Public Service Announcement
What a year this has been! At the end of July, the Patagonia Regional Aquatic Center (PRAC)—the funding arm of the pool—had three board members and didn’t have enough money to pay its debts to the school. An appeal went out to pool users and they responded!
From PRAC treasurer Anne Townsend:
The non-grant activities raised a total of $16,569!
The challenge “match” raised $32,477 (100% successful in that all funds WERE matched)!
Donations other than the “match” donations total $7,659.
A total of $31,889 was raised from grant-writing, with another $19,889 pending.
The grand total of funds raised to date is $88,593!
Data re the non-grant funds raised by PRAC hard-working local loyalists so far this year: $9,462 from yard sales; $1,900 from gift sales (bikes, vehicles, canopy, file cabinet); $2,245 from crafts sales; $239 from the Open House; $286 from the jars: $2,436 from collected pool fees (plus $6,693 in credits from PUHS for “gate monies).
PRAC now has a finance committee, headed up by Bob Brandt, that will be working up the budget, overseeing fundraising, including grants and major supporters, and getting the pool on a good, solid, financial basis. While it is not yet known for sure what the expenses for the 2025 season will be, ballpark estimate on financial need is over $125,000. Without a focused team, PRAC raised over $88,000 this last year, so, with the talent and organization now on board, the pool should be in good shape this coming year.
As of January, PRAC will be taking over, not just the funding of the pool, but the management. Since the beginning of August, the pool has been managed, cleaned, chemically balanced, maintained, and staffed entirely by volunteers—many of whom have been there daily. The transition to PRAC management is requiring a new and very complex Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the schools. Beth Lofquist, who is extremely detail oriented, has been working relentlessly on this. This transition is a huge change— and challenge—but amazing people have stepped up into leadership. There are still many other challenges to overcome, but things are looking very optimistic. It is difficult to find an insurance company to cover a pool run by a non-profit, PRAC has to figure out how to employ people, how to handle payroll, possible MoUs with the town and county, major sustaining sponsors—and a million other things not yet thought of. If you have skill/knowledge/experience in any of these areas—especially in large scale fundraising—and are willing to help, please contact Bob Brandt at Brantownb@gmail.com. The pool needs you!
About the new PRAC leadership:
- PRAC Board President is Beth Lofquist, newly in Patagonia from Mesa. She recently retired from Intel where she was fire/life safety engineer for 700-acre semiconductor manufacturing campus in Chandler.
- Secretary is Cheryl Stadlman, also new to Patagonia. She also recently retired from Intel where she served as the Technical Advisor and Chief of Staff for Intel’s global construction organization.
- Incoming treasurer is Karen Riggs. Karen previously headed up Friends of Patagonia Pool (FOPP), the predecessor to PRAC and the group that got a complete evaluation of the pool done.
- Karen is a registered civil engineer and land surveyor with a 20+ year career in Cochise County, where she served as County Engineer for 8 years.
- Outgoing treasurer and long-time (and continuing) PRAC board member is Anne Townsend.
- Anne built an impressive career centered on supporting development of solar and energy-efficient energy systems.
- Chair of the Finance Committee (though not on the board) is Bob Brandt
- Bob has been founder/director/president/and-or manager of over 20 nonprofit organizations. Since his “retirement”, these have included the Patagonia Regional Times (PRT), Community Homes of Patagonia (CHOP), and the Patagonia Recycling Task Force.
- For more complete bios of these amazing people, go to patagoniapool.org/about
Upcoming events include (hopefully) a Polar Plunge this year, but there are many details to be worked out, so the date is to be announced. January 25-26 is the next Yard Sale! If you can help with the yard sale (set up is on Fri) or have items to donate, please contact Yard Sale manager Patricia Mellor at plm4848@hotmail.com. The sale will again be held at the Patagonia Senior Center. (Many thanks to the Senior Citizens of Patagonia for their support!)
If you have more valuable items to donate, we can also now sell on Facebook. If this is the case, please contact Libby (Mac) McAfee at libbymcafee@gmail.com.
On the website, you can now sign up to be a monthly supporter of the pool. This is very helpful as it helps us know that we have a steady income to meet our very high expenses. patagoniapool.org
Donations are always needed!
If you would like to make a donation, please make the check to PRAC and send it to
PO Box 1052
Patagonia, AZ 85624
or make it online through our website at patagoniapool.org.
Facebook page: facebook.com/PatagoniaPool – now being handled by our lifeguard scheduler, pool cleaner, and all-round very helpful person, Mac.