Note: This week I shared a letter to the editor in support of the new pool here in Blue Hill. Here is the complete version of the letter.
Memories
When you think of your summer childhood memories with your friends, what do you think about? For some of you, it may have been hauling pipe, irrigating, working cattle, and any other job you did and got yelled at by your dad. For others, it may have been fishing or the county fair. For me, after chores (and mowing), it was summer baseball and going to the swimming pool. Shark. The high diving board. The smell of chlorine. Marco Polo. Wendy Peffercorn. While baseball is America’s favorite pastime and the other is filled (no pun intended) with memories of friends playing while learning the valuable life skill of swimming.
Families
I can personally say that when my wife and I moved to town we had certain items we wanted in order to move our family to Blue Hill. I can imagine the same can be said for families wanting to move to a more rural area away from Hastings. We wanted a grocery store, a pharmacy, a medical clinic, and a pool. What do these things have in common? The answer is families with children. With ample choices of small towns to choose from, why be the town that gets left behind by more ambitious communities? It takes a village (and your tax dollars) to raise our kids. When kids from other towns come to your pool, you would be surprised. They join your baseball teams, they spend money in your grocery store, and they might even come to your school. I’m not here today to talk about school. I interact with students on a daily basis (it’s all online now…).
The Future
I went to elementary school in Edgar, Nebraska. When I was in high school, our elementary school was shut down and a new K-12 building was added to the current site of Sandy Creek Schools. My dad was opposed to the shutting down of our elementary school (for tax and sentimental reasons). Looking back, the old dilapidated school had served its purpose. It wasn’t ADA compliant, it wasn’t energy efficient, and it was under constant repair (partly from me breaking its windows with my boomerang and high powered slingshot). Just like a pool I drive by on Highway 281 every morning. My dad was the mayor during most of my childhood and would go on to explain to me (years later) that pools don’t make money and oftentimes cost the city money. His saying always was, “We can’t afford a pool, but can we afford not to have one?”
What Now?
Our town is full of people that own businesses both small and large. Most of these people are committed, focused, and planners. Business owners understand the commitment it takes to survive in a small town and understand that people can take their business elsewhere. As a resident, I cannot help but root for all of our local businesses to succeed. Likewise, there have been many people committed over the years to make a new swimming pool a reality. Keeping families coming to Blue Hill is important for our businesses today and tomorrow.
Why should we vote for a new pool?
Safety…for our kids.
Security…for our town.
Swimming…for us all.
As you approach the ballot box in the next few weeks (or fill it out at home), I want you to think of swimming lessons, birthday parties, midnight swims, family reunions, and warm Saturday afternoons in the summer. Like a high diving board, sometimes it is our fear of heights; sometimes it is the fall into the water. All it takes is the first step off. Just like we can build confidence in swimming skills, we can build confidence in a strong future for Blue Hill. I encourage you to vote for the pool.