Skip to main content

User account menu

  • Log in
  • Rss
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Shopping cart 0
Cart

Search

Search
Home The Yazoo Herald

Domain menu for Yazoo Herald (mobile)

  • Post
    • Leaderboard
    • Post Dashboard
    • Payment Settings
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Monthly Website Statistics
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submit News
  • Most Read
  • Most Recent
  • More News
    • Cartoons
    • Crime
    • Documents
    • Politics
    • Public Notices
    • Lifestyles
    • Videos
  • Sports
  • E-Editions
  • Social
  • Opinion
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columns
    • Comments
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Polls
  • Calendar
  • State
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising
    • Website Rates
    • Legal Notices
    • Newspaper Rates
    • Place a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Post
    • Leaderboard
    • Post Dashboard
    • Payment Settings
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Monthly Website Statistics
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submit News
  • Most Read
    • Most Read This Week
    • Most Read This Month
    • Most Read This Year
    • Most Read All Time
  • Most Recent
  • More News
    • Cartoons
    • Crime
    • Documents
    • Politics
    • Public Notices
    • Lifestyles
    • Videos
  • Sports
  • E-Editions
    • Archives
  • Social
    • Anniversaries/Births
    • Engagements/Weddings
    • Schools
    • Submit an Anniversary
    • Submit a Birth
    • Submit an Engagement
    • Submit School News
    • Submit Wedding
  • Opinion
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columns
    • Comments
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Polls
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • State
  • Advertising
    • Website Rates
    • Legal Notices
    • Newspaper Rates
    • Place a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary

Leach begins campaign to raise funds for city pool

By Jamie Patterson , READ MORE > 3,435 Reads
On Mon, 04/22/2019 - 08:34 AM

Wardell Leach said he is tired of begging, and it won’t happen again.

The former Yazoo City mayor said he will never appear before local elected officials again with his hat in his hand, hoping for the funds to operate the city’s swimming pool at the complex which bears his name.

“I vow that I will not go to the city or the county boards, begging for money,” he said. “They know their obligations and responsibilities. They are smart people, but we expect them to do what they were elected to do. It appears that they are not going to do what is needed from them to operate our swimming pool. And we, as citizens, can’t allow it.”

Last year, Leach appeared before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors to ask for help in opening the public swimming pool at the Wardell Leach Recreational Complex. It was feared, due to budget cuts, that the Parks and Recreation Commission would not be able to afford to open the swimming pool.

The city council, particularly, instructed the commission to open the pool, adding that they would cover whatever shortfall arose within the commission’s finance. But then when the bill arrived, that assistance was never given.

“The city and county board know what they are supposed to do,” Leach said. “They need to stop hiding behind certain words like ‘they shall’ contribute so many mills.”

Leach said he is kickstarting a campaign to raise funds to ensure the public swimming pool will open this year. Although the pool did open last year, he said it was open for two months. He would like to see the pool opened longer to ensure children have a place to swim.

“When I was growing up, we learned how to swim in the river, which wasn’t the safest thing,” Leach said. “Then you had kids swimming in the ditches around town. That was a recent thing too because it wasn’t too long ago, we had that poor girl drown in the ditch. The pool being open offers a safe place for our children to swim.”

Leach said he has always been a proud supporter of the public swimming pool. Not only are children provided swimming lessons, but it is a “positive, wholesome” activity to engage local children.

“Do we want to recreate or incarcerate,” Leach asked. “We are supposed to be Christians, and I can’t help but think of the scripture of doing it for the least of them, you do unto me. The children can’t do it themselves. We have to do it for them. It is a sin not to help them.”

Leach admits he is disappointed in how local government is handling the funding issue within the Parks and Recreation Commission. But he is determined to remind elected officials that a movement can begin within its citizens.

“You were elected to make things better,” he said. “Are you making it better when you deny the recreation department or when you open the pool?”

Donations can be dropped off at The Yazoo Herald on Grand Avenue in Yazoo City. Receipts will be provided, and all funds will go directly to the Parks and Recreation Commission, specifically for the swimming pool operation.

