Posted on 07/09/2009 9:10:48 PM PDT by traumer
The waters were still and the gates locked at the Valley Swim Club Thursday. Board members decided to close the private Huntington Valley, Pa. club for the day as it combats accusations of racism for booting 65 mostly minority day campers from its grounds without explanation late last month.
Creative Steps Day Camp paid The Valley Swim Club more than $1900 for one day of swimming a week, but after the first day, the money was quickly refunded and the campers were told not to return. Several campers said they heard pool members making racial remarks during their time inside the club.
Tempers further flared after the club's president John Duesler issued a statement Tuesday saying "There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club."
Club members, who were at the pool on the day of the incident, came forward Thursday to defend the organization.
"This has nothing to do with race," member Lori Slowinski said. "I paid my money for a private swim club…if they're gonna have it out to camps, then I want my money back."
Jim Flynn went right to the club president after the kids took the plunge into the pool. "I was the first person to talk to the president, because the pool was overcrowded," said Flynn. "As members we have nothing to hide. There's good people here."
He believes the club's closure for fear of protests is wrong. "I do not condone the club being closed today and I will not condone it."
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcphiladelphia.com ...
__________________________________________
Please explain how eight year olds are responsible for the world they live in....I'm really anxious to hear your learned opinion.
As I said, your slip is showing.
We all know that any group of kids can be disruptive. The point is that freepers have declared this particular group of kids to be feral savages...why? I think the answer is obvious and lies with the posters, not the kids.
Figure 10 weeks, it's 190/day. Divided by 60 kids, that's a little over $3/kid. That's not much money for the chaos and disruption that camp kids can produce.
The Valley Swim Club site has the following announcement:
The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue.We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future.
Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership. Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board.
It doesn't matter if they are or or not responsible for the world they live in. The dues-paying club members are DEFINITELY not responsible for the world the kids live in, and should not be made to suffer for it. The paying members of the club did not want large groups of camp kids taking over their pool.
Over here is what members pay: Family membership: $1,750, annual dues $450.
If I was shelling out that much money, I would not want to have the pool taken over by 60 camp kids, REGARDLESS of their socio-economic background.
Whoa I pay 200 bucks a year for the family at the local privately owned pool. No wonder the members are ticked off.
My post was to a foul-mouthed freeper whose racism was on parade (but you probably know that too).
To wtc911. If you’re a former New York city cop, then you know first hand what kind of behavior ghetto dwellers are capable of. Why make excuses for them?
__________________________________________________
I know exactly what kind of behaviour 'ghetto dwellers' are capable of, dollars to donuts I've seen a lot more of it than you have. A lot of it is despicable.
But I've also seen 'ghetto dweller' kid/youth groups struggle to keep above it all and come out just fine.
I live now in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. I've seen tons of despicable behavior from these rich, entitled kids too.
The issue here for me is the open racism of some of the freepers on this thread. There is zero evidence that this group of kids did anything but show up black yet these freepers had them condemned as feral savages who at the age of eight or ten are responsible for the world they live in.
That's racism, writ large and plain. You might be ok with that. I'm not.
We don't know the whole story, we mainly know the side of the camp. It might not primarily be the kids. The members might have been put off by the counselors that came with the kids.
And I realize that most of the kids might be nice sweet kids. However, the neighborhood they come from pretty much guarantees that some of these kids are related to gang bangers, with some older ones being wannabes. I would not want that in a place where I would be taking my kids.
I would have the same opinion if they were white kids, who came from a neighborhood with a large number of white biker gangs.
Good for him. The same anti-white and culture destroying crowd is at it again. Of course the MSM doing what they do best leading the lemmings where they want them to go.
_________________________________________
You really believe this you're spewing? You know zero about these kids, zero. I guess that's enough though.
Case closed or better no case. They can let anyone use or stop anybody from using their facility
Starting to feel that way too.
I just read another article on this (not sure if I’m allowed to link it? I googled Huntingdon Valley Swim Club and it came up as an AP article) that also included a statement by another day camp Director. The latter Director stated that they were also refunded their money/membership due to saftey issues. That Director stated that she believed the reason was safety/overcrowding. Her day camp was 25% minority or something like that so the majority were white kids.
I know exactly what most of you are saying. There is a low income housing project the next street over about 1/2 mi away from here. There is also a city park at the end of this street. Every year the city spends tons of money fixing the park and it never lasts more than a few days before it is back to the way it was before. It’s really sad because I remember hat that park used to be like when it was first built when I was little before the projects were built, most of that stuff is gone now.
You’re right! Your math makes much more sense than mine. I misinterpreted how it was stated in the article.
Well,I have heard more than a little about this from members of this club. I have been told that they were expecting about 30 kids...65 showed up with half a dozen “adults”.
The “Camp kids” quickly took over the area. One members 8 year old son was told he was not allowed to use the basketball courts since the “Camp” had paid its money and the “Camp Kids” were the ones who made the rules now.
While in the pool the “Camp kids” were loud, profane, and out of control. They remained that way the entire 2.5 hours of their session.
None of the local news media are reporting any of this, needless to say. today, all local outlets were camped out in front of the pool, with helicopters circling overhead. CNN was there as well. This thing has definitely became way overblown and is yet another weapon to inflict “white guilt” on th entire area.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.