The pool held its goodwill Christmas party on Sunday December 21, donations were sought from community businesses and individuals to enable a free sausage sizzle for all and particularly for the children of our community.
The response was so overwhelming that as a gesture of goodwill Lightning Ridge extended an invitation to nearby towns.
Flyers were sent inviting the townships of Walgett, Dirranbandi, Goodooga, Grawin, Glengarry, Hebel, Angledool and Collarenebri to come and share the spirit with us on this day.
We were hoping for larger numbers, but with about 200 children and 100 adults in attendance there was plenty of activity.
We catered for up to 500 people, so those who attended were given the opportunity of a good solid meal.
The star of the show (Santa) arrived at 2pm under police, fire and ambulance escort with lights flashing and sirens wailing.
I can still recall vividly the look of surprise, shock and disbelief on the faces of the 200 children present, it was a particular moment at the time that made the whole event worthwhile and an undoubted success.
I will carry the look on those faces with me forever. Santa presented lolly bags to the children with Santa's helpers the police, fire and ambulance members assisting Santa. It was an opportunity for the emergency services to be seen in a positive light and to assist in breaking down any barriers that some children may have in our community.
Our own State Emergency Services cooked us up a tasty barbecue sausage sizzle, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Dawn Howlett from the Primary Health care team did the slip, slop, and slap goodwill message and distributed sunscreen to all.
The children eventually discovered Santa was an impostor and that the real one would arrive on Christmas day, so Santa ended up being thrown in the pool to cool off.
It was also the day where the children had the opportunity to water bomb (pay back) the pool manager and win prizes, so I saw lots of balloons coming my way filled with water.
It was also Sunday games day so plenty of games were conducted during the day.
Being Christmas it was appropriate that small but sentimental gifts be given to those who have shown goodwill to all others at the pool for the season. These gifts were provided for by management, Pool Committee and at the behest of specific sponsors in order to highlight these people.
Congratulations to all those who have shown goodwill.
Many people had approached me indicating the day was a resounding success so I was very pleased.
All children and families were treated to a meal, children had received lollies, lollypops, and packets of chips, fruit, cans of drink, ice-blocks, and ice-Creams so the first objective had been achieved.
There were funds held in reserve for those who could not afford to pay the entrance fee, so the second objective had been achieved.
The third objective was to purchase toys with the remaining donations for all children at the pool as a Christmas present from the community.
These presents are held in trust by the pool and monitored by management.
Often referred to as the swim instructors' best friend we acquired more than 100 floating noodles for use in intensive swimming by our school and our swim instructors.
They are also for general use by all.
We have also purchased 20 noodle chairs for all who just want to laze about in the pool in a comfy chair, (children can use but must be supervised for safety reasons).
We also have 30 noodle connectors and a number of diving toys now available to schools, groups and swim instructors for cognitive development activities with groups of children.
A number of diving toys were also purchased and a pontoon float.
We are still looking at purchasing floating mats for groups of children and possibly an Earth World ball.
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