Missin Summer Aquatics Program prepares for TAAF regional competition

By Edwina P. Garza

MISSION – At close to 125 swimmers in its Texas Amateur Athletic Federation group, when Mission children go to compete, they often take home most of the wins as the biggest group in the Rio Grande Valley, their coach says.

“We dominate every meet,” said Arnold Perez, who teaches at Mission Veterans Memorial High School. “We’re such a big team.”

About 90 swimmers, some as young as five, will compete this weekend in Harlingen as part of the TAAF regional competition before the state competition later this month in San Antonio. And after that, around five swimmers will travel to Colorado Springs for a national competition, which is held every two years, Perez said.

“It’s going to be exciting,” he said of the national competition.

Swimmers at the high school level represent both Mission and Sharyland school aquatic programs. Perez said his goal, since taking over as the summer swim coach in 1996, is to have students from both programs involved. Additionally, he wants to teach students at the elementary level to prepare them for swimming in high school.

“It can be like a feeder program,” he said. “It’s not like track where everyone knows how to run. Sometimes you’ve got to teach these kids how to swim properly.”

Some of the swimmers have been in the program since they were young children, Perez said. Today, they compete at the high school level, both during the school year and during the summer.

TAAF swimmers meet twice a day. In the mornings they work on techniques, while in the afternoons, they concentrate on conditioning and toning.

“When I started in 1996, I had just four swimmers,” Perez said, watching his swimmers on Wednesday afternoon at the Mayberry Pool. “We’ve been growing steadily every year. On average, we’ll have 125 kids.”

Perez also has other local high school swim coaches assisting and even former high school swimmers.

“We’re successful because of good coaching,” he said. “And we’re trying to get all the Mission swimmers involved. So, it’s working.”

By the summer’s end, when Perez and his team get new swimmers, the new group usually becomes pretty accomplished swimmers, he said.

“It’s a great program,” he said. “We’re excited and trying to get everyone involved.”

Along with TAAF, Mission also has three other swimming programs, including the popular Gus & Goldie program, which teaches children how to swim.

vMission Aquatics Manager Rick Contreras said the program has hundreds of children participating in the program, which runs in two-week intervals.

The other two programs the city offers during the summer involve other popular sports. Both the tennis/swim camp and the soccer/swim camp attract around 100 children, Contreras said. These programs, which run from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. allow participants to swim for an hour before spending the rest of their time playing tennis or soccer.

In the future, Contreras, who just took over this position earlier this year, said he wants to develop other combination camps, like a running/swimming camp.

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Mission Hardware Store - New name, new owner

Broadway Hardware in Mission has a new name and a new owner.

Dan Gerlach, of Mission, recently bought the Mission location of Broadway Hardware, preventing the closure of the downtown Mission business and loss of jobs for the store’s employees. He immediately opened the store under its new name, Mission Hardware, at the same location, 114 W. 9th Street.

Gerlach, who owns four other businesses, including Gerlach Construction, Wildcat Gas Well Testing, Jaguar Hydro Testing and Maverick Specialty Co., bought the business last month with plans to “make this the best hardware store in the Valley.”

“We may not be the largest hardware store in the Valley, but we’re going to be the best,” he said.

With shipments of new merchandise arriving almost daily, Gerlach is revitalizing the store. Even the store’s old employees are excited about the changes taking place.

“Our sales are increasing a lot,” said Olga Troncoso, store manager.

“We’re not where I want us to be yet,” said Gerlach. “But we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Asked why he decided to buy the hardware store, the new owner replied, “This was one of my goals when I was young, to own a hardware store. Plus, I didn’t want these employees to lose their jobs.”

“With my background in construction, this was right up my alley,” he added. He cited examples of how he has already been giving tips to his customers on how to save time and money on their fix-up projects.

Gerlach is a man with a reputation for getting things done, and not taking any excuses for less than the best from his workers. His drive for excellence is reflected in the transformation taking place in the store in a very short period of time.

“Service and quality. That’s what we’re about,” said Gerlach.

He explained that he has already engrained in his employees that when a customer walks into the store, it’s all hands on deck to make sure they help that customer find what he needs.

With the new owner being an avid hunter and fisherman, it’s no surprise he plans to put a hunting and fishing department in the store. Plans are to begin first with fishing equipment and hunting and fishing licenses, and then to later expand into hunting items.

“I enjoy this,” he said with a big smile on his face.

Gerlach said he has already got all the store’s major customer accounts back, and the store’s employees are not only experienced, but also very loyal to the store, with a strong desire to service their customers.

Olga Tronsco, who has 11 years experience at the hardware store, is the store manager, while 7-year veterans Gilbert Avalos and Martha Flores are assistant managers. Sara Garcia, Jose Velasquez and Daniel Puente are experienced employees who have been re-hired under the store’s new management.

Gerlach’s sons, Keith and Shawn are also busy at the store, helping with re-setting the store’s fixtures and displays.

Service and quality. Service and quality. Those are the buzzwords at the new Mission Hardware store. That kind of attitude, along with a good selection of merchandise, are the key ingredients that are bringing customers back – and putting a big smile on Dan Gerlach’s face.

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