Hello Devil Rays Families,

There is a lot of information in this email, we have a busy week coming up, please read to the end. Also check out the Devil Rays Facebook page for daily reminders.

Amazing job this week Devil Rays! Another win with a lot of personal bests, first time swims, and friendly competition. It is great to see our swimmers personal growth as they build their confidence with hard work at practices and the meets. Meet results are attached.

Dearbought Residents: Our monthly HOA meeting is tomorrow, Monday June 22nd at 7pm in person at the pool house. I’d like to encourage our Dearbought residents to attend. It is a great way to find out what is going on in our neighborhood and have your voice heard.

5 and 10 year Awards: Please email Marlena Schweikart at [email protected] and let her know if this is your child's 5th or 10th year on the team. We had a hiccup at last year's banquet so if we missed their 5 or 10 year award last year, please let us know. The awards will be presented at the banquet.

Practices: we will have regular practices this week. If you have swum in a meet please check the file boxes for your ribbons during practice.

June 23rd Ledo Pizza Fundraiser: Ledo Pizza- Riverbend Way, 11AM to 9PM. Dine anytime this day and mention the Dearbought Devil Rays and 20% of your total will be donated back to the team. Tuesday is $6 calzone day!

June 23rd Declare/Decline your swimmer for this Saturday’s meet (6/27), deadline is midnight June 23rd. This is the 3rd of 4 regular season meets, as a reminder swimmers need to swim in at least 2 meets to be eligible to swim at divisionals. Each swimmer can sign up for a maximum of 4 individual events. Coaches will choose swimmers for relays. If you have event questions or need to know if your child is ready for a particular stroke, you can email coaches for their input.

June 24th Sign up for Volunteer Role: Jobs are open on Sunday at 6pm for this Saturday’s meet (6/27) deadline is midnight June 24th. If you do not choose a volunteer slot, one will be assigned to you.

June 25th Used Gear Fundraiser Sale: We will be set up in the pool house from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Most items will be $5, there will be team gear, swim suits, caps, and other swim related items, to include some year round team items. Cash and credit card accepted. Donations are still being accepted, find the donation bin on deck during practices.

June 25th Team Photo Night: Individual photos will begin at 6pm, team photo will be at 7:30pm. This is for pre-team and regular team. All swimmers should wear their Dearbought suit or a red or black suit.

Concessions: Wow, our swimmers really liked all the candy and treats at the last meet and wiped out our concessions stock. Now we need to restock, donations are optional but will help offset some costs to the team. The concessions team works hard to keep us well fed during swim meets. Concessions Donation Sign Up. Donations can be brought to practices this week.

June 26th Pep Rally: 7-8pm This will be the kick off to our 25th Anniversary Celebration! There will be crafts, tattoos, fun photo opportunities, pool fun and The Ville Shaved Ice will be there for a special treat. Wear red, black and all things Devil Rays!

June 26th Deck Set Up: this will be immediately following the Pep Rally. A reminder will be sent this week if you signed up for deck set up this week. If you are available to assist please lend a hand. Deck Set Up and Reset Sign-Up More volunteers are needed for deck reset after the meet on June 27th, please use the link to sign up.

June 27th Meet Day: Our 3rd meet will be at home against the Whittier Riptides and Tallyn Ridge Killer Whales. Check in will be at 6:45am and warm ups will begin at 7am with a meet start time of 8am. The theme will be Devil Rays 25th Anniversary, dress in your Devil Rays gear and everything black and red. We will send the meet notice out on Thursday.

Surprise Treat: At this week's Anniversary meet we will have local photographer Jenni Gilroy capturing shots of our swimmers during the meet. Jenni is a sponsor of our team and will provide a link to upload pictures after the meet. Please check out her work JKG Photography. The pictures she captured of the WHS swim team earlier this year were amazing.

Pre-Team: We were so excited to welcome our pre-team swimmers this past Friday. Our little rays were so happy to be in the water and eat donuts. We will have our pre-team Guppy Swim at the pep rally and during the meet this week. Parents, be on the look out for a sign up email. Reminder: Pre-team is part of our team as a whole and is invited to participate in all fundraisers, team picture night, the parade, and pep rallies.

July 3rd Walkersville Fireman’s Parade: We are honored to be invited to march in the parade to celebrate our town and America’s 250th Anniversary! Please sign up through the Parade Sign-Up to let us know if you will be there. We will have an amazing Devil Ray float the swimmers will walk alongside. Details for parade line up are on the sign up link.

Save the Date:

July 8th Playa Bowls Fundraiser, all day 8am-8pm

July 21st Team Banquet- all swimmers will be recognized for their hard work and participation throughout the season, whether you participated in meets or not. 

Go Devil Rays!

Cindy