Ronnie Polaneczky: A SPLASH OF COLD WATER

WHEN YOU call The Valley Club, in Huntingdon Valley, a recorded message by a chipper-voiced man says, "Things are really starting to heat up here in July!"

Things are heating up, all right, but probably not in the way that the club's board would prefer. That's because families of minority children enrolled in Creative Steps Day Camp, located inside Carnell Elementary School, in Oxford Circle, are alleging that racism is the reason their kids have been kicked out of the overwhelmingly white club.

The accusations are ugly.

In early June, Alethea Wright, founder and director of 13-year-old Creative Steps, registered her 65 campers - online - to use the pool on Monday afternoons from 3:30 to 5. The special arrangement, a first for the club, was approved by its board and was to run from June 29th through Aug. 10th.

The Valley Club charged her $1,950 for the weekly privileges, which Wright paid in full, in advance, from parents' fees. And, on June 29, she arrived at Valley Club with 65 campers for their first swim of the season. She says that the children were excited to use the low-key pool; the leafy, 10-acre grounds on Tomlinson Road provide a lovely setting for aquatic fun.

Trouble began immediately, says Wright, when she heard several white members make disparaging racial remarks about the campers, who are black and Hispanic. Wright says that Valley Club president John Duesler, who was on the premises, seemed surprised and embarrassed by the behavior but assured her that all would work out.

Two days later, she says, he called to say that members had overruled the board's decision to allow her large group to use the pool. He seemed sincerely sorry, she says, and said that campers' fees would be returned.

"I told him, 'You've got a bigger problem than that. Some of my campers heard what those people said, and they have told their parents. The parents are offended and outraged.' "

Who wouldn't be?

According to 14-year-old camper Dymir Baylor, with whom I spoke yesterday, some of the comments were heartless.

"I heard a white lady say, 'What are all these black kids doing here? They might do something to my child,' " recalled Dymir, who says he lives in a neighborhood so diverse, he'd never heard anyone speak like that before. "It was rude and ignorant."

His mom, Sharrae Thompson, was appalled that an adult would behave so terribly.

"I was just shocked," she said. "This is 2009. You can't believe people would carry on like that."

Wright was adamant that Duesler make things right.

"I told him, 'The parents don't want their money back. They want a good place for their children to swim, which is what they paid for. Please, let's try to work this out.' "

Despite phone calls and more debate at Valley Club, however, its members would not budge. So, the agreement was rescinded, and a refund check for $1,950 was issued to Creative Steps.

"I feel bad for Mr. Duesler," says Wright. "I think he did everything he could. He was very embarrassed and apologetic. But this is wrong."

Duesler didn't return calls I left for him at home and at the club. Nor would a representative comment when I visited the club yesterday. I was also told I couldn't speak with the few members who lounged by the pool with their kids.

So, all I have to go on is what Duesler, off-camera, told Fox 29's Claudia Gomez, who broke this story on Tuesday.

Duesler, according to Gomez, said that the club "underestimated the impact" the campers would have on the club, that they "fundamentally changed the atmosphere." And he stressed that race "had nothing to do with the decision" to break the club's agreement with Creative Steps.

Yesterday, NBC 10 reported that the club had released a statement from Duesler saying that "there was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion" and "the atmosphere."

When camp parent Christine Templeton's son, Jabriel Brown, 11, heard the word "complexion," he got teary-eyed.

"He's dark-skinned," she said. He wondered "if he had the wrong skin color to go into the pool. He will never forget this."

Obviously, there might be less here than meets the eye. Having seen The Valley Club, I can say that its pool is a good size, but not huge. Perhaps 65 children entering the pool, en masse, does indeed overwhelm its quiet feel.

So, maybe race, for some members, has nothing to do with why Creative Steps was kicked out.

Maybe they're just greedy.

Maybe they're just too greedy to give up 90 minutes per week - just 90 lousy minutes - to make 65 children happy for the summer.

Maybe they're too greedy to say, "This camp thing isn't working the way we'd hoped. But let's ride it out, just for this year."

Y'know, for the kids.

Thankfully, reports Wright, administrators at Girard College heard of her campers' plight and yesterday invited her to check out their nice, indoor pool. They will meet this morning to see if something can be arranged to save those Monday swims.

"I'm relieved," she says. "I'd like to put this behind us." *

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/polaneczky. Read Ronnie's blog at http://go.philly.com/ronnieblog.