SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Fundraiser by fundraiser, donor by donor, a committee raised $1 million for a new pool in Highmore in Hyde County.

“It’s absolutely wonderful. People worked so hard for it. I’m so proud of this community,” said Jackie Mashek, the manager and an owner of Mashek Food Center, a grocery store in Highmore.

The raised $1 million went to an overall new pool project of about $2.5 million, said Tara Buchholz, the city’s finance director.

The needed “2.5 million is a lot of money for a small town,” Buchholz said. The committee’s $1 million success made a big difference, she said.

Mary Knox, a member of the Hyde County Parks and Recreation committee or Hyde CPR for short, said committee members “wanted to make sure the community had a pool.”

Pools are an important recreation activity for kids and families. The pool can also be a site for water aerobics and similar activity. They are also a place where people learn to swim, Knox said of some reasons why the pool effort started.

The ribbon cutting for the new pool is May 15.

The city closed its roughly 80-year-old pool in 2020. The pool was leaking about 10,000 gallons a day.

Buchholz said an engineer inspected the pool described it in ‘tough shape.’ Pool users had complained because the water was cold, she said. The water was cold because water was leaking as quickly as it was being refilled, Buchholz said.

“It was pointless to try and run it…,” Buchholz said.

The Hyde CPR was deliberately named CPR because it wanted to breath new life into a pool, Knox said.

The committee in 2021 formed a 5013C, established a website and Facebook page and took on the challenge of a $1 million goal, Knox said.

The old pool started with fundraising including an effort by the Civic League in the 1950s, according to the Hyde CPR website. On Nov. 2, 1958, it was announced that former Highmore resident John Quirk of Hastings Nebraska,, would donate $50,000 to a city swimming pool.

The pool was dedicated on July 4, 1960.

Knox said the committee wanted “build community” while it worked to build a pool. It established a chase the ace contest where donors received cards for a chance to get an ace and win a pot of money.

The city doesn’t have a restaurant that serves Sunday meals, so the pool committee invited other non-profits to serve a Sunday meal. The non-profit kept donations for the meal while the pool committee kept donations toward the chase the ace contest.

Other events included a meal at the local golf course where the golf course kept the liquor sales, Knox said.

Mashek said the grocery store was able to contribute to meals that raised money for non profits but also, those nonprofits bought groceries at the store, “which is wonderful. It’s a very supportive community.”

“We found out it did work to be out front in the community,” Knox said. People may have gotten a little “annoyed” with the regular events and attention but Knox said it was important to keep the attention and momentum.

The success, “is humbling to say the least,” Knox said. To raise $1 million in about two years shows the support for pool, she said.

Support came from the community but also, like in 1958, from those who had childhood or other ties to Highmore, she said.

The granddaughter of a local resident donated thousands because she remembered going to the pool while visiting her grandmother, Knox said.

Mashek said supporting the pool effort was important. She may not use the pool but she has friends who will.

Donations came from people who had moved away or from city residents whose children live out of town, Knox said.

The committee also received a $20,000 grant from AARP.

A new pool is an important service to offer in the city, Buchholz said. From 2021 to 2023, the city provided a transit bus so that youth could get swimming lessons and pool use in Miller, about 23 miles away, she said. Businesses helped offset that cost in 2021 but the city took it all over in 2022 and 2023.

The new pool won’t make the city money, Buchholz said. “You can ask any city, and they will tell you a pool is not a money maker,” she said.

But, Buchholz, Mashek and Knox, said it’s good for the community. A pool helps families choose to stay and live in Highmore.

Mashek said adults may drop kids off at the pool and stop in for groceries. Buchholz said it can prompt people to stop at other businesses and services in town as well as be a draw from other communities.

The community has supported a new pool through donated dollars but as of April 25, the pool is fully staffed. Throughout the past several summers, KELOLAND News and other media have done multiple reports on the difficulty of finding pool staff in some communities.