Letter to the Editor: Helper pool needs all residents support

By Sun Advocate

Editor:
Helper citizens undoubtedly have noticed plastic piggy banks in businesses around our town. A sticker on the banks asks people to donate change toward the purchase of a new Helper city pool. Public response has been tremendous; in the few weeks since we placed the pigs, we have received over $400 in donations. People are dropping not only spare pennies and nickels into the banks, but are shoving dollars, fives, and tens in them as well.
In addition, 500 people signed petitions that were placed in town when news of the old pool’s closing was first released. That’s more than one-quarter of Helper’s population who were willing to show support for keeping a pool in our community.
The members of the Helper Community Development Community are overwhelmed and awed by this show of community support. We are also asking you to further that support by attending the Helper City Council meeting this Thursday, August 19, in the little room of the Helper Auditorium.
We will make an updated proposal to the Council at the meeting. The proposal will include the pool’s projected budget; blueprints; and images of water toys, sprayers, and slides we’d like to incorporate into the design.
We envision the new pool to be a kind of community center for the people of Helper. We’d like to have a large shallow area where toddlers and special-needs children can safely play and a deep end with diving boards and a slide for our teens. We foresee our senior citizens finding a place for themselves at the pool, perhaps sipping free coffee under a shaded gazebo, while watching grandchildren and neighbor kids play. One night a week could be seniors-only swimming.
As the project evolves, we’d like input from all Carbon County citizens. The pool will not be meant to compete with the Desert Wave Pool in Price, but to augment it by providing a play area for kids who are either too small to enjoy the waves or who cannot get transportation to Price. It is meant to act as a gathering place where people can enjoy one another’s company, get to know each other again, exercise and recreate, and create a new vision of Helper. The pool can be a place for everyone.
Don’t assume that someone will attend Thursday’s council meeting in your place. If you would like to use this pool, whether you are a resident of Helper or any other town, please attend. Your presence will help the pool project and the revitalization of our beloved town gain tremendous ground.