This week at the pool...
KMSC news for 7/28 - 8/3//2019
New Date for Middle/High Schoolers' Party
It's time for your middle- and high-schoolers to start RSVPing for their annual pool party on Sunday, August 18th (note new date) from 6-10 p.m.!
The pool will close to non-party goers at 8:45 p.m.
Cost: $5 for pool members and their guests. Bring a friend! No free coupons accepted.
Ice cream will be served.
We need at least 15 teens and tweens to commit to attending in order to hold the event. Please RSVP to host Amie Wohlfarth at simplyamie831@gmail.com.
Amie says she's planning a door prize!
She also needs some more parents to volunteer as organizers and chaperones. If you can be one of them, please contact Amie directly.
A Board Member's Perspective
Your pool board had a very interesting conversation about our gate crashers at its meeting last week. Seems the number of people slipping into the pool without paying has become a problem.
Maybe you don't realize this, but our pool operates entirely on a cash basis. If you don't pay the guest fees for your guests, you're hurting the pool and your membership in the long run.
If you don't pay your dues because you're going to the beach for a week or whatever, but then have your friends bring you in over and over again as a guest, you're hurting the pool and your friend's membership in the long run.
If your kids join the swim team but you never pay your dues, you're hurting the pool and all our memberships in the long run.
Why?
Because the lack of revenue is going to kill the pool.
Ours is not a public pool. It is a private pool whose main revenue source is your annual dues and whatever fees we collect from guests and parties. There is no magic money pot.
We will not be able to pay the pool's bills for the lifeguards, the maintenance that keeps the filters clean, the electricity that keeps the filters running, the water that keeps you afloat, or the chemicals that keep the water so sparkling blue if you or your guests are crashing the gate. It's that simple.
If you're reading this and you haven't paid your dues yet, be assured: you have options, one of which could be a custom payment plan. Please contact our treasurer, Jonathan Bryson, NOW at kmsc-treasurer@kempmill.org or 301-456-3142.
If you're coming in for swims and you haven't paid all of your dues yet, our operating rules say: "Under no circumstances shall anyone claiming membership be permitted entry unless all amounts owed to the Club, including current and past dues and fees, are paid." Unless you're on a payment plan with Jonathan, you shouldn't be coming to the pool. Sure, we may not always catch people who are sneaking in -- but we shouldn't have to in an ethical world. And our guards sure don't want to have to tag neighbors.
If you can't afford your full dues this year, you can hang onto your membership by paying the $100 waiver fee. Just get in touch with Jonathan to find out how.
If you're paying guests fees regularly to bring in people who live here but haven't bought their own memberships, tell them about our 6-week, $250 temporary member rate for the rest of the summer. It's cheaper than six weeks of guest fees!
If you're bringing in guests regularly who let their memberships lapse, know that you're probably not helping the pool as much as you think -- and encourage them to talk to Jonathan about affordable ways to stay members.
If you're slipping in for an occasional dip using our free website pass, just stop.
If you're talking back to or bullying the teenagers on our front desk and refusing to properly identify yourself or pay guest fees, just stop.
Sneaking in, no matter how it's done, robs the pool.
Where I grew up, there was no such thing as a neighborhood pool. I didn't even know such a thing existed until I moved to Maryland. My kids grew up at this pool. It's a terrific place to be all summer. I also like that the pool often is crowded; it's making for great pictures here in the newsletter. But where's all the money that goes with all those bodies? We don't have it.
If you know someone's sneaking in, maybe you should tell Jonathan. Or recruit a neighbor or friend to join. The longterm viability of this pool depends on us attracting full members -- not just one or two dozen trial members, most of whom will be here this year and gone the next. It's membership renewals that keeps us afloat year after year.
And please make sure you're paying all guest fees due. We've kept them in line with other public and private pools in the area, so they're reasonable. You can pay them with a check, credit card, or electronically if you don't have any cash handy when you decide to make a quick visit. Just know: no IOUs are permitted at any time.
The guest fees apply to adults, children, and all babies who are capable of walking on their own.
Weekdays, the fee is $6 per person regardless of when you bring the guests in. On Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, the guest fee is $8 per person per day.
If you have lots of guests over the summer, consider buying a punch card containing 10 guest passes for $60.
And if you think the pool could use a bit of sprucing up, speak up. Tell a board member what you see as a problem and offer potential solutions. This is your pool; you own it and its issues.
Right now, we need help with the picnic tables. Buying new ones isn't an option, so maybe you can donate lumber to repair the ones we have? Plus a hammer and your arm to swing it, to help our operations director Bob Carnevale make the repairs?
Someone told a board member recently that the grill was dirty. It's always been our policy, you use it -- you clean it. Please be neighborly!
Someone else said the urinals in the men's room are an eyesore. Sure, they're mismatched, but they also came to us free during a demolition project (from Good Counsel H.S. as it was being torn down, if I recall correctly, along with the dividers for the stalls. Board member Bill Waller was instrumental in getting them for us. Saved us a boatload of money.) If you know of a way we might replace them, don't hesitate to make that suggestion!
