05/18/2026
Today I’d like to take a minute to say a few words about our fearless leader. She doesn’t know I’m doing this and is generally a person who would rather fly under the radar with her generosity, but I can’t let this go unnoticed any longer.
Di is the face of aquatics in our community. She ran the summer rec team for 10 years, has expertly managed the aquatic center for 4 years, and several years ago, she started the SHS swim team that has sent several of our students to state. She is all things swim in Andrew County.
This project has been long, frequently stressful, and immensely time consuming. And Di has been the center of it all. Fundraising, event planning, coordinating with city officials, project managing, and all the nitty gritty details in between. This aquatic center simply would not exist without her. She is the driving force of the project because her heart is gigantic and she wants the kids in our community to have a safe place to be.
She has spent COUNTLESS hours at the facility doing all the things that no one sees, and she does it for free and with a smile on her face. She bears the brunt of the work, the stress, the mental load, and the planning in this process, and today I just want to take a moment and thank her for who she is and what she has done. It is truly extraordinary.
Our community is better because Di is in it.
-Christie
