Alex Bay should back kids' swim program

Swimming is a life skill. Knowing how to swim protects you and your family from the very real hazard of drowning. Fear of the water is a crippling lifelong handicap. In that spirit the village of Alexandria Bay has promoted and taught swimming for over 40 years.

When Hearts for Youth was formed, it took over a swim program that had support from many politicians and residents for years. This is my second year as an instructor and the swim program organizer. Currently the executive board is considering more than doubling the cost of swimming lessons to all our families.

The cost of the Key Wading pool and the number of participants have ballooned (225 last year). The expense to Hearts for Youth is now over $6,000, not including the cost of busing. Based on the reaction to the small increase last year, I am afraid this increase will cause many parents to choose not to send their children to swimming lessons this year.

Unfortunately, the village government has repeatedly spurned HFY requests for a raise in funds to support this program.

The village contribution is $10,000 and has not been raised in a very long time, if at all. During the time our children were being rejected for an increase, village Trustee Brent Sweet pushed through new flags and ball washers for all the holes of the village golf course. The village also purchased a greens roller for the course that was not part of the budget process. The new roof for the clubhouse and all its improvements were also approved. This is in addition to the reallocation of village workers to the course last year during the spring while the community was up in arms about the village not being ready for the summer.

I know there is a large amount of support for swimming in this community and I ask everyone to voice their support for it. Please call the village government at 482-9902 and tell them that teaching our children to swim is important. Recently, Mayor Terry Robb stated about the budget, "We have not cut ourselves short," but the mayor and Trustee Sweet have demonstrated more than once where they rank our children in importance. I beg the community to ask the village: Isn't teaching our children to swim more important than having clean golf balls?

Dean Erck

Alexandria Bay

The writer is HFY board member in charge of the swim program.