The Village of Chaplin’s outdoor swimming pool is a top-five finalist for $25,000 in the BASF Growing Home competition.  

The competition gives away three $25,000 prizes, one prize each for organizations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.  

Tina Brady is a member of the volunteer board for the pool and explained how the pool got involved in the competition.  

“At the very beginning of this, everything was based on nominations. So, you had to nominate a community. We had a member from Valjean nominate the Chaplin swimming pool,” Brady said.  

After nominations, a panel of judges selected five finalists for each province. The other finalists in Saskatchewan include Davidson Child Care Inc., Fillmore Recreation Centre, Indian Head Elementary School and Macklin Kinette Club.  

The Chaplin pool is run solely by volunteers and relies on community involvement, fundraising and grants in order to operate.  

Brady explained some of the projects that would be completed if they won the $25,000 prize.  

“Our pool house needs some renovations in the changing rooms. It needs to be painted. Because we have a huge green space between the swimming pool and the rink, we wanted to get some more picnic tables and make a little seating arrangement there for parents and kids, if they want to have a snack after swimming and whatnot,” she said.  

She added the funds would also be used to buy a replacement tarp as well as help with operating finances during slow times.  

You can vote for the Chaplin pool here. Voting ends on May 31 and the winner is expected to be announced around June 13.