Swimming pool to open on Thursday and the library will host an open house

I want to start out with a couple of shout outs for remarkable achievements.
 The first is to Kali Branstetter for being awarded the Governor’s Cup scholarship.  
 The second is to the Weiser High School boys’ baseball team for winning first place in the State Tournament! This is a first for Weiser! Congratulations to the team and Coach Bowe von Brethorst for all of the hard work, dedication, and calm under pressure to achieve this goal.  
 For those of you who may have noticed that I did not include an article in last week’s paper, Cathy and I took a little time off.  
 Cathy had rented an AirBnB on Lake Pend Orielle in northern Idaho. The scenery was beautiful, the weather not so much. But we enjoyed ourselves with hiking, exploring, canoeing, eating, and making some new connections.  
 While we were gone for the 10-day period there was a spike of 11 new COVID-19 cases in Washington County. To give you some perspective on this, prior to May 18 when we left, it had taken 34 days, or since April 14 to accumulate the last 11 cases. I am hoping this is not a part of a new trend.  
 For those of you who have been fully vaccinated, the CDC has modified the mask advisory to only include times when you are in a large crowd, such as a concert or other very close quarters.  
 For those who are not vaccinated or fully vaccinated, the mask advisory is still in place when out in public.  
 As of last Wednesday, 36.64 percent of Washington County had received at least one dose of one of the three vaccines approved. If you have only received one dose, please be sure to get the second one.  
 If you have not been vaccinated, I would strongly urge you to do so.  Vaccines are available for free locally at Bi-Mart, Ridley’s, and Family Medical Center.  
 There has been enough experience to show that the vaccines available have been proven safe and effective.  Many people experience mild symptoms after their shots, but this is from the body’s reaction to recognizing the foreign substance and building the immunity to the virus.  
 The only way to get past this ugly disease and our lives going back to truly being normal is to get vaccinated. Even if you have already had COVID, research shows the immunity does not last as long as the vaccines.  So please, if you have not already done so, please do so now.
 Moving on to City news, there will be an open house at the Weiser Public Library on Thursday, June 3 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to say “Thank You” to Pat Hamilton for her decades of service as the head librarian and to welcome Timbra Long as the new head librarian.  
 Please stop by to let Pat know how much you have appreciated her service and wish her well in retirement.  Also, say hello to Timbra and discover her new plans for the library with extended hours, story time for kids, and new ways of getting materials.  
 The swimming pool will open on Thursday, June 3. There are a host of new lifeguards. Although each lifeguard is certified, with so many new guards it may take a week or so to work out the full schedule and to determine whether evening swimming will be available as well as private parties.  
 I will keep you updated in this column and Recreation Director Ken Anderson will keep you updated on the City’s website. The one thing lacking will be swim lessons due to the time needed and local availability to train the new lifeguards. Although swimming lessons will not be available this year, we are already working to ensure they will be available next year.  
 Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you enjoy the unofficial first week of summer!