What's Happening at PAC?

So glad you asked!  This week alone wraps up the successful session of March evening swim lessons, and boasts the MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT, Wednesday, the 25^th.

On Thursday, March 26^th, we invite all kids (and their parents) to enjoy the FREE UNDERWATER EASTER EGG HUNT from 5:30-6:30pm.  Pre-school to kindergarten go first, so don’t be late!  This event is pure fun as the kids launch into the water in search of the “golden egg!”  There will be goodie bags for all and a chance to get a picture with the Easter Bunny. 

Friday, March 27^th, afternoon, is the beginning of SPRING BREAK in Pinedale.  Come float the competition pool and enjoy a dive-in movie at 2 & 6pm on Friday to celebrate break time!   PAC will be open with regular hours all during spring break week.  Youth are half price for all of break.  And on Friday, April 3^rd, PAC hosts FREE YOUTH FRIDAY!

Beginning April 1^st, we will host our second annual WYOMING & WIND RIVER RANGE CYCLING CHALLENGE .  Participants will chart their progress in the PAC lobby, following a mapped course that winds around the Wind River and Wyoming Ranges. 

We do hope you’re signed up (or still will) for the MILE HIGH CLIMBING CHALLENGE that is happening NOW. It will inspire you through many interesting routes up PAC’s indoor climbing wall.  The staff does a great job of “shaking it up” with route changes, rated for their difficulty, and always encouraging climbers to test their skills.  T-shirts and prizes create added incentive! Meanwhile, WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE has been another very fun way for women to ward off any winter blues or mud season downers.  They meet Tuesday nights to match their fast paced skills against one another in a spirit of friendly competition. 

Observing the diversity in age and background of our participants in these various recreational-fitness pursuits is really gratifying.  Truly, participants of all ages…men and women…come together at PAC to try something new and PLAY.  New friendships are forged and old friends re-connect.  That is community!

What About Construction?

Patrons wonder about the status of our new construction.  As was the plan, our south side addition to PAC will provide much needed storage space for the whole facility.  Most observable will be the absence of all the “stuff” that flanks the gym floor, around the perimeter of the gymnasium…  All the equipment that is used for PAC programs, classes and activities will be safely stored in our new spaces.  This will allow for clutter free spaces to play, and will result in a safer area for the many activities that occur in the gym.   This same “clean-up” will also happen in the competition and leisure pool deck areas, as supplies and equipment are moved into storage.  The new upstairs studio room(s), accessed off the south side of the running track, will be just that, studio space.  Fitness classes and other suitable organized group activities will occur there.  There will be a beautiful wood floor and mirrors, allowing for optimal conditions for all things fitness that are best suited for a studio, versus a gymnasium.  When fitness classes (and their gear) move out of the gym, there will be more open gym time and time for structured and unstructured gym activities.  This will naturally allow for simultaneous evening activities at PAC ….something our patrons have been clamoring for.

Many patrons are interested in PAC obtaining additional weight equipment.  Our new addition will allow us to add some new weight equipment. We are looking forward to creating a new space for enhanced weight training options at PAC.  Stay tuned for the exciting details to unfold...

You ask, “when will the addition be open?”  Our general contractor is working hard to wrap up our project and we expect that we will be moving in by late May, early June.  Staff will occupy and furnish these new areas, and we will begin to utilize most of these new spaces this summer.  Our official GRAND OPEN HOUSE will occur on Wed., September 9^th, one week after school starts, during our FALL EXPO.  This will be the time when all of our fall classes and activities will have resumed, and the community will see the benefit of this long anticipated, much needed space.

The PAC Staff will be unveiling SUMMER 2015 at our SPRING EXPO, hosted at PAC on Wed., April 29^th from 3:30-6:30pm.  Plan now to attend this fun filled event and learn of all we’re planning this summer.  You will also see what else is happening in Pinedale, from BOCES to 4H, to all the local organizations with their great ideas for youth and family fun!  We’ll see you there!

PAC—making a difference in YOUR community!

JJ Huntley

Safety at PAC---by Chase Judd, Aquatic Coordinator

Regarding safety, the goal of any recreation center is to make patrons feel safe enough that safety is not even a thought. We want to be so good at risk management that patrons do not think about it. Safety is PAC’s highest priority, and its actions reflect that. This post will discuss why safety is such a huge priority at PAC and what PAC does to keep its patrons safe.

