The Scoop: Kids today sure grow up quick
I always enjoy reading the Southern Standard and I don’t say that just because I work here.
Just the other day I was looking for something to do on Saturday night so I picked up the paper and discovered there’s a bluegrass concert tomorrow at the Rocky River Community Center. According to the information provided, adult admission to the concert is $5 and children under 10 get in free. That sounded pretty reasonable to me.
Then I flipped further back in the paper and saw a good-sized advertisement from our friendly folks at McMinnville’s Parks and Recreation Department. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now. If there’s one thing this town has going for it, it’s the Civic Center and all the activities which surround it. That includes the weight room, the walking trail, the ball parks, and the new and improved city pool.
And since we’re on the subject of the city pool, that’s exactly what this ad addressed. It was announcing pool fees for the upcoming swim season which officially starts May 21.
As a guy who is an avid swimmer, and has a family full of people who love the water, I read over the pool rates with great interest. And I have to say I just love the city’s definition of an adult.
According to the city pool rates, an “adult” is any person age 6 to 54. A “child” is classified as any person age 5 and under. And no one, not even a month-old baby, gets in free.
I read this and glanced over at 4-year-old Benjamin and realized he really has grown up quick. He is just starting his first year of T-ball and is still a year away from kindergarten, but he’s almost an adult. It won’t be long before he needs to think about settling down, maybe start a family of his own, according to the city’s definition.
Benjamin can’t read and hasn’t yet mastered the tricky art most folks refer to as tying their shoe. But he’s about to reach adulthood, at least according to the half-crazed scale our city officials are using.
The next time Benjamin tries to run out the door to his swingset, I’m going to put a stop to that. He can’t spend his time playing away the afternoon thinking of things like Elmo and Scooby-Doo. He’s almost an adult. Now that he can count to 30 on his own, he needs to be thinking about some serious career decisions.
Of course I realize McMinnville officials don’t really consider a 6-year-old an adult. It’s all just a way of milking more money from the public to pay for parks and recreation. Remember it was only about a month ago our city leaders toyed with the idea of raising weight room fees by some 300 percent. Thankfully that idea was allowed to crash and burn.
Truth be told, the city pool is still a pretty good value. For city residents, the price for adults is $4 for the day, and it’s $3 for children and seniors 55 and over. For non-city residents, the price is $5 for adults and it’s $4 for children and seniors over 55.
Compared to a meal at a fast-food restaurant, or a night at the movies, a day at the city pool is a tremendous value. But that’s exactly what a parks and recreation department should be. It should offer fun and exciting activities at a great price because it’s a service to taxpayers.
The purpose of parks and recreation is to promote physical activity, not rake in profits. A visit to the city pool should be affordable and for a number of local residents it is.
But for others, the city pool is simply too pricey. And it’s easy to see why when 6-year-olds are charged adult admission and a month-old baby has to pay $4 to get through the gate.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].