseattle.org NOW and type in
“FLIP” to donate. Thanks to the MATCH provided by generous FLIP supporters, your money will be doubled. Your contribution will inspire others to reach the $27,600 goal!
With YOUR CONTRIBUTION you will see groundbreaking on Pool Lane this summer!
Thank YOU for your continuous support in this capital campaign. A year-round pool will transform the islands!
Lopez Will Swim with your help!
Your FLIP Board
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Apr 28, 2017 | News
Early Giving is Now Open!
GiveBIG is Wednesday, May 10, 2017.
Don’t want to wait until May 10? Schedule your gift to FLIP today and your donation will be automatically processed on May 10. Go to
YOU can make the difference! Let’s pool together and make this happen!
Thanks for YOUR support!
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Apr 25, 2017 | News
The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG event is just around the corner on May 10th. A BIG THANKS to ALL of you who have stepped up and contributed over the past year to FLIP, helping to raise over $120,000 (all of which counts toward the Schmidt Barton Challenge Gift!). The news of our 2016 success is spreading and inspiring others to get in the swim with our efforts to build a community swimming pool on Lopez! GiveBIG makes it easy for all FLIP supporters, tried-and-true or brand-new, to donate! Go to https://www.givebigseattle.org/friends-of-lopez-island-pool to pre-schedule your donation, any time beginning April 27th. All donations will be officially recorded on May 10th. Last year the average donation was $152 with over $20,000 raised, including the match. This year we have $20,000 alone donated in advance for a match! Your gift will be doubled! Donate BIG! YOU can make an impact. This summer FLIP will be constructing the new road and related projects. Get ready to see your donations at work at Pool Lane, just north of the Lopez School!
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Apr 22, 2017 | News
Lopez Students Visit the Governor’s Office!
Every spring the 4th graders at Lopez Elementary learn about state government. The unit culminates in an overnight trip to Olympia to see our government in action. This year’s field trip, led by teachers Lorri Swanson and Connie Holz, had an extra special mission – the 4th graders did some powerful lobbying for a community pool on Lopez!
The students tapped into their passion for swimming, to create beautiful artwork expressing their desire for a year-round swimming pool. A sample of the themes that emerged: wanting to be a lifeguard, being on a swim team, becoming a stronger swimmer, having fun with friends and being able to go to a pool without having to get on the ferry first. The art was reproduced and bound ahead of time and then presented to all of our state representatives in Olympia.
The students had a private audience with Representative Jeff Morris where they were able to share their ideas about the importance of a pool in their home community. Governor Inslee was traveling but the students were able to visit his impressive office and leave their artwork on his desk, as they did with other representatives, four in total. Talk about experiential learning! Afterward, the kids spent many hours swimming in the hotel pool. Several parents noted one potent effect the pool had on the kids – friend groups dissolved and a beautiful inclusive group dynamic naturally developed. Congratulations to the spirited 4th graders on their civic adventure!
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Mar 20, 2017 | News
JP & the OK Rhythm Boys
A BIG thank you for all our supporters who were able to come out for a night of great foot-tapping music and dancing! Everyone enjoyed the concert. Our FLIP informational display attracted many people and we are sure attendees will be sharing the excitement with their friends and family about the importance of this community project and stepping up to donate towards the capital campaign. Everyone wants to see some dirt moved this summer! And, in the words of Asha Leela, FLIP Board Member: “A pool is for EVERYONE…even if NOT everyone knows it yet….and it’s going to take EVERYONE to make this happen.” During this time of year especially, wouldn’t we all like the opportunity to hang out in the warm water with other Lopezians without paying for a plane ticket!
With YOUR continued support we will make this happen! Please donate below by clicking on the “Donate Now” button.
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Mar 14, 2017 | News
Calling EVERYONE! Please support FLIP by coming down to Woodmen Hall this Saturday at 7pm, for some fabulous music by JP and the Rhythm Boys. Proceeds from this benefit concert will be matched by an anonymous donor and the total raised will be matched AGAIN as part of FLIP’s $500,000 challenge gift from the Schmidt-Barton Family Foundation.