Why safety?

In Wyoming, there is a law that, without pulling specific quotes, essentially states that people, when engaging in recreational activities, are responsible for their own safety. While this might help some facility managers sleep better at night, at PAC we choose to operate a facility that not just follows the industry standard, but sets them. We take safety so seriously for several reasons:

Litigation

Regardless of the current laws, we’re aware that laws change and are vulnerable to the interpretation of judges. Therefore, it behooves us, legally, to create a safe environment for our staff and patrons.

Insurance

What’s more, PAC must carry insurance. There are companies that insure and stand by recreational facilities and cover claims should something go wrong. As we’re all aware, those insurance companies have self-interest to protect their assets. It logically follows, then, that these companies would have criterion that we must adhere to in order to keep our insurance, and if we disregard mandates from the insurance company, then PAC as a sole entity is responsible for paying any settlement that comes from an incident that occurs here.

Patrons

Above the insurance and legality, PAC aims to keep our patrons safe for their own wellbeing.  We like to see you come into PAC every day and enjoy our facility. So we want to keep you around. We not only want you to feel safe enough here that you return day after day, but you also stay healthy enough to keep coming back.

What does PAC do to keep you safe?

Safety Checks

At PAC we are constantly on the lookout for safety concerns. We do this not only by being aware of our surroundings every day, but each department has an opening and closing check list, which involves ensuring the facility is safe.  For example, The Aquatic Department utilizes a separate check list to be completed each morning that is all about facility safety and risk management.

We also make sure that we are inventorying our First Aid kits and Trauma Bags monthly to ensure they are well-stocked. AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) and fire extinguishers are also checked monthly to make sure they will work when needed (let’s keep our fingers crossed that we never do).

 

Equipment

At PAC we have First Aid kits in almost every section of the building. Locations include: Front Desk, Lobby, Walking Track, Basement, Classroom, Party Room, and Child Care. Each lifeguard even carries their own mini first aid kit!

We have two large trauma bags designed for large emergencies. We have three AEDs scattered about the building, and we have fire extinguishers everywhere!

Staff Training

We can outfit our facility with all sorts of great safety equipment, but we need to make sure our staff knows how to use it properly. Every single staff member at PAC is trained in CPR, First Aid, and AED use. Most of our staff are trained at a professional level of CPR (Full-time staff, Lifeguards, etc.).  Several of our staff are trained EMTs!

We are all certified by the American Red Cross; it recommends regular reviews of CPR and First Aid. Every four months each staff member is required to participate in CPR and First Aid training and review. We also do monthly safety trainings (fire and egress, blood borne pathogens, active shooter, and nine other topics).

All PAC departments host regular training as well. Aquatic Staff, because of the nature of being life savers, receive 3.5 hours of training per month. Other department staff also receive training that is appropriate to their unique areas  to ensure patron safety.

Patron Input

PAC Staff prides themselves on how safe we keep our patrons, but we realize that we aren’t perfect. That’s why we have our ‘Suggestion Box’. Every patron comment  submitted is given thought and consideration by supervisory staff. Legitimate safety concerns are addressed immediately. If you see a safety concern, please alert PAC staff immediately or make a comment in our suggestion box.

I appreciate the time you have taken reading this blog, and I hope to see you soon at PAC.

K. Chase Judd

Aquatic Coordinator

cjudd@pinedaleaquatic.com

Coming to Town....

**BRAND NEW**Indoor SPRING SOCCER in Pinedale….

This program is a result of community partners working together and offering their unique expertise for the good of community youth.  By joining forces, the TOWN OF PINEDALE, SUBLETTE COUNTY and THE PINEDALE SOCCER ASSOCIATION, utilizing their combined human and facility resources, will be providing interested youth the chance for a brand new season of soccer play.

Currently, the Pinedale Soccer Association offers a very successful season in late summer/early fall. These practices and games are played on the soccer fields maintained by the Town of Pinedale at the Dudley Key fields. Additionally, the school district has a high school varsity girls’ and boys’ soccer team that is very popular, whose season runs in spring.  These high school teams play on the fields provided by the school district, on the high school campus, including in the Sonny Korfanta football stadium.

