POOL SESSIONS ENDED, Time to paddle!

[Doug]

Last Saturday's HAVERHILL Pool session was the last of the season. I'd like to thank everyone that attended.

As usual, the HAVERHILL POOL filled up to maximum every week but the IPSWICH POOL was really not well attended. I think it may be a combination of location and time (5-7:30pm Sunday) that may have caused poor attendance. I am reaching out to all members to get their opinions.

As an added note, Portsmouth has agreed to have us come back next year.

See you on the water soon.

Doug

[rfolster]

The location was not a deterrent for me, but the time slot definitely was. It's possible that having one session on Saturdays and one on Sundays may have been helpful to people with challenging weekend schedules, but an earlier time slot might have helped attendance. That's my 1-2/5ths cents worth.

And as always, the time and effort you put in each year to arrange and manage this program for all of us is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[EEL]

I for one am glad to hear Portsmouth will be back. Or rather NSPN will be back at Portsmouth.

Ed Lawson

[eburgess]

Thanks, Doug, for organizing all the pool sessions - I appreciate all the time and effort you put in to arranging them. It's a shame Ipswich didn't work out; they have a beautiful pool as well as nice locker rooms with HOT water! I, too, am glad that Portsmouth is back for next year.

[billvoss]

First thanks Doug for organizing the pool sessions.

Regarding Ipswich, both location and time were a problem for me. While I loved the Ipswich facility itself, the location was over an hour's drive for me. When I combined the 5pm-7:30pm time slot with drive, loading, and unloading time an Ipswich pool session would keep me busy from 3pm till after 9pm. That made scheduling dinner with my wife impossible which was a big negative. I was lucky enough to enjoy a pleasant Post-Pool-Pigout after the only Ipswich session I attended this season. However, that got me home very late, which is not something I want to repeat regularly.

Haverhill sessions were just over half the drive time, and only disrupted lunch which was more tolerable.

Unfortunately, Portsmouth is going to minimally decrease my drive time while actually increasing my driving distance. So I sure hope Haverhill is available again next year!

[Deb Millar]

First, thanks, Doug, for coordinating the dates/times/venue for pool sessions. It's not an easy task.

As I'm a member of the Ipswich Y, I'm prejudiced towards that pool. It's warm and clean, the lifeguards are great and the clean locker rooms, with abundant hot water -- the older ladies who are members make sure things stay that way -- made pool sessions enjoyable. However, even living 15 minutes away, the time was not always the best for us.

Then there's Haverhill: Maybe if the Haverhill School District warmed the pool up a bit -- I've come out of it with my teeth chattering despite wearing layers of neoprene and a heavy rash guard -- and saw it in their budget to perhaps clean up the filthy, torn curtained, freezing cold showers in the locker room not to mention the room itself, I might feel differently. While the time and day is great and the distance manageable, the venue leaves much to be desired, especially at $26.00 a session.

Portsmouth, ah, Portsmouth. Clean pool, warm water, nice life guards, good size, and CLEAN locker rooms with HOT water. What more could one ask for. While it's a hour/15 minutes for us, it's more than worth the price of admission.

Thanks again, Doug, for all you do.

Deb M

Edited April 8, 2014 by Deb M

[Jeff Charette]

Doug, thank you for organizing these pool sessions. Your hard work is appreciated.

In reference to the Ipswich pool, like others have already said, it's a great facility, but the hours made it difficult to attend more than a few sessions. I'm also glad to see NSPN returning to the Portsmouth YMCA.

[Dave M.]

Doug, I'll add my thanks for taking charge of the pool sessions. For me Ipswich was a negative for both time and distance. Haverhill time slot was better, in fact enough so to overlook the distance.

Fantastic that Portsmouth is available next year.

Dave

[glad]

Hi Doug - thank you very much for organizing the pool sessions this year. I've done it in the past and it is not an easy job.

I liked the Ipswich option. Sunday late afternoon worked for me so I could do something outside before coming to the pool.

Karen

[Inverseyourself]

Doug - thank you very much for organizing the pool sessions. I, too liked the Ipswich option and hope that it will continue in the future.

Andy

[David M]

Doug,

I'm also so grateful for your efforts in putting these together. Thanks! Notwithstanding my weekend travel schedule, I would have to say that the couple of times Ipswich was an option the time was the major factor in not attending. The Haverhill time worked perfectly when I was in town.

In my case Portsmouth is a real plus.

See you on the water.

David

[Doug]

Thanks so much for your responses and show of appreciation. It has been my pleasure to contribute my time to the club in this way.
I will do my best to accommodate everyone next season and will take all your replies into consideration.

Paddle safely and may the tides be in our favor.

Doug