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.
Meetings
The Friends of Plaza Pool generally meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 5PM.
Announcements and Events
Community Education Class: Beating the Winter Blues
February 11th, 2012 Noon-2pm
Class will include basic skills for overcoming that cabin fever feeling which we each get on occasion. How can activity impact your attitudes through the deep winter time.
Course will be offered by Dan Schackmann, LLP, with more than 20 years of serving our community in mental health will help us understand Seasonal Affect Disorder and what we can do to feel better. Krista Morrow, a licensed lifeguard and educator of water activities for The Plaza Pool will teach some simple water techniques to energize us and uplift our mood.The First Annual NEMI Masters Swim meet
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.
2011 NEMI swim meet competitorsWe 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.
Cheering on our teammates
< < Read MoreCoached Workout Sessions
Coached Workout Sessions for swimmers aged 12 to 102 are held every Saturday morning from 7 - 8 am.At 7am on December 31 we will be holding our first NEMI masters swim meet. Everyone is welcome! See meet information above.Information about the coached workouts is available. << Read more
- 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.
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.
1/2 mile startAt 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.
1 mile swim startAfter the one mile swim we had our inaugural "guppy swim".
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.
1 Mile Open Water StartSeveral of the competitors are FOPP members, including Megan and Gretchen Kruse, Bonnie Bartz, Annette Ross, Annie Schultz and Mark Kinney.
2011 Open Water CompetitorsOne 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.
2011 Open Water Swim Assistants- 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.
- Welcome and Introductions - Board Members Present: Mark Kinney, Nancy Lamp, Vince Call, and Annette Ross
- Financial Report
- Committee Reports
- 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.
- 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.
- Old Business
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- New Business
- A. Board membership - Nancy is requesting a new treasurer. We will keep looking/asking.
- B. Candidates for board membership - Annette asked Al and Sandy. They declined.
- C. Plan for Annual Meeting - nothing discussed.
- D. Moving ahead with purchase of chairs and tables.
- E. Possibility of asking millage committee to allow expenditure of remainder of allocation from 2011 during 2012. Annette and Vince volunteered to attend.
- F. Our role with millage for 2012 - suggestion to scale back due to lack of additional member support for the increase in our activities.
- G. Our future as an organization - tabled.
- H. Request for support for specific assistance
- Clint's request for video - declined by all
- 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.
- Clint's request for support for coached training - tabled.
- I. Presque Isle Open Water /swim future plans - tabled.
- 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.
- Adjourn @ 6:15 pm. No next meeting was set.
Respectfully Submitted by,
Annette Ross
Secretary
Submitted by: Annette Ross, Secretary
Selected Pictures
© - 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.
