In a 2017 interview on Great Barrington-based radio station WSBS, David Collopy, director of the Kilpatrick Athletic Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, familiarized listeners with the complex and its connection to the community.
Speaker 1: It's time for Let's Talk on your hometown station, 860AM and 94.1FM WSBS, and WSBS.com.
Speaker 2: Okay, of course it is Thursday morning so we kick off Let's Talk with the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Business Spotlight and this morning, we're putting the spotlight on the Kilpatrick Athletic Center at Bard College at Simon's Rock. We're speaking with director David Collopy and Dave it's great to have you in the studio this morning with us.
David Collopy: It's great to be here. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: I always, you know, talk to you on the phone and see the emails for cancellations and delays and stuff, but I think this is the first time we've kind of been face to face for … I think that we've actually been in person together.
David Collopy: Yeah, I think that sounds about right. I know your voice very well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so finally it's great to put a face with each of our voices, so tell us a little bit, you know for people who haven't experienced it, what the Kilpatrick Athletic Center's all about and what's featured there.
David Collopy: Okay, great. Well, first of all, I think what's really important is, as you stated, it's on the campus of Bard College at Simon's Rock, which actually now has also has host Bard Academy, I'll talk a little bit about that later.
But you know, so Simon's Rock celebrated its 50th anniversary and we grant a BA Program after four years, and it's just a campus that is always open to the community and welcome to the community in so many different ways. And what I've found, I've been there, the facility's been open 18 years, I've been there a little over 17 years and quite often the Kilpatrick is actually the first connection for the community to the campus. And then once people come in and use the athletic center, they discover so many other things about the campus.
Let's see, in terms of some other things community wise that people may or may not know, we do host the Monument Mountain Cooperative Swim Team, so our pool is their home pool. And it's been countless years now that we also host the Berkshire County individual championship swim meets at the end of the swim season. We're also home of the Rudolph Steiner and Waldorf School of Basketball Teams. We recently hosted the Great Barrington Land Conservancy Run for the Hills. And we've done that for about five or six years and we also host the Turkey Trot every year even though we're closed on thanksgiving, I come in, we open the facility and there's a group of people that have been running this road race for many years and it's just a great, again, community event, families come out to that.
And on top of that, we support a lot of non profits throughout the community and their fundraising, like WSBS auction, for one. So that's a little bit about the community aspect of the Kilpatrick and that really just wanted people to know because I know when we opened, when I started out, the facility, a lot of people didn't know where it was or that people could access it even though they weren't connected to the college community, so it is a place where everybody is welcome.
Speaker 2: I mean, the facility it definitely sounds like it's really the mecca or one of the mecca's that really in the Southern Berkshires particularly, it really brings people together.
David Collopy: Yeah, absolutely. You know, one of the things when we talk about the facility itself and the people there, there's just a real positive vibe. It's very welcoming. And we have a very diverse community, you know again, that use the facility. Age is one of them, I mean, there's that song out there, what, kids from one to 92.
Speaker 2: Sure. Sure.
David Collopy: I mean, we do parent-infant swim lessons, and we actually do have members in their nineties that use the facility. And then of course we have our students, our faculty, and our staff, but we also have the community, so there's a great intermingling of all those groups in the facility. It's really enjoyable to see, it's one of the most enjoyable things about going to work everyday is seeing these different people in this diverse community interacting together in a positive way.
Speaker 2: And I mean, there's so many different things to do. Tell us about some of the different features and options that are available.
David Collopy: Sure, absolutely. So in terms of our facilities, we have first of all, our pool is spring fed, a lot of people don't know that. And there's a lot of benefits to that which I won't necessarily go into. And then we have a full fitness center, we have a full gymnasium, a NCAA regulation court that has a track overtop of that. We have an indoor rock climbing wall, we have squash and racquetball courts, we have outdoor tennis courts, so all of those facilities are obviously wonderful and it's really the people though that bring it alive. All the people that come in and again participate in those spaces.
We offer classes from swim lessons to rock climbing, yoga, aerobics, water fitness, we have sports challenges like pick up basketball and soccer and volleyball, so again, we're playing to a lot of different audiences, a lot of different interests of people. And probably one of the things that Kilpatrick is known for is that many people know it through its swim program.
The SwimAmerica program, which is actually a franchise under the direction of Bill Meier. We've had thousands of kids come through the swim lesson program and what's really neat about that in looking back over the last 17, 18 years is that you see these kids that come in maybe when they're infants and toddlers and they go through the swim lesson program, and then they graduate up to and they swim on our community swim team, the Snappers Club Team, and then next thing you know, they work for us as lifeguards or they're teaching swim lessons for us.
You see them swimming on the high school team, then next thing you know, they're in there as adults swimming on our Masters Swim Team. So that's just one example of how we really see families in the community come through the facility and really kind of go from point A to point Z if you will. And it's again, it's very exciting to see and one of the things I enjoy is seeing those kids that were little kids swimming in the pool all of a sudden swimming on the Masters Swim team.
