Veterans Day and Swim-o-Rama

It's that time of year again! Yeah, I know, I already used this exact same title for an earlier post. But that's because it both happens comtemporarily. Last year, the seventh graders got to celebrate Veterans Day with the All-American Heroes Rally. That's one of the upsides of being smack in the middle. Since I'm in eighth grade, of course I didn't get to participate again. I did, however, play patriotic songs for this year's seventh graders. The advanced orchestra gets that special right: playing at special events. Actual veterans came to the rally, and they gave speeches on being a veteran and what it means to them. The seventh graders also put together poems, posters, and a play. We need to show our appreciation for veterans. Yesterday, I set aside my schedule and spent some time thinking about the veterans. Everyone should do that.

The Swim-o-Rama is our main fundraising event for the Maclay Dolphins. Without it, the heater wouldn't be on. Then, we'd turn into popsicles. Then, someone will have to haul us out like Inuit ice fishers. Then, they'd have to defreeze us...okay, I'm done. Point is, this mandatory event for all members of the team takes place in the prelude of winter. We all swim as many laps as we can for one hour, and then we eat food! The actual fundraising part is we collect pledges for each lap. If I get a few people to pledge a total of 10 cents per lap, and I swim 100 laps in one hour, that's ten dollars (just an example. That's not enough money to keep the heater on). The fun part is bragging rights for swimming the most laps. Record is about 170 laps. That is crazy fast. And the food, of course. Food is always good.