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Osmond celebrates new pool with ribbon-cutting, pool party

OSMOND — It’s been a long time coming, but finally, the new Osmond Municipal Pool was opened for business on Saturday, June 20. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Saturday, July 11, as part of a Pierce County Economic Development-sponsored pool party.

The ceremony began at 1 p.m. with a representative of US92 Radio Station introducing those officials present for the ribbon cutting. In addition to Mayor James Bessmer, those present included Osmond City Council members Dan Timmerman, Doug Schmit, John Aschoff and Neil Wattier; Dave Henke, project manager for JEO; Sheryl von Rentzell, Osmond City Clerk; Forrest Kramer, project manager of Christiansen Construction; Adam Rice, member of the Osmond Swimming Pool Committee, and Joan Kumm, Osmond pool manager.

After introductions, it was also announced that Mike and Sue Morfeld of Osmond will donate a sitting bench to be placed in front of the pool in memory of their daughter, Jill, who was a lifeguard, manager and swim instructor at the pool.

Pool Party Held

After Mayor Bessmer welcomed those present and cut the ribbon, a large crowd of kids, parents and grandparents lined up to enjoy the swimming pool and all its new features. Some 93 persons signed in at the pool on Saturday.

Also there for the pool party were Susan Norris of Pierce County Economic Development (PCED) and interns Alex Alderson, Marie Meis and Judith Gray, who were instrumental in setting up the event, and representatives of US92 and News Channel Nebraska who held live broadcasts. Traveling Tiger Tavern food truck and R Xtreme Ice Cream Truck were also on hand to provide food and treats during the pool party.

During the pool party, PCED had a prize wheel for kids to spin and win a number of prizes. A raffle was also held with prizes of a family pool pass, individual pool pass, Osmond Dollars and Traveling Tiger Tavern coupon. Names of the winners can be found in an ad on Page 2 of this issue. Brenda Wattier, an employee of Farmers Pride, who was manning the raffle table, also had T-shirts from Farmers Pride that were given away to those in attendance.

Pool Has Long History

Osmond Municipal Pool first became a reality for the Osmond community when it opened in August of 1958, and the formal dedication was held in July of 1959 with much fanfare, including a performance by the Yankton Water Ballet team, speeches and the singing of “America,” accompanied by Judy Enevoldsen on the organ.

For almost 60 years, the pool has served as a place for community members to come and cool off in the hot Nebraska summer months. Unfortunately, for several years, the pool has had problems with major leaks, to the tune of 10,000-15,000 gallons of water per day according to a report given in August of 2018. This caused chemical imbalances and issues with regulation of water temperature.

A swimming pool committee was formed to come up with options and, after years of community members talking about the pool issue and several meetings with the pool committee in 2018, the matter was put to a vote in November of 2018 and the bond passed to put in a new pool.

Ground was broken in July of 2019, 60 years after the first pool was opened.

Council, Others Comment

Mayor Bessmer commented on the new pool, “I think it’s great! This is what we need — this is what our kids need. These are our future out here. We need to keep them here in town. This is just a small part of trying to keep them here, keep them active in our community.”

City Councilman Dan Timmerman agreed, “I feel the same way. If you want to keep young families in our community, you have to have things like this for the families to do.”

Neil Wattier, another city council member, said, “I think it’s a great addition to the park (system), to the ballfields. Hopefully it will be here for many years, and I think it will; we’ve got the right people running it.”

Adam Rice, a member of the pool committee, spoke also as a person who has three young boys, “It’s a great thing to have, a little added bonus to the town. It’s a great place to live and I want to keep it that way, and these are important parts of that to have. It’s a great thing for the kids and the community.”

Joan Kumm is the pool manager and has been for several years. “It’s a wonderful place to be,” she said. “The kids and parents and all have enjoyed it. One day, a week after opening, we had 10 moms here with kids. It’s wonderful to see that, because with our old pool, we had a baby pool and we didn’t get a lot of young moms with little kids here, so it’s great to see.

“Two years ago, we might have had 60 kids, possibly 80 if it was a weekend (or other event), but that didn’t happen often,” Joan said. Usually, we averaged 30 to 40.”

Since the new pool opened, Joan said there has been, on average, 90 people signed in per day, or about double what it used to be.

“The most we’ve had was 127 one day,” she said. “That’s great to see.”

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