As this newsletter is being prepared, the first day of spring is only hours away! While you are probably not planning to open your pool anytime soon, that task is nonetheless, just around the corner. UGHH! You may be thinking...not that messy job again! Well, it doesn't have to be that bad. This issue of Pool & Spa News is dedicated to getting you started right!

This season will be another landmark year for us, marking the 12th season that we have had the privilege of serving the people of southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. To all of our regular customers, we say THANK YOU for making this possible, and we hope that we will be able to continue to serve you. For those of you who do not regularly use our products and services, we hope that you will give us the opportunity to earn your business this year. You may just find that we are not only competitively priced, but can also give you that personal service and expertise that a catalog or mass merchandiser could only dream about!

OPEN HOUSE!

We will once again be celebrating the coming of spring with our annual OPEN HOUSE, and this year will be bigger and better than ever! Be sure to mark your calendars now for Saturday, April 20! On that day we will be starting the ’02 pool season off with a BANG! While we will be open all day, (from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm) we will be hosting a live radio remote between the hours of 12:00 am and 3:00 pm. We will be serving hot dogs, burgers and drinks throughout the day with lots of door prizes to be given away to pool owners.

Also, back by popular demand from last year, we will be offering a minimum of 10% discount on any and all purchases made on this day only! This will apply to all CHLORINE PRODUCTS, BAQUACIL PRODUCTS, BALANCE CHEMICALS, SOLAR BLANKETS, and CLEANING ACCESSORIES. Read on for an UNBELIEVABLE discount on all spas ordered on that day!

Take advantage of this sale to save some serious money by stocking up on all of your expected requirements for the season!

Once again this year, we will be closing out all remaining inventories of seasonal leftovers of hearth & heating products in stock on that day as well. Save 50% and more on gas logs, space heaters, fireplaces, etc!

2002 Product Line-Up

In 2002 we will again be featuring the POOL BREEZE product line for our chlorine customers.

And, as always, we remain you professional choice for all non-chlorine sanitizers and related products.

Silver Anniversaries Celebrated!

Our company is indeed fortunate and proud to be affiliated with the absolute finest manufacturer of spas in business today…Watkins Manufacturing Corp. Watkins, the makers of the HOT SPRING and TIGER RIVER lines of portable spas, has been and continues to be THE innovator in the portable spa industry! Many company’s have unsuccessfully attempted to keep pace with their state of the art features and innovations of this leader, and failed.

This year, Watkins celebrates their 25^th year in business and is marking this landmark occasion with the introduction of the HOT SPRING SOVEREIGN LE (Limited Edition) model spa. For a very limited time, customers will have the option of purchasing a best selling member of the Hot Spring Line in a very special silver finish, signifying the silver anniversary of the manufacturer. We have the SOVEREIGN LE on display in our mood room at this time, so be sure to stop by and check it out. You won’t believe your eyes!

Additionally, Dave and Kathy Vetter, the owners of Hot Spring Spa & Pool will coincidentally be celebrating their Silver Wedding Anniversary on April 16! To celebrate this monumental landmark in their lives, we will be offering an unprecedented 25% reduction off of manufacturers suggested list pricing on any spa orders placed on the day of the open house!

If you have been considering purchasing a new spa, there will not be a better time than on that day!

Solid Winter Cover Removal Made Easy

Clean it in place!

(Note: The following article was printed in an earlier Pool & Spa News Issue, but is being reprinted by popular demand.)

Without a doubt, the most difficult part of owning a pool is the cleanup and removal of a solid winter cover after a long winter. (Which is why an unprecedented number of pool owners are making the investment in a modern mesh type “safety cover”?)

Well here are some tips which just might make that nasty job a little bit easier for you…

Most of the difficulty comes from the fact that people want to break the job down into three separate steps:

· Pumping the accumulation of water from the cover

· Removing the nasty cover from the pool, and finally

· Cleaning the cover prior to drying and stowing away for the summer.

We’ve tried it that way and believe us when we say, “THERE IS AN EASIER WAY!”

