WIESBADEN, Germany - Looking for a good place to go swimming in or around Wiesbaden?
Community members can find a wealth of information about swimming pools in the Rhein-Main area on the garrison's home page, thanks to a project by two Wiesbaden Girl Scouts.
"It was a lot of work, but it was fun," said Sophie Parker, 13, a Cadette Scout. "We're really glad this information is out there because now new families who don't know any German will be able to find information in English."
Parker and fellow Cadette Scout Kristy Peng, also age 13, worked on the swimming pool project to earn their Silver Awards -- the highest awards possible for Cadette Scouts.
"Both of us are in the Girl Scouts and swim with the Wiesbaden Wahoo swim team. This combined both our favorite hobbies," said Peng.
"As swimmers, we knew where the good pools are and thought this would be a perfect project for us," said Parker, explaining that their first step was to visit the various pools, collect brochures and get a good impression of each facility.
"We then assembled all of the information in pdf brochures that could be easily distributed throughout the community," said Peng.
It helped having a basic knowledge of German, she added.
"This is awesome because people are always asking me -- 'When are you going to put a pool on post?'" said Col. David Carstens, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden commander, who recognized the girls with a commander's coin for their contributions during a ceremony Aug. 30. "I tell them the answer is probably never because of money constraints.
"And now I can point them to all of these great swimming pools in the area," Carstens said.
"They (Parker and Peng) are helping out their community," he added.
Do the swimming pool experts have favorites among the many pools listed?
"We like Rheinwelle, Rebstockbad and Taubertsbergbad," they both said quickly.
To see the results of their effort and for more information about swimming possibilities in the greater Wiesbaden area visit www.wiesbaden.army.mil/sites/about/ttd/SwimmingPools.htm.
Social Sharing