Rotary Club raising funds for Lakeview project
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - If you know anything about pouring concrete, the Bath Rotary Club could use your help.

Concrete is a major feature of the club's plan to build a walkway between Lakeview Apartments and the nearby Deal's Plaza. According to project coordinator Mike Slovak, the club has estimated it needs about $10,000 worth of concrete to finish the walkway - plus people experienced in pouring the material.

"We want the experts who have been with it everyday," Slovak said last week.

To organize a concrete contingent, together with volunteers for other assignments, the Rotary Club will host a community meeting at 7 p.m. June 21 in the First Presbyterian Church. The meeting will include refreshments and a slide show outlining the project. The primary purpose, however, is to organize volunteers who can help out when the main work begins in July.

Slovak said project planners hope to start pouring concrete on July 11, breaking for the two-day Relay for Life, then starting again July 16.

Bath Rotarians conceived of the Lakeview project in March, noting residents of Lakeview Apartments faced a dangerous trek to Deal's Plaza stores, especially during the winter and spring when a dirt footpath frequently is impassable.

Since the club initiated the project, the path of the future walkway has been cleared and leveled, with assistance from the Steuben County Workfare Crew and heavy equipment students from the GST BOCES.

The next phase involves pouring about 750 linear feet of concrete seven feet wide.

Given the anticipated $10,000 cost of the material, Slovak said the Rotary Club will also be soliciting financial donations from the community in addition to volunteer services.

Donations may be mailed to: Bath Rotary Club, Lakeview Walkway Project, PO Box 648, Bath, NY, 14810. Checks should be made out to "Bath Rotary Lakeview Walkway."

Once the physical work begins, Slovak said, the club also will need volunteers interested in cooking and running errands. "We anticipate if we hustle we can pour the concrete in eight days," he said. "A day here, a day there."