Inauguration of the DLRG water see-saw: A BASS trainee project

The „festival of generations“ drew many visitors to Niederstetten last Sunday (April 14th) thanks to the many participating clubs.

On this sunny day the DLRG presented visitors with the opportunity to visit an exhibit of a lifeboat and emergency vehicles as well as the chance to prove their aim on a water see-saw: Whoever was able to hit the goal in the middle with tennis balls would send a member of the DLRG into a pool of water.

It was the idea of Karl-Heinz „Charly“ Ehnes, co-worker at BASS and member of the DLRG to remodel the existing see-saw as a trainee-project. That‘s how the project team, consisting of a product designer and three industrial mechanics, got it‘s internal working title of “Charly‘s Wurfbude“.

The existing 20-year-old see-saw needed a compressor and subsequently electricity; that limited it‘s site of operation considerably. In consequence the task for the trainees was to figure out a mechanism that would work without electricity. Within ten weeks the four “bassianer” planned, developed and constructed a new model that would, upon striking the goal, activate a series of cable pulls connected to a bolt on the seat of the see-saw, sending the occupant of the seat into the water.

The CEO of BASS, Dr. Stefanie Leenen, Mr. Zibold, the mayor of Niederstetten, Mr. Jürgen Schmidt, chairman of the DLRG Niederstetten and Mr. Bernd Wollinger, the youth leader of the DLRG Niederstetten congregated to witness the first operation of the see-saw together with the BASS trainees and their supervisor, Mr. Florian Herrmann. Shortly afterwards, the first DLRG-member took a dip: the inaugurator‘s shots did not miss. The see-saw was being operated the entire day, completely following the idea of a festival for young and old.

Not only the trainees, who gained work-experiences through this project, benefitted from it in the long run, so did the DLRG and their new see-saw, aptly named “Charly‘s Wurfbude“.
The earnings - three shots cost one Euro - will benefit the swimming education and the funding of the evening trainings.

MORE in the Tauberzeitung
MORE in the Fränkischen Nachrichten
MORE about the DLRG Ortsgruppe Niederstetten