Help East Nicolaus SSRA Pool
Donation protected
The 2016 summer season is approaching quickly and the SSRA Pool is once again asking for help. Our goal last year was to raise $5,000. This year we're shooting for $7,500. Many of you may not know that the SSRA does not receive any government funding. The pool opens solely on your donations year after year. Last year was a great year for the pool. We opened on time and we had full attendance much of the summer as well as large swim lesson classes.
This year, the small pool and the large pool need some major repair work. Both pools have cracks that will need to be repaired before we can open this season. This all takes time and money.
Will you help us again this year and let's see if we can beat our last year's goal? Your donation, both large and small, will help support operations. GoFundMe makes it easy for you to give a donation safely online.
The picture below shows the ENHS Football players conditioning practice.
History about the SSRA Pool and Recreation Building
The idea of building a pool in East Nicolaus came about by a few large landowner farmers in the community in the early 1950s. Kids would ride their bikes to the nearby Feather, Bear and Sacramento rivers and many kids would drown because of the currents and undertows. The farmers had an idea that if they opened up their land to pheasant hunters, and charged a fee, money could be raised to build a pool for the kids and the community. So, that’s what they did. The South Sutter Recreation Association was formed and hunters came for miles to pay their dues of $50 to hunt for the pheasant season. There were signs posted on the farmer’s property, usually on the telephone posts, that said “South Sutter Recreation Association Hunters Welcome” so that they knew where they could hunt. During the 1950-1955 period of collecting hunter dues, there was enough money to build the pool. Albert and Josephine Schwall, who lived just north of where the East Nicolaus pool is located donated the parcel of land for free, so that the pool could be built. The only stipulation on the deed stated “So long as said property shall be used for the benefit of the youth of the community.” So, in 1955 construction was started on the pool. The construction of the pool was financed solely on the pheasant hunting dues. On June 16, 1956 the pool was open for the first time to the East Nicolaus High School students. In 1961, another parcel just north of the pool, was donated again by the Schwall family to construct the social hall for gatherings.
The primary purpose of why the South Sutter Recreation Association formed was to promote the development of the swimming program, to keep kids safe, to build recreation baseball fields, and to acquire athletic equipment for the development of the youth and leisure activities for the residents of the southern part of the Sutter County.The SSRA became so soluble that they were able to donate thousands of dollars to the local schools and organizations in the community. Looking through finance records in 1983 for example, the SSRA gave $1,286 in scholarships; $500 to athletic camps; $10,309 to the high school for fences, helmets and tennis court nets; $1,796 to Pleasant Grove soccer goals, $1,500 Marcum basketball standards, $5,000 South Sutter Little League, $500 4-H sewing equipment, $888 ENHS pitching machine. That was just 1983! In the side note on this registrar it states “a rough estimate of these benefits listed on today’s dollar would probably come to well over $300,000.” That’s a lot of money donated to the local schools and clubs around here.
In return of the farmers allowing their land to be used for hunting, the farming families received a free family pool pass to use the pool and also hunting passes based on their acreage. They could give these hunting passes to their friends to hunt anywhere where the signs “South Sutter Recreation Association” were posted.
In the middle to late 1990s, memberships started to dwindle because of the pheasants being sparse due to different farming practices after harvest. The rice farmers had to follow different guidelines after harvest and there wasn’t enough food for the pheasants. Memberships therefore declined and scholarships and money to the schools for sports halted. The maintenance costs to run the pool started to become a nuisance and the SSRA couldn’t afford to keep the pool open each year. In 2001 the “Friends of the Pool” organization formed to help save the pool and local fundraising efforts helped finance the pool to open it each year. A local measure was put forth on the ballot, twice, but each time the measure did not get enough votes. The Friends of the Pool sort of declined in volunteer helpers too, and now Dale Davis and the SSRA Board sends out a donation request letter out each spring in hopes to raise enough money to open the pool for summer and to offer swim lessons so that our kids can learn how to swim properly in case they are ever forced in a situation where their life is in jeopardy out on the water. Who knows what will happen if the entire filter system at the pool breaks or if anything major goes wrong. I suppose we will tackle that when it comes. We can only think of the present day. The pool is open year after year by the local community members who donate out of the goodness of their hearts.