 

 

 

‹ PreviousNext ›

News

Shots fired into 18-wheeler on I-55 Friday

Investigators believe road rage was the cause of an incident where shots were fired into the cab of… READ MORE

Chance of snowfall increases
Time to file for Homestead Exemption
Thomas said city board needs to use its strength in the new year
New fire truck arrives for Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department
State superintendent recommends waiving of passing requirements for statewide tests

Sports

Lanie Potter scores 21 points to lead Lady Mavericks to victory

Manchester Academy senior center Lanie Potter was recognized before tip-off of this past Friday’s… READ MORE

Dendy and Poe power Mavericks past Raiders
Slideshow: Benton Academy boys vs. Greenville Christian
Slideshow: Benton Academy Girls vs. Greenville Christian
Indians return from layoff with a 20-point victory
Lady Indians drop district opener at Gentry

Sign Up for Notifications of Local Breaking News

Start E-mail NotificationsStop E-mail NotificationsStart Mobile NotificationsStop Mobile Notifications

E Edition Button NEW

Obituaries

Carl McDaniel

Carl M. McDaniel, ,91, of Benton passed away Thursday January 14, 2021 at his residence. Carl was a… READ MORE

Dennis Burrell
Annie McMaster
Jerry Burton
Bill Smith
Frances McBride

Most Recent

Carl McDaniel

Carl M. McDaniel, ,91, of Benton passed away Thursday January 14, 2021 at his residence. Carl was a… READ MORE

Shots fired into 18-wheeler on I-55 Friday
Dennis Burrell
Wicker Hails $2.377 Million Award for UMMC Connected Care Pilot Program
Health department clarifies vaccine supply, new appointments available Jan. 25
Health department clarifies vaccine supply, new appointments available Jan. 25

Most Read News Article

  • Week
  • Month
  • Year
  • All Time

OPINION: Attack on capitol fueled by Internet conspiracy theories

OPINION: Hopes for a much calmer 2021 compared to 2020 were quickly dampened by the horrific attack… READ MORE

Shots fired into 18-wheeler on I-55 Friday
‘We will be prepared’: Mississippi officials discuss Capitol security ahead of possible armed protests
In women’s hoops, we suddenly have a real Mississippi rivalry
Biewer Lumber opening new sawmill in Winona, creating 150 jobs
Wicker: Big Tech Has Crossed a Red Line

Indianola Doctor Who Suffered Effects of COVID Among the First to Get Vaccine at Clinic

When Dr. Eddie Donahoe heard that a COVID-19 vaccine was on the way and had the potential to be… READ MORE

Judge William Henry Barbour Jr.
HOSEMANN: Our 2021 Goal: Investing in Mississippi’s Greatest Asset, Our Citizens
Winter Storm expected
Governor Tate Reeves Makes Statement on COVID-19 Vaccine
Hosemann wants to delay 2021 session as COVID-19 spikes. House leaders remain hesitant.

Governor Reeves explains "Safer at Home" policy

On his Facebook post, Gov. Tate Reeves explained that Mississippians are now "encouraged" but not "… READ MORE

19-year-old charged with capital murder
James Edwin Taylor
In this family girls don't pay
Holding on to him for as long as I can
Yazoo woman charged with the murder of Darius Woods

Riding After a Dream

It all began when she was a little girl riding a stick horse. Her love of horses has provided a… READ MORE

Doris W. Neely
JA and Ricks Library host reading program
Patterson is new Rotary Club president
Jenkins marching to college with a band scholarship
Judith Ann "Judy" Casner Ferrell

Opinion

Editorial: We need more men like William Barbour

Judge William Barbour Jr. was a man whose actions spoke louder than his words.

Freedom to speak and freedom to listen
What's new Yazoo?
I learned a lot from Diane Makamson
Too many conspiracy theories
Our 2021 Goal: Investing in Mississippi’s Greatest Asset, Our Citizens

Weddings and Engagements

Lifestyles

From the Kitchen: Book brings back memories of my own father-in-law

One

Rare snow day in Yazoo
Let it Snow!
Building bridges made of loving memories
Yazoo Lodge #42 donates to Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital
Annual MLK event set for Jan. 18, adjustments made for COVID-19

Social

Copyright 2020 • The Yazoo Herald • 1035 Grand Ave. • Yazoo City, MS 39194 • (662)-746-4911.

Emmerich Newspapers proudly serve the following Mississippi communities:

Click on the city name to visit its website.

ACKERMAN • CARROLLTON • CHARLESTON • CLARKSDALE • COLUMBIA • EUPORA • FOREST • GREENVILLE • GREENWOOD • GRENADA • HATTIESBURG • JACKSON • KOSCIUSKO • INDIANOLA • LOUISVILLE • MAGEE • MENDENHALL • McCOMB • NEWTON • PETAL • QUITMAN • SENATOBIA • WINONA • YAZOO CITY

As well as: DUMAS, Ark. • TALLULAH, La • FRANKLINTON, La.

For more information on how to extend your advertising message to these communities, click here.