To augment these already existing programs, The Town of Pinedale and Mayor Jones requested we try to find a way to offer an additional season to showcase the sport of soccer and get kids playing with more frequency throughout the year.  The goal is for young kids to have the opportunity to develop soccer specific skills over time, and therefore be ready to play well when they reach high school and the varsity team.  Regardless of a youth’s interest in playing varsity soccer, youth will benefit from learning this fun team sport and being physically active.

When seeking a location to host an additional season of soccer for community youth of all ages, the location for such a season was a dilemma.  Due to spring weather conditions, including snow on fields and use by the high school varsity teams, it became clear that any “new” season would need to be indoors.  All district gyms are in use at that time, and the PAC gymnasium has limited availability.

When the possible use of Sublette County facilities was discussed, a viable solution to the question of location was within reach.  County Facility Scheduling Director, Brianne Brower, proposed use of the ice arena after the ice was off and the hockey season ended.  The County Commissioners were agreeable and the plan moved forward.

Meanwhile, the Pinedale Soccer Association offered this new “league” a home within the Association, thereby providing an online registration process, credibility and program insurance for participants.  The Town of Pinedale offered to organize the volunteer coaches and establish program guidelines.  PAC is pleased to promote the efforts of all the above partners.

With a place, a format, and a process, the new “SPRING SOCCER in Pinedale” season dates were established.  Play will begin April 20^th and run through May 28^th.  Go to www.pinedalesoccer.com and look for the link called “Spring Soccer Registration.”  And see PAC’S website to print off a flyer!

We project a very successful pilot season of spring soccer.  What’s most important, however, is the process that took place to initiate this recreational opportunity within our community.  Separate organizations, each with a resource needed, came together with a common cause and made something happen.  Only by collaboration could this have been possible.  By identifying the challenge and analyzing the situation, a plan was generated.  Without any one of these partners, this spring soccer program would not have been possible.  It took all of us.

Now, for the participants….JJ Huntley

Spring Has Sprung?

At PAC, Spring has Sprung!

If melting snow, beautiful sunny days and light jackets make you think of spring, then we’ve had a taste of it in Sublette County!

At PAC’s construction site, workers have asked, “is this mud season?!”  When we say, “no, actually, not quite yet…!” we are all left to wonder, WHAT’S NEXT and WHEN will it come?!

While we do anticipate the next snow storm, and maybe a lot more winter with it.…we are pleased with the good progress that has been made on our new south side addition. This break in the weather has given us an advantage in pressing forward with construction.

 To date, the penetrations through the wall of the existing building have taken place at all three levels; and the translucent kaulwall  panels have been installed on the south side, providing significant light to the studio room at the second level.  Framing and exterior sheathing is essentially complete and insulation is being installed, as is interior drywall. Mechanical and electrical rough in has progressed well, to allow drywall installation.  The roof deck is complete and the roofing crew is installing insulation.  The membrane and flashing will be completed during February, as will the fire sprinkler piping.

PAC Staff look forward to taking occupancy in late spring.  Is that late April or May?  We don’t know for sure. However, in preparation for that day, we are studying spaces and their square footages to wisely plan function.  Our goal is to have shelving and supplies ordered that will be necessary to accomplish the storage function of the basement and gym level storage areas by April 1^st.  Meanwhile, we will have gone through all PAC inventory, labeled and organized it, to be ready to be moved to these new, accessible storage areas.  This means items will be removed from a classroom at BOCES, which PAC has occupied for several years.  It also means rounding up items stored “here and there” throughout PAC, consolidating them and preparing them to move to their new locations. 

The visible result of efficiently utilizing these new spaces will be a clutter-free gymnasium perimeter, and clutter-free pool deck areas and spectator areas.  Programmatically, there will be increased capacity to run activities concurrently, such as evening fitness classes (that adults have been clamoring for), while organized youth or adult leagues are running in the gymnasium.  If an organized activity is not scheduled for the gym, it will be available for open (patron driven) recreation.  Again, this has been a patron request… to have more “open gym” opportunities at PAC.

Consistently, when surveyed, PAC patrons have requested more frequency of evening classes.  Between the gymnasium and the existing classroom, our present options have been limited and finite.  With our new addition, we anticipate a significant increase in after school and evening activity at PAC.  Adults of all ages, and their families, will find something that interests them, whether independently or as a group.

