New Meeting Format to Include Bar, Dinner & Featured Speaker by Jason Miller

Beginning on February 6, 2012, our meeting format is changing!  We will still have a board of directors meeting from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM as normal.

Immediately following the board meeting, at 5PM, we will enjoy an open bar sponsored in part by one of our generous manufacturers/suppliers.  At 6PM we will enjoy an excellent dinner followed at 6:45PM by a special guest speaker.  Each speaker is expected to qualify for CE credits from APSP and will generally conclude by 8:30PM or earlier.  Our first speaker, in February, will be Peter Berg from the Great Lakes ADA Center who will discuss and answer questions related to voluntary compliance with ADA standards for pool/spa access.  Other future guests may include the FBI (homeland security concerns related to pool chemicals we sell), Tom Shay (business management consultant), Rebecca Wear Robinson (drowning prevention and awareness) and others.

Meetings are held in Illinois and Wisconsin to make attendance as convenient to all members as possible.  An invitation will be e-mailed to members and non-members leading up to each meeting.  Member pricing is expected be very affordable, generally at or about $25 which includes the drinks, dinner and the speaker.  As before, there are no meetings from May through July.

We hope you will be able to attend a meeting and that you find it enjoyable and informative.  It is our goal to reach an average attendance of about 30 people.  If you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing education@spa-pool.org.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding compliance with the ADA law and the mandatory compliance by March 15, 2012.  Manufacturers and distributors have been helping to get the word out but sometimes have provided conflicting opinions and suggestions.

 

The Great Lakes ADA Center has agreed to address our Chapter on February 6th, 2012.  We felt getting the facts directly from ADA representatives would be beneficial for our members.

 

For details, or to sign up to attend, click here. 

 

Speaker Peter Berg will teach how to identify the compliance dates for new construction and alterations under the 2010 ADA Standards; Describe the Safe Harbor requirements as they apply to recreation facilities, including swimming pools and spas; Identify at least two resources for technical assistance regarding the 2010 ADA Standards as they apply to Swimming Pools and Spas.

It's time for Spring Training again.  This is an annual event put on by the Midwest Chapter to make training not readily found elsewhere available to industry members in our area.

This year will be very special.  We are bringing in national speaker and author, Tom Shay, to put on an intense two day business management workshop on March 5-6, 2012.

Attendees will be able to attend all our part of the program.  Training will again be held at the Parkway Chateua in Kenosha, WI.  Discount rooms will also be available.

Watch your e-mail for your invitation to sign up.  It will be arriving VERY soon, probably within the next week!

For those of you who attended the OSHA Training and HAZMAT/DOT training we offered in 2010, this will be returning again in 2013 to satisfy the 3 year requirement for HAZMAT/DOT training.

If you have any questions, please contact education@spa-pool.org.

 

Happy New Year Midwest Chapter APSP Members!!!  I hope everyone had a safe and joyous holiday season.  On December 2nd the Midwest Chapter held our Christmas Party in Kenosha Wisconsin.  If you were there you had a great time!!!  We gave away and raffled off prizes and cash worth over $1,000.00.  The food was excellent and the comedian that night was very funny.  I don't know about you, but my sides hurt from laughing for over one and a half hours.   The only reason this party turned out the way it did was because of the long hours and attention to detail that Jason Miller from A-1 Pool and his committee dedicated to this event.  Along with his hard work came the cold hard cash our sponsors gave us to support your chapter and this event.  Without them this event would not have been possible.  Show your appreciation to our sponsors by thanking them in person, or better yet, buy their products so they can continue to support our efforts.

 

If you have not noticed we have changed the meeting format to include some time for networking after the Board of Directors meeting and then a guest speaker.  I think everyone will want to attend February's meeting when we will cover the new ADA rules that are affecting our industry.  I would also like you to continue to consider volunteering to help your chapter plan and execute these events.  I will leave you with a quote from John Heywood, English proverb and poet, "Many hands make light work".  I hope to see you at the next meeting.

 

Steve Sowa

APSP Midwest Chapter President

As you may already know, Design Awards were not held for 2011.  This is due in part because of a busier than normal schedule for key volunteers as well as the additional work load resulting from the current effort to revise and improve the current Design Award program.

 

Be sure and keep your information for the 2011 projects handy because when the new Design Awards program is revealed, we will be accepting entries for 2011 & 2012.  It is important to the Design Award committee that participants do not have a year on their wall without awards through no fault of their own.  Also, for those who participate in the service award program, this years award will be a 2011/2012 service award in an effort to maintain continuity.

 

Watch for updates over the next several months!  Thanks for your patience, hopefully you will enjoy the several improvements.

Recently received from Mike Dare of Aqua Pool & Spa Pros in Lindenhurst, Illinois...

 

If you are looking for an article for the chapter newsletter you may want to consider the "new" credit card processing from APSP. I have been dealing with their company for the last few weeks. They were able to come up with rates that will help save approximately $1500.00 per year off.

 

I sent their proposal to my existing processor which then lowered their price to me.

 

Unfortunately dealing with credit card processing companies and rates is like negotiating with car dealerships. You have to keep at it until you finally receive the best rates from a quality company. This is the third year in a row that our rates will be dropped.

 

Thanks Mike for the good tip.  For more information regarding other APSP Affinity Partners you can link to the APSP Member Benefits Site.  Getting involved in APSP and taking advantages of the many services offered can create substantial savings as you pointed out!  Thanks for taking time to share your positive experience! 

Tim Oneil has compiled the following list of volunteers which was recently displayed at the Midwest Pool & Spa Show this month in an effort to recognize the many people and organizations that made this project possible.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this project possible!

 

APSP Member Donors

1. Downes Swimming Pool Co., Inc.: Co-coordination and supervision of the entire project. Framing steel work and plumbing of the pool.  Major fund raising and labor as required from start to completion.

2. P.].'s Swimming Pool Construction:  Shotcrete labor for the pool shell and concrete conveyor for the pool deck installation.

3. Boilini Company:  Pool equipment plumbing labor and materials.

4. North Shore Pool and Spa:  Under deck plumbing labor from pool to pool equipment room.

5. Barrington Pools:  Pool perimeter deck trench drain installation labor.

6. Lucero Pool Plastering:  Hydrazzo plaster installation.

7. Platinum Pools: Tile and coping labor. Coping materials.

8. Pentair Water: All pool equipment, skimmers and pool lighting.

9. Blue Haven Pools, Escondido, CA: $10,000.00

10. CL Industries: 148 bags of Gulfstream Blue Hydrazzo plaster, including shipping.

11. W.R. Meadows Inc.: $2,500.00 and all deck sealing materials.

12. Midwest Chapter APSP: Waterline tile and handicap lift.

13. South Central Pool Supply: (3) 12 volt lighting transformers. l

14. Custom Molded Products: VGB compliant drain frame and grate.

15. ASA Manufacturing: VGB compliant custom drain sump.

16. Halogen Supply: Chemicals and white goods.

17. Trivitro Corporation: Glass filter media including shipping.

18. Dunn-Rite Products: Basketball and volleyball set.

19. All Seasons Pool: All chemicals for the first season.

20. Stingl Products LLC: Drain entrapment safety system.

21. Water Quality Management: UPP50 ozone generator.

22. Anchor Industries, Inc.: Half price 25'x50' mesh safety cover.

23. Arvidson Pools and Spas: Pool shell plaster preparation.

24. Power Vac Inc.: Complete deluxe pool vacuum system.

Downes Swimming Pool Co., Inc. Customers

1. George and Gabrielle Stathopoulos: Shower house construction labor.

2. Gerald Forsythe: The entire project's concrete [over 300 yards).

3. Richard McCann: Pool deck wire mesh.

4. A and R Katz Management: Roofing installation, siding installation and cash donation.

5. David and Jacqueline Kopp: $1,000.00

6. The Handelsman Family Foundation: $1,000.00

7. Godi Cohen: Cash donation, roofing and framing assistance.

8. D.W. Nelson: Pool excavation, trucking and gravel.

9. lohn La Rocque: $10,000.00

10. Timothy Schwertfeger: $10,000.00

11. Ken Keller: Drafting supplies.

 

Major Supporting Donors

1. Mel Janzcak, of Complete Concept Group: Project architect, design and revisions and state permitting.

2. Mid-Continent Marketing, David Wolniak: Deck drain fittings.

3. Michael Wagner and Sons plumbing: Discounted copper pipe.

4. De Franco Plumbing: Deck drainage plumbing, installation labor.

5. Aquagon Inc.: Deck and safety equipment and pool fittings.

6. Watermark lnc., Mark Ekert: Engineering and permit assistance.

7. lndelco Plastics Corporation: Deck drain system plumbing materials.

8. Meyer Materials: 16 yards concrete.

9. Active Electric: Deck bonding and pool lighting wiring.

10. Northwest Electric Co.: Wiring and conduit materials.

11. Paul Jenson: Pool design specifications.

If you have suggestions for Ripples, the Midwest Chapter APSP Newsletter, would like to become a sponsor, have an article you wish to have included or simply have comments you wish to share, please contact the editor at ripples@spa-pool.org.

If you have not noticed we have changed the meeting format to include some time for networking after the Board of Directors meeting and then a guest speaker.  I think everyone will want to attend February's meeting when we will cover the new ADA rules that are affecting our industry.  Read Steve's message to learn more!