Columnists
Pointing at myself
Outstanding in the Field! Thank you to the people who brought this event to my attention. And now I know a little bit about this organization and about the OITF event that will be held in the County. Basically, OITF events are fundraisers with a food twist. (I get a kick out of 50-km fundraising bicycling events with food adventures at the finish line. It costs money to be involved and it’s my thing. It’s not everyone’s thing.) And even if OITF is being held in the County, it doesn’t mean it has to be for everyone who lives in the County. Let’s think of it as a gala, an elite event, if you will. Not everyone will be able to afford a place at the OITF table. Not everyone will want a place at the OITF table. My point is, and I do have one, let’s not get our bibs-in-a-bunch over something like this “food event”. Yeah, there’s food insecurity in the County. Yeah, there’s a good reason to be concerned about the inequality faced by people who are struggling right here, but OITF is a private affair which, by the way, reports it has raised millions of dollars for an OITF food charity Food What! Let’s not pile on OITF because we think the price is too high for our taste. There’s a lot of extras in life that are way too expensive for my taste, and that is my problem. Personally, I think I should have great, live music in my life, but I’m too cheap to pay the price of admission for some of the concerts held right here in our community. I know artists have to make a living and I know I’m comparing apples to oranges, but it’s all about what we want—and OITF is not about what we need and what we can afford. OITF is about how to spend your charitable dollars. OITF events aren’t for everyone. The End. That’s it. Pass the salt and pepper, please.
So, on an unrelated but sorta related topic, how about this outrageously hot weather? It’s enough to make a person move into a root cellar and live in the dark until “the frost is on the pumpkin”. This weekend, our children and their children descended upon the family homestead to get together, to reminisce, to splash around, to tease each other, to have some food, some fun, to talk about a nursing home for their parents and to tie-dye T-shirts! LOML and I are fortunate to have a pool (which LOML won in a radio contest in the late 1990s, so it was in our price range at the time). Most of what happened on this hot, humid weekend happened in, or around, the pool. The tie-dyeing was a creative idea our son and daughter came up with, and after all was said and done, everyone had fabric dye under their fingernails and a retro-looking T-shirt to wear to work on Monday. But, seriously folks, did tie-dye ever really go out of style? I think not. Thank goodness our kids didn’t think it was out-of-style so they, and theirs, got a hoot out of seeing photographs of their parents wearing tie-dye when it was most fashionable, in the seventies. When it’s all said and done, I think we got our “money’s worth” out of a pool which didn’t cost us anything. And, the tie-dyeing event was a big thumbs up. While we poured glasses of bubbly water, and such, to celebrate our good fortune and togetherness, we tried to decide if four and half hours in the pool was too much or not quite enough.
I am grateful for summer weather but I do worry about this oppressive heat. LOML and I have a quick way to cool down, but the same can’t be said for lots of other people. You and I know this community needs to have two accessible public swimming facilities (pools or more splash pads) which could be restricted to County resident users. Yeah, I said it, the tourists can have the beaches in the high season. And as the climate continues to warm, it’s become more and more important to ensure the health and well-being of all, including local people, who might not have access to a cooling facility, air conditioning, fans or a pool. The more fortunate of us can share all of our wise and cheery “staying cool ideas”, but when we get right down to it we, as a community, need to go one step further.
In the fifty years we’ve lived in the County there has always been talk of having a local, public swimming pool. I know PEFAC receives funding from the Municipality, but it is, essentially, a fitness facility with a paid membership requirement. It’s there for some, but not for everyone. What we do need is a place to have fun without lessons, groups, lap swimming or a user fee attached to it. We do need a facility where the community at large can go to cool their jets, be part of a community, socialize and have fun. Community pools and splash pads are not money-makers. Large pools and splash pads are expensive to build, maintain and staff. However, not everyone can afford a beach vacation, even if our community is surrounded by water.
We’ve got lots to talk about without pointing at entrepreneurs and fundraisers.
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