All donations welcomed; suggested donation for this benefit concert is $20. SPECIAL PRICING for FAMILIES: All children 12 and under are FREE and Teens are only $5! Tickets at the door or buy ahead at Lopez Book Shop or Paper Scissors.
Come out and join us for a night of great music for a great cause! If you can’t make it, please consider making a donation by clicking on the button below or mailing a check to: FLIP PO Box 453, Lopez Island, WA 98261. Your contributions will help us break ground this year! Thank you for your generous support! Hope to see you Saturday!
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Mar 6, 2017 | News
*JP and the OK Rhythm Boys*
Saturday March 18, 7 PM Woodmen Hall
Hear that joyful fiddle, the heartbeat of the double bass, the soulful saw? It’s JP and the OK Rhythm Boys returning to Lopez with their delightful swing and original homegrown songs. You loved them at Lopez Center, at Woodmen Hall and at the Galley; now dance to the catchy music, croon along with the three-part harmonies, or just sit and tap your toes again at Woodmen Hall Saturday night, March 18th. Get a taste of their style at www.jpandtheokrhythmboys.com.
Suggested Donation $20. ALL donations will be matched by a generous anonymous donor, then the total raised will be matched AGAIN as part of FLIP’s $500K challenge gift from the Schmidt-Barton Family Foundation. What an opportunity to help kick-start construction at 177 Pool Lane!
Kick up your heels and help energize pool support!
TICKETS: Paper Scissors on the Rock, Lopez Book Shop and at the door!
by Lisa DiGiorgio | Feb 14, 2017 | News
Here are the top 7 reasons to LOVE to swim!
Low impact
There’s no ground impact when you swim, and so you protect the joints from stress and strain. In fact, the Arthritis Foundation strongly recommends swimming and water activities for this reason, so much so that they sponsor water classes all over the country (check http://www.arthritis.org for information). Water aerobics classes are also desirable for this reason, because even if you do jump and hit the bottom of the pool, you do so with less force because you’re buoyant in the water. Not only that, but if you wear or hold a flotation device during a water aerobics class, the impact is even less.
Can be continued for a lifetime
Because there’s no impact with swimming, it can be continued for a lifetime. If you check the United States Masters Swimming (http://www.usms.org/) Web site for age categories of their swim competitions, you will find a 100- to 104-year-old age group! And the master of fitness, Jack La Lanne, who died in 2011, reportedly still swam one hour every day at age 93!
Builds cardiorespiratory fitness
Swimming improves endurance. In one study of sedentary middle-aged men and women who did swim training for 12 weeks, maximal oxygen consumption improved 10% and stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat which indicates heart strength) improved as much as 18%.
Builds muscle mass
In a study of men who completed an eight-week swimming program, there was a 23.8% increase in the triceps muscle (the back of the arm). My take on muscle mass and swimming is that if you have been doing no resistance exercise at all and you start to swim, you will certainly get more toned and you may even gain mass like the men in this study. But even without the gain in mass, it’s well worth the strength and tone that you will almost certainly gain.
An alternative when injured
When athletes are injured, particularly in the lower extremities, they are frequently told to swim to maintain their fitness level. Swimming helps them stay in shape, and it’s even part of the rehabilitation. That’s because the resistance of the water makes the muscles work hard without the strain or impact that is experienced on land.
It’s a family affair
Swimming and other water activities are something the entire family can share. With rising levels of obesity in children as well as adults in the United States, family physical activities and good role-modeling may be one way to stem the epidemic of inactivity and obesity facing our nation.
Burns calories
Swimming burns lots of calories, anywhere from 500-650 per hour depending on how efficiently you swim (you burn more flopping around than swimming cleanly!) and how buoyant you are (the more body fat you have, the more you float and the fewer calories it takes to swim). Very early and original research on swimming and calorie expenditure showed that swimming, regardless of the stroke, burned about 89% of the calories burned during running and 97% of the calories burned during cycling for the same time period. Stated another way, swimming burns about 11% fewer calories than running but only 3% fewer calories than biking. One important caveat about this data is that calorie expenditure is dependent on the intensity of exercise, and so it’s entirely possible to burn more calories swimming than running in the same period of time as long as you swim hard enough, and particularly so if compared to running at light intensity. From medicine.net
