By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published April 28, 2004
SEMINOLE - With the return of warm weather, the city recreation department's Family Aquatics Center will open for swimmers on Monday with limited pre-summer hours.
For most of May, the main pool will be available for lap and exercise swimming 7-10 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Open swimming will be available from noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
The pool's summer schedule starts May 22. The schedule is: open swimming noon-4 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon-5 p.m. Saturdays; lap/exercise swimming Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 7-10 a.m.; and lap/family swimming Mondays through Fridays, 5-8 p.m.
The youth play pool, featuring water slides and water play equipment, will also be open during the main pool's public hours.
The aquatics program provides lockers, changing rooms and showers. Daily pool admission fees are $1.50 for ages 17 and younger and $2 for ages 18 and older. Multiple-swim punch cards may be purchased for $10-20 (youth) and $15-30 (adults) for either 10 or 20 swim sessions. Seasonal passes (May through October) are available: $30 for youth, $50 for adults and $100 for families.
All users of the aquatics center must be members of the Seminole Recreation Center, 9100 113th St. N. Membership for city residents is free. Non-residents must pay a fee of $110. Pinellas County reimburses the full fee for residents of unincorporated areas, said aquatics director Jim Sheets.
Two-week swimming programs will be offered beginning June 7 for anyone 3 or older. Swim classes are (9-9:25 a.m. and 9:30-9:55 a.m., and 4-4:25 p.m. and 4:30-4:55 p.m.) Monday through Thursday.
Registration for the sessions begins at 9 a.m. Saturday for residents and 11 a.m. for non-residents: June 5 for Session I (June 7-17); June 19 for Session II (June 21-July 1); June 26 for Session III (July 6-July 16); and July 10 for Session IV (July 19-29). The fee for group lessons is $30 per two-week session. Private lessons also are available.
Youths aged 11 to 14 interested in becoming lifeguards can sign up for the Guard Start program. Registration begins June 5 and classes begin June 7.
The 25th Annual Kids Appreciation Day co-sponsored by the city of Seminole and the Seminole Chamber of Commerce needs help, organizers say.
Jimmy Johnson, executive director of the chamber, is asking businesses and individuals to donate time, prizes or cash to help the annual event honoring Seminole's young people.
Kids Appreciation Day, scheduled for 3:30-5:30 p.m. May 18 at Seminole City Park, 7464 Ridge Road, features free games, entertainment, sports celebrities, hot dogs, a watermelon eating contest and door prizes that range from electronic games and bicycles to $500 scholarships and savings bonds.
Last year more than 100 area businesses participated in the event, which was attended by about 2,000 elementary school-age children and their families.
"For more than 25 years, our business community has shown our kids how much we appreciate them. We rely totally on the business community for financial and in-kind contributions," said Stephen Nickse, event chairman. For information, contact Nickse at the chamber, 392-3245.
City Clerk Beverly Brown and Harry Kyne, director of administration, are Florida Cities of Excellence award program finalists.
The program, sponsored by the Florida League of Cities, named Brown as a finalist for the City Clerk of the Year award. Kyne was nominated for the City Finance Official of the Year award.
Brown is cited for her dedication to serving the city council and mayor, for initiating a comprehensive records retention-scanning program for all the city's historical records since it was incorporated in 1970, and for her accessibility to citizens, professionalism and community involvement.
Kyne is cited for his leadership in developing a financial strategy for the city, for making the city budget more citizen-friendly, for his role in helping the city earn a certificate of achievement five years in a row, and for his responsiveness, professionalism and personal values.
Auditions for Seminole High School vocal ensembles Ovation, Encore and Seminole Singers will be held Thursday in the choral room. Auditions for students in grads 9-11 will be from 3 to 5 p.m. and all current eighth-graders will perform from 5 to 6 p.m. Ovation is open to all eighth-grade girls coming to Seminole High School as freshmen in the fall, as well as graduating freshmen. Encore is open to anyone who will be in 11th or 12th grade for the 2004-2005 school year. Seminole Singers is open to boys in grades 9-12, as well as all upper-class girls in the 2004-2005 school year. For information, call Nancy Fannon at 547-7536, ext. 152.
- News for Neighborhood Notebook may be e-mailed to SeminoleNotebook@knology.net faxed to 398-6054, mailed to Seminole Notebook, 13472 Bellewood Ave. N, Seminole, FL 33776, or by calling Sheila Estrada at 399-9197.