The hall is vital to the community because it allows a meeting place for many groups including 4-H, South Sutter
This year, the small pool and the large pool need some major repair work. Both pools have cracks that will need to be repaired before we can open this season. This all takes time and money.
Will you help us again this year and let's see if we can beat our last year's goal? Your donation, both large and small, will help support operations. GoFundMe makes it easy for you to give a donation safely online.
The picture below shows the ENHS Football players conditioning practice.
History about the SSRA Pool and Recreation Building
The idea of building a pool in East Nicolaus came about by a few large landowner farmers in the community in the early 1950s. Kids would ride their bikes to the nearby Feather, Bear and Sacramento rivers and many kids would drown because of the currents and undertows. The farmers had an idea that if they opened up their land to pheasant hunters, and charged a fee, money could be raised to build a pool for the kids and the community. So, that’s what they did. The South Sutter Recreation Association was formed and hunters came for miles to pay their dues of $50 to hunt for the pheasant season. There were signs posted on the farmer’s property, usually on the telephone posts, that said “South Sutter Recreation Association Hunters Welcome” so that they knew where they could hunt. During the 1950-1955 period of collecting hunter dues, there was enough money to build the pool. Albert and Josephine Schwall, who lived just north of where the East Nicolaus pool is located donated the parcel of land for free, so that the pool could be built. The only stipulation on the deed stated “So long as said property shall be used for the benefit of the youth of the community.” So, in 1955 construction was started on the pool. The construction of the pool was financed solely on the pheasant hunting dues. On June 16, 1956 the pool was open for the first time to the East Nicolaus High School students. In 1961, another parcel just north of the pool, was donated again by the Schwall family to construct the social hall for gatherings.
The primary purpose of why the South Sutter Recreation Association formed was to promote the development of the swimming program, to keep kids safe, to build recreation baseball fields, and to acquire athletic equipment for the development of the youth and leisure activities for the residents of the southern part of the Sutter County.The SSRA became so soluble that they were able to donate thousands of dollars to the local schools and organizations in the community. Looking through finance records in 1983 for example, the SSRA gave $1,286 in scholarships; $500 to athletic camps; $10,309 to the high school for fences, helmets and tennis court nets; $1,796 to Pleasant Grove soccer goals, $1,500 Marcum basketball standards, $5,000 South Sutter Little League, $500 4-H sewing equipment, $888 ENHS pitching machine. That was just 1983! In the side note on this registrar it states “a rough estimate of these benefits listed on today’s dollar would probably come to well over $300,000.” That’s a lot of money donated to the local schools and clubs around here.
In return of the farmers allowing their land to be used for hunting, the farming families received a free family pool pass to use the pool and also hunting passes based on their acreage. They could give these hunting passes to their friends to hunt anywhere where the signs “South Sutter Recreation Association” were posted.
In the middle to late 1990s, memberships started to dwindle because of the pheasants being sparse due to different farming practices after harvest. The rice farmers had to follow different guidelines after harvest and there wasn’t enough food for the pheasants. Memberships therefore declined and scholarships and money to the schools for sports halted. The maintenance costs to run the pool started to become a nuisance and the SSRA couldn’t afford to keep the pool open each year. In 2001 the “Friends of the Pool” organization formed to help save the pool and local fundraising efforts helped finance the pool to open it each year. A local measure was put forth on the ballot, twice, but each time the measure did not get enough votes. The Friends of the Pool sort of declined in volunteer helpers too, and now Dale Davis and the SSRA Board sends out a donation request letter out each spring in hopes to raise enough money to open the pool for summer and to offer swim lessons so that our kids can learn how to swim properly in case they are ever forced in a situation where their life is in jeopardy out on the water. Who knows what will happen if the entire filter system at the pool breaks or if anything major goes wrong. I suppose we will tackle that when it comes. We can only think of the present day. The pool is open year after year by the local community members who donate out of the goodness of their hearts.
The hall is vital to the community because it allows a meeting place for many groups including 4-H, South Sutter
Organizer
Cindy Gander Scheiber
Organizer
Nicolaus, CA