Amanda Pease, President of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Swim Club, is busy planning for the Swim Club’s “Casino Night,” a fundraiser to be held on Saturday, March 30 from 6 to 10 p.m. at 1600 Martin Ave. where the Aquamaids’ Bingo Hall is located.
“We just want some community bonding and community building with our membership,” Pease said. “The event is open to anyone who wants to come.”
The Santa Clara Swim Club has usually trained at the City’s International Swim Center (ISC).
“But the Swim Center is closed indefinitely,” Pease said. “The Swim Club has been incurring a lot more costs for pool space because of the ISC pool closure.”
“Our Swim Club has been renting out space at six other pools in Silicon Valley,” Pease continued. “The Swim Club will be the host of several upcoming meets. But we won’t be having the meets at the ISC. The meets will be at other pools.”
Money raised at Casino Night will go toward covering the costs of renting the pools for swim practices and competitions.
“The Olympics will be in Paris this year. That’s why we are hosting a Paris-themed event,” Pease said. “Kevin Zacher, our head coach, was just in Paris to visit his daughter. He brought back Parisian decorations, such as little Eiffel Towers, for example, that will be made into centerpieces.”
Chefs Tony and Nancy Mestas will be providing food for sale along the theme, “Picnic in Paris.” One of the many sandwich offerings includes a brie, fig and apple grilled cheese ensemble on sourdough bread.
“We will have some fun casino games hosted by Aces Up,” Pease said. “We won’t be playing for money. We will be playing for chips. Chips can be exchanged for raffle tickets. We will have a silent auction. We have members who have volunteered to make silent auction baskets. We have a Williams-Sonoma Easter basket. We have an Easter chocolate basket. We have a lavender spa basket. We have a Warriors-themed basket. We will have a deejay. The dress code is business casual.”
While the fundraiser is strictly for the Swim Club, Pease explained the Swim Club’s relationships to other related organizations.
“Three clubs use the ISC; the Santa Clara Swim Club is just one of them,” she said. “We are creating a nonprofit organization called the Santa Clara Aquatics Foundation that works to fundraise for all three clubs to either build a new swim center or rebuild the ISC. We’ve got board members who are part of the Santa Clara Diving Club. We have board members who are part of Aquamaids. We have board members who are part of the Santa Clara Swim Club.”
The board members can’t fundraise for the Santa Clara Aquatics Foundation until the foundation gets 501(c)(3) status, currently a work in progress.
“The City Council members are very supportive of all three clubs and the idea of getting the ISC back up and running,” Pease said. “We would love it if the City were to re-open the ISC.”
To buy tickets for Casino Night, click here.
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