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I’ve been thinking about the Outlook swimming pool over the past few days, especially in light of the fact that the province’s Reopen Saskatchewan Plan entered into Phase 4, Part 1 on Monday.  Such a phase includes outdoor pools, a category of which Outlook’s facility obviously falls into.  When I started thinking about the pool, my mind went back to the ‘grand opening’ event held last summer on August 10.  Now, I’m not going to point fingers, I’m not looking to start any arguments, and I know that some of those involved behind the scenes had their hands tied and were simply following orders, but to say that the grand opening of the biggest community-oriented recreation project accomplished in years in this community was a letdown would be a massive understatement.

Among the several missteps, the most heartbreaking aspect was the fact that the grand opening was held without the participation of the dedicated fundraising committee who had put literally *years* of their lives into the pool project.  Members of this committee made it known several times that they would be unable to attend on the date that the Town had picked, but for reasons known only to elected officials, the date was not changed and the committee’s request of another date was not accommodated.

I will also point out that it was held without the presence of your trusted local media, and that I myself had informed the Town in July that our office would be on holidays starting in August and that I had plans on the selected date.  I admit that it wasn’t really my place to do so, but I too requested that the event be moved, even if it just meant one week later.  Again, no budging.  What should’ve been a heavily-covered event with The Outlook present conducting interviews and shooting video footage turned instead into a submitted recap piece later in the month with a couple of photos at best.  It deserved so much more if there was just a little more cooperation on one end.

But what’s done is done.  We can’t change the past.  Life moves on.  Onward and upward, as they say.  So then, allow me to propose a simple suggestion – that we right a wrong and give the pool fundraising committee the proper kudos they all deserve when the pool has its first official day of the 2020 season.  If you’re reading this, dear committee members, I hope you’ll consider this invitation.  On the day the pool opens, let’s all get together at a certain time, pose for some group photos, and I’ll ask you all some questions on the facility enjoying what’s essentially its first official regular season.  Let me give you all the press that you deserved last year.

Nothing super fancy, and I can’t promise you any celebratory cake or anything like that, but you deserve a platform to say a few words if you so choose about a project of which you all have such a strong connection.  Say a few words, pose for some photos, BOOM, the whole thing can be done in less than 10 minutes.

I extend this invitation to anyone in the public who wants to come by and extend their gratitude as well.  These people deserve a loud round of applause in-person.

Now maybe I’m reaching with such a suggestion, and some might say I should just let sleeping dogs lie, but I just can’t help but feel that there’s an opportunity here to right a wrong from last summer.  I know there are those on the committee who are still harboring some hurt over what happened.  Let’s get together and do something simple in order to let that pain go.

If any pool committee members are interested, please drop me a line.  I’m not a hard man to find.

Derek Ruttle
The Outlook