Back in the late 1970s, local residents were hosting bake sales with the hope that some day they could collect $40,000 to build a swimming pool in Eagle.

That plan quickly proved to be impractical, so instead they turned their attentions to creation of a special recreation district to service the recreational needs in the communities of Eagle, Gypsum and Edwards. From those modest beginnings, the Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District was born.

Today WECMRD boasts $20 million worth of facilities including the Eagle Pool and Ice Rink, the Gypsum Recreation Center and the Edwards Field House. Additionally, WECMRD has baseball and soccer fields in all three communities and operates 96 youth programs and 33 adult programs districtwide. That translates into program attendance figures of nearly 180,000 people annually and the WECMRD annual operating budget stands at approximately $6 million.

Those are staggering numbers for the people who first launched the recreation district. Back in 1980, the initial WECMRD board was seated during the same election that created the district and the members were Mary Hoza, Gerry Fedrizzi and Ralph Starr of Eagle; John Reimers of Gypsum and Don Johnson of Edwards. At this year's Eagle Flight Days, the five original board members — together with current WECMRD board members Tammy Conway, John McCaulley, Julie Alt, Michael Glass and Tracy Erickson — will be honored as the parade grand marshals in recognition for their efforts in launching a modest effort that has paid off in a big way.

WECMRD's beginnings

Back in the late 1970s, local residents were bemoaning the lack of a municipal swimming pool downvalley. “There was no recreation district but there were enough concerned parents,” said Gerry Fedrizzi, one of WECMRD's founders.

In those days, recreation options for local kids was limited, to say the least. The town of Eagle employed its own recreation director — Ray Tencza. “When our kids were little, Ray would take a school bus down to Glenwood Springs once a week in the summer so local kids could go swimming. That was the entire recreation program,” said Fedrizzi.

As they mulled their options, those concerned parents eventually settled on the idea of forming a special district to finance construction of a swimming pool. They started talking with Eagle County School District about a land donation, and eventually negotiated a deal to locate the proposed pool next to Eagle Valley Middle School. They worked through a plan to specify the district's boundaries and petitioned the Eagle County Commissioners for approval to proceed with a special district formation election.

“The big issue was how far east we would go,” said Fedrizzi. He recalled that the inclusion of parts of Edwards was a bit contentious for years.

“At first, people were kind of against the plan and thought it was too much money,” said Mary Hoza.

On Sept. 16, 1980, the recreation district formation proposal, and a slate of candidates for its first board of directors, was presented to the voters. The issue passed resoundingly with 448 votes in favor and only 85 opposed. The breakdown of voting was telling regarding the county's population base in 1980 — the results were 119-23 in Eagle, 294-54 in Gypsum and 35-8 in Edwards.

“I was really glad we did it when we did,” said WECMRD pioneer John Reimers. “I think it would have been harder to get it approved later.”

“The next step, according to new board of directors member Mary Hoza is to take bids on the work needed, determine a bond amount and have a bond election,” reported the Sept. 18, 1980 edition of the Eagle Valley Enterprise. “The project is expected to cost about $650,000.”

Hoza recalls revenues for WECMRD during those early years were approximately $40,000 annually compared to approximately $5 million last year. The first WECMRD board wanted to build a covered pool. But cost estimates — not only for construction but also for year-around operations — quickly nixed that notion. They did plan a couple of open air handball/racquetball courts and enclosed dressing room facilities as part of the pool complex.

Hoza remembers how the board members toured pools around the Front Range to get an idea of what they wanted and eventually hired financial consultant Stan Bernstein to set up a district budget. It was a tight spending plan and there were troubles with the contractor.

“I remember one time we had to break up a fight in the middle of the pool, before it was filled, between the contractor and one of the sub contractors,” said Fedrizzi.

Eventually, the Eagle Pool opened in June of 1985. It served the community for 18 years until WECMRD opened the Eagle Pool and Ice Rink in 2003.

“It was a start and it was long over due, even back then” said Fedrizzi of WECMRD's humble beginnings. “A lot of kids got jobs as lifeguards there and took swimming lessons there.”

“It was the right size for Eagle back then,” said Hoza.

Time to say ‘thanks!'

These days, Fedrizzi and Hoza still reside in Eagle and they marvel at the facilities WECMRD offers as they follow their grandchildren's participation in programs.

Don Johnson still resides in Edwards.

After a career with Eagle County School District serving as a teacher, coach, counselor and principal, native Ralph Starr now resides in Tennessee. He sends his regrets that he can't participate in the Flight Days parade.

Reimers will be traveling from Greeley to take part in the festivities. He lived in the Gypsum area for 24 years, from 1971 to 1995 and worked as a teacher at Eagle Valley High School and in the school district administration office. For 11 years, he was the principal at Eagle Valley Elementary School.

“I learned everything there at EVES. I had really good years there,” said Reimers.

He retired eight years ago and taught part-time at Aims Community College, but he returned to education full-time as the principal at Lochbuie Elementary School. He's been there for three years and plans to stay at his post for one more year before retiring again, for good this time. Reimers said he is looking forward to catching up with Eagle County folks after, and waving at everyone during, the Flight Days parade.

WECMRD Director Steve Russell is excited about this opportunity to honor the recreation district's pioneers together with the folks who are currently at its helm.

“I think it would probably be much tougher to get a recreation district proposal approved today,” said Russell. “It was a pretty forward-thinking move back in 1980. It took a lot of cooperation from the people in Edwards and Gypsum to build a pool in Eagle. But it was needed. The reason our participation numbers are so big is because the demand for recreation is obviously there.”

The Eagle Flight Days Parade will march down Broadway at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 26. The WECMRD Grand Marshals will be at the head of the parade, riding in the antique fire truck. Give them all a big cheer, and wish the district happy 30th birthday as they ride by.