UPDATE!! HCAC Schedule Changes for May 12 - 18

UPDATE! HCAC Schedule Changes for May 12 – 18

Lap Swim Schedule, Pool Maintenance


May 12 – 15:  Lap Swim - in 50 Meter Pool with Regular Hours through May 15

Splash Zone, Spa, and Preschool Swim will be CLOSED May 12-15

Revised Schedule, May 16 – 18, Swim Meet

May 16: Normal Lap Swim and Fitness until 3:00 p.m.

Lap Swim 3:00 – 8:30 p.m. Instructional Pool (1 or 2 lanes available) and Dive Well

Splash Zone and Spa Open 6-8:30 p.m.

May 17: Splash Zone and Spa Open 4:30-7 p.m. Only

May18: Splash Zone and Spa Closed - No Open Swim
Lap Swim Limited to 1 or 2 lanes in Instructional and Dive Well

Open House for Mitchell Cordero on Sunday, April 27

Dear Friends of Swimming,

After 11 years of tireless work running concessions for TCAC, WMS, and MLA, Mitchell has hung up his cap. Please join us at an open house in his honor on Sunday, April 27, from 3-5 pm in the multi-purpose room at the Aquatic Center.

Come thank Mitchell for his years of VOLUNTEER service as head of concessions. Under his very competent direction, he and our parent volunteers raised many, many dollars to support our swimmers, teams, and facility. We couldn't have done it without him.

Kathy Stratton, MLA Boosters

Thanks to the MLA Boosters for assembling this much-deserved party for Mitch!  The following is note from HCAC Executive Director about the many contributions that Mitchell has made to the programs here at the Aquatic Center:

Mitch, thanks for your passion for competitive swimming & diving success!  Your years of tireless efforts to make others time here better has been much appreciated!  Let’s face it, watching swimming & diving in a hot venue isn’t always a fan’s favorite place to be… but your efforts in that concession hot box to make it more enjoyable really helped us survive!

Mitch, thanks for providing great food and doing it so efficiently!  I know from other concessions, almost anyone can provide candy bars and chips but you never did that.  We were always thankful and amazed to find fresh fruit and juices and even sliced strawberries that I find difficult to find at home!  You would think you must work in the Health Industry.  Overall, it was always really nice for all of us, whether fans, part of HCAC, or part of a competitive team using this facility, to know that everything was completely under control when it came to our concession stand!  And, making money!  Thanks!

One last thing to say thanks for; October’s Girls State Meet was my first big meet here at HCAC.  Do you remember what happened?  That Saturday morning we burned some popcorn and set off the fire alarm while everyone in the swimming pool was warming up!  Everyone looking at me with what to do! Thanks for the baptism by fire Mitch!!

To honor yours years of support, and willingness to consult with the next great HCAC Concessions leader, please accept this family membership to HCAC!

We really appreciate what you have done for all of us Mitch!

THANKS!

Jack Huisingh

Executive Director

Holland Community Aquatic Center

Summer Splash Brochures Now Available!

Our summer 2014 Splash brochures are now available at the front desk and online at www.hollandquaticcenter.org!  The Splash includes information on all of our many summer programs for all ages.  Splashball and Synchronized Swimming are both back for the summer, as well as MLA Future Stars (formerly MLA Green) for those who want to get involved in a competitive experience. We also offer learn to swim programs for all ages using the nationally-recognized, SwimAmerica program and they run in monthly sessions all summer long!  For the adults their are lots of fitness classes - both dry land and water classes, so something for everyone!

http://www.hollandaquaticcenter.org/

HCAC Spring Break Experience

Wow! We had a great spring break week last week with many smiling faces, both new patrons and those that have been coming year after year!  We had one person take a moment and write us about her positive experience at HCAC.  The following is her letter and the staff member (young man, lifeguard) that made her day was our very own Thomas!

Dear folks at Aquatic Center,

We visited you yesterday and had lots of fun!  Our family just moved to the West Michigan area from Kenya, Africa.  We've lived overseas almost all of my adult life and Kenya is 'home' for my children.  We've only been here two months, so many things are new and as you can imagine sometimes the transitions are hard.  (I have a reason for sharing this with you, so please keep reading!) 

Sometimes our 'normal' is not the norm here, in our new country.  An example of this was yesterday when we were swimming at your place.  Our oldest daughter, had a typical 'swimsuit' for Africa, very acceptable there - a pair of swimming shorts and a cotton tank top.  I thought this might not work in a swimming pool environment, but it was all we had and haven't been able to do the real swimsuit shopping yet.  Well, we gave it a try and we would see what would happen.

Katelyn, my daughter, was bravely standing in line for the swim test, which is a great way to run things by the way!  The young man, life guarding there, asked us kindly, "Is that a swimsuit?"  Ugh.  I guess we were 'caught'.  We both stood completely silent, I understood his point, but I was a helpless mom.  Secretly pleading with my eyes to let me kid swim.  It felt like forever!  The young man, quickly offered, "We have lots of swimsuits in the lost and found.  She's welcome to try one to use for the day.  For real, there's good stuff in there!  I'll call my coworker, Amanda to bring them to the front and she can try one on!"  We thought this was answered prayer!  He made a quick call and Amanda brought a bin of suits for us to try.  We took three and one was a perfect fit! 

I just wanted to let you know, as a mom, and a new resident in the area, I appreciate the grace that was expressed in encouraging us to follow the rules.  The sensitivity and kindness that was expressed, meant loads to us on a rough day!  The smiley lifeguard gave us a thumbs up later, with Katelyn's new suit. 

Thanks for taking the time to help keep kids safe and have fun, in a dignified way.

Blessed day.

Wendy 

Thanks to Thomas for making this visit to HCAC a great experience, and thanks to Wendy for letting us know about it!

WAVE Fitness Begins on Monday, April 14!

Mid-Week Update for Spring Break!

We have been having a fabulous Spring Break week and we want to thank all of those who have been coming out and having a great time at HCAC.  Don't be afraid to come back for a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) visit this week - we love to see the smiling faces over and over again!  Here are a few tips for you if you plan to come in this week:

The busiest time is 12:30 p.m. until about 2:30 p.m. If you come later in the day, from around 2:30-4:30 or 5:30-8:30 p.m. it will be a little less busy.

Please lock your locker when you are here! Bring a lock from home if you have one. Yesterday, we had so many visitors that we ran out of rental locks for a while. Most combination or key locks that you have at home will fit on our lockers and may be used.

The Alpine Challenge will be out from 12:30-4:30 p.m. through Friday. The Zip Line will be out from 5:30-8:30 p.m. each evening through Friday.

For everyone's safety - children under 48 inches tall must have an adult supervising them on the pool deck.

Thank you!!!

Alpine Challenge - New Feature for Spring Break 2014!

 The Alpine Challenge, our newest play feature, will be available this Spring Break!  As you can see from this picture, this feature is taller than our high dives so it's not for anyone who's afraid of heights. You'll climb up about 14 feet to the summit and then slide down the other side 14 feet into the deep end of the pool.  We will offer the Alpine Challenge on Friday, April 4, from 12:30-4:30 p.m. and then again next week April 7-11 from 12:30-4:30 p.m.  

 There are some safety guidelines (see below for details) for this feature and it is for older kids and adults.  If you have little ones, or those that might not be a good fit for this larger feature - don't worry!  We will also offer our Double Trouble, the diving board, inner tubes, wet hoop, aqua log during the same hours as the Alpine and Zip Line (instead of the Alpine) during the evening open swim times!