PROGRAM YOUR POOL

by Carol Abern Park District of Highland Park

The area surrounding the pools was used for the presentation or a puppet show and other cultural arts presentations.

Many Illinois park district pools are experiencing a decline in attendance during the summer months. This decline can be attributed to many factors including more air-conditioned homes, changes in lifestyle and cooler weather in many parts of the state.

The need to program the swimming pool has become critical for many park districts.

Recognizing this change in recreational habits, the staff of the Park District of Highland Park initiated several special events this summer designed to involve more residents and to make maximum use of the Highland Park Twin Pools and surrounding area.

In addition to a full water program which included open swim, all levels of instruction, competition, aquatics, water polo and skuba diving, the pool became the center of many community activities.

A Young People's Art Festival was held where children, ages 6 thru 17, submitted art work to decorate the entire pool area. Eager young artists, using a multitude of media, competed for prizes donated by several local merchants.

Water Olympics was fun for all the participants. Pool attendance rose during the special events.

On another occasion, the pool deck was transformed into a summer salon, featuring a Tennis and Swim Wear Fashion Show. The show was designed to interest the many women who spent summer hours sun-bathing and keeping watch over their youngsters at the pool. Using models from the Highland Park High School, fashions from a local boutique and a public address system for narration, the event added a creative dimension to the use of the pool area.

One of the most popular "specials" of the summer was a Judo and Karate Demonstration, performed by a local self-defense school. The presentation appealed to both children and adults, and will definitely be repeated next year.

Preschoolers who frequented Twin Pools for special family programs were delighted by a Puppet Show, staged by a professional puppeteer. During a swim break, the little ones were treated to a half hour trip into puppet fantasyland.

Fun-for-the-whole-family was the format for a 4th of July Water Olympics Festival. In addition to water races and relays, balloons were given away by a clown, and refreshments were sold by swim club parents.

Next summer, the Park District of Highland Park plans to add more special pool events such as a chalk drawing contest, model sailboat races, concerts, volleyball, water games and picnics.

Theodore Kavadas, Director of Parks and

Illinois Parks and Recreation 6 November/December, 1974

Recreation for Highland Park, believes that the special pool programs succeeded in attracting and involving more Highland Park residents in more activities. The program proved that a public pool can provide much more than swimming activities. Kavadas anticipates even greater involvement and creativity centering around the pool in the summers ahead.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 7 November/December, 1974