It is YOU, the patron, and the stakeholder, that makes this amazing recreational facility work.  Without your investment in leisure and recreational opportunities in our community, PAC would not be a reality.  We are fortunate enough to have the tax base to support this effort, but to sustain the mission of PAC for the long term, we need you to continue enjoying the enhancement PAC brings to all ages in our community.  As a Staff, we encourage you to keep ‘partnering’ with us to ensure that PAC remains the place the community cannot imagine living without.  We are here to serve you.

As our new addition emerges, stay tuned for news about our ribbon cutting celebration…  It will be a great time to get together with friends and neighbors, take a tour, see what’s happening, get excited about the possibilities, and to encourage all to “Share the Fun!” at PAC in 2015!

Never hesitate to email or call with any questions you may have:  jhuntley@pinedaleaquatic.com or 367-2832, ext. 6245.

JJ Huntley

PAC Celebrates our Partners

Written By: Amber Anderson, Recreation Coordinator

As the Pinedale Aquatic Center prepares to celebrate our 7^th birthday, we wish to acknowledge what we are truly celebrating.  The PAC is a world class recreation facility and February marks the anniversary month of our grand opening of the building itself.  But it is not the facility alone that we celebrate; rather it is what the facility represents in the community and the people that make it come alive that we truly need to celebrate.  These people who are the thriving energy and life of PAC are our PARTNERS – and that means YOU!

“To partner” can be defined as working or participating together with a business or persons on a cooperative objective.  From a business sense, PAC’s partners are many.  To highlight a few we should begin with our largest business partner, Sublette County School District #1, who provides us with not only the amazing facility but with additional space for program needs, collaboration in keeping the youth of our community active through support and encouragement of our programs, and education and training opportunities for our staff and program volunteers.  Together with the 4-H Afterschool Program, the Sublette County Library, and Sublette BOCES, we partner every Friday to offer an early release afterschool program, Friday Fun Zone.  New to our partner line-ups for this program is White Pine Ski Resort, who has extended the opportunity for program participants to try their hand at skiing or snowboarding.  We have event partners like Big Brothers Big Sisters who supports our annual Pinedale Indoor Triathlon to promote mentoring in the community, as well as sponsors who make special events like our Pinedale 3on3 Basketball Tournament possible.  A multitude of individuals and businesses extend their services, expertise, and energy to our Little Wrangler Day Camp in the form of onsite presenters or field trip opportunities for camp participants.  To try to list every business partner that influences PAC operations would not be possible, but it can be said that it is because of these business partners that our programs and events are available to the community.

2015 4th Grade Class Challenge Champions

Even more mass in numbers is the second element of partners: the people.  PAC has 1,657 active memberships and these are only a fraction of our partners we serve as patrons.  We have the pleasure to serve the mom utilizing PAC childcare while attending a fitness class, the die-hard lap swimmer who never misses a day, the competitive swim teams with their dedicated coaches, and the birthday party kids ready for fun in the pool or bounce house.  We have the opportunity to greet and converse with the senior who enjoys a cup of complimentary coffee in the lobby after a morning workout, the patient parent waiting to pick-up their child from one of our multitude of programs, and the visiting spectators here to cheer on a swim meet.  We have the privilege to teach the eager swimmers during swim lessons, or the anxious and determined Little Wrangler camper who is learning to ride a bike without training wheels.  We get the treat of experiencing the friendly competition between racquetball players, bantering in good-sport between adult league participants, and the whoop of victory after a first summit on the rock wall.  We have the fun of sharing the squeals of the swimmer coming down the water slide, the mischievous grin of the daredevil about to do a flip off the diving board, and the sigh of relaxation from the post-workout relaxer in the hot tub.  It is for you that PAC is here, to create a time of smiles, laughter, and memories as you find your active way through life.  We hope that you can take the moment to look back at your experiences at PAC and know that it is because of you that we, PAC, and its staff, are here. 

So, as the Pinedale Aquatic Center prepares to celebrate our 7^th birthday, it is to you, because of you, and for you that we celebrate.  THANK YOU FOR BEING OUR PARTNER! 

Please join us Friday, February 6 - Sunday, February 8 with FREE ADMISSION FOR ALL as we celebrate all our partners!