Archive - Feb 23, 2012

To the Editor,

As a senior citizen in my 70’s I feel the necessity to comment on the upcoming millage vote for the continued operation of the community pool.

I for one use it as often as I can, and I do pay a fee to use it, it is not FREE. I do not use it for fun and games but for therapeutic purposes. I have had two different shoulder injuries and a back injury and have, through swimming, done my own therapy in the pool to the point where, in each instance, I was able to work it out without going to therapy and having Medicare or private insurance to pay for it. All it cost me was the fee I pay for the use of the pool.

I learned on my own to swim 10 years ago and when I first started out I could not swim a half lap without my lungs feeling like they would burst. I now swim 40 laps without any effort at all and never stop until I complete my 40 laps.

I also bicycled 3,000 miles in 12 months. I ride across Michigan every June with the P.A.L.M. bicycle tour and when we stay and camp at bigger schools, they always have a pool such as ours and mostly it’s a Community Pool.

I winter in the south and have the benefit of swimming everyday in a heated pool, plus there are many senior women who do aerobics everyday in our pool.

My whole point is that a pool is very beneficial for everyone and for us seniors to keep our joints limbered up. I suggest those who do not think so to try it. It might keep some of you out of the doctor’s office with your arthritis.

Bob Bale
Tipton

To the Editor,

Please carefully read your ballot this Tuesday. I feel that the wording is too vague for the .25 mill to go directly to the pool. This is a “recreational millage” which I feel could be another ploy to fund other things, such as playground equipment, resurfacing of the athletic field, (we were told it would need to be resurfaced in about 10 years) maybe even technology. It is in the wording of “recreational” which can be directed to encompass many areas.

The community has lost its trust in the board for past discretions. The pool should be paid for by those that use it through a membership just as you would to be a member of the YMCA, local recreation centers or family centers.

Passed millages never go away, every local bond approved is a delayed tax increase!
What will be next!

Sue Ives
Tecumseh

To the Editor,

I would like to add my voice to the many who have already come forward in support of the community pool millage.

I remember when the pool was in its planning stages and people in town were wearing little buttons on their jackets that were light blue with white waves on them. I proudly wore mine on my jean jacket because I couldn’t wait to jump off the diving board the second the pool opened. When it did, I was almost too intimidated at first. The pool seemed like a beautiful cathedral. Everything was shiny and new and had that wonderful scent of fresh chlorine. You could just feel the excitement in the community when people asked, “Have you been to the new pool, yet?”

I shudder to think that the pool has been left in such disrepair, forgotten (it seems) amid other concerns and priorities. My reasons for supporting the pool millage are the same as the reasons that should be behind keeping the pool a priority in the community. A community pool is one of the few venues that everyone can theoretically use from in utero to old age, every day, for exercise, education, or even entertainment. One cannot say this about a football field or gymnasium.

A community pool gives students another way to compete in interscholastic sports and especially in a sport that can provide them with lifetime fitness and therefore help ensure a healthy community.

A community pool provides high school and college students with jobs in the summer where they learn such valuable life skills as working with children, water safety, and teaching strategies in addition to the obvious skills of responsibility, time management, and accountability.

Finally, a thriving community needs a community pool in the same way that it needs a bustling downtown economy, public parks in good condition, a local newspaper, and a well-stocked, well-staffed library. Tecumseh, are you a thriving community? If so, do the right thing. Please support the pool millage on February 28.

To the Editor,

My name is Madeline Adams. I am eight years old and I go to Tecumseh Acres. I want to keep the pool because I love to be on Tigersharks and swim. With swim I have made more friends, became more confident in myself and learned how to work on a team.
Coach Sarah and Coach Deb have taught me about good sportsmanship and that hard work pays off.

When I get older I want to be an Olympic Swimmer. If the pool closes I will have to move to a new school because I want to be on the swim team. Please vote yes Feb. 28 to save the pool.

Madeline Adams, 8
Tecumseh

To the Editor,

My name is Madeline Adams. I am eight years old and I go to Tecumseh Acres. I want to keep the pool because I love to be on Tigersharks and swim. With swim I have made more friends, became more confident in myself and learned how to work on a team.
Coach Sarah and Coach Deb have taught me about good sportsmanship and that hard work pays off.

When I get older I want to be an Olympic Swimmer. If the pool closes I will have to move to a new school because I want to be on the swim team. Please vote yes Feb. 28 to save the pool.

Madeline Adams, 8
Tecumseh

To the Editor,

I am writing this letter today to ask the community of Tecumseh to vote YES on Feb. 28 to save our pool. I am on a girls soccer team and I joined the Tecumseh Tigersharks to stay in shape for my off season.

I feel it is important for people of all ages to use the Tecumseh Community Pool to stay in shape.

I am happy that I have met new friends and that I don’t have to leave Tecumseh to be part of a team. Tecumseh Community Pool is also where I learned how to swim. I started swimming lessons there when I was five years old. I feel it is important for all children to learn how to swim, because not only is it good exercise, but it could save their life someday.

Please vote YES on February 28!

Erin Somsel, 10
Tecumseh