Walk-a-thon raises money, gets kids in shape

The eighth annual Friends of the pool Walk-a-Thon was held Sunday, April, 28, and raised over $3,400 as of Tuesday. Suzie Deife, FOP President, said that a total of 52 walkers collected pledges for the event. Most of them were school-age children, but participants ranged in age from one-year old to adults who took advantage of the fresh air and exercise.

The pledge walkers walked or ran a total of 1,261 laps around the track at Finney field for a total of 315.25 miles, an average of more than six miles per person. Total laps walked or run by all participants was up from last year by 15 laps even though there were fewer walkers this year.

Ilan Coberly, Tim DeWulf and Marcus King tied for most laps walked or run, coming in at 40 laps or 10 miles. Travis Schuh was also a great inspiration to the children and ran the entire time, marking off all 40 laps for a total of 10 miles run in less than an hour and a half.

All the children who had signed up to take part in the walk-a-thon received a T-shirt and a prize to start the walk-a-thon, with $500 in prizes given out randomly during the event, as well as snow cones if the kids were too hot or needed a break. At the end of the walk-a-thon a toe-token necklace was given out with a foot symbolizing each lap they completed.

Businesses and community members who donated cash or prizes for the walk-a-thon had their names and/or logos printed on the back of the shirt (32 in all). The front of the shirt featured a Walking on Sunshine theme this year created by Cory Carstensen of the FOP.

Most prizes were sunshine-themed to go along with the grand prize of an iPad mini, which was won by Nathan Melcher, who worked hard collecting pledges from 17 different people and raising over $326 to win the grand prize.

Lifeguards needed

The efforts of the Friends of the Pool notwithstanding, the pool may not be able to open on schedule because so few have applied for the lifeguard positions available. Town councilwoman Lois Harp says she needs more applicants to fill the time, especially in June, when some of the returning lifeguards from last year (who are given priority for the available slots) will be unavailable due to class scheduling and other factors.

Harp hopes to have several more applications prior to May 24 so that the pool can open on schedule on June 16 (Fathers’ Day).

The first-grade class won for the highest pledge dollars collected and received ice cream certificates from the Odessa Drive-In. As a class, they brought in over $651. The Steward family won for the highest pledge dollars collected by an individual. They brought in $315 and won a family pass for the 2013 swim season.

At each grade level, children were recognized for completing the most laps walked during the walk-a-thon. They were Leah Iverson and John Melcher in the pre-K group, Holden Iverson in the Kindergarten group, Zach Claassen for the first-grade group, Austin Iverson and Gage Starkel for the second-grade group, Daeton Deife for the third-grade group, Tim DeWulf for the fourth-grade group, Marcus King for the fifth-grade group, Ilan Coberly for the sixth-grade and Mariah Thorne and Megan Stahl for the tenth grade. All won $10 concession cards to use at the pool this summer.

“We ensured this year that each child walked away with a prize the day of the walk-a-thon,” said Deife. The planning committee for the event included Deife, Lindsy Starkel, Danielle Hardung, Carmen Weishaar, Cory Carstensen, Rebecca Maddock, Deanna Lobe, April Steward and Kamie Iverson.

The funds raised by the children through the walk-a-thon will go toward resurfacing the entire pool area, which will cost over $50,000. According to Suzie Deife, the FOP is saving up for this project which will take at least five years. The FOP will once again be supplementing the cost of swim lessons through the donation of all concessions food/drinks. And will also be donating $1,000 toward certification of lifeguards this summer.