Yet someone else noted that we're down to one clock again. Member Pete Lublin -- the man behind our fantastic front garden -- donated a pair or clocks this summer so that one could be facing the main guard chair in the deep end and the other facing swimmers in the shallow end. It didn't take long for one to get broken! If you'd like a clock back in the shallow end, maybe you can donate it?
BTW, we all owe board member Barbara Cleary a big thank you for donating the two air pumps we're using Sundays to blow up our rafts!
On another matter, we had an accident in the pool this past week that shut it down for hours. Please do not forget that non-toilet trained children MUST wear a swim diaper (our staff can even sell you one in a pinch) PLUS snug-fitting rubber pants, or they will not be allowed into either pool.
The rubber pants must be pulled on over the diaper and be very visible to the staff.
According to our operating rules: "The misconduct, incontinence, or vomiting of any minor shall be the responsibility of his or her parent, parents/ or guardian, who shall be monetarily liable for any resulting damages to the Club, its members, or guests. If incontinence or vomiting occurs more than one time during the same pool season, the family will be billed $100 for each occurrence to cover the costs of the additional chemicals needed to disinfect the pool, the costs of the pool staff, and the inconvenience to members who must leave the pool area."
We do not have an agreement with Parkland anymore for us to go over to that pool when "an accidental fecal release" (the guards' description on Facebook, not mine) occurs in ours.
Finally, we've still got slots available for you to sign up your children for private or semi-private swim lessons! Register through our swim team's page at https://kangaroos.swimtopia.com/register/21035/main. Don't be bringing in your own private instructors. This raises all kinds of liability issues for all of us.
Our president says: "Except for parents/siblings of students, ONLY KMSC-approved instructors may give swim lessons at the pool. Unauthorized instructors will be asked to leave the facility and may be prohibited from returning. [This practice is in line with that of other recreational facilities such as the YMCA.]"
- Mary Crowley
Board Member, 2019-2020
Coming Up Next...
Sunday, Aug. 4th - Yard Games at the Pool, 3-4:30 p.m. Contact Sherri Spritzer at sherri.spritzer@verizon.net to help her give our kids a great afternoon!
Sunday, Aug. 4th - Pizza Night at the Pool - 5-7 p.m. or while supplies last. The pizza comes from Ben Yehuda. We're selling it by the slice for $3.50, two slices for $6, and a whole pie for $22, cash or credit poolside (a transaction fee will apply for the latter). Soft drinks can be purchased from the Snack Bar. To help with the selling poolside, please volunteer using this Signup Genius. Thank you!
Sunday, Aug. 4th - Raft Night - 5 p.m. to closing. Cost: $5 for pool members and their guests. Bring a friend! No free coupons accepted.
Sunday, Aug. 18th - Middle/High School Teens Party, 6-10 p.m. The pool will close to non-party goers at 8:45 p.m. Our membership director Amie Wohlfarth will be the event's host. Please RSVP to her at simplyamie831@gmail.com.
Tuesday, Aug. 20th - Ladies Night, 7-10 p.m. The pool will close to non-partygoers at 8:45 p.m. Cost: $5 for adult pool members, $7 for their adult guests. Our free coupons won't be accepted. We need 15 RSVPs for the party to be a go. Until we know who the hosts will be, please RSVP to Sherri at sherri.spritzer@verizon.net.
The Holy Chow fundraiser for the swim team continues! The kosher Chinese take-out restaurant in the Kemp Mill Shopping Center is giving the Kemp Mill Kangaroos a percentage of all sales it delivers to our pool. Just place your orders through the restaurant's website at https://holychow.me or by calling 301-649-5466 to enjoy a delicious, healthy meal poolside!
To stay on top of all our events:
Make sure @kempmillswimclubsecy@gmail.com has your email address for the weekly emails!
And join the Kemp Mill Pool group on Facebook. (The Kemp Mill Swim Club page is our Facebook marketing tool, not our pool member page.)
We also post on Pinterest, Google+, S'more and Instagram, Next Door, and as @KempMillPool on Twitter.
Or just check for our messages in the Twitter feed on the Kemp Mill Swim Club website.
I'm looking for a digital copy of the 2019 swim team photo to place in our collection on our club's Facebook page. If you can email me one, I'd appreciate it! Please send it to kempmillswimclubsecy@gmail.com.
About Us
Our hours are:
- Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
- Fri. 12 p.m. - 9 p.m.
- Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Our hours will be 11 a.m.-6 p.m., on Labor Day, Sept. 2nd, the last day of the 2019 season.
Email: kempmillswimclubsecy@gmail.com
Website: http://swim.kempmill.org/
Location: 11805 Stonington Place, Silver Spring, MD, United States
Phone: 301-593-7506
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/771687456283489/
Twitter: @KempMillPool