RSS Feed
 |
|
|||||
|
It's time for Amityville residents to cool down in their own Village pool As the temperatures begin to soar, our annual summer quandary begins: Where are we going to go swimming this year? Having lived here at least a decade, we have explored all the possible avenues, but let's check them off again: The Village Beach- when the wind is up, this is a nice option, and the Amityville Beach Crew does a very impressive job of organization and clean-up and gets very high marks for staff friendliness and efficiency. (If only they could run the Town of Babylon, too!) However, more often than not, the water is brackish and torpid, and a most unhealthylooking brown, and the smell is, well, best not described here. The Town Pools- though there are a fair number of these, they are located at quite a distance from our friendly Bay Village, so a day at the pool really means a day at the pool, and not just a short walk away for my kids. Wouldn't it be nice if I could just send them out the door with their towels and suntan lotion and wouldn't have to drive 30 minutes to a crowded pool in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Believe me, we've tried them all, and it has never been a pleasant experience. Venetian Shores Water Park- The Town of Babylon did a great job and spent a lot of money on this state-of-the-art water recreation area for babies, toddlers and kids under 8. My middle schoolers and teens feel a little out of place there, though. Marjorie Post Park Pool- This option suggested to me this morning by an Amityville Village employee, who quite ironically did not know that this great pool is for Massapequa Park Village residents only, our Western neighbors who seem to Have It All. My own pool- this was suggested to me this morning by a Town employee. This is a far stretch for our single-income budget and our 40x30 backyard which has an inconvenient slope running through the middle of it. I'm sure I'm not the only Amityville family feeling this kind of frustration, especially when we have seen a palatial middle school facility being built which has siphoned off millions of our taxpayer dollars, and which my six children and many other Amityville families I know have never used once. We couldn't even use the playground since it was only operable for one year when we first moved here. It was then in disrepair for another six years. Now it is non-existent, but that's a question for another day.) Mayor Pete Imbert and the Village Board have done a really splendid job of rejuvenating Amityville in the last decade, and I look forward to having a very respectable Village Hall soon (though the old one did have a certain charm to it), but now perhaps they can turn their attention and talents to build something which the community can really use and enjoy! Isn't it time our delightful nautical village had its own pool, at the beach, like many other villages on the South Shore have? What a great community facility for our kids and moms during the summer! Some of my best childhood memories were the times I spent splashing in my neighborhood pool, which was only a few blocks away! (Besides, just imagine what our incomparable Amityville Beach Crew could do with a new, modern facility! Let's show those Massapequans that we know how to do summer right! Here's to our own Amityville Beach Pool in Summer, 2008!)
Julie A. Collorafi, Amityville
|
for larger version       |
||||
