Category: Community Outreach
City of Brenham Blue Bell Aquatic Center
Brenham, Texas
Year Awarded: 2017
The mission
Blue Bell Aquatic Center had plenty of visitors during the summer but, once school season began, it quieted down substantially. Local residents seemed to know all about the outdoor pool, but that only accounted for one in the three-pool complex. Two other pools sit indoors — available year-round. The team wanted to raise awareness about those pools and the year-round programming they enable.
Managers sought a program that would appeal to the community — a small rural town of approximately 18,000 residents who relish outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing and make frequent visits to nearby Lake Summerville.
Brilliance at work
The team developed KidFish, an event that not only raises awareness about the pools, but also educates about water safety and fishing. In the years since it was awarded, it was renamed Kids Gone Fishing.
The last week of September, operators stock the outdoor pool with catfish, chosen because they’re not picky eaters and, therefore, are easier to catch. Then participants, mostly under 17 years old, try their hand at fishing.
For some, the mere spectacle and incongruity are enough of a draw. “We have people walk through the front doors just because they want to see fish in a swimming pool,” said Aquatic Supervisor Tammy Jaster in 2017, when the program was awarded.
That isn’t all the event holds. Children learn about wildlife, conservation and fishing. The water-safety education is especially important, with Lake Summerville nearby. Parents also get their children finger printed, and receive drug awareness information.
To motivate visitors to come back, all participants receive a coupon to return for a free swim.
When City of Brenham was named Best of Aquatics in 2017, managers credited the program with the facility’s 4% to 10% annual growth.
Special highlights
The organizers found generous sponsors, so the event is free to attend. Participants are just asked to bring two canned goods for a local food bank.
The event also makes a nice season closer for the outdoor pool. With swimming done for the year, operators shut off the chemical feed a few days before stocking it. “When it’s finished, we turn it back on and clean the heck out of the pool,” says Kelsey Toy, assistant aquatic superintendent for City of Brenham Blue Bell Aquatic Center.
The facility now also works with the Boy and Girls Scouts of America. Scouts who attend the event now have an opportunity to earn badges for first aid and fishing.
The latest
Almost two decades later, the program is still going strong, although under a different name. The event was renamed “Kids Gone Fishing” when a partnership agreement with another entity ended.
“That’s one of our favorite programs, and we still love doing it to this day,” Toy says. “It’s a great thing for our community and is still a huge success.”
The program has been expanded to include a key activity in the indoor pool. To help children stay safe in open water while bringing visitors in to use the indoor pool, the team presents a boater-safety feature. Children learn how to put on a life jacket, then they can race small inflatable dinghies in the lap-pool lanes.
With this new exercise, the event provides a well-rounded education on how to play safely around water.
“It’s just an overall day of learning about outdoor sports that have to do with lakes and fishing and things like that,” Toy says.
While the fishing portion of the day is mostly restricted to children under 17 years old, this year a new category was created for the special-needs community. Called Adaptive Anglers, it permits people of any age with special needs to participate.
All the work has paid off. Toy reports that this year’s event drew the most attendance since the pandemic — leaping from approximately 400 last year to about 650 this year.