Speaker 2: Sure.
David Collopy: Wow, time flies.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
David Collopy: You know?
Speaker 2: Excellent. So other features about the Kilpatrick Athletic Center that you'd like to pass along?
David Collopy: Yeah, I think what's really important too as I said earlier, the people bring the facility alive. I mean, you can have all these great spaces, but-
Speaker 2: You need the people, yeah.
David Collopy: … yeah, so you need the people in there and some of those people obviously are the staff. You know, we have just a very professional, friendly, passionate staff that really enjoy being there every day whether it's their teaching or greeting you at the service desk or even cleaning the facility. One of the things we really pride ourselves on is making sure we just have a very calm, clean, professionally run facility. And you know again, there's so many different offerings for people to take part in and I guess the biggest message is we're really hoping that this is something that people are incorporating into their life to make some life changes. You know, some people have never exercised before or taken an aerobics class or swam before and they come in and they make some changes in their lives.
I mean, we've seen people who have never run before all the sudden be training and running marathons. We've had people that as adults can't swim and take our adult swim lesson program and next thing you know can swim. So again, it's just, opportunities are there for people when they come in and they find out what path they want to go down, you know, we guide them along the way.
Speaker 2: Now, what about ayan events? I mean, are events held there to the point where people, could they call and make a reservation or how do they go about that with you guys setting something up?
David Collopy: More specific in terms of events?
Speaker 2: Well, you were kind of talking about some of the different things that you did earlier, the Run for the Hills-
David Collopy: Oh, right.
Speaker 2: … the community, all those things, I mean if people are having an event there do they need to contact you?
David Collopy: Yeah, usually if they just contact the service desk, they'll guide them depending on what it is they're looking to do.
Speaker 2: Sure.
David Collopy: Different people manage different parts of the facility in terms of along those lines. The other thing we actually do has become quite popular, we actually host birthday parties.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah.
David Collopy: I don't think we've had adult birthday parties, but kid's birthday parties and it's great. They come in, they're usually there for about three hours and they incorporate usually maybe an hour in the pool, an hour on the rock wall and then an hour at our snack bar and we let people bring in their own food. So that's a fun event that people can contact us to do.
Yeah, but people can always reach out to us if we have the space, we have the opportunity to work with them in terms of groups. I mean, we've had other school groups come in, even just for the day, we've had the Lenox High School come do a day of alternative physical education throughout the facility. They bring in their students and some of their own staff and use parts of the facility, so yeah, I mean give us a call, we'll point you in the right direction if we can help you out. Absolutely, we're there for you for sure.
Speaker 2: David, we have a couple minutes left. Is there anything else you want to pass along about the Kilpatrick Athletic Center or Bard College at Simon's Rock in general that we haven't touched on at this point?
David Collopy: Yeah, so I think we've hit everything in terms of the Kilpatrick. Again, just a little bit more about, we call it the College. Well, as I said earlier, three years ago we started Bard Academy, which is actually students can now come there in 9th grade and start high school, so that's an opportunity for students that are looking for something different to do.
Also, we just host a myriad of cultural events, music, lectures, art, theater, in the Daniel Arts Center. I mean, all this information you can find online of course. And the other thing really important, I'm obviously hitting the local audience and people might not know this, but Simon's Rock awards generous scholarships to local students. So again, if you're out there and you're thinking a future for your kids in terms of education, go online, contact the admission's office, you can see all the opportunities that are there. They'll guide you along those lines.
And the last thing is, is just that by coming to the Kilpatrick, members interact again with so many interesting people and talented, the students, it never ceases to amaze me every year when the freshman class come in just the amazing talent that these students have and how intelligent they are. And the faculty as well as the staff, just so very dedicated and so you can come into the Kilpatrick and get an opportunity to interact with those people and learn more about the campus and all the other programs as well as of course, the Kilpatrick and all that we have to offer.
Speaker 2: Excellent. Well, thank you David and just one more time, if people want to get more information on Kilpatrick Athletic Center or Bard College at Simon's Rock or Bard Academy, what's the best way they can get more information?
David Collopy: Well, our website is www.SimonsRock.edu. To get to Kilpatrick, you just add on KAC, Kilpatrick Athletic Center. But of course, if you just go on the website, you'll be able to find access to the Academy, to admissions, all the other departments. If you like the phone, pick up the phone, call the service desk at the Kilpatrick for any more information, 528-7777, we can answer your questions.
We're open 95 hours a week. 358 days a year, so there's only seven we're closed, unless of course we have a real big snow storm.
Speaker 2: Sure, sure. Right. Right. Well, excellent. Well, David, thank you for getting us up to speed on the Kilpatrick Athletic Center and thanks for giving us a few moments of your time.
David Collopy: Absolutely and thank you for having us. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Alright, our next guest is coming up in just a few moments on 860AM and 94.1FM WSBS.