It’s the water, and a lot more at festival

By Elisha Meyer Kitsap News Group • April 19, 2023 1:30 am
A group of students tries to remain ‘chill’ while dipping their hands in a cooler of ice water. Elisha Meyer/Kitsap News Group Photos
A group of students tries to remain ‘chill’ while dipping their hands in a cooler of ice water. Elisha Meyer/Kitsap News Group Photos

It was a wet and wild day for the young students of Kitsap County as they were immersed into the world of water at the annual Kitsap Water Festival.

The festival returned for the first time since 2019, washed out for three years due to COVID. Kimberly Jones, who coordinates the festival volunteers, said it wasn’t just the kids and educators celebrating its return. “The volunteers are just beside themselves,” she said. “A lot of our volunteers are returns. They come every year, and there was a lot of disappointment when we canceled for so many years.”

Students from Bainbridge Island, Port Orchard and all the districts in between met at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds April 18, where they were guided through water exhibits and presentations by county officials and volunteers. Nearly 1,000 students planned to attend.

She said Kitsap children get to dive into “what clean water is all about, and each and every person that is here today helps either keep it clean or makes sure it’s clean or makes sure we have clean drinking water. So, they’re actually getting to hear it from the people that live and work in our county.”

Kids learned water is a valuable resource and protecting it is vitally important. Christian Berg, the water resource specialist for BI, showed kids the details of what healthy soil looks like as water runs through it. He said it’s important they take care of the natural world around them. “It’s kind of that general principle of, you know, if you pave over paradise, it’s not going to turn out well in the end,” he said.

Other presenters taught the aspects of water safety and how important it is to know how to move and swim in both normal and troubling circumstances. Simeon Baldwin with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary taught aspects of water safety, including a challenge for students to dip their arm in ice-cold water for a short period of time.

He said along with providing students a taste of the cold Pacific Northwest waters, it reminds them of the importance of getting swim lessons. “Usually, there’s about 5-10 percent of the class that can’t swim,” he said. So I wrap up by saying there’s lots of ways that you can get in the water; let’s see if you can learn to swim by the end of the summer.”