Posted in the Islands Weekly

Aug 21, 2007

Aquatic exercise classes for seniors, a high school swim team,  swimming lessons for infants and toddlers
— those are all activities that the newly formed Initiate Swimming committee has taken  into consideration.

This newly formed group hopes to be breaking ground  on a new community swimming pool by Spring
2008.

For now, the members of Initiate Swimming — Robin Bergstrom, Lynn Hall, Linda Burton and Linda Koenig — are looking to raise public awareness about  the project as well as start a petition to form a Parks and Recreation District, under  which the swimming pool could be managed. They also hope  to write grants in hopes of securing money  to build and maintain a public pool.

There  is not yet a determined site for a pool, but the group hopes that an organization or private citizen will step forward with a donation.

According to Koenig, there  has already been quite a bit of enthusiasm about  the idea. Through  an
informal petition she has already collected more than 400 signatures of support. The group hopes to build a community pool that can be used by all community members. “We want to hit every age  group on this island,” said Berstrom.

The idea was born from the need for an exercise pool for seniors as well as a place for young children to take swimming lessons. The group, however, believes the pool will have  many other uses such as scuba diving classes, aquatic rehabilitation and simply a fun place to go swimming.

The group will be holding a public meeting on Thursday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Lopez Library meeting room. Everyone interested in the project is encouraged to attend. Suggestions, ideas, and volunteers are welcome.