Finding a way to keep the Blue Mountain Community College pool open would do many things.

First, it would keep both Pendleton and Hermiston High School swim teams alive. Second, it would allow BMCC to offer water-based classes to its students (scuba prep, swimming, and even aqua jogging classes for the elderly). Third, the Pendleton Swim Association does wonders for the children and families that take part in club lessons and activities. PSA instructors teach children the basics of water survival and individual strokes — freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, and backstroke.

Not only does PSA instruct kids about how to swim, but we teach them how to be independent and work within a team. Saving this pool — or even possibly building a new one — would mean a great deal to this community and some of its clubs. Please, give it thought.

Furthermore, if the college board can notify the baseball program (a program restricted to the college’s baseball players) and give them close to 18 months to raise funds to keep their program intact, then giving a program that is open to the public with much more use only three months to raise close to $2 million hardly seems fair.

Dylan Clemons

PSA instructor and former PHS swimmer

Pendleton