The staff of the soon-to-open Morgan Hill Aquatic Center was out
in force at the 25th annual Mardi Gras this weekend.
The staff of the soon-to-open Morgan Hill Aquatic Center was out in force at the 25th annual Mardi Gras this weekend.
Strategically placed near the kid-attracting climbing wall, the pony rides, petting zoo (complete with piglets and a tail-wagging pot-bellied pig) and the Old West Shoot Out (an old-fashioned shooting gallery), the booth had information about the new center, which opens its doors June 12.
The area concentrated on entertaining slightly older children; Munchkinland, with its rides and mothers’ tent, was located across Community Park near the Main Stage.
Cool water fans could buy their season passes, sign up for swim lessons or summer camp or buy the toy of the hour – a Big Squirt.
Big Squirt is a stretchy, hot dog-like toy, loaded up at a water filling station – or, with a special attachment – a home faucet – and ready to squirt the unsuspecting. Children who bought theirs, for $5, at Mardi Gras will have an immediate advantage over those who don’t when the Aquatic Center opens, though they will, of course, be on sale at the center.
Aquatic Center workers had brought along “filling stations” to give the Big Squirts a trial at Mardi Gras. With the temperature hovering around 90 degrees on Sunday, the filling station got a work out.
Shelly Yowell, an office assistant at the center, was working Sunday and was ready to enthusiastically give information and answer questions.
“We have sold 15 season passes so far at the festival and probably more than 250 overall,” she said. “We’ve signed up more than 1,000 kids for swim lessons, and we’ve had to add 30 more classes.”
Lee Bell, a Live Oak High School student, was selling Big Squirts on Saturday and said they were moving quickly. He will spend his summer giving swim lessons and life guarding at the center after completing the 5-week training course to prepare.
The Aquatic Center is on Condit Road just north of Tennant Avenue.
Details: www.mhaquaticscenter.com or 782-2134.
Staff Writer Carol Holtzgrafe contributed to this report