The job can be vastly simplified and shortened by simply combining the first and the last step into one. In other words, clean the cover in place. Here is how it’s done.

First of all, you will need a couple of inexpensive and standard pool accessories which most pool owners may already have:

1. A telescoping pole capable of reaching at least half way across the pool.

2. A standard pool “leaf rake,” which is an oval frame with a connected mesh bag for scooping off the leaves and algae. (Note: the leaf rakes with the rubber “scoop” on the front work the best.)

3. A standard 15” to 18” wide pool brush having 1.5” plastic bristles.

4. A submersible cover pump and hose long enough to direct the water to a drain or storm sewer.

5. Liquid chlorine (At least 2 gallons of 10 to 12% available chlorine, NOT household CHLOROX, which would take 8-10 gallons to do the same thing!)

The very first step would be to add the liquid chlorine to the green slimy mess on top of the cover. The exact amount to use will vary from only 1 gallon for a small above-ground cover, up to 3 gallon for a 20x40 In-ground pool. Walk around the perimeter of the pool when pouring it in to assure even dispersal. Next, use the leaf rake and telescoping pole to scoop off as much of the leaves and other solid debris from the cover as possible. The more thorough that you are in this step, the better the final result will be. Any leaves left behind will tend to clog the pump and slow down the progress of the next step.

You will notice as you are performing this step, that the chlorine which was added will have an immediate effect upon the algae present on the cover. It will change from a slimy green color and begin to take on a milky white appearance as the algae begins to be destroyed. Also, the agitation of the leaf rake being dragged across the surface will have a scrubbing effect and help loosen any stubborn algae from the surface.

Next, hook up your submersible pump to a G.F.C.I. (Ground Fault protected circuit) electrical source after first connecting a discharge hose to the pump. Place the pump onto the pool cover at any convenient location. (Our service crews sometimes prefer to tie off a large, heavy pump to the diving board or to place it on the steps to prevent the weight of the pump from damaging an older, threadbare cover.) In so doing you will create an indentation or “puddle” in the cover which will help towards the end of this process. Make sure that the end of the hose is held firmly in place at the point of discharge. The chlorinated water to be removed from the top of the cover will be harmful to grass, pets or humans if accidentally sprayed into the eyes! Simply allow the pump to do its job of removing the standing water from the cover. (Note: This step could take anywhere from several minutes to several hours depending upon the amount of water present and the size of the pump. Also note that an older worn or threadbare cover sometimes allows the pool water beneath to penetrate through the cover. You will notice that the water on top of the cover will change from the milky white appearance to an extremely clear look if this is occurring.) Check the pump from time to time to make sure that it has not clogged from any leaves and organic matter present in the “soup”.

As the pump is working to remove the water, connect the pool brush to the telescoping pole and scrub any stubborn algae. Also, use the pool brush to “push” and/or “pull” any standing water into the indentation made by the pump. As you notice that you are nearing the end of the pumping process, if applicable, begin pulling the drain plugs from the water bags holding the cover in place. As the water begins to drain out from the water bags, don’t worry about whether it runs onto the cover or onto the pool deck. Eventually, you will be able to pump all but a gallon or so of the water from the cover. At this point, pull the water bags away from the cover on 3 of the four sides. Leave the water bags in place along the side of the pool closest to where the pump is situated.

The next step is easiest for two people to perform, but can be done by only one person. Grab the cover at the opposite end of the pool from where the pump is located. Slowly walk towards the pump while folding the cover over on top of itself. (We have found it easiest to “accordion” fold the cover into 2 to 3 foot folds as we walk along the sides of the pool.) Be careful not to allow the sides of the cover to fall into the water to avoid the pool water from spilling onto the top of the cover! Leave the pump running during this time, and any water remaining will run into the cavity created by the pump and be removed from on top of the cover. To remove the final part of the cover from the pool, just gather the cover around the pump and pull it all out together. (CAUTION: Even a small amount of water can be extremely heavy! Attempting to lift out a cover containing more than a couple of gallons of trapped water could cause the cover to tear!)