Letter to the editor:
Whitewater’s Aquatic Center has been through some turbulent times. Its defining moment being the devastation caused by Covid all across our community and our country. The swimming hole survived and is trending positively in the right direction.
Survival for great people and for great institutions is critical to help Whitewater thrive.
My grandfather Jack Hale and great uncle Archie Hale both stepped up to save democracy in WW1, “the war to end war.” Both were severely gassed by mustard during battles with Germany. Both survived. Jack’s legacy would lead him back to Whitewater to build the best homes, churches, and barns in our community. Archie lost one complete lung and survived by breathing 20 times the normal human breaths with only one-tenth of his remaining lung. He lived to be 93.
In the 1940’s communities from all across America stepped up to save democracy again by building ships and airplanes to defeat the threat of world domination by the Axis powers in WW2. Young men and women from all across our country also stepped up to serve in the battle to man those ships and fly those planes. My father, Don Hale, became a bomber pilot flying the largest wingspan aircraft in the war. He never spoke of the war except for the proud moment when he was able to limp that crippled bomber back on one engine. He and his crew all survived as well.
Our aquatic center has way more than one engine. We’ve got four boilers and they’re all still working.
My dad’s brother JP Hale served on the aircraft carrier “USS Enterprise.” The Enterprise was famous for participating in more war actions against Japan than any other U.S. ship. Enterprise earned 20 Battle Stars, more than any other warship. The Japanese believed they had actually sunk the Enterprise on three separate occasions but “the Grey Ghost” survived and at one point in the war was the only remaining carrier left in the U.S. Navy.
Enterprise survived three direct bomp hits and another crippling blow with a direct hit from a bomb-laden Kamikaze plane on May 21, 1945.
Our Aquatic Center is not the Titanic. She is not a sinking ship. She is a survivor just like Enterprise and surely worth saving. Our swimming hole suffered a crushing blow with the advent of Covid. Our Aquatic Center is on the way back and trending upwards with a strong positive curve.
The great wars left a legacy of pain and suffering. They also left a legacy of survival. Our swimming hole is a crown jewel not only for Whitewater, but also for so many surrounding communities.
As a city council, as a school board, as a community we must all come together to save our swimming hole. The Whitewater Aquatic Center must survive!
Geoff Hale
Owner, Home Lumber Co.
Whitewater
File photo/Kim McDarison.
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