YO-HO, YO-HO, IT’S OMPA AD TIME, CAMPO SWIMMERS!

Get out your cameras and take your best shot of your own Natalie Coughlin- or Michael Phelps-in-training. Have an artist in the family? Let him or her illustrate your swimmer. Graphically challenged? We can help! It’s time to put together our team program ads for the 2006 Orinda-Moraga Pool Assn. (OMPA) Championship Meet at the Soda Center Aug. 4, 5 and 6.

Each year, all OMPA clubs get an ad section in the meet program. We're asked to sell $500 minimum in ads. Our club always has a great response and sells nearly $1,000 worth of ads, with creative messages of encouragement for our kids. The Campolindo Cabana Club swim team takes out a full-page team ad honoring our coaches.

What do you need to do to get into the program?

1) Pick up the OMPA ad flyer in your family folder at the CCC pool. Follow the directions for completing your ad, and get ad ideas plus bonus templates for creating your ad. A copy of the flyer is attached.

2) Create an ad for your own swimmer(s), or join with other teammate families -- e.g., 15-18 boys, or classmates, or those sharing a favorite swim stroke -- and split the cost of a group ad. Look at past OMPA programs for ideas, or call me. Extra templates are in the family folders filing cabinet and on the team Web site, www.gocampo.com.

TIP #1: If using a photo, make sure the contrast is clear – OMPA programs are printed in black & white, and some color photos don’t translate well.

TIP #2: You can design your own ad, but follow the size guidelines of the templates.

3) Produce your CAMERA-READY ad, and submit with a check made out to OMPA for amounts shown on the flyer. The OMPA cannot accept electronic files, so ads must be printed or laid out exactly as you want them to appear. If you can do your ad electronically and want to send it to me, it MUST follow the size specs on the templates, and I will print it out onto hard copy. Send to  cthyfoster@aol.com. But, I will still need the CHECK. NOTE: sorry, no ads can be returned.

4) Turn your ad into the FOSTER family folder (inside the envelope with your check) OR drop off in the basket at 38 Corte Yolanda. Call with any questions -- 925/284-8077.

5) DEADLINE: MONDAY, JULY 17, END OF DAY. Thanks, Cathy Morley Foster OMPA Meet Director for Campolindo Cabana Club