Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

Swim season is fast approaching. I would like the City to return our morning lap swim from 6-8 a.m. as it was pre-COVID. I’m unable to make the 5-6 p.m. session due to work logistics and I have not been in a pool now for three years due to the City pool being closed (COVID and lack of lifeguards for the morning swim). The morning lap swim sessions are lovely. It is wonderful to exercise before a workday, early in the morning with the sun rising and the bird dawn chorus. Most of the time, the water temperature is warmer than the air, and the mist coming off of the water is magical. It’s a glorious way to start your day! Sometimes, it’s a bit too cold, but cold therapy is great for one’s mental health. However, the elderly may not like it. Bobbie Fuller, a wonderful lady back in the day, had to stop swimming when it was below 70F. But she always left with a smile and said to me, “Is that all you got, kid?” I realize the city is not making money off of the pool, but the pool is a wonderful benefit to our community. The sewage plant doesn’t make a profit, having sidewalks and nice roads don’t make a profit. This is what our taxes can pay for….benefits. The swimming pool is a benefit to those in Cashmere. It has never made a profit. It teaches children and adults how to swim, keeps the citizens active and healthy, develops camaraderie between folks that go there, reduces poor physical and mental health. Please start interviewing lifeguards now to prep for the 2023 summer pool season so that interested applicants can register for upcoming spring lifeguard classes. Cashmere Baptist Church (CBC) recently ran on its reader board: Need a lifeguard? Reach out to Jesus. Get a flier to Cashmere High School students requesting applicants for lifeguards. Let’s get the CBC, the 7th Day Adventist Church and the school district office to use their reader boards with this message: Our city pool needs lifeguards. Apply now at City Hall. Ask the Cashmere Valley Record to run a story on the upcoming pool season to generate awareness. The City needs to get the word out. Here are a few suggestions. Get fliers to all Cashmere school students about the upcoming season by April 1, do free public service announcements on the local radio stations, post fliers around town, run a story in the Cashmere Valley Record, Leavenworth Echo, and the Wenatchee World. The City of Wenatchee swimming pool closes mid-August and Wenatchee swimmers come to the Cashmere pool when their pool closes ~8/15. Lap swimmers often come because they are competing in swim competitions such as triathlons. Target that audience. Hang a flier at the Wenatchee pool prior to their pool closure. I don’t want this to be my fourth year with no swimming.

Vicky Cibicki, Cashmere