Letter to the Editor: Great for kids

(Edited for length. Election letters are limited to 250 words.)

I am a seventh grader in The Dalles and a member of The Dalles Swim Team. Every morning in the summer I get up and go to the pool to swim. It is fun and I get a lot of exercise to start my day. I really like swim team because I spend my summers with kids that I wouldn’t meet because they go to different schools. We all spend time with kids older and younger than ourselves. We try to be good role models for the younger ones and we learn a lot from the older kids. I would like the new pool built because I think it will help us to build a better team.

Every summer I worry that we won’t be able to have a team because the pool isn’t safe. Right now the locker rooms are very bad; the showers don’t work very well, there are no curtains to the showers, there is nowhere to put your clothing and no privacy. There is always water on the bathroom floors. The remodel will build bigger and better locker rooms for us and for visiting teams.

I am proud of my town but I am a little embarrassed about the pool. I have gone to many other towns and their facilities are great. Their communities support the pool and they have great programs and big, good teams.

I think a new pool will be great for kids and for our town. Please vote for the new pool.

Petra Van Kessel Ervin

The Dalles