Welcome to The Friends of Plaza Pool Website

Mission- - The mission of Friends of Plaza Pool is to promote the maintenance, improvement, utilization and appreciation of Plaza Pool for the health, safety and recreational benefit of the citizens of Alpena County and the surrounding area.

Next FOPP Meetings

The Friends of Plaza Pool will meet on Thursday May 17, June 17, and July 19, at 5:15 PM.

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Announcements and Events

May 12th: Senior Water Exercise

Learn how a low impact water workout and water resistance is perfect for you! Many doctors are now referring patients to exercise in a swimming pool. It is easy on your joints, a great way to get fit and a wonderful way to lift your spirits!

Instructor

Course and in-water exercise tips by Jan Wawro, Lead Instructor, WSI

Coached Workout Sessions

Coached Workout Sessions for swimmers aged 12 to 102 are held Saturday morning from 7 - 8 am. We will meet May 5, May 12, and May 19. Information about the coached workouts is available. << Read more

Coached Workout Session Swim Meet

On May 19th we will hold a swim meet during the coached workout session. All are welcome to join in the fun. On that day it will be important to be ready to compete starting at 7am.

Friends of Plaza Pool Meetings

FOPP will meet Thursday evenings, 5:15pm at Clint Bohlen's office, 104 Water Street, on May 17, June 15, and July 19. If you are helping with the Open Water Swim, please attend.

The First Annual NEMI Masters Swim meet

2011 NEMI swim meet competitors

A fun masters swim competition @ Alpena Plaza Pool, was held December 31, from 7-8:30 AM, during our usual workout time on Saturday morning. Eight swimmers competed in the events which were managed by our coach, Clint Bohlen, and helpers Nancy Lamp, Ginger Bohlen, Nanncy Kinney, and Dr. Jim Van Wagenen.

Cheering on our teammates
We divided into the Sharks and the Dolphins and dove into the racing. It was exciting to cheer on our team mates while waiting with some anxiety for our next race. Shortly we will be posting the results of the individual races. But for now, it can be said that we all came away with a great appreciation for the art of racing and a feeling of accomplishment for our efforts.

Read More About the Results
Both of these offerings were made possible by a grant from the Alpena County Youth and Recreation millage fund.
6th Annual TBOWS Open Water Swim Results

The sixth annual open water swim was held at Crystal Point at Presque Isle.

1/2 mile start
The fabulous harbor was the site of a great fun event this year. While it was cloudy at the beginning, the sun did peak through, and the wind was light. We had three different events beginning with the 1/2 mile swim at 9am. Presque Isle Harbor Association member Becky Mazur won the event in 18:48, followed by the other 6 contestants ranging in age from 9 to 50. Can you believe it, the 9 year old, Rachel Suszek was second in 19:14.

1 mile swim start
At 10 we started the 1 mile swim. The 13 contestants were led by Ryan Kraft, who zipped around the course in 21:53 wearing his wet suit. First in the non-wetsuit division was Mark Kinney in 26:40.
After the one mile swim we had our inaugural "guppy swim".

1 Mile Open Water Start
Four youngsters competed in the exciting short swim out to the starting buoy and back. Disiree Harris was first in 1:46. Second was Rachel Suszek in 1:50. They were followed by Brianna Decker and Jimmy Decker who tied for third in 2:12. See all the results.

2011 Open Water Competitors
Several of the competitors are FOPP members, including Megan and Gretchen Kruse, Bonnie Bartz, Annette Ross, Annie Schultz and Mark Kinney.

2011 Open Water Swim Assistants
One characteristic of the location which is really appreciated is that spectators can walk along side of the course and watch the swimmers up close for much of the 1 mile and all of the 1/2 mile course.
FOPP board member Vince Call passes on this story of a 60 year old long distance swimmer who was profiled on NPR and is attempting an English Channel swim this month. Vince says. "This story is for those interested in reading a story of a full time 60yr old female swimmer of the English Channel, home base Maine. She started lap swimming at her local pool 14yrs ago. This article was posted earlier this month, and they [NPR] just featured her success interview this morning.
The new wheel chairs ordered with Millage money arrived April 12th. They are really sturdy and very user friendly. One for the womens locker room and one for the mens.
The new stairs ordered with Millage money have been installed. It is really sturdy and very user friendly.
There is work being done to coordinate the best actions to take for capital improvements for next year. Brandy says they are waiting on Timm Construction's study, which will suggest the capital outlay improvements that will be included in the proposal for Y&R this year.
Board Meeting

November 3, 2012 5:30 pm
A downloadable document is available, 1-21-12minutes.doc.
1. Welcome and Introductions - Board Members Present: Mark Kinney, Nancy Lamp, Vince Call, and Annette Ross
2. Financial Report
3. Committee Reports
  1. Finance Committee (Nancy) - Most memberships come through the coached swim. Nancy sent a thank-you to Stan. We received $400 from his group. Received almost $500 in memory of Annette's Dad. Almost all of October has been reimbursed by the County. They have been timely with payment. There is some money that needs to be refunded to participants of TBOWs as we did not get T-shirts. Discussion on Molly Puasits request to have T-shirt and registration fee refunded. Motion to refund T-shirt money only by Vince, seconded by Annette, all in agreement.
  2. Community Ed Sessions: Discover Scuba session had 3 participants. Had positive feedback. Annette was there as observer for part of the session. Instructor was excellent. Annette emailed Brandy asking to post our events on the lighted board and in her email newsletter. Discussion on Community Ed classes for 2012 and identification of Brandy's role. In order to partner with her, we agreed to schedule a meeting with Brandy. Would like to have her identify what the subjects of the 7 classes will be, who is doing them and how she will promote them. Tentative meeting scheduled for Nov. 22, 5 pm at the coffee shop.
4. Old Business
  1. A. Millage report and new submission results (Mark). Funded Community Ed, vacuum, lift and changing table. Did not fund coached swims, no explanation why not.
    1. B. Community Ed Session for Nov and Dec - Annette to contact NoAA and let Stephanie know we are interested in outdoor snorkel. All in agreement.
    2. C. Presque Isle Open Water Swim report and future plans - $120 taken in for registrations. Cost $262 in Alpena News ad plus Clint has some expenses he needs to get to Nancy.
  2. New Business
    1. A. Board membership - Nancy is requesting a new treasurer. We will keep looking/asking.
    2. B. Candidates for board membership - Annette asked Al and Sandy. They declined.
    3. C. Plan for Annual Meeting - nothing discussed.
    4. D. Moving ahead with purchase of chairs and tables.
    5. E. Possibility of asking millage committee to allow expenditure of remainder of allocation from 2011 during 2012. Annette and Vince volunteered to attend.
    6. F. Our role with millage for 2012 - suggestion to scale back due to lack of additional member support for the increase in our activities.
    7. G. Our future as an organization - tabled.
    8. H. Request for support for specific assistance
      1. Clint's request for video - declined by all
      2. Annette's request for support to gain life guard cert - Motion to cover 50% of cost and she must provide 2-3 free sessions of guarding. Motion by Vince, seconded by Mark. All in favor.
      3. Clint's request for support for coached training - tabled.
    9. I. Presque Isle Open Water /swim future plans - tabled.
    10. J. Other items - Discussed that since we did not get millage funding for Coached Session, how we can make it self-sufficient. Mark will ask Tony about carrying over unused funds from 2011.
    11. Adjourn @ 6:15 pm. No next meeting was set.