Valley Recreation Association disbanded last week

Published 1:48 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

CARNATION – The Valley Recreation Association (VRA), which formed in the 1970s to build a pool and recreation center in the Lower Valley after two drowning incidents, closed its doors last week.

Although it did not meets its goal of building a pool, the organization gave nearly $13,000 of its remaining assets to the YMCA of Greater Seattle to promote water safety. A year ago, the VRA gave the YMCA $10,000 to establish the Eastman-Rush Memorial Aquatics Endowment.

The VRA also donated a sign outlining swimming and water safety rules to the King County Parks Department in memory of Steve Rush and John Eastman, who drowned in the Carnation area in the 1970s.

A study commissioned by the VRA determined a private, non-profit organization could not run a pool and recreation center in the area on a fee basis without a substantial